Awards.

Arras wasn't sure what they were for, given the absolute lack of things he felt worthy of a reward. At least they weren't anything actually important, just little trinkets. Medals of metal. There were also heaps of praise laid on as thick as you could possibly imagine, but he just tuned a lot of it out. It didn't help much at all with his current apathy. He just... He wanted to go home, to be done with this whole farce. Praised as some sort of hero, and, for what really? For contributing to the deaths of hundreds? He certainly didn't feel like a hero.

It also didn't help that this entire ceremony was held INSIDE of the city that he had assisted in razing. So, while having only had an outsiders view of it before now, he was currently getting the full course view of it. Fortunately enough, it had looked a lot worse on the outside than it was on the inside. The dead bodies, bloody sand, and broken structures didn't continue much further inside. The streets were relatively clean, only, you know one or two bodies in plain sight... And, terrified beastkin, and, some other race, looking on from the streets.

...That also really didn't help.

Unfortunately enough, the noble who had not returned was in fact dead. Just another life to the pile, he supposed. Out of anybody, they were probably the only one who deserved any kind of honoring, and not because they'd done a great service, but because they'd sacrificed their life for who they were loyal to. And even then, Arras couldn't even really be sure if it was out of loyalty, or if they were just obligated to do it. So, yeah, a shitty time was had by all. And by all, that meant Arras, Arras, and Arras.

He was literally being put on a pedestal, for deeds that he currently found to be absolutely despicable, and praised to high heaven. So... That was very upsetting. Illia wasn't even with him at the moment because that was "proper". It was "proper" for him to receive all this admiration, all on his own, plus two other nobles who were recognized for having done an extreme amount of work. Despite, Illia LITERALLY being there, and helping out immensely. But no, it was still PROPER, for her to be melting under the sun away from Arras while he was forced to SIT and TAKE the attention and PRAISE of thousands of people, WITHOUT any ASSISTANCE FROM-

He needed to breathe. He REALLY needed to breathe. Arras didn't get angry easily, but his apathy was very quickly starting to transition to a frothing pit of rage. He, HATED this. He didn't want to be up here being praised by people he didn't care about for an awful deed he had committed, he didn't want their attention PERIOD. Especially not with his nerves on full blast like they currently were. It took all he had to not get off stage, say "fuck it!" and quit on the spot. Take Illia, and leave for the desert. Even if that might screw him over in dozens of different ways, he was finding it very, VERY difficult to care.

Up on a chair, sweating in discomfort, bottling up an endless ocean of rage, staring down at thousands of people cheering for him. Arras had never been so miserable in his life. Sure, he'd been angrier, but this was by far the most prolonged suffering he'd ever felt. Ribs, be, DAMNED. Would killing this human in front of him be worth it right now? Would shutting up their incessant yapping for good be helpful? Surely that one would have more of a purpose than the slaughter that had taken place outside of the walls. For instance, Arras would go from wanting to ruin his life, to feeling very relieved! That was a better outcome than hundreds of people dying for no reason! Would it be that good of a reason? No. STILL A BETTER ONE THAN WHAT HAD-

Breathe. Breathe in, breathe out.

He sat very still, because he wasn't sure if he'd cast a spell on reflex if he moved his hands. Though, he really couldn't help his eye twitching. That was just completely out of his control.

...

Illia was very quiet, and for good reason. She, didn't think she would set Arras off by saying anything, but it was probably better to be safe rather than sorry. They were at least making their way back home now, so, progress...?

Well, regardless of that, it didn't seem to appease him much. Every step he took was a knot of tension, his boot hit the sand and it went everywhere. One of his tails flicked around and the wind picked up. Though, it reached a wider crowd that way, and ironically, just got Arras more admiring looks. Luckily for him though, he was far too absorbed in his own efforts of not exploding something to notice. At least, she thought so. Illia had underestimated just how much praise was going to be heaped onto him. She'd advised for him to just take it, even if he didn't want it... But... That had been more than she was expecting. She... Felt kind of awful about it, but despite all the near blinding rage she currently felt from Arras, none of it was actually directed at her.

