His stay at the academy started to feel even worse than that of his home. He couldn’t remember the last time he had so many problems getting out of bed. Not because he wouldn’t want to. But because he almost couldn’t. His arms and legs were stiff and his whole body tried to persuade him not to move a muscle today. But he had class to go to, if only to stuck it up to those pricks.

He did not even attempt to put on his jacket himself, since he was fully aware of how little his limbs listened to him at the moment. After putting on trousers and socks he requested the help of a friend. Gavin looked about ready to give him an earful for worrying him, until he saw the state Cormac was in. Then he silently helped him clothe himself.

Putting one of Cormac's arms over his shoulders - much to Cormac's displeasure - they strode out of his room, ready to go to their shared classes.

They met Aviana in the common room today, she was in the training uniform, probably going to train by herself. She only glanced in their direction. But Cormac could make out her expression. She looked…worried. Worried?

Deciding that thinking about his fantasies was above the energy output he was capable today, he silently walked with Gavin.

"Sorry." came out of Gavin about halfway to their class. "Sorry, I wasn’t there to help and that I didn’t look for you when you didn’t come. I though…" he shook his head." I don’t know what I thought."

"It's ok. I understand. It's not like you have any responsibility towards me."

"Still. I want to be a friend. That’s not how a friend should act."

"In that case. I forgive you and you have nothing to worry about."

"Doesn’t work quite like that."

"You are forgiven."

"But, you can't just…"

"Forgiven."

"You are really stubborn you know that?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Even though it hurt, Cormac shared a laugh with Gavin.

Cormac felt a lot better after the first two classes. He didn’t know if that was the result of the brew, or if he was beginning to walk it off, but he felt capable of at least walking on his own. Which was very convenient, since they did not share the same physical class.

"You sure you want to even go there? What will you do? You are a semi-cripple right now."

"Am not see?" said Cormac as he very slowly tried to dance. It was a bad idea and it badly hurt, but he had to prove it to himself, that he could move despite the pain.

"Yeah." replied Gavin sarcastically. "A fairy. Grace and elegance all in one package."

"Very funny."

"From the Otherlands, blessing me with its mere wobbly presence." Gavin continued.

"Fuck you."

After stifling his laughing fit, he grabbed something from his pocket. "I have a little something that might help you though." He opened his mouth to reveal a pill, with a single strange sigil in it.

"What is that?" inquired Cormac.

"Should boost your stamina threefold I heard. Got it from some weird guy as a freebie."

"And you just took it? No questions? C'mon man I thought you were smarter than that."

"Calm down alright? Of course I didn’t have any questions it was free. I took it and identified it myself, with a spell."

"Cool." Said Cormac looking over to the pill. "Couldn’t you just cast a spell on me though? To heal me?"

"Sorry no. Healing magic is a pretty rare gift, not something you can just learn unfortunately." Gavin put the pill into Cormac's face. "You want it then, or not?"

Cormac watched the pill for a moment, lamenting. Then he nodded and ate the pill. Gavin looked at his fingers covered in Cormac's saliva with disgust.

The pill was bitter, very bitter. But it gone down the drain like any other.

They stood together silently for a while. Gavin looking at Cormac expectedly, waiting for something to happen. While Cormac was too waiting for a feeling of change. Nothing happened.

"He ripped you off."

"It was free."

"He still ripped you off. Tasted so bad I should have been paid to eat it."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Gavin looked into the sun's direction. A somber expression on his face.

"Gratitude is dead. You killed it."

"Yeah right. Thank you though. I just wish this won't kill me by the end of the day."

"Me and you brother." Gavin patted Cormac on his back, then started running to the direction of his class.

If the pill wouldn’t kill him, Carl certainly would. Cormac had no idea why, but whenever there were pairings for fights Carl was always his opponent. Though it did make sense. Carl is all that Cormac isn't, big, strong, tough. And Cormac is so scared of his hits, he managed to dodge every and each one even in his condition.

The pill must have worked. He could still feel all the pain from before, but it just didn’t matter. He paid it no mind and so it didn’t hold him back in any way.

WHOOOSH. As the giant arm whistled over Cormac's head. He quickly jumped to the side, narrowly escaping the clench of the other. Then he kicked with his right hand. The kick connected under the giants knee, but did little to disrupt his composure. Instead of falling on the knee, the giant pressed Cormac's legs in between his calf and his thigh, effectively stopping any of his attempts to escape. Before he had a chance to retaliate with a swing of his own, Cormac managed to hit him under his ribs with a fist. Carl only pushed a little air out at the contact, then turned around and sent Cormac flying. This time, over the bounds of the arena.

He fell limp into the sand. The pain would have been excruciating had he not taken the pill, but now? It was just a minor inconvenience at worst.

"Good!"

Carl walked over to Cormac, as he did all of his wins and helped him up, then they sat together watching the other fights unfold.

"That was a good hit. If I didn’t have my stomach flexed, I could have dropped my lunch."

"If I had your strength you would have."

They continued talking about their fight, each providing advice on what the other could improve upon. They got so lost in the retrospect of their fight, Cormac forgot who will battle next. When he looked at the arena, his heart almost stopped.

On one end was Aviana, prepared for battle in her iconic battle stance, on the other, was Rodrick.

"Fight!"

