by Brent Tyman
“You honor me,” Aurielle said, smiling. “And perhaps it is time I dress more appropriately.”
Oh yeah, I had totally forgotten Aurielle had been sitting there in her nightie this entire time. I watched as she stood up to her full height, her breasts bouncing wonderfully under that nightie of hers.
Uhh… wow. Just… wow. She was gorgeous.
“I can pitch in with getting that armor back on you,” Clarissa chirped. She gave me a sly wink. “Clan members have to help each other in all kinds of situations, right handsome?”
I shook my head as I watched Clarissa help Aurielle. She had piled her armor neatly on her side of the bed. I noticed that each piece, though it seemed dull when on the floor, seemed to light up ever so slightly when she strapped it on her body.
Shaking my head to pull my eyes from the sight, I opened up my Clan Management interface and tried to figure out how to assign ranks. There wasn’t a specific page for it, as far as I could tell, but there was a window that listed everyone in the Clan and displayed their rank beside them.
When I focused on the ranks themselves, a drop down appeared that allowed me to change everyone’s rank at will. It was fairly simple, once I knew how to do it.
I started with Clarissa and a prompt appeared when I changed her rank.
Changing Clarissa Vos Hoganna’s rank from Novice to Officer
Accept/Deny?
I mentally accepted, and another message appeared.
Clarissa Vos Hoganna’s is now an Officer of Clan Augere.
It was fairly neat how easy it was. I quickly changed the ranks for the other two women and accepted each prompt as it appeared.
Anaisia Fardonna is now an Old Guard of Clan Augere.
Aurielle Tres Luxsuma is now a Knight of Clan Augere.
Almost immediately, a message from Anny appeared about the promotion. I honestly didn’t really see it as that much of a big deal, but she thanked me profusely for it. Were there other benefits to this rank system that Clarissa hadn’t mentioned? Unless Anny was looking to brag about it, just like how Clarissa clearly intended to… I couldn’t see what the big deal was all about.
I looked back to see Aurielle was back in that armor of hers and she and Clarissa were carrying on a whispered conversation. The blonde was telling her something that I couldn’t make out from here. It must have been something really interesting, as Aurielle’s cheeks turned a bright pink and Clarissa just nodded in response to whatever the Chosen asked her with a big grin on her face.
“Let’s get something to eat and then head over to the Academy, handsome,” Clarissa said.
“Yeah, we should definitely meet up with Juliana,” I said. “And maybe we can do a quick Dungeon run today.”
“I am impressed that you are so quick to jump back into battle so soon after reaching safety,” Aurielle commented.
“Well, that’s just handsome’s burning ambition to be the most powerful man around, which I certainly approve of,” Clarissa said.
“We had a good flow going just before we were sent to the Beastkin town. I have yet to see those Lizardnoots on floor five. The sooner we get back to the grind, the better,” I said. “Oh,” I turned to Clarissa. “Aurielle has agreed to teach me some of her gravity magic, so I will probably start leveling one of my magical stats.”
Clarissa’s eyes widened, and she practically jumped right into me as she purred, “Magical Power handsome, I would very much love a nice big boost to it. Please...”
With the way that Clarissa clung to me and how she batted her eyelashes, it was clear she was very intent on getting even stronger heals than she could put out already.
“Hmm, I dunno, I might need some extra convincing,” I winked before we both let out a chuckle. “But yeah, lets grab a bite for the two of you and head out.”
Although, given how tasty that Tarskabeast meat was, maybe I could grab a bit more of it, myself. I was paying a heck of a lot for this room and might as well make sure I got the most value out of it, after all.
12
After the women had their fill of the tasty food at the Golden Bear, and I polished off another Tarskabeast strip or two, we headed towards the Academy. Thanks to the inn being in the High District itself, it wouldn’t take long to get there.
Clarissa spent most of the time trying to convince me to increase Magical Power over Magical Capacity, but I figured I probably needed to check with Juliana before I started my magic training with Aurielle.
