Chapter 199: School Rumors

Sylvie followed the energetic orc, Poppy Skeller, past the campus’ cobblestone paths and to the large grassy open field. A large track was etched across the center of the field. Around two dozen students stretched and did simple exercises near the track’s starting line.

“We’re in luck, we’re early,” Poppy said. “If we go sit at the stands and stay quiet, Professor Tauri won’t mind us watching.”

Sylvie nodded and followed. Although, as she took the first step onto the stand’s wooden planks she suddenly felt doubtful. The planks creaked loudly underneath her weight, Sylvie worried they might break and she’d fall flat on her ass.

“Um, I’m not sure this is a good idea. I think I’ll just stand,” Sylvie mumbled.

“No, you’re fine. You may be big, but I’ve seen bigger,” she smiled confidently.

“Really? Because I’m a 7 foot dire.”

“Okay, maybe I haven’t seen bigger, but it’s fine, trust me,” Poppy beckoned her on.

Sylvie took a deep breath and placed both feet on the bench and to her surprise, the wooden stands did not shatter. She sighed with relief.

“Told ya,” Poppy grinned. “Let’s sit over here.”

Poppy pointed at a couple of seats on the lowest bench, the furthest spot possible from the only other person sitting at the stands.

“Why don’t we sit with her? She seems fun,” Sylvie pointed at the woman sitting on the stands all the way at the top.

“Don’t point! She might think we’re rude,” Poppy waved her hands exasperatedly.

“She already thinks that. We’re sitting away from her. I’m sure if we talked to her we could clear up any misunderstanding.”

“Not a good idea. Besides, she doesn’t think we are being rude, she thinks we are being respectful. Can’t you see her uniform? She’s a maid.”

Sylvie stared at the black dress and white apron skeptically, “A maid? The maids I grew up around wore a very different uniform.”

“Maids in Hollow Shade dress like that. Maids represent their masters when out in public. So, if you accidentally disrespect one of them, you disrespect their master. Best if we stay away.”

“So who is her master?” Sylvie asked.

“Stop staring at her. I don’t know who her master is. A bunch of aristocratic kids walk around the school with their servants. Which is why it’s best if we stay away, you don’t want to offend the wrong merchant or worse, the wrong House.”

“That makes sense, I guess…” Sylvie nodded glumly.

Poppy patted her shoulder, “This academy, no, this city can be dangerous. If you remember to stay sharp you’ll be fine.”

“Thanks for the advice. I gotta admit, I’m pretty new to all of this.”

“Well, if anyone can survive in this academy of powerful, rich kids I’d say a dire hybrid mageborn prodigy can do it,” Poppy winked.

Sylvie smiled wide, “Thanks.”

“~Ooh~ look, you see that tall, husky orc over there?”

“Husky?” Sylvie glanced at the track.

“The really muscular one. Come on, Sylvie keep up,” Poppy nudged her shoulder.

“Right, sorry. Yeah, I see him, his shirt seems a bit too small for him. Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“Come on, as if you haven’t worn something a little tight for looks before,” Poppy laughed.

“Um, yeah, totally…” Sylvie mumbled.

She had always been taught to favor comfortability and practicality when it came to clothes. Hollow Shade really was different. She supposed this was like the fashion stuff the maids back home talked about.

“Kegrog is a mage,” Poppy said. “But he also takes classes at the martial academy. He’s some kind of archer genius.”

“Archer? He uses a bow? Really? I would have guessed something bigger, like a giant hammer.”

“He can use that too. Kegrog is a chromatic brown. He does a lot of enchantment work at the academy’s forge for practice.”

Sylvie sent her a questioning look, “It sounds like you know a lot about him.”

“Have you seen him without his shirt working at the forge?”

“No, I’m new, remember?”

“It was rhetorical.”

“Oh, right.”

“Believe it or not,” Poppy said. “There are always at least a couple of girls who visit the forge just to watch him work. I mean, who could blame them? All those sweaty, bulging muscles and that red skin practically glowing in the firelight… Ahem, the point is, he’s popular, but he’s still single. Some think he’s shy, others say he’s completely devoted to mastering his craft, and some think he’s gay.”

“What do you think?”

“Definitely not gay.”

“Why not?”

“I notice these things.”

“What does that mean?”

“I once saw him staring at Freya Goldelm’s boobs.”

“Oh.”

“Actually, she is right over there on the track. The one at the center of the other girls. The blonde one with the very thin golden chains in her hair.”

“The one doing the jumping jacks?”

“Bingo.”

Sylvie blinked, “Oh. Oh damn. I’m not gay and I could stare at those boobs bounce up and down all day.”

Poppy laughed, “I know right! That’s our queen bee for you.”

