Arriving at his next class Glyphwork & Runes 101 he took in the room. A smaller room than Varen's lecture hall as it had round tables instead of tiered rows. The walls are lined with inscription boards and sample arrays mounted behind glass. It felt less like a classroom and more like a workshop.
Arthur found a table near the middle and sat.
The same dynamic as History played out with less room to hide. A pair of Virtues students who'd been heading for his table found a sudden interest in the one by the window. A Seraphim boy clocked the Watchers emblem, made a quiet calculation, and redirected without breaking stride.
Arthur set his notebook down and waited.
The instructor arrived two minutes before the bell.
She came through the door already talking, a stack of papers under one arm and a piece of chalk spinning between the fingers of her free hand like she'd been doing it since childhood. Short, bright-eyed, the kind of woman whose energy filled a room before her voice did. She dropped her papers on the desk, missing the edge.
Bang!
She didn't notice, and was already at the board before they finished sliding to the floor.
"Applied Glyphwork and Runes 101!" She wrote it across the board in large uneven letters, the chalk squeaking on the last word. She didn't flinch. "I'm Instructor Mave. If you forget that, it's on the board. If you forget what class this is, it's also on the board."
A few students laughed. She grinned like she'd heard it before and didn't care.
"This class is going to be all about taking glyphs and runes and putting them to use. You will be making things like this." She pulled a small flat stone from her pocket and held it up.
"This is a simple defense rune plate that I inscribe in 4 minutes. Lowering my mana to an output of Peak Iron I can hold off attacks from Mid Bronze and below, giving those of a weaker strength a way to close the gap."
Setting down the plate she looked out at the room.
"That is what this class is about. Using the tools you study and learn to create things that benefit you in closing these gaps. From selling work for money to protecting your loved ones — if you can imagine it, you can do it."
"Now pull out your books to chapter one as we get started on the basics, beginning with the Sinclair framework."
The class moved at a steady pace from there.
Mave walked them through the Sinclair framework from the ground up — foundational theory, how single tier arrays were structured, the basic activation sequences that made them function. Starter material. Arthur had covered most of it on his own long before arriving at Aurelius but he kept his pen moving regardless, filling in the gaps where Mave's explanation added something his self-study hadn't.
She had a good way of teaching. Not dry, never condescending. She explained the logic behind each step rather than just the steps themselves, which made the material stick in a way that rote instruction didn't.
Nothing of particular note happened.
A Thrones student two tables over struggled with his activation sequence and Mave redirected him without making him feel small about it. A girl near the window asked a question about load distribution that was sharper than most first years would think to ask and Mave answered it with visible enthusiasm.
Arthur took his notes, completed the practical exercise set at the end of class without issue, and filed out when the bell rang.
—--
The dining hall at midday was a different beast from the evening.
Louder. More chaotic. Students flooding in from a dozen different classes at once, the clatter of trays and chairs mixing with conversation that bounced off the high ceilings and came back down as general noise.
Arthur collected his food, found a spot away from most of the other students, and ate without particular hurry.
He finished his meal and headed for his last class of the day.
Bloodline Studies didn't meet in the main circular hall.
Instead they were tucked away deep within the main circular building. In the basement below the others Arthur found a plain door with no nameplate, only a room number.
Pushing it open he found a room with a single round table, six chairs, a window on the far wall letting in the afternoon light, and a smaller board that looked like it hadn't been used in a while.
Five other students were already there.
Arthur took them in as he crossed to a chair.
One boy with the Watchers emblem on his shoulder looked up with a narrow face and dark circles under his eyes that looked less like exhaustion and more like a permanent feature. He sat with his hands flat on the table, still in a way that felt deliberate.
The others each ranged from different houses though one stood out to him.
'House Seraphim.' Arthur saw a boy who sat with the composed ease of someone who had never once needed another person's approval. One arm rested on the table, the other in his lap. He was looking out the window. When Arthur sat he turned his head slowly and regarded him with dark calm eyes that gave nothing away.
Having taken his seat Arthur promptly heard the bell ring after.
Then the door opened and Mrs. Foxwell walked in.
She was dressed professionally fitted blouse, pencil skirt, auburn hair pinned back — but she carried herself with the same easy confidence Arthur remembered from her office. Her eyes moved around the table once, taking everyone in, and then she set her folder down, standing in front of the class.
"Good afternoon everyone. My name is Mrs. Foxwell, but you all knew that as I've already met with each of you." She smiled at the room the same smile she'd given Arthur when she was in control.
"And so without further ado, welcome to Taboo Bloodline Studies. Here we will go over everything that comes with having a Taboo bloodline from understanding the history and nature of them to how society views them and why." She looked around the table.
"As users yourselves I will also work with each of you individually to help you use your bloodline more efficiently and safely."
She pulled out her chair and sat down at the head of the table rather than standing over them.
"Before we get into anything academic I want this room to feel different from every other class you attend here. What's said in this room stays in this room. No exceptions." Her tone didn't change but the weight behind it did.
"You are going to hear things about each other in here that the rest of this academy would use against you. That does not leave this door."
The Watchers boy with the dark circles was watching her now. So was the small girl beside him whose uniform was too perfectly pressed for someone who wasn't trying.
Robin let it settle for a moment then continued.
"We'll start simple. I want to go around the table and I want each of you to tell the group your name, your house, and your bloodline." She glanced around. "Nothing more than that for today. Just so we know who's in the room."
A beat of silence.
Then the Thrones boy at the far end leaned back in his chair and smiled like the exercise amused him.
"I'll go." He said it easily, no hesitation. "Finn Walker. House Thrones." A pause just long enough to be deliberate. "Skinwalker bloodline."
The girl beside him didn't react. She simply followed.
"Kira Drothy. House Thrones. Soulbrand."
Two words each. Practiced. They'd clearly done introductions like this before.
The Seraphim boy turned from the window.
"Li Chang. House Seraphim." His voice was even and unhurried. "Bone Manipulation."
The room absorbed that quietly.
The Watchers girl went next, eyes down.
"Nara Croft. House Watchers. Blood Magic."
Then the boy beside her, still not fully looking up.
"Cael Mourne. House Watchers." A pause that lasted slightly too long. "Necromancy."
Everyone turned to Arthur.
"Arthur Webb. House Watchers." He said it the same way he said his name to anyone — no apology in it, no performance. "The Mark."
Robin watched the table as the last name landed. Nobody visibly reacted. Whether that was because they already knew or because they'd each been too focused on getting through their own introduction to process anyone else's was hard to say.
"Good." Robin opened her folder. "Now we can get to work."
Arthur uncapped his pen.
'Six people in a basement that the rest of the academy pretends doesn't exist.'
He looked around the table one more time, Finn's easy smile, Kira's stillness, Li Chang already back to watching the window, Nara's eyes fixed on her textbook, Cael's hands flat on the table.
'Interesting group.'
He turned to the front and listened.
Author Note: Patreon.com/Lord_Cuckles for Advance Chapters up to 20.