Morgan felt stressed, not in a bad way, mind you, actually, maybe stressed isn't the right word. However, he isn't really good with words, so stressed is the only one that comes to mind. Regardless, it has to do with Severa. The shopping trip lasted much longer than he expected, and while he had no issue carrying all of the things she bought, which was an ungodly amount. What is she doing to do with all of those clothes?! His mother, father, and himself doesn't have as much clothes as the ones she bought. How much money does she have?
Another 'issue' is that she already knows how to prod Morgan to get him to do things… how did she figure it out so fast? Is it a woman thing? Whenever she has free time, she wears clothes that show off the spots that he likes to see, namely her lean figure… also the legs. Severa has the legs of a runner. He thinks he might have a fetish for legs. Did he mention he likes her legs? She's still insisting on him not staring, but then she turns around and flashes a smirk whenever he is caught staring. She insists that she doesn't need help, but she also says that she wouldn't mind if he did.
Was his Mother and Father the same way? He never remembered his Mother acting like that. Ultimately, he decides that it just adds to her charm… somehow.
Truth be told, he's more than satisfied with having a full, unobscured view of her legs.
Morgan's first two classes went without anything of note happening, though his last class was… exciting. "Today, my brother and I will be demonstrating a few sword techniques," Say'ri starts off.
"Which practice swords, of course." Yen'fay continues, in that almost eerie way that they can finish each other's sentences. "First, we'll show the most common stance among the Valmese, afterwards,"
"We'll do a few easy strikes, the basic horizontal and vertical slice."
"Please hold onto any questions until after we are finished." They both said… in perfect unison. It's really weird how they can pull that off. Their demonstrations were smooth, Morgan assumed that they practice on a daily basis.
Things didn't go unhinged until afterwards, "Can you show anything more advanced?" Lon'qu spoke up, before anyone else had a chance to ask a question.
His request seemed to had caught them off-guard, "Later in the semester, we will gladly demonstrate such techniques," Yen'fay starts.
"However, we must make sure everyone is on the same page, so we can't skip ahead, even if there are students who have already trained in the ways of the sword." Say'ri finishes off.
Morgan glances at Severa, who seemed heavily interested in the display earlier… "Don't mind him, it's normal for a Regna Wolf to bite off more than they can chew." Morgan flashes a smirk at his rival.
"It is also normal for a Grimleal Dragon to think themselves higher than the rest." Lon'qu counters.
"Only because it's true. Remind me, who won the last soccer game?"
"And who won the last basketball game?"
"Or how about that baseball game? Where one of your top players sprained his ankle on a base?"
"Not as bad as the time when one of yours slipped on some wet grass… with her new cleats." The two are now standing up, facing each other.
"Sit back down, you two." The two teachers command in perfect unison.
"May I demonstrate some of the lessons I learned in Regna Ferox?" Lon'qu breaks eye contact and looks at the teachers.
"Lessons? Like when you flailed around in fencing? No, let me show off what I learned from the High Priest's personal trainers." The two are staring each other down again.
"I got a better idea, how about I demonstrate just how lacking you are… in a duel?"
"Is that a challenge I hear? Alright, but don't go crying to the Nurse when you get little cuts and bruises."
They both look at their teachers. Yen'fay and Say'ri share a glance, before nodding, "The second we think something serious will happen," the brother starts.
"Is the second we'll stop you two." the sister finishes.
The two rivals spared one more glare, before making their way to the front of the classroom, each taking up a practice sword. Truth be told, Morgan only took one sword training session, as he just wasn't interested, but if Severa is interested… "Get ready to get floored, Wolf." Morgan proclaims.
"You won't have anything on me, Dragon." Lon'qu counters. In short, the duel didn't last as long as they wanted to. Why? Well, let's not forget that Morgan tends to break things whenever he gets too into a game. So, what broke this time? The door… with a wooden sword. Morgan managed to break the classroom door with the practice sword.
"Enough!" The two teachers stepped in. "That was a fine display, but you two should vent your rivalry outside of our class!" They reprimanded the rivals in perfect unison.
