Chapter 52: Chapter 52
William made it back to his dormitory with just enough time to clean up and change before meeting Claire. He pushed open the door to find Kai sitting at his desk as usual, but this time he was organizing what looked like combat equipment instead of reading.
"Going somewhere?" William asked while heading to his wardrobe.
"Library still," Kai said without looking up. "But there's been some issues with essence beast sightings near the old archives building. The faculty suggested we bring weapons just in case."
William paused mid-step. "Essence beasts? On campus?"
"Apparently some low-level ones wandered too close from the forest. Nothing dangerous for students, but enough that they're telling people to be cautious." Kai finally looked up. "Why do you ask? You look like you're getting ready to go somewhere too."
"I'm meeting Claire," William said while pulling out clean clothes. "She asked if I was free this afternoon."
"Ah." Kai returned his attention to his equipment. "That explains the effort you're putting into not long like you just spent three hours getting hit during training."
William didn't dignify that with a rwhichichichichichichponse. He changed quickly, washed his face, and tried to make himself look somewhat presentable. It wasn't a formal occasion, but showing up looking completely disheveled seemed rude.
"By the way," William said while checking his reflection, "Liam asked if we're both free this weekend. He needs help with something but wouldn't say what."
Kai's hands stilled on the dagger he'd been securing to his belt. "Liam Hemsworth specifically asked for me by name?"
"He said to bring my roommate. I assume he meant you unless I've been sharing a room with someone else this whole time."
"Interesting." Kai went back to his preparations, but William noticed his movements had become more deliberate. "What did he say he needed help with?"
"He didn't mention. He only said it was complicated and he would explain on Saturday morning at the main gate."
"And you agreed without knowing what you were getting into?"
"You're one to talk about agreeing to things blindly," William pointed out. "You said yes to being my roommate without knowing anything about me."
"That was different. Housing assignments are mandatory." Kai stood and slung his bag over his shoulder. "But fine. I'll come with you on Saturday. Might be interesting to see what the academy's golden boy needs help with that he can't handle alone."
He headed for the door, then paused. "Incase your not coming home later and might sleep over, no need to try and come back I'll be here"
"This bastard"
The door closed before William could ask how Kai knew it was supposed to be a date rather than just hanging out. Sometimes his roommate was far too perceptive for someone who claimed to not pay attention to anything.
William finished getting ready and headed out to meet Claire at the agreed location, it was the fountain near the main courtyard. She was already there when he arrived, wearing a simple dress instead of her academy uniform. It was dark blue with subtle embroidery along the edges, nice without being overly formal.
"You're early," William observed.
"So are you," Claire pointed out with a slight smile. The earlier embarrassment from breakfast seemed to have faded into nervous energy. "I wasn't sure what we were doing, so I just... waited here."
"I didn't really plan anything specific," William admitted. "I've never actually done this before."
Claire blinked. "Done what? Gone on a date?"
"Yeah, a proper one."
"Oh." She seemed surprised by that, then thoughtful. "Me neither, actually. My family never really encouraged... normal social activities like this."
That made sense given what William knew about Claire's upbringing. Her family had raised her to manipulate and collect talented people, not to have genuine relationships or normal teenage experiences.
"So we're both improvising," William said.
"Apparently." Claire looked around the courtyard, then back at him. "We could walk around campus? There's that garden area behind the library that's supposed to be nice."
"Sure."
They started walking together, falling into a comfortable pace. The afternoon sun was warm without being hot, and the campus was relatively quiet with most students either in classes or at training.
The garden behind the library was larger than William expected. It was carefully maintained with paths created between flower beds and small trees, with benches placed at regular intervals. A few other students were scattered around—some reading, others just enjoying the weather.
Claire and William found an empty bench near a section of roses and sat down. The silence between them wasn't quite awkward but wasn't entirely comfortable either.
"Can I ask you something?" Claire said after a moment.
"Sure."
"Why did you agree to the date?" She was looking at the roses rather than at him. "You could have just said no at breakfast. You're not the type to agree to things just to be polite."
William considered how to answer that honestly. "I've been thinking about some things recently. Mostly about how I've been handling... situations. And I realized I might have been approaching everything wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been treating certain things like problems to avoid instead of just dealing with them directly." William wasn't sure how much to explain without mentioning the curse, so he kept it vague. "And I thought maybe trying something different might help me figure out a better approach."
Claire turned to look at him, her dark eyes studying his expression. "So this is an experiment?"
"That sounds worse than I meant it," William said quickly. "I just meant—"
"It's fine." Claire smiled, and it looked genuine. "Honestly, that's more honest than whatever polite lie you could have told me. And I appreciate honesty."
She looked back at the roses. "I spent years learning how to manipulate people and read what they wanted to hear. Everything was transactional. Everything had an angle. So when someone is just direct with me, it's... refreshing."
"Your family really did a number on you," William observed.
"They did." Claire's voice was quiet. "But I'm trying to be different from them. I'm trying to have actual relationships instead of just collecting people like assets. It's harder than I thought it would be."
William understood that more than she probably realized. His entire situation with the curse was built around the same kind of problem—trying to figure out how to have genuine connections when there was always some underlying complication making everything more difficult than it should be.
They sat in silence for a while, watching other students pass by and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It was nice, William thought. Simple. The kind of normal afternoon that he hadn't really experienced since transmigrating into this world.
"Can I ask you something now?" William said.
"Sure."
"When did you start... feeling this way? About me, I mean."
Claire's face colored slightly but she didn't look away this time. "It was during the expedition to the Vale. When I told you about my family and you didn't judge me for it. You just listened and treated me like a person instead of a project or a problem."
She paused, then continued. "And then when I slept in your tent those two nights, you kept boundaries and made me feel safe instead of trying to take advantage. That's when I realized you were different from anyone else I'd known."
