Just as Van was about to leave the area, someone unexpectedly showed up.

“Well… Well… Well… If it isn’t my partner in crime~ and… Is that Kira? Wow Kira, never knew you had it in you to have a male carry you around like that. I’m impressed…” Aldina said, coming up from the side. She had just been passing through when she saw the two walking by, and couldn’t help but poke her nose into their situation since it looked like fun and could be a great way to tease her cousin.

“A-Aldina! This isn’t what it looks like! It just kinda happened!” Kira exclaimed, immediately trying to wiggle out of Van’s arms and succeeding by falling to the floor and quickly getting up.

“I get it, it makes sense since you're a bit too short to be the one carrying anyone. Not like I can.” Aldina then moved in one single motion, and in a surprisingly elegant way, swept Van off his feet and into a princess carry, showing off in front of Kira.

Van was taken aback by the sudden action, to say the least. But rather than feeling insulted, he was actually more impressed. The way Aldina carried him was gentle, and he couldn’t help but notice her strong arms and how refined her muscles were. And with a closer look she had a very pretty face, it also kinda looked like Kira’s, indicating how close by blood they were. If he had to be truthful, it was actually nice being carried for a change.

“I bet you wish you could do something like this.” Aldina teased, lording her ability to carry Van over Kira.

Kira looked like a kicked puppy, her face crestfallen as she looked to the ground. She couldn’t help but accept the truth that she didn’t have the strength, nor the height to pull off what Aldina could.

Van didn’t like seeing that. He didn’t know what was up between the two girls, but he had had enough of it. He eyed Aldina’s breasts that were right in front of him then raised his hand. With a quick jab, he pinched one of her nipples between his fingers and gave a twist.

“Ah~” Aldina moaned. Then her eyes widened in horror at what she just did and she dropped Van as she tried to bring up her hands to cover her mouth. She then gasped in horror as she realized that she just dropped Van onto the floor, eyes going wide in fear at what she had just done. How could she just drop a male!?

But Van simply rolled with the fall, and by the time Aldina had her hands to her mouth and was making her gasp. He was standing back up, tall and proud, much to her wide-eyed surprise and her open mouth was now covered by her hands.

“I don’t know much about what happened between the two of you… But Kira is part of my dorm… And more importantly, she is my friend. I would prefer it if you didn’t tease her unduly…” He said, Looking Aldina in the eyes.

“And what is wrong with a male carrying a girl when he wants to?” He then walked up to her in one swift motion. “I think you’ll be surprised…” His hands slid between her thighs and spread out quickly and in great strength lifting her up. “How enjoyable it is to be carried by a male…” He said seductively, their bodies now pressed together.

Aldina unintentionally grabbed onto Van as he picked her up. She felt her breast against his chest, her crotch against his groin, and her lips mere inches away from his own. Eyes a seductive blue peered into her, promising something… Carnal… Her heart began to beat faster as her body heated up.

Van saw that and had a light bulb moment go off in his head.

“Hey…” He whispered gently to her, leaning closer. “I have a confession to make… While I have the confidence to do this kind of thing in public…” He gave a small blush. “Going any further would be too… Embarrassing…” He fluttered his eyes and bit his lower lip temptingly. “Do you perhaps know a place where… People like me can have a bit more… privacy?”

Aldina swallowed. “Uh… um…” her face went red. “Yeah… I think… There’s a branch of the Lover’s Guild that just opened up here just last year. I think they have privacy rooms and stuff. I can… Show you if you want…” She said breathlessly, leaning closer as if hoping for a kiss.

Only to be unceremoniously dropped on her ass.

“Thanks! Me and my wife have been really backed up lately since we couldn’t find any alone time. No need to show me, I could probably find it on my own with my Vespera bangle.” Giving her a big smile.

Aldina looked up in shock as it dawned on her that she was just played. “Wait… You have a wife!” Her mind for some reason got stuck on that part of the situation she was in, and not the part where she was taken for a fool.

“Yes… And thanks to you, we can finally have some fun together.” He lowered his hand and began to pet her as he looked down at her. “But hey… Since you were so helpful… I might just give you a reward…” He said seductively, one of his thumbs sliding into her mouth as he continued to tease and pet her.

Aldina shivered at the play, as Van’s strong hands caressed and stroked her. She noticed she was now at eye level with his groin. When she looked up, she gave a small inhale of breath as those domineering eyes peered down into her soul. But too quickly it was over and Van turned away from her.

“Well, thanks for everything, but I have to go.” He then casually walked away and snatched up Kira while he was at it. Kira who had been feeling very left out and was experiencing a mix of envy and lust at what was taking place before her. Was once more surprised by being so unceremoniously snatched up again.

“Wha-why!?” She exclaimed as she was picked up once more.

“Because your punishment isn’t over yet.”

“So it was punishment!? For what!?”

Van simply gave a small smile and continued walking.

“W-wait!” Aldina got up and began to chase after them. “Where are you going!?” She asked desperately.

“Oh, we're just heading to the exam for runecraft. After that is the test for enchantments.” Van answered.

“Wha-? Why!?” Aldina asked, surprised.

“Because if I had to be honest… I don’t want to be a front-line fighter. I’m more of a mage and a necromancer. My specialty lies in overwhelming my opponents with power and numbers. And I enjoy runecraft and alchemy more than I do fighting.” He said matter of factly as he continued to walk away.

“H-hold on! Um. Let’s exchange information! I still think you're a worthy rival! So… please?” Lifting up her bangle.

Van gave her a look but shrugged and moved around until both their bangles were close to each other as he carried Kira and then transferred the information. Adding Aldina to his list of people.

