The name echoed like a hammer strike.
Gasps. Whispers. Some voices sharp with disbelief, others hushed with awe. Dozens of eyes swiveled toward him, wide, uncertain, reverent.
Merlin sat still. His jaw tightened. He hadn't wanted the attention, but it settled on him like iron chains all the same.
Elara's hand shifted slightly at her side, brushing against his. Not enough to be obvious. Just enough that he felt it.
He exhaled slowly.
Vivienne's voice cut through the tension. "These standings are not final judgments of your potential. They reflect this year's performance only. The path forward is long, and many of you will rise or fall in time. But remember this: strength is not only measured by victory. It is measured by how you carry it."
Her gaze lingered on Merlin for the briefest moment before she turned away.
The instructors dismissed the class.
–––
The courtyard buzzed with noise afterward. Students clustered in groups, whispering, throwing glances toward Merlin. Some faces were pale with intimidation, others bright with admiration, a few twisted with envy.
Nathan shoved his way through the crowd, grinning wide as he clapped Merlin on the back hard enough to make him grunt. "First place, huh? Knew you'd pull it off."
Adrian laughed beside him. "He didn't just pull it off, he broke the damn scale."
Merlin only shook his head, lips twitching faintly. "It was just an exam."
Elara's voice came quiet but firm at his side. "No. It was a declaration."
Her violet eyes met his, steady, unflinching. For a moment, the noise of the courtyard dulled, the world narrowing to just her and the words she hadn't spoken yet.
Merlin's chest ached.
Victoria's voice called from across the courtyard, breaking the moment. She hurried to him, auburn hair glinting in the sun, her expression torn between pride and worry. "Merlin, you didn't tell me you'd be first!"
He managed a small, crooked smile. "…Didn't think it mattered."
She shook her head fiercely. "It matters to me."
Her hands lingered on his arms, grounding him in a way no ranking ever could.
–––
High above, on the balcony, Morgana leaned against the railing, eyes watching him.
Her lips curved in a whisper only the wind heard.
"First place… for now."
—
The auditorium had barely quieted from the uproar of the rankings when Vivienne raised her hand once more. The crimson folds of her cloak shimmered faintly under the runes embedded in the ceiling, her eyes cutting through the restless first-years like a whetted blade.
"Sit."
The command needed no repetition. Conversations died instantly, the sound of shuffling boots echoing as every student returned to their seat.
Merlin lowered himself back into the wooden bench, golden eyes narrowing slightly. Nathan sat to his left, still flushed with excitement from his placement. Elara sat to his right, calm as ever, though the faintest flicker of curiosity sparked in her violet gaze.
Vivienne let the silence stretch, waiting until the room's tension bent on the verge of breaking. Then she spoke.
"The final examinations conclude not only your year's training but your first year in this academy. You have endured challenges that no previous class has faced. Some of you emerged stronger. Some of you fell short. All of you now stand at the threshold of what comes next."
Her gaze lingered briefly on Merlin. Just long enough to make his shoulders stiffen.
Sophia stepped forward, parchment in hand, her voice carrying like clean glass. "By decision of the Council of Instructors, the first-year term is now officially closed. You will have a break period of six weeks before the commencement of your second year."
The hall erupted instantly.
"Six weeks?"
"We actually get time off?"
"Where will you go—?"
Whispers and excited chatter swelled, louder and louder until Reinhardt's hand slammed down on the podium. The thunderous crack silenced them like a whip.
"Do not mistake this for leisure," he growled, dark eyes sharp beneath his heavy brow. "You may return to your families. You may rest. But those who treat this as idleness will find themselves left behind when the second year begins. Strength waits for no one."
The weight of his words pressed across the hall. Students shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
Merlin sat straighter, a faint twist pulling at his lips. 'Break, huh… After everything, I almost forgot the world still has such things.'
Vivienne continued, voice crisp. "You will receive your departure slips and transportation passes this afternoon. Return on the date specified. Any who fail to arrive by that time will be expelled without exception."
She let the words hang like a blade suspended above the students' heads.
Sophia adjusted her spectacles, adding quietly, "Make good use of this time. Reflect on what you've learned here. Prepare yourselves."
The three instructors exchanged glances. Then, without further ceremony, they turned and left the dais, their footsteps echoing until the great doors shut behind them.
