The afternoon sun shone over Berbeign Academy's sprawling courtyards as laughter and spells echoed faintly from the various training grounds.
Inside the Absorption Magic field, Celeste's first class with F-Class students had just begun.
"Absorption Magic isn't about taking energy," Celeste said, her calm, melodic voice carrying through the open area. "It's about understanding the flow of energy before it becomes unstable."
Her students followed her gestures carefully — palms open, aura shimmering faintly as she guided them through the precise breathing rhythm. Every move she demonstrated was controlled, deliberate, and graceful, like a dance of energy and calm.
"Let the excess mana return to the ground," she continued softly. "Don't suppress it. Redirect it gently."
The students' eyes widened as their unstable orbs of magic slowly steadied, pulsing in sync with their instructor's subtle movements.
Milly had been walking by, a stack of papers in her hands, heading toward her office after grading the S-Class drills. But the serene hum of synchronized magic from the F-Class training area made her stop.
She turned her head slightly just enough to peek through the open archway, and froze.
Celeste stood in the center of the field, surrounded by calm, glowing circles of energy. The way she moved, the subtle turns of her wrist, the tone in her voice it was all too familiar.
Milly felt her chest tighten.
"Wait… this pattern…" she whispered under her breath.
For a moment, a blurry memory flashed in her mind an image of blue lights, the sound of a gentle mechanical hum, and a voice guiding her through her own magic long ago.
But the memory slipped away before she could grasp it.
Celeste turned slightly at that exact moment, her eyes locking with Milly's from across the room.
For a fraction of a second, her amber eyes flickered to a deep, glowing blue the exact shade Milly once knew so well.
Milly blinked in shock. But when she looked again, Celeste's amber eyes had returned calm, warm, and perfectly normal.
Celeste offered a polite smile and continued her lesson as though nothing had happened.
Milly stood there silently for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh and shaking her head.
"…Probably just the lighting," she muttered, forcing a small laugh.
Still, as she walked away, a faint unease tugged at her chest.
The rhythm of Celeste's teaching.
That flow of mana.
That feeling.
She couldn't explain it, but deep down, something in her heart whispered a single name -
"Simni…"