The journey back to Arcadia Academy carried on quietly through the vast open sky.
The wind rushed past them in steady currents as Seraphina’s water serpent glided smoothly through the air, its long, shimring body cutting through the clouds with an effortless grace that made the travel feel almost serene compared to the chaos they had left behind.
Hours passed like this.
The sun slowly drifted across the sky, climbing high above them before beginning its slow descent toward the horizon. The warmth of the afternoon gradually softened into the golden glow of evening as the world below them shifted from bright daylight into the gentler colors of dusk.
From ti to ti Luca glanced toward the other beasts flying alongside them.
Kyle’s gryphon soared confidently ahead, occasionally letting out proud screeches that echoed faintly across the sky. Aiden’s Pegasus moved with elegant precision, its radiant wings catching the fading sunlight like strands of gold. Selena’s Ice Phoenix trailed slightly behind the group, leaving faint traces of frost in the air.
Despite their differences, the group moved together in quiet formation.
Eventually, as the sun dipped lower into the evening sky, sothing began to appear on the distant horizon.
At first it was only a faint outline.
A silhouette.
Then slowly—
The towering structures of Arcadia Academy erged against the golden sky.
The massive stone towers rose proudly above the surrounding lands, their ancient walls glowing faintly in the sunset as the sprawling campus stretched out beneath them like a city of knowledge and power.
From this distance, the academy looked almost peaceful.
A place untouched by the chaos they had endured during the past weeks.
Seraphina was the first to speak.
She did not turn around.
Her eyes remained fixed on the distant academy as she addressed Luca behind her.
"Now that you’re returning to the academy," she said calmly, her voice carrying easily over the rushing wind, "try to control yourself a little."
There was a slight pause.
"And don’t cause any major trouble anyti soon."
Luca blinked in mild disbelief.
Then he leaned back slightly, folding his arms as he responded with the tone of soone unfairly accused.
"I don’t cause trouble, professor," he said with exaggerated innocence. "It just seems like trouble finds first."
Seraphina slowly turned her head just enough to give him a sidelong glance.
Her expression remained completely unimpressed.
"If you swing an axe into your own leg," she replied dryly, "or if your leg walks into an axe... the result is still the sa."
Luca’s lips twitched slightly at the comparison.
He sighed quietly and looked ahead again toward the academy.
"...It’s only been two months," he muttered softly, more to himself than anyone else.
His gaze lingered on the towering buildings growing larger in the distance.
"But sohow it feels like two years since the last ti I returned here."
Seraphina fell silent for a mont after hearing that.
Then she seed to consider his words carefully.
"Well," she said thoughtfully after a brief pause, "that’s not entirely surprising."
She gestured faintly toward the horizon ahead of them.
"You’ve experienced more in these past two months than most people do in an entire lifeti."
Her voice carried a quiet seriousness now.
"First there was the destruction of the Elven Forest."
"Then the events surrounding the Forgeheart Crucible in the Dwarven Lands."
"And after that..."
She let out a small breath.
"...this entire incident involving the Saintess and the Holy Kingdom."
Seraphina shook her head slightly.
"Any one of those events alone would be considered a defining mont in soone’s life."
Her tone softened.
"But you managed to experience all of them within a matter of weeks."
Luca listened quietly.
He did not argue.
Because he knew she was right.
Seraphina continued.
"That’s why," she said gently, "I hope you’ll take so ti to slow down when we return."
Her eyes briefly shifted toward him.
"Even if you look perfectly fine on the outside..."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"...the ntal exhaustion from everything you’ve gone through must be weighing heavily on you."
Luca did not respond.
He simply looked at her.
And remained silent.
Luca’s silence lingered for only a mont before it broke into a quiet, easy chuckle.
He rubbed the back of his neck slightly, the tension that had filled the previous weeks finally loosening from his shoulders as he nodded.
"I will do as you say... professor."
Seraphina did not reply imdiately, though the faintest hint of approval flickered across her otherwise composed expression.
By then the vast grounds of Arcadia Academy had already drawn close beneath them.
The water serpent descended smoothly through the evening air, its long shimring body curling gracefully as it lowered itself toward the wide stone courtyard that served as one of the academy’s landing fields for summoned beasts and aerial arrivals.
As the creature touched the ground, its body rippled like liquid under moonlight.
