Date: One Week After the Festival
Location: Academy Dorms, Library, Rooftop
---
The mana returned not as a whisper, not as a hum — but as a roar.
I wasn't surprised.
Even during recovery, I could feel the current beneath my skin — overflowing, coiling like a serpent at rest.
I knew this core wouldn't just heal.
It would evolve.
Today, I ranked up to Adept.
I didn't need a test or announcement.
The world told me.
Fire answered my call like a trusted hound.
Wind obeyed my hand.
And silence bent its weight around my steps.
Overflowing mana?
Let it come.
I don't fear it.
I use it.
---
Alice came again today in study room.
She's been needing more blood lately. Her spells leave her pale after each battle, and I can tell she's pushing her limit.
> "You don't have to act so still," she muttered.
> "If I flinch, you bite harder."
She didn't deny it.
Today, she didn't take from my wrist.
She knelt beside me, pushed my collar aside, and—
Yeah.
My neck.
---
There's always a trace.
No magic removes it fully — not the way she drinks.
And today… she didn't even try to hide it.
She sat in my lap, hand on my chest, fangs deep in my neck. I didn't move. I don't flinch anymore.
I closed my eyes.
And that's when the door opened.
---
Gasps.
One sharp squeak. A dropped bag.
Then footsteps running.
I didn't even look.
Alice did — red-eyed, calm.
> "Should've locked the door," she said.
> "You're the one who likes danger," I replied.
She didn't deny that either.
---
By evening, the rumors were a wildfire.
"Bitten on the neck—"
"Saw it with my own eyes—"
"She was on top of him—"
"Did he smile while it happened?!"
Elric stared at my collar during dinner.
Anna kept poking my shoulder like I'd grown a second head.
Gideon just nodded and said, "They'll calm down in a week."
(They didn't.)
Leander?
> "OI! Commander! How dare you hide such scandal from your trusty vanguard! Should I get a cape for your dates now, too!?"
I told him I'd feed him to Alice.
He begged for forgiveness between cackles.
---
And Lily…
She didn't say anything at first.
But she passed me a scarf at night — soft blue wool.
> "It's getting colder," she said.
Her voice was steady.
But her hands shook.
I wore it the next day.
---
David didn't comment.
But there was a new ward outside my dorm door.
Silent. Old magic.
Probably to block unexpected visitors.
He knows.
He always knows.
---
We've got six weeks until the final exam.
The last storm before become a second year .
Everyone's training harder now.
Anna's illusions bend light into blades.
Gideon's shield sings when it moves.
Even Riya's sparks dance like fire spirits.
And Alice?
She sleeps better after drinking.
---
> "Power isn't about fear.
It's about choice.
And I've made mine."