《Maouzuharu: Maestro of The Witch's Curse》 Chapter 1: The Witchs Curse Part 1 A desolate whistle echoed through the catacombs-like dungeon as a group of medieval-armoured knights marched their way through the dungeon, taking out any monster which impeded them with the monsters turning into violet-purple mist upon death. Stationed in the vanguard, the demi-human cat knight commander signalled for the other knights to halt as he arrived at a large open room. "Grand Witch Abigallia, we''ve arrived at the rest spot before the boss chamber," the knight commander stated as he turned to face Abigaillia. Floating above the squadron of knights while carrying a sleeping person in her arms, Abigallia gracefully glided over the rows of knights before landing beside the knight commander. (Abigaillia is a super tall adult female witch[basically just a human but modified to be superior with magic]; she has super long frilly pitch-black hair, black ring-shaped eyes with violet purple heart in front of the rings, a busty chest, wide hips, and tanned skin) (Abigaillia is wearing a goofily large dark ocean blue witch hat, a golden collar with a cyan crystal circle on the front, a dark ocean blue slit dress, black leggings, and metal boots) "I appreciate all of your assistance, we can leave the rest to my little angel," Abigallia said with a sultry voice as she gently stroked Kousako''s forehead. (Kousako is a slightly below average height teenaged humanoid[they look like a normal human] with an appearance which can''t be assigned to male or female; they have slightly long super curly dark ocean blue hair, super fair skin, slightly big hips, firm thighs, and a thin pale purple tattoo around their eye which looks like eye shadow) (Kousako is wearing a simple/plain black headless spandex bodysuit) As Abigallia continued to baby the sleeping Kousako, the night commander removed his helmet and itched the back of his cat ear while he signalled to his knights to set up camp. "About that, Gran-". "Just call me Lia, sweetie, we aren''t in a formal setting after all.". The knight commander scrunched up his mouth before defeatedly exhaling. "... understood, Lia. As I was saying, are you sure it''s okay leaving the boss chamber to... um," the knight commander uttered as he perplexedly stared at Kousako. As the knight commander''s confusion continued to rise, Abigaillia couldn''t help but smugly snicker as she cradled Kousako. "Having a hard time identifying and categorising my little angel?" Abigaillia asked proudly. The knight commander sheepishly glanced to his side and rubbed the back of his head. "Seems that way, Lia". Abigaillia cheerfully grinned at hearing the knight commander''s response. "You don''t need to feel bad about not knowing, it took Mouzo-Hala a whole month to figure out what Kou is," Abigaillia explained, "And to answer your question, my little angel will be perfectly fine.". The knight commander simply nodded his head to Abigaillia''s words before a loud bang stole his attention. At the same time, Abigaillia paid the sound no mind as she continued to focus on Kousako. As the knights hurried to the door and set up a defensive stone wall using magic tools, the towering stone door continued to shake as a cacophony of deafening bangs collided against the other side of the door. "Is the boss attempting to break out and attack us?" a knight asked in shock as he readied his steel sword. The knight commander glanced to Abigaillia, and mentally groaned at seeing how unbothered she was being. "You don''t need to worry, a boss monster will never leave the boss chamber, the monsters attacking the door are mostly the boss''s minions trying to get after being startled from sensing my little angel," Abigaillia stated smugly. The knight commander stared at Abigaillia in surprise at hearing her words, and he pondered on how strong someone needs to be to aggro boss-subordinate monsters from a different room. "It seems I really was worrying for nothing," the knight commander remarked, making Abigaillia cockily smirk at her angel getting praised by someone. "I suppose it''s in everyone''s best interest if I wake Kou up, now wouldn''t it," Abigaillia remarked before she lowered her mouth to Kousako''s ear and whispered into their ear. Kousako''s violet-purple with crystal textured eyes shot open before Kousako turned their head in the direction of the stone door. "Sweetheart, would you be a dear and deal with those pesky monsters for me?" Abigaillia requested. Kousako stared at the cracked stone door as the cracks covering it grew with each strike of the monsters behind it. "People in the way," Kousako murmured. Abigaillia glanced over at the knight commander, making the knight commander nod. "Everyone fall back," the knight commander ordered. The other knights instantly followed the commander''s orders and vacated the area around the stone door before the stone door exploded into dust and allowed the trapped monsters to spill into the room. The monsters continued to flood into the room, making the knights raise their weapons while bracing themselves for their commander to order them to attack. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "The coast is clea-". A violently strong sonic boom blasted past the knight commander, almost knocking him off balance, and knocking over the knights as Kousako blasted past them at blinding speeds. In the blink of an eye, Kousako lunged at the monsters before unleashing a flurry of lightning-infused sword slashes and dicing them into pieces. The knight captain stood in bewildered awe as he watched the diced monsters burst into dense violet-purple mist which swirled into Kousako''s tattoos. "Impressive...," the knight captain uttered before Abigaillia teleported over to Kousako. Abigaillia threw her arms around Kousako, pulling them into a bear hug and slightly burying them in her chest. "Way to go my little murder machine. You''ve gotten so strong now I could only tell what cursed echelon you were using because of the lightning~," Abigaillia said excitedly whilst Kousako had an emotionless expression on their face. "Murder machine?" the knight commander asked puzzledly as he walked up to the duo. "It''s a figure of speech on the mainland," Abigaillia said. "I see," the knight commander responded before he turned to the knights, "Alright you lot resume setting up the temporary camp.". Abigaillia gave Kousako one last hug before she released them and allowed Kousako to land on their feet. "Alright, sweetie, could you go deal with the big bad demon lord for me?" Abigaillia requested politely. Kousako nodded before turning and marching through the doorway leading to the demon lord''s boss chamber. Abigaillia and the knight commander watched Kousako trot their way into the boss chamber with any monsters that approached them bursting into a dense violet-purple mist. The knight commander allowed his shoulders to sink before he shot up as something clicked in his mind. "Did you say cursed echelon?" the knight commander asked worriedly. Abigaillia turned to the knight commander with a suffocatingly overbearing smile, which even managed to make the commander flinch on instinct. "Is it such a surprise for my little angel to have one?". The knight commander adverted his eyes in dismissal and turned away from the boss chamber "I suppose it was a dumb question," the knight commander uttered as he walked off, leaving Abigaillia to watch Kousako at her leisure. Within the boss chamber, the imposing and towering silhouette of the demon lord filled the room with a sprawling shadow. As Kousako strolled towards the demon lord, the demon lord rose from his throne while condescendingly cackling with his booming voice. "How insulting, not only has that idiotic witch come without the hero but she instead sends a pouting brat," the demon lord remarked condescendingly as Kousako glared at the demon lord with murder plastered all over their face. "Take it back," Kousako uttered emotionlessly as a violet-purple mist formed beside them, only making the demon lord''s cackling turn into full-blown laughter. "So you can use cursed essence, haha; that witch really is a deplorable perso-". A condensed wave of fire erupted through the chamber and flooded every inch, leaving scorch marks everywhere as the scorched corpse of the demon lord crashed in front of Kousako before he exploded into cursed essence. As the abundant cursed essence funnelled