Cal ducked, the greatsword passing harmlessly over his head. It rounded back and tried to bisect him next. He brought his spear up and a harsh clang swept the field. Both weapons strained against each other. The greatsword pulled back, causing him to overextend. He dropped the weapon and shifted to the side to avoid the boot coming his way.

"Bzzzt," Lily said, adding sparks for effect. "Point to Alie."

The three of them were in a practice area. It was much nicer than the one his class was held at.

The ground was some compact type of earth, it was difficult to upend and wasn't prone to kicking up dust. There wasn't much of an audience section but it was fully enclosed, providing them some privacy.

On paper, they were training during his lunch hour. In reality, it felt like they were blowing off some steam. Trying to at least, Alice seemed frustrated she couldn't land a hit on him. In response, they'd implemented a system where if he dropped his weapon it counted as a point against him. Given he wasn't trying to get hit or waste magic unneeded, the score was very much against him.

"I would think that habit would have been snuffed out by now," Alice commented while settling her breathing.

"Is it that much of a surprise?" Lily began walking over, seeing her turn coming up. "Guy has a hard head. Trust me, he tried to bash in my skull with it."

That was one way to twist the facts. He blinked and when he opened them again he needed to jerk his shoulder back, avoiding an array of blades.

This damn girl. Couldn't even wait for a signal.

Her attack not landing didn't dissuade her and she followed up swiftly with a barrage of swipes.

Cal had learned fairly quickly that Lily was annoying to fight. Her weapons were interesting, the kind of thing that would have never been used in his past life. It was a pair of bracers with extended claws, he'd called her a wannabe wolverine if the reference wouldn't be lost.

Parrying or otherwise making contact with her weapons was a poor idea, as arcs of lightning readily jumped through his weapon and attempted to jolt him. It didn't work but it was one more thing to watch out for. He'd also found out she was ambidextrous, it felt like fighting a blender at some points.

The weapons locked and Lily spoke under the volume of their clash.

"Did you tell her yet?"

He broke contact and in the next exchange responded.

"I thought you were going to?"

That had been the standing arrangement thus far. She knew how to handle Alice far better than he did.

"Hah?" Lily tried to dip low and slash his leg. "That's definitely your job."

He pivoted to her side.

"You're her best friend." Cal's spear haphazardly struck forward. "You tell each other everything."

"Yeah well," She muttered while grabbing his spear and kicking towards him. "You're her brother. You tell her."

He yanked the spear free and her leg retracted fast enough to avoid his grab.

"Why the reluctance? Does it have something to do with-"

His voice was drowned out by the roar of lightning as it formed a crater where he'd been standing.

"You two are like sisters." Cal tilted his head slightly and avoided a haircut. "Stop being a brat."

"Brat?" Lily appeared in front of him, arcs of lightening crackling over a manic smile. "I'll show you what being a brat looks like."

Well, shit. He rammed the spear into the earth and took a knee just in time for Lily to discharge her reserves.

He weathered the barrage with his shell, irritated at having to bring it up.

It died and he could see Lily at the epicenter. It was a childish move and from her shit-eating grin, she was well aware of that. He shot her a glare and yanked his weapon out, debating on the merits of chucking it toward her.

"Do either of you care to share?" Alice paced forward with a stern expression, part of her hair looked frizzled. "You seemed to have plenty to talk about."

Lily and he shared a look and came to a mutual understanding.

"Callum over there skipped out on a test." Lily pointed at him.

Apparently, they did not have an understanding. How did she even know that? He'd kept it to himself…

"What?" Alice's head snapped in his direction. Well, this technically was the best place to break the news. Nothing was flammable and they'd already taken swings at each other. "When? Why am I only just learning of this?"

"Lily asked if the deputy headmistress grew the stick in her ass or was born with it." Cal deflected while shamelessly firing back.

In her defense, she'd whispered it to him as they were leaving the meeting. In his defense, it was still well within earshot of the woman.

"He started a fire in her office."

