By the ti Lin Yi and Wang Hao finished eating, the night market streets were already glowing with lantern light, the warm amber glow stretching across the cobblestones in long, uneven pools. The city never truly slept. Hunters continued drinking at open-air stalls, rchants called out over each other about deals that would supposedly never co again, and students packed the food vendors on every corner, their conversations inevitably circling back to tomorrow’s tournant no matter where they started.
Wang Hao walked beside Lin Yi with the deeply satisfied expression of a man at peace with the world.
"That stew was incredible."
"It was decent."
Wang Hao was quiet for a mont, then let out a slow, reflective sigh.
"...Brother Lin."
"What?"
"I feel like my life changed after eting you." He said it with complete sincerity, gazing faintly into the middle distance as though reviewing the evidence.
Lin Yi looked at him sideways.
"That sounds dangerous."
"Think about it." Wang Hao raised one hand and began counting on his fingers. "Before I t you, I was poor."
"That hasn’t changed."
Wang Hao continued without missing a beat. "Before I t you, I was scared of monsters."
"That also hasn’t changed."
Wang Hao stopped walking entirely, turning to face him with the wounded dignity of a man whose speech had been thoroughly dismantled.
"...Brother Lin."
"Yes?"
"You’re very good at ruining emotional speeches."
Lin Yi laughed, and they kept walking.
They soon reached the academy dormitory gates, where groups of students were still gathered on the steps and along the low stone walls, too wound up from the day’s announcent to settle indoors. The conversations were animated, layered over each other in the easy, restless way of people who had sothing to look forward to. But the mont Lin Yi walked past, several nearby voices dipped into whispers.
"That’s him."
"The Laborer."
"The Stoneback Bear guy."
Wang Hao drew himself up beside Lin Yi with quiet, proprietary pride, his chest visibly expanding.
"You hear that?"
Lin Yi sighed.
"I hear rumors."
One of the nearby students suddenly called out before the mont could pass.
"Hey!"
Lin Yi stopped. A thin boy with an openly curious expression stepped forward from the group, looking him over with the careful attention of soone trying to match a person to a story they had heard several tis already.
"Are you really Lin Yi?"
"Yes."
The boy hesitated for just a mont. "...Did you actually kill a Stoneback Bear?"
"Yes!" Wang Hao answered imdiately, with the full confidence of a man who had been present and intended to make that known.
Lin Yi glanced at him.
"You sound proud."
"Of course," Wang Hao whispered back, entirely unapologetic. "I was there."
The boy looked at Lin Yi again, sothing shifting in his expression, the casual curiosity settling into sothing quieter and more genuine.
"...Incredible."
Then he turned and hurried back to his group. Wang Hao watched him go with a satisfied smile.
"You’re becoming famous."
Lin Yi rubbed his forehead slowly.
"That’s not always a good thing."
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from sowhere behind them, calm and unhurried.
"Lin Yi."
They turned. Su Qinghan stood near the dormitory entrance, her silver-blue hair catching the soft glow of the lanterns and holding it like frost in low light. She said nothing further, simply waiting.
Wang Hao took one look at her and imdiately took a large step backward.
"...I suddenly rembered sothing."
Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I forgot to..." Wang Hao paused, searching. "...breathe sowhere else."
He was gone before Lin Yi could respond, disappearing into the crowd with impressive speed for soone who had just eaten that much stew.
Lin Yi looked faintly amused.
"You scared him."
"I didn’t say anything." Su Qinghan’s expression remained completely calm.
"That’s the scary part."
A brief quiet settled between them, comfortable in the way that silences sotis are between people who do not feel the need to fill them. The noise of the dormitory steps carried on around them, distant and unimportant.
Then Su Qinghan spoke.
"You registered."
"You too."
She studied him for a mont with the sa asured attention she gave most things, unhurried and direct. "Many people are watching you now."
Lin Yi shrugged, his gaze drifting briefly toward the lantern-lit street beyond the gates. "People get bored easily."
Su Qinghan shook her head slightly.
"Not this ti."
She turned toward the dormitory entrance, her frost spear held loosely at her side. The lantern light followed her for a mont, then let go. Before she stepped through the doorway, she spoke one final ti, her voice carrying the quiet certainty of soone stating a fact rather than issuing a warning.
"If we et in the arena tomorrow..."
Lin Yi finished the sentence without hesitation.
"You won’t hold back."
Su Qinghan paused for just a breath in the doorway, her back still turned.
Then she nodded.
"...Correct."
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