She was too nervous. If she was in a negotiation, she knew without a doubt that she’d be at a massive disadvantage. Her heart rate was up, and she was allowing others to distract her.

After Renna- quite possibly the most mature and collected of them all before this trip- had returned from speaking with Joram, her heart had sunk. The calm, cool, and idolized High Elf of the Academy was… anything but calm and cool.

Sophia watched as Renna tried to pretend that nothing was amiss, but after the third time someone mentioned Joram’s name in passing had caused her to stutter and blush slightly, she ran off claiming that she needed a nap.

When she had seen what Kassandra came downstairs dressed in, she nearly fainted. That the number three on the Ranking was dressing like that just to speak with someone didn’t bode well for what might happen afterwards.

What was worse, was that Jae-Eun had taken one look at Kassandra and had rushed off with such a look of determination on her face that she wondered if the girl was going to the gallows. Not long after she, too, had gone to speak with Joram once Kassandra returned looking like a well-fed cat…. Which wasn’t fair to Emily when she really thought about the comparison.

At that point, her palms were sweaty. She hadn’t even been this nervous for her first shift at her first job! She took a few moments to breath, cycling mana through her system to help calm her nerves. But when Jae-Eun flashed by like lightning, looking redder than a tomato, she nearly lost her breakfast.

‘Hey, I think it’s your turn to speak with Joram,’ Alicia’s voice rang out in her head, causing her to jump like a…. She stopped there; her mind too frazzled to think of an appropriate simile.

She could only nod, having somehow forgotten how to speak through the ring.

Sophia got up, straightened her combat attire, which just so happened to include the body suit that Joram had made her. But she was much better covered than the others had been!

“Are you OK?” Alyraele asked, concern heavy in her gentle voice.

“I’ll be good,” she said mechanically. “Just like any job interview. Nothing to worry about,” she finished as she began walking to the back door.

Sure, it was a good sixty feet away, but to her it felt like hundreds of miles. Each of her steps didn’t seem to take her anywhere, yet before she knew it, her hand was on the back door, ready to slide it open.

She took another few steadying breaths to help calm her heart as she once again circulated mana through her body. After another few minutes of that she opened the door and strode to the small gazebo where Joram sat.

When she got there, she realized that the walk hadn’t been as bad as she’d feared. Joram hadn’t stared at her as she approached, leaving her able to collect herself even more on the short walk.

In fact, Joram continued to stare off into the distance, looking a million miles away.

She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to wait to be invited to sit, or if she was supposed to just do what she wanted. Another minute passed by like that before she decided to just sit, and to hell with what he thought about it.

That seemed to snap him out of whatever daydream he’d been in, a startled look replacing his faraway one.

“Ah, sorry about that,” he said, looking more than a little embarrassed and nervous.

“It’s all good,” she said as nonchalantly as she could manage. “So, what did you want to talk about?” She asked, throwing the ball to his court.

She very much didn’t want to broach the subject with how nervous she felt. So, she fell back on her training in negotiation. Step one: take the initiative. Make the other person reveal what they wanted so that you could be in a better bargaining position.

“Oh, right, that,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “I’m sorry for how last night ended. I’m rather terrible with that sort of thing,” he said, not quite looking at her.

“The friendship thing,” she said, pretending to just remember what had kept her on edge the whole night.

“Yeah, that,” he said, nodding along. “Have you decided if you’d like to stay in the study group?” He asked, looking for all the world like he didn’t want to talk about it.

Which threw her for a loop. Why wouldn’t he want to know? Didn’t he want them all there? Wasn’t that why he’d brought up all that stuff about friendship and all that?

“Yes, I would like to stay with the study group, but…” she said, but couldn’t get the next words out.

“But? Is there something I can help with?” Joram asked, now looking at her directly, his green eyes practically staring into her soul.

“But I don’t want to sleep with you!!” She finally yelled, getting the thing off her chest that had been weighing so heavily on her. “I’m not that kind of girl! If that doesn’t work for you, then I’ll find my own way!”

She nearly got up and ran away after finally managing to blurt out her feelings and fears, but stopped at the absolutely stunned, poleaxed, astonished, shocked, and amazed look on his face. His eyes were wide open, his jaw hanging low. He was so pale that she thought she was seeing a ghost for a moment.

Then he was just… gone.

