Annabeth Goldmancer P.O.V

The formal last night was more of a chore than I had expected it to be. Throughout the last eight years, ever since I unlocked my stat points I had gotten some more exposure to the outside world but my father did his best to keep me in a cocoon for as long as he could. At first she had resented him for it a little thinking he was overprotective but if all of those events were like last night she was glad he had kept her out of them.

“Miss Manashaper.” The guard at the entrance of the academy saluted and opened the gate as Lexi and I approached.

“Hi, Dave.” Lexi greeted him. “Do you know where grandpa is?”

“He should be in his office right now, but -” the guard answered.

“Thanks” she said cheerfully, cutting off anything else he might have had to add before marching off while dragging me behind her.

“You’re in a really bad mood.” I point out.

Lexi and I were very similar and at the same time polar opposites. We both had very similar core personalities, both very passionate and focused not only on our own field but on almost all fields, we both had picked up at least one weapon and tried all sorts of crafting professions. Where we differed was in how we went about dealing with strangers.

While I had been mostly isolated from the noble community at large for my entire childhood Lexi had been overexposed to it all. This led to us having a very different coping mechanism, I was rewarded with the rare skill [Poker Face] and while I still hadn’t managed to get out her what skill or skills she had that allowed her to maintain that happy go lucky attitude that let her get along with just about anyone I knew it had to be something similar.

The formal last night hadn’t started off that badly, our classmates weren’t all that bad. I had personally expected Steelarm to be a hothead that would engage at the slightest opportunity, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was more of a tactical mastermind instead of a pure brawn warrior.

The night went to hell in a handbasket once the prince arrived. A surprise to many of us that were there since we knew the prince still had at least a level to go before he could join the academy, it seems he somehow forced his way into this class.

To say that the prince was talented was an understatement, having reached level fifty in his [longsword sword] skill before the age of ten was something that hadn’t happened for at least a few thousand years. Sure there had been the odd noble here or there who got a common skill but an uncommon one was something else.

Sadly from all appearances it looked like the young prince had taken to looking up at his uncle and not his father when he decided on a role model(Note, yes they are all princes since the kid’s grandfather is kind so they all gain the prince title as they are in the line of succession). His uncle, the former crown prince, was actually the older of the two brothers and was also a standout talent when it came to combat. Sadly he was a walking calamity when it came to foreign politics, almost starting a war the last three out of five times he went to visit the Republic for their fifty year tourney.

I followed Lexi up the stairs to the seventh floor. I had long since gotten used to the stifling effects of aura, still both the headmaster and the librarian were on the high end of the spectrum so I was slow in noticing there was a third aura present on the floor and couldn’t stop Lexi from barging in on what I assumed was a meeting her grandfather was holding.

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“Grampa, you here?” she obnoxiously asked as she burst into the room.

Her tone of voice let me know that she very much did notice the presence of the third aura and was acting as she was as a form of payback. I couldn’t say I didn’t understand since we had both been forced to endure an extra hour at the formal last night because her grandfather was late in arriving and dismissing all of us.

“This is because I was late last night, isn’t it?” he asked with a defeated sigh.

“Miss Manashaper, I certainly hope you’ll be showing more decorum than this in the upcoming six years.” Mr Silvertongue chided her.

“Yes sir.” she answered while looking at the floor.

As Lexi carefully inspected the carpet trying to show her non-existent remorse I looked towards the third member of the meeting we had interrupted. The man was young, despite being six and a half feet tall and built with wiry muscles you could see even through his clothes he seemed to be about seventeen years old, he also seemed oddly familiar though I couldn’t place him.

“Would you mind waiting outside until I am done with this?” the headmaster asked in a much nicer tone than we deserved.

“You?” Lexi asked softly as she finally took in the final member of the meeting. “You’re Ajax right?”

The mention of the boy’s name sparked my memory, he’s the kid from half a year ago, the one Lexi was so insistent we offer some help because of how her grandpa was going to haunt him the moment he got a chance about his new magic.

“I am.” the boy admitted. “I suppose I owe both of you a thank you for helping me out.” he said with a slight appreciative nod to both of us.

“Is he another surprise addition to our class?” I asked in a somewhat frosty voice as I felt [Poker Face] fall into place and hide my annoyance at how many people were bending the rules.

“I guess you might as well take a seat.” the headmaster said as he sat defeated in his chair. “Not like our little meeting here was meant to be a secret.”

Despite his words and tone the pressure his aura exerted on us made it clear that we were to sit on the side and watch without further interruption. Neither Lexi nor I did anything besides silently moving to the two chairs in the corner of the office after closing the door.

“Now, where were we?” the headmaster asked. “Ah, yes, your position as a teaching assistant. While I am sure procuring your desired delve slots wouldn’t be too much of an imposition for Mr. Silvertongue we would require a demonstration of your claims.”

Teaching assistant? Well that certainly made some sense. Mr. Silvertongue wouldn’t be able to have a teaching assistant under normal circumstances, but with the headmaster probably interested in Ajax’s magic they would give him the position for a year or two while he catches up on his studies before he joins the academy proper, not only that but it would ease up the scut work Mr Silvertongue would need to do.

“Provided your requests were met, would you be willing to accept the position?” the headmaster asked?

“Yes.” Ajax said after he thought for a moment. “With one condition.”

He had a condition? This was basically a golden ticket for him and he still had requests to add on top. What was he thinking?

“Which is?” A slight bit of confusion came through the headmaster’s question.

“You answer one question for me that may touch on a few matters held secret from most people.” he said.

“I’m sorry to say, but I will not be revealing any more magic information to you right now than what the academy provides to all its students.” the headmaster denied.

“The question doesn’t involve magic, or if it does at least not directly,” he said.

“Hmm, alright.” the headmaster agreed. “But you have to ask your question after your demonstration.”

Ajax’s eyes instantly turned to take in me, Lexi and Mr Silvertongue. He spent a whole minute just looking between up before he turned back to the headmaster.

“I accept.” he said.

“Wonderful.” gone was the serious expression and now the headmaster was just a jolly old man, I could see where Lexi got her inspiration from. “Let's head down to the arena, Dave should be on duty and he is level fifty-nine. That would make for a perfect test of your claims.”

“I also have a condition.” Mr Silvertongue intervened. He had the good grace to be a little cowed from the glare the headmaster turned on him but he still pushed on. “If your claims end up being false I want you to try and teach your deception skill to a person of my choosing.”

“You want what?” Ajax asked, confused. “Wait, you have a truth telling skill, and a strong one. That’s why you had such a big reaction, and now you think I somehow got past it.”

He wasn’t talking to anyone right then, it sounded more like he was putting together the pieces of a puzzle.

“Yeah, your condition is fine.” he said after he stopped talking to himself. “I wasn’t lying anyway.”

Both Lexi and I followed the three out of the room. Neither of us said a word both equally interested to see what was going on.