They arrived in time for class.
Well, more or less, they arrived in the training grounds before the teacher, so it could be counted as on time.
They were gasping for air, the Lady using Koda as a support as she was about to collapse.
"That… was… close…" She said between gasps, a weak smile on her face.
"You… Tell me?" He said, also smiling and gasping.
The two of them chuckled, dragging themselves to the closest bench and sitting calmly.
"Do you want to try a battle sometime?" He asked her.
"Definitely!" She responded, excited. "I'm actually wondering how it works, Topaz tried to teach me and I've read the manual's explanation, but it sounds a bit strange"
He nodded at her point, he too, heard the explanation and read the manual, but it was strange to imagine.
"Well" He said "What about we go to New Vestroia on the weekend? We could ask the shop owner about it, and I still have to go to the academy's dungeon to get more cores"
"Dad told me that some things in the store cost cores" She said "Are you planning on buying something?"
"Yes and no, I need cores to some projects and experiments, I used most of my spares to buy Solder and the Gauntlets, but I still want to buy a few more cards and maybe another Bakugan"
Curiosity filled her face.
"Why buy another?" Asked the girl.
"I want to see what more I can learn" He admitted "Solder was trying to teach me a way to help others using one of her attacks as a reference, but I'm curious how different can their attacks and defenses be even when they're from the same attribute"
Realization came to the young noblewoman, as she hitted her fist into her open balm.
"That's actually a good Idea" She said before turning to him "What about we go to the dungeon together? I was thinking of buying a Gauntlet, even if I can't use it on normal occasions, since Topaz is to big, it can be of help at some moment"
They both heard a low grunt, so low that one might not hear, but they did, and they knew it was Topaz, probably taking offense at the fact that he was called too big.
They laughed quietly, Solder trembling in his pocket, probably trying not to laugh.
"Anyway" The girl said "I was wondering why did you named her Solder"
Koda immediately froze, as his face went red, it took him some time to respond.
"Solders are my favorite tools" He said quietly, nearly impossible to hear "And she's always welding my doubts and helping me to make something new out of it, like a solder do to metals to make a new thing"
He was embarrassed by his logic as he felt trembling in his pocket, probably holding the same chuckle she let out when he first explained the name, but the young Lady didn't seem to notice his embarrassment, cooing at reasoning.
"That's cute!" She said "I named Topaz like that because of his defense skills, topaz is the jewel used to engrave protection barriers and arrays, and is a jewel that means protection"
He did think it was a good name, considering that Solder told him that Juggernoid usually had an outstanding defense.
After he recovered from his embarrassment, he soon started to ponder.
"Anyway" He said "I am up for collaboration in the dungeon and go sometimes along the week, we can cover more ground like that and get more cores, but we should sell some, not everything in the store needs cores as a payment, the cards and Bakumeter are paid in credits, but I don't know if there is anything else like that"
"That's good" Said the noblewoman "And it would be good if we started to make some funds, what if New Vestroia starts to sell something more expensive? I don't really want to ask for my father to buy something I can afford to buy on my own"
Koda nodded, understanding a little.
The truth is, Koda Ferri is an orphan, the son of a blacksmith from the slums who died after a fight with a noble man, Ferri is actually his feather's name, he took it as his surname as an homage.
But even at the time, he would sell his inventions, but he would never ask for money from his father.
He could do better.
Even now that he was a noble himself (which, he might add, was still surreal, even after a year), he still made sure to never ask for any financial help, as, for now, he never knew if anything could go wrong.
The two of them chatted, oblivious to the stares of the people around them.
"Who do you think will be the new teacher?" He asked.
"I heard it was a mage from the Magic Tower" Said the noblewoman.
Their teacher, a xenophobic old man with strange tendencies, was fired last week when he made comments… less than favorable to his already complicated case, so now they'll be receiving a new teacher.
And soon the teacher arrived.
And he arrived the same way they did.
Panting.
It was the man in the library from before, he had long scarlet hair and golden eyes, fair delicate skin, beautiful long eyelashes and long well kept nails.
