Part 1

On a spring night, when the warm temperatures finally started catching up with the cold of winter and heavy jackets were not necessary anymore, I was out taking a walk around the academy. I had no real purpose in being out at that time, it was just a little habit I picked up recently. After all, loneliness was catching up with me too. At least a couple of nights a week, Lucas would leave the academy after dinner only to come back in the middle of the night. The reason? Ever since he turned fifteen and was eligible to drink, he started frequenting a couple of pubs and taverns. He said the reason was that he liked the atmosphere and the drinks but I knew better. There was only one thing that excited my brother more than fights and swords...women! And that was the night I would realize just how much the obsession towards the other gender was strong in my brother’s mind.

As I was immersed into my own thoughts, the full midnight’s moon came to show it’s majesty to us earthlings, reminding me how late it really was. With a fast pace I walked back towards my room, only stopping to give my name to the guards at the entrance of the dorms. I took the stairs with my iron key already in hand. I didn’t feel like going to bed yet, the prospect of a hot tea and the book I borrowed from the library was too tempting. As I was about to insert the key into it’s socket a familiar sound made my arms stuck in place.

“Haah...aagh…Yeess, right there!...haah…” Were the sounds I heard from the other side of the door. It wasn’t too difficult to realize what was happening in my room. Those sounds were pretty clear, especially to one who lived with a girl for soo long like me.

[Moaning?! So much for “insonorized walls” I guess!]

For a moment I was tempted to open the door anyway, pretending to be mistaken, just to see who was the girl keeping my brother company. But luckily, for the both of us, my conscience was able to stop me on my tracks. And, as I put back the key in my pocket and walked away, I said to myself:

“Let’s just hope nothing bad happens to my bed…”

A mixture of curiosity and proudness for my brother was swelling in me. I wasn’t sure if that was my brother’s first time but even if it wasn’t, that was the first time I found out my brother actually became a man. How could I not be proud of him as a fellow man? I let out a small chuckle as I gave one last look at the door before another thought began forming in my head.

“Now, where the hell do I sleep?”

Standing perfectly still in the middle of the hallway I pondered on my options. The first was to wait for them to finish, but that was both embarrassing and risky. What if the girl decided to sleep in our room? It would have been way too shameful to just walk in as they were trying to sleep. No, I scratched the idea right away.

I could book a room somewhere in the city. There would be for sure a free room somewhere. But even that idea was scratched, this time due to my stinginess. If it was to buy literally anything remotely related to magic I wouldn’t even care about the price, but for anything else? I would do all that was in my power to lower the price even of just a copper coin.

My remaining option seemed the more obvious: ask a friend for a bed. The question was, who should I ask? Asking the females was totally out of the question. I didn’t want rumors to start spreading due to some large mouthed roommates. Only Legis and Youm were my possibilities.

“Mhh, if I remember right, Youm’s room is supposed to be on the ground floor, number 31 if I’m not wrong. But I do know for a fact that his roommate is a really difficult type of guy. Basically doesn’t like people. Mhh, let’s keep Youm as a last resort! Then Legis is the winner...room 201. The complete opposite side”

After five minutes of walking around all identical corridors I reached the room labeled “201”. I checked under the door to see if there was light coming out of it, I knew Legis had a thing for staying up late. And indeed the light was there, but who appeared in front of the door after I knocked wasn’t Legis but his roommate.

“Yes? Can I help you with something?” Said the shirtless guy with brownish hair and dark skin.

“Yes, is Astar-san here?” I replied.

“Mh, Legis? He rarely sleeps here! He just comes by every once in a while. You a friend of his?”

“Oh, yes I’m Raphael, Raphael Bluescale”

“Ohhhh that Raphael! I heard soo many things about you. Honestly, I’m glad someone stood up to those damn scummy nobles hahaha”

“Oh haha thank you...I don’t know what to say, I just did what I wanted, really…”

[This is fucking akward!]

“Oh well, if you are looking for Legis I’m sure you’ll find him in his laboratory. He basically lives there. I was glad I got to meet you. See you around!”

“Thanks for the help. Have a good night” I replied before the man shut the door.

“Guess I’ll go to the lab…” I replied sighing.

Twenty minutes later I was knocking on Legis lab’s door...strongly knocking...many times over. And I was starting to worry. Either he was asleep with the lights on or he passed out due to some failed experiment. The latter wouldn’t have been the first time.

