“And that is why your grandmother is right,” Mo Yu said, her words at odds with the look of respect and admiration on her face.
Joram could only stare at her until Bai Lian spoke up, drawing his attention to her.
“Even though neither of us have suffered unduly over the years, neither have we received such kindness from anyone ‘because it was the right thing to do’ from someone,” she paused for a moment to find the right words. “We’ve received ‘kindness’ from our teachers and even our peers. But was it kindness for the sake of being a good person? I don’t think so.
“There is always a cost to benefit ratio taken into account when nurturing disciples in the Sects. If you have talent, you’re treated better. If you’re beautiful, you’ll be put on a pedestal. I always thought that that was normal growing up; your value as a person being determined by what you can give back to the Sect.
“My master was an exceptionally nice person to me. She provided me with extra resources for cultivation and even access to the Sect’s library so that I could immerse myself in reading when I wasn’t cultivating. But was that out of kindness, or what I was ‘worth’ to the Sect?”
She paused then. Her expression going from sincere to torn and everything in between. Just seeing her inner turmoil sparked his empathy, making him want to go and give her a hug. He suppressed that urge, knowing that she needed to go through that for herself; his interference would sway her more than she’d already been.
He was relieved, then, when Mo Yu extended a hand and placed it on her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze. Taking strength from that gesture, Bai Lian continued with more… firmness, or certitude, in her tone.
“I’m well aware of the ‘injured patient’ and ‘captured soldier’ effect on a person who’s not only received care from someone, but is also their prisoner,” she said, confusing him for a moment.
Oh, the Reverse Nightingale and Stockholm Syndromes, he thought, connecting what she was talking about with what he knew the syndromes as.
“As much as I’d like to deny that those states of mind haven’t affected me, I can’t say for certain. But what I do know, is that your kindness isn’t an act. Nor is it a means to an end. It is a part of who you are, and that’s why I decided to be with you.
“As senior sister Mo Yu has told me, feelings might change with time and circumstance. That’s normal. But I feel that what I have come to feel for you won’t change. My feelings of gratitude, admiration, and respect won’t ever fade,” she paused as her face went red, her chin dipping slightly as though she was about to lower her head. Instead, her chin went right back up again, and even a bit higher than it had been before as her eyes flashed with a fierce determination that surprised him.
“You might see us as servants, or maybe even as family. If that is how you’ll only ever feel about us, then I’ll die a happy woman. But if somehow, some day, our feelings get through to you and are reciprocated, then I’m sure that we’ll live our lives with joy in our hearts,” she finished by linking fingers with Mo Yu with one hand while the other came up to rest lightly on her heart.
Joram turned to regard Mo Yu and found that she, too, had placed her hand on her heart in the same way as Bai Lian. He also saw how her eyes shone with certitude and conviction, quite obviously agreeing with Bai Lian’s words.
Joram leaned back a bit then and took of his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger, using a tiny circular motion that he found soothing as he closed his eyes to think.
Is this really how normal people think here? He asked himself, wondering at just how naïve people in this world seemed to be.
Was it really that easy to “capture” the heart of a woman here? Wouldn’t it make it way too easy for someone to take advantage of countless women? Or was it that he’d just encountered two exceptionally pure women?
“First,” he said, then opened his eyes and put his glasses back on. “I need to drop you from the Network. No, just listen. When I first revived you all, I forced the connection on you so that I could keep better tabs on you. No, I haven’t listened in on your conversations or read your minds or any such thing.
“I have a very firm belief in the sanctity of a person’s thoughts and their privacy. But the connection that I have with you isn’t one of equality, it’s one I forced on you. So, along with releasing you of your Oaths of servitude, I’d planned on also releasing you from that forced connection and extending to you one of equality,” he said, then dropped them both from the Network.
He saw their expressions of surprise and, oddly enough, discomfort before he extended a proper invitation to the pair. They immediately accepted, gratification and relief flowing through their connection to him.
