It was well past midnight when they finally reached the outer walls of Solhaven City.

  The city gates were closed for the night, manned by a squad of sleepy city watchmen. As the party approached on foot, a guard leaned over the parapet, holding a torch.

  "Halt! State your business!"

  Svane stepped into the pool of torchlight. He didn't shout; he simply raised his hand, displaying the heavy, enchanted insignia of the Gold Aegis.

  "Academy Security, returning from field operations. Priority Entry. Code: Silent Night."

  Svane rumbled, his voice carrying effortlessly to the wall.

  The guard squinted at the badge, then stiffened, recognizing the authority of the Academy's elite soldier.

  "Apologies, Captain! You are clear. Do you need to be logged?"

  The guard stammered. The heavy iron lock clanked, and the pedestrian door creaked open.

  "No log. We were never here."

  Svane said, slipping a bag of gold coins into the guard's hand as they passed through.

  They moved quickly through the sleeping city. The streets of Solhaven were quiet, a maze of cobblestones and gas lamps.

  Finally, they stood before the physical structure of Solhaven Academy.

  To the uninitiated citizens of the city, the Academy looked like a prestigious, albeit modest, university building, a three-story manor of white marble nestled in the heart of the district. But Ray knew the truth. The building was just a shell. It was a glorified foyer, a mask of normalcy hiding the true scale of the institution.

  They walked up the marble steps and pushed open the heavy oak doors.

  Inside, the air pressure dropped instantly. The smell of the city, smoke and damp stone vanished, replaced by the scent of ozone and ancient parchment.

  Standing before the inner archway was a heavy obsidian desk manned by a Gatekeeper, a robed mage wearing a silver half-mask, watching the entrance with bored intensity. Behind him, the air shimmered with a translucent violet haze, the Event Horizon.

  The Gatekeeper didn't speak, simply holding out a gloved hand to bar their path.

  Svane didn't break stride. He flashed his Gold Aegis badge. Kaelen hurriedly produced her silver Student Medallion. Rina showed her bronze attendants medallion and Ray also showed his student medallion.

  The Gatekeeper scanned the items with a quick pulse of mana. The silver mask glowed faintly for a second, verifying the enchantments.

  He nodded, a single sharp motion, and lowered his hand.

  "Clear. Welcome back."

  The Gatekeeper droned.

  They approached the inner archway at the end of the hall.

  Ray stepped through first.

  The world expanded.

  One moment, he was in a hallway in Solhaven City; the next, he was standing on the sprawling grounds of the Solhaven Academy demi-plane. The sky above wasn't the smoggy black of the city, but a crystal-clear tapestry of artificial stars. The campus stretched out for miles, a pocket dimension defying physics and geography.

  As soon as his foot touched the ground of the Demi-Plane, his Custodian Crest which had been dormant when they were out of Solhaven Academy suddenly came to life and vibrated continuously against his chest.

  BZZZT, BZZZT, BZZZT.

  The connection to the Academy’s internal network flooded back in. A week’s worth of notifications hit him all at once. The ‘vacation’ was officially over.

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  Ray ignored them for a moment. He turned to Kaelen.

  "This is where we separate."

  Ray said.

  Kaelen stood by the path leading to the student dormitories, which floated on a gentle hill in the distance. She looked different from the 3rd-Circle Adept who had left this place weeks ago. She was tired, but her eyes were clear. She was clutching her bag tight, his fathers ledger hidden deep inside, wrapped in a rune-crafted cloth.

  "Go to your dorm. Hide the book. Do not speak to anyone about it."

  Ray instructed.

  He looked at her intensely.

  "Practice your new skill. Look at your classmates. Look at your professors. Figure out what they want. I will arrange a meeting with the Headmaster as soon as possible."

  "I will be ready."

  Kaelen said as she nodded.

  "I know you will."

  Ray said and nodded back.

  She turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the dormitory gardens. She didn't look back.

  Ray, Rina, and Svane headed toward the Spire of Sages. The tower pierced the night sky, its windows glowing with the lights of a thousand sleepless researchers.

  As they arrived, Svane stopped.

  "I will call in the night my lord."

  Svane rumbled, adjusting his pauldrons.

  "I will report to the headmaster tomorrow that we have returned from our field exercise. Please rest well."