“Astar-san it’s me, Raphael! Please open up!” I shouted as the speed and strength of the knocks increased. I was planning to tear down the door if even the next set of knocks would give no results. Fortunately a gasping sound followed by a loud noise of glass being stepped on and light curses spared me the trouble.

“Who the fu-*cough**cough*-” Said the man wearing a dirty white lab coat surrounded by a reddish mist that flew out of the lab when the door opened “-has the nerve to *cough* interrupt me during an experiment?! I mean you could have just *cough* waited! If I don’t answer it means I was just bus- Raphael! What are you doing here? Have you seen the asshole who kept knocking?”

“Ehm, I’m the asshole who kept knocking” I replied with a light laugh.

“Oh...ehm, sorry. Though it was some guy pulling a prank or something...Anyway, what brigns *cough* you here?” Asked Legis a little ashamed of his previous remark.

“Long story short. Lucas is, ehm...busy, in our room so I can’t really sleep there. I thought about asking one of you guys and your roommate directed me here. Soo, you got some place I could sleep? I mean, even just a chair and a blanket would be enough”

“*cough**cough* This place’s filthy and messy tho! Are you sure you wanna *cough* sleep here?” Replied Legis as he further opened the door to let me in.

“I mean, do I have any other option? Also, I’m already here, might as well stay...if I’m not bothering of course!”

“What? Bother-*cough*-ing you say? Don’t worry about that, you are more than welcome to keep me *cough* company. I’m almost finished with this anyway.- “ Said Legis while pointing with a saddened expression to the glass ampoules full of strange coloured liquids “- I feel like this is gonna be another failure”

“Whatcha working on this time?” I asked as I threw myself ass first on a nearby mattress looking thing.

“Ehh same thing, different approach” Said the lab owner with a dissatisfied tone of voice.

“Curing potion?”

“Yes, it’s been three years since I came into the academy and I still can’t make any kind of progress. It doesn’t matter what materials I use, what process I use, not even the way I think! it just never works. Maybe father was right...It’s just not possible to create a potion able to cure wounds like magic…” Legis' speech was followed by a violent rush of coughs, almost as if he tried to talk it all in a single breath.

“I may be saying something stupid but...have you tried to do the process in reverse?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, you are trying to make a liquid do what magic does...shouldn’t you first analyze the magic process?” I said in hopes to give him some kind of insight, maybe cheer him up.

“You think I didn’t do that?-” Said a now slightly pissed Legis as he slammed his fist on the wall “-I spent almost five months on it during my first year and it gave me nothing but a sense of hopelessness! Healing magic uses the caster’s mana and mixes it with the wounded’s mana, directing it towards the wound. In doing so, the two different mana react and a surplus of energy is created. That surplus is then utilized to mend the wound. The process continues until either the wound is healed or there's no more mana to be mixed...But there lies the problem! I can’t mix manas like magic does, for fucks sake I can’t even have a single stabilized source of mana inside my potions before the whole thing just boils over or blows up!...I’m at a dead end!”

His appearance was that of a broken man. I recognized the hopelessness in his eyes. They were the same as mine, though in a way...different. Their colour, their flame...it was not yet lost. If only Legis would have received one little push over the edge, the fall would’ve been glorious. But he still had a chance. As if he was looking down on the abyss with only one foot over the edge, hesitating.

“Natural mana” I said in a whisper as I followed the course of my thoughts.

“Natural what?”

It took me a moment before I could muster up the courage to answer that question. I was instructed by my master not to speak of it to anyone. The risks, the dangers were too high to do that. For a single moment I believed staying silent would have been the best option, but something made me change my mind.

“...Natural mana. Does it ring a bell?”

“No...not really. Should it?”

“No it shouldn’t and that’s better. Listen here, Legis, what I’m about to tell you, no ear should ever hear of this, be the headmaster or a king himself. If you cannot promise me this then I won’t tell you nothing about it, not that I could teach it to you either way. What I can do though is give you a path, a thorny one. So, what will it be?”

“Are you saying that you can give me a hint but the price is for me not to tell about it to anyone? I suppose that, if it actually works, I can’t tell the recipe either.-” The answer he received from me was only a nod “- Then so be it. I, Legis Jackal Astar, swear under my name and life that none of what you’ll say shall ever be divulged!”

