Liliana tapped her pen against her notebook as she looked out unseeingly upon the classroom. Their first day of actual classes had arrived, a day that should be filled with excitement and anxiety, but Liliana’s mind was too consumed by other thoughts to spare the energy for such emotions.
After the bombshell Polaris had dropped during orientation, Liliana had scarcely paid any attention at all to whatever the headmistress, headbeast? Had told them. Nor had she paid much attention to anyone else, happily fleeing to her dorm room as soon as they were dismissed. She knew her friends were curious, and mildly concerned, by her behavior, but she hadn’t explained. Not yet. She wanted to figure out this particular puzzle first before she presented her conclusions, and she’d admit she was nervous that if she actually spoke the words, the headmistress would know that she knew.
The high Mana concentration in the forest makes sense now, as does the presence of rare or uncommon plants and trees. Within their chosen domain, high ranked beasts can manipulate the Mana to do pretty much whatever they want. Liliana thought, as she absentmindedly started to bite at her nails.
The structure of the school makes sense as well. Though, has the headmaster or mistress always been a beast? Perhaps handed down through a lineage? But the base premise of the Academy being a survival of the fittest is aligned with how beasts think. Is that why I picked it out so quickly, discounting my god given knowledge? Because of my bonds? Liliana had several notebooks spread before her, one she was writing in her questions and thoughts in ‘code’, or English. A language she still remembered but was unknown in this world. She was confident that even if the headmistress was aware of everything happening in her domain, she wouldn’t be able to understand what Liliana was writing.
Liliana was also writing down her theories of what type of creature the headmistress was. Her current favorite theory was a phoenix of some type, as there were several. A dragon was also a possibility, specifically one fire aligned. A thunderbird wasn’t out of the question, as they had fire and light affinities so could use fire magic as she’d been shown.
She could be nothing commonly related to the fire affinity though. Her show could’ve been a distraction tactic. For all I know, she could be a kraken! Liliana frowned but added the beast to her growing list of possibilities.
She’d visited the library after an in-depth discussion with Polaris to make sure the Kitsune was certain the headmistress was a beast. Librarian Hakim had been helpful in supplying her with books on any known fire attributed beasts that were available for her year. Thankfully, her interest in beasts was already pre-established, so he had little reason to suspect her, if he was even aware of what his employer was. She’d let it slip she was considering branching out for her next bond and wanted to look into creatures she did not share an affinity with, though, to avoid any suspicion. Maybe it was paranoid, but to be fair to Liliana, her own stepmother had tried to kill her no less than five times, that she was aware of. Paranoia felt like a suitable trait to pick up under such circumstances.
Liliana wasn’t even sure why a beast of such power would bother teaching humans and other races, known for hunting and killing beast kind, how to be better fighters and, by consequence, hunters. It was low on her concerns. After meeting Minori, she was of the opinion that high Ranked beasts were eccentric and prone to doing things for obscure reasons that weren’t always bound by the laws of logic. It did make her curious though, as the Academy had existed almost as long as the Cista queendom, being established towards the end of the first queen’s reign.
“Good morning!” a chipper voice called out, drawing Liliana from her musings. Liliana looked up to see Anya leaning against her desk, her wolf's tail swishing behind her to match the grin she shone at the four of them.
“Morning Ms. Chadbourne,” Marianne greeted happily, Liliana echoing her.
“Hey,” Alistair greeted with a wave, Emyr nodded his head quietly from his own corner before going back to his own notes, where he was scribbling down information.
Shit, forgot to ask him yesterday about what he’d found. Should do that soon. Liliana noted as she closed her notebook upon noticing Anya’s attention on the foreign words.
Liliana noted that Anya’s partner, Edward Coppercolt, had turned slightly at the conversation but had turned back around after his eyes landed on Alistair. Liliana frowned, but neither she nor Alistair spoke up on the rudeness of the gesture, though Liliana did note Alistair’s shoulders drooping slightly.
