The next day dawned with the kind of lazy sweetness that should've been a dream—my first real break in what felt like forever, no missions, no monsters, no nuisances trailing me like a bad habit.
With my friends scattered across the world—some jetting back to their fancy estates, others knee-deep in duties as heirs and heiresses to ancient guilds—and nearly all the students cleared out of the academy for the off-season, the place felt like a ghost town. The sprawling halls echoed with my footsteps alone, the usual buzz of chatter, spell practice explosions, and cafeteria chaos replaced by an unnatural quiet that pressed in like a too-thick blanket.
Sunlight filtered through the arched windows of my dorm room, casting golden pools on the worn wooden floors, but even that couldn't shake the itch under my skin.