In my mind, Power seemed to be the way to go at the moment, since I expected to be able to do something, even with a paltry one in Capacity. On the other hand, leveling up Magical Capacity would allow me to dish out plenty of low powered fireballs or something, if they didn’t do much damage, it probably wouldn’t be too useful.
Would I be able to defeat one of the lowly floor one Rats with a one in Magical Power? Probably not. I didn’t want to experience that searing pain I’d encountered whenever I used Dynamic Healing, either. That pain was a direct result of my Capacity being way too low.
“Are you sure that Magical Power is the way to go starting out?” I asked after Clarissa explained how amazing her heals would be with more Magical Power.
For the fifth time…
“Of course,” Clarissa assured me. “More power means better heals and I can finally use my offensive spells effectively.”
Yeah, that was the sixth time she had mentioned that bit, too.
“What do you think, Aurielle?” I asked the woman.
“I am afraid I know little of this,” Aurielle admitted. “My status as a Chosen allowed me to advance my magical power by leaps and bounds. The Seers simply told me to defeat our enemies to grow more powerful.”
At least the way to grow either Magical Power or Capacity pretty much revolved around using magic on monsters. It wasn’t anything crazy like running marathons every other day for gaining more Speed.
While I certainly appreciated Anny’s ability to zip around the battlefield at incredible speeds, using magic was firmly in my mind now, and I couldn’t wait to learn what Aurielle had promised to teach me. Her gravity magic was amazing.
I only hoped the process for learning magic wasn’t painful, like leveling up my Defense stat had been. I had gotten that really handy spell of Dynamic Healing just by opening a book, so hopefully learning how to cast gravity magic would be just as painless.
The Academy came into sight only a short moment later. I was surprised to see Juliana standing outside the gates, her arms crossed over her breasts and dressed in her red Academy garb.
She had been frowning in thought, but her eyes lit up when she noticed us approaching.
“Alex, how was your night in the inn? Any problems at all?” she asked.
“Don’t worry so much about it, Juliana,” Clarissa said, waving a hand. “Our handsome Alex stayed in the Golden Bear, of all places.”
“The Golden Bear? That’s a relief, I hear the service is excellent there.” Juliana said, and I nodded.
As great as the service there was, I wished we could have found a room at a cheaper Inn. The Windy Wolf didn’t have much in terms of luxury appointments, like the Golden Bear, but it was darn cozy, and I liked being cozy. After everything we had been through, anything was better than sleeping on the cold, hard Dungeon floor.
“Yeah, they were the only place that had a room available,” I said. “By the way, since Clarissa just mentioned it, how did your meeting with the headmaster go?”
Juliana looked sheepish all of a sudden, which Clarissa no doubt found interesting.
“Not well from that look,” Clarissa grinned. “Did that fabled Sovereignty diplomacy of yours not do the trick?”
“I explained my case in a reasonable and professional manner, as befitting my status as an heir,” Juliana said, her chin held high, before letting out a sigh and deflating. “But the headmaster simply handed me an Academy rulebook and had me read aloud the paragraph about how only students and faculty are pe
rmitted to stay on Academy grounds on a permanent basis.”
“Told you,” Clarissa chirped. “And if you plan on sneaking Alex into your room, it’s better not to tip your hand and let them know that’s what you’re trying to do. Also, did you hear that Aurielle has joined our Clan?”
You could get pretty confused from how quickly the blonde changed the topic. Evidently, Juliana had not heard about that. Though how could she? Not unless Clarissa had shouted it all over the Academy late last night.
“What? Truly?” Juliana asked, eyes wide.
Aurielle nodded. “Yes, I owe much to Alex and this arrangement allows me to pay off some of my debt to him, while also empowering me with his skill. I hope I can prove useful to you all very soon,” she said.
I was fairly sure Aurielle had already proved how useful she could be, saving us from that Malophas, but if she wanted to show off her power on more of our foes, I wouldn’t complain.
