Roy looked at Valeria and froze.

  "Roy Nasser," Valeria said, her voice calm and measured.

  Omar stepped forward, grinning despite the awkward timing.

  "Hey, Valeria. Didn't expect to see you here. We were just, uh..." He stopped for a second. "...training."

  "Training," she repeated, her tone flat. Her eyes shifted between them, lingering on Roy for a moment longer. "By jumping off roofs."

  Roy finally found his voice.

  "Something like that. But why are you here?"

  Valeria's expression didn't change.

  'I was walking and saw someone jumping to the roof, so I followed him. But that will sound like stalking.'

  "Also training," she said.

  Omar looked at Valeria. She wasn't wearing her sword belt.

  "Without your sword?"

  Silence followed between the three for an uncomfortable amount of time.

  'Can't anyone here lie with something believable?' Roy thought.

  'Did she hear something? Did she see anything?' Omar pulled his sleeve to cover his full forearm.

  "The assessment today," Valeria said, turning her attention fully to Roy.

  "You just gonna ignore me?" Omar said, but was ignored by both.

  "That fire. It wasn't normal."

  Roy's jaw tightened. Omar glanced at him, concern creeping into his face.

  "Yeah, well," Roy said carefully, "nothing about this place is normal."

  "That's not what I mean." Valeria took a step closer, her posture relaxed but her gaze sharp. "Dark red flames. I've never seen fire like that. Not in any textbook, not in any hero database."

  Omar cleared his throat.

  "Look, Valeria, it's been a long day. Maybe we can—"

  "I'm not accusing him of anything," she interrupted, still looking at Roy. "I'm asking."

  Roy met her eyes. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken questions.

  Finally, Roy exhaled.

  "It's complicated."

  "Most things are." Valeria crossed her arms. "But you stopped all ten arrows. With your eyes closed. And you also caught the last one with fire that was felt through the barrier."

  She paused.

  "So either you're hiding your strength on purpose, or you're afraid of it. Which is it?"

  Roy's hands clenched at his sides. Omar stepped closer to him, a subtle show of support.

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  "Why do you care?" Roy asked.

  Valeria was quiet for a moment, took a deep breath, then looked up.

  "Because," she said slowly, "I've spent my entire life training to be the strongest. I've faced opponents from every combat school, every training facility. I learned that being strong is something to be proud of, and today, I saw someone who might actually be stronger than me... and he's terrified of his own power."

  She looked back at him.

  "That doesn't make sense. So I want to understand."

  Omar whistled low.

  "Okay, that's... surprisingly honest."

  Roy studied her face, searching for any sign of judgment or suspicion. But all he saw was genuine curiosity. Maybe even respect.

  "I'm not stronger than you," Roy said quietly.

  "You don't know that."

  "I do."

  Valeria tilted her head slightly.

  "Then prove it. Fight me. Properly this time. No holding back."

  Omar immediately shook his head.

  "Whoa, hold on. Roy just—"

  "Will do it, but you'll have to wait till I'm ready to not hold back," Roy cut in, his voice steady.

  Valeria's lips curved into the faintest hint of a smile.

  "Good. I'll wait. Take your time."

  She turned to leave, then paused and glanced back over her shoulder.

  "Last thing: you do have the looks to be a romance protagonist. Too bad this is a fighting story."

  Roy's face flushed. Omar burst out laughing.

  Valeria walked away without another word, disappearing into the trees.

  Omar was still laughing, clutching his stomach.

  "Oh man, she heard it. From all of the things she could have heard, she heard that."

  Roy put his face in his hands.

  "Just kill me now."

  "Can't. You'd just regenerate."

  Despite everything, Roy let out a small, reluctant laugh.

  A faint draft brushed past them, barely a whisper against their skin. They didn't pause to wonder where it came from, unaware that it was the result of him leaving.

  Darius was hunched over his desk, window closed, the scratch of his pen the only sound in the room, until the window slammed open. A sudden, sharp gust surged inward, scattering the edges of his papers.

  He looked up to see Anton in front of him.

  "Why are you in my office?"

  Anton ignored Darius's question.

  "Your students are really something special."

  "So you came to me after spying on my students?"

  "You can't call it spying when it's one of my jobs."

  Darius went back to his paperwork.

  "Did you come here to tell me about what they were doing?"

  "Two of them had a talk. Then a third joined."

  Darius interrupted Anton.

  "About what?"

  "I don't listen to private talks between friends. I am not that kind of person."

  "How noble," Darius said sarcastically.

  "You don't seem to care, even though they're your students," Anton said.

  "I'll be leaving at the end of the week. I don't see why I should care."

  Anton smirked.

  "That's the thing. You won't."

  Then he took a letter from his coat and presented it to Darius.

  "You're staying," he said.

  Darius looked at him directly with his sharp purple eyes. A stare that screamed danger as the smell of ozone filled the place.

  "And how do you know? I don't remember this information being public."

  Anton put the letter on Darius's desk with a smile on his face.

  "There isn't a thing in this academy that I don't know about."

  A sharp gust surged inward through the window, then turned around and out, slamming the window shut as it left.

  And with it, Anton disappeared just like how he had appeared.

  Darius looked at the letter and took it.

  His hand shook as he opened it carefully.

  His eyes began reading it as he was taking it out, a combination between a smile and a smirk forming on his face. His hair spiked up from the static electricity that was visible.

  'She did it,' he thought, putting the letter down. 'I guess it's time to clean out that useless class and get in who deserves it.'