With two very confusing reactions out of the way, I decide it's one hundred percent, not my problem. I head into my room and take my father's spear out of its wrappings. I place it across my lap and roll the charm in my fingers. I feel a pang of sadness while I do so. It just hurts so much, I miss him so much... Thinking of my dad in this world also makes me think of my dad from my past life. I miss both of them. I'm sure by now my aging dad has passed on... without his oldest son... I can't imagine the sadness he felt... from my actions.

I feel my eyes begin to water as I keep thinking about both of my families and I become increasingly more upset when I realize how much I miss them. Worst still... I don't have anyone to share my woes with. Anyone in the Hasslerouge family would either not care, or would think I am being ungrateful for them adopting me, not knowing the full depth of how little they feel like a family. Little Heather is the closest thing to a sibling to me, but still, she isn't, and no matter how much I enjoy her being around, she cannot fill any void.

My moping is suddenly interrupted by a knocking on the door of my room. I wipe my eyes and change my face before answering. I open the door, spear in hand, to find one of the other servant girls on the other side. She cheerily says to me,

"It is time to get dressed so that we may go have dinner. My lady has sent me to help you get dressed... appropriately."

I give a light laugh and set the spear down. I tell her,

"Just pick out the clothes and I can get myself dressed... actually hang around close by I can't reach some of the buttons."

She gives me a curt nod and gathers my new look.

Once dressed in a far too complicated suit I am ushed out the door where I am met by Zandra who is dressed in her normal modest way, but her dress is quite pretty on her. The other sister is there as well. Her dress is far more eye-catching absolutely lousy with the Hasslerouge famil colors. The red easily takes the show. She is back to normal now which is both annoying and relieving. She nags me,

"What took you so long."

I reply,

"I don't know how to clasp all these buttons! "

She scoffs but motions for me to lead the way. I simply say,

"I don't know where we are going. Why don't you lead?"

She shakes her head disappointedly and replies,

"I know you don't I was going to guide you, but it's not proper for a lady to lead a group."

I nod understanding this is a cultural thing we have to adhere to. I begin walking the cobble path toward the main campus of the university. The destination appears to be the older building as before, instead of the audience chamber where I was examined, we are led into a surprisingly small but cozy room. The walls are decorated with paintings of grand battles and valiant heroes of the past.

In the middle of the room is a large square table and just in front of the fireplace is a second table that appears to be set with much nicer silverware, clothing, and decor than the larger square table. The nice table is also set to have a single chair.

The room is empty aside from us and the guards standing post at the doors. As I pass through the entrance one of the guards quietly says,

"Isa... is that you?"

I look to my right and see the guard lift his visor revealing a very familiar face. Without thinking I quickly embrace the young man who returns the gesture. We give each other a kiss on the cheek as we excitedly begin speaking in our mother tongue, I start,

"Holy shit Sertean (pronounced Sear-Ten), I can't believe you are alive! How are you here?"

He smiles and replies,

"Same goes for you, Isa. I got knocked out and got captured. Some knight bought me and took a liking to me. He made me his squire after a while and now here I am, working as a royal guard in training."

I laugh while shaking my head and I answer,

"Well... I got pinned down after getting mobbed. They made me a laborer and eventually a blacksmith's assistant. Then somehow I got adopted by Duke Hasslerouge, making me Isa Hasslerouge."

Serteans eyes go wide and he quickly bows to me and we both burst out laughing. He then asks,

"What the hell do they want you for?"

I reply shaking my head and pointing my thumb toward the two girls,

"Well, the Duke wants me to marry one of his daughters so that they can inherit the family fortune. He had to adopt me to make me a noble so that certain rules are followed or something. It's bullshit and I am bad with women."

He laughs and in response says,

"Yeah, you were! I had to always seal the deal since you wouldn't!"

We both laugh at the joke when an older guard approaches. He looks disdainfully at Sertean before asking me,

"Is this... trainee causing you a problem m'lord?"

I shake my head and reply,

"Not at all! This is my best friend growing up, and still is my best friend! If I could I'd tell you to promote him right now, this is the best man you could ever hire as a guard!"

The older man gives a hearty laugh and replies to me,

"I was just making sure... and I'll keep in consideration your words of praise m'lord, I'd hate to overstep but he must get back to his duties."

