***Hyperion Empire***

***Imperial Academy***

Arthur scratched his neck distractedly as Max and Kathryn walked with him to the dining hall. Although it might appear otherwise to outsiders, having his basilisk companion wrapped around his neck provided him comfort. Zecarth already had small spikes protruding out of his scaly body, yet that insignificant physical irritation was easily overcome by the assurance Arthur had to know he had another set of eyes guarding him. He was quite complacent with the arrangement.

The three moved in companionable silence until Arthur voiced the complaint echoing in his own mind. “I understand why Kana takes Adrios, but why must she also take Zecarth? And why does he always go with her? Have I no say in the matter?”

Kathryn, carrying her notebook between her arms and pressed against her chest, giggled at her friend’s protests. Over the week, she had found solace with Arthur and Max. Although they both were extremely talented for their age, they were rather simple to understand. She had recorded all she learned about the boy’s virtues and flaws in her notebook. A habit she had developed when she was a child and her family received titles and a Barony in the Thanatos Province.

Moving from commoner class to the noble class required a lot of changes in the Holt family. Not only did her entire early education get up-ended, she had to meet plenty of new people. Families of other Barons, Marquis’, and Dukes often visited her parents, and as such visited her. As a rather reserved person herself, this had originally overwhelmed her. That was until she found a way to channel her nervousness into something constructive. Taking notes on the observations she made of others had become her shield from social unease. Every day she used this shield, for meeting new people was a requirement of being nobles.

Yet she noticed that Max and Arthur did not like meeting new people. Especially other nobles. That was a trait they both obviously shared. She had observed as Arthur conversed with the princess on multiple occasions, and still couldn’t determine if he was playing with her or actually held feelings for her. He also only ever talked with Max and their friend Kana, and very rarely, did she see Arthur talk to Reann Arshan.

Then there was Max, the only people whom he actively seeked to talk to was his cousin, their friend Kana, and herself. Kathryn shook her head at the simple act of giving one of her pens to Arthur Satele. Not only did it manage to get in Arthur’s good graces, but it appeared to really strike a chord with Max. It was clear their circle of friendship was small, something she guessed stemmed from their earlier childhood.

Kathryn couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she theorized that unlike my most people, Max and Arthur looked at newcomers poorly. It didn’t appear to be an active discrimination they were making, it seemed to be more reminiscent to a natural conditioning. Unless a friend vouched for a newcomer themselves, they would be quick to hostility. There viewpoint of a new person didn’t start a neutral, it started at below-neutral or even bad. It reminded her of how some nobles instinctively thought themselves to be superior to those below their station, as it was just natural. Yet this was different.

Perhaps it was an arrogance, but Arthur and Max didn’t seem to fit that category. Max was blatantly confident, yet their was something about both of them that told her the boys were anything but ignorant. She had filled two pages in her journal on guessing what exactly something was, but could never come to a single conclusion. Though she could say with certainty that first impressions went a long way with both.

Then there was Kana Kumio. Kathryn had only talked to her on a few occasions but the girl seemed to be the balance to the boys hesitance on actively seeking friends. Kana Kumio had talked to every student in homeroom at least once, introducing herself and speaking to others with the utmost sincerity. She looked at newcomers as good from the start, or at least she made them feel that way. Whether that was truly the case Kathryn couldn’t tell, her father would constantly remind her not to ‘judge a book by it's cover.’ Though by all accounts, Kana seemed to enjoy attending the academy, while the boys thought of it as a waste.

The trio were just as interesting to analyze as any other noble she had met before, children or not.

“Kana does what she wants. You didn’t put up much of a fight when she took Zecarth in Theory.” Max said, covering his eyes with his hand as the group stepped out of the shade from a large tree. The sun was high in the sky, and glaring down above the capital city.

“I was asleep, completely oblivious to her approach. Also, let me remind you, that she is deathly quiet when she wishes to be.” Arthur disputed.

Max rolled his eyes. “Oh I know. Though a simple solution would be to stay awake.”

It was Arthur’s turn to roll his eyes. “I will stop sleeping in class when my instructors provide me with information I was not made privy too years ago.”

“You use some interesting vocabulary sometimes Arthur.” Kathryn stated out of the blue.

Both boy’s turned to her and Max grinned. “I was thinking the same thing the other day! He’s always been smart but I feel like Uncle William has somehow magically implanted his mind into his son. He’s been using some words I’ve never even heard of before, and I’m sure he does the same thing to impress Juliet.”

The young Satele shrugged. “I will admit that my father did spend some extra time teaching me Mavaine vocabulary and articulation.”

Kathryn’s long-ears perked up and she looked to a covered pathway between two school-buildings. “I was just making an observation. I like to read and some of the word’s you use I’ve only seen in books.” She then pointed to the pathway she was gazing at. “What’s going on?”

