Chương 91: Chapter 26

"What are you working on?" Shaya asked, taking a peek at Apricot's notebook over her shoulder.

"Oh," Apricot said, blushing, "I found it difficult to keep track of Arcadia's races and the many types of nephilim here, so I started making a list of the divine bloodlines and people who I think are descended from them." Apricot slid her notebook to Shaya to let her read it over. The larger woman squinted down, head fuzzy from the Vincasan Brandy, and admired Apricot's handwriting—and the doodles in the margins.

She flipped through a few pages, frowning down at the notebook in concentration, then flipped back and forth. Something about how the names were grouped caused her mind to itch, but she couldn't piece it together. Damn alcohol, she thought, why do people bother with this?

"Recognize some of the names?" Apricot asked, looking at her.

"More than a few," Shaya agreed.

"It reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it." Apricot shrugged, taking her notebook back.

"I'm sure it'll come to you eventually. Then we can compare notes. Speaking of that though…" She flipped to a page outlining Tarrak and Their many descendants.

"Do you know which bloodline you descend from? I don't want to judge purely by your appearance."

"I don't know for certain, actually," Shaya said, mind slowly piecing together her response.

"I don't know who my donor was and my moms didn't tell me."

"Do you know Phaedra's?" Apricot asked.

"Maybe she managed to find someone from the same line?"

"Rassuk, God of Rage, Beasts, and Slaughter," Shaya replied.

"Makes the most sense, His descendants usually have sweeping horns and reddish skin."

"I don't know," Apricot said, tapping her lower lip.

"Your horns and skin tone aren't too pronounced. I hear Kargal's descendants have goat horns and purplish skin, maybe your ancestry just doesn't fully express it?"

"I wish," Shaya said as she ran claws through her hair.

"Tarrans descended from Brakkus and Kargal have much better control over their anger. I don't think I'm lucky enough to be descended from anyone but the least stable of Tarrak's children."

"Have you told my mom yet?" Apricot asked.

"That might be helpful for her report on you."

"She told you about that, eh?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Apricot looked embarrassed.

"I hope that's okay."

"Yeah," Shaya said, smiling.

"I trust you. You're right though, feel free to let Rea know my possible heritage."

"Enough nerding," Bri said, pouring Shaya and herself another shot of the brandy.

"More drinking. I think I might actually be getting drunk for the first time ever."

"That's our cue," Oraeus said, standing and offering a hand to Apricot.

"I believe it is my turn to drag you onto the dance floor now." Apricot unleashed a deep, dramatic sigh, but joined Oraeus with a smile. +++++"I dunno," Shaya sighed, gesturing at the dance floor full of couples, "sometimes I envy them, you know?"

"Have you ever given any thought to dating? It sounds like you don't have to contend with political marriages or alliances like many of us," Samorn said, tone polite as she poured another glass of water and slid it to Shaya.

"You strike quite the heroic figure, I am certain you have at least one admirer."

"Psht." Shaya waved away the compliment, but the rational part of her accepted the glass of water.

"No way. And besides, where would I find the time? I'm down to only five courses now… working most evenings, full-time on weekends… plus studying and practicing. I don't have any free time."

"Which is not healthy for you," Samorn said, giving her a worried look.

"While I appreciate that you want to maximize your experience, you are constantly haggard and worn down because of your many commitments."

"Needs to be done," Shaya said stubbornly, sipping at her water.

"My father's lands are so hostile he can't even find nobles willing to take them. I need to be as strong as possible to clear them of monsters, protect them from bandits, and make sure none of our neighbours think of encroaching on our territory. That means being an amazing mage, warrior, and commander. My father—and my duchy's people—deserve no less, given how hard they're working to make their homes a better place."

"He will find someone brave enough to take on the risk eventually," Samorn assured her, patting her arm.

"And you cannot take everything onto yourself like this. I'm sure your father is a skilled nephilim, to be rewarded a duchy in a foreign land; you have an older brother who sounds capable, and your younger brother sounds precocious. Your uncle, aunt, and cousin all sound capable and wise as well. Not to mention all of your family's retainers." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Samorn gave Shaya's arm a reassuring squeeze before continuing.

"Besides which, you cannot be at your best if you work yourself into the ground. Take the money you get from Una and the bonuses you have earned at work and allow yourself to relax."

"You're probably right," Shaya sighed.

"How are you not spoken for yet? You're smart, beautiful, caring, and powerful."

"Where there's a will," Samorn snorted, "there's a way."

"Independent, eh?"

"For now." Samorn shrugged.

"I'm in no rush to be courted or married. I don't deny the political value of my marriage, but I'm not actively seeking it at the Academy like many of my peers. Or children, despite the environment the Academy pushes that encourages such affairs."

"That does explain a lot." Shaya nodded, thinking about the overflowing orphanages in Arcadia and countless courtesans in most of the establishments they had visited.

