I was gleefully fidgeting where I stood, enjoying the cooling, soft breezes that rolled over me. People were strutting along the sunlit streets. Some of the more heat sensitive fellows sought the shade of tall buildings. Everyone else ran around in skimpy clothes. The weather was just hot enough that people wanted to be free of most of their clothes, but could also run around without sweating so much that they turned into water-seeking complaint machines. Perfect conditions for summer dresses, of which I saw plenty.

Wanting to make a good impression, I had arrived at the agreed location half an hour early. A rather easy thing for me to do, since I had nothing to do Saturday morning and my two dates shared a class from 8:30 to 10:30.

Esther had decided that the train station was no proper place to meet up. “Too hectic and chaotic,” she had said. So we were, instead, meeting directly in front of that large mall that we usually visited.

To pass some time, I decided to take a quick stroll towards the central fountain. It was so large that, although the centre continuously spewed more water high into the air, the rim of it was calmed to a level that I could easily use it as a mirror. Just like the first time I was around here, a few slime girls (and I could say just girls here, since there was no such thing as a male slime – at least no sapient ones) were lounging in the clear water. Just like last time, the fact that they wore clothes, if supremely wet clothes, while doing this was to my great frustration.

“Is this water clear enough to drink?” I asked one slime girl, lying on her back in the water, close to where I was. Unlike the others, she wasn’t dancing or swimming, instead just lying in the water. Her gooey body was so relaxed that it spilled onto the shallow ground of the fountain. It didn’t look grotesque though, since the majority of her body remained one unit. The closest analogy I could make was a chocolate figure lying in a puddle of more chocolate. A very sexy chocolate figure, with decently sized breasts, shapely hips and juicy thighs. All of that was even further customizable. Hurray for slime girls!

This particular speciwoman was of an unusual, dark grey colour. I had the feeling I had seen her before. The colour stuck out in my memories. If she had worn the usual Welldark uniform, I would have guessed she was a student in my year. Instead, she covered herself in a miniscule top and hotpants. It appeared to me that this slime girl had as much of a problem with the dress code as I did. Cursed were those moral codes that went against public nudity.

She opened her eyes for a moment and gave me an upside down stare. Her sclera was pitch black, differentiating it from the translucent, lighter shade of the rest of her body. Inside those, her light purple, almost pink, irises were staring out with such intensity in colour and will, that I felt like they were glowing. “Yes,” she said and closed her eyes again.

I knew not to push my luck and sunk one hand into the water. If there was any one species that I trusted with knowing water quality, it would be slime girls. Most slimes depended on a steady supply of clean water to survive. They could filter out a limited amount of pollution but that was like asking a human to eat stale bread every day. Beyond that, it was like subsisting off mold and mold alone.

The very fact that there were so many of them in this fountain meant that the water was drinkable. I just wanted to try small-talk with that liquid babe. Slime girls were among the two species I definitely wanted in my Anomalia. The other was cat girls. Basic tastes, admittedly, but just because something was widespread didn’t mean it was bad. Almost everyone liked strawberries and there was nothing wrong with that.

I was also partial to elves, angels, succubi, kitsunes, goblins, faeries, vampires,… it was an exceedingly long list. There were a few species I didn’t particularly like. Extremely muscular ones like orcs and ogres came to mind, who looked like someone had slapped boobs on a body builder. In the end, it came down to the individual though, and I wouldn’t let my appreciation of slime and cat girl aesthetic win over genuine love

As I thought about all of that, I took a few gulps of water out of my cupped hand and used some more to clean my face. Then, I stepped away without another word. The grey slime girl didn’t strike me as someone unable to socialize, but as someone unwilling to. Therefore, my best path to leave a good (or non-bad) impression was to quietly leave. If she was part of the freshmen, then I would meet her again at some point. If not, there were other squishy blobs in the pond.

I was halfway back to my waiting point when I realized that Esther and Aclysia were coming toward me. Both were still in their school uniforms, having come here directly from class. Aclysia had opted for the short-sleeved variation of the red shirt, while Esther covered most of her skin, like always. In legwear, they also differed. Where the raven-haired lady continued to buck the trend by wearing black pants, the headmaster’s daughter wore the knee-long skirt. Both had their outfits arranged in an orderly fashion.

It had to be said that Aclysia was a bit of a pain to look at.

Unlike yesterday evening, the sun stood quite high at this moment. Her snow-white skin reflected it aggressively, making her arms and face light up like a beacon. Okay, not that badly, but she wasn’t the kind of woman that looked best at a beach. Her proper environment was, quite clearly, in a maid uniform, holding a salver, standing next to the dinner table and asking how she may be of service, while taking a little bow. Either that, or in the kitchen, wearing casual clothes, and asking me how my day has been.

Esther, however, looked fantastic. I couldn’t imagine an environment where she wouldn’t look fantastic either. She had that regal, disciplined aura about her and the healthy tan layered over her fundamentally pale complexion only underlined it. Even as a farm girl, she would go after shovelling hay with grace and efficiency, and look no worse off for it. Although I think the best environment for her would be being seated on a throne. Or my face. I think her thighs would have a lot more use warming my head than some important-looking chair.

I changed direction and met them halfway. Esther met me with a hug, which was extremely nice. Embracing girls in general was nice. Embracing busty girls roughly one’s own size was extremely nice. The combination of hair-smelling (citrus, like usual) and boobs squishing against my chest was exactly what I wanted from my day.

That was the first time she had actually greeted me like that. Normally we just said hello and then I had to get a bit pushy on the physical front. “I feel like today’s Anomalia Management class had a segment in it about physical contact,” I made an educated guess. If there were noticeable changes in Esther’s behaviour on a Saturday, that was always the likeliest cause.

“Affirmative,” Aclysia answered, while Esther slowly pulled away from me. “A proper relationship should have emotional and physical closeness. Never underestimate either. I am summarizing.”

“Your teacher sounds very wise,” I hummed in a pleased fashion. One of Esther’s arms stayed wrapped around my waist and I answered in kind. Walking arm in arm had become largely normal at this point.

“Professor Lionflower has my utmost respect,” Esther’s hard tone reflected her veneration.

‘Always good when a student finds a role model in a teacher.’ I thought. ‘Means that the time at university is actually worth something.’

Welldark was a place where people came to learn a set of useful skills for life, from people that had credentials and experience beyond the campus. Not a university that financed dance theory based on some rabid, anti-social ideology, or something of similar absurdity.

To the best of my knowledge, every teacher on Welldark had been travelling around dimensions for at least a few years. Even if they stayed safe during those journeys by staying on explored worlds, I would hope that seeing a lot of different societies, their solutions and their ensuing problems would give them a bit of humility. At the very least it meant that none of the teachers were sheltered and that they knew that they were preparing students for a world that also wouldn’t shelter them. People that promised safety and definitive answers weren’t teachers, they were cult leaders.

And my sweet Esther shouldn’t fall prey to some cult, especially not because her relationship with me made her feel insecure about her social inadequacies. I didn’t think she would either. If the lecturer ever taught her something she saw as impractical, she would just ignore it.

My hand visibly slipped down from the side of her waist to the raven-hard lady’s butt and squeezed. To no complaint from the same. “Will you take the lecture to heart?” I asked with a carefree smile, raising my other hand with a clearly offering intent. Aclysia considered for a moment, then, against my expectations, nodded.

“It strikes me as a pleasurable learning experience,” she said with a tiny smile on her pink lips and attached herself to my left.

It was meant to be a joke. However, where jokes were met with earnest interest, the joker had only two avenues. Double down on ridicule or shut his mouth and roll with it. In this situation, I certainly chose the latter.

The result was that I got two gorgeous women under my arms. We probably gave a pretty nice image as far as colour schemes went as well. I shared white hair with Aclysia and a healthy tan with Esther. Both of them wore their red-black blue uniforms, while I had decided to go with a blue t-shirt, to go along my eyes, and dark cargo pants. A neat arrangement, aesthetically speaking.

It didn’t take long for things to get a little more comfortable. The luxury of holding onto Esther’s backside was already mine and I dared to do the same with Aclysia. Expectedly, she went along. Esther then rested her head on my shoulder and Aclysia soon did the same. I was halfway to heaven at that point.

As a, perhaps odd, benefit of working out, I was happy that my shoulders were big enough to make for a comfortable place for their heads. Whether they thought the same about the squishy end results of an unknown number of squats which both of my hands got to grope now, I could only wonder. Even if I was told the answer, I would have been too busy squeezing to listen.

Which of the two was more satisfying under my palm? That was highly subjective, at this quality of backside. Aclysia had more ass, bluntly speaking. Her hips were wider, her cheeks rounder, and, by extension, the overall volume was higher. Her backside was softer and likely jigglier. She had that prime bubble butt.

Esther, however, had an extra level of firmness going on. Her butt was still big enough for my entire hand to not only grip but sink into something. It was less jiggly and more juicy, something really satisfying to hold onto and feel moving under my grip. All of that more than made up for her backside being slimmer. That aside, a bigger butt wasn’t necessarily a better one.

So, in my personal opinion, Esther won out by the slightest margin. Because, having seen and groped it in various outfits, I was convinced that her heart-shaped pillow of an ass was about as perfect as the female backside could possibly be. Aclysia’s butt was just a tad too big for that. It was the difference between a 9 and a 10 out of 10. I was blessed being able to have the time to even make that comparison.

On a related topic, I sure was happy to have taken a pair of more constricting trunks for this date. Otherwise, walking would have been difficult. I didn’t even know when we had gotten walking, since I was so lost in my analysis. Likely, Esther had decided that we should get going, Aclysia had agreed, and I had just followed, my hands glued to them.

Back in reality, I noticed that we weren’t heading into the mall. “Sorry, I got distracted,” I said honestly, my hands sliding up to their waists. Concentration was difficult with one butt to squeeze and two was just a surefire way to fail. “Where are we going?”

“On Aclysia’s recommendation, we are heading towards a tailor further out that provides high quality, custom orders,” Esther responded. “I hope you don’t mind, good Karitas.”

With the smell of her hair still filling my lungs, I very much didn’t.

________________________________________________________________________

Moving around the way we did only got us a moderate amount of attention.

This was Welldark, so seeing a man with two women by his side was far from unusual. As a matter of fact, the typical group of upperclassmen took the shape of a half-filled Anomalia. One man was accompanied by as few as one and as many as ten women. Given the relationship that accompanied forming an Anomalia, there was a good amount of flirting and kissing among the members of it.