William tha ought back to the Vale expedition. He'd been focused on managing the curse situation and avoiding complications. He hadn't realized that his attempts to maintain appropriate boundaries had been interpreted as genuine respect.
"I'm not as good a person as you think I am," William said.
"I don't think you're a perfect person," Claire replied. "I think you're someone who tries to do the right thing even when it's complicated. That's better than perfect."
Before William could respond to that, a commotion from the other side of the garden caught their attention. Raised voices and what sounded like someone yelling angrily.
William and Claire stood up and moved closer to see what was happening. A small crowd had gathered near the eastern garden entrance where two students were arguing—a third-year boy who looked furious, and a second-year girl who was backing away from him nervously.
"I said no," the girl was saying, her voice shaking. "I'm not interested. Please leave me alone."
"You're making a mistake," the boy said, stepping closer to her despite her obvious discomfort. "Do you know who my family is? Do you know what kind of opportunities I could—"
"She said no," a new voice interrupted.
William looked over and saw Liam had appeared from somewhere, positioning himself between the aggressive student and the uncomfortable girl. His expression was calm but his stance made it clear he wasn't asking politely.
"This doesn't concern you, Hemsworth," the third-year said, his anger redirecting toward Liam. "Stay out of it."
"I'm making it my concern," Liam replied evenly. "She's clearly not interested. You should leave."
The third-year looked like he wanted to argue, then seemed to remember exactly who he was talking to. Liam Hemsworth, top-ranked student, someone who could probably break him in half without much effort.
"Whatever," the boy muttered before stalking off, his face red with embarrassed anger.
The girl thanked Liam profusely before hurrying away in a different direction. The crowd dispersed quickly now that the entertainment was over, leaving just William, Claire, and Liam standing near the garden path.
Liam noticed them and walked over. "Sorry if I interrupted your afternoon."
"You didn't," Claire said. "That guy was being an ass."
"Yeah." Liam looked tired suddenly, like this wasn't the first time he'd dealt with something like this. "Some people don't handle rejection well."
"Does that happen often?" William asked.
"More than it should." Liam shrugged. "Anyway, I should let you two get back to your... afternoon." He glanced between them with a knowing look that made Claire blush slightly.
"See you tomorrow at training," Liam said before heading off toward the main campus buildings.
William and Claire returned to their bench, but the peaceful atmosphere from before had been somewhat disrupted by the confrontation.
"We should probably head back anyway," Claire said, checking the time. "It's getting close to dinner."
They walked back together, the conversation flowing more easily now than it had at the start. By the time they reached the point where their paths would diverge—Claire toward the Luminara dormitories and William toward Ascendant—the awkwardness from earlier had mostly faded.
"Thank you for this afternoon," Claire said. "Even if we didn't really do anything exciting."
"I had a good time," William replied, and meant it.
Claire smiled, then seemed to gather her courage for something. She stepped closer and rose up on her toes, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before stepping back immediately.
"Good night, William," she said quickly, then turned and walked toward her dormitory before he could respond.
William stood there for a moment, one hand unconsciously touching the spot where she'd kissed his cheek, before heading back to his own room.
Kai was already back when William arrived, sitting at his desk with an actual book this time instead of equipment.
"Huh, you're back I thought you'd surley sleep over?" Kai asked without looking up.
"Bastard"
"So, how did it go?"
"It was fine," William said while sitting on his bed. "Better than I expected, actually."
"Good. Try to keep it that way." Kai turned a page."Your life is pretty complicated as it is."
He lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.
Kai was right. His life was already plenty complicated.
But somehow, he was starting to think maybe that wasn't entirely a bad thing.
----
Chapter 53: Chapter 53
The next morning started with William heading to Combat Training earlier than usual. Valdris had sent a message the night before requesting that all students arrive fifteen minutes early for formation drills, which sounded ominous in the way most things Valdris announced tended to be.
The training ground was already half-full when William arrived. He recognized most of the faces from his regular classes, like students he had been training alongside for months but had never really talked to beyond brief exchanges during partner drills.
"Cross!" someone called out.
William turned and found Marcus Valen jogging over. The Valoris student looked significantly more awake than William felt, he had an eager expression on his face which looked like he actually enjoyed early morning training.
"I heard you made the Inter-Academy team," Marcus said while falling into step beside William. "That's impressive. I didn't even make it past Valoris preliminaries."
'This happened a long time ago buddy '
"You fought well in the house competition," William offered. "Just bad bracket luck."
"Bad bracket luck called 'everyone in Valoris being really good,'" Marcus corrected with a laugh. "Our house has the most balanced skill distribution, which means even making top five is brutal. I lost to Sara in the quarterfinals and she lost to someone else in semifinals."
They reached the main training area where other students were gathering. William spotted Sara herself talking with Elena Marsh near the equipment racks. Elena saw him looking and waved with a friendly expression on her face.
"I still can't believe you beat me in the first tournament," Elena called over. "I've been working on the weaknesses you exposed then but I doubt it would be less effective. Do you want to spar sometime this week?"
"Sure," William agreed. "I could use practice against wind affinity users."
"Deal." Elena returned her attention to Sara, who was demonstrating some kind of footwork technique.
More students filtered in over the next few minutes. Cole Rivers, the first-year William had fought during Ascendant preliminaries, arrived and immediately started warming up with practice forms. Devon Thorne appeared with a group of third-years from Luminara, all of them discussing something about essence circulation forms.
Instructor Valdris emerged from the equipment building exactly fifteen minutes before class was officially supposed to start. He and a stern expression was as severe as always, with his eyes sweeping across the gathered students with the kind of assessment that made everyone instinctively straighten their posture.
"Formation drills," Valdris announced without preamble. "You've all been training individually or in small groups. Today we will practice on coordinated group combat. Most battles don't happen one-on-one. You need to learn how to fight as units."
