They walked back across the square in a comfortable, unhurried silence.
Bruce let the rhythm of the city wash over him. Kael was walking with the heavy, deliberate steps of a soul freshly settled into D-rank; pushing him into a hunt today risked fracturing that new foundation. Theron, meanwhile, was balancing on the edge of a threshold he had finally agreed to stop chasing.
"We're not hunting today," Bruce said, breaking the quiet. "No Deepwood."
"Agreed," Kael rumbled.
Theron let out a small breath of relief. "I wasn't going to argue. Where to, then?"
"The Library," Bruce said. "Grave pointed me toward Halon Rys's Codex records. I want to see what his teacher's experience adds to this blueprint I'm building."
The walk to the central outer district felt different today. The urgency that usually dogged Bruce's steps had been replaced by the quiet, clean satisfaction of having his plan finally committed to paper.
