The face of the dual-wielding boy visibly paled as he froze at the unmistakable voice. I turned to see that the whole student council was walking towards us through a gap created by the students.
Taking calm but hurried strides in the front was Tess, her doll-like face expressionless. Behind her, I spotted Lilia, who gave a worried look.
My attacker imdiately recalled his two blades into his dinsion ring and gave a respectful bow towards them, sweat beading down his forehead.
"What is going on, Arthur?" Jarrod is the one that spoke up, making everyone in the crowd raise an eyebrow in surprise.
"Looks like the scholar Mage knows soone from the student council."
"No wonder he was acting so cocky just now."
"Pfft. Did you see him raise up his arm like he was going to stop the attack with his bare hands?"
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the whispers from the crowd. Even for preteen children, I had expected them to be taught manners to so degree since they were all from influential families.
"No, nothing much happened, although you should go take a look at that dwarf student lying over there—Boznean, I think that was his na." I pointed over to the tree where the dwarf was still groaning while clutching his stomach.
Elijah walked towards , hoping to distill the situation. "Hi, Lilia. Sorry, we ended up getting caught up in this little scuffle after the duel between them ended. No harm done!" He gave a slight wave at her as he started talking while directing his words at Tess, her face still shrouded in a mask of apathy.
"Still, this student was about to attack you when a duel wasn’t even issued. This is a serious offense." Lilia stepped up, her gaze a bit sterner as she pulled out a small notebook and jotted sothing down.
While Lilia, Jarrod, and Elijah were talking about what exactly happened, Tessia’s piercing eyes drilled into , as if she was expecting to do sothing. Honestly, even with extended life experience, I have no confidence in what to do when it ca to these situations.
Did she want to treat her respectfully as the student council president? Did she want to treat her as a childhood friend? Did she want to keep our past relationship a secret as a whole?
’It’s Mama!’ Sylvie ’kyu’d’ on top of my head, and I had to firmly tell her to hold still and not go to her.
anwhile, the crowd was getting more and more rowdy, the males doing the best they could to get a better look at Tess, hoping to engrain her image into their mories to use in tis of loneliness or longing.
"You. I believed I asked you a question. Do you dare?" She took a step forward, her eyes boring down on the second-year student. I was thinking that the student was technically a level higher than Tess, but when I took a look at the ribbon that was tied neatly underneath her collar, it had two stripes as well.
"N-No. Of course I would never dare break the rules like that. I simply wanted to scare the boy—I had planned to stop before my weapon would hit him. But seeing that I was still acting rashly, I apologize," he said, shooting a threatening glare as he bowed to Tess.
"Leave." Her eyes continued to look down at him as he shuffled a good distance away before he turned around and ran out of sight, a few of the boys in the crowd following after him; most likely the ones that fanned the fla in this whole scuffle.
"And you! Why are you starting a fight with a senior on the first day of school? You should know your place! No matter how rowdy he may have been, he is still your senior and he didn’t break the rules when dueling with the other student. Furthermore, he is a battle mage student while you are a scholar mage student. Did you not pay attention to my speech about discrimination between the two sects of students here? Yet, you still chose to interfere, making these types of problems apparent on the first day!" She knit her arms tightly as her stern gaze bore down on , her face flushed with either anger or embarrassnt—which of the two, I couldn’t tell.
"What?" My gaze narrowed as I asked, unsure if I heard her correctly.
I took a step forward this ti, and I could see Elijah’s eyes widen in horror as he realized I was going to go past the point of no return.
"Correct if I’m wrong, but it seems to like you’re lecturing based on a presumption you drew from the last five seconds of stumbling upon this situation. Are you really lecturing , right now?" I took another step forward and I could see Tess’s once haughty face beginning to crumble.
"He was about to seriously injure or even kill that dwarf lying there right now, after the duel system broke. If I hadn’t stopped that arrogant brat, you would’ve had to deal with a murder case, not an unregulated fight between two students," I continued, my voice coming out louder than I had wanted to.
"I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused, Student Council President," I said icily, stunning everyone, including Tess.
As soon as I turned around, a hard lump ford in my throat from the guilt. I had just mocked the students for their immaturity, but here I was, acting the sa way. I had forgotten that Tess was just a thirteen-year-old girl, yet I had expected her to act in a way that even I couldn’t.
Elijah followed closely behind as I kept walking, my pride keeping from turning back around.
What a lovely reunion.
