Cassandra spoke first.

  "I think you're forgetting, Omega attacked first, and they're the ones who should be condemned."

  Selena replied.

  "But society condemns Luten and his team's actions. They reacted too harshly."

  "Maybe we shouldn't get involved? We already decided not to make contact."

  Reynor added.

  "And what did that cost us?"

  He shrugged.

  "Nothing. So the director got angry, big deal."

  They argue, they decide... Everyone's acting so important now, bloody do-gooders. I get pulled into this. Disgusting to listen to sometimes. I'm sick of it.

  "Elliot?"

  Everyone fell silent and stared at me. I was taken aback by the sudden attention.

  "Sorry, I don't feel well. I'll step out on the balcony, need some fresh air."

  I opened the glass door and walked onto the balcony. Railings, building facade, windows. Everything looked like I was living in some castle. They allocated this entire building to our class. Many reasons—from strengthening team spirit to better conditions for the princess. Selena apparently didn't like it much. She wanted to feel like a normal student, but the teachers found a way to please the royal family.

  "Elliot, you okay?"

  Of course it was Aura. Wherever I go, she follows.

  "Yeah, I'm fine."

  Such conversations repeated again and again, don't even want to remember. All the same script. After, we returned to the hall. The building was too large for six people. The great hall fit a round conference table and had a fireplace with a couch. There were personal rooms, a training hall, and our own library.

  Selena addressed me.

  "Elliot, did you notice anything strange about your brother during the fight?"

  "What am I supposed to notice in a recording? You understand without me how much he's changed since returning."

  She nodded.

  "You're right about that. I think we'll take a more neutral position."

  The conversation dragged on for another half hour. They discussed other teams' tactics, analyzed strengths and weaknesses. Darius suggested Archive would be the main opponent tomorrow. Cassandra nodded silently, occasionally adding something about the predictability of their behavior.

  I listened half-heartedly. My thoughts kept returning to the fight recording. To how Luten threw that guy into the wall. To the sound of impact. To the blood on the stones.

  Selena looked at me with concern.

  "Elliot, are you alright?"

  "Yes. Just tired of talking."

  Reynor stretched in his chair.

  "Maybe that's enough for today? Tomorrow's stage two. Need to get sleep."

  Darius stood first.

  "Agreed. But first a light workout. Loosen up before tomorrow."

  Everyone agreed. I nodded approvingly too. I needed to release tension after a whole day of brainstorming.

  We practiced teamwork again. While I was spacing out, Cassandra and Selena suggested the next stage in an urban environment would be tunnel combat, which is why we went to the training hall.

  Reynor complained.

  "Ow, Darius, you stink! Get away from me!"

  Reynor couldn't really practice since there was no one to slow down, but he actively circled around to understand the others. This was Cassandra's idea. He didn't want to do anything himself and was being as lazy as possible.

  Darius shot back.

  "Talwin, stop whining. You've got it easy right now, just walk around and circle us."

  "Go to hell."

  Darius was about to object, but he suddenly slowed as if caught in jelly.

  "Ha-ha-ha."

  Everyone laughed. Childishness sometimes helped release tension, and we actively used it. But I wasn't in the mood for fun. I just wanted to finish quickly and crash into bed.

  Cassandra called out.

  "Elliot, don't fall asleep!"

  "Whatever you say, mommy."

  After those words, I got smacked on the back of the head. I perked up and decided to try a new method. I took a metal piece and turned it into liquid. Mentally imagining it stretching out, I drew the shape of an arrow in my head.

  This differed slightly from usual methods—I wasn't just setting general parameters for my creation, but trying to think through everything in more detail on the fly. However, I had little practice, and a random sound distracted me. I accidentally drew the line in another direction, piercing my forearm clean through.

  Aura immediately ran up to me.

  "Oh gods, Elliot, you need healing."

  Reynor said.

  "Yeah, just what we need, you being dead weight tomorrow."

  Cassandra snapped.

  "Reynor!"

  Aura stopped next to me.

  "Wait. Let me try to help."

  She carefully touched my forearm. The familiar warmth of her magic spread across my skin, but instead of relief, the pain sharply intensified.

  I jerked my hand back.

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  "Ow! What was that?"

  Aura looked puzzled.

  "I don't know. Usually my magic soothes pain, but here it's the opposite..."

  We both stared at the wound. The metal shard twitched slightly under the skin, as if alive.

  Aura asked.

  "Elliot, are you sure you remember what you created?"

  "A normal arrow. Metal, liquid, then hardening."

  "But it's moving."

  Aura carefully brought her hand close to the wound without touching it. The metal jerked toward her.

  "This isn't normal metal."

  "Then what?"

  She frowned.

  "I have no idea. There was nothing like this in the textbooks. Need to see the duty professor."

  I nodded.

  "Someone should be in the medical wing. They definitely know what to do with magical injuries."

  We headed toward the exit from the training hall.

  Aura warned.

  "And don't touch the wound anymore."

  "Wasn't planning to."

  When we arrived, Aura laid me on a cot. It was late evening before the weekend, the duty teacher was likely visiting other classes. Aura went to find him.

  "Oh, we have a new patient. What happened?"

  I turned at the familiar voice. By the window stood a girl with black hair, now shorter and naturally curly instead of straightened like a year ago. The same green eyes, but her face had become more mature.

  "Eva?"

  She blinked in surprise.

  "Ah... you're that guy's brother! Luten's!"

  "Elliot."

  She approached closer, wiping her hands with a towel.

  "Right, Elliot. We didn't really introduce ourselves then. I remember you were standing nearby when I healed your brother."

  "I remember. You said the scar would remain."

  "Did it?"

  I smiled involuntarily.

  "Barely noticeable. You did good work."

  She blushed slightly, just like then.

  "Thanks. What happened to you?"