All eyes were on the pathway as the three observed a group of students in a circle. Students on the outside of the walkway moved by the circle without incident, some taking nervous glances that way and rushing to past them.

Arthur activated his eyes, taking in the entire scene. “I believe we have a case of bullying. Eight larger student’s surrounding two beastkin first-years.” He then raised an eyebrow. “Oh… that’s curious.”

The three moved a bit faster and Max practically roared. “Let me guess, they're all human?”

Arthur nodded with a solemn look. “You know something?”

“Daniel was telling me about this club called the Humane Society, basically gives human students an excuse to hurt nonhumans for no reason. Apparently, no one fight’s back because they have teachers and guards in their pocket. Some of them were even bothering Kathryn a while ago.” Max replied.

Arthur frowned. “Blatant corruption and student’s hurting others without recourse? You wouldn’t believe we are at the Hyperion Imperial Academy of all places.”

Max turned to the elf of the group. “Kathryn, go find the guards or a teacher or something.”

“Make sure to alert multiple teachers and guards, also if you see any noble students bearing the Satele crest tell them I request their assistance. If what Max said is true it's safer for us not to play luck and better to stack the odds in our favor.” Arthur assisted.

Kathryn nodded and ran towards the administration building.

The two heirs approached the circle and Arthur looked to Max. “How would you like to handle this?”

Max cracked his knuckles and smiled. “I say we send a message. They may have gotten away with this before, but we’re here now.”

Arthur nodded. “From what I can gather, part of the problem is student’s fear to retaliate, we need to show others they are not untouchable. Though there is a high chance we will incriminate ourselves if we resort to violence.”

Max scratched his chin. “I bet if we do beat them up the first one’s to respond will be some of the bribed guards or teachers.”

“Give me a minute to think of a plan.” Arthur said with slight frustration. There were too many unknowns for him to be comfortable with just charging in and beating the offenders.

Standing beside the circle, Max noticed one larger brown-haired teen kicking the two beastkin on the ground. The other teenagers were laughing and mocking the beastkin, and Max could tell one of the student’s was quite bloody. “We don’t have time for you to think of a plan. We’ll fight and figure it out as we go.”

“You bump into me and then get blood all over my clothes! You filthy mongrel! I will be forced to burn the clothes to rid myself of your putrid scent!” The brown-haired teen yelled below him.

“I'm going to get their attention. You attack when you feel best.” Max said with unbridled glee in his voice.

Arthur sighed at his friend’s eagerness for a fight. “Very well.”

Max then pushed through the circle and approached the ringleader. The teen was too busy kicking the bloody beastkin until Max was beside him. Channeling mana into his left arm and hand, Max stepped forward and punched the boy’s nose.

Not only did the teen’s head snap back at impact, his nose literally caved into his skull. The teen flew back and smashed into two of the other students forming the circle. Blood poured out of his distorted face as he lost consciousness. Max grinned and looked down at his fist, he wasn’t done. A message needs to be sent.

“You should definitely burn your clothes now, no magic in the world is going to wash away all that blood.” He then slowly turned scanning the other shocked teen’s creating the circle around him. “Who’s next?” Max asked, grinning madly.

The first to speak was one of the teens who caught the ringleader. “I think you killed him!”

Max turned to the boy and laughed. “From one punch? Please.”

Another shorter teen called out from behind him. “This is Society business. You have no place here. You will pay for what you did to Hendric. What is your name?”

Max taunted the group. “Hendric? I only punched a whiny little bitch. Are you going to do something about it or not?”

Another teen seethed. “Are you mad!? You’re insignia says Soltain, what’s your name?”

Max frowned. He expected them to be charging him now but they were thinking much more rationally than predicted. They might even try to run away if they knew he was a House heir. He didn’t want that, so he elected to use some insults he had overheard from his family’s soldiers. He really wanted to get things moving along. “You’re welcome to ask your mother. She was screaming it while I ploughed her to oblivion.”

Arthur couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle. The absurdity of that statement coming from a ten-year old boy weighed heavily on him. Leave it to Max to do whatever it takes to stir up trouble.

The seething teen snapped. Charging straight at the young Soltain, he cocked a fist and aimed for Max’s head. Ducking under the teen’s uncoordinated attack, Max again channeled mana into his left arm and punched under the boy’s chin in an uppercut. The boy’s head shot back like the last, yet droplets of blood spurt out of his mouth as his teeth sliced into his tongue.

There was a fact apparent about the Hyperion Imperial Academy. It was primarily a school for future mages, not brawlers. There were extra-curricular classes that taught warrior skills, but little of the student population saw the need to train the sword when they could train spells sitting down. Perhaps there were special cases, like noble children being required to learn the sword or talented children of warriors taught beforehand, but so far these teen’s certainly didn’t represent that possibility. These students seemed to rely on their larger size and numbers to hurt others, no skill necessary. Two more student’s moved to tackle Max, but he found himself having little difficulty kicking out one’s boy’s kneecap and elbowing the other in the throat. One of the group attempted to sneak up behind him, and after grabbing the young Soltain’s neck, Max proceeded to flip him over his body and throttle him into the ground. He sat atop the downed boy and rained a couple mana-charged punches into his face until it was as battered as the rest.

