A New Alpha

Chapter Twelve

Lynx was halfway through his salad when Landon