Coppercolt had been as close to a friend as one could be considered when it came to nobles before the events of the previous year. He’d been part of Alistair’s ‘group’, as the son of a Marquess. Even if he wasn’t the heir, he was nearly as high in social ranking as the son of a duke.
If things were different, Coppercolt may have even been considered a marriage partner for me, Liliana thought as her glare bore into the boy. Not that she’d ever accept something as archaic as an arrange marriage.
She still had little motivation for a romantic relationship, though she did quietly admit in the recesses of her mind that she’d noticed some people in the Academy she could call attractive. But romance would be a distraction she couldn’t afford, not even accounting for the many hurdles and complications that came from entering into one at all.
There were the matters of her current rank to consider, and the social status of anyone she was interested in. Whether they were suitably stationed for her, or if they had a blood feud with her family or an ancestor, whether her father personally disliked or hated the patriarch or matriarch of the family and so on. She planned to cut ties with the Rosengarde family one day, but for now, she still had to dance to the tune of a noble daughter. Simpler to abstain from romance entirely until she was an adult and able to separate herself from nobility. Then she could merrily romance anyone she wished to.
“So what do you think classes will be like? Do you have your Kitsune with you today?” Anya asked Liliana, distracting her once more from her thoughts.
“Classes will either be an overview of what we’ll be doing for the year, or we’ll be jumping right into lessons. And I do. I have all my bonds with me today just in case we have any practical exercises that necessitate them,” Liliana answered Anya. Marianne whined behind her.
“Don’t say that. You’ll tempt the gods and then we really will have lessons and probably three essays assigned today,” Marianne hissed.
“Isn’t what you just said more tempting to fate?” Alistair asked, and Marianne’s face paled rapidly as her mouth opened.
“Oh no. I’ve cursed us all.” Marianne whispered in horror.
“Don’t do that. You know how easy it is to stress her out,” Liliana chided her brother.
“But it’s so easy,” Alistair said with an impish smile, though his eyes were still sad.
“Well, I don’t much care for the regular lessons, but I am hoping our Battle Training starts right off. I’m excited to try fighting against new styles. And against something smarter than a gnoll or troll.” Anya certainly did seem excited by such a prospect. Her tail was wagging behind her and her ears were perked up at the thought. Liliana raised an eyebrow and used [Identify] curious as to what class someone so battle hungry would have.
Anya Chadbourne
Age: 16
Level: 103
Rank: 6
Class: Heavy Weight Brawler
Health: 4,750
Energy: 6,950
Liliana’s eyebrows rose slightly higher as she looked at Anya’s information. She wasn’t a glass cannon, as was so popular for their year. It added credence to Liliana’s theory that the girl wasn’t a noble, as nobles seemed to disproportionately favor glass cannon builds. Her class also let Liliana know the girl was a front-line fighter, who could probably double as an off-tank, or a replacement for a tank entirely, if there was severe enough need.
“Well, hopefully you’ll get your wish, Ms. Chadbourne.” Liliana said as she canceled [Identify] with a blink.
“If we have any practical exercises, we should partner up!” Anya said before her eyes widened and the girl yelped, “Class is about to start, I’ll get to my seat!” she said before rushing to her spot in front of Emyr. Liliana watched her with amusement. It seemed Anya was full of energy even this early in the morning.
“You can’t partner with her, you’re supposed to partner with me!” Marianne hissed as she grabbed Liliana’s arm possessively. Liliana sighed but let herself be tugged closer to the princess.
“Actually, she’s most used to fighting with me and Alistair, logically she should pick one of us.” Emyr spoke up, glaring slightly at Marianne, who returned his glare.
“If you two keep it up, I’ll partner with someone random. If we even have partners and it’s not solo fights to assess where we are as far as skills go before we move on to group battles to test our teamwork, leadership skills and cohesion.” Liliana spoke up before her friends could get into a spat about who had ‘Lili rights’.
