For exactly one hour—
I waited.
Awake.
Dressed.
Ready.
Staring at my dormitory door.
Three o'clock had come and gone.
Then four.
Normally, by now Gareth would've kicked the door open with all the subtlety of an invading army.
Instead—
Nothing.
Silence.
I frowned.
"...Strange."
Five more minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then thirty.
Eventually an entire hour disappeared.
Only then did realization finally arrive.
"...Right."
Today was closing day.
The semester had ended.
Yesterday had officially marked the end of my punishment.
Gareth wasn't coming.
I continued staring at the door for another few seconds.
"...I could've been sleeping."
The realization hurt more than anything had.
With nothing left to wait for, I finally began packing.
Most of my belongings disappeared into my storage ring.
Training clothes.
Equipment.
Spare boots.
Cleaning supplies.
The usual collection accumulated over five months of academy life.
One bag remained.
A simple black shoulder bag.
Inside rested exactly two books.
Beside them sat ten pens.
Red.
Blue.
Green.
Purple.
Black.
Brown.
Orange.
Pink.
Silver.
Gold.
A habit from another life.
Once upon a time I had outlined worlds with colored ink.
Characters.
Kingdoms.
Magic systems.
Entire civilizations.
Apparently that habit had survived reincarnation.
Some things simply refused to die.
The dormitory looked strangely empty once everything had been packed away.
For five months this had been home.
Not a permanent one.
But home nonetheless.
I straightened the bed.
Folded the blanket.
Placed the chair beneath the desk.
Looked around one final time.
Satisfied.
Then left.
There was, however—
One final stop.
The Library Garden.
Naturally.
The familiar pathways welcomed me back.
The fountains still flowed.
Students wandered between shelves.
The afternoon breeze carried the scent of flowers.
And there it was.
The purple berry bush.
Still magnificent.
Still perfect.
Still producing what I firmly believed were the greatest berries ever created.
I looked around.
Nobody seemed to be paying attention.
Excellent.
From my storage ring, I retrieved a small cloth sack.
Several minutes later—
The sack was full.
I tied it closed.
Then looked at the bush.
"...I'll be back."
The bush offered no response.
As usual.
I respected its professionalism.
The academy gates bustled with activity.
Hundreds of students departed in every direction.
Some climbed aboard waiting carriages.
Others boarded mana-powered airships.
Merchant convoys prepared for long journeys.
Teleportation circles glowed softly beneath groups heading toward distant nations.
And then there were the bloodline users.
The skies above Galia Academy were alive.
Winged students launched into the air one after another.
Feathered wings.
Bat-like wings.
Insect wings.
Some glided gracefully.
Others accelerated like arrows.
For many families, flying home was simply faster.
Castor was already waiting near the gates.
As always.
Perfect posture.
Hands in his pockets.
Expression unreadable.
He glanced at the cloth sack hanging from my shoulder.
Then looked back at me.
Castor: "You're late."
Benjamin: "I stopped for berries."
Castor looked at the sack again.
A long silence followed.
That was apparently the end of the discussion.
Without another word, he stepped away from the crowd.
The small black feathers behind both of his ears slowly lengthened, becoming more pronounced against his dark skin.
Dark mana rippled across his back.
A moment later—
Two enormous black wings unfolded.
Each feather carried a faint blue sheen beneath the afternoon sunlight.
Elegant.
Silent.
Beautiful.
With a single step—
He vanished.
The stone beneath his feet barely noticed he'd left.
I watched him become a black silhouette racing across the sky.
"...Show-off."
Several nearby students looked upward.
None seemed particularly surprised.
In Elarion, flying home was about as normal as walking.
I sighed.
Then activated my own bloodline.
Warmth spread through my body.
The crimson dragon scales already visible across my arms shimmered brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
Golden light coursed beneath them.
Mana gathered across my back.
Pressure built.
Then—
Two massive draconic wings burst outward.
Crimson.
Black.
Veins of molten gold spread through the membranes like flowing magma.
The air around me trembled.
Several loose leaves exploded outward.
The ground beneath my boots cracked softly.
A few nearby students instinctively stepped back.
Not from fear.
Simply because dragon wings required considerably more space than crow wings.
I stretched once.
The joints settled comfortably.
familiar.
mine.
Then I leapt.
The ground disappeared.
Wind exploded around me.
The academy rapidly shrank beneath my feet.
Within seconds I had climbed above the highest towers of Galia.
The city of Ero stretched endlessly below.
Magnificent.
As always.
Ahead—
A tiny black silhouette raced across the sky.
Castor.
Already moving faster than sound.
Naturally.
Something else caught my attention.
Far to the east.
Almost impossible to see.
A tiny white figure.
Four enormous wings.
Even from this distance—
There was only one person it could be.
Enel.
I frowned slightly.
East?
That was strange.
Elarion lay to the south.
For a brief moment, curiosity surfaced.
Then disappeared.
She probably had her reasons.
Everyone did.
I banked slightly.
Turned south.
Folded my wings.
And accelerated.
The world blurred.
Clouds split around me.
The roar of the wind vanished behind the beating of enormous dragon wings.
Ahead—
Castor glanced back once.
Then accelerated even harder.
"...Seriously?"
I couldn't let that stand.
Not a chance.
I leaned forward.
Dragon Aura surged through my body.
Golden flames briefly danced along the edges of my wings.
Then—
I shot forward.
The race home had officially begun.