into Kousako''s tattoos, Kousako''s angered expression phased back into their emotionless one. "Amazing my little sweet pea, that meanie didn''t know what hit him," Abigaillia said with an upbeat tone. Kousako placed their dark grey katana with a black handle and a black hexagon-shaped/crystal-textured hand guard into a cursed essence mist before turning to face Abigaillia, her face beaming with joy and giddiness as she looked at Kousako''s face which she thought of as goofily adorable. Abigaillia placed a hand on Kousako''s head and rustled their hair, causing Kousako to close their eyes and hum like a purring cat. "And with this one defeated, that means there are no more demon lords for you to fight for now, sweetie," Abigaillia said as she raised her hand away from Kousako only for them to grab her hand and place it back on their head. Abigaillia was slightly taken aback by Kousako''s desire to keep her hand on their head, but despite the surprise, Abigaillia could not help but contently smile. "Sweetie, could you hand over Kokuakyou?" Abigaillia asked cheerfully as she held out her hand. Kousako nodded and conjured another mist of cursed essence before they reached into it and pulled out Kokuakyou: a purely metal black shortsword with holes running through the middle of the blade. Kousako handed over Kokuakyou and Abigaillia stared at Kokuakyou as her expression turned to a pained smile. Grey gas began to seep out from Kokuakyou''s holes, and Abigaillia pulled Kokuakyou back, her breath stifling as she thrust the sword forward. Kousako''s body jolted from the protrusion and they glanced down at their shallowly punctured chest as it slowly began to petrify. Abigaillia hung her head low and sombrely whimpered. "looks like I couldn''t even half... well you get the picture, sweetie...," Abigaillia uttered with confliction crawling through her inflexions as she lowered her head even lower to the point her hat fell off her head. Abigaillia sighed as she reached down to grab her hat but froze as she felt a small hand touch her head. She gazed up through her hair to see the partially petrified Kousako patting her head. "Thanks... for understanding, sweetie," Abigaillia uttered as she stood up straight and placed her witch hat on her head, "But how could I live with myself if I allowed my babies to participate in the upcoming war and kill non-monsters?". Abigaillia closed her eyes as she removed the collar from around her neck and placed it around Kousako''s petrified neck. As the petrification began to encircle Kousako''s face, Abigaillia gave Kousako one last content but pained smile before gently kissing Kousako on the forehead. "For you, it won''t feel very long and once you get free, which I know you will, promise me you''ll find your siblings... although I guess it won''t be that hard since you''re the last one being petrified," Abigailila uttered as she wiped a tear from her eye. From Kousako''s view, the outer edges of their vision slowly darkened with that darkness crawling over their eyes until Kousako''s vision went completely blind and Abigaillia''s voice faded into nothingness. Kousako remained in the silent confines of the mental nothingness brought on by being petrified. As Kousako considered going back to sleep, Kousako began to hear the faint voice of a female complaining about something not working. Chapter 2: The Witchs Curse Part 2 "Come ooonn, if you walk any slower I''m going to end up like these chumps," Miana whined her voice droning through the halls of the catacombs-like dungeon as she pointed to the dishevelled skeleton wearing medieval armour covered in holes. (Miana von Metsustrava is a tall female older teen demi-human fox[humanoid with fox features]; she has hip-low fluffy super-pale-lime-coloured hair with curled ends, light grey eyes, dark tanned skin, small breasts, slightly large thighs, a large bushy super-pale-lime-coloured fox tail, and super pale lime-coloured fox ears) (Miana is wearing a black sleeveless skintight T-shirt, a light grey safari jacket, dark grey cargo trousers, black hiking boots, and a sheathed golden longsword with a glowing platinum edge on her back) "Need I remind you what happened the last time you recklessly disregarded your surroundings?" Vestro uttered sternly as he kicked a battered helmet at the dishevelled skeleton before a spike trap pierced through the holes in the skeleton''s armour. Miana shrivelled back from the skeleton before meekly clinging to her tail and followed Vestro with her eyes as he walked past her. (Vestro Hailnavo is a super tall male seraphin elf[a humanoid with pointy ears, different coloured scleras and a body which faintly radiates mana]; he has spiky pure-white hair with faint brown gradient ends, orange to green gradient eyes with dark purple scleras, faintly tanned fair skin, slim toned muscles, bold gold tattoos around his wrists and the start of his fingers, super pointy elf ears, and a faint soothing dark purple light radiating from his body) (Vestro is wearing a shoulder-low white headless cloak, a black sleeveless- skin tight T-shirt, black cargo trousers, a right-handed fingerless platinum metal-looking cotton glove with a platinum six leaved clover on the back of the glove, and black hiking boots) "If I didn''t know any better, it almost feels like you''re belittling me," Miana grumbled defeatedly as she puffed up her cheeks. Vestro lightly chuckled at Miana''s pouting, which only made her pout more. "Trust me, the fact you even heed my warnings puts you above the other students whom I''ve tutored," Vestro said as the duo entered a large room filled with tattered tents and rusted steel armour. "Before they died?" Miana asked quietly with Vestro''s ears twitching in tandem. "Before I sent them back to first year," Vestro retorted sharply. "Somehow that feels even worse...," Miana added as Vestro stopped in front of her, making her stop as well. "At least they''re alive to feel the shame.". "True...," Miana muttered before she glanced her head around Vestro to see the caved-in section of the room, covering a large doorway behind the rubble. Vestro stared at the pile of rubble and mentally groaned in frustration. "I take it this wasn''t here last time you were here?" Miana asked as she glanced at Vestro. Vestro closed his eyes and rubbed them. "Certainly not, it wasn''t like this fifty years ago," Vestro stated unamusedly, to which Miana gave him a side-eye. "You''ve got some nerve thinking a ruin constantly being spelunkered would remain in its previous condition after that much time," Miana uttered snarkily. Vestro lightly exhaled as he took a quick look at their surroundings. "Doesn''t seem there''s any other way in," Vestro uttered. He raised his right hand to the wall beside the rubble before a golden energy ring formed on the wall. The energy faded and Vestro pushed the cut cylinder until it popped out of the wall. The duo climbed through the hole in the wall and Miana glanced around as Vestro strolled ahead of her in the boss chamber. "I was half expecting a boss monster to attack us the second you made that whole," Miana remarked amusedly. "I''ve told you this before-". "Yeah-yeah, boss monsters don''t attack anything if it isn''t inside the boss chamber, nor can they leave the boss chambers," Miana replied as she put on a mocking imitation of Vestro''s inflexions. Vestro rolled his eyes at Miana instead of verbally responding, making Miana huff poutfully. "I was just trying to... never mind. So, why are we even again?" Miana asked. Vestro stopped before puzzledly turned his head and stared at Miana. "Didn''t I inform you already?". Miana huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "You mean when you were talking to me right after waking me up?". Vestro and Miana remained silent as they stared at each other before Vestro eventually broke the silence with an audible sigh. "Perhaps that was an oversight on my part. To put it simply, the last time I was here I was trying to figure out a-". Vestro paused his speech as he watched Miana slowly tilting her head in confusion. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Ahem... to put it very simply, I found a scroll from The Great Witch Abigaillia speaking of a powerful Cursed Level Echelon and an angel or something being in these ruins but I was unable to retrieve it the last time I was here," Vestro stated. "And why was that?". Vestro gestured behind himself and once Miana took a peek she widened her eyes. "Ah...," Miana muttered as she stared at the massive chasm spewing cursed essence between their half of the boss chamber and the severed other half. "The gap seems to have increased by a bit," Vestro remarked, with Miana deflatedly lowering her shoulders and head. "Is this why you were adamant about getting a student with a holy attributed Echelon?" Miana uttered meekly. Vestro nodded before he pointed towards the crystallized cursed essence sphere attached to the wall and surrounded by solid cursed essence tendrils. "All you need to do is deal with the crystal, I''ll handle the tendrils," Vestro instructed. Miana exhaled in relief with such force that she appeared slightly deflated, in demeanour and temperance. "Did you really believe I''d have you swim through the surging cursed essence just because you''re Echelon would be able to cure you... eventually?" Vestro asked nonchalantly making Miana lightly chuckle. Vestro placed his right hand''s fingers together before snapping them and conjuring multiple radiant golden energy spears. As Vestro turned to face the surging cursed essence, the energy spears rocketed off before piercing through the cursed essence tendrils and pinning them to the wall. Miana unsheathed her Echelon and slowly walked towards the cursed essence crystal. "At least he made it easy for me to do it," Miana murmured as she coated her Echelon in holy mana(pale translucent wavey golden energy) before plunging it into the cursed essence crystal sphere. Although pinned down, the tendrils writhed and squirmed for a brief moment before going limp and crumbling into grey dust as the crystal also crumbled. Miana swiftly resheathed her Echelon before skipping over to Visto as the surging wall of cursed essence sank into the chasm''s depths. The other side of the boss chamber became clear to the duo and Miana squinted her eyes as she spotted a grey object at the base of large marble stairs followed by her eyes being filled with stars. "You wait here I''ll...," Vestro managed to say before Miana leapt over the massive chasm in a single jump and giddily skipped over to petrified statue Kousako, "... why do I even bother?". Vestro shook his head as a golden energy bridge formed beneath his feet as he walked above the chasm. Miana made circles around the petrified Kousako with awe in her eyes but with her main focus being on Kokuakyou in Kousako''s chest. "I believe the translation in the great witch''s scroll for this particular Cursed Echelon is Kokuakyou: The Torrent of Modifiers," Vestro stated as he strolled up to Miana. Miana mindlessly nodded to Vestro''s words as she reached out to grab Kokuakyou but randomly flinched before glancing over at Vestro. "What is it now?" Vestro asked with annoyance. "Aren''t you going to swat my hand away before saying I can''t just go and touch random things in ruins?". "In any other situation, I would; however, this being must be the angel mentioned in the scroll so there''s no harm in you removing the Cursed Echelon.". Miana nodded before placing both hands on the handle of Kokuakyou. Miana closed her eyes, mentally bracing herself to remove the Cursed Echelon. "It appears the Cursed Echelon wasn''t embedded very far," Vestro remarked in surprise. Shooting her eyes open, Miana stared in disbelief at the view of the already removed Kokuakyou from Kousako. She glanced between the petrified Kousako and Kokuakyou multiple times before slumping her head sulkingly. "I can''t even do a cool action set piece correctly," Miana mumbled. Vestro rolled his eyes at his student''s remark. "Is that one of those cartoon things?" Vestro asked unamusedly. Miana matched Vestro''s non-existent amusement as she stared back at him. "Try all fiction, Sir.". "I''d rather not, one time was enough.". "What?" Miana uttered. "Huh?". Miana perplexedly blinked at him before tilting her head. "I feel like this isn''t how a dynamic between a student and tutor is supposed to work," Miana remarked as she thought Vestro flips between causal and business mode too infrequently for her to relax. Another thought entered her mind when she wondered if Vestro did it intentionally because it kept her from relaxing. "Mother said that play was bad," Kousako said emotionlessly. "Oh so it was a play, no wonder I didn''t....". Miana paused mid-sentence before glancing down at the now unpetrified Kousako. She refrained from saying anything as she bent down to match Kousako''s height and stared at the stab hole in Kousako''s spandex suit. She perplexedly raised a finger to the hole and poked Kousako''s undamaged chest. "Shouldn''t there be a hole in them where this whole is?" Miana asked as she raised her hand to poke Kousako''s squishable face. Vestro placed his hand on his chin and quietly pondered to himself. "Isn''t this the part where you would be gushing over how cute they are?" Vestro asked, making Miana turn her head and stare at him like a deer in headlights. "I- I mean I thought of it... but figured you''d chastise me for acting inappropriate during an expedition... or something," Miana mumbled shyly as her face turned slightly red. "Trust me, hugging another person would be the tamest thing I''ve seen people do on an expedition.". Miana shockly stared at Vestro before slowly raising her hand, "No I won''t tell you what I''ve seen other than it wasn''t sexual, and to answer why I asked the question in the first place is because it was mentioned in the scroll.". Miana gasped in utter shock making Kousako blankly stare up at her. "The witch can see the future?". "Unlikely/no," Vestro/Kousako said in unison before looking at each other. Vestro sighed before turning around. "Would you be willing to accompany us to the surface, witch''s angel?" Vestro asked. "Kousako shall," Kousako stated. Vestro thanked Kousako for their cooperation before he walked off, followed by Miana as she handed Kokuakyou to Kousako. Kousako straightened out their posture and returned Kokuakyou to the dense cursed essence mist before marching behind Vestro and Miana. Chapter 3: Cure From The Witch Part 1 Later on the surface, the trio emerged from the battered and almost non-existent entrance to the ruined dungeon with its foundation almost solely consisting of overgrown flora. Miana shaded her eyes from the sun as she ascended the final step. "Mind your step," Vestro stated. "Wha- plaph," Miana said before walking straight into a small spider web and getting some of it in her mouth, making her gag and spit in a struggle to expel it from her mouth. Vestro faintly exhaled from his nose before turning around to the duo. "It''s not my fault, the web came out of nowhere," Miana grumbled while slurring her words. "That''s not why I sighed and the web was stationary.". Miana raised an eyebrow as she pulled the spider web out of her mouth. "Then why did you?". "I could''ve sworn I parked the sky boat there," Vestro stated as he pointed to the surging river. "Did the boat run away?" Kousako asked. Miana shook her head dismissively. "Nah, Master Vestro''s just looking the wrong way," Miana remarked with a playfully snarky demeanour. Vestro turned his head in the opposite direction before mentally huffing at seeing the boat floating on the other river: the sky boat was a large, pale,e sand-coloured narrowboat with six thrusters on the sides containing large green gems. "I''m still certain I parked it on the other river," Vestro stated. "But at least it didn''t run away," Kousako added, making Vestro lower his ears slightly as he felt his frustration leave his body. "Kousako has a point, Master," Miana said jokingly as she skipped to the parked sky narrowboat. Vestro glanced over to Kousako as they were taking in their surroundings with confusion but with an emotionless expression. "Something wrong, Kousako?". "Where''d the city go?" Kousako uttered. "You mean the city of Rushak?" Vestro asked. Kousako nodded and Vestro rubbed his chin. "When I was around a teen, the city was sieged repeatedly during The Great Apocalypse War until it was eventually abandoned and was left to nature''s whims," Vestro stated, with Kousako nodding along. "... That will make fulfilling Mother''s task harder if everything is different," Kousako muttered. "And what might that task be?" Vestro inquired. "Finding siblings.". Vestro nodded and closed his eyes as he pondered whether to help. But as he took a brief glance at Kousako''s blank expression, Vestro landed on a decision and opened his eyes. "There''s no need to worry, if your siblings are in a similar situation to you then the ruined dungeons they''re in will still be there," Vestro explained. Kousako widened their eyes before nodding "Oh... so Kousako just has to go to the ruins mother took them to," Kousako stated. Vestro watched as Kousako glanced around at their surroundings again before tilting it at a ninety-degree angle. "You have no clue where they are do you?". Kousako shook their head but kept a smile on his face given he expected that answer from Kousako. "Well, we can deal with finding the ruins later after we return to the mainland," Vestro stated as he began walking but stopped once he noticed Kousako hadn''t moved an inch. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Mother said Kousako can''t walk outside of dungeons by themselves," Kousako stated as they held out a hand to Vestro. Vestro stared blankly at Kousako''s empty expression before arching his body to the side as he sighed pessimistically. Although begrudgingly, Vestro took Kousako''s hand and led them towards the sky narrowboat. "Are you like a mama''s boy or something?" Miana asked smugly as she poked her head out of one of the boat''s side windows. "Kousako isn''t a boy," Vestro stated boldly. "Eh?". Miana lostly blinked at Vestro. "Girl?" Miana asked half-heartedly. Vestro placed his free hand over his face and shook his head in bewilderment. "No, and no it''s not both," Vestro stated before Miana lowered her hand and huffed. "Whatev," Miana mumbled before she slunk back into the sky narrowboat and closed the window behind her. Vestro rolled his eyes while muttering about the quality of the academy''s non-combat classes going down over the years. Kousako tilted their head at Vestro''s remark before Vestro picked them up and carried Kousako into the sky narrowboat like a cat. Vestro plopped Kousako on the table-bound sofa in the boat''s passenger area. "Try not to walk around unnecessarily when the sky boat is ascending or descending," Vestro instructed. Kousako nodded before Vestro strolled off to the driver''s seat. The sky narrowboat began to shake, pushing the river water away from the boat''s thrusters as they outputted green mana and raised the sky narrowboat out of the river. Kousako gazed out one of the boat''s side windows before looking forward at Miana, who was sitting on the sofa opposite Kousako and on her phone. "Boats fly?" Kousako asked as they pointed to the side window beside them. While typing on her phone, Miana glanced up from her texting briefly before returning to her texting at a hastened pace. "They do if they have mana propulsion thrusters," Miana remarked. "That makes sense...," Kousako uttered before they returned to gazing out the side window as the terrain below appeared to descend. The sky narrowboat''s thrusters shone to their max intensity and tilted forward, boosting the skyboat forward over the marsh forest. "Gah!" a feminine voice uttered from another room, followed shortly by a loud thud and multiple light metalic thuds. Kousako turned their head towards the noise as pained grumbles emanated from nearby before a door to one of the small bedroom cabins and Alleutia stepped out with a red mark on her forehead. (Alleutia Faenozul is a kid-sized female adult-looking fairy[short humanoids with insect wings and plant horns]; she has shoulder-low super spikey red-pink hair, a pastel pink left eyes, a grey pupilless right eye, light chestnut skin, slightly wide hips and thighs, medium breasts, six opaque pale pink butterfly wings with red-pink which sparkles, and small birch tree-like horns curved upwards on the side of her head) (Alleutia is wearing an oversized black shirt with a grey gaming controller on the front) "Vestro... where''s the healing Echelon...?," Alleutia mumbled in a groggly state as she waddled through the boat, dragging her feet across the carpeted floor. Vestro groaned, lowering his head to the steering wheel before pulling the steering wheel backwards until the sky narrowboat became stationary. "How many times have I told you not to sleep with your Echelon in your bed, you neet?" Vestro uttered with agitation oozing from his voice as he got up from the driver''s seat. Alleutia bumped into Vestro, sending a static shock between the duo and making both of their hair stand up in a fuzzy frenzy. Vestro deeply inhaled before a floating hand made of his mana formed in front of Alleutia. The energy hand grabbed Alleutia by the face and picked her up carrying her through the boat like a mouse cursor dragging a computer file. "What am I going to do with you?" Vestro grumbled as he walked past Miana while brushing his fuzzed-up hair down. On her phone, Miana sent a text to her friend saying she might be back later than expected before she received a message emote from her friend expressing playful anger. Miana responded with a similar emote only its expression was of playful pouting instead. "What''s that?" Kousako asked while sitting next to Miana. Miana flinched at suddenly hearing Kousako right next to her, but quickly recovered and wiped away her visual surprise. "It''s a phone?" Miana asked perplexedly. "No, the pictures," Kousako said as they pointed at an emote of a cat sticking its tongue out only to tap it and send it to Miana''s friend. Miana''s face turned bright red before she frantically tried to type she wasn''t the one who sent that emote; however, as she was mid-sentence, bouncing bubbles briefly appeared below Miana''s friend''s icon before they disappeared, followed by her friend sending the same emote. Miana exhaled in pure relief before slumping back on the sofa, leaving Kousako to tilt their head in confusion. Kousako tilted their head in the opposite direction as they raised their hand and pointed. "Huh?" Miana uttered. "Wyvern," Kousako stated passionlessly. "Pah, nice try as if I''d fall for that," Miana said smugly before a booming roar bellowed from behind Miana, making sweat form on Miana''s face, "...Uh-oh....". Chapter 4: Cure From The Witch Part 2 A towering red wyvern covered head to toe in shimmering metalic scales reeled its head back and gathered flames into its mouth with a booming crackle. Miana swung her head back to the sound of the crackling before flailing her arms at seeing the hurtling wave of flames. "MR VESTRO!! Do something!" Miana screamed in pure terror while Kousako stared emotionlessly at the incoming flames. As the flames surged for the sky narrowboat, Miana clung to Kousako and dived under the table before bracing herself. She waited for a few seconds before slowly opening one of her eyes when the impact of the wyvern''s attack never came. "Wait here," Miana stated with a shaky voice. Kousako nodded and Miana slowly crawled out from under the table. She poked her head up to the side window and widened her eyes in surprise at the sight before her. The wyvern was surrounded by blurring objects before large violet-purple ice chains constricted its body; Allunavia stood on a smaller chain connected between the wyvern and the sky narrowboat. (Allunavia is a super tall humanoid; she has knee-low super spikey imperial-red to raspberry-red to violet-purple gradient hair, grey eyes with bold violet-purple crystal-textured plus-shaped pupils, super pointy elf ears, tree-like violet-purple bull horns on the side of her head, wide hips, firm thighs, flat nippleless chest, lean muscles, and lightly tanned skin) (Allunavia is wearing a jet-black winter fur coat wrapped around her waister like a skirt and is topless; she also has three five-cm wide violet-purple tattoo rings on the back of each of her forearms, a large scar-looking violet-purple tattoo running down her spin and covering the top half of her back in the vague shape of a cross, and a violet-purple tattoo covering her entire body from the waist down which gives off the appearance of leggings) Allunavia raised a hand to the wyvern''s face and gently rubbed her fingers against the wyvern''s blackened and rotten tooth. She grasped the tooth before flexing her arm and yanking it out of the wyvern''s mouth. "Bad boys get punished when they lash out," Allunavia uttered coldly as she released the wyvern from her ice chains. The wyvern whimpered as it slowly flew away with its tail between its legs. Allunavia sighed unamusedly before glancing back at Miana with a scowl, making Miana