"Inside!?" Eugene gasped. "You need to get her back before something happens to her. The only way we can win this is if you people cooperate with us. Elero can't do that if she's unconscious. Call her back. The last time I saw her strength level-"

"By the goddess!" came a screech from within the dark academy. The sharp clanging of metal and dozens of roars echoed just within the Academy, which shook under the force of the battle.

"They're already past the first line of defense!" Another man yelled, which turned a cry as an audible crack rang out, and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"Th-that's not possible," Eugene pushed up his glasses. "There is absolutely no way that she, together with the nobles, can take everyone down. They're outnumbered two to one. I don't care if you're not happy with us but don't choose emotion over logic."

"I know that our best option is to 'cooperate' with you," Thomas said. "And I'm pretty sure Elero knows that as well." He glanced over at Frey, who held out a large javelin, and shook his head. "Maybe take that, and anything that big for yourself. I can't throw something that size and be very accurate." Frey shrugged and put it in one of his two matching spatial rings.

Jackal walked up to Eugene and whispered something to him. Eugene nodded, walked over to the commoners, began giving them instructions.

While the commoners spread themselves around the building, Jackal extended a hand to Thomas: "You should become our close friend. You can help us and we can help you, but you need to call Elero back so we can make a plan. I have known her longer than you and I know it's difficult to handle her but it is the best move."

"I know that, you know that, and every one of our classmates knows that. The nobles are just rushing to be beaten, too ashamed to admit their defeat, that I am in control of this class. I know you, Frey, and Elero must hate me for what I did to Doevm but-" He ducked under a person who flew out of the academy's entrance. The beaten individual, a noble, didn't get up.

Jackal extended his arms wide. "Please search inside of yourself to forgive me. It was wrong to imprison you. I had no idea that Gregen was possessed. I had to become Trak to unify the nobles. I had reasons. If you were close with us then, trust me I would have told you."

"Doevm only lied and cheated. How long have you known him? He had every chance to tell you his secrets. I will never do such a thing to you given you become a close friend, given you join my group." He put on the same, broad smile he used when they met. Only know, Thomas could see a dark shadow hidden in his bright smile, a sparkle of maliciousness in his squinted, red eyes.

"How the hell is she still standing?" A man inside of the Academy screeched. It was followed by a bright flash of blue and Elero's roar.

Thomas sighed: "Jackal, Trak, whatever your name is, you pissed Elero off. She isn't like Doevm, who would have a cool head right about now. When she gets angry, she-" A crack ran along the front wall, and the ground shifted. Thomas chuckled. "She tends to break things, to break people."

"I know that well," Jackal said, taking a step closer to him. "But you're different from that, better. If you follow me, you can easily overcome any obstacle. We'll be friends who won't lie, won't get angry, won't fight, and respect one another, as equals."

The more he talked, the more Thomas could feel Frey's breath on his shoulder. The giant towered over Jackal, just waiting for a reason to send him into the ground.

"True," Thomas said with a smile, momentarily breaking Frey's tension, as the giant looked at him as if he'd been stabbed in the back. He wasn't the only one as Thomas felt a pang in his heart, one he had carried for a long time but he had only noticed now.

"Sometimes I just want to walk away. I would like to be right just a single time. I wish that they'd all treat me with as much care as you do your own friends. I wish we wouldn't get angry at each other. It would be nice if I didn't have to worry about that. To be honest, Doevm is friendly to me and I do talk to him, but we're not truly friends."

"Then it sounds like your choice is made already," Jackal's smile widened to an unnatural degree. "Now let's make a plan,"

"But," Thomas said, his hands balling up. "Above all, even above my own father, I hold him in the highest respect, a respect you've stomped on. I'm not hotheaded like the rest but that doesn't stop me from growing tired of you."

Thomas ground his teeth, a hot bubbling rage swelling in his head, making a vein bulge out. "Elero isn't some dog that is supposed to come when she's called. She's not a freak either. I am not your friend and I am not going to listen to a single word that leaves your false smile you creepy, overly friendly, asshole. Doevm often said: 'Fucking human'. Now I know why, because of people like you." He shoved past Jackal, Frey right behind him, patting him on the back. Dag went to intercept them but Jackal held him back.

"The offer still stands," Jackal called after Thomas, who took one last look at Jackal, whose smile had faded to a slight one, more fitting, more human. "I don't want to be your enemy and you don't want to be mine, because when I fight, I go for the throat." The commoners, which had fanned out around the house, began to pull wood, charcoal, anything combustible out of their spatial rings.

"Beware inhaling the smoke." The letter's words had read, a warning that the group hadn't listened to. Thomas's eyes went wide as he looked into the dark entrance of the Knight's Academy.