Chapter 5 - Part 15 (Book 1 - Fantasy World)

"Sorry for my enthusiasm. I had not considered how much power I had used. I hope that you are well and my childish antics have not done harm," The young master offered out a hand.

Valessandria blinked at the hand before she looked down and realized she was now on her knees. Before, she had been kneeling, but somehow, during the time that the young master had ended his demonstration and when the servants had chastised her, she had dropped to her knees. Her head still felt slightly dizzy from earlier, and her body did not feel as though it was back to full strength.

Noticing the hand still reaching out to help her, Valessandria's face turned bright red.

"T-Thank you, My Lord!" Valessandria accepted the gesture.

Standing back up was difficult and her legs quivered as she placed a foot on the ground to help push herself up as she pulled on the hand of the young lord.

Slowly, she began to stand up. One thought she had was how sturdy the young master was, his hand not even budging despite her weight. Since she was still wearing her armor on top of her modest weight, even well-trained members of the Disciplinary Committee would struggle and need several of them to help someone back up. Even if she did receive assistance to get back up, the way she would proceed was significantly different than how the young master offered.

As her face became warmer, she actively avoided meeting the direct gaze of the young master; Valessandria was keenly aware of how much leverage she was applying while getting back up. She tried not to think how strong the young master's arms would be and how stable his footing was.

Finally, standing, Valessandria took a moment to make sure that her balance was good and that she wasn't going to topple over. Her breathing was slightly heavy, her chest rising and falling under the armor.

"Thank you, My Lord, for your help."

This time, Valessandria forced herself to meet the gaze of the young master. "Stop behaving like a schoolgirl, Valessandria. The young lord was just doing the noble thing by offering a hand, even if the way he helped was beyond anything most students at the Academy could do." She furiously yelled at her inner thoughts. The last thing she needed to do was embarrass herself even further by having such indecent thoughts with a student who was several years younger than her.

Valessandria raised a fist to her mouth, coughing into it. "My Lord," She discreetly glanced at the servants before returning her attention to the young master, "While I would be the first one to admit that my strength is not the strongest in either of the Kingdom or Empire, within the Academy, there are not many who could claim to be above me." She could feel her cheeks burn. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "With that said, I am curious how you were able to display such a degree of power."

The young master raised an eyebrow. "I would think such a question would be a little inappropriate."

Valessandria began to clench her teeth before stopping herself.

Tilting his head slightly, the young master's eyes drilled into her. "But, I assume it would be a little troubling to have an individual like me inside of this Academy without even having tried to ask something that should normally be private." He didn't immediately answer, his eyes searching, seemingly to search for something.

Having such a direct gaze caused Valessandria to be slightly uncomfortable, as she was not used to having such attention directed at her. If she were younger, she had no doubt that such an emotion was due to her becoming infatuated with the boy paying close attention to her, but deep down in the darkest recesses of her mind, something which couldn't be ignored was how a deep dread of the person in front of her existed inside. Not only because he knew how much power he could wield without appearing to be worn out by the effort but also because of the eldritch family behind him. Something about him screamed that being more involved than required would be an awful idea. Just the way his eyes held no empathy caused her to imagine eyes that belonged to the same monsters that devoured her neighbors and her mother. When she gazed into his eyes, her instincts could only call out for her to run.

"Lady Knight?"

Flinching slightly and blinking a few times, Valessandria said, "I did not mean to pry, My Lord. Just based on what I have witnessed, you have sufficiently demonstrated your capabilities." She endeavored to smile while wishing she could have her helmet covering her face.

"Congratulations, Master," The young ruby-haired servant sped towards the young master, an enormous blinding smile on her face. Upon catching the boy, she clung to him while burying her face.

"Thank you," The young master affectionately caressed the hair of the servant.

Valessandria observed the scene in front of her, slightly astonished by how drastically the noble in front of her had transformed his appearance within moments from when he talked with her to his exchange with the servant. The biggest shift was how his eyes softened, and his voice was gentle like an older brother or father interacting with a family member. With such an extreme difference, she wouldn't be surprised if her view of the young master was due to her own mental burdens that still loomed over her, a cloud that continued to block most of the cleansing sun's rays and prevent the dark beliefs from being exercised.

"My Lord, if you are willing, I would like to usher you to where your identification card will be processed." Valessandria couldn't help but flinch when his eyes returned their attention to her. Though they were not as cold as after he had displayed his magical prowess, she couldn't help but feel inconsequential in front of him.

She couldn't help but take a peek at the other two servants. The one with white hair was currently observing her, while the head servant continued to act as though what was occurring around her was trivial. The head servant's dark purple eyes were presently focused on the liquefied walls of the room. Her peculiarities reminded Valessandria of students who primarily devoted their time to researching phenomena in the supernatural world.

"I wonder if she is interested in research?" Valessandria mentally made a note.

Though Valessandria didn't enjoy the bureaucratic aspects of her position as the Lady Knight, the experience allowed her to accumulate some awareness when it came to learning how to make associations with those who held more power than her. The problem was that she wasn't fond of such indirect manners, finding them overly manipulative compared to the direct nature of battling an opponent attempting to kill you. But the truth of her current position was ensuring she did not have a hostile relationship with the young master and his servants.

"Not only is the young master an unknown, at least for me... There are other reasons..." Valessandria couldn't help but be painfully aware of the damage that the boy had caused.

Returning to look at the young master, the way he directed his attention toward her made her reflexively wonder if the young master had detected her staring at him.