If he wasn't used to this kind of appearance, he might mistake him for a woman.
But that wasn't the big thing about the man.
The big thing was that just now he notice who the man was.
"Isn't that the owner of the infamous SS hunter!?" He hissed.
Lady Rockfield seemed as surprised as he was.
There he was, Kaen, the only SS rank hunter in the Bronze Empire who was also a former imperial prince that abandoned the royal family and revogate his own surname.
"I'm sorry for the late arrival" He said with a forced smile "I had some… problems on the way here"
The man took a moment to recover before going to the podium.
"Today on the practical class I want to see the extent of your capabilities" He announced "So just practice like normal"
And that was it, with a snap of his fingers, a chair appeared out of thin air and seated, looking at them.
There was a moment of silence, but the murmurs soon started.
He and Lady Rockfield enchanted a look, shrugging their shoulders.
"Want to see what I've learned with Solder?"
"Yes!"
They took a spot relatively far from the others, and Koda took his wand from his spatial bag.
"You use the shorter ones too?" The Lady asked.
In his hand was a small wand, more like a twig than the staff one you see in the market, it was green and a light green feather was used as a pendant on the handle.
He got a custom made one made with materials chosen by Solder, as she was capable of telling what resonated better with him.
It helped him canalize his mana and better use it.
"You too?" He asked.
"Mine is a bit diferente" She said "But yes, Topaz helped me to make one, who would have thought that there's such a thing as resonance and form?"
He nodded, as he too, never thought that the materials could resonate with one's individual capabilities, or the form of the wand could affect the way the mana was distributed.
They started to discuss the way the wand affected their training, comparing their experiences.
"Should we go to the teacher?" Lady Rockfield suggested "He can give us more professional view of the effectiveness of the techniques and wands"
That was a good idea, actually.
The teacher was an SS rank Mage, there was no person that understood magic better than him.
He nodded at her ladyship and they both turned to go to the teacher.
But, obviously, things couldn't be left alone as he saw Lilian Rockfield's face contort into disgust and frustration as something caught her attention.
"Lily!"
A familiar, disgustingly sweet voice reached his ears, grabbing his attention, making him turn in its direction.
And then cringed.
Amelia Grace, daughter of count Grace, and the person he fears the most in the academy, approached them with a happy smile that didn't reach her predatory eyes.
She was a water mage, just like Lady Rockfield, a powerful one, but not as much as the lady, but powerful.
She was the typical bloodsuking noble that used others of lower status as pawns, she tried to approach him when the year had just started, but he found a way to avoid her.
Lying through his teeth, more than Amélia Grace herself.
Damn… once he even had to give a false hint that he might be gay.
Just then she stopped the worst part of this madness, the seducing, a thing he was immune to as he had seen far more beautiful women in the cabarets around the slums, where he used to help with some things, for security purposes.
He still goes there, but now to help with more than just security, the aunts and uncles there might gain a lot, but it's just enough to fill one belly, so they tend to eat less to save for their children.
Amelia Grace now just has some opportunities to corner him and try to gain his favor.
But, well, he wasn't really interested in gaining the favor of the daughter of the man who killed his father.
That and she changed her target after some time, he did have an idea of who, but now he was certain.
Her eyes were fixated on Lady Rockfield, who was obviously uncomfortable, a hunger he only saw when the girl looked at her target while she grabbed the Lady Rockfield arm a bit too strong.
It was all he needed to know that these two weren't friends like the girl proclaimed, and he could immediately throw out all the malicious rumors about the young lady of the house Rockfield.
If Amelia Grace had eyes on someone, she would do anything to have that person.
Or destroy that person.
_______________________________________
"I was so worried!"
Lily made a huge effort not to dodge the girl that just grabbed her without permission.
She was surrounded by classmates, all looking at her, expecting her to do something.
Not to mention she was in front of a teacher and the magic tower owner, she couldn't just brush her off without a good reason.
So that's why she did nothing.
"Why would you be worried?" She asked.
"How could I not!"