For a heartbeat, silence held.
Then the dam broke.
Voices flooded the hall, laughter, groans, shouts of excitement. Students embraced, slapped each other's backs, argued over plans. The entire class seemed to buzz with life, the heavy shadow of exams lifted at last.
Merlin sat still amid the chaos, his golden eyes fixed on the now-empty dais.
Nathan elbowed him with a grin. "Hey, six weeks! Think about it. We can actually breathe for once."
Merlin's smirk was faint, almost absent. "…Yeah."
Elara stood, smoothing the hem of her uniform skirt. Her violet gaze swept the crowd once, then flicked back to Merlin. "You'll be leaving?"
The question was quiet, but it carved through the noise around them.
Merlin blinked at her, caught off guard. "…I don't know yet."
Her expression didn't change, but the way her fingers brushed against her side betrayed a tension she rarely showed. "Decide soon. The academy will not wait."
Before he could answer, Adrian bounded over, golden hair disheveled, grin wide. "Merlin! Break means actual food. Home cooking. You're coming with us for at least a night, yeah?"
Nathan laughed. "Don't smother him, Adrian, he's barely standing."
The group gathered, Liliana with her soft smile, Ethan with his usual disinterested shrug, Seraphina carrying herself like she'd already begun preparing for year two, Dorian silent as a shadow.
They talked, they argued, they made plans. But through it all, Merlin felt Elara's presence beside him like an anchor. She didn't chatter like the others.
She didn't laugh or shout. She just stood there, her cool eyes glancing toward him now and then, like she was measuring the distance between them.
Later, when the crowd began spilling from the hall into the courtyard, Merlin found himself standing with his hands in his pockets, watching the late sun paint the academy towers in fire.
Victoria's voice called from behind him.
"Six weeks," she said softly, stepping to his side. Her auburn hair glowed in the light, her arms crossed. "Feels strange, doesn't it? You've been… somewhere else for so long. And now they tell you to go live normally again."
Merlin's lips curved faintly. "…Normal doesn't feel real anymore."
Victoria studied him, worry in her eyes, but didn't press further. Instead, she laid a hand on his arm. "Then maybe six weeks is what you need."
He didn't answer. His gaze drifted back to the courtyard, where students spilled out in clusters, laughter carrying into the sky.
For the first time in a long while, the world seemed… unburdened.
But Merlin knew better.
The weight hadn't vanished. It had only stepped back, waiting.
The announcement of the long break before second year left the courtyard buzzing like a disturbed hive. Students clumped into groups, laughing, planning, arguing about trips home or training retreats. For most, it was a chance to breathe after the brutal final exams.
For Merlin, it was something else entirely.
He stood at the edge of the crowd, Elara at his side, her silver hair catching faint streaks of sun as she listened to Nathan ramble about tournaments he wanted to try during the break. Adrian teased him for being overconfident; Seraphina only sighed. Normal chatter. Normal lives.
But Merlin's gaze wasn't on them. It was on the horizon. Beyond the high academy walls, beyond the wards and spires, past the mountains that protected the valley, out there was the city. His city. Where Victoria would be waiting.
His hand curled slightly at his side. "I'm going home."
Elara's eyes flicked toward him, questioning but calm. "Now?"
"Now." His voice was firmer than he expected. "I've… waited long enough."
Her lips pressed into a faint line. She didn't stop him, though. Just watched. And for the briefest heartbeat, Merlin wondered if she understood more than she let on.
He didn't give himself time to dwell on it.
Merlin stepped back from the group, ignoring the confused looks of Nathan and the others, and let the air shift around him. The courtyard breeze, faint and harmless a moment ago, now curled sharp against his ankles, pulling at his clothes.
Wind affinity surged. Not wild, not uncontrolled, but honed, wrapped around his form like invisible currents ready to fling him forward.
Then he reached deeper. Into that strange, cold stillness that bent the edges of the world. Space.
It wasn't teleportation, not exactly. He wasn't nearly skilled enough to fold reality itself at will. But with the wind to push and space to cut distance, he could move faster than human eyes were meant to follow.
He exhaled. The stone beneath his boots hummed with the strain of magic. Then—
CRACK.
The air split. In a blur, the academy vanished behind him.