The Old Scholar

As the tournament was now only a day away, the campus became even more active than ever. Students of all year levels were now practicing wherever there was free space in the large campus, some were even training in the colosseum that Leilani had set up every time they held this tournament. It was placed on the far edge of the campus that bordered the forest that opened up into the mountain range. The students who were part of the committee to manage the event were all going to also participate in the tournament itself but that didn't stop them from doing their duties as they helped set up stalls, placed decorations, and even made some signs that would help guide the coming spectators along the campus and to the colosseum where it was to take place. 

With the day going by, Leilani found herself filling out some paperwork that was submitted by each of the professors and classes of the university that detailed who would be participating and it was up to her to schedule when their time would be in the competition. The tournament itself had two parts, the first was the massive individual tournament which was the main problem as she would have to sort out the tens of thousands of names of students who wished to take part from each level and then pair them up against students who could be their equal or more. This was the part of the event that everyone wanted to see and was expected to hold a lot more viewers than the second event that was to come first this time around, the class fight. 

The class fight was going to be the first event this time around and it was well, a fight between the classes of the same year level. The winners of each year level would be crowned as the "Star" of the year level and the students of the winning class would be getting some benefits for the term in the form of their grades getting a +10 points in the exams and their final projects. There was also a secret to the class fight that only the teachers knew, if they judged that their class was strong enough, they could challenge the higher year level and if they won, would get a +20 or higher for every class they beat. Or if the teacher had enough courage, could have the class challenge the staff and they could challenge anyone. 

So far, no one ever challenged Leilani herself. A thing she was actually hoping for ever since she snuck in that small detail, she hoped that this year would be different considering that she saw her beloved Martha actually consider the damn thing before rejecting to do so if she ever won. 

"I pity the student who would face you" Leilani mockingly repeated as she sorted through the papers before her on her desk

"Are you honestly still bitter about her response Master?" Feisha, the arachnia secretary asked as she helped her 

"Yes Feisha!" Leilani answered as she looked at her 

"Well Master, maybe if you would just participate in the tournament yourself and not make it a secret detail, maybe you could actually join them" Feisha stated as she gave her the side eye 

"That would shatter the cool and mysterious persona that I crafted since forever! It would be too much work to do that again!" Leilani replied with a groan 

"And yet you constantly fumble at trying to show it" Feisha mumbled under her breath

"Oi! You take that back! I remember creating you to help me not give me sass!" Leilani quickly shouted in disbelief at her arachnia creation 

"And yet we seem to have this sass" Feisha shot back 

"Stop that or I drop you" Leilani stated, her gaze going cold and the temperature of the room dropping in response 

'Oh fuck, I crossed the line' Feisha thought as she faced her Master 

"Apologies Master, it won't happen again" Feisha apologized with a bow 

"Mnn, get out. I'll finish up for the day" Leilani ordered with a cold tone 

"Understood Master" Feisha quickly replied as she scuttled out of the room

As Feisha exited the room, her heart rate spiked as she closed the door. She looked to her left and saw her sister Botswell just arrive with a fresh stack of papers, with the latter having a concerned turned annoyed expression towards her twin. 

"What did you do again Feisha?" Botswell asked as she moved closer 

"I couldn't help myself, really! I didn't think-" 

"Clearly you didn't. How mad is she?" Botswell asked as she cut her sister off 

"Cold fury mad, the room temperature literally dropped" The arachnia answered 

"So extremely mad, sigh....Look, just stay outside here while I go in and deliver these papers. I will try to put in a good word to try and calm her down" The other arachnia sighed as she passed her lover 

"Thank you Sister" Feisha thanked her with a kiss on the cheek 

"You are lucky I love you dammit" 

Opening the door, Botswell walked into the room and saw her Master hard at work. But to her well-trained eye, she could see the anger bubbling beneath the surface, an internal sigh firing off as she looked at her 

'Fuckin hell, it's even worse than Cold fury....dangit Feisha' She thought as she place down the pile of papers on a corner of the table 

"More papers?" Leilani asked as she still kept her gaze on the papers she was sorting through, her pen diligently writing away 

"Yes Master, it should be the final batch as these are the papers from the seniors" Botswell answered her, trying to look for an opening to get the anger out 

"Hmm, thank you. You may leave now" Leilani said as she still kept her gaze from the arachnia 