“Or if the teacher says my bonds count as partners on their own,” Liliana added thoughtfully. It was a distinct possibility as tamers had an unfair advantage of having their own partners, or even at time armies, available to us against someone who might be fighting them on their own.
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She didn’t say if she had to pick a partner, it would be Alistair. It made more sense for her to partner with a tank who could cover her rather than a squishy mage or a healer. If the two of them were smart, they’d figure it out themselves and then they’d all be fighting over who got to partner with Alistair.
“Why’d you have to bring logic into this?” Marianne grumbled playfully. Liliana just grinned at her friend, who rolled her eyes but finally released her hold on Liliana’s arm.
“Do you really think that’s how Battle Training will go?” a sweet voice asked nervously, and Liliana turned, her grin melting off her face as she looked at the newest intrusion.
Diana Baker stood there, shifting her weight as four different gazes fell on her. She tugged at her long blond curls in what Liliana thought might be a nervous tic. Liliana’s eyes assessed the girl, taking in her uniform and school issued dimensional storage ring. It was obviously the schools as it had the Academy crest on it, announcing to any and all that the girl hadn’t been able to afford her own.
“It’s the most logical scenario.” Liliana said slowly after a moment of quiet. Her voice was careful, but cool.
She struggled to keep her dislike of the girl out of her face and voice, as there was no known reason for her to hold animosity toward the commoner girl. But this close to her, Liliana couldn’t help the almost instantaneous dislike that rose up in response to her. Whether it was a result of her knowing that in some parallel universe this girl would have a hand in her death, or if it was simply because she’d never liked her character when playing the game, she wasn’t sure. She just knew she wished that the girl was far away from her. Preferably on a different continent.
“You also knew about the possibility of losing our spots? And getting expelled, too. Right?” Diana pressed, leaning closer, her sky-blue eyes wide and sparkling.
I didn’t even realize people’s eyes could actually sparkle. Is that some passive skill? [Sparkling Eyes]? Liliana thought as she leaned subtly away from the girl infringing on her personal space.
“I didn’t know. I simply suspected. It was an easy conclusion to come to if one paid attention to the way the Academy is set up and noticed the shrinking class E in each year.” Liliana finally explained when it was clear the girl wouldn’t be leaving without some answer or another.
“Well, I didn’t notice,” Diana murmured, pouting slightly. Many would find the expression cute, but Liliana just found it vexing.
“Class will begin soon, Ms. Baker. Considering your first impression yesterday it would be prudent of you to not attract notice a second time in as many days,” Liliana was able to keep her voice kind, and even managed a soft smile that felt painted on to her but apparently was convincing enough for the common girl.
“You’re right! Thank you, Li-er. Ms. Rosengarde?” Diana stumbled over the proper way to address Liliana in the Academy, but recovered and Liliana nodded her head at the girl, who grinned and skipped to her seat. Liliana sighed in relief.
Do I have a sign above my head that says ‘Hey! Come talk to me! I’m an extrovert!’ or something? Liliana wondered as irritation flared in her. She didn’t mind Anya, in fact she found the wolf girl rather charming. But Diana had soured her mood quite handily.
“So popular,” Emyr teased, accurately sensing Liliana’s annoyance.
“Keep it up and I’ll start dragging you around to meet people that are apparently drawn to me,” Liliana hissed the threat. Emyr’s eyes widened, and he turned away, occupying himself with his notes rather than risk her making good on her threat.
“At least you don’t have people stopping you every other minute to compliment you or something,” Marianne said with a sigh as she twirled her pen. Liliana raised her eyebrow as she turned to the girl, encouraging her to continue.
“Just people wanting to get close to the crown, curry favor. I’m used to it from the balls and such, but now that we’re at the Academy I imagine it’ll be more common. At least for the first semester or so.” Marianne shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Liliana saw the way the other girl’s jaw clenched.
Liliana opened her mouth to reply when the door at the bottom of the classroom opened and Professor Vereign entered in time with the bell ringing through the school. Immediately, the room went silent as conversations were cut off by the presence of the intimidating professor.