I nod and apologize before turning to Sertean and saying again in our mother tongue,

"It was amazing seeing you again my friend. I hope this is not our final meeting. Goodbye, I love you."

He smiles sliding down his visor and he replies,

"I love you too buddy."

Happy about the reunion with my best friend from home I am guided to my seat between the two girls. I sit down and the rude one whispers in my ear sharply,

"What did you say about us to your friend?"

I laugh and reply,

"I was describing your more... flattering aspects... mostly when you don't talk."

This shuts her up pretty quickly and she just stares forward with that strange awkward look, the same as when I got onto her.

Then the middle Donnerstein boy enters the room. We make eye contact and he gives me the same smug grin as he had when we first met. We both nod at one another sharing half grins as he sits down in the single chair across from us.

He speaks to me for the first time ever in the most sarcastic tone possible,

"So... Isa... which one of them are you taking tonight? I'll get the other."

I chuckle and reply in a similar tone,

"I dunno... hard decision. I'll concede the first choice to you."

He laughs while shaking his head before saying,

"You might want to wait a hot minute first. Those two aren't the only options tonight..."

He raises his eyebrows while tilting his head forward toward the door as someone enters. He quickly speaks,

"Isa...if you have the time, will you let me borrow some of your time after this?"

I nod as another group enters. A pair of twins, one boy, and one girl. Both have rust-colored hair and a pair of green eyes. Fairly standard ginger features all things considered. They sit in the chairs on the left side of the table from me. I whisper to Zandra,

"Who are they, I only know two of the major noble families, us and Donnerstein."

She quietly responds,

" The Erdhauer family. They are the only children of the duke... don't try to get close to them... they are strange."

Well, that is concerning. The completely emotionless girl who seemingly has zero shits to give is calling someone strange, I take a mental note not to ever strike up a conversation with them. Then another family walks through the door.

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This is a strange one even for me to describe. One appears to be female, but she is veiled completely in what I would describe as a wedding gown. Long white and flowing without a single inch of skin visible. Behind them is a very skinny young man with pale blue eyes and brown hair. He has scraggly whiskers on his chin and upper lip. The final one of this group is somehow the strangest. Clearly, they are a heavyset person, but is the full-plate armor necessary? He is about as wide as he is tall and I am surprised he is walking. A full neckbeard is on display even from under the bucket helm. His chair strains as he sits to my right at the table. He leans toward Zandra who grimaces visibly and she leans toward me. I hear him try to speak to her and can feel the grease coming from him.

The Donnerstein boy raises his eyebrows twice at me before glancing quickly at the veiled one. I follow the glances directions and notice the tent pitched on the chest of the veiled figure. Definitely female or at least I hope, regardless... those are fucking massive. I widen my eyes in surprise at Donnerstein who gives me a knowing smile while nodding. Then the veiled figure speaks, it sounds female enough, but her voice is strange, nothing about the way it sounds, but the tone sounds overly practiced and robotic. She says to the Donnerstein boy,

"Karl... I would strongly recommend you stop staring at me... your actions are affecting my first impression of the new... acquaintance here..."

She motions toward me with her head and I straighten myself up quickly. After this, the room is deathly quiet and still. No one speaks to anyone. The only sound is the reverberated heavy breathing of the fat one inside his helmet. I sense a strange tension in the air, almost as if a fight is going to break out at any given moment. I stupidly decide to speak to the entire table,

"Well... How was everyone's trip here? I hope it was pleasant!"

I give my best friendly smile to everyone at the table. The twins speak first and in tandem,

"We arrived here quite well. Thank you for asking, it's rare for us to leave our home so any form of hospitality is appreciated."

They look toward me in sync and smile in sync as well. I see what Zandra means by they are weird, but so far harmless. I smile and nod toward them. Karl then speaks to me,

"Oh, it was fine. Nothing to note really, just a normal trip."

The veiled woman then speaks for her group,

"We arrived... but it was not a pleasant ride. It is far too warm here for my liking, but the accommodations are nice at the very least. By the way Isa... you neglected to introduce yourself to the table."

