Hauke flinched. He jumped in his seat so hard that his knees slammed into the bottom of his desk.

“Wai-wait, it's just me, Ril. Please don’t reveal me, I have a mission.” The ethereal voice came once again from behind him, this time sounding a little panicked. The voice was whisper quiet, several octaves higher than Ril’s normal voice which gave it an eerie quality.

A freezing cold weight settled onto his shoulder, holding him steady.

Hauke grunted in affirmation, holding his body stiff as tears came to his eyes from his bruised knees. He forcefully calmed his expression. He wasn’t going to reveal Ril. Ril just surprised him is all. As expected, but still unpleasant.

The icy pressure disappeared, along with a faint sigh that sounded a lot like ‘thanks, sorry’.

“Ha, ha,” Alex laughed from the front of the class, “The little noble is jumping at his own shadow. Why? Are you scared that the spy is going to get you?”

Hauke blinked in surprise. He had forgotten where he was for a moment. Focusing, Hauke saw that Alex was looking at him with a mocking grin on his face.

“Aww, is the little noble crying?” Alex jeered, his sycophants laughing along with him.

“What? No! I’m not crying!” Hauke exclaimed, wiping away the residual tears that stemmed from his altercation with his desk.

“Really? It doesn’t look that way. Actually you look a little constipated, do you have to go pee pee?” Alex laughed, his friends joining in. “I heard that when wussies get really scared they piss themselves. Imagine that!”

Hauke felt heat rise to his face. He most definitely did not need to use the bathroom!

Suddenly, Alex got serious. “I mean, if you are scared of an imaginary spy then how do you expect to fight real monsters?” Alex sighed theatrically, “I guess it isn’t surprising, right guys? He is a noble after all.”

Alex’s groupies nodded agreeably, the girls covering polite smiles, while the two dudes openly guffawed.

Hauke clenched his fists under the desks. Alex always did this!

“I’m telling you, I’m not scared of the intruder, and I don’t need to go pee! I just bumped my knees against the desk. It hit a nerve or something. That’s all!” Hauke shouted at them.

“Ah, forgive me your highness,” Alex adopted a submissive expression, “you don’t have to pretend for us. Us commoners know that you nobles sometimes have trouble holding it in.”

“Oh yeah! Well, I’m not like that. There is no reason for me to...” Hauke shouted, but quickly trailed off.

He was about to say that there is no reason for him to be scared of the spy, because he knew Ril. If anything it was Alex and his group that should be scared of Ril. But he cut himself off. If he said that he would reveal that he knew Ril, and the Ril was in the building. He couldn’t do that.

“Well? Go on. Do explain how you are not like all those gutless nobles that are bleeding this city dry.” Alex sneered.

Hauke looked down, blushing furiously as he clenched his fist until he heard his knuckles pop.

“Ha, ha! As expected of a bent noble. You are just making up excuses to cover up for your own inadequacies.” Alex grinned cruelly.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Hauke’s wrist. He followed the arm up to see Arla’s angry demeanor. She jerked his arm so that he was forced to get up from his chair.

“Come on. I finished the assignment, let’s get out of here.” she said, shooting an angry look at Alex and his friends.

Hauke nodded quickly, wiping the tears from his eyes. He collected his stuff and followed Arla out of the room.

“Don’t worry Hauke! We’ll protect you from the scary, scary spy!” Alex shouted after him, accompanied by the giggles of his sycophants.

* * *

Ril looked over the notification that he had just received

Congratulations! You have unlocked the ability: Frost Armor.

Cover your body in ice, blunting physical blows and reducing your body temperature.

The notification had popped up when he had begun to panic as the Professor had chased him through the hallways. He had ducked into a classroom and had hid in the back corner, only for the Professor to barge in after him. The man had started spouting nonsense.

Ril managed to elucidate two things from the man’s ramblings. The first was that the White Lily must do this regularly to cause the poor Professor to be so traumatized by this event that he was willing to disrupt his own class.

The second was that the Professor somehow could sense him by the body heat that he was giving off.