To the denizens of Welldark and those upperclassmen, this was hardly anything interesting anymore. Only the freshmen that came from monogamist worlds still had some wonder left for the situation. Neither I, nor the two beauties by my side, fit into that category, so none of us felt any shame either.

It wasn’t the number that got us some attention, it was the quality. Esther and Aclysia, as I would never stop appreciating, were drop-dead gorgeous. Symmetrical and attractive facial features, wonderful hair, and luscious curves. Aside from that, all three of us were at least minorly famous. There was some sort of university newsletter that had reported on the happenings of the introduction ceremony. It was doubtful a lot of people read it, but some was enough to get the rumour mill going.

All of that aside, Aclysia was likely somewhat known by the townsfolk, purely because of her heritage. She was essentially a part of Welldark’s royalty.

The crowds around us thinned out the further we got away from the city centre. After about forty minutes of walking, our only company was the occasional soft gale. The wind carried with it the smell of sweet flowers and fresh grass. Once more, Welldark’s suburban nature came to please me in its simultaneously compact and spaced out design. The small, colourful decorations that individualized the gothic buildings of purple, grey and black, often harmonized with the petals that grew from the green lawn and brown dirt of the well-kept gardens.

Birds, mostly of the small variety, sat on fences, hid in the hedges, rested in the trees or bathed in the little pools people provided for them. They chirped their lovely songs, a pleasant replacement for the sounds of cars or centipede demons that bigger cities used.

It was no wonder many people who graduated Welldark chose to return there when they were done adventuring. I had to assume that not everyone who wanted to settle here was allowed to. Otherwise, Welldark would have needed to grow bigger to accommodate. That, in turn, would have made it less pleasant to live in.

“We are about to arrive,” Aclysia informed us and accelerated her steps, turning the corner on her own. My left side felt lonely immediately, but it had to happen at some point. Esther and I followed hastily, our steps echoing on the grey pavement.

The shop Aclysia stopped in front of almost seemed like it didn’t want to get noticed. It was a simple, square extension to a house. Essentially, it was a larger garage with a door and a window instead of a gate. Said window was likely one-way, as I could only use its black surface to check my reflection and to read the name of the shop. Written in golden letters, it said ‘White Weave’.

When we walked in, the warmth of the day was immediately replaced by the pleasant cool of a climatized store. A hint of peppermint played around my nose and soft classical music replaced the chirping of birds. An electric bell announced our arrival. I heard movement in the back, but had enough time to inspect our surroundings.

What was inside the shop lay in stark contrast to the simplicity of the outside. The floor was a burgundy red carpet of sublime cleanliness. Every piece of furniture in the room was expertly crafted from mahogany. Shelves covered most of the walls, holding many types and colours of fabric and yarn. A small number of mannequins wore exemplary dresses of great beauty, both of simple and intricate designs. Only one wore a suit.

Esther stepped up to the mannequins and inspected the craftsmanship, while I walked to the central table and took a look around for anything else that might be interesting. There wasn’t much. However, I did get to confirm my suspicion that the window was one-way.

“Ah, Sia, dear, I was wondering who it would be!” an enthusiastic voice rang out and I turned toward the other end of the room. Leaving the door behind her open, a blonde woman entered. She was a human, it appeared, since I could make out nothing that would point to any other origins.

Her lean form was clad in a white dress, whose gem-beset surface sparkled as she moved. On her slightly wrinkly face, she wore a broad smile. That changed for a few moments, while she bowed down and gave Aclysia two quick kisses on either cheek. She was a giant of a woman, with arms that displayed some muscle, but very long and slender fingers. A successful fusion between an amazon and a noble lady, that’s how I would have described her. The earrings she wore had the same blue colour as her eyes.

“Who did you bring here today?” she asked, checking out me and Esther. Her left hand was already raised in a greeting wave, showing the black circle that wrapped around her ring finger, numerous lines crossing through it. It marked her as a member of an Anomalia, although I didn’t know which one and I was too far away to count the lines and find out about her relative power. I only saw that there were relatively few.

“May I introduce,” Aclysia gestured towards us. “Karitas Desia and Lady Esther.” I winced a little bit at the mention of my last name. I really didn’t like it. “This is my anolia, Sybille Taurus.”

Anolia was a term used to describe the different women in a father’s Anomalia who weren’t a child’s mother (the male equivalent was anolit). In other words, although the last name made this blindingly obvious, Sybille was a member of Taurus’ Anomalia and one of the women who had raised Aclysia.

“An honour,” I said, bowing my head respectfully. Esther simply mimicked the motion, not feeling the need to echo what I had said.

“Oh, now that’s a surprise,” Sybille said, snickering a little bit to herself. “I do wonder what Dere will think about that…” I guessed that Dere was a nickname for Derilea, Aclysia’s actual mother. “…Anyway, I’m gonna assume you’re here to get dressed up for the ball tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Esther confirmed in her soft accent.

“Alright, do you have the coupons with you?” The question came mostly expected and of course we did. Well, Esther did. She had put both mine and hers into her bag this morning so I wouldn’t have to carry around my own bag when I took the train into the city. The alternative was to turn it into a crumpled mess in my pocket.

While she handed them over, I had a small question. “Do you really need that money, being one of the headmaster’s women and all that?”

“I need to buy the replacement materials,” the blonde responded, while going over the two, highly decorated pieces of paper. After being certain that they were real, she placed them on the counter where the register also stood. “If I asked Arus for everything, I would feel hurt in my pride. That aside, that’s exactly what these coupons are for, so it’s better to use them than waste that pretty paper Dere so carefully decorated.”

That made enough sense, so I just nodded.

“Now,” having stored away the coupons, Sybille walked up to me. “Let’s start with you. Men are usually quicker to finish up with. I assume you want a regular suit?”

“Make it bright green and covered in lucky charms,” I joked and Sybille punched me on the shoulder with a friendly laugh.

“At least cute little Aclysia picked someone with humour! Never thought I would see the day. When she was thirteen, she kept insisting that jokes were-“

“Honoured anolia!” Aclysia interjected, already blushing. “I would be much obliged if you were to not mention my shameful years.”

“What, did you have a rebellious phase?” I asked, too intrigued to let that pass by. There was nothing greater in the world than to tease people one was interested or in love with. It may only have been interest at this moment, but getting anecdotes prepared ahead of time was wise. That way, I could lovingly annoy her more effectively.

“Quite the contrary, she had a very obedient phase. Like all of Derilea’s daughters. Very diligent and serve-happy genes. Do recommend keeping at least one around and happy,” Sybille winked. “I have a bet running whether she also inherited Dere’s fetishes, so if she’s into sucking you off, give me a call.”

“HONOURED ANOLIA!” Aclysia shouted and stomped on the floor in a very atypical fashion. Her paleness had been replaced with a shade of red. Her hairline was suddenly exceedingly visible. “I demand you cease immediately!”

“Can I have your number? You know, just to learn more?” I requested openly. “What’s the stance on spanking?”

“…Not even a blush of red, my Lord, you are quite the open pervert,” Sybille commented on my reactions. “I’ll think about the number as for the spanking…,” she winked at Aclysia, “In the interest of Sia’s maidenly nerves, I won’t tell you more though.”

“Guess I’ll just find out for myself,” I declared with a grin. Next to me, Esther softly shook her head and, across the table, Aclysia stared at her feet. Letting the emotions simmer down, I decided to get back to the topic at hand. “Anyway, yes, a simple suit will do. Black or dark blue, I don’t particularly care for or against either.”

“Mhm, difficult… black would contrast with your hair nicely, blue harmonize with the eyes…,” Sybille’s tone shifted into more appropriate business talk, now that she was eyeing me like a designer would. “I could do both by modifying the jacket… no, that’d be a bit busy for a man’s outfit. Given that you wear your hair this long, black will have a better effect. Normal suit pants?” I nodded. “Mhm… ah, yes, that will do then. Come with me please.” She suddenly turned around and waltzed towards the door she had come from.

“I’ll be back in a bit, I suppose,” I said and casually waved at my dates. The back was one relatively spacious hall, separated into numerous work areas by curtains that could be pulled into place however wanted, thanks to railings under the ceiling. Where the front room was the orderly store, this was the chaotic work room. Equipment and half-done projects hung and stood around everywhere. Sybille directed me towards one corner with a stool and quickly took my measurements. Then she vanished for a full minute.

When she reappeared, she presented me with a jacket to try on. It fit perfectly, so that was a great start. Next, she came back with a pair of pants, which also fit perfectly already. It seemed she was an industrious woman that kept most sizes in stock.

“Tie?” she asked, once both of those were sorted out.

“I’d rather not,” I answered honestly. As a hand to hand fighter, I found ties absolutely horrible. They were useless articles of clothing that only looked moderately good (not even that, in my opinion) and gave potential enemies something easy to grab.

“Alright… if you had said yes, I would have given you a white shirt with a blue tie. If you aren’t wearing one, we’re just going with a blue shirt,” Sybille decided, stepped out of the curtain room I had to myself and left me standing there. In only my underpants and shirt, I may add. Sybille had just watched me change into different things. I felt no lechery from her, she was purely professional about this. The only sizing up I felt was analysis.

Once she returned with a sky-blue shirt, I had to reduce what little I was wearing to just the underpants. I did that too without hesitation. “Oh yeah, you’ll be a good partner for little Sia,” Sybille decided, probably in response to my abs. “In case this needs saying, if you make her cry, you will have a bad time.”

“It doesn’t and I won’t – not with any malicious purpose, at least,” I promised, while sliding into the assorted outfit. All three pieces combined, I stepped in front of a large mirror to inspect myself.

The suit fit on all levels. Rolling my shoulders and stretching my arms, I found no restriction in my movement whatsoever. In a worst-case scenario, I could fight in it, which I deemed rather important for any set of clothes.

When it came to being stylish, it was simple and effective. As Sybille had said, the smooth black of the jacket and pants contrasted well with my white hair. The underlying blue shirt, on the other hand, had almost the same colour as my eyes. The bright colour took some of the harshness from the black. It made me seem sleek and mysterious, with only a hint of the gothic darkness that enveloped Welldark. I very much liked it.

“Despite being three pieces, male outfits are always easier,” Sybille sighed. “The uniformity makes things a whole lot easier. Women often like it fancier.”