  He offered Ray a sharp soldier's salute.

  "You rest well, Captain. You earned it."

  Ray said.

  Svane turned around and marched off into the dark.

  Ray and Rina continued on, the walk was silent. Moments later they arrived in their suit.

  Rina unlocked the door and opened it.

  It was exactly as they had left it. Clean. Quiet. The smell of old books and dried herbs filled the air. It was a jarring contrast to the mud, blood, and smoke of Iron-Wake. It felt like walking into a museum.

  Ray collapsed onto the velvet sofa, groaning as his back hit the cushions. Rina immediately went to the kitchen, busying herself and preparing their meal.

  Ray pulled out his Custodian Crest. He activated it and a holographic appeared. It was glowing with notifications of unread messages.

  Cassian: Where are you? Because you are nowhere to be found, Master Elias has been pestering me. He was just in my room trying to brew this greenish potion in the sink. Please help!

  Eliza: Ray? People are asking where you went. The college of statecraft professors are looking for you. Just checking in.

  Elias: Found a cool rock. It glows green. It reminded me of you. You alive?

  Ray smiled faintly. The mundane problems of student life felt incredibly distant, yet strangely grounding.

  He scrolled down. He saw another unread message, it was from the Headmaster and was sent one day ago.

  Headmaster Andrade: Novice Croft. Once you read this report to my office as soon as possible.

  Ray let out a slow breath, reading the timestamp.

  The headmaster had sent this around the same time when the news of what happened in Iron-Wake started spreading. She knew he was gone, could she have connected the dots already?

  Ray thought.

  "Well, I guess I don't have to arrange a meeting with the Headmaster then."

  Ray murmured to himself, he looked back to his Custodian Crest, selected a contact and typed a message.

  Ray: Kaelen, let's meet early tomorrow at the headmasters office, I just secured a meeting with the Headmaster Andrade.

  He lowered the crest, a dry chuckle escaping his lips.

  The corridor outside the Headmaster’s Office building was silent, save for the rhythmic ticking of a floating clockwork construct.

  Kaelen stood by the tall arched window, looking out at the sprawling Academy grounds below. She was dressed in her standard 3rd-Circle Adept of the College of Arcanum robe.

  She paced back and forth, her hands clenching and unclenching.

  Breathe, desperation is a liability.

  Kaelen thought.

  She stopped pacing when she saw them.

  Ray and Svane appeared at the far end of the hallway.

  Svane had undergone a transformation. The battered leather armor was gone, replaced by the plain ordinary clothes of a personal attendant. His hair was slicked back, his posture rigid. He no longer looked like a mercenary who had an intense battle with one of the Argent Hand Ten Fingers; he now looked low key but he still stands out because of his huge size.

  Ray walked in front of him, looking irritatingly calm. And like Kaelen, he wore his College of Arcanum 1st-Circle Novice robe, his eyes scanning the hallway for magical sensors.

  They reached her. Ray didn't smile. He didn't offer a comforting word. He simply caught her eye and gave a single, sharp nod.

  Game time.

  Kaelen said internally and took a deep breath, fell into step behind him, she prepared herself mentally like she was about to get interrogated.

  They entered the Headmaster Office building and later arrived into the main lobby.

  The receptionist, a stern senior mage with glasses perched on the end of her nose, looked up from a stack of scrolls. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw Svane.

  "Captain,"

  she said, her voice carrying a mix of fear and deference.

  "You have returned."

  She shifted her gaze to Ray, looking at him with an expression of certainty like she was expecting for Ray to be there, and then glanced at Kaelen with total indifference like she was just another student dragged in for discipline.

  "The Headmaster is expecting you, Novice Croft. She has cleared her schedule."

  The receptionist said, gesturing to the heavy double doors.

  "Thank you."

  Ray said politely.

  Svane stepped forward. With practiced fluidity, he opened the heavy oak doors and held them wide. He didn't enter with them immediately. He waited for Ray to cross the threshold, then Kaelen.

  Then, Svane stepped inside, closed the door softly, and immediately moved to stand by the wall, arms behind his back, eyes staring straight ahead. In the span of ten seconds, he had ceased to be their party member. He was now the Headmaster’s Enforcer.