-So, where are we going to go today?
David asked, following Valentia closely as they headed towards the academy, as of now David had yet to enter the academy as he had only visited the library, there were still far more buildings he had yet to see, but most importantly David wanted to visit the academy the most since he was going to spend majority of his time there attending lessons.
Valentia gave David a small glance while smiling, she actually wanted this to be a surprise so she didn’t tell David where they were going to go until they reached that place, since she knew that David was so interested in magic Valentia decided that she would bring David to the place with the most amount of magical activity which is where they were headed to.
-Oh, you’ll see don’t worry you’re going to like it, in fact once we get there we can even stretch our bodies a bit plus you can also finally make your mana control extremely useful over there.
-What?! Really?!
Upon hearing this David couldn’t help but be excited, he really wanted to be able to use his magic a lot, but for the past years he never much got the opportunity to especially in public since he always had to be careful about who was watching, now that he was a student of this academy he had far more freedom, but at the same time it was still difficult to meaningfully use his abilities without feeling extra about it as he always did everything by hand.
Valentia’s promise made him more than happy and Valentia knew that as she felt good about the good that David seemed to like this.
Of course it seemed as if they were going to need to walk for a bit until they got there, in between that time David started to think about topics to talk about before he remembered something he talked about with Syndra.
-Hey…if you don’t mind me asking senior Valentia…Why is it that you live in that dorm?
Originally David felt hesitant about asking something like this, but since it directly tied with them living in the same house he figured he would figure out eventually, at this point he roughly knew the reason as to why Olga and Syndra lived in the dorm, as for Hyura, while he was never explicitly told anything, for some reason he didn’t feel the need to ask her as his previous event with her told him that she seemed to have some conflicts with other students judging by those bruises, and by taking out the two professors who he wasn’t sure of whether or not they counted, the only one who he didn’t quite know about for why she lived in the dorm was Valentia.
-Why do I live in that dorm?
Valentia muttered slightly startled, not expecting this question out of David all of a sudden, she briefly thought about it and realized that it was a sensible thing to ask since their dorm wasn’t as ordinary or as big as the other dorms, if David and her lived in a dorm with over a hundred people maybe this question would be have completely unnecessary, but since only 6 people including a golem maid lived in that dorm and since they would see each other almost every day it only made sense that David would want to know her especially since it was that dorm they lived in, their interactions could also change depending on the reason as to why she lived there, and while Syndra was slightly evasive with her answer Valentia didn’t seem to have any problem with explaining her circumstances as she spoke as they walked speaking in a matter of fact tone.
-You see, I was actually thrown away from my kingdom, I told you before that I am overseas student from Nohrn but in fact this is more like a one-way trip as I can’t return, my family wouldn’t condone that is what I want to say, and as for why I live in that dorm, that was actually my own decision, as soon as I got here I decided to live in that dorm since I didn’t want to live in a place with too many people.
Valentia explained, her explanation wasn’t very thorough, but David wasn’t going to point that out as she basically answered his question, the thing he knew now was that Valentia had so heavy family circumstances and from her dispassionate tone it was clear that she didn’t thinking very well of them, choosing to avoid talking about family in her presence was likely for the better David thought.
They still talked about all sorts of things while walking, being in the presence of Valentia made David feel as if he was in good care as she was very attentive, she still kept her savage air about her though giving a very ferocious impression to whoever looked at her, it was only when she looked at David that this ferocious aura lessened a bit as she smiled and talked.
Not even Valentia noticed this and soon enough they entered the Academy, looking like a completely ordinary university building from within only with its own unique style they marched through a long winding corridor passing many doors that lead to a lot of wide rooms with many uses before finally arriving at the end where an enormous hall was waiting for them.
The size of this hall surprised David as he hadn’t expected to see something so big, for a moment he thought he entered a football stadium or some kind of gigantic arena as it had a open roof with uncountable amount of bleachers for people to sit and watch.