“Well, I’ll be happy to see what you make for Esther,” I said with a smile. In the spirit of making things go smoother, I also told her something before it could become an issue, “She won’t change if someone else is in the room. Things will go quicker if you step out.”

“Is that so?” Sybille cocked her head as she digested that little tidbit. “I’ll keep it in mind. Now change back and get out of here.” She simultaneously gave me hurried gestures and friendly winks. “It’ll be a lot more pleasing if you only see each other dressed up tomorrow.”

She had a point there.

________________________________________________________________________

“Wow, you look like you actually belong in that suit,” Arlethia poked fun at me, while she stirred the milk she had on the stove. “Fancy thing, wasted on you.”

“I tend to agree,” I said flippantly, rolling the firm fabric of the jacket’s chest segmented between my fingers. “And I should still get more like this one. What are you doing anyway?”

“Hot chocolate,” Willt responded for her, reading at the table. “You want some too?”

“I don’t want to challenge my luck,” I denied with a dramatic wave. “If the world feels I was too happy recently, it might just decide that I ruin this suit by covering myself in that hot chocolate,” I looked at the clock. “And it’s not like I have even close to the time necessary to wash this thing.”

The rest of the date had been a breeze of pleasant emotions. Clothes had been bought, ice cream had been eaten and banter had been had. It ended when Esther and I had gone to work. We got through our shifts and took a train home, after the appropriate time had been spent serving tables. That was about 16 hours ago. Now it was Sunday afternoon. Much of the day, I had already spent with the lady of my desires. Only about thirty minutes ago, had we decided to get ready for this ball.

Now, I was busy waiting in the kitchen. That Arlethia and Willt were there was pure chance. Admittedly, a high chance, given the time of day and our status as housemates. “How are you two doing anyway?” I asked. “Do you miss having me around all the time?”

“We still see you every day,” Arlethia gestured in my direction with her thin tail, since her hands were occupied adding cocoa to the milk. “Which is grounds for a formal complaint with the school!”

“You do remember you’re living in the house the school provided me with, right? Do tell me you remember this? Do you?” I pestered her with questions, especially since she didn’t respond immediately.

“At least I have enough control over my finances to afford hot chocolate!” The succubus tried to pivot.

I decided to oblige, “You wouldn’t have that problem if you just worked.”

“Actually,” Will chimed in, “I’ll start doing that next week.” I turned to him to hear him out. Developments in my friends’ lives were developments in my life. “Got an answer from the university library earlier. The post for assistant demon communicator was open, so I put in an application. I’ll be helping professors with setting up rituals before classes sometimes during the week. Pays pretty well.”

“Also trains my Willt in being a good warlock,” Arlethia’s tail swayed happily as she got to boast about her boyfriend. “Succubi love capable warlocks. That’ll get that demon harem rolling for sure.”

“You ha-“ I was about to poke fun at his monotone taste in women, when my eyes got stuck on the legs that strut into the room. “-mena hamena hamena,” I babbled instead, while Esther showed herself completely.

High heels clacked with every step she took and every step also revealed a wonderful amount of leg. Her skirt was long and straight, slit open at the sides exactly to reveal her smooth skin. Every bit of the dress was perfectly tailored to her curves, making it stick tightly to her hips, waist and bosom, accentuating the curves of her hourglass figure. The majority of the dress was of a golden amber, with black decorations covering the rim of her skirt, travelling up the slit and her sides, to finally end at her shoulders.

The front of the dress had a V-cut. The resulting cleavage, juicy and deep, was framed by strands of gold that slung over her shoulders and covered her back completely. It was a very specific design, allowing her to hide whatever she didn’t want people to see while also giving deep insight into her ample breasts.

This was the first time I saw as much as half of these wonderfully squishy melons. For all the times I had touched them, I had never seen Esther with even a single button open. Now that cleavage was right there and, in the name of the Father, was it a firm display. There was some sagging, yes, but only as much as was natural.

That sight alone made this whole evening worth the effort. I had finally gotten as much as a glance at those bags filled with the hopes and dreams of my erotic future. I wanted to see more and feel more, much more, but the taste was a good start.

With some difficulty, I looked up and found Esther smiling widely, I could even see her pearly white teeth between those full, red lips. Her hair had gotten some additional combing and she wore it in a high ponytail today. It didn’t make much of a difference, particularly because she was still wearing her tricorne, but I noticed.

“You… I mean… uhm,” I had trouble picking my words, which was a rare experience for me. No matter how often I mentally punched my brain, it refused to properly restart. My nerves were hindering each other, like grinding gears. ‘Hamena hamena hamena,’ was the only sound my mind produced. Occasionally, a single reasonably constructed sentence surfaced, ‘Make her your Queen already, you incompetent flirt!’

“Your suit is fitting you well, attractive Karitas,” Esther responded to my stammering with a compliment. That did finally initiate the reboot. However, I did make the mistake of speaking before it was done.

“Thanks, you too.” I said This served to make me the target of everyone’s laughter for the next five seconds. Arlethia was the first to burst into loud laughter at my awkwardness and the last to stop.

“You’re a giant dork,” the red succubus declared.

“Yes, but I am a giant dork with that wonderful lady over there as my date!” I retorted, my tongue back under my control. Standing up, I took the three steps over to where Esther had stopped, and was currently giggling. I extended my hand and made a proper buttler’s bow. “If I may be of service to you tonight, milady.”

“You may, my Karitas,” she responded and placed her hand in mine. Without further ado, we headed for the door. “I wish you an enjoyable evening,” my main date said towards the friends I left in my (lent) mansion.

“You too, try to survive Karitas’ prolonged awkwardness,” Arlethia waved after us.

“And softly stomp on his foot if he starts babbling on about philosophy nonsense,” Willt added, visibly more comfortable around Esther by now.

“I will be mindful of the option,” Esther responded, while we headed out.

The articles of footwear we had on, her black high heels and my polished leather shoes, touched the floor outside the house for the first time. This was the high-society life. Not practical and certainly not for me, but I was willing to wear the clothes for the evening. “You move pretty well in high heels,” I said. They weren’t particularly high, six centimetres at worst, but I had known girls that couldn’t handle any shoes of that variety, purely because of the shape of the heel.

“I had some training in the past,” Esther responded and squeezed my hand. “It may occur that I misstep regardless, in such a case I rely on you to catch me.”

“I’ll be paying the greatest of attention to you, Esther,” I promised.

“I believe you,” her genuine smile was pure beauty. “And that doesn’t strike me as odd anymore.”

I felt the moment, stopped in my tracks and turned her towards me. For a moment, she seemed surprised, then I leaned towards her. My lips were on track to meet hers and her expression changed to mild panic. I stopped. That was not what I had hoped for or expected. A finger’s width from her lips, I pulled back.

“It’s still not time, is it?” I asked, unable to rein in the disappointment in my voice. I wanted to hold her, really hold her. Not just hug or embrace her or spend the evenings watching things while she leaned against me. All of these things were fantastic and they felt incomplete. It couldn’t be the true experience until I knew that I could go all the way with her. They were all just half-measures and none of them would ever be truly satisfying until there was no doubt that she was mine and I was hers. “I’m sorry,” I said regardless. “I shouldn’t be-“

“No, this is not your fault,” Esther didn’t let me finish. “I… I do not know… I do not know when I will know. Your impatience is justified.” Although we stepped away from each other, our hands were still together, the fingers locked. “If it will be anyone, it has to be you. Believe that much, good Karitas, if nothing else.”

“I believe everything, Esther,” I assured her. All of a sudden, she seemed so breakable. This was about more than the kiss itself. This was the entire question of whether or not we would be more than just seeing each other. I was ready, I had basically always been ready. This wasn’t to my credit. I knew that it was healthier to get to know one’s partner before getting properly tied and yet I was so eager to commit from the second I had met her. However, we were gradually transitioning away from the learning period of our relationship. We weren’t mutually interested strangers anymore. We were a mutually infatuated couple. As willing as I was to wait for her, Esther must have known that I would have to split up with her eventually, if things stagnated. Not for a lack of love, but because of simple realism.

These were the silent truths hanging in the air between us. I wanted to tell her that everything would be alright, but I couldn’t without taking the urgency out of the situation. I wanted there to be a level of urgency. This current arrangement we had was something I viewed as short-term. That had to be understood.

“I didn’t mean to ruin the evening,” I could tell her that much with complete honesty, however.

“As of yet, nothing has been ruined,” Esther said and got a hint of the previous smile back. “There is time in this night and time that we share. Let it flow and pull us along.”

“Hm, that sounds like something I would say,” I joked and we continued walking, fingers locked.

Our first goal for the evening wasn’t far away. That was to say, it was a few houses over. I rang the doorbell to Aclysia’s mansion and waited. The minor emotional turmoil I felt calmed in anticipation of seeing the maidenly half-elf in her own dress. Soon, I heard the steps inside the house and then saw the door handle being pushed down.

Aclysia’s dress was a black and white one-piece thing of wonderful, maid-like wonder. It was entirely held by a black corset that layered on top of a white base. From it extended a black wave skirt that reached all the way to her ankles. Her shoulders and arms were left bare.

I personally would have picked a pencil skirt to really put emphasis on her ass, but I had to admit that this was probably easier to dance in and it looked good, really good. “If you would allow me, Aclysia,” I said and extended my left hand to my second date.

“Of course, Karitas,” the half-elf responded, her silver hair flowing behind her when she took a very enthusiastic step forward.

The way to the ball was of little noteworthiness. It felt almost inadequate to get on the train in our get-ups, but even the ‘upper class’ of Welldark had to rely on that mode of transportation. The privacy of the Iron Rank wagon, with its lockable cabins, was pleasant for the trip. We drove past Welldark University, then the city and, for the first time, Esther and I were on our way to that island in the northwest of the artificial dimension. The space of the Golden Eagles.

Even getting out of the train there was different. Two golems of sexless, humanoid shape stood at the smaller but highly luxurious station, moving their stone heads in our direction. I wasn’t sure if they were meant for security or for bag carrying. Either way, they observed us for five seconds and then returned to inertia.

Down a flight of stairs later, we found ourselves on a path that led to the dormitory. I already disliked this place. The train station, the path before us and the Golden Eagles’ dormitory, they all had exactly that disgustingly bright pomp that I didn’t care for. The gothic building style was still in place, but the colour scheme was all out of whack and everything was about three sizes bigger than it really needed to be.