She talked loudly, as if to make sure everyone could hear her, her fake crocodile tears appeared in a second, she never knew how this girl could cry so easily when Lily herself couldn't find a time where she could cry.
"You just got out of the class with lord Ferri and stayed out for hours, you didn't respond to my messages and didn't even answer my calls, what would you be doing for so long with a boy to not even respond to your friend!? You didn't even notice me and stayed with him after you came to the training grounds!"
Lily grimace.
The way she put it could easily be misunderstood and lead to many scandalous rumors.
But the worst is the response.
Here she couldn't just say that it wasn't the girl's business.
If Lily says anything wrong she would make the situation worse.
She was about to say something, as her silence would only be used as a weapon, when someone else speaked.
"Lady Rockfield and I were just chatting in the library"
Her eyes falled in Baron Ferri, who had a polite smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Lady Rockfield and I have come across a new mana manipulation technique recently" He said "We spend all this time making comparisons to our old techniques, we didn't see the time pass, I can't thank the teacher enough for reminding us of the time"
Lily paused for a second.
Baron Ferri just helped her in many ways with that sentence.
1. He told everyone the place where they were.
2. The place was a public area where they could be seen by anyone.
3. He told the reason why they were out for so long, which was a valid reason and technically true, as they did talk about it.
And more importantly.
4. The teacher saw them in the library.
With a visual witness, they could be fine and the chance of strange rumors were lower.
It made her grateful, but also a bit satisfied, as she could see that the girl also had noticed these points.
"Baron Ferri is right" She said as she politely separated herself from the girl "We were still talking when we arrived, so I didn't notice you.
'And I would avoid you if I could'
But she didn't say that part.
But she couldn't help but add.
"And I would advise you to watch your tongue, this time the misunderstanding was cleared, but keep mindlessly running your tongue like that and you will create some ridiculous rumors"
She froze for a second, but soon her tears grew larger.
"I was just worried about you!" She said.
Lily wanted to say something, but she didn't have a chance as Baron Ferri talked first.
"It's normal to be worried" He said "But, if you were so worried, shouldn't you talk to her ladyship in private instead of loudly talk in front of the whole class? As the daughter of a count, shouldn't you mind your words? It gives the impression that you did on purpose"
Amelia's face contorted in embarrassment and frustration, she saw her open her mouth, but she didn't have the chance to continue.
"Anyway" The young baron said "We should stop right now, we are wasting the time we should be using for practice and you just interrupted everyone's training, so could you leave please? Lady Rockfield and I still have things to discuss with the teacher"
Amelia was flustered for a moment, but soon she turned to Lily, full of expectation.
But she was having none of it.
"You've may go" She said
That seemed to be the final straw for the girl, who buffed her cheeks with teary eyes and runned of somewhere.
Lily controlled her expecion to not let a smile appear in her face and turned to make her way with Baron Ferri to the teacher, who watched everything.
"So you are her new target" Baron Ferri whispers.
The wary tone on his voice stunned Lily a little,
"What do you mean?" Was all she could say.
"Amelia Grace is bloodsucking noble like her father" He whispers "She like having the upper hand, so she goes out hunting for easy prey, I confused her and it seems she has given up on me for now, but I was wondering who got her attention, and it seems like it's you"
She nearly stopped in her tracks, but found it strange to keep walking.
"You're saying she thinks I'm easy prey?" She whispers.
"Not really" He whispered back "Your case is special"
"How come?"
"You are strong" He explained "Have a good background, have a strong personality and is well know, so she can't just subdue you like she does with others, but she can attack you in more simple ways, like acting as a close friend, making rumors, or stealing something, or someone, you like, I've heard enough in the slums to know this tactics, she is taking it slow for now, with small bites, but if you don't be careful while cutting her claws, she'll use them on you when her greed or desperation overflow"
They were too close to the podium to say much, but Lily nodded, having fully understood what he was trying to say.
Amelia Grace was dangerous, and she must be careful.
But she also understood a thing.
She and her friendship with Lake might be in danger if she does nothing.