David had no idea where they had gotten themselves into as he was simply too shocked, Valentia who was watching David the entire time expected his reaction feeling glee as she observed him.
-What is this place?
David asked, looking all around him noticing that there were actually other people here other than them all scattered around from each other seemingly doing their own thing, they were all pretty far away but from what he could see every single one of them was doing something completely different from the other, some were running, some were hitting dummies with all kinds of weapons, while others looked like they were meditating.
Either way it was clear to David that these people had come here to train, but most importantly it wasn’t those mundane things that really caught David’s attention as sometime these students would shout something, move their hands around in particular patterns and then cause a sort of light, fire or something else to appear before using it in all shapes and forms from ordinary projectiles to what seemed like armor made out of rock.
David didn’t need to think twice before understanding that these people were casting spells.
-As you see, this is our academy’s training ground, though it is actually our stadium, all of our academy’s official events take place here which ranges from competitions to exams and everything in between, but whenever it’s not in use students are free to come here and train with the facilities available, by far isn’t the place with the best facilities but because it’s so spacious it gives a lot of freedom to those who want to train in that area, plus it is completely free, but if you want to specialize on certain aspect of your training its best you go rent out a specialized training room.
She said, giving David a complete tour as they went around the entire stadium, Valentia showed David all the things he could do here and as they walked the people who were working hard started to notice them.
At first nobody seemed to particularly care about them as they were too engrossed in their own training, but Valentia was attention grabbing wherever she went so were most of the other people in his dorm, but for not so nice reasons, he on the other hand was the direct opposite as all the females immediately turned their heads towards him the moment they saw him.
It’s because of David’s looks that a few spells started to misfire as a small commotion came to be, soon a lot of whispers went around as well, but David was now far more used to it after the last few similar events.
Valentia didn’t look bothered at all about this, she did worry about David though, but seeing that he was completely fine she decided to ignore it as well, in fact the reason Valentia wanted to come here with David was not just because she wanted to show him all magic that was being cast she also wanted him to utilize his own skills.
But just as she was getting ready to bring up the equipment, unexpectedly a few other people started to present themselves in front of them casting a long shadow.
-Well Hello~! What do we have here I didn’t think we would meet here of all places!
-Grr…Hi Mishalka.
Valentia replied with a low growl, clearly displeased as she stopped what she was doing and raised herself looking down towards the newly arrived individuals.
David was a bit surprised by their sudden appearance, in total there were 4 people, he completely didn’t recognize 3 of them, but one of them he knew for certain as she was actually one of the first people David had met when he came to Ravennest city.
It was the 150cm short and skinny girl with light yellow hair, her eyes were a standard brown while possessing cute facial features, she also held herself in high esteem and what David of as a heroic air before was actually more akin overflowing pride as he started to see her in a more in a different light the more he thought about her.
Yes, this girl was Mishalka, David remembered that she also gave him her surname but for the life of his he couldn’t remember.
In either case behind Mishalka stood way less people then before, merely 3 individuals, but compared to last time these 3 were obviously were bursting with far more character as they level headedly stared at Valentia and David.
They were 2 girls and 1 boy, the first girl had red hair and red eyes like blood, from those two things David immediately that she must be someone from the Iron Blood Empire as he had only ever seen those traits in those people, her build was very robust while her cup size was average, her facial features were sharp and she gave off a very strict air while also possessing a oppressive aura about her she was tall but not as tall as David standing approximately 170 cms.
The second girl by far was the tallest a little bit taller than David maybe 5 more cms making her 190 cms she also had the fullest hourglass figure aura possessing a big rack with a thin waist, her hair especially was attention grabbing as it was as black as that of a ravens, it was cut short too looking very clean while her face was very pretty, beautiful even, that is if she bothered to smile as she had a constant grim look on her face making her seem gloomy and maybe even depressed, her eyes didn’t help either as they looked slightly soulless giving her a creepy feeling, their color was black too making them even more scary.
