V and his classmates arrive at their designated lodging, greeted by Elrohir who opens the door with a disdainful glance. "You and these..." he looks over the group, his expression sour, "...Things, will be staying here." He leans in closer to V, offering in a whisper, "Tell me if you'd like a separate room. I can get you a dorm in a separate building." V, catching the slight shift in treatment, smirks internally, appreciating the unexpected hint of respect. "Don't worry about it, I need to stay with them. I'll see you around," he responds, firmly closing the door behind him.
Inside, the accommodation is exactly as V anticipated: entirely crafted from polished stone, devoid of any wood except for the plethora of plants adorning the space. He surveys the lounge, where everyone has gathered, and begins counting his peers: Lysandra, Isabella, Biana, Oliver, Isadora, Kaida, Aira, Liam, Sera, Talen, Uda, Joren, and Selene.
Taking a seat, V turns his attention to Professor Ayla, who starts addressing the group with her usual cold and professional demeanor. "I expect you all to be on your best behavior," she begins, pacing around the room. "My country isn't kind to outsiders, so you will be looked down upon. Even so, you must not engage in any fight, do not accept any duel, and not run around. This may seem unfair, and it is." Her tone grows even colder as she concludes, "Deal with it. You were informed of what you'll be dealing with this semester. Choose your rooms; I'll get food delivered," she announces before exiting the building.
The moment Ayla leaves, all eyes—except for those of Lysandra, Isadora, and Biana who are too busy eating snacks—turn to V. Aira, leaning on a couch, breaks the silence. "V... How did you win that... weird duel?" she inquires, curiosity piqued. Kaida, smirking, adds, "I don't know what was going on, but seeing those plant images was sick." Liam, without a word, retreats to his chosen room, prompting Aira and Kaida to exchange glances. "That guy is so cold," Kaida comments with an eye roll.
Isabella, uninterested in the previous topic, stands abruptly, her focus solely on V. "Forget that boring fight shit," she declares, her energy undiminished. "V! We need to talk about this right now!" she demands, slapping her notebook for emphasis.
"The last time I visited here, I really liked this place so back at the academy I asked Professor Ayla for as many books as she could give me on elven culture. The ones I bought here weren't that informative." Sera nods in approval, "As expected of you."
Aira turns to Sera. "That's right, you two know each other, right?" she muses, tapping her chin thoughtfully. Just as she's about to delve deeper, V interjects, "Aira, sorry to barge in but can you not involve her?" His tone is respectful yet firm.
Aira meets his interjection with a kind smile, though her eyes hold a glare. "What are you talking about, V?" she asks, feigning innocence. V counters with a proposition, "I'll be cooking dinner, do you still wish to talk about this?" Internally, he's getting annoyed. 'Tsk, she better not get Sera involved, or I'll end up getting indirectly involved with their bullshit.'
Aira decides to back off, realizing that pursuing the conversation isn't worth missing out on V's cooking. Talen rolls his eyes and mutters under his breath, "These rich fuckers..." believing his comment went unheard.
V sighs internally, 'Idiot, to say that in the same room as her...' he thinks, turning to Isabella. Isabella stands abruptly, positioning herself in front of him with a glare. "What the hell did you say?" she demands in a cold tone. When Talen doesn't respond, her anger escalates. "Oi, you barbaric commoner, did you just curse at nobility?"
Talen rolls his eyes and stands up. "Yeah, so what? You're all a bunch of assholes with no respect," he declares, attempting to walk away. His attempt is thwarted as Isabella, in a display of power and anger, snaps her fingers, conjuring a huge flame circle around everyone. Lysandra, observing the flames, merely yawns, her indifference palpable as she muses internally, 'How cold.'
Aira tries to intervene, "Isabella, don't ca-" but her plea falls on deaf ears. Isabella, her gaze locked on Talen, retorts fiercely, "How dare you disrespect nobility and royalty." The confrontation escalates further when another figure stands, her golden-brown hair and eyes—a striking mix of pink and purple—drawing attention. With a cold tone, she interjects, "We're no longer in The Great Empire, so back the fuck off."
V groans internally witnessing the unfolding drama, 'Ugh... great, Uda's gonna cause a scene for sure. These guys are from different classes, and they're all victims of nobility... How should I fix this?' He taps his chin, pondering a solution.
Uda clutches her fist tightly, her voice cutting through the tense air without a trace of hesitation. "You're all a bunch of pathetic nobles who take advantage of others. You all deserve to rot in hell," she declares bluntly, her words echoing with a distinct lack of remorse. V, momentarily poised on the brink of laughter, stifles his amusement with a subtle shake of his head, thinking to himself with a wry smile, 'Hmhmhmhm... She's not wrong, most nobles are dicks.'
Isabella, her composure fracturing under the weight of Uda's words, reveals veins throbbing with barely contained fury. With a smile that is anything but warm, she hisses, "The punishment for disrespecting nobility and royalty is death." A magic circle materializes in the palm of her hand, from which a menacing flaming orb emerges, illuminating her features with its flickering glow.
V rises with an air of casual authority, scratching his neck as he attempts to interject, "Isabella, how about you sto—" However, Uda cuts him off sharply, her frustration boiling over. "Shut the fuck up, you pathetic man, bowing down to these bastards. You're worse than them. How is anything supposed to change when people like you exist!" she snaps, her ire unmistakable.
V tilts his head, genuinely perplexed by Uda's harsh accusation, his thoughts a whirlwind of confusion. 'What the fuck is going on? Where did she get that idea?' He scratches his head, puzzled and slightly exasperated, 'What the fuck...?'
