"How is your training going?" Adom dodged a rushing messenger, his voice barely carrying over the morning crowd. The new checkpoints had turned their walk to Xerkes into a strange sort of dance - weaving between people, ducking under floating cargo, waiting as guards checked identification crystals and waved detection rods over passing mages.

"Great!" Eren's grin threatened to split his face. "Yesterday I learned this thing with ice magic - just pulled it straight from the air! No water source! And last week-" He caught a few younger students staring, their whispers barely audible. His enthusiasm dimmed slightly. "Being the oldest first year is... weird. But hey, at least I can reach the top shelves without magic, right?"

"Most important skill for a mage," Adom said dryly.

"Obviously." Eren snorted. "Though you should see some of these kids. There's this one girl who keeps trying to levitate herself to reach books instead of just asking for help. Crashed into three shelves last week."

"How's your mother?" Adom asked once they were through.

"We moved actually. Near the market district - you know, where all those new shops opened up?" Eren gestured vaguely eastward. "Real stone walls, running water, even a garden for her herbs. She's already filled half of it."

"That's good."

"Yeah, but..." Eren glanced around, lowering his voice. "We still don't know who left that money. Mother was convinced it was some kind of trap at first. Spent two months trying to track down where it came from. But it was just... there. A bag of gold coins on our doorstep."

Adom hummed noncommittally.

The money had been his, of course. But explaining that would've been a nightmare. The questions would've been endless. Where did it come from? How did he get it? Each answer would've needed another explanation, another lie, another complication. And Eren's mother would've probably refused it outright if she knew it came from her son's friend.

"She wouldn't touch it at first. Said it wasn't right, taking mystery money." Eren laughed. "Though that resolve lasted right until we found the house with the garden space. Funny how that works."

Another checkpoint. Another very boring verification.

"Oh hey," Eren suddenly perked up, "did you hear about the new combat training facility they're building? Supposed to have these amazing-"

The crowd surged, cutting him off.

Xerkes was packed with students heading to morning classes. The new security measures made the walk through the front gates take twice as long as usual.

"First years started last week," Eren said, digging through his bag. "Professor Laurent's already hitting us with assignments. Says it's about 'building proper study habits early' or something." He pulled out a wrinkled schedule. "Hey, want to get lunch? I found this place near the library that has floating tables."

"Sure."

"Great! Meet me there at noon?" A bell rang from one of the towers. Eren's eyes went wide. "Crap, I'm late. Laurent's gonna kill me."

"Go."

Eren bolted, nearly running into two other students. "Noon!" he yelled back, vanishing into the crowd.

Adom watched him disappear into the mass of black robes. Everything had worked exactly as intended. Merris had handled Eren's case personally, just like he'd promised during that meeting months ago. A late admission, special permission, even personal mentoring. It was the kind of discretion that told Adom he'd made the right call going to the Headmaster first.