The Taming hall, or as it was affectionately known as, ‘The farm’, was by far the largest building the academy had, whilst it wasn’t the highest sitting just a few stories high with a domed glass roof, The surrounding forest and lakes essentially made it a separate entity to the rest of the academy, but it was awarded the title of being the largest building because the main root of the building was underground, and very few new how far it truly extended, and even less knew what was kept down there.

From the time he had left Armarni Bryn hadn’t stopped running, by now he had long since cleared the main area of the academy was running down a long dirt road with fields containing strange but docile beasts on each side, he could see the Taming hall over the rise in the distance.

Bursting through the doors Bryn thought that it was more appropriate to call the place a museum rather than a farm as skeletons from fantastic beasts dotted the building, claws and wings were methodically kept whilst skins and furs were hung about like decorations, but as Bryn moved further into the building the décor quickly changed and the true purpose of the building came into plain view.

Cages, hundreds of cages of all different types dotted the walls, floors and even ceilings, but they weren’t the same metal barred cages from test, these were enclosure created unique for each creature.

Small little boxes were fitted into the walls clearly showing little yellow mice that shot off sparks of lightning whilst large spherical domes offered a viewing port into cages that encompassed entire rooms in the floor below for the larger creatures such as the Snow lions that leisurely lay perched atop a glacier.

The further Bryn went into the building the weirder and more wonderful the creatures became but he had no eye for them, he was focused only on the one he had met in the entrance exam.

Arriving at the classroom he pushed the double doors open and immediately locked onto the little blue dog laying lethargically in its cage.

“Ah, I’m sorry Leena” Bryn said as he rushed over to the cage and unlocked the door and began to pet and rub the head and belly of the suddenly excited Carolina Island Hopper.

“Arr, have you been a good girl, Have you missed me? I bet you have, I bet you have” Bryn spoke sweet nothings to the dog as he played with her, avoiding her sharp needle like teeth as she playfully nipped at his hands.

“Cough” Someone gave an amused dry cough from behind and Bryn froze before slowly turning his head to see a full class; each and every one of them had an amused look on their face, even those that didn’t want to show it couldn’t.

The VP who also doubled as professor for this class made no attempt to hide his smile.

“Cough” Bryn tried to correct his posture and calm himself whilst walking over to a free seat but nobody was fooled and could easily see through his obvious embarrassment.

“Don’t Stop on our account, A good tamer is as only as good as their bond with their Partner” Solomon said half-jokingly which made Bryn blush whilst the rest of the class let out a little chuckle.

Having had his fun Solomon let it go and moved towards the centre of a traditional classroom, only this one had a bit more space between the students to allow enough space for their partners to remain, only most of the students in the class at the moment had creatures similar to Bryn and could easily fit them onto one of the long wooden desks they sat at.

“Welcome, as you know I am Solomon Magnus and whilst I am also the vice principle, I am also the teacher in charge of taming”

“It is always good to see new students take up the challenge of forming a bond with a companion and as I have stated before, your choice to do this so early will only put you in the advantage in the long term” he said before leaning on his Desk.

“Now, as for what I’ll be teaching you during Taming 101 this term, it will be all of the basics that can easily be learnt without the systems influence”

“That means you have three months to learn how to cast these three techniques”

“Bond”

“Tame”

“Recall”

“Some Academies will tell you that you are a Tamer after learning the first two techniques but I say they are morons” Solomon said in a way that would broker no discussion, “A tamer draws their strength from the partners, but how can your partner help you if you had to leave them behind because it was too difficult to transport them where you need to go, No, A Smart Tamer takes Logistics into account and they are the only type of Tamer I teach”

Bryn had a little chuckle at this as he couldn’t help but think about a tamer getting beaten black and blue because he got into a fight in the middle of the ocean but his tamed beast was too big to fit on the ship.

“Now!” Solomon said as he clapped his hands, “Let me explain a little bit about what these three techniques do, and whilst it might seem obvious from their names, I promise there are a few juicy nuggets in what I’m about to tell you”

“Now first off is ‘Bond’, this is a quintessential skill that you will need to master to become a Tamer, and luckily, it isn’t that hard to learn but it’s a whole other thing to master” Solomon said as he let out a chuckle and withdrew a small coin from his pocket.

