Morning arrived quietly over Arcadia Academy, the first rays of sunlight slipping gently through the tall windows and settling across the room in soft, golden streaks. The air carried a calm stillness, undisturbed, as though the world itself had yet to fully awaken.
On the bed—
Luca stirred.
His eyes fluttered open slowly, his vision adjusting to the light as consciousness returned in fragments. For a brief moment, everything felt distant, hazy, as though his body and mind were not entirely aligned.
Then—
Clarity.
He inhaled.
And paused.
Something was different.
Subtly.
But undeniably.
His breath felt… smoother.
Not just physically, but deeper—more controlled, as though each inhale naturally aligned with something within him. The faint resistance he had always unconsciously felt while circulating mana—
Was gone.
Completely.
