Just like that, Lucius found himself in the presence of a very angry Katherine. Her office, he noted, was quite clean and organized. A far cry from Elrond's. Books and documents alike were stacked in a neat pile, the floors were swept and waxed, and there wasn't even a speck of dust visible on any nook and cranny from where he stood.

Be that as it may, he didn't have much time to admire Katherine's office, nor her cleanliness. The woman had already been frowning at him ever since they've arrived at her office, giving him a sharp, disapproving look as she just sat on her chair, all while tapping her fingers on her old, yet well-maintained cocobolo desk.

"Do you mind telling me what that was about, young man?" Katherine said as she looked at him with narrowed eyes, apparently all too eager to hear his 'excuse'.

"What is it you're referring to, Master Katherine?" Lucius asked respectfully with genuine confusion. He didn't even know why the woman was looking at him as if he had just killed her beloved pet. "I'm afraid I don"t know what that is."

"You know what I'm referring to. Don't try me. I don't have the time for games," Katherine swiftly replied, her tone low and grave.

Lucius maintained the clueless look on his face. Though he had an idea as to what was bugging Katherine, he had trouble believing he'd get into trouble for that. After all, he was only defending himself.

Katherine looked at him for a long time, not budging until she finally relented and sighed. "I'm talking about you picking a fight with someone when you've just started training. With Aries Dario, no less. Do you have any idea just how hard you just made staying here for yourself?"

"So that's what it is." Lucius couldn't help but frown. "Why, you make it sound like I had a choice, Master Katherine. How am I to know that he'd set his sights on me ever since I got into this academy of yours, much less attack me out of nowhere when I'm just walking down the hallways, minding my own business?"

"Even so, what I've heard from the report was that it was a 'fight'. Naturally, a 'fight' involves two people engaging each other in mutual combat," Katherine said before leaning on her desk and staring right at him. "You fought back."

Lucius almost sneered out of disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Would you have preferred it if what the girl reported was a beating then, Master Katherine? You think it would be wise to just let Dario beat me to a bloody pulp until you've run to my rescue?"

"I did not say that," Katherine said, her gaze still rigid, but not as much as before. "But I thought you knew better than to antagonize someone way above your level, what with the Grandmaster teaching you himself and all."

"You knew?"

"Of course. I also know that he favors you over most students here, for some reason. Why do you think I've dropped everything just to see if you were alright?"

"Hmm, perhaps it was your concern for your student's well-being?" Lucius quipped with a chuckle. With Elrond's strict non-interference rule for the academy's staff? No way.

"Please. If I troubled myself with every squabble of every student here then I'd be breaking the rules of non-interference set by the Grandmaster himself. That's what the Enforcers are for, you see. Normally I just let them sort these things out for themselves."

After confirming what he already knew, Lucius nodded. Enforcers. In the first few decades since the academy's founding, they were once touted as the highest-ranking students of each year that was responsible for keeping the peace in the academy and settling the affairs of the student body. Nowadays, they're about as useful as a paper hat in the rain, especially the ones he heard were in charge this year. They were either incompetent, lazy, biased, or just do not care about their duties at all.

"Why did you come then, Master Katherine? Haven't you broken the Grandmaster's rule by checking up on me yourself?" Lucius replied, still curious as to what exactly was the woman's motives, or lack thereof. "Why not just leave the Enforcers to it?"

"Point taken," Katherine grinned, her fanged smile accentuating her feline features. "But you must consider yourself lucky. After all, the Grandmaster made you an exception to that rule. For now, anyway."

"Ah. So he made you look after me then," Lucius said with a smile, although deep inside, he cursed Elrond for possibly revealing a little too much to too many people about their little secret. He could only hope that the Outworlder hadn't been too loose with his lips lately, or else he might be forced to leave the academy sooner or later.

After all, he wasn't willing to take on the risk of having too many people knowing about his true identity else he'd be dead, or worse, locked away on some damp prison cell for the rest of his days for being a 'demon'.

"That he did, yes. He also made me swear that I'd train you just as I would Tissette just so you could catch up with the others in terms of your physicality and combat techniques," Katherine said.

Lucius raised a brow in his amusement. Elrond must want him to improve as much as he did if he was willing to ask Katherine for help. "I wasn't aware of such arrangement. He didn't tell me anything about this."

"I'm telling you now," Katherine said. "What, you don't want me training you?"

"I thought you already were."

