Before dawn, Vis wakes in his new Class Six room and notices Eidhin working angrily at a wax tablet under a bright lamp. Their brief exchange confirms that Lentius—the previous last-ranked Sixth—has been demoted, and Eidhin makes it clear he preferred Lentius’s silence to Vis’s presence. The encounter underscores Eidhin’s hostility and Vis’s fragile standing among the Sixths.

Vis takes a morning run and then meets Callidus on the way to breakfast. Their easy banter highlights a budding friendship, and Callidus advises Vis to sit with the Sixths to manage perceptions after his promotion.

At the mess hall, Vis attempts to join the Class Six table. The group falls silent, and Ianix pointedly leads a walkout, while a dark-haired girl bluntly suggests Vis not sit with them and another girl offers a soft apology. Several students glance toward Iro at the Class Three table, revealing that fear of political repercussions is driving their avoidance. Eidhin, sitting slightly apart from the group, refuses to engage with Vis as well.

Frustrated, Vis returns to sit with Callidus despite the optics, and they wryly toast the Pariah Table. Though the choice may reinforce his outsider status, the snub fuels Vis’s determination to make Class Six take notice of him through his actions.