Chapter 49: Glass House

Noah woke to the soft glow of morning light spilling through his window. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, stretched, and slowly sat up. His body still ached from the bird hunt, especially his legs and shoulders, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. His thoughts immediately went to Arlo. He got dressed quickly and stepped outside into the crisp morning air. The campus grounds were quieter than usual, with most students still asleep, enjoying one of their free days of the week. As he walked toward the infirmary, the hum of conversation and movement slowly picked up. He greeted a few familiar faces along the way, nodding or offering a quiet "morning." When he reached the infirmary, he stepped inside and made his way to the wing Arlo had been placed in. The nurse gave him a nod and told him that his friend had already woken up. He walked down the short corridor, then pushed open the door to Arlo’s room. Arlo was sitting up on the bed, a wide grin on his face, hair ruffled, looking like he hadn’t just coughed up blood and passed out in the forest. "About time," he said, flashing a peace sign. "I was starting to think you’d moved on and replaced me with Theo." Noah let out a breath of relief. "You’re awake." "No, I’m a ghost. Boo," Arlo said, waving his hands in the air dramatically. "You can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m like a bad rash." Noah chuckled. "Well, that tracks." Arlo grinned wider. "The nurse said I can leave as long as I take it easy today. So, food?" "Food." They left the infirmary together, walking at a relaxed pace toward the cafeteria. The morning sun had warmed the cobbled paths, and students were beginning to pour out from their dorms. Noah glanced at Arlo from the corner of his eye. He didn’t look pale anymore, and his steps were steady. Whatever had happened yesterday seemed like a fading shadow now. As they grabbed their trays of food and settled into their usual corner, Arlo took a bite from his bread roll and gave Noah a mock pout. "You’re not going to ask me about the skill I used?" Noah shrugged, chewing. "I figured if you wanted to tell me, you would." Arlo snorted. "You’re no fun." Noah raised an eyebrow. "Is it some deep family secret?" "Nah." Arlo leaned back in his chair. "It’s just complicated. I’m not like you or most people. I’m like a glass house." Noah raised both brows at that, so Arlo continued. "My attack and defense are garbage. My mana capacity and magic control are the same as my rank, FFF-rank, just like most people. But my skills? They’re all about movement, evasion, trickery. My strength comes from not getting hit in the first place." "Sounds exhausting," Noah said. "Exactly," Arlo grinned. "I can go toe-to-toe with most FFF-ranks because I don’t give them the chance to hit me. But at the end of the day, I’m still FFF. Once someone like Leo actually catches me with a real hit, I’m done." Noah nodded slowly, thoughtful. "Tgat does make sense. What happens when you rank up?" "That’s the best part about my merged beast. The higher we rank, the stronger we get." Arlo grinned. "It’s basically like moving from a glass house to a dragon house." Noah nodded, his curiosity about Arlo’s beast rising, but he didn’t press. There were always layers to Arlo. For someone who acted like a lazy clown, he had moments of clarity that made you wonder just how far ahead he was really thinking. "I will say this, though." Arlo added, pointing his spoon at him. "You’re the only guy I’d be willing to bleed for. So if you ever get me hurt again, I expect you to buy me something expensive." "Sure, sure," Noah said with a half-smile. "I’ll steal you a bird from the cafeteria." Arlo laughed, loud enough to draw a few glances. "See? That’s friendship." They finished the rest of their breakfast in relative quiet, each one stuck in their own thoughts. When they were done, Noah stretched, cracked his neck, and made a face as he rose from the table. The food had been filling, but the thought of dusting more shelves already drained him. Arlo watched him with a grin, hands behind his head, lounging like he didn’t have a care in the world. "I’m going back to bed," Arlo announced proudly. "While you go polish old farming manuscripts or whatever they’ve got for you today." Noah rolled his eyes but said nothing. The two of them parted ways outside the cafeteria, with Arlo heading towards the dorms, and Noah towards the central library. When he got there, he reported to the staff, who handed him a feather duster and pointed him towards a back corner of the first floor. Today’s section was even more irrelevant than the others. Just ledgers and annotated surveys about weather patterns, soil quality, and irrigation techniques. He’d hoped to stumble across something interesting, something magical, maybe a book no one had opened in decades. Instead, he got hours of dry, useless cleaning. Still, his hands worked while his mind wandered. He thought about the monolith. About the things they might face. About Galahad, and what kind of power someone like him truly had. About Leo, and what kind of training he had to lead a monolith expedition. When the job was done and his arms were sore from holding the duster for hours, he left the library and returned to the cafeteria. As expected, Arlo was already there, looking refreshed, with food on the table for both of them. "You look like someone who got beat up by a scroll," Arlo said, grinning. "I did," Noah said, dropping into the seat. "Its name was ’Volume 6: Irrigation of the West Marshes.’" They ate in relative quiet before moving to their new hangout spot under the elm tree behind the training arena. There, they spent the rest of the afternoon planning. They ran through dozens of scenarios. Ambushes, getting separated, low mana, surprise boss fights, injuries. Arlo even suggested fake-out betrayals in case things got bad with Leo and his group. They argued about strategy, laughed at each other’s worst-case guesses, and eventually fell into comfortable silence as the sun set. When the sky turned purple and the lamps began to glow across campus, they split again. Noah heading back to his room, and Arlo going to pack his things for the morning. The night passed quickly, and Noah woke up to silence. No knocking, no Arlo barging in, no chatter in the hallway. Just early morning calm and the faint golden light slipping past his curtains. He sat up slowly, his body and mind alert. Today was the seventh day of the week. The day they would sneak into the monolith.