Katherin rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Those PCC classes you've been taking can barely even be called 'training'. And I must add, even if you purposefully get poor results to get some extra exercises in, it won't do much for you in terms of improvement."

"It helped though. My stats have significantly improved ever since I got here," Lucius said matter-of-factly, all while shuddering a little at what exactly counted as 'training' for the ever-strict Katherine.

"Oh, has it?" Katherine grinned. "Not nearly enough, I can assure you. Just so you know, students your age can beat you half to death without even breaking a sweat. I don't know how you've managed to deal with Dario, but do not expect you'll come out of another confrontation with another Primus relatively unscathed. That boy isn't even in the top ten of the class when it comes to combat ability."

Not even top ten? That's...surprising indeed.

Lucius sighed inwardly. If he struggled that much against a scrub who wasn't even remotely at the top of the class, then just how far away were his other classmates still, especially the ones at the very top?

"Well? What would you have me do?"

"Does this mean you agree with the Grandmaster's arrangement?" Katherine said, leaning over as he looked at him with a slightly narrowed gaze.

"Of course," Lucius answered without hesitation. "I'd be a fool to decline training from one of the best combat instructors in the country."

He'd heard of many interesting tales regarding Katherine. While most of his information about her were rumors he'd collected during the course of his stay in the academy, some books he read hailed her as one of the finest warriors in the continent, proficient in both armed combat and Umbramancy, otherwise called shadow magic.

A few particular obscure documents he'd found at the library further revealed that she, though not mentioned exactly by name, was once a famed assassin called 'Shadowcat' who once slew a whole battalion of human invaders while barely being seen. Among her many feats, it was beyond impressive, he thought, considering that he did not know many shadow magi other than his father whose ability far surpassed common sense. While he did not know how a person with such prestige and infamy ended up in Parabellum, he knew better than to just walk away from someone like her.

"Good. You seem to know what you'll be missing," Katherine said, nodding to him with a satisfied smile. "Now then, all I need to know is why you're so bent on getting stronger."

"I want to become a hero," Lucius said, again, without even the slightest hint of hesitation. There was no use beating around the bush with a woman like Katherine. He was certain that she'd find out if he lied anyway.

Katherine was rendered speechless for a moment. After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, she then leaned over the table, and with a sharp gaze that could pierce through stone, she looked at him finally asked, "Are you joking?"

"I have made a promise I'm not willing to break," Lucius said, his eyes dead-set on Katherine. "Not as long as I still breathe."

"Bold words for a weakling, isn't it?" Katherine said, her eyes narrowed and her tone more chiding than joking.

"Nobody ever said weaklings can't have bold dreams," Lucius replied with a slight smirk. "Only difference is, I have no intention of staying a weakling all my life."

Katherine looked at him for a while, and not once did he falter under her gaze. Showing weakness would tell her that his resolve was just that—weak, and that he absolutely cannot have. He needed her to understand the extent of his desire, and he will not be denied.

After a long time, he finally heard the words he'd been waiting desperately to hear. "Very well."

"Very well...what?" Lucius swayed his head. "Did I pass your test? Will you train me now?"

"I never said I was testing you," Katherine replied with a coy smile. "I was going to train you regardless of what you've said since the Grandmaster commanded me to, you see."

"Why the question then?"

"There are many reasons why one would want strength. I just wanted to know what yours were."

"And?" Lucius asked expectantly.

"Your goal. It isn't a bad one," Katherine said with a faint smile that didn't last long. Her eyes glazed over for a second that Lucius could almost swear that there was a semblance of fondness. Nostalgia, perhaps. "Impossible for most, yes, but a good one."

Lucius nodded. "Then...when do I start?"

"Today," Katherine immediately replied, much to his surprise.

"Not on the weekends? I have a class tomorrow. An elective—"

"Skip it if you need to, I don't care. I've heard that you've been attending all those boring electives without fail ever since you enrolled anyway. What's missing this one class?"

Lucius sighed, but eventually, he nodded. Who knew Katherine had about as much enthusiasm for electives as most students?

"Good. For your first training session, you'll be joining Tissette on a quest outside the city."

"Outside the city? That means..."

"That's right." Katherine smiled, her left fang visible beneath her lush, pink lips. "You'll be testing the skills you've acquired thus far against those creatures. You've encountered one on your way here, I'm told."

Lucius felt a swell of emotions rise from within his as he took in the meaning behind the master's words. Joy. Excitement. Even fear.

It was about time he'd fought against his first aberrant.