“Good. You learned.” Professor Vereign said as his eyes took int he students facing him, materials ready and quiet. “I see everyone is on time as well.” Professor Vereign noted, his eyes pausing for a moment on Diana, the girl in question shrinking in her seat, much to Liliana’s petty amusement, before moving on.
“Now we’ll begin your homeroom. This will be the time when any announcements will be made. Such as changes to your class schedule, alerts for events coming up or field trips for the class, and more often a chance for private study before the start of your classes. In the spirit of announcements, I’ll open up with one of the most important ones, barring what you learned yesterday. Some of you,” here Professor Vereign’s eyes paused on Liliana before moving on, “may have noticed something interesting about the levels of the upperclassmen.” Professor Vereign stopped here and waited as the class seemed to shift around, many of them trying to recall the levels of the older students they’d seen.
The levels were low, for a school that focused on pumping out the strongest fighters. You’d think they’d focus on power leveling students as quickly as possible. But they don’t. Why? Liliana leaned forward, her gaze locked on their Professor.
“The reason for this is simple. Except for assignments, approved or assigned dungeon excursions, and specific permission given by a professor, we do not allow students to level. Disobedience of this rule will result in 50 demerits per level gained without permission.” Professor Vereign finally revealed the answer after the class had refocused on him, and promptly threw it into chaos. Students began to talk, voices raising in disbelief and anger.
“Silence.” Professor Vereign ordered, and for a moment Liliana felt an instinctive fear fill her, so potent it froze her in place. Professor Vereign had just released a portion of his aura on them. The sound cut off abruptly as her classmates were silenced with terror as Professor Vereign waited a few frightening seconds before his aura vanished.
“Now, it seems that many of you don’t agree with this rule. I find a visual demonstration often works better than explanation. So would Mr. Zir’elon Kastrioti and Mr. Rosengarde please come down here for me?” Professor Vereign called out over his much more subdued class.
Alistair jolted and looked back at Liliana for a moment, confusion plain, before he got up and walked down. Zir’elon practically strutted down, apparently none the worse for wear after enduring a Rank 2 aura. The two boys stopped before the Professor and he tapped both boys. For a moment, a bright light surrounded both boys before it faded to be a subtle shimmer.
“I’ve shielded you both and obscured your information. Don’t both trying to use [Identify] on each other.” Professor Vereign informed them before he raised a hand and barriers made of light came up around the boys. “And now the classroom is protected. I want you two to fight. Don’t use skills or spells, weapons only. Use whatever you have. First hit wins.” Professor Vereign stepped back, leaning against the wall of the classroom. Zir’elon and Alistair looked at the professor for a moment before looking at each other.
“Well, alright then.” Alistair murmured before he summoned a shield and a sword. Zir’elon summoned a one handed sword that Liliana didn’t recognize and couldn’t [Identify] thanks to whatever block Professor Vereign had placed on them.
“Start.” Professor Vereign declared as soon as both boys had their weapons.
Alistair watched his opponent from behind his shield, and Liliana leaned forward in interest as Zir’elon watched him back for a long moment. Then suddenly the prince moved, his Speed making him a blur. There was a clash of metal against metal as the prince’s sword hit Alistair’s shield. Zir’elon jumped back to avoid the retaliatory swing of Alistair’s sword.
So it passed for the next few minutes. Zir’elon would engage and Alistair would block or deflect. No matter how Zir’elon tried to get around his defense, Alistair was ready. Rather than just defending, Alistair used every attack Zir’elon initiated to retaliate when the prince’s sword was caught on his shield. More than one time it was only thanks to the prince’s Speed that he avoided losing, but as the fight went on, it was obvious the Prince couldn’t get past the tank’s defenses, and if the fight progressed for too long, he’d lose by virtue of exhaustion. His Endurance couldn’t match Alistair’s.
