Dominic raised both hands slightly in surrender. "Alright. We won't."
Gaudia nodded as well, though her eyes lingered on Sevran a second longer. "I don't really need to know."
But it was certain that Gaudia was curious.
Sevran clicked his tongue and turned away, walking ahead of them. His pace was faster than usual.
They left the huge sand arena together, blending into the flow of students heading back toward the main academy grounds.
Voices buzzed all around them. The demonstration had clearly left an impression.
"Did you see that barrier?"
"Professor Gilderoy is insane…"
"That guy isn't normal either."
Whispers followed them like shadows.
Sevran's jaw tightened, but he didn't look back.
Dominic noticed it. The way Sevran's shoulders were stiff, the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. He wasn't proud. He wasn't excited. If anything, he looked irritated.
Gaudia broke the silence first, lowering her voice. "Extra training with Gilderoy isn't a small thing. I would take it if I got the chance like you."
"I know," Sevran replied flatly.
Dominic frowned. "Then why hesitate?"
Sevran stopped walking.
Students flowed around them, but the three of them stood still for a moment.
Sevran sighed slowly before turning back.
"Because attention is dangerous for me," he said. "In this place, once people start looking at you, they don't stop. No matter if they are students or professors."
Dominic understood that more than he wanted to admit. After all, he didn't really want the attention for himself either.
Before either of them could respond, a sharp chime echoed across the academy grounds. The class bell.
Students groaned and hurried off in different directions.
—
After that, the academy didn't hold much activity for the rest of the day for the first years. Once the bell rang, the remaining classes were either postponed for the next day or turned into self-study sessions.
By afternoon, students were free to roam around the academy grounds.
Dominic and Sevran chose to stay in their dorm instead.
They sat on opposite beds, the room quiet except for distant footsteps and voices drifting in from the corridors.
Both of them knew the same thing. Missing classes, especially on the first day, was never good.
They needed information.
So they decided to go out again, searching for other commoner students.
It didn't take long. A few of them were gathered near the dormitory courtyard, talking casually, far from the noble-dominated areas.
Two male students were generous enough to answer their questions.
One was named Rethan, a broad-shouldered boy with short brown hair and an easygoing expression. The other was Ilyas, thinner and sharp-eyed, with a habit of pushing his glasses up even when they didn't slip.
From them, Dominic and Sevran learned what they had missed.
The first class they missed was Power Studies, taught by Professor Lyrs Quen.
According to Rethan, the professor focused on explaining the fundamentals of Bloodmarks. What they were, how they manifested differently for each individual, and how they affected physical and ether-based abilities.
The lesson also touched on Signatures, though only on a basic level. How a Signature was like Felix had explained, was one of the powers obtained from inside the Labyrinth, and how improper use could cause backlash or long-term damage.
The second class was Labyrinth History and Ethics, taught by Professor Edrin Halvek.
That subject, as Ilyas explained, covered the origins of the Labyrinth, recorded expeditions, and major disasters tied to it.
It also discussed the ethical rules surrounding exploration. What could be taken, what must be reported, and what lines should never be crossed when dealing with Labyrinth entities and stuff.
Listening to it all, Dominic felt a little bit of disappointment. They had missed simple lectures that they would later obtain from Felix.
Sevran stayed quiet, likely thinking the same thing as Dominic.
By the time they returned to their dorm, the sun was already beginning to dip lower in the sky.
The first day at the academy had finally ended.
—
Dominic and Sevran lay on their beds, staring up at the ceiling as they waited for dinner time to come.
The room was quiet.
Dominic's thoughts drifted back to the arena. To the way Sevran had moved cleanly and efficiently.
He was curious about who Sevran really was, and why he already knew some form of martial arts.
But he didn't ask.
If Sevran didn't want to talk about it, Dominic wasn't going to force it.
On the other bed, Sevran felt a different kind of tension. Hiding something from his roommate didn't sit well with him.
Dominic hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, he had done the opposite. He hadn't pushed or demanded answers.
However, keeping his secret was more important.
After all, they had only just met.
After a long moment, Sevran spoke quietly. "I'm… glad you didn't ask much about me."
Dominic turned his head slightly. "I won't pry into other people's business."
That was all he said.
Sevran let out a relieved breath. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. The tension in his shoulders eased.
Then a clear chime rang throughout the academy, echoing through corridors and courtyards.
Dinner time.
Dominic sat up and stretched. "Let's go."
"Yeah. Let's eat." Sevran nodded, pushing himself off the bed.
—
The next week came faster than either of them expected.
Their schedule settled into a routine. For first-year students, they only learned four subjects, but none of them were easy.
Most of the classes leaned heavily toward practice, drills, and frequent tests. There was very little room to relax.
Power Studies demanded constant control and repetition after an explanation.
Combat classes pushed their bodies to exhaustion. Even free periods were often filled with assigned exercises.
Labyrinth History and Ethics, however, was a different kind of nightmare.
That subject required memorizing large amounts of information. Like rules, incidents, names, dates, forbidden actions, and classified entities. Pages upon pages of material that had to be written down and recalled accurately.
Sevran struggled.
No matter how many times he reread the material, the information refused to stick in his brain. Sitting through written tests felt worse than any physical training.
By the end of each session, he felt drained and irritated, staring at his own answers with frustration.
"I'm bad at this," he muttered more than once.
Dominic did better, but only barely. He wasn't failing, but he wasn't excelling either. His results stayed average. Enough to pass. Nothing more.
Gaudia, on the other hand, was in a completely different category.
She memorized the material with ease. She wrote quickly and cleanly, her answers precise.
Even Professor Halvek occasionally nodded at her papers in approval.
Watching her, Dominic couldn't help but feel impressed.
As the days passed, all three of them began to understand that the success in the academy wouldn't depend on the strength of their Bloodmarks alone.
Fortunately, for the three of them there was still Felix's extra class.
In the second week, Felix finally called them after the combat class.
"We got work to do," Felix said with a wide grin and shining eyes. "I think I found traces of the same power from the stone."
—