Crane did not answer right away.The classroom was empty now, but the noise outside had not faded. Students were still moving through the corridor, still whispering in low voices.Crane looked at Knox for a moment, then set her notepad down on the desk.“What did Serena tell you?”“Nothing.”“That sounds like her.”Knox’s jaw tightened. “Professor.”Crane’s expression did not change, but her voice lost the dry edge it usually carried.“This is not about the Hollowvein verdict.”Knox went still.“The verdict is settled,” Crane said. “The Mission Director confirmed the contribution record. Darius cannot touch that without challenging the Directorate itself.”“Then why is everyone saying her name?”“Because he is not touching the verdict.” Crane’s eyes moved briefly toward the door, then back to him. “He is touching what came after it.”Knox said nothing.“House Vorden raised a compliance concern around the Hale family’s handling of Prism Ore and academy-linked resource channels,” Crane

The door shut, and the old mana lines along the floor began to glow.Knox listened to the outside noise cut off until there was only the hum of the array and the bitter smell of the herbs on the shelf. Then he made a decision. This chamber would be his world until the supplies ran out. There was nothing for him beyond the door anyway.Knox sorted the supplies first.The body-vitality herbs were cheap and ugly-looking, more dried roots than proper medicine. Knox crushed the first piece between his teeth and nearly spat it out. It was bitter enough to make his stomach twist, but a slow warmth spread through his limbs a few breaths later.He set the rest aside for later.The mana-refinement herbs were worse.He broke one open and swallowed it with water. For a second, nothing happened. Then heat crawled through his channels, thin at first, then sharp enough that his breathing caught.Knox sat cross-legged on the stone and forced the first circulation cycle.The mana moved badly.It dragge

The word reached Knox through the pain.Brother.His bandaged wrist was still locked in the man's grip, burning so badly that his fingers twitched before he could stop them.Crane stepped closer."Let him go." Her voice was calm, but it carried weight. Then her eyes settled on his face. "Rowan Hale."The grip loosened.So that was his name, Knox thought through the pain.Serena's brother.Knox pulled his hand back against his chest and held it there. A few feet away, Ignis dragged himself up against the wall, claws catching the stone for purchase, his ember eyes fixed on Rowan and not moving from him.Crane's eyes stayed on Rowan's hand anyway, as if she wanted to be sure it stayed away from his."This is a Hale matter," Rowan said."Not when it involves my student," Crane replied.Rowan gave her a polite look. There was no fear in it and no apology, but there was enough respect to show he knew he was not speaking to some random instructor. He measured her for a second, then let it go

The wooden fist came for Knox's face before he finished breathing.His mouth opened on instinct, the command halfway up his throat, but he caught it before it left him.No words.He swallowed the command and sent it through the bond instead.The fist cut across the space where his face had been. Knox slipped sideways on a short step, rough but controlled, while Ignis darted low and slammed into the dummy's base from the side.The dummy staggered on its arm.Knox stepped in and drove his good fist into the center mark on its chest.The dummy froze.A dull bell rang once.For a moment nobody said anything. Knox straightened slowly, wrist throbbing, and he could not stop the corner of his mouth from rising. He had landed the hit. He looked at Crane.Crane stared at him.Then she laughed, once, before she could stop herself.Knox frowned. "What?"Serena's mouth curved too. It was not a big smile, but it was enough that the worry lines that had been on her face since Rowan left loosened fo

Bang! Knox was on the floor again. Crane’s mark glowed at her shoulder. Ignis crouched beside him, claws dug into the stone. Serena stood by the wall, quiet. “Stand,” Crane said. Knox got up. His body hated him for it, and he cursed everything inwardly while he did it, his ribs, his calf, the floor, the mark, the woman behind the mark. None of it showed on his face. He just got his feet under him. The pressure came again. The floor took him again. “Again.” He stood. He fell. They sparred for half a breath before she folded the space and put him down. “Again.” He stood. He fell. “Again.” It went like that for a while, and Knox stopped counting the times the floor came up to meet him. Then Crane changed it. “Stand. Release your aura.” Knox dragged himself up and pushed the green out around him. It came thick now, denser than it had been before the chamber, the way a Level Three’s aura was supposed to look. Crane frowned. “That still does not make sense.” She studied the g