For a long time, Nolan just stood there in the middle of his classroom, still staring at the closed door long after the students had left.
The room, once vibrant and filled with laughter and shouting, now sat in perfect silence.
The echoes of those moments still lingered, like the warm scent of food after a feast or the afterimage of the sun when your eyes have stared too long.
This was it—the last day he'd see them.
Tomorrow, their families would escort them away, send them off to higher-level territories, prestigious academies far from here.
They were going to climb ladders he'd only ever imagined when he first got summoned to this world.
And instead of feeling lost or empty, Nolan just… accepted it.
He didn't try to force some silver lining into the situation or sugarcoat it in his head. He simply let the moment settle, like dust falling after a storm. Maybe that's what growing up meant. Not always fighting to hold on, but knowing when to let go.