flinch from fear. "Tell that Vestro to hurry up this expedition, would you, little princess?," Allunavia requested, although her cold demeanour made it seem more like an order to Miana. Allunavia raised her hands before swinging them down as cursed essence mist wings flowed from her back tattoos. Miana watched as Allunavia kicked off the sky narrowboat and soared off into the distance ahead of the boat. "Could you not yell for me every time something mildly problematic happens?" Vestro uttered as he left the storage closet. A quivering Alleutia with a square bandaid on her forehead poked her head out from her room while her eyes spun like headless chickens. "She isn''t still here, right?" Alleutia muttered nervously. Vestro rolled his eyes as he walked to the front of the sky narrowboat. "Tia, make yourself useful and help Kousako use the shower," Vestro ordered as he sat in the driver''s seat and began piloting the sky narrowboat again. Alleutia poutfully muttered as she exited her room before something clicked in her head. "Wait... who?". Alleutia glanced slightly downwards as she watched Kousako crawl out from under the table. Alleutia blinked at Kousako as they emotionlessly stared at her. Alleutia closed her eyes, placed her hands together in front of her face, and heavily exhaled from her nose. "Are you trying to kill me? How can you not warm me someone this cute was on board?" Alleutia asked as her cheeks turned slightly pink. she couldn''t help smushing Kousako''s face with her hands and contently smirked as Kousako made funny noises. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Didn''t think I needed to, given I explained why we were on this expedition," Vestro remarked as he refrained from removing his eyes from where the sky narrowboat was going. Alleutia slightly widened her eyes at hearing Vestro''s explanation. "Oh...," Alleutia said before looking at Kousako, "Ok, follow me, Koko.". Kousako tilted their head at Alleutia making Alleutia tilt her head back at Kousako. "My name is Kousako," Kousako stated unamusedly. "... right I know that, but using nicknames doesn''t hurt, does it?" Alleutia said before Kousako looked down at their body and began patting themselves down. "There''s no damage, so I guess not," Kousako stated perplexedly. Alleutia mentally cooed at Kousako''s confused tone before she grabbed Kousako''s hand and led them to the bathroom. The sound of the shower springing to life drummed through the sky narrowboat as Kousako stared at the shower. Alleutia kept her hand under the falling water until it reached the perfect temperature before she turned off the shower. "Does Kousako stand under the water?" Kousako asked. Alleutia gave Kousako''s battered jumpsuit before pointing at it. "You''re supposed to take your clothes off before having a bath," Alleutia stated. "Kousako knows but that''s not a bath," Kousako said as they pointed at the shower. Alleutia blankly stared at Kousako, rubbing her forehead before pessimistically sighing. "At least you''re too cute for me to get mad at," Alleutia uttered as she cheekily shook her head, "Could you just undress and get in the shower?". Kousako nodded as they grabbed their jumpsuit and ripped it off their body, tearing it in half in the process. As the jumpsuit fell off their body, Alleutia got a clear view of Kousako''s body and the violet-purple tattoos all over their body: bold lines on the back of their arms, on the side of their legs, over their spine, and bold rings on the back of their hands with a smaller one over their wrist connected to the original ring. "Huh... you''ve got them... wait a minute," Alleutia remarked before she noticed something odd about Kousako''s body, mainly the lack of nipples or any form of reproductive organs. Alleutia rubbed her eyes and moved her head closer to Kousako''s nippleless chest while thinking of some species with hidden reproductive organs. "Erm... let''s get you cleaned up, ok?" Alleutia stated as she guided Kousako into the shower and turned on the shower. A few hours later, Alleutia sat in the passenger seat of the sky narrowboat in a daze. She stared at the rising moon as the boat flew above the stretch of sea between the mainland and the marsh island. Alleutia occasionally glanced at Vestro multiple times until Vestro sighed. "What is it, Neet?" Vestro asked. "I don''t get it.". "Get what?". "How can Kousako have nothing... you know... down there?" Alleutia muttered, her face turning red as she spoke. Vestro opened his mouth to speak but refrained from speaking for a second as he heard Alleutia groan in a pout. "How many times are you going to ask me that?" Vestro asked. Alleutia placed her hands on her head and rustled her hair as she poutfully hummed. "But it doesn''t make sense... they''re as flat as mother and also... wait do you think Koko''s a mimic?" Alleutia uttered quietly. "Honestly... I don''t know why I bother with expedition briefs when no one pays attention to them," Vestro uttered, causing Alleutia to advert her gaze and nervously whistle. Meanwhile, in one of the small bedroom cabins, Miana slept like a rock while Kousako, wearing a silver kitsune-themed onesie, led beside the sleeping Miana. Kousako silently stared at the ceiling as Miana muttered incoherently about something involving her passing some exam. Kousako tilted their head to the side as they pondered what an exam even was but figured it was strong since they recalled Abigaillia complaining about it to Zaerona. Chapter 5: Heavy Sleeper As the sun fully set, the sky narrowboat flew towards the spanning coast side city made of sandstone brick with European-themed architecture. The city was surrounded by a tall circular sandstone wall, save for the section directly by the ocean. The sky narrowboat entered the city''s air space and flew above it as it headed toward the large castle-looking building on the elevated circular section at the city''s centre. The sky narrowboat descended towards the moat surrounding the estate of the castle-looking building, passing through a thin veil of energy so faint it''s only visible when someone is right next to it. The sky narrowboat landed in the moat and floated to the inner side of the moat before the boat shut off. The boat''s side door opened and Vestro stepped out of the boat followed by a groggy Miana carrying a sleeping Kousako on her back. "Meet me at my office-" Vestro managed to say before Alleutia stuck her head out the driver-side window. "Yeah-yeah, I''ll fill out those reports after I''ve parked my skyboat," Alleutia grumbled before slinking back into the boat. Vestro rolled his eyes and pushed the skyboat''s side door shut before the skyboat began to chug away towards the hanger-like dock on the side of the estate. Miana shuffled her way in front of Vestro while hulking Kousako on her back as her legs wobbled. "Do I have to carry them?" Miana grumbled, her breath hitching as Kousako leaned forward into her. "Given that Kousako shall be staying in your dorm it only makes sense for you to carry them," Vestro stated as he headed towards the closest entrance into the academy building. Miana whined and complained to Vestro the entire time they walked through the academy halls together until Vestro entered his office. "Man... I''ll let him off with insulting me," Miana muttered. "Don''t sully my character by insinuating I said you don''t have any friends," Vestro said from behind the door. Miana loudly huffed before slowly storming off but didn''t get very far as Kousako became too heavy. Miana felt her whole body shiver before she collapsed and became buried underneath Kousako. "They weren''t this heavy when they were awake," Minana grumbled as she struggled to slither herself out from under Kousako. The next day, Miana frantically paced around the common area of her dorm while muttering random phrases in a trance-like state. "Why won''t they wake up?" Miana chanted mentally as her footsteps drummed through the common area. As Miana continued to ponder her options, one of the doors leading to a dorm room opened before Suethia stepped out into the dorm common area with a pout. (Suethia Shininggale is a slightly tall demi-human bunny[a humanoid with rabbit features]; she has elbow-low curly golden blonde hair with faint ruby red ends, ruby red eyes, long golden blond rabbit ears, a big fuzzy golden blonde rabbit tail, medium breasts, wide hips, muscular thighs, and tanned skin) (Suethia is wearing a red T-shirt, an open black leather vest, golden silk leggings) "How could you not follow through with that text-," Suethia whined before pausing upon seeing the sleeping Kousako sprawled out on one of the sofas like a rock, "Who''s that?". Miana continued to pace around the sofa, ignoring Suethia due to how deep in her mind she was. Suethia sighed before raising a hand, grabbing Miana by her collar and yanking Miana back to snap her back to reality. "Oh, Thia," Miana mumbled as she rubbed her neck. Suethia pointed her hands at the sleeping Kousako. Miana gazed between Kousako and Suethia before nervously chuckling. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Erm... Master Vestro said they''re a new student and would be assigned to our dorm," Miana explained. "Ah, I see. So, what''s with the pacing?" Suethia asked as she placed her hands on her hips. Miana deeply exhaled and pointed at Kousako. "I''ve been trying for hours but they just won''t wake up!" Miana complained meekly. Suethia playfully rolled her eyes as she thought Miana was being pedantic. "Come now, Mia, you must be....". Suethia froze mid-sentence as she noticed the various objects scattered across the common area: ranging from books, various music drives(rectangular metal cases filled with threads) and the music player for them, and even Miana''s sheathed Gold Level Echelon longsword. "Did you really hit... her...him with Celestial Edge?" Suethia asked as she picked up Celestial Edge. Miana sprung to her feet while flailing her arms about. "Of course not! I just tried to poke Kousako with it and before I knew it Celestial Edge was sent flying across the room and knocking everything over," Miana explained adamantly. Suethia sighed and handed Miana Celestial Edge before heading to the kitchen area. Suethia swiftly returned with a slightly damp cloth and placed it before Kousako''s nose. Kousako''s entire body twitched before they swiftly opened their eyes and sat up. Suethia briefly blinked at Kousako before sighing. "What a mild reaction, but I guess not everyone would overreact as much as you Mia," Suethia remarked amusedly, making Miana''s face turn bright red as the duo recalled the time Miana couldn''t stop uncontrollably gagging after smelling smelling salts. A few minutes later, Kousako stared at the full-body mirror beside the dorm common area''s exit and took in their new attire: Kousako was now wearing an oversized black T-shirt, dark blue shorts, black and dark blue checkered leggings, and black boots. "Sorry about the clothes not fitting perfectly; they''re the only clothes I had that somewhat fit you," Suethia said with an apologetic tone. Kousako silently stared at Suethia before tilting their head. "But what was wrong with the kitsune suit?" Kousako asked. "You mean the onesie?" Miana asked as she was brushing her hair. Kousako nodded their head leading to Suethia sighing. "You can''t wear bed clothing in public, dumb-dumb," Suethia stated as she reached to open the exit to the hallway. The trio walked through the halls of Abisuthegale Echelon Academy, Kousako clinging to Miana''s hand as the group arrived at a divergence in the hallway. "Alright, you just need to keep heading forward until you come across Master Vestro," Miana explained as she released her grasp from Kousako''s hand. Kousako stared at Miana "But mother said Kousako shouldn''t walk outside by themselves," Kousako stated. Suethia tilted her head in confusion at Kousako''s statement. "But we''re inside right now," Suethia remarked. Miana rubbed the back of her head as she wondered how she could convince Kousako to walk by themself. She continued to ponder as a set of footsteps approached. "I''m sure she only said that to stop you from wandering off from her," Vestro remarked as he stood before the duo, with Kousako already standing beside Vestro before the two girls registered Kousako''s movement. "When did they?" Miana muttered before she noticed Vestro waiting with an expression implying for her to pay attention. "As long as you two don''t overthink things, you''ll easily pass your examination test," Vestro stated, leaving the two girls to awkwardly/nervously chuckle. The two bidded Kousako and Vestro farewell before they headed down the hallway Vestro hadn''t come from. Kousako grabbed onto Vestro''s hand, making him sigh exhaustedly as he turned around and led Kousako back the way he came from. A short walk later, Vestro led Kousako into a large room filled with first-year academy students. The students muttered among themselves as they watched Vestro walk in while Kousako held his hand. "Why are they holding the hand of the Sovereign of Elves?" One of the students whispered to another. Vestro guided Kousako to the front of the students before he turned to face the students as Kousako let go of his hand. Chapter 6: Evaluation Hand-Holding The faint chatter of the roughly one hundred first years fluttered through the large room, their eyes loosely trained on Kousako as Vestro led them to the empty seat at the front of the sitting students. Gesturing to the seat, Vestro waited for Kousako to sit down but as they blankly stared at the chair Vestro rubbed his eyes. "I''m only going over there," Vestro uttered, flinching mildly while pointing to a floating circular dark metallic tablet surrounded by various stone constructs. Kousako peered between the tablet, the rows of bookshelves, and the empty seat. After a little wait, they released Vestro''s hand and climbed onto the chair, leaving Vestro to rub the small red handprint on his hand as he strolled over to the tablet. The other first years continued to murmur, wondering how someone could be so close to the Sovereign of Elves without anyone knowing who they were. Kousako paid the murmurs no mind, not realising the subject of their murmuring was in fact them, until they felt the chair beside them rattle as the person behind it leaned against it. "Hey, Omasukou, do you know who they are, do you??" Atlasuo asked excitedly, his voice filled to the brim with enthusiasm it was almost intoxicating. He rocked his hands back and forth, the slight loose bracelets he wore rattled against his wrists like out-of-tune wind chimes, and clung to Omasukou''s chair in an attempt to get his friend''s attention. The metal chinking mix with the shaking only served to aggravate Omasukou''s already high frustration levels from all the muttering. (Atlasuo Strumkaull is a very short humanoid teen, and he is half-angel and half-human; he has slightly long spikey black hair tied behind his head into a messy low ponytail, pale cyan eyes, slightly pronounced hips, slightly small feathery wings on his thighs and back, fair skin and various large golden tattoo strips [on his waist, forearms, shoulders, and cheeks]) (Atlasuo is wearing slightly large pink metal bracelets, no clothes on his torso, a metalic black belt, dark grey cotton shorts, black leggings, and dark grey metal getas) (Omasukou Tao is a humanoid teen who''s slightly above average height for a teen, and he is a half-elf and half-fae; he has neck-low scruffy and spikey snow white hair, a slim slightly toned body, emerald green eyes with dark purple sclera edges by his tear ducts, super pointy elf ears, body has a faint soothing dark purple and pale green light radiating from his body, dark wood-textured horns on his forehead, and dark tanned skin) (Tao is wearing pitch black cargo trousers with snow white hatching stripes around the thighs and ankle areas, a black and dark grey vertical striped tank top, an emerald green short-sleeved leather jacket, and emerald green fur boots) "Knock it off, are you trying to get in trouble before we even got past orientation?" Omasukou whispered calmly, a faint temper behind his voice at his friend''s question. Atlasuo awkwardly raised his eyes, catching Vestro unamusedly staring straight at him while pointing a finger to the floor. He meekly chuckled releasing his hands for the chair and slinking back into his own chair. Vestro let out an exhausted sigh before turning his attention to the whole class. "Greeting one and all; due to unforeseen circumstances, I shall be taking over today''s entrance examinations, and no, Atlasuo, the original examiner didn''t die," Vestro stated, his tone of voice insinuating he saw the question coming a mile away before it had even been asked. Atlasuo slowly lowered his hand before raising his hand