The way she dressed was also very different as well, compared to the ordinary girls uniform which was a blouse a blazer coupled with a skirt, this girl wore a dress shirt with a vest and a pair of trousers all neatly folded, the colors still adhered to the academy’s ordinary uniform, but David wasn’t sure if this was okay or whether the Academy even cared.
Finally, the last person the only guy in this little group who was also standing the closest to Mishalka and who was also of a similar height as her making him close to 150 cms tall.
Compared to the other 2 girls he looked the cheeriest as he had a constant polite smile on his face, he had brown short curly hair and another pair of brown eyes he was very good looking, but instead of calling him handsome, cute or beautiful would be a better descriptor, and that was basically it, for all intents and purposes the boy looked to be an good loocking boy with a uplifting personality, but for some reason David couldn’t shake the feeling that there was far more to the boy then he initially was giving him credit to, while his eyes looked gentle and his smile was unassuming, David for some reason felt disturbed within his presence as if he was going to eat him.
But remember this was all David’s own observations and opinions.
Both groups observed each other.
The eyes of the girls stayed a little bit longer on David as they seemed to be enchanted by his looks, even soulless girl looked a bit more energetic after glancing at David, while the boy also looked at David slightly longer, but not with the same gaze as those girls as he seemed to be instead glaring at David for some reason, of course that glare instantly disappear just as quickly as it appeared making David believe that he saw wrong quickly forgetting the incident as he didn’t want to think about it.
-What do you want Mishalka, if you don’t mind I am busy showing around my junior around the Academy.
Valentia immediately wanted to end this exchange as she saw no reason to converse with someone who she disliked, Mishalka didn’t seem to be liking this exchange either, but it seemed as if she had a reason to continue as she gave David a small glance before looking back at Valentia.
-Now, now don’t be like that Valentia, aren’t we from the same class? As classmates we should always be willing to help each other, in fact I am actually also showing around my juniors around the academy, if you didn’t already know them let me introduce them to you.
Speaking as much Mishalka didn’t give Valentia any time to refuse as she immediately proceeded with introducing her juniors to us, feeling that she got duped made Valentia a bit mad, but she decided to let It go and just get this over with.
Getting called by their senior the 3 individuals looked a bit hesitant but still decided to be introduced as they stepped forward.
The first to step up was the red head from the Iron Blood empire, she gave Valentia a hard glare before Mishalka started speaking.
-This is Mimir Von Lichtenstein, I think you should have heard about the Lichtenstein’s as they are a famous house in the Iron Blood Empire with the title of Archduke, of course titles don’t matter here so it doesn’t matter even if you don’t know.
After finishing, the person herself started speaking as she gave Valentia what seemed a like a military salute before reaching out for a handshake.
-It’s nice to meet you senior Valentia, I have already met with an old friend of mine who lives in the same dorm as you, Hyura is her name, I gave her my greetings yesterday.
Her words were laced with schadenfreude and a bit of malice, making David unable to help himself as he remembered the bruises Hyura had all over her body, knowing these things and adding this girl’s general attitude, it started to become clear to David where those bruises must have come from, already David didn’t have a good opinion of this girl.
Valentia shared the same thought, she also knew about Hyura’s injuries just like Syndra and since she was also more informed than David she knew the whole reason as to why this girl caused those injuries to Hyura as it was a grudge that spanned for a very long time.
Not one to run from a challenge Valentia took up Mimir’s hand, but instead while shaking it she gave the impudent girl a bit more then she bargained from giving her tight squeezed that caused Mimir to grit her teeth before she unceremoniously pulled her hand away.
Mimir was pissed, she gave Valentia a low growl while glaring at her with bloody murder, unfortunately for her Valentia wasn’t affected in the slightest and Mishalka knew that she needed to do something as she quickly went between them pulling Mimir away.
-Alright, lets go to the next one.
-Hmph..
Valentia snorted, Mishalka wasn’t pleased but she cool headed continued to introduce everyone else while keeping Mimir in check who surprisingly listened to Mishalka though unwillingly.
