Staying Out Of Trouble

My next class is Battle Tactics, where we learn different strategies for fighting monsters and people, whether alone or in a group, against one enemy or multiple.

I hand the professor a bouquet and exchange pleasantries with him. He wears black leather shoes and a suit—but it’s unlike any I’ve ever seen before. There are no bright colors, fancy patterns, or frills. It’s sleek, simple, and almost entirely black. His necktie is striped diagonally in black and dark red, and thin, rectangular silver glasses sit over sharp orange eyes. His hair is slicked back, and he wears a confident smile. He’s a bit eccentric, but he seems incredibly smart. His name is Julian Slowburn…

…I wonder if—

“Professor, I have this other teacher, Sabira Slowburn. She wouldn’t happen to be your—”

“My wife? Indeed she is.”

I gasp. “Were you colleagues before you fell in love?”

“Why, yes, we were.”

I gasp again. “That’s so romantic! She’s so cool and pretty. I bet you feel real lucky!” I giggle.

“Haha, indeed I do.”

“Well, tell her Nora says hi! Hope you enjoy the flowers professor!”

He nods with a smile.

I end up sitting next to both Arthur and Lucas, but none of us get much chance to talk due to how heavy the material is and how quickly the professor moves through it. Class ends in what feels like a blink.

When the three of us get up to leave, however—

“Hey, hot stuff.” Petra struts over to Arthur and leans on him. “So, whatcha doing after class?”

“I’ll be having lunch with Nora here.”

“Pfft, a scrawny little bore like her? Why don’t you ditch the child and get with a real woman?”

I keep my mouth shut and head down. Just as Lucas is about to defend me, I tug on his sleeve and shake my head. We can stay low, just like he wanted.

Strangely, though, he doesn’t seem quite satisfied with that.

Arthur brushes Petra off. “Listen, Miss Redgrave. While I’ve enjoyed our conversations on combat, have great respect for your martial prowess, and am flattered by your repeated advances—I have little interest in someone who takes joy in harassing the innocent. Unless you plan on changing your ways, I must ask that you take your leave.”

Petra scowls at me like I'm some sort of homewrecker before turning back to Arthur with a smile and a tilt of her head. “You'll learn to like a bad girl soon enough.”

She walks away, and we make our way to the cafeteria.

***

Oh my gosh, I don’t think I could ever get sick of the food here, it’s just so—

I look up to find Arthur staring. “W-what?”

“If you’re wondering how she’s able to fit so much food in such a small body, I’m afraid it remains a mystery.” Lucas mocks.

I spin, cheeks flush. “Lucas!”

Arthur chuckles. “Well, I think it’s endearing.”

…

“Wait a minute, Arthur, how can you even see what I’m doing? Your eyes are always closed! Actually—how do you do anything that you do?”

“Well, first off, I assure you, I do indeed have eyes. However, unless I need to read something, I keep them closed as a way of training my ability to sense mana. It was… certainly tough at first, however my senses have grown sharp enough that, for the most part, all I’m really missing out on is the color of objects.”

“So, your eyes… can we see them?”

“And ruin my mysterious allure? I’m afraid I have to decline.”

“Aw, you’re no fun.”

“Speaking of mysteries.” He turns to Lucas. “I can’t help but get the sense we’ve met before, Lucas.”

“It’s, uh, probably just because we’ve had a few classes together.”

“No… I don’t think that’s it.”

A guilty look spreads across Lucas’s face.

“You wouldn’t happen to have attended the—”

“Uh oh.” Before Arthur can finish, I spot several members of Petra’s crew making their way right toward us with scary looks on their faces. “Uh, Lucas, I think we might need to leave—”

“Please.” Arthur interrupts. “No need.” He turns his head toward them. Whether it’s his mere presence or some kind of scary look he flashed them, they all freeze, then turn around and leave.

“Wow, thanks, Arthur. Guess you’re not the top-ranked student for nothing.”

“Let’s just say it… has its perks.”

***

After enjoying the rest of our lunch harassment-free, Lucas and I head to our Basic Martial Arts Class.

I look over at our professor, a behemoth of a man adorned in heavy armor and carrying an absurdly large sword—if you can even call it that. It’s more like a heap of raw iron. Ragged red cloth hangs from its handle and the lower half of his armor. His face is covered in scars, but he wears a surprisingly friendly smile. His thick, unkempt eyebrows, beard, and hair are all red, while his eyes red-ish brown.

“Oh goddess, what’s he doing teaching this class?” Lucas asks.

“What? Is he special or something?”

“Roland Redgrave. He’s known for really putting his students through the wringer. But he’s only supposed to be teaching high level courses and the top first years, so why the heck is he here?”

“...Maybe we’re just that weak that the school needed him to whip us into shape.”

“Ugh, you might actually be right.”

“Welp, no matter! Time to give him his flowers!” I skip up to him.

“Why, hello there,” he says in the deepest voice I’ve ever heard.

“Hello, Professor! Just wanted to give you these.”

“Well, isn’t that sweet? These are beautiful.”

He pauses.

“Actually, would it be alright if I gifted these to my daughter, Petra?”

“Woah, you’re Petra’s dad?”

“Indeed I am! Why? Do you know her?”

“Uh… you could… say that.”

He puts his head in his hand and sighs. “Alright, I’ve seen that look enough times to know what’s going on. I’m really sorry. I hope she isn’t causing you too much trouble.”

Oof. Poor guy.

“If you’d like, I could—”

He freezes as soon as he looks up.

“Here you go! This is much better than a bouquet! Now she’ll look nice and pretty!”

I hand him a crown I’ve quickly woven from the flowers in his bouquet.

He lets out a booming laugh. “Oh, this is great! Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how cold she’s been to me lately, but this—this should really help me score some points with her.”

“No problem.” I smile.

I skip back over to Lucas and get ready for class to start. Like with spellcasting, our goal is to reach 2nd Order in one martial school and 1st Order in the rest, so I’m interested to see—

***

END MY SUFFERING! PLEASE!

I collapse on the ground next to Lucas. Redgrave told us that before we’re allowed to learn about any of the four martial schools, he first needs to “teach us the true meaning of physical conditioning.”

I still don’t know what that meaning is—all I know is I hate it and want to set it on fire.

What’s worse, he wants us to start doing physical conditioning outside of class too!

Lucas and I clearly aren't built for this. We’re among the last to finish running in a class already filled with the most unathletic students. The only thing we have going for us is we weren’t dead last.

THUD!

That would be Nettle, who just wiped out next to me, gasping for air.

Come to think of it… she’s been in every single one of my classes. You’d think someone as talented as her would have more of a presence. Kinda feels like she’s getting the cold shoulder even worse than I am.

Maybe I should try talking to her.

“That was a tough one, huh, Nettle?”

She avoids my eyes, gives a little nod, then turns away.

Man, and I thought I was shy.

“That was torture,” Lucas pants

“Well, it’s not as bad with company, right?” I smile.

“Maybe.”

“I… I’m keeping my word… right, Lucas? I’ve been trying my best.”

“Yeah, I… I appreciate it, Nora.” He smiles.

I was so scared of losing my relationship with Lucas… I’m really glad things between us are okay again.

Now there’s just one class left today: Summoning I.

As long as I can make it through that without causing any trouble, I should be in the clear!