"Between bastards and internal wars, the empire has plenty of orphans." Samorn nodded sadly.

"Which is why adoption is so readily accepted. I hear in other kingdoms, orphans are easily discredited from inheritance or looked down upon."

"That sounds crazy to me." Shaya shuddered at the thought, then turned more jovial.

"I guess the empire must love people like Ren then, who keep them stocked with nephilim babies." Samorn chuckled.

"Within reason, perhaps."

"Ah, probably not Ren himself then," Shaya snorted.

"Where is he, anyway?"

"Shaya," Samorn said, patting Shaya's hand like she was infirm, "he left hours ago with Parmenia."

"Oh," Shaya said, trying to remember, "hours ago? Don't we have class tomorrow? Damn, how drunk am I?"

"Yes," Bri said, returning to the table and pouring herself a glass of water.

"Pardon me," Samorn said, standing, "it is my turn to freshen up."

"Hey, Bri," Shaya said, turning to her friend.

"Could you teach me some non-destructive Ruby magic? I wonder if I'd enjoy practicing it more if it wasn't always so… hostile."

"What do you mean?" Bri asked, nose wrinkled.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to teach you anything more complicated than a basic Light spell."

"Well, let's start with that then."

"No one taught you the basics of Ruby magic?" Bri asked again, this time aghast.

"No," Shaya replied, looking away sheepishly.

"I… kind of avoided it, since I hurt an innocent person with it during my Awakening."

"Ah, geeze," Bri said.

"No wonder you're so hesitant in Intro to Pyromancy then. I'm glad I skipped an Awakening entirely, I've heard they tend to be extra hard on Ruby mages." Shaya's anxiety threw images of the burn wounds she had inflicted on Theris several years ago, but she forced them away with reminders of meeting the ambitious young woman again earlier that evening. Facts that were powerful enough to dispel her anxiety, better than magic could.

"It all turned out alright." Shaya turned back to face Bri.

"Now I just regret not letting my brother teach me, so I could have a better foundation to build on here."

"Well, we can't change the past, but we can start to rectify those gaps in knowledge." Shaya smiled as Bri grinned and leaned toward her conspiratorially. As quietly as possible, she invoked Sorathis and managed to suppress her esper's visual manifestation. Though the invocation was slightly louder than normal speech, the crowd's banter and laughter concealed it well enough.

Their professors were just beginning to teach them how to suppress the more overt components of their spellcasting, but it required active concentration for them at the moment. And that was just an esper's passive manifestation. Suppressing anything more than the most basic of spells was still beyond even Samorn and Oraeus. Fortunately for them, Light was one of the most basic formulae in Ruby's repertoire. Cupping her hands on the table to create a dome, Bri conjured a small mote of warm light within them.

It flickered like a candle as it floated in mid-air and Shaya couldn't help but smile at it.

"It's pretty," she said to her friend, who huddled closer so she could let the spell float higher into the air between them.

"Thanks," Bri said, then blurted: "It's a really simple rune and very adaptable. My entire Intro to Lumimancy course is basically about modifying this one rune. Anyway, I'll show you when we get back to our rooms."

"I can't wait," Shaya replied with a smile.

"And thank you for the gift earlier. It was very thoughtful of you." Bri blushed, but tried to shrug it off.

"Like I said, we all came together for it. Besides, you need better armour given how reckless you are." The Light spell glowed more as Bri's cheeks reddened and she unconsciously drew in more Ruby aether. Shaya's eyes narrowed in mock accusation.

"Now who's bad at taking a compliment?"

"Bah," Bri said, waving it off and dismissing her spell to Shaya's disappointment.

"Fine, I'm glad you like it. I think it sucked you were punished for saving Azreon's dumb ass, only to have him provoke you and then try to kill you in the exchange. I… I can't bring him to justice for attempting to murder you," she sighed.

"So, I at least wanted you to know that I—er, we—had your back."

"I know you do." Shaya nodded. She took another sip of water before speaking again, using the time to build up her courage and focus her thoughts.

"Hey, Bri—""You!" Azreon growled, storming into the tavern and marching towards their table alongside some of his Lance, all of them dressed for an evening of carousing. Even the swords at their belts were fancier than usual, with more inlaid gems and twisted silver patterns. Their combined stench hit her, but Shaya's sensory work with Bari let her pick out some of their individual scents: Azreon's potent bouquet, Galo's smoke and oil, and at least one other's sharp, citrusy notes.

Azreon's outburst and their march drew the late-night crowd's attention to Shaya's table, some of The Buried Treasure's bouncers tensing for a fight.

"I don't know what witchcraft or bribery you're employing, but I will no longer tolerate you and your pawns manipulating the results of the deployments!" You've got to be kidding me. Face red with anger and likely no small amount of alcohol, Azreon glared down at Shaya and snarled, "I challenge you to a duel!"