Chapter 417:Awake.

Chapter 417: 417:Awake.

Silver woke before anyone came looking for him this time.

For several seconds, he remained beneath the blanket and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling while the quiet sounds of movement gradually reminded him where he was.

Someone was opening a wardrobe. Fabric rustled nearby. Water ran briefly from the attached washroom, and Antony’s voice drifted through the room as he complained about something that apparently required an audience despite the sun barely having risen.

He closed his eyes again.

"Absolutely not."

Antony’s voice immediately came from somewhere to his left. "You don’t even know what I was going to say."

"I know you."

"You’ve known me for how long?"

"Long enough."

"That’s incredibly judgmental."

He opened one eye.

Antony stood in front of the mirror attempting to straighten his academy collar while his long orange hair was already tied into its usual bun.

Across the room, Jude Dero sat on the edge of his bed fastening his boots with the quiet expression of someone who had already learned to ignore Antony whenever possible, while Dillian stood near the window fully dressed and reading something on the academy tablet they’d each received yesterday.

Silver still didn’t believe that arrangement had happened accidentally.

He sat up.

His body felt considerably better. The deep soreness remained, particularly around his ribs and shoulder, but even that had diminished overnight.

The medicine after yesterday’s pressure evaluation had helped, and his enhanced physical condition and the system medicine continued doing the rest.

He stretched cautiously but there was non of the expected pain.

Antony saw him.

"You’re alive."

He stared at him.

"You’re going to say that every morning, aren’t you?"

"For at least a week."

Jude looked up from his boots. "Was he actually trapped beneath a mountain, or have you exaggerated the story every time you’ve told it?"

Silver frowned before narrowing his eyes.

"Can’t you just keep your mouth shut when needed."

Antony looked personally offended.

"I haven’t exaggerated anything," he said completely ignoring Silver’s jab as he looked towards Jude.

Dillian glanced away from his tablet.

Antony continued, "He was trapped underground for almost a week and somehow he came crawling back just in time to enter the academy."

Jude looked at Silver.

"Seriously?"

"More or less."

"That’s considerably worse than the version I assumed Antony invented."

Silver stood.

"Don’t encourage him."

Antony followed him toward the washroom with his eyes.

"I haven’t even told him about the parasites."

Silver stopped, a shiver running through his body at the thought of it.

Jude raised an eyebrow.

Dillian finally lowered the tablet.

"Parasites?"

Silver slowly turned toward Antony.

"Breakfast."

He smiled.

"Fine."

Silver disappeared into the washroom before the questions multiplied.

By the time he emerged washed and dressed, Dillian had returned to his tablet, Jude was adjusting his uniform jacket, and Antony had finally succeeded in making his collar look somewhat respectable.

He checked the time before his gaze moved toward the door.

Antony noticed.

"You expecting someone?"

"No."

He smiled.

Silver looked at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Then stop smiling."

"I’m happy."

"At this hour?"

"Unlike some people, I don’t require my girlfriend to personally come downstairs and wake me... Yeah, don’t look at me like that, every first year knows that, and you call yourself a gentleman."

Silver stared flatly at him contemplating his life decisions over and over again.

Jude’s head turned.

Dillian’s eyes briefly moved away from the tablet.

He sighed heavily.

"You talk too much."

"That’s what everyone says when I’m right."

Silver picked up his academy identification card completely ignoring him.

A notification had arrived shortly before dawn.

[FIRST-YEAR CLASS PLACEMENT]

[ALL FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS REPORT TO CENTRAL ASSEMBLY COURTYARD.]

[07:30.]

[CLASS ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE DISPLAYED ON SITE.]

There was no information about which class he’d received. Apparently the academy wanted everyone to discover that together.

Silver looked at Dillian.

"Any idea how they’re dividing classes?"

He shook his head. "Nothing official. I heard people guessing they’ll distribute the highest leadership placements across different classes."

Antony pointed between the four of them.

"Which would mean we’re finally free from one another."

Jude stood and stretched.

"We’ve shared a room for one night," he said.

"Exactly. It’s been difficult."

"You spent most of that time talking," Jude countered.

"And none of you appreciated it."

Silver opened the door.

"I wonder why."

They left together.

The academy was already fully awake.

First-years emerged from different dormitories in brown-and-green uniforms while older students moved around them with the casual familiarity of people who already knew where they were going.

Vehicles crossed the wider roads separating training districts, morning exercises were underway on several distant fields, and somewhere beyond one of the buildings came the repeated sound of gunfire from an indoor range.

Antony breathed deeply.

"First actual day."

Jude looked at him.

"Yesterday was our first day."

"Yesterday was administrative suffering."

"You seemed happy when you ranked fifth."

"That was the reward for suffering."

Silver listened without contributing.

His attention had shifted ahead the moment he noticed the familiar white hair. Ravenna stood alone near the junction leading from the female residential district.

Silver’s steps slowed slightly.

She saw him almost immediately, her expression changing. That somehow made it more obvious.

The neutral expression she wore around everyone else softened, and a small smile appeared as Silver approached.

Antony noticed and sighed.

"Here we go again, shoving it in our faces."

Silver ignored him.

Ravenna stopped in front of him.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Her eyes immediately moved across his face, then his shoulder.

He smiled.

"I’m fine."

"I didn’t ask."

"You were going to."

"I was just checking."

"That’s basically asking."

Ravenna reached toward his collar.

He looked down.

"Is it wrong?"

"A little."

"Again?"

"You apparently can’t dress yourself."

"I survived alone underground, I think I’m perfect in every sense."

"And yet buttons continue defeating you."

Antony made a choking sound behind them.

"Cringe," he mumbled.

Silver looked back to find him desperately trying not to laugh. Jude wasn’t trying quite as hard. Even Dillian’s expression had shifted slightly.

Silver looked back toward Ravenna.

"You’re embarrassing me in front of my roommates."

She calmly fixed the collar.

"You’ll survive."

"That’s becoming everyone’s answer whenever something happens to me."

"Because you keep surviving."