“What did the TV show you?” she asked.
“Nothing that will ever come to pass.”
***
Lee skipped the rest of Meta-Magic class, opting to loiter around the dining hall instead. Toma and Eliza found him at the start of lunch, his two friends arriving with trays full of food and faces full of concern.
“Hey slugger,” said Toma. “Don’t worry. Everybody strikes out, once in a while.”
“Thanks, Dad,” said Lee, with a generous eye roll. “Aren’t most batting averages below fifty-fifty? Kind of ruins your analogy.”
“For the two of us?” Toma shrugged. “Not so much, in my humble opinion. Anyway, the Midterm Trial is going to be cracked. We might as well head out to the Frostfire Tavern and get drunk tonight and put it completely off our minds.”
“Toma, shut up,” said Eliza. “Lee, that’s obviously a horrible idea. I was taking notes about the test while you were in the spatial vortex, just like Mattis wanted us to. What we need to do is study, train, and figure out the perfect solution to each of the obstacles. I’ve already brainstormed a few dozen books we can find in the library that might be helpful…”
“You’re going to make him overthink it,” said Toma.
“It’s a test!” snapped Eliza. “You’re supposed to overthink it.”
“Maybe you are, but I get by well enough with my intuition,” said Toma.
Lee chuckled, and Eliza just shook her head.
“That’s mean,” said Toma. “The two of you are supposed to be my friends.”
“I am your friend, Toma,” said Lee. “I’d no sooner let you go around thinking that your intuition is strong enough to power through the Midterm Trial than I would let you drive drunk.”
“Can we be serious?” asked Eliza. “Look, Lee, I have plenty of ideas about how we can approach the Trial. Even if Toma wants to goof off, um, the two of us could always… have our own study sessions. Like we used to?”
One of her hands was toying with her auburn locks in a manner that Lee wasn’t sure she was completely aware of. He smiled and nodded, but his thoughts weren’t on getting drunk, or studying, or even the mechanics of the test.
“Do either of you know anyone who has undergone the Cropping?” he asked.
The immediate response of both of his friends was cold silence. Lee got the sense, based on the limited amount of time he’d spent at Primhaven, that the Cropping made for a poor topic of conversation. It was like bringing up the topic of death in a nursing home, focusing on an unfortunate, potentially unavoidable outcome with the finality of a one-way door.
“I do,” said Eliza. “One of my dad’s old friends had to undergo it after she failed out of Stonepath Academy.”
“What happened to her?” asked Lee.
Eliza shrugged. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know how to describe it. When you hear the instructors talk about the Cropping, at least for me, it’s always easy to assume that some small knowledge about the supernatural must still be left. That isn’t really the case, though.
“I think she and my dad were like, well, you know. This is before he met my mom. According to my dad, he had to reintroduce himself to her. It was like they were starting over as people, but he still had all of these memories of their time together, along with this new sadness over knowing how much she’d lost.
“She was like an aunt to me, even though we had to be careful to not mention magic around her. I remember how tragic it was. I cried more than once while talking to her. It was just so unfair, so cruel. She didn’t even know what she was missing, like one of those poor people born deaf and blind. Except she wasn’t born like that.”
Neither Lee nor Toma said anything in the wake of Eliza’s answer. An unwanted, growing sense of unease took root in the depths of Lee’s gut. Part of him was sure that he was going to fail the Midterm Trial.
No amount of preparation was going to turn him into a real mage, no amount of casting through Tess’s spirit essence, and no amount of studying the mechanics of each obstacle with Eliza. He took a few quick, unsatisfying breaths and tried to force the thought away.
“It seems so cruel,” he said. “Why is it even necessary?”
“The same reason why governments in the mundane world regulate firearms,” said Eliza. “There is just so much a mage outside of the Order’s purview could potentially do to hurt people, even one without much power. It’s a risk they can’t afford to take.”
