Upon his return Harlan found a large stack of papers detailing various tests that he needed to pass to avoid the classes being marked as failed on his record, not that he cared much.

Claude was free at the moment, so they decided to catch up.

“You really need to get through all of this in just a week?”

“Shouldn’t be an issue. It is just catch up work.”

“This is just…”

He shuffled the papers and found them densely packed with information beyond what he could’ve expected. Harlan hadn’t been told that he was transferred to advanced classes in a few subjects.

“I can’t imagine getting this done in less than two at least. I can’t really say everything is the same, since we are dealing with different subjects, but these are past anything I’ve been taught. Anyway, it doesn't matter. What were you doing back at your home for all that time?”

“Making a new body.”

“Huh.”

He just kept looking over Harlan’s class papers.

“That was a pretty muted response.”

“I’m just not really sure how to interpret your answer. It could be entirely benign or bordering on forbidden magic.”

“I had it looked at, it’s fine. But, I was really helping my brother Balor.”

“The new body was for him then?”

“Yes.”

“And you made it, an entirely new one?”

“Yes.”

He slowed down the shuffling of papers.

“That’s… Can you change people who are alive?”

“You can’t tell anyone about it.”

“What are the limits? I mean, could you-”

“I changed a man into an almost entirely new form, taller, better eyes and ears, new face, voice, everything.”

“Are you an archmage yet? That sounds like the kind of spell that gets you a title like that. The inventor of cosmetic magic got an archmage title and those are basically an advanced form of illusions mixed with healing magic.”

“I probably won’t tell anyone else about being one.”

He slammed down the papers and got uncomfortably close to Harlan.

“You mean you really are? What is your title?”

“Changeling.”

Claude stepped back and made an ugly face, offended on behalf of his friend.

“Can you change it?”

“I’m the one who picked it, kinda. I said it as a joke and the headmaster said he would use that name.

I think he is just being petty.”

“What’d you do to upset him?”

“I told him that he fu- he made a mistake, and that I would not forgive him for it, but I’d keep a business relationship. He knows who attacked Adina, he knew it all along and it was a slip of the tongue by one of the staff that led me to confirm it.”

“That… fucking prick.”

“Swearing doesn't suit you, don’t force it. I’m trying to drop the habit myself.”

“I just don’t think enough words are strong enough to say how I feel about that.

He gave a big speech, twice, about bringing everyone together and preventing harm to students.

Then when it actually happens he buckles. ”

“I’m not going to pretend that I don’t blame him.”

Harlan was focusing on a small ball, not even looking at Claude.

“What is that?”

“It will light up depending on how hard it is gripped, from green to red and the colors between them.”

“Is that for Wulrun?”

“No, Balor, he can’t control himself yet. But is as strong as me. Do you want to try it? The ball will reform itself if damaged. Shadowsteel really is almost oddly easy to work with.”

Claude grabbed the ball and squeezed as hard as he could, only lighting it up to barely yellow even with both hands.

He tossed it back to Harlan who gripped it with one hand and orb turned oblate while it let out a bright red light.

“I might need to use more metal.”

Claude just looked at it and then back to Harlan.

Claude had classes to attend to, so Harlan should’ve started on his catch up work.

Instead, he walked the school grounds, hoping to find somebody.

There was little actual hoping, he could just divine her position and wait until she was moving between classes.

It felt somewhat unreal to be back on the first floor, he was fighting against muscle memory taking him to his old classrooms.

Charlotte came out of her combat class and he got close, nearly being hit by her dagger when he touched her shoulder.

“I don’t have tutoring today.”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve gone to see you sooner.”

“No, there is nothing you could’ve done. You couldn’t even-”

She bit her tongue, trying to avoid grief talking for her.

“If you ever want to talk, just find me, I know I failed him, and I failed you.”

The girl who had been with them, rubbed her back and tried to calm her.

He knew there wasn’t much he could do, but even if she stayed away from him, he hoped that just knowing he cared enough to offer would help her.

Harlan returned to his room and began going through his work.

Enchanting classes mostly revolved around being given an item, and being told what effect to put in it, but not being given the spell that goes in the item until the next class.

For Harlan it was rarely required and he would just make the item, even in a flawed state, within the time given for the first class.

He pulled the simple metal plate from its box, it was supposed to resist acid attacks, so he did as asked, using a spell called forgemasters finger to precisely cut the mundane steel with a string of plasma.

He was about to use an acid he made before he reread what a pass was.

“Magical acid should be used for this test, as it is unlikely that you can make one able to stand up to alchemical acid.”

