The academy felt wrong.
Not hostile — distant.
Students whispered as he passed. Conversations dipped. Eyes lingered.
"—perfect clear—"
"—no way he's normal—"
Alex kept walking.
The nightmare reports were sealed. He hadn't spoken. Hadn't celebrated. And yet—
Someone had noticed.
He felt it in the way Sera looked at him, sharp and measuring.
"You've got that look," she said. "The kind people get when they come back… changed."
"Nothing you haven't seen," Alex replied.
Her smirk didn't reach her eyes.
The system murmured quietly:
[ STATUS ]
Runes Active: Tempus (V), Chaos (II), Lux (I)
Alignment: Neutral / Wretch
Conditions: Yellow Blight, Cursed Fate, Shattered Psyche
It wasn't a measure of strength anymore.
It was a ledger.
Alex adjusted his posture, dulling his presence, slipping back into the version of himself that survived by being forgettable.
It didn't work.
Whatever he'd brought back from the void hadn't stayed quiet.
And if hiding wouldn't work anymore…
He would have to be subtle.