Beyond?

by Andur

  Eh? Eh? That's it? Ok? “Then goodbye, Mrs. Clara.” I get out of my chair and leave the office. Probably I should lay low for a while. The old hag will surely have a closer eye on me from now on.

  10. ~Clique.~

  “The Southern countries are a conglomerate of small nations and kingdoms which are in constant quarrel with each other. Some of them rise and fall within a commoners lifetime. There is no sense in trying to create a lasting treaty with them.

  It's questionable if their situation is their own fault, or simply the natural state of things. We don't know if Nict's unity is only upheld by the Gates, or a result of our favourable geographic location.”

  -Natum Tinn, Emissary of Nict.

  Free City States of Nict, Nict

  Azir

  Another week passed and there weren't any more assaults. It seems like the group which attacked me consisted of the main perpetrators behind the bad rumours about Stella. I didn't even hear a word from her that more of her stuff went missing.

  My special friend Lulu is even making a big circle around me and bows properly when I walk past her on the corridor. The same goes for her friends.

  But there is another problem. As of today all of our work will be conducted within a group of five people. It's to teach us to work in a team.

  “So? Now your refusal to stay away from me will finally lead to your downfall.” Stella grumbles in her seat beside me. “The whole group will get an overall score. Since I am who I am and you are in the same pit as me. We'll surely get the worst team mates possible with whom nobody else wants to team up with. They'll pull down our score.”

  I smile and nod. “But only if we don't search for suitable team mates beforehand. It's still early in the morning and the class will not start for another twenty minutes.”

  Stella slams her head onto her desk. “And how are we going to persuade someone to join hands with us?”

  “Isn't it obvious?” I grin and pat Stella's back who flinches a little upon the unexpected contact.

  “Misuse of authority!”

  I get up and walk over to a certain girl who is talking with a boy. She has dark brown hair and looks a little thin. The boy at her side has blonde hair and is of normal build. “Talia Zaitus?”

  The girl looks at me like I am a ghost. The Zaitus are a branch family who belong to my clan. Everyone with a direct blood relation to the clan head bears the name Zait. Relatives with a more distant relationship have an additional syllable behind their family name. So the longer your family name is, the farther down you are in the pecking order.

  That means that even though I am a guy, I can still command members of my clan's branch families around as I please.

  “Yes?” The girl answers stiffly.

  I decide to explain the situation to her. “I need you for the upcoming group work. So you'll join us. Luckily there are more than enough free seats around us. So you can immediately pack your things and come over.”

  “Why should...”

  “Your name is Zaitus?”

  “Yes, but...”

  “What do your parents do when a Zait giv...”

  “I already promised Karsen to work with him.” She grabs the boy's arm.

  “Perfect, he can come too.”

  The girl starts to pull on Karsen's arm. He doesn't doesn't seem pleased at all. “Hey, I don't want to be pulled into this!”

  She grabs his bag while not giving a shit about his complaints. “I won't go alone! You'll follow me to exile!”

  I turn and walk into the middle of the classroom while I ignore the curious glances all around me. Hmm. One more person. Unfortunately there aren't any more members of my clan here. Nobody whom I could command. So I'll have to intimidate someone. That's actually a little hard to do in front of the entire class. I don't want bad rumours about me.

  Unless... my eyes wander to a certain Siorda girl. “Lulu!”

  Lulu ignores me while she is sitting with her back towards me and converses with one of her female minions.

  “Lulu!” I tap on the back of her head and she finally takes notice of me, turning pale.

  “Lulu. We need one last member for our group. You'll fill that spot.” I point towards Stella who is being joined by Taila and Karsen. They are taking the seats in front of her.

  Lulu gasps twice. “Why should I?AND MY NAME ISN'T LULU!”

  “Oh, does that mean that you refuse? And your name is Lulu until I decide otherwise.” I try to make my voice as intimidating as possible which isn't easy at my age. “Do you want another training session?”

  Lulu grabs her bag and runs over to Stella's corner, taking the seat to my right. I nod and walk back to my seat and sit down.

  All eyes of the group are on me and I smile to defuse the situation. “My name is Azir Zait, pleased to meet you. I hope that we can work together from now on.” I point at Taila. “Your turn.”

  “Taila Zaitus, pleased to meet you.” Taila answers.

  My eyes wander to Karsen.

  “Karsen Anja, Hi.” Karsen grumbles.

  I point at Lulu. “And that's Lulu.”

  “I am Louise Siorda!”

  I furrow my eyebrows.

  “... but Lulu is my nickname. Call me as you like.”

  I smile at Stella who eyed the scene while her forehead got more and more wrinkles added to it with each spoken word.

  She finally decides to introduce herself. “My name is Stella Sable. Thanks for working with me.”

  I clap my hands together. “And now that the tense introductions are done, we can finally work on the real purpose of this group and become friends!”

  ★

  I skip while I am on my way back to my carriage through one of the school's hallways. My skills with people are simply fantastic. Who would have thought that it was that easy to find three people for my group.

  Our work with each other also went smoothly. I didn't care much about their skills because I thought that randomly choosing people is better than ending up with some leftovers.