Sera, attempting to bring some calm to the rapidly escalating situation, stands, opening her mouth to speak. Yet, before she can utter a word, Uda rounds on her with the same fervor, "Shut up! You're just like him!" The room's tension spikes, a tangible electricity in the air.
Talen, seeking to defuse the situation, pulls back on Uda's arm, his voice low and urgent. "You're overdoing it right now..." he cautions, but his words do little to quell the brewing storm.
Isabella's voice slices through the tension, cold and unforgiving. "You two are fucking dead," she declares, her eyes alight with a dangerous fire. Uda, undeterred, conjures her own magic circle, her gaze steely and defiant. Talen, not to be outdone, draws a short sword, his stance ready yet cautious.
Isabella, with a smirk that chills the bone, surrounds them with dozens of magic circles, each summoning magic arrows. "If you resist, whatever family you have back in the empire will be marked as criminals," she threatens, her voice a venomous whisper. The threat hits its mark, as Uda and Talen visibly flinch, their resolve wavering under the heavy weight of potential consequences. Their hands tremble, caught in a moment of crippling indecision.
Expanding the flaming orb in her hand, Isabella's voice is a cold declaration of their fate. "This is what you get for disrespecting Royalty," she states, the malice in her tone unmistakable.
Aira, watching from the sidelines, sighs deeply, her thoughts a mixture of resignation and calculated indifference. 'I can't stop her, or my reputation will be affected. They did disrespect royalty,' she rationalizes, her internal conflict evident even as she chooses inaction.
As the room's tension escalates to a near breaking point, Joren and Selene make a move to stand but Uda's commanding shout, "Don't!" freezes them in their tracks. They reluctantly sink back into their seats, tension etched into their faces. Amidst the chaos, Biana yawns, her irritation palpable as she groans, "Can you all shut the fuck up? I'm trying to nap," even as Lysandra, seeking a comfortable spot, sits atop her. Isadora continues to sip her coconut, her expression unchanging, watching the scene unfold with a detached curiosity.
Kaida, her eyes darting between the escalating confrontation and the floor, appears torn—wanting to speak, yet held back by a tangible fear. V, observing the rapid spiral into chaos, sighs internally, his frustration growing. 'Ugh, this is getting out of hand, all of this because Isabella's too damn prideful.' The situation takes a more dangerous turn as Sera unsheathes her sword. Yet, V grasps her arm firmly, advising against rash actions with a weary yawn, "Don't do anything stupid." He then strides forward, positioning himself as a barrier between the conflicting parties.
The moment Isabella launches the fire orb, V steps in, intercepting its path with a calculated move. 'Let's see, I haven't tried using much magic since I've been training martial arts nonstop. If I remember correctly, to cast a two-layered magic circle I need to move one circle counterclockwise but keep the mana flow connected,' he muses, his focus narrowing. With practiced ease, he executes the two-circle casting method, conjuring a shield composed of myriad tiny octagons. The shield, a dome of gleaming magical energy, effectively absorbs and disperses the onslaught of Isabella's attacks, the impact spreading evenly across its surface, leaving those behind it unscathed.
Exhausted, V exhales sharply, the strain evident in his voice, 'Fuck, that used so much mana, that was more than half my remaining mana... dammit, this fucking curse...'
Talen, witnessing V's intervention, turns to him with a mixture of confusion simply asking, "Why?"
Ignoring Talen's question, V shifts his focus to Isabella, whose curiosity is now tinged with a cold, threatening undercurrent. "V... What the hell are you doing? Do you want to get punished?" she asks, her tone a mix of confusion and veiled menace. V, clearly exasperated by the unfolding drama, retorts with a casual tone, "Ugh... that's enough. Professor Ayla will send you back if you cause a scene."
Isabella's patience wears thin. "Get out of the way, V. I won't ask again," she demands, her voice sharp. V rubs his neck, bewildered by her persistence. 'What the hell is wrong with her?' he wonders, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "I know you're curious. Don't you want to know how I used two magic circles in the same spell?" His question piques her interest despite herself, and she glares at him but slowly nods in acknowledgment, "That's right... you're not at that level yet."
Uda, the defiant, questions V's motives with a cold, commanding tone. "Why are you intervening?" Her inquiry, however, only serves to irritate V further. Turning to her with a flash of annoyance, he retorts, "Can you do me a favor and shut up?" Without waiting for a response, he swiftly uses his finger to press her pressure points, causing her to collapse onto the couch, unable to move. "What? W-what did you do to me!?" she protests, struggling futilely against the sudden paralysis.
"Your name is Uda, right?" V kneels beside her, his demeanor shifting as he enters a more serious tone. "First of all, you need to learn how to behave." He flicks her forehead, a simple gesture that carries the weight of his disapproval. "I don't care if you're the youngest one here; you need to learn to keep your words to yourself." His voice darkens, a hint of menace creeping in. "And I will never bow down to her or her," he says, pointing decisively at Aira and Isabella, respectively. "Instead of being a dumbass and starting unnecessary conflicts, learn how to make others respect you."
He strides over to Isabella, a smirk playing on his lips. "You see her?" He pokes her head, an audacious move. "She won't attack me, even if I disrespect her, because I know how to keep her in line." Isabella's fist clenches, her frustration palpable, but before she can unleash her retort, V produces a crystal. "This is the casting method I used." Isabella's interest overtakes her anger, and she snatches the crystal from his hand, inspecting it before hastily putting it away.
Returning to Uda, V's tone softens, though his message remains firm. "As a fellow commoner, I don't want to have to send you back to the Great Empire, so I need you to behave. You understand?" His plea underscores a shared commonality, an attempt to bridge the gap between them with understanding rather than force. 'As much as I hate people like her, she's important. I forgot that Mason constantly protected her. Unfortunately for her, I don't have time for that shit, so I need to educate her.'