Before Marcus could even process the situation, they both arrived at the courtyard behind the academy—the same wide, open plaza where he'd once been challenged to a duel by three generic bullies, their names already slipping from memory like an unimportant tutorial.
The sunlight filtered through the healthy green trees, casting soft, bright glows onto the neatly paved ground. Magical fauna lounged around the perimeter, grazing or hopping lazily between flowerbeds infused with ambient mana. The air held a faint, sweet scent—like springtime and ozone.
"What's there to do in this world anyways?"
Marcus asked aloud, half to Victoria and half to himself, while eyeing one of the creatures nearby—a plump, furred hybrid that looked like a rabbit with the tail of a squirrel and the twitchy ears of a fennec.
He crouched down, studying the beast as it munched on petals that sparkled faintly when touched.
"I wonder if they taste good…"
