The dungeon gate closed behind them with a faint shudder, sealing off the echo of the subterranean floors.For the first time in what felt like days, Arios could hear something ordinary: the hum of the academy's ventilation systems, the distant chatter of other students exiting their assigned instances, and the faint scrape of armored boots on stone corridors.
They had returned.
The group emerged into one of the academy's lower testing stations — a wide, circular chamber lined with crystalline monitors. Technicians in gray uniforms moved between consoles, their expressions unreadable and professional.No one clapped. No one congratulated them.It was just another return.
Liza was the first to speak, her tone flat but slightly amused."Well, that was anticlimactic."
Lucy glanced around. "I don't see the overseer. Shouldn't someone be taking attendance?"