again, making Vestro rub his eyes. Vestro shook his head with half a mind to ignore him, mentally wondering how he could have another question, but he knew Atlasuo wouldn''t budge until he got an answer. "And no, I didn''t lose a bet," Vestro added, his response being satisfactory for Atlasuo as he lowered his hand. Vestro raised a hand, the tablet behind him flickering to life in tandem with his hand, and snapped his fingers, conjuring a beam of mana from the tablet which formed into a glass-like table above its surface. Lowering his hand, Vestro gestured to the hand imprint on the glassy screen and, just making sure, glanced at Kousako to ensure they were paying attention before catching Kousako staring at Omasukou''s eyes. "That will make things easier," Vestro thought before muttering something under his breath. Kousako swung their head around, their eyes primed to Vestro, and Vestro mentally flinched at the intensity thrown at him from Kousako''s piercing gaze alone. "N-now, all you lot need to do is place your hand upon the hand imprint, and your ID Plate and Acadamy Card will be created," Vestro explained calmly. The first years acknowledged Vestro''s instruction, and Vestro waved for the students at the back of the group to come up for evaluation. After watching more than a hundred students get evaluated and leave the room, Kousako raised their hand out, mimicking the same actions they''d repeatedly seen performed before them, and glanced over to Omasukou with emotionless eyes. As they continued to stare, Omasukou glanced slightly away from Kousako''s direction, desperately trying to keep an unbothered demeanour. Still, the fuzzy sensation, brought on by the staring made his attempt increasingly futile. Clutching his fist against his shoulders, Omasukou cast a side eye at Kousako in an attempt to match the intensity directed at him. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. However, at the briefest of eye contact, a tidal wave of pressure stuck him, rattling every bone in his body, filling Omasukou with an oddly foreboding sensation of deja vu. He darted his eyes to the side frantically as the other person next to Kousako went up for evaluation. "What?" Omasukou asked, his voice mildly strained. Trying to regain some of his lost composure, Omasukou sat up straight and fixed some superficial errors in his attire. Kousako blankly stared at him with their big ol'' eyes before glancing at their raised hand and then pointing it at Omasukou. Omasukou braced himself, his mind racing at what their next words might be, the building unease being expedited by Kousako''s piercing gaze. "Is this right?" Kousako asked, leaving Omasukou at such a loss for words, he deflated back into his chair at the mundanity of Kousako''s question. Feeling a little led on but relieved all the same, Omasukou similarly covered his eyes to Vestro and lightly exhaled. "It''s not that ha... ...yeah it''s fine...," Omasukou grumbled, his voice trailing off at the sight of Kousako''s perfectly smooth hand catching his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but the call of his name put a wedge in his thought process, eliciting annoyed murmurs from him as he rose to his feet. "I guess you want to get me out of the way to deal with little... erm... smooth fingers over there privately," Omasukou remarked snarkily, slapping his hand against the glassy screen''s handprint. "I wouldn''t say privately is applicable here," Vestro replied, mildly waving his hand dismissively as Omasukou rolled his eyes. The tablet sprung to life, allowing its radiating light to ripple out and waft against past the stone constructs, turning them into blinding beacons. The light of the constructs shot off the stone constructs, focusing themselves through the glassy screen like a magnifying lens as two rectangles began forming at the centre of the screen. As quickly as they appeared, the light shattered into particles, disappearing to reveal an ID Plate and an Academy Card. "Everything in order?" Kousako asked, standing in the spot perfectly between Vestro and Omasukou. Omasukou jumped at the sudden appearance of Kousako right beside him, almost tripping over his own feet as he jumped back. "How long have you been there!" Omasukou exclaimed in a fit of shock. "They walked up here with you," Vestro stated, pointing out that Omasukou had been holding Kousako''s hand the whole way from the chairs to the tablet. Omasukou defeatedly groaned, attempting to raise his lowered hand but it didn''t move an inch, confirming something was indeed holding onto it. However, he dared not look, his face turning slightly red as he refused to physically acknowledge his hand being held. "Why is their hand so warm?" Omasukou grumbled, catching a stray snicker from Alleutia as she floated past the room''s door, only plummeting Omasukou''s embarrassment into the gutters. "Warm?" Vestro mentally remarked as he gestured for Omasukou to remove his ID Plate and Academy Card. Once removed, Omasukou stepped to the side, giving Kousako plenty of space to stand directly in front of the glassy screen. "For you, Kousako, I will need to have you do things slightly differently," Vestro stated as he reached to one of the stone structures and picked up a shortsword made entirely of bronze. Kousako tilted their head, confusion etched on the way they tilted their head as they remained visually unaffected. "Seeing as you don''t possess fingerprints, you''ll need to place an Echelon on the projection table," Vestro explained, demonstrating how to place an echelon on the glassy screen using the bronze shortsword Echelon as an example. Kousako nodded staring at the shortsword briefly before turning to Vestro, a mild briskness in their step. "Does Kousako need to use that one?". "Naturally, you would use your own Echelon," Omasukou remarked with a low mumble, "And since he''s giving you that option, I assume that means, you already have your own, correct?". Kousako nodded, purposely moving to the closest stone pillar and reaching a hand behind it, obscuring their hand from the other two''s views. As Kousako moved their hand around, the sound of metallic rattling chimed into the elven duo, casting a confused cloud over Omasukou while Vestro returned the bronze Echelon back to where he got it from. "To be clear, you should use the one you primarily use," Vestro stated, calmly mentioning that Kousako can postpone this part of the evaluation until they get them a less conspicuous Echelon. "But Kousako can''t use those ones," Kousako stated boldly, a stark contrast to their usual emotionless disposition. They began pulling the handle of a sword-type Echelon out from behind the stone construct in a fashion similar to a rabbit being pulled out from a top hat. Kousako swiftly placed the sword on the glassy screen, replicating the movements as Vestro did with the bronze Echelon; Kousako made sure it was within the border of the screen but found some difficulty in doing so with a single hand, refusing to free their other hand from its current supporting task, as Vestro narrowed his eyes at the Echelon Kousako chose. Chapter 7: Tests and Torment In one of the academy''s many courtyards, a set of large obsidian-like obelisks of marble were situated in one neat line around the area''s perimeter. Their towering forms loomed ominously over the many first-year students, almost squandering the lots'' confidence with their imposing presence. "Alright, you lot. Each of these Orionstones has been designed to test different aspects of your capabilities. From your strongest single strike, attack speed, resilience to attacks and recoil from your own, and so on." Vestro explained as he jabbed the pummel of the bronze echelon into the Orionstone beside him. From the impact, the Orionstone shimmered as the sunlight filtered through it and formed into a grey [342] with a bronze outline. "You may also try each of the tests as many times as you wish and at your leisure, during the duration of the first two school periods, and working together isn''t prohibited as long as you note any buffs and the sort on your scores when submitting them," Vestro added before turning towards the nearest archway into the academy building. "Aren''t you going to stay, Sir?" a female first-year student asked, filled with mild concern that the elf had been angered by one of them. "There''s something that requires my attention, but I shan''t be too long," Vestro