The next to introduce herself was the gloomy girl with raven black hair, she didn’t really look like much but her next words told a different story.
-I..I am Gehena White…I come from the Dragon’s Keep.
-The Dragon’s Keep?!
Valentia was surprised, her expression clearly told David that much, but he had no clue why she was so surprised other than knowing that it had something to do with the place known as the Dragon’s Keep.
Mishalka expected this and looked a bit more satisfied then before while donning a prideful smile.
-Yes, Gehena here is indeed from the Dragon’s Keep and as you know the people from the Dragon’s keep are all descendants of the great White Dragon, they rarely ever come down their mountain and usually seclude themselves inside their keep, Gehena is one of the only people who were allowed to come down, her status currently is similar to that of an ambassador, but at the same time she is a genuine student who will study here until her graduation so take it as it is.
Valentia narrowed her eyes as she looked at Gehena, Gehena herself didn’t look away or anything in fact she didn’t seem to care at all as she kept her grim expression, still Valentia could feel that Gehena was not someone to be underestimated as it seemed to be true that she did indeed come from Dragon’s Keep just by judging the aura that came off her after closer inspection.
It was the first time Valentia had felt such a suppressive aura, she immediately knew that this must have been the Dragonkin’s men signature trait inherited from the dragon species they descended from.
Dragon Fear.
Gehena showed no malice or ill will whatsoever, in fact she seemed to be far more interested in David who stood behind Valentia than Valentia herself giving him couple of glances, David didn’t feel any suppressive aura on him as if it didn’t exist at all and noticing her glances towards him made David not sure on how to react, but since she didn’t seem to exude any ill will he gave her gentle smile before also waving a hello at her.
This caused Gehena to finally change expression’s as her cheeks started to get a little rosier, being shy and generally pessimistic made Gehena always shut herself in her shell, but for some reason David made her feel as if she wanted to come out making her unconsciously also give David a light wave back, but that was all she managed before she got so shy she needed to retreat.
Gehena wasn’t going to be like Mimir and offer a handshake, she learned from the mistakes of others and wasn’t about to make the same mistakes as her.
This little interaction between Gehena and David was noticed by the others present, Valentia especially didn’t like it, but she couldn’t exactly tell David to not interact with this girl from the Dragon’s Keep.
On the other hand, Mishalka looked a bit interested in what just occurred while the boy showed a bit of disgust before quickly hiding it, Mimir didn’t care either way and just glared at Valentia occasionally.
-Finally, this is Roland Mcsulivan, he is from the kingdom of Metradas.
Getting his turn, the boy happily came forward in front of Valentia giving her the widest smile before introducing himself.
-My name is Roland Mcsulivan, I’m from the kingdom of Metradas, I’m just the son of a small baron household, I hope you can give me advice senior!
He said, his demeanor cute and outgoing as he seemed very used to social interaction, the people who were observing them also thought like that and the females especially thought he was very attractive even if he wasn’t very special, but still almost all the girls were more attracted to David as he exuded a charm that just made him to die for.
Valentia too thought that David was far better, most importantly the reason she preferred David over this boy was more because David was genuine and sincere, while from this boy was clearly putting up a mask over his face, Valentia had met a lot of people like that so she knew when someone was faking it and when someone was genuine.
In the end she merely gave the boy a nod and stopped giving him a second glance.
Roland slightly flinched at such cold reception especially since he was doing this front of such a ugly girl he wouldn’t even spare a glance at even if he was paid gold, but Roland was even more displeased for another reason as the attention he usually basked himself in suddenly disappeared as all the girls turned their eyes to someone else, the moment he noticed David and his looks that trumped his, Roland knew that he would never be able to get along with David as he hated anyone who looked better then him.
Now with everyone introduced Valentia thought they could finally go separate ways, but just as she was about to suggest parting, Mishalka seemed to catch on as she quickly came forward again.