Gone, as in not there. Not gone as in “a faraway look” in his eyes. One moment he was sitting there, the next… nothing. She felt her heartrate skyrocket and her adrenaline spike before a scream tore its way out of her mouth, and she started running.

Before she knew it, Alyraele and Daleira were holding her and saying things that she couldn’t quite make out over the blood roaring in her ears. Then, just as suddenly as the panic attack had come on, it was gone, leaving behind only calm and peace.

“What happened?” Alicia asked from just a foot away, her hands on Sophia’s shoulders as the looked her in the eyes.

“Ah,” she said, now beyond embarrassed and into the territory or mortification. “I, talked to Joram.”

“And…?” Alicia prompted gently, her eyes soft and understanding.

“Well, I cleared the air with him,” she said, suddenly not wanting to look Joram’s girlfriend in the eyes anymore.

“Please, tell me exactly what you said,” Alicia asked softly, now looking a bit worried.

Sophia didn’t understand where she was coming from. What did it matter what she’d said? But the Look that Alicia was giving her prompted her to speak.

“I told him that I still wanted to stay in the study group,” she said, finally noticing that almost everyone was gathered around her, listening to her every word. “I told him that I would stay, but there was a condition,” she said, then swallowed hard when their gazes sharpened.

“And what was the condition?” Again, Alicia’s prompt was so kind and caring that she answered before she knew it.

“I told him that I didn’t want to sleep with him,” she blurted out, causing every face present to turn crimson, even Alicia’s.

“And then?” Alicia asked, her voice straining to stay calm and caring.

Sophia gulped then, remembering what had happened and how freaked out she’d been.

“Then he turned into a ghost and vanished…” she said, her voice nearly failing her as she finished speaking.

It seemed that their ears weren’t for show, because everyone looked at her dumbly for a moment before Alicia spoke.

“A ghost?” She asked, her voice light.

“He was so white,” she said, going pale at the memory. “Then he was gone. He didn’t move. There was no sound. Nothing. He just vanished.”

Alicia facepalmed.

Sophia didn’t understand why she did that, finding the reaction odd given what everything might mean. She firmed her resolve, cleared her throat, then asked Alicia what had been eating away at her since Joram’s disappearance.

“Alicia? Is the reason why no one can feel Joram’s cultivation…” she gulped again, building up the courage to ask. “Is… Joram actually a ghost?”

There! I asked! Ahhhhh~~~~!!!! I hate ghosts!!!

Alicia looked at her blankly for a moment, as did everyone else present.

“I mean! The reason why he’s so strong with Mental Strength! Ghosts are said to not have a cultivation, and!, he’s such a strong Mentalist! Ghosts are strong Mentalists!” She blurted out, babbling to try and explain herself.

Alicia squeezed her shoulders tight, her head dropping so that her chin rested on her chest. To Sophia, she looked so downtrodden and depressed that she was about to comfort Alicia, letting her know that it was understandable to be fooled by such a powerful ghost. Then Alicia started to shake, and she panicked. But before she could say anything, Alicia burst out in laughter.

In fact, she was laughing so hard that only her grip on Sophia’s shoulders kept her from falling over.

“Oh, I needed that!” Alicia wheezed, barely able to get the words out as she gasped for breath.

“What?” Sophia asked, looking around at her friends who were also trying very hard not to laugh.

Her face turned crimson, not sure what they were all about, but absolutely sure that she was missing something important.

Because Alicia was too… preoccupied, Aya spoke up, surprising them all.

“Joram isn’t a ghost,” Aya said, astonishing Sophia with her use of his first name. “He was probably mortified by your statement and fled to a Small World that he has access to,” she said simply, but her words pierced deep into Sophia’s chest.

“What do you mean?” She asked, narrowing her eyes as she regarded Jae-Eun’s protector. “With all of his weird talk yesterday, and how everyone constantly flirts so outrageously with him, isn’t all this talk of becoming ‘friends’ with him another way of him demanding ‘extra benefits’ from us?” She demanded as her face turned very red with how embarrassing the words were for her to speak, not to mention how she felt about her claims of Joram being a ghost.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Not a single one of them didn’t blush in one way or another, confirming her thoughts.

