“I feel like all the other students just see me as an object, especially the Fighters… present company excluded,” the Healer looked over at Linhart with an apologetic smile. “It’s like I’m a healing machine to them. Some senior Fighters I deal with nearly every day, and they don’t even know my name!”
The students were all sitting in a circle facing each other now. The Magister was standing just outside the group, encouraging the students in their sharing. Murmurs of support rose up from the other students. A chorus of “Same here.” was heard from the other Healers.
“My name is not ‘Healer Boy’...” the boy sitting next to Linhart continued with heat in his voice.
“Okay, thank you Healer Elias for sharing,” interjected Magister Vale smoothly, “Rest assured, everyone here knows your name… Now, how about we hear from our senior mage… one of only four male senior mages in the Academy… Mage Haldin.”
“Hmm?...” The senior mage’s thoughts seemed to have been wandering, but the mention of his name brought him back to the group. “...You want to know why so few mages are graduating from the Academy?”
“No, no, Senior Haldin,” the Magister correctly him, “We are asking what you find difficult about being a male at the Academy, personally. It might give us a bit of insight into why attrition is so high among male mages.”
“Well, if you must know… It’s the suspicion. Every course I have attended for the past two years, I have been surrounded by females, and they all look at me with suspicion in their eyes. As a Mage, I don’t require as much physical contact as you Healers, and I don’t use a support partner, such as you Binders, but still… I require respect.”
“Hmm…” the Magister paused dramatically before asking, “Do the female mages suspect you of anything specifically?”
Haldin snorted. “Of course, they all think that I’m in league with the wizards, or that I’m spying for them… or something.”
“...and have you done anything to cause them to be suspicious of you?”
“Not. A. Thing. The only thing I’m guilty of is being a boy who studies Magic.”
The words hung heavy in the air. The circle of boys shifted nervously, with a few words of support given, but not nearly as many as Elias received.
“Thank you for sharing that Senior Haldin, And what of our freshmen mages…” Vale turned to the handful of fresh-faced boys in robes. “Did you encounter similar challenges when you enrolled in the Mage class?”
“My sister and mother were against me becoming a Mage,” one small boy said, “They said I’d end up on the wrong side of the war.”
“Even when we were registering at the Last Meal,” another added, “The commander talked to me like I was a criminal. She didn’t ask the females nearly as much about their background.”
Linhart was trying to follow the student testimonies, but his eyes kept drifting back to the two mages that weren’t speaking at all.
They were conveniently sitting right next to each other.
The mage who had suffered from a fright earlier was now twitching his head back and forth, his eyes wide-open like a hunted animal. Linhart knew by the signs that he was still enduring the frightful apparitions, but he was bearing his fear silently within now.
The boy's arm was holding his long robe protectively around his body, and his other hand... it was clasped onto the arm of Vivian so tightly that his knuckles were white. It must've been painful for her, but she sat with a nonchalant air, ignoring him entirely. No one seemed to mind their closeness, as it was clear that he was the one hanging onto her. She was leaning forward with her legs spread wide and both her hands crammed between her creamy thighs. It looked a bit like she was touching herself.
Linhart had been watching her discreetly the entire lesson. He suspected the girl was using her wicked ability to draw the boy closer to her. That was new! And after watching her for some time, Linhart realized that her personality was somewhat changed too. She was just as thin and pale as before, but now, thanks to her low-cut top and exposed legs, she was looking rather sexy.
Linhart felt conflicted, gazing at her well-formed tits that were pushing out from the bodice of her silvery silk robe. Even her voice was a turn-on, sounding much bolder and more confident than before. Now, speaking in front of a group of males, she wasn’t timid to lisp loudly and she spoke with a high-class nuance to her words.
“S-speaking as-s a female mage,” she said, smiling as the boy mage huddled closely against her side, “I was-s taught that the Wizards-s are all male and that they all s-started as-s Mages-s before the Rebellion. Even the recent defectors-s were all male Mages, s-so s-speaking logically…” she bared her sharpened teeth as she looked across the circle, “S-s-s-senior Haldin is the mos-st likely person in the room to defect.”
Haldin leapt to his feet, shouting, “I am not a wizard follower, you stupid hag!”
Vivian’s face clouded with anger, but Magister Vale jumped in before the situation escalated any further. “Junior Vivian, while we welcome your feminine opinions, you must not accuse your fellow students here of any crimes. This is a safe space and Haldin has a right to not feel judged here. Do you understand?”
In response, Vivian bared her teeth. The boy next to her twitched and whimpered. The tears started to roll down his cheeks once again.
The course ended soon after, with the tense atmosphere dissipating as they filed out through the main archway. The rushing sound of the Silver River pulled all of Linhart’s fear away with it. This was going to be better than his original freshman year. And if it wasn’t he would simply take the FEARLESS skill once again.
