The school day was quickly coming to an end. Most students were returning to their dorm rooms and professors were leaving for the staff lodges.

Lancet had one more thing to do before the day ended: That was upgrading his dorm. Lancet had decided that the Bronze Dorm wasn’t suitable for him anymore.

Truthfully, it wasn’t suitable for anyone, but even less for him. With the threat of the Serpents, he needed better security and a softer bed to lay on after difficult battles.

He was excited to be moving up to better things. But unfortunately, this also meant he had a difficult conversation to confront.

The Gold Student Card sat in his hand as he walked back toward the Bronze Dorms, its polished surface catching the light in brief flashes between his fingers.

Lancet looked down at it more than once, his thumb resting over the Academy’s insignia as though he could feel the weight of the decision waiting behind it.

A promotion was supposed to feel good. It was supposed to be one of those moments that made a student feel seen, rewarded, elevated.

Lancet felt all those things. But it also was more complicated than that.

The Bronze Dorms were familiar now in a way he had not expected. The cracked stonework, the tired old banners, the worn steps, the slightly awkward atmosphere of a building that had long ago accepted its place at the bottom of the Academy hierarchy—he had become used to all of it.

More than that, he had become used to the people inside it.

That was the problem.

He stopped outside the door of his room for a moment, looking at the card again, then let out a slow breath.

This was going to be a difficult talk.

He knocked once and entered. The room inside immediately brightened at the sight of him.

"Lancet!" Kasto announced, loud and delighted as always.

Anita was already halfway up from where she had been sitting, eyes lighting up the moment she saw him. "You’re back! Luke, Lancet’s is back!"

Luke, stretched out on his bed with a comic book in hand, gave the same plain greeting he always did, barely looking up as he turned a page. "I see him."

Lancet almost smiled.

That was them. Kasto and Anita always looked ready to explode with excitement, and Luke always reacted as though he had already accounted for whatever was happening before it actually happened.

The three of them filled the room in their own way, and for a second Lancet almost forgot why he had come there in the first place.

Almost.

Kasto and Anita bombarded him with questions and topics for discussion. Lancet answered some, then let out a breath through his nose and sat down carefully on the edge of the nearest chair.

The card in his hand felt heavier now than it had in the hallway. He opened his mouth once, then closed it again as the others kept talking over one another.

Kasto was already asking about the growth in his powers. Anita wanted to know what rumors were true. Luke focused on his comic. Lancet watched them for a moment, the three of them moving comfortably in the room as though nothing in the world had changed.

That made it harder.

He shifted the card in his hand and tried to find the right way to say it. He even opened his mouth again, ready to start with something softer, something less abrupt.

But the moment felt too delicate for that. So he just said it.

"I’m leaving."

The sound stopped. As if someone had reached in and pressed a button, the whole room silenced instantly.

Kasto blinked like he didn’t understand. "Leaving? Leaving to go where?"

"I’m leaving the dorm," he said more clearly. "For good. I’ve been promoted to a Gold Dorm."

"Oh," Kasto’s expression weakened. Anita’s smile faded. Even Luke lowered his comic a little, though he still did not fully look away from it yet.

Kasto gazed at him for a second, then his face split into a grin. "That’s awesome!" He shot up a little straighter, the surprise immediately giving way to open happiness. "Congratulations!"

Lancet stared, not expecting that reaction so quickly. "You’re happy?"

"Of course I’m happy," Kasto said, as if the answer should have been obvious. "If it’s your success, I’m always happy, Lancet."

Lancet felt something in his chest tighten, shocked by the sincerity. But on the other side, Anita’s expression was sad.

"That means you won’t be here anymore," she said quietly.

Lancet looked at her and nodded once. "Yeah. But that doesn’t mean we won’t still be friends. We still learn in the same homeroom."

Neither of them looked fully comforted by that.

Kasto’s shoulders drooped a little, and Anita looked away briefly before glancing back at him with an expression that said exactly what she was thinking.

"Yeah," she said. "But it won’t be the same anymore."

Luke finally lowered his comic book enough to look at Lancet properly.

"What do you mean you’re leaving?" he asked. His voice wasn’t plain this time and neither were his eyes. There was disbelief in it. Some kind of shock. "We’ve formed a bond here. A team. You can’t just leave now."

Lancet stared at him.

He had not expected that at all from him. Even Kasto and Anita had the same surprised looks on their faces.

Hearing Luke use words like ’bond’ and ’team’ made the whole thing feel suddenly more serious.

Lancet leaned back slightly in his chair and held the card loosely in his hand. "We can still be those things," he said, keeping his tone calm. "But I can’t stay in this environment any longer."

Luke’s expression sharpened. "And you think I can?" he asked fiercely, sitting up and leaning over the bunk. "I have enough profits and scores to upgrade to a Silver Dorm. I could have left already, but I stayed because of you guys."

Kasto and Anita turned toward Luke at the same time.

"Wait, what?" Kasto said.

Luke’s eyes quivered uncontrollably, but he kept his emotions hidden—poorly.

Anita looked genuinely surprised. "You could’ve upgraded?"

Kasto stares in disbelief. "But you stayed because of us?"

Luke’s expression remained composed, but there was no mistaking the answer in the way he looked back at Lancet.

"Yes. Because of you guys. Because of you too, Lancet."

The words landed harder than Lancet had expected. He did not answer right away.

He could feel something complicated moving under his ribs, something that wanted to turn into guilt but did not quite manage it.

Luke had stayed here because of them. Because of the bond between them. Because this was where the three of them had built something together after those first ugly days in the Academy.

Now he was the one leaving first.

It was not a fair thing to hear. And Luke clearly thought so too.

"You’re just leaving the first chance you get?" he asked, and now there was frustration in his voice, the kind he almost never showed. "How can you just do that so easily?"

Lancet held that look for a moment and let the guilt sit there without trying to push it away.

He understood what Luke meant. Better than Luke probably realized. But he also understood something else.

What he had planned for his life could not happen if he remained in the Bronze Dorms. He had already outgrown the place in every practical sense, and if he stayed out of sentiment, he would only be delaying what had to come next.

He chose his words carefully.

"I understand all of that," he said quietly. "I do. But what I have planned for my life... it can’t happen if I stay here."

Kasto and Anita said nothing. Luke’s jaw tightened.

Lancet looked between them, then added, softer now, "I want to go. I want to reap what I’ve earned."

That part was true as well.

He had earned the promotion. He had earned the move. He had earned the right to step into a better space and he did not want to pretend otherwise.

But he did not want to lose them either.

He exhaled slowly and met Luke’s gaze again.

"It won’t stop us from being friends," he said. "It definitely won’t stop me from being friends with you, Luke."

Luke’s glare softened a little, but hardened even more after.

His face went still in a way that Lancet had never seen before, all of the quietness stripped of its usual softness and replaced with anger. Hurt.

Kasto looked between the two of them, clearly unsure whether he should say something or stay quiet. Anita’s hands had folded together in front of her, her earlier sadness now mixed with uncertainty.

Lancet stood up at last.

"I have to go to the Residential Department," he said. "I just wanted to let you guys know in time so it wouldn’t be a surprise when I came back to pack my things."

Nobody responded. Lancet walked to the door and opened it. He turned to glance at them one more time.

"See you around guys."