On the way to Axel’s favourite hangout spot, Oliver lost his nerve at the thought of being late and decided to break off from our group and meet the others in the academy. This left just me, Lily, Meztili, Axel, and Fleur.
“He may have a point.”
Fleur commented as Oliver left.
“Should we not do as we were instructed?”
“Nah, Kuhn knows where we’re going. He can find us if he really needs to.”
As if to prove his point, Axel suddenly lunged into the air and grabbed something I couldn’t see.
“Check it out, these are his little tracking drones.”
He held out his hand, and only now could I see what he was referring to.
A reflective chrome, oval-shaped machine with a shining blue spot at the front. I took it from Axel and curiously inspected it. Such a device certainly did not look like it belonged in this day and age.
“Tracking drones? What are they made of?”
I asked while gently twisting and tugging at its parts to try and open it up.
“Chamite, mana, and—”
“A spirit.”
Fleur finished Axel’s sentence.
“Yeah. Kuhn’s something of a genius as an artificer, I have no idea how he puts it all together.”
“Chamite? Like our class name? That’s not just a made-up word?”
Lily laughed and explained to me.
“No, no, no, Chamite is a type of adaptive substance. Depending on the smelting process and what kind of magical energy you feed into it, it can serve almost any purpose.”
The gears clicked in my head as I realised why Professor Kuhn had named our class the way he did.
As Fleur had suggested, I could indeed sense the presence of a spirit inside the device. I feared at first it was entrapped against its will, but it seemed to be happy to be in there. I wish I could speak to them rather than just feel their emotions, but I would have to settle for knowing it was fine.
The ‘drone’ hovered above my hand and faced me. A small blue screen filled with white text was projected from the shining blue spot.
[Good work finding this drone. I will allow you to enjoy your evening, keep this device with you, and it will relay your results for me.]
“See? These things have been following us the whole time.”
Axel read the screen over my shoulder and chuckled.
The whole time? I hope not…
I was concerned I might have been seen going into Arach’s lair, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t lie my way out of if I were asked about it.
With our new shiny follower hovering behind us, we reached our destination.
“Here it is. The Burning Sprite. Best tavern in town!”
Axel proudly presented the tavern before us. The exterior was nothing special in my eyes. It was a regular brick-and-mortar building with a big wooden sign depicting a mischievous smiling fairy with flaming wings.
“They’ve got food, beds, baths, and women. Everything a man needs in life, really.”
He pushed open the red wooden door and led us inside. The female members of our party looked somewhat skeptical at his comments, but none seemed too bothered by it.
The interior was much better than the exterior would suggest. It was not a place of lavish extravagance, but rather presented a homely warmth.
The dining area featured various wooden tables accommodating different-sized groups, a central bar area, and a lounge with comfortable, soft chairs and a fireplace. A quick look around revealed mostly middle-class commoners, judging by their humble yet clean appearance.
All in all, it seemed like a relaxing place open to anybody. I could see the appeal immediately.
A woman with long red hair approached our group with a bright smile. She had piercing orange eyes, and I could faintly see the colours in her hair shifting and sparkling like living fire. For it to manifest so clearly like this, she must have considerable talent in magic.
“Axel, always a pleasure.”
She smiled at him with the sly eyes of a merchant who could smell profit.
“You brought some friends from school with you?”
She looked us over and tilted her head.
“Hm? Or perhaps these are mercenary friends? They look rather roughed up. As do you, my friend, why don’t you make use of our facilities and clean yourselves up?”
She blessed us with a warm smile, but I could see the dollar signs hiding behind those fluttering eyelids.
“That’s exactly why we’re here, Evelyn. I’ll regale you with our tales of heroism later. While we’re washing up, can you prepare a meal for us?”
Axel spoke to her with familiarity while passing each of us a menu. We relayed what we wanted, and a tavern maid led us to the back of the building, where the bathing area was located.
There were two entrances separated by gender, Axel and I pushed aside the curtain for the male changing rooms and quickly got settled.
“I dare you to send the cat into the girls’ room.”
Axel made a joke while we set our clothes aside for cleaning.
“Unfortunately, Fleur already knows I can see through Tia’s eyes.”
“What a shame. We could have learnt what lies beneath Nekrotica’s bandages.”
We entered the bath area, where a handful of older-looking people were soaking in the hot waters. There were stools placed in front of mirrors with soap readily available, and multiple circular openings in the floor that served as personal bathing spots. For those less concerned with privacy, there was a much larger bath. A dense wall of steam met us as we crossed the threshold, and my body immediately warmed up.