Silence again. This time a mousey-looking girl with thick glasses, brown hair, and a wide smile was the one to break it, taking the seat next to Toma as she joined the group. She was Jenna, Toma’s girlfriend. Lee had played a small hand in sparking their relationship by convincing her to ask him to the Equinox Ball to distract his friend from his investigation into Nurse Susie, but since then, their flirtation had evolved into a genuine relationship.
“Have you heard yet?” asked Jenna in a bubbly voice.
Toma gave her a quick, sickly-sweet series of kisses. “Heard what?”
“There’s a new instructor here to teach the elemental classes until Instructor Harper returns,” said Jenna. “I just saw him walking across campus. He’s really mysterious and handsome!”
Toma frowned.
Jenna shot him an apologetic look. “What? It’s true. I don’t mean anything by it, it’s just… Oh! There he is now!”
She tried to be surreptitious as she gestured across the dining hall, toward the far entrance near the instructor’s table. Only Instructor Daniels and Instructor Eileen were currently present, but they both turned and smiled at the newcomer as he strode into the chamber.
He was tall and thin, with dark brown hair and almond-shaped eyes. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms, which were covered from bicep to wrist by intricate tattoos with impressive linework.
His face had a pensive, guarded quality, and he moved with slow confidence. Instructor Eileen greeted him and waved to a chair. The new teacher reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with a small flame spell from his fingertip in complete indifference to Primhaven’s policy on smoking indoors.
“He does look kind of mysterious,” muttered Lee. “What do you think, Toma?”
Toma looked like he was about to cry. “I… think that’s my brother.”
“You think it’s him?”
“It’s him. Keitaro Fujino. Kei for short.”
Lee shook his head. “You don’t sound happy about that.”
Toma didn’t say anything else. Kei continued standing near the instructor’s table and smoking a cigarette, taking a slow survey of the dining hall as he did. His eyes passed right over his brother’s table but lingered on the space beside it, right where Tess was standing. She let out a small squeal and hurried over to Lee, hiding behind him and his chair.
“So… he can see me,” she whispered. “Or at least he knows I’m here.”
Lee furrowed his brow at that. He wished he and Tess were alone so he could talk through the situation with her.
“Well, I guess I should go say hi to him,” grumbled Toma.
“I’ll go too!” said Jenna. “I mean, I should meet your brother, shouldn’t I?”
Toma looked even more uncomfortable at her suggestion, but he shrugged as they both stood up. Kei was already on his way out of the dining hall—and he almost seemed to be actively avoiding his younger brother—as Toma and Jenna set off after him.
“Lee,” said Eliza. “Is something wrong?”
“What?” He shook his head, only then realizing that Toma and Jenna’s departure had left the two of them alone, aside from Tess. “No, sorry. I just have a lot to think about.”
“You never answered my earlier question. About… whether you wanted to study together. With me.”
“Of course I do,” said Lee. “That would be really helpful.”
Eliza didn’t seem sated by his answer. She shifted forward, sliding her food tray out of the way and
setting her elbows on the table.
“Are you seeing anybody right now?” she whispered. “I just… you know, because of what Toma said about you disappearing at night. I just thought… it’s ridiculous, and probably none of my business, but, um… well, you know.”
It was an easy question to answer, and it was an impossible question to answer. He couldn’t say yes, not without opening himself up to a barrage of follow-up questions and potentially hurting her feelings. He also couldn’t say no, not with Tess standing next to him. Not with the way he felt for her.
“Just say no,” whispered Tess. “I’m not going to start crying, Lee. Technically it’s the truth. She asked if you were seeing somebody. I’ve got no physical body to speak of, so our dalliances don’t count.”
“You have the sense of humor of a ten-year-old,” muttered Lee.
“What?” asked Eliza.
“I said…” Lee scowled, feeling annoyed at the situation. “I said no, Eliza. I’m not seeing anybody right now.”