"Thank you Master, but if I may add" The arachnia stated, causing Leilani to stop writing and then shift her gaze upward, the cold gaze sending a shiver down her spine 

"I...I would suggest not keeping your anger inside Master. The floorboards are going to need to be replaced" Botswell added as she pointed downward 

Leilani shifted her gaze down and saw the board directly beneath her broken and destroyed, her shoes were in the middle of the cracked floorboards and the sight of it caused her to sigh, 

"Feisha didn't mean to piss you off Master, you know full well she didn't mean to cross the line" Botswell added

"sigh....You are both lucky I love you both, I created both of you...." Leilani stated as she leaned into her chair 

"Born from the same genepod, I am still thankful for the life I have, and I bet Feisha does too. We love you Master, no matter what we do" The arachnia added, a small smile on her face that caused the cold gaze of Leilani to melt and soften a bit 

"Feisha!" Leilani shouted 

"Yes Master?" The arachnia replied as she poked her head into the room 

"Get in here, the three of us will sort this out to be finished faster. After this, we go out for some dessert" Leilani stated

"At once Master!" Feisha shouted as she walked fast into the room, nodded to her sister and then began to work, with Botswell smiling and doing the same

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At the same time, Martha and the rest of the combat professors of the seniors were all inside the colosseum, watching their students go at it in pairs, groups, or in one-on-one matches. The senior students were giving their all as expected and the professors watching were all pleased with their progress. 

"They are really giving it their all no? A day before the competition no less" Martha remarked as she observed her class, resting on her halberd off to the side 

"Yep, they really are. They are excited for tomorrow as the class fight will be the first thing they will participate in and thus want to have one final go at it before the team play" The professor next to Martha added

Martha's gaze turned to this professor by the name of Pittah, she was the most senior professor in the department as Pittah was an elf who enrolled into the academy over five hundred years ago at the tender age of twenty and graduated as an amazing combatant graduate with a degree and endorsement from her teachers to boot. She was a tall beautiful elf as was a given for her race, a bountiful bust, and rear made her the object of worship and envy of many within the students of the academy. She had dark skin rather than the usual fair skin and her hair was stark white as well, her crimson eyes also gave her a small eerie factor when she got mad or serious. She was known to be very kind and caring to the students she would meet in the halls of the academy while also being known as a brutal terror professor to those who enrolled into her class. 

"Do you think your class is going to win this year Professor Pittah?" Martha asked her colleague with a smile 

"Hmm, I give 6-D a fifty-fifty chance in all honesty, the classes this year are really stunning" Pittah replied with a smile of her own as she flourished her rapier around for a bit before placing it back in its holster 

"Oooo, you must be very proud of your students then" The former soldier added with a wondering expression 

"Of course I am. Despite my brutality, I know that they are doing their best. I just wish to push and make sure that their best is even better than the opponents they may meet one day. You would understand the best no? Fighting on the battlefield day in and day out. I can hardly imagine. I was only an adventurer" The dark elf answered as she leaned into the wall behind her 

"I see" Martha nodded before she and Pittah returned their gaze towards the students 

They saw the students unleash powerful spells upon one another and showed masterful sword and weapon play as they battled one another. For example, they saw an arachnia student wield a twin pair of swords as she dueled against a human opponent who wielded a simple buckler shield and short sword, the arachnia student swung multiple times, her swords moving fast but the human opponent she faced was fast enough to block her strikes using a combination of his buckler shield and short sword to block and push away the strikes while also being fast on his feet to dodge the firebolts being fired off from the legs of the aranchia which almost got him multiple times. Or at another fight in which a lamia student was able to best her opponent which was a centaur by wrapping herself around him and then ending the fight by placing the tip of her spear at his throat before he surrendered.  There were even mages duking it out between one another as spells were cast in rapid sequence, such as one mage firing off multiple earthen spears at his opponent who was unable to counter them with her fire magic and ultimately end up being bested as an earthen spear landed near her and caused her to surrender. 

In the middle of the students was an elf clad in a white lab coat and grey-colored armored gauntlets and shin guards along with his khaki combat slacks, dress shoes, and reading glasses. The teachers and students knew him as Doc Fafnir and he was the strongest of the department by what everyone said about him. 