“Ahhh… gotta love that feeling. You know what would make this better?”
Axel looked at me expectantly.
“Mixed bathing and wine?”
I responded with a smirk.
“Oh? Aren’t you too young to be drinking? I’ll report you to the authorities.”
We kept up the banter, sharing the comments reserved for men in private conversation. It was probably a good thing that it was just the two of us; I doubt Oliver was the kind of guy to partake in our dirty jokes.
It was all harmless fun, just a bit of male bonding. It wasn’t like we were degrading our classmates… we just appreciated the beauties we were surrounded by on a daily basis.
“So which one’s your type?”
Axel asked while trying to get all the grime out of his hair.
“Hmm… Too early to say, I reckon.”
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“What about the elf? She’s always staring at you.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s some other reason for that. At the very least, I don’t think she has any romantic interest in me. As for me, I think she’s impressive, and yeah, I’ll admit she’s gorgeous… but I still don’t get her.”
“Alright, but if you had to choose, who would it be?”
“That’s easy. There’s one girl who stands above the rest by a mile. Soft, short black hair. Eyes like polished gems that melt your heart. Slim and petite, so you can hold her close no matter what. Mischievous and cunning, so the fun never ends… Truly the perfect woman.”
Axel looked at me in surprise.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
I lifted my arm to reveal Tiara grooming herself next to me.
Axel bursts into laughter.
***
Meanwhile, in the women’s bathing area, Lily had her face firmly pressed against the dividing wall.
Fleur had commented about being able to hear the boys talking about them as romantic options, and Lily could not hold back her curiosity.
Meztili sat nearby, and while she did not try to listen in herself, she was secretly hoping the other two would relay what they had learnt. She was still a teenage girl after all.
She had removed her purple robes, but was still completely covered in bandages. She did let her dark violet curls out for a thorough washing, however.
“Your hair is beautiful, Meztili.”
Fleur commented, ignoring Lily’s embarrassing behaviour.
“Thank you. Yours as well. If I may ask, do you use any product, or is it all natural?”
“A bit of both.” Fleur shrugged, “The colour is natural, but I add a homemade shampoo that helps accentuate it a little. It also keeps it from getting tangled.”
“Would you think about selling me some?”
“It’s not a difficult mixture. I will let you borrow some if you wish.”
“Thank y—”
“Gasp! Guys, guys! Did you hear that?”
Lily interrupted them and ran over.
“He said short black hair, beautiful eyes, a perfect body, and a wonderful personality! That’s me, right?”
Meztili was in the dark, but Fleur’s keen hearing had caught Rex and Axel’s conversation. She tactfully chose not to correct her reinterpretation of Rex’s wording choice.
“Good for you.”
Fleur commented with neutral disinterest.
“...Did they mention anyone else?”
Meztili meekly spoke up.
***
When we returned to the changerooms, I found my cloak had been neatly folded next to a brown jacket with fur lining and a note.
We were unable to patch the holes in your attire. We offer a fresh change of clothes for your convenience. Please hand the required sum of 12 silver pieces to the owner.
Axel was reading from a similar note, and we changed into our new clothes. Axel was given a plain-looking shirt, whereas my jacket was surprisingly well-made.
“This is the fifth one for me. Guess I can’t complain that they stopped putting in effort finding me replacements.”
He laughed, and we returned to the dining area. The girls weren’t out yet, so we claimed a medium-sized table that could hold all of us
“Beer?”
Axel asked me with a grin.
“Absolutely.”
I accepted immediately. This was the first chance I’ve had for a proper drink since my rebirth.
“Not a chance. We require proof of age in this establishment.”
Evelyn came over with our food and frowned at us.
“Axel is fine, I already know his age, but I checked the ID in your clothes, Rex Jaeger. Try again next year.”
She placed a glass of water before me and a mug of ale in front of Axel.
The moment her back was turned, Axel handed me the mug, and I took a huge swig. It was apple juice. We had been seen through by a woman wiser than we.
“Heeeey!”
Lily called out and ran over to join us. For some reason, she sat opposite me and leaned forward while fluttering her eyes and playing with her hair.
“...Hey.”
I raise an eyebrow at her, but she doesn’t seem to pick up on my confusion.
The other two take their seat soon after, and five welcome plates of food grace our table. For my part, I ordered a chicken schnitzel with a side of mozzarella sticks.