“Now,” he started, very much not wanting to have this talk right now given the interviews that were scheduled to start soon. “I am flattered beyond words by your confessions. I can’t say that this has ever happened to me before, or that I even suspected that something like this could happen to me.
“But I also need some time to sort out how I feel about you both. For I truly had started to see you as family over these past few months. That said, I also feel that I need to tell you that Avi and I are currently in a relationship with each other,” he had to pause then when his words caused them to go into a slight state of shock, their eyes going wide with that faraway look someone got then their minds disconnected with the present.
After a few moments, he continued.
“Which means that you’ll need to speak with Avi before anything else can even hope to happen. That said, I very much appreciate you both, but I don’t want to act hastily for fear that I might screw things up between us. I cherish what we have right now. So please, know that I have taken your words to heart and will seriously consider how to go forward from here on out with you both,” he finished, looking from one to the other and back again a few times, trying to impress upon them the sincerity of his words.
Bai Lian and Mo Yu took a minute to process what he’d said, exchanging Looks with each other and words over the Network. They then nodded to the other before turning to regard him once more as they stood up.
“Thank you,” they said as one before Mo Yu took over. “We’ll go and help Wentian with the preparation for tonight then,” she said, bow giving him a formal, but sincere bow before turning and leaving him alone in his office.
Joram sagged in his chair once the door closed behind Bai Lian.
Kinkade: Congratulations on surviving that one!
M3: Indeed. That had the potential to go spectacularly wrong.
M4: Yup. I, for one, and glad that we get to live another day!
Joram: Guys. I can tell that you’re all being sarcastic right now. And, honestly, that kind of hurts, you know?
Kinkade: Ah, but who’ll take you down a peg or six if your head starts getting too big after having two beauties simultaneously confess their eternal love and devotion to you?
M3 & M4: Too, right!
Joram: I was always harder on myself than anyone else. But having three other “Me’s” hop on the bandwagon might be a bit too much.
Kinkade: Ah, you’ll be fine. I’d more worry about Avi right now. Even though she gave the “go ahead”, I’m sure that it’ll come as a bit of a shock to have that talk with the two of them.
Joram: Ah, always have to think of the worst possible outcome, eh?
Kinkade: How else would anything that comes after seem not so bad? “Plan for the worst but hope for the best” is probably one of our favourite sayings along with “Pray like everything depends on God but work as though everything depends on you”.
Joram: Heh, true. I’ve got a boatload of work ahead of me it seems.
Kinkade: Now that we’ve reached a new level of psionic reserves, why don’t you start another Mind going? I’m sure that’ll help.
Joram: Ah, good call. Thanks guys. I’ll get that done right away then.
Kinkade, M3, and M4: No worries.
Joram took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A moment later, another [Schism] was up and running with an additional mind. So, he set M4 and M5 to work on [Genesis] while reassigning M3 to concentrate on integrated Tier 3 Mana into his Psijic Star while also generally managing his overall cultivation.
He left Kinkade to his projects and collaborations with Asura, though. Having people working on important things while he concentrated on his schoolwork and life allowed him to get the relaxation he needed so that he wouldn’t burn out.
That done, he took another few minutes to calm himself with some meditation. The emotionally charged conversations he’d just had with the three practitioners had drained him more than a little bit. Even with practicing being social by playing at Dawn Star every week, as well as his tutoring sessions with Avi’s team, he still hadn’t managed to build up his emotional reserves very much.
It was hard.
People were hard.
Letting people in was even harder for him.
But growing needed change, and change was often uncomfortable. And sucked.
“Firm up”, eh? He much preferred that expression over incredibly sexist one that was more often used: “Man up”.
Yeah, he’d firm up. He’d continue to take the opportunities to grow that came his way. He’d also likely fail more than not, but he was OK with that. Another quote came to mind. “You only fail a trial when you fail to learn the lesson it taught”. Or something like that.
The point wasn’t to just keep getting up mindlessly to once again throw yourself at a problem; it was to learn from it.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
So, what would he learn from his current situation? Don’t be nice to everyone? Be a prick so that people wouldn’t flock to him? Withhold help from someone in need? Be more selfish?