Of the original eight perpetrator's, three remained standing. All three with eyes wide in horror over the bodies of their unconscious or moaning friends. Max glanced at them, then down his body. He had specks of blood on his clothes, and his knuckles were red. He was winning the fight, but was anything but pleased. These older teen’s were weak, and were starting to make him feel like the bully.

Enmity flared in the eyes of the teen in the middle. “You think you’ve won?” The teen sneered. Max noticed the other teen even begin chanting under his breath but did not worry. Arthur was already slowly stalking behind the three for support. “All you’ve done is make an enemy beyond your means. Once Lord James hear's about this you will be crushed.”

Fire magic began to materialize in the hand’s of the boy beside the speaker, but before he could even consider its direction and propulsion, Arthur moved. With a swift slice of his mana-strengthened hand to one of the boy’s arms, the attacking mage’s power dissipated. The teen’s face was ashen, and he couldn’t even get a chance to respond before he received a blow to the neck and went unconscious. Arthur had his eyes activated, and was examining the results of the attack with interest.

“Fascinating. This further proves how incantations only further weaken the capabilities of a mage.” Arthur stated as he analyzed his downed opponent.

The two remaining teens turned to Arthur in shock, and when the furthest away saw his snake-like eyes, he crumbled. But Arthur ignored them and assessed the bodies. He stood over the first boy Max had punched and at his broken neck and grimaced. Pointing down and looking at Max, he said, “You’re going to need to fix his spine. Everyone else can wait for the Academy healers.”

Max spat on the ground and rotated his wrists. The young Soltain had a lot of pent up energy and really wanted to release it, but the fight was well over. He first moved to the two downed beastkin, who at the time we’re looking up at him as if he was a demon trapped in a child’s body. They were both of the cat subspecies, but that’s all Max cared to remark before he bent down and placed his hand over the downed girl’s eye. She didn’t appear to be nearly as hurt as the bleeding boy beside her, yet he approached her first anyway.

The girl flinched at Max’s action, but immediately calmed down as she felt the warmth of light magic healing her black eye. Max continued to focus on the girl’s injury as he spoke to the bleeding catboy next to her. “I’m going to heal you both and then I want you to leave. Run to your dorms and change your clothes. Act like this never happened and if my friend and I play our card’s right they’ll simply forget you.”

The girl hurriedly nodded and helped her friend up as Max popped the boy’s dislocated shoulder back into place. The catboy yelped, but Max ignored him as he moved to the bruises on his arm. Eventually satisfied with his work, Max slapped their shoulders and smiled. “Alright. Run along now.”

The two then quickly moved down the pathway and around the building before anyone could stop them. The last teen, who only had a fraction of the original fight in him and was rather muddled by the events taking place, pleaded towards possible salvation. “Lord Satele, thank you for stopping my friend from doing something as rash as casting a spell without supervision. But we need your help! That unruly bastard has attacked us an-.”

Arthur interrupted him. “What is your name?”

The boy swallowed at the sight of the glowing emerald eyes that announced House blood. He had heard stories of how the Satele’s could kill people just by looking at them, and didn’t want to test fact from fiction. Yet, as he looked at the bright orbs, he felt his former anger and confusion be replaced by submissiveness and docility. The eyes of the boy in front of him were so captivating the teen felt compelled to subservience.

His mind was numb and serene, his sight hazy and spotted, yet Julien felt obligated to answer. “Julien Balesmith.”

“Lord Satele!” A girl sporting the crest of House Satele on her uniform yelled as she approached the scene of bodies and blood.

Arthur never took his eyes off Julien as he directed the girl. “You will stand aside and take notes, I request you record the names and conversations of all concerned parties when the officials get here. Do not start writing until the officials arrive.” He emphasized his point as he stepped closer to Julien.

“Julien. You and your cohorts decided to ambush two first-year students as a means of entertainment. You attacked two students without reason or provocation. Do you understand?”

Julien’s glazed over eyes and loose expression told Max all he needed to know about what his cousin was doing. Max only wished he had such mastery of the ‘Mind’s Eye’s’ subtler abilities. All Julien could do was nod to Arthur’s mental manipulation.

“I understand.”

“Then repeat it.”

“I attacked two students without means or provocation.” Julien replied slowly, as if the words were being fed to him.

“You ambushed Arthur Satele and Maximus Soltain without means or provocation. Do you understand?” Arthur asked.

Julien’s eyes widened for only a fraction of a second until they again hazed over. “I understand.”

“Then repeat it.”