The next few weeks passed by all too quickly and with such a burden of work from upcoming mid-session tests and exams that there was little room for anything else. No more revelations as Darius remained tight-lipped and the Headmistress away on official school business.

  To no one’s surprise, Elias was the most troublesome student. Not for failing his assessments—he boasted the highest mark in both his main spear class and his secondary sword classes—but for not willing to show up to class unless he felt like it. Her solution for the lackadaisical student was to pair him up with the one student he feared the most in the class, Callie. Callie, the serious one. Ty had asked her to conduct study sessions with him on the subjects for which he received abysmal marks—a more than generous description.

  Unfortunately, irrespective of her perfect attendance and diligent nature, Callie’s own marks were, at their best, slightly above average, which she thought would work well for Elias…though, at the end of the day, Ty couldn’t complain. No other classmate was at the top of their primary discipline classes, not even the ever-prideful Faris since Theo had somehow been transferred into Moriya’s first-year primary casting class and stolen the top mark from the other first-year casters. In his own primary discipline, however, the physician could not do the same, though his marks were impressive nonetheless.

  She did her best not to think about that day with Theo, but it wasn’t too hard. Aside from signing physician slips for him at the infirmary and class practice, they hadn’t really spoken about anything other than class matters.

  Rubbing the sleeplessness out of her eyes for the umpteenth time that day in the class’s practice courtyard, Ty couldn’t believe that they were coming up to the last week of their second month of school. One week away from when preparations began for the final semester exam.

  “Bored?”

  Shooting Luci a withering look, she didn’t bother putting on pleasantries. “No.”

  Somehow, she had also befriended the infamous socialite. They shared a class with the other first-year tacticians, and though his motives and reasons for trying to cling to her were still unclear, there was no question that they could work out a beneficial relationship. Today, he had brought his combat students over to spar in their courtyard; it was good practice, especially because it was a distinct possibility that they could be opponents for finals.

  “Well, I’m bored.” He sighed loudly, bending over in his seat to tap the shoulder of the person sitting in front of them. “Hey, hey. You’re cute. Wanna play a game?”

  Without even looking up from the textbook on his lap, Theo replied with a similarly succinct “No.”

  Ty chuckled softly, watching Korinna kick the perturbed physician and chide, “Be nice.”

  “No,” repeated Theo irately, kicking her back equally as hard. “I’m studying.”

  “Try-hard.” Korinna rolled her eyes before turning around to eye the two tacticians mischievously. “I’m all ears.”

  Ty took that as her cue, stretching and feeling her joints pop as she headed to the edge of the field while ignoring any protests. “I’m going to see how the others are doing.”

  “Anything interesting?” spoke a small voice beside her when she arrived.

  She turned her head to Selene, who noiselessly took a seat beside her. The reticent botanist, she recalled, did not like anything but her plants and silence. And perhaps Korinna.

  “Are they being bothersome?” Ty asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Yes,” Selene responded quietly and curtly, head turned to the field.

  Ty rubbed her eyes again before checking her timepiece. They had another half an hour on the field before supper.

  Pulling out a notebook, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and started to scribble down her notes from the first hour now that Luci wasn’t pestering her. A break was never in sight—but then again, it was better than overthinking.

  About ten minutes later, she finally looked up to see Selene tugging on her sleeve.

  The botanist pointed at Ty’s notebook. “Here.” She placed her finger on a note about Luci’s duelist. “What does that say?”

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  Ty inspected her nigh-illegible shorthand. “It’s his duelist’s footwork pattern. It’s mismatched.”

  The botanist’s gaze met hers before turning away and mumbling, “…ing that on purpose.”

  Selene had never been quite taken to people, the recluse she was. Yet unlike Ty herself, she seemed acutely aware of social conventions and expectations. It was the practice of these principles that she deliberately averted; her behavior was sometimes worse than Korinna’s by virtue of her silence and unwillingness to speak, and if there was anything she learned about her, she was as fierce as she was small.

  “Thank you for telling me. I’ll make sure to consider it.”

  Selene grumbled, pulling her hood over her head. This time, her words were not worthy of a reply. One would have thought her to be royal, the way she treated everyone else.

  A while later, near the end of practice and when most students had returned to their class tables to rest, a figure crouched down in front of her.

  “Come on, let’s have some fun. I’m losing my mind.”

  Ty shut her book and silently glared at him, noticing that Alex had stopped what she was doing and was already rushing over to them.

