Chương 183

A few people Orion vaguely recognized passed by, cheerfully greeting the two teachers before blinking in shock upon noticing his presence. But he couldn't pay them any attention because his attention was drawn to the two teens walking at the back of the group, apparently in the middle of a very involved discussion. They must have felt his gaze because they looked up, and when they did, whatever they'd been talking about was forgotten, and both Dorian and Luna sprinted.

Orion barely had time to chuckle at the complaints the others let out about being muscled out of the way before the two were on him, wrapping him in a hug that was just shy of being too tight. Even though only a couple of months had passed since he last saw them, it was clear that both of his friends had grown in the meantime. Dorian had always been the tallest in their age group, and now he towered over everyone else by several inches.

Even Orion, who had gone through his own growth spurt, only reached his lips, if one didn't count his messy hair. Luna, on the other hand, hadn't grown much taller, but her hair was now free of the bindings her mother liked weaving in it, and her mischievous smile had gained a slightly less childish quality.

"I missed you guys," Orion found himself saying, and was surprised that it was the honest truth. He hadn't really expected to bond with other teenagers in any way, given his mental maturity, but years together had worn down his resistance, and it was clear neither of his friends was willing to let him brood on his own for long.

"You said two weeks!" Luna complained on his shoulder, slapping his back in annoyance.

"In my defense," Orion sighed, "I couldn't have predicted the absolute mess that greeted us in Valderun, much less what happened afterward. I don't think anyone could have, really."

"Excuses," Dorian chuckled as he pulled away. Orion was vaguely aware that more people were arriving, but he didn't really have a strong connection with any of them, except for Selene, of course, whom he still couldn't see.

"How are you guys?" he asked, even as he surreptitiously checked them out. There's nothing wrong with being curious. And given what Julia said about Selene, these two probably aren't too far behind.

Dorian Mismeire — Faithful Guardian Class: Spellblade [D-rank] Level: 41 Mind: 59 Attunement: 134 Body: 109 Traits: Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Lunar Bladework [C-rank] Julia Thaw — Pixie of the Moon Class: Lunar Witch [D-rank] Level: 40 Mind: 108 Attunement: 140 Body: 8 Traits: Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Far Side [C-rank]"We're good," Dorian said, but something about his tone wasn't very convincing. Based on what he was observing, Orion didn't believe there was anything wrong with their builds.

He knew some people who finished the Sanctum's lesson cycle without reaching tier two, so they were already much farther along than the average student. Luna sighed, elbowing her taller companion, "Let's just tell him. It won't do him any good to be surprised by it anyway." Now Orion was beginning to feel a bit worried.

He had picked up on the underlying message that something strange was happening with Selene, a suspicion that was only reinforced by her mysterious absence when the girl he knew would have been the first to greet him. But this was starting to sound more serious than just a minor accident keeping her away.

"Out with it," he said, furrowing his brow. Dorian bit his lips, clearly unsure how to start explaining what was going on, but luckily, Luna wasn't so hesitant.

"It's about Selene, as you might have realized. She didn't take your absence well, especially once those two weeks you promised passed, and there was no sign of your return," she began. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Orion tilted his head, silently urging her to explain further, since he doubted this was just about Selene pouting over his missed deadline. She was smart enough to understand there was a good reason for his delay.

"It got bad after a while," Dorian added.

"She hid herself for a few days, and her mother had to go ask a Magistra to help find her." This was beginning to sound more like an episode of some kind. Considering that Selene had all but skipped past a Vampire Lady and into a nest, he couldn't think of anything that would upset her so much.

"They eventually found her on the fourth floor, inside an abandoned laboratory," Luna continued, and Orion felt a chill because he knew exactly which laboratory she was talking about. He hadn't yet found the time to check on his old haunts, but he'd taken steps to remove anything truly incriminating. Hearing that Selene had hidden there confirmed his suspicion that something was wrong.

"And?" He pressed. But Luna was shaking her head.

"We never got the full story. She avoided us for a while after that, even if she did come to class, and then, just a couple of weeks ago, she vanished for two more days. But this time, when we went to ask her mother, we learned she'd planned some sort of outing and that everything was under control. Apparently." She didn't seem very convinced, nor was Orion. This whole situation reeked, and he suspected only one person knew the full story.

Given how cryptic Selene could be even when she was in a good mood, figuring it out would be a real headache.

"When she returned, she had broken through Tier Two. No one knows what she did, but she was checked over by the Inspectors at the gate and even an Inquisitor. As far as they could tell, she simply experienced rapid, sustained growth by pushing past her limits." That was the method Orion himself had used.

He constantly disassembled his own spells, studied their parts, and learned from his environment, incorporating that new knowledge into them until he only needed the slightest push from some battle experience to finally cross over.