I cringe realizing no one but Karl and the girls next to me may not know me. I stand up and say to the table,

"I'm Isa... I guess Hasslerouge now. It is nice to meet you all."

The veiled woman nods and replies,

"We are the Scheemacher family. Our names are unimportant for you to know."

I sit back down a little pissed at that but in the end, it does not matter. I just don't like the way she said it, but I guess nobility works in strange ways. The room goes back to that silence as before, it's incredibly awkward. Most people are staring at the ground or at the ceiling, no one wants to make eye contact. Reading the situation it appears, that somehow I am the least awkward person in the room, except maybe Karl. The situation is most likely a mix of teenage fear of making a fool of oneself, noble etiquette, wanting to make their family proud, and a full-on lack of experience in situations like these. This takes me back to my old life when I was first starting off in business. A key skill is learning how to keep situations like these from happening during meetings and other social gatherings when dealing with potential partners, investors, allies, or even really employees. The problem is, I can't really start a conversation because I don't know any common ground. In my old life, anyone I was meeting with had some kind of common ground with me, usually, it was making money, but a vague common ground like that can lead to further understanding. Here I am stumped.

As I go to speak and make a fool of myself the old guard from before shouts into the room,

"All rise!"

Everyone at the table robotically stands to their feet. I follow suit and we all turn and face the door. The doors open and in walks an utter bombshell of a woman. As she walks in everyone bows or curtsies so I follow suit. I don't get a good look at her at first due to this, all I gathered from the first glance was that she is hot. She walks to the lonely table and unceremoniously sits on the chair and I hear the sound of shoes hitting the tabletop. In an unamused tone, she says to us,

"All of you may sit."

Everyone follows this order and I do the same. Now everyone stares dead forward at the person across from them, except me. I stare dead at the girl.

Her dress is a mess of purple and gold and it splits in the middle in the front allowing her to prop her legs up on the table. I can't really get a grasp on her shoes as they are of a design I can't truly describe some unholy mix of boots, stilettos, and platforms. The clothing choice flatters her build nicely which itself is... well very nice. Her long golden hair is delicately styled in a mix of braids and long curls. All are topped with a golden tiara with gemstones embedded in the metal. I take a look at her face which would be beautiful... if it weren't for the hateful scowl she is giving me...Wait. She's glaring right at me hate clear in her eyes. She says to me and to the room,

"I would prefer not to be stared at filthy barbarian. Who allowed this wild animal in here anyways? Who let their slave run amok?"

I quickly look dead ahead like everyone else, my ears burning in both embarrassment and a bit of anger. Looking away seemingly quells her anger very quickly. The room once again goes silent. My best guess is this girl is a princess of the kingdom, and from everyone's reactions and my experience already, she is a well-known bitch. She then speaks to the table,

"Well... you all are so boring as always. Aren't you all here to like... entertain me or something? Get talking or tell a story."

Nervously Karl begins telling jokes, I can see him sweating profusely. Every single joke falls flat. I give polite laughs when I can hoping to save him from a tiny bit of embarrassment. This goes on for a painful amount of time until a servant approaches the princess before bowing and handing her an envelope. She opens it casually and smiles confidently before reading it. Then her smile drops and her face contorts in anger. She looks up and says,

"Quiet fool."

Karl stops joking and straightens up fearfully. She then asks venomously,

"Which one of you... nobles are Isa Hasslerouge? I never bothered myself in learning all your names so reveal yourself."

I clear my throat and make direct eye contact with the princess. I lock onto her, to my surprise violet colored eyes. She shakes her head and says,

"No way... no fucking way,"

I reply,

"Yes ma'am. I am Isa Hasslerouge."

She sets the letter down and motions with one finger for me to come to her. I stand up and walk toward her table. I stand a meter back hoping that's the proper respectful distance. She looks me up and down and asks me,

"Do you consider yourself skilled?"

I reply,

"In what way ma'am?"

She gives a half smile at this response and explains,

"Are you skilled in things such as arithmetic, combat, magic, or whatever useless skills you have?

I nod and reply,

"All those things but magic. I can't use it at all."

She throws her head back in cruel laughter and when she calms down she puts her feet back onto the ground and motions to the other nobles and asks me,

"What do you think they all have in common?"

I shake my head no and say,

"No clue."