"Don't think this is over, Dragon." Lon'qu spits out as they return to their seats to get their backpacks.
Morgan scoffs, "I'm more worried that you will forget, considering the number of times you banged your head in a game." With that, the class is dismissed and they all leave. Now, normally this is where Morgan would head straight to his apartment, but he had a plan to finish, "Hey, Severa!" He catches up to the twin-pigtail woman.
"Hello, Morgan." For a moment, just a moment, he catches a smile on her. "Weren't you being a show off today?"
He casually shrugs, "Can't help it whenever a challenge is involved." A smile forms on his face, "But I wanted to ask, what did you think of it?"
She raises an eyebrow, "Why are you asking me? That guy is your rival, after all."
"He is my rival, sure, but," He nods, "well. I noticed you were getting into the display that the teachers were showing, so I was hoping that you would like it."
Her face flushes, "You were hoping… I would like it?" She looks away, "Well, maybe I did." She mutters. "How long have you practiced using a sword?" She asks.
"I've actually only had one session back then, but…"
"One?" Severa's flush has faded, and instead a scowl takes it place, "Should've know, just like her." She mumbles.
Suddenly, Morgan feels like he just crossed a line, "Severa?"
"Must be nice, huh? To pick something up and instantly be one of the gods at it?" She turns on her heel and almost stomps away.
"...What did I do wrong this time?" He asks himself. Severa is so hard to figure out, he knows that he likes her… more than just her legs, that is.
Morgan felt overwhelmed, not by the work she has to do, as she handles that very well. No, what's getting to her is the social side of college. Being one of the smarter ones has basically put a 'target' on her, as apparently, if you are really intelligent, it means you automatically are labeled as a tutor. Well, to be fair, the same thing happened in Ylissean High, but this is The Red Knight's College, so it baffles her that people still need so much assistance. She is lucky to ever make it back to her apartment before, 'Hey, you mind showing me this?' Don't get her wrong, she doesn't mind helping, but there's a difference when a few good friends ask, versus almost an entire classroom's worth of people ask.
The effects of it quickly started biting her, too. She ends up having to stay up late to do her own work, which leads to less sleep… which causes her to be late to her now favorite class, History. Which is one of those days. "Sorry, Miss Tiki." Morgan ducks her head as she dashes into the classroom, exactly two minutes and four seconds late, "I overslept." Yes, even through her alarm… all five of them. Gods, even her coffee was cold today.
The green clad teacher shoots her a disappointed frown, before nodding, "Please, just take your seat, Miss Reflet." Morgan quickly nods, feeling so bad for Miss Tiki to look at her like that. "Now, today we'll be reviewing the war that ended in the unity of Valm…"
"Hey, Morgan." The sugar-toting Gaius whispered, "Need a boost? I'll spare you some candy from my personal stash."
It's no secret that the man has the best sweets on hand… but help is never free, and the last time she accepted his offer... "No thank you. I'll manage."
"Shoot…" He mutters.
"Ha, it seems Gaius can't get smart girl to help him." Gregor chuckles.
"Wasn't looking for help, muscle mass. Unlike you, I can actually worry about people."
"Hold on, Gregor meant no offense. I joke, yes?"
"It's not cool to joke about someone who looks like that barely get any sleep." Morgan lets out a small squeak at the man's declaration. Part of her is suspicious, surely it's an act to get her to give in, right? Those two do help each other out, after all.
But what if it isn't? The other part of her wants to trust him… Well, if she's wrong, then it'll be another lost night of proper sleep. "Hey, Gaius. On second thought, I'll take you up on your offer. If you don't mind, that is."
She glances at him, the sugar-lover has a smile on his face… it looks genuine, at least. "You bet!" He reaches into his candy pouch and gives her a particularly good looking sucker, "Enjoy!"
"Thank you… I'll have it after class, though." While he may pop in candy during class, she won't. She carefully places her gift into the 'snack' section of her backpack… maybe he is serious about just wanting to help out.