So, his anger. besides not actually being angry at her in any capacity, was pretty understandable, even if it made her nervous. She... Really couldn't even imagine how that had felt. Arras had been upset, seriously upset, even if he hadn't quite realized it. He was feeling a lot after the events of the previous night. And now... Well, it just... She didn't even have the words. That was genuinely awful. There wasn't much of a way that she could describe it besides, wrong place, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG, time.

He at least had something to look forward to... But...

"Illia?"

...That was way too calm, especially with how he was feeling right now.

"...Y-yes?"

"I think I'm starting to freak out."

Then again... That was sort of what happened when he got nervous... Efficient when nervous, calm when angry... It kind of made sense. He just came full circle on this stuff.

"...What?"

"I'm trying very hard right now, but it's difficult. I can feel their stares, even with your help."

It was a lot, she couldn't help manage all of it. That's what scared her. She had no idea how he managed to hold that all in until he was allowed off stage. That was a genuinely staggering display of willpower. If Illia herself had ever felt that angry, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold that in... She, HADN'T been able to hold in anger like that. And she'd never felt anything this intense herself.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know how to help..."

"How much longer?" The wind kicked up again, and almost blew Illia off of Arras's shoulder. "Sorry."

"What do you mean how much longer?"

"How. Much. Longer. Until we stop to take a break?"

"...Probably another few hours."

"Nope."

"What... 'Nope'?"

"Nope!"

Arras took a one eighty and turned around.

"Wh-what are you doing!?"

"Illusion magic. Looks like I'm still walking there." He explained evenly as he expertly weaved through the crowd. His anger continued to mount, and Illia started to get a little worried. He was just angry, he had no plans, besides one underlying thought. That he wanted to work it out.

"No-what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to do something."

"A-Arras!"

Magic started to course through Arras's body, not quite enough to bring his aura to the front, but more than enough to make weaving her magic difficult. His anger began to multiply, he was angry at how angry he was...

"Wait-please, whatever you're thinking of doing-"

"I'm not thinking of anything."

"Arras!"

He finally made it clear of the rest of the army. And with a shuddering breath, he raised a clenched fist. With thrashing tails, a huge amount of magic began to concentrate itself directly in the center of his hand.

"I'm going to work it out."

"Wait-"

He raised his arm all the way up, a thousand trembles, a thousand little words. He threw it forward. In a singular moment, a thousand screams rung out, and then all was quiet.

Scorched earth.

"...I'm done."

He turned back around as Illia, and literally everybody else present, stared in momentary shock at the huge, flaming crater. Flames roaring on the glassy, and now literally glassy sand. A massive pit formed through the detonation of one, singular spell. The intense traces of magic completely obscuring Arras's subtle illusion spell.

That... Wasn't quite as bad as Illia had been expecting. Well, mass panic was a fairly big downside, but hey, better than mass destruction!

...

Arras felt a lot better after his... Small outburst. Which was weird, he'd never felt the need to exercise something out like that before. But, throwing his literal everything into just one explosion, his anger, his regret, his sadness... (his magic) It felt good. He'd honestly surprised himself a little bit with just how big it had been, but he'd been less surprised with the reaction of the army. There was a lot of inspection, delays and what not, but after they finished up with that, they got to moving even faster! That was good with Arras, he wanted to be done. So, he got to work out his destructive anger, and he sped up the process of going home! Win win, right?

Right. He couldn't help but notice Illia's hesitation to speak around him, but it should and would be fine. They had that whole topic that kept getting delayed to tell him about!

...To be honest, he was still pretty angry. But it was at least manageable now. He was just doing whatever he could to try and manage it, and being overly enthusiastic was somewhat helpful. Anyways, he was at least feeling calm enough to give what he had been talked to about some serious thought. To teach others... Did he think he was capable of it? Yeah, probably. If he was teaching them about magic, as long as they were trying to learn what he was good at. His expertise was... Well, probably second to some, but second to none!

