Amused to see the students scrambling at the threat of losing fifty points on the first day, Adam began to move to the boys' floor. At the sound of footsteps behind him, he halted and turned to see Quintella.
"You heard the rules." He ruffled her blonde hair. "Go with Mathilde and Sarah. I'll wait for you in the lounge."
Quintella grabbed his hand, pressing it against her head as if he would disappear for a long ti. "It ans we won't sleep in the sa room, doesn't it?" she asked, shoulders slumped and voice cracking slightly. "I don't want to... Please, big brother."
"We won't, but it's for the best." He shook his head, a warm smile curving his lips. "Think about the new friend you can invite, the funny girls' night you'll share, and the peace you'll have. Even if you feel lonely for a few days, rember I'm just one floor below."
Tears welled up in her pink eyes, the students' distant chatter making her feel even worse. Just as her first tear trailed down her cheeks, Adam removed his enchanted coat.
Thin mana threads flowed from his palm as he dismantled the defensive enchantnts. They wove through the fabric, transforming it from an elegant, dark piece of clothing into a humanoid plushy. Milky beige colored what should be skin, while sky-blue threads turned into hair. Finally, he enchanted the newly ford plushy with mind-relaxing and sleep-enhancing engravings, but also a protective ward that could resist three magus' spells.
"Take it. Even if I'm far away, I'll always be with you." He smiled like a brother, glad to see his sister grow up.
Quintella's finger trembled when she took the soft plushy that looked like a cuter version of Adam. She felt the silky strand-hair, touched the two hard gems that had turned from sleeve adornnts to eyes, then hugged it tightly. It slled like Adam. With it, she could perhaps do it. No, she had to.
Tears faded, replaced by a steely glint as she nodded. "I won't be the cause of your problems." She turned toward Mathilde and Sarah, whose eyes widened at Adam's skills, hugging the plushy tighter. "Can I pick a room besides yours?"
"Sure! We'll be happy to help you with your questions. Oh, and you can call us sisters if you want." Mathilde grinned with the excitent of a twelve-year-old girl who had finally made a new friend.
Sarah's gaze, however, was glued to Adam. She blushed, heart drumming. "Such a nice brother. I thought..." She stopped mid-sentence, lips quivering, hands clasping her chest as she gazed at the plushy. "So, they're not all the sa."
"I count on you, girls." Adam grinned. "You'll get bored if you stay around when I plan to spend hours in the library. Have fun with new friends, enjoy the college facilities, but don't get so carried away that you forget your studies."
Quintella nodded. "I'll do my best."
They waved at each other as Adam returned to the boys' floor.
Watching his back, Mathilde's lips curled into a mischievous smirk. She pointed a thumb toward her face, chest puffed. "If you want your big brother to stay on our floor, I have the solution."
"Really?!" Quintella's eyes widened.
"Yes, yes." Mathilde placed her hands on her hips, nodding with slow confidence. "You'll see tonight. Let's settle for now, then enjoy the spots we showed you earlier. Mathilde twirled, her skirt flaring. "Wait until you see the sunset from the platform! The way the light hits the spires..." She sighed dramatically. "Almost as pretty as !"
Quintella's grip on her plushy loosened slightly. A picnic did sound nice, and maybe... just maybe... she could enjoy herself without Adam for one afternoon.
As the three girls left the corridor, Adam picked the closest vacant room to the stairs. The interior was as luxuriously decorated as the lounges of the first floor. A beige couch placed in front of a table filled the room with the typical scent of suede cloth. An empty wardrobe and two shelves lined the walls in front of a large bed. On the soft mattress and white blankets, he saw his student uniform.
He donned the dark pants, white shirt, and strapped tie, and robe, which reached his kneecaps. Though the fabric wasn't impressive—tier four plant fibers—he recognised the careful craftsmanship. It was light, smooth against his skin and engraved with useful enchantnts he hardly considered.
"Pest repellent? Self-cleaning and perfuming?" He tilted his head, a subtle perfu of orchard filling his nose. Why did it make sense? "Perhaps I should tone down the defensive enchantnts on my next artifacts to focus more on utility, especially for daily clothing."
Musing, he ran a finger on the silver sword piercing a coiled black serpent on his right chest, then on the glowing ring of runes that surrounded it. He felt each bump on the House's motto, "Through our will we cleanse," realising they were more than re decorations.
It was so subtle that he doubted anyone would notice how the emblem bound itself to sothing deep within him—the sa sensation as when enforcers checked his bloodline in the blood registry.
He removed his finger as if he had touched molten lava, grimacing before he muttered. "I don't like being tracked."
With a heavy hiss, he threw his old clothes on his bed and left for the lounge. He couldn't allow the college staff to find out about his many secrets. Using his soul affinity would be disastrous, and qi even worse. Most of his materials were now sealed in a spatial ring that had beco a ticking ti bomb.
"I'll manage." He begrudgingly said through his clenched jaw as he sank into one of the many sofas' soft mattresses. "And it's not that bad. At least, it can serve as the first challenge before I unmake the contract with the Aamon's cleaver."
A deep furrow creased his brow as he pondered. The effects needed to persist without the emblem realising he wasn't upholding his end. It had to be tricked into believing it was tracking his blood, even when it wasn't.
As he waited for the girls, a few surrounding boys gazed at him eagerly. With the ceremony and teachers' explanations over, it was ti to introduce themselves to their newest mber.
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