The academy halls were extremely long, stretching far enough that Bruce's footsteps echoed softly behind him, becoming the only consistent sound in the space.
It wasn't something that would normally stand out, not with the sheer number of facilities and rooms within the academy, but at this moment it felt... noticeable.
Occasionally, a few students passed by.
Their laughter carried faintly, blending into the rhythm of their steps as they moved past him without much thought.
Some wore blue uniforms, and from what Bruce could tell, they were weaker-more relaxed, less aware of their surroundings. Those in black or purple, however, carried themselves differently. There was a quiet weight to them that made the difference obvious.
It was said that a golden-yellow tinted uniform was reserved for the very top students, those who stood levels above their peers, while black or dark grey marked someone as a top-tier to be graduate.
The idea that something like a uniform could bind your strength to a visible level didn't sit right with Bruce.
Lumen City itself was built on systems, second only to the main city it was tied to, and everything within it followed some form of structure.
Even in places that were meant to feel free, there was always something underneath deciding how things worked.
The martial arts school had its own version of that-an unspoken hierarchy based purely on strength.
And the mage academy... wasn't any different.
Despite what people believed, it didn't come down to intelligence.
What mattered here was what you could create, and more importantly, what you could survive when it was tested outside-through real missions, real combat.
Vernon would take part in those eventually. His progress would be measured there, especially after being taken in by Caelan as a disciple.
For now, though, Bruce hadn't attended any classes.
There were simply too many examinees this year.
It wasn't something the academy had planned for, but the volume alone had delayed everything-grading, sorting, even the introduction classes.
As Bruce made his way further down the hall, a sudden gust of wind rushed toward him, strong enough to disrupt the stillness.
A heavy, echoing thud followed shortly after.
He paused for only a moment before continuing forward.
With each step, the feeling grew clearer.
This was where he was meant to be.
The large door ahead of him had been pushed slightly open, likely from the force coming from inside.
Bruce leaned just enough to look through.
Inside, a man moved.
At first glance, it looked like he was dodging something invisible, shifting his body with precise, controlled movements before striking back-each attack landing with a solid, hollow impact against nothing.
The man himself wasn't particularly large. He was lean, built for efficiency rather than size, his body shaped by discipline rather than excess. His black hair was cut short, likely for practical reasons, and his expression remained calm-almost detached-as his eyes tracked something Bruce couldn't see.
He wore simple, functional clothing in muted tones, nothing unnecessary.
Only a plain ring on his left hand and a tight bracelet on his right stood out, subtle but oddly noticeable.
At the back of his neck, a faint mark rested against his skin, visible only when he moved. It didn't resemble a normal tattoo or branding.
At first, there was nothing remarkable about him.
But the longer Bruce watched, the more that feeling changed.
Every movement the man made was exact.
Controlled.
There was no wasted motion-no hesitation.
And that was what made him feel dangerous.
Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly.
Something about the situation didn't make sense.
There was nothing there.
No presence. No shift in the air. No indication of what the man was reacting to.
That shouldn't have been possible.
For a moment, Bruce tried to focus harder on the space itself, as if forcing something to appear-but it didn't work.
Then he stopped.
Instead of looking... he shifted his focus entirely.
Not to sight-but to the flow of energy.
And that's when something changed.
At first, it was barely noticeable.
A distortion, faint and incomplete.
Then-
something began to take shape.
Not fully. Not clearly.
It moved too quickly for his eyes to properly follow, the structure never staying still long enough to fully form.
But it was enough.
A second presence.
Not separate-but mirrored.
It moved alongside the man, matching him, opposing him, like two currents of water colliding into one another.
Bruce's thoughts sharpened as he watched.
If he had to face that...
No.
There wasn't much point thinking about it.
Even with Vernon's support, they wouldn't last long.
A few seconds, at best-
and even that felt generous.
The pressure alone was enough to tell him everything he needed to know.
It reminded him, faintly, of the old woman he had encountered earlier-but where her presence had been controlled, almost gentle in its restraint...
This was different.
This felt like something that wasn't holding back at all.
Like the man's own energy was trying to strike him down.
"Do you know it's not considered polite to watch someone train like that?"
The voice came from beside him.
Bruce blinked, his focus still locked forward for a split second-
then the man inside disappeared.
Completely.
By the time Bruce reacted, the presence was behind him.
"...Yes, sir."
He swallowed slightly, the tension settling in before he could stop it.
"Are you the student Aurelia sent?"
"...Yeah."
"I see."
The silence that followed wasn't forced, but it lingered just long enough to make Bruce aware of it.
"Come in," the man said after a moment. "Or are you planning to stay in the doorway?"
The door opened further.
"And close it behind you," he added, his tone light. "You're acting like I'm about to do something to you."