  “~Azir!~”

  Someone bulldozes into my side, but the voice alone is enough to recognize her.

  I try to pull myself free while Annice keeps holding onto my arm. “Stop that! What do you want?” She doesn't let go, even though I have my hand on her cheek and push with all my might.

  “But we haven't seen each other for so long and you keep avoiding me.” Finally she lets go.

  “I don't know what you are talking about. And I am not interested in that kind of relationship.” I keep walking.

  “But my mother said that it is better to start early.” She follows me.

  “We are five! Learn some common sense!” This is really ridiculous. “What did your mother teach you?”

  “That some men can be acquired with a command and others have to be swayed.” She answers with a sweet voice.

  I shake my head. “Look. I don't know how you got this idea...”

  “You were the first man ever who opposed me.” She plays with the tips of her index fingers while she is looking away.

  I grumble. “That's not hard! I doubt that you had any contact with men besides me up until now.”

  Annice blinks. “That's actually a valid point. I've to eliminate this shortcoming of mine.” She turns and is gone.

  I watch her disappear around a corner while being baffled. What will this little girl do to increase her experience with men? What did I do? What if...

  NO!

  Not my business!

  I continue on my way without looking back.

  11. ~From day to day.~

  “The Dwemer aren't a race of many words. Some say that they have the same ancestors as us and changed due to their environment, but during my time with them I started to doubt that. It isn't just their skin colour that's different. They are two to three heads smaller than us and their eyes have round pupils, which are able to enlarge until their eyes are almost completely black. And they have no horns.

  They
have also less magicians than us and their magic system relies on shamanistic rituals. That increases the cast time of their spells, but grants them vastly more power. I've seen them move unbelievable amounts of earth and dig large tunnels within minutes. It would have taken a workforce of commoners months to accomplish the same task.”

  -Sonja Gejene, Emissary of Nict.

  Free City States of Nict, Nict

  Azir

  Time went by so quickly. It's already been two years since I adopted Stella, Karsen, Talia and Louise.

  Louise managed to be promoted from Lulu to her real name after one year of acceptable behaviour. I am a generous person after all. She actually cried tears of joy when I called her Louise for the first time, thus a true bond of friendship was formed between us.

  As for why am I saying that I adopted the four of them? After two month's on the brink of insanity I decided to become a teacher. So instead of sitting lazily around and indulging in self pity, I invested my time into tutoring my four friends.

  Although Stella and Louise didn't need much help from me. It were almost only Talia and Karsen who struggled to keep up.

  As for Annice... she still shows up from time to time, but it got much better after she decided to study about men. Having a perfect memory can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. It turned out that she didn't have the slightest idea of what would happen after she got a hold on the guy of her dreams. Ingrid is the worst parent in existence.

  So the next day after her insane declaration, she came to me with her whole head turning red and informed me that the matter is postponed until we are both of a proper age. That's something she once again one-sidedly decided.

  Unfortunately another fatal development took place during my time at school. Due to the fact that the academy is an all-day school, I had much less time to spend with my little sister. I tutored and played with her as much as possible until I had to enter school.

  She was such a nice kid before. I hoped that she would turn out to be a good character, but just within two years she made a complete personality change. She became a little version of Valda! Oh, why am I now cursed with two women of that character.

  “Why are you looking at me like that brother?” Valeria asks me while she is correcting her light blue hair. Her horns became a little bigger, but are still those of a child. Like mine.

  It's her first schoolday and we are on our way to the academy. Valda is accompanying us. She is sitting beside Valeria while I am sitting across from them.

  I wave my hand dismissively. “Ah. It's nothing. I was just deep in thought. You'll be fine right? I'll go directly to my class then.”

  Valeria forms a fist and strikes upwards. “Don't worry, Brother! Mother trained me well. I am confident that I can fulfil my role as the future clan head! Just come to me if there is a problem. I'll protect you from those vixens.”

  “Pardon me?” I feel a strange itching in my left eye. “Mother! Which instructions did you give to my cute little sister!”

  “~Hahaha.~” Valda laughs strangely and pets Valeria's head. “Dear, please recite the three iron rules.”

  Valeria nods. “Bring no shame to the house of Zait. Keep the whores away from brother. Inform Mother about all of Brother's misadventures.”

  “S... Sister! There is no need at all to...” But Valeria doesn't let me speak.

  “It's nice that you care for me, but I am confident that I can deal with all girls up to four years older than me. If an older one shows interest in you we'll need to call mother in order to protect your virginity.” Valeria nods and snorts through her nose.

  Mother! What did you create! That's not my little sister any more!

  The carriage stops and we get outside, where I am awaited by Talia, Stella, Louise and Karsen. Damn! I forgot that we walk always together to class! I should have told them to go on without me.

  Stella waves her hand and smiles. “Azir! How were the holidays?”

  I raise my hand and force a smile onto my face. “Great. How were you guys doing?”

  “Who is that brother?” Valeria places herself between me and my friends.