The walkway in front of us, the example right before me, was as wide as the one that connected the first-year students dormitory to Welldark University. At any given time, there were a whole lot more freshmen than there were Golden Eagle students, who represented only the top 10% of the students in their second year and beyond. Having a walkway this broad served absolutely no purpose. Adding to that the fact that it was a walkway covered in glass slabs that protected underlying golden ornaments made it ridiculous. Adding to that that every single ornament was a perfectly carved picture of an eagle defeating various mythological creatures made me dizzy from the poshness.

Then there was the actual dormitory in the distance. A monstrosity of a building that probably had more dining halls than some villages had houses. It had nine towers around the rim, each larger than the last one, circling around a gargantuan one in the centre. They were black, purple, grey and gold. Golden slabs tiled the pointy roofs, framed the large windows and covered the stone decorations that segmented the building along its five levels. Just to make sure everybody saw that gleaming wonder of architecture; it was placed on a hill as well.

Several rectangular side arms grew out of the circular main body and followed the slope downwards, their flat roofs descending in levels. Each level had its own pool, garden, tennis court, or something else that people ‘definitely’ needed. I was only aware of those things thanks to Willt telling me about them in the past. The thing was way too towering for me to see what was on top.

“I mean, I get it,” I explained my mediocre mood to the mildly concerned ladies in my company. “You get to the top of the hierarchy; you should get rewarded. No question about it. Is it really necessary to live in a giant golden palace though?”

“The colour is offensively bright,” Esther agreed on at least one article.

“I have to disavow that statement, I would be honoured and happy to live in such a location,” Aclysia stated.

“To each their own, I guess,” I said and tried to keep my annoyance with the overtly pompous to myself.

Not that the inside of the building made it any easier.

“Ah, my lady Aclysia, it is a pleasure to see you tonight,” a butler greeted us in the sparkling entrance hall. In this case, sparkling was almost literally correct. The marble floor was so polished I felt bad stepping on it, which defeated the point of having floors. Not that I was advocating for people to have dirty floors, just maybe having a home that was such a work of art that living in it felt wrong was overdoing it on several fronts.

The dark grey pillars that were half-embedded into the deep purple walls didn’t help the matter. Neither did all the statues and other artistry around. I felt more like I was in a museum to Welldark’s splendour than in a school dormitory.

What I wanted in a home was having a house that was exactly as large as it needed to be so that everybody living in it had ample space to move and a quiet corner to retreat into. It should be filled with sentimental and useful things. Not some oversized posh palace where people had to actively try to see someone in the sprawling hallways.

Aclysia bowed before the butler, just as he did in turn. “My honour, Gregory,” she said and stepped aside to present the man to me and Esther. “This here is Gregory Grimoire, he is my father’s head butler.”

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Karitas Desia and Lady Esther,” The black-haired man bowed towards us, deeper than he had done for Aclysia. He was a fellow with long, black hair and a long face of the handsome variety. He appeared human, for the most part. A long tail with an arrow-shaped head reached out of a slit in the back of his butler uniform. That, combined with his last name being the demonic equivalent of Smith, made me guess that he was some sort of half-human, half-demon person. “You arrive right on time.”

“Well, I would have been fashionably late,” I responded jokingly and gestured at my two dates. “But the ladies have a good influence on me keeping a schedule.”

Gregory chuckled. “Lady Sybille mentioned you have a quick mouth… I do wonder if…” he shut his mouth as he straightened back up and grinned widely in a truly demonic fashion. The overly sharp canines he revealed in the process were the second inhuman attribute he displayed. “No, never mind. You’ll prove what you’re worth on your own, I’m sure.”

Esther crossed her arms, “Devils never change.”

“I assure you my kind has many different ways we go about, but I don’t think I am of much interest tonight,” the head butler announced and I tended to agree. “If you would follow me, I’ll be happy to guide you three to tonight’s ballroom.”

‘Of course, there is a ‘tonight’s’ ballroom,’ I couldn’t help but notice the implication that there were multiple. What an utter waste of space.

“I apologize for Gregory’s testiness,” Aclysia said, as we followed the butler through decorated hallways. He had his arms folded behind his back, the long tail waving from side to side. The steps of his polished shoes created echoes that ours only emphasized. “He has always liked to… ‘roast’ potential suitors for me and my siblings.”

“I’m invested in Arustius’ bloodline, for multiple contractual reasons,” the butler chimed in, looking over his shoulder. Eyes that were previously brown turned red for just one moment, glinting with demonic jest. “Do not worry, none of which shall be to your harm.”

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I had dealt with a few devils down in Hell, so I knew better than to ask and receive some non-answer. “Do you usually work around this… gold display of a dormitory?” I asked instead, trying to keep my distaste down to passive aggressive levels. Our steps carried us into an elevator. It felt like it was moving diagonally, not just up.

“Much to my pleasure, I do not,” Gregory replied swiftly. “Arustius’ residence on campus is much more tasteful. It was on Lady Merliona’s insistence that this place was built the way it was. All of the dormitories spawn from her quill.”

I knew that Arustius was the headmaster’s first name, as seldom as it was used. Who Merliona was, I had no idea about. A questioning glance at Aclysia brought me the answer quickly. “My father’s Jack,” she started her explanation, just as we stepped out of the elevator again, “she went through a phase of interest in architecture as Welldark was being constructed.”

“Many interests inside that one, our genius Lady Merliona,” Gregory added, just as we arrived in front of a giant wooden door. I could already hear the violins behind it. “Without any further ado,” the half-devil hummed and pushed the two door-halves open as if they weighed nothing. “Welcome to the new semester ball of the Golden Eagles,” he shouted, barely for us and mostly for all the other people already in the room. He stepped to the side and continued. “Now entering, Lady Aclysia Taurus, Sir Karitas Desia,” I cringed a bit, “and Lady Esther,” the emphasis on her title and drop of her last name was a giant flashing sign that the woman of my dreams didn’t seem to appreciate either.

We were standing on an indoor balcony, of sorts, with a long staircase leading down into the actual ballroom. The ceiling was higher than most houses were tall, with a gargantuan crystal chandelier hanging above. Below us was a rectangular hall, with space along the walls dedicated to a large buffet and round tables, scattered about the room in a symmetrical pattern, to eat on. In the middle of it all, there was a large clearing, currently vacated except for the band having put their equipment on an island that doubled as the last step of the stairs. They were a trio of a violinist, a pianist and a presumed songstress, the last one sitting idly by in her red dress, while her companions played.

Like the entrance hall, the walls were segmented by dark grey pillars that were half-embedded into the wall. The floor, however, was a burgundy red carpet, perhaps to have some mercy on people that slipped rather easily. Rather than being painted purple, the walls between the pillars were beset with tall mirrors (or perhaps towering was more adequate). In the back, a row of artistically swung windows and glass doors made room to an actual balcony.

Somewhere around a hundred people were down there, Golden Eagle students, teachers, and parts of their respective Anomalias. Most of them were looking up to us. “Your attendance request ought to include that we are the guests of honour, sly Gregory,” Esther didn’t veil the annoyance in her voice to any degree. Only grinning his demonic grin, the butler bowed as if he was sorry.

“I suppose what’s done is done,” I sighed. Personally, I had no problem being introduced like this, but I would have appreciated a warning. For now, I could only move on with the night. “Shall we?” I asked, offering my hands to my dates. My right to Esther and my left to Aclysia. Once they had taken my invitation, we moved down the stairs together. We went around the band and found ourselves largely ignored.

There was some clapping, pure courtesy, but nobody seemed too eager to talk to us. Something I felt rather thankful for. I was a skirt chaser; I didn’t like my figurative skirt being chased. It was my job, as a man of character, to initiate the conversation. That aside, I already had two girls to flirt with.

“How about we check out the buffet?” I suggested, knowing that would help improve Esther’s mood. My hand wandered around her waist and then a bit lower. Meanwhile, she nodded. I looked over to Aclysia – while trying to grab her bum the same way.

The white-haired maidly woman stepped away and I raised an eyebrow. “I will greet my father and return to your side shortly,” she explained.

“Alright, hope you’ll manage to find the real us between all the reflections,” I joked. Chuckling courtfully, my second date raised her hand to signal her temporary departure.

Esther and I walked over to one segment of the buffet and each grabbed an empty plate. The array of offered food was vast and differed from table to table, each with a theme. We first found ourselves before the bread table (yes, just one entire, large table for breads), next to it were toppings, then egg and egg-based meals, fish, cold soups, hot soups, and so on. Given this variety of free food, I decided to treat myself to all of the luxurious dishes. It would take higher earnings or a special occasion for me to invest into something like smoked salmon, which was the first thing I went after.

Next to me, Esther created a mountain on her plate. A mountain of healthy foods, to be fair to her. She skipped out on the fatty stuff, like bacon, and went for diced fruit, boiled eggs, fish and other healthy things instead. Regardless, a mountain was a mountain and she ended up with roughly twice the amount of food I had. Not that I was eating little in the first place. Maintaining a muscular physique was half training and half watching one's protein intake.

Once we had picked all we wanted, we sat down at a random, empty table. “I would say getting the dress and free food alone was worth the hassle of coming here,” I said, after I had swallowed my first bite of salmon. The thing was just the right mix of salty and smoky. The consistency was perfect as well, pleasing me with every movement of my jaw. I took a greedy second bite, while Esther answered.

“Economically, that is correct, Karitas,” she said, her sensuous voice mixing with the soft violin in the background. Those two sounds harmonized wonderfully, as if they were meant to exist next to each other. “I do, however, despise this impractical dress and the unnecessary attention.”

“Unnecessary it may be, my lady, but not undeserved. Much thanks to this impractical but beautiful dress. The way the amber cloth slides around your body is most pleasing to my eyes and I assure you that most here follow that thought. The rise of your bosom, rising and falling with every sultry breath you take, is of a character that only a word beyond amazing could describe, a word I do not know.”

Esther rolled her eyes and chuckled softly at the same time. “A truly labyrinthine way to compliment my cleavage,” she summarized what I had said.

“It’s a very nice cleavage,” I unashamedly responded.

She bowed over to me in a secretive fashion. Her red lips, glistening with the juices of the recently devoured fruits, parted. I anticipated some kind of erotic offer, which I would surely agree to without hesitation. Then, Esther’s eyes wandered to the side. The tip of her tricorne followed along the movement when she faced properly to whatever she was looking at.