  “Come on,” repeated Luci, standing up and looking around the courtyard, pleased to see that they now had everyone’s attention. “Studying, classes, tests—don’t you find them all so boring? Don’t you find this all so mundane? What’s with all these shows of civility? I didn’t come here to watch my classmates play pretend. I came here for some fun.” He nodded to the courtyard with a large smile. “So, let’s go.”

  Patience snapping first, Selene dismissed herself and returned to Korinna’s side once more by the benches.

  Just as she sat down, Alex arrived, hands on her hips. “Ty, is he harassing you?”

  But before any words could leave her mouth, Luci was already stepping back, a devilish smile on his face as he began laughing gibberish.

  Gibberish that made the hair on her arms stand on end.

  Counter?

  Her brain was malfunctioning from weeks upon weeks of fatigue.

  Counter? Ty, Counter? A shield, a veil, anything.

  And then he froze—his mouth wide open, his eyes blank.

  Wide-eyed, Ty gazed at the startled students at the other end of the field, Luci’s non-combat students, and then finally her own non-combat students. She saw Korinna and Selene. No Darius, as usual. Theo had his hand propped up on the palm of his hand.

  Stop, she mouthed angrily to her physician, shaking her head.

  His amused expression did not change, but he did let his hand drop.

  When she turned back to look at Luci, he immediately regained consciousness, but not before toppling over like a house of cards onto the ground.

  “Amazing,” he breathed between laughs, his rigid, wide-eyed stare anything but amicable. “Took my breath away.”

  Ty walked up to him, a bitter taste in her mouth. “Alright, time to go,” she said quietly as she saw the other students approach from the sidelines.

  “Ah, yes, yes,” he chuckled, sitting upright and looking past Ty now, toward the benches. Smiling with desperate eyes, in perfect view of his assailant. “Come over here and have some fun with me, Theo! I know you want to!”

  Panic started to set in as Ty watched Theo carefully close his textbook and carelessly hop down from the audience benches.

  “No,” she said aloud. “No,” she repeated, obstructing Theo when he reached the edge of the field. “I’m not letting you do this.”

  Completely ignoring and pushing past Ty, the physician approached the other tactician. “Are you going to sit there?” he asked plainly, hands in his pockets.

  “Yes, I am,” smirked Luci all too casually, a few laughs still stuck in his system. “I can’t feel my legs.”

  Theo faltered.

  Waving a hand, trying to assuage his fear, Luci insisted, “No, no, it’s alright. It’s nothing new. Hit me with whatever else you got. By the way, that was a good Paranimi. You are one dangerous physician.” He then shot Ty a piercing look, full of meaning.

  Paranimi—mischief memories, she finally registered in her mind. What does immobility have to do with it?

  Taking his hands out of his pockets, Theo sighed loudly, looking deeply disappointed that he wasn’t going to have his fight. “I’m not going to attack you when you’re handicapped,” he muttered, crouching over the tactician’s legs to feel them.

  There was an unmistakably passive look on Luci’s face as Theo examined him quietly. No more coyness, like he was being forced to remember something he didn’t want to.

  Ty turned to where Class 1-B’s students stood quietly a few steps away. She spotted the healer and asked aloud, staring right at her, “Can’t your healer fix it?”

  “Ah, my friends don’t like me,” Luci dismissed nonchalantly, trying to move his legs again by pushing upward on the ground with his arms. Failing.

  “Your legs are fine,” grunted Theo, standing back up and patting his coat. “Unless you’re lying to us, I’m guessing it’s psychological.” He pulled out a weathered, cream tome. “I should be able to check.”

  “Nope.” Luci held out a hand, dangerously serious. “No, you’re not.”

  Intrigued, Theo scrutinized Luci for a few seconds, dropped his tome back into his pocket, and then shrugged before similarly shooting Ty a knowing look and returning to the stands.

  That left Ty staring at Luci on the ground, feeling a dull ache in her chest again. Was it sadness? Pity? Or something she couldn’t quite figure out yet?

  Whatever it was, he must have been able to see it in her eyes because he promptly clapped to get everyone’s attention and pointed both index fingers at the entrance. “Alright 1-A. Off you go now, with your tactician. There’s supper to be had.”

  Dumbfounded, trying to figure out the enigma that was Luci, Ty stood motionless in front of him as he watched her passively, his students starting to surround him as her own started to walk away.

  “Ty, you coming?” spoke Alex from beside her, hand on her arm.

  There was something that wasn’t right. Something distinct. Something she wished she could have asked Darius had he been there. That couldn’t have been all it was.

  “…Ty?”

  She turned a blind eye to the encroaching darkness. “Yes, let’s go.”