Serum

After leaving class, Dirk walked straight to the front of the Hall of Artisans. He could see lots of activity inside and outside. This place didn't calm down at all. 

However, there was one person that stood still amongst the bustling crowds. Dirk sighed as he approached Ava, happy to get the insane teacher off his mind. 

"Dirk!"

"Follow me."

Dirk motioned her over, and Ava took up a position on his right. The two left the crowds and headed towards the dorms, walking past to the nicer residences.

Ava made sure to memorize the route she took. Luckily, each house had a number and every street a name, so when they finally arrived at Dirk's house she could remember the address. 

Soon, they arrived. Ava excitedly followed Dirk as he led her into his home.

"This is a nice place. Much better than our dorms. Plus you get to live alone."

Ava complimented as they walked inside. While the place was kind of bare, it was still a house and plenty for a single occupant. Honestly, she was surprised that Dirk was even capable of living on his own. 

"I'll go get changed."

Dirk went straight upstairs, leaving Ava to her devices. She sat down on the couch, and a few minutes later, Dirk came walking down. 

"Backyard."

With a word, both of them went to the kitchen and exited to the back of the house. Each house had a backyard, except there were no boundaries between each yard. It was just one big strip of grass that connected each house next to and across from each other. Only 80 meters away he could see the backyard of the house across from his. 

"Let's do some martial arts. Tonight I'm going to do another destruction cycle, so I might not be so effective tomorrow."

"Alright. Where at?"

"My calves. I also might do my hamstrings."

"I see. If you do, it'll hurt to sit down in classes."

"It'll be bearable. Now square up. We'll do some grappling first."

Saying that, the two approached each other. Ava had taken off her shoes, and her clothes were light but tighter fitting. Dirk was only in shorts. He never really wore a shirt when working out, and Ava had gotten used to handling his bare body. 

The two quickly started their spar. They tousled with each other and allowed the other to get in plenty of throws or locks. Sparring how they did was surprisingly exhausting, and within half an hour, both were sweating. Thankfully, the cold evening breeze was there to cool them off. 

*Thud!*

"Ow!"

After Dirk did a throw, Ava landed with a pound. However, she seemed to have gotten hurt, and Dirk stopped the lock he was about to put her in.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just my antlers. They've been getting longer."

Ava rubbed her head as she sat up, and Dirk nodded understandingly. He hadn't forgotten that she was a deer hybrid, and with her getting older, her antlers were getting longer by the day. They were already several inches long and were beginning to branch off. 

"Hmm, if you have long antlers, your ability to grapple will be greatly hindered. Tactical maneuvering will also be difficult."

"I know. I've been thinking about it more and more."

"...Are those antlers significant in any way?"

Dirk asked, but Ava froze up a bit. It was a purely curious question, but Ava already knew what he was eluding to, and that was a sensitive topic for her. 

"...Technically, no. We deer hybrids don't rely on our antlers for any functions in magic or the like. However, dad said that our race highly values them as something like crowns. Our antlers grow to become extremely strong, and losing them is a massive shame for a deer. Only criminals get stripped of theirs, and those who lose them in battle are considered weak."

"So your antlers hold cultural significance."

"Yes."

"Hmm..."

Dirk pondered, as did Ava. He spoke after a few seconds. 

"Alright. If that's the case, what you do with them is up to you. However, it looks like they'll only become more of a problem. We may have to stop grappling in the future. Unless you cut them of course. I don't think you have any nerves in that bone, so it wouldn't hurt to cut it."

"Y-yea."

Ava stuttered a bit as he spoke about something so controversial so easily. She knew he didn't mean anything bad by it though. If there was one thing she came to understand about Dirk, it was that he was straightforward. This was a purely honest suggestion to make combat easier, and she couldn't disagree with his logic. 

"Well, let's just do some striking."

Dirk brushed off the topic, as did Ava. She could think about his suggestion later. 

.........

The two did training for a few hours, after which Dirk made them food, albeit not good food. Since he wasn't adept at cooking, the meat he cooked came out rather leathery. Luckily, the bread was at least good, and melting cheese on it was easy. After the two powered through the tough meat, they enjoyed the bread. 