“Rex, Fleur, is it okay for you two to be eating meat?”
Meztili looked at our choice of food. Fleur had ordered rabbit stew and pork buns.
I spoke up first.
“I don’t know about most Druids, but it doesn’t matter how much I love animals, I won’t stop eating them. Blame the chicken for being delicious.”
“Being at one with nature does not mean I must only eat grass. Eating flesh is, in itself, natural, is it not?”
Fleur added. I couldn’t have put it better myself, really.
“While we’re on this road of personal curiosities, what’s with the bandages?”
Axel jumped in and pointed to Meztili, already having consumed half of his first meal. For the record, he ordered three.
“...They are necessary. My Gift is similar to Oliver's in that it causes more problems than it solves.”
“Is that all we’re getting?”
“I would be at a disadvantage if you knew all my secrets.”
She responded simply. She failed to notice, however, that we were all subtly watching her in anticipation as she brought her vegetarian burger to her mouth.
Her bandages shifted on their own to accommodate said burger, and she took a small bite. The bandages shifted to cover her once again the moment she began chewing.
“Fleur, report.”
I was squinting carefully, but I barely made anything out.
“Clear skin, soft lips, nice teeth. She’s not a ghoul.”
“Lily, what’d you get?”
“Yes, sir! The target has a brown complexion and is wearing faint purple lip gloss! She looks very kissable!”
“Axel, your thoughts?”
“Hmm… I didn’t see shit captain.”
Meztili ate the rest of her meal with her back to us.
***
We finished our meal and moved to the lounge area. We had a good spot right by the fire and took the time to go over the trial.
“You’re biggest mistake was relying on old information that you hadn’t confirmed for yourselves. You could have confirmed the goblins had moved camps easily.”
I finished up critiquing Team 1’s approach to the whole thing.
“Yeah, yeah. I know we made a ton of mistakes. Don’t you have anything nice to say to me?”
Lily was still acting weird. She kept making needless physical contact with me, and now threw her head into my lap.
“You personally? Oh, I get it.”
Understanding hit me. I pushed her head away so Tia could take her rightful spot on my legs.
“Sorry about Gotrut tormenting you. I taught them how to counter your shadow magic, and they got carried away.”
“Not that!”
She continued to pout, but I didn’t know what she wanted from me.
I’m not an oblivious teenager mentally, I’m perfectly able to pick up when someone is interested in me. But her behaviour suggested that she wanted me to tell her I was the one attracted to her.
She was very cute, but I wasn’t going to enable her attention-seeking.
As if to tell her to shut up, Professor Kuhn’s drone suddenly flew between us and opened another screen for us all to view.
Final rankings:
- Rex Jaeger
- Fleur Sylvain
- Meztili Nekrotica
- Oliver of Bradbrooke
- Guy Vespertille
- Axel Lionheart
- Lily of Ashenport
- Bridgit Sol Proudmane
- Paris Vipera
Another message followed shortly after.
[As with the entrance rankings, you may press your name for a detailed breakdown. I will discuss this further with each of you in private.]
We wasted no time going through each person’s review. Naturally, mine was the first we all gravitated towards. The assessment was clearly based on several factors, including teamwork, personal contributions, decision-making, and skill. I had ticked everything and came out with the top score.
Axel was relatively low because he acted alone and caused his team’s loss. The only reason he didn’t drop even lower was because he did cooperate and work as a team after joining Team 3.
“Rank seven? I thought I did well!”
Lily protested, but we all knew why she dropped so hard. How could you achieve a good score when you ran away at the final hour?
“Haha! Bridgit is gonna blow a fuse!”
Axel took great pleasure in reading the critique levied towards Bridgit. She had all the same problems as Axel, but she also failed to produce any results. Paris only came last because she made one poor choice early on and got eliminated for it, thus having next to no effect on anything.
“The great slaughterer of Soleo came in sixth place, will wonders never cease?”
Evelyn, who had at some point crept up and looked at the screen, commented with genuine surprise.
“Slaughter of Soleo?”
I asked, confused by Axel’s apparent title.
“You don’t know!?”
Axel exclaimed loudly. It wasn’t just him either. Everybody was looking at me like an unknown species.
“Well, today’s your lucky day, Rex, my friend. For you shall be regaled with the tale of Axel Lionheart, royal cousin to the Sol Proudmane family by none other than the man himself!”