A Meeting of Interests – Part 2
The academy buzzed with excitement, students swarming the main hall, their voices overlapping in anticipation.
"It's official! The tournament is happening in one month!"
"They said registration started this morning. Even upperclassmen are joining!"
Near the central notice board, students huddled together, debating rankings, strategies, and matchups.
Elyreina and Lyrian walked past the commotion having left Marlowe office, though Elyreina's gaze lingered on the notices. She turned to Lyrian. "Are you going to enter?"
Lyrian barely spared the board a glance. "I don't know. Not interested."
Elyreina raised an eyebrow. "Not interested? Everyone's talking about it."
"Exactly," he muttered. "Which means it'll be chaos."
She studied his face. "So you're just going to sit back and watch?"
"For now."
Her lips curled into a smirk. "We'll see."
They continued walking, leaving behind the whirlwind of excitement.
For now, Lyrian had no plans to participate.
For now.
Inside the office, Instructor Varos remained seated, watching the closed door after Lyrian and Elyreina left.
His fingers tapped idly against the wooden desk.
He had seen that boy before.
At first, Lyrian had been just another student—one of many. But Varos had noticed him training alone, pushing himself past exhaustion. At the time, it had seemed like determination, nothing more.
Now?
After seeing him up close, after sensing something unrefined but potent—Varos wasn't so sure.
He glanced at Marlowe.
"He's interesting," he finally said.
Marlowe exhaled, rubbing his temples. "That's one way to put it."
Varos didn't push, but something in his expression hardened.
I'll be keeping an eye on him.
Later that evening, Lyrian returned to his dorm, expecting to settle in for the night—until a message arrived.
Professor Marlowe wanted to see him.
Curious, he made his way back to the office. When he arrived, Marlowe didn't waste time.
He placed a simple pendant on the desk.
"The academy issues these to all students," Marlowe explained. "Yours was set aside when you first arrived. Since you… weren't exactly available, you never received it."
Lyrian picked it up.
The pendant was nothing special—a smooth metallic surface, identical to the ones worn by other students. But as soon as his fingers brushed against it—
A faint screen flickered to life before his eyes.
Name: Lyrian
Age: 16
Rank: Adept
Level: I
MP points : 800
Ability: Evernight Ember ,???.
His brows furrowed slightly.
???
The words beside Evernight Ember were incomplete—glitching, as if something was missing.
He stared at it for a moment, waiting for it to correct itself.
It didn't.
Was this normal?
After a moment, he shrugged, closing the screen. It wasn't like he cared about the pendant much anyway.
Out of curiosity, he glanced at Marlowe. "You don't wear one?"
Marlowe let out a low chuckle. "Those are for young lads like you." He leaned back in his chair. "It reaches a point where these things stop being useful. Won't be able to measure anything properly—just useless, you know?" He tapped the desk. "But for now, it should be enough."
Lyrian hummed in response, still feeling the weight of the pendant in his palm.
A tournament was coming. The academy was shifting.
Things were about to get interesting.