He started dividing students into groups of five, apparently having predetermined the compositions beforehand. William found himself grouped with Marcus, Elena, a second-year earth user named Thomas Reid, and a third-year from Arcturus named Kira Stone—not the same Kira from the Inter-Academy team, apparently there were multiple students with the same namea.
"Each group will face another group in tactical exercises," Valdris continued. "The objective is to breach the opposing group's defensive position while maintaining your own. It is similar to the Inter-Academy training exercises, but with students at varied skill levels."
William's group gathered to discuss strategy. Marcus immediately took a leadership role, which the others seemed comfortable with.
"Thomas and I can handle defensive positioning," Marcus suggested. "Earth users are good for that. Elena, you're the fastest with the wind affinity, you can handle flanking and harassment. William, you're fire affinity right? You'll cover offensive pressure. Kira..."
"Shadow manipulation," Kira supplied. "I can provide cover and disruption."
"That's perfect. We can create a strong defensive core and strike from multiple angles." Marcus looked at each of them. Is everyone comfortable with that?"
The group nodded in agreement. Their opposing group was already forming up on the other side of the training ground, they were five students William vaguely recognized from various classes but had never really interacted with.
"Begin!" Valdris called.
Marcus and Thomas immediately moved to establish defensive positions, using earth essence to create barriers around their designated zone. The technique was similar to what William had seen during Inter-Academy training, but less refined—these were regular students, not top-tier competitors.
Elena circled wide with wind-enhanced speed, trying to find an opening in the opposing group's formation. William moved forward with fire enhancement, engaging one of the enemy students directly to draw attention and create pressure.
His opponent was a third-year with water affinity who fought defensively, using water techniques to deflect William's fire-enhanced strikes. It was an effective counter in theory, but William had more essence capacity and could maintain offensive pressure longer than the water user could sustain their defense.
Kira's shadows crept across the battlefield, creating areas of darkness that obscured vision and made coordinated defense harder for the opposing group. Elena used the confusion to slip past their defensive line and make a run at their zone.
"Left side!" someone from the opposing group shouted.
Two of their members moved to intercept Elena, which left their formation weakened. Marcus saw the opening and called out, "William, pressure center!"
William shifted his attack angle, forcing his opponent to commit more essence to defense. The water user's techniques were starting to show strain from sustained use—water essence wavered and lost cohesion, creating gaps that William exploited with precise strikes.
Thomas launched an earth technique that disrupted the opposing group's footing, making their defensive positioning unstable. Elena used the opportunity to reach their zone, crossing the boundary line and holding position while the enemy scrambled to force her out.
"Ten seconds!" Valdris announced.
The opposing group tried to organize a response, but their formation had already broken down from multiple simultaneous pressures. Elena defended her position with wind techniques that kept attackers at distance, and the countdown finished before they could dislodge her.
"Match concluded," Valdris said. "Acceptable coordination from the victor group. Losing group failed to maintain formation integrity under pressure. Reset and prepare for second round."
William's group regrouped while catching their breath. Marcus was grinning, clearly satisfied with how their strategy had worked.
"That was solid," he said. "Way better than I expected for a first attempt."
"Your earth barriers gave us good foundation," Thomas pointed out. "Made it easier to coordinate when we had clear defensive structure."
They ran the exercise twice more against different opposing groups, winning once and losing once. The loss came against a group of fourth-years who had significantly more experience with coordinated combat, but even that match was closer than expected.
By the time Valdris called an end to the formation drills, everyone was breathing hard and sweating from the sustained tactical combat.
"Better than anticipated," Valdris said, which was probably the closest thing to praise any of them would get from him. "Formation combat will be incorporated into regular training moving forward. Dismissed."
Students dispersed toward the washing facilities or the dining hall. William was heading toward the main building when Marcus caught up with him again, this time accompanied by Sara and Elena.
"We're grabbing breakfast together," Sara said. "Want to join?"
William considered briefly, then agreed. He'd been eating alone or with just one other person for most of the semester. Sitting with a larger group might be a nice change.
The dining hall was crowded with the morning rush, but they managed to find a table large enough for the four of them. William grabbed his usual breakfast while the others loaded their plates with various foods.
"So how's Inter-Academy training?" Marcus asked once they'd settled. "Is it as intense as people say?"
"More intense," William admitted. "Instructor Reylan doesn't waste time on anything that isn't directly useful. Every session is focused on specific skills or tactics."
"It must be amazing training with people like Liam and Seraphina every day," Elena said. "I would kill for that kind of consistent high-level practice."
"It's helpful," William agreed. "But also exhausting. They're both operating at a level that's hard to keep up with."
"You're keeping up fine from what I heard," Sara pointed out. "You had third place in the Inter-House competition and you were selected for the team as a first-year is ridiculous. Most people don't make the team until third or fourth year."
"Or never," Marcus added cheerfully. "Like me, probably."
"You could make it next year," Elena told him. "You just need to work on your defensive fundamentals. You commit too hard to offense and leave yourself open."
"Says the person who literally uses wind affinity to avoid getting hit instead of blocking properly."
"That's called strategy, not poor fundamentals."
They continued their good-natured bickering while William ate and listened. It was surprisingly comfortable, sitting with people who had no complicated history or romantic tension or curse-related complications. Just normal academy students talking about training and classes like normal people.
Sara turned her attention to William. "I saw you at the garden yesterday with Claire. That looked... romantic?"
William nearly choked on his food. Marcus and Elena immediately leaned in with obvious interest.
"We were just hanging out," William said once he'd recovered.
"You were on a date," Sara corrected. "I know what a date looks like, and that was definitely a date."
"How would you know what a date looks like?" Marcus challenged. "When have you ever been on one?"
"I've been on dates!" Sara protested. "Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they didn't happen."
"Name one person you've dated."
"I don't have to prove anything to you!"
Elena laughed at their argument, then turned back to William. "Ignore them. But seriously, you and Claire? I didn't know you two were close."
