An hour later, the two partners stepped out of their dorm room.
Lyra, wearing a huge smile on her face, was hanging onto his arm like they were going steady. Evren didn’t have the strength to resist her at this point. He felt tired to the bone.
“Body contact, Lyra…” he said, resignedly.
“I’m only holding your hand.” she sang back.
It felt like she'd used him, like a succubus drains her lover. She hadn’t just extracted his essence, she'd charmed him into giving it up willingly, using his lust for her against him. The conversation about her getting drunk was long forgotten, and in its place hung an erotic memory of his hand pressed to her belly, drip feeding her mana while fondling her tits through her wet shirt with the other.
He had filled her pool. Watched her eyes glittering as she gazed back at him. Dreamt of kissing that delicate mouth, which hung open in a state of ecstasy. He had hid how turned on he was, though she probably smelled it on him. He still reeked of pheromones. That must be what a sex worker feels like...
Doubt and mistrust still weighed on his mind, but he couldn't erase the year of obsession he'd felt for this girl. His body was burning, both with desire and with the strain of holding back. It left him struggling to recover from all been through that morning.
“I had no idea having spells cast on me could feel so good! I’m so full. So energized!”
“We can’t do it again…”
He hadn’t told her about what had happened with Veronica earlier, but he had been much more cautious with Lyra because of it.
She gripped him tighter and dragged him forward. “Don’t be ridiculous! You’re my warder and you’re going to have to practice every day if we want to get better… You’re just hungry, let’s grab some food.”
“Hmph.”
Well, he was very hungry. Maybe that was the reason he felt annoyed with her at the moment.
“Even with all your yummy mana floating around inside of me, I’m famished!” she giggled. “After we grab some food, do you think we can get some more practice in before our afternoon courses begin?”
“No! No more today!”
“...”
She fell silent. Maybe she was finally picking up on his mood. Realizing they were on two different energy levels. The two walked in silence, following the terrace to the closest eatery.
The most accessible food hall was located in Zone E2. Following the path from E305, it was a short sideways walk with a single flight of stairs. It took three minutes to get from their dorm to the hall. Lyra had a spring in her step, while Evren plodded along beside her, lost in thought.
They smelled the food hall before they saw it.
The aroma of roasted meats and cooked vegetables floated out of its broad entrance, snapping him from his dark mood and making his mouth water. Evren couldn’t remember ever being this hungry before.
The food halls were open air venues, with tables set up all across the terrace and small dining rooms available inside for students who wished to eat in private. They were strategically placed all around the Nexus and were the best place to relax and socialize after morning courses. Within a shallow hollowed out overhang, workers toiled away, cooking far more food than the students could ever eat. For once, Evren was thankful for the excessiveness of the Nexus meals.
“Wow, it smells so good… I’ll grab us some plates, so why don’t you find us a table?” She leaned into him with her eyes half-lidded. “How about we get a room for just the two of us?”
“No. We’re eating outside where there’s fresh air,” he replied sullenly.
As they approached, he recalled the layout of this particular eatery. It wasn’t a deep cavern, but there was more than enough seating to accommodate the two or three dozen students who lived nearby.
There were plenty of students sitting at the outdoor tables under the hot noon sun. Some of them were freshmen, others were juniors or seniors. All students were welcome to mix when it came to meal time at the Nexus.
Someone was watching them as they approached. Two someones.
He noticed right away, the incongruous girls who had their eyes on him from the moment he’d come into view. As Evren and Lyra drew near the entrance, they rose from their seats.
One was tall and lean. Her hair pulled up in a bright pink ponytail. The other was shorter and curvier. Her eyes were hidden behind a hairstyle that resembled a mop. They both wore junior caster uniforms, though they had rolled their skirts up short, showing off some shapely thighs, and their socks hung around their ankles, loose and brightly colored.
“C’mon Lyra, those two look like trouble…”
Lyra, whose focus was still on Evren and the place where their hands met, had been oblivious to her surroundings.
“What two?”
Too late. Before Evren could say another word, the girls intercepted them. Standing side by side, they stepped in front, blocking their way in. The pink-haired girl appeared to be the leader, but the shorter girl was the first to speak.
“Is this really the boy? He looks like a slab of meat!”
She seemed uncertain, giving off a scatter-brained vibe as she looked him up and down.
Pink ponytail girl grinned. She was cute, but she was leering at him in a creepy sort of way.
“Haha yeah, this is him! He looks like her… Hey kid!”
She held her arm out, stopping him from stepping around her. He stopped, choosing to confront them rather than just plow right over them.
“What do you want?”
“Are you Dia Veylor’s little brother?”
“I am.”
The two girls shared a brief look, before they moved in. And they were fast! Before he could protest or pull away, each had grabbed one of his arms. Pink ponytail had her shirt unbuttoned to the point that his bare arm was pressed to the skin between her modest boobs. The curvy mop-top’s chest was soft and warm. His arm practically sank in between them.
They weren't gentle about it. Seizing him tight, as if they expected him to run for it. The girl with pink hair nearly knocked Lyra to the ground in the process.
“Come with us,” said the mop-top. “Your sister wants to see you.”
The two girls pulled at his arms, perhaps expecting him to come along obediently but, try as they might, he stood firmly rooted in place.
