image [https://i.imgur.com/9RHiasY.png]

The next day came just as quickly as the previous ended. Carmen headed out of her dorm in the afternoon to get acquainted with the campus and her new surroundings. As she walked around Laveda University, Carmen admired the scale of the buildings and the picturesque mountain landscape towering in all directions.

Once she reached the southern entrance, Carmen saw a couple of food stalls set up. As she approached them, the air filled with the aroma of grilled chickatrice and vegetables. Carmen’s eyes lit up and her mouth watered at the fragrance, feeling eager to devour whatever dishes they had to offer.

Carmen quickly made her way over and ordered a chickatrice kabob with wild rice. The chef handed her the food, causing excitement to race across her face as she admired the steaming plate of deliciousness. Carmen stepped away from the stall and immediately headed towards a nearby courtyard, quickening her pace the closer she got.

She eventually found a bench, but upon closer inspection, Carmen noticed a girl laid out on the seat. The girl seemed rather famished and overall lifeless, prompting Carmen to quickly feel concerned. She approached with food in hand, draping her shadow over the girl.

Carmen got a closer look at the girl’s long blonde ponytail, fairly toned build, tanned skin, and her wrinkled untucked shirt. The green colored tie around her neck revealed that she was a first year student as well.

“Umm, hey! Are you okay?” Carmen asked with great worry.

No response came. Carmen looked around, hoping someone could help her in this tense situation. However, as soon as she glanced over her shoulder, a loud and deep grumble could be heard coming from the girl’s stomach.

Carmen quickly turned around and looked down, feeling confused as to what that weird sound was. Then, in an absolute instant, the delicious food in her hands was snatched away. The girl, now fully alert and awake, munched down on the food with impressive speed.

Carmen was in disbelief as this blonde, green eyed, and unkempt thief savagely consumed her tasty meal. It only took a few seconds for her to finish and once done, the girl stood up while grinning from ear to ear.

“Thanks for the food! Thought I would die from hunger!” She said with a hearty laugh, patting Carmen on the shoulder roughly. She then started to walk away humming a jolly tune, her step having a delightful pep to it.

‘Did she seriously just take my food, eat it, and thank me? Like some kind of charity?’

Carmen couldn’t believe that this had just happened. She swiftly summoned forth Graviton’s Eclipse, firing a purple energy bolt in front of the thief’s feet.

“Hey! Who do you think you are, stealing my food like that!?” Carmen yelled out, feeling incredibly pissed that she couldn’t eat her food. The girl stopped in her tracks and looked back with a fire in her eye.

“Are you picking a fight with me, bitch!?”

The angered tone and expression on her face made it clear that she was ready for an altercation. Carmen glared back with her red eyes, gripping the handle of her Manifest tightly. Unsurprisingly, the commotion began attracting the attention of other students and suddenly they were surrounded by multiple spectators eager to watch a fight.

The girl held out her hand, causing swirling flames to appear around her. Moments later, a golden spear with a silver and orange bladed tip materialized from the fire. Carmen could feel the heat from the girl's weapon, causing her to drip sweat onto the ground.

The area became still and tense as the two sized each other up, rotating slowly around the field. Just as Carmen shifted her weight, she quickly dashed towards her enemy with great speed. She unleashed a rapid volley of piercing stabs from her rapier, not giving the girl any room to counter.

However, her opponent dodged and blocked the hits quite masterfully, expressing a very calm demeanor despite the pressure Carmen was applying. She pushed Carmen back with a forceful swing of her spear and created a wall of fire between them. Even though its height was impressive, it wasn’t high enough as Carmen leapt over it with incredible grace.

She aimed her Manifest downwards at the girl and fired numerous bolts of void energy, landing a couple blows in the process. Her opponent darted out of the way and once Carmen landed, she quickly pursued the girl. The ground slightly broke and cracked from the impact of her dash, showcasing the force of Carmen’s superb movement.

“Woah, she’s nuts!”, “Isn’t that the Belouis girl?”

Multiple spectators were impressed by what they saw, praising Carmen's combat prowess during this sudden duel.

As the fight continued, Carmen began to realize that the immediate area was becoming extremely hot, making it difficult for her to breathe and think straight. They clashed at the center of their makeshift arena once more and eventually pushed each other back. Carmen was sweating profusely, soaking her uniform as she panted heavily.

