Aric stopped in front of a modest inn just off the main street, giving it a quick look before stepping inside.
It wasn't anything special—wooden tables, a few people already eating, the quiet clatter of dishes from the back. Clean, though. That was enough.
He walked up to the counter. "Room."
The man behind it glanced at him. "How long?"
"Few days."
"Up front."
Aric placed the coin down. The key slid toward him a moment later.
"Second floor. End of the hall."
The room was small. Bed, table, window.
He set his pack down, checked it once out of habit, then left again without sitting.
No reason to stay in yet.
Back outside, Highglade was fully awake now. The streets carried a steady flow—merchants opening up, carts moving through, people going about their day with a kind of quiet order.
Aric moved with them, not rushing.
He wasn't looking for anything specific.
Just getting a feel for the place.
"You're mapping it out," the System said after a while.
Aric didn't look up. Something like that.
"Routes, exits, quieter streets… you've done this before."
He adjusted his pace slightly as he turned down a wider road. It helps.
"Usually does."
The further he went, the cleaner things became. Fewer stalls. Less noise.
And ahead—The academy.
Aric slowed near the outer road, stopping just short of the main entrance. He leaned lightly against a post, like he was waiting on someone.
Students moved in and out through the gates.
Groups, mostly. Some alone.
He watched.
At first, it didn't look like much. Just people talking, walking, going about their day.
But the longer he stood there, the more it showed.
How they shifted when someone moved too close.
"Not bad," he murmured.
The System took a moment before replying.
"They've been trained properly," it said. "You can see it in the way they carry themselves. Less hesitation. Less wasted movement."
Aric's eyes followed a pair walking past the gate. One of them was talking, distracted—but his balance never slipped.
"…Yeah."
Another group passed. This one less polished. Uneven steps, attention drifting.
"Not all of them," Aric said.
"Of course not," the System replied. "It's an academy, not a battlefield. Some are here to learn. Some are here because they can afford to be."
"Still… a few of them would've given you trouble a couple years ago."
Aric didn't respond to that.
He stayed there a while longer, letting the flow continue. Watching without staring.
Nothing obvious.
But enough to understand the general level.
Then the gates opened again.
Another group stepped out.
And this time, it shifted.
Aric's focus settled without him thinking about it.
Not because they were louder.
Not because they stood out deliberately.
Just… the way they moved.
The System noticed it too, but didn't speak right away.
"…That one," Aric said quietly.
A brief pause followed.
Then—
"You're not wrong," the System said. "Watch the others. They're matching her pace without even realizing it."
She walked at the center of the group without trying to take it. The others talked, moved, shifted—but their steps adjusted around hers.
"Confident," Aric said.
"Used to being where she is," the System added. "That's not new to her."
Selisse.
Aric didn't move from where he stood.
Didn't step forward.
Didn't call out.
There was no reason to.
Not yet.
The group passed by, their voices fading as they moved further into the street.
Aric's gaze followed for a second longer before he looked away.
"So," the System said, a hint of something lighter in its tone, "that's the one you came all this way to see."
Aric pushed himself off the post.
"I came to see the place."
A brief pause.
"…She's part of it."
"That's one way to put it."
He turned back toward the street, blending into the movement without another glance behind him.