After nearly half an hour, Syllis had navigated to the desired room. The numbers “104” were engraved black in a bold font, inlaid with gold accents.

Syllis pushed the door opening, drawing the gaze of several dozen students. Among them, a couple of familiar faces were there.

Korman and Aura, sitting side by side, eyed the nymph curiously. They latter shielded her face, not wanting to be seen by her horrific opponent from the night before.

‘A little too late.’ Syllis mocked the human inwardly.

“Who are you?” A skeptical sounding man, chimed from the corner of the room. He rose, revealing a bulky body that could be seen through tightly—possibly too tightly—fitting clothing.

“My question is the same…” Syllis’ voice trailed out as though she had forgotten the next part of her sentence. After a brief moment of acute awkwardness, she continued. “Are you Mr. Harfell?”

“Yes I am. My question remains.” Harfell’s voice was hoarse, as though he had been shouting for hours.

‘A little impatient…’

Syllis once again turned to scan the classroom, or more particularly its students. Each one of them had lived a better life she herself had. So, she wanted to beat down each one of them, if they consented of course.

It was important to her that she dissected the perceived gap in talent between the upper-class and outer ring. That forsaken place had not done much for her, but it had caused her to grow up. This alone was a pivotal factor in her growth appropriating her bond.

The secare nymph turned back to the professor and apologized before speaking. “My name is Syllis. Veria told me to get you to show me around. Though, that does not seem to be the best use of a professor's time…”

“Did you anger her somehow?” Syllis inquired, curious after examining Mr. Harfell’s face.

Harfell’s eye twitched slightly before he turned to face his silent class. “Which of you are willing to show Syllis around?”

He briefly watched the class, along with Syllis, they waited for a student to raise their hand.

Not even Korman raised his hand. Syllis had expected Aura to shy away and keep hidden, she was her victim after all… However, Korman was unexpected.

‘Does he want me to use this opportunity to have someone else guide me? Is there anyone particularly exceptional in this class?.’

Syllis would be surprised if there was. She was excited to spar with new, terrifying opponents until her enrollment with Veria. When Veria handed the second, ‘restriction’ contract, it was essentially telling her that she was already in the upper echelon.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if there were only a few students who could stand up to me.’

Syllis pouted slightly. The reassurance of her strength was a nice compliment but it also meant that her attending Lurgica was mostly useless. Still, she held out hope. There must have been a reason that Clyde, Aura, and Korman were still attending.

Seeing that no one had volunteered yet, Syllis had a thought. ‘Maybe they’re intimidated.’ She stepped out of the classroom briefly, entering the beautiful hallways once again.

A minute passed and not a single student had raised their hand. ‘Alright, maybe they just really dislike me…’

Syllis stepped back into the room, this time with newfound aggression. She ascended the stairs, her boots clacking against each step towards the top row of seats.

“They do not seem very fond of you.” Harfell chirped before letting out a small chuckle.

“You.” Syllis pointed towards a nymph with long, midnight blue hair. “What’s your name?”

To her surprise the nymph responded in a masculine voice. “Lerane Fertin.”

Syllis had expected the androgynous nymph to have spoken in a feminine tone, his long blue hair was an odd trait for a male to have.

She inspected further, examining the chest or rather the lack of. ‘Makes sense.’

“Alright Lerane, show me around.” Syllis commanded the nymph.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Lerane shifted uncomfortably, setting his gaze on Harfell, as if begging for help. The professor merely shook his head slightly and shrugged.

Syllis grinned at his answer, turning back towards Lerane and speaking in a cold voice. “You saw the man, let’s go.”

Syllis uncharacteristically made a joke drawing bizarre expressions out of Korman and Aura. The rest of the class shared in the confusion.

‘I make jokes all the time! I just don’t say them out loud…’ Syllis sighed, gesturing for Lerane to follow her out of the room.

“So, where are we going first?” She asked as soon as the two of them exited the classroom.

“Nowhere.” Lerane spoke in his—still strange—masculine voice. With a sweep of his hair, the man turned back towards the classroom.

“This is Mr. Harfell’s class, he teaches ‘fabled discoveries.’ It’s essentially just how fable rifts have changed the modern world.”

‘I understand why Clyde did not mention this class. It doesn’t seem like one that someone like him would attend… Wait, is that rude. Not like I would attend it either.’