She smirks again and replies,

"They all share one thing, and it's the same thing everyone in the kingdom shares... They are all below me. Rank, skill, and ability are all those things. Then there is you.

Here I have the rankings list for the top twenty of the university. It only shows the first years due to testing for older ones being later this week. What it says on here is that you... of all people... a fucking Outcast on par with me. We are tied... tied at the very top of the rankings. This list is also annotated, meaning there is a small note written next to each name saying why they have that ranking. Yours reads, 'Dragon slayer'.

Now tell me... does that make you equal to me in any way?"

I deliberate my options for a second. Zero good options. Either destroy my pride or most likely be executed or have something bad happen to me. At the same time... I can take a gamble. I reply with my best poker face,

"Well... with all due respect. When did you slay a dragon last, because I was fifteen when I did mine."

Her face drops. I clearly baffled her, not with my explanation, but with my audacity. She seems to try and think about how to feel about this situation. I really don't know how to feel either, whether to be scared or proud. I decide on two options if she is still caught flat-footed when she is decided I'll keep the pressure on. If she is taking back initiative, I'll go into damage control.

To my surprise, she laughs. I don't really get what's so funny about what I said but I keep my poker face. When the princess calms down she wipes her watering eyes before she says to me,

"Now that is funny. Thank you for actually being able to entertain me! You really are a funny guy! I was worried for a bit you'd be like the rest of those useless ones over there!'

She motions to the rest of the noble children. Then she continues,

"Well, Sir Barbarian Dragon slayer, you've gained my favor... I guess I do need someone to help push me along. I expect fierce rivalry from you... and don't you dare ever hold back!"

She motions for me to leave after which I go back to my seat not sure if I should be scared or relieved. Supper is completely uneventful aside from the princess indulging in a little too much wine and starting to insult everyone. Not just simple ones but very personal and very in-depth. I can see even Zandra getting bothered by it. I really hate that woman. After the desert, the princess leaves in a hurry and so do the rest of the noble children. The two girls I am with leave without me very obviously disturbed. This leaves me and Karl. He motions for me to follow which I do. We walk for a while through the nighttime campus. The path is lit by the pale glow of the oil street lamps. Eventually, we make it to a balcony at the edge of the floating island.

The pale moonlight illuminates the countryside sprawling into the distance as a gentle breeze blows by. Karl leans against the railing and lets out a long whistle before saying,

"Damn... that... was something."

I nod in agreement as I lean against the railing with my forearms on the carved stone. We stand around in silence for a while before Karl starts,

"Well... I wanted to talk with you because I want to make a deal... nothing crazy so hear me out."

I nod and he explains,

"Well... you know this about as well as anyone so here I go. We are simply pawns to our fathers... well my father your... well adoptive one. Regardless the Dukes are simply using us. You as muscle, an object that can be disowned easily if you fail your missions, me as a political pawn. In the end, we are simply tools for their ambitions... and well I don't get a damn thing for it and while you are given a better deal it's still not good.

I'm the middle child, I inherit nothing, and I am considered nothing. My best option in life is to hopefully marry into a sonless family elsewhere or try and carve a path as a merchant or something. You will end up as a consort, free but bound to someone who you may not actually like and Duke Hasslerouge will still have his hands on you. We really aren't free, so that's my deal. We work toward freedom.

I am not very physically capable due to illness as a child, but I am the second most potent lightning magic user in my family behind my father. You are clearly a very intelligent person on top of your physical skills, and I am considered quite savvy in social circles... just not our age, but with the current nobles I am well-liked and a very eager people pleaser.

Our skills and abilities complement one another, from what I understand about you so far. All I offer is my help where applicable and that's all I ask of you... so we may both be free from our circumstances and so we can do exactly as we wish."

I laugh lightly and reply,

"Sounds almost too good to be true... but if you aren't lying I'd love to take you up on that deal. My only rule is that we avoid killing or harming any women or children... but men... those are fair game."

He laughs giving me his usual confident smirk and replies,

"That's a deal.

Right now we can't do much, but I assure you. Our time and opportunities are on their way."

We face one another and shake hands as a large gust of wind blows by. I don't sense any ill intention coming from Karl, but with this partnership, I plan to be the one who comes just a little on top.