  "Training injury. Metal stuck in my forearm."

  Eva frowned, examining the wound.

  "Strange. Looks like living metal, but..."

  "You know about this stuff?"

  She carefully touched the skin near the wound.

  "A bit. Learned a lot over the year."

  The warmth of her magic was different from Aura's—not soothing, but restorative.

  "Hmm. The metal's reacting, but not aggressively. What were you doing when this happened?"

  "Trying to create an arrow. More detailed than usual."

  She sat on the neighboring cot.

  "I see. Where's your friend? The blonde one."

  "Looking for the duty professor."

  "No point. Professor Marston left half an hour ago. And I'm actually studying cases like this."

  I asked.

  "Cases of clumsy experiments or teachers leaving?"

  Eva smiled gently.

  "The first, more likely. I'm interested in students who search for new possibilities, not those who memorize their families' techniques."

  That caught my interest. How do people find something new? Experience like that is always useful, and it kills time.

  "And how do they describe their mess-ups?"

  Eva thought for a second.

  "Well, one guy, for example, tried to create 'smart' armor that would protect against blows by itself. In the end, the armor started strangling him, deciding that air was a threat."

  I snorted.

  "Seriously?"

  "Absolutely. There was also a girl who wanted to make an air cushion for safe falls. Instead, she created a mini-tornado that raced through the corridors for three days."

  "What happened to her?"

  Eva smiled.

  "Nothing special. Just spent the whole week cleaning up the destruction. My favorite case—a guy tried to accelerate the growth of medicinal herbs for potions. The herbs grew, but became aggressive. One vine chased him all over the medical wing, trying to 'heal' him against his will."

  "Did it catch him?"

  "It did. For three days he walked around green from an excess of healing juices."

  I laughed. For the first time in a long while, sincerely.

  Eva leaned closer, studying my wound.

  "Now tell me. How exactly did you imagine this arrow? In the smallest details."

  We got talking. I started describing the whole process, as if I was trying to cast again.

  Eva said.

  "Um... didn't you think that's dangerous? Can't trust your eyes."

  "Why not?"

  "Can't figure it out yourself? One of the reasons just happened to you."

  "Come on, I just needed to concentrate better."

  "In battle you'll be distracted more often than in training. Doesn't the Chosen class know about this?"

  "Maybe they do. Everyone trains their magic separately."

  "So you're not that close-knit?"

  "No, why would you think that? We're a united team, it just worked out that way."

  Eva shook her head.

  "Sounds like a rehearsed phrase."

  I looked at her in surprise.

  "What?"

  She carefully ran her finger near the wound, and the metal trembled.

  "'United team.' That's what they say in reports. How is it really?"

  I fell silent. No one had asked such questions before.

  "Really... We're all very different. And everyone tries to be the best."

  "And you?"

  "I'm just trying not to fall behind."

  Eva nodded, as if that explained a lot.

  "I see. That's why you experiment with magic."

  "Maybe."

  I raised an eyebrow.

  "You know what I like about people like you? Those who aren't afraid to mess up."

  She laughed.

  "Though now I sound like some old professor. Sorry."

  "It's fine."

  Pause. Eva continued examining the wound, I looked out the window.

  The question came unexpectedly.

  "What do you do when you're not studying?"

  "What?"

  "Well, any hobbies? Or just academy?"

  "I read sometimes. Not textbooks, regular books."

  "What kind?"

  "Adventure mostly. About travelers, explorers."

  Eva perked up.

  "Have you read Chronicles of the Sky Captain?"

  "Seriously? I thought girls didn't read stuff like that."

  "Why not? The flight descriptions are amazing! And those battles on airships..."

  "Volume three is the best! When they get caught in a storm over the Dead Lands."

  "Yes! And Captain Morrigan fixes the engine right during the battle!"

  We both laughed. It was strange to meet someone who read the same books.

  Eva asked.

  "What else do you like?"

  "Mechanical puzzles. I've collected about twenty of them."

  "The ones they sell in the shop by the main gates?"

  "There too. Do you have hobbies?"

  She smiled sweetly and continued prodding at the wound.

  "Besides books? I guess working in the infirmary counts as a hobby too!"

  We talked the whole time, and I didn't notice how time flew by. Aura stood in the doorway with a teacher.

  "Elliot, how are you? I brought the teacher, though I see you're already fee-ling bet-ter."

  She drew out the last word. Why is she angry?

  I looked at Aura. Her face was calm, smile familiar, but something in her eyes... Like she was assessing the situation. Studying.

  "Everything's fine, Aura. Eva helped figure out the metal."

  "I see."

  Aura approached closer, and Eva automatically pulled back. Interesting, why?

  Aura addressed Eva with the same warm smile as always.

  "Thank you, of course."

  But Eva tensed for some reason.

  "No problem. Professor Marston, can you take a look?"

  The professor nodded and began examining the wound. Aura stood nearby, but I felt she was watching Eva more than my arm.

  Professor Marston said.

  "The metal has stabilized. We can extract it tomorrow morning."

  "Excellent."

  I got up from the cot.

  "Thanks, Eva. It was nice talking."

  She smiled, but her gaze slid to Aura.

  "Same here. See you around."

  "For sure."

  We headed for the exit. Aura walked beside me, silent. Only at the doors did she quietly ask:

  "How long were you chatting?"

  "Don't know. Half an hour, maybe?"

  "About what?"

  "Just stuff. Books, hobbies. Normal small talk."

  Aura nodded, but I noticed how she pressed her lips together. Strange. Usually she was happy when I talked with someone. Said I needed more friends.

  But now she looked... thoughtful. Like she was planning something.

  Probably tired from the day. Tomorrow's the tournament, stress. It's hard on everyone.

  Though for some reason, I felt a bit unsettled.