Lyra stabbed her dagger into Aaron's guts. The blade entered without any fuss, feeling like a gentle touch instead of a piece of steel shredding his insides. Aaron took a deep breath and studied the entry wound curiously as Lyra observed him with an awkward smile and began to speak.

"So, how is it?"

Aaron shook himself out of the surreal reverie. "I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't paying attention. Can you pull it out?"

She nodded with a smirk and extracted the blade. Blood spilled from the wound, but darkened rapidly as the coagulant did its work. Master Mericek Kostaric, the Hiverat alchemy teacher, pointed one of his tails at the blood.

"Touch it and describe its consistency."

The meter-long rat's whiskers twitched as first Aaron, then Lyra, hesitantly put their fingers onto the dark red goo. Aaron touched it first—hesitantly, then with more confidence. He barely noticed how Lyra brushed her hand against his more than could be explained by accident.

"It feels like gummy. Strong and flexible."

The Master Alchemist, sitting on the lecture desk before Aaron, waved the presenter's staff he held in his middle tail's grasp across the class. Then his beady eyes fell on Bark.

"Honored Guardian, may I suggest you do some sparring with the Champion to demonstrate the limits and use of the combat drugs?"

Bark grinned as a sinking feeling and tight smile from Lyra confirmed Aaron's fears. Shit. I've been singled out again, and now…

Standing in his loincloth before the squad, he helplessly surveyed the laboratory equipment on the desks and the Favored attendants ready to bring the students' ingredients waiting in the back.

Aaron turned to the Master Alchemist. "Master, we've already seen the function of the coagulation potion. No need to demonstrate it again, right?"

A chuckle went through the class, and Aaron grimaced. Great. I need to up the machismo of my behavior, apparently. Maybe I can ask Bark to take an axe to my ribcage?

Master Mericek Kostaric shook his furry head. "Sadly, your body needs to undergo some conditioning before potions will be fully effective. I've given you an initial booster, but for optimal effect, we should have the potions do some work in your body."

Aaron nodded with a stoic mask. Great.

Then Bark came to his rescue with a knowing smile. "Well, we've seen that the basic soldier potion coagulates his wounds and removes pain. Maybe we need to demonstrate the strength enhancement effects?"

The Master nodded, and soon Rhea was standing in front of Aaron, her usually amicable face a scowl. Her hair was slightly wild from the nights she had spent outside as per Esnita's punishment.

"Very well. You know the rules for wrestling. No shoulders. No striking. Grappling ends at surrender or unconsciousness," Bark said.

Aaron felt Rhea's heartbeat speed up through the party connection. She cracked her knuckles and stepped toward him. Way too close. Her hair brushed against his nose. She leaned in further and whispered in his ear, menace and intimacy mixing like oil and water.

"So, Hellionios. Time to show you how it's done by proper warriors. Watch your fingers."

Are you threatening to break my fingers after the bullshit you pulled? Stop trying to intimidate me.

Rhea's eyes narrowed at his stoic expression, and her hand shot forward. It landed on his shoulder, poised near his neck—one movement away from choking him. Aaron just took a deep breath. She's in a vengeful mood and needs to blow off some steam. There's a healer, and I feel no pain. Still, I wanna see what those normal soldiers can do.

A sharp whistling cracked the air between them as the Hiverat gave the go signal. Rhea lent her entire weight forward, trying to push him off balance.

He focused on the third aspect of the soldier potion: deregulation of the natural muscle limiters. Normally, humans only use a fraction of their muscle fibers during movement to prevent injury. But in combat against a superhuman, death was a near certainty, and a few torn muscles were a small price to be paid.

Aaron tensed and leaned into Rhea's attack. Her eyes widened as he wasn't pushed back. Instead, he pushed with one hand and pulled her shoulder with the other, trying to spin her out of balance. Aaron followed the movement—his muscles tingling with strength—as Rhea was spun around with tremendous speed. She clearly hadn't expected the force.

Yet she rallied quickly and, still spinning, raised her front foot to stomp down on Aaron's toes. He nearly flinched, but then remembered that he was immune to pain right now. He let her hobnails dig into his foot, only dimly noticing something was amiss. I sure hope the healer fixes this before the potion wears off. Aaron spun inwards as well.

With both hands, he grabbed her outstretched hand and yanked with all the power he could muster in his arms and core. The shoulder popped loudly as she was yanked forward. Aaron found the slope and pulled Rhea's face first into the ground.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The burning in his muscles had grown stronger. Microtears were accumulating into something more nasty. For a heartbeat he stood over his defeated friend. The Hiverat was wiggling his tails, but then Aaron noticed Rhea's legs move in the periphery. Sneak attack. He shifted into the air as she tried to entangle his feet.

Instinct took over. Aaron wanted to soccer-kick away, but he fell with inevitable momentum. His feet crashed into the small of her back. She yelped in pain, then her legs stopped moving.

Silence fell over the auditorium as the Magus walked toward them. Rhea was rounded on her teal, trying her best not to show any pain. Their eyes met, and Aaron nearly flinched at the unbridled anger she shot at him. A heaviness settled on his chest. Have I gone too far?