He pulled Tess into his mystic stream as he spoke the words, and the contradiction of feeling her soft hand close inside his made him feel like a liar, despite her rhetorical justification. Eliza brightened.
“So do you want, um, my help?” she asked. “Not that I wouldn’t have offered if you were seeing somebody, it’s just, I mean, I was… uh…”
“I do, I really do,” said Lee. “But I’ve also been busy at night, and might continue to be. It’s complicated. Just bear with me, okay?”
He squeezed Eliza’s shoulder and picked up his plate, using the excuse of clearing his section of a table as an exit strategy.
CHAPTER 8
Lee’s afternoon brought him to Instructor Escher’s private office, a small alchemy lab in the Seruna Center where he assisted her with her monster girl research. The work paid well, both in money and in essence, and he’d negotiated an extra perk that he was excited to see come to fruition.
“This is our third session since our deal,” said Lee.
“Yes, yes, I’m well aware,” said Escher. “I’ll begin work on your summoning scroll as soon as we’re finished today.”
Escher was a petite woman, round-faced with horn rimmed glasses and a neat bun that combined to give her the air of a peevish, though not unattractive, librarian. She was a powerful mage in her own right, though with an odd fascination on feminine supernatural entities.
“Have you decided which one you’ll be summoning today?” he asked.
Escher straightened her glasses. “I’m in need of powdered yak-girl horn for a potion I’ve been considering. You’ll be engaging with Naka. I’ll need you to subdue her so I can take a quick sample.”
“A sample of her horn?” Lee frowned. “Will this be painful for her?”
“Just a small sample!” said Escher. “It will be fine, I promise. She won’t feel a thing, though I will need your help to convince her of the request. She can be rather hotheaded.”
“Alright, let me get ready.”
Lee took his shirt, shoes, and jeans off, folding his clothing to place next to his shoes in the corner of the room. He still felt a little ridiculous at the start of each of his sessions with Instructor Escher. Part of his own preparation ritual involved double and triple-checking that the door to her office was locked. The last thing he needed was for a student to run into the room unannounced to witness the scene. He’d never live down the rumors that would follow in his wake.
“May we begin?” asked Escher.
“Go for it.”
Lee stood his ground as Escher immediately cast the conjuration spell necessary to temporarily bring a marked entity through a summoning portal. A glowing purple circle of light and energy expanded to fill the air in front of him. A second or two passed by before this week’s monster girl made her way through.
Naka was shorter than Lee, though not by much, and so lean and muscular that he had zero doubt that she still outweighed him. Paradoxically, she had one of the cutest faces Lee had ever seen, with big expressive eyes adorned with long eyelashes and a girlish mouth.
Her body was humanoid in form, but with powerful legs with unusually thick thighs and a thin coating of tan fur. Her breasts were small and muscular, no surprise there, and her nipples were pale white and slightly engorged.
She also had horns, though the way they protruded from her head made Lee think almost of a Viking’s helmet. He reconsidered the analogy as he saw Naka’s eyes narrow into a disdainful glare. She reminded him more of a proud Native American chieftain, clad in furs and a headdress, strong and intolerant of nonsense.
“Well, go ahead,” said Escher. “She may seem intimidating, but I’m sure the two of you will get along.”
Naka was one of the few monster girls Escher had summoned that seemed, at least to Lee, to be genuinely dangerous. Widow, the spider girl, had unnerved him in a similar way. He took a slow step forward, holding her gaze while simultaneously expecting the directness of his eye contact to enrage her.
“Where is your strength?” shouted Naka in a deep voice. “Where is your power?”
She rushed forward, flinging her arms around Lee to pull him into a wrestling clinch. She was just as strong as she looked, and trying to shift against her was like straining his muscles against iron. The positioning brought him into dangerous proximity with her horns, which both ended in razor-sharp points.
“Subdue her, Initiate Amaranth,” said Escher.
“Easier, oof, said than done!”
