"Did you hear?"
"Yeah. His own family dropped him. Class F now apparently."
"Suits him honestly. Guy's been a menace since first year."
"Total joke."
The murmurs hit from every direction as Arthur walked the corridor. He kept his head forward and his pace steady.
So news travels fast here too. Great.
YOU.
Arthur didn't flinch.
YOU THERE. THE IMBECILE WEARING MY FACE.
Still walking.
I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME. STOP IGNORING ME THIS INSTANT. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I-
Yeah yeah. Arthur thought back flatly. I hear you.
Silence for exactly one second.
Then- THEN WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! YOU'VE COMPLETELY UPENDED MY LIFE! MY STATUS! M-
Your status was already a mess before I got here, just so you know.
HOW DARE YOU— I am Vexis Lestilaut! Son of Grand ArchMagus Vaelis Lestilaut! You have NO right to walk around in my body like you OWN it! Give it back! RIGHT NOW!
Can't do that.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T—
Arthur stopped in front of a door.
Class F.
He stared at the sign for a second.
This is fine. This is just a setback. I've dealt with worse. Probably.
YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME.
I'm always listening. You're just very loud about nothing useful.
He pushed the door open and walked in.
The room was the same theater layout as Class A. Twenty students, maybe less. The stares came immediately, which he was starting to get used to. He did a quick sweep of the room out of habit.
Red-haired woman in the second row, feet up on the desk, working a thin stick between her teeth like she had nowhere better to be and was fine with that.
Next to her, blue hair, glasses, nose in a book. Completely elsewhere.
Up one row, a guy with black hair so long it covered most of his eyes. Arthur genuinely could not tell if he was asleep or awake.
WILL YOU PLEASE-
Hold on I'm looking at something.
THIS IS NOT A SIGHTSEEING TRIP-
Then his eyes caught the back row.
Brown hair. Still swollen nose. Havier.
He was staring at Arthur the way you stare at something you were hoping you'd never see again and here it is anyway. Equal parts dread and fury sitting on the same face.
Arthur crossed the room and picked the seat by the far left window. He settled in and glanced right.
Havier's seat was two down the same row.
Arthur looked at him once. Then forward.
You hate Vexis. I get it. You're allowed to.
EXCUSE ME. I am STILL talking to you. You absolute— where did you even come from? What are you? Some kind of spirit? A parasite? HOW ARE YOU IN MY BODY?
I don't fully know yet.
YOU DON'T KNOW?!
Keep it down.
I WILL NOT KEEP IT DOWN! This is MY body! MY life! Do you understand what my father just did because of YOU?! Class F! I have never in my life… the SHAME of it— if you had just let me handle-
You weren't here to handle anything.
Vexis went quiet.
Then, slower: …What do you mean I wasn't here.
Arthur didn't answer that one.
The door opened.
The professor walked in. Middle-aged. Scars along his neck. Light armor, sword at his hip. His face looked like it had been through several things that weren't fun. Then he opened his mouth.
"Good morning." Soft voice. Almost gentle.
Arthur blinked. That did not match at all.
"Today we move straight to the physical assessment. Practical combat. No theory."
Oh no.
"Mages carry a natural disadvantage in close range against Swordbearers. Which means your footwork and your body need to be just as trained as your core. Today we find out where you all stand."
He IS aware we're mages right? Arthur thought.
"Get changed. Meet me at the training grounds."
The professor vanished with a hiss.
Arthur sat there for a second.
I really don't have time for this.
The changing area had a rack of training gear and a long mirror along one wall. Arthur picked up the uniform and stared at it.
A small rune stitched into the collar glowed once when he touched it. Then his clothes swapped out on their own, quick and clean, training gear on before he'd done anything.
Arthur looked down at himself.
We had to invent the washing machine. These people just sewed magic into a shirt collar. Genuinely unfair.
He walked out to the training grounds.
It was massive. Flat stone, open sky, walls on all four sides high enough that you couldn't see past them. He guessed around eight hundred meters across. Long enough to run a mock battle in. Wide enough that twenty students spread out and still had room.
Oh no. Don't tell me.
"Pair sparring," the professor said from the center. "Five minutes each round. Win by forfeit or incapacitation. Draw if time runs out and both are standing. No magic. None. I will stop the match personally if I see a core flare."
He pulled a small card from his chest pocket.
"First pair. Lestilaut and Kreasial."
The red-haired woman was already standing up.
Arthur got to his feet.
Okay. Okay, this is fine. I just have to… I don't actually know how to fight. At all. I have never thrown a punch in my life that wasn't at my own jaw to check if I was dreaming.
You don't know how to fight? Vexis's voice shifted. Less yelling now. More disbelief.
Not really no.
…I have extensive combat training. I've been drilling since I was eight.
Arthur stepped onto the center stone and faced the red-haired woman.
She was already watching him with the kind of bored expression that meant she'd done this before and hadn't found it interesting yet.
That's great but you're a ghost right now so—
I can guide you. I CANT LET YOU BRING SHAME TO MY REPUTATION. I will Show you the stances. If you'd just cooperate with me for ONCE—
Arthur opened his mouth to think back.
The professor said something.
Arthur didn't hear it.
A fist came in from the left and connected with his jaw so hard his vision split into pieces. He went sideways, caught himself on one knee, and the ground swam under him for a second while his skull tried to remember where it was.
The sunlight was very bright.
Stars. He was seeing actual stars. In the middle of the afternoon. While the sun was out.
"Been a pleasure." The woman's voice above him, easy, satisfied. "Nice to meet you, dickhead."
Arthur stayed on one knee for a moment.
He touched his lip. Came away with blood.
He looked up at her.
Something in his jaw tightened and his mouth moved on its own.
"I'll take your head for that."