“Hey, who’s the redhead girl?” Sylvie asked. “The one who just stuck out her tongue at Freya. Look at that, Freya just gave her the middle finger.”

“Ah, that’s the fearsome Kithina. Popular and feared, not an easy feat to achieve.”

“How’d she do it then?”

“Well, the popular part was easy. She’s got that studious-adorable look going for her. She’s also the top chromatic yellow in school and the only novice mage capable of multicasting.”

“She can multicast!?” Sylvie’s eyes widened.

Poppy nodded, “And to top it off, she’s part of the popular kids’ circle.”

Sylvie stared at Kithina with admiration, “I get why they call her fearsome, she’s gotta be the most powerful mage in the school.”

“Actually, they call her fearsome because she got drunk at a school party once and beat up every guy that went to hit on her, and there were a lot of guys, some girls too.”

Sylvie shrugged, “I get it, the powerful are always picky with their partners.”

“I’m not sure that’s why she beat them up,” Poppy smiled wryly. “I heard she’s just a really violent drunk. But Kithina is powerful. Rumor has it that’s the reason why Freya and Kithina are frenemies.”

“Frenemies?”

“They both always hang out with the other popular students, but everyone always sees them fighting each other. No one really knows why, people have a bunch of theories. The most popular theory is that the two of them are trying to determine who is the most powerful female mage in the academy.”

“Huh, interesting.”

“I disagree with that theory though, because of Nora Azol.”

“Who’s Nora Azol?” Sylvie asked.

“She’s a chromatic blue and the most powerful female student. You weren’t here last week when classes started, but on the first day, every 3rd-year student took an evaluation exam so the teachers could gauge our abilities for the upcoming Great Cities Tourney. When Nora took the exam it turned out she was far more advanced than the rest of us. They say she’s as powerful as an adept.”

Sylvie whistled, “Damn, I’m impressed. So which one is she?”

“You won’t find her on the track,” Poppy shook her head. “After the evaluation, Nora went on a break. No one knows why. But someone that powerful doesn’t really need to go to school if you ask me. She could literally just show up on graduation day, have the principal bestow her a mage necklace, and officially be granted the title of adept. Simple as that.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But you would be missing out on all the fun of going to school,” Sylvie frowned.

“Fun? You do realize this academy’s classes are difficult, right? Students sometimes die. Hey, are you listening to me?”

“Who’s the woman talking at the front of the class?”

Poppy sighed in defeat, “That’s Professor Tauri Katag.”

“Katag? As in the martial Great House?”

Poppy straightened her back, “Yup, the only orc House among the Seven Ruling Families. Most of their members serve in the military, but Professor Tauri likes teaching, or at least she doesn’t like the military, I’m not quite sure.”

“I thought full-fledged magi wore black robes,” Sylvie wrinkled her brow.

“Traditionally. Most of the professors here do wear black robes. But Professor Tauri and Professor Loh don’t.”

“Who’s Professor Loh?”

Poppy looked at her as if she was crazy, “Loh Noir, granddaughter of our principal, the most powerful mage in all of Hollow Shade, the great Elzri Noir. Ever heard of him? Wait, don’t answer that. It was rhetorical. Where was I? Right. Loh and Tauri are sorta like the twin princesses of our school.”

“Because they are the daughters of Ruling Families?” Sylvies surmised.

Poppy nodded, “Everyone admires them. Although, if you ask me, both of them can be a bit arrogant when dealing with students, but I guess that comes with being aristocrats. No offense, I’m one too, just like you.”

“What makes you think I’m an aristocrat?” Sylvie asked.

Poppy gave her a deadpan stare, “You’re wearing the most expensive cloak I have ever seen, a silk blouse and pants of who knows what kind of fancy leather. You also mentioned growing up around maids. Plus, your outstanding magical pedigree... let’s just say it wasn't hard to guess.”

“Right…” Sylvie said, downhearted.

“So, the twin princesses. People love them. The boys especially love Professor Tauri.”

Sylvie laughed, “Why? Is she cooler than Professor Loh or something?”

“Meh, debatable. But as some of the boys would put it...” Poppy cleared her throat and shifted her voice to a deeper tone, “Tauri’s got the best ass.”

“What does that mean? Oh... never mind,” Sylvie watched Tauri bend down to stretch, her tight shorts left very little to the imagination.

“And now you know why the boys love P.E. class,” Poppy shook her head.

“Noted,” Sylvie laughed. “Hey, who’s that coming this way?”

Poppy stiffened, “Oh, shit, play it cool, stay calm.”

A dark-haired vampire with bright red eyes walked over to them with a charming smile.

“Good afternoon,” said Callum. “Tauri noticed you two watching our class and wanted to know if you cared to join us for a run.”