She swatted the butt of his spear that he tried to bonk her with

"Now you're making things up. I didn't burn anything."

He'd really, really wanted to.

"It's the thought that counts and anyone could read what you were thinking."

"No, It's not. And let's not forget who shorted out a district."

"You wanna play that game? How about which one of us almost killed someone in their class?"

"Lily, that's enough." Alice's eyes darted over the surroundings for a moment, forgetting they were alone. "Don't make such crass jokes. You know better."

Callum inspected the spear for any damage. The blade had some nicks on it. Did he have to sort that himself or was there some process in place to do it for him?

If he pretended not to feel the stare on him it would go away, right?

"Callum." No, was the answer to that. "That was a poor attempt at humor. Was it not?"

"Yes."

"Ancestors." Fair, he'd phoned that one in. "Who, when, how?" Her voice strained on that last note.

"Marcus…a week before last?" Hadn't it only been that long? It felt like forever ago. "Don't worry. It was a spar. All on the up and up."

It wasn't a big deal if he thought about it.

"That. Fine." It sounded like it really wasn't. "Given you're now sharing a wardrobe I won't press further." He was going to need to start storing clothes in his locker if this was going to be everyone's reaction. "I'm much more interested in why you two were speaking to the deputy headmistress."

She looked at him anxiously. He could let her stew but that would be cruel.

"It wasn't about that. She was pissed at Lily for causing damage in the city."

"Now who's lying?" Lily wasn't content to leave him out of the crosshairs. "She chewed you out as well."

"Right, but her reason was bullshit. She just doesn't like me for some reason."

He was fairly certain he'd never offended her. There was a pause and the girls shared a look.

"I figured he knew," Lily responded to Alice's stare and shrugged. "guess we're lucky he's not taking any classes related to genealogy."

Alice palmed her face, releasing a breath into it.

"The deputy headmistress is from House Evergreen."

From the expectant look, that was meant to mean something to him. He dug into his memory.

"They're based in the North." That didn't seem to satisfy her so he continued. "Growth mages, obviously. There's some big forest they're the caretakers of..."

That was the extent of his memory and Lily's snicker told him he was missing something important.

"Mother's maiden name is Evergreen," Alice said simply, having realized he wasn't going to come up with an answer anytime soon. "I trust I won't have to fill in the rest."

Oh. OH.

Turns out she did have a reason for not liking him. Hadn't anyone ever heard of not judging the child for the sins of the fake father?

"Can you talk to her then? Get her to lay off?" She was still her aunt, there had to be some pull there.

Alice's face had morphed into something he couldn't place.

"Mother was not meant to wed father. Her original betrothed was our late uncle who passed unexpectedly. Her family was in favor of breaking the agreement, the backlash would have been favorable compared to." She paused, collecting herself before continuing with vitriol leaking into her words. "Wasting their favored daughter on a defunct house. The deputy headmistress has not been unkind to me. Mother would never be able to return to her home but I had hoped the ban against her for the city's botanical gardens would be lifted."

Wow, the Lord must have known something like this could have happened. What a dick.

An alarm rang indicating it was almost time for his next class.

"Go." Alice nodded to him while holding out her hand. "I'll make sure your weapon is returned to your locker. We'll discuss remedial steps for your failed test later."

He was really hoping she'd forgotten about that part…

—

Cal tried his hardest to pay attention to the remainder of his classes after lunch. His mind kept going down tangents. The latest? The prince's offer. He'd dismissed it out of hand initially but the more he thought about it the more questions arose.

If he were to hazard a guess, Cal would say the prince didn't know about his true affiliation. If he happened to be wrong, then the conversation they had took on another light. He'd joked about it in the past but he'd never put serious thought into defecting.

Knowing only the Federation, it had never seemed like a real option. It was though, he couldn't be sure if that was what the prince was alluding to but someone like Cal would always be in demand.

Whatever country that took him would risk the ire of the Federation but their influence faded the further east you went. If he just booked it through the waste and made it to the other side he could probably get a cushy job sitting around until someone needed something whacked.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

He didn't owe his country anything. It was dubious enough to call it his country. There was a sense of obligation to the people living there, he'd overlooked a lot in the past in consideration for them. Hadn't he given them enough?