Miffed at the interruption, I turned around and saw a single man approach. He was tall, somewhat lanky and didn’t seem to properly fill out his finely cut suit. Casually raising a hand to his mouth, he yawned. Half-stretching, half-falling, he fell into the seat opposite of us.

The man had short, black hair and shades under his eyes that were too dark to stem from a lack of sleep alone. Either they were painted on or they stemmed from a not quite human origin. Because there were no other visible markings, I wasn’t quite sure what was true. Aside from those shades, he certainly looked human. His face was of average attractiveness and his figure was strictly unimpressive.

“Ev’ning,” he slurred and finished his stretch. Given his young appearance and attitude, I assumed him to be a student. An assumption that, if true, made him approaching us very peculiar. The fact that the recruiting of first years was taboo for upperclassmen meant that we shouldn’t have been all too interesting to our fellow students.

“Good evening,” I responded in kind, curious what his intentions were. “Pardon me if this is a rude question but what brings you to our table?”

“Eh, just felt like checking you out,” the guy responded and turned his chair so he could let one arm dangle over the back while still facing us. It was the kind of lax pose one assumed when meeting with friends, not in a public gala. “Do you know who I am?” I shook my head. “Do you want to guess?” I shook my head again. He looked over to Esther, clearly hoping for a different response, but didn’t get one. “You two don’t seem particularly interesting,” he sighed. “I’m Erik, really boring name, I’m aware. I’m the number one guy of the Golden Eagles. You know, tower, King of the strongest student Anomalia, all of that stuff.”

“Is it your intent to scout the competition, then?” Esther asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Erik threw his pale hands into the air. “No, no, stop being so dramatic you two!” he said, despite neither of us having been particularly dramatic at all. No sooner had he lowered his hands again, that he yawned, as if that simple outcry had exhausted him. This wasn’t quite what I expected from the leader of Welldark’s strongest Anomalia. That being said, I had expected someone eccentric and he did not disappoint in that sense. “Look here, I’ve been procrastinating the entire three and a half years I’ve been here. Should have been last year, but the only thing I cared about are the tournaments – which I and my girls are the best at, no questions asked.” He gestured with his right hand, showing off the black mark around the ring finger. “And now I have to put in the work to actually graduate and get out of this place. I’ll be done next semester.”

In other words, he would be out of here in the same semester that the newly arrived students would first participate in the tournaments. “So, you want to check out who could potentially take your spot?” I asked, still not really sure what made him so curious about us.

“I guess,” Erik yawned for the third time. “I’ve been the number one for two and a half years. If I make it the whole three, then I’ll be one of the longest standing ‘champions’ in Welldark’s history.” He slouched to the side, against the backrest, and added, “‘Course everyone who gets to defend the title for that long is a lazy bum like me.”

“Don’t we have five years maximum?” I asked. “I don’t really see a reason to rush things.”

“Right?!” Erik suddenly seemed very energetic. “What’s the big deal with getting done so fast? Like, don’t get me wrong, classes are pure torture, so being exposed to them for extra years is just masochism, but taking more classes per day to get done as soon as possible? Who does that?!”

“It is the efficient way to live,” Esther stated.

“Alright, so you do that,” Welldark’s strongest King rolled his neck. “You’d probably get along well with my Ace. She already graduated last semester and now she has nothing to do but nag me to hurry up as well. I mean, Almighty bless her soul, she is looking out for me, but-“

“Erik, once more molesting other students with your chatter, I see,” a new voice joined our table. I took the small break in conversation as an opportunity to take another bite of my salmon.

The man now joining us wore a black robe that fluttered with his steps. It was open at the front, revealing a black shirt, black pants and black shoes. All of his clothes were tugged away properly and fit him perfectly. If he had been as pale and lanky a fellow as Erik, I would have squarely put him in the gothic category, as far as aesthetics went. However, he was quite broad and the monochrome clothes seemed to hide just how much muscle he had under there. His skin was of a light brown complexion, too dark to only be a tan. His head was clean shaven, his eyes an inversion of the norm - a black sclera with purely white iris and pupils. When our gazes crossed, the lack of colour almost felt like it would burn itself into my retina.

Behind him walked a woman in clothes of the same style. She had white, backwards combed hair and pointy ears of the short half-elven variety. Her green almond eyes and snow-white skin left no doubt that she was one of Aclysia’s older sisters. Judging by the rest of her looks, she was also a member of the man’s Anomalia. Her hands were orderly folded in front of her stomach and she carried with her that diligent aura of a trained maid.

“Imrult, buddy, no need to be so stuck up,” Erik retorted swiftly.

“Master Imrult, to you, cur,” the bald man turned his nose as if he had just smelled something bad.

“Then it is Unus Erik for you,” the same answered and stretched his legs out to the side of the table. I doubted that was an official title. He had simply put the Latin word for ‘one’ in front of his name. “Anyway, since the Master of Order has arrived to sap the fun out of the situation, I’m gonna go elsewhere. Good evening you two, Esther, Karitas. You’ll have one after this bore leaves.”

“A thoroughly unpleasant person,” Imrult said, loud enough that Erik could hear it while he walked away . Then the Master of Order, one of Welldark’s 13 branches of education, turned to us. “I hope the venue finds your agreement, students of promise.”

“To be honest, it doesn’t,” I responded with a smile. “Not big on displaying wealth so blatantly.”

“It is too bright,” Esther echoed the point she had stated earlier.

“The lower classes have to be shown that something better awaits them if they work,” the Master of Order crossed his arms behind his back. His posture was so straight and rigid, one could have used him as a support beam. “And if they find themselves unable to do that much, they should at least see how much beneath their betters they are.”

‘I already dislike you,’ I couldn’t help but think. Meritocracy was a fantastic thing and putting a giant golden palace in place as the carrot was doubtlessly effective. However, just because I liked the fact that elites existed and people could work to become such elites didn’t mean I liked those same elites being this openly snobby.

As a matter of fact, I properly despised it. Reaching the top of the hierarchy came with responsibilities and one of them was not saying anything remotely related to ‘how much beneath their betters they are’. Another one was to not flaunt any superiority, real or perceived, by building palaces that were this absurd level of sparkly.

“Careful, Master of Order,” it was Esther, who spoke up next. “Callous arrogance has led many to paths of regret.”

“You are a descendant of the ultimate arrogance, Lady Esther, I don’t see any world in which you lecturing me is in order,” Imrult responded. My hands turned into fists under the table. “Yet your family continuously produces promising people. I have high hopes for you. I approached you to save you from Erik’s doglike simplicity. Closely inspecting your attire, however,” his gaze disapprovingly stuck on her cleavage for a second. How somebody could disapprovingly look at a cleavage was beyond me. The same gaze wandered over to me. “It seems another bad influence has already made its way to you.”

“You will cease mentioning my family or insulting who I care about, impudent Imrult,” Esther warned, her eyes a sea of sulfuric yellow parted by a thin black line.

“Impudent? I’m respecting your unnecessary wish of disassociation. The only impudent thing here is your lack of self-awareness. I will be direct, because I know your family values it. In that, their better values stick with you, it is evident.” Once more, he glanced at me. “Associating with a barely accomplished man. Your publicly improper behaviour has reached my ears and…”

“…you’re here to preach about it, got it,” I interrupted, having heard enough of the arrogant waffling. Esther had said her warning, he had ignored it, and now I felt perfectly justified in reason and timing to stand up for my girl and our relationship. I started by standing up literally. “How about you take all of the ‘direct’ criticism you have and write a long, wordy letter with your best ink and the most overpriced paper you can find and mail it directly to…” I closed my eyes and materialized a small paper bin, which I then proceeded to hold up to his nose. “…here?”

Now that I was in front of him, I realized that I was about half a head taller. Not overly significant, but satisfying regardless. Whether that or my ridicule bothered him more, I wasn’t quite sure, but I hoped it was the latter.

“Karitas Desia,” he said.

“Do not use my last name please,” I said. “You may not know it, but it’s a girl’s name. It’s odd.” That was not even half the reason why I disliked it, but it was a part of it.

“Desia, meaning origin and popularity,” commented Omnius, the golden-eyed Master of Magic, who just strolled on by with a plate in his hand. Following him was his Anomalia harem. At least that’s what I presumed the entourage of goblins, gnomes, elves, humans and a single lamia was. They were all remarkably well-endowed in the chest area and there was a tendency for shorter women. “As I am sure you were aware, Imrult.”

He didn’t seem to be intent on joining our conversation, instead Omnius strolled on to another table and just watched us. I only now realized that he wasn’t the only one. Much of the room was paying attention to our conversation, even if I doubted many of them could hear it. I wouldn’t have been surprised if people had been watching us since Erik started walking towards our table.

If this was now a stage, I would perform. With so many beautiful women in the audience and an opportunity to show off my quick tongue AND defend the lady of my desires, how could I possibly resist?

“Of course, I am aware,” the Master of Order grunted.

I glanced over to Omnius, who smirked and back to Imrult. I got the feeling that the Master of Magic knew a bit more about me than I was comfortable with. At the same time, it appeared that the Master of Order knew less than he thought. Whether I was right about both or neither, I couldn’t confirm in this situation. Instead, I continued with the performance.

“I don’t know if ‘of course’ is something you should be saying,” I immediately chimed in, dismissing the paper bin. “Seems to me like your perception of the obvious is rather awful.” At this point, making an enemy of him was something I embraced. The acceptable discourse line had been crossed already.

“And what would you base that on, student?” Imrult raised one of his black eyebrows.

“You call me barely accomplished, but here I stand, invited to the same place as Esther, for the same reason as Esther, so I would say our accomplishments are even there. Would you call her barely accomplished as well?”

“You only beat her in a weakened state. It was, by itself, an act against protocol.”

“So, you accuse my partner of being a bad judge of her own power? She agreed to fight me, if you are aware.”

“I am and I would, and I would call her a bad judge of character to boot, given your presence as her partner tonight.”

‘It will be more than tonight,’ I thought, but didn’t pursue that line of argumentation. “Would you extend that accusation to lady Derilea? It was she who asked Esther if she wanted to continue, after all. Surely, the headmaster’s Queen can judge what is a challenge worthy of getting a privileged position for and what isn’t.”