"We're not... I mean, we are, but it's complicated." William tried to figure out how to explain without actually explaining anything. "We've been training together recently and just decided to spend time outside of that."
"That's called dating," Sara said matter-of-factly.
"Can we talk about literally anything else?" William asked.
Fortunately, Marcus took pity on him and changed the subject to the upcoming midterm exams, which everyone had been studiously avoiding thinking about. The conversation shifted to complaints about Professor Ashcroft's tendency to include obscure theory questions and speculation about what Combat Training's practical exam would involve.
They talked through breakfast, the conversation flowing easily between different topics—training observations, gossip about various students, complaints about specific instructors, and general academy life discussion. It was the kind of normal social interaction William had been missing without realizing it.
After breakfast, they headed to Magical Theory together. The classroom was already half-full with students reviewing notes or discussing the previous lecture's material. William took his usual seat and found Lyanna sitting a few rows ahead as always.
She turned and noticed him, offering a slight nod in greeting before returning to her notes. Their interaction during Inter-Academy training had been professional but distant since their match. William suspected she was still processing whatever she'd concluded from her research into the "medical condition" she thought explained the situations with Seraphina and Claire.
Professor Ashcroft entered precisely on time and began his lecture on advanced essence manipulation theory. William took notes while half-listening, his attention drifting between the lecture content and observing other students.
Cole Rivers sat near the front, writing notes with intense focus that suggested he was actually trying to understand every single word. Devon Thorne was two rows back, occasionally raising his hand to ask clarification questions that were actually helpful rather than showing off.
A girl William didn't recognize sat near the window, her attention clearly elsewhere despite her open notebook. She had distinctive red hair pulled into a braid and kept glancing outside like she'd rather be anywhere except in this lecture hall.
"Miss Ashford," Professor Ashcroft said suddenly. "Perhaps you could explain the principle of essence resonance to the class, since you seem so disinterested in my explanation."
The red-haired girl startled and looked up. "Um. Essence resonance is when... two affinities interact and amplify each other?"
"Oversimplified but fundamentally correct." Professor Ashcroft didn't look particularly satisfied with the answer. "Pay attention. This will be on the midterm."
The girl—apparently another Ashford, though William didn't know if she was related to Mira—returned her focus to the lecture with visible effort.
The class continued for another hour before Professor Ashcroft dismissed them with a reminder about the upcoming exam and several reading assignments that would definitely be referenced in test questions.
Students filed out into the hallway, most heading toward their next classes or cultivation practice. William was making his way toward the cultivation halls when someone called his name.
"William! Wait up!"
He turned and found Cole jogging to catch up, his bag bouncing against his shoulder.
"Hey," Cole said once he'd reached William. "I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to help me with something."
"What kind of something?"
"Fire affinity techniques." Cole looked slightly embarrassed. "I know you're busy with Inter-Academy training, but I've been struggling with maintaining consistent enhancement during extended combat. You made it look easy during our match and I thought... maybe you could give me some pointers?"
William considered it. He didn't have any specific obligations this afternoon aside from Inter-Academy training later, and helping Cole seemed harmless enough.
"Sure," William agreed. "I have some free time before team training. We could work on it now if you want."
Cole's face lit up. "Really? That would be great!"
They headed to one of the smaller practice grounds that was usually less crowded during afternoon hours. The area was empty except for one student practicing forms in the far corner who didn't pay them any attention.
"Show me your current technique," William said.
Cole drew his practice sword and channeled fire essence into the blade. Flames appeared along the edge, flickering and somewhat unstable. He held it for about thirty seconds before the enhancement wavered and faded.
"See?" Cole said, frustrated. "I can't maintain it consistently. It either burns too hot and drains my essence too fast, or it's too weak to be effective."
"You're trying to force the flames instead of letting them flow naturally," William observed. "Fire essence wants to burn. You're fighting against that instead of working with it."
He demonstrated with his own sword, channeling fire essence in a smooth flow that created stable flames along the blade. "Don't think of it as creating fire. Think of it as giving your essence permission to express its natural form. Guide it, don't control it."
Cole tried again, and this time the flames were slightly more stable. Still flickering more than they should, but better than before.
They spent the next hour working on technique refinement. William showed Cole how to smooth out his essence flow, how to maintain consistent output without wasting energy, and how to transition between enhanced and normal strikes without losing rhythm.
"This is way more helpful than I expected," Cole said during a water break. "Most upperclassmen just tell you to practice more without actually explaining what you're doing wrong."
"I had good teachers," William said, thinking of Liam's patient sparring sessions and Master Erian's technical guidance. "They taught me to understand the why, not just the how."
They practiced until William had to leave for Inter-Academy training. Cole's fire enhancement was noticeably more stable by the end, though he'd need a lot more practice before it became truly reliable.
"Thanks again," Cole said as they were packing up. "Really. This helped a lot."
"No problem. If you want to practice more later this week, just let me know."
William headed toward the eastern training facility with his mind in a better space than it had been lately. The morning had been surprisingly normal—training with classmates, eating breakfast with friends, helping someone with cultivation techniques. No romantic complications, no curse activations, no mysterious stalkers or cryptic warnings.
Just regular academy life.
It was nice while it lasted.
The Inter-Academy training session started normally enough, with Instructor Reylan having them review the opponent profiles from yesterday and discuss tactical approaches. But halfway through the session, Reylan made an announcement that immediately complicated things.
"Next week we begin intensive paired training," he said. "You'll be assigned partners based on complementary skills and areas needing improvement. These partnerships will be maintained for the remaining training period."
He distributed a list with the pairings:
- Liam Hemsworth & Seraphina Ashenheart
- William Cross & Claire Hivolt
- Lyanna Stormweaver & Adrian Thorne
- Patricia Crane & Devon Marsh
- Marcus Reid & Kira Stone
William stared at his assigned partner and felt the comfortable normalcy of his morning disappear completely.
