Althaiez Academy, nested between rolling hills and deep forests, was one of the few facilities which catered to people with special skills without requiring one to sell their soul or collaborate with the government. Established by the notorious and respected Rainee Althaiez, it served as a base of operations, spanning the size of a small town and housing around around a thousand students who diligently studied magic, engineering and combat amongst other subjects.

It was thus, in said ‘reputable’ academy, that Lucius awoke to a pile of letters at the door, having fallen through a mailslot, each one was embellished with a variety of stickers, colors or flowers that seemed to suggest they pertained to the previous day’s encounter.

“Well, I wouldn’t blame them.” Lucius remarked, a smile forming on his face. After all, he had money, magic, good looks and charisma? What was there not to love?

“Everyone is subject to their own tastes.” Seeing his self-confident expression, Tommy could not help but let a small comment slip.

“I do mean that in a positive sense,” he added, not wanting to protest his new roommate’s whims. Instead, he reserved himself to the simple fixture of his eyes upon the lad, simply watching as the billionaire equipped a pristine white glove before picking them up and neatly placing them in a large white envelope.

Harux, blissfully unaware of what they were, just ogled.

“Wow, that’s a lot of paper.”

“Yes, yes it is,” Tommy added.

Unable to tolerate the awkwardness, Lucius left the room to get breakfast. He was content, the masses had been tamed and saw him as a heroic figure. Some would call him manipulative and, admittedly, a large support base was always a good asset to possess, yet he was simply monopolizing on their naivete in believing the image he had forged.

And so, basked in fulfillment and pride, Lucius strolled along, brandishing his hand at all those who acknowledged him and stopping for multiple selfies.

The door to the dining hall opening, it seemed that Lucius’s entourage of loyal admirers never ceased to grow. They were everywhere, girls whispering among themselves on who would dare ask him out first, and, equally so, the boys held him in regard, seeing him as formidable and charismatic, though a few jealous spirits dotted the room.

Spotting Morgana only a few meters away in the queue, he decided to further play with his audience.

“Hello Morgana, would you be able to tend to my love letters later?”

She smiled, deciding to play along.

“I have quite a lot of them and truth be told, I would appreciate a report on the nature of their content and extensive profiling done on each of the girls who sent them,” he added, a smile forming on his lips.

“Of course. I’ll make a detailed report, should I put it in your work or private files sir?”

Her accentuated smile now accompanied by the slight twitch of her right eyelid, Lucius was pleased to see that she had understood and decided to play along.

“Why in my private files of course, I expect it to be completed by this evening at the latest. After all, we can’t keep them waiting can we?” he declared before walking into a separate line. Morgana’s stares lingered for a few seconds, before turning back, noting that whispers had doubled in intensity, especially amongst female students, many of whom were now eyeing Lucius.

That morning, Lucius decided he would have a grilled cheese sandwich, bacon, two sunny side up eggs, cherry tomatoes, freshly made yogurt, and a cup of pomegranate juice. He could afford to put on some weight after all, with all the effort he had exerted, he had calculated that such a calorie intake would have no impact for at least a week.

“Wow Lucius, you're eating a lot,” Harux commented, with him and Tommy having seated themselves across the table.

“Guess you could say that.”

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“It’s a goof thwing,” Harux munched, a croissant in his mouth as he stared down intently at his own pile, or rather mountain of food, easily double the size of Lucius’ and containing significantly more meat.

“Chew your food before you speak mongrel,” Tommy chided, elegantly cutting open an eggs Benedict, fork and knife in hand.

Harux nodded obediently, folding the puff pastry into his mouth.

“As I was saying, it's good to eat a lot. After all, you need all the energy you can get if you want to fight strong opponents,” Harux advised, although in retrospect, it may have been worth mentioning that eating too much would also decrease one’s combat capability.

While they continued enjoying their meal, Azama suddenly appeared, and whether through pure skill, or miracle, was only noticed by Lucius in the wake of him being tapped on the shoulder.