There was a faint hint of amusement there.
Bruce let out a small breath and reached for the door.
It didn't move.
"...Sir, I think it's stuck."
"It's not stuck," the man replied casually. "You're just not using enough strength."
Bruce glanced back at it.
It didn't look like anything unusual.
Nothing that should have been difficult.
But when he tried again, it barely shifted.
Only when he put his full strength into it-his entire body-did it begin to move, slowly giving way.
"Come on," the man said, almost lazily. "You're young. This shouldn't be difficult."
< ...Easy for you to say. >
After a few minutes of effort, Bruce finally managed to close it.
Only then did the thought hit him.
"...How am I going to open that again?"
"I heard that."
Bruce stiffened slightly.
"Come sit."
Bruce walked over, his movements noticeably heavier now, before dropping into place.
"I'm here, sir."
"I prefer Sir Null."
Bruce looked up at him.
"...Null?"
"Yeah." A small shrug followed. "People tend to question it."
"...I can see why."
A faint smile crossed Null's face-not forced, just there.
"...So do I start training now, or..."
"What do you feel you struggle with?"
Bruce paused, caught slightly off guard.
"...That's direct."
Null didn't respond.
He just watched.
Bruce scratched the back of his neck.
"...Nothing serious."
Silence.
"...Just normal things."
Still nothing.
Bruce exhaled quietly.
"...I don't really like not knowing where people are," he admitted, keeping his tone light. "Or what they're doing."
His gaze drifted toward the window.
"It feels like it should rain."
A small pause.
"But it hasn't."
He shrugged slightly.
"...That kind of thing."
The silence stretched again.
"But it's fine," Bruce added quickly. "I'll just get stronger."
There it was again-that forced ease.
"Then it won't matter."
"You think strength resolves that?" Null asked.
Bruce let out a small breath.
"Not resolves," he said. "Just makes it easier to deal with."
A pause.
"...I don't like waiting."
Null studied him for a moment before speaking again.
"Your growth depends on your state of mind."
Bruce blinked.
"...Seriously?"
"If your thoughts are unstable, your movements will be. If your emotions are suppressed, your judgment will falter."
A brief pause followed.
"I don't teach people who don't understand themselves."
Bruce looked at him for a second before letting out a quiet sigh.
"...So talking is part of training."
"It removes resistance."
Bruce looked away slightly.
"...That's annoying."
"...I'm fine."
The words came out automatically.
He paused almost immediately after.
"...No. That's not right."
A quiet breath left him.
"I'm just trying to be fine."
His voice dropped slightly.
"...It's easier that way."
A faint, humourless exhale followed.
"...Things don't get complicated."
He hesitated.
"...But I am a bit uneasy."
His hand tightened briefly before relaxing again.
"I don't know where my father is."
A short pause.
"...Or what he's dealing with."
"...And Vernon takes on too much by himself."
He exhaled again.
"I know they're strong."
Quickly-
"They'll be fine."
A pause lingered.
"...They should be."
The air remained still.
"...I just don't like not knowing."
Another pause.
"I'm here to get stronger, right?"
His voice tightened slightly.
"...But I already feel behind."
A small breath escaped him.
"...I haven't even fought anyone properly."
He looked down briefly.
"...And I still feel weak."
The word lingered longer than the rest.
"...I don't like saying that."
A faint frown formed.
"It feels wrong."
After a moment, he straightened slightly.
"...That's it."
Then, more lightly-
"...Is that enough, or do I need to keep going, Sir Null?"
Null had listened without interrupting.
"...That isn't weakness," he said at last.
Bruce looked up slightly.
"It's awareness. Most people don't reach that point until after they fail."
A brief pause.
"You reached it before that."
Bruce didn't respond, but something in his posture shifted.
Null stepped forward slightly, his tone still calm-almost casual.
"Honesty makes things easier to work with. You remove what interferes."
Another pause.
"And it makes it possible for me to teach you properly."
Bruce blinked once.
"...So that wasn't a test?"
Null shook his head slightly.
"No."
A faint hint of a smile remained.
"It's just how this works."
The wind stirred faintly outside.
"Your name."
"...Bruce."
Null waited.
"...Just Bruce."
A pause.
"I grew up in the forest. With my father and my brother."
Null nodded once, accepting it without question.
But his gaze lingered slightly longer than before.
"...That explains some things."
Null remained where he was for a moment, his gaze still resting on Bruce-not heavy, not pressuring, just... there.
"...You think you're behind in strength," he said eventually, almost like he was finishing Bruce's thought rather than responding to it.
Bruce didn't answer.
Null exhaled lightly, shifting his weight before stepping back a little, giving the space a more relaxed feel.
