Hugo was running through the city at full tilt. He put every ounce of his enhanced body into the sprint, trying to get there on time. He had totally forgotten about the date with Daniela and needed to get back to the academy in time.

Once the Blue Lion Academy walls were in sight, Hugo breathed a sigh of relief. The bells hadn’t rung yet, so he had time. He didn’t slow down, continuing his run straight at the walls. As he drew closer, he made a series of platforms and jumped up them. Once he was over the wall he headed straight for the girls dorm.

Luckily, it wasn’t far from where he had jumped the wall and he soon arrived at the back of the building. He stopped there and gave himself a moment to catch his breath. He didn’t want her to know he had totally forgotten, and arriving out of breath would do just that. As he waited for his body to calm down, he made a gift to bring her.

Carefully, he constructed a small rose out of titanium. He was surprised with himself, he was able to make it quickly and precisely. It turned out much better than the last time when he made a rose for Lenna. It wasn’t just that he was a more experienced fabricator now. He was able to create something much more complicated than he had before.

He walked to the front of the building as he considered this new ability. Absently, he heard the eighth bell start ringing. The mithril knives were quite complicated now that he thought about it, and he hadn’t had any trouble fabricating them. He wondered if it was somehow a result of having two domains. Perhaps he was using the instincts gained with creating barriers when he was calculating the shapes need for fabricating. Maybe he should try the reverse as well when creating barriers.

“Hugo! Over here!” Alice said from the entry to the dorms.

“Hey Alice, good to see you. I can’t talk right now though,” Hugo said.

“You have a date with Daniela, I know. She is still getting ready and sent me down here to meet you so you would know she wasn’t standing you up,” Alice said.

“That was thoughtful,” Hugo said with a smile.

They stood there in awkward silence for a bit before Hugo said, “Thanks by the way. I don’t think I would have had the courage to ask her out if you hadn’t said something at that party a while back.”

Alice laughed, “That wasn’t about Daniela.”

“It wasn’t? Then who had the crush on me?”

Alice shook her head, “I’m not supposed to say.”

“Come on, I won’t tell her you told. I have to know,” Hugo said.

She hesitated for a moment before she said, “Alright, you can’t tell her I told you so. It was Elise.”

“Elise? She told me she hated me the first time she met me. And she said I was stupid the second time,” Hugo said, confused.

Alice shrugged, “She likes you more now that she got to know you. You were nice to that drunk guy, always kind to others around you, and you saved her life on the wall. She really likes you now.”

“Huh,” Hugo said.

“What are you going to do now?” Alice said, glancing back to see if anyone was around.

“I am going to go on a date with Daniela. She has been nice to me since day one. Elise had a few chances, and she wasn’t even nice to me after I saved her life. I don't want to date someone that has that much trouble expressing their feelings. A relationship with Elise would just be an exercise in frustration,” Hugo said.

Alice seemed surprised at his response and didn’t say anything back. Daniela arrived then, looking stunning. Hugo told her as much and handed her the titanium flower.

“Is this really for me?” Daniela said, “I love it. That is so thoughtful.” She reached out and touched his shoulder.

Smiling, Hugo said, “I am glad you like it. You look beautiful, I tried to get you something that matched.” Although he hadn’t planned the rose ahead of time, he was being honest when he said she was beautiful. She had styled her long brown hair and she was wearing a white blouse that showed off her curves. Hugo also found her dimples and short stature absolutely adorable. He might have forgotten the date, but now that he was here he was so excited.

“You are so sweet. Where are we going?” Daniela said and slipped her arm into his.

They started walking down the path as Hugo frantically thought. He could just tell her he wanted to go on a walk around the campus, but that would show a remarkable lack of foresight. He had asked her on this date, he should have a good idea of what they were doing.

A dozen ideas came to mind, all of them terrible. There just weren't a lot of good options for dates on campus. In the end, he went with the least terrible one. He tucked her arm closer to his and said, “We are going to the lecture hall.”

This time of year there was a concert there most nights. The acapella, domain bands, symphony, and phantasmagoria groups took turns in the lecture hall. Daniela and Hugo chatted about their barrier domain classes, but Hugo was distracted. He didn’t actually know that there was a concert there that night. He guessed that his chances were fifty/fifty.

He almost slumped with relief as he saw a dozen students walk into the lecture hall ahead of him. There was something going on tonight. As he walked closer, he saw a handmade sign posted up outside. It said Phantasmagoria Tonight: 9 and 1/2 Bell. Hugo smiled. He liked the light show they put on, and he had been meaning to attend more of their concerts.

“Phantasmagoria? I don’t think I know that one,” Daniela said.

“Really? I think you will like it. It’s a magic show, but it isn’t as stuffy as the domain bands,” Hugo said, “They try to make things fun, instead of just showing off how well they can control their mana.”

They walked into the lecture hall. It was getting full and they had to take a seat towards the back. Hugo knew that they had about twenty minutes before the show started, so this much crowd meant that he had picked a popular night. He had lucked out.