* * * * * * * * *
It was ten minutes away from 11 bells.
Linhart was excited to get to the next course he had to attend. He was hurrying along a tree-lined trail towards the center of the valley and the old stone bridge. There he would meet all the Freshman Fighters once again, this time for their first Mentor Hour.
The Mentor Hour was a requirement for all first year Fighters. It was their chance to learn first-hand about operations within the Eryndor Army, and to impress the young military officers who volunteered their time to educate the newest recruits to the Fighter class.
It was a great way to open doors for his future career, though Linhart wasn’t sure if he would ever make it to graduation. He was mainly excited to see the more caring, young military officers up close. Unlike the soldiers who volunteered to train the senior courses, these ones could be trusted.
All the Healers had headed in the opposite direction towards Healer’s Hall and the Mages towards the Spire. So, he was left by himself thinking about the freshmen he most wanted to meet up with when he got there. There were so many pretty girls among the first year Fighters, and they were the best candidates to bind as well, since Freshmen were the only students who didn’t have ID bracers yet. Peeking in the basket given to him by Octavia, he counted three bracers remaining. Which three freshmen did he want to add to his harem?
Zoey was his number one candidate, of course… but he had learned not to tangle with her and not include Chloe. Should he bond Chloe the wildcat, as well?
There were also the girls that cheered him on in his fights, but none of them stood out enough for Linhart to go out of his way for them. If only he could form a mutual bond with juniors like Poppy, or seniors, like Ami or Maeve. Maybe the devices Celes was offering will be of help there?
As his plan developed, he was running with long strides, quickly covering ground, and before long the old stone bridge came into view. It was the bridge that crossed the Silver River, joining the Lower with the Upper District. At its foot, in a small square surrounded by a cluster of Army-owned buildings, he would be assigned his Mentor who would be responsible for guiding him through the whole of his freshman year. He wished more than ever that Drystan was there at this important moment. Perhaps he and Serapha would be assigned to the same Mentor group!
The crowd of Fighters had already swelled to several hundred by the time he joined them. He could feel the presence of Giselle and Serapha somewhere nearby, but there was no way of saying exactly where. All the girls were gathered around a central dais that had been temporarily erected in the center of the small square. Green banners bearing the Phoenix of Eryndor Army hung from high above and a squad of tall, well-muscled women.
The girls were all clamoring and pushing to get closer to the podium, where the female officers were watching with impassive faces. The soldiers were undeniably beautiful with a dangerous allure, but Linhart could see there’d be trouble if he tried to join the crowd of females that were circling around them. He could see several fights breaking out as girls pushed to the front, with some of them exchanging slaps or worse.
Walking around the perimeter of the square, he found a penned-in area where all the male freshmen were huddled like sheep. Several soldiers were guarding them, and he found himself being herded in to stand with the likes of Raxar, Cole, and Drussus. It seemed he was destined to run into these boys in every time line, so he immediately introduced himself to them.
“Linhart?” Raxar asked with interest, “Aren’t you the boy that went missing from the dorm last night?”
“Oh no,” Linhart moaned, slapping his head with his palm, “I forgot to check in on my first night again! Tell me, did the guards on duty get punished?”
“Yep,” Cole laughed nervously, “The Dorm Master accused them of kidnapping one of ‘the new boys.’ It’s so creepy the way they talk about us, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, well we’ll show them that we’re Fighters, right boys?” Raxar asked with a cheer. “Maybe we should make a pact to support each other through training?”
“A ‘first day of school’ pact!” Drussus said excitedly.
“A friends for life pact.” added Cole.
“Okay…” Linhart agreed. He was reluctant to drag these guys into his grand plan, but maybe they would prove useful to him. “Let’s swear an oath… Freshmen Boys Unite!”
“Freshmen Boys Unite!” the three others chant in unison. It felt more binding than it should, no one here had cast an oath spell, had they? Either way, the group were smiling like little girls and hugging each other. It turned into an emotional moment.
“I wish Drystan was here to share in this moment…” Linhart said wistfully.
“Drystan? Is he that tall Freshman that I ran into at the dorm?” Raxar asked, “Why isn’t he here?”
Their conversation cut off as the bell in Healer’s Hall began to ring in the distance. The group of officers on the podium assembled, ready to start. By the time the eleventh bell sounded, the crowd of Fighters had quieted and the tallest soldier on the podium stepped forward to address the group.
Linhart was shocked to see that he recognized her.
“Yes, Drystan is a fellow Freshman that I’ve known since I was young…” he whispered hoarsely, “He’s supposed to be here.”
Pointing to the tall, imposing soldier, he added, “And that gorgeous woman is his big sister, Venus.”
