We hurriedly made our way out of the library, fast walking past rows of filled bookshelves as well as a few students getting one last read before curfew struck. As we exited the building, we noticed all the students who were around earlier were now gone, only a few remained, all now making their way to the dorms since it was completely dark out.

"Where do you think they went?" I asked, directing my attention to the small wolf who eagerly followed my every decision.

"Probably the girl's dorm," Flare answered. Even though we were away from the few groups of students, she still kept her voice leveled and controlled, staying cautious per my request. "They couldn't have gone that far in just a short amount of time, follow me."

Taking the lead, Flare walked ahead, keeping her pace at the same level as our previous haste. Before long, we found ourselves on a wide paved walkway devoid of any student or staff member. Ahead of us were the tall dorm buildings while behind us the walkway split, one side stretching back the way we came while the other headed toward the cafeteria.

"It seems they did make it far," I commented, taking notice of the lack of people. During the short moment I spent studying with Katie, I came to the conclusion that she was the type to not waste time, so maybe she headed straight for the dorms. Turning to Flare I decided to take a different approach by asking, "Can't you track her scent or something?"

"I can, but... that Aria girl was wearing too much perfume so I can't tell if Katie is there," Flare answered, her wolfish eyes narrowing slightly, conveying her trouble.

"They must be together..." I surmised, recalling them leaving together. "Let's go to Aria."

"No need," said Flare, her voice following after mine sharply. Her nose flared several times before turning to look up at me. "She's coming."

Her words were followed by a moment of silence as I wondered what she was talking about. Just then I was able to hear the sound of girls giggling in the distance. Turning around, my gaze fixed on the path behind us that led to the cafeteria. There, walking our way, I saw Aira alongside three other elf girls.

Did we beat them to the dorms? I wondered, when immediately, I realized something. Katie isn't with them.

Aria cast a glance our way before quickly disregarding our presence. Then, as if something on her mind clicked, her eyes snapped our way again, widening slightly in recognition. "Arata!" she said in disbelief, stopping in her tracks completely. The girls she was with stopped too shortly after her and turned my way curious as to what was going on. Snapping out of her daze, Aria quickly walked my way with a smile on her face and said, "No way I just saw you, how'd you get here so fast?"

"I was on my way to the dorms..." I answered, taking notice of the group of girls standing behind Aria murmuring to themselves. Their long pointed ears twitched at every hushed whisper. "But never mind that, I see Katie isn't with you. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"Katie? Let's see..." Aria began, her eyes turning up to gaze at the sky as she thought back. "We went to the cafeteria to meet up with the girls... then, she said she forgot something back at the library so she ran off by herself."

Oh, so they took the cafeteria route. No wonder we didn't run into them. "Got it, thank you, I'll catch you later!" With that, I hurriedly made my way past her. As I did, I caught sight of the three elf girls smiling awkwardly my way.

"Bye, Arata," Aria said, naturally full of energy. Giving one final look back, I saw her waving me goodbye. Raising my hand, I returned the gesture, on a much smaller scale before moving on.

"Why are we doing this now?" Flare questioned, her tone tinged with worry. "It's dark outside, curfew is starting. If we run into any teachers they'll ask us to head to the dorms. Why don't we give it to her tomorrow?"

"According it Aria, Katie is out there looking for the necklace we took," I began. "In the short amount of time that I talked to Katie, she didn't strike me as the type to take on a task like this given the current circumstances and knowing the risk of being caught past curfew. That means that she holds the necklace with significant importance and won't stop until she finds it." Hearing my answer she remained silent for a moment before I spoke again. "Let's pick up our pace and try not to be caught."

Following my words, we began sprinting along the walkway, cautious of our surroundings, until we reached the area where we were before. The library was in the distance on the other side of a few buildings.

Ahead of me, Flare came to a stop as her nose began to pick up on a certain scent, and turned back to face me, "Someone is..."

Before she could finish what she was going to say, I scooped her up in my arms and closed her snout with my hand. Calling forth my mana, I focused it down to my legs and sprinted off to hide on the side of the closest buildings.

Once I settled, I took a peek and saw a familiar figure patrolling the area. His figure and blonde hair were unmistakable, it was Arel, the student council president. The student council members always patrol the area to make sure there aren't any students outside past curfew.

He's walking this way too... how irritating. However, the so-called most talented kid in the school hasn't noticed my or Flare's presence. All that mana control training really paid off. With little effort, I focused my mana on manipulating gravity, making myself and Flare in my arms as light as possible while infusing my legs with mana.

With one powerful leap, I found myself atop the two-story building I was hiding behind. At the same time, Arel had passed by, surveying the area I was just in. With one last glance in his direction, I continued on my way, jumping across two more roofs before finally reaching the library building.

Slowly and as quietly as possible, I jumped down from the roof, landing softly on the ground, and walked up to the entrance of the library, only to find it closed and locked. "Well, I doubt she's here," I said, letting out a sigh of resignation. "Perhaps she returned to the dorms?"

"No," said Flare, her nostrils flaring. "Let me see the necklace." Upon her request, I took out the necklace from my pocket and lowered it down to her level. She got close and began to sniff it before moving away and pointing her snout in a certain direction. "This way."

Without another word, she took the lead. After a while of following behind her, we found ourselves on a different part of the campus, not far from where we were previously. There, we slowed down our pace as we heard distant voices.

Peeking around a corner we found who we were looking for. It was Katie, being cornered by another student. This certain student was one I never really talked to besides silent interactions. We knew of each other's existence but never actually spoke to one another.

