The glyphs were still rearranging themselves when the instructor vanished.

One blink.

Gone.

Just like that.

No closing words. No questions.

Just silence, stretched thin across a hundred held breaths.

Kaelen stood up fast.

“Well. That was… reassuring.”

Yolti spun her scarf around one arm. “He stared right at us. I felt that pulse in my teeth.”

Zephryn didn’t move.

Selka hadn’t even blinked.

The glyphs above slowly unraveled—disappearing into threads of light, like memory trying to erase itself.

They filed out with the others—down the spiral stairwells, across the polished corridors lined with radiant wall-strips that pulsed like veins. Students talked in low voices. Some still buzzed with excitement. Others walked like they’d already failed.

Zephryn said nothing.

Kaelen walked beside him with his arms crossed, eyes scanning every turn.

They stepped into the Lyceum’s side courtyard, where stone benches curled beneath hanging lanterns, and the light played tricks against the glass.

Nima was already there.

She looked up, blinked once, and said:

“He knew you.”

Zephryn nodded once. “I know.”

“No.” She stood up. “I mean—he remembered you.”

Zephryn looked away.

“So do they,” Selka said.

A soft, rhythmic tap echoed across the stones behind them.

Boots. Slow. Deliberate.

Zephryn turned first.

A student. Upper tier. Robes dark, not black—deep violet threaded with gold. Pulse insignia stitched on the sleeve: Celestis Veil Internal Division—High Frequency Clearance.

But that wasn’t the part that stopped him.

It was the eyes.

Sharp. Measured. Unafraid.

“Zephryn.”

Kaelen stepped forward instantly. “You know his name?”

The student nodded once. Calm. Like it wasn’t unusual at all.

“I watched the Lyceum records before the purge. You were there. Once.”

Zephryn stared at him. “That was sealed.”

The student didn’t smile. But he didn’t back down.

“I didn’t come to challenge you.”

“Then why are you here?”

He looked at the others—Kaelen, Yolti, Selka. Then back to Zephryn.

“Because someone else remembers you too.

And they don’t want you to survive the Crucible.”