“This here is a ‘Tamers coin’, it used to be that you bought this from the System for a tier 3 token but a couple years ago someone had the bright idea to give one to an enchanter to reverse engineer the spell it uses and we’ve haven’t bought them from the system ever since”

“Anyway, the learning process for ‘Bond’ is as easy as can be, you don’t have to do anything” The VP said dramatically before chuckling at the student disbelieving face, “No truly, you don’t, the coin does everything” He said as he flicked it as if it was an everyday ordinary coin.

“When You add you’re mana to the coin it will automatically trigger the spell inside of it and imprint the ‘Bond’ spell into the palm of your hand” Solomon said whilst showing his own palm off.

Bryn was sat at the front desk so he could easily see that in the palm of his hand was a circle with what looked to be a pentagram with strange letters surrounding it.

“This, is called your ‘Emblem’, because every bond you have, will have this unique mark etched on to their body, The spell works by creating a connection between your soul realm and your companions via a gate in the boundary”

“That’s is the easy part of the spell, the hard part of the spell is making sure that the creature you are trying to bond with doesn’t destroy the gate and cause you to suffer a backlash”

“This may not be too difficult with the little guys you’ve got with you right now, but eventually you’ll move on to grown-ups and that’s when the fun truly begins”

“Next we have ‘Tame’, this is a skill that you use after you have established a connection with ‘Bond’, this a skill that slowly turns once hostile creatures into powerfully allies that will not hesitate to lay down their life for you”

“You achieve this by transmitting your will through the bond to overcome the desired creatures, and now whilst I said earlier than all of these techniques can be learnt without spending a token in the system, I do recommend that when you progress further into being a tamer than you obtain this skill as whilst you can learn it, it is a difficult skill to master and until you have mastered it, you will simply never measure up to the system generated equivalent, they are much more versatile and powerful”

“Even I bought the Skill and it has never gave me cause for regret”

“Hah, this next skill is most notably used by three different groups of Heroes, Tamers, Necromancers, and Thief’s”

“However, it is perhaps the most important skill of a Tamer in my opinion” Solomon said strictly, “We tamers may contract beasts to either fight in our stead or by our side, but the day I meet a tamer that does not care for the life of their partner, is the day that I kill that tamer” Solomon spoke and no one in the room doubted his honesty.

“’Recall’ is a technique that allows someone to bring objects or living beings into a dimensional space, whether it be an object or technique, but in regards to tamers it is both a logistical saviour as well as being a literal life-saving technique, if ever you partner is In trouble and their life is at risk, then this technique will allow you to recall them through your bond and protect them within that ‘dimensional space’ from any further harm”

“Here at the academy, the item that we use to achieve this is called a [Grimoire], another item that is highly valued in many fields of study”

“These are the three basic techniques you will need to learn for me to recognise you as a tamer and these are the three techniques you need to learn before I allow any of you to bring your partners out of this hall” Solomon said as he looked to each student and their partners.

Some were distressed and held their partners tighter unwilling, some took it in stride, others anger whilst a few with apathy.

Bryn was about to argue as to why it was necessary but strangely, Solomon gave him an almost happy smile.

“The Academy has no rule against the killing of tamed creatures and until you both grow strong enough, they’ll just be a target” He said and Bryn understood.

He could just picture someone killing Leena to spite him.

*SNAP*

Part of the table snapped off as Bryn squeezed his hand in overwhelming anger before forcing himself to calm down.

Leena had sensed the sudden change in Bryn’s mood and wormed her way up his chest to nuzzle his neck, Bryn simply stroked her fur, “looks like you’ll have to stay here a little longer” He said sadly.

The Students spirit was a little more morose than before but Solomon wouldn’t have it any other way, them being upset meant that they truly understood the dangers present.

“It is time, form a line” Solomon said and all of the students lined up in front his desk.

One by one he passed them a coin and watched as they directed mana into the coin and watched as he imprinted the Tamer ‘Bond’ into their palm.

Eventually, it was Bryn’s turn.

“Are you ready?” Solomon Asked with his hand outstretched, coin clearly on show.

Bryn nodded and took the coin, he held it palm open and directed a small wisp of mana into it, it was enough.

There was a slight sting as it was imprinted into his palm, but it was over before he even realised.

In place the coin was his ‘Emblem’, a symbol unique to every tamer formed by their mana.

