Chapter 421:Peter.

Chapter 421: 421:Peter.

Academic Building C stood several minutes from the central assembly courtyard, connected to the surrounding academy grounds by broad paved walkways that divided toward lecture buildings, indoor training halls and several enormous outdoor fields already occupied by older students.

Silver and Ravenna followed the signs toward Room 4A with the rest of Class Four gradually forming around them, while Shirley remained somewhere behind them among the other students.

He didn’t bother looking back, did Ravenna.

Her hand remained in his.

The irritation Shirley’s appearance had caused was still there, but Silver could feel it slowly leaving through the way Ravenna’s grip relaxed as they walked. He didn’t ask for the history between them.

She had told him enough in the past for him to understand that the relationship with her stepsister was bad, and if she wanted to explain the rest later, she would.

For now, she was more interested in the building ahead.

"So this is where we’re going to spend most of the year?"

Silver looked toward the massive structure.

"I doubt it."

Ravenna glanced at him.

"Why?"

"Because this place seems obsessed with making people run through forests and fight things, we aren’t going to stay inside for long."

"That sounds better than sitting in a classroom."

Silver smiled.

"You say that now."

"I’ll say it later too."

"You’ve never had an instructor assign you six hours of reading about beast anatomy."

Ravenna looked at him suspiciously.

"Have you?"

"No."

"Then why are you threatening me with it?"

"Preparation."

Ravenna shook her head.

They reached the entrance and Silver held the door open. Ravenna walked through.

"Thank you."

He followed.

Class Four’s room wasn’t what Silver had expected.

He’d imagined rows of desks facing a board like an ordinary school classroom. Instead, Room 4A resembled a small tactical lecture hall. Thirty individual desks occupied slightly elevated rows, but they could clearly be moved or folded away.

One entire wall consisted of an electronic display, while another held several tactical maps of Alpha Three and the surrounding zones. Equipment lockers lined the rear wall, and two additional doors connected the room to what appeared to be preparation rooms.

On the wall, there was the academy insignia above the front display and a line beneath it.

STRENGTH WITHOUT CONTROL IS A LIABILITY.

Silver read it.

Ravenna followed his gaze.

"I like that."

"You would," he said, almost absentmidedly.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" She asked defensively.

Silver smiled.

"You like threatening sentences," he explained.

"That’s not threatening."

"It sounds threatening."

"It sounds sensible."

Silver looked at her.

"You’re proving my point."

Ravenna squeezed his hand.

Students were already choosing seats.

He noticed something almost immediately. Nobody wanted the front row. Some things apparently survived the apocalypse.

She headed toward the middle with him following. They found two seats beside each other. Only then did Ravenna release his hand.

They sat next to each other, their shoulders touching.

He looked around; about half the class had arrived. He recognized very few people.

That was probably intentional.

Class Four contained students from different admission routes. Some had survived the general examination. Others had direct admissions like Silver and Ravenna.

Several carried themselves with the confidence of people from major Contractor families, while others looked considerably less comfortable surrounded by expensive equipment and famous surnames.

A tall girl entered.

Conversation shifted almost immediately. Silver didn’t recognize her face. He recognized the name when someone nearby whispered it.

"That’s Helena Seer."

"Number ten?"

"Yeah."

Silver looked.

Helena Seer was tall, perhaps slightly taller than Ravenna, with dark blonde hair tied into a practical ponytail and calm brown eyes that moved around the classroom before settling on an empty seat near the front-middle section.

She carried a broad rectangular shield case on her back rather than a sword case, and her uniform sleeves had already been adjusted slightly around her wrists.

Another student whispered, "Defensive user."

His friend nodded.

"Apparently one of the best defensive scores from the general exam."

"Which class did she test with?"

"Don’t know."

Helena apparently heard them and looked over. Both students immediately became interested in their desks.

Silver smiled.

Ravenna leaned slightly toward him.

"Ten."

"Apparently."

"That means we have three top-ten students."

He nodded.

She looked around.

"So much for balanced."

"Maybe the other classes have three too."

"Possible."

Silver noticed someone approaching from the aisle.

Shirley.

Ravenna noticed too.

Her expression flattened immediately. Shirley stopped beside their row where there were several empty seats.

She looked toward Ravenna.

"Is this one taken?"

Ravenna looked at the seat on her other side.

"No."

Shirley hesitated.

Silver expected her to sit but she didn’t.

"I’ll sit farther down."

Ravenna shrugged.

"Do whatever you want."

Shirley moved away.

Silver waited until she was gone before leaning towards Ravenna who was staring forward.

"You scared her."

"I said four words."

"It’s the way you said them."

She turned.

"Do whatever you want."

He pretended to consider it.

"Terrifying."

She rolled her eyes.

He smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She tried to remain annoyed but it lasted perhaps two seconds.

"You’re abusing that."

"Abusing what?"

"You know."

"I genuinely don’t."

Ravenna stared.

Silver smiled.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek back.

"There."

He raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"Retaliation."

"Terrible. Do it again."

She laughed despite herself.

A few students nearby looked toward them.

Silver ignored them.

Ravenna noticed but didn’t seem particularly bothered anymore.

It was still strange seeing this side of herself exist so openly. She’d never considered herself someone who needed constant affection.

She still didn’t.

This wasn’t need, she simply liked him. She liked holding his hand, liked the way he smiled when she kissed his cheek, and liked being able to lean against him without wondering whether she was revealing too much.

After everything between them, she wasn’t particularly interested in pretending otherwise.

Silver reached for her hand beneath the desk. Ravenna looked down before intertwining their fingers again.

She smiled faintly.

At that moment, the classroom door closed and conversation died gradually.

A man stood at the front.

Silver hadn’t seen him enter. That alone was impressive considering he’d been casually watching the room.

The instructor appeared to be in his early forties, perhaps slightly older, with short dark hair touched by grey near the temples and a faint scar running from beneath his left ear toward his jaw.

His uniform differed from those worn by the students, darker and more fitted, with several academy insignias and a rank marker Silver didn’t recognize.

The remaining whispers disappeared.

The man looked across thirty first-years. Then his eyes briefly settled on Silver and Ravenna’s joined hands.

He didn’t comment.

"Good morning."

The class answered unevenly.

"Good morning, sir."

The instructor stared blankly.

"That was terrible."

Several students straightened.

He waited.

"Again. Good morning."

"Good morning, sir!"

The instructor nodded.

"My name is Peter Kanister."

The display behind him activated.

PETER KANISTER

CLASS FOUR - FIRST-YEAR INSTRUCTOR

FIELD OPERATIONS / COMBAT TACTICS

Silver leaned back slightly.

Field operations... That explains the scar.’

Peter looked across them.

"For the foreseeable future, I am your primary class instructor. That means when another instructor complains about you, the complaint reaches me. When you perform exceptionally, the report reaches me. When you destroy academy property, embarrass Class Four during an assessment or decide that instructions are optional because your family has money, the problem also reaches me."