After that, Ava left in the dark of night after making plans to do some training in the morning. Dirk offered to escort her home, but she said she could just jog. The dorms weren't far away and it would only take a couple minutes to get there. With that, they bid each other good nights. 

The next morning, Dirk woke up at the crack of dawn. After doing his morning routine, he went outside and felt the cold morning air. Around this time of year was fall, so it was chillier than normal. 

He went on to do some martial movements outside, a form of meditation he was taught. It consisted of fast and slow movements, powerful and light strikes. Each movement transitioned into the other, and by the end he would come full circle, repeating the process as many times as he wished. 

Not long after he started, Ava arrived. After knocking and getting no response though, she went around the back and found him doing his movements. She didn't say anything as she walked over and stood next to him, doing the same exact thing. 

The two moved in almost perfect sync. Dirk had also taught Ava these movements, and they both had done them thousands of times. Ava had come to greatly enjoy doing these movements. They stabilized her body, calmed her emotions, relieved stress, and combined with the cold air that she had gotten so familiar with, pleased her to no end. It had become her favorite ritual to do with Dirk.

The two did 5 cycles before coming to a stop. After completion, they opened their eyes at the same time and looked at each other. After making eye contact with Dirk, Ava broke out in a brilliant smile, almost laughing with delight. Dirk tilted his head as he unconsciously smiled a bit as well.

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"Sorry, I'm just happy. I can't control my smile! Hahaha!"

Ava started laughing the next moment. She just found it hilarious that she couldn't control her happiness. It seemed like she was overflowing with it. 

Dirk also chuckled a bit seeing her look so giddy. That smile truly was contagious. Not long after, he found himself laughing as well. It was like the tiniest thought was the most hilarious thing ever. 

This stunned Ava though. As soon as he started laughing, hers died down, and she looked at him with wide eyes. After several seconds, he claimed down as well.

"You laughed!"

"Hm?"

Dirk turned to Ava, who seemed like she was looking at some kind of exotic creature. 

"You actually laughed! I've never seen you laugh before!"

"...I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Wha... No! You can't deny it! Hey go ahead and laugh again. I can tell a joke! A horse walks into a tavern-"

"No jokes. Its training time."

"Ack!"

Before Ava could finish, Dirk suddenly grabbed her hand and twisted it, putting it into a lock. With just this, he turned her whole body and planted her on the floor. 

"Ow! Alright, alright! You win!"

"Win what? Get up and let's do some striking practice. It's good for waking up the body."

"Agh, fine. Since when were you able to do that?"

Ava grunted as she stood up, rubbing her wrist. Dirk shrugged.

"Since always."

"Always? I've never seen you do it before."

"Because you're not at that level."

"Then teach me so I can beat you."

"I don't know if beating me is possible. At least, not with similar strengths."

Dirk spoke arrogantly but truthfully. He was forced to be the best at all forms of combat and was trained in every way to kill a person. If it were a fight on similar grounds, Dirk was confident in being able to kill anybody else first. Not even people who were faster, stronger, or bigger would deter him. His combat sense was simply beyond the norm.

After shaking out her wrist, Ava went over to start some striking practice. The two landed blow after blow on each other, but this time, Dirk went quite a bit harder on her. 

There were two reasons for this. One, Ava no longer had to worry about her parents, so there was no need to hide bruises. Two, she was steadily rising in combat ability, so Dirk wanted to teach her more. 

Meanwhile, Ava was still a bit surprised at how Dirk had so easily disabled her. The process was fast, efficient, and caught her off guard. She had been vigilant since she made the daring decision to tease him, but even then she couldn't predict or react to stop anything. It seemed so effortless on his part too. With that one move, he had disabled her, and she got a glimpse of his true ability. It was a bit scary knowing he could easily take her out without her having the ability to resist. But when she felt his hard hits, her determination rose. She was thinking the same thing as him, and that was how she was ready for the next level. 