"I can't scold you, i thought of similar things at your age," he added.
There wasn't much emotion behind it. Just a statement.
Bruce glanced up slightly.
Null continued without looking at him directly this time.
"I wasn't weak," he said. "But I wasn't... connected to anything either."
A small pause followed.
"No goal. No reason to measure myself against anyone."
His tone stayed even, almost detached-but not distant.
"People talked," he went on. "Trained together. Compared progress."
A faint, almost amused breath escaped him.
"I didn't see the point."
Bruce watched him more carefully now.
Null tilted his head slightly, as if thinking back, but not lingering on it.
"...Then I met someone who didn't leave things like that alone."
A small pause.
"Caelan."
The name came naturally, without emphasis.
"He had a habit of involving himself in things that didn't concern him," Null added, the faintest hint of something resembling humour in his voice. "Including me."
Bruce let out a quiet breath through his nose.
"...Was it annoying?"
"It was," Null replied without hesitation.
A brief pause.
"Still is."
There was a subtle ease to the way he said it-something unspoken sitting underneath.
Null's gaze shifted back toward Bruce.
"We didn't get along at first."
Another pause.
"Still don't, depending on the day."
Bruce huffed slightly at that.
Null continued, his tone unchanged.
"But we trained together."
A short pause.
"Competed."
Another.
"Pushed each other."
His eyes settled, just slightly.
"...And at some point, that was enough."
The silence that followed wasn't empty.
It was settled.
Bruce leaned back just a little, taking that in without fully realising it.
Null didn't press it further.
Instead, he shifted the focus back.
"You don't need to force yourself to have everything figured out right now," he said. "You're here to build that."
Bruce glanced at him.
"...By getting stronger."
Null shook his head slightly.
"Strength is part of it."
A pause.
"Not all of it."
Bruce didn't respond this time.
Null stepped a little closer-not imposing, just present.
"I'll help you get through whatever slows you down," he said, tone still calm, almost casual. "Whether that's your technique, your thinking... or everything you just said."
A small pause.
"And you don't have to dress it up."
Bruce blinked once.
Null continued.
"I don't care if it sounds incomplete. Or if you don't have the right words for it."
Another pause.
"I've been there."
That was all he said about it.
No elaboration.
No weight added to it.
But it stayed.
Bruce's shoulders eased slightly without him noticing.
Null turned away just enough to signal a shift in direction.
"As for training..." he began, before pausing briefly.
"...I only have one thing I teach."
Bruce straightened a bit.
"One?"
Null nodded.
"One."
A faint pause.
"And I don't split it up or adapt it depending on the person."
Bruce frowned slightly.
"...That sounds inconvenient."
"It is," Null replied calmly.
Another pause.
"Which is why most people don't stick with it."
Bruce let out a quiet breath.
"...And you're offering it to me anyway?"
Null glanced back at him.
"I'm not offering it yet."
A small pause.
"I'll decide that over time."
"Ill make sure I'm worth it by then."
Null's expression didn't change.
"If you're still here after a year," he continued, "I'll pass it on to you."
Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A year?"
"Yes."
No explanation followed immediately.
Bruce leaned forward slightly.
"...And until then?"
Null's gaze settled on him again.
"You train."
A pause.
"You figure out where you stand."
Another.
"And you stop pretending things don't bother you when they do."
Bruce looked away slightly at that.
Null added, almost as an afterthought-
"And when something does bother you..."
A brief pause.
"You say it."
Bruce glanced back at him.
Null met his gaze directly this time.
"Not to everyone," he clarified. "That's unnecessary."
A faint pause.
"But you won't gain anything by keeping everything to yourself either."
His tone stayed even.
"I'll be here."
Simple.
Direct.
No emphasis.
But it carried weight anyway.
Bruce didn't respond immediately.
He just sat there for a second, then let out a quiet breath.
"...You're pretty different from what I expected."
Null tilted his head slightly.
"In a bad way?"
"...No," Bruce said after a moment. "Just... not what I thought."
A faint pause.
"...You're kind of easy to talk to."
Null let out a small breath that almost passed as a laugh.
"That's a first."
Bruce smirked slightly.
"...I doubt that."
Null didn't argue.
Instead, he turned slightly, shifting the atmosphere again-back toward something more focused.
"Get up," he said.
Bruce blinked.
"...Already?"
"You've rested enough."
A brief pause.
"And you've talked enough."
There was a faint edge to that now-not harsh, just... sharper.
Bruce let out a breath as he pushed himself up.
"...So this is where it starts."
Null glanced at him.
"No," he said simply.
A small pause.
"This is where you realise how far you are from starting."
It wasn't warm by any means, but the way Null said he can count on him made it feel as if the world had turned warm just for that moment.