He could finish what he started, but after the trials concluded should he leave? What was tying him down?

A handful of personal relationships.

Was that enough to keep him?

He kept circling back to it and coming to the same conclusion. He didn't know. It was one of those things you weren't sure about until reaching the crossroads.

Clearly the powers that be thought otherwise, it was a fairly big risk on their part to let him out of their sight. Ah, right. He'd almost forgotten that they expected him to blow his top at the slightest provocation.

Cal slipped his phone out of his pocket, careful not to catch the teacher's eye. Checking the date, he confirmed it had been a solid month and he'd only killed one student. Sure he'd almost 'oopsed' the school while getting into the slapfight of a century with the Spirit but it had all turned out well. They were even somewhat friendly, at least that was Cal's perception of things. Tough to tell what the thing was really thinking.

Progress on his end had been lacking but technically he had permanently removed one suspect. He'd also unearthed a portion of the Empire's ugliness. How many more Petro's were there?

Not that he could do anything about it. The Empire would throw the mother of all hissy fits if they found out he'd executed one of their nobility. Guilty as sin or not, he couldn't see them letting that go. It was a matter of pride. He wasn't immune to its effects but at least he didn't shape national policy off of it.

Near invincible with power enough to level cities and yet he couldn't do anything. What a joke.

He was saved from any further pointless speculation by the bell sounding. The day was over and he couldn't be more thankful.

Languidly, he collected his belongings and left. His steps were measured and slow, he wasn't in a hurry to get back.

He found his direction shifting. Cooking sounded good right now, it would clear his head.

It was not meant to be as he spotted Ryan jogging up to him.

"Yo, Callum." The man stopped in front of him. His brow was sleek with sweat and Cal noticed an uneasiness in him. "Have you seen Gregor?"

"No?" He hadn't been looking but he was reasonably confident he would have noticed the boy. "Something wrong?"

"Maybe…" Ryan shook his head and brought a palm to his temple. "Probably. He never got back to classes after lunch. I've tried calling and texting him but he's not responding. Gregor doesn't miss class, something has to be wrong."

It was a leap but the kid took his studies seriously.

Ryan started to pace away and Cal caught up to him. Gregor's outburst from the other day had stuck with him. He didn't think it was anything important but if he was missing classes it was worth checking out.

"So you're running around campus looking for him like a headless chicken?"

It didn't seem like a good plan.

"Got a better idea?" Ryan regarded him from the corner of his eye. Picking up speed. "That's a genuine question. I'm open to suggestions here."

Cal could think of one but bothering the Spirit with this seemed overkill. If it extended past a day he'd reconsider that stance.

"Anything set him off recently? I thought his tests were going well."

"There's a reason I didn't message you about that Colosseum outing," Ryan grumbled while falling into a full run. "He thinks one of them went bad. Can't be sure, but yeah."

"Rough," Cal commented, easily keeping up. "I'm actually trying to avoid going back to the dorms right now for the same reason."

He had an inkling what she meant by 'remedial steps' and wasn't in any hurry to have it confirmed.

"Really?" There was a sense of surprise in his tone. Cal didn't know what to make of it. "I thought your house was cool with all that? Is that why you spent so much time in the library?"

"Alice is, not happy. Understanding I guess? She gets why it happened and is in damage control mode."

It wasn't like he didn't have a good reason for dropping everything.

"Ah, if we find him keep that part to yourself." Ryan stopped, checking his phone. "Anne already checked where I was going." He said as a way of explanation and they changed directions.

Anne

She was a potential issue and one they'd discussed. She knew about their little investigation into Petro and he could see her asking questions once Petro's disappearance was noticed.

And the grand plan to deal with it? Playing ignorant.

If he talked to his new friends in the city, they might be able to stick her in a hole until this whole thing was over but that struck him as a bad idea. If one student missing didn't raise alarm bells then two would have to do.