Of course he was paired with Claire. Of course the universe—or Instructor Reylan—had decided that spending intensive one-on-one training time with someone he'd just gone on a date with was a great idea.
Claire caught his eye from across the training area and offered a small, uncertain smile.
This was going to be interesting.
At least the morning had been normal while it lasted.
----
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Chapter 54: Chapter 54
The next afternoon William found himself heading to the dining hall earlier than usual. The Inter-Academy training session had ended sooner than expected after Instructor Reylan received an urgent summons from the Headmistress, leaving the team members with some unexpected free time.
William grabbed his tray and loaded it with roasted vegetables, seasoned rice, and some kind of fish that actually smelled decent for once. The dining hall was moderately crowded with students taking advantage of the time between afternoon classes and evening cultivation practice.
He spotted Marcus, Sara, and Elena already seated at their usual table near the windows and made his way over.
"You're early," Sara observed as William sat down. "Reylan let you out?"
"He had an emergency faculty meeting or something," William said while starting on his food. "We got dismissed halfway through."
"You're lucky," Marcus said stuffing his mouth with bread. "I had to sit through two hours of Professor Ashcroft explaining essence theory so complicated I'm pretty sure he made half of it up."
"He didn't make it up," Elena protested. "You just weren't paying attention."
"I was paying attention. My brain just rejected the information as unnecessarily complex."
They settled into an easy conversation while eating, discussing the upcoming midterms and complaining about various assignments. The food was better than usual today, the fish was actually well-cooked and the vegetables had decent seasoning instead of the bland preparation that usually characterized dining hall meals.
William was halfway through his plate when a commotion from across the dining hall caught everyone's attention. Raised voices, then the unmistakable sound of a chair scraping back loudly against the floor.
"Oh no," Sara said, her eyes going wide. "Is that—"
"Aaron Winters," Marcus confirmed, craning his neck to see better. "And he's got flowers. This is going to be painful to watch."
William looked over and saw a third-year student standing next to a table where a second-year girl sat with her friends. The boy who the group called Aaron, was holding a bouquet of flowers and looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. His face was red and his hands were shaking slightly.
"Please," Aaron said loudly enough that half the dining hall could hear. "Just give me a chance. I know I messed up before, but I've changed. I'm different now."
The girl, a blonde with a distinctly unimpressed expression, crossed her arms. "Aaron, I told you three weeks ago that I wasn't interested. I told you two weeks ago to stop following me to classes. I told you last week that if you didn't leave me alone I would report you to faculty. What part of 'no' is unclear?"
"But I got you flowers," Aaron said desperately, like that somehow changed the situation.
"I don't want your flowers. I want you to leave me alone."
The entire dining hall had gone quiet now, everyone watching the scene unfold with varying degrees of fascination and secondhand embarrassment. William could see students at nearby tables leaning closer to hear better, while others were deliberately looking away like they couldn't bear to witness this.
"This is so awkward," Elena whispered. "Someone should stop him."
"It's too late for that," Marcus said. "He is already committed, no backing out from this situation."
Aaron seemed to realize he had an audience and it only made things worse. His face went from red to nearly purple, but he pressed on with the desperate energy of someone who'd already decided this was his only chance.
"I know you think I'm just some guy who won't take no for an answer," Aaron said, his voice cracking slightly. "But I genuinely care about you. I think about you all the time. I've written you seventeen letters—"
"Which I never read because you leaving them in my room without permission is creepy," the girl interrupted.
"—and I just want one date. One chance to show you that I'm worth your time."
"Aaron." The girl stood up, and her tone shifted from annoyed to genuinely angry. "I don't owe you a chance. I don't owe you my time. I don't owe you anything. The fact that you 'care about me' doesn't mean I have to care about you back. And honestly? This entire display is exactly why I'm not interested. You don't actually care about what I want. You just care about getting what you want."
She grabbed her tray and walked away, her friends quickly following. Aaron stood there holding his flowers, looking like someone had punched him in the stomach.
The dining hall stayed silent for approximately three seconds before whispered conversations exploded across every table. Students were immediately discussing what they had just witnessed, some sympathetic to Aaron and others firmly on the girl's side.
"Oof," Sara said quietly. "That was painful."
"He deserved it," Elena said firmly. "She told him no multiple times but he kept pushing the matter. You can't harass someone into liking you."
"I mean, yeah, but still," Marcus said. "Public rejection like that has to hurt."
"Maybe it'll finally get through to him that she's serious about not being interested," Sara pointed out.
William watched Aaron gather his flowers and leave the dining hall with his shoulders hunched, clearly devastated. The conversations around them continued, everyone having opinions about what had just happened.
"Okay but seriously," Marcus said, turning his attention back to their table. "What makes someone think a public confession is a good idea? Like, what's the success rate on those? Five percent?"
"Probably lower," Sara said. "Most people don't want that kind of pressure in front of an audience."
"Some people think it's romantic," Elena offered. "The grand gesture thing. Proving you're willing to put yourself out there publicly."
"It's only romantic if the person actually likes you back," Sara countered. "Otherwise it's just uncomfortable for everyone involved."
"True." Marcus stabbed at his vegetables thoughtfully. "I could never do something like that. That's way too much risk of public humiliation."
"You couldn't do it because you're terrified of talking to girls you actually like," Sara said with a grin.
Marcus pointed his fork at her accusingly. "That's different. I'm strategically waiting for the right moment."
"You've been strategically waiting for six months."
"Rome wasn't built in a day."
"Rome also didn't collapse because someone was too scared to ask a girl if she wanted to study together."
William listened to them bicker while finishing his food, finding the whole exchange entertaining in a way that didn't involve him directly for once. It was nice being on the observer side of romantic complications instead of being in the middle of them.
"What about you, William?" Sara asked suddenly. "What do you think about public confessions?"