The rest of Miss Tiki's class went without issue… well, the class itself went fine, but Miss Tiki stopped her before she actually left. "I need to talk to you, Miss Reflet." She starts.
Keeping her composure, Morgan nods, "Of course." Externally, she manages to keep a calm face, but internally? She's really worried. "What did you need?" She takes a seat in front of her desk.
"I'll ease your worries first, you aren't being removed from my class." Once more, the green-clothed teacher could somehow see through Morgan's facade. "However, I also can't keep overlooking your repeated lateness."
"...I understand, Miss Tiki."
"This wasn't an issue the first few weeks. I'll admit, I'm worried. What's happened?"
There's no use lying to her, as Miss Tiki has this extraordinary ability to root out lies. Morgan slowly starts to question just how true the legend of her being thousands of year old is. How else could she figure people out almost instantly? "Students keep asking for help, and I find myself unable to say no. So I'm unable to get as much sleep, since I can't finish my own work until later."
"Are these students from my class?" For a brief moment, Morgan catches that dangerous glint in her eyes.
"A few, most are not even from classes I attend right now."
"I see…" She pauses, "Allow me to ease your burdens, who from this class is pestering you?"
"Gregor…" Morgan was about to add Gaius… but he just helped her. She couldn't just sell him out like that.
"One or a few?" She falters under Miss Tiki's knowing glare, "The other is Gaius, isn't it?"
"Miss Tiki, he's actually concerned about me, I can't just…" For once, she actually starts breaking down under the pressure, "right? It'd be wrong to do something like that." Morgan has never felt so vulnerable.
"...Allow me to share a story with you, Miss Reflet." Miss Tiki seems extremely hesitant about it, but she decides not to bring it up. "This happened to me a number of years ago. There comes a time when one needs to draw a line…" Morgan also has never seen Miss Tiki so vulnerable, either. "I too, was sought out for help, but it wasn't in academics, but rather spiritual. My family is revered in religion, specifically in the teachings of Naga. We are considered blessed by the goddess herself, as we can directly trace our origins to the Divine Dragon. As such, it's all but required for each child to learn everything about Naga. However, that very strictness causes some of my relatives to push away from religions all together."
Miss Tiki takes a deep breath, she evens sheds a single tear, but doesn't actually start crying. "The gravest example is my… was my brother. He was the eldest my siblings, so on top of learning all the teachings, he also was the most depended on. One day, he snapped, he stormed out, declaring his parents no longer loved him, that Naga didn't love him. He yelled about how he was confined to learn of teachings, while other boys could go out and play, to have fun. He took his few belongings and left the next day. However, he also stole two treasured artifacts among the treasury. One is the legendary Gemstone, said to contain great power. The second is said to be one of Naga's very own tear, crystallized and preserved through time."
"Gods…" With that, Morgan's curious nature won out. "What happened to him? Where did he go? Was he okay?"
"He took his own path, and in spite of Naga's teachings, he forged his own religion." Miss Tiki then stares straight into Morgan, seemingly piercing even her own soul, "He formed what is considered the polar opposite of Naga, the Grimleal."
"...The Grimleal was said to originate thousands of years ago."
"That is correct."
"But, he's your brother?" Miss Tiki simply nods, "How?"
A small smile forms, though it is full of sorrow, "I won't deny it, the legends you might have heard about me are truer than you might think." She pauses and lets the information sink in, "I have seen many things, Miss Reflet. I've known and experienced so many tragedies, I've watched close friends age, while I seem to stay forever youthful. Many times I have asked myself, 'Am I truly so blessed? Why must I watch people I have grown to care die?' I try my best to stay faithful, but one's soul can only take so much pain. I too, eventually left, but I kept Naga's teachings. However, instead of applying them in a spiritual manner, I chose to educate people through History. I guide them away from the mistakes of the past." Another pause, "If I were to ever become a mother, then I would offer them a chance, I would not force Naga's teachings on them. This child of mine would forge their own path."
"One more question, if you don't mind? Who is your brother?"
"I'm certain you have heard of him. Those devoted to Naga know him as the Fell Dragon. My brother's name is Grima."