That shut Imrult up for a second, which was already a point in my favour. “Lady Derilea… did not follow the proper protocol,” the Master of Order finally stated. I actually was surprised he was willing to fling even this little mud at his employer’s wife, who also doubled as the effective head of the bureaucracy.

“As always, you take rules far too seriously,” yet another voice entered the conversation. This one was so deep, so intense, that I felt someone was giving a concert on an e-bass right next to me.

Towering at least two heads over me, the bull of a Headmaster stopped next to us with crossed arms. They were as thick as logs, bursting with muscles that no sleeves could contain. Large, white horns with black tips grew from his temples and curved forwards, casting shadows on his dark eyes. He was tall enough to block out the chandelier.

He was radiating raw power, enough of it to make me gulp instinctively. The ability to exert Astral Capacity that way was an intimidation technique few had the necessary strength to even try learning. Exposed to it, I felt like I was shrinking with every passing second. Regardless, I stood my ground and kept my smile. With a stern expression, he looked down at me for several seconds.

Arustius Taurus then gave me a crooked smile. The pressure ebbed away until it vanished completely, leaving me to take a relieved breath. “You got guts, young man,” he simply said. “You will need those. Regardless, you should be more respectful of your teachers.”

I could have gone with the whole ‘he started it’ routine there, and be justified, but Taurus was obviously there to end it. Making an enemy of one Master was enough trouble. Having the Headmaster and father of my current secondary love interest get a bad first impression of me was inadvisable, to put it mildly. Only Aclysia suddenly developing a liking for people that had bad blood with her father would have made it minorly worth it. That was a very doubtful development for the well-behaved half-elf though. Speaking of the maid, she was following her father, together with her mother.

“I’ll try my best to be as patient as can be,” I backed down with a promise. Good enough for Taurus, who turned to his Master of Order.

“Imrult, I always appreciate your goal to keep things properly running, but you know that the rules are meant to be interpreted, not followed like a divine dictate.”

“In the name of discipline, our students require more scolding,” Imrult said and sighed, breaking his straight posture to pinch the bridge of his nose, “but I will oblige, Arustius. For the sake of peace, I suppose,” with those words, the Master of Order walked away. The woman that had accompanied him didn’t follow, instead joining her mother and sister.

Esther suddenly stood at my side. “You make difficult decisions because of me,” she whispered.

“They’re not difficult if it’s because of you,” I promised with a smile and she took my hand. We both looked up to Taurus. That he was still standing there made me believe he had something he wanted to talk about. He looked back, his smile vanished behind the usual stern expression.

“...Enjoy the rest of the evening,” he then suddenly declared and stomped away. That felt a bit anticlimactic. While Derilea and Imrult’s Anomalia member followed Taurus, Aclysia bowed and then joined us at the table.

“He likes you,” the half-elf told me.

“That’s good?” I was not as certain about that, but who was I to doubt the word of the daughter?

We sat back down, Aclysia got some food of her own, and then we spent approximately an hour just talking about things. Eventually, I decided to mingle with the other guests. My goal was obvious and Esther already knew it without me needing to say it. Like I had promised, the centre of my attention was her. Along with that promise had gone the admission that I was going to flirt with other women at the party.

So, I went and tried to do that.

While it was true that it was forbidden for upperclassmen to approach freshmen, the reverse was perfectly fine. A freshman seeking out the attention of someone who had been at Welldark for more than a year was a-okay. That doubtlessly caused some shady fringe cases, but that was a problem for the law-enforcers, not me. I only cared about making some acquaintances tonight.

No such luck. No matter who I approached, I was forced to quickly realize that they were taken. The Anomalia mark around the ring fingers was omnipresent. The left finger in all but one case. I spied a single woman where it was the right hand that was marked, making her the leader of an Anomalia. Thankfully, I saw it before I wasted my time talking to her.

It remained true no matter when I thought about it: there was absolutely no way I would be anything but the head of my Anomalia. Not only did I see it as my path in life to care for a harem of girls that loved me first and foremost, I could also not stand the idea of sharing any of them with other men. Sharing them with the rest of my harem of, hopefully, universally bisexual babes was right up my alley though.

Whenever I noticed that a girl was already taken into another man’s Anomalia, I continued the conversation normally. My thirst wasn’t so big that I would just rudely cut it short in the name of flirting with the next woman. Especially since I had two waiting for me to recharge my joy with. Which was something I had to eventually do, returning to the table with an unenthusiastic stride.

Letting out a long, disappointed breath, I sunk into my chair, arms dangling to the sides. “Well, that was time wasted on nothing,” I complained.

“Perhaps it is a lesson that will teach you to remain by my side,” Esther jokingly reprimanded me. “Here, unsuccessful Karitas,” she stabbed a strawberry on her plate with her fork and slowly moved it over to me, “have your consolation.”

I would have preferred her cherry, but I would take the strawberry for the time being. Opening my mouth, I let her place the tasty fruit in my mouth and used my tongue and teeth to hold it while she drew the fork back. Its sweet taste was reinforced tremendously by the method of delivery. “Thank creation that I am so easy to please,” I said after swallowing.

“I offer you another gift to raise your spirits.” Esther seemed to be in a good mood. She moved her chair closer to mine, then placed one hand on my neck. It was a possessive and gently massaging gesture. “Only one, pick wisely.”

“Hmm,” I hummed, while the lady of my desires presented another strawberry to me. “I will take this then,” I said and placed a hand on her thigh. At first I was only in contact with the silky surface of her dress, but my hand soon found the slit at the side of her legs. I pushed under her skirt, just as I took the strawberry. Kept pushing over the even smoother surface of her thick thighs, until I hit another, less luxurious piece of everyday clothing. Unable to control myself, I trailed a finger over the outside of her panties. Daringly, I found the gap in the middle and trailed upwards until I felt a little bump.

Esther inhaled in a quick burst, coming along with a suffocated, surprised moan. Then she bonked my forehead with the flat side of the fork. “This is too far,” she informed me, as her skin flushed with lust. At least I was pretty sure it was only lust, none of her gestures betrayed embarrassment or anger. Whether I liked it more or less that she reacted to me getting this close to her maidenhood so infinitely less emotionally than to getting almost kissed, I didn’t know. Well, once I had that kiss, this attribute of hers would remain and that was definitely something I looked forward to.

I obliged and went back to the less risque position on her bare thigh. Esther seemed content with that. That she was still showing all of her left leg to me and Aclysia didn’t bother her in the slightest. Instead, she stabbed another strawberry, this time for herself.

My head turned to the left to take a look at the half elf, who seemed affected by this display. “You two share a truly lewd bond,” she said. It was probably meant to sound joking, but she bit her lower lip, transforming it into a somewhat envious comment. The pretty pink thing was so full, I really wanted to feel it on my lips or somewhere further down.

“I can let you in on it,” I smirked, basically echoing my offer from yesterday.

Aclysia shook her head. “I am not quite that comfortable with public displays of… affection, Karitas,” she admitted. “Over the clothes is fine but… yesterday was already further than I thought I would want.”

“Well, I proved you wrong then, didn’t I?” I asked, pushing the envelope. If she had the capability to be fine with a bit more exhibiting, then it was in my interest to get her there. All of the kinks I could awaken, I would, especially if I shared or benefitted from them.

Before Aclysia could formulate a proper response, the music in the room swelled up. Pianist and violinist intensified their playing, the volume rising at a quick pace. Finally moving from her watching position, the songstress stood up at the helm of the band. She required no microphone, magic instead carrying her voice through the room.

There were no lyrics, at first. Only gentle notes, harmonizing with the tune of her bandmates. The three of them got synced up, while the guests moved towards the clearing in the middle of the hall. I stood up, following the trend. “It seems it’s time for the main program. Shall we?” I asked, first offering my right hand to Esther, then my left to Aclysia, just like I had done atop the stairs.

They were happy to take them and use me as support as they also got up. Esther made sure her skirt sat correctly, before we marched towards the circle cleared for dancing. At the edge of it, Aclysia let go and took a fluid bow. “I will be honoured to have your second dance, Karitas,” she said. It put a slight smile on Esther’s face. It would have put one on mine as well, if I wasn’t already grinning.

“The honour will be all mine,” I assured, while Esther and I moved onto the dance floor. People were getting ready at the moment, swaying only softly to the music. It had not yet transformed into a proper dancing rhythm. “You love having a servant, don’t you?” I whispered. One of my hands landed on her hips, hers was placed on my shoulder, the other two of our arms joined, the fingers intertwined. We warmed up by doing some basic steps together.

“I appreciate being respected,” Esther answered, her amber iris reflecting my gaze. Our eye contact stayed steady; our steps were well-coordinated. I felt her intent to move in the shifting of her muscles. She followed my lead, only nudged me into one direction or the other. “If you attract more ladies like Aclysia, being your Queen is a pleasant fate, my Karitas.” She took a sudden step backwards. I easefully pulled along and then pulled her into a whirl. “Your dancing skills are acute, a pleasant surprise,” she changed the topic. “Were you trained?”

“You could say that,” I dodged a clear answer. She wouldn’t have believed me anyhow, if I said the truth right now. “I haven’t had a lot of experience dancing with women, however.”

“Then let tonight be worth it, with a few steps,” Esther whispered. The songstress made a short announcement, got everyone ready and then started singing over a slow waltz. They were simple lyrics about decency, wealth, obligations to loved ones and things that felt right.

It was soothing and surprisingly pure for incorporating the all-present fact that everyone around had or was part of a harem. It was a song about loving many in a world that allowed it to be so. Father almighty be thanked for that skewed gender ratio.

I didn’t listen much, after the first few minutes. Once I was engulfed by the rhythm, I could follow it without paying attention. I was in a trance, sinking into Esther’s eyes, as we went through simple steps and twirls. Nothing fancy, not tonight, not here. Secure steps. Simple steps. One - two - three - and we whirled around, just as everyone else did. A rush of dresses and black suits, spots in the background, partly hidden by her flying hair. Even now she was wearing that tricorne. It suited her so well.

The trance deepened. Esther broke our eye contact to place her head on my shoulder. My heartbeat skipped and my stomach filled with wonder. As cliché as those things were, they were also what happened. We were as close as two people dancing could be. I was the sole leader of the dance. Esther was trusting my steps completely.

