Zane stretched lazily as he strolled back toward the junior department, the sun dipping low behind the academy towers. His body still buzzed with energy from the fight—dodging, countering, and outpacing the gravity anomaly with nothing but the blunt end of the Endblade had felt exhilarating. He hadn't even needed full power.
Then, without warning, a familiar chime echoed in his mind.
Punishment period ended.
All abilities restored to 100% efficiency.
Zane exhaled slowly. "Finally," he muttered, a smug grin spreading across his face. "Welcome back, me."
He hadn't realized how much the penalty had weighed him down until it was gone. Every breath felt sharper. Every step lighter. The shadows around him even responded quicker.
As he crossed into the junior wing, he spotted Sera leaning against the wall near the entrance, arms folded, her white hair catching the golden hue of the setting sun. She looked up with a smirk.
"Well, look who's back. Heard you picked a fight with the number one senior." She pushed off the wall and approached him. "Seriously, Zane?"
He raised his hands defensively. "I was feeling... adventurous."
She narrowed her eyes. "And did your 'adventure' include completely humiliating the guy using only the blunt end of your blade?"
Zane tried not to grin. Failed. "He started it."
"You shouted the challenge first!"
She chuckled, then bumped his shoulder with hers. "Well, good job, Void-boy. Guess you're making quite the name for yourself."
As they began walking side by side, Zane tilted his head slightly. "And here I thought I already had a name."
"Zane, Slayer of Seniors?"
"Zane, Bringer of Blunt Force?"
Nyx's voice echoed smugly in his head. Zane, King of Overconfidence.
Zane rolled his eyes. "what did you say, Nyx?"
Sera glanced at him. "Nyx being snarky again?"
She smiled and shook her head. "So... what now?"
Zane looked ahead, eyes thoughtful. "Now that I'm back to full power? We train. Harder. Faster. We've got too many people watching, and not all of them are friendly."
Sera grinned. "Sounds like fun."