“Uuuhhhh…” Poppy’s jaw went slack.

“Yes, we’d love to!” Sylvie hopped to her feet.

Callum’s eyes went round as Sylvie towered to her full height.

“You’re gorgeous...” the words slipped out of his mouth before he had a chance to think.

Sylvie blinked, “Oh, um, thanks? You're a… a handsome guy, too?”

Callum cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I should, er, yeah, I’ll um, get going. Nice to meet you…?”

“Sylvie, my name’s Sylvie.”

“Nice to meet you, Sylvie,” Callum bowed with an elegant flourish. He turned around and jogged back to the track.

Sylvie frowned, “Skittish little guy. He didn’t even tell me his name.”

Poppy looked at her as if she was crazy, “First of all, he’s 6 ft. Secondly, that was Callum freaking Veres! And he called you gorgeous! I mean, you are, but still!”

Sylvie played with her dark red hair, “You think so?”

“Duh, you look like one of those curvy marble statues.” Poppy ran her hand through her hair, “Oh my gods, I still can’t believe Callum called you gorgeous! Maybe he’ll ask you out on a date.”

“He was pretty cute, in a roguish kinda way,” Sylvie said thoughtfully.

“That’s an understatement. Come on, let’s not keep them waiting,” Poppy jumped off the stands.

As they walked down to the track Sylvie noticed another figure coming from a distance.

Sylvie nudged Poppy’s shoulder, “I guess we’re not the only ones joining the class for a run, ey?”

Poppy glanced at the figure and did a double-take. Her face paled, she stepped behind Sylvie.

“Poppy? What’s wrong?”

“...D-do you remember how I said Nora Azol was the most powerful female student?”

“Yeah, I thought you phrased that a little weird.”

“That’s because of him.”

Sylvie squinted, “You mean that pretty boy drow all the way over there?”

“Yeah and he’s a goblin-drow,” Poppy muttered. “He’s called Stryg. He’s technically one of the popular kids, but he’s like that one kid who doesn’t try to be popular, he just sorta is. Do you know what I mean?”

“No idea, I didn’t grow up around a lot of kids.”

“Okay, all you gotta know is that he’s bad news. You should stay away from him.”

Sylvie frowned, “Why? The little guy looks harmless.”

“Well that little guy got the highest score in the evaluation exam, he’s an adept-class mage like Nora. But unlike Nora, he’s a tri-manifold mage, and he’s the apprentice of Professor Loh Noir.”

“Having more than one chromatic color doesn’t necessarily mean you're more powerful,” Sylvie said.

“Yeah, but it usually does. A friend of a friend of mine once asked Nora who would win in a fight, Stryg or Nora? Do you know what Nora said?”

“Uh, no?”

“She said that Stryg would win.”

“That information seems a bit unreliable,” Sylvie said skeptically.

“Look, all I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of bad rumors running around about Stryg. He may hang out with the popular kids and he may look like one of the popular kids, but he isn’t like any of them.”

“I’m finding that hard to believe.”

“People say Stryg is from Vulture Woods,” Poppy said darkly. “And we all know the only things that lurk in those ashen trees are monsters.”

“Come on, he can’t be that bad,” Sylvie shook her head.

“Stryg bit one kid’s cheek off because he tried to take his muffin at the dining hall.”

“Oh, that is bad,” Sylvie winced.

“Yeah, poor Johnny was new to the school. He thought he could bully the small kid. Johnny didn’t know who he was messing with. Don’t be like stupid Johnny,” Poppy whispered as they stepped onto the track.

Stryg stood across from them. His lilac eyes darted around the track, evaluating the surroundings. When his eyes met Sylvie she smiled and waved. He hissed at her. Sylvie cocked her head to the side, confused.

“Stryg, you’re late, again,” Tauri crossed her arms.

“Noted,” he said indifferently.

“Bellum, give me strength, or I’m going to choke this boy one day,” Tauri muttered.

Sylvie couldn’t tell if she was being serious or joking, either way, she found it funny. She chuckled quietly or at least she thought she did. Everyone turned and stared at her. Sylvie swallowed nervously.

“Poppy, who is your new friend?” Tauri glanced up at the dire hybrid.

She bowed low, “Good afternoon, Professor. This is Sylvie, she just started here. I was giving her a tour of the campus.”

Sylvie bowed her head, “Nice to meet you, Professor Tauri.”

“Please, just Tauri. Like most orcs here, Poppy doesn’t dare call me by my first name out of sheer respect for my family. You don’t have to worry about such formalities.”

“Okay then, thanks,” Sylvie smiled.

Tauri grinned, “So, Sylvie. Are you up for a run?”