Fafnir expertly dodged and ducked from attacks that missed their opponents, his eyes rapidly shifting and scanning the students doing battle in order to asses them and see if they had any type of injury present or at least help prevent one from happening, but the latter part was covered by the fact that a barrier preventing people from dying had been erected so it was mostly just seeing if there were any injuries that needed immediate treatment. After checking out the students, he and the rest of the combat professors made their way to where Martha and Pittah were, with all of them just resting together in silence, all of them proud of the senior students doing their best and showing the hard work they had done in teaching them had paid off. 

"May I ask something to everyone?" Martha then stated, causing her peers to look at her 

"Aye lass, what seems to be on your mind?" Professor Dorin, the only dwarven professor in the department answered, stroking his ginger-colored beard 

"Well, its that I heard there was a secret thing that the winning class and their professor can do when they win the class fight. I heard that they can challenge staff in battles like the entire class and professor against another professor. I heard that can be applied to anyone, even the Dean herself. Has anyone ever tried it before?" Martha asked, with her colleagues giving her a worried look 

"Yes, there has been things like that in the past, winning classes and their professors would challenge other professors or even other year levels. But challenging the Dean is out of the question" Doc Fafnir immediately replied 

"Oh? How so?" Martha asked, curious about their reservations 

"Well Martha, for starters. We all know we cannot beat her. The monthly teacher evaluation she performs on us is good evidence as to why" Professor Anton added, the half-orc adding his insight into the mix 

"And besides, the rule states that only the winning class and their professor may challenge, not all of us" Pittah also added 

"Huh, alright then, guess that's that" Martha finished as she turned her gaze back to the students 

"Yes, that is that....but it also raises a question, when has that rule ever been used? Pittah, do you have any idea as to when the students and professor challenged the Dean?" Doc Fafnir asked as he turned to the dark elf 

"Hmmm...no not really. When I was a student all those years ago, Dean Leilani was still in charge" Pittah answered 

"But didn't she say she was the newest Dean?" Professor Trent, an arachnia, spoke up, her curiosity of things not adding up filling the air 

"Well to be fair to the lady, she is a vampire and a unique one at that. She probably has a different sense of time and "newness" compared to the rest of us" Professor Dorin added 

"Hmmm, well regardless. I think if anyone would know it would be her. But I think we are all too scared to go ask" Martha stated, with her colleagues nodding and mumbling in acknowledgment. Their gazes returning to their students who were about to do a lot of work soon

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A few hours later, Leilani, Feisha and Botswell were sitting around a table in front of the cafe in University Town called Cafe Alamado, a popular place amongst the staff and students as a reliable place to get a good ice cream. The trio sat in satisfied silence after they had just finished sorting out through the large stacks of paper that held details of each student who registered for the tournament, they had finished sorting through them enough to pair them by year level and set up the brackets for the fights that were to take place the next day, the first was the class fight bracket and that was relatively easy as it would span a total of two days, with the first three year levels on the first day and the rest on the second, after that, it was the individual battles from the third day until the end of the week, with the arrangement being similar as the first three year levels would be going first and then the last three would follow. 

"Haysss....finally done. Are you sure you gave the list to those students in the committee handling the proceedings of the event Feisha?" Leilani asked as she leaned into her chair 

"Yes Master, I gave it to Miss Victoria Von Eliess, the committee head for the matches" Feisha answered with a proud nod 

"Good, good. If I recall correctly, she also signed up to join the tournament, she is to participate in her class battle and her individual bout...I am quite curious as to how she will perform" The Dean remarked as she looked up into the sky 

"Hmm? Why is that so Master?" Botswell asked as she stopped her crocheting midway 

"Well, it's just that she has access to the forbidden portion of the Library due to her researching about that "Lost Scholar" of hers, and although I fully trust her not to, she may have sneaked a peak at one of the old spell books lying about in those shelves" Leilani answered, her gaze going back down to her beloved creations 

"Mmm, I can see the concern, but I doubt Miss Victoria would do that. Given the fact that if she did, she would most likely die to the book's mana output stored in them" Botswell stated 

"Hmm, I did forget that some of those books have mana cores inside them to assist in casting spells, hayss...I will have to check them later. For now, let's just relax" Leilani said as she turned her gaze towards the cafe and saw their order coming out with the server 

'I wonder how you are doing Martha?' She thought as her large brownie ala mode was placed in front of her 

"Here you go Miss, one major-sized brownie ala mode with vanilla ice cream and two extra-large banana fleet supremes" The kitsune server said with a smile as she placed down the orders 

