Noah and Jalen returned to find that Lee had taken over the class and had everyone stretching in positions that looked like they definitely shouldnt have been possible for any human to achieve without snapping a few tendons.
Well, this is horrifying, Jalen observed. What are you doing to your students, Vermil?
Dont look at . This is all Lee.
Were stretching, Lee filled in, turning her head a full one hundred and eighty degrees to look straight back at them like an owl. Thanks for the orange juice, by the way. Do you have more?
Jalen nearly choked on his own saliva as he tried to suppress his laughter. No. I do not carry around bottles of orange juice.
Oh. Lee frowned, then turned her head back but she rotated it the wrong way, finishing the full circle instead of following the path shed taken to look at them. You should.
Jalen looked from Lee to Noah, then shook his head. Your criticism has been duly noted and ignored.
Orange juice or not, so proper introductions are in order, Noah said.
If thats an excuse to stop stretching, Im taking it, Todd said, unwrapping himself and clambering to his feet. He brushed the grass off his pants and shook himself off, as if trying to throw the mory of what hed just had to do to the side. Im Todd.
This is
Jalen. Just Jalen, Jalen said, cutting Noah off before he could even properly start his introduction. Noah caught himself as a small frown passed over his face.
Jalen wants to hide the fact that hes the Linwick Family Head? I an, I wont blow his cover, but I didnt think hed be concerned with keeping students from finding out who he is. Maybe he doesnt want to get stuck signing autographs or sothing. Hes got the wrong idea of who these kids are if he thinks theyll give a shit about the Linwick family, though.
Pleasure, Isabel said, standing up along with everyone other than Jas. Her tone was considerably less friendly than Todds was, though not so far as to be rude. Shed raised her guard. Im Isabel, and the one whos pretending to sleep is Jas.
Alexandra gave Jalen a small nod but made no move to introduce herself.
And Im Emily, Emily finished, nudging Jas not-so-gently with the tip of her foot. He mumbled sothing under his breath and made absolutely no move to stand up. Emily let out an exhapserated sigh. Sorry. Hes unbelievably lazy.
I can respect that, Jalen said with a smirk. Dont mind . Vermil and I are just old friends. Very close. Practically attached at the hip. Please, continue with your lessons and pretend that Im not here.
Youre laying it on way too thick. Weve played darts once.
Right, Noah said, clearing his throat to get everyones attention back on him. He couldnt help but notice that Moxie hadnt said much to Jalen. She was probably still pretty pissed about how Jalen had functionally kidnapped him, and Noah didnt bla her. If hed been in her shoes, hed have been furious. Lets get back on with the lesson, shall we? Theres more to cover today, and Ive got an announcent for the end of class.
Whyd you have to tell us now? Todd asked. Now I want to know the announcent. Are we getting a pizza party?
Youll find out at the end of class.
I think its a pizza party, Lee said.
Its not a pizza party, Noah said. Now pair up with soone you didnt spar with yet. Were sparring again.
***
Jalens face was externally flat, but his heart was beating harder in his chest than it had been the last ti hed tried to ask a woman out to dinner and that had been just about three hundred years ago.
The woman in question had promptly rejected him and had evidently been so motivated to escape his presence that she promptly vanished into secluded ditation to try and advance to Rank 7.
Then shed vanished.
For that matter, he hadnt really been all that excited at the ti. But this this was excitent. It took every single fiber of self-control Jalen had to keep his expression under control. Vermil was teaching children Formations and sohow, he was actually succeeding.
Jalen had lost count of the number of tis noble families had tried to make themselves Formation masters. Hed lost count on the trail of corpses their attempts had left in their wake. Every single attempt had failed miserably.
All the kids that had managed to show any aptitude for Formations never managed to progress their Runes far enough to actually make use of it, and the noble houses had always pushed them too hard.
The results had been one of the reasons hed stepped back from his spot as the proper head of the Linwick family. Jalen hadnt lived to his age without doing a few things he regretted, and allowing any of those programs to continue within the walls of his family was paramont among them.
And yet sohow a re Rank 4 had done what he hadnt been able to. Before him were five burgeoning Formation masters. There wasnt any magic in the patterns they were drawing, but even the motions held power.
The urge to grab Vermil by the shoulders and shake the secrets out of him hung tantalizingly in Jalens mind, but he repressed it. This was more than re Formations. The students werent using music. They werent using runes at all.
Stolen novel; please report.
This should be impossible. How does he understand Formations this well? Was Vermil a survivor of one of the noble family programs? I know for a fact the Linwicks gave up on artificially manufacturing Formation masters a long ti ago.
Jalen watched Vermil teach his class silently. They were sparring again, but the more he watched, the more convinced he beca that there was no noble family backing Vermil. He knew too much.
Every single one of his students was doing their own unique pattern, and Vermil was still able to give them advice. He understood Formations with a degree that a Rank 4 never should have.
Ill be damned. Hes the closest thing to a Formation master Ive seen at his Rank. That makes absolutely no sense. Anyone who spends that much ti studying Formations should have a horrible basis of Runes. Nobody has the ti to perfectly refine and combine their Runes as well as understand the intricacies of Formations.
But, if he didnt, there would be no way for him to teach these kids to this degree. Hes going from understanding, not by reciting textbooks and by the Damned Plains, he doesnt even realize how ridiculous this is.