The moment that he heard this, Ril had summoned snow around his body, using Telekinesis to mold it against his skin like a deeply uncomfortable blanket. It was freezing, but moments later the Professor had become confused, and Ril had stalked silently to a different corner.

The impromptu stealth mechanism had worked.

The professor had left and he had gloated to Hauke.

What followed had left a bad taste in his mouth. It reminded him of the years he spent in Elkshire. Bullies the lot of them, using their power to hurt those weaker and younger than them. He listened to the conversation, a corrosive pool of rage collecting in his heart. Somehow it felt like it was his fault. If he hadn’t tapped Hauke’s shoulder the bullies would have left the poor kid alone.

He did nothing though, maintaining his anonymity.

The angry looking girl dragged Hauke out of the room, forcefully ending the conversation. Ril silently sighed in relief as the older kids resumed their raucous conversation among themselves.

Ril watched Hauke leave with two girls. It seemed like he had managed to make some friends. That’s good. Especially since those friends seemed willing to associate with him even though that handsome kid was making his life miserable.

[What abject cruelty] Sin’s voice insinuated into his mind.

“What is?” Ril asked, distracted.

[The manner by which your kind treats its young.]

“Oh, you mean that.” Ril said, frowning. “That’s not...the normal way, no.”

[Is it not? I see no adult coming to the rescue of poor Hauke. No child in this room batted an eye, and neither did you step in to save your friend. How else should I describe it other than normal?] Sin scoffed.

“You know I can’t interfere. It would interfere with my mission.” Ril retorted quietly, surrounding his head in muffle so that his voice reached Sin, but didn’t extend to the other kids. Honestly, even if he had stepped in he didn’t know what he could have done to fix the problem. Nothing he had tried back in Elkshire had worked to make bullies. Well, just avoiding them worked, but it wasn’t really a viable solution in this situation.

[Both you and I know that you could have diffused that situation without resorting to exposure. What you say is just an excuse.]

“No. Maybe you know how I could have done it, but I certainly don’t. Not without getting caught.” Ril whispered, getting annoyed.

Sin chuckled into his mind. [Could you not have shifted the shadows in the room to drive a spike of fear into their hearts, thereby forcing those children to acknowledge you? This would cause their focus to shift away from Hauke in the worst case. In the best case, they would have agreed that you are an individual worth fearing and Hauke would become a symbol for their camaraderie.]

[All this and more you could have achieved if you had only seized the moment. You say that you fear the consequences, but could you not achieve what I have illustrated without arousing the attention of the incompetent teacher here? Or have you learned so little in your time with the White Lily? We already know the teacher’s abilities are paltry compared to yours. Even when occupying the same room as him, he could not detect you.]

Ril reeled at the sudden tirade. Thinking it over, it did seem...possible. But still interfering didn’t sit well with him. “But what if Siorraid considers even that level of interference failure of the test?” Ril asked.

[Excuses. You are weak in your convictions.]

“My convictions? Aren’t these your convictions? Either way, come on, Sin. What made you think I want to terrify a couple of fifteen year olds? Regardless of how despicably they were acting.”

[It has nothing to do with want. You see injustice among your own, yet have the gall to call my kind monsters. Your hypocrisy is stunning.]

Ril sighed, “Whatever. You don’t understand these people like I do. If I scare them or hell, if I beat them up, they will just take their anger out on Hauke when I am not there. He will just become the rich noble snob that hired help to fight his battles for him.”

To this, Sin did not respond.

After a moment Alex and his gang got up from their chairs and dropped their assignments in a basket near the front. As they left the room, Ril trailed behind them, piggybacking so that he didn’t have to open the door himself.

The group lazed through the hallways, not in a particular rush. Ril listened to their conversation but quickly lost interest. Instead, he poked around the place, sending his clone down corridors and into classrooms.

In the time it took for the group of kids to make their way to...wherever it was that they were going, Ril had managed to find several kids who might be good candidates for the White Lily. All were showing some kind of excellence in whatever it is they were doing. Bored, he wrote down their general appearance and why he thought they might be a good fit. Mostly it came down to whether they demonstrated some sort of intelligence gathering ability, coupled with their general attitude.

