Chapter 25: The Distance Is Bothering Me

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[EXP: 830 / 900]

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On the walk back to the dorm, Ethan opened his system.

The numbers were... modest.

Thirty points... he had gained thirty points during the training. He had intentionally made it so. Lesser raises, lesser time maintaining the undead, all this to prevent unnecessary drain on Death Energy.

It was progress, but slower than he wanted to admit. The only thing keeping him from ranking up being just seventy points.

He closed the screen and kept walking.

When he entered the dorm, the living room was empty. The couch where a part of him expected to find Lila was empty as well.

He turned to her bedroom door and walked towards it.

"Lila?" He knocked.

"You eaten anything yet?"

There was a short pause before she answered.

"Not hungry."

Ethan stood there for a second longer as he narrowed his eyes. The reply was simple. Too simple, nothing like her at all.

He considered asking, then decided against it. She probably would just dismiss it.

"Alright," he said.

He moved to the kitchen, washed his hands, and cooked without thinking too hard about it.

He ate, washed the dishes and went straight to his room.

***

Later that night, Lila opened her door.

The dorm was dark except for the low light above the kitchen counter as she walked towards the sink. Her throat felt dry, she had told him she was not hungry, but in truth, she just couldn’t bare staying next to him without feeling like her chest was about to explode.

Now a part of her was patting herself on the back because that was probably a smart move, while another part called her stupid for skipping a meal for such a dumb reason.

She walked quietly a few steps and stopped.

A covered plate sat on the counter and beside it, there was a folded piece of paper.

Lila stared at both for a few seconds before picking up the note.

There was a message written in Ethan’s handwriting:

"Eat something. Skipping meals is stupid."

She read it twice, and her chest did something stupid.

She set the note down after a few moments, opened the plate, and ate in silence. The food was already cool, but she finished most of it anyway, washed the plate, and returned to her room, finally forcing herself to sleep.

***

The next morning, Ethan noticed something had changed...

He woke up at his usual time and noticed something was immediately wrong.

Lila did not knock on his door...

She did not call through the other side telling him to get ready like she always did. When he stepped into the living room, she was already by the door, her bag over one shoulder and a calm expression on her face.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning."

Ethan narrowed his eyes. The reply was shorter than usual.

They walked to Building A together, but the space between them was wide, wider than usual.

He noticed that too...

When he asked if she had eaten breakfast, she gave a brief "Yeah" and nothing more.

In the lecture hall she took a different seat ahead, not the one she usually sat at next to him.

Ethan noticed. He did not comment.

Class passed—Marcus talking too much near the front, Aria by the window with a group of students around her,and Nora in her usual spot without looking back.

Ethan took notes on MCA permit structures and ranking evaluations while part of his attention pulled back to the distance Lila had placed between them.

It continued the following day.

And the day after that.

All through the week...

Lila still walked with him to class. Sill answered when spoken to. But the proximity from before had thinned.

Her replies stayed short. Her seat in the lecture hall stayed separate and when they returned to the dorm she often went straight to her room.

Ethan noticed all of it.

And needles to say, it was bothering him...

But he chose not to bring it up. He had enough experience from his previous life to recognize when someone was drawing a line, even if it was a quiet one. Pushing would not close the gap. It would only make the line clearer.

So he trained when he could, kept his Death Energy use measured, and watched the EXP bar crawl upward slowly as the meeting with Nora moved closer with every day that passed.

***

Two days before the day, Ethan left the lecture hall slightly behind every one else. The corridor outside was crowded with students moving between periods as he walked towards the east grounds.

He kept his gaze down as he walked. Lila wasn’t with him this time, and he was slowly going back to the time where he was completely alone when he first got here.

He slowed near the intersection that led toward the east wing, adjusting the strap of his bag, when a cluster of voices to his left caught his attention.

"—saying she’s actually dangerous."

"She’s a restricted class. That’s the point."

"No, listen. Someone in the third year said her ability isn’t just as simple as you thinkm If she wanted to, she could kill everyone in a room before they realized what was happening."

Ethan did not stop walking, but he shortened his steps enough to keep the group within hearing range. There were three of them—two boys and a girl from another first-year class.

"That’s exaggerated," the girl said.

"Is it? Her whole family’s like that. My cousin was here two years ago. He said her older brother awakened a restricted class too. And it wasn’t just him. Every single person from that family who came through the academy had something taboo. No exceptions whatsoever."

"What did the brother have?"

There was a short pause, the boy who was asked hesitating to answer.

"Come on, what did the brother have." The girl asked promoting the boy to answer...

For some reason, Ethan found himself eager to know as he made his steps slower...

"Necromancy."

Ethan’s eyes widened...