Lee shot a quick glance at Tess, who’d been watching the affair with the aloofness of a pedestrian observing a busker. He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly. She rolled her eyes back at him, but after a couple of seconds she smiled and moved into position behind the yak girl.
Tess didn’t possess her. Doing so without a more pressing threat to Lee’s life would have gone against the strict and somewhat arbitrary moral code she followed as a ghost. Instead, she began tickling Naka, finding sensitive places to tease with her ethereal fingers.
Naka squirmed, her attention torn between the mysterious sensations and handling her opponent. Lee took full advantage of the distraction and slid closer in, mostly to put himself out of the effective range of her terrifying horns. He wrapped his arms and legs around her midriff and hung onto her body, contributing his full weight toward toppling them both over.
Naka remained standing for a surprising amount of time with Lee hanging off her. It wasn’t until Tess tickled the crease behind one of her knees that she kicked her leg out and accidentally threw herself off balance. Lee and Naka fell to the floor of Escher’s office in a tangled heap, both immediately vying to be the one on top.
“Oh, what’s this?” asked Lee, taking hold of one of Naka’s breasts.
“As though one such as I would ever allow—” Naka cut off abruptly as Lee’s fingers found her nipple. “Ah! This—”
She tried to twist away from him. Lee wrapped his arms around her from behind, feeling the conflict in her movements as her upper half rebelled, while her butt pushed into his crotch like a cat seeking pets. Naka twisted again. Lee moved with her, already starting to grind his hips with suggestive motions as he began to grow aroused.
“What are you doing?” shouted Naka.
“You asked me where my power was,” said Lee. “Would you like me to show you?”
“Pathetic! Go ahead and try. If you can.”
Naka grunted as Lee firmly gripped one of her thighs and pulled it open. The conflict inside her was real. He could feel it in the way her hips responded to him. He could see it in the way her brusque sneer would drop for an instant as she bit her lip in suspense, or closed her eyes in anticipation.
“You—have no power!” groaned Naka.
“Would you like to make a bet?”
Lee pulled his boxers down and let his hard cock slide against the thin fur of her muscular abdomen.
“I—would win!” shouted Naka.
Lee was on top, right where he wante
d to be. Naka’s wrestling bucked her hips and she ran her hands along the outer sides of his arms, momentarily distracted from wrestling by their exchange.
“Against me? I don’t think so.”
“I…” Naka gasped, and her eyes went wide. Lee let the tip of his cock press in between her thighs, tapping at the door. He grinned and brought his face in closer to hers as he began to penetrate her, gloating a little at his victory.
Naka let out a snarl and flipped to the side, flinging him off her with surprising strength. Lee kept hold of one of her shoulders, pulling her with him. They began wrestling again with a third horn added to the mix. Lee had bragged about the power of his manhood, and it seemed surprisingly close to the truth. Each time his hard cock made contact with anywhere on Naka’s body, the effect was even more pronounced than Tess’s tickling.
“Only a strong man could handle one such as I!” shouted Naka. “You’re weak. You’re puny. You—oh… Ah!”
Lee had taken hold of her from behind, with Naka in front of him on all fours. She was trying to twist around to take control back, but he thrust forward. He missed the first time, but the angle was perfect on his next attempt.
She was tight, but also aroused to the point of smooth, gliding entry. The will went out of Naka immediately as Lee began to thrust. And oh, did he thrust.
“Power, Naka, is all about how you use it.”
“Oh!”
“You have to know where to strike,” said Lee. “And when you strike, you have to be ruthless.”
He took a firm hold of her body, pushing her upper half down against the floor while he pumped into her. Naka responded with eager, willing hip movements, her fingers splayed against the tile as though trying to dig them into a mattress for comfort.
Lee reached forward and gripped one of her horns, enjoying the way it gave him even more leverage to thrust into her tight body. He blinked in surprise when Escher appeared in the corner of his vision with a file and an envelope of paper and began quietly shaving off the tip of the horn, ignoring the decadent act on display.
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