“Fueh?”

Irate at the fact that someone was so close, only to calm himself when he realized it was just the doings of his eccentric teacher, Lucius gandered at the circumstances of his arrival. Still, how could he have let out such a disgraceful sound from his lips? The thought turned his cheeks red ever so slightly.

“Wow guys, I knew you all were friendly and all, but damn, you three seem to be getting along quite well!” Azama was in fact here to sing praises of their attainment of companionship. Without any secret agenda or the desire to use his interaction with the lot as a pretext for a more serious topic, Azama quite simply launched into a full monologue about how cool their battle was, going as far as to use onomatopoeia such as “Clang! Bonk! Swoosh!”

At his teacher’s demonstration of such passion and ability, Tommy stroking his chin, mused over whether inclusion of similar descriptive sound effects was an idea he could borrow for his future escapades. As though he had lost much touch with the frenzied line of thinking he once subscribed to, his more histrionic part was as strong as ever, if not even more stalwart on the basis that it no longer had to compete with another aspect of himself.

The line between teacher and student blurring by the second, it was only with the arrival of the sound of incoming steps did the four finally snap out of their trance.

Coming forth was none other than Charlotte, who with a letter in her hand had approached the lot, Lucius supposed that such an expression of love was directed to none other than him, and so, with a one-liner in mind, prepared himself.

“Hello, I have a few letters I must give out.” she factly stated.

A few? Had she gone through all the effort to compose multiple dispatches of her love and affection, or was she a poet? One that through the expression of words in a format of poise and elegance, was unable to condense her feelings?

Lucius would soon learn that it was neither, as the girl, moving in the opposite direction, gave the two letters to none other than Tommy and Harux. Putative that the author of these notes were not love-stricken schoolgirls, he let the two tend to them with indifference.

Tommy was the first of the duo to react; his eyes speeding through the words like a typewriter, he simply reacted with a thank-you nod, and sealed it back up.

Harux meanwhile, gave a nod first before going immediately back to his breakfast, intent on the complete absorption of nutrients. Lucius wondered if anything short of his supposed wolf-mother dying would startle the boy.

With a bow, the girl took her leave, and, following suit, so did Tommy. Whatever was composed in the letter, Lucius now certainty suspected that it would not be classified in an affable manner.

If it was of any consolidation, Azama gave the two a pat on the back and urged them to stay positive for their first week of class, stating cheesy lines about the necessity of studying hard to create a great future and bonds of youth.

The need for their sustenance comprised rendezvous now gone, the two with a glance at each of their respective schedules, headed off to class.

Left to his own devices, Harux examined the white envelope which apparently contained some kind of message with curious eyes.

Why did Lucius have so many of them outside his door, he pondered, and in that line of thought he also came to wonder about the sender and the contents of the letter addressed to him, as there wasn’t really anyone who would write to him. Not only that, but the fact that Tommy also received a letter at the same time made him doubly curious.

Who in the world had sent the letter and why? Was it a challenge to a duel from a mysterious warrior impressed by his abilities in the recent battle? Perhaps an invitation to a food eating contest? He had seen those on TV before.

Eh whatever, Harux thought as he tore the wax seal off. Once his curiosity was piqued, he wasn’t the type to sit around and wait.

Dear Harux,

I must say that your display of skill and prowess at ‘The Battle of Falling Snow’ as it has been dubbed by many, has managed to catch my attention and awe. That is it of course. There are no romantic feelings derived from the showmanship of sword and magic, but there is appreciation for the skills you possess, very much so. As such, I hope you have an excellent school year and the continued development of your… Attributes.

Sincerely,

Charlotte.

Appreciation for my skills huh. Well just watch me get even stronger then, Harux thought, reaffirming his resolve for strength. Afterall, even though the battle ended in his victory, there was much room for improvement. And so he simply pushed the letter into his front pocket and continued on to his next class of the day.