In Bryn’s Case it took the form of strange mask with five eyes and two horns.

Bryn’s eyes went wide and asked “is this what I…” but Solomon simply nodded before he could finished his sentence.

Bryn studied his palm as he moved back to his seat.

‘It’s no wonder people think I’m a monster’ he thought to himself but if he was truly honest with himself, he would have admitted, it looked quite badass.

“Okay, now that this 1st part has been completed it is time for the true test to begin” Solomon said from the front of the class.

“Now, I want you to remember for the next bit that once you have started the technique then you cannot give up until you have completed it, the backlash can be quite unpredictable” Solomon said with a hint of hopeful amusement over the show that was about to begin.

With a little bit of effort Bryn was able to direct a bit of mana into the Tattoo and it immediately began to glow, once the entire tattoo was alight Bryn knew it was ready to go.

“Don’t fight me on this, okay” he said to Leena whilst patting her head before laying his tattooed palm over the back of her neck.

“nnnhhh, nnhhh” Leena immediately whimpered in pain and panic but Bryn was only half focused as he felt his focus slipping, he tried to reassure her but his attention was being pulled away from her.

In one second, he was sitting down in the classroom, in the next he was floating within the gate between his soul realm and hers.

Bryn was confused for a moment but as he saw the chaos behind him and the placid water world in front, he knew where he was.

“So that’s what a healthy soul looks like” Bryn joked as saw Leena’s soul peacefully floating in the distance.

“Hmm, she’s an orange soul… that may be a problem” Bryn thought as he saw the waters of the placid ocean start to churn in rage due to his presence.

A Spiralling Water spout Shot out of the Water and headed straight for the gate; its size almost half as wide as the gate itself.

“Damn, what do I do now?” Bryn worriedly wondered before looking behind him to his own raging soul realm.

“Come here” he commanded and a stream of power split from the chaotic mess and passed through the gate, it was much smaller than the water spout but as it collided it streamed through it as if it wasn’t there.

Leena’s entire soul realm vibrated in displeasure before several more water spouts jumped from the floating ocean and b-lined it for the gateway.

Seeing that the stream of power he had pulled from his own soul realm was still in perfect condition he saw no reason to call for more and sent it against the attacking water spouts.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

One Water spout after another was blown apart but from the raging water below it appeared that Leena hadn’t given up yet, but each time Bryn had blown away a water spout it had taken a toll on him and he was growing both tired and impatient.

“ENOUGH!” he commanded and the Mana stream reacted to his will, it seemed to vibrate before pulses of energy began to be emitted from both it and the gate.

Whatever touched the pulse of energy seemed to be repulsed by the power, the realm quaked worse than before but as the pulses grew sparse, so the shaking stopped and all became calm.

Leena’s Soul realm no longer rejected him; the bond had been formed.

Bryn opened his eyes and found him back in a much more chaotic room, Solomon was laughing as he leant against the desk as he watched as several students started to call out like their partners whilst others started to act like them.

Bryn would have chuckled but he was much more worried about whether Leena was okay.

Bryn could sense her laying on the table with her head down, but he could also feel that she was scared of him.

He went to stoke her but she nipped at his hand and crawled backwards.

Bryn was hurt by this and Leena felt this as well, she wanted to move to him, but she too scared to do so!

“Hmm, what’s going on here” Solomon asked after seeing the exchange.

“She’s scared of me, no, She’s scared of my mana” Bryn said as he began to understand more of what was going on.

“You’ve already established a bond? Do you mind explaining what you did exactly” Solomon asked, curious as to the unexpected but not uncommon speed.

Bryn went on to explain what had happened and Solomon seem to have a general idea as to what happened.

“It looks like we have found a benefit to your abnormal mana Attunement; it appears that its nature is very ‘Dominating’, very useful for a tamer” Solomon said as he pets Leena’s ear.

“It’s nothing to worry about, With time she will get used to your mana, it most likely won’t have the same effect on her as it does you, just show her the same love and kindness as before and she’ll go back to normal before you know it” Solomon said before moving on to one of the other struggling students that had somehow got stuck atop a bookcase whilst imitating his bond, a cat of some type.

“Did you hear that, you’ll get used to it” Bryn said as he went into pat her head but she nipped his fingers instead, Bryn didn’t pull them back this time and let Leena bite a hold until she realised that he wasn’t going to do anything.

