Chapter: Find One Who Walks the Edge
Astral Academy – Outer Training Grounds, Noon
The dust on the courtyard floor hadn't yet settled.
Sato stood, breathing slightly heavier than usual, strands of silver hair gently fluttering in the wind. His calm gaze met Anay's across the ring, not with defeat, but with a quiet admiration that only a warrior could understand.
The crowd had fallen silent, their cheers and murmurs giving way to awe.
Anay had moved faster than most of them could follow — not once, but multiple times — each strike calculated, each movement restrained. And yet, he hadn't overwhelmed Sato. He had paced the fight like a dance, letting it unfold, letting it test them both… until the final move ended it in a graceful sweep.
Sato took a slow step forward, brushing dust from his shoulder. "That was… enlightening."
Anay offered a small smile. "Likewise. You've grown stronger, Sato."
Sato tilted his head slightly. "Not enough to match you, apparently."
"No," Anay replied, folding his arms behind his back. "You've grown in your own way. I could feel it in every step you took."
The murmurs around them began again. Students leaned forward, whispering praises about the two prodigies, awed by the quiet intensity of their battle. Neither of them boasted. Neither of them raised their voices. But everyone could feel it — the weight of strength honed in solitude.
Sato exhaled slowly, looking up at the clear blue sky above the academy walls. "Anay… You should go beyond this place."
Anay blinked. "Hm?"
"You've trained here. Fought here. Grown here. But there's a limit to what the academy grounds can give you now."
The breeze stirred between them. Leaves rustled from the trees lining the courtyard's edge. Anay's expression grew thoughtful.
"I've been thinking about that too," he admitted. "Ever since the others left. Ashwajeet. Reika. Even Veer."
Sato nodded. "And yet you remained."
"I needed to," Anay said quietly. "I had… things to understand first."
Sato didn't press. He simply waited.
Anay looked down at his palm — as if seeing more than skin, more than muscle. Something within. Something only he knew.
"I've changed too," he said. "And now… maybe it is time."
A pause.
"But I can't go outside the academy alone," Anay added. "I need an elder to authorize it. And to guide me."
Sato's eyes didn't waver.
"Then find one."
Anay looked up.
"Seek out an elder who doesn't just follow the curriculum. Someone who understands the difference between rules… and growth."
"You make it sound easy," Anay said with a small smirk.
Sato shrugged lightly. "It isn't. But you don't need easy. You need real."
The wind passed again. The courtyard began to clear as the students slowly dispersed, but some lingered, still watching them from a distance — perhaps sensing this conversation mattered more than the battle itself.
Anay looked around the academy. He had walked these paths hundreds of times. Trained in the echoing halls. Sparred under these skies. But now… it all felt smaller than before. Not because the academy had changed — but because he had.
"Do you have anyone in mind?" he asked.
Sato tilted his head, gaze thoughtful. "There are a few elders who don't stay bound to classrooms. Wanderers. Observers. One of them may be what you need."
"Who?"
Sato gave a faint smile. "That's your search. Not mine."
Anay laughed softly. "You're becoming cryptic."
"I'm becoming honest."
They stood there a while longer. Not talking. Just sharing the silence as wind blew through the courtyard again — light and free.
Eventually, Anay stepped forward and offered a hand.
Sato took it.
A firm, respectful grip.
No rivalry. Only respect.
"I'll be heading out soon," Anay said.
Sato nodded. "Good. You're ready."
The moment passed.
But something had shifted.
Anay turned, walking away with a calm resolve. His footsteps light, but his mind focused.
He didn't know where this next step would lead — who he would meet, what trials waited outside the academy gates.
But for the first time in a while… he wasn't hesitating.
He was moving.
He would find the elder.
Because he was ready to grow.
And he wasn't afraid to leave the walls behind.
Chapter: After the Decision
Astral Academy – Southern Courtyard
Anay stood at the edge of the training field, the faint golden light of sunset casting a long shadow behind him. Sato's words still echoed in his mind: "Then find one."
The academy behind him. The world beyond calling.
He wasn't afraid to leave the walls behind.
He turned slowly, the wind brushing through his dark hair, and began walking toward the stone path that led away from the courtyard.
The moment he took his first step, the murmur in the crowd behind him grew louder.
"He's really going…"
"Anay's leaving the academy?"
"Did you hear? He's going outside—like the elites."
"That fight… he wasn't even serious."
Dozens of students leaned over balcony rails, perched on the rooftops, clustered in the open halls. All eyes followed his steady steps. No celebration. No fanfare. Just silent awe.
One of the first-years whispered, clutching their training staff, "He moved like… like he wasn't even trying."
A senior from Class Wing B shook his head. "He's not just strong. He's on a different level now."
From the back, someone muttered with a mix of envy and admiration, "He walked out of the inner walls like they were never meant to hold him."
As Anay's figure grew smaller in the distance, one of the boys from Class Wing A exhaled sharply.
"I think… this was the last time we saw him as a student."
Another nodded. "Next time… he'll return as something more."
There were no goodbyes shouted. No claps or cheers.
Just a deep, collective understanding among everyone who watched him leave—
That something was shifting.
That a storm was quietly moving beyond the gates.
That Anay… had begun the next chapter.
And the world had better be ready for what he'd become.
And now he has to find an Elder
To explore the outside world