Luca shifted slightly before jumping down from the serpent’s back, landing lightly on the familiar stone pavent. The mont his feet touched the ground he instinctively stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders, working the stiffness out of his back as the fatigue of the long flight finally caught up to his muscles.
Seraphina followed a second later, stepping down with the effortless composure of soone who had perford the sa motion countless tis before.
With a small snap of her fingers, the enormous water serpent dissolved instantly into a swirling stream of mana before vanishing into her beast space.
The courtyard grew quiet again.
Luca exhaled softly as he lifted his gaze toward the towering structures of Arcadia Academy that surrounded them.
The tall stone spires.
The long corridors connecting the training halls.
The enormous central tower rising proudly against the fading evening sky.
For a mont he simply stood there, looking at it all.
Familiar.
Comforting.
Ho.
Soon the beating of powerful wings cut through the quiet air again as the other beasts descended one by one.
Kyle’s gryphon landed first, its massive claws scraping lightly against the stone as it folded its wings with a proud snort.
Aiden’s Pegasus followed, touching down with graceful precision as its radiant wings slowly settled against its body.
Monts later Selena’s Ice Phoenix swept down beside them, a faint chill spreading across the courtyard as frost-like particles shimred briefly in the air before fading away.
One by one, Luca’s friends stepped down from their respective beasts.
Kyle stretched dramatically, groaning as though he had just survived so exhausting expedition rather than a flight.
Aiden quietly dismissed his Pegasus, the creature dissolving into golden light.
Selena did the sa with her Ice Phoenix, which vanished into a swirl of frost and shimring particles.
Sylthara jumped down last.
She had been riding behind Selena during the flight, and as she landed lightly on the ground beside them, the silver-haired elf brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face while looking around the academy grounds with quiet curiosity.
Luca’s eyes drifted toward her.
Then sothing occurred to him.
"...Ah."
He raised a hand slightly as if rembering sothing important.
"Wait a second."
Everyone turned toward him.
Luca looked directly at Sylthara for a mont before scratching his cheek thoughtfully.
"What about you?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Should I go drop you off at the new Elven territory?"
For a mont after Luca asked the question, the small group fell into silence.
Almost instinctively, everyone’s gaze shifted toward Sylthara.
The silver-haired elf blinked slightly under the sudden attention, her expression caught sowhere between mild surprise and quiet uncertainty as she looked from one face to another. The evening wind brushed gently through her hair as the fading sunlight cast long shadows across the academy courtyard.
Kyle folded his arms loosely while tilting his head, clearly curious about what the answer would be.
Selena’s calm eyes rested on Sylthara as well, though her expression remained as unreadable as ever.
Even Aiden glanced toward her briefly.
For a brief second it looked as though Sylthara herself might try to answer.
But before she could say anything—
A voice drifted across the courtyard.
Cool.
Smooth.
And faintly teasing.
"That won’t be necessary."
The words cut gently through the quiet mont.
Every head turned toward the source of the voice.
Standing a short distance away near the edge of the courtyard path were two figures who had clearly arrived without anyone noticing.
The first was a young woman with long green hair that shimred faintly under the evening sky, her posture relaxed yet confident as she leaned slightly against one of the stone pillars lining the academy walkway. Her eyes carried a playful glint as she observed the group before her.
Beside her stood a tall young man whose presence contrasted sharply with hers.
Where she looked amused—
He looked utterly indifferent.
His silver-gray hair shifted slightly in the wind as he stood with his arms folded behind his back, his expression calm and composed in the way only soone accustod to maintaining absolute control over their emotions could manage.
Luca recognized them imdiately.
"Senior Elowen," he said, a faint smile appearing as his gaze settled on the green-haired elf.
Then his eyes shifted slightly to the man standing beside her.
"...Brother Vincent."
His smile widened slightly as realization dawned on him.
"So that’s why you ran off from the Holy Kingdom as soon as you could, huh?"
Vincent did not react.
Not even slightly.
His expression remained exactly the sa as before, as though Luca’s teasing comnt had passed through the air without ever reaching him.
Luca watched him for a second before quietly giving up on trying to get any reaction out of him.
Then his attention returned to Elowen.
"What do you an by ’not necessary,’ Senior Elowen?" he asked curiously.
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