Nah, I’m going to choose to fail this one, he thought. The lessons he could imaging weren’t lessons that he wanted to learn from. So, that was that.
He looked at the time and sighed. No more alone time. It was now time to adult.
- - -
“… So you’re saying that you’ll be able to connect me with influential people after graduating?” Joram asked Alaural, the pretty half-elf in front of him.
“Yes! And once you’re in good with them, we’ll get set!” Alaural explained, giving him serious used-care salesman vibes.
“And what about the study group?” Alicia asked, cutting in to get things back on topic.
“Ah, well, that’s not as important as making connections with the right people,” she said, waving off the idea of actually joining the study group.
“All right,” Joram said, standing up and offering his hand. “We’ll let you know.”
At the obvious dismissal, Alaural stood up and shook his hand, her confident grin still plastered on her face.
- - -
“Tell me, Lilly, how do you see yourself as part of the study group?” Alicia asked as she gave the young human woman her best interviewer’s smile.
“Well, I can see myself helping Joram with anything he needs,” she replied, eyes all starry.
“Any particular areas you need help with; in your studies?” Joram asked, looking her directly in the eyes because the low top she’d worn threatened to release its contents as she leaned forward, a goofy smile on her face.
“Hmm,” she said, tilting her head to the side as she thought, letting her auburn locks cascade to her right. “I suppose I could always use help with keeping fit. I notice that you’re very well built, so I imagine that you’d have lots that you could share,” she said with a bright smile, eyes only for Joram.
Which meant that she didn’t see how Alicia’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
- - -
“So, Faenwyn,” Joram said, glancing again at her application form to get her name. “I see that you’re also studying arrays. Are you finding the courseload a bit much? Or are there other aspects that you need help with?”
Faenwyn sat across from him, her back straight, tail curled onto her lap, and golden eyes locked onto him. She was the first beastkin he’d met in the Academy, and only the second one he’d ever spoken with. Not that he had anything against beastkin, it was just that they had so few numbers there that he hadn’t had a chance to speak with them.
Her left ear twitched slightly as she seriously thought over her answer. It was a bit distracting, as she had beautiful silver hair that complimented her golden eyes and pale ivory skin quite well. Her ears, though, were the stereotypical ears you’d find in a comic, rising from the sides of her head where the top of a human’s ears would normally end to peak several inches above the top of her head.
Her tail was also standard beastkin style along with her slightly larger incisors that gave her a more feral look even though she was dressed and groomed impeccably. Aside from those features, she looked almost like a half-elf.
“I would say that I’m having difficulty deciphering the compound syntaxes needed to join two different arrays together,” she stated proudly, with a bit of challenge in her tone. “I’m sure I’ll understand it soon, but seeing as how you’re highly spoken of, I suppose that it wouldn’t hurt to see what the group can offer,” she finished, turning her face slightly to the left.
Is she a tsundere?
“Ah, then I’d be happy to help,” Joram said with a smile.
- - -
“What I’m saying is this. I’ll be happy to assist you with your tutoring group, though I’m sure that most questions will be bellow my current studies,” the elf said, flinging her long blonde hair over her shoulder absently.
“And you want to get paid for that?” Joram asked, his face deadpan.
“Well, you wouldn’t expect such a talented person such as I to instruct juniors without appropriate recompense, would you?” She asked as thought it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“No, Lymseia, we would not,” Alicia said through her fixed smile.
“It’s ‘Miss Wynvalor,” Miss Wynvalor corrected.
- - -
“My father is a Marquis of the Aestorean Kingdom. We are constantly searching for gifted Alchemists and can offer you considerable benefits if you’ll sign a contract with us,” the pretty human girl confidently offered.
She was certainly qualified to be on the Goddess Ranking given her eye-catching figure and pretty face.
“Ah, well, I’ve still got many years ahead of me before I even leave the Academy,” Joram deflected politely.
The redhead, Caroline Barrows, tossed her hair back with both hands and leaned forward slightly.