She gently let go of his fingers before starting to lick them in penance.

“Don’t worry, it’s something that even I haven’t got used to yet” he said as he stroked her fur and pulled her in close for a hug on his chest, his thoughts on the weird power running through his veins.

The class ended with about half the students managing to form a bond whilst the others would have to wait till the next day before they could attempt to form the bond again.

Bryn was sad when he put Leena back in her cage, and he could feel that she didn’t like it and wanted to go with him as well, but he knew it was too dangerous and wasn’t willing to risk her life.

Classes were done for the day but all of the students from his class were still heading in the same direction, only as they got closer to the academy the more worried they got.

Puzzled, Bryn decided to see if they would speak to him or blow him off like most people had that day, “What’s going on?” he asked a girl that seemed a little mousey compared to the other students.

“Ah” she gasped in surprise when Bryn spoke to her, she looked from Bryn to the rest of the class as if she was contemplating whether she should speak to him or not but decided to bite the bullet.

“Erm, it’s you know, dinner time, did you not see what happened at lunch time, the older years are going to come for us again” She said before rushing off after feeling like she had explained enough.

Bryn’s Stomach rumbled in a way that reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since the train to the academy; that was over a day ago, potentially more depending on how long he was asleep for after the Altar knocked him out.

“Oh god, this is going to suck” Bryn said to himself before catching up to the group and heading towards the dinner hall together.

Strength came in numbers, right?

No, not if you were the one being ostracised by the entire world.

As soon as the small group of tamers had arrived at the lunch room they had split off in every direction they could, strange as there was only a single cue available for the food.

With a line up similar to a high school lunch room, the food was prepared in a buffet style where students could dish up their plates with whatever stroked their fancy.

The only difference between the academy and high school was it looked like the academy cared about the students well-being, From Mexican to Japanese, several different styles of food were being served and best of all, it was all free!

The academy knew that students learnt best with a nutritious diet and a full stomach,

Bryn’s mouth was practically salivating at the sight of the paella and burritos but before he could reach out some one tugged on his shoulders.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you any manners, stop holding up the cue and pick something” Alexa’s voice came from behind him as she slipped into the cue, a couple of students called her out for line jumping but the student directly behind Bryn almost kissed her for separating the two of them.

There was no doubt she knew who Bryn was and she was most definitely not a fan.

“Hey Alexa, How’s it going?” Bryn asked as he gave Alexa a look before he grabbed a few dishes before moving along and allowing Alexa to grab some herself.

She was still wearing pieces of her knights garb, only it was mixed and matched with the academies uniform, on her back was an Sword and shield.

“I’m good, classes are a lot better than I was expecting, bit disappointed we aren’t going to be going back to the altar till next week” she said as she moved behind him as the two headed for a place to sit.

“The Altar? Ah, you mean to buy some skills” Bryn asked before understanding what she was getting at.

“Yeah, I was looking forwards to putting some people down but it looks like that will have to wait for a while” She said before pointing towards Armarni who was sat at a table with a number of girls whose eyes were solely focused on the Italian stallion.

“Yo” Bryn said as he put his tray down whilst sitting next to Armarni, Alexa taking a seat to the side of the girls on the other side.

The girls gave a Bryn a once over, seeing whether Armani’s friend was worth their time, but as their smiles dropped and a look of disgust framed their lovely faces, it was apparent he wasn’t.

“Ladies, ladies, there’s no need to leave” Armarni called out as the group of girls got up at once and walked off to sit at another table.

Alexa guffawed when she said Armani’s deadpan look as he stared daggers into Bryn, “You need to work on your game if you’re going to be my wingman in the future” he said to which Bryn chuckled.

“My game is fine; the problem is that I’m playing dodge the knife whilst you’re playing hide the pickle” He joked before tucking into his food under Armani’s and Alexa’s combined laugh.

“So, Alexa, I asked Armarni What his entrance exam was like earlier, what was yours like” Bryn asked as he held out his fork to stab Armani’s hand as he tried to pick from his and Alexa’s tray.

“There’s not much to say, I’m taking leadership as I want to lead my own team one day so for the test the teacher had us lead a group of golems on a mission” Alexa said as she stabbed her fork between Armani’s fingers, frightening the boy from trying to take her food any longer.

“Mission?”

