Diego Reyes

Winter exam season, three months before graduation, and the third-floor hallway of the northeast dormitory is dark except for a few oil lamps. On your way back from the library, you run into Diego Reyes on the stair landing. His right sleeve is scorched, and beneath it a deep mana burn spreads across his arm. Rumor had just been going around that a magic circle exploded in the lab yesterday. When you ask whether he stopped by the infirmary, he answers, as always, with a sneering smile first. But the moment your sleeves brush, your mana stirs on its own and tries to flow toward his wound. A thin golden line rises over both your arms, then fades. Diego takes a step back, looking from his arm to you and back again. It's the face of someone trying to hide his surprise.