“Alright Van, let’s see what you got.” Hardass handed him a blunt sword. “I heard you use swords, so you're going to go at me as if I was your sole sexual life partner.” She said in a tough tone of voice with a glare.

Van blinked. “What?”

Hardass sighed. “Attack me as if you had a grudge against me or with wild abandon like an animal. I’ll take it all and then some, no problem.” She growled. “Not like you can hurt me anyway…” Muttering at the end.

They were in the training field. And like the coliseum where he fought in those clan battles, there were pillars on the edges that helped create barriers to protect those training from being hurt.

But despite knowing that, Van wondered if he could deal enough damage to give a good bruise or two after hearing what Hardass muttered. “It’s clear she’s not taking me seriously, let’s see how good she actually is…” He thought, wondering if she had done no research on him and his achievements.

They both took their positions and with a silent signal they went at each other like two gnarlapes in mating season.

“She's actually hitting pretty hard!” Van thought in surprise. “She’s strong too, as strong as Zariel! Maybe a little stronger…” Taking a step back from the onslaught Hardass was throwing his way. “I guess this is the difference between a junior and a senior. I wonder if they are all like this, makes me wonder what kind of geniuses are hidden within the senior crowd. Not that it’s going to stop me from kicking her ass!”

Van twisted his body around and gave a powerful swing, enough to throw a wave of compressed air to Hardass. He then followed it up with spiking his aura and going for a quick decapitating kill towards her throat.

Hardass’s eyes widened and was just barely able to move her blade in time to block the attack. The two struggled against each other, blade pushing against blade until her eyes began to glow a deep red and her strength increased, pushing Van off her and creating some distance between them.

“Not bad,” she said angrily. “But let’s see how long you can keep it up.” She then began to grow her own aura, it now covering her body in a reddish haze of power as she completely focused on him.

Van prepared for the worse, his own eyes turning red and black. He didn’t think it was time yet to go all out with his signature skill. But he was preparing an aura layer on his sword to see what would happen in the future.

The two went at it again, their swords clashing and creating mini explosions and ripples in the air.

Van gritted his teeth and went low, then went high, a look of sheer determination on his face while Hardass tried to remain calm and composed but slowly lost it as the battle continued. Both not wanting to lose to the other no matter what, until finally Hardass’s aura changed slightly into an orange tinge, her defense spiking and she followed it up with a deep cleave of the ground, throwing rocks and dust towards Van’s direction.

Van sent a first layer of aura blade to cut through the attack, heading straight for Hardass. But she tanked the blow easily with her new higher defense and charged at him like a runaway train.

He stood his ground and planted tendrils of mana within the dirt to keep him steady, preparing to take her attack head on. His body began to darken with words of power as he forced mana through his veins. He closed his eyes, remembering what little Zariel had taught him about shadow shifting and what Marie taught him about energy control.

When he opened them again Hardass was there and he struck with all his power.

“FOURTH LAYER!” He yelled in his head.

Like a freaking baseball bat. Van swung his sword towards his charging opponent who was planning to body slam him into the ground. And instead sent her flying across the training field with an earth shattering CRACK!

The pillars that protected the students that trained within them glowed bright like the sun, blinding all those who looked at them for a split second before dimming. Van’s blade had completely broken in two.

When the light and dust had cleared. The nearby students who became enthralled by the fight and stopped to stay and watch now looked on in panic towards their sub leader who lay on the ground unmoving.

Van took a knee, having drained about eighty or ninety percent of his power. Far more than he was expecting to use, not realizing that the aura layer technique would drain him what it needed against his will.

The students then rushed the field to tend to their fallen compatriot, only for her to regain consciousness on her own and slowly get up on her own to legs through sheer force of will alone. The way she carried herself, and used her left arm to hold her chest, it was clear to anyone that she was nursing a few broken ribs. But her eyes never wavered and anyone could see that she still hadn’t accepted defeat just yet.

Van felt worried that they may have to continue. He was out of breath, but just like his opponent, he didn’t want to be the first one to admit defeat. Slowly he got up on his feet once more and got ready, his body shaking from the withdrawal of energy, his previous form now gone.

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“That’s enough you two, it’s a draw. Now break it up and go to the clinic before you both collapse.” Eliza ordered, suddenly appearing as if from nowhere and giving a stern look towards everyone in attendance.

Van and Hardass froze, as if not believing what Eliza was saying in such a crucial moment for the both of them. But when it was clear She wasn’t going to budge on this, they both gave a disgruntled look and slowly made their way towards the students whose job it was to help heal anyone injured during training.

As both Van and Hardass were helped towards the clinic, they gave a side eyed look to each other. Not one of revenge or anger, but of semi respect, but still filled with the desire to one day settle the score between them, no matter the cost. A silent agreement was made between each other that day.