But, did he want to teach anybody? Did he even want to continue living in this "society" after what he'd just had to deal with? Arras wasn't sure if books and good food outweighed the downsides of... The past twenty four hours. He wouldn't exactly be breaking his contract to be loyal to Arbre by not living amongst them. At least, he thought so. He'd ask Illia about it.

Well... He had plenty of time to think about it, he supposed. He... Admittedly, REALLY didn't want to talk to anybody besides Illia right now, but he'd have more time to mellow out over the walk back. As long as nothing as insane as, say, the events of this morning, repeated themselves, he should be fine!

Should. He should be fine.

So, provided he continued to be fine, he really did need to seriously think about this.

"Illia?"

"...Yeah?"

"What do you think about me being a 'teacher'?"

"Oh... Well... It's certainly not a bad job to have. You've got a whole lot of perks to it, but I can also see how you might find it a little bit... Frustrating."

"How so?"

"Arras, you're good at magic. Good is an understatement, I've never heard or read about literally anybody or anything ever getting as good at magic as fast as you have. So, you're REALLY, good at magic."

"...And?"

"If you need to teach people magic, are you going to hold them to your standards?"

"...Yes? Of course I would. If I can do it, why can't somebody else?"

"Yeeeeah... And there's the problem. Arras. Here's the thing, right? I know you're young, hell I'm young, and I myself am pretty good at magic. So the few times you did help me pick some stuff up? It was at least, SORT OF feasible. But... Not everybody is as good at magic as you. Or, you know, literally anywhere close to as good as you."

"...Then I just won't teach everybody? Only the people who are, you know, good at magic?"

"Yeah... You see... No?"

"Why not?"

"Okay, well first off, your standards of being good, are already those way, WAY, above the average. Secondly, if you're teaching at the academy, you don't have a choice of who you're teaching, people either sign up for your class, or are required to take it. You can't just pick and choose who to actually teach. Third, even if you COULD do that, such blatant discrimination in a institution managed by nobility could and WOULD be noticed, even if you didn't mean to pick favorites."

"...So, you're saying I shouldn't do this."

"No-that's not... No, that's not what I'm saying. For all the parts that you'll need to learn to deal with, I can honestly see you being REALLY good at this. You were... Harsh, on me, whenever we practiced together. But that was because you cared about the results, you wanted to see me do well. You didn't settle for less. And so, that, I believe, would make an excellent quality in you if you were a teacher. You're persistent, you don't give up on learning something until... I don't know! You haven't given up on anything before! At least, not that I know of... Oh, well, I guess there's some magics you haven't really developed, but that doesn't count does it? You were just focusing on other parts of your skill set."

"...I suppose. I did just redirect my efforts though, I never made much of an attempt at learning some of the magics I know any further."

"Well, alright. But, the fact stands, that you'd need to also change the way you look at things if you were to accept this offer. There's also some politicking and what not that would need to be done with Pennsworth, but I can take care of that. So, I guess this is the question here Arras, how willing are you to try something else? Something, very, very different. You'd need to change the way you view training pretty much, because almost nobody else is going to be able to hold themselves to the same standards as you. Do you understand that?"

"...I suppose, but, why? Why can others not do what I can do? All the other nobles had at least, some degree of control over their magic if these rankings are supposed to be accurate."

"...Why do you think that those nobles have those positions?"

"I... I guess I don't really know. Eric did say something about, succession and what not, but I can't say I was paying all my mind to that conversation, I, you know, sort of, specifically tuned some of it out after a certain point? I kind of just, responded when my name was called."

"...Huh. Well, sometimes a noble will just directly inherit their estate, but most of the time they need to have proved themselves in some way shape or form. And, well, I'm sure you can piece that one together. How do you think it is that a noble proves themselves?"

"...Magically?"