An excited smile cracked over Legis’ face as he finished his sentence. I could see the flames in his eyes rise to scorching heights as I taught him the bare minimum of what I knew about natural mana. The fact that monsters use it to cast rudimental spells, that it is everywhere in this world, the possible applications of it in alchemy and the fact that a single mistake would lead to a painful and slow death.

I only told him the bare minimum and yet, not even after twenty minutes from my explanation, he was already gathering the ingredients in his possession. In a confused manner he was trying to figure out a way of harnessing it “naturally” he said. “If monsters and nature are able to hold bits of it, then I can use monsters and nature to gather some more!” was the theory he came up with. Not even two hours after that, the lab was full of colorful smokes filling the air with their thicc smells. Be it because of them or because of tiredness, I passed out soon after.

Part 2

- SORA EVERGARD’S POV -

“Is anyone in?” I asked between the knocks on the Bluescale brother’s room.

It was fairly early but, if I was right, at this time of the day Lucas usually woke up and Raphael came back from his morning training. They both had the habit of waking up earlier than most of the students. I wouldn’t exaggerate if I said that Raphael was the first student to wake up in the morning.

A chill ran through my spine when, from the other side of the door, a female voice answered my knocks.

“Ughh...Who bothers someone this early?!” Said the voice getting increasingly closer.

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind. Was that a friend of Raphael? Was she his girlfriend? If she was, how far have they gone? Did she sleep here? Is she the reason why he is so against publicizing our engagement? I waited something short of ten seconds before the door opened but in that little span of time I felt as if my heart stopped. My chest hurt so much, like it never did before. Why?

The girl who appeared in front of me was beautiful. At the very least she was seventeen, with blonde hair and brown eyes, a small and graceful nose and soft red lips that called for a kiss. She was wearing nothing more than a white shirt, completely unbuttoned at that. Her ample chest was soo showy that it would have taken just a small gust of wind and her nipples would see the surface.

“Who are you?” Asked the girl at least one head taller than me.

“Ah, uhmm...are you Raphael’s girlfriend?” I asked without thinking.

“Pardon? I think I asked a question first. Have you not learned courtesy?”

“Oh, ah, sorry. I’m Sora Evergard. A friend of Raphael and Lucas”

“Ohh I see. Well, nice to meet you Sora, my name’s Liria and no, I’m not Raphael’s girlfriend nor I know who he is or where he is. Though I suppose he’s Lucas’ roommate” Said the girl as she leaned her head on the frame of the door.

“Ah, brother. Raphael is Lucas’ brother”

“Ohh he even has a brother? Not only did he disappeared this morning but he also lied telling me that he lived here with a friend who’s out of town!-” The volume and tone of the girl’s voice were plain signs of how much pissed she was “- Well anyway, wanna come in and wait for Lucas, he may know something about his brother. Plus, since I gotta wait for him anyway, might as well have a chat in the meantime!”

I accepted the proposal and let myself inside the room. While waiting I prepared a tea, paying attention not to use the leaves that Rapahel bought for himself at a fairly high price. Said they remembered him his home. I had already been in that room so I knew how to move around.

I always found it funny the fact that while Lucas’ “side” of the room was in complete chaos while Raphael’s was fairly neat for a man, except his desk. That was the most chaotic thing I’ve ever seen. Quills and bottles of ink, an infinite number of pages, some written some not and some with strange drawings on them and the endless piles of books. I always thought that seeing someone’s room would give me some insight on that someone’s character, but as for Raphael that theory didn’t apply. I was never able to get a read on him.

After what felt like an hour of gossipping away with Liria, Lucas finally showed up, all sweaty from his training. I almost had difficulties refraining myself from laughing as I watched him getting scolded by that girl. And a well deserved scolding I’d say. Who in their right mind would leave the bed the morning after doing it?

Lucky his inexperience with women and his passion for training got the better of Licia and Lucas got off with almost no trouble. I, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. Apparently he hadn’t even considered the fact that without being able to go in his room, Raphael had no place to sleep. We immediately began looking for him around the academy. His usual training grounds, the library, our friends rooms and then, finally, Legis’ laboratory.

I had never been inside the laboratory but I’ve heard the guys talking about how messy and full of fumes was but not in a thousand lives could I have expected what appeared in front of my eyes when I opened the door. Two men with white lab coats, dirty and ragged up, both hunched over a myriad of ampules, some dirty and others full of liquids, with deep black bags under their blood red eyes. Their expression was similar to that of the drunken sailors I always saw when I went to my family’s holiday mansion, especially Rapahel. Pink fumes covered the whole roof of the room and breathing inside it was rather challenging.