I felt her breath against my neck. She was whispering something, but I couldn’t hear it over the music. That was her intention, I was sure, to say something I couldn’t quite hear yet. Otherwise, this lady of my love would not have hesitated voicing it directly. I carved the sensations of the moment into me, her warmth, the feeling of her body, the caress of her breaths on my neck. All of it was for me to keep in my mind forever.

The music slowly shifted, grew quieter, gently broke the lull we found ourselves in and finally dissipated it completely. Esther and I turned our dancing embrace into a proper hug. In the romantic quiet that had still taken hold of us, I placed a simple kiss on her forehead. She stiffened up for a moment, but relaxed quickly and smiled when we parted.

“You were right in coming here,” the raven-haired woman said, taking her leave after a courtly bow. I looked at her, already longing for her closeness again. Halfway to the edge of the crowd, she passed another woman. My eyes jumped to the white-haired woman who had so patiently waited.

Aclysia stopped in front of me with a curtsy. “As we agreed then, Karitas,” she said.

“As we agreed, Aclysia,” I kept it simple and we quickly took the proper form. Outstandingly and stiffly proper. The half elf had been educated, unsurprisingly, but her movements were a bit mechanical. Her knowledge hadn’t found much practical application yet, or so was my impression. Once more, the proper dance was preceded by a lull. This time around, we needed it.

Aclysia’s steps were methodical, she didn’t care for my lead, only for the rhythm she had learned. This caused a few inelegant disharmonies, broken eye contacts and moments of confusion. Slowly, however, I learned to go along with her clockwork-like expectations and she learned to pay more attention to my lead.

By the time the lyrics started again, we had it worked out. I noticed a change in the text. Decency and wealth were still main themes, but with it came a warning to pay attention to all one holds dear and to all love alive.

To those words, Aclysia and I danced. Our rhythm was the same and I gradually fell into a trance again. Our steps were never so secure that the half-elven maid could have come as close as Esther did, if she had even wanted to. However, the green of her eyes captivated me almost as well. Soon enough, I had forgotten all in the world but her. For those moments, we were all for each other.

Then the music began to fade again and our dancing steps slowed. Following the same instinct as I had done earlier, Aclysia now leaned up to me. Her pink lips were on the path to mine. They were incredibly alluring. As much as I wanted to keep my lips off other women until Esther was mine, be it only to respect her, at that moment my weakness to gorgeous women and Aclysia in particular was all-encompassing. I didn’t lean in, but neither did I try anything to dissuade her.

Aclysia changed her course at the last second. It was clearly not the originally intended destination, but she kissed me on the cheek. “That must be enough for today, my hopeful future Master,” she whispered in my ear. Her tone was teasing and mildly impatient.

“It will be. Thank you,” I whispered back. I thanked her for controlling herself where I couldn’t, for trusting in me like that and for calling me something that was half a promise to do things I loved. I was a simple and honest man after all.

We left the dance floor together in the interim. While others stayed, mostly those with more than two Anomalia members or dates present, I had gotten the dances I had come to have and found no one else to dance with. I felt no need to dilute the original experiences with repeats.

Instead, we headed back and took further advantage of the free food.

“A pleasing surprise,” Esther picked up the chatting, halfway through her next meal, “that you kept your hands to the appropriate areas, Karitas.”

“There’s no real need to make a dance more intimate than it already is,” I replied quickly. “Two bodies that close, moving in elegant unison – it’s basically one step below sex. Not quite as intense or pleasurable, but emotionally gratifying nonetheless.” There was no disagreement on the table and that was the last we said about it.

I didn’t ask anything regarding the things that had been said, whether I had heard them or not, and they didn’t bring anything else up. We took our memories of those moments and kept them to our hearts.

Instead, we pivoted to another topic entirely. Aclysia led the charge there by asking, “What is your future aim, Karitas?”

“Hmm,” I hummed and carefully chewed a slice of apple to get some time formulating my thoughts properly. “I can’t give you a definitive answer. After I graduate from here, I want to just go out into the worlds and have adventures. Sounds pretty basic, I know, but I don’t really have any greater plan. I just want to go see places and do what’s right. Maybe that will make me a hero of some description.” I smirked and raised my hands in a grabby fashion. “Although I don’t think I’m the traditional knight in shining armour type.”

“You would leave the situation better than before, albeit I do not dare to anticipate the margin,” Esther gave me an absolutely ringing endorsement. “I do predict a degradation of public morals in areas you choose to influence.”

“You could help me guide my efforts and maximize that margin of betterment,” I proposed with a smile.

“That would be a side-effect of my company, be it only to see you better yourself,” the raven-haired lady continued.

“I see value in such a path,” Aclysia got back into the conversation. “My father is famous for aiding worlds in trouble. It would be my foremost goal to one day honour being his prodigy.”

“After you graduate, I guess?” I asked.

“Until my graduation, good performance is my highest priority,” Aclysia answered with a confirming nod. “Paralleled with the search for an Anomalia that suits me.”

Esther, having eaten almost everything that was on her plate, placed her fork down for a moment. “You are doing well on both of your goals,” she commented, with the usual certainty.

“So, it appears,” the maidly woman responded with a small smile at both of us. “I will take the little victory I had over you in the entrance exam, at least.”

“I made a single error in the political theories segment,” Esther shook her head. “A mistake on my part, but not one I can rectify. Your perfect score is impressive.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Aclysia smiled. Talking about her achievement made her sit straighter, although she remained the smallest person at the table. Esther was just always sitting as straight as humanoidly possible and I was tall enough that a slight slump in my posture didn’t matter that much. “I will continue to challenge you in future tests.”

“Everyone should strive for the best they can,” Esther nodded approvingly. Then they both turned to me.

Although the question wasn’t raised, I understood what they wondered about. “I got 70 percent of questions right,” I answered in a careless fashion. This caused Aclysia to move her head back in a surprised motion and Esther’s forehead to become wrinkly. Not a good look on either of them.

“You are more intelligent than that,” Esther factually stated. “Did you not prepare?”

“No.” My simple reply only caused a deepening of their surprised expressions. “What?” I asked with a yawn, the topic of written tests already bored me. Suddenly I was sympathetic to Erik’s behaviour. “It’s not like the entrance exam really matters. All it does is make sure you have enough prerequisite knowledge to pull along with the more advanced stuff they teach here.” I made a swatting gesture. “All that matters is if you pass. Nobody cares by what margin.”

I had a bunch of other points that came with this topic. For a start, I wasn’t a fan of standardized tests, especially of the written variety. The only areas I could somewhat see them as justified were math and grammar. Everywhere else, looking for correct, purely memorized answers over practical application and creative thinking struck me as dumbing down people to think like factory machines instead of sapient creatures. Even for math, I didn’t get why one would have to memorize every single formula. That was like sending out someone to harvest crops without a scythe or other tools. Nobody in the real world would ever do complicated calculations without the necessary utensils at hand.

More to the point of Cosmic Universities, it was deliberately impossible to get rejected by all of them. Sure, more elite ones, of which Welldark was a lax member (but a member nevertheless) made sure they got the better ‘raw materials’ to work with, but everyone who had knowledge of the Dimensional Truth was channelled into these institutions in some fashion. Everyone had a vested interest that no strays were out there, ill-equipped to deal with and poorly informed about the happenings of the wider universe.

If I had failed the entrance to Welldark, the results would have simply been sent to some lower level University that was more on the level of my knowledge. Although Cosmic Universities weren’t necessarily friendly towards each other, they still had common cause. Furthermore, because there was no clause about the students having a maximum age in most places, there were rare cases of people slowly ascending up the graduation vine.

Very, very rare cases. If someone wasn’t smart enough or too unenthusiastic about learning to get access to their university of choice, they were unlikely to bother applying for it after they got their education elsewhere.

Personally, I had always been bored to death by book learning. My concentration drifted to more interesting topics than those I was supposed to read up on. Which was one of the reasons I had amassed my large catalogue of trivia knowledge. While my studying motivation was, admittedly, abysmal, my memory was pretty good.

I had vested interest in entering Welldark, thanks to performing a divination ritual and knowing that my closest friends were going to this school as well. I was taking the former a lot more seriously than I perhaps should have. Divination was notoriously inaccurate, for a lot of reasons. Other users, inability to narrow the revelations received, and general vagueness, to name only a few. A list for another day, I wanted to take a class on it in higher grades to broaden my relatively basic knowledge.

Anyway, I knew I had enough in my head to pass the exam, so that was all I cared for.

The girls obviously disagreed with my approach. “That is unacceptable,” Esther simply stated.

“Garnering high points in the exams is of extreme importance,” Aclysia underlined. “Being the highest garners you a mansion for your first year at Welldark.”

“Okay, first off, that’s only for the first one, so there is technically no difference between being the second place and the last place in this race,” I pointed out, counting the points on my fingers. “Second off, the rooms in the first-year dormitories are pretty good regardless. Third off, you don’t get to keep the mansion beyond that. Fourth off, I still got one, by fighting, which is the primary sorting mechanism after the first year anyway.” I placed my hands down and leaned back. “Welldark is not a place for theorists. The entrance exam is just an intellectual ‘you must be this tall to enter’, generalized because of a wide spread of applicants. It’s a concession to necessity, not a piece of design I imagine anybody is particularly proud of.”

Neither Aclysia nor Esther seemed happy with my stance or explanation. Eventually, the raven-haired lady of my desires stated, “Concession or not, one should excel in all walks of life presented.”

“I think my energy is better wasted reading up on things that interest me than memorizing things that I can forget immediately after the test is done,” I stated and shrugged, not seeing that this debate could lead anywhere productive. Generally, things that were only theoretically sound made me grumpy. Lots of time was wasted on bureaucratic point systems that didn’t adhere to reality. I was very happy that only a few courses in Welldark had written tests at the end of the semester. Even those tests only existed to gauge if you had earned access to the more advanced classes.

The girls noticed my apathy to this topic and turned towards each other to talk to someone they agreed with. I couldn’t blame them for that behaviour, it was only human to seek out support of one's opinion. However, it meant that I was horribly bored at the table during the course of that conversation. Nothing I found alarming. Even with the greatest of lovers, there would be moments of personal disagreement. It was an unavoidable result of being different people with different interests. Sharing a life didn’t mean sharing a mind. That would have brought its own set of issues anyway.

While they chatted away about the entrance exam and the benefits of written tests, I slowly rose. “I’ll go take a breather,” I announced, pointing at the balcony. I hadn’t explored it yet and I wanted to do something more interesting. Just looking over the railing would probably do it.