"I think they're a terrible idea," William said honestly. "It puts too much pressure on both people involved."
"See?" Elena said to Marcus. "Even William agrees."
"William also went on a date with Claire like two days ago," Marcus pointed out. "So clearly he's got some idea how to approach this stuff without making it weird."
"That's different," William said. "That wasn't a public confession. That was just... asking if someone wanted to hang out."
"And then it turned into a date," Sara added helpfully.
"Can we please talk about literally anything else?" William asked.
"No," all three of them said in unison.
William sighed.
"But seriously though," Marcus continued, clearly not done with this topic. "How do you even know when someone likes you? Like, what are the signs?"
"They talk to you," Sara said like it was obvious. "They make excuses to spend time with you. They laugh at your terrible jokes even when they're not funny."
"Those could all just mean they're being nice."
"Or they actually tell you," Elena suggested. "Revolutionary concept, I know."
"Nobody actually does that though," Marcus protested. "Everyone just hints and expects you to figure it out and then gets mad when you don't notice."
"That's because direct confession is terrifying," Sara said. "What if they say no? Then everything gets awkward and you can't take it back."
"So instead you just suffer in silence and hope they magically figure out you like them?"
"Basically, yes."
William could relate to that more than he wanted to admit. Though in his case, the girls were apparently confessing and he was the one being completely oblivious to their feelings until they spelled it out explicitly.
"This is why I don't date," Marcus declared. "It's tio complicated and creates too much room for misunderstanding."
"You don't date because you're scared," Sara corrected.
"You mean strategically cautious."
"Cowardly."
"Prudent."
Elena laughed and turned to William. "You're lucky you don't have to deal with this kind of confusion. Claire was pretty direct about her interest from what I saw."
William thought about Seraphina's drunken confession, Claire's nervous question about being free, and the general chaos that had characterized most of his romantic interactions since arriving at the academy.
"Yeah," he said dryly. "Super straightforward. No confusion at all."
Another commotion from across the dining hall interrupted their conversation. This time it was two students having what looked like a very intense whispered argument near the food service area. A girl was gesturing emphatically while a boy stood there looking defensive.
"Is that Kira Stone?" Marcus asked, squinting at the pair.
"Different Kira," Sara said. "That's Kira Winters. Third-year from Arcturus."
"Why are there so many people named Kira at this academy?"
"Why are there three different Marcus's in our combat training class?" Elena shot back.
They watched as the argument escalated slightly, the girl's whispers getting progressively louder until she was practically hissing at the boy. He said something back that made her throw her hands up in exasperation before storming off, leaving him standing there looking confused and frustrated.
"Relationship drama everywhere today," Sara observed. "Must be something in the water."
"Or people are stressed about midterms and taking it out on their romantic situations," Elena suggested.
"That's... actually probably accurate," Marcus admitted.
The dining hall slowly returned to its normal noise level as various dramas resolved themselves and people went back to eating. William finished his meal while his tablemates continued discussing the various relationship catastrophes they'd witnessed.
"The worst one I ever saw," Sara said, "was last year when this fourth-year tried to confess to someone during the tournament finals. Like, in the middle of the arena with everyone watching. The girl was so shocked she just stood there for like thirty seconds before saying no and walking away."
"That's terrible," Elena said, wincing.
"It gets worse. He tried to follow her out of the arena to explain himself and tripped over his own feet in front of the entire crowd."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. It was the most secondhand embarrassment I've ever experienced in my life."
They continued trading stories about terrible confessions and awkward relationship moments they'd witnessed around campus. William contributed occasionally when asked directly but mostly just listened, finding the whole conversation strangely relaxing despite the topic.
"You're being quiet," Marcus observed after a while. "Usually you at least pretend to participate in conversations."
"I'm just listening," William said. "This is actually kind of entertaining."
"Our romantic suffering entertains you?" Sara asked with mock offense.
"Your commentary on other people's romantic suffering entertains me," William corrected.
"Fair distinction."
They finished eating and cleared their trays, then lingered near the dining hall entrance for a while longer just talking. The sun was starting to set outside, casting orange light through the windows and creating long shadows across the floor.
More students filtered in for dinner, and William's group eventually dispersed—Marcus heading to the library for studying, Sara to combat practice, and Elena to meet with her study group. William found himself alone near the courtyard fountain, enjoying the quiet evening air.
"William?"
He turned and found Cole approaching with his practice sword slung over his shoulder.
"Hey," William greeted. "Heading to practice?"
"I just finished," Cole said. "I wanted to thank you again for helping with fire techniques yesterday. I've been practicing what you showed me and it's already making a difference."
"Good. Just keep working on the flow instead of forcing it. That's the key."
"Will do." Cole hesitated, then added, "Can I ask you something? It's kind of... personal."
"Sure."
"How do you know if someone is interested in you? Like, romantically?"
'What's going on today?'
William stared at him. "Why are you asking me?"
"Because you seem like you have your life figured out," Cole said earnestly. "You're on the Inter-Academy team, you're dating Claire apparently, people respect you. I figured you'd know."
'Who's spreading these lies?'
"I absolutely do not have my life figured out," William said flatly. "And I'm the worst person to ask about recognizing romantic interest."
"Really? But you and Claire—"
"Claire literally had to ask me on a date before I realized she might be interested," William admitted. "I'm completely oblivious to these things."
Cole looked relieved rather than disappointed. "Oh thank god. I thought I was the only one who couldn't read signals."
"Definitely not."
They stood there for a moment in shared confusion about romance before Cole laughed.
"This makes me feel better about my own situation," Cole said. "There's this girl who keeps showing up at my practice sessions and I have no idea if she's just being friendly or if there's more to it."
"Have you tried asking her?"
"That seems terrifying."
"It is terrifying," William confirmed. "But apparently it's less terrifying than spending months being confused and stressed about it."
