Chapter 276: The Missing

Professor Faye recovered quickly from her surprise, clapping her hands for attention.

“All right, everyone,” she said firmly. “Form a line. No noise, no chaos. We’ll go together to the main hall.”

“Whatever this is, we’ll hear it from the administration soon enough.”

Chairs scraped back as students stood, some whispering to one another in low voices.

Noah fell in behind the others, the faint afterglow of the Heat Sight spell still fading from his vision.

Faye took the lead, her stride brisk and sure, and the group followed her out into the corridor.

The academy grounds were alive with motion.

From every building, groups of students emerged, led by instructors.

The air buzzed with speculation.

Some whispered about an emergency, and others about a monster breach.

Noah heard a few nervous laughs, but mostly it was tension that rippled through the crowd.

They crossed the cobblestone courtyard, joining the stream heading towards the grand marble structure near the Faculty building, the school hall.

Its tall doors stood open, and the sound of hundreds of voices rolled out in waves.

Inside, the space was packed. Students filled the chairs, the air thick with chatter.

“Quietly now,” Faye said over her shoulder as she guided her group inside.

At the door, several staff members stood directing traffic, calling out tier names and class years.

Students moved reluctantly, sorting themselves into the right sections.

Noah followed the instructions, breaking off from Faye’s class as she went to join the instructors’ section.

He spotted the other gold-tier first years gathered near the right side of the hall and made his way over to them.

The other gold-tier first years shifted uneasily as he joined them, their hushed conversations faded into wary silence.

More students poured in, even the third year students. He caught sight of Florian Kael making his way to join his peers at the other side of the large hall.

This event was unusual. Joint assemblies rarely happened outside of semester openings or graduation ceremonies.

Noah folded his arms, his eyes scanning the crowd. He caught the faint trace of worry mirrored on the faces of the staff.

Something had happened. Something big enough to pull everyone out of class.

Arlo slipped into the seat beside him, his face unusually grim.

They sat in silence for several minutes, the restless murmurs swelling like a low tide until, with a heavy thud, the massive doors of the hall swung shut.

The sound echoed loudly, final and foreboding.

The principal, Aldred Kael, stepped onto the stage.

Even in his old age, the archmage’s presence was commanding.

His robes shimmered faintly under the light from the windows, and his staff seemed to glow softly.

When he spoke, his voice carried through the hall without the help of any enhancements.

“Good afternoon, students,” he began, his tone warm. “I trust your studies have been fruitful so far.”

“I must first apologize for interrupting your lessons today. However, in light of recent events at the capital, it has become necessary to address all students at once.”

A ripple of unease passed through the crowd. The capital. Everyone knew about the dragon, and of course, they were still uneasy.

If a giant dragon could attack the palace itself, who said the academy would be any safer?

“Effective immediately,” Aldred continued, “you will all participate in a mandatory refresher course regarding the designated safe zones within the academy.”

“This is purely precautionary, but it is vital that every student knows where to go in the event of an emergency.”

Noah leaned slightly toward Arlo. “What’s truly going on?” he asked under his breath.

He didn’t for a second, believe this was purely about safe zones.

Arlo’s eyes darted across the hall, his voice just as low. “The staff’s doing a head count,” he murmured. “Discreetly. I think a student might be missing.”

Noah frowned. Missing?

His mind flashed back that day during the holiday.

He remembered the way Jack Daniel’s eyes had gone wide in disbelief before he’d been Feasted upon by his spell.

Were they looking for him?

A small grin appeared on his face.

One thing was certain. They’d never find him.

They couldn’t.

Noah listened to the lecture with the rest of the students, his expression calm and neutral.

The teachers spoke at length about the school’s emergency wards, the safe corridors, and the teleportation enchantments that would activate during an attack.

Their words washed over him like background noise, the meaning dulled by repetition.

When the session finally ended, a collective sigh of relief swept through the hall.

By then, it was already lunchtime.

The teachers dismissed them without a single mention of the supposed missing students.

Whatever the real reason for the assembly had been, it was being kept carefully hidden.

Noah filed out with the others, the murmur of laughter and chatter rising around him like a tide.

Students seemed eager to return to normalcy, their earlier fear dissolving into the comfort of routine.

He and Arlo stayed quiet as they walked towards the cafeteria.

They headed to the gold-tier section, serving their lunches.

They sat across from each other, their trays untouched for a while.

“I guess to them, nothing’s wrong,” Arlo muttered eventually.

And with that, they began to eat.

When the bell chimed later, they stood and made their way to their next class, Duels.

The gold-tier course was held near the largest arena on campus. The largest was reserved for the third year gold-tier students.

After arriving at the venue, they made their way to the changing rooms, donning their dueling uniforms.

Once ready, they joined the others and stepped out onto the arena floor.

The moment Arlo stepped onto the arena floor, he stopped abruptly.

His head turned, eyes narrowing as he scanned the edges of the platform.

Noah frowned. “What is it?”

Arlo’s voice came low and tense. “There are traces of her here,” he said. “The Lady in Dark.”

Noah froze, his blood running cold. “That’s impossible.”

But Arlo didn’t answer. He just kept staring at the ground, pale and unmoving.

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