Noah and Jalen returned to find that Lee had taken over the class and had everyone stretching in positions that looked like they definitely shouldn’t have been possible for any human to achieve without snapping a few tendons.

“Well, this is horrifying,” Jalen observed. “What are you doing to your students, Vermil?”

“Don’t look at me. This is all Lee.”

“We’re stretching,” Lee filled in, turning her head a full one hundred and eighty degrees to look straight back at them like an owl. “Thanks for the orange juice, by the way. Do you have more?”

Jalen nearly choked on his own saliva as he tried to suppress his laughter. “No. I do not carry around bottles of orange juice.”

“Oh.” Lee frowned, then turned her head back – but she rotated it the wrong way, finishing the full circle instead of following the path she’d taken to look at them. “You should.”

Jalen looked from Lee to Noah, then shook his head. “Your criticism has been duly noted and ignored.”

“Orange juice or not, some proper introductions are in order,” Noah said.

“If that’s an excuse to stop stretching, I’m taking it,” Todd said, unwrapping himself and clambering to his feet. He brushed the grass off his pants and shook himself off, as if trying to throw the memory of what he’d just had to do to the side. “I’m Todd.”

“This is–”

“Jalen. Just Jalen,” Jalen said, cutting Noah off before he could even properly start his introduction. Noah caught himself as a small frown passed over his face.

Jalen wants to hide the fact that he’s the Linwick Family Head? I mean, I won’t blow his cover, but I didn’t think he’d be concerned with keeping students from finding out who he is. Maybe he doesn’t want to get stuck signing autographs or something. He’s got the wrong idea of who these kids are if he thinks they’ll give a shit about the Linwick family, though.

“Pleasure,” Isabel said, standing up along with everyone other than James. Her tone was considerably less friendly than Todd’s was, though not so far as to be rude. She’d raised her guard. “I’m Isabel, and the one who’s pretending to sleep is James.”

Alexandra gave Jalen a small nod but made no move to introduce herself.

“And I’m Emily,” Emily finished, nudging James not-so-gently with the tip of her foot. He mumbled something under his breath and made absolutely no move to stand up. Emily let out an exasperated sigh. “Sorry. He’s unbelievably lazy.”

“I can respect that,” Jalen said with a smirk. “Don’t mind me. Vermil and I are just old friends. Very close. Practically attached at the hip. Please, continue with your lessons and pretend that I’m not here.”

You’re laying it on way too thick. We’ve played darts once.

“Right,” Noah said, clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention back on him. He couldn’t help but notice that Moxie hadn’t said much to Jalen. She was probably still pretty pissed about how Jalen had functionally kidnapped him, and Noah didn’t blame her. If he’d been in her shoes, he’d have been furious. “Let’s get back on with the lesson, shall we? There’s more to cover today, and I’ve got an announcement for the end of class.”

“Why’d you have to tell us now?” Todd asked. “Now I want to know the announcement. Are we getting a pizza party?”

“You’ll find out at the end of class.”

“I think it’s a pizza party,” Lee said.

“It’s not a pizza party,” Noah said. “Now pair up with someone you didn’t spar with yet. We’re sparring again.”

***

Jalen’s face was externally flat, but his heart was beating harder in his chest than it had been the last time he’d tried to ask a woman out to dinner – and that had been just about three hundred years ago.

The woman in question had promptly rejected him and had evidently been so motivated to escape his presence that she promptly vanished into secluded meditation to try and advance to Rank 7.

Then she’d vanished.

For that matter, he hadn’t really been all that excited at the time. But this – this was excitement. It took every single fiber of self-control Jalen had to keep his expression under control. Vermil was teaching children Formations – and somehow, he was actually succeeding.

Jalen had lost count of the number of times noble families had tried to make themselves Formation masters. He’d lost count on the trail of corpses their attempts had left in their wake. Every single attempt had failed miserably.

All the kids that had managed to show any aptitude for Formations never managed to progress their Runes far enough to actually make use of it, and the noble houses had always pushed them too hard.

The results had been one of the reasons he’d stepped back from his spot as the proper head of the Linwick family. Jalen hadn’t lived to his age without doing a few things he regretted, and allowing any of those programs to continue within the walls of his family was paramont among them.

And yet – somehow – a mere Rank 4 had done what he hadn’t been able to. Before him were five burgeoning Formation masters. There wasn’t any magic in the patterns they were drawing, but even the motions held power.

The urge to grab Vermil by the shoulders and shake the secrets out of him hung tantalizingly in Jalen’s mind, but he repressed it. This was more than mere Formations. The students weren’t using music. They weren’t using runes at all.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

This should be impossible. How does he understand Formations this well? Was Vermil a survivor of one of the noble family programs? I know for a fact the Linwicks gave up on artificially manufacturing Formation masters a long time ago.

Jalen watched Vermil teach his class silently. They were sparring again, but the more he watched, the more convinced he became that there was no noble family backing Vermil. He knew too much.

Every single one of his students was doing their own unique pattern, and Vermil was still able to give them advice. He understood Formations with a degree that a Rank 4 never should have.

I’ll be damned. He’s the closest thing to a Formation master I’ve seen at his Rank. That makes absolutely no sense. Anyone who spends that much time studying Formations should have a horrible basis of Runes. Nobody has the time to perfectly refine and combine their Runes as well as understand the intricacies of Formations.

But, if he didn’t, there would be no way for him to teach these kids to this degree. He’s going from understanding, not by reciting textbooks – and by the Damned Plains, he doesn’t even realize how ridiculous this is.