We arent anywhere near close enough for him to be willing to comfortably share this information with . He should be restraining himself, limiting the information I can get so that
Jalens face paled. Vermil wasnt stupid. Hed gathered that much from the conversation theyd had. Vermil was restraining himself. There was no way hed be revealing the full extent of his knowledge with soone that was a potential threat watching them, even if theyd co to a truce.
Ill be damned. Who is he?
Jalen was shaken from his thoughts by a finger prodding his side. The motion was so surprising that he nearly doubled over in surprise. Vermil aside, he couldnt rember the last ti soone had dared to speak to him without a waver in their voice, much less prod him.
He turned to see the short girl that had been leading the stretches standing before him, her wide eyes boring up into his without an ounce of fear or concern.
Lee, her na was? Interesting. Why is it that absolutely none of Vermils party have even the slightest amount of fear? This is refreshing. Shes staring at like Im a slice of at, though. Cant say I enjoy it.
Yes?
Are you sure you dont have any orange juice? Lee asked. I sll it on you.
Jalens eye twitched. He did in fact have a small bottle of it in his pouch, but that was for lunch. He sniffed the air, but there was absolutely no trace of it anywhere. The damn bottle was sealed. It should have been impossible for
Lee had sohow already unhooked the latch on Jalens bag and was ruffling through it without a care in the world. Jalen stared at her in abject disbelief. She hadnt hesitated for a second.
A second later, Lee found the bottle and pulled it out. Here it is. You must have forgot you had it.
I
Were you going to drink this? Lee asked, already pulling the cork off with two fingers. She held the cork up, studying it for a mont before sniffing at the bottom.
At so point, yes. Thats generally why soone carries sothing around.
Lee put the cork into her mouth and chewed once before swallowing. Her nose scrunched in distaste. That wasnt very good. A bit spongy.
What in the Damned Plains is happening?
Jalen started to laugh. He couldnt help himself. It felt like hed stepped into a different dinsion. A girl half his height and a thousandth of his power had just robbed him whilst looking him straight in the face.
By the ti hed mustered himself again, Lee had eaten not drank the entire bottle. She licked her lips and grinned at him. Thanks. I like the way it crunches.
She headed back to the rest of the group and poked Todd in the back as she passed him, causing him to trip over his own feet and fall face first on the ground. Todd lunged forward and grabbed Lees ankle, pulling her down with him as the others all burst into laughter.
Jalen was confident Lee could have avoided the attack if shed wanted to. Hed seen her glance down and notice Todds lunge. Her reaction speed was ridiculous for a Rank 3. Shed chosen to let Todd grab her, likely to motivate his studies.
It wasnt just Lee sothing about Vermils entire group felt different. He couldnt quite place what it was, but it was more than just the Formations. They had power, yes, but there was more to it.
What do you think? Jalen was pulled from his thoughts as Moxie walked up beside him, her arms crossed. He could feel the muted hostility from the woman, even though she was doing a fairly good job at concealing it.
Shes mad that I took Vermil away to speak with him? Im still not sure why a Torrin cares so deeply for a Linwick. It makes absolutely no sense. If it had been soone from my generation, sure. Ive had my share of fun with the Torrins they can do so great stuff with those vines. But now? The families hate each other so much that I cant see how they even would have t.
Its interesting, Jalen said, choosing his words carefully. Everything he told Moxie would doubtlessly go straight to Vermil, and he didnt want to sour the relationship. Vermil was more than just interesting. He was fascinating. I havent seen anything like this taught before.
No, Moxie agreed. Its unique to Vermil. Wed like it to stay that way.
Is a Rank 3 warning off? When she knows who I am? Marvelous.
Not a word will leave my mouth, Jalen promised, and he genuinely ant it. Sothing as rare as this could not be permitted to fall into the hands of the moronic noble families his own included. It would only be wasted. I am only here to observe, as I told Vermil.
You arent helping with our little problem, then? Moxie asked, tilting her head to the side.
A flower that cannot grow on its own will wither and die when abandoned.
And all the hot air youre blowing up your own ass might co out your mouth, Moxie countered. People are going to get killed because so psychopath is obsessed with my family. You can do sothing about it.
I could, but that would rob you of the experience of doing it yourself.
And it could end in soone here dying.
That would actually be quite the sha. I wont handle Vermils problems for him, though. It will stunt his growth.
It may, Jalen allowed. Many people die. And you do realize that, if I directly interfere, the others of my generation will be liable to do the sa? It could make the situation worse.
Im not asking you to kill the asshole for us, Moxie said. But finding a little information shouldnt be impossible for you. Vermil might not care about letting you watch this class, but Im well aware just how valuable what youre seeing here is. Youre in his debt.
Well, damn. Shes right.
A smile flitted across Jalens lips. You might be one of the boldest Torrins Ive ever seen. Howd you et Vermil?
What does that have to do with anything?
Answer the question if you want my help.
Moxie pressed her lips together, then sighed. I insulted him in the library.
Jalen cackled. Sohow, that doesnt surprise in the slightest. Very well. I will look into this but nothing more. Satisfied?
Moxie tilted her head to the side, then gave him a short nod. No, but itll do. Dont kidnap Vermil again. I dont care who you are. If youre going to pretend to be our ally, then act like it.
And, in that mont, Jalen finally realized what feeling the group had been giving him. The amount of care they all showed for each other, and the ferocity that had no power to back it up other than will they werent just a random assortnt of mages. They saw each other as a family.
This is what we started the noble houses for.
You know what? Jalen asked. Ill keep that in mind.
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