"That's... actually good advice." Cole adjusted his sword strap. "Maybe I'll try that. Thanks."
He headed off toward the dormitories, leaving William standing alone by the fountain again. The irony of giving relationship advice when his own situation was a complicated mess wasn't lost on him, but at least Cole seemed to find it helpful.
The evening air was getting cooler now, and William decided to head back to his room before it got completely dark. He walked the familiar path through campus, passing groups of students heading various directions for evening activities.
When he reached his dormitory, he found Kai already there, reading at his desk as usual.
"How was your day?" Kai asked without looking up.
"Surprisingly normal," William said while dropping onto his bed.
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Chapter 55: Chapter 55
The sun was already up when William opened his eyes, bright light pouring through the window and hitting him right in the face. He groaned and turned over, burying his face in the pillow.
"Ugh, seriously?" he muttered, trying to block out the light.
"You planning to sleep all day?" Kai's voice came from across the room.
William cracked one eye open and saw his roommate already dressed and organizing some equipment on his desk. Actual combat equipment this time, not books.
"What time is it?" William asked, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"Early enough that we need to leave soon if we're meeting Liam on time."
Right. The mysterious thing Liam wanted help with. William still had no idea what it actually was since Liam had been frustratingly vague about the whole situation.
William dragged himself out of bed and stretched, his back popping from sleeping in a weird position. He grabbed the first clean shirt he could find and started getting dressed properly.
"Do you even know what this is about?" William asked while strapping his sword to his belt.
"I'm supposed to be asking you that." Kai secured a pack to his back. "Bring your sword and probably some basic supplies. Food, water, that kind of thing."
That didn't sound promising. William grabbed his own pack and started loading it with the essentials—water flask, some dried food from his stash, the medical kit Sara had given him weeks ago that he had never actually used.
"Ready?" Kai asked, already waiting by the door.
"Yeah, let's go."
They left the dormitory and headed across campus. The grounds were quieter than usual for a Saturday morning, most students still asleep or just starting their day. The few people they passed looked half-awake, shuffling toward the dining hall or wandering around aimlessly.
The main gate came into view and William spotted Liam already there, leaning against the stone archway with his own pack and sword. He looked like he had been waiting for a while.
"You came," Liam said, pushing off the wall with a relieved expression. "I wasn't completely sure you would."
"You asked," William said. "So what's this actually about? You were pretty vague in your message."
Liam glanced around like he was checking if anyone was close enough to hear. "Let's walk first. I'll explain once we're off campus."
They passed through the main gate and headed down the road leading away from the academy. The morning air was cool and fresh, the kind of temperature that would probably get warmer as the day went on.
"So," William said after they'd walked in silence for a few minutes. "Are you going to tell us what we're doing or is this going to stay mysterious all day?"
Liam grinned slightly at that. "Alright, alright. So you know how the academy has those special training permits for advanced students? The ones that let you access controlled dungeon sites for practical experience?"
"Yeah," William said. He had heard about them but never really looked into getting one himself. Dungeons were dangerous and most students didn't bother with them until third or fourth year.
"Well, I got permission to access one of the nearby dungeons this weekend," Liam continued. "It's a low-level site and it's not too dangerous, but it's still good for practical combat training and essence beast experience. The problem is the permit requires a minimum group size of four people for safety reasons."
"And you're at three right now," Kai observed.
"Exactly. I asked Adrian first but he's busy with family obligations this weekend. Patricia had midterm prep she couldn't skip. Devon's sick with some essence pathway issue." Liam shrugged. "Everyone I asked was either busy or not interested in dungeon exploration."
"So we're the backup plan," William said.
"More like the solution to my permit problem," Liam corrected. "But yeah, I know it's last minute. If you're not interested I can try to find someone else, though that'll probably mean postponing until next weekend and—"
"We're already here," William interrupted. "Might as well see it through. What kind of dungeon is it?"
Liam's expression brightened. "It's called the Verdant Hollow. It's a natural dungeon formation that appeared about twenty years ago in the forest west of the academy. The entrance is stable and the interior is mapped, so it's approved for student training. Mostly plant-based essence beasts and some minor environmental hazards."
"Plant-based doesn't sound too threatening," William said.
"Don't underestimate them," Liam warned. "Plant-type beasts can be just as dangerous as animal types. They're usually slower but they make up for it with poison, environmental control, and ambush tactics."
They continued down the main road for about thirty minutes before Liam took them onto a smaller side path that led into the forest. The trees grew thicker here, the maintained road giving way to a dirt trail that looked like it saw regular use but wasn't officially maintained.
"The dungeon entrance is about an hour from here," Liam explained while navigating around a fallen log. "The academy keeps the path clear enough for student access but they don't advertise it too much. Don't want first-years wandering in without supervision."
William could understand that. Dungeons were fundamentally different from normal combat training. The essence beasts inside respawned, the environment could shift unpredictably, and the concentrated essence made everything more dangerous than surface encounters.
They walked through the forest for a while, the morning sun filtering through the canopy above and creating scattered patches of light on the trail. Birds called from the trees and smaller animals rustled through the undergrowth, normal forest sounds that were actually kind of peaceful.
"So what's the fourth person situation?" Kai asked. "You said we needed four minimum. We're still at three."
"I sent a message to someone yesterday asking if they wanted to join," Liam said. "She said yes, so she should be meeting us at the dungeon entrance. I gave her directions and told her to be there by mid-morning."
"She?" William asked.
"Yeah, another academy student. Third-year from House Luminara." Liam ducked under a low branch. "Her name's Astrid Valere. She's done dungeon runs before so she knows what to expect."
William didn't recognize the name, which wasn't surprising given how many students attended the academy. But if she was a third-year with dungeon experience, she was probably competent enough to not be a liability.
