House of Amarin

Everyone was present inside the Student Council's office, and now Kafka was sitting where Olivia usually sat, flanked by his two friends. Some of the voices were questioning him at first, but they quickly died down as no tangible force backed them. The fact that Olivia simply left, leaving behind those 3rd-year students she elevated into their positions, seemingly abandoning them at random, significantly weakened her faction. Her group outside was already falling apart, and her name quickly became the talk of the school and a source of great shame and disgrace.

They had been having a meeting for the past two days before coming to a decision, and after it was signed by the Headmaster, they welcomed the one, filling up the currently empty seat of Olivia. Everyone was looking at Lia, trying to figure out how a Magi Discipli, someone at only the 2nd Tier, managed to defeat Olivia. The Ember, who dueled and won against three-man groups... how did she lose?

"Is something on my face?" Lia asked suddenly, wiping her mouth nervously.

"Ahaha… no." Kafka chuckled, scratching his throat. "It is just… this is the first time since the Institute of Eight Elements has been established… that a 1st-year student becomes a Student Council member. So it is a historical event."

"Oh." She nodded, "I thought it may have happened previously. Huh! Cool!" She giggled, realizing her name would surely go into the Academy's history books.

"That it is…." Narassa whispered, sitting next to Kafka, a bit sad that soon they would graduate and won't see what will happen next year.

"Well!" Kafka spoke up, grabbing their attention. "Now that we are settled back to peace, let us focus on the remainder of our year! Summer is nearing and so are the yearly tests! Three more competitions will be held by the Tower of Shadows, Tower of Fire, and Tower of Light before the end of the year. Here are some timetables and the list of us attending as judges." He explained, giving them out, but of course, Lia received only the outline as she had yet to gain real responsibility and was only spectating the inner workings.

"From the last month of spring onwards, we won't have any meetings, and everyone is to focus on passing the test waiting for us!"

"You all look pretty nervous," Lia said, watching them curiously.

"For us, the smallest mistake means losing our Honorary position." Dahr explained, sitting on the other side of Kafka, "Each of us worked hard for it and not just by reaching the 5th Tier! That is only the prerequisite for that! So yes, the pressure is high!"

"Huh." Lia tilted her head, not really understanding it, as she wasn't concerned about that at all.

If the others could read her thoughts, they would say it is because of her family's background. But it came from the simple fact that Lia thought that your actions defined you, not some title, like how it was with her father.

Reyra told her happily that Kawu was a thug, a bouncer at a brothel in a city back in the day. He could barely read and was ripping off adventurer groups in a competition of strength. He was disguising the fact that he was a beast folk and using his superior physique to his advantage. He tried it with Reyra's group, too, before they were called the Vanquishers and succeeded. At first. Then Reyra figured it out and made a big deal out of it that ended in him being chased out of the city.

After that, Kawu shadowed them, harassing the group repeatedly, fighting against Reyra, losing every time until he was forced into the group. Yet despite all of this, from an almost illiterate blockhead, as Reyra teased him many times, he grew to be the husband of one of the strongest mages of Meriath.

"That is all!" Kafka clapped, jolting Lia back to the present as she was lost in her thoughts. "Let's end this meeting here; we all have important things to do!" He stood up, and soon, everyone was leaving, including Lia. She also had an appointment with Lorin that she was hurrying to make.

Arriving at Alchemy Haven, he smiled and led her upstairs, serving tea before sitting opposite Lia.

"You shot up in fame in less than a year's time, eh?" Lorin grinned, eyeing Lia, who enjoyed the freshly brewed, sweet tea.

"I was not aiming at it! They provoked me!"

"Well, it was their fault. Anyway! As I will graduate soon, I want to make sure that the business between Alchemy Haven and your group can proceed smoothly after I am gone!"

"You always gave us good prices and great deals! I am sure it will be fine!" Lia nodded rapidly, enjoying the fact that she could easily sell some tidbits and old recipes from back home and gain money when needed with remarkable consistency.