“Yeah, the teacher had us choose between attacking or defending, I chose attack so I had to lead my group to storm a building and rescue a hostage that was being held inside”

“sounds like fun” Bryn responded as he imagined storming a building like they did in old school cop dramas.

“hmm, not really, did this type of stuff all the time growing up” Alexa said before ducking beneath the table as her eyes had caught sight of something flying in from the side.

*BANG*

*SPLOOSH*

A large 2 litre bottle of milk blew up in the centre of the table, splashing both Bryn and Armani whilst Alexa was the only one in the clear as she was facing the way it was coming.

“What the hell!” Armarni shouted in outrage as he clocked on to three first years who were laughing as they sat next to the girls from before.

“What the fuck was that for?” Armarni shouted as he got up and stormed his way over to the three who were merely amused by his posturing.

The three students weren’t like the majority of the other 1st years in the room; they were a part of a certain few, the special… legacies.

The three showed signs of the bloodline or powers they had inherited from their parents.

The leader of the group and the one that had thrown the milk was far bigger and stronger than a typical human, he had a rough look to him and looked like he had a hair trigger, he had barbarian blood in him.

The second guy was similar in stature if only a bit smaller and covered in fur, he was one of the rarer Beast-kin, a person who had the humanoid form of a particular animal, in this case, a baboon.

The last and by far the smallest, but that was only in comparison to the other two, was an otherworldly girl that gave off the impression that she always got her way, she had platinum blonde hair and legs that kept on going, she looked almost entirely human except for that overwhelming beauty and pointy ears, she was an elf.

“Shut the hell up Mafioso, it’s your fault for getting yourself involved with that disgrace” The Barbarian teen said as he pointed at Bryn, who was still sat at the table with his eyes focused on his food, unmoving.

“Disgrace?” Armarni asked in confusion.

“Yeah Disgrace, him and his father are a black mark on all legacies, its people like him that make us all look bad” he said as he stood up and walked over to Bryn before pouring his drink over the top of Bryn’s head who was beginning to shake from anger.

No longer able to hold it in Bryn rose up and pushed the barbarian teen in his chest.

“you want some, then let’s GO!” he shouted in anger but before the two could start the doors to the lunch room burst open and in walked the older years.

Every first year in the room switched from amused at the show to worry, fearing that they would be the unlucky ones to be targeted by the older students and lose their stuff.

Armarni walked up behind Bryn who was still focused on the barbarian and wrapped his arm around his shoulder to hold him back, “Yo, calm down Bryn, don’t draw attention as the older years are hunting” He said and directed Bryn’s cold and hungry eyes to the group that had just entered.

The group clocked on to Bryn and started to make their way over, their target for the day located.

A Sly smile that matched the older years appeared on Bryn’s face.

“No, that is exactly what we want” Bryn said to Armarni before giving a cold grin to the Barbarian who was looking unamused as the older students drew closer.

“I challenge you to a Duel” Bryn shouted out for the entire lunch room to hear.

The barbarian was confused for a second before he too understood what Bryn’s plan was and happily accepted.

A 50/50 fight was better than a one-sided massacre dealt by the older years.

“Clear the Area” An adjudicator appeared and ordered the student in the surrounding tables to hastily move, The older years that heard this were annoyed but nonplussed, their target may have been taken from them but there was an entire room full of them still to pick a new one from.

They had soon enough found someone else to pick on.

“So, what the plan?” Armarni asked as he stood beside Bryn within the arena, ready to fight besides him.

“What are you doing Armarni, this is my fight” Bryn asked unamused.

“Excuse me, do you see the milk dripping from my hair, these bitches need to die” Armarni answered as he strung milk from his locks.

“Too right” Alexa said from the side as she geared up as well.

“erm, Hit them hard and hit them fast” Bryn responded and Alexa rolled her eyes.

“No offence Bryn but as far as plan making goes that was shit” she said with contempt as stared him down.

“Well, you’re the one taking the leadership course, what you got?” Bryn snapped back angrily as he was not in the mood to joke, only to choke.

“What Gear is everybody using” Alexa asked to which Armarni flashed her a pair of hand guns holstered inside his jacket whilst Bryn partially drew his sword whilst flashing his own holstered pistol.

“Good, Armani, you’ve got the baboon, monkey type beast-kin are usually quick so be careful, keep him at a distance if you can’t take him out and wait for one of us to come help” She said to which Armarni nodded in confirmation.