They continued hiking through the forest, the trail becoming progressively less defined as they went deeper. The trees grew larger here, their trunks thick and ancient-looking, their canopy so dense that the ground below stayed in perpetual shade.
"The essence concentration is higher here," Kai observed, touching a tree trunk that showed faint crystalline patterns in its bark.
"We're getting close to the dungeon," Liam explained. "Dungeons leak essence into the surrounding environment. That's why the forest near dungeon entrances always looks different from normal areas."
William noticed what Liam meant. The plants around them were more vibrant and their colors looked more saturated. Flowers bloomed in the undergrowth despite it being past their normal season, and moss covered everything with an almost luminescent green.
After another twenty minutes of walking, the trail opened up into a small clearing. And standing in the center of the clearing, next to what looked like a large cave entrance built into a rocky hillside, were three people.
Two girls and one guy, all of them wearing academy uniforms and carrying weapons and packs. They looked up when Liam's group entered the clearing.
"Liam!" one of the girls called out, waving. She was tall with dark red hair pulled into a high ponytail and an energetic expression. "You actually made it! We were starting to wonder if you'd gotten lost."
"Sorry we're late," Liam said while approaching the group. "The trail took longer than I expected."
The red-haired girl turned her attention to William and Kai, her expression curious. "And you brought friends! Hi, I'm Astrid Valere. Third-year, House Luminara."
So that was the person Liam had invited. William examined her more carefully—she looked athletic and carried herself with the confidence of someone used to combat situations. Her sword was well-maintained and her equipment looked practical rather than decorative.
"William Cross," William introduced himself. "First-year, House Ascendant."
"Kai Wraith," Kai added. "Also first-year, Ascendant."
"First-years?" The guy in Astrid's group raised an eyebrow. He was stocky with short brown hair and a skeptical expression. "Liam, you brought first-years to a dungeon run?"
"William's on the Inter-Academy team," Liam said calmly. "And Kai's competent. They'll be fine."
The guy didn't look entirely convinced but didn't argue further.
"I'm Billy Brone, by the way," he said. "Third-year, House Arcturus. And this is Elena Rave."
He gestured to the second girl in their group. She was shorter than Astrid with light blonde hair and a quieter demeanor. She offered a polite nod but didn't say anything.
"Second-year, House Valoris," Elena added when it became clear she needed to introduce herself.
William looked at the three of them and felt something off. He didn't recognize any of these people from the novel. Not their names, not their faces, nothing. They had to be background characters, the kind that existed in the world but weren't important enough for the original story to focus on.
"Wait," Astrid said, looking at Liam with confusion. "I thought you said this was going to be a four-person run? There's six of us now."
"Is that a problem?" Liam asked.
"Not really? I mean, more people makes it safer I guess. I just wasn't expecting to meet up with Marcus and Elena here." Astrid looked at the other two. "What are you guys doing here anyway?"
"Same thing you are, apparently," Marcus said. "Elena wanted dungeon experience and I offered to take her. We got our permit approved yesterday and were told to come here this morning."
"So we've got two separate groups with permits for the same dungeon on the same day," Astrid said, looking amused. "What are the odds?"
"The academy probably scheduled multiple groups to make good use of the dungeon access," Kai suggested. "It's a controlled site, so they can monitor multiple teams at once."
"That makes sense." Astrid turned to look at the cave entrance behind her. "Well, since we're all here anyway, want to just team up? Six people is better than two groups of three, and the dungeon's big enough that we won't be getting in each other's way."
Liam looked at William and Kai. "You two okay with that?"
William shrugged. "Fine with me."
"Same," Kai said.
"Alright then," Liam said, turning back to Astrid. "We're teaming up. You've done this dungeon before, right? Want to take point on explaining what to expect?"
"Sure!" Astrid's enthusiasm was almost infectious. She gestured everyone to gather around while she pulled out a hand-drawn map from her pack.
"Okay, so the Verdant Hollow is what we call a stable natural dungeon. It formed naturally about twenty years ago and hasn't shown any signs of instability since. The interior is divided into three main sections or 'floors' if you want to think of it like that."
She pointed at the map, which showed a rough layout of interconnected chambers and passages.
"The first floor is mostly basic plant-type essence beasts. Vine Crawlers, Thorn Sprouts, that kind of thing. Nothing too dangerous if you're careful. The second floor has stronger variants and some minor environmental hazards—poison spores, unstable ground, that sort of thing. The third floor is the deep section with the dungeon core and the strongest beasts."
"Are we going to the third floor?" Elena asked, her voice quiet.
"Probably not," Astrid said. "That area requires special permission and a faculty supervisor. We'll stick to the first two floors, clear out some beasts, gather whatever essence materials we find, and be back out before evening."
"Sounds straightforward," Marcus said.
"It should be. The main things to watch out for are poison effects and ambush attacks. Plant beasts like to hide and strike when you're distracted. Stay alert, work together, and we'll be fine."
She folded the map and put it away, then turned to look at the cave entrance. The opening was large enough to walk through comfortably, but the interior was dark and the air coming from inside carried a strange earthy smell mixed with something sweet.
"Everyone ready?" Astrid asked, her hand moving to her sword.
The group murmured agreement, checking their weapons and equipment one last time.
"Then let's go," Astrid said, and walked toward the dungeon entrance.
William followed with the others, stepping from the bright forest clearing into the dark cave mouth. The temperature dropped immediately, the air becoming cooler and heavier with essence. The walls of the cave glowed faintly with some kind of bioluminescent moss, providing just enough light to see by.
The passage sloped downward, leading deeper into the earth. William could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance and the faint rustling of movement that could have been wind or could have been something else entirely.
"Stay close," Liam said quietly. "Don't wander off. If something attacks, call it out immediately."
They descended into the Verdant Hollow, leaving the surface world behind and entering the strange, dangerous realm of the dungeon.
William gripped his sword and kept his senses alert.
This was going to be interesting.
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