With all five present, plus the other ten children filling out the corners of the room, the place hummed with soft chatter and restless energy. The dusty morning light filtering through cracks in the walls made motes of dust swirl lazily overhead, giving the air a golden haze. It was messy and maybe a little chaotic, but Amberine couldn't deny it felt alive.
They split up, each teacher taking their station. It was a practiced routine by now: Elara took Vera and Lina to a cluster of dusty tomes that, despite their battered bindings, contained surprisingly advanced knowledge of glyph structure. Vera liked to act unimpressed, but Amberine had caught her sneaking a reading session once or twice, scribbling her own notes at night. Lina, on the other hand, thrived on detail, devouring each glyph with a hungry mind. They formed an odd duo: the cool older sister figure and the little genius with a mouth as sharp as a newly forged dagger.
