The transition from the blood-stained waste of the Abyssal Trench back to the modern campus of Ares Academy was obvious.
Zen walked through the gates of the campus with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The simple, matte-black iron ring Nyx had given sat snugly on his finger. The runes etched into the metal hummed quietly, compressing his Low A-Rank mana pathways down to a faint, unremarkable D-Rank.
To anyone walking past, he was just Zen: the F-Rank underdog who had somehow survived the recent anomalies and levelled up to Mid D-Rank.
Maya walked beside him, looking exhausted. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles, but the tense, terrified posture she had held in the imperial pavilion was finally starting to melt away.
"Zen..." Maya murmured softly against the quiet hum of the campus. "Are we... are we really back?"
"We are," Zen replied in a voice calmer than it had been in weeks. He looked down at her. "The Trench is behind us. You're safe here."
