Class 1A didn't feel the same anymore.
Not because anything obvious had changed.
People were just… paying attention now.
Not talking over each other. Not wasting time. Even the ones who usually joked around were quieter, watching more than speaking.
William noticed it the moment he walked in.
Serena was already seated, flipping a pen between her fingers without looking at it.
"You're late," she said.
"I'm on time."
"You're later than everyone else."
"That's not the same thing."
She didn't argue. Just nodded once, like she'd already decided something about him.
The door opened again.
Vale walked in.
This time, the class didn't wait for her to speak before settling. It just happened naturally, like everyone had already adjusted to how things worked around her.
She dropped a thin stack of papers on the desk at the front.
No introduction.
No buildup.
"By now, you've heard something about a tournament."
Not loud.
Not formal.
Just direct.
A few students reacted immediately.
"So it's actually happening?"
"Thought that was later."
"Who told you that?"
Vale let them talk for a moment.
Then she said, "It's happening sooner than most of you expected."
That was enough to bring the room back down.
William leaned back slightly.
"So it's real," he said.
Serena didn't look at him. "Yeah."
Vale picked up one of the papers, then didn't use it.
"Each class sends people," she said. "Not everyone. Just the ones worth putting forward."
No dramatic pause.
Just the statement.
Daren raised a hand halfway, then didn't bother lowering it.
"And how do you decide that?"
Vale looked at him.
"I decide."
That shut him up faster than anything else.
She walked away from the desk, stopping a few steps in front of the class.
"Before that, you need to understand something," she said.
"You've all been using your abilities without understanding what you're actually doing."
William tilted his head slightly.
That part sounded familiar.
Vale reached down and tapped her foot once.
A low hum spread through the room.
Not loud. Not aggressive.
Just… there.
Lines lit up faintly across the floor—circles, patterns, something built into the structure that hadn't been visible before.
Near the wall, a section of the floor shifted and locked into place.
Not new.
Just revealed.
A few students straightened.
So the room wasn't just a classroom.
Vale didn't turn back.
"Every room here is built for this," she said. "You just haven't been using it."
She pointed toward the open space.
"You. Step forward."
The boy she had picked hesitated, then moved.
William recognized him—quiet type, didn't talk much.
"Name," Vale said.
"Eli."
Vale nodded. "Show them something you can actually use."
Eli didn't hesitate this time.
He drew a short blade from his side.
No theatrics.
No glowing aura filling the room.
Just a faint line of light running along the edge of the blade.
William leaned forward slightly.
That was different.
Eli moved.
One clean step.
One clean swing.
The blade passed through the raised stone block like it had already decided it wasn't solid.
No explosion.
No sound beyond the cut itself.
Eli stepped back.
Done.
Vale looked at the class.
"That's learned," she said.
"Not talent."
That landed.
She turned slightly, pointing at the floor markings.
"You're not limited to what you came in with."
William frowned.
"…Then why does everyone keep acting like we are?"
Vale looked at him.
"Because it's easier."
That answer didn't feel like teaching.
It felt like a warning.
She pointed at him.
"Step forward."
Of course.
William walked into the marked space.
He didn't rush it.
Didn't try to prove anything.
"Show them," Vale said.
A few people leaned in.
Watching.
Waiting.
William exhaled once.
He didn't think about energy.
Didn't think about shaping anything.
That wasn't how his ability worked.
He focused on that same gap again.
That slight misalignment he kept brushing against.
For a second—
nothing happened.
Then something slipped.
Not visibly.
Not something you could point at.
Just—
wrong.
The space around him didn't match itself.
William moved.
And he wasn't where he had been.
No blur.
No speed.
One moment he was in front—
The next, he was behind Eli.
Eli didn't react.
Because to him—
nothing had happened yet.
Then the moment caught up.
Eli turned suddenly, already too late.
William had already stepped away again.
Back to where he started.
The room stayed quiet.
Not confused.
Not loud.
Just… processing.
"…Do that again," someone said.
William shook his head.
"It doesn't work like that."
Vale didn't look surprised.
"Of course it doesn't."
She stepped forward slightly, looking at the space he had just crossed.
"Don't mistake that for speed," she said to the class.
"It isn't."
No long explanation.
Just that.
She turned back toward the board but didn't pick up the chalk this time.
"You have three days," she said.
"Use them."
Daren frowned. "Use them how?"
Vale looked at him.
"Figure that out."
That was the closest thing to instruction they were getting.
She grabbed her papers.
"Class dismissed."
No one moved immediately.
Not because they were confused.
Because they were thinking.
Then the room broke.
Small groups forming.
People talking faster now.
Comparing.
Arguing.
William stepped out of the marked space.
Serena walked up beside him.
"That wasn't normal."
"I know."
She looked at where he had been standing.
Then at Eli.
Then back at him.
"You didn't move," she said.
William shrugged slightly.
"Feels like I did."
She shook her head.
"No. That's not what that was."
He didn't argue.
Because honestly—
he didn't know what it was either.
Across the room, Eli was already practicing again.
Same movement.
Same control.
Nothing wasted.
Different from him.
Completely.
William looked at his hand briefly.
Then dropped it.
Three days.
That wasn't a lot of time.
But for the first time—
he wasn't waiting for something to happen.
He was actually thinking about what to do next.
And that—
felt new.