We aren’t anywhere near close enough for him to be willing to comfortably share this information with me. He should be restraining himself, limiting the information I can get so that…

Jalen’s face paled. Vermil wasn’t stupid. He’d gathered that much from the conversation they’d had. Vermil was restraining himself. There was no way he’d be revealing the full extent of his knowledge with someone that was a potential threat watching them, even if they’d come to a truce.

I’ll be damned. Who is he?

Jalen was shaken from his thoughts by a finger prodding his side. The motion was so surprising that he nearly doubled over in surprise. Vermil aside, he couldn’t remember the last time someone had dared to speak to him without a waver in their voice, much less prod him.

He turned to see the short girl that had been leading the stretches standing before him, her wide eyes boring up into his without an ounce of fear or concern.

Lee, her name was? Interesting. Why is it that absolutely none of Vermil’s party have even the slightest amount of fear? This is… refreshing. She’s staring at me like I’m a slice of meat, though. Can’t say I enjoy it.

“Yes?”

“Are you sure you don’t have any orange juice?” Lee asked. “I smell it on you.”

Jalen’s eye twitched. He did in fact have a small bottle of it in his pouch, but that was for lunch. He sniffed the air, but there was absolutely no trace of it anywhere. The damn bottle was sealed. It should have been impossible for –

Lee had somehow already unhooked the latch on Jalen’s bag and was ruffling through it without a care in the world. Jalen stared at her in abject disbelief. She hadn’t hesitated for a second.

A second later, Lee found the bottle and pulled it out. “Here it is. You must have forgot you had it.”

“I–”

“Were you going to drink this?” Lee asked, already pulling the cork off with two fingers. She held the cork up, studying it for a moment before sniffing at the bottom.

“At some point, yes. That’s generally why someone carries something around.”

Lee put the cork into her mouth and chewed once before swallowing. Her nose scrunched in distaste. “That wasn’t very good. A bit spongy.”

What in the Damned Plains is happening?

Jalen started to laugh. He couldn’t help himself. It felt like he’d stepped into a different dimension. A girl half his height and a thousandth of his power had just robbed him whilst looking him straight in the face.

By the time he’d mustered himself again, Lee had eaten – not drank – the entire bottle. She licked her lips and grinned at him. “Thanks. I like the way it crunches.”

She headed back to the rest of the group and poked Todd in the back as she passed him, causing him to trip over his own feet and fall face first on the ground. Todd lunged forward and grabbed Lee’s ankle, pulling her down with him as the others all burst into laughter.

Jalen was confident Lee could have avoided the attack if she’d wanted to. He’d seen her glance down and notice Todd’s lunge. Her reaction speed was ridiculous for a Rank 3. She’d chosen to let Todd grab her, likely to motivate his studies.

It wasn’t just Lee – something about Vermil’s entire group felt… different. He couldn’t quite place what it was, but it was more than just the Formations. They had power, yes, but there was more to it.

“What do you think?” Jalen was pulled from his thoughts as Moxie walked up beside him, her arms crossed. He could feel the muted hostility from the woman, even though she was doing a fairly good job at concealing it.

She’s mad that I took Vermil away to speak with him? I’m still not sure why a Torrin cares so deeply for a Linwick. It makes absolutely no sense. If it had been someone from my generation, sure. I’ve had my share of fun with the Torrins – they can do some great stuff with those vines. But now? The families hate each other so much that I can’t see how they even would have met.

“It’s… interesting,” Jalen said, choosing his words carefully. Everything he told Moxie would doubtlessly go straight to Vermil, and he didn’t want to sour the relationship. Vermil was more than just interesting. He was fascinating. “I haven’t seen anything like this taught before.”

“No,” Moxie agreed. “It’s unique to Vermil. We’d like it to stay that way.”

Is a Rank 3 warning me off? When she knows who I am? Marvelous.

“Not a word will leave my mouth,” Jalen promised, and he genuinely meant it. Something as rare as this could not be permitted to fall into the hands of the moronic noble families – his own included. It would only be wasted. “I am only here to observe, as I told Vermil.”

“You aren’t helping with our little… problem, then?” Moxie asked, tilting her head to the side.

“A flower that cannot grow on its own will wither and die when abandoned.”

“And all the hot air you’re blowing up your own ass might come out your mouth,” Moxie countered. “People are going to get killed because some psychopath is obsessed with my family. You can do something about it.”

“I could, but that would rob you of the experience of doing it yourself.”

“And it could end in someone here dying.”

That… would actually be quite the shame. I won’t handle Vermil’s problems for him, though. It will stunt his growth.

“It may,” Jalen allowed. “Many people die. And you do realize that, if I directly interfere, the others of my generation will be liable to do the same? It could make the situation worse.”

“I’m not asking you to kill the asshole for us,” Moxie said. “But finding a little information shouldn’t be impossible for you. Vermil might not care about letting you watch this class, but I’m well aware just how valuable what you’re seeing here is. You’re in his debt.”

Well, damn. She’s right.

A smile flitted across Jalen’s lips. “You might be one of the boldest Torrins I’ve ever seen. How’d you meet Vermil?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer the question if you want my help.”

Moxie pressed her lips together, then sighed. “I insulted him in the library.”

Jalen cackled. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. Very well. I will look into this – but nothing more. Satisfied?”

Moxie tilted her head to the side, then gave him a short nod. “No, but it’ll do. Don’t kidnap Vermil again. I don’t care who you are. If you’re going to pretend to be our ally, then act like it.”

And, in that moment, Jalen finally realized what feeling the group had been giving him. The amount of care they all showed for each other, and the ferocity that had no power to back it up other than will – they weren’t just a random assortment of mages. They saw each other as a family.

This is what we started the noble houses for.

“You know what?” Jalen asked. “I’ll keep that in mind.”