Syllis looked into Lerane’s azure eyes. “How can a man have such beautiful, feminine features?”

Lerane’s pupils dilated at her sentence. As though, she had just committed the greatest atrocity. The edges of his lips curled downwards as he turned away. He threatened to leave if Syllis did not follow quickly enough.

“What’s your bond?” Syllis asked, deadpan.

Lerane only shot her a horrified glance before continuing to walk to their next destination.

‘I can already tell this is going to be fun.’ Syllis mused within, eager to see the entirety that this school had to offer.

Lerane showed her nearly the entirety of the school: the library, class hallways, sparring grounds for combat classes, the museum for displaying student-made technology. Most intriguing though, was their next stop.

After flicking the light switch, the room lit up in a cold, unforgiving hue. It seemed like this room held unforgivable secrets within. In some aspects, it had, besides the snickering children who took their lively education for granted.

Syllis briefly introduced herself to the shamanic-looking woman.

In all honesty, she looked like she could fall apart any second. The folds of excess skin were large and looked out of place on the petite woman, they were left behind from when she was young, tall and beautiful. Now, she was decrepit and needed even more than a cane to walk around.

After being given permission, the secare nymph roamed the room. Syllis watched students diligently attempt to copy ritualistic circles from aged scrolls, imprinting them onto the ground in front of them with chalk.

Several cursed at the slight inadequacies while some reveled in the fact that they bore a passing resemblance. Of course, both of these groups were infinitely better than the students who neglected their work completely.

Content with their albeit flashy, inferior bonds. They seemed to act out childish plays while the people around them diligently worked to improve their circles.

One man seemed disconnected from every group though, lacking the motivation to even try to mess around, interrupting class. Instead, he seemed almost like a doll. More precisely, the doll a child would put down after pretending they needed to rest after a very difficult and false, strenuous day.

Syllis pulled Lerane to the side, away from his group of friends he had been chatting with.

“Who is that?” Syllis pointed towards the man with bizarre and wave red hair that looked to be stained in blood.

Syllis suddenly thought of an amusing thought. ‘What if all of his blood was used to stain his hair? That’s why he isn’t moving.’

She laughed wryly, understanding after a few moments that it was not her best work. Maybe Korman and Aura’s apprehensive gazes were right.

“His name is Ansel Boor. He is regarded as the most talented kindred in Asanoch.” Lerane spoke even softer than a whisper.

‘This is him huh… The man that Clark placed above: his own son, Aura, and even Anahita…’

Syllis could not help but admire the solitary man. First, she revered him for his apparent strength.

Then, she pitied him. She pitied this man for his inability to engage in what seemed so fascinating to her. He looked like he had given up. Syllis felt a strange familiarity down within her.

‘Ah.’ Syllis thought somberly, her expression becoming complex. ‘I truly feel as though I’m back there. On the outer ring, wasting my days.’

Finally, Syllis was angry, mad that this man did not have the time of day to even spare her a glance.

‘How self-absorbed does one have to be? Or is he really just that good? So good that he does not need to engage with the world around him, so good that the world will just engage with him whenever he needs something.’

Syllis could not help but fume. In her new life, under the Boorne family’s roof, she thrived. She hated her old life of motionlessness. This extended to Ansel.

“My name is Syllis.” She held a hand out to the man in front of her.

Not a shred of anything crossed his face. Nothing glimmered in his dead eyes, equally as murky a red as his hair. There were zero signs of life in the man’s facade.

But he was not dead, the people around him talked and studied diligently, indifferent to his movement or lack thereof. This was just who he was, this was him.

Syllis pulled her hand back. ‘Who do you think you are? You who have been given everything. How can you squander it? How can you take it for granted while I have crawled my way up from the depths?’

The secare nymph called over Lerane, their tour was over. Syllis had wanted to stay, learn more, but there was time for that later. She was a student now.

As they stepped away from the classroom, Syllis only spoke one word. She did not mutter it under a heavy breath or hid it within a cough. Instead, she left it out in the open for the entire classroom to hear, Ansel included.

“Pathetic.” Syllis uttered, an announcement for Ansel, and for the other students to spread. A promise to force him to move, to live, and thrive in his blessed life.