And Alistair is used to sparring with me, and my Speed rivals or exceeds Zir’elon’s. This is nothing new for him. Liliana thought, a bit smugly, as she watched the prince ineffectively bash his sword against Alistair’s shield again and again. Finally, the prince made a mistake, which Alistair had been waiting for. In a deft move Alistair bashed the prince’s sword aside, forcing the other boy to leave himself open long enough for Alistair’s sword to slash across his chest in a move that would have killed him, had the shield Professor Vereign put on him not flared and deflected the hit.
Zir’elon stumbled back, face a mask of shock as he looked at Alistair, who had lowered his weapons and dismissed them as soon as the win was his. Liliana watched the prince’s face, the way shock transformed to anger for a brief second before his mask was back in place and he straightened, dismissing his weapon.
“Very good,” Professor Vereign clapped his hands slowly, which spurred the class to follow. The professor dismissed the shield on the room and the boys with a wave of his hand.
“Please wait here. Your information is still hidden.” Professor Vereign told the boys before turning to the class.
“Now I want someone to tell me who they think is the higher leveled of the two,” Vereign requested.
Liliana’s eyes narrowed. This smelled like a trick to her. What would the point of this entire show have been if not to prove that levels weren’t everything? It was obviously based on the smug look in the professor’s eyes and the entire theme of his announcement that Alistair was the lower level. Liliana bit her tongue though and let another student attract their professor’s attention.
“Ms. Allencourt,” Professor Vereign called out.
“Rosengarde is the higher level, right? How else would he have won?” Lucienne Allencourt asked, though as Professor Vereign’s eyebrow rose, her voice became more unsure.
“Is that so?” Professor Vereign asked, subtle amusement lacing his tone. He waved his hands at the two boys still standing a bit awkwardly in the front of the classroom.
“I want everyone to [Identify] these two.” Professor Vereign ordered the class.
Liliana bypassed her brother. She knew he was level 112, he was lower leveled than her finally, as her boon gave her an unfair advantage. What surprised her was Zir’elon. He was level 123. Almost at the max level for Rank 6. By all rights, the prince should’ve won the fight. Liliana hook her head lightly. She’d suspected right then. Clever of the professor to make such a blatant show.
“Go to your seats,” Professor Vereign told the boys, who shook hands before returning to their seats. Professor Vereign waited until they had sat back down before addressing the class.
“As you all saw, Mr. Kastrioti is the higher level. Yet he lost the fight. Can anyone tell me why?” Professor Vereign asked the class. Several hands went up, and he nodded at one.
“Difference in class, sir? Mr. Rosengarde is a tank and had more Endurance.” Elspeth Mildenhall ventured.
“A reasonable assumption, but that’s not the reason. While Mr. Kastrioti did have lower Endurance, it wasn’t low enough that he was exhausted yet.” Professor Vereign nodded at another student.
“Weapon mastery difference, sir.” A voice called out and Liliana jolted slightly in surprise, not expecting Koth’talan to speak up.
“Very good Mr. Kastrioti. You are right. The difference is skill level, specifically in weapon mastery. I chose the highest leveled student in the class and put him against a student with a higher level in his chosen weapons. I want you all to note that despite a difference in levels and stats, Mr. Rosengarde won because he had a higher level in a skill.” Professor Vereign had taken to slightly pacing in the front of the room as he addressed the class.
“This is why we restrict your leveling, because we’ve found it to be frightfully common for students to come here with high physical levels but low skill, general skill, and spell levels. No matter how high your level is, it means nothing if you have weak skills. I’ve seen many students severely injured because they think high levels mean strength, only to be beaten by someone or something with a lower level but better mastery in their skills.” Professor Vereign continued. His demonstration had done what it needed to, while some students still looked disbelieving most of the class was nodding along.
“Any questions?” Professor Vereign asked, and this time there were no hands in the air. He nodded and smiled.
“Good, now you have fifteen minutes before World History. Take the time to study up or quietly converse amongst yourselves.” Professor Vereign ordered before he took a seat behind his desk and summoned papers to work on.