"Thank you very much, I would also like to ask for some water with ice as well" Leilani said as she looked at the server 

"Understood Miss, it will be ready shortly" The kitsune replied with a bow before leaving their table 

As the trio began to dig into their ice cream meals, Feisha and her sister were treated to the sight of their master smiling with a larger smile than usual as she ate her brownie ala mode. The once cold gazes she would normally have upon her face were replaced by a warm and inviting one as she enjoyed her dessert, to them it seemed as if their master had a sweet tooth but to the woman herself, it held a slightly different meaning. The sweetness and delectability she experienced reminded her of happier memories of this life and the one before, back in her old world, this was the first dessert she ever tasted during her life in poverty, her mother and father saved up for it as it was one of the few things they could reasonably afford, she remembers crying as she had never tasted anything like it and thanked her parents up and down for the joy it gave her. Meanwhile in this life, it reminded her of her father and mother watching down at her from above, she remembered making this dessert for them when she was around her thirties and helping around the kingdom, she made it with her mother and father as a thank you for everything they had done to raise her and love her, and when she saw their faces light up from the deliciousness of the dessert when they tried it, that moment has stuck with her ever since. Leilani uses these memories as a sort of anchor for her sanity, reminding herself that despite the hardships of life, there will be a happy memory or two that can fill one's soul or mind. 

As they continued their snacks, the arachnia sisters shared a glance and nodded to one another as they were about to ask something of importance to them and their master. 

"Master, is Miss Martha going to be your future partner and our future master?" Feisha asked, causing Leilani to pause midway through her dessert 

"Feisha has a good question Master, is Miss Martha going to be someone to you?" Botswell added 

"Hmmm....I plan to yes, we are slowly getting there but I know the two of us wish to seal the deal already. But I wish to take it slow as I want to get to know her better, after all, I have all the time in the world" Leilani answered them as she placed her spoon down on the plate 

"True Master but she doesn't" Feisha quickly countered 

"Indeed, you are a semi-immortal Master, Miss Martha is not" Botwell added on 

"I get your concerns both of you but I assure you both that I know what I am doing. I have spent long enough time on this world to know how to romantically court a partner, books and stories from my children are about to be put to use" The Dean replied to her arachnia creations 

"Ok then Master, good luck with that" Feisha stated with a nod 

"Indeed, good luck with that" Her sister did the same, with the two of them returning to their desserts 

"Don't worry both of you, I can't even do anything as the tournament is taking up a lot of our time, probably after the tournament we will go out on a date or something along those lines" Leilani added as she returned to her meal 

'All the time in the world...right?' Leilani thought as she continued eating her dessert, her words causing her to ponder about herself and Martha

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Later in the late afternoon, Martha found herself wandering around the campus on her way back to the combat department building. She passed by many students who greeted her with a sort of hushed excitement as many of them were from the younger year levels and saw her and the rest of the combat professors instructing the seniors. Although it was common for the Combat Professors to be assigned from the first year to the last, Martha had only been assigned to teach seniors, something she did not understand but felt that it was a challenge on her part given by Leilani as a testing ground of sorts. 

As she walked along the corridors, she passed an empty or at least seemingly empty training yard. To her surprise, she saw Leilani practicing on her lonesome. Martha stayed silent as she hid behind a pillar near the entrance to the yard, she was entranced as Leilani conjured up a sword design she had never seen before, it was a sleek and steady double-edged sword the hilt of the sword was covered by a shield and the weapon itself was intricately and magnificently designed. 

Martha held her breath as Leilani flourished the sword with practiced grace and her eyes went wide when Leilani lightly flicked it once and the training dummy in front of her was split into two, with the top half falling to the floor with ease. 

Leilani then summoned forth more training dummies but these ones were made of much sterner stuff as they were now made purely of steel rather than the tough and heavy-duty iron bark fibers from earlier. she took a deep breath as she recalled the many lessons taught to her by Fortuna and the many experiences she had over the years, and in one swift slash, all three of the dummies were sliced in half like nothing. 

Martha, on the other hand, was speechless as she saw the little to no effort made by her lover in destroying the dummies, she and her peers know how hard it is personally to put a dent into those dummies as they were designed for the combat professors specifically, and Martha had spent many hours trying to dent the damn things or even cut them apart, and yet here was Leilani effortlessly slicing them up like fruits, her sword going through them like a hot knife through butter. She also couldn't see the damn moves, it was all a blur to her or even at times just looking at a motionless painting. 