"Hold it, first year." Clive Graves ran towards , grabbing by the arm as he tried to spin back around. "Were you raised in a cave? Are these the manners your mother taught you growing up? Do you even know who she is?"
Holding firm, I stopped and looked at him over my shoulder.
I knew from first glance that I would’ve never gotten along with him, but his words sohow had the power to irk more than most fools. Was I raised in a cave? Was he seriously deprecating my mother?
"Let go." The malice dripping in my voice startled even Elijah as he instinctively took a step back. Clive imdiately released my arm, jumping away as he guarded himself with mana.
I took a quick glance at Tess and realized she’d fallen down, more from surprise than out of fear. There was a brief mont where I asked myself if I should help her back up, but as a crowd quickly ford around her to make sure she was okay, I simply let out a sigh and continued my way towards the dorm. Elijah trailed behind as gasps and startled murmurs resounded behind us.
"President Tessia, please get back up! Are you okay?"
"Who the hell was that? I think Treasurer Jarrod called him Arthur, right?"
"Oh man, he is so screwed. He just told off the student council president of the academy."
Elijah took a few hurried steps to catch up to , eventually walking by my side. "You know what you just did, right? Man, you sure love attracting trouble, don’t you? First the dungeon and now this?" He shook his head but continued to follow as he reassured nonverbally that he’d remain by my side.
I almost chuckled at the fact that no one knew my history with Tess until another wave of guilt twisted my insides. Maybe I was bit too harsh on her—no I was definitely too harsh on her. She’s still just a little girl! I shouldn’t have lost my patience just because she acted her age.
As the guilt consud my thoughts, I slapped my cheeks and decided to let nature take its course—because that was always the best course of action to take in a relationship.
School should at least be this exciting, right? I comforted myself. I wasn’t really mad at her, but for so reason, my patience had grown thin at that mont. I knew I should reconcile with her before it beca too awkward but I got the feeling that the timing was going to be an issue.
Elijah and I had managed to make it to our dorm building without further trouble. There were two male dorms and two female dorms within the academy. The two set of dorms were separated by underclassn and upperclassn. Underclassn were students that were still taking their general education classes. These students were then moved into the upperclassn dorms after they’d finished their general education courses and had formally decided on what type of student they were going to be.
The underclassn dorms were simple, to say the least. It was clean and well-kept but lackluster in terms of furniture or decorations. It was a warm beige-colored interior with stairs that went all the way up to the top floor, where each floor contained a narrow hallway lined with rooms.
"Room 394. We’re here!" Elijah unlocked the door by placing his palm on a round stone above the handle. It looked to be a simple artifact used to read basic mana signatures. As soon as he had opened the door, Sylvie bolted into the room, imdiately making a nest out of one of the beds.
The room wasn’t nearly as fancy as the one in the Helstea Manor but had a very hoy feel. Walking in, to our right were two closets and to our left was a small bathroom cramd with two adjacent sinks, a shower and toilet.
Two beds were placed side by side, separated by a nightstand placed against the left side of the wall while on the right side was a long drawer for folded clothes. The sleeping area and the studying area were divided by a wall that ca up to our waist, with three elevated steps leading to an arrangent of desks and couches. The two desks were placed against walls opposite of each other so we would be seated facing away while studying. A long couch was positioned against the miniature wall, separating the desks from the beds. The far side of the wall was made almost entirely of glass, which instantly attracted towards it. The view encompassed a big portion of the campus, which was currently a canvas of fall colors. Looking at it from here, I would have no idea that this place was an institute for mages without being told so.
I took a seat on the couch, sowhat excited about the days to co. Sylvie leaned against the window, looking out at the view.
"Ahh! We didn’t even have dinner yet but I’m already pooped! I wonder whose fault that is?" Elijah jumped on the far bed that was right behind the couch, the one that Sylvie hadn’t claid as hers.
I fell onto the couch, my body practically lting from fatigue. My eyes glazed over, staring off into the sky outside my window until I noticed the pile of luggage cases that were brought in by our driver beforehand. Letting out a sigh, I turned away and denied their existence, dreading the hours of unpacking to co.
TESSIA ERALITH’S POV:
GAAHHHHHH! I screwed up. I screwed up. I screwed up. I TOTALLY screwed up!
I buried my head into my pillow and scread my lungs out in frustration.
