A Night of Peaceful Sleep

Chase said farewell to his friends, as they parted in front of Michael's dorm room, whose was on the lowest floor out of the three of them.

Equan had to take the northernmost stairs, while his room was located on the southern side of the dorm branch.

He had been told before going to his after-class training, that his Rune class was only on days when he had Primis Insight.

He sighed, as he walked up the ancient stairwell. 

'To think I almost fell from this height, on my first morning here...'

Suddenly, Chase remembered that he had a newly forged sword waiting for him too officially claim it as his own Lumen. 

Eventually, he pushed his old, creaky door open, and walked into his quiet room.

Everything was just the way that he had left it.

Setting his training sword, and The Essence of War on top of an empty desk that stood near the farthest wall from his bed- He gazed out of the circular window that had a red cushioned-seat built into it.

He laid down on the window-seat, and let his legs dangle off of the side of it. 

As he lie there watching the sun set in the far horizon, the sky began to grow vibrant shades of pink and red.

His consciousness began to slowly fade to black, his body was overwhelmed with soreness. His mind was tired, and his being was completely exhausted.

The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was a slight feeling of victory. Yes, he lost both his fights that day; however, he was able to gain so much insight on the skills that he lacked. 

If anything he had gained more from two losses, then he ever would have by winning constantly in some cursed forest on the outskirts of the continent. 

'Heh, cursed forest.'

With that he slowly let sleep overtake him.

...

When Chase awoke, his face was buried in his school jacket that he had used as a pillow.

He turned his head, worried if he had ended up oversleeping.

However, the sky was completely dark, and the only thing that he could see was the outlines of the distant mountains, and thousands of stars painting the black sky.

He stretched his arms, and let out a ragged yawn. 

As he slowly stood up, few thoughts ran through his mind. He mindlessly picked up one of his several spare uniforms, and walked into the bathroom.

After he had taken a shower, he got out with a robe wrapped around his frail body, and looked at himself in the mirror.

Now, Chase had three black markings that covered small spots on his body, and wondered just how many more he would end up obtaining in his life.

His hair had gotten a lot longer, since his time in The Dark Forest. It now reached about the base of his neck, and was still stained from the cursed mud of the forest. 

Brown hair didn't necessarily look bad on him, yet he would have still preferred his golden hair that he had grown up with.

It would have made him look less like a Stray, and more noble-ish, if that even made sense. Yet, it did make sense to him. 

With a sigh he threw on his uniform and stepped out of the bathroom door. 

Upon a quick glance at the window, he had noticed that the sun was now rising in the distance, leaving a bright pink haze, that traced the outline of the far horizon.

With one more yawn, he began to get his things ready, until glancing at the cobalt sword that was resting against his bed frame.

He casually made his way over to the sword, and placed his right hand on the hilt. 

Lifting the well-balanced sword, he held it out in front of his body.

Then, he shut his eyes, and began imagining a flow of energy, that circulated into his catalyst.

The energy core wasn't technically considered a human organ, since plenty of people could be born without one.

Yet somehow, It still felt as if it was just another limp, or one big lung that he could control with ease. 

As he opened his eyes, the sword had become slightly intangible, and beautiful sparks of raw energy, began to flow into his chest.

Eventually, after witnessing the aetheric scene, he just let out a wistful sigh, and set his hands gently, in his pockets.

The sword was now resting within his energy core, peacefully.

He hid his topaz dagger underneath his pillow, now that he had a weapon that he could summon at a moments notice.

Picking up his backpack, and opening his door, he steeled his nerves for another day at the second-most prestigious academy on the continent.

Yes, second most. In his Social Society class, on the previous day- he had learned that The Orion Academy had overtaking The Phoenix Academy as the number one school for swordsmanship and magic, as well as sports along with some other things.

In reality it made sense. 

Orion Academy stood in the heart of The Capitol. So, there was no question as to which school was better.

Somehow that angered Chase, as if he had been lied to his entire life. 

Although there was really no way for him to know these things, he was inside of a forest, and presumed dead for nearly an entire year.

Speaking of that, his birthday was coming up soon. He was going to turn fourteen in a couple days or so.

But more importantly, fall was going to come to an end. Winter was coming at a moment's notice.

Chase had decided that from now on, he was going to walk to class about an hour early, in order to avoid both the crowds of people, and being late to class.

'Two birds with one stone as they say.'

He thought, with a strange smile on his face, walking through the empty stairwell of the early-morning academy.