**Chapter 114 – Invitation**
The second class of Thursday was different from the previous ones.
Instead of an open field or a theoretical room, the class was taken to a large internal hall, with the floor marked by concentric circles and several floating spheres of controlled mana. The teacher in charge was a woman with short hair and a serious expression, named Professor Nalia.
— Today we will work on perception and reaction — she explained. — The spheres will move irregularly. You need to dodge or touch them without using excessive force. Anyone who relies only on raw reflexes will struggle.
The exercise was individual at first.
The students spread out across the circles. The spheres began moving in unpredictable patterns — fast, slow, changing direction at the last second.
Astrid was too direct at the beginning and ended up being hit twice. Marina did better using small currents of vapor to sense the movement. Rina, with her natural speed, was almost never touched. Sylvara preferred to wait and react at the right moment. Lirien read the rhythm of the spheres with an almost unsettling calm. Joker and Harley treated the exercise like a game, dodging by a narrow margin and occasionally touching the spheres on purpose just to test the limit.
Kuroe executed everything in silence, economical movements, almost without waste.
Elowen, a few circles ahead, did the same. The two of them, once again, stood out for their quiet precision.
When the teacher ordered them to stop for the lunch break, most were already sweaty and a little irritated with the spheres.
On the way to the cafeteria, the group walked together as always. The conversation was light, complaining about the exercise and the teacher.
It was near the entrance of the cafeteria that Kuroe slowed her pace.
Elowen was coming a few meters behind, alone, as usual. Kuroe waited until the distance between them decreased enough and, without changing her expression much, spoke in a low and direct voice:
— You can sit with us.
Elowen stopped for a second.
She looked at Kuroe, then at the group that was already entering the cafeteria, and back at Kuroe. There was no pressure in the invitation. Just the simple sentence, said in the same way Kuroe said anything else.
For a moment it seemed like she was going to refuse.
But then Elowen simply nodded once, short.
— …Alright.
Kuroe didn't smile. She didn't comment. She simply turned and continued walking. Elowen followed her in silence.
When they reached the table, the group was already settling in. Astrid raised an eyebrow when she saw Elowen standing beside Kuroe, but didn't say anything immediately. Marina pulled a chair without asking questions. Rina and Sylvara simply observed. Lirien gave a small polite nod. Joker glanced and returned his attention to his plate. Harley, on the other hand, smiled sideways, clearly interested.
Kuroe sat in her usual place. Elowen hesitated only for a second before taking the chair beside her.
The initial silence lasted little.
— You're Elowen, right? — Marina asked lightly. — The one from the formation training.
Elowen nodded.
— Yes.
— You move well — Astrid completed, without beating around the bush. — You don't show off.
Elowen seemed not to know exactly how to respond to that. She simply gave another short nod.
Harley rested her chin on her hand and observed the two of them.
— Kuroe invited you?
— Yes — Elowen answered, voice low.
— Makes sense — Harley murmured, almost to herself.
The table's conversation gradually returned to normal. No one pressured Elowen to speak more than she wanted. She ate in silence, answering only when someone addressed her directly, and even then with few words. Still, for the first time since she had entered the academy, she wasn't alone at lunchtime.
Kuroe, beside her, also didn't speak much. But occasionally she pushed the water pitcher in Elowen's direction when she saw that her glass was empty, or simply existed there in a quiet and constant way.
On the other side of the cafeteria, Darian Voss noticed the scene and frowned, but didn't approach.
When lunch ended and the group began to stand up, Elowen stayed seated for one extra second. Then she stood up as well.
Before moving away, she looked at Kuroe and spoke, voice even lower:
— …Thank you.
Kuroe simply nodded once.
— See you later.
Elowen took a moment before answering:
— See you.
Then she walked away toward the corridor, alone again, but her step seemed a little less rigid than usual.
The group watched for a second.
— She's pretty quiet — Rina commented.
— Similar to Kuroe — Sylvara said.
Kuroe neither confirmed nor denied it. She simply put her hands in her pockets and started walking toward the next class.
The rest of Thursday was still ahead.
But for the first time, the family's circle had opened a little — in the silent and direct way that only Kuroe could manage.
**End of Chapter 114**