Compared to Clarissa’s reaction to this news, Juliana seemed conflicted. She grew rather pensive, all of a sudden, though I had a good idea why.
“We can talk to your father about us, if you’d like,” I said.
“Yes, I…” Juliana blew out a quick breath while tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. “I have firmly decided to join your clan, if I can get my father’s approval. The Gods only know what he will say…”
I pulled her in for a kiss and enjoyed her soft lips on mine.
“I’m sure we can convince him,” I said as I pulled back. “Did you want to go talk to him now?”
“So, Juliana wants to join the most powerful Clan, too?” Clarissa questioned with a smirk.
Juliana’s eyes went wide, and her cheeks turned beet red, as they usually did when she got flustered.
“No! I mean, yes. Uhh… Unlike you, I must have approval from my father on this. It is only right. This decision concerns not only me, but the people of the Sovereignty.”
“Right…” Clarissa drawled. “Trust me, Juliana, none of the lower Clans will care what Clan you are in, once you are in charge. Just do it already.”
“If I may interrupt,” Aurielle said, drawing our attention. “If Juliana wishes to join Alex’s Clan, could she not bring forth the argument that with his Growth skill, she would become extremely powerful and could better serve her homeland?”
Clarissa laughed.
“Haha, if my own father knew about Alex’s skill, he would probably try to join, as well. It is better we keep that little gem of a secret under wraps. Isn’t that right, handsome?”
“I mean, I’ve only told people I trust about my skill,” I admitted. “While I’m not opposed to revealing my skill to more folks, it may set us up for trouble later on down the line if it becomes public knowledge.”
“I know a handful of ambitious Clans that would jump at the chance to marry their daughters off to you,” Juliana admitted, her eyes narrowing. “Some have no shame and would only wish to ensure that their bloodline carries the skill, going forward.”
“What? Skills are genetic?” I asked.
Both women nodded.
“Royal Born is a common skill among Major Clans, handsome,” Clarissa explained. “Even some of the lesser Clans have it, carried forth from generations back when they ruled independent duchies. My healing skill comes from my mother’s side and so on. My father’s skill wasn’t as powerful as hers, so I didn’t get that at all.”
“Huh,” I said. “Does this mean that Anny’s pathfinding skill came from her parents as well?”
“No, most of the time, unless there is a major skill involved, skills are randomly determined at birth. Anny got really lucky with her skill as her parent’s skills must have been too weak to pass on,” Clarissa said.
I supposed that it made sense that strong skills could be passed on, but I hadn’t realized that the major Clans actively sought to keep skills like ‘Royal Born’ around.
Maybe it was a status thing or something.
“Yes, I don’t believe it would be wise to reveal your skill to my father,” Juliana said. “At least, not yet. I don’t want to encourage any more of his machinations and schemes if I can help it.”
Juliana pointed back to the Academy. “There is also a grand assembly that will happen this morning. I imagine you forgot all about it, Clarissa.”
“Ugh,” Clarissa groaned. “Grand Assemblies are the worst! Nothing of any importance happens in them. I won’t waste my time on this one.”
“Grand Assembly?” Aurielle questioned.
I also wanted to know what the heck that was, and made a ‘spill-the-beans’ gesture to the heirs.
“A Grand Assembly is where they gather the student body together and tell us all sorts of drivel some high and mighty city state council member feels is important that we know,” Clarissa said, rolling her eyes and waving her hand dismissively. “Let me go collect Anny and we can go do something much more exciting.”
“Well, this time the Grand Assembly is mandatory,” Juliana said, placing her hands on her hips.
“And what would the headmaster do to the heir of the Hoganna Federation if I skip?” Clarissa asked, her smirk displayed proudly on her face. “Not much, I would imagine.”
“I wouldn’t mind checking out this Grand Assembly,” I admitted. “If they won’t let me sleep here, then I might as well see all I can in the meantime.”