‘What the heck is going on? Feels like I’m fighting inside of a smoldering furnace. I can barely breathe out here.’

Carmen wanted nothing more than for this fight to be over. While Carmen tried to devise a plan of attack, her opponent smiled cheekily as their Manifest ignited into dark orange flames.

The temperature increased tenfold and the girl dashed forward with impressive speed, her spear aimed in front of her. Carmen gripped her Manifest and began to glow a dark purple color, building up her Core Energy internally. She then aimed her rapier forward and bolted forward as well. Just as they were about to collide with one another, the two girls were grabbed by the wrists and tossed into the air as though they were nothing more than sticks of wood.

“Huh!?”

Carmen was now looking up at the sky and not at her opponent. The girls slammed into the ground on their backs, making a loud thud and kicking up a sizable amount of dust. In between them was Tiaran, glaring with her vibrant red eyes. A few other LaVeda instructors rushed to the scene as well, navigating through the crowd of students watching the fight.

“What are you two idiots doing? There are to be no duels conducted on university grounds, unless officially sanctioned.” Tiaran said with a serious tone, crossing her arms as the girls grimaced and gripped their backs from the fall.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Show’s over people, leave this area and clear out. Now!” Yelled another instructor, trying to disperse the crowd around them.

“You two, come with me.” Tiaran sternly said

“But sis, she starte-”

“Now!”

Tiaran had lost all patience at this point and had no desire to hear Carmen out.

Carmen and her opponent reluctantly stood up and followed Tiaran through the halls of the school. The only thing that could be heard were their footsteps echoing throughout the empty hallways. They arrived at a door that was labeled, “Main Office.”

Tiaran opened it and escorted the girls to a separate room at the back. Inside was Lady Ravala, looking over some paperwork. Once their presence was made known, she didn’t look very pleased to see them. The stern expression on her face could kill a man.

“Thank you Tiaran, you may leave.” She said with an irritated cadence. Tiaran nodded and glanced over at Carmen, sighing and shaking her head as she left the room.

“Ladies, it has come to my attention that you all were fighting on school grounds. Correct?” She asked without breaking eye contact for even a second. The two nodded, but Carmen quickly interjected.

“Yes, but she took something of mi-”

Before Carmen could even plead her case, Lady Ravala shut her down immediately.

“Hush girl! I didn’t ask you why you fought. I don’t care in the slightest why the altercation began. Classes haven’t even officially begun and you already have broken one of the main rules here. Is this university a joke to you all?” She scolded, having no tolerance for their foolishness. The two girls shook their heads and apologized for their behavior.

“With you being a Belouis Royal, I expected much more from you, Carmen. Azhane handled herself with such grace and honor as she attended this school, and yet here you are, acting like an absolute clown. You should be ashamed of yourself…”

Lady Ravala held back no punches as she laid into them, making it abundantly clear that this was not the place for games.

"And the same goes for you as well, Mariah. Your brother would be so disappointed with not only how you've handled yourself, but also with how you dress. Tuck that shirt in this instant, child!"

Lady Ravala looked disgusted by the girl's rather sloppy appearance, not appreciating the amount of tan skin peaking through her button up.

Mariah quickly fastened a few buttons before pushing the bottom of her shirt into her skirt, hoping her efforts would ease the principal's mood.

“Now, as punishment, I want you two to clean and organize the Harpy class supplies room. We are wanting to utilize it this year, but it’s in quite the shabby shape. I think you two are perfect for the job.”

Lady Ravala smiled deviously at the idea. Carmen and Mariah nodded and bowed their heads as they prepared to leave the room, but the Principal continued her verbal assault.

“Consider yourselves lucky, girls. Next time there is an incident, you two will be expelled, no questions asked. Do I make myself clear!?”

“Yes, Ma’am!” The girls yelled in unison before quickly exiting the room.

The halls were quiet while the duo headed towards the Harpy class supplies room. Eventually, the silence was broken by Mariah's fairly harsh voice.

“Mannn, you just had to attack me out of the blue like that, huh?” Mariah said with an annoyed cadence, her hands now resting behind her head as they walked.