"Yeah, sort of. But, generally, it's more about what they've proven themselves capable of doing. Like, you don't wanna leave your entire legacy in the hands of somebody incapable, do you? It's generally their own family that gets put in charge of the estate, but if their kids really sucked that bad somebody else might have the chance to take over. It's a whole thing in and of itself, but basically. A noble proves their ability to manage the estate through their abilities. Whether those abilities mean that they can manage the territory well, or if they can, say, fight on a war front?"

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"...Huh."

"Well, in that context, it's kind of baffling how you were sent to this whole... You know... Actually, thinking about it, it's kind of ridiculous that you were drafted for this war. It's not like you're in the position of successor for anything, you really didn't stand to gain much from being here. Nobles being drafted for anything is sort of rare in general. They're usually left to their own devices, given what they need to manage and everything... Maybe something happened? Or, something like that..."

"...Huh."

He didn't want to be rude to Illia or anything like that, but she really was talking about a whole lot of stuff that he just didn't... Quite care about? Well, it did take his mind off of the still permeating anger he felt, but that was about the most he could appreciate the explanation for.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm losing you. I'll stop rambling. But, yeah. Nobles prove themselves to inherit their titles and land from their forefathers. And, a lot of the time, that does have to do with what they can do with magic, at least, in some form. So, yeah you were pretty much right. Sorry about that."

"...So, once again, why exactly does that mean that those nobles are better with... Oh. So, you're saying that in order to be a noble, they were out here to prove themselves and their skills, or that they had already been proven to be skilled enough and this is just something they've done before?"

"...Yeah! That's an adequate way of putting it."

"...So, if this is an 'academy' for nobles, shouldn't those nobles be better at magic than the average person? So, you know, they should be able to hold to my standards?"

"...Well, maybe." Illia mumbled.

"So then what's the problem?"

"I guess it just depends on what class you'll end up teaching. Arras, like I said, you're probably the best mage in the entire world... At, your age. There are people better than you, by a lot. I mean, you'll probably bridge that gap as you get older if you keep progressing at the rate you've been at, but as of the moment there's still a whole lot of mages better at this than you are. And well, in order to teach more skilled magic users, they'd obviously want to hire more skilled individuals. Your wide range of magic, would probably land you a job teaching newer students..."

"So? I still don't see the problem? Nobles are supposed to be better at magic than a normal person, aren't they? Why should their age be a factor in that? If they've got potential like I do, it shouldn't be a problem."

"...Yeah, and how do you think they figure out that they have potential?"

"Well, they'd use magic and learn it for the first time, and depending on how easy it is, they'd be able to figure it out from there."

"So, where do you think that these nobles start learning magic for real?"

"...On their own time?"

"No."

"...At this academy?"

"Ding ding ding! And if you're teaching new students, what do you think that means?"

"Ah Nine Tails damn it."

...

There were reasons to go, and reasons to stay. Well, leaving for his old home, The Grand Forest after his other contract ended was also technically an option... But Arras wasn't sure if he wanted to burn those bridges entirely. For one, if he was one of these "teachers" he apparently shouldn't have to participate in any more absurdities like war... Supposedly. But well, if Illia was to be believed, which, Arras certainly did believe what she told him, it would be difficult for him to adjust. He would need to curb his enthusiasm.

But, self admittedly as well, Illia didn't have the best idea of how this all worked. The best choice would probably be to talk to the man himself about it. Arras... Wasn't actually sure where Eric had disappeared to, their group of seven had split up after all was said and done. He was... Somewhere around the camp that they'd set up for the night, but they were no longer in the same tent. Arras actually had his own tent now, because he was important... He didn't mind having his own tent, but he certainly didn't want to be "important" if being important meant you were an idiot. Also, there had been talks of Illia not staying in the same space as him, but Arras drew the line at that one.

Absolutely not. He was sick and tired of Illia being treated as if she wasn't even a person. She was just as important as Arras himself.

His magic pulsed tremulously once again. But he just barely managed to choke the flow of it before his aura began to flare.

"Sorry. Not angry with you."

