Arion stood in the center of his old room on the second floor of The Rusty Tavern.
It was a simple, slightly dusty space. A single bed, a cheap wooden desk, and a window overlooking the bustling alleyway. It was completely devoid of the pristine luxury he had briefly experienced in Teacher Sophia's magically expanded office on the seventh floor.
He ran a hand over the edge of the cheap wooden desk.
Leaning heavily against the doorframe was Baric, the tavern owner, his massive arms crossed over his chest.
"Well," Arion said, turning to him with a carefree grin. "Now you can finally rent this room out, huh? Maybe you'll actually make some real coin instead of letting me run up a tab."
Baric didn't laugh. The large, scruffy man just stood there, his expression unreadable.
"I can't rent this room out," Baric grunted, his voice unusually thick.
Arion raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Because I have to keep it ready, you idiot," Baric snorted, looking away. "Knowing you, it's only a matter of time before you get kicked out of that stuck-up academy and come crawling back here."
Arion blinked. Then, a loud, genuine laugh burst from his chest.
"Have a little faith, old man! I just passed my first labyrinth assessment today!"
"Yeah, and I bet you broke half the walls doing it," Baric muttered, though a fond smile finally cracked through his thick beard. He ruffled Arion's hair roughly. "Come on. Let's head downstairs. Your fan club is waiting."
They walked down the creaky wooden stairs. The main floor of the tavern was still buzzing with energy, the patrons having finally calmed down from their wild cheering over Arion's supposed engagement.
"ARION!!!"
Before Arion's boots could even hit the bottom step, a small swarm of children practically launched themselves at him. It was the kids from the corner table—the little seekers of the unknown.
"You came back!" a little boy cheered, latching onto Arion's leg like a limpet.
"We missed you!" a young girl yelled, tugging excitedly on his Academy uniform jacket. "Did you learn any new magic?!"
Arion's usual lazy, bored expression melted away instantly. He let out a bright laugh, dropping to one knee so he was right at their level.
"Of course I did!" Arion grinned, dramatically waving his hands. "I fought a giant metal machine and snuck right past a twelve-foot Minotaur! Gather around, I'll tell you the whole story!"
He began animating a story with small, harmless sparks of magic, making the kids gasp and cheer.
A few feet away, sitting rigidly on a wobbly wooden stool at the bar, Sophia Irene was watching in absolute shock.
What in the world am I looking at? Sophia thought, adjusting her glasses.
Mary, Baric's cheerful wife, walked over and leaned against the counter next to Sophia. She followed the young woman's gaze to the group of kids.
"He surely loves to tell a tale," Mary smiled warmly. "You know, you're the first girl he's ever brought here. I was starting to worry he was going to marry his sword."
Sophia's face instantly flushed pink. "M-Ma'am, I assure you, you are severely misunderstanding the situation! I am purely his—"
"Oh, you don't have to hide it from me, dear," Mary waved a dismissive hand, entirely ignoring Sophia's frantic protests. "I know he can be a handful. He came here five years ago looking so beaten down. But when he's with those kids... or when he looks at you... his face changes. He looks happy."
Sophia closed her mouth. She realized arguing was entirely futile against Mary's overwhelming maternal aura. Defeated, she looked back at Arion.
She was trying desperately to reconcile the man sitting on the floor with the monster she knew at the Academy.
At the Academy, Arion was a complete nightmare. He defied the strict traditionalist professors. He casually ripped open spatial voids without a single word of chanting. Kara Abyssos had officially classified his hazard rating as a "Walking Cataclysm".
Yet here, in a dingy tavern, the arrogant brute who mocked the very foundation of orthodox noble society was gently entertaining commoner children. He didn't look like a heretic. He didn't look like a monster.
Sophia hesitated for a moment. Her voice barely carried over the tavern chatter.
"Mary," Sophia asked softly, giving up on correcting her title. "Do you... does anyone here realize how truly strong he is?"
Mary paused wiping the counter. She looked at Sophia, a gentle, knowing smile touching her lips.
"Strong?" Mary chuckled softly. "You mean with all that fancy academy magic? Oh, honey. To us, he's just Arion. Sure, he can lift heavy barrels by himself, but we don't know the first thing about magical power levels."
"It is more than just lifting heavy things or casting spells," Sophia murmured, shaking her head slowly. She searched for a way to explain the sheer, unnatural absurdity of her student without breaking Academy confidentiality.
