Alex lingered behind his desk as the room emptied, the older professor remaining steadfast in front of him. Hyntia shot him a quick, worried look on her way out, and Rin just mouthed _dinner_ as she left. As soon as the last student exited the room, Professor Elderwind walked over to close the door. The room felt twice as large and ten times as silent when it was just the two of them.

  Alex had no idea what was going to happen now. This all happened because he threw a ball of paper at Ghel to bring the boy out of the alluring trance of the Pearl and have him reject it. Was the professor mad that he had intervened? Or was it something else? Had he been informed about Alex being an Otherborn by the board, and did he want to interrogate him on that? Or had his description of how his slotting went not fooled the experienced teacher?

  The soft tapping of Professor Elderwind's cane hitting the floor brought Alex back out of his spiraling mind. His eyes snapped to the approaching man. With it just being the two of them, there was something frightening about him. The way his small, round glasses rested on his long, pointy nose. His beady eyes looked through them. In the movie about the rebellious teen, he would have been the stuck-up teacher who took the role of the villain of the story.

  "Mister Vansteen," Elderwind's raspy voice addressed Alex, his cane now pointing towards the ground near Ghel's desk, "pick up the paper."

  Alex shot up from behind his desk and rushed over to what was Ghel's desk. On the floor lay the crumpled-up ball of paper he had thrown, as well as an iron ring. Ghel must have dropped it during class. He quickly pocketed the ring, intending to give it back to Ghel the next time he saw the spectacled boy. With the ring safely inside his uniform's pocket, he picked up the ball of paper.

  "Good," Professor Elderwind said as Alex stood back up, "now tell me, why did you throw it? And don't lie to me."

  Alex swallowed hard. There was no point in lying. What would he even say? That he was just trying to bully Ghel? What other reason would he have for throwing a paper ball at him? "Uhm... Ghel was having some trouble denying the connection. I just thought it would help him snap out of the trance."

  "As I thought. Sit," the professor tapped Alex's desk with his cane. Which Alex promptly sat behind again. "You prevented a liability. Without starting a fight, embarrassing the student, or throwing the classroom into chaos. That is rare."

  That sounded like praise. Was he not mad at what Alex had done?

  "Are you and Mister Bindings friends?" Elderwind's eyes were still focused on Alex. His previous statement might have sounded like praise, but his face was not giving anything away. Were they friends? Not really, he didn't even know Ghel's surname was Bindings.

  "Not really, I guess. We met this morning at breakfast."

  "Then why risk punishment for him?"

  "Because he was going to fail, and an upperclassman had asked me to keep an eye out for him." Alex tried to explain, but even if Cynthia hadn't asked to do so, Alex would likely have acted the same way.

  "No, not because the upperclassman asked. You couldn't watch him fail. Not if there was something you could do about it," there was something softer about Professor Elderwind's voice now. The stern professor who had stood in front of him just a moment earlier was gone now. In his place now stood an old adventurer who knew that feeling all too well. "Which is a good thing, but also a dangerous one. This world needs more people like you, but there are those that would abuse this trait to rid this world of you."

  Alex's mind immediately went to Professor Tamsin and the cult. The cult might not necessarily want to get rid of him because of the trait, but they definitely might want to get rid of him.

  "They see the world like a starving hound sees a helpless nestling. They take what they crave without a care for morality," there was a bitterness in Elderwind's voice now, like he was speaking from experience.

  Alex blinked. "That's a disturbing way to put it, sir."

  "I'm sorry," Elderwind softly shook his head, "but it is accurate. You step in, carry other's burdens, and patch holes that aren't yours. The first time it feels like a virtue. The tenth time it has become an expectation. By the hundredth time...," his mouth twitched, not quite a smile, "it is a collar."

  "I just didn't want to see him fail and get sent out. He didn't deserve that."

  "You assume failing is a punishment. Out there," he pointed his cane out the window, "that is true most of the time. But in here," this time he hit his cane on the ground in front of him. "In here, everything is training. Failing is a bruise. It doesn't kill you; it will only make you stronger if you learn to avoid its cause in the future."

  Alex couldn't quite comprehend what the professor was saying. "You wanted him to fail?"

  "I wanted him to learn. There is a difference. And thanks to you, he did so without being turned into a spectacle. Which is a rare gift you can give at this academy."

  "Then why do I still feel like I'm in trouble?"

  A smile crept onto Elderwind's face. "Because you are smart. You know risks come with consequences, and good actions don't make you untouchable."

  Alex knew there had to be a catch. If had done nothing wrong, there would have been no reason for Professor Elderwind to ask him to stay after class. "So, what's my punishment?"

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  "We will meet in this classroom once a week after your classes for the day are over, starting tomorrow. But don't see this as punishment. See it as a learning opportunity. A way to learn about your new power from someone who shares it."

  Alex's mouth fell open as Elderwind smiled at him. It wasn't punishment at all. It was training. He should be glad about that. Learning from someone with hands-on experience was invaluable. But it also meant there was another set of eyes that would keep a close watch on him at this academy.

  "I'm sure you have other classes you need to get to, so I'm going to let you go for now. But I expect to see you here again tomorrow." Professor Elderwind hobbled over to the exit, his cane softly ticking the stone floor in the by-now familiar rhythm. He held the door open as Alex slowly left the classroom.

  Outside, both Hyntia and Ghel had apparently been waiting for him. Though it seemed Ghel was more forced to be there by Hyntia than actually being there because he cared. The green-haired Fairy still had that same worried look on her face as when she exited the classroom herself.

  "Are you alright? What did he want?" She started her barrage of questions as soon as Alex got close. "Was it because you helped Ghel?"

  "It was..." Alex started before Hyntia interrupted him.