"I bet others will approach you after everything settles down a little. I want to make sure that we are going to monopolize you~! I don't want your good stuff to go to our competition!"

"Are you flirting with me?" Lia asked back suddenly, surprised and blushing a bit.

"Eh?" Loring flinched, twitching his mouth a little. "No… I'm not… into girls."

"Oh! O-okay! For a moment there, I was worried… sorry but you are not my type!" She sighed with relief and, once again, made Lorin twitch his mouth.

"Damn it… hearing that still can hurt… you are ruthless, girl!"

"Ah… um… s-sorry?" She murmured, playing with her skirt's edge, looking down and feeling a bit ashamed, drawing a sweet smile on Lorin's face.

"No matter! Especially because I want to ask for a favor."

"What is it?" Lia looked up, fixing her posture.

"I want to move to the Amarins' territory and start a business there after graduation. I realize that to be able to do that, I need many contracts to be signed and permitted by the Respected House to have an official business registered. I hope you can help me out with this."

"Sure!" She answered candidly, without pause, smiling from ear to ear.

"Superb! What do you say; after graduation, I go back with you and have everything laid out openly before your parents?"

"Um! Okay!" She continued nodding.

"Can you invite Sion too?"

"Yep!"

"Awesome!" Lorin clapped as this was way much easier, nothing like when he had to barter with Lia for the recipes' prices.

"Why do you want Sion to come?" She asked suddenly, "Are you trying to woo him?"

"That ship has already sailed!" Lorin chuckled, "We are just friends. That is why I want him to be seen behind the Amarins' borders! And spread that news through my sources, of course."

"Why?" Lia was perplexed as she asked it curiously. Something wasn't adding up, and she knew she was missing some puzzle pieces here.

"He would never tell you and never ask you for help. He can be stubborn like a mule!" Lorin sighed, deciding to tell her as Sion was pretty tight-lipped about it. Back then, he only learned about it because he was trying to court him, and when both of them were drunk as hell, Sion started to spill everything in frustration.

"Is he in trouble?" Lia asked, sitting up straight, turning serious.

"Kinda." Lorin nodded slowly. "Sion Lavarentian is his full name, and he is from the Kingdom of Harren. He is the son of a minor noble, someone who, anywhere else, would be nothing but a bit wealthier citizen. It is a small, city-state-sized kingdom bordering House Berison. They are a vassal state of another kingdom that is a direct subordinate of the Berisons. Anyway! Simply put, Sion is marked as a stud."

"A what?" Lia blinked her eyes as she did not understand it. Truly didn't. "But he is a human."

"Ah." Lorin flinched, but he had no qualms about explaining. "Let's start at the beginning! When he got into the Academy, his name reached the ears of the royal family of the Kingdom of Fedra. The kingdom they are the vassals of."

"This sounds so complicated…." Lia moaned, grabbing her hair, feeling lost, and her eyes started spinning.

"Ahaha! That is politics for you, girl! Better get used to it!"

"Uuuu…."

"Let me continue! Sion was already talented and was recruited into Fedra's special forces at an early age! He was trained to be an assassin, sent to kill mages who are dabbling in Undead and the unnatural magic surrounding them! But he was truly talented, and the Academy laid its eyes on him, calling him up here!"

"Oh! That is so cool!" Lia clapped rapidly, with twinkling eyes.

"Well, it made him into a stud too."

"That word again. He is not a horse…. Is he?" She asked, now a bit unsure, but she thought it must have some different meaning; she just couldn't see what.

"Fedra, as subordinates of House Berison, obliged to produce worthy offsprings who are dedicated to search and destroy any Undead. Not all adventurer groups specialize in that. This obligation requires a constant stream of people and talented people, not some run-of-the-mill mages! Now! When Sion finishes school, he would be dragged back for Fedra and made to impregnate as many women as possible to birth talented mages."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Lia…?"

"That is weird." She opened her mouth, saying with honest surprise. "I wouldn't want my husband to sleep with so many girls! He should be mine!"

