Chapter 167.3 - Return to the Academy
<Arcadia Hunter Academy, Monday, Start of the Second Semester>
The academy garden was alive with chatter, the crisp morning air mingling with the hum of anticipation. Students from all years gathered in clusters, their voices rising and falling like waves as they shared stories, theories, and complaints about the semester ahead. The garden, with its meticulously pruned hedges and vibrant flowers, seemed almost too serene for the lively chaos unfolding within its bounds.
"Man, I can't believe the break's already over," a boy groaned, slumping against a tree. "I didn't even finish half the stuff I planned to do."
"Did you really plan anything, though?" his friend teased, nudging him. "You were just bragging about marathoning all six seasons of Mystic Chronicles last week."
"Hey, that counts as self-improvement! I was studying the tactics of the Mystic Order," he defended, earning a round of laughter from his group.