By the time Aaron and Rei finished eating, the night market streets were already glowing with lantern light. Warm amber pools stretched across the cobblestones, turning the whole district into something alive and restless.
The city never truly slept. Hunters kept drinking at open-air stalls, merchants shouted over one another about deals that would supposedly never come again, and students packed every food vendor, their conversations circling back to tomorrow's tournament no matter where they started.
Rei walked beside Aaron with the deeply satisfied expression of a man at peace with the world.
"That stew was incredible."
"It was decent."
Rei stayed quiet for a moment, then let out a slow, reflective sigh.
"…Brother Aaron."
"What?"
"I feel like my life changed after meeting you." He said it with complete sincerity, gazing faintly into the middle distance as though reviewing the evidence.
Aaron looked at him sideways.
"That sounds dangerous."
"Think about it." Rei raised one hand and began counting on his fingers. "Before I met you, I was poor."
"That hasn't changed."
Rei continued without missing a beat. "Before I met you, I was scared of monsters."
"That also hasn't changed."
Rei stopped walking entirely, turning to face him with the wounded dignity of a man whose speech had been thoroughly dismantled.
"…Brother Aaron."
"Yes?"
"You're very good at ruining emotional speeches."
Aaron laughed, and they kept walking.
They soon reached the academy dormitory gates, where groups of students were still gathered on the steps and along the low stone walls, too wound up from the day's announcement to settle indoors. The conversations were animated, layered over each other in the easy, restless way of people who had something to look forward to. But the moment Aaron walked past, several nearby voices dipped into whispers.
"That's him."
"The Laborer."
"The Stoneback Bear guy."
Rei drew himself up beside Aaron with quiet, proprietary pride, his chest visibly expanding.
"You hear that?"
Aaron sighed.
"I hear rumors."
One of the nearby students suddenly called out before the moment could pass.
"Hey!"
Aaron stopped. A thin boy with an openly curious expression stepped forward from the group, looking him over with the careful attention of someone trying to match a person to a story they had heard several times already.
"Are you really Aaron?"
"Yes."
The boy hesitated for just a moment. "…Did you actually kill a Stoneback Bear?"
"Yes!" Rei answered immediately, with the full confidence of a man who had been present and intended to make that known.
Aaron glanced at him.
"You sound proud."
"Of course," Rei whispered back, entirely unapologetic. "I was there."
The boy looked at Aaron again, something shifting in his expression, the casual curiosity settling into something quieter and more genuine.
"…Incredible."
Then he turned and hurried back to his group. Rei watched him go with a satisfied smile.
"You're becoming famous."
Aaron rubbed his forehead slowly.
"That's not always a good thing."
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from somewhere behind them, calm and unhurried.
"Aaron."
They turned. Luna stood near the dormitory entrance, her silver-blue hair catching the soft glow of the lanterns and holding it like frost in low light. She said nothing further, simply waiting.
Rei took one look at her and immediately took a large step backward.
"…I suddenly remembered something."
Aaron raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I forgot to…" Rei paused, searching. "…breathe somewhere else."
He was gone before Aaron could respond, disappearing into the crowd with impressive speed for someone who had just eaten that much stew.
Aaron looked faintly amused.
"You scared him."
"I didn't say anything." Luna's expression remained completely calm.
"That's the scary part."
A brief quiet settled between them, comfortable in the way that silences sometimes are between people who do not feel the need to fill them. The noise of the dormitory steps carried on around them, distant and unimportant.
Then Luna spoke.
"You registered."
"You too."
She studied him for a moment with the same measured attention she gave most things, unhurried and direct. "Many people are watching you now."
Aaron shrugged, his gaze drifting briefly toward the lantern-lit street beyond the gates. "People get bored easily."
Luna shook her head slightly.
"Not this time."
She turned toward the dormitory entrance, her frost spear held loosely at her side. The lantern light followed her for a moment, then let go. Before she stepped through the doorway, she spoke one final time, her voice carrying the quiet certainty of someone stating a fact rather than issuing a warning.
"If we meet in the arena tomorrow…"
Aaron finished the sentence without hesitation.
"You won't hold back."
Luna paused for just a breath in the doorway, her back still turned.
Then she nodded.
"…Correct."
She disappeared inside without another word.
Aaron stood there a moment longer, the faint smile still lingering on his face. The night air felt cooler now, carrying the distant sounds of the city and the low murmur of students still gathered on the steps.
Rei reappeared from behind a nearby pillar, looking slightly out of breath.
"Is she gone?"
Aaron nodded.
Rei let out a dramatic sigh of relief.
"Good. I like living."
Aaron chuckled softly and started walking toward the male dormitory building. Yet as they moved through the lantern-lit paths, he could not shake the quiet feeling that tomorrow's tournament was going to be far more interesting than anyone expected.