CHAPTER 273: NEW PROFESSORS (1)

The night deepened as the city’s glow painted silver lines along the streets. The group wandered for a while afterward, past shop windows, over bridges crossing slow-running water.

Dorian walked a few paces ahead, silent as ever. Nathan and Adrian bickered playfully behind them, their laughter echoing down the street.

Seraphina walked beside Liliana, discussing class reforms and correction, affinity training revisions, already being whispered among instructors.

Elara and Merlin trailed slightly behind the group. She didn’t speak at first, only glanced sideways at him now and then, as if measuring the quiet between them.

Finally, she said, "You looked... different today."

He turned to her. "Different?"

She nodded once. "Calmer. But also... distant."

Merlin thought for a long moment. "...Guess I’m still getting used to peace."

Elara’s expression softened slightly. "Peace isn’t always quiet, Merlin. Sometimes it’s just... the space to breathe."

He smiled faintly. "I’ll try to remember that."

When they finally reached the academy gates again, the others began to peel away, Adrian with a wave, Liliana and Seraphina heading toward the east dorms, Dorian vanishing without a word as usual.

Nathan clapped Merlin’s shoulder. "See you tomorrow, man."

"Yeah," Merlin replied.

Soon only Elara remained beside him. The night breeze carried faint traces of rain and the whisper of distant wards humming in the towers.

She tilted her head toward him. "Walk you back?"

Merlin smirked. "You think I’ll collapse again?"

"Possibly."

He chuckled. "...Fine."

They walked in silence for a while, the path lit by the soft blue of floating lanterns.

For a fleeting moment, Merlin looked up, the moon high, clouds drifting slow. He could almost forget the labyrinth, the simulation, the gods. Almost.

And for tonight... that was enough.

The bell rang like a pulse of mana through the entire campus, deep, resonant, and unmistakable.

A new term had begun.

Starpower Academy came alive in ways Merlin had never seen before.

The walkways were crowded with students in crisp uniforms, chattering in every direction; floating banners announced new course revisions; instructors darted past on mana-gliders carrying stacks of tomes and enchanted tablets.

Even the air buzzed, thick with spell residue from all the new enchantments woven into the school’s wards over the break.

Merlin adjusted his satchel and took a slow breath. "It’s louder than I remember."

Elara, walking beside him, nodded faintly. "Every year the first week feels like chaos."

"Every year?"

"I’ve been here for three years, Merlin." Her lips curved just slightly. "You just never noticed before."

He smirked. "Fair enough."

As they turned a corner toward the central building, the sprawling courtyard came into view, the heart of the academy. There, hundreds of students milled about, waiting for the faculty introduction ceremony.

Floating platforms circled above, carrying banners that shimmered with class divisions:

Elemental Combat Studies. Tactical Strategy. Advanced Runecraft. Affinity Mastery. Dimensional Theory.

Merlin’s gaze lingered on that last one. Dimensional Theory hadn’t existed in the novel until much later, meaning something had changed.

A whisper ran through the crowd, and heads turned as several new instructors took the stage.

The Headmistress, Morgana, stood front and center, her dark robes rippling like oil under the sunlight. The silver insignia of her office shimmered faintly over her chest.

Her voice carried easily, crisp as glass.

"Students of Starpower," she began, "welcome to a new term, a term of change. You are no longer the naive recruits who stumbled through your first year." Her gaze swept the crowd, calm but heavy. "You are the future of this world’s defense, and the foundation of what’s to come. Treat that weight with the respect it deserves."

She gestured, and four figures stepped forward, the new instructors.

Professor Cael Asterion, a tall, silver-haired man with a calm, sharp presence. His coat was black with violet trim, lined with runic embroidery that pulsed faintly.

He inclined his head. "I will be taking over Dimensional Theory and Spatial Combat Fundamentals. Those of you with affinities in wind, light, or space, prepare to think differently. Power isn’t just about destruction. It’s about distortion."

Merlin felt something faint stir in his core at the word space.

Elara noticed, glancing sidelong at him. "That one sounds like trouble."

Merlin smirked faintly. "Or opportunity."

Next came Professor Renna Vale, a woman with short red hair, sleeveless coat, and the kind of sharp posture that belonged to a battlefield commander.

"I’ll be handling Tactical Adaptation and Counter-Affinity Engagement. Expect real combat. Expect to fail. Expect to learn why you failed."

Adrian leaned over from behind Merlin and muttered, "I think I’m already in love."

Liliana elbowed him. "You say that about every instructor who yells."

The third was Professor Tiber Holt, a massive, broad-shouldered man whose presence made half the students instinctively stand straighter. His beard was streaked with white, his right arm wrapped in blacksteel prosthetics.

"I run Applied Armament Construction and Weapon Synchronization," he said, voice like rolling thunder. "You break it, you fix it. You break it twice, you make a better one."

Ethan murmured, "Sounds like my kind of man."

And finally, Professor Iris Alenor, a woman no older than twenty-five, hair pale lavender, eyes mismatched, one blue, one gold.

She smiled softly. "I’ll be instructing Affinity Convergence Studies for those with multiple elemental alignments."

Nathan’s eyes widened slightly. "That’s new. That used to be a graduate-level course."

"Guess we’re the experiment batch," Seraphina said, crossing her arms.

The introductions ended with Morgana’s trademark cold smile. "Remember: no student, no matter how talented, advances without humility. Fail enough times, and the academy will show you the door. But succeed..." Her eyes flicked toward Merlin briefly, too briefly to draw notice. "...and the world will open in ways you cannot imagine."

Then she turned sharply and vanished in a wisp of violet mist.

The courtyard dissolved into a storm of noise as students rushed toward their new class assignments.

Adrian slung an arm around Nathan’s shoulders. "Well, boys, looks like we’re in Holt’s class. You ready to destroy a few swords?"

Nathan grimaced. "You’re going to destroy them. I’m going to fix them."

Liliana, checking her schedule, perked up. "Oh, I’m under Professor Iris!"

Seraphina gave a faint nod. "So am I. Makes sense."

Ethan stretched lazily. "Tactical Adaptation with Vale. Great. Another woman trying to kill me."

Elara glanced at Merlin’s slip. "Dimensional Theory?"

He nodded. "Asterion."

Her expression shifted, a mix of curiosity and faint concern. "He’s not someone ordinary. I’ve heard rumors, he used to work directly under Morgana during the northern campaigns."

"Then I’ll pay attention," Merlin said simply.

They split off soon after, laughter, footsteps, and chatter fading into the hum of corridors.