"Imagine you spent your entire life learning that water puts out fire," Sophia tried to explain, looking down at her hands. "It is an absolute, undeniable truth of the world. Then, one day, someone walks in and casually lights a campfire at the bottom of a lake, simply because he didn't feel like following the rules."
Sophia shivered slightly. "He doesn't just bend the laws of magic, Mary. He completely ignores how our reality is supposed to work. To a scholar, a person like that is... terrifying."
"Terrifying?"
Mary repeated the word as if it tasted completely foreign to her. She looked back at Arion, who was currently striking a heroic pose that sent the kids into a fit of giggles.
"I suppose he might be, to folks like you who measure everything in spells and absolute rules," Mary said, resting her elbows on the counter. "But I know he's strong enough to keep smiling and working hard after being rejected by that fancy school of yours for five years straight."
Mary reached over and gently patted Sophia's trembling hand.
"To us, dear, his strength isn't about breaking the laws of reality," Mary said warmly, her eyes crinkling with affection. "It's about how he never let his own failures turn him bitter. You picked a good man to marry."
Sophia's breath hitched. Her face flushed a brilliant crimson at the 'marry' comment, but this time, she didn't find the energy to argue. She stared down at her hands, Mary's words echoing loudly in her mind.
He never let his own failures turn him bitter.
She looked back up at Arion. Surrounded by laughing children, her perspective entirely shifted. For the first time since she met him, she didn't see an anomaly that needed to be studied or disciplined.
She saw a man who had already figured out exactly who he was, long before the Academy ever opened its doors to him.
An hour later, Arion and Sophia stepped out of The Rusty Tavern and began the walk back to the Academy. The afternoon sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky, casting a warm, golden hue over the bustling cobblestone streets.
They walked side-by-side. Arion strolled with his usual relaxed, bouncing stride, his hands tucked lazily behind his head.
Beside him, Sophia was uncharacteristically quiet. As they navigated through the crowds and made their way up the sloping path toward the Academy gates, she couldn't stop herself from stealing glances at him.
She looked at his messy hair. She looked at the relaxed slope of his shoulders. She looked at the faint, carefree smile that hadn't left his face.
He never let his own failures turn him bitter, Mary's words echoed loudly in her mind.
Sophia adjusted her glasses, her brow furrowing slightly. She was a scholar trained to analyze anomalies, yet the young man walking next to her completely defied categorization. How could a man officially classified as a "Walking Cataclysm" who ignored how reality was supposed to work be completely content gently entertaining commoner children?
She stared at his side profile, lost in her own thoughts. She stared for five seconds. Then ten.
"You know, Teach," Arion suddenly spoke up, not even turning his head. "If you keep staring at me like that, I'm going to start thinking Mary was right about us."
Sophia let out a very undignified squeak.
She violently snapped her head forward, her face instantly flushing pink.
"I-I was not staring!" Sophia stammered loudly, her strict teacher persona scrambling desperately to return. "I was merely... observing!"
"Observing?" Arion repeated, finally turning his head to look at her. He raised an amused eyebrow, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. "Observing what?"
"Your fundamentally flawed walking posture!" Sophia blurted out, grabbing the first academic-sounding excuse her panicked brain could find. "Yes! As an Academy student, your stride is completely undisciplined!"
Arion let out a loud laugh, the sound echoing down the path.
"My walking posture?" Arion teased, leaning in slightly. "That's the best excuse Teacher Sophia Irene could come up with?"
"It is a disciplinary fact!" Sophia huffed, speeding up her pace to hide her burning cheeks. "And furthermore, do not think I have forgotten that you completely failed to correct the tavern's ridiculous misunderstanding!"
"Hey, it wasn't my fault Mary saw my ring and jumped to a staggering romantic conclusion," Arion pointed out, easily matching her quickened pace . "Besides, you're the one who stood frozen in the center of the tavern opening and closing your mouth like a fish instead of explaining the protocols."
"I was trying to reclaim my professional dignity!" Sophia argued, though the edge in her voice had lost its usual sharp bite.
She glanced at him one more time, out of the corner of her eye. He was still smiling, completely unfazed by her scolding.
Sophia let out a soft sigh, her tense shoulders relaxing just a fraction. Despite her embarrassment, and despite the absolute headache he caused her, she realized she wasn't actually all that angry. As they walked together through the golden afternoon light, Sophia had the distinct feeling that Arion was the only person she had ever met who had already figured out exactly who he was.