explained sternly before swiftly departing for the academy''s library. "I hope he means in human time and not elven," a fellow student grumbled. The other students murmured in agreement, as some mentioned that their older sibling''s classes were sent back to being first years after they messed up a test when the guy disappeared for a month straight. A little while later. The sound of endeared snickers fluttered through the courtyard, the harmless comments of his fellow first-year students striking at Omasukou''s nerves like a set of ice-coated knives. His face was flush like a tomato, wishing nothing more than to rip his hand away from Kousako''s delicate palm. But, the thought of committing to the action sent a tremor of terror through the guy as he sensed something he could only describe along the lines of murderous intent erupt from Kousako. "What is with you, it''s like every fibre and bone in my body is telling me I''m in danger," Omasukou whispered to Kousako. Kousako remained as still as a statue, not making even a sound with the only sound being the faint sizzle from the air boiling around their body. "Hmm, Kousako thinks Oma is just more perceptive than others," Kousako stated solemnly whilst they watched the other students doing the various practical Echelon tests with underlying interest. "Great... she... he... they? Forget it. Kousako has given me a nickname already, "Omasuko murmured begrudgingly, feeling utterly conflicted about whether to be mad at or just accept the nickname. However, as quickly as he resigned himself to his fate, a striking thought occurred to him on the matter of Kousako''s nickname. "Wait... did they call me a grandmother?". Before he could fully consider if the nickname was intentional or not, Atlasuo strolled his way over to the guy with amusement in his demeanour and a cheeky grin on his face. "Bro I just gotta ask... why are you holding their hand?" Atlasuo asked cheekily while resting an arm on Omasukou''s shoulders. Omasukou gritted his teeth at the cheeky question, his cheeks faintly reddening further at his friend''s insinuation. His complexion only got worse with the dumb grin his friend was sporting on his face which he knew Atlasuo was doing to tease him. "Do you think I''d be doing this because I wanted to, Suo?" Omasukou grumbled in response while slumping his shoulder and making his friend lose his balance before falling onto the grassy ground face first. "Yeah, I deserved that," Atlasuo remarked with a chuckle as he staggered back to his feet. Flicking his black locks out of his face, Atlasuo turned his focus to Kousako with a smile on his face before asking, "Say... so what''s your name?" "Kousako," Kousako stated bluntly, causing Omasukou''s hand to shiver from the short burst of cold emanating from Kousako''s body. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Ah, noted," Atlasuo uttered nervously as he slowly raised a hand to the top of his head, wincing as he rubbed where he bumped his head. "Masu, let''s do the test thing," Kousako mumbled as they waddled towards the closest Orionstone, dragging a reluctant Omasukou behind them with ease. Even if he wanted to, the guy could tell just by the firmness of Kousako''s grip alone that he didn''t have a say in whether he was doing the test or not. But, while being tugged along, he realised Kousako had altered the nickname they gave him, which left him with more questions as he was concerned about the possibility that Kousako could read his mind. Meanwhile, in the academy''s library, walls upon walls of finely maintained books filled every bookshelf and cabinet of the grand Victorian-cathedral-styled library which spanned the area of a city block. The nostalgic smell of old books hung in the air, instilling a sense of connection to the ancient knowledge within their pages to all those who entered the space. Students from various years and clubs populated the library''s many sections, their barely audible mutters never breaking past a whisper as many of them earnestly worked on their research and theses. "Say that was the Sovereign of Elves that just walked past right? I wonder if he''s free right now," a female brunette second student asked amusedly, imagining all the interesting research topics she could ask the guy. The girl beside the wishful girl couldn''t help but cast a concerned side-eyed to her seemingly dimwitted friend. Her eyes rolled a full circle while she herself let out a tempered sigh of acceptance. "It''s almost admirable how... air-headed you can be," the freckle-faced third-year student remarked, her eyes filled with mild endearment as she lightly pinched the second-year''s cheek and got a sheepish eep out of her. "Whaz hat s-post to mean?" the second year mumbled out, her words jumbled by her friend pulling at her cheek. "How can you have been here for a year and still don''t know any of the academy''s unspoken rules?" the freckled third-year asked, followed by an exhausted whimper while pulling her friend''s face from side to side. With yet another sign, the third year added, "When the Sovereign of Elfs is in the library, that''s basically the same as someone setting their phone to do not disturb only with dire consequences for ignoring it without a good reason." Inside the restricted section of the library, Vestro stood upon a circular balcony, lacking a guard rail, that led from the chamber''s entrance. Strolling to the central glowing ring of the balcony, the guy took in his surroundings; the endless shelves of books packed so tightly together it made it seem the room''s walls were the books themselves. Whether it was up or down, the circular chamber of the library''s restricted section seemed to go on endlessly. The upward direction contained a heavenly illumination while the way down contained an all-consuming mist of darkness from which nothing could consider escaping from its clutches. "Careful now, big sis would be very mad at you if she found out you were in here without her permission, Mr Elf Boy," a condescending child-esc voice uttered from above, drawing Vestro''s attention upward and onto the featureless construct of light in the shape of a child hovering above him. "Then I suppose both of us will be in trouble if you snitch," Vestro stated calmly. He reached up a hand to grab the construct by the ankle before gently dragging her down to his eye level with her giggling the whole way down. "Oh-ho, something must have piqued your interest for you to be bantering with little ol'' me~," the light construct announced, utterly delighted that the stoic Vestro was talking to her for a change. She quickly huddled up near the elf''s head, eliciting a ticked-off groan of annoyance from the guy at her proximity to him. A hand of radiant golden energy formed behind the light construct before pinching her in the back of the neck. The being shiek from shock at the sudden pain, forcing her illusionary magic to wobble and waver before ultimately fizzling out and revealing the goofily large dark ocean blue witch hat atop the construct''s head. "Just find me the Cursed Echelon Glossary, Shodohoyuu," Vestro ordered as he released his grip on the girl, causing the crinkles in the witch hat to straighten out. Freed from the pain, the corners of Shodohoyuu''s hat curled upwards into the visage of a wicked smile as the girl let out a witchy cackle. "If you''re asking for that, I take it you found them then. That scroll I gave you must''ve come in handy~," Shodohoyuu mouthed with a sultry tone. The shift in the girl''s tone caused Vestro to break eye contact with her, anticipating her impending demand. As she fluttered around the elf, Shodohoyuu brushed her light-based fingers against the elf''s ear, tentatively running the back of her hand across the ear in hopes of breaking the guy''s resolve. "Just come out with it," Vestro uttered unamusedly while using his energy hand to flick the grin out of the girl. "Don''t you think I deserve a reward for my assistance?" Shodohoyuu pleaded flirtily while drumming her fingers against the guy''s ears, eagerly awaiting his recourse like a child surrounded by birthday presents. "The book first.". Shodohoyuu squealed with glee, kicking her feet through the air before swan-diving off the platform and diving down to the chamber''s depths. Although not showing it, Vestro groaned defeatedly, utterly dreading the looks he''d get for the next few days because of Shodohoyuu.