Given that Selene was the only other extra ranker in the Sanctum, as far as he knew, it probably shouldn't have been a surprise that she'd matched his feat, especially since she didn't have to reinvent her entire magical school and could follow in the footsteps of the witches who came before her. But before I left, she showed interest in learning about my path. She wanted to break away from the orthodoxy, even if not as intensely as I did. For her to change so much in such a short time…

"Listen, she might be a little different, but she's still Selene," Luna finally said.

"Don't take her behavior personally. Try to give her some time to get used to you being back. Maybe you'll be able to learn more." Orion gave an absent-minded nod, even though his eyes had already left her, since he could finally see the object of their talk in the distance. Selene had always been a pretty girl, though in that distracted way that made her more cute than beautiful.

That hadn't changed, as she still wore her platinum blonde hair in braids and preferred baggier clothes, clearly unconcerned with the social norms that other young witches closely followed. But he only needed a glance to realize that everything he'd been told about her changed behavior was true, and in fact, it might have been an understatement. There was a new intensity about her that he had only seen a few times before. Her pale, glowing eyes scanned everything in the corridor, immediately locking onto him.

Though he detected a brief moment of confusion as she processed his presence, she kept walking without breaking her stride. He inhaled, ready to greet her or maybe ask how things had been, as a way to break the ice, but was left standing there, stunned, because she didn't even slow down, walking past him and into the classroom without so much as a second look. Orion blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened, before turning on his heel and marching inside.

Dorian and Luna hurried to follow him, clearly worried he would explode, but Orion was no longer the immature child he once was. He took his seat at the back of the room, in a spot that gave him a good view of where Selene sat next to the window, gazing out blankly, and prepared for a long day. I'll figure it out. This is just another puzzle. Eire's lesson went smoothly.

There was a brief commotion at first when every student greeted the returned teacher, giving more than one curious glance her way and asking about the campaign she participated in, but she managed to dodge the more direct questions, briefly explaining the nature of what they had done—a punitive hunt to eliminate a dangerous, rogue force—which, while not fully satisfying everyone, was enough for now. Orion paid little attention to the lecture on animation magic that followed.

It wasn't that he wasn't interested—he actually had some ideas he wanted to try during his free time to explore his new power—yet his gaze kept drifting toward Selene's seat. He was aware he hadn't been subtle about it, but she never once looked back. When the lesson ended, he suddenly remembered that the next class would be Charms, and who had taught it before his departure, but Dorian calmed his worries.

"Sir Jeremy has retaken his role as Charms teacher." Orion nodded in acknowledgment, relaxing just a bit as he moved along with the group of teenagers heading to the next classroom. For a moment, he thought he could intercept Selene on the way, but she was already gone by the time he looked back, and he sighed, deciding it would have to wait until the end of the lessons.

He followed Luna and Dorian to the other end of the floor, into a larger room than he remembered Morliana using, filled with enchanted straw dummies and all kinds of bits and bobs that kept reacting to his [Hypotheticism], informing him that they were under various spells, some extremely simple, like a wooden bouncy ball that mimicked the elasticity of gum thanks to a weak levitation spell, and others much more complex, such as a snowball that seemed empty.

He didn't have time to inspect it further, though, as a haggard man walked in, shutting the door behind him with a loud bang, ending the chatter. As far as Orion knew, Sir Jeremy was the only man in the entire Sanctum to hold a full teaching position for himself. Morliana probably didn't need to pressure him much to get her hands on his job, given the discrimination against males, but he couldn't have been that bad if he'd gotten his job back.

"Welcome back to Charms," Jeremy called, getting a lukewarm response. He immediately began a lecture on layering enchantment, clearly picking up where he left off and not bothering to ask about the new face or discuss the recent return of the victorious army. It was a surprisingly normal lesson that followed, and while Orion couldn't say he would ever miss Morliana's teaching style, he had to admit that the old hag was a much better teacher than this guy.

Jeremy Farstride — Worn Sentinel Class: Enchanting Architect [B-rank] Level: 124 Mind: 410 Attunement: 833 Body: 59 Traits: Mana Manipulation [B-rank]; Attuned Layering [B-rank]; Innate Harmony [C-rank]; Structural Precision [C-rank]; Parallel Casting [C-rank] That is better than I expected.

Surprisingly, inspecting the man seemed to trigger a reaction: for the first time, he stuttered, glancing around as if trying to find the source of whatever he had sensed, but he couldn't find the origin, and returned to teaching with only the occasional suspicious glance. Eventually, the bells rang, signaling the end of the lesson, and Jeremy sighed, "Just get me a paper on enchantment layering by next time." With the assignment given, he quickly retreated, leaving the students to gather their belongings.

The moment he was gone, Orion sidestepped Dorian's hand and headed straight for Selene. He'd waited long enough.