"MMMMMMMFFFFFFFFFPPPHHH!" We were supposed to have an emotional, romantic reunion! Well, it was emotional, but in the complete opposite direction! Why did I even say all of that anyway? Why did I lash out at him? I know Art would never pick a fight without a reason but I just went and told him off on sothing I didn’t even see! Gah!! I’m so stupid!
I bet he hates now...
Why did I say that! I even brought up my speech! Bahhh! I must’ve sounded like such a snob! But still, we were in a crowd like that and he did have so fault in the commotion. B-But...
I’m sure he hates now...
If Art just greeted or even just talked to normally, I wouldn’t have said that! That’s right! It’s all Art’s fault! He even ignored when I ca all the way there to help settle the ss he was in! He didn’t even say hi! I wasn’t expecting a full-blown hug or even a k-k-kiss or sothing! Just a ’long ti no see, Tess,’ would’ve been fine! Who was that black-haired guy that reminds of a raven, anyway? Is he his friend? Best friend? It seed like the both of them knew Lilia and Jarrod! Gahh! This is so frustrating!
I scread into my pillow again in hopes of releasing so of my frustration. "MMMMMFFFFFF!"
A sudden knock on my door jolted upright.
"This is Clive...I’m here to check up on you. Are you feeling okay?" I heard the muffled voice through the door.
I quietly cleared my throat before I responding. "I’m fine, thank you." I used my ’public’ voice, as I called it, which made sound much colder.
"Who was that first year, anyway? I can’t believe he dared lecture you like that when you were trying to give him advice! Should I talk to the director about this? We could get him punished and—"
"It’s fine, so leave. Don’t go to the director, either...that’s an order." I spoke harsher than I usually did to get the point across. How dare he badmouth Art. Only I can badmouth him.
I fell back onto my pillow after I heard the faint sound of his footsteps leaving. Dorms were separated by gender and class while before, it was separated by the type of student you were. For the student councils though, we each had our own room in a building that was right next to the Director’s office. It was uncomfortable living with guys in the sa house, but Lilia was here, and the guys were generally okay, so I didn’t mind too much.
Stupid Arthur. Did you know how much I wanted to scream out your na and run to you when I saw you in the audience? Even if he was far away, how could I ever miss that bright auburn hair with a mana beast resting on top of his head! Sylvie looked really different from when she had first hatched but that didn’t surprise . The fact that she was a dragon was sothing that should’ve shocked but with Art, nothing he ever did could surprise ... he was just like that.
"Haaa...." I didn’t even have the energy to scream in frustration anymore. I wanted to bla Art for all of this but I knew he wasn’t all at fault. He probably wanted to keep our relationship a secret for since I was a public figure here. But still... Why was Art only dumb when it cos to a girl’s heart?
Dummy...
I hope he doesn’t hate ...
There were so many questions I wanted to ask him too. What has he been doing? How was his ti as an adventurer? Did he get hurt anywhere? Did he miss ? Did he think of at all these past four years?
I wanted to brag to him how much stronger I’d gotten too... After directly training under the director, my skills as a conjurer improved by leaps and bounds. I would’ve trained under Grandpa, but it wasn’t the best idea because he was an augnter, which limited what he could teach . He taught the basics of mana manipulation but as far as going down the route of a conjurer, the director knew a lot more. She was also familiar with the differences in elves and humans, which helped her train specifically.
Grandpa knew I had great potential because, when I first awakened, I created an implosion that blew up my entire room and part of the downstairs kitchen. That was back when Art used to live with us. That was when I had to wake him up every day too.
I sniffled.
Oh no. I shouldn’t start crying. Art wouldn’t hate just for that, would he? I should just clear things up with him and apologize. He wouldn’t ignore , right?
’Curse his ignorance and insensitivity towards the female heart!’
ARTHUR LEYWIN’S POV:
I watched idly as Sylv took a nap beside on the couch, her tiny body heaving up and down with each tiny breath.
"It’s not like you to explode like that all of a sudden though, Art. It would’ve made more sense for you to just ignore her and walk off, right?" Elijah was still lying down in his bed, his hand propping his head up as he faced .
"Well, I admit I shouldn’t have exploded but I couldn’t help—"
We both turned our heads to the door when two brisk knocks interrupted our conversation.
"That’s strange, who would want to see us on the first day? Maybe our neighbors are just saying hello?" Elijah got up to answer the door.
"Who is..." After a brief silence, I turned to see Elijah frozen still. Getting up to see what was going on, I saw Director Goodsky standing nonchalantly at the door, smiling at .
"Good evening, Arthur. Elijah. May I co in?"
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