The handsome kid and his gang apparently were heading to the training hall. They barged in, making an ungodly amount of noise even compared to some of the kids who were sparring. Ril, already bored of the arrogant group, scanned the room, and quickly made his way over to Hauke and his two friends when he spotted them.

They had donned leather armor with extra cloth armor stuffed underneath some of the more vulnerable areas, and were speaking in a huddle.

“--you guys want to do two against one again?” the angry looking girl with the scar said. Despite her expression, her tone was cheerful and excited. That scar really didn’t do her any favors. “We can do the spear against two swords. It was fun last time.”

“I’d rather do one on one with swords.” Hauke said. He looked a little down, but had a determined look in his eyes.

“I can watch for the first round while you two wail on each other.” the pretty girl said. This was the first time that Ril heard her speak. She looked like someone who didn’t speak up much, yet when she does everyone listens.

Case in point, both Hauke and the angry-looking girl nodded and collected two wooden practice swords without further argument.

Ril moved up to the far wall, and settled into a comfortable crouch. He sent his clone to the other side of the room and prepared for a comfortable viewing of young students erratically hitting each other. It would be an excellent method to find talent.

Also, it would be cool to see how good Hauke was with a sword.

Hauke and his angry friend faced off with each other. Then by some unknown signal they moved at each other, weapons raised and eyes wide. Their wooden swords clashed, practiced swipes deflected errant strikes, as their feet shuffled to maintain an optimal distance from their opponent.

“Huh,” Ril whispered to Sin, “he’s not bad.”

[I think the word you are looking for is horrendous]

“Hey, give the kid a break,” Ril snorted, “he is much better than I was when I was his age.”

[It is a wonder that your species survived as long as they have.]

“Just cause you haven’t seen talented humans doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Just wait, one of these days you’ll get to see King Magnus in combat and you won’t be so flippant about our race.”

[Perhaps.] Sin murmured, then he sighed softly into Ril’s ear. [It looks like he has company.]

The handsome kid from before had walked up to Hauke’s duel. He had changed into different clothes. Like Hauke, he had a set of worn leather armor with extra padding on it, but his set looked significantly more refined and less dingy. Unlike Hauke, who was using one of the provided wooden practice swords, the blonde kid wore an ornate steel blade at his hip sheathed in a decorated scabbard.

Strange to bring a live blade to what is supposedly practice.

“Do you think they have healers here?” Ril asked Sin quietly, double checking that Muffle was still protecting them both. While he did this he clenched his fists repeatedly, trying to get some warmth into them. The Frost Armor, while invaluable, was uncomfortable to maintain.

[I find it more likely that he wields that ornament to affirm his own status. Perhaps he has a skill that requires real steel to use properly.]

Behind the blonde kid, his groupies collected like the slime a snail leaves behind.

Hauke separated from his opponent, and gave the handsome kid the stink eye.

“What do you want, Alex?” Hauke said warily.

“Aha! His name is Alex.” Ril whispered triumphantly, searching through his cloak for the notepad he had brought. “Wonderful, I can now write down that he should never be recruited by the White Lily.”

A moment later, “do you think that Alex is a nickname?”

[Who cares...]

“Well if his real name is Alexander. I could call him Alexander the Doofus.” Ril said happily, scribbling down a scathing review of the kid in his notepad.

A confused sigh emanated through their telepathic link. [Could you not refer to him as Alex the Doofus?]

“Nah, doesn’t have the same ring to it, now shush let’s see if he plans on helping Hauke and company, or whether he plans on living up to his title.” Ril said, shoving the notepad back into a random pocket.

“I just came to see how you were doing.” Alexander the Doofus said sincerely. “I was worried you would be too scared to practice when we have a spy among us.”

Despite his candid tone, Alexander the Doofus hid a barely restrained smirk.