“That’s more than all right. We would prefer that anyone wishing to sing with us be thoroughly trained before being employed by the House,” she said, a confident smile on her face. “That said, we offer an annual salary of twenty High Rank, Tier 2 crystals plus discounted accommodations and board for newly signed Alchemists of the 3rd Tier.”
“That’s OK,” Joram said, hiding his shock at such a low number, not to mention needing to pay- even in part!- for his accommodations and food. “I still have time to grow and explore my options.”
Caroline’s cheeks reddened slightly as her expression darkened at his polite refusal.
“Don’t squander a good opportunity that’s landed in your lap! Our offer is amongst the best out there; you’d be short-sighted to refuse such an amazing offer,” she said as she leaned forward, wagging her finger in his face.
- - -
Joram was impressed with the agonizingly stereotypical and gorgeous demon princess in front of him. He was reasonably sure that she was a succubus, or a descendant of one. Her red/black hair was long, full, and glossy. It was tied back by two thin braids on each side of her head that started just above and just below her obsidian horns, joining together as they passed the horns to the third one that came from the top of her head.
Her horns weren’t ridged like an animal’s, but were smooth and polished to the point that he was sure he could see his reflection in them. They started high on her temples, right at the hairline of the top of hear forehead. Her horns initially rose up, but then swept back before once more curving upwards before they reached the back of her head.
He tried to concentrate on what she was saying about alchemy by looking into her amethyst eyes, but her very cute, elongated incisors were more than a little distracting behind her full lips. He was very glad that, even though she could have flaunted her ample charms, she’d dressed professionally for the interview.
“So, then, you’d like some help with breaking through to a 3rd Tier Alchemist, is that it?” Alicia asked from beside him, staying remarkably calm given how poorly he was concentrating on the interview.
“Yes, but I wouldn’t want to impose. I am willing to share some of the techniques of my homeland in exchange for your help,” she replied, sweetening the deal by actually offering something in return.
“That sounds reasonable Miss Kassandra,” Joram said, nodding. “We’ll be in touch,” he said as he stood, offering his hand.
Kassandra took his hand delicately and stood without applying pressure on his hand. He couldn’t help but glance at her “devil wings” as they unfolded slightly when she stood. Much like a traditional succubus, her wings exited her back not from her waist, but from just above midway between her shoulder blades.
“I look forward to it,” Kassandra replied with a smile, then turned and shook Alicia’s hand.
- - -
Joram and Alicia went through to more interviews, another elf and another human. The first failed not because she was trying to hard, but had resorted to hardcore flirting in the end. The second was dismissed as soon as it became evident that she wanted a “private tutor” to help her at home.
Which brought them to the second to last applicant.
“You’re already a Teir 5 Alchemist Miss Fairfir,” Joram said as he glanced at the application. “What do you hope to learn from a junior such as I?”
Renna Fairfir regarded him for a moment with her shockingly silver eyes. They weren’t just a light grey that reflected the light well, but actually looked like polished silver. Combined with her hair that looked like spun gold, he very much understood why she was ranked so high.
He was, once again, glad that the elves of this world had pointed ears along the lines of LotR rather than WarCrack or popular comics from the East. Her ears just poked out of her hair instead of jutting out like fins. On the other hand, she very much held to the more stereotypical body type.
That wasn’t to say that she was flat as a board or anything. No, if anything, he supposed that she was just below average in that area. Which, really, would have made her obscenely busty according to most mangakas. Renna was also slender, stood under five and a half feet tall, was as lithe as a professional dancer, and looked no older than sixteen… if he was being generous.
“Hmm,” she said, touching her cheek delicately with one slender finger. “I wouldn’t normally inquire about a study group created by first-years, but I’ve heard many interesting things about you.”
“Oh? Do tell,” Alicia asked as she got that subtle look that told Joram that she was ready to toss the elf out the door.
“Oh, let’s see,” she said, now tilting her head slightly, giving her an incredibly cute look. “You’ve brought strange new instruments to the Academy and play them exceptionally well. You’re also able to slip away from a watching crowd from behind a screen with not a single person noticing. You rub elbows with the Dean and the President of the Heavenly Trove.