Aviana and Rodrick shot off simultaneously, but this time they did not meet in the middle. Aviana moved in a blur, crossing the parting lane in less than five seconds. They met on Rodrick's field, surprise clear on his face.

She swinged with her right hand and it connected. Rodrick's face flew to his right, spit flying in the same direction.

Before he could get his bearings, Aviana hit with her other hand, right into his stomach. Rodrick twitched, but managed to accept the strike with much more grace, swinging over her head in a half-hearted attempt at retaliation. Then he successfully planted the sole of hi feet under her thigh and pushed her away a bit. But Aviana was relentless.

She jumped at him instantly, though he was much more prepared this time. His usual smirk giving way to a focused expression.

She twisted in the jump, connecting her foot with his forearm. The force of the strike pushing him a good meter back through the sand. She followed with a volley of punches and kicks both, pushing Rodrick closer and closer to the border. He had his body preoccupied with defense, seemingly never finding enough time to strike back. But then the final hit came.

Aviana twisted again for a kick. Rodrick placed his hands in a defensive position over his head. When Aviana twisted even more, kicking down with the heel of her other leg. Making contact with Rodrick's arms, something audibly cracked and Rodrick fell on the ground with a scream.

A nurse on standby walked over to him, checking his injury. Master Norman talked with her for a while, then she and Rodrick set off somewhere. Probably to the infirmary.

Norman looked angry for the first time since class started. He said something to Aviana. Then she turned away, and walked off to somewhere. And Cormac couldn’t stop the guilt rising up. This felt like it was his fault.

The principal's office was giant as were all rooms in the Academy, but this one had it all. An extensive collection of books in antique bookcases were positioned against every wall. Two giant windows with a view into the Academy complex poured blinding light behind the principal. The chair more akin to a throne was at least two meters in height and the desk was humongous. But even then, the principal was not dwarfed by the decorum. His broad frame fit the oversized furniture like a glove. The long grey beard and hair adding a wise and collected feeling to the man sitting across Aviana.

"You broke the boy's arm." he said. If Aviana did not know him, the silent anger simmering within the man might have escaped her, but she had too many experiences with him not to notice.

"He deserved it." she said, resolute in the statement. She surprised herself with the animosity she felt during their spar. She thought she cared not for the boy, but the sight of Rodrick's smug face scraped her in all the wrong ways.

"Deserving or not, we cannot tolerate when a student uses excessive force against another student. Especially when it comes to your case. Your case is even more…"

"Special?" interrupted Aviana, a now familiar anger rising from within.

"Exactly. We strive to make a neutral environment. We cannot have a princess causing trouble and getting away with it. That goes straight against our policies." the old man rearranged his circular glasses. "When you came to me with a wish to study here, we made a promise to each-other, remember?"

"Yes." she stifled her anger. Honestly, there was no reason to be getting angry at her uncle here. He was doing what was right in the circumstance, she just felt like he did not take into account the context. "But I had a reason still."

"What was that reason?" Inquired the principal.

"He hurt a member of my dorm. Badly. From the little I could have got out of him, he was boasting his feathers. Well my lounge-mate didn’t exactly accept it and was beat for it." she leaned closer to emphasize her point. "He was beat enough to look more purple than anything else."

"And why didn’t you, or the boy report it? Something might have been done if we knew."

"Because he knew nothing would be done? Can you go of a word and punish a student? No. Rodrick is a clear example of his familial ties reaching into this school. He has a band of bastards…"

"Language."

"Sorry. He has a band of hoodlums going with him, simply because he says from what family he comes from. He amassed a group with the power his name holds. That is as against your policy as it gets. And was something done with it? No!"

"Do not raise your voice at me."

Aviana felt her throat tighten against her wishes, felt her head bow slightly even through her

resistance. But even when her eyes did everything to avert the old man's gaze. She kept the eye contact. Her anger renew she had to whisper her thoughts.

"Your school policies are just make believe. You even drop students into casts, replicating what you try to abolish. The whole system is wrong."

"Why did you insist on coming here then? You could have gone anywhere else, could have gone to the Skystruck institute in Larian, but you came here. Why?"

Aviana did not want to answer. Her uncle along with father questioned her about this decision numerous times, but neither would fully understand the scope of what she saw some months prior. She could still feel the chill running down her back, when she remembered the oppressive feeling of whatever was coming from the east, over the Salvatoris lake. The cloud of doom approaching.

Everyone would be too weak to do something about it.

She couldn’t tell her family that a vision was the reason of her sudden change of attitude. None would understand. She had to get as strong as possible, just for the off-chance that it'll be enough to stop, or slow whatever was coming in the next 7 years.

"Because I want to prove I am more than my name." the sentiment was shallow. Nobody in her life thought that she was reliant on her birth, nor did her family cause her problems. She was blessed by the fact and it felt wrong to say this. If there really was anyone she would need to prove it to, it was to herself.

Her uncle's mood seemed to drop, her answer hurting a part of him. She felt sorry for that, but she couldn’t take the words back. She couldn’t explain the real reason.

"Alright. I will take what happened as a mistake. An incident made during training. But this will be the last time. One point can be a coincidence, but two points make a line."

"Thank you, sir. May I leave?"

"You may." he answered weakly. "But do not be alarmed. Your father is waiting for you outside."