The door to Villa 1 opened with a whisper of displaced air, not the heavy creak of timber Vane was used to.
He stepped inside.
If Oakhaven was a muddy boot, Villa 1 was a glass slipper. The foyer was vast enough to park a carriage in. The floors were polished white marble, veined with gold that pulsed faintly with ambient mana. A chandelier made of floating crystals drifted lazily near the ceiling, casting a soft, shadowless light.
It was quiet. It was the kind of quiet that felt like a physical weight on his shoulders.
"Welcome, Lord Vane."
Vane stopped. He hadn't heard her approach at all.
A woman stood by the archway leading to the living quarters. She wore the stark black and white uniform of the Academy staff. She looked to be in her fifties, with grey hair pulled back into a tight bun and a posture that made him feel like he was slouching.
She was human. Judging by the way she stood, weight balanced and eyes tracking his hands, she knew how to handle herself in a fight.
'Rank 2,' Vane noted. 'Professional. Probably an old soldier or a bodyguard.'
"I'm Elara," she said, bowing her head just enough to be polite. "I'm the head housekeeper here. The staff have already prepared your suite. Do you want to see the rest of the house, or should I have the chef start on dinner?"
Vane looked at her. He looked at the pristine marble under his boots, wondering if he was leaving a trail of grit behind him.
"Dinner," Vane said.
"Very well. Do you have any allergies or preferences? Or is there something specific you'd like for your first night?"
Vane opened his mouth to say "stew."
The word died in his throat. He remembered the bowl of broth he'd tried to give his mother. He remembered the smell of sickness and the way she'd looked at him, telling him he was a big fish in a small pond. He had climbed out of the pond, but he still felt like a fraud in a expensive suit.
"Lord Vane?" Elara asked.
"Something simple," Vane said, his voice a bit scratchier than he wanted. "Steak. Vegetables. And coffee. Make it as black as possible."
"I'll let the chef know. Dinner will be served on the terrace in thirty minutes."
Elara bowed and disappeared into the house.
Vane walked through the mansion. He passed a library full of books that looked like they'd never been opened. He passed a training hall with reinforced walls that hummed with Grade A defensive wards. He passed a bathroom with a tub that could probably fit four people.
It was a palace. And to him, it felt like a trap.
'If I get too comfortable here, I'm dead,' Vane thought, running a hand along a silk tapestry. 'Gareth wouldn't hesitate to burn this whole place down with me in it.'
He didn't unpack. He left his few things in his spatial ring. He checked the windows and the lines of sight, treating the luxury villa like a fort in the middle of enemy territory.
He ate dinner on the terrace alone. The steak was perfect and the vegetables were crisp, but he barely tasted any of it. He was too busy watching the shadows.
Night fell over Zenith. The mana-lamps along the bridges flickered to life, painting the school in soft blues and golds. Vane walked to the edge of his balcony.
He was at the very top. The air was thin here, biting with a chill that cut right through his uniform. He looked down at the spiral of floating islands below him.
Villa 2 was dark. Isaac was probably sleeping or meditating. Villa 3 was glowing with lights. Anastasia was likely holding court with her admirers.
Vane looked further down to Villa 4. It sat on its own islet, connected to the main spiral by a bridge of solid light. The house was dark, but the terrace was illuminated by the moon.
Someone was out there.
Vane narrowed his eyes and focused.
[Target Analysis]
Name: Valerica
Rank: 3 (Elite)
Danger: [ERROR]
Authority: Celestial Heart (EX)
She wasn't sleeping. She was training.
She stood in the center of her patio in simple leathers. She moved slowly, like she was performing a dance underwater. She shifted her weight into a lunge, her fist punching out with agonizing slowness. The air around her hand distorted, and the light from the nearby lamps seemed to bend and curve around her arm.
She wasn't struggling, but Vane could see the sweat on her face and the tremor in her muscles. She wasn't lifting a weight: she was the weight. It looked like she was increasing her own gravity, turning her body into something incredibly dense, and then forcing herself to move through it.
She finished the form and brought her hands together, exhaling a long breath. The distortion in the air vanished instantly.
'She's not just powerful,' Vane realized. 'She's holding herself back. If she let go for even a second, she'd probably go right through the floor.'
Valerica turned and looked up. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, her golden eyes locking onto Vane's silhouette on the balcony above. She didn't look surprised to see him.
"You've been staring for a while, Rank 1," she called out. Her voice was calm and traveled easily through the thin air.
Vane didn't move. "I was just watching the routine. That looks like a lot of weight to carry."
"It keeps me from floating away," she said.
She walked to the railing of her balcony and gripped the metal. The steel groaned under her hand, but she adjusted her grip until it stopped complaining.
"How is it up there?" she asked. "Is the view as good as they say?"
"It's cold," Vane said. "And quiet."
"Good," Valerica said. "Quiet is better. People are too loud."
She looked at him for a second longer, her gaze feeling heavy, like she was measuring his actual mass rather than his mana.
"Try not to fall, Vane," she said. "Gravity is a lot less forgiving at this height."
She turned and walked back into her villa. The door slid shut.
Vane stayed on the balcony for a long time. She wasn't like the others. She wasn't arrogant like Anastasia or annoyed like Isaac. She felt like a fortress with the gates welded shut for everyone else's safety.
'I can't just trick someone like that,' Vane decided. 'And I definitely can't overpower her. If I want to get close to her, I have to be the only thing she can't break.'
Vane went back inside. He didn't sleep. He sat on the edge of his bed and went through his library, picking out his skills for the morning.
[Passive Equipped: Mental Fortitude (Grade E)]
[Passive Equipped: Pain Nullification (Grade F)]
[Passive Equipped: Courtier's Mask (Grade F)]
He lay down on the silk sheets. They were too soft. He found himself missing the scratchy wool blankets from Oakhaven.
'Just a bigger cage,' he reminded himself.
Morning came with a polite knock.
"Seven o'clock, Lord Vane," Elara's voice came through the door. "Breakfast is ready."
Vane was up and dressed in three minutes. He ate quickly and stepped out onto the bridge. The morning air was crisp and the sun made the floating islands gleam like jewels.
He walked to the central lift platform. He wasn't the only one there.
Valerica was waiting by the doors. She was back in her uniform, standing perfectly still with her hands behind her back.
Vane stopped next to her. They didn't say anything. They just stood side by side, two anomalies waiting for a ride. Vane could feel the gravity rolling off her in waves. It was a subtle tug that made his knees ache. He had to use [Body Reinforcement] just to keep standing straight.
Valerica glanced at him, noticing that he wasn't leaning away or struggling to breathe.
"You're holding up better than most," she noted.
"I've spent a lot of time in the mud," Vane said. "You learn how to keep your feet planted."
The lift arrived and the doors opened. They stepped inside together. The ride down was silent, but it wasn't empty. It was the silence of two people who were both hiding something dangerous.
When the doors opened at the main campus, the noise of hundreds of students hit them. People were milling about, talking and laughing, until they saw who was in the lift.
Vane stepped out and straightened his sleeves. Valerica stepped out right beside him. The crowd parted immediately, people staring at the commoner Rank 1 and the girl from Villa 4.
Vane looked toward the Lecture Hall.
"After you," Vane said.
"No," Valerica said, her voice as heavy as a mountain. "You're the Representative. You lead the way."
Vane started walking. Valerica fell into step beside him, and her presence cleared the path better than any threat could have.
Class was about to start.