“In that case,” Clarissa said, quickly switching gears and hopping over to stroke my arm. “I would be happy to lead you straight there, handsome. We can even bring our lovely new Clan member, Aurielle, with us.”
“Keeping up with your theatrics is a chore sometimes, Clarissa,” Juliana complained. “But yes, I too am interested in seeing what they have to say. There have been more rumors flying around about this assembly, for some reason, than any of the others.”
Juliana led the way back into the Academy, past some guards who stood at the main gate. Before Clarissa could even open her mouth, Juliana declared both of us her guests. She waved some badge around that she produced out of nowhere and proclaimed her title as the heir of the Sovereignty.
I wasn’t sure if Juliana enjoyed throwing her titles around like Clarissa loved to do, but I couldn’t deny that it was effective.
I remembered that I still had that fancy badge I’d gotten during my first visit here and produced it when the guard asked for my name. He glanced at it for only a moment, before taking down Aurielle’s name and producing a similar badge for her.
We walked through the large courtyard, which was far more empty than it had been the last time I had been here. I guess everyone else had already gone to this Grand Assembly. Once we entered the building itself, solid gold chandeliers emitting even brighter golden light made themselves known to me.
With its ocean blue walls and golden furniture, this place was as gaudy as ever. Decadence given material form. I didn’t want to know how much the massive fountain, displayed lavishly in the entrance, had cost to install.
I’m sure it hadn’t come cheap, unless they got a deal on it somehow.
Instead of just the green uniformed students bowing whenever we passed like it had been on my previous visit, now both green and red dressed students acknowledged us.
They were all heading the same way that Juliana led us, though, which allowed me to hear snippets of their conversations.
“Hey look, that’s both the heirs walking together!”
“Who’s that guy with them, some major Clan noble?”
“Sod that, look at the woman with them, is she from the south?”
It seemed these students were into gossiping about anything and everything. I half wondered if any of them reported to Kesara on the juicier bits of gossip.
The Grand Assembly apparently took place in a grand assembly hall, appropriately enough, and the throng of students all funneled through a wide set of double doors. Everyone, naturally, made way for Juliana and Clarissa, which had the effect of even more eyes tracking us. The buzz of
whispers amongst the students increased markedly.
Jeez…
“Should I be on my guard, Alex?” Aurielle asked quietly as we stepped into the assembly hall. “There could be any number of threats among all these students.”
“Uhh,” I hesitated. “Probably not the best idea to draw your sword here. I’m sure that with all the security they have in place, it should be safe.”
“As you wish,” Aurielle said, though her eyes continued to dart all around, looking for potential threats. “I will protect you if there is a threat, on my honor.”
I smiled at her before looking forward into the grand assembly hall. It was a vast room that naturally received the same treatment the rest of the Academy did. The walls had that same ocean blue color, but with golden leaf patterns.
The chandeliers on the ceiling, while not as big as the ones at the entrance, were far more numerous here, too. There was a stage at the far end of the room, which seemed to be where the women were leading us. I couldn’t look anywhere at all without someone staring back at me, thanks to the bowing and deference given to Juliana and Clarissa, as they made their way to the front.
The place was packed, and the hum of hundreds of muted conversations between the students reverberated through the large space, due to the enormity of the assembly hall and its high ceiling.
I supposed the heirs wanted to be at the front and center of it all. I sighed and followed them; I had hoped to just blend in with the rest of the crowd. I should have realized that was never going to happen.
“There she is!” Clarissa hissed, pointing ahead of us. “That thief!”
I looked to where she was pointing to see a small crowd of blue uniformed students standing right in front of the stage itself.
“Are you positive it was her, though?” Juliana asked, frowning.
Clarissa nodded emphatically. “I’m going to give her a piece of my mind,” the blonde declared. “That Yunissan looter won’t be able to take our spoils and get away with it, not while I’m here.”