Thus was their morning training. After 2 hours, the two stopped and went inside to eat. Ava's body now had several bumps and purple blotches in it, but she didn't mind it. She could handle this much, though that didn't mean it wasn't very uncomfortable. Dirk had actually offered her some of his healing potion, but she turned it down. He needed them for his brutal Anima training. Her injuries were nothing compared to that. 

After another hour, the two were walking off to their classes for the day. The night before, Dirk had indeed done a destruction cycle on both his calves. The skin was all cracked and raw, looking exceptionally painful as if someone had continuously carved it up with knives. However, Dirk didn't really care about it, and he went to classes as he normally would. 

Naturally, as Dirk walked down hallways, many eyes were drawn to his destroyed skin. People's eyes went wide and many gasps were heard as they gazed upon those hideous wounds. None of them could imagine what could have caused something like that. 

Dirk noticed the reactions of the people around him, but he didn't mind and entered his classroom. There wouldn't be much more of him destroying his skin, and he estimated he could reach Tier 3 in 3 months. 

His general education class went by uneventfully. The first book they would be going through was history, and they were only just getting started. 

After that came the Anima class where all the students were yet again driven into the ground under brutal training. The only exceptions to this were Dirk and Ava who did everything with ease. 

After that were the magic classes. Earth and Fire were normal for Dirk. The teachers began introducing them to very simple magics and they were now in the process of learning the runes. This was how a normal class would go. But when Dirk entered his dark element class, all that normality was thrown out the window. 

"Good afternoon, my wonderful class! I'm so happy that all of you are here today. Isn't living to see yet another day the most beautiful thing in the world? The cool breezes, the bright sun, the green grass. Hey you! What was your favorite thing that happened today?"

Like last time, Garel entered class with the sunniest disposition and pointed someone out, asking a question. Having seen it before, the student was able to respond better. 

"Uhh... I guess I had some fun in my dorm this morning..."

"That's great! Friends truly are some of the most precious things to us. I had a friend once who lost his life to a Tier 8! He burned his very soul to severely injure that godlike figure. It was such a glorious battle! At that moment, I couldn't have felt happier for him!"

Garel spoke with heartfelt emotion, and the rest of class couldn't help but feel both happy and sad. Glory was something they all longed for, and to hear that someone was able to go out in a blaze of glory was worthy of respect. 

However, Dirk felt something was off. Just as this feeling surfaced, a student asked a question.

"Teacher, what Tier 8 was it?"

"Ah, I believe it was a Tier 8 from the hybrid empire, Unity. The battle occurred within the empire, right outside the man's house! This friend of mine was attempting to woo a woman, but who would have thought that she was married to that Tier 8! That Tier 8 couldn't accept my friend entering her bedroom to give her flowers, so he decided to kill him! Ah, such an injustice! Why can't a man pursue love without someone always getting in the way?!"

"..."

Hearing this, all the students suddenly felt a lot less sorry, and their sense of respect for this friend plummeted down to nothing. Was your friend a pervert? Who goes after another man's wife? And into their bedroom no less!

Dirk wanted to facepalm as he confirmed his suspicions. Nothing about this man was normal, not even his friends. A glorious battle? It was just a man taking care of a perverted intruder! He couldn't even be sure if the other details of the story were correct, like if the man really was a Tier 8, or if this friend could actually injure a Tier 8. 

"Anyway! This is not the time for mourning a long-lost hero. I will teach you all how to advance your ability to wield the Dark element so that you can pursue the loves you all wish! Nobody will stand in the way of my students' happiness!"

With one last proclamation, Garel began the lesson. Meanwhile, Dirk was wondering if he wanted to learn about the Dark element anymore. Would he go crazy like Garel if he did?

Wary as he was though, Dirk couldn't deny that this teacher of his was kind of brilliant. When he actually taught, Dirk was able to thoroughly understand many concepts, and runes that he previously couldn't grasp were made clear. It was like this man's words had the power to directly impart wisdom. 

