Sharp

We no longer started the morning with Fitness; that was now scheduled after lunch. Everything had gotten harder again. Intro to Magic became more incomprehensible. At least Intro to Monsters was fine, and I enjoyed Aura Control. We moved on from basic control and started learning some of the more subtle manipulations that I had been attempting. I should have just waited.

Group Tactics were as Val had said. We would alternate monster hunts with arena combat. The Professor would continue to assign a team for the monster hunts, but we could form our own team for the arena combat sessions. Those not in a team would be assigned one. I could see the strong forming teams and dominating the arenas, but that didn’t worry me. Others can fight over the leaderboards.

“Be warned,” said Professor Perfiti, “Not everyone's skills are designed for open fights in an empty and flat arena. There are two things to think about here. Firstly, you need to be ready for fights in circumstances that do not suit your skills. How will you prevail anyway? I am thinking particularly of you rogues, hunters and environmental specialists like the Hydromancers. Secondly, everybody needs to think about this because you will not always be fighting in an empty, flat arena. You will be fighting in oceans, ruins and jungles, and they might include monsters later in the semester. Take that into consideration when making your teams. Being able to adapt, think intelligently about your skills and team members, and being versatile are the key traits in a good adventuring team.”

That didn’t sound so bad then. I still wasn’t planning to join a team permanently. I would float.

“Come on, Theo, we need you on our team.” Val was putting together a team for the Arena fights and trying to persuade me to join them.

“I am not joining a team at this stage. These fights are for practice and learning to work with your skills. That is what I am going to do, but working with a variety of people.”

“Yes, but this is practice for the year two competitions. A good scout and stealth person is what we need.”

“I am not going to be entering the second-year competitions. I have too many other things to learn.”

She huffed and left me alone for a while.

When I turned up at the first Bonds and Familiars meeting for the semester, we had several first years there. I was surprised to see the right-hand wife of the Prince. She was the one who pulled him away from me in the first encounter, not the Left-hand one who told me his name. She had a bond. It was a Saber-tooth tiger. It was still young because it was only about the size of a regular tiger. It outmassed the shadow panther already. You can ride a fully grown Saber-tooth Tiger.

A couple of the Kais were running around with bonds they knew, and I was carrying another. Ardisia was not really interested in interacting with others, so she stuck with me. I saw the right-hand wife approaching me and the tiger plodding alongside her. I turned to face her.

“Hello, Theo. I believe you haven’t me Nkwe, my bond.”

“I haven’t met you. Your husband didn’t introduce either of you. Or himself, for that matter.”

“I am Jabari. I apologise for Zesiro. He can get quite focussed when his skills are in play.”

“I will probably accept that when he apologises for himself.” She frowned slightly at that. “Let me introduce you to Kai, my Familiar.”

“Hello,” She greeted Kai. “A rat is an unpopular familiar where I am from.”

I shrugged, “I am not from there, so that doesn’t matter to me. You said something about Skills making your husband focused?”

“It is no secret that he was raised as a prophet, and his essences are well known: Sun, Moon, Omen, and Oracle. He has a skill called Guidance, which is why we came here, through his father's opposition. He believes it is guiding him to you.”

“I am not interested in being guided by him or anybody, and you can tell him that. You might also advise him on better ways to approach people.”

“I have done so already, but it is a work in progress.”

“Did you choose to marry him?”

“My parents arranged it and designed my essences to suit. I did not object, and it promises to be an interesting life.”

“Are you a defender type then?”

“No, Nkwe and I are the Hunters. My sister-wife, Chuki, is a strong close-in fighter, although not a traditional defender. Siro is not unskilled in fighting.”

“It sounds like you have the core of a strong team,” I said

“We believe so. We are interested in testing against the teams here, but that must wait until next semester. Our bow specialist will join us soon.”

“Is that another wife?” I asked.

Jabari laughed, “No. It is my younger brother, Keon. He is getting his last awakening stones and becoming familiar with them. He will join us in a couple of weeks.”

“You must come from a very talented family.”