She gave a radiant smile as their information was exchanged. Then blinked when she noticed Van still walking ahead. “Ah! Wait!” She then quickly began to follow him like a lost puppy.

“What?” Van asked, now getting a little annoyed.

“Um… Let me come with you. I'd like to see how you do on your tests, and if you fail, you have to join me for some more martial exams. Not to mention, you need a woman to help protect you from the other students, otherwise, you’ll just get pestered.”

Van looked at her, but then shrugged. “Do what you want.”

Kira on the other hand felt a little insulted and tried once more to get out of Van’s princess carry. This time though, he was prepared and she couldn’t escape, no matter how much she tried. She ended up taking a very awkward and embarrassing position in his arms and realized her mistake, begging him to let him down, only to be refused as her ass hung in the air for all to see. She wasn’t let go until they finally arrived at the rune hall and were just a step away from the door where the exam was taking place in.

Going in, he was surprised to find that he was not the only male this time taking an exam. There were at least two others in the group of a hundred here. Sitting down at a desk, he and Kira began to answer the sheets handed out by the teacher. Each page getting progressively harder and harder, with only a time limit of two hours to complete as many as possible. They will be tested on how many questions they got right, the difficulties of the questions they were and were not able to answer, and how many they could get in just two hours.

Suffice to say, Van had it drilled into him since he was young about runecraft from Lore. only the last two pages truly stumped him with how advanced they were. Kira on the other hand he was surprised to see, was not shaping up too well in answering her questions. She flawlessly answered the drawing portion of the test, but seemed to falter when it came down to the deeper meaning of the runes and their language.

When the time was up, Van felt pretty sure of himself that he would end up in the top percentile. He was even excited to take on the more advanced classes to learn those few questions wasn’t able to answer. He also offered to tutor Kira about the questions she missed, to which she gladly accepted.

After that was the enchantment tests, to see if they have the understanding to not only know runes logically but practically as well. They were given a few pieces of paper to use for talisman making, as well as a few blocks of wood if the students so choose.

Here Kira was in her element. And she happily pumped out a few talismans in half the time it took him to finish his first. She was even good with her hands when it came to carving runes on the wood blocks to give them properties such as being harder, or more resistant to heat. The only downside was when transferring the mana, it took her a lot longer than others and she got tired quicker.

Van would have helped her power her runes but wasn’t sure if that would be considered interfering. So wisely stood by as he focused on his task. But thoughts of how they could work together in the future did pass his mind, ideas such as mass producing enchantments and holding a small monopoly over them. If he could somehow get Katalinya, Devi, and Kira to work together, who knows what they could make…

Once the tests were done they handed in the papers and waited to be graded. Van was surprised to see himself in first place, he knew he was good but did not realize by how much. Either that or the other students have not properly studied for this kind of exam. He was later informed that he was in the top fifty overall in his grade, and only first in this batch of students. Which again was surprising, but welcome to know. It made him feel a little proud of himself.

“Congratulations Van! I can’t believe the score you got!” Kira praised.

“It was nothing…” He replied sheepishly.

“Are you kidding! Having such a high score is amazing! I wish I could get a score that high!” Kira exclaimed.

“Well, I did promise you I’ll tutor you a bit. So we can get your grades up together.” He said with a smile.

Kira looked very happy to hear that and gave an enthusiastic smile in return. “Yes! Teach me as much as possible before the opening ceremony so I can get a bigger score, okay!”

Van’s smile turned amused, “Sure, no problem.” Wondering how much Kira could improve in just a few days.

The two then chatted happily as they walked out the classroom.

“Yawn… Oh, you two done? How did it go?” Aldina asked, a little sleepy.

Kira, forgetting the strained relationship between the two of them excitedly told Aldina Van’s score. “Van got into the top fifty! As in the top fifty of his entire grade!”

Aldina was taken aback. “Oh shit! Really!?” Wide-eyed and turning to look at Van in a new light. She thought of him as a martial arts kind of guy. After all, he fought her equally in the ring, and she respected his strength. So it was quite the shock when it turned out he had a fierce intelligence behind all that, though perhaps she shouldn’t be so surprised considering he was a powerful mage.

Van was getting a little embarrassed by all the praise and awe being thrown his way. He gave a polite cough and tried to excuse himself. “Thanks, girls, but I should probably be on my way to my next exams before they start. I still have mage craft and necromancy left, and I’m really looking forward to the two.”

“Now hold up!” Aldina said, “You still can’t go walking around all alone. What if someone tries to corner you? At least let us take you to your next destination.” Sounding worried. She knew he could take care of himself. But battle prowess and fending off dozens of horny girls with who knows what backing or strength was a different matter entirely.

“Yeah! We can help you!” Kira said, looking like she won’t take no for an answer and genuinely like she just wanted to help.

“Well… Alright, but I warn you it may take some time. So if you're bored, don’t blame me.” Van said.

The two nodded and the three went on their way towards Van’s next exams. During the rest of the day. He passed with flying colors all the tests given to him, much to the astonishment of his proctors. Always ending up in or near the top fifty of his grade. By the end of it all, he was considered to be in the top thousand of his entire school, which was an impressive feat.

After that, many more women and female students were paying attention to him, making him thankful that he took Kira and Aldina on their offer to have him be escorted. Since it seemed a few newly formed suitors of his were having a hard time understanding the meaning of the word no…

Thankfully they were able to reach back to his dorm before anything happened. Van thanked Aldina, and then he and Kira turned in for the night. It was a surprisingly busy and tiring day, so he was looking forward to the rest. But not before telling Luna about the discovery on an onsite Lover’s Guild. To which she took very well, and also explained how she talked to Cerina about what they could do to get some privacy at the dorm themselves.