The academy corridor was bustling with the sounds of students and the hustle and bustle of daily life, but those sounds gradually faded as Saruto and Lucien appeared together, walking steadily toward the main classroom. Sunlight filtering through the windows reflected off Saruto's black hair, giving him an air of authority he hadn't possessed before.
Lucien opened the door first, and the two entered into a hush that fell over the hall. All eyes turned to Saruto.
The heirs—Rain, Kyle, Amelia, Selena, and Star—stood up, their faces initially showing surprise, before their expressions softened into warm, respectful smiles.
"You're back at last!" said Rayne, his voice brimming with energy.
"I've been waiting forever!"
"You've been gone for so long, Saruto," added Star, smiling gently. "We almost thought you'd never come back."
Emilia smiled faintly, leaning back in his seat. "Your return was expected."
Saruto smiled, bowing his head slightly. "I missed you all… It seems the academy is still the same."
Lucian chuckled softly as he walked to his seat beside him. "The academy was dull without you."
Everyone sat down, and the teacher began the lesson as usual, in a stern tone. The atmosphere in the hall returned to calm, but something in the air felt off.
Saruto sat silently, his eyes following the explanation, but his body emitted faint, barely perceptible vibrations. He wasn't trying to show them… but they were escaping him against his will.
Lucian watched him from the side, his eyebrows slightly raised. He could feel them emanating from Saruto. "What is this power…?" he whispered to himself in amazement. "He's never had this much energy before."
And he wasn't alone. Ryan, sitting in the opposite row, suddenly raised his head as if his primal instincts had awakened. His dragon-like eyes fixed on Saruto's back, an eager smile spreading across his lips. "That's... energy... I can't wait to fight you, Saruto."
He began to rise slowly, but a strong hand gripped his arm.
It was Kyle's. "Don't be reckless, Ryan," Kyle said in a low but firm voice. "We're in the middle of class, and the principal himself told us not to disturb Saruto because he has a test soon."
Ryan stopped, his eyes still blazing with excitement, and said with a nervous smile, "I know... but you can feel it, can't you? That energy that's practically bursting from him?"
Kyle smiled back and said, glancing back at Saruto, "Of course I can feel it... I can't wait to fight him either, but not right now."
The two of them chuckled softly, then fell silent again.
At the front of the hall, the teacher was drawing energy circles on the magic blackboard and explaining, "Today's lesson is about distributing energy evenly throughout the body, or concentrating it in a single point. For defense or offense."
Saruto tilted his head slightly, as if an idea had suddenly struck him.
In his mind, his inner voice murmured, "Distributing energy evenly… perhaps that's exactly what I need to control the excess power Ethan spoke of."
Then he recalled a fleeting scene when Void, fighting the Hell Queen, had gathered her energy in her abdomen to deflect his attack. He felt a lightness in his chest and closed his eyes for a moment, attempting to communicate with Void telepathically. "Void, can you hear me? I need your help with something."
There was a moment of silence before a mocking, booming voice echoed inside his head: "Oh, and now you're talking to me? Where have you been all this time, Saruto? Even after you were healed, you didn't bother to apologize for what you did to me when I was unconscious."
Saruto sighed softly and said to himself, a little embarrassed, "I apologize, Void… for everything I did before."
Void let out a short laugh, like the deep roar of a dragon. "It's alright, I'll consider it a slip-up. Now, what do you want to know?"
"I want to learn how to balance the energy in my body," Saruto replied resolutely. "How to make it flow in a balanced way without it escaping."
Void responded in a quieter voice this time, as if deciding to test his student. "Then listen carefully… Imagine the energy within you as a stream of water. You are not the stream, but the dam that directs its course."
Saruto began to close his eyes slowly, while the teacher explained in the background, unaware that he was applying what he was saying in a completely different way. He began to feel something stirring inside him, a current of energy flowing through his veins like fire through iron before it is forged into a sword.
With each breath he exhaled, the vibrations around him diminished slightly.
Gradually, his energy began to stabilize. In a flash, he opened his eyes. The energy had completely stopped leaking from him, as if his body had become a tightly sealed vessel. Lucien noticed this change, smiled faintly, and thought to himself, "He's back… stronger than ever."
As for Void, he chuckled inwardly, saying, "Very good, partner… this is just the beginning."