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?” mop-top asked. “We promised to bring you to her. Are you trying to make liars out of us?”
“Hey…” the pink-haired girl said mischievously, “I know something we could pull on that’ll get him moving."
Her hand passed over his shorts until she found the bulge where his dick was hidden, still giving off that smelly sweet odor.
“This cute little guy.”
She stroked the front of his shorts, tracing the shape of his dick and 'ooo'ed as it twitched. Her hands were surprisingly strong, sending shivers up his spine.
“Get off of him!”
That was Lyra shouting at them. Her voice had a sharp crack of indignation. Evren couldn’t see what she was doing, but a moment later the pink-haired girl released him with an exclamation of pain.
“Oooww… what the fuck! This bitch is casting on me. Get her, Yumi!”
The girl on his left arm let him go as well, and he was free. He turned around to find Lyra was standing close behind him. Her hands twisting in the air as if she were turning giant invisible screws. Her lovely face was flushed and scowling.
“Get her off of me!”
The pink-haired girl was frozen in place, her arms stretched to her sides, painfully wide. Lyra seemed to be holding her in place. Her head was writhing around wildly and she could speak, but the rest of her stood straight and unmoving.
“Hold on, Pippa!”
The shorter girl’s hair spun as she sprang into action, conjuring up a gust of air and sending it flying towards Lyra. Like a mini-cyclone it sped towards her, picking up dirt and dust in its path. Evren acted on instinct, years of training for duels told him what he needed to do faster than his mind could process it.
No words, no gestures. Just pure concentration.
A huge bubble appeared, swallowing Lyra up whole. Sunlight danced on the iridescent surface. He could still clearly see her. See the look of confusion on her face. Her mouth was moving and he knew she was speaking, but no sounds could make it through the protective skin of Evren’s bubble shield.
The mini-cyclone plowed into the shield, causing its delicate surface to burst in an explosion of tiny droplets. The girl called Yumi gasped, as her own spell dissolved without damage. The spells seemed to cancel each other out, leaving Lyra unshielded, yet unharmed.
“The fuck was that…?” Pippa, the pink-haired girl exclaimed. “Was that the boy casting?”
“It sure wasn’t the girl…” Yumi, the mop-top replied. She was staring at him now, taken aback. “I thought you were a freshman.”
“He is… A gifted freshman…” a deep female voice growled from within the eatery. A moment later, Dia stepped out into the sunlight.
“But he’s also my precious brother. Which one of you was casting spells on him?”
By now, the first girl was able to move again. Her arms lashed out, gesturing madly.
“It wasn’t us, Dia! This girl, the DOG from last night, was the one who started it!”
All eyes shifted to Lyra.
She stood there, frozen in place. All the fight was draining out of her. She fell to her knees, a look of dread covered her face. She was terrified. The words floated out of her like a timid ghost.
“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have cast first.”
She looked like a condemned woman on the way to the headsman. Bowing her head, she was prepared to be punished. What in the world was going on with her?
Looking at his sister, her face was a storm cloud. He recognized that look from the dozen times in his life that he’d really angered her. Lyra was going to get hurt. He had to say something.
“Dia, she was protecting me!”
“What’s that, dear Evren?”
Her expression completely changed as she stepped over to him. Her arms wrapped around his torso.
It still felt so weird having his sister want to hug him rather than punch him in the arm. Her body actually felt good. Her enormous breasts pressing against him were over-stimulating. His body was reacting, but he forced himself to stand there.
“Those friends of yours were pulling me and touching me. Lyra was just trying to get them off of me.”
“Hmmm…”
Dia’s hot breath tickled his ear. Then she lowered her face to his armpit and took a deep, noisy breath. Her arms were way too soft. Her grip on him was too strong, he didn’t think he could escape, even if he tried. But then she released him and stepped past him.
“Good job, dog,” she said, patting Lyra on the head. “You protected my brother and that’s all I asked you to do.”
Then she wheeled on the two other girls. The storm cloud rolled in once again, and Evren could’ve sworn he saw her hair rising from the mana she was about to invoke.
“As for you, Pippa…”
She paused mid-sentence, her eyes rolling towards a shadowy figure that had emerged from the eatery’s interior.
“Partner Dia!”
It was a man wearing a formal set of dueling robes. He was nearly as tall as Evren, and very well-formed. His wide shoulders tapered off to a narrow waist giving him a lightly muscled, triangular body. His arms, legs, and face were the color of bronze while his short curly hair and eyes were as black as coal. A well-trimmed beard gave him a manly vibe, though Evren could tell by his high pitched voice that he was not much older than Evren.
“You left me alone, Partner Dia!” He looked around indignantly. “Who are these people?”
“Gods above! I left you just a minute ago, and I asked you to wait inside!”
All the anger was gone from her voice. Replaced by a deep exasperation.
“Well, now that I’m here. It would be rude not to introduce me to your… friend,” he said. His eyes were on Evren. He examined Evren up and down not like a boy would look at another, but more like a competitor sizing up his rival. "Is this the boy you've been talking to your friends about?"
“Ugh… yes, this is him. Raph, this is my younger brother Evren. Evren, this is Raphael. He’s my support partner.”