“Sophia,” Alicia finally spoke, looking her dead in the eye. “I don’t know where this misunderstanding has come from, but Joram isn’t like that,” she said, then proceeded to explain how they’d specifically weeded out the young women who’d basically thrown themselves at Joram during the interviews for the extra spots in the study group.

Sophia stared at Alicia for a while, mulling things over. Even Aya nodded along when Alicia had told the story. Then she noticed Jezira nodding along as well, and that gave her pause. She was almost certain that Jezira wasn’t just a “maid”, but was instead a protector for her princess like Aya was for Jae-Eun.

So, if someone as strong as them, and presumably well-versed in investigating any would-be associates of their princesses, then their opinions would hold weight….

“So, what’s with all the weird talk?” Sophia asked suspiciously as she looked at her friends. “Why’s everyone acting so weird?”

It took a while before someone spoke.

“It was the first time that… I spoke with someone of the opposite sex so candidly,” Alyraele said, her face still rosy. “It was much more pleasant than I had anticipated. Speaking of my familial difficulties with Joram was very liberating… and reassuring.”

“Uh-huh,” Sophia said, scrutinizing the young woman who just so happened to be one of her best friends.

What she saw wasn’t the façade that Alyraele normally wore, but the more vulnerable one she had when they spoke quietly with one another when it was just the two of them. She then wondered what sort of sorcery Joram had used to crack Alyraele’s shell. It had taken her many months of getting to know the young noblewoman before they’d started being able to speak of topics closer to the heart.

“I can say without a shred of doubt that Joram wasn’t trying to get any ‘extra benefits’ from his talk with me. On the contrary, he was extending an offer of friendship. A friendship strong enough that he would help me walk my own path, regardless of what my family wants,” Alyraele said, her chin rising slightly in the way that Sophia knew meant that her pride was out in full force.

“Oh? And how would he do that? You’re a noble. As far as I can tell, he’s a commoner like me, Gabrielle, and Daleira,” she said, her own pride getting kindled.

“How many commoners do you know that can punch a hole in a dragon, then literally blow its brains out of its skull?” Jezira spoke up, surprising everyone present with her light, but mocking words that further irritated Sophia.

“There are plenty of independent cultivators out there,” she said, digging her heals in.

“How many are there that can do that, but are younger than you?” Jezira pressed, an elegant eyebrow arching as she spoke.

“How is he younger than me?” She spluttered. “Have you seen him?!”

“Hmmm. In our homeland, there are techniques one can use to determine the age of a cultivator. It’s very useful when doing background checks on people, especially with the added youth granted by breaking through the Tiers as a cultivator progresses,” she said with a faint smile on her lips.

Everyone’s attention was suddenly fixed on the woman, their eyes practically shining with interest. Her friends knew that she was only nineteen this past year, though she’d soon be twenty years old. Of her three friends, Alyraele, Daleira, and Gabrielle, she was the youngest. She was certain that Jae-Eun was younger than her, though. Faenwyn and Kassandra were definitely older, but she wasn’t sure about Emily.

“So, given that Joram isn’t a young lord with resources handed to him on a golden platter,” Jezira said, also shocking everyone when she used his first name. “And that he is also younger than you; why wouldn’t he be able to protect his friends with his personal strength?”

Sophia couldn’t help but stare at the woman for a bit as thoughts spun around in her head. It was true that Joram was exceptionally talented and ridiculously strong for his age. Almost everyone had taken him for being much older than the rest of them even though he was only a first-year student.

After all, it wasn’t unusual for a talented crafter to enroll at the Academy later in life to progress their stagnating craft.

“Just how old is he?” Sophia asked, once again getting everyone’s attention that then turned back to Jezira.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” she replied, causing not a few looks of disappointment. “Suffice it to say, even Princess Sung is older than he is. Though, I’m sure that his appearance has to do with the unusual body refining technique that he uses.”

That dropped almost every mouth in the room, including hers. If even Jae-Eun was older than Joram, just how young was he?!

“I think we’re getting a bit off topic,” Alicia piped in, drawing their attention back to her. “Suffice it to say, Joram certainly has the means to keep his friends safe. But given how sensitive any information about him is, I can’t speak to most everything. If he chooses to open up to any of you, I hope that you’ll each keep what he shares with you to yourselves, much like he does for each and every one of us,” she said firmly, but with more than a hint of passion in her voice.