As he learned more though, Dirk started to understand how complex the Dark element was. It was like the Dark element was an element of confusion, disarray, and well, darkness. It was hard to understand the workings of the element and actually control it. Everything was hidden by a veil, and it prevented Dirk from actually creating a rune. All he could do was wave it around like Garel did. 

Because of that, he immediately knew that learning this element would be much different and more difficult than learning his earth and fire elements. 

............

After that class ended, Dirk went home. On the way, he actually ran into Ava who was heading over at the same time. The two walked together, and after they arrived and Dirk changed, they went on to do a workout. 

After three hours, the two stopped and gasped for breath on the floor. The night was cool and the grass below them was soft. Dirk looked up in the sky and saw many stars and the two moons, one dark gray and one white. No matter how many times he looked at them, he couldn't get used to it. He would still raise his head expecting to only see one like on Earth. 

"Hey... Dirk."

"Huh."

"I heard some students talking about the bi-yearly tournaments. There are still 6 months to go, but everyone is eager to fight. What do you think about it?"

"...I'm not sure."

Dirk pondered as Ava turned her head towards him. 

"The only reason I would want to compete is to test my magical abilities. I don't know though how quickly I can develop them. I can still only do chore magic."

"Well obviously. We've only been at the academy for two days."

"Mm. What Tier are you at?"

"Still Tier I+. I'm close to breaking through though."

"I see. I have a suggestion. Yesterday, I was still struggling with my bottleneck, but when my teacher released some dense mana, I was able to intake it and break through. Dense mana will probably help you too."

"Wait, really? So you're Tier 2 now?"

"Yes."

"Nice! Congratulations."

"Advancing to tier 2 isn't much to get excited about. Anyway, in my house, there's a basement room that is meant to be a magic workshop. It has dense mana, so it could help you."

"Oh wow. But... are you sure it's okay to let me use it?"

Ava asked cautiously. While she and Dirk were good friends and were casual with each other, there was still a difference in their statuses. In the world of nobles, Dirk had the backing and status of a prince. While her father was an Earl, only one level below Dirk's parent's, that single level was massive. This was because in the Horizon Empire, these noble titles were earned through prestige and absolute power. In fact, her father had told her some scary things about Dirk's own father, things that resulted in the title he has today.

It was this difference that, despite Dirk utterly ignoring it, still carried some weight in Ava's mind. This was especially so when he tried to do things for her that came from his power as the son of a high noble. He had the house because of this power, and he wanted to let her benefit from it. This was a prime example. 

Hearing Ava's question though, a lot less conflict ran through Dirk's mind as he answered simply.

"Of course it's okay for you to use it. It's just sitting in a room. However..."

Dirk suddenly went quiet as he thought about when she would use it. In the mornings they trained, and it was the same at night. Her only free time was the time after she got out of class. But Dirk was still in class during that time. If he wanted her to go by the most efficient schedule, he would have to let her in while he was away. 

This brought him to a dilemma. How much did he trust Ava? Did he trust her enough to have unrestricted access to the house he was given by his parents? There were valuable potions that he used for healing just sitting in his room. He couldn't allow anything bad to happen to the stuff he was entrusted to. Both the house and the potions were the investments his parents put into him. 

Dirk stayed quiet for a while, confusing Ava. Since he was thinking about something, she just let him be.

After a while, he spoke to invite her inside to eat, not completing his original train of thought. He didn't talk as he cooked both their meals. This time's cooking was a bit better than last time's, at least. 

Finally, when dinner was done and Ava prepared to leave, Dirk stopped her. He walked up to his room and rummaged around a bit before pulling out the only spare key. When he walked down and put the key in Ava's hand, her heart started thumping out of her chest. 

"W-wait-"

"When you get out of class, you can come to the house and go down to the basement. Come with me."

Without letting her retort, Dirk walked down the stairs and to the basement door. Ava followed and watched as he entered the code right in front of her eyes. 

"The code is 'Black Cat'. Just write it in with your mana and it'll open."

"..."

Ava was quiet as he opened and relocked the door to prove that the password was correct. Her mind, though, was anything but quiet.