The remainder of the day passed beneath an atmosphere far lighter than anything the academy had carried in recent weeks.
Once the formal ceremony had ended and the final tension surrounding the rankings had begun to settle, Beacon Hall gradually transformed from a place of stiff posture and official speeches into something warmer, looser, and far more human. Students who had spent the better part of the ceremony sitting straight-backed in disciplined silence now moved about more freely, gathering in little circles to talk, laugh, react to their placements, and revisit moments from the evaluation tests as if repeating them enough times might somehow change what had already been decided.
It did not, of course.
But that never stopped students from trying.