“Out of the blue!? You stole my food and left, what did you expect me to do?”

“Hey, when a girl’s gotta eat, a girl’s gotta eat!”

She began to playfully laugh as she rubbed her belly.

“I swear I’m gonna kill her…”

Carmen mumbled under her breath, feeling so incredibly annoyed by everything that had transpired thus far.

They arrived at the room and opened the door. Inside was an absolute mess of dust, cobwebs, tipped over shelves, and dirt from unknown sources. The two stood there stunned by the sorry state the room was in, causing them to fully regret their decision to fight.

As they stood there, a janitor walked by and placed down some cleaning supplies for them to use. He smiled and trotted off, feeling happy that he was no longer responsible for cleaning the room.

“This is going to take forever…” Carmen pouted, looking at the mop and wondering how to use it.

“Well, we best get started.”

Mariah grabbed a towel and the bucket of water. Carmen sighed and gripped the mop, awkwardly standing there without a clue on how to operate such primitive utensils.

“Hey uhh.. How do you use this again?” Carmen embarrassingly asked with a slight laugh. Mariah looked back with an expression filled with absolute confusion and shock.

“Are you serious? Girl, it’s a mop… Dip it into the bucket of water and wipe the floor with it. Have you never cleaned anything? The hell.”

Mariah was in disbelief, having never seen someone be so useless when it came to such a simple task. Carmen blushed and followed Mariah's instructions, awkwardly swiping the mop against the dirty floor. The cleaning of the room got underway and time began to pass by quickly.

image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]

Evening started to creep in at Ariana City as Azhane Belouis was having a deep discussion with one of her council advisors.

“Your Majesty, your thirtieth birthday is soon approaching and you’ve yet to select a candidate for marriage. Are these men not to your liking?” Councilman Omar asked.

“I know, I know… I just need a bit more time to decide. I’ll get back to you about this.”

“Yes, please do so, Your Majesty. I assure you, these are the best options available based on credentials and noble relations.”

He gathered his things and approached the door.

“Thank you Omar, you may leave now.”

He bowed his head and walked out of the room. Azhane sighed loudly and placed her head in her hands, feeling stressed and exhausted.

‘Ugh, do I really have to marry one of these snobby old geezers?’

She felt sickened by the thought, wanting nothing to do with any of the options given to her. Moments later, a knock could be heard at her door. She invited them inside, prompting Graymoor of Two to enter.

“Your Majesty, here are the papers from the library you were looking for.” Graymoor said as he handed her the documents.

“Ah, thank you Graymoor. Much appreciated.”

Her tone was not as chipper as usual and Graymoor immediately noticed this.

“Are you alright? You seem to be troubled by something.”

“Oh it’s nothing, just this marriage ordeal creeping up again.”

Once he heard her soft sigh, Graymoor proceeded to take a seat at a nearby chair, giving Azhane his full attention.

“Are they not to your liking?” He wondered with great curiosity. Azhane shook her head and thumbed through the candidates again.

“Honestly, not really.. They’re either too old or have the worst character imaginable. But, since I’ve been so busy, there’s no time to re-scout and find better matches. These are who I’m stuck with unfortunately.”

“That does seem quite troubling, Your Majesty. Hopefully, things work out for the best and you find someone you like being with.”

Graymoor understood the issue at hand, but unfortunately this was not something he could assist with. Azhane glanced over at Graymoor and felt compelled to ask him a rather surprising question.

“Graymoor, what are your thoughts on marriage? Have you ever wanted to settle down or anything like that? You may speak freely.”

He was taken aback by the question and after clearing his throat, Graymoor gave his reply.

“Well, I think marriage is a beautiful thing when it’s during the right circumstances. And yes, I’ve for sure thought about what it would be like to retire from my post and settle down somewhere. I wouldn’t mind it at all, but my duties to the royal family and The Six are too important for my own selfish pleasures.”

Azhane briefly pondered his response before giving him an understanding nod.

“Hmm I see, I see. Good answer. Well, that’s all I need Graymoor, you may leave now.”

Graymoor stood from his chair and bowed his head before exiting the room, closing the door gently behind him. Azhane looked back down at her papers of marriage candidates and smiled, seemingly having come up with a brilliant decision.