“I don’t think this will work,” Tanya said to Brand as he finished preparing the last of his ingredients.

“It will work,” he replied. “I’ve spent months preparing the rune circles and have tested them all multiple times.”

“Only when written down,” Marla chimed in.

“Exactly,” Brand said. “So they should work just fine as runic tattoos.”

“That’s not what she meant, and you know it,” Tanya argued. “You can't possibly hope to use these in combat. It'll be like lighting yourself on fire.”

Brand turned to look at Marla who was sitting down looking over his notes. “I already get lit on fire.”

Fumes started to come from one of the several liquids Brand intended to use as ink prompting him to open the window. Tanya groaned trying not to breathe the bitter smelling vapor. “Why are we doing this in my room?”

“Because you live alone,” Brand said, bringing a bottle of ink to his nose and taking a deep breath. “It’s ready.”

Tanya took the bottle with shaky hands. “Brand, you don't have to do this. I don't think that... woman, would abandon you If you quit the combat mysteries.”

“That’s not the point,” he said. “I know Azmina won’t let me go.”

“Then don’t do this to yourself,” Tanya pleaded. Brand stayed quiet just rubbing his head not knowing how to put what he felt into words.

“She’s got a point,” Marla said. “Even if she was stupid enough to let you go, my brother and I would be more than willing to purchase your right to use magic.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Brand snapped at Marla. “I'm not going to live my life knowing I can kill me at a moment’s notice without me being able to put up a fight. I’d be like some fucking child hoping not to get flogged at the whims of my betters.”

“Everyone lives like that,” Marla said, taking on a tone more serious than she usually used. “We are all ants under someone's boot. Learn to live with it, I have.”

“Well, I won't get used to it,” Brand said. “No matter who they were, how old, how big, what type of weapons they had, it didn’t matter; I could beat them. Now I’m supposed to what, hope you're there to defend me.”

“Defend you from who?" Tanya said. "You make it seem like people are trying to kill you.”

“I don't know who,” Brand replied, raising his right hand. “But if I remember correctly, I didn't know your brother before he crushed my hand.”

Tanya's head drooped. She grasped Brand’s outstretched hand in hers before looking back at him again. “Even if this works, you still won't be the strongest. I'll still probably be able to beat you.”

Brand scratched Tanya's lion ears sending a shiver down her spine. “I doubt that, but even so, it'll be a good start.”

A few hours later everywhere but Brand’s face was covered in tattoos. To Tanya's chagrin, she had to apply the ink to every inch of his being regardless of propriety. Despite her reservations, Marla watched every step of the process fascinated by the intricate designs.

She and Tanya were both amazed at the level of sophistication present in the runes Brand incorporated into his spell circles as well as the ingenuity needed to adapt them to the human form.

Tanya imbued a slightly redder colored ink with her mana floating it in the air as Brand finished drawing the second outline of what he wanted.

“This needs to be the topmost design. Don’t get them mixed or it won’t work correctly.” Tanya nodded her understanding before sending the ink into the skin along Brand’s skin.

Using kinetic runes, Brand rooted himself in place so tightly he couldn’t tremble as Tanya painfully forced the dark liquid into him. The ink filled in the pre-drawn silhouette with impeccable precision leaving most of Brand’s brown skin covered by a darker arcane composition.

With the last of the tattoos finished Tanya wiped the blood from Brand’s irritated and reddening skin with a cloth. She marveled at the craftsmanship. “It’s beautiful, like what my mother has on her back and shoulders.”

“She has magic too?” Brand asked.

“No,” Tanya replied. “Beast kin just like body art. They signify age, accomplishments, family, and more. I’ll get my first in a few years.”

Brand stared at his hands and body like they belonged to someone else triple-checked the design forced into his skin. “I just hope this works as intended.” He selected a pattern powering it with his mana immediately making them shine dimly on his skin. “Now stand back. Let’s see if I can get this to work.”

****

Mildrith sauntered into the lowest of the martial mysteries with her entourage trailing behind her. She hadn’t enjoyed her time here before moving on to greater heights. Being back now after experiencing the exclusivity of higher studies made her long for the sparsely seated circles of her own class that some took more than a year to progress to and most never did.

Stopping for a moment, she scanned the crowd with glowing blue eyes heavy with mana. “Are you sure he's here?” she asked Alda.

“I'm sure,” she replied. “I saw him on a visit to Gridania. His sister is here too. They usually sit over there.” The armor-clad woman pointed at a rather unique-looking group.

The one Mildrith was looking for was there along with his sister but sitting with them were the two Akram siblings she heard of right before leaving this mystery. She found it strange that the one she sought would socialize with their kind, but it was not inconceivable unlike the presence of her sister.

“What is that mutt doing there?” Mildrith seethed.

“Isn’t she more of a cat,” Garland said coming over to her right.

Mildrith ignored him making her way over to the group. She didn’t want to speak with the king of Gridania but the food his country produced through slavery fed a third of Vellia’s people.

Without them, their expansion into Alfheim and less hospitable worlds like Muspelheim would come to a screeching halt. If this boy king decided to not uphold the agreements of his forefathers, her family would have to abandon many of the roads they built over the last few decades.

“Which is why I must offer myself like a common whore,” Mildrith thought. “But it looks like Tanya is more than willing.”

“Your Majesty,” Mildrith said, stopping near the king. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of making your acquaintance.”

