Chapter 86
(The Senior Class)
Four days passed before Valeria allowed Pryan to return to controlled training.
His mana channels had stopped aching during ordinary movement, though she still forbade him from casting anything beyond simple reinforcement. Pryan accepted the restriction without argument. There was little value in damaging himself before the next real threat arrived.
The eastern training field opened shortly after sunrise.
It was larger than the grounds used by the first-year classes, with six raised platforms spread across a wide stretch of worn grass. Stone walls enclosed three sides, while the fourth opened toward the lower academy forest. Weapon racks stood beneath covered walkways, carrying practice swords, spears, staffs, shields, and several weapons Pryan had never seen used outside military formations.
Class 1A gathered near the central platform.
Kaien stood beneath the shadow of the western wall, speaking quietly with Rethan Solvyr. Valeria had not joined them. This lesson did not concern mana recovery or channel integrity.
Rethan held a collection of folded papers beneath one arm. His posture appeared relaxed, but his eyes continued moving across the field, measuring distances, entrances, and the students who had already arrived.
Mireya noticed him watching.
"He does that too often," she said.
Pryan followed her gaze.
"Watch people?"
"Watch everything."
"That is his work."
"That does not make it less suspicious."
Lucien stood beside them, attempting to fasten one of his gloves.
"I think Professor Rethan simply enjoys making everyone uncomfortable."
"He succeeds," Mireya replied.
The glove slipped from Lucien's hand.
"More than I do, apparently."
The far gate opened before Mireya could answer.
Twelve students entered the field.
Their uniforms carried silver stitching along the shoulders and cuffs, marking them as members of Viserk's final-year combat class. Most carried weapons openly. Two wore reinforced gauntlets, one held a narrow staff of black wood, and another had several short blades arranged along the back of his belt.
They did not enter in formation.
Some were speaking among themselves. One woman adjusted the strap of a shield while walking. A tall swordsman near the front looked across Class 1A with open disappointment.
"These are the first-years?" he asked.
The student beside him glanced toward Kaien before answering.
"They survived the forest evaluation."
"So did we."
"You lost three banners."
"That was tactical."
"You carried the wrong banner into your own camp."
The swordsman's expression tightened.
"It was dark."
"It was noon."
Several of the seniors laughed.
The atmosphere changed when the final student entered.
He was carrying a wooden crate.
Pryan knew him immediately.
The senior had dark brown hair that had been cut without much concern for style, and his academy coat hung open over a plain training shirt. Nothing about him demanded attention. He carried no visible weapon, no family crest, and no ornament marking rank among the senior students.
He placed the crate beside the weapon racks and returned through the gate.
A moment later, he came back carrying another.
One of the seniors turned toward him.
"Cassian, leave those for the attendants."
"They are already moving the barriers," he replied.
"You are supposed to be standing with us."
Cassian Aerth looked toward the group.
"You appear capable of standing without assistance."
The woman with the shield smiled.
"Our Hero has spoken."
A few seniors repeated the title with mild amusement.
Cassian sighed.
"Do not call me that in front of the first-years."
Lucien leaned toward Nyra.
"That guarantees they will continue."
Nyra nodded.
"They have already succeeded."
Pryan heard none of what followed.
Cassian Aerth.
The name had survived longer than the man.
In Pryan's previous life, Cassian had become the strongest fighter produced by Viserk Academy. He had gathered students, soldiers, mages, mercenaries, and nobles beneath one command when the kingdoms began falling apart. He had led the largest resistance force ever formed against the influence of the Five Supreme Beings.
Reports had called him the Hero of Viserk.
Later, they had shortened it to the Hero.
Pryan remembered the day the title disappeared from the reports.
Cassian Aerth had been killed while defending the western front.
The academy forces had continued fighting for several months after his death, but the structure holding them together had already begun to fracture. Commanders disputed orders. Noble armies withdrew. Supply routes collapsed. Viserk survived a little longer, then fell with the rest.
The young man before Pryan lifted the second crate as though his future carried no more weight than wood and training equipment.
He was younger than Pryan remembered.
Alive in a way memories never were.
Cassian noticed Pryan looking at him.
Their eyes met briefly.
Pryan looked away before the silence became unusual.
Kaien stepped toward the center of the field.
Conversation stopped without him asking.
"You will be training together for the next several weeks," he said. "The purpose is not to determine which class is stronger."
The tall senior swordsman folded his arms.
"That would not take several weeks."
Mireya looked toward him.
"It might take longer if you keep talking."
A few first-years smiled.
The senior turned toward her.
"Halvane."
"Do I know you?"
"No."
"Then we agree on something."
Kaien allowed the exchange to end on its own.
Rethan walked onto the central platform and placed the folded papers upon a stone table.
"You have been separated by year because the academy teaches foundations in sequence," he said. "A battlefield has no interest in those sequences."