  I pat her head. “Hahaha. Don't worry. Those four are my classmates. Stella, Talia, Louise and Karsen.” I point at Valeria. “This is my little sister. Please take good care of her, its her first day. And that's my mother, Valda.”

  “Oho?” Stella touches her lower lip and smiles at Valeria. “She is cute! I want to cuddle her!” Stella's tail curls up behind her.

  Valeria turns with a questioning gaze to her mother. “Is that a Vixen mother?”

  Valda shakes her head. “I explained to you that it isn't that easy. You have take all aspects into account before you judge.”

  “~Azir!~”

  My expression drops. That voice. I grab my little sister and place her between me and Annice who appeared out of the crowd of people around us.

  “~Ahn.~ How cold. And we haven't seen each other since the last semester. Nobody allowed me entry to your property.” Annice crosses her arms in front of her chest.

  Valeria turns around. “Who is that, Brother?”

  “I am Annice Tinn. Your brother's future wife. Nice to meet you, sister in law.” Annice grabs Valeria's hand.

  Valeria's expression turns cold. “Ah... I think brother told me about you.”

  Annice's eyes start glowing. “Really? What did he say? To think that our relationship already bloomed to such an extent!”

  Valeria tilts her head. “Let me see. When he is in a bad mood he calls you just 'The Bitch!' and when he is in a good mood he says 'The poor misguided girl'.”

  Annice freezes and Valeria turns around to give Valda a thumbs up, which is returned by her.

  Valda steps forward and grabs Annice at her tail, pulling Annice with her.

  “Owowow!” Annice tries to resist, but my mother's grip is like a vice.

  Valda mumbles. “I think I need to have a proper word with Ingrid about her education. And I even went through the trouble placing that child in another class. Come Valeria, we are late.”

  She glances at my four friends. “Please keep an eye on my son. And feel free to visit him from time to time. He is too much of a loner to invite you on his own.”

  Finally she marches off while pulling Annice with her. Valeria is following them.

  ★

  “Your family is funny.” Stella grins while she hands me a screwdriver.

  We are currently in our class, having a lesson about rune-magic and artefacts. For that purpose we have to repair an old device which heats up something you place on top of it. To me it's just a good old boilerplate combined with a little magic.

  “You think so? Actually they can be very scary when they want to.” I finish assembling the magical circuit while Louise and Karsen make the encasing ready.

  “The clan head seems nicer than I thought. Maybe I should visit you from time to time.” Talia grins at me.

  I nod. “Sure. That means of course if you get past my sister. She seems to be a little jealous.” Or should I say that she was corrupted by my mother?

  We continue to work in silence on our project. Only Talia and Karsen indulge themselves in a little small talk between the two of them.

  While we work, the light outside starts dimming. Then the class finally ends. I pack up my stuff and attempt to leave the classroom when Stella holds me back by gripping my sleeve. “I have to tell you something.”

  “Yes?” But she gives no answer while the other students leave the room. Looking at her questioningly, I point out of the window at the disappearing sun. “It's getting late.”

  “Actually, I wanted to thank you.” Stella looks at me with unwavering eyes. “Recently I thought about how the last two years could have turned out if you hadn't stayed my seatmate.”

  I attempt to speak, but she holds up a hand.

  “I know. And I learned enough about you to know that you probably really only wanted to sit close to the window. Nevertheless, I wa
nt to give you a present as thanks. But you have to close your eyes until I say that you can open them.” She grabs her bag and looks at me.

  I frown. “That's childish.”

  Stella's tail droops. “You say such strange things from time to time. Do you want it or not?”

  “Okay, Okay.” I close my eyes ...and feel something soft on my cheek while a small box is pressed into my hand. I hear Stella's steps disappearing in the distance.

  I open my eyes and turn around while touching my cheek and notice that I am the only one left behind in the classroom.

  “Eh? Did she just kiss me?”

  “She ran away...”

  12. ~Test.~

  “The people who live in the grasslands are bigger than the normal citizen of Nict. Their nomadic lifestyle seems to be the reason for that. They form caravans with up to a hundred people and travel the grasslands. We don't know much about them because they avoid contact with outsiders.

  But we know that everyone who travels through their territory is attacked fiercely and without warning. Your only chance is to avoid detection, or to travel with a large enough group to repel any attacks. But even that isn't enough in some cases. It's told that multiple nomadic caravans joined hands to take down a diplomatic mission from Quinn. They had three hundred guards with them.”

  -Unknown traveller

  Free City States of Nict, Nict

  Azir

  “There is no need to worry. This test will be easy.” I nod while I take a look over the obstacle course which was assembled to test our skills. We are in our fifth year and this test is open to the public. Many people from different clans are sitting on stands which are placed in the best position to watch the entire length of the course.

  They came here to watch the next generation. Making a good impression during this test is actually very important for our future and it'll influence the reputation of our clans.

  Karsen looks in dismay at a set of ten training dolls. “You say it like that, but I am not sure on how to destroy the dolls in the middle of the course. They are fireproof.”

  “Don't joke around.” Louise huffs and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “We trained your skills with the wind-fist spell especially for that purpose.”