The lunch hall did not recover after Cassian left.
It pretended to.
People went back to eating.
Talking resumed.
Trays moved.
Chairs scraped.
But every few seconds, someone looked toward William's table.
Then quickly looked away when caught.
William chewed slowly.
"…Did I insult royalty?"
Kai looked personally offended.
"Worse."
Serena sighed.
"You insulted someone people are afraid of."
"I was sitting down."
"That has never stopped you."
Fair.
William pointed his fork at the direction Cassian had gone.
"So what exactly is he?"
Kai leaned in like he was discussing a curse.
"Third-year. Top-ranked combat student. Vale's nephew."
"You said that already."
"I'm building dread."
"Badly."
Jonah spoke without looking up from his food.
"He's strong."
That got William's attention.
Jonah did not praise people.
Ever.
"How strong?"
Jonah shrugged.
"Enough."
Unhelpful as always.
Serena rested an elbow on the table.
"Cassian controls the senior circles."
William frowned.
"That phrase still sounds fake."
"It means older students follow him," she said. "Not officially. But if he says something, people listen."
"Why?"
Kai answered first.
"Because he wins."
Rowan, who had appeared midway through the conversation carrying two desserts no one saw him buy, nodded.
"And because he broke a dueling platform last term."
William blinked.
"That sounds expensive."
"It was."
"Then I respect him slightly."
Serena ignored that.
"He's also selective."
"With?"
"Who he notices."
William stabbed a potato.
"Then today was unlucky for both of us."
Kai groaned.
"You really don't know when to stop."
"No," William said honestly.
Their next class was Runic Mathematics.
William hated it within four minutes.
The room was circular, lined with floating symbols that shifted whenever he tried to read them.
Professor Denholm was cheerful in the dangerous way only math teachers could be.
"Runes," he announced, "are simply numbers with consequences."
William raised a hand.
"That sentence should frighten everyone."
"It should inspire curiosity."
"It inspired nausea."
Several students laughed.
Serena, seated two rows away, covered a smile with her hand.
William noticed.
Then pretended he hadn't.
Professor Denholm drew six glowing lines in the air.
"Stability ratios determine whether your spell creates a shield…"
He added one mark.
"…or removes your eyebrows."
Kai, from the back row, sat up immediately.
"Now I'm listening."
Halfway through class, William realized something unpleasant.
He understood it.
Not all of it.
But enough.
The symbols moved in patterns.
Sequences.
Pressure points.
Relationships.
The same strange instinct that guided him in fights whispered here too.
He stared at the board.
"…That's annoying."
Professor Denholm turned.
"Problem, Mr. William?"
"Yes. I think I know the answer."
"Excellent."
"No, you misunderstand. I dislike that."
Laughter again.
The professor pointed.
"Then spare yourself discomfort. Solve it."
William stood reluctantly and approached the board.
The equation was a chain of linked runes rotating in layers.
He did not know the formal method.
But he could feel where it would fail.
He touched one symbol and moved it slightly left.
Then another downward.
The entire chain stabilized and flashed gold.
The room went silent.
Professor Denholm blinked twice.
"…Interesting."
William stepped back slowly.
"I'd like it known that I did not study."
Serena was openly smiling now.
Kai shouted from the back:
"He's cheating spiritually!"
By the end of class, the rumors had doubled.
By sunset, they had multiplied.
William knew because students kept appearing near him for no reason.
At least pretending there was no reason.
One boy "accidentally" walked into a pillar while staring.
A girl asked him for directions in a building they both lived in.
Two second-years passed by and whispered loudly enough to be heard.
"That's him."
"He's shorter than I expected."
William turned.
"You're both uglier than I expected."
They left immediately.
Jonah, beside him in the corridor, said nothing.
But his shoulders shook once.
William pointed.
"You laughed."
"I coughed."
"Liar."
Evening training was optional for injured students.
Which meant Vale forced him to attend and watch.
He sat on the stone steps of Arena Two with a wrapped shoulder and growing resentment.
Students sparred below in pairs.
Kai was losing loudly.
Serena was winning quietly.
Jonah had declined to participate and was somehow still intimidating people from a distance.
Vale stood beside William.
"You learn by observing."
"I learn by sleeping too."
"Not here."
He watched Serena redirect a larger opponent and sweep his legs cleanly.
"She's good."
"Yes."
"She knows it too."
"Yes."
"Dangerous combination."
Vale glanced at him.
"You also possess that combination."
"I'm not good enough yet."
"You are arrogant enough already."
"That felt personal."
A commotion rose near the entrance.
Students straightened.
Whispers spread.
William did not need to turn to know who it was.
Cassian walked into the arena with three senior students behind him.
No rush.
No noise.
Still somehow the center of the room.
He looked around once, then at Vale.
"Aunt."
"Cassian."
That single exchange contained years of family complications.
William could hear it.
Cassian's gaze shifted to him.
"There he is."
William raised a hand lazily.
"There I am."
Vale sounded tired already.
"Why are you here?"
"To train."
"You have your own arena."
"I wanted this one."
Translation was easy.
He wanted William.
Cassian removed his coat and handed it to one of the seniors.
He wore the academy uniform underneath, sleeves rolled.
Scars marked one forearm.
Not decorative ones.
Earned scars.
He stepped onto the arena floor.
"New boy," he called. "Can you stand?"
William looked at Vale.
"Can I legally refuse?"
"Yes," she said.
Cassian smiled.
"He won't."
Annoyingly accurate.
William stood and climbed down the steps.
His ribs protested.
He ignored them.
Serena muttered from nearby:
"This is stupid."
Kai added:
"Please continue."
William entered the ring.
"No powers," Vale said immediately.
Cassian nodded.
"Fine."
William nodded too.
"Wonderful. I prefer surviving."
Students formed a wide circle.
Even teachers watched now.
Cassian rolled his shoulders.
"Relax. I'm only curious."
"That has become a threat in my life."
"Show me what kind of person talks to me that way."
William sighed.
"I miss when my biggest issue was homework."
Vale stepped back.
"Begin."
Cassian moved first.
Too fast.
Not like Daren's rush.
Cleaner.
Sharper.
He crossed the space and jabbed toward William's throat.
William barely parried.
A second strike hit his ribs.
Third nearly caught his jaw.
William stumbled back three steps.
The crowd gasped.
Cassian smiled faintly.
"Good instincts."
William winced.
"You punch like unpaid debt."
Cassian came again.
This time William watched deeper.
Weight.
Breath.
Sequence.
He slipped the first jab.
Turned the elbow.
Tapped Cassian's shoulder and retreated.
Small success.
Cassian's smile widened.
"Better."
"Oh no," William muttered. "You're enjoying this."
"Very much."
They circled again.
No one spoke now.
Cassian attacked in combinations too fast for most students to track.
William survived by inches.
A shoulder graze.
A blocked knee.
A near miss that moved air across his face.
Then William saw it.
A tiny opening after the left hook.
He stepped in and drove a straight punch into Cassian's chest.
Solid contact.
The arena froze.
Cassian took one step back.
Looked down.
Then laughed.
Actual laughter.
"Well done."
Kai screamed like a man witnessing history.
Serena stared openly.
Vale pinched the bridge of her nose.
Cassian reset his stance.
"Again."
William backed away immediately.
"No. One moral victory is enough for today."