“I told you--” Hauke started but his angry friend stepped forward, putting a hand on his wrist and cutting him off.

“Look Alex, mind your own business. We are just practicing here in the corner. Go away.” she said. Although her posture was relaxed, Ril noticed that she maintained a white knuckled grip on her wooden practice sword.

“Oh, ho! The ugly one has teeth.” Alexander the Doofus flashed his teeth in a nauseatingly pretty smile. “But I came to talk to Hauke, not you. Or I guess, you just let your concubines fight your battles for you?”

The two girls who seemed to follow Alex everywhere tittered. One was blonde while the other was a brunette. Ril didn’t like either. At least the two bruisers flanking the Doofus had the decency of just standing around and looking intimidating.

“She, it’s- not-” Hauke sputtered while the concubine in question just opened her mouth, her face visibly reddening.

“I understand. You find it difficult to even speak to us commoners. Maybe your other concubine can speak for you since that is your default mode of operation?” Alexander the Doofus gestured towards the pretty girl.

She visibly shrunk in on herself, looking down and reddening.

Ril sighed, his eyes tightening as he stared at the unfortunate scene. Deep in his belly, the hurt that had never truly healed, bubbled up.

“And...He’s a Doofus.” Ril muttered, angrily.

[Perhaps we should refer to this creature as Alexander the Cruel? It would be a more apt name considering his behavior.] Sin murmured into Ril’s mind, palpable disappointment oozing through the connection.

“Stop that! They are my friends, not--” Hauke shouted, but was cut off.

The angry girl seemed to have finally collected herself. She stepped forward, brandishing her wooden sword in Alexander’s general direction.

“Take it back! I’m not a c-concubine!” She shouted, “you...you stupid head!”

Alexander the Cruel winced placing a hand on his breast as if wounded, “Ouch, how will I ever recover?” he said sarcastically.

At the angry girl's raised blade, the fat kid stepped forward looming menacingly over the younger girl.

“You lift that sword girl and you better be ready to draw blood.” the fat kid grumbled in an overly dramatic tone. To Ril, it sounded like he was trying to make his voice sound deeper than it actually was, but since he overcompensated his voice was really soft, so the threat didn’t seem all that threatening.

Despite this, Hauke’s angry-looking friend blanched, but amazingly she held her ground. She lowered her sword though, clearly not willing to initiate a fight.

“I’m not a concubine!” She repeated, her voice quaking but still understandable. “Stupid head.”

Beside her, Hauke was practically vibrating. His arms held tight against his body, skin stretched taught over his clenched fists. Even from a dozen meters away, Ril heard him grind his teeth together in frustration.

His eyes were conflicted, shooting between Alex and his friend but not sure what or how he could help her.

“Hold on, there.” Alexander the Cruel said.

He stepped forward, drawing his sword and holding it vertically to the side of his face. A moment later, the blade burst into roiling yellow-white flames, lighting up the side of his face and granting him a heroic cast.

Ril stared at the young kid, reminded for a moment of a different hero who had stood in that exact posture as he prepared to protect Evelyn from assassins. Julius’s sword had also blazed brightly, but unlike Julius though, Alex did not have a shred of selflessness in his eyes.

“You are so quick at insulting me, calling me defamatory names, but I take issue with that. If you are going to hide behind malicious words, then prepare to defend those words with actions! I challenge you to a duel!” Alex grinned maliciously.

Ril closed his eyes, as if this kid was anything like Julius. Like a real hero.

Alex did not deserve the power that he was given. By the Chromagnum or otherwise. Instead of using his blazing sword to light the way, to rally others and bring hope. He twisted its purpose, using it to satisfy his own selfish intent. Using it’s destructive potential against...children.

The pool of rage that had slowly grown since the moment Ril had first seen the bullies boiled. Its surface unsettled by the sight he was forced to witness, but unable to stop.

Just as suddenly as the rage boiled, it froze. Its surface crystalized, the turbulent waters stilling. A desolate quiet descended onto Ril’s mind.

From the depths of the frozen lake, a bloody idea surfaced.