“Not to mention that you’ve been tutoring several of the children on the Goddess Ranking over the past two months without the slightest negative comment from them. On the contrary, when asked about those sessions, they speak nothing but praise about not only how well those sessions are conducted, but also how well you’ve conducted yourself around them,” she said, listing each one off and raising a finger to illustrate her five points.
“All true,” Joram said, fighting off a blush due to the praise at the end. “But why would you want to join out study group? A 5th Tier Alchemist must surely have better things to do than participate in a low-level study group.”
Renna smiled at him, showing her remarkably white, straight, and perfectly formed teeth.
“Are you trying to recruit me or chase me off?”
“I’m just wondering what you hope to learn from us,” Joram said with his second-best smile.
To her credit, his smile didn’t phase her at all.
“I am an assistant to the instructors for the fourth and fifth years,” she said, scoring a point on him when he couldn’t hold back his blink of surprise. “I enjoy helping my juniors, especially ones who seem promising. And if the rumours are true, then you’re very promising indeed,” she finished with a mysterious smile.
Which just made her impishly cute, honestly.
“Well, then I look forward to learning from you,” Joram said as he stood up and extended his hand to her.
Renna accepted his hand in much the same way that Kassandra had, though she didn’t seem to care if she pulled on his hand as she stood up. A warm smile replaced the adorable one, causing her eyes to actually glisten a bit in the light as she looked up at him.
“Likewise,” she said, then turned to Alicia and offered her hand to her. “It will be fun teaching promising students.”
“I look forward to your guidance,” Alicia replied with her own warm smile.
Once Renna stepped out, Alicia turned to him and nodded. But before she could speak, the front door of the manor swung open again to admit the last applicant.
Joram quickly took the application from the white-haired cat beastkin as she practically danced up to them. From the tips of her ears that stood up above her pixie cut to the tip of her long and sleek tail, her hair was as white and shimmering as newly fallen snow.
If it weren’t for the progress he’d made over the past two months with keeping his hormones under control, he would have definitely been staring at Emily Hornwood.
She stood just a bit shorter than Renna had and was gorgeous enough to land solidly on the Ranking. But that’s where the similarities ended between the two.
Where Renna had a lithe body any professional dancer would envy, Emily managed to keep a fit look while being incredibly busty with hips that could mesmerize a blind man if she walked him. Her tail swayed gently behind her as she swayed slightly in place as she waited for him to quickly read her application before handing it off to Alicia.
If it were just her figure and stunningly good looks, it wouldn’t have been too bad. But since the school week had just ended, students were allowed to dress in casual clothes. And she had gone all-in on the casual.
She wore a body suit that clung to every part of her body, something one would see on a superhero that the artist had drawn naked, but then added lines here and there to give the illusion of clothing with some embellishments to make her “outfit” a bit fancier.
Emily had a thin cloth choker that attached to the body suit at the neck. There was a bit of white trim on the bottom edges of the body suit that barely went down to the tops of her shapely thighs. Her back was almost completely exposed, but stopped just before her tail, which popped out of the outfit just two inches later.
He had no idea how she considered what she wore to be appropriate outside attire. Even though ever inch of the front of her torso was covered in cloth, it also left absolutely nothing to the imagination as it clung to her like plastic-wrap.
“Um, Emily?” He said, concentrating very hard on her very red eyes. “You don’t seem to be taking any of the courses that our study group covers.”
“Hmmm, I kneow,” she said, almost breaking his brain. “I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about since Renna-chi actually came by,” she said, smiling a smile that showed her own elongated incisors.
“Ah, then, I hope that I haven’t disappointed,” he said with another one of his second-best smiles.
He almost backed up when Emily slid closer to him, going on tiptoes as she breathed in deeply through her nose.
“I think I’ll have fun,” she said with a smile that sent a shiver up his spine. “After all, you’re not quite a prude, are you?”