By early afternoon, the sun hung high in the blue sky, casting long, tangled shadows across the stone courtyard of Velgrin Academy.
Students wandered in clusters or hurried between classes, voices blending into a low murmur that rippled through the academy air.
Lucien walked beside Caelum, whose amber eyes shimmered with a mixture of disbelief and something more—an uneasy awe. "I just don't get it," Caelum muttered, his voice tight with tension. "The way you traced that glyph back in Corven's class… there wasn't a single mistake. It was like real magic—pure, sharp, like a blade cutting clean through the air. When did you even start doing that?"
Only about… over a thousand years ago.
Lucien's lips curved in a faint, inscrutable smile as he stared forward. "I just practiced a lot when you weren't looking."
His gaze drifted towards a small gathering near the far wall in the courtyard as he and Caelum turned a corner.
But then, a harsh voice rang out, cutting through the courtyard's peacefulness. "Hand over your lunch money, Garrow!"
Lucien's quick attention snapped fully to the scene ahead as so did Caelum's.
A boy with messy light brown hair and thin glasses—presumably the Garrow kid they were speaking of—stood pressed against a cold stone pillar, his slight frame dwarfed by three rather familiar guys who blocked his escape.
Those guys… they're the ones who put me in the infirmary yesterday…
The tallest of the three with brown hair sneered, cracking his knuckles with a deliberate menace. "You think you're better than us, Merin? Pathetic good-for-nothing!"
Merin's eyes stayed fixed on the ground, his hands balled into fists at his sides, trembling slightly but refusing to move or speak.
Of course, this only made the bullies angrier as they took hold of the boy's collar. "You—!"
Caelum's jaw clenched, muscles tightening with rage. His voice was low but sharp, slicing through the tension. "Hey! Back off, now or else."
The bullies were quick to spin around, staring at Lucien and Caelum with obvious disdain.
"Well, well… look who it is," the leader spat, stepping forward with a cruel smirk. "The duke's mana-less boy and his bodyguard. Here to protect the weakling or whatever it is you idiots do?"
Before Lucien could even react to the insults, Caelum's fist shot out, cutting through the air and landing squarely on the bully's jaw.
The bully's head snapped sideways with a sickening crack, eyes wide with shock as a few teeth fell out to the pavement below.
"That's for picking on someone smaller than you," Caelum growled, voice raw with barely contained fury.
For a heartbeat, silence settled like a storm before the others lunged, faces twisted in anger and pain.
"Get him, boys!"
The other two bullies snarled and lunged at Caelum, their punches thrown with savage intent. Caelum got a good few punches in, but was obviously being beaten pretty badly since a three-on-one wasn't ideal for him.
Shit, I've got do something before he gets seriously hurt!
Lucien's hand twitched as a cold wave of instinct rippled through him. His fingers lifted slowly, mana gathering beneath his skin like a storm ready to break.
Just as he prepared to release a spell to defend Caelum, a sharp voice cut through the thick air.
"That's enough!"
Professor Varn strode onto the scene, robes billowing with his quick, authoritative pace. His eyes were cold and fierce as they swept over the scuffling students.
"Violence is forbidden within academy grounds as you all know!" he barked out, his tone brooking no argument.
Both the bullies and Caelum froze, caught between their aggression and Varn's commanding presence.
"Step back from one another. Now." Varn ordered.
Reluctantly, the three bullies took a step back as did Caelum, casting venomous glances but unwilling to challenge the professor's authority.
Varn's sharp gaze was then quick to fixate on Lucien. "And, Renhardt, keep your hands where I can see them. This is a place for learning, not a battlefield."
Lucien slowly lowered his hand, the mana dissipating like smoke. Yet his gaze still held animosity towards the bullies.
Turning his attention back to the bullies, Varn's voice grew colder, almost venomous. "Consider this your final warning, you three. Any further acts of violence, and you will be forced to face the Headmaster's judgment directly."
The bullies spat curses under their breath but ultimately retreated, skulking off like rats into the school.
Professor Varn also turned and strode away with equal disdain, robes snapping behind him, leaving behind a silence that clung to the courtyard like fog.
However, Merin remained where he was, pressed against the stone wall, shoulders hunched as if bearing the weight of the entire world.
Lucien and Caelum watched him quietly, the tension still crackling faintly in the air.
Caelum then let out a heavy breath, his voice hoarse as he wiped at the blood now streaming freely from his nose, his fingers trying in vain to stem it. "You alright?" he asked, his words edged with concern.
Merin looked up at last, his gaze brief but sharp with something unreadable. "Thanks," he muttered, voice soft—then, without another word, turned and slipped down the corridor, his figure shrinking into the distance.
What a strange boy…
Lucien watched the boy disappear down the corridor, a strange feeling coiling in his chest—part sympathy, part something else. Something deeper. Something he couldn't quite name.
Beside him, Caelum shook his head, still pressing his fingers to his nose to slow the bleeding. His voice came out thick and muffled, but laced with frustration. "Those assholes… if it weren't for their ties to the first prince and Varn's leniency, they'd have been expelled long ago."
Lucien remained silent as he continued to look down the corridor for a few more moments, but clearly something had shifted in the way he thought of this academy.
And the courtyard's lively hum returned, but the echoes of confrontation would soon enter the ears of a beast that neither Lucien nor Caelum should have ever stirred.