  "See, I told you," she turned towards her friend. "He got into trouble because he helped you. Least you could do was stay here and thank him."

  Ghel was about to, still somewhat reluctantly, open his mouth before Alex stopped him. "No need to thank me, Ghel. I'm not actually in trouble. Or at least, I don't think I am."

  "No," Ghel shook his head, "she's right. I do need to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I'd be in Headmaster Varyn's office now, waiting for my own punishment. So, thank you, and I'm sorry for being so harsh on you earlier today. It's just..."

  "It's alright. Cynthia explained what happened." Alex stopped him before he had to relive that horrible first experience on the academy again. He didn't fully know what had happened, but he didn't need to. It had clearly shaken the once-excited boy into his current paranoid state. Ghel gave a short nod in thanks before casting his eyes to the ground again.

  "So, you're not in trouble?" Hyntia asked, bringing the conversation back on topic.

  "I don't think so? He said what I did was a good thing, but that I needed to be careful with it. I do need to come into his classroom once a week, though."

  "Wait, if you're not in trouble, then why do you need to come in once a week? What happened? Also, let's get to class. Your next class was Basic Survival, right? Just like us?" Alex nodded, and they started walking toward their next class.

  "I'm not sure. I think I just got a private tutor?" Both Hyntia and Ghel stopped dead in their tracks as Alex uttered the words. Almost simultaneously, they turned around to face him.

  "A private tutor?" Ghel raised a single eyebrow.

  "I think so. He told me to meet him once a week, starting tomorrow."

  "Why would he want to teach you? He didn't seem like the private tutor kind of teacher." Ghel asked, the suspicion in his voice clear as day.

  "He liked my reasoning for why I helped you," Alex started, not sure if mentioning Elderwind also had the same power would be wise or not. In the end, he decided it couldn't hurt to tell them. "And apparently he also shares my power."

  "Wait, Elderwind also had Throwback Blink?" Hyntia exclaimed, and Alex quickly looked around to see if any other student might have heard her outburst. The hallway was relatively empty, so they should be fine. He could already see how information like that could spread and how dangerous it could be. A new student gets a rare power and private lessons on it from a respected teacher. If that got out, it was going to paint a target on his back.

  "That's incredible," Hyntia continued. "That means you'll get good at it, and fast."

  "Or it means Elderwind wants something from him," Ghel muttered.

  "Not everyone is out to get everyone, Ghel," Hyntia shook her head.

  "I didn't say everyone," Ghel retorted.

  Hyntia let out a deep sigh. "You know what? I miss my friend from before we got here."

  "He didn't want anything. I think he kind of related to my answers and wanted to help me. He told me to be careful with stepping in to help people. Some people might abuse that and come to expect it. From the way he said it, it sounded like he was talking from experience."

  "That's... that's actually good advice. And maybe he was. All the teachers here used to be adventurers, just like the board. Maybe something happened during his adventuring days." Hyntia said. By now they had all started walking again and were getting close to their destination. "I'll be honest. I don't know too much about Professor Elderwind's adventuring days. Maybe Rin knows something. From the way she was talking about the board's adventuring names, she sounded like a fan."

  "Maybe, though I'm not sure I want to press it. Sounded like he's rather not talk about it. Though speaking of stepping in." Alex grabbed the ring he had grabbed off the floor near Ghel's desk out of his pocket. "Is this yours, Ghel?"

  Now that Elderwind wasn't watching him, Alex could take a closer look at the ring. At first glance, it had seemed like a simple iron band, but now he could see there were faint carvings on the outside. They looked similar to the carvings he had seen on artifacts like the Catalogue Stone. Though these didn't light up on touch.

  "My ring!" Ghel's eyes opened wide as soon as he saw it. His hand immediately reached out to grab it. Once the ring was in his own hands, he seemed to calm down a bit. "Thank you, Alex. I mean it."

  That was the most sincere Alex had seen the young boy since they had met. That ring must have meant more to him than Alex had expected. He looked towards Hyntia for an explanation, and she too mouthed a simple thank you towards him. They continued walking towards the classroom, and after a minute, Hyntia hung back a bit to put some distance between them and Ghel.

  "Thank you for getting him that ring back," she whispered so Ghel couldn't overhear.

  "No worries," Alex whispered back, "it was just lying on the ground when Elderwind made me pick up the ball of paper I had thrown at Ghel. Figured it must have been his."

  "It's the last thing he has of his brother. He keeps it on him at all times, so I'm not sure how it ended up on the ground. He would never have forgiven himself if he had lost it."

  "His brother?"

  "Mikhel, he was quite a bit older than us and one of the first students of the academy. He died two years ago on an adventure." There was a sadness in Hyntia's eyes as she spoke of Ghel's brother. Given how close she and Ghel are, she must have been close to his brother as well.

  "I'm sorry for your loss."

  A slight smile appeared on Hyntia's face. "Thank you. I took it better than Ghel did. Which is understandable, I guess. He wasn't my brother after all."

  "He might not have been your brother, but I've seen how close you and Ghel are," Alex placed a hand on Hyntia's shoulder. "I'm sure it hurt for you too."

  Hyntia nodded in appreciation. They walked in silence for a bit before Alex spoke up again. "I have to ask. Is it just a ring or some kind of artifact? I saw these carvings on the outside that looked similar to those on artifacts."

  Hyntia chuckled. "You've got a good eye. Most people just see the ring. It's a dormant artifact his brother created." She looked towards Ghel, who was still walking a few feet in front of them. "It's the whole reason he wanted to become an adventurer like his brother. Mikhel told him there was a message stored in there for him once he could activate it using his own mana. That drive to become an adventurer only grew once Mikhel died."