With him being on the student council, rumors about him have been spread all over the school for years now. Mostly relating to his connection to the children of high-standing families as well as his overwhelming strength.

Eustus Toma, he is a commoner but his family is highly regarded for their cooperation in funding many facilities in the kingdom including this school, and is known for wanting to climb up the social ladder. So in a few generations, they might actually get the status of noblemen.

"You will never be a part of our family..." My train of thought was interrupted as I heard the boy, Eustus speak. "Father only enrolled you at this school because he was sick of having to look at you."

Daddy issues?

"Brother..." murmured Katie, her voice low and somewhat pleading. "I didn't mean to get in your way."

Brother?

"Don't call me brother," Eustus spat, his face comforting into one of disgust. "It would bring my reputation down if people found out I was related to someone as pathetic as you."

"I get it," Katie said, her head hung low as she stared at the floor. "Please let me go. I'm looking for something important."

"No," answered Eustus, cutting straight through her words with a firm and resolved tone. "Being in the student council I have to give you an appropriate punishment for being outside past curfew."

Following his words, he grabbed ahold of her hand and forcefully pinned her to the wall. In turn, Katie let out a pained yelp. Eustus, with an unreadable expression, raised his hand. Katie, on the opposite end, closed her eyes and prepared herself for the impending hit.

Without giving it much thought, I rushed forward and grabbed ahold of Eustus's hand, poised for action. After a moment of not having reacted, he turned to me, and his eyes widened. "Y-You!" he spoke, his eyes narrowing. "What are you doing here?"

Glancing back, I saw Katie slowly open her eyes and look at me, wide-eyed in surprise, unsure why I was even there. "A-Arata?" Her low murmur reflecting her inner feelings of confusion.

"Katie, here, happens to be a friend of mine. So I will not tolerate seeing her being mistreated like this," I said, a hint of anger evident in my voice as I clenched down on his hand.

For a brief moment, Eustus's face twitched in response to my actions. To hide this, he quickly snapped his hand away from my grasp. "Friend?" he questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Don't make silly jokes. She's not capable of making any friends. Much less befriending someone of your status."

Turning his attention back to Katie, he began to move forward. At that, I placed my hand on his, halting his movement, and lightly I pushed him a step back. "Who are you to say if a person is capable or not?" My words were met by silence as I put myself in between the two.

"That's the second time you've put your hands on me," Eustus mumbled, his gaze traveling down to my hand on his chest and back up to me, his face expressionless.

In the next moment, without any hints or warning, his fist came flying, aimed toward the left side of my jaw. With one quick, reflexive move I pushed my head back, evading his strike while my eyes firmly traced his every action.

Visibly surprised, Eustus's eyes widened and there was a small pause in his movements. Taken by surprise, he took a step back and gathered himself before throwing another punch. His left hand, clenched into a fist came low, raging toward my stomach.

As my mind raced with thoughts, I caught his fist with ease. His eyes narrowed slightly in turn, glinting with secretive ulterior motive. By his stance and the way he threw his attack, he wanted me to focus all my attention on that single strike. However, at the same time I caught his attack, his right hand came in a fist straight for my face. A two-staged attack.

In any other circumstance, his attack would have surely landed on me, but, I was faster. In a quick, almost urgent move, I ducked under the blow, narrowly missing it. That was a close one... I thought to myself, letting out a quick breath.

Since I was still holding onto his left hand, I pulled it, causing him to be thrown off balance. Since I was already low, I shifted my posture, burdening my right leg to carry my weight. As for my left leg, I raised it up, tucked it close to my abdomen like a coiled spring waiting to be released, and kicked out.

Due to the disadvantageous position that Eustus was in, my attack landed clean on his stomach, causing him to stumble back at a rapid pace, by the looks of it he was trying his best not to fall to the ground. With a low grunt, he gripped his stomach, his face twitching from time to time as he tried to hide his pained expression. Had I gone with my full power the injury would've been more devastating.

"A commoner attacking me, a high noble?" I spoke, questioning his actions. "What if I choose to report this?"

After a brief pause, he let out a breath, allowing his body to relax and pain to ease. "You're the one outside past curfew time, even if you report this you can expect to receive some sort of penalty."

"You are correct..." I began, having an idea of what the outcome would be. "However, you should know better than anyone that the school policy of treating everyone equally is just an act. For a case like this, the school will merely look the other way. At worst I'll be let off with just a verbal warning. While you on the other hand, they'll reprimand you and I bet your father won't be too pleased with the case."

I don't really know about his home issues but I do know that his father is trying to climb up the social ladder and for that, he can't have his kids creating a bad connection with other noble kids. He already has Alexander and Arel on his side so he probably thought that I was insignificant in their hierarchical struggle.

Eustus remained silent, his face lowered in slight annoyance. "But, good thing I'm not reporting this to the school," I continued, showing a small smile. With a slight bow, I said, "So sorry, Mr. Secretary, my friend and I will be returning to the dorms immediately, if you'll be kind enough to let us go."

Letting out a sigh, Eustus's face became expressionless, resembling Katie's usual seriousness. "You played your cards well, I can see why the president has taken an interest in you," he said while turning around. "Leave now, don't let me catch you wandering outside at this hour again." Before walking away completely, he placed his hand on his sword, causing the faint clamor of metal to resound through the air, and added, "For the record, hand-to-hand combat is not my forte."

Neither is it mine... with that thought wandering through my mind, I disregarded Eustus's presence. Turning around, I found Katie looking up at me, her eyes curious as she regarded me with caution.