“So,” Alicia continued after a brief pause. “To sum things up. Joram doesn’t require any special ‘privileges’ from anyone who wants to stay in the study group. The only thing that he asks for is your firm friendship and trust.

“I know for a fact that the very idea of demanding such ‘benefits’ from someone is against almost everything that he stands for. Even stepping into a relationship with someone who he’s had authority over in the past is almost too much for him,” she said, looking around at them all, her gaze lingering just a bit longer on Moyra and Quinn before moving on.

“So, Sophia,” Alicia said, locking eyes with her. “I’m sorry that you’ve so completely misunderstood not only the situation, but also Joram’s character. Given that it was a misunderstanding, I hope that you’ll apologize to Joram… when he eventually returns,” she said, the last part reminding Sophia of how he’d so suddenly fled.

Her pride surged up, making her want to dismiss the need to apologise to Joram. She had been very clear about where she wanted to stand, of what her bottom line was. But then her reason kicked her pride aside.

It was true that she shouldn’t feel bad about setting proper boundaries with people. In fact, that was right and good. What had prompted her reasoning to intervene was that she’d gone into the situation and based her actions around a misunderstanding.

The remorse that was starting to set in wasn’t for being assertive, but for inadvertently insulting and hurting Joram by implying that she thought he was aiming for sexual compensation for his tutoring. That she now knew she’d been wrong, as well as now knowing that Joram’s wasn’t like that, well. That came as an astonishing relief to her.

Sophia needed to take a few breaths before she could speak, also taking a moment to circulate her mana to help calm herself down.

“Everyone,” she said, not quite able to meet their eyes. “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I can see that you all like Joram that way, and he really is a great guy. But I don’t think I see him that way,” she finished.

Gabrielle and Daleira scooted forward to wrap her in hugs, prompting many more of her friends to join in as well. It felt great to have them comfort her, to feel how much they loved and cared for her. She also found that her love of the study group, of its members, had grown over the months.

She’d been afraid of losing the extra time with her friends as well as the extra boost the group provided for her studies. The thought of being kicked out for not… doing that, had started to shrivel her love of the study group, had made her start to question everything surrounding it.

But now that things were made clear, she found that not only had her love of the group stopped shrivelling, but it had also grown larger than it had been.

It took her another few minutes to clear the lump in her throat before she could speak.

“So,” she started, then paused to calm her racing heart. “Just how Joram described what friendship means to him…. Would you all be willing to be friends like that for me?” She asked, her voice growing so soft at the end that she was practically whispering again.

Once everyone had parsed what she’d said, she was overwhelmingly inundated with affirmations and support. The talk then went to each of them expressing something similar. By the end, they’d all sworn friendship with one another on the same level that Joram had spoken of, even Faenwyn and Emily.

“Ah~! This is what I was talking about!” Joram suddenly exclaimed from behind the group, making everyone jump in surprise; even Aya and Jezira. “Group hug!!!” He yelled, his arms going wide as a huge smile spread across his face.

Sophia was so shocked that her heart had nearly stopped. But Alicia, Moyra, and Quinn acted almost as one and rushed to embrace Joram in his ridiculous pose. But then Emily sped over, closely followed by Kassandra and Jae-Eun. Once they were on the way, everyone else got up and joined in on the “group hug”.

She was beyond shocked that even Aya and Jezira joined in, though they more hugged their respective princesses than anyone else. Slowly, she got up and made her way over. She hesitantly raised a hand, then squeaked as Daleira grabbed it and pulled her over, adding her to the group.

After a few moments of panic, she relaxed.

It wasn’t so bad.

* * * * *

Ah, harmony, Joram thought as he watched the study group settle down after the group hug.

He’d been this close to not saying anything after he’d returned from his brief panic-attack induced timeout. But seeing them come together to help reassure their friend had been too heartwarming. He’d been a hugger since he could remember, so he’d just gone with what he knew.

But, nine hells, had it been scary! If they’d not joined in, he would have probably “lost all face”, as it were. He wouldn’t have known how he could have faced them in the future.

Man, I love Avi, he thought as he looked over at his oldest friend on this planet. Now his lover.

He quickly fought down a blush before getting up again.

“Are we going to start planning out the quests now?” Emily asked when she noticed him standing up.