“We will change topics by the time you return,” Esther assured me. That was really all I could ask for. Me telling them to talk about something else would have been selfish. Them ignoring me would have been inconsiderate. That I backed off momentarily to let them have their talk and we continued with another topic once I came back was the best arrangement for all of us.

I made my way across the hall and stepped through the crystal glass door. The summer night greeted me with a pleasant breeze. Time had passed and the sky had taken the dark blue of thinned ink. The moon and the stars were my company.

Whether it was my timing or people just generally avoided the balcony for some reason, I was the only one present. A moment of quiet was much appreciated. Even I needed some time to refill my social batteries, so to say. I would classify myself as an extrovert, but gatherings like this wore me down. Mostly due to the glitter.

‘Still, I expected at least some people to be smoking or something,’ I thought. Since Astral Bodies were easily healed, cancer wasn’t an issue, and tobacco was quite popular. Even developing a physical dependence was muted quite heavily. That being said, certain desires or addictions were hardcoded into some species. Succubi came to mind. Even with them, they could survive without any semen intake. They just really, really wanted it and would gradually become more needy. Dedicated succubi, such as Arlethia, could overcome even that much. It only took about ten self-induced orgasms a day, by my friend's carefree admission.

‘I doubt that number has gone down since she and Willt got together,’ I thought and yawned. Perhaps it was the nightly breeze, but I suddenly realized how long we had been at the ball already. I was certainly getting tired and there were still classes to attend tomorrow. I looked up at the moon. ‘It sure looks bigger here than on Earth.’

The time I had spent on humanity’s cradle was limited, but I still remembered the sky there. It must have been a field somewhere in the French countryside, as far away from the cities and their light smog as possible. That had been an impressive sky, with the milky way plainly visible above. It beat Welldark’s sky, where some silver dots decorated the midnight blue. At least this large moon gave it something interesting. It certainly beat the dark red, empty sky of Hell.

In the corner of my vision, I noticed movement. I looked down from the moon and onto the roof below. The roofs, plural, as it was better put. The segmented nature of things was much more intricate than I had thought from afar. Bridges, arches and stairs connected the different layers with each other, decorative towers and normally positioned rooms. It was a bit labyrinthine in its first impression, but that was purely because of the scope. Everything had an ordered design to it.

I looked around, my eyes darting around between the gothic arches. Another hushed movement narrowed my spying eyes to one area. I saw a streak of blonde in the silver light. Whoever the silhouette belonged to, they had quite long hair. I kept my eyes on that area. No further movement. Perhaps she (I assumed it was a she because of the hair) had noticed me watching and was hoping I would lose interest.

Scratching the back of my head, I considered my options. I had no idea who this was. In the case she was a thief, or something like that, it would be my duty as a respectable person to step in and stop her. If not, I only got a conversation out of it. ‘Guess my trip to the balcony will be a bit longer than I thought,’ I mentally resigned myself and put one hand on the marble of the railing.

I hopped over and landed on the narrow slope of a decorative arch. Having no choice but to follow the downwards trajectory, I concentrated on keeping my balance and fluidly carried the momentum into my sprint. Along the ridge of the roof, one layer under the balcony, I ran, then jumped over a little gap. My feet connected audibly with the slightly slanted tiles of the next segment, when I landed.

That was the signal my target took to spy out behind her arch. I saw ears perk up, pointy and as blonde as her hair. Only the silhouette of her face was visible in the darkness. I spied the elegant swing of female curves, along with the slightly creepy way her eyes reflected light. ‘A cat girl,’ I thought.

We were separated by more than 20 metres, decorative ornaments, and the segmented nature of the building. To get to her position, I would have needed to get around or through a large courtyard and then back onto the roof. The blonde was hiding among decorative spires.

I stayed still and she tilted her head. I was waiting for some sort of identification. To that end, I was about to shout a question, when she darted into the open court below me. That action only confused me. If she wanted to flee, that was the worst direction to take. I jumped down to intercept her. She was quick, extremely so, crossing through a quarter of the court before I had even touched the ground.

As fast as she ran, she wasn’t quicker than instant transmission. With closed eyes, I landed, teleported myself several metres ahead, and stood up, now in her path. She tried to circumvent me, but I materialized a long pole in my hands and stretched it in the path of her chest. Nimbly she bent backwards, dodging the impact fully. Her reflexes were as quick as her steps. She did lose her momentum, however.

I set after her as quickly as possible and heard a carefree laughter as she twirled out of the range of the pole. She didn’t try to escape. Instead, the dirty blonde of her tail playfully moved behind her back. That she wanted to play was obvious. ‘Might as well get an evening workout,’ I decided.

Staying on the offensive, I whirled into my next attack. A sideways swipe, followed by a quick withdrawal and then a thrust. The last attack went narrowly by her chest, moderately small breasts hidden under a cropped top. The white colour of it contrasted her tanned skin nicely, particularly around the flat and decently muscular midriff. She was visibly more athletic than Esther, but far away from being bulky.

My moment of marvel was interrupted by her swiftly turning sideways. Her hair, dirty blonde with dark roots, flew by, bound into a ponytail. She ran. I was almost too distracted by her athletic, tight ass in the confines of stretchy jeans to chase after her. Simultaneously, the roundness of her butt gave me all the motivation I needed to give it my all.

Running, I realized after just two steps, would do me no good. She was even quicker than earlier, somehow. Another teleportation was my only hope. I closed my eyes, while turning around where I was at that moment. I opened my eyes again, to find the catgirl lean up to my face. She must have stopped the second I closed my eyes.

She grabbed my collar, got on her toes and licked my nose. Then she meowed and laughed, backing off and walking two steps backwards, before falling into a lounger. The court we were fighting in was probably used for sunbathing. “You’re cute,” she announced in a light-hearted tone.

Looking at her ears flick and the broad smile on her face, I could only return the compliment. “I don’t think I have enough words in my vocabulary to formulate the margin by which ‘cute’ is a word too small to describe you, my mysterious acquaintance made in this wonderful night,” I started in my wordy fashion, while I sat down on the lounger next to hers. “I do have to wonder what you are doing here.”

“Hmmm,” she hummed, putting a single finger up to her chin. More teasing than thoughtful, she raised her legs and kicked the air in a relaxed fashion. I couldn’t make out the colour of her eyes, the light wasn’t quite good enough for that. “I just like running around places and you looked like you would make for a fun partner in running around.”

Having heard that, confirming what I had already suspected, I dismissed the pole I had created. “I see,” I leaned back in the lounger and smiled. “Well then, it was my honour to have been your partner for a little bit…?” There was an implicit question at the end of that sentence.

“Miel,” she answered and pulled her Ashod out of the small pocket on her belt. With a quick few movements, she displayed her student ID. I hadn’t asked for that much, but it did eliminate any remaining suspicions.

Miel Caitsith, Age 22, Third Semester. No registered Anomalia and barely able to look neutral on those terrible identification photos everyone had to provide. A photo that also allowed me to make out the colour of her eyes as a neutral grey. No wonder it was so difficult to identify in the moonlight.

She was a year older than me and a year further into the Welldark process.

“My name is Karitas,” I introduced myself in turn. I looked again at the ‘no Anomalia’ part, then at her. “Would you mind if I got your number?” I asked. She seemed pretty interested in me, for the few minutes our relationship had existed. By the rules of Welldark, she couldn’t ask me, but I could ask her.

I fully expected a yes, but instead, the Ashod snapped into its closed state and quickly wandered back to her belt. “If ya catch me next time we see each other,” she said and got on her feet. A few steps carried her over to the wall she had originally dropped down from. “I wouldn’t still be available if I was that easy to get,” she mused and started climbing.

I remained seated, watching her get up with three quick pulls and steps. She was unsurprisingly skilled and her sculpted body made for the task. Waving at me from atop the wall, she then vanished into the spires.

‘I guess that’s at least one successful flirt. Good job,’ I congratulated myself and headed back to the balcony. ‘Not what I was gunning for when I went to a ball, but nice regardless. I will have to tell Esther about this.’ Not only did it make for a good story, but transparency was also key to everything.

I walked as closely to the wall as I could and looked at it like it would be a herculean task to climb. To be fair, it was. I didn’t think I could get up without dirtying (or worse, tearing) my suit. Teleportation was the safer option, but teleporting up a sharp rise was a pain.

Being off by twenty centimetres along the x axis meant I would be a bit shy of where I wanted to go. No problem, especially not on flat terrain. Being off along the y axis meant I could get my foot stuck in solid matter. Well, that would be what would happen, if the world itself hadn’t been in the habit of rejecting overlapping matter.

Instead, if I miscalculated my teleport and somehow landed myself in physical matter, I would be placed in the closest possible and visible location instead. Along with that, I would experience quite a bit of physical damage in the areas that tried to be somewhere they couldn’t have been. The Astral Body usually fixed that, but it was a pain I would like to avoid. The entire area affected felt like a toe stubbed at 100 kilometres per hour.

There was also the risk of not having any remaining Astral Capacity to counteract the damage. I hadn’t been willing to test that yet. Maybe if I had a healer around, I would dip my little finger in concrete or something. Until then, I just imagined that the affected area got crushed in its entirety. Trying to have two things occupy the same space was not something reality liked.

After having measured the wall for a little bit, I was confident enough, however, that I could make at least that teleport. Closing my eyes, I took a slow breath, let the Astral Capacity flow, and then exhaled in a relaxed fashion. No pain meant that all had gone well. I opened my eyes and took the rest of the path on foot.

I was just about to head back inside, when Esther met me at the door. “Did the break please you?” she asked.

“You could say that,” I answered in a deliberately mysterious fashion. “Did you finish your topic?”

“The topic of self-perfection cannot be brought to a conclusion. Perfection is unattainable, only a goal to strive towards,” she answered, taking things way too literally. Just one of her quirks I had come to like. “As it is, we have concluded our current discussion on the matter.”

“Good enough for me.” I put an arm around her and guided her back inside. “What do you say, shall we take our leave?” There was no need to lead into the topic. Esther just nodded in agreement; she appreciated such directness. We went back to the table and informed Aclysia about our decision. She decided to stay and chat some more with her family. I understood, even if I would have loved to talk more to her myself.

Still, I had one beautiful woman warming my side on the way home. That was a good start.