UWS: 1.9 - darkness

The Academy itself wasn’t massive, consisting of five buildings,  A dueling center, two dorms, and Then the academy building itself, which was overly huge filled with unused and unoccupied rooms. Rumor was that decades ago, it was much larger, but due to the wars and population decline, the school purposely shifted down the education cycle and the number of students it would tutor. 

Apparently, a third class of students would be arriving within a month, exchange students and special cases, all so the academy could accrue socio-political capital. 

While Veilbrook Magical Academy seemed like a means to an end with its two-year study system. The opportunities it led to was the real introduction to magic. Right over and slightly farther away from Maplethistle resided Maplethistle University, It’s where most graduates go, after the second year, those that aren’t conscripted or married off to fat pigs of course. 

Like Calia.

Even the teachers were staffed and placed via the university, It’s the real prize here, if she could get entry into it, she might be immune to the Argentums of course, she’d have thrown the name away. 

Calia needed to be careful and to make the right move. At the end of the final term and semester, she’d have the choice to return “home” or stay in the dorms. It would be better to close the distance, but… Arabella often had mental whims. She could already see her, coming to pick her up. Force her to attend domestic classes, and “train” her womanhood with the male servants. 

It disgusted her. 

Heavy heels clicking on the floor got her out of her stupor. It was their combat teacher, everything about her screamed gothic vixen. She wore heavy makeup under her eyes, and on her lips. Pitch black, as was her dress. Her finger and toenails were painted obsidian. Even the bag she carried with her was completely dark. Not to mention her wand as well. 

Her dark wavy hair was wild, animalistic in a sense. The way she carried herself was intimidating. Where Solokova demanded authority through force. Eris radiated a commanding grace. She seemed witchy in a sense, probably part of a coven of sorts. 

Through [Mana sense] Calia could detect her rampant and wild energy. It felt dark, to the core. Evil wasn’t something you could throw around, she felt it here.

Eris glanced at her the moment she did it. Moving her head horizontally in disapproval.

Calia lost her breath for a moment, forgetting to breathe. 

She stopped. The head nod was a threat. “Don’t do that”.

Still, she felt a pull towards Luna, and in comparison with Miralyn, Eris wasn’t teasing her or playing with her sexuality. Her aura was alluring. 

Her eye caught something. There. It was faint, but she recognized it. Her eyes flickered golden, for a split second, before returning to normal. It seemed no one in her class did notice, they all simply looked at her with a mix of boredom and fright. 

The class quieted as she tapped her wand on the magical board. Sparks flew from it. 

“I…Want your full attention!”

Though the class was quiet she did not have the full attention of everyone. 

Piper was playing with a paper bird, her fingers tracing the wings delicately. Eris took note of it and was unamused. 

“[Magic missile!]” 

A spinning blue bolt of light shot from her hands, heading straight for Piper. Calia panicked, the spell was lethal, and Piper had no protective shield. 

The missile blasted the paper out of hands, then doubled back, exploding mid-air. Magic fragments scatter across the room. “I do not…appreciate distraction in my class. You pay attention or you can leave!”

Piper squeaked, then ducked behind Calia’s desk. The sudden movement, made her nerves tense up. She comforted Piper, patting her on the head. Eris stared at them. 

She was stern. Her voice is deep and authoritative. The air hummed when she spoke. Calia liked that, she’d pay attention, all the time. [lilith kiss] stirred slightly, not enough to be concerned. But it summoned fantasies.

She could imagine herself being brought before the class, and being spanked by Eris’s wand. 

She tapped on her wand motioning for Piper to sit. Piper leaped to her desk like she was under assault. 

“Can any one of you girls tell me why you are here to  learn offensive magic?”

“To protect king and country” Rhiannon answered proudly, with patriotic fervor.

Calia couldn't agree with that. Fuck the royals

Eris shook her head in disapproval. “yes…maybe...as a national citizen and as a noble aim sure but no.”

Eris' voice turned cold. “The truth is that for us women, female mages, witches, and the like. We are not withheld from the cruel reality of the world. A noblewoman, and even a commoner mage, is the ultimate prize, the ultimate spoil of war. Your bodies, if captured by a neighboring nation, will be used as leverage, a tool, or even worse.”

The class went silent. There was no sugarcoating what she was speaking of. It was a grim reality, men would take them, and use their bodies if they were vulnerable.

“Even if you don’t pursue a traditional role as a noblewoman, say you’d enter the scientific field, you’d still want to be prepared for threats, foreign or domestic.”

Eris’s coldness stirred something in her. Something sleeping, forget the ugly men. The gothic spirit in front of her could tame her if she wanted. 

The class went on, and Calia’s attention wavered, she stared more than she listened. Today they wouldn’t be learning much beyond theoretical stuff. Tomorrow will be another matter. Eris intends to hold a mock duel, and every student must participate, If it meant staring more at this tall, dark, and sexy teacher, she didn’t mind. 

****

At the end of the classes. Eris gave them each a piper that had to be signed out. 

It was a list of additional classes they had to partake in. They were limited in choice but not in scope.

They included:

• Alchemical Science

• Spirit Summoning and Familiars

• Magical Artifices and Crafting

• Runecrafting and Glyph Magic

• Magical Ethics and Diplomacy

• Primordial and Arcane Spellcraft

   They had a week to choose, at least one, a second one for extra credits which could earn you a serious allowance, as some of the work would be very practical, as in actual work.

She felt a strange connection to spirits summoning and families– Perhaps it was the thought of maintaining her own control or even her emotions. She never had proper agency over herself. Only with the younger maids, had she been able to exercise her authority. She really didn’t know what to choose at the moment. Glyph magic was interesting, it had thousands of potential effects but rune crafting did not interest her, she wasn't a dwarf.

At Least they had a week to choose. 

As the teacher finished handing out papers, she gave Calia a glance. Why did every teacher look at her this way, was it because of her condition? She'd have to seriously inquire because it was affecting her. Perhaps later...

It was brief, but there was weight behind it. And it made her blush. 

You’re nineteen Calia, you’re too old for crushes.  And she's what in her thirties?

Piper poked at her face. “You’re awfully red Calia, are you sick.”

She nodded with a smile. “I think I am.”

Lovesick