“So, tell me about yourself. Where are you from, what is your family like, all that,” Daniela said.

Every time he started to relax tonight, a new stress would pop up. His lies about his background hadn’t been important before, but now they were. Whatever he said now would have to be his story. If he wanted to give this relationship a chance, he had to tell her one story and stick to it. Whatever lies he told now, he would have to memorize and make sure he always repeated the same ones. Unless he wanted to tell her the truth?

“Sorry, spaced out there for a bit. It's kind of an uncomfortable topic,” Hugo said. When he saw her reaction, he rushed to reassure her, “But a totally normal question, so I will answer. I grew up poor. My dad has been dead for a few years. My mom raised me, but she didn’t do a good job. I took care of her more than she did me. I tell people that I am an orphan, but really I just cut ties with her.”

“Oof. I didn’t think I would stumble upon a rotten fish with my first question,” Daniela said and brushed her hair back.

“Sorry about that,” Hugo said with a shrug, “What about you? Do you like talking about your family?”

“Yes. Or at least it’s not uncomfortable. Kind of boring really. My family lives in Ettel. My dad has a job at the docks there. Do you know what a shipping magnate is?”

“Yeah, someone who runs a import or export company right? That is kind of a big deal, right?”

“A big deal is a bit of a stretch. He doesn’t really own anything, no ships or property. He just organizes most of the traffic through the port in Ettel. He stays in his office all day, its super boring. I have three siblings, two brothers and a sister. I am the oldest, but I bet they will all end up going to Blue Lion eventually.”

She was acting like her dad’s job wasn’t important, but he knew that her family must be richer than most nobles. A shipping magnate controlled commerce all over, not just within the eight cities of the wheel. He could probably afford to send his daughter anywhere he wanted, Hugo wondered why she had ended up here.

“How come your dad send you all the way over here? I thought I heard that there were two magic schools in Ettel,” he asked.

She shrugged and said, “There are. The one by our house is crap, and the other one is actually pretty good. But Ettel is a riese town, you know? It’s tough to get a proper education as a human there.”

“Really, why is that? I haven’t heard that riese are speciest against humans. I thought that was the domain of the nox,” Hugo said. He glanced forward to see that the show was about to start.

“No, that’s not it. They just don’t prioritize the same things. It’s a culture thing. Riese hate anything that would take them away from their connection with nature. There is a reason that a human is in charge of shipping in a predominantly riese town. They don’t care about that stuff too much. Dad wanted to send me to a school that would teach me everything, not just skills related to fishing and horticulture.”

“Ok, I get it. Its not about the quality of the education, its the content.”

“Exactly. Plus, they have this weird prophecy thing going on right now. The schools stopped offering four year degrees. Just a weird one year thing,” she added nonchalantly.

“What prophecy?” Hugo definitely wanted to hear more about that, but the concert started just then and cut off her reply.

Phantasmagoria was a light show using the magics from runic, alchemy, formation and barrier domains. Three men walked onto the stage wearing blue barrier armor head to toe. They juggled some potions and then threw them so they shattered into nearby drums. The drums started making rhythmic beats on their own, the potion creating splashes of color with each beat.

The three men walked to the back of the stage where long white tubes were set up, and started hitting them. They produced a counter beat, making music, starting with an azad fight song. The crowd cheered as soon as they recognized it.

As they played in the background, a cloud of blue dust dropped from the rafters and started swirling in the center of the stage. After a few moments, runes on the floor of the stage lit up and shot lines of light up through the blue. The light moved around for a bit before settling into a pattern. They were painting with light. The image resolved into a shield with a lion on it. It was the school crest, and the crowd cheered again.

The rest of the show was just as exciting and fun. There were more light paintings, a comedy bit, and great music. Hugo had a hard time paying attention to it all though, he kept glancing back at Daniela. He really wanted to know more about that prophecy. Did they know something about what was coming?

The concert ended after a half hour of fun. The crowd yelled for more, but they understood that they weren’t going to get it. After all, this was put on by students, they were lucky to have any free entertainment at all.

Hugo had planned on taking her back to the girls dorm after this, but now he wanted to know more about the prophecy. So instead, he suggested a walk around the perimeter of the school. They talked as they walked, not a single awkward pause. Which was great for the date, bad for getting information. So eventually he just blurted it out.

“You mentioned prophecies in Ettel earlier. I am always interested in magic that can see the future,” he said.

She shook her head, “They can’t really see the future. Their magic is wrong sometimes, so it must just be a guess about the future. Dad says that is why he is better at managing risk. He says that riese rely on magic too much.”

Hugo nodded along. It was interesting to know that the prophecy magic was fallible. In this case, he kind of knew that they were right. “What is the prophecy about? End of the world stuff or?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s actually kind of hopeful. The prophecy says that they are going to shake off the yoke of nox oppression, right after the heartbeat. The whole town is gearing up for it. Riese in other towns are in on it too. My dad says that means the nox already know about it too, and they aren’t going to let any prophecy oust them from power.”

Hugo held back a frustrated groan. Things just got more complicated.