“Thank you, my parents are quite proud. And what of your family?”

“My family have passed into the care of the goddess, but they were proud of my achievements.”

“I am sorry to hear that. You must be very lonely.”

“Kai is good company for me,” I said, stroking him. I was not about to spill my life out, as it was fairly obvious she was trying to smooth the way for her husband. “Are you the only one with a bond?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Yes, but Zesiro has a long-term incorporeal spirit familiar, and Keon was hoping to get one with his last awakening stones. I am excited to discover how that went for him. Chuki only summons short-term earthen warriors.” She leaned closer. “Chuki can have a bit of a temper, so we sometimes need to step quietly around her. Essences are not supposed to reflect personality, but hers do. In addition to the Earth essence, she has Might and Zeal, leading to the Wrath confluence.”

“Should you have told me that?”

“Probably not, but these things will come out as we train here. She is very zealous for her husband.”

“I see,” I said, not really seeing. Was she warning me or hinting at marital problems? If it was the latter, then I didn’t want to know. That was for them to work out. If it was the former, I was going to do my best to avoid them all anyway. It looked like they were not going to let me.

“Excuse me,” I said, “I need to rescue Kai,” I noticed the pesky shadow panther was stalking Kai 2. Jabari looked confusedly at Kai in my arms and then saw Kai 2. I am not sure her confusion cleared up, but I made my escape.

They are going to be a problem, aren’t they? Do I avoid them or address them head-on? I don’t know or care about any prophecy. We are lowly iron-rankers. Surely, the higher ranks deal with the important stuff.

I put it out of my mind. I was here to train, and I plan to be here for two and a half more years. If they get too annoying, I will deal with it somehow.

Things settled into a routine. The only classes that might overlap with first-semester students were the optional classes. Jabari turned up in my Wilderness Awareness class. She seemed nice enough, but I kept my distance.

Wilderness awareness was held entirely in the mirage chamber. We would be in different environments and explore the dangers and survival options, as well as track certain creatures. It gave us a chance to go to environments that were not readily available.

The Group Tactic monster scenarios were getting more complex. The professor's requirements for our report also increased. She wanted our written report to explain our reasoning for the decisions we made, assess the consequences, and suggest alternatives we could have done.

My first arena fight was a dismal failure. I am sure Astrid targeted me especially. I had some traps ready but never got a chance to deploy them. That was probably her aim. I will adjust things next time. That is what we are here for to learn and adjust.

Jabari saw me enter at the next Bonds and Familiars meeting and dragged a Leonid over to meet me. “Theo, I want you to meet my younger brother Keon.”

Keon was an average height Leonid, which meant he was about a head taller than me and proportionally muscled.

“Nice to meet you Theo, and I will have you know I am only three minutes younger than Jabari.” Keon looked around. Nkwe padded over, and there was a large hunting hawk perched on his back. “This is my familiar, Talib.”

I greeted them and introduced Kai. I was already looking for an escape route.

“I heard you had a run-in with Siro, and according to Jabari, he owes you an apology.”

“He approached me uninvited and was rude both times. I don’t care about an apology. He can just stay away.”

“Fair call. He can be an ass. We grew up together, so I can knock some sense into him. Jabari has gone all soft since she married him,” Keon got punched in the shoulder for that, “and Chuki will take his side regardless of whether he is right or wrong. I am his only hope of normalcy.” He got a second punch for that.

“Well, good luck with that,” I said and left them to it.

My hearing listened in a bit longer as Keon said to Jabari, “I am going to punch Siro’s spiritual bloody head in. Theo is the sort of person he needs to be around, and he has truly poisoned that well. I should have come with you.”

“You needed time with Talib. The prophecy is not for years yet, and Siro’s skill is only iron-rank. Don’t worry about it. The teaching here is as good as at home, but they have some weird customs.”

“Not as many cute leonids,” Keon complained, earning another punch. I stopped listening at that point.

I decided I wouldn’t bother finding out what this prophecy was. I would just make the most of my time here.