Aetheric Chronicles: Reborn As An Extra

The healing ward's waiting area was thick with tension. Eleven people had gathered there - Aria, several of Adrian's closest friends from the class - Aurelia(his sister), Aurelius, Kairen, Lila, Ardel, Irithel, and Ren, two instructors who had been closest to him(like Instructor Elara and Ardent), and Principal Arwen himself who arrived about 5 minutes ago after finishing the ceremony. They had been waiting for nearly an hour since Adrian was brought in, each lost in their own thoughts as they tried to process the impossible events they had witnessed.

The afternoon sun cast long shadows through the ward's windows, its warm light a stark contrast to the anxiety that filled the room. Every few minutes, someone would glance at the closed door leading to Adrian's room, then at each other, as if seeking confirmation that this wasn't some shared illusion.

"It just doesn't make sense," Ren, one of Adrian's friends, whispered for perhaps the tenth time. "The dimensional crack... it just vanished. Like it was never there."

Professor Ardent nodded slowly, her usually composed features showing signs of strain. "In all my years studying dimensional phenomena, I've never seen anything quite like it. A perfectly circular breach that sealed itself without intervention..."

Aria sat slightly apart from the others, her fingers absently turning the ring on her hand. The golden band felt cold against her skin - unnaturally so.

Her mind kept returning to the moment after they had brought Adrian to the healers, when she had noticed something odd. His matching ring, the one that had been bound to his very essence, had slipped off his finger with disturbing ease when the healers needed to check his vital signs. More troubling still was the complete absence of the familiar resonance between their rings - a connection that had once been as natural as breathing.

Principal Arwen watched her with understanding eyes but remained silent, his weathered hands clasped around his staff as if drawing strength from it.

The door opened suddenly, causing everyone to straighten. The head healer stepped out, her expression carefully neutral.

"He's awake," she announced, then hesitated. "However... there's something you should know. His memory appears to be... disoriented."

"Disoriented?" Professor Elara stepped forward. "Do you mean he has amnesia?"

Madam Healer shook her head slowly. "No, not exactly. He remembers most of the things, but..." She paused, searching for words. "Perhaps it's better if you see for yourselves. Just... be prepared. He's not quite as you might remember him."

They filed into the room quietly. Sunlight streamed through the large windows, illuminating a figure sitting upright in the bed. Adrian was wearing standard white patient clothes, his attention fixed on something outside the window. At the sound of their entrance, he turned.

Aria felt her breath catch.

It was Adrian - undeniably so.

The same darker brown hair that fell slightly over his forehead, the same strong features, the same build. But as their eyes met, she felt a chill run down her spine.

His eyes.

They were the same color, but everything else about them was different.

Gone was the warmth that had characterized even his most serious moments. Gone was the subtle gleam of humor and affection that had often danced in their depths. Instead, she found herself looking into eyes that calculated and assessed with cold precision - eyes that reminded her sharply of their first meeting, before everything had changed.

He surveyed the room's occupants with clinical detachment, his posture perfect but distinctly rigid. When he spoke, his voice was exactly as she remembered, but the tone...

"Principal Arwen," he acknowledged with a slight nod, then his gaze swept over the others. "Professors. Classmates." His eyes landed on Aurelia and Aurelius a bit longer and then Aria last, lingering for just a moment, but with none of the recognition she had come to expect. "Thank you for checking up on me despite being busy."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

This was Adrian, but at the same time, it wasn't - not the Adrian who had disappeared not more than two weeks ago. This was the Adrian from before, the one who had kept nearly everyone at arm's length, the one who had viewed the world through a lens of cold logic and calculation.

Principal Arwen stepped forward, his expression calm despite the situation. "Indeed, there is much to discuss. Perhaps you could start by telling us what you remember?"

"What happened at the Domain Explosion Incident. Where did you disappear and how did you appear from a Dimensional Crack?"

The room fell into expectant silence. Every person present leaned forward slightly, their expressions a mix of concern, curiosity, and hope. Aurelia and Aurelius exchanged quick glances, worried intent shown on their faces. Kairen and the others unconsciously shifted closer, while Instructors Elara and Ardent maintained their composed stance despite the obvious tension in their shoulders.

Adrian noticed their eager expressions, and something flickered briefly across his face—surprise, perhaps—but it was gone so quickly that one might have imagined it. His perfect mask of composure never truly slipped. He brought one hand to his chin in a contemplative gesture, his brows furrowing slightly as if searching through distant memories.

After a moment of careful consideration, he lowered his hand and met their gazes directly. "I apologize if this disappoints you all," he began, his voice measured and clinical, "but my memories of the incident are rather limited. I remember engaging in combat against the vessel of darkness alongside everyone present that moment." His eyes swept across the room briefly before continuing. "After that point, everything goes dark."

He paused, his expression remaining carefully neutral despite the weight of his next words. "I've been... floating in that darkness. I cannot accurately gauge how much time has passed—it felt both eternal and instantaneous. The first glimpse of light I experienced was during my fall from what you've referred to as the dimensional crack." His hands rested calmly on the white sheets as he concluded, "I lost consciousness almost immediately after."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om