She was about to make a formal bow when the king scoffed at her derisively. Tanya rose like she always did in her presence and the others in the group quickly paused their conversations.

“Godric, you know her?” asked a powerfully-built woman with a long sword at her side.

“No,” Godric replied. “And she obviously doesn’t know me. They isn't anyone here none as your majesties here.”

Mildrith faintly cleared her throat. “I am Mildrith, ward of house Bry-.”

“Let me stop you right there,” Godric interrupted. “I’m Godric, and that's it. I’m just me like you’re just you, not your house, your father, mother, or anything else.”

Mildrith quickly closes her mouth as to not let it hang open. She hadn’t thought that someone so important would care so little for the position of those around him, or maybe his position is why he did not need to care.

Even though the flaunting of titles was prohibited most in the hall still appreciated the influence of the more well-bred students. Maybe Godric being the highest authority in his land meant didn't need to care for such things. She would have to change her approach if she even wanted to have a conversation with him.

Godric gestured to the seats on his left. “I’m about to watch my friend’s match. Feel free to join. It'll be an exciting fight.” Laughing as he finished, Godric acted like he knew some secret they did not.

“It’s not as if I have anything better to do,” Mildrith lied. She would rather be studying in the tower of nature whose mysteries she was having trouble with, but she didn’t need another reason for her father to be disappointed in her.

She took the offered seat along with Garland and Alda.

“How did you get so many runes to encompass one area?” Godric asked Tanya who replied quietly, still not comfortable with her sister so close.

“We used four different mixtures, each with its own binding to keep the mana separate.”

“I’m betting he’ll quit when this doesn’t work,” Cora said. “Or it will work, and he’ll pass out.”

Azmina raised an eyebrow mockingly. “Do you really think my Brandy would walk into the ring without testing this first?”

“Who are they talking about?” Mildrith asked Alda.

“Probably the Jabari,” she replied. “The one that has yet to win a single match. He spends most of his time with your sister.”

The image of the dark-skinned man she found with Tanya almost a year ago flashed in Mildrith's mind. She heard of him through rumors of how badly his daily trials were. He broke the record on continuous losses before quitting by leaps and bounds. Although, Godric seemed to think he developed something interesting.

“We may be waiting a good while if he’s not in the first few bouts,” Mildrith said to Godric trying to make small talk.

He cackled like a deviously old man despite his youth. “Brand is always the first. No point in making him wait if he’s bound to lose either way. Oh, there he is and before even being called.”

Mildrith took a good look at Brand this time unlike in their first meeting. He had shorter hair than she remembered and still wore the common uniform the monks offered. A thin beard grew on his face that was surprisingly handsome in its own unique way despite the strangeness of his features. What she hadn’t fully realized last time was his size. He stood a head taller than her, unlike most men that were shorter than her on average.

When Brand’s opponent was called, all discussion died in the group.

“I’m balling this,” Garland said, revealing a clear crystal ball. “Some of his other fights were recorded and they’re hilarious.” Mildrith thought Godric might take offense but saw that not only he but most of his group had crystal balls of their own.

Gasp and excited whisper rose from around the room. Mildrith looked back to the Jabari joining in the chorus of befuddlement.

Brand removed his shirt revealing some of the most ridiculously complex spell circles Mildrith had ever seen put to skin. Even written down, comprehending the designs challenged her understanding of the arcane.

Whenever she spotted a set of runes she understood, they’d branch off into many other spells or a web of mana pathways. She would need a few hours to fully understand what she was seeing which she fully intended to do pulling out her own personal baller and making Brand the main target of its recording spell.

“Um, can I start?” Brand asked after waiting for the teacher to begin the match.

“Yes of course,” he said. “Begin.”

Mildrith was on the edge of her seat as Brand’s clearly alarmed opponent waved his hands slowly through the air leaving a glowing circle that hummed with power. Mana collected at the center forcibly changing to gold under the circle’s influence.

Mildrith was confused. The teacher should call off the match. That spell would most likely kill Brand if it hit him dead center without enchanted armor. If not, it would tear the flesh from whatever part of his body it touched.

She readied herself to throw a mana shield when Azmina and Tanya beat her to it. A bubble of magic appeared around Brand, then a lion the size of an elephant stood between him and the coming spell.

Brand walked forward out of the mana shield as a rainbow of colors ran through his tattoos. With his touch, the shield dimmed before dissolving entirely. Placing his outstretched hand that pulsed with throttled mana on Tanya’s lion, he closes his grip, warping the construct before appearing to throw it to the side. The lion disbursed in a rain of mana as if a barrel of glowing water had been spilled.

The attack Brand’s opponent was priming finished with a great flash of light. He fired a straight beam at the now unprotected Brand that just smiled forcefully as he was engulfed by the deadly raise.

A high whistle made from the spell grew louder as it was continuously channeled forcing Mildrith to cover her ears. Then, she saw the impossible.

It was as if the destructive spell hit Brand like gently flowing water. It disbursed on his chest, the mana falling to the ground in droplets as Tanya’s lion had.

He walked toward the caster without the least bit of resistance all the while the spell intensified to the point Mildrith herself would have been threated. Getting within arm’s reach, Brand passed a hand through the spell circle destroying it in the process. He lifted the now exhausted caster and slammed him into the ground sending a deafening boom around the speechless room.

Turning from the crater he'd made with a man’s body Brand looked to the teacher. “Give me another.”