The halls to Class A were too quiet.
Not just silent void.
No footsteps but their own. No overhead announcements. No distant clang of weapons or spellwork echoing from the training sectors. Just charred stone and debris underfoot. Heat-warped panels still gave off faint chemical smells, and everything else from the ceilings to the floor grates was stained in three colours
The deeper they went, the more it felt like a different building.
No blood. No bodies. Just... emptiness.
Kai walked ahead.
Not by anyone's vote. Not by trust.
But because the crown above his head hadn't stopped glowing. The thin band of light hovered above him like a tethered signal its core pointing down the center of the ruined corridor, the edges pulsing in slow, deliberate beats. No one asked him to lead.
No one tried to stop him, either.
Marlon followed at a short distance, his sword unsheathed but held low. Not hostile. Just prepared.