“Bryn, you’ve got tall and fugly, he’s a barbarian so your pistol won’t do shit to him but piss him off whilst that sword looks like it could take a leg with ease” Alexa said whilst admiring the gleam on the swords edge.

“No problem, I don’t plan on using either” Bryn said as his eyes locked on to the barbarian who was joking with his friends in the distance, not taking the duel seriously at all.

“Fair enough, that leaves me with the skank, she’s got elf in her so I’m guessing she’s got skill on her side, probably a typical bow and dagger user” She said as she saw the elf girl pull out a retractable bow from somewhere to confirm her suspicions.

“Can you take her?” Bryn asked with the little concern he could manage through his rage.

Alexa gave a predatory smile, “look down on me again, I dare you” She said before moving over to the arena.

The two sides lined up opposite to each other under the watchful eyes of the crowd and the occasional whimpers of the older years unlucky targets.

The student adjudicator stood in the centre of the arena which still held tables holding half-finished lunches.

“As an Adjudicator for the for the academy I do formally announce this an Official Duel, State your names”

“Bryn Lockhart”

“Armarni De Vici

“Alexa Quinn

“Roman Hale

“Luther Brogan

“Kimberley Cloud

“Begin!”

Armani drew his pistols and unloaded on Luther who took off like a bullet, dodging and weaving around the tables like no human ever could.

Kimberley drew her bow and released one arrow after another; the first of them was aimed at Bryn but as soon as Alexa blocked it with her shield the rest were trained on her, but she paid no head as she charged with her shield held high into the enemies turf, Bryn following behind.

Roman roared and ran straight at them with a pair of axes to his side. With a swish he slashed at Alexa but she rolled with her shield flat below his blow and ran off to deal with the archer in the distance, Bryn meanwhile used the opportunity to draw his pistol and unload several rounds point blank into the barbarians face.

“ARGH!” Roman roared out in pain as he stumbled back and held his face that bled from small grazes the bullets had caused.

“I’m going to fucking kill you” Roman roared before charging in, his axes swinging wildly whilst Bryn dodged and put distance between them, shooting at ‘sensitive’ parts every now and then for no other reason than to piss the barbarian off.

“Haven’t you realised yet, I’M FUCKING BULLET PROOF!” Roman shouted out as he charged again.

Bryn knew this of course, he wasn’t shooting Roman to hurt him, he was doing it so he didn’t kill him later.

Each time Bryn shot him he felt a certain glee from the barbarian’s reaction, he might have been bullet proof but it still hurt, and each time he hurt him, his intent to kill diminished.

Bryn Holstered his gun and grabbed a hold of the barbarian’s wrists as he swung down, surprising the barbarian that had never been outclassed in strength before.

“I think that’s enough playing around” Bryn said before using his arms to pull himself higher so he could head-butt Roman in his stumped face.

“you’re going to run out of bullets sooner or later” Luther called out as he hid behind a metal table he had flipped to avoid Armani’s Dual pistols”

“Unlikely” Armarni said from the other side whilst whispering into one pistol after the other.

“Max yield”

“Stun Round”

Armani’s bullets suddenly started blowing through the metal table and sent Luther into a panic, he jumped from out from where he was hidden but Armarni was ready.

A shot took Luther in his leg and sent him stumbling, his leg a floppy mess.

“Wait…I giv” Luther tried to say but Armarni unloaded several more stun rounds into him and turned him into a floppy mess atop the ground, his tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth whilst his eyes followed Armani’s every move.

Armarni knelt down next to Luther’s prone form and whispered, “Did you really think you could get out of this without a beating?” he asked whilst Luther’s eyes went wide as Armarni Italian loafers came barrelling down towards his face.

Alexa by this time had made it to the archer who had abandoned her bow in favour of two curved daggers that flowed like water as she weaved around Alexa who hid behind her shield.

Alexa’s sword swung out again and again but Kimberly was too quick and skilled to be hit, she narrowly dodges Alexa’s swipes by a hairs breath so she could counter but Alexa would immediately block with her shield.

“tch” Kimberly moaned as she failed to strike again, she looked to her friends and upon seeing their states knew that she had to end her fight quickly so she could go and help them.

