Succubi Chapter 67. Anxiety's Overrated
"Okay… Can you stop grinning?" Adrian groaned beside me as we stepped out of the lecture hall.
I didn't even realize I was grinning. My cheeks were relaxed, sure, but yeah—my mouth had that stupid I-just-got-chosen-by-a-shadowy-magic-honor-society smile that refused to go away.
"No promises," I said casually, twirling the black sigil card between my fingers. The silver rune glinted under the atrium lights. Cold to the touch. Elegant. And mildly terrifying.
Adrian squinted at me. "You're too calm. Like too calm. You do know what we just signed up for, right?"
"Technically, we haven't signed anything yet."
"Dude, it's a metaphor."
We walked together through the outer Arcana corridor. The walls pulsed faintly with ambient mana, a soft rhythm syncing with the gentle thrum of the house's magic network. We could always tell when we were in Arcana territory—the air felt denser, not oppressive, but like we were constantly being watched by the walls. Tested. Judged. Whispered about.
Ahead, Felix and Kyra walked side by side, deep in some debate about thread layering and the ethics of anti-magic traps. Typical.
Adrian nudged me again. "Still, though. You're not… even a little afraid?"
I slowed a little. Looked up at the high, glowing sigil windows, their patterns shifting like slowly melting snowflakes.
"I can't be," I muttered.
Adrian blinked. "What do you mean?"
I slid the sigil card into my pocket. "I just got a good opportunity. Maybe too good. But that doesn't mean I back down."
Adrian narrowed his eyes like he was trying to see past my skull. "You should be afraid a bit. We're still in our first semester. Most people are still learning how not to light their hair on fire. And this class? This class sounds like a full-on magical Death Games."
I stopped walking, turned to him fully, and frowned a little. "Should I?"
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Waited.
I held that silence for a few seconds, tilted my head thoughtfully. Then shrugged.
"Nah," I said. "I'm gonna skip that. Anxiety's overrated."
Adrian stared at me. His face did that slow blink thing cats do when they give up trying to understand their owners.
"You," he said, "have way too much courage."
"Not courage," I said, brushing a loose strand of hair back from my forehead. "Just curiosity. I want to try. I mean, doesn't this all sound logical? Battle drills. Practical training. A professor who doesn't play nice but still knows what he's doing. That all checks out to me."
"Even after he nuked his own laptop with a succubus pop-up?"
"Especially after that. Honestly, that just makes him more human. Or cursed. Which, in Arcana, is the same thing."
Adrian laughed under his breath, shaking his head. "Still. I'd at least talk to someone in admin first before committing. Just to make sure we're not walking into an underground blood contract or something."
"Actually," I said, nodding, "I was thinking the same. I'll ask my dorm mother."
Adrian paused mid-step. "Dorm mother?"
I nodded again.
He blinked. "Wait—hold up. You're in the female dorm?"
"Yeah," I said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "You didn't hear?"
"No!" Adrian looked personally offended by the lack of intel. "You never told me! I mean, I knew you were that anomaly—the one that's technically a match for all four houses, but this dorm thing? This is new."
I scratched my cheek, trying not to laugh. "Yeah… There was a mix-up during registration. They read 'Evan,' thought it was 'Eva,' and then someone very confidently added 'fe' in front of the 'male' part of my gender status."
Adrian stared at me, wide-eyed. "No."
"Oh yeah."
"You're telling me the admin system glitched so hard it sent you to all female dorm?"
"Yup. Scarlet Rose Estate."
He dragged his hand down his face. "That's the all-female, high-status dorm for prodigies and heiresses."
"Uh-huh," I said.
Adrian leaned in like I'd just revealed I was living in a royal palace. "So wait… your dorm mother is—"
"Mrs. Avarosa."
"Mrs. Avarosa?"
His voice pitched up like he couldn't believe it. He actually stumbled a bit.
"That woman is legendary," he hissed. "Ex-court enchantress turned tea addict, my ass—she's sexy and deadly. People say she made entire noble delegations kneel with a single glance. Like literally. One wink and boom—full submission."