His gaze moved between the two classes.
"It will not place first-years behind older students because they have attended fewer lessons. It will not delay a crisis until everyone has completed the correct training."
One of the seniors with reinforced gauntlets raised a hand.
"What exactly are we doing?"
"Failing," Rethan replied.
The student lowered his hand.
Rethan continued.
"You will be placed in mixed groups and given objectives that cannot be completed through individual strength. Some of you will attempt to solve that problem by relying upon the seniors. Others will attempt to prove that the first-years are unnecessary."
He glanced toward the tall swordsman.
"Both approaches will fail."
The senior's expression remained unchanged, though the woman beside him looked amused.
Kaien stepped onto the platform.
"The first exercise begins tomorrow. Today, you will learn who you are expected to stand beside."
Rethan unfolded the papers.
Names were read one group at a time.
Aurelian was placed with three seniors, Nyra, and Brann. Mireya joined a group containing Lucien, Elyra, two senior mages, and the shield-bearing woman. Seris was assigned with Rhea, Caelum, and several seniors Pryan had not yet identified.
Pryan waited.
Rethan reached the final page.
"Cassian Aerth."
The senior looked up from the weapon rack.
"Pryan Gwanar."
The field became quieter.
Not because Pryan's name carried greater weight than the others.
Because several seniors recognized the class rankings.
Rethan continued.
"Jorn Hale. Liora Fen. Senior students Dain Arcos, Selene Var, and Tovin Marel."
The tall swordsman stepped forward.
Dain Arcos.
His displeasure became more visible when he looked toward Pryan.
"I am being assigned three first-years?"
"Four," Rethan corrected.
He nodded toward Liora.
Dain glanced at her.
"That does not improve it."
Cassian walked over and picked up a practice sword from the rack.
"You can request another group."
Dain turned toward him.
"And admit I cannot carry this one?"
"You are the one calling them weight."
The answer was spoken lightly, without challenge.
Dain had no immediate response.
Kaien looked across the assembled students.
"You will spend the next hour observing your group. No sparring. No testing one another through mana pressure. No private challenges."
Several seniors looked disappointed.
"You are expected to learn names, disciplines, limitations, and the way each person responds when they are not the strongest individual present."
His covered gaze rested briefly on Pryan.
"Tomorrow, those details will matter."
The groups separated across the field.
Cassian approached Pryan's group without assuming the central position. He handed one practice sword to Dain, another to Jorn, then sat on the edge of the nearest platform.
"Cassian," he said.
Dain looked irritated.
"They know who you are."
"Not all of them."
His attention moved to Pryan.
"You do."
It was not a question.
Pryan met his gaze.
"I have heard the name."
"From where?"
"Reports."
Cassian's expression changed slightly.
"What kind of reports mention an academy student?"
Pryan had answered too quickly.
He adjusted without rushing.
"Forest evaluations. Joint exercises. The senior class is discussed more often than you think."
Dain gave a quiet laugh.
"Someone has been studying."
Pryan did not respond.
Cassian continued looking at him for another moment before turning toward the rest of the group.
"Tomorrow's exercise will probably involve movement and divided objectives. Rethan prefers situations where the obvious victory creates another failure."
"You know his exercises well?" Liora asked.
"He has been trying to make us distrust obvious answers for three years."
"Has it worked?" Jorn asked.
"No," Dain said. "We simply learned to distrust him."
Cassian smiled faintly.
"That may have been the lesson."
They spent the remaining hour discussing their disciplines.
Dain specialized in heavy swordsmanship and earth reinforcement. Selene Var used thread magic, creating nearly invisible lines of mana between fixed points. Tovin Marel carried no weapon and fought through close-range water shaping around his arms.
Jorn described his strength plainly.
Liora admitted she worked best from behind a defended position.
Pryan said he used swordsmanship, basic elemental magic, and reinforcement.
Dain looked at him.
"That is all?"
"For now."
"You ranked second in your class with basic magic?"
"Aurelian ranked first."
"That was not my question."
Cassian rested his practice sword across his knees.
"It was still an answer."
Dain exhaled and looked away.
Pryan watched Cassian carefully.
He had not taken command of the conversation.
He had not defended the first-years with speeches or demanded respect from the other seniors. He simply prevented small tensions from becoming useless ones, then allowed everyone to continue.
The others responded to him without noticing they were doing it.
That had not changed from the man Pryan remembered.
Perhaps it had always begun this quietly.
The academy bell sounded across the eastern grounds.
Kaien dismissed both classes.
Students began returning weapons and leaving through the gates, conversations following them toward the main buildings.
Cassian stood and carried the remaining practice swords back to the rack.
Pryan watched him.
In his previous life, the Hero had died before Pryan ever met him.
This time, Cassian Aerth stood only a few steps away.
The future had returned another person Pryan had once known only through loss.
Pryan would not waste that difference.