“What the hell happened here!?” I exclaimed as I saw a dangerous looking burn stain on the wall in front of them.

“Uh? Oh...Sora-san...goodmorning…” Slowly said, as if the words had some difficulty forming inside his head, Raphael.

“Yes, yes, goodmorning or whatever. Can one of you explain what the hell happened?”

“Boom” Replied again Raphael, this time cracking a loud laugh only followed by Legis’ turn to laugh.

Clearly something had happened here and I wouldn’t get any answers from Raphael, not in that strange state. With my mood already ruined and now in shambles, I stomped my feet and made my way through broken glass and slimy stains only to reach Legis and grab him by the collar. It only took little strength to push the frail man on the ground with his back on the wall.

“Listen here, Legis Astar...you will now answer all of my questions in a clear manner, understood?”

“Hey, hey Sora-s*cough*-an, there’s no need to get handsy” Replied unfazed Legis.

“No need? No need you say?! Look at Raphael! He looks like an idiotic drunkard who fall of the stairs! What have you two been doing?” I shouted to his face.

“Oh, that? Yeah, seems like he *cough* doesn’t hold up well aphrodisiacs. To answer your other question: we’ve been doing *cough* some experiments..I think all night long? I guess I lost count of the time. What time is it?”

“It’s eight in the fucking morning you lunatic! And what do you mean by aphrodisiacs? Did you give him one?”

“Uh? Why would I give him one? Though I admit he’s a good looking guy, I do not plan to get him into *cough* my bed. Hahaha you have the strangest ideas, Sora-san! The aphrodisiac was just *cough* the aftereffect of a failed experiment...it should fade away in a couple of hours-”

“At least that’s good news!”

“-Or in a *cough* couple of days” Continued Legis.

“What?”

“What?”

“IN A COUPLE OF DAYS?” I screamed completely furious this time.

“Ah, I’m so-oorry I-It’s noot my-y faault!-” Tried saying Legis as I shook his whole body out of anger.

“Raphael!” I shouted as I turned my back to the now dazed alchemist.

“Uh?” The face he made as he replied told me that he didn’t understand anything of the “conversation” I just had with Legis. I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Don’t you dare open your mouth until I say so! Don’t look at people, don’t speak to people, dontì’t greet people and just follow me! Understood?” I had both my thumbs pressed against his under eyelids in an attempt to keep his eyes open.

“Yes ma’am” Replied Raphael in a clearly cherning tone.

“Come on, we are going!” I said as I grabbed his wrist.

“...You are pretty damn hot when you get mad, you know…”

“Sh-sh-shut u-up! I told you not to speak!”

“Okey, okey I get it..I won’t talk”

Like that, in complete silence we walked all the way to my room. For the whole walk we both kept our heads down, for different reasons though. He had to hide his eyes while I had to hide the tomato-like blush his last remark gave me. Only the sprinkle of freezing cold water in my room was able to turn my face back to it’s usual colour.

Part 3

I was a nervous wreck. In the heat of the moment I dragged Raphael back to my room, knowing that my roommate was out for the weekend. It was just to prevent him from doing anything stupid and ruin his reputation. But only once he was inside I realized that I had just brought my fianceè into my room for the first time. I was a nervous wreck!

While I was in the bathroom trying to calm down with cold water, he was on the other side of the wall, not even two meters away from me. What was he doing? Was he expecting something from me? Being alone in a girl’s room means that something is about to happen, right? Those kinds of thoughts clouded my mind and their own fantasies got the better of me. The various scenes started playing inside my head and the further the fantasies went the redder my face became.

It took me a while to actually realize that I had kept him waiting on the other side for far too long. I quickly fixed myself on the mirror and went out. I was expecting him to either be looking around the room, you know, trying to familiarize with it or just sitting on a chair. How wrong I was!

Raphael was laying with his face pressed against my pillow on my bed, his shirt slightly unbuttoned and his hair so messy that some locks were even falling over his eyes. My presence had to somehow alert him from his relaxed state so he raised his head and lazily faced me with a smile. His blue eyes felt even more charming and bright in contrast with the black bags under his eyes, even though the white of his eyes had still yet to totally come back.

“You know? This bed really smells nice...it smells like you” Said the man in my bed taking another sniff off my pillow.