Leilani then waved her hand and the dummies on the training floor all merged into one massive dummy right in front of her, a small smile on her lips as she took a stance, placing her right foot back and then flourishing her sword once again. She took a short breath before unleashing a flurry of thrusts that struck the dummy at multiple points, piercing deep into the dummy and filling the air with the sounds of cracking and breaking, the black coat that rested on her shoulders fluttered as she made her moves. She then paused for a moment as she channeled magic into the blade and then unleashed a much more powerful thrust that pierced the center of the dummy, it was followed by an electric charge that crackled from the blade and scattered all over the target, and after it quickly subsided, the dummy turned to ash and was blown away by the wind. Satisfied, Leilani flourished Augusta once more before sending her back to Leilani's item box. 

"I know you are there Martha, enjoyed the show?" Leilani asked as she turned to the empty hallway entrance to her left 

"I was just observing love...to think you had this much power residing within you, where did you learn it?" Martha asked as she appeared from the shadow of the pillar and leaned on it, staring at her beloved

"Just some things I picked up on my adventures love" Leilani stated as she walked over and caressed her face 

"I am scared about the things you encountered if your adventures had you fighting like that, I pity the enemies you faced as they probably didn't know what was happening before they bit the dust" Martha remarked as she embraced her lover 

Leilani checked around with her eyes and also sent out a sonar-like ping to check if there were any nearby students, and when it was clear there were none, she pushed Martha away just far enough for the two of them to share a deep kiss, Martha, who was initially caught off guard by this romantic gesture, quickly relented and sank deeper into the kiss as she was also enjoying it. The two of them would spend a few minutes repeatedly kissing and caressing each other, but never crossing the line as they were still inside the university and could probably be seen by students who were wandering in the late afternoon. 

"I missed you, you know? Being a professor has hindered my ability to just drop into your office to see you" Martha stated with a sly smile as she cupped Leilani's face 

"Heh, I know. I miss you too, how is your class? Are they ready for tomorrow?" Leilani asked her 

"I believe they are yes, it will be a fun day tomorrow" Martha replied, a smile on her face 

"Good, you can tell me everything as we walk back to my office, we have all the time in the world" Leilani finished as she took her beloved by the hand and began walking towards her building. 

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In a training yard near the colosseum, Victoria and her friends stood around tired and exhausted. They were to participate in the class fight tomorrow and it was going to be held in the afternoon, she and the rest of her class had spent most of the day practicing and it had shown some good promise on their part as they were able to best several of their other classes in trial mock battles arranged by their professor. 

Victoria was also the committee head for the matches so she knew exactly when and who their class would be fighting tomorrow, a small smile on her lips as she rested upon her greatsword as she pictured her opponents in her head. She was quite confident for the most part as she had been secretly learning from the spell books in the library ever since she was given access to it by Dean Leilani, was it a reckless move? Undoubtedly, she was there to research on the "Lost Scholar" for her upcoming research paper, but just like anyone else in her position, she could not resist the temptation of exploring the spell books in the forbidden section, doing her best to try and avoid the ones she knew could kill her if she opened them. She found an old one that had a very chilling octopi-looking cover, and because it looked cool,  she read it for a few days and learned a few spells before she could be caught. 

"I am so excited to test these out" Victoria mumbled to herself as she looked at her hand and saw some purple lightning crackle across it before disappearing into her palm 

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On a far and distant continent, hidden in an underground temple, a mass of people cloaked in grey and tattered clothes gathered around a statue of granite, the statue was carved to look like their god of worship, it was a tall statue that depicted something that had an octopi-looking head atop a mishmash of limbs and body parts that made it stand up right, they called it Hrutgar the Righteous, he was a Leviathan, a member of a race of gods that once ruled creation in its entirety, the mass of people kneeling before the statue cut open their palms and allowed their blood to drip onto the candles before the statue, and standing above all of them was a man with his head shaved of all of his hair, his eyes bloodshot and his grin wide, he looked upon the statue as it begun to shake and in his maddened voice he turned to his fellow gathered with a spark in his eye, 

"It is time!" 

A/N: And here we go! The calm before the storm that is to come! I hope you are all excited to see some university students go at it! I am also excited that this series is still receiving love like my main series and I am thankful for that! If you got comments or reactions or something, leave em below for me to read as I love reading em, and as always Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!