Gabby skidded to a stop directly in front of Liam and Dylan, her boots dragging lightly against the polished floor as she caught herself before she could stumble forward. She bent slightly with both hands near her knees, breathing harder than she probably wanted to admit, though her eyes remained fixed on Liam as if the short sprint had been nothing more than an inconvenience between her and her actual goal.

Dylan leaned down a little, studying her with exaggerated interest as his brows lifted. "Well, look at that," he said. "Asher Two-Point-Oh. I honestly didn’t think I’d see you again this soon."

Gabby ignored him completely.

Dylan blinked, then placed one hand over his chest as though wounded. "Wow. Cold. I’m starting to see why you and Liam might get along."

Gabby still did not spare him a glance. She straightened once her breathing steadied enough and looked directly at Liam, who simply stared back at her with the same calm expression he had carried since leaving his room.

For a moment, she seemed to gather herself, not because she was nervous exactly, but because she had clearly been waiting for this meeting and did not want to waste it.

"Senior Hunter," she said, her voice still slightly breathless, "I’ve been searching for you for the last two days. I couldn’t find you anywhere."

"I was recovering from my assessment," Liam said.

Gabby paused.

The words were simple. Too simple, really. But in her mind, they immediately connected to everything she had been hearing over the past two days. Liam Hunter had needed to recover. Not just rest casually. Recover. That meant the rumors were not exaggerated, or at least not entirely.

It meant the stories of him fighting a Berserker demon, standing against something no student should have faced alone, and coming back injured enough to vanish afterward were likely true. She had wanted to believe them from the beginning, but hearing Liam say he had been recovering gave those rumors a kind of quiet confirmation.

Her eyes changed.

A little admiration entered them before she could hide it.

Liam noticed immediately and inwardly wondered what part of what he had just said deserved that look.

Gabby opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could, Dylan’s eyes shifted past her toward the direction she had come from. A grin spread slowly across his face.

"Looks like your little friends are here too."

Gabby turned her head just as two girls came running down the hall toward them, calling her name with the kind of exasperation that suggested this was not the first time she had suddenly run off without warning.

The first was a blonde girl with bright blue eyes and a face that looked equal parts annoyed and worried. The second was a brunette with green eyes, her expression sharper and more controlled, though she was breathing nearly as hard as the blonde by the time they reached Gabby.

"Gabby!" the blonde complained as she and the brunette skidded to a stop beside her, both briefly using Gabby as support before fully straightening. "Why would you just run away like that? We were walking together, and then you suddenly took off like someone lit your boots on fire."

The brunette exhaled and pushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "You could have at least said something before making us chase you through the hall."

Gabby looked between them with faint irritation. "I didn’t make you chase me."

"You ran," the blonde said. "That is the universal invitation for concerned friends to chase after you."

"I saw him," Gabby said, nodding toward Liam.

The blonde followed her gaze.

Then she froze.

Her eyes landed on Liam, and whatever complaint she had been preparing immediately dissolved. A flush rose across her cheeks almost instantly, and she gave a small, awkward chuckle that was far too soft for the amount of confidence she had been using moments ago.

At first, Sasha had been afraid of Liam because of all the things said about him. Dark mage. Dangerous. Cold. Unsettling. The kind of student others warned first years not to approach carelessly. But the day Gabby had challenged him for a spar and Liam had responded without anger, arrogance, or unnecessary cruelty, that fear had twisted into something else entirely.

Now Sasha had a crush.

Admittedly, Sasha was the kind of girl who found boys attractive with alarming ease. A sharp jaw, a calm voice, a nice pair of eyes, or even the right kind of silence could send her imagination wandering. But Liam had been sitting at the top of that list since the day Gabby had spoken to him, and seeing him standing there so casually in the hallway only made her lose whatever composure she had prepared.

"Hey," Sasha said in the most girlish voice possible, lifting one hand in a small wave.

Gabby and Anna both turned to look at her.

Their expressions were nearly identical.

Disgusted, unimpressed, and painfully familiar with this behavior.

Anna stared at Sasha for a moment before speaking. "Get a hold of yourself before I smack the back of your head and reset you."

Sasha pouted immediately. "That’s rude."

"You were about to melt into the floor."

"I said hey."

"You said it like your brain left your body."

Sasha crossed her arms. "Maybe I’m just being polite."

Gabby gave her a flat look. "You are never that polite."

Sasha opened her mouth, likely to defend herself, but Anna pointed one finger at her. "Do not make me remind you of the boy from the weapon hall."