“That’s a good idea,” he said with a grin. “It would probably be a good thing if we actually did what we came out here to do.”

Emily smiled at that and sidled up closer to him so that she could take his hand, lacing her fingers with his. She then pulled him to the wall where he’d pinned the map. That drew everyone’s attention, and soon the whole study group, along with the two chaperones, was gathered around them in a semicircle.

“So,” he said, still a bit uncomfortable with so many eyes on him, especially theirs. “You might have noticed the coloured pins and the requests…” he started, then went on to explain things.

The explanation went very quickly since they’d mostly guessed everything based on the simple layout. What made things take a bit longer was their… requests to join his party for some of the higher difficulty quests.

It wasn’t that he was against the idea, but everyone wanted a turn to “spend more time getting to know” him better. Which made it so that he had to divide the four Class C quests amongst them. He had needed to plan with them which ones best suited their combat abilities to reduce the risk to each of them as much as he could.

He’d outright refused to bring any of them on the Class B quests, though. Those would be dangerous for even the Trio, let alone Emily unless she was able to release her battle aura to its limits. Even then, the only reason why he let her come was because she was an official member of N7, and he didn’t want to deny her the Ranking Points that the rest of the team would be getting from the quests.

That said, Aya and Jezira both nearly floored him when they volunteered to accompany his team for the Class B quests. Their reasoning had been that their wards would be as safe as could be while inside the safe haven. Both Jae-Eun and Kassandra had given them suspicious looks while the two protectors argued their point.

The argument that sealed their participation was a good one.

“Besides,” Jezira said. “If I am to trust our princesses’ safety to you, I feel that we should get a better idea of your team’s capabilities,” she finished, getting a nod from Aya.

“Well then, I look forward to working with you both,” he said, nodding slightly to each of them.

What he hadn’t said, or protested, was that Aya still scared him and that’s why he didn’t want her to come. But also, he was afraid that Jezira would hit on him more, getting him into trouble with everyone. And with Aya there, he very much suspected that the trouble he feared would be the immediate sort of trouble.

Since the day was still young, before noon, he suggested that they take lunch before they started questing. He pushed through the minor objections, asserting that they’d need it for the long day ahead.

By the time they left, it was decided that the first quest would be a gathering one with Alyraele and Sophia as the add-ons. As they left the portal of the safe haven, Joram remembered the astral construct that he’d left outside to “guard” the entrance.

He’d been particularly proud of that one. He’d packed in a lot of damage reduction, the ability to add fire to its attacks, and some impressive maneuverability given its size. The phoenix-shaped astral construct stood a good fifteen metres tall, with a wingspan almost double that. It had also been quite active over the last day.

He looked around at the plethora of bodies laying around the very ruined glade. Some of the bodies were nothing but bones and ash, others were just burnt horribly or mashed to near paste.

When the others stepped out, their jaws dropped at the sight of the carnage. Wentian whistled, quite impressed. Bai Lian and Mo Yu just shook their heads. But Alyraele, Sophia, and Emily, for as calm as they kept their faces, held each other’s hands very tightly.

“What’s all this?” Alyraele asked lightly as she looked around.

“Oh. Do you remember that phoenix I made last night?” He asked, looking to where said construct was standing behind the portal, then continued when they nodded. “I didn’t bother dismissing it. I left it out here to guard the area. Seems it did pretty good,” he said, nodding to himself.

“So, ah, how long will it be here if it’s a summon?” Sophia asked, noticing where he was looking.

“Oh, it’ll stay until it’s either destroyed or I dismiss it,” he explained. “Though, it’s not a summon; it’s a construct I made,” he added as an afterthought.

“Wait, what?” The two of them asked in tandem.

He smiled at how in sync they were with each other.

“Just one of the things that I can do,” he said with a shrug. “There’s a reason why I’m confident in being able to help my friends,” he finished with a smile.

“Should we get someone to harvest any of this?” Wentian asked, motioning at the carnage around them. “At the least, it would probably be good to clear this away so that more beasts aren’t drawn here.”

“Good call,” he said, once again nodding. “I’ll let Alicia know. She’ll likely organize something,” he said, then started walking north.

The team stared at him a moment before hurrying after him. For the Trio, any common sense they’d known before meeting Joram had long since been thrown out the window. For the three who’d basically just met him, they were slowly learning to do the same, just to cope.