"I know..." Illia mumbled as she made attempts to re-focus her displaced magic.

"Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"Well, there's generally some segregation between those of higher rank, both in the military and in nobility. Your tent should be at the center of the nobles section, which makes sense, given the lower density of people around here... So, he's probably somewhere nearby."

Arras nodded haphazardly as he continued to glance around. Maybe he'd get lucky and would just be able to spot Eric out of the... Well, not quite Eric, but probably somebody who could lead him to them.

"Excuse me."

He extended the link to Amakazi, what a coincidence that he'd just so happened to run into her.

"If it isn't Sir Veile."

"...Why are you still calling me that?"

He really didn't want to be called anything that he had been dubbed by this particular group of people. He didn't much care to learn the nuance of it, nor did he want to hear any of the reasoning. Right now? Arras just wanted to be called his name, he wanted to be referred to as himself. Not as whatever everybody else here thought he was right now. He wasn't what they all praised, he was his own person independent of their stupidity.

"Habit, I suppose. Very well lord-"

She paused at the torrent of... Not quite fury, but most certainly a form of displeasure. That came from Arras the moment that word passed through her proverbial lips.

"Dear me, only a joke. My apologies Arras. Now, what might you be after?"

"...I was hoping you might be able to tell me where Eric was."

"Ah, I see, well, I don't know, it might be a little difficult."

"Please be serious."

"Fine, fine, you're almost as boring as he is." She was, very confusing, because that was almost certainly an insult, yet it was also delivered quite playfully? That's what he wanted to call it anyways. It felt a little more complicated than just being something "playful". Arras was running into a lot of stuff like that in recent memory. "Come along, I'll take you to him."

"Thank you."

She turned around.

"We're here!"

"...Pardon?"

"Inside, he's inside the tent."

"...You couldn't have just, oh, I don't know, said that?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Why not???"

"Be-"

"Because you're extra and you like to waste time." Illia interrupted her with a rather dry remark.

"Well, that's certainly one way to put it. A rather hurtful one, at that."

"Oh shut up."

"Wh-oh the indignity! Are you just going to let your familiar speak to me in this way!?"

That was, very clearly, feigned offense, but something, something, and well, Arras had taken a lot of shit today. And he just was not a fan of the term "familiar" at this point. Really, what was a familiar? Did they just have no free will? Cause that's what it was starting to sound like to him. They got no credit for anything they did, they weren't even treated as their own people, they were never even acknowledged! Three familiars in their group of seven, yet it was still counted as group of seven instead of ten. So, by all accounts, they LITERALLY didn't count as people. And Arras, as somebody who was starting to very much value his own agency, wasn't very fond of the concept of having somebody be bound to his whims.

He didn't even think any particularly nasty words in particular, nor did he wish anything that terrible upon Amakazi, but the resulting wave of rather genuine emotion was enough to throw her off. Her ever shit eating grin fumbled into a blank stare for a few moments, eventually transitioning into a much more reserved smile. There was, a lot to process in that cocktail of feelings. Disdain, anger, sadness, a touch of misery, indignation, but none of those things hit quite as hard as a hint of a feeling Amakazi herself, understood quite well.

"Ah... My bad. I'll stop wasting your time and get out of your way. I have an errand to run anyways. Like I said, Eri, right in there, go get em."

"...Thank you?"

"No need."

And... She was off. What a confusing person. Really didn't fit the bill of Lassalin that Arras had learned about, according to his parents, they were cruel to a fault... Actually, that kind of was how they'd acted wasn't it? They were... Sort of a jerk. For lack of a better word, she was just... Just mean, really. Not much else to it.

Well, no point in further delay!

"...Arras, you're fine, right?"

"Doing okay."

"You sure...? You uh, seem pretty upset."

"Illia, I'm fine... Actually, no, you're right. What in the world? One second."

He breathed in as deeply as he could, and stomped. The earth rumbled, and he breathed out.

"Much better."

"Uh... What did you do?"