Sasha gasped. "That was different."

"You said that last time too."

"He had pretty hands."

Gabby pinched the bridge of her nose. "Quiet. Both of you."

Dylan, who had been watching the entire exchange with mounting delight, finally laughed. "I see. So this is the first-year version of a disaster group. Honestly, I respect it. One intense challenger, one shameless admirer, and one poor soul trying to keep them alive."

Anna looked at Dylan with a narrowed gaze. "And you are?"

"Dylan Wellington," he said with a bright grin. "Second year. Archer. Survivor of Nalim. Handsome victim of terrible circumstances."

Gabby stared at him for a moment, her expression showing exactly what she was thinking. How could a senior be more annoying than Sasha?

Dylan seemed to read that on her face and pointed at her. "That look is hurtful."

Gabby ignored him and turned back to Liam, who had simply watched the entire exchange without saying a word. He had the expression of someone who had stumbled into a conversation and was now quietly waiting for it to become relevant to him. Gabby took a breath, steadied herself, and spoke with the seriousness she had carried from the beginning.

"I’m here to spar with you," she said. "Like we agreed before the assessments."

Liam stared at her.

For a few seconds, he said nothing.

Annoyingly enough, he had actually forgotten.

Weeks ago, before Nalim, before the Berserker, before the ranking drop, before Mabel’s conversation, he had agreed to spar with this first year once she finished her assessment. At the time, his mind had already been clouded by far more important things, and everything that happened afterward had pushed that small promise into some distant corner he had not bothered to revisit.

Now Gabby stood in front of him, eyes serious, posture expectant, and clearly unwilling to let the matter disappear.

After a while, Liam said, "You’re looking in the wrong place."

Gabby blinked. "What?"

Dylan’s grin widened immediately, sensing trouble.

Sasha looked confused, while Anna’s brows lowered slightly as if trying to understand whether Liam had just rejected the request.

Liam turned his body slightly as though preparing to leave. "The last time we talked, you said you wanted to spar with the ranked one. I’m ranked third now. Rank one is Sheila Granger. Go ask her."

For a moment, everyone stood still.

Then Gabby’s expression hardened.

She stepped forward just enough to make it clear she was not letting him walk away so easily. "That’s not what I meant."

Liam glanced at her. "It’s what you said."

"I wanted to spar with the ranked one because you were ranked one," Gabby said. "At that time, I was asking you. Not Princess Sheila. You were the one standing there. You were the one I challenged. You were the one who agreed."

Liam stared at her.

Gabby held his gaze without flinching. "So if you walk away now, Senior Hunter, that means you’re going back on your word."

Dylan made a soft sound under his breath, somewhere between a laugh and an impressed whistle.

Liam’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Gabby did not stop. "Unless you’re not a man of your word."

The hallway went very quiet.

Sasha’s eyes widened, and Anna looked at Gabby like she had just chosen to poke a sleeping monster with a stick. Dylan, on the other hand, looked delighted enough to forget he had planned on going to the library.

Liam remained still for a moment.

Then he sighed.

It was not loud or dramatic, but it carried enough resignation that Dylan almost laughed again. Liam turned back toward them fully, then began walking in the direction the girls had come from without explaining himself.

Gabby blinked and quickly turned after him. "Where are you going?"

"To find a place for the spar," Liam said without looking back. "Unless you don’t want to spar anymore."

Gabby’s face lit up instantly.

The seriousness in her expression softened, and for a moment, she looked almost openly thrilled before she caught herself and hurried after him. "I do."

"Then walk."

Sasha looked between Gabby and Liam, still slightly flushed but now excited for an entirely different reason. Anna sighed as if she had already accepted that peace was impossible around her friends. Dylan clapped his hands together once, far too pleased with the direction the day had taken.

"Well," he said, stepping after them with a grin, "this just became excellent entertainment for an already wonderful day. I was going to read, but watching Liam traumatize a first year with educational violence sounds much better."

Gabby glanced back at him sharply. "He’s not going to traumatize me."

Dylan smiled. "That confidence is adorable."

Anna muttered, "He is definitely a bad influence."

Sasha, still watching Liam’s back as they followed, sighed dreamily. "I don’t know. I think he walks nicely."

Gabby and Anna turned toward her at the same time.

"Sasha," they said together.

"What?" Sasha asked, pouting again. "I’m just saying."

Ahead of them, Liam continued walking in silence, already regretting the fact that he had left his room before noon.