“It almost sounds like he is taunting you.”

“He is.”

“Are you going to let him get away with that?”

“I know what you are trying to do. I don’t really need the pep talk right now.”

“I’m not trying to give a pep talk, I’m just trying to banter.”

“Sorry, I’m in work mode, I didn’t mean to be snappy.”

“So, how is this going?”

“The difficulty jumped up, which is actually quite nice, I was getting bored.”

“Can you look over some of the other material?”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I already did once, just look back at my memories.”

“I know that I live inside your head, but I can’t just read you like a book.”

“That didn’t seem to be an issue before.”

“Well, I got pushed out somewhat.”

“What? When? Are you alright?”

Harlan set down the next item he was working with.

“Calm down, I’m fine. When you got your empathy under control it made your mind stronger, I couldn’t influence it, intentionally or otherwise, like I could before. It also means that I can look at your memories, but only when you think about them. Otherwise it would be like finding tea spilled in an ocean. Now that we are so close, all of your fleeting thoughts are drowning out everything else.”

“Not your worst metaphor.”

“Har har har. Get back to work.”

“I’ll look over my class material in a little bit, why do you want them?”

“Something about them seems off, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

She didn’t see what exactly was wrong and it bothered her. Eliza had spent 4 years here, and Dawn knew that, even if those memories were sometimes a bit fuzzy. Harlan had some fuzzy memories of his own as he attended classes but failed to focus on anything beyond the work he had done most of the time.

A knock on the door, he failed to feel the mind getting nearer as he worked.

Harlan didn’t even get up, he just made his armor open the door for him.

“Hell- can you stop that.”

David covered his eyes to block out the bright line of plasma that cut into a dagger.

“One moment.”

Harlan used a veil over his eyes to dim his sight and wasn’t really bothered by it.

Once he was done he tossed the blade over his shoulder and it landed tip down on his table next to a handful of other daggers.

“It has been a little while.”

“I have work to do.”

“Why did you go with the Vale girl?”

“She is my student, she was too unconfident, then she was overconfident, now-”

Harlan stopped looking at the assignment paper.

“-now I don’t know.”

“I would like you to work with us again, if you can find the time.”

“I might be able to work during the week, on the weekends I handle tutoring for first years.”

“You’ll miss your classes doing that. They’ll revoke your license.”

“I think letting work like this build up suits me better.”

David awkwardly glanced at the papers Harlan had marked as finished and the massive pile marked incomplete.

“Alright then, I will contact you on your amulet when I find a job that I think would be best to have you along with.”

David turned to leave, but stood halfway outside the door.

“And… Shelly wanted to talk with you. It seemed like sooner would be better than later.”

Harlan waved him away but didn’t respond.

The dinner bell rang and Harlan made his way over.

Through the throngs of people he zeroed in on Shelly.

“If you would like to talk, just come to my room after dinner. Sorry I was away for so long.”

“I’ll be there.”

Fear and anxiety flowed out from her, though she seemed resolute in whatever she was doing.

Many eyes fell on him as he sat down to eat.

Disappearing for nearly a month led to all sorts of rumors, some of which were even true.

Harlan and Balor made no secret about what had happened, within limits at least.

Balor couldn’t hide what he was, the only secret was the matter of how he got the body.

Some claimed that it was a man who had been executed, some claimed that the brothers had put someone in a permanent coma and it was something he learned from the spinal spiders.

It didn’t bother Harlan, even when he could hear them whispering, it just seemed so… childish.

Adina and Ximena were already there.

“You didn’t say that you were back.”

“I didn’t think it mattered much. But I’m back.”

“I just wanted to be the first one to know, as your person to be.”

“You can say fiance.”

Adina blushed and Ximena elbowed her playfully as a shadow covered them.

“You two are like children playing house.”

“Cato.”

“I come peacefully.”

“And I reject you peacefully. I have no reason to be involved with you.”

“Ah, and that is where you are wrong my friend. I bring a letter from her father.”

“Don’t bother, I don’t want to hear from that man.”

“Then you should be happy to hear that the letter is not for you, it is for your husband.”

Harlan took the letter and sliced it to ribbons, letting the pieces fall to the ground.

“If he wishes to apologize, he must do so in person, if he wishes for business, I refuse.”

Even without empathy it was clear from his bulging veins and reddening face that Cato was a hair breadth away from striking him.

“It would be in your best interest to show respect.”

As much as he might want to force a fight, just to see if he could beat Cato and whatever his bloodline ability really was, he just didn’t have it in him, he knew it wouldn’t help anything.