"Just shook the sand around a little bit. Nothing dangerous."

"...How much?"

"Hm, not quite sure. A lot?"

There were a few shouts of alarm around the camp. Illia couldn't help but cringe a little bit...

Well, better than causing any actual harm besides panic.

...Probably.

...

Another deep breath, and a little more soul searching, then Arras knew he was good to step inside. He didn't feel any, murderous rage, or anything like that, so he was pretty confident in his ability to be a stable person!

...He was... Honestly a little afraid of himself at the moment. What had happened to his usual composure? Anything that he'd normally gloss over, felt almost earth shattering to him at the moment. He didn't like this outburst of emotion, he wanted it to stop, but it wouldn't. He just... Needed a solid break to work this all out. but things just kept on coming, and coming... It was difficult, very difficult. He was hoping to have the rest of the day to himself and Illia after this conversation.

He pushed his way through and inside, to the confusion of a few nobles. No, he didn't personally know any of them except for Eric, it was just really easy to tell when somebody was a noble. They dressed the part. But by now, he recognized Eric through a crowd. And without any additional obscuration like say, a crowd, Arras immediately sent a link his way.

"Is now a good time?"

"Ah, Arras. Have you come to speak about my offer?"

"Yes."

"...Good to hear. Very well then, let us discuss."

"I'm not exactly opposed, but, Illia tells me that the job might have a few... Frustrating aspects to it?"

"...Well, of course it would. Doesn't that hold true for any work? If you have the patience to learn the amount of magic you have, I assume you'd have the patience to teach it as well. You're rather well fit to take on this role, don't you think?"

"Well, Illia says that I'd likely need to lower my standards."

"What? Why?"

"...Something about being too good at magic?"

Illia butted in "Hey, Arras?"

"Yes?"

"...Mind if I take over for a moment?"

"Sure?"

"Okay, great! Let's just stop beating around this bush, Eric? Arras is four months old."

"Wh-repeat that?"

"Arras, four months old. Me, barely over four and a half."

"...You're joking, right?"

"No, she's not." Arras added on.

"Well, this isn't generally something I'd tell any random person, but no, I'm completely serious. The reason Arras would need to "lower his standards" is because he's this good, in a grand total of four months. Not of practice, of living."

"That can't be right, are you sure you didn't... No, I apologize. You're completely serious. That is... Certainly surprising information."

"I know, and it's so weird acting like that's the norm... But I just... I don't know how to explain it to him!"

"...Explain what?"

"That you're just... Better? Like, so much better at magic. I always wanted to bring it up to you, but you just, well... You didn't do anything, and I just never thought of a good time to talk to you about it."

"...Huh."

"Well... That's a development, for certain, but if I'm being honest, it still shouldn't be all that much of a problem. Sure, we will need to do some basic testing to see if you are... Eligible for the position, if you are so young, but provided you can "lower your standards" it should be fine. If you were to be teaching a class, it likely would be second terms if you were in an entry level position."

"...So, not completely new students?" Arras asked with a hint of enthusiasm and hope.

"No, of course not. It takes a very specific set of skills to mold a brand new mind."

Illia flexed their wings in a motion rather reminiscent of a shrug.

"...Then, yes. I'm very much willing to give this a try."

"Wonderful. Then, pay attention would you?"

----------------------------------------

Dictionary

Academy

A very common institution primarily upheld by noble castes. It was popularized in historical times, and due to its convenience and simplicity, it was adopted by the wider world. Effectively, it is a staple of education across the world of Araia.

There have been various different forms of education to propagate across the world, but the most common combination generally tends to be political, history, economics, magic, and combat classes. This usually stays as a constant, regardless of the Kingdom. All of them are important, but if there is a specific niche that must be filled, classes to accommodate tend to be created.

While it is rarer, non-nobles also participate in such places of learning, usually only those of higher status though. If they even bother with the education, the usual course merely consists of magic and combat classes, instead of all five. The latter three simply being unnecessary for whatever line of work they end up pursuing.