---

Van spent the rest of the day meditating to get his energy back after that bout with Hardass in the morning. He wasn’t really useful when he was out of power, so he was told to help Scream out in the afternoon with paperwork. He found her to be a surprisingly good teacher as she made sure he understood what he had to do in a methodical step by step process. At least from what he could understand through all her stuttering and nervousness…

Afterward he helped Jynx right up a few talismans, which helped her only have to focus on pouring her mana into them, rather than trying to draw as many as she can as quickly as she can. She thanked him profusely for his help, saying even this much was a huge weight off her shoulders.

Scar then helped him choose which career path he wanted to pursue while he was training on the wall.

“So you want to go officer core?” Scar asked as she looked over his forms.

“Yes, I feel like considering how many troops I have and the number of people who look towards me for leadership, it would be the most logical choice.” Van explained.

Scar nodded as she wrote something down onto the paper. “And your second choice?”

Van fidgeted. “Well… I’m not actually sure… I’m stuck between mage and logistics core. I’m a pretty good mage, and have a lot of energy and mana to spare to help make talismans and empower enchantments. But I also feel like since I’m the heir to my barony, I should learn some logistics to round me out, not to mention it could be a skill that helps me in the future when I have to run everything back at home.”

Scar simply nodded again and wrote a few more things down. “Have you thought about joining the breeding core? I have to ask because you're a male. So please don’t feel pressured to join if you don’t want to.” She said passively, more interested in doing her job right than anything else.

“Umm… I have thought about it…” Van admitted. “But I don’t really see what good it would do me since I already know how to breed with other races and produce troops. And I already have others who help raise them for me.”

“That’s good.” Scar said. “Then perhaps you should use that same mentality for choosing your next field of expertise. Perhaps just find someone you trust to help you solve all your logistical needs in the future. That should help you narrow down what else you may want to do.”

Van thought about that. “That's a good point I guess.” Thinking about how he had Lyn and everyone else in his soul realm practically doing that already. “Perhaps then I want to focus on my magecraft. Please put me down in the mage core.”

Scar did so. “Anything else? Do you want to be an alchemist? Enchanter?”

“Umm… I Think I’ll just be a universal mage and just help out wherever I'm needed.” Van said.

Scar wrote it down. “Finally, since you did not choose the breeding option. I am obligated to tell you that you can volunteer yourself whenever you want. I am also supposed to tell you that the school also has a program to help produce more troops. They will introduce you to a few of their soldiers for you to impregnate and pay you very well for every birth. There is also the fact you get paid for helping around with stress relief. Would you like me to put you down for relief duty? Or volunteer duty?”

Van wondered how desperate the school was to have such a crazy option available for males. “No thank you…” But then thought about Marie and how she would want him to train. “Or… At least not now… Depends on what’s going to happen in my future.”

Scar wrote that down. “Alright, I see you also filled out your questionnaire and other forms as well. I’m just going to send this through, you're done here, have a good day.” dismissing him as she began to write a few more things down and started working on a stack of paperwork right next to her.

Van got up and left the office. It seemed like Scar was always very busy with something or another. “Being the second in command must be pretty stressful… I hope she gets the rest she needs…” He thought about relief duty and wondered if that would help her. But then just as quickly shook his head and decided to head back to his room.

---

Days turned into weeks and Van found himself busier than ever. While the platoon never truly accepted him, at least not yet. They have gotten used to his presence, some even going out of their way to go to him and chat him up.

Van had gotten a hold of changing his energies from one type to another, allowing him to last a lot longer in bed and at the battery. Latter of which offered him a long term contract, trying to hire him for his abundant mana reserves. Sadly he had to turn them down, even if the money was good since they would have tied him down for the next five to ten years.

From time to time he would go to talk with his old clanmates, making sure to spend some time with them and going out on those takes with Avalyn. Zariel as well, and he couldn’t forget Kira and Aldina as well as a few others.

As he learned more from Marie, the more robust his sex drive became. Yet at the same time it also became easier to control, like a well of lust right under the surface that he could let out and use whenever he wished. Almost like he was slowly building some sort of mental on and off switch.

Everything seemed to be going fine. He was progressing, even if it was a little slow in his mind. But progress nevertheless. More importantly he never realized how much work it would be being a senior. Training, drills, patrolling, and on top of all that they had to study and make sure they kept all their grades up. The book provided so that he could get a better night’s rest with fewer hours really helps him out in this case. Though not by much considering all the work Marie had him doing at night.

All in all Van was wondering when the shoe was going to drop. He couldn’t help but feel that there was something horrible that was going to happen. He didn't know when, but it was going to happen. He just worried that he might not be prepared for it…

But that was something he could worry about later.

Hopefully…