Aaron stepped forward and lowered his gaze to comfort her. Rhea's anger-soaked scowl turned into a smile. Something felt off—but he understood the vicious undertow of the smile too late. The fist shot forward with a pained yelp and hit Aaron in the throat.

Aaron stumbled and keeled over. He tried to scream, but only a wheezing sound escaped his throat. He tried to breathe, but it felt like he was pulling at a door from the wrong side. Oddly, there was no spinning. But the world grew black nonetheless as he clawed at the tile with great desperation. He met the eyes of those around him. Most faces were neutral. Some were chuckling.

Cold anger boiled up in him as he heard Rhea laughing.

Just as Aaron felt unconsciousness close in, Shard stepped forward at a leisurely pace. Relief settled onto Aaron. Air. She just has to touch me and I'll get more of that sweet, fresh air.

She walked straight by him and pushed the other healer away—towards Rhea. Aaron only gave off a stifled croak as his anger found the only remaining release valve.

Then the Magus-tier healer touched him—and his throat cleared.

Aaron was about to step forward to the two women, but after one step, he felt an impulse of Questzy's warmth. Right. I wanted to be smarter in those situations. He assessed the gazes of the crowd that was observing him. Guards, squadmates, teachers.

Very well.

He looked at the healer. "How bad was the damage?"

She gave him a careful smile and shook her head. "You would have passed out. As for the other wounds, they would've been nasty in combat."

Aaron turned to meet Rhea's grin and Shard's scowl. He forced a smile onto his face.

"Let's call this a draw, shall we?"

Rhea's grin twitched and wilted into a scowl.. That's right. If I just wear a chipper mask, she can't see what's happening.

Master Mericek Kostaric bobbed his nose and absentmindedly stroked his fur with one of his tails.

"I thank you two for the interesting demonstration. The outcome was very… Pellarian. So what—"

Shard stepped forward, menace in her voice. "What are you implying, Xenorat?"

She glanced over her shoulder at Rhea, and then across the room, before taking another step to the side.

The Master Alchemist scoffed at the black-diamond titan before him. "Do you expect me to say something about fighting spirit and cowardice before you, human?"

Aaron threw a calm glance around the room, whose air suddenly had grown heavy and charged. The guards had paired up with their weapons. His fellow students were assessing the battlefield.

Aaron smirked. Theon is already moving towards the exit. Smart.

Shard barely withheld another look at Aaron. "You should remember your place, resident. Aliens and slaves joining forces… You clearly have forgotten that you belong in that ghetto."

Aaron pressed his eyes shut. Why did I get the most racist person as my personal healer? Handpicked by the Priestess. Fuck me.

Aaron cleared his throat. Well, elevator scene round two. "Master Shard, you will treat my teachers with respect. Is that—"

"I will treat humans with the respect they deserve, Anax." Shard turned slowly and studied Aaron with a contemptuous glare.

Aaron's heart beat faster as he returned it. He noticed something shift in her face. No—under the skin of her face. For a heartbeat, it seemed as if her face was a mask worn by something else. Is she controlling her face with her magic?

As he turned back to the Master Alchemist, the edge of her mouth twitched upward in an aborted smirk. Aaron shuddered.

He stepped to the side and studied the Hiverat. "I am sorry for this incident." He frowned at Shard. "Master Shard, I'd prefer it if you were to wait outside for the duration of this class."

Shard opened her mouth to protest, but Aaron turned to the Master Alchemist alien instead. "Master, you were saying something about the sparr?"

He made a cutting gesture toward Shard, and Bark began walking towards them. Let's just ignore her. Maybe she'll get the message.

The rat's whiskers twitched, and he grabbed a leather-bound metal case with a tail. Turning to the class, he spoke again.

"As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted…"

Aaron glared at Shard and gestured her out of the room. She began walking with a dagger-like glare—but not towards the door. Toward the side of the room.

For a split heartbeat, Aaron could have sworn a drop of black geomancy fluid dripped from her hand onto the floor and scurried away behind the alchemy desk.

But the Hiverat alchemist continued his speech.

"Initiate Rhea demonstrated the core weakness of combat drugs beautifully."

Rhea bowed her head after a quick glance at Shard's back. Noticing Aaron's look, Theon shook his head at him with a sad smile. A heaviness settled in Aaron's guts. Yes, friend. I also just wanna have a good time with both of you again. But Lyra…

"Champion," the Hiverat held out the pouch to him. "These are high-quality combat drugs a marshal would carry. I'll keep you supplied with the basics as your personal alchemist, if you accept."

Aaron's eyes lit up with curiosity and greed. I'm getting my own magical potion collection? Nice. As he inclined his head to thank the Master Alchemist, he looked down.

An earsplitting thunder erupted and he was knocked off his feet. A loud ringing filled his ears and he fell onto the floor in a room that was suddenly filled with debris and dust. The floor buckled beneath him, ears ringing—then something moved, fast and wrong. Hot blood ran from his forehead into his eyes. Before he could blink it away, a black shadow blurred across the room in front of him.

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