They were indeed late.

Class had already been going for a good ten minutes by the time they had showed up at the door of the room.  The thick wood and iron door was slightly ajar, and Lira paused outside of it, listening to the current lecture that was going on inside.

It was about shielding wards, a subject that she knew a lot about, so if he asked her a few questions due to being late she would know the answers, and he would, it was what he always did, whenever a student was late he liked to grill them asking them on the subject he was currently teaching just to show them that they needed to be there for his lectures.

She had a moment of crisis, perhaps she could just go back for this class.  Showing up late was rude right? It interrupted the teacher, and the student’s learning. She could go back with Leon and…

No, she shook her head, she couldn't , not right now anyway it had taken her almost an hour to wash the smell off of her body.

His smell.

She actually liked the way it was, the smell was invigorating, but it was not something she could go into public smelling like or into the classroom.

She would also need to get new sheets…

That was a worry for another time however, taking a deep breath she conjured up all of her courage and opened the door.  The door made the loudest creek she had ever heard in her life, and would not stop for what seemed like an eternity.  She cringed inside as every set of eyes looked over at her, and professor stopped his lecture to look over at the two of them.

Several sets of knowing eyes and smirks flashed her way, and she blushed deeply.  All of those staires were her neighbors, they had undoubtedly heard the noises coming from her room this morning, it would not be too long before it spread through all the school, and possibly further.

She knew she shouldn't feel ashamed, she had found a man that loved her, and would never leave her and truly understood her? What could cause a woman to be more proud?  But she still had that lingering feeling in the back of her mind, that fear of being ostracized more than she was already.

“Ah, Miss Vas Lirtus, how kind of you to join us.”  Mr Tirmlo said. He pointed over to her assigned seat, it was in the far back of the room to the right side, as such it was elevated above others as each successive row of seats was set on a slightly higher platform to allow them to have a full view of the professor and his or her teachings. “Please, take a seat.”  as she started to walk back there, head down, face burning with shame however he spoke up again. “Miss Vas Lirtus?”  he asked, Lira turned around and looked at him, half way sitting in her seat. “I do hope that your, erm, extra curricular activities do not get in the way of attending class on time again.” he said, a slight smile on his face, as he glanced over at Leon.

Lira’s blush deepened and she thought she might die right there and now from the embarrassment of that moment.  To make matters worse, several people started laughing at that comment the professor had thrown out, showing that it was not only her neighbors that knew but also several other people and even her professor.

She was going to die.

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“Ah, now, Miss Vas Lirtus, since you have deemed my class as less essential that exploring, erm,  other subjects could you please tell me the properties of a Bingeir shield and the history of who developed it? ”

She knew this, she had it memorized, but she was having an awful time remembering it right now with her feelings and thoughts all in a jumble.

And as she tried to think about it the more she found she couldn't remember, and and.

Then there was a warm hand on her shoulder.

Looking over Leon had placed his hand there and had given her a simple nodd.

He believed in her, and it was at this moment she truly realised something, that his trust, his belief, that was the only thing that truly mattered.  She calmed down, that was right, why did she care about what they all thought? She had Leon, she didn't need anyone else’s approval.

“Miss Vas Lirtus? Do I need to repeat the question for you?”  he asked, a cocky smile on his lips.

“No professor, I appologize, my mind was on other matters.”  she said clearly, she held her head up straight, her cheeks were still slightly flushed, but the fear and embarrassment was gone from her eyes.  “The Bingeir shield is a third rank C level shield that was created by Sir Michael Bingeir in the year 1451 of the lord emperor Gladius, second era.”  she paused and took a deep breath.  “It was an attempt to create a better version of the Ashir shield, however it failed and is roughly a third of the blocking power and potential of said shield.”

Professor Termlo’s smile slowly started fading off of his lips.

“The relatively low mana cost of the shield and the ease and quickness of the spell however meant it was not a total failure.  In fact it is one of the most successful creations in all of magi history, as it allowed Emperor Gladius to have all of his army shielded, including his peasant knights as one fully trained mage would be capable of casting over 35 of these shields at once.”

The professor’s face had started to grow dark.

“As such Emperor Gladius was able to sweep through almost any fight with minimal casualties, as no one thought that peasants, who were incapable of magic would be covered with a magic shield.” she paused to collect her thoughts.  “The creator of the spell Sir Michael Bingeir was awarded the title of right had of the emperor due to the creation of this shield, and would later marry into the empire’s royal blood line, becoming the twelfth in line for the throne.”

She stopped and looked at the now brooding professor, “Would you like me to go over the modern applications for the sheild professor?”

“No, that is good enough.”  he growled holding up his hand, he was no longer in such a good mood.  He was about to start his lecture again when the door creaked open.  “What is it now?”  he snapped turning towards the door with a snarl.  His attitude quickly changed however when he saw who was standing there.  “Headmistress, my apologies.”  he stammered, leaning low for a deep bow. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

The headmistress was a tall woman, looking to be in her forties, she had blonde hair pulled back into a bun that was held together by a single silver clip.  Even in her forties she was a good looking woman, with tight skin, and high cheekbones, but the most attractive feature about her was those eyes.

They were the clearest blue anyone had ever seen, like looking into the endless sky.

She waved the groveling professor Termlo off, and reached around the corner, pulling into view a girl. “I have brought to your class a transfer student, she comes from the Wolfthir academy, and has decided that she will receive a better education at our Grulik School of Magic, I do hope you can prove her correct professor.”  she said curtly before turning and walking away.

Professor Termlo was sweating bullets, but he picked himself back up and beckoned for the girl to enter, she was followed in by a massive wolf that barely was able to fit through the door by crawling on its belly. “Come introduce yourself.”

The girl looked over the class, her eyes pausing for an extra second on Lira and Leon, a small smile briefly passed over her face as she saw them, she bowed to the class before standing up and announcing: “I am Krya Millsra, of clan Gremor, I am pleased to be your fellow student.”  she did a small curtsey. She looked over at the professor. “May I choose where I sit?”  she asked, Mr Termlo nodded.

Practically every guy in the room cleared a place for her to sit next to them, but they all stopped moving when the heard a scraping noise, looking back they all watched as leon pulled a table closer to his and Lira’s and cleared a large spot.

“Here fluffy,”  he whistled, the wolf practically jumped for joy and ran right over to Leon, before rolling over and allowing the man to rub his belly.  Krya smiled and walked over, sitting in the spot Leon had just made for her.

“Lira, Leon.”  she nodded to them with a small smile, greeting them both.  She looked back at the shocked look of the other students and the professor. “This spot will be sufficient.” she said, “Now please continue your lecture.”

Mr. Termlo looked at those four in the back of his class room and sighed, today just wasn't his day.