When I stepped back into the second level of the Relictombs, my limbs practically dragging behind me, a bespectacled clerk rushed up as his eyes darted across my bedraggled form.
“Sir?” he asked tentatively. “Are you all right? Where is your party?”
I shook my head and took a step past him. “Fine. Solo ascent.”
The man kept pace, his hands fidgeting with a scroll he was carrying carefully in front of him. “I see. Yes, solo ascending is notoriously difficult, sir. Name, so I can record your return? Any accolades to report?”
Still walking, I said, “Grey. Just Grey. And no.”
The clerk winced, making his glasses slip to the end of his nose. “Sorry to hear that, Ascender Grey. Might I scan—”
I stopped suddenly, forcing the man to jerk to a halt and turn back around to face me. Leveling an irritated glare in his direction, I said, “I am exhausted and would like to be on my way. Whatever you need, just do it.”
The clerk cleared his throat and fixed his glasses before pulling out some kind of wand. “If you’re carrying a dimensional storage artifact, please present it,” he said, somewhat stiffly.
I held out my hand, showing him the dimension ring. He waved the wand past it, then along the length of my body. He clicked his tongue. “No accolades, as you say.” Next, he turned his attention to a scroll he was carrying. “Ascender Grey…Ascender…Oh, a professor!.” He scribbled something, muttering under his breath. “My apologies. You’re so young, I didn’t realize…”
“Are we done?” I asked impatiently.
“Yes, sir, of course. Thank you for your patience.” He gave me a nod and started to turn away, then stopped.
Closing my eyes, I rubbed two fingers against my temple and down to my eye socket. “Yes?”
“Well,” he started tentatively, “I just thought you might want to know that classes at Central Academy began three days ago.” With an awkward smile, he returned to his post.
“Shit,” I grumbled, and began dragging my tired body across the second level toward the teleportation platforms.
From the hall outside my classroom, I could already hear the laughter and shouts of the unsupervised teenagers inside.
I caught snippets of conversation as I stepped through the door.
“—told me that the new professor isn’t even a named blood. Should be easy to—”
“—hear about the hot new assistant for Professor Aphelion?”
“—class is such a joke. I can’t believe Strikers have to waste our time with—”
“—kidding me? The rest of my classes are so freaking hard, I’m looking forward to doing nothing in here.”
I glanced quickly around as I descended the stairs. Two young women were sparring roughly in the dueling ring while another student goofed around with the controls. A couple others had pulled out sparring dummies and were punching them awkwardly. The rest of the students were lounging around doing nothing.
“The professor isn’t here again,” a bespectacled boy said without looking up from his book.
“He is the professor, Deacon,” another student said. It was the black-haired boy who had ordered the two bullies around in the library.
“You’re late,” his broad companion grumbled, crossing his thick arms over his chest.
“And you missed the first day,” their tall friend added, kicking his long legs up on the back of the chair in front of him.
“Very perceptive,” I said as I opened my office door and half stepped through it. “You all seem to have things under control for today. I’ll be in my office.” I closed the door before anyone could respond, cutting myself off from the prying eyes.
The classroom burst into chatter again the moment my door closed.
“Nice! Free day.”
“—be exactly like last season—”
“—stupid idea to train without mana anyway.”
Sighing, I tuned them out and sank into my office chair, leaning forward to rest my head against my forearms. Despite my exhaustion, though, I felt my face crack into a wide grin.
“Long time no see, Grey.”
Chapter end
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