I Am The Greatest Femboy Mage

Familiar training as it woefully turned out, was one of the longer classes that Elian had to take.

He and Milena, with her snake still curled around her shoulder, had to rush in a speed that Elian wasn’t capable of sustaining to barely make it in time for physical combat.

Thankfully, Milena knew where the class was taking place, which meant that Elian was still thanking all and every god by the time they reached it.

The class had already gathered in the lecture hall by the time, the small group of first years standing in a loose arc around the podium in front of the class having quite a few familiar faces in it.

Darrow spotted them first, already sprawled against the wall near the front with the loose, unbothered posture that seemed to be his default state in any room.

"There they are! Was starting to think familiar training ate you both alive."

"It nearly did," Elian said, gasping, still catching his breath.

"That tracks." Darrow said, leaning back into the wall.

Elian spotted Rudra next, he stood a short distance away, composed as always, arms crossed, offering nothing more than a brief, assessing glance in their direction before returning his attention to the front of the room.

Oizys stood near him, Elian correctly guessing that they ended up in an unwilling, silent alliance of going to classes together because of their status as royals.

Though she did look equally as unbothered as Rudra, her eyes tracked Milena’s new addition with polite, careful curiosity before she said nothing about it at all.

Elian next saw Cordelia in the crowd, which thoroughly surprised him if he had to be honest. He had never taken the girl to be one to study combat.

What did lessen his surprise was the fact that she had a notebook already out despite this very clearly not being a lecture-style class.

She waved enthusiastically the moment she caught sight of them.

"You survived!" She said as Elian led Milena over.

"I guess barely though, judging by the pace you just power-walked in at."

"We had incentive," Milena said, flat, the snake shifting slightly against her collar as if agreeing.

Elian introduced the both, letting the girls do the rest of the socializing as he looked around the room to see anyone else that was familiar.

He did find one more, a face that caught Elian thoroughly off guard.

He was dark-haired, faintly familiar in a way that took him a beat too long to be placed in a recognizable category, standing slightly apart from the others with a stack of gear slung over one shoulder like he had actual responsibilities here rather than just attendance.

It was Wren Mattock.

Bellamy’s secret boyfriend was helping them with combat training.

Elian felt his face do something complicated, much to his dismay.

Wren’s did much the same, color rising fast the moment their eyes met, both of them clearly recalling the exact same doorway from the day before.

"You’re..." Elian started, giving him a nod in greeting.

"Assistant instructor," Wren said quickly, a little too quickly, gesturing vaguely at the gear over his shoulder like it explained everything.

"For this class. Artificer track students help run equipment logistics for Physical Combat some terms, it’s... it’s a whole thing, it’s not important."

"It’s extremely important, he’s terrified of you,"

Bellamy’s voice supplied unhelpfully from somewhere near the doorway, arriving fashionably late as always and clearly delighted to catch this exact moment.

Elian didn’t have the energy to be surprised anymore, waving a greeting to his roommate, having already reached his limit for excitement today.

The same could not be said for the secret boyfriend.

"I am not terrified." He croaked.

"You flinched when he saw you." Bellamy said, tone teasing.

"I did not!"

Darrow, watching the entire exchange with open, unrepentant fascination, leaned toward Elian with the air of someone filing away material for future use of mischief.

"Is this the reason for the eye bags this morning."

Elian sighed, doing his best to look unbothered.

"I feel like I missed something extremely good." Darrow whistled, Milena and Cordelia looking between all of them as if utterly lost.

"You did," Elian admitted, and didn’t elaborate further, mercifully saved from having to explain when the instructor’s voice cut through the room, calling the class properly to order.

"Alright everyone gather up!"

The group student shuffled, gathering close to the raised podium where the instructor was standing.

The man himself was someone who had the air of a seasoned adventurer, weathered by years spent somewhere considerably less forgiving than a school.

He was broad-shouldered, had a jagged scar cutting through one eyebrow and stood with the loose-limbed readiness of someone who’d spent more time reacting to danger than planning around it, similar to the vibe Darrow carried himself with.

"Callan Reyes," he said, not bothering with further preamble.

"I don’t do long speeches, so listen close, because I’m only saying this once."

He let his gaze move over the gathered students, unhurried, sizing up the room the way Ines had on the first day—except where Ines’s assessment had felt playful, Reyes’s felt like they were in an active battlefield.

"Physical Combat isn’t about magic. I don’t care what element you throw, what circle you’re pushing, what artifact you’re carrying, we will be using none of that here today."

His eyes flicked, briefly, toward the Everbloom in Elian’s hand, then moved on without comment.

"This class exists because every single one of you is going to end up disarmed, exhausted, or cut off from your mana at some point in your life, and when that happens, the only thing standing between you and dying is what your body already knows how to do without it."

A ripple of uneasy silence went through the group.

"Today, we’re doing an exercise in pairs. Controlled duels."

He looked at them.

"As i said, we’ll be using no magic. Hand-to-hand and basic weapon forms only, judged on technique rather than outcome. I want to see what each of you actually brings to a fight before anyone starts relying on an artifact, a bond, or anything for that matter,to do the work for them."

His eyes swept the group again, and this time they lingered—first on the Everbloom, then Milena’s snake, a beat longer on the both of them than the rest.

He pulled out a ledger from a desk tucked next to the weapon rack, reading out of it.

"First pair. Darrow Tanner, Oizys Rosemere."

Darrow pushed off the wall with an easy grin, cracking his neck to one side.

"Guess that’s us."

Oizys said nothing, simply stepped forward with the same composed grace she carried into every room, though something in her posture had sharpened, alert in a way it hadn’t been a moment ago.

Reyes gestured them both toward the open floor at the center of the hall, the rest of the class shuffling back to clear space.

"Rules are simple. First to yield or first to hit the ground and stay there. Try not to break anything that’ll have me getting a lecture from the healer’s wing."

Oizys picked up a wooden sword from the weapon rack before she stepped into the raised arena, Darrow meanwhile, went in empty handed.

"Will you not use a weapon?" The princess asked as they stood facing against each other, waiting for the instructor to start the duel.

"No, I do better with just my hands." Darrow said as he settled into a battle stance, the easy going smile still stretched on his face as he too, waited for the signal to start.

"Do not forget what i said." Mr Callan said, voice steady and loud.

"I will have you run laps across the entire academy if you break any rule."

A pause.

"Begin!"