Date: Day After the Festival
Location: Academy Dorms – Nitsuo's Room
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We didn't just win.
We etched our names into the foundation of this Academy.
---
At the closing ceremony, the headmaster stood tall. He spoke clearly — not just our names, but the titles we earned:
Gideon – The Unbreaking Bastion
Stone and steel bent, but not him.
Anna – Flame-Etched Runeweaver
Her magic no longer fumbled — it commanded.
Elric – Cloak of Grace
When we faltered, his light stitched us back together.
Riya – Dancer of the Tempest
A storm with a smile — joyful, unpredictable, precise.
Alice – Blood-Whispered Blade
She struck like a shadow — silent, crimson, final.
Leander – Sunlit Edge
They laughed — and then they lost. He smiled through it all.
Lily – Moonflower of the North Wing
Soft at first glance — but her magic? Like frost: beautiful, sharp, deadly.
And me?
Nitsuo – The Silent Tactician
They say I move in silence. But today, the world heard.
---
Our families were in the stands.
Elric's sisters nearly fell over the balcony cheering.
Anna's mother cried and kept waving that hand-stitched flame scarf.
Riya's uncle cheered so loud even Leander flinched.
Gideon's father didn't speak — just placed a single hand over his heart. That said more than words.
And mine?
My mother was as stern as ever, but I saw her eyes shimmer.
My father — usually too composed — actually smiled. Not a polite one, but pride, raw and rare.
> "You've done well," he said. "All of you."
---
But not everyone had someone.
Neither Lily nor Alice were called over.
No waving hands.
No flowers.
Only silence — the kind that weighs heavy.
I think they noticed each other noticing.
They didn't speak about it.
They didn't need to.
---
We returned to the dorms late. Exhausted. Fulfilled.
Most went straight to bed, but a few stayed with me.
Leander stayed to help clean up the celebratory mess in our room.
Alice lingered — she said she was "checking my bandages," but really, I think she was just... worried.
Lily came too, with a cup of warm tea. She said nothing, just set it beside me and nodded once.
I was about to drink the elixir David gave me, the one meant to help stabilize damaged mana veins.
It wasn't easy.
---
David warned me earlier that day:
> "This is no ordinary tonic. It'll hurt. But it will help realign your inner channels. Drink it only if you're surrounded. You'll need them when it knocks you out."
So I waited until I wasn't alone.
---
I took a breath.
Drank.
It felt like lightning and ash running through my ribs.
Pain like I was being unraveled from the inside out.
I remember collapsing.
And nothing after.
---
When I woke, it was late morning.
I was in my bed. Alone.
But beside me, on the floor, were signs they'd stayed.
An empty teacup.
A folded blanket — neatly placed.
A bloodstained cloth… Alice's.
A pillow out of place — Leander.
They'd stayed until the pain passed. Then slipped out quietly, leaving only comfort behind.
---
I sat up. Every breath a little easier.
On the table was a letter.
David's handwriting.
> "Well done. You've earned not just a victory — but the right to rest.
But be sharp, Tactician. The board never stops moving."
---
> "They didn't stay because they had to.
They stayed because they chose to.
They saw me at my weakest.
And they stayed.
I can't fight yet.
But I've never been alone on this board.
And I never will be."