Bribery was of course on the table and would be a more viable option if they had anything worth giving. He'd let the girls figure that out if it came to it.

They arrived at a secluded clearing and Ryan clicked his tongue.

"Damn, thought he'd be here for sure." He spun on his heel with a new destination in mind. After some time he spoke again. "Jess grill you already about the weekend?"

Cal considered leaving Ryan to search on his own. His time would be better spent baking distraction sweets for Alice.

"She did, no reason to re-tread ground there."

"We'll disagree on that. I'll get the real story out of you later. Actually, go ahead and tell it when we find Gregor. I think he'd get a kick out of whatever went down."

"My life isn't for your amusement." Cal groused. These people needed better things to do.

"Didn't say it was but it's a nice side benefit. Don't you think?"

He didn't.

They approached one of the older-looking buildings. It had been on the list he'd given the Spirit.

"You think he's here?" Cal dug for more information, feeling slightly unsettled. "This place seems abandoned."

"It's between renovations." Ryan jumped up to an open window. "We used to hang out here during second year."

He slipped inside and Cal soon joined him. The inside looked better maintained. Someone was still using this place.

Cal extended his senses. Yep, they weren't alone.

Ryan went through a door and down a hallway. He'd noticed it as well then.

The dim hallway ended at a set of double doors and Ryan didn't hesitate kicking them down. On the other side was what looked to have once been an office.

Sprawled on a leather sofa was Gregor.

Cal placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder, stopping him from rushing to his friend.

"Look at the hand." Gregor's hand was hung over the edge, its grip open. Near it was a trio of small marbles. "That what I think it is?"

He knew it was. Those were magic cores.

Ryan yanked his shoulder free and flipped Gregor facing up.

"Damnit, wake up you idiot." He shook the man whose eyelids remained closed.

"We need to go." Cal maneuvered himself behind Gregor. "Get a teacher and have them sort it."

Even if everyone had different thresholds when it came to cores, it was universally considered a bad idea to imbue straight from a core. Most of the cultists he dealt with were driven mad by them.

"No, they'll expel him at best." For good reason in Cal's opinion. "I've caught him before, he'll be fine once I wake him up."

That drastically cut down the possibility of him being 'fine'. How did he always find himself in the middle of a shit show?

Cal crouched, picking up one of the marbles. Cores came in all shapes and sizes. These? They were altered in some way but he recognized their origin.

"What are these," Cal demanded. He resisted outright attacking the boy but it was a close thing. "And where did he get them?"

Gregor's eyes blinked open and he groaned. Cal tensed, ready to restrain the man.

"Hey, Gregor," Ryan spoke softly, supporting the man's head. "You okay?"

Gregor's head slightly bobbed up and down.

"Jus nee, sleep"

Eyelids closed again and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief.

"He'll be fine then. It'll work its way through his system." Ryan rose, inspecting the office. "Why don't you head on out, I'll watch over him here."

Yeah no, these didn't come from beasts. They came from demons.

"You're going to tell me what these are. Now." Cal held the marble up. "These aren't natural cores. What the hells are they?"

They held each other's stares, the tension rising with each passing second. If Cal needed to beat it out of him he would.

Ryan broke, swearing.

"They're not like cores. They don't make you crazy, not permanently. Most use them as performance enhancers but some." His eyes drifted to the prone form of Gregor. "They make you feel good. Like you're on the top of the world."

Making drugs out of demon cores was the most imbecilic thing he'd ever heard of.

"Where did he get them?" He reiterated the pertinent question. If they have a steady supply of demon cores they were probably adept at summonings.

"A couple of people on campus sell them. I'll tell you but you have to promise to keep this secret."

"Done." Easy, he only cared about where they were coming from.

"I'll text you a list-"

"Write it down, now." Cal insisted, cutting him off. Ryan eyed him warily but nodded. He pulled out a piece of paper and started jotting something down when Cal's phone buzzed.

The Justiciars had been spotted on campus.

What the fuck was this timing?