Kimberly drew in close to draw Alexa into attacking with her sword, just as she had anticipated Alexa’s attack was wide and easily dodged, only this time she didn’t go in for the attack but to disarm.

At the sacrifice of one of her daggers she was able to take the sword, it was only a matter of time now until…

*BANG*

Alexa’s shield collided with her face and sent her mind to black, her remaining dagger dropped to the floor whilst she stumbled before regaining consciousness.

“There is more to fighting than just skill, you’ve got to have heart” Alexa said as she dropped her shield whilst kicking away Kimberly’s dagger.

The two girls raise their first for their bare-knuckle brawl, Alexa moved in close and ducked a straight before countering with a body blow and then a left to Kim’s cheek.

Kim stumbled to the floor but before she could react Alexa had kicked her in her ribs and sent her rolling across the floor.

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

*STOMP*

Alexa tried to repeatedly stomp on Kim but she kept on moving until she caught Alexa off guard and swiped her legs from underneath her.

Kim lunged across the floor to get on top Alexa before bringing her fist down one after the other atop Alexa’s face.

Alexa tried to block but Kim knew how to use more than just her bow to fight, but just like Alexa had said earlier, a fight is about more than just skill, it’s about heart, and as Kim saw Alexa giving her a bloody smile when she paused to take a break, she knew she had made a big mistake.

Alexa’s legs wrapped around her neck and she was pulled backwards and off Alexa’s chest, Kim rolled with the fall to get back on her legs but Alexa was already charging.

Alexa speared into Kim and didn’t stop until the other girls back smashed into the wall of the lunch room, Kim gasped as the wind was knocked out of her but she wasn’t given any time to recover.

Alexa unleashed hell on her as she repeatedly smacked Kim’s face until it was raw and bloody, Kim had tried to escape and fight back but Alexa never let up until Kim was barely standing on her feet.

Alexa drew in close whilst Kim braced for another shot, but instead of the punch she was expecting she felt Alexa grasp a hold of her shirt before drawing in close and giving her a deep kiss on her red lips.

Alexa drew backs after giving Kim a ‘Tongue Lashing’ and gave a half frenzied, half psychotic smile to the stumped girl.

“You put up a great fight” Alexa said before drawing back her fist and knocking Kim out cold in a single blow.

Alexa turned around to see Armarni, who was sat on a table, and a Bryn, who was holding up a beaten and unconscious Roman by his neck, and everybody else in the lunch room staring at her in shocked silence.

“What?” she asked as she sauntered over to pick up her gear whilst everybody looked away, uncomfortable at how aroused they had gotten.

“Winner” The adjudicator announced as they pointed to Bryn’s group and handed them what had been given to the adjudicator as a bet before the duel started.

“What did we get?” Armarni asked from where he was sat, staring curiously at the small objects that obviously were not gear in Bryn’s hand.

Bryn tossed one of the three objects to Armarni before passing the other to Alexa.

“They’re tokens, most legacies are born with mana veins so the reward [Aegis] usually gives out is meaningless to us, so instead it hands out tokens” Bryn said as he flashed the coin like token that would grant a tier 1 skill from the Altar’s shop.

“nice” Armarni Admired before joining up with the other two in leaving the lunch room, a trail of destruction and bodies in their wake.

The three chatted idly for a while, questioning and complimenting each other’s fighting style and gear before leaving towards their respective dorms.

Neither Bryn nor Armarni asked about the kiss with Kim, they did not ask Alexa whether she was into men or women.

Not because it didn’t matter, because it did, but simply because they didn’t think they could do it without a blush appearing on the face.

The door closed softly as Bryn found his room, it was sparse and empty but for a bed, table and an end-suite toilet with a cramped shower.

There was a public bathhouse attached to the building that was free for all to use if someone wanted to relax in a bath.

Bryn looked out of his small window and saw the sun still high in the sky.

Student walked along the path beneath his window, others lay about the grass with their friends whilst the majority practised one skill or another in whatever open space they could find.

Bryn wished he could go down there, be with his ‘friends’ or practice what he had learnt that day without being surrounded by four walls, but there was a nagging thought inside of his brain.

What would actually happen if he went down there?

He would be targeted

He would be attacked

He would be alone

Lying atop his bed with those thoughts to keep him company, Bryn spent the rest of the day practising his mana manipulation in his room before ending his first day at the academy and going to sleep.