"You mentioned identification cards?" His deep brown eyes observed her.

Nodding, "Yes, My Lord. If you do not mind, I will guide you. Afterward, I can guide you to the house that was assigned to you." Valessandria attempted to ignore the glances of the two older servants whose ears perked upon the mention of a house.

It was easy to comprehend the types of activities that would transpire inside the new home. She wasn't completely unaware of how nobles behaved around their servants. Her eyes flickered to each of the women, taking note of the curves of their bodies that would make any rational male have carnal thoughts and desires. She wanted to roll her eyes but made sure to maintain a professional image.

Thinking about how nobles behaved, Valessandria clenched a fist in annoyance at how nobles acted not only toward servants who were dependent on the money to support families but also toward working women outside the city. Nobles and the way they often would misbehave was not only something she had to deal with on a frequent occurrence but also what compelled her to be in conflict with Nathanial. While she understood that Nathanial needed to keep a cordial relationship with foreign nobles as the President of the Student Council, she couldn't help but suspect that something else was happening in the background.

"At least I have taken steps," Valessandria started to think but then ceased, knowing it wasn't the suitable time. Flashing a smile to the young noble and his servants, she reminded herself that her current job was to be a welcoming guide. "Compared to those noble brats, the one in front of me makes them appear like newly born and defenseless kittens."

She couldn't help but feel sympathy for the educators who would be in charge of the young master.

"My Lord," Valessandria turned her head to look back at the young master as she headed towards the door that they had entered through. "Please follow me, and I will guide you again." She tried to ignore the melted pile of debris, which still glowed and radiated heat behind the boy.

Returning to the hallway immediately, the cool air was a comfort as she took a deep breath. Whether due to what had occurred or something additionally applied, the air had felt thin as if she were traveling up a tall mountain. Valessandria couldn't help but make a note to herself that if what those who had traveled to higher altitudes had reported was correct, she now knew that such environments weren't something she was interested in visiting. Quickly, her thoughts became more accessible to her with each deep breath.

Blinking a few times, "To think that my vision would be affected to such a degree."

Valessandria stopped herself at the last second before she clenched her jaw. She could feel a slight pressure on the back of her neck, reminding her of who was currently behind her.

Her eyes caught sight of people running across the end of the adjacent hallway, down the main one. Just by their uniforms, she knew they were students and not any of the staff. She took a deep breath to help her think and gave a few precious seconds to contemplate what she needed to do. She knew those at the front desk were likely panicking as alarms went off from the shuddering. While she didn't know if the attack was strong enough to cause the main level to feel it, Valessandria was confident that those on the second floor for thousands of feet around the room they were inside would have felt something.

There was pressure on her right temple as she could hear Nathanial's voice yelling at her about what she had allowed to happen.

"I guess sleep will not be much of an option tonight," Valessandria tried to ignore the subtle migraine that was beginning to form as she thought about the myriad of reports that would need to be written up.

Reaching the main hallway, Valessandria turned her head to look down the hallway away from the front counter and then made a turn towards where all the students waiting to sign would be. However, the students could be panicking slightly, not knowing if an attack had occurred on the Academy. A corner of her mouth curled into a grimace, considering it wasn't an entirely unreasonable idea. It was accurate that the Academy was always balancing on the head of the needle, only shielded by the delicate balance of each of the major powers that had a vested interest in the success of Illumin.

"Lady Knight! Lady Knight!"

Blinking as she was hauled out of her thoughts, Valessandria noticed several students in blue uniforms with white highlights.

The one to reach her first was a younger man, likely someone who was recently recruited into the Support Division. Breathing heavily after having left the nearest main area, he raised a hand and ran his fingers through his hair to try to organize his disheveled orange hair. "Lady Knight, there was some kind of attack on the Academy."

Behind the orange-haired man were two more members of the Support division. One was a woman who could be around the same age as the man who just informed her of an attack, while the other was an even younger man.

Upon realizing that she was being observed by Valessandria, the woman quickly attempted to fix her appearance, taming her thick blonde hair covering half her face. The woman's face was red, while her eyes tried to avoid direct eye contact.

Seeing the woman's reaction, Valessandria couldn't help but be reminded of how she reacted to the young master she was guiding. She couldn't help but be slightly annoyed, thinking of her appearance being equally as ridiculous as the woman in front of her. Taking a deep breath, Valessandria attempted to control her thoughts while also wanting to provide her full attention to what the man in front had stated.

"An attack?" Valessandria raised an eyebrow.

Furiously nodding, he wasn't even confused by Valessandria's lack of awareness of an attack. "Yes, Lady Knight. Just earlier, the floor began shaking on the second level of the Tower."

She waited to answer.

"Has this information been verified?" Valessandria tried not to laugh, understanding the ground shaking wasn't something that could be imagined, not only due to how massive the Tower was but also how long it had existed without any issues having arisen in the past.

"No, Lady Knight," The woman spoke up. "The moment the shaking ceased, we came to inform you of the situation since you were nearest to us. We happened to be bringing supplies to the counter when the event occurred."

Valessandria couldn't help but lament to herself, knowing that people were now going to be spreading whispers of an attack on the Academy, which would need to be corrected without revealing the young master being the cause.

"If only the privacy of students did not need to be maintained," Valessandria tried not to grimace.

"Lady Knight?" The man in front of Valessandria asked as his eyebrows rose upon not receiving an immediate response to such an important event.