-Now that I introduced my juniors, how about you introduce yours? I remember meeting him at the train station at Ravennest city, Syndra was there too, but she immediately decided to dump her responsibilities on me even though she was supposed to lead him herself, alas while I accepted, this junior decided to follow her instead because he didn’t want to trouble me, ever since that I was worried about you guys taking care of him knowing how irresponsible some of you can get…
Those comments seemed to sting as Valentia didn’t look too good after hearing that, she even made one step forward looking threatening as smoke sparks of fire started to gather around her as she towered over Mishalka before speaking.
-Listen here Mishalka if you have problem we can always…
Thinking that the situation was getting out of hand, David quickly tried to make it stop as he went between them, particularly pulling Valentia back, David obviously wasn’t as strong as Valentia and because he wasn’t as strong he knew that he needed to do something underhanded to make her move.
Using his right hand, he held her under her arm while his other hand to sneakily hold her waist where he gave her a gentle squeeze.
This caused Valentia to immediately stop as she suddenly felt weak in her body from David’s touch, her face was flushed for that matter turning from a ferocious tiger into a small kitten as she got dragged away.
Valentia had no idea how David was able to do that, and David himself learned how to do this through experimenting with Syndra’s body, the only thing he didn’t know was whether or not those things would actually work with Valentia but luckily they did.
-David! What are you doing?!
After moving away and calming down a little bit Valentia started to get a little bit mad that David dragged her away like this most importantly she felt a bit embarrassed as well and David knew that as he looked a bit sorry.
-Senior Valentia, please don’t be angry calm down she is just messing with you, you are better than, don’t get provoked by her cheap words.
David’s words put a little of sense into Valentia’s head, but still she felt a bit angry not being able to help herself.
-But she..
-Forget about it, it doesn’t matter, I for one never thought you were irresponsible and neither do I think so about the others.
He tightened his grip around her body placing his right hand just under her breast while grazing it, Valentia clearly felt the sensation of his hand which already made her feel slightly aroused, she felt astonished by how he was controlling her, but at the same time for some reason she couldn’t go against him, her head had already cooled and she had forgotten all about Mishalka, at this moment the only thing she could think of was David and how he was touching her.
To others their interaction didn’t look indecent at all which is why it was safe, after a few seconds David too decided to part so it wouldn’t be suspicious, Valentia felt a bit regretful from parting with David, but at the same time she knew that she had to quickly calm her beating heart as she couldn’t be seen with such a flushed face in front of everyone.
All this time Mishalka looked as if she had won or something, but Valentia already started to feel that David was completely right as she didn’t matter at all.
-Forget it, this is David, he is a commoner and that’s pretty much it.
-My name is David, its as senior Valentia says, it is nice to meet you.
David gave a polite bow after his introduction, he thought he wasn’t anything special which is why it was so short, but it seemed like there was something in his introduction that did indeed catch all 4 of them off guard.
-A commoner you say?
All 4 of them were a bit surprised after hearing this, they for the most part already knew David’s social status from a lot rumors, but knowing how Handsome he was and his demeanor they never put those rumors into any serious consideration until hearing it from David himself.
All kinds of things went through everyone’s head as they considered what this could mean.
The mutters of the 3 in the back couldn’t be heard by anyone but they were distinct.
-So he Is a commoner huh…
-His name is David…such a nice name…
-To think I was comparing myself with a mere commoner, still I can’t have him hog all the attention, I will show him his place…
Having finished with his introduction Valentia felt that it was enough, she wanted these people leave them alone already, and if they weren’t going to leave then not even Valentia knew what she was going to do.
She wanted to avoid blowing her temper in front of David, if it wasn’t for David stopping her before she would have already done it.
-Okay, it was nice knowing each other, but let’s part here, there is something we are planning on doing so I appreciate it if you wouldn’t get in our way.
Mishalka glanced down upon hearing that, seeing the equipment for a certain game, a ominous smile surfaced on her thin lips before she asked.
-You are planning something you say?
A Place Of Legends 