“Wha- yo-yo-you wha-wha-wha”

I was trying to say “What do you think you’re doing?” but my voice wouldn’t come out. Better yet, I couldn’t formulate the words in my mouth. It wasn’t enough that my mind was full of fantasies but now even him was fueling them? I told myself to get a hold of the situation before things turned a different way.

“L-listen, I hope you realize that you are under the effect of a strong aphrodisiac and that your actions are not really yours! So, let’s just not do things we might regret later on, ok?” I said as I grabbed both sides of his face and lifted it up to mine.

“I get it, I get it. I’ll just stay in this room and not bother anyone *sigh*-”

“Ahh, thank you. At least you understand” I tried saying before being interrupted.

“- But can I at least practice magic?”

“In my room?! Absolutely not!” I screamed with exasperation.

“*sigh* Then, can I study magic at least?”

“Ehm, I don’t have any magic related books here, sorry”

“Aaahh forget it. I’ll just sleep!”

“Wait, not in my be- Ahh, whatever, do as you please!”

It didn’t take him long to fall asleep. I actually think the moment I turned away to look at the window he had already closed his eyes. Though I still felt flustered, I at least knew that for some time nothing else would happen. It was a relief.

The hours passed as the sun went up and started to fall down. I stood in my room for the whole time, leaving it only to inform the other about the situation. There wasn’t much I could do in my room so I just read books for the entire time. It was around five when I finally had enough of books.

I raised my head from the table and the first thing my eyes laid upon was the sleeping figure of an aphrodisiac drunk man in my bed. The locks of black hair falling on his face rhythmically moved together with his breath. The peaceful expression he had while sleeping was a total shock for me. I was used to seeing him with his usual serious expression, both in and out of fights, rarely cracking a smile. But in that moment, the stoic and cold Raphael was nowhere to be seen. In his stead an almost thirteen year old boy was dozing off in the lands of dreams. It was incredible that he was only that young, and more incredible was that I never considered him younger than me.

Without a second though I came closer to him and sat on the side of the bed. I wanted to look at him closer. I wanted to see all of his features, impress that rare image into my memory and, without even realizing it, I was soon gently stroking his hair.

“They’re soft...but you should have more care for them Raphael, they are all damaged” I whispered to myself, almost hoping he would wake up.

My hands slid a bit lower, right around the cheeks, then jaw, then neck. I was slowly exploring his body with my hands. He had a hard skin, way harder than Youm’s and not even comparable to mine. I wondered why. His clear blue eyes were hidden behind his eyelids as if they were the curtains that cover a stage, yet the scar on his left eye was in plain view more than ever. I traced it’s rough surface with my fingers and I could feel a small shover go through his neck. I enjoyed watching that usually strong boy being so helpless and vulnerable.

Finally, my fingers fell on his lips. Small lips yet soft to the touch nonetheless. I could feel a little bumps here and there, probably the times he bit or broke them. In my head I found them...tasty. I didn’t know what was going over me but a sudden urge to get closer to them came over me.

I didn’t oppose resistance. Slowly, with much uncertainty, I dropped over his head, my lips over his, my eyes over his. My heart was beating soo fast that it almost felt painful. It was as if it was trying to break free from my chest and reach his.

[Am I doing this? Am I really doing this?! It’s a kiss! Is this even a kiss? What if he gets mad? What if he doesn't like it? Wait, am I even allowed to kiss him? No, I mean yes, yes I am allowed! I’m his fianceè, of course I’m allowed to kiss him!]

Our lips were almost touching. I could feel his breath on my lips and the heat of his body on my skin. It was maddening, nerve wracking and astonishingly addictive. I wanted that moment to last forever. I wanted time to stop and never begin ticking again.

“Ughh...my head…” Raphael's voice snapped me out of my frenzy and, with feline-like reflexes, I jumped over the side, safely getting away from his face before he could even realize I was there.

“Ooh g-goodmorning s-s-sleepyhead!”

“Uh? Oh, Sora-san where am I- ugghh!”

“Something wrong?” I was starting to worry a bit.

“My head’s splitting and I just remembered what happened! Draw your conclusions!” Said in a tone full of shame Raphael.

“Haha, don’t worry about it- [ Thank the heavens he didn’t realize I was about to kiss him!]- Do you need help with anything?”

“Some fresh air will do just fine” He said, a dangerously red blush flashed across his face as he locked eyes with me only for a moment.

[What was that?]