I blinked. "Wait. She's famous?"
Adrian clutched his chest. "You've been living with THE Lady Avarosa and didn't know? Bro, she has a fan club! She makes killing spells look like divine foreplay!"
"I thought she just liked floral and herbal tea."
"She does! And she looks hot doing it!" Adrian looked like he'd just found a dragon egg. "You have a VIP dorm, and a myth-tier dorm mother, and you still say you're just a regular guy?"
"I am," I said flatly. "Just one that was accidentally blessed by clerical error."
Adrian opened his mouth to keep gushing, but I held up a hand.
"Okay," I cut in, half-laughing, "before we start writing her fanfiction—can we go back to this?" I pulled the black sigil card from my pocket again and flicked it with my thumb. It shimmered faintly in the light as we reached the edge of the central square. "The secret combat class that may or may not result in our dramatic deaths?"
That shut them up.
Mostly.
Behind us, Felix turned and chimed in, all matter-of-fact. "The card's marked with the Arcana rune and the academy's official seal. You know they legally can't put that symbol on anything without authorization. That means it's sanctioned. Has to be."
I stared down at the card again, rolling it between my fingers.
It didn't feel dangerous.
But then again… danger never advertised itself. Not here.
"Yeah," I said slowly. "Probably. But better safe than sorry, you know?"
"True," Felix nodded. "Arcana logic."
I glanced at Kyra, who had been suspiciously quiet. She was walking slower now, slightly behind Felix, staring at nothing—until we noticed she was actually staring at me.
Or, more accurately, at my face.
"Kyra?" Felix asked, squinting at her. "What do you think?"
She blinked. Like someone snapped her out of a daydream.
"Huh? Sorry, I didn't listen."
Adrian raised an eyebrow. "You were staring at Evan like he just sprouted horns on his head."
I chuckled under my breath and reached up, brushing the side of my temple like it was nothing. Just a casual touch. Smooth. Calm. Like I wasn't discreetly checking whether my horns had slipped through. I patted my hair gently. Yup, nothing. Still under control.
Crisis averted.
Kyra's lips curled into a crooked smile. "Not really staring," she said. "Just… rare to see him up close, you know."
Felix tilted his head. "Up close?"
"You talk like he's a celebrity," Adrian said.
Felix stared at me a second longer. "Wait… are you? Like, lowkey? Are you an actor or model or something? Because honestly, too many people have a crush on you for someone who says they're just normal."
"I'm not," I said quickly, waving a hand. "Just a regular guy. Good hair. Decent grades. That's it."
"Regular guy doesn't get stared at by witches and demi-humans like they're deciding what seasoning to sprinkle on him," Adrian deadpanned.
Kyra snorted. "It's the vibe. You've got that calm, walk-into-a-burning-building energy. Guys hate it. Girls… well." She winked. "We notice."
I pretended to be shocked. "You're saying people like confidence, reason, and mystery? Groundbreaking."
We turned the corner into the central student square—a glowing cobblestone plaza that served as a crossroads between the four house territories.
Adrian nudged me. "Still gonna ask your dorm mom?"
"Yup," I said. "If she gives the green light, I'm in."
"Even if it's dangerous?"
"Especially if it's dangerous. That just means I'll learn faster," I joked.
Felix nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I respect that. You've got a good blend of recklessness and pragmatism."
"I call it 'strategic stupidity,'" I said.
Kyra laughed again. "Keep that up, and people will follow you into fire just to see what happens."
I looked at her, met her eyes properly this time.
"I don't want followers," I said. "I want people who fight beside me because they choose to."
She tilted her head. "You sound like you're already leading a house war."
"Give me time," I said. "We just started semester one."
As we parted ways near the plaza, I glanced down at the card again.
Black. Smooth. Arcana's rune still pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
Whatever came next… I wasn't going to face it alone.
And I definitely wasn't walking away from it.
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