"Ahahaha, no, he wouldn't marry them! They just need his blood or, in this case, his semen."

"Are they doing it on the sea?"

"..."

"Ahaha~" Lia chuckled, sticking out her tongue, watching Lorin's flabbergasted expression. "I know what that is! I was joking… But I never heard them being called studs! Koa usually called them sluts!"

"Eh… I think that is for the girls… but… well… whatever! You are weird…."

"Mmm? Am I?" She asked back, tilting her head left and right, trying to come to a decision, but before she could, Lorin continued.

"So!" Lorin fixed his sitting posture, trying to act as if nothing happened, "Sion is destined to be dragged away and used as a flesh-toy for the rest of his life. Talent or not, he would do nothing but breed little Sions every day!"

"I think Koa would love that…." Lia murmured under her breath, biting on her thumb, once again, shocking Lorin. He just couldn't tell if Lia was as innocent as she sometimes looked or if she was playing around, enjoying how she made others feel weird and awkward.

"Well, Sion is not really fond of the idea. We may slowly nudge him toward a different future if he is seen with you and at the Amarins! He is too stubborn to ask for help, trying to solve it himself!"

"Duh! Of course that he has a different future! I want to form an Adventure Group after school is over! Travel the Realm! He must have a spot in it! You too, if you want to come!"

"Thank you for the offer, but I have different goals set for myself!" He smiled happily, cupping his hands towards Lia, "But I also know Sion won't be left off the hook so easily. I have to warn you, this may go up to alert the Respected House Berison!"

"Well… I heard from mom that they are eager to challenge her… they also have a very talented girl now acting as their leader. Well, she is still not as talented as my mom!" She said proudly, puffing out her chest.

"Says the daughter who managed to fuse two opposing elements…." He murmured as Sion already let it slip to him, yet Lia was not surprised, just chuckled with a cute, embarrassed look.

"I still don't know how I do it… It happens when I don't try it, and when I do try it, it doesn't want to work!"

"That is up to you to figure it out!" Lorin shook his head, knowing full well to keep it only between them and not spread it, especially with Lauron being present in the Academy.

While they were talking, Ceiline, back at their tower, was feeling more than stressed out. She was sitting in her room and raising her bracelet. She was swarmed with applications as many wanted to join their group after the yearly Egg Hunt. Too many to count, not to mention the incoming offers for artifacts, spells, potions, and accessories, wanting to use them as some kind of walking and talking advertisements.

"I hate this…." She moaned, leaning on her table, setting her bracelet to ignore all new messages. When she looked up and heard her door open, she watched as Aurora came in, holding a tray with freshly baked muffins.

"You look awful… have one! We were just gifted them from a bakery!"

"Don't go accepting gifts willy-nilly…." Ceiline moaned but still took one, munching on it. "They are going to use it to ask for something in return."

"Then we just deny them." She wrote with her hair, unbothered by the fact. "We did not ask for gifts! Too bad if they expected something in return!" She was now back to 100%, feeling stronger than ever. She visited Lauron yesterday, who only twitched his mouth as neither he nor Solren thought she would come to this kind of conclusion… deciding to hide her edge so she could strike unpredictably. They hoped she would let up a little and become less… deadly. Instead, she came to the opposite conclusion that still made her advance. By now, Aurora was more deadly than ever before… only she got good at hiding it.

"Well, we need to do something! This way, nobody could focus on the upcoming finals!"

"Don't worry." Aurora wrote, sitting down before Ceiline's desk. "Announce that we don't take anybody this year. But next year, we will hold our own competition, and we will accept 100 people!"

"What?!" She jumped with fright. She was their overseer; she couldn't handle that many people by herself.

"Relax!" Aurora chuckled silently, "Master Opparu will join us too, with some other adults coming together as our advisors and your helpers! It will be fine! Trust us!"

"Ugh… This is… still too much!"

"Then rest while summer is here! Because we are going to have a busy next year!"

"Haaaah… I can see that already!" She moaned, already stuffing the second muffin into her mouth with a sulking expression.