“It is my right, and mine alone, who I work with, and it is not my choice to forgive him for his past actions.

It is Adina who told me that she would not accept anything less than an in person apology.

Do we have any reason to speak further?”

Cato narrowed his eyes and made a fist, but he stepped back as if he wasn’t seething with rage.

“No, I suppose there is nothing left to say between us.”

The group watched him closely as he moved away, making sure that no spell was forming.

Dark mana pulsed outward from Harlan as his void nova safely dispersed.

“Thank you.”

“I know he still sets you on edge.”

Harlan placed his hand on hers, once she let go they went back to eating.

Before he left he stealthily grabbed the pieces of the letter.

Shelly arrived at his room after half an hour or so, she said her goodbyes and finished speaking with her friends for the night.

“You are worried, afraid.”

“What? No, everything is fine. My mother just wanted to speak with you.”

“It will be fine.”

After a few moments where she thought about pretending to have lost her amulet, she called her mother and said she was with Harlan.

“Eliza, when she died, was it quick?”

Harlan’s eyes went black, he believed it was, but it would hurt worse if he lied to her when he knew he could get the answer.

“A lance of void instantly destroyed her heart. It was quick.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve made no secret that I can speak with my god at any time. She killed her, or rather, an agent of her’s did.”

“Did you know that when you took up your position?”

He hesitated in answering.

“Yes, I did.”

“How dare you.”

He could hear her take a long breath.

“How could you do that? She killed Eliza, who you claim to be your mother, I thought you loved your family?”

“There is context missing here. She… I don’t want to talk about this over an amulet. That woman, she gave birth to me, but she was never a mother to me. She was never a mother to Elise either. I love my family, I would die for them without a second thought, I hate her for what she was, someone who threw that away.”

“You didn’t know her, you don’t know how hard it was for her to not love her only child.”

Shelly wanted to crawl into a hole to just get out of the shouting match that had started between what she was hoping was still her friend and her mother.

She had heard her mother like this before, she had even raised her voice to her, but she had never heard her do this to someone who Shelly didn’t think had it coming for one reason or another.

They went 15 minutes, barely even breathing as they spat enough poison to kill a Lindwurm.

Eventually she couldn’t take it anymore.

“STOP. Just, please, stop this.”

Harlan froze a moment, it wasn’t right to hurt her to prove some meaningless point to her mother.

“I’m sorry. I’m not going to fight your mother, regardless of our views, I don’t want it to hurt you.”

“Shelly, avoid that monster like a wyvern, however he is manipulating you, it is only going to bring suffering. He already proved he can’t even protect a handful of children.”

It was a non-sequitur, just a terrible thing to say to him for the sake of being terrible.

She saw Harlan’s eyes go wide and then brighten until they were painful to look at, his teeth and nails sharpened while his nose twitched, trying to avoid scrunching it in anger.

“Shelly… end the call, before I saw something in reply.”

“Don’t you dar-”

The connection was cut.

“I’m sorry, I know my mo-”

Harlan put his hand up, letting her see how his fingers lengthed.

“I don’t blame you. She is a grown woman, she made the choice to be a horrible bitch. Just as that woman who gave birth to me chose to sell me to The Darkness in exchange for her own safety. They were made for each other.”

She wanted to defend her mother, but in light of how Harlan was trying to be soft, it was hard.

“I think I would like to be alone for the night. See you tomorrow?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then another day. Good night, Shelly.”

“Yeah, good night, Harlan.”

He knew that she would want to leave, so he gave her an out before she could ask, or worse, try to mend the rift that she thought was forming.

“Are you alright?”

“No, not really. I should’ve known, if she was friends with that woman, there was no chance of our meeting being positive. I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t be. I… I know it was just the echoes of who I was before that hoped you could be friendly. Nostalgia for something that wasn’t me. I don’t know what is going to happen when we find Elise, if I can’t handle it, please, try to set me straight.”

“Hey, we’re family, I’ll always help when you ask.”

Her tears flowed from his eyes.

“That was a cheap shot.”

“No, it is just the truth. It feels wrong to have you stuck here, not that it is your fault, but even Balor had a life outside of me. You should be allowed to live your own life.”

“I don’t think I can do it, not again. Here, with you, that is where I want to be. I can always give advice, try to lighten your mood, anything, outside, I’m just a copycat of some woman we don’t like.”

“Speaking of advice, do you want to help me finish up more of my assignments?”

“I want a pep talk, a damn good one too. So let’s get to work.”

A 2 days worth of classwork was done that night.