Time slipped by relentlessly, paying no heed to Sage's grumbling, moans, or half-hearted curses. By the time he finally made his way down the narrow staircase from the upper floor, a solid five hours had disappeared without a trace.
He rubbed his temples as he descended, his fingers digging into the sides of his head as if he could physically knead the pain out of his brain.
Each step dragged him down, slow and heavy, resembling the gait of someone who had just emerged from an intense intellectual battlefield rather than a simple morning lesson.
His eyes were half-closed and unfocused, carrying that unmistakable emptiness typically seen in students who had pulled an all-nighter or researchers lost in a maze of complex equations for too long.
"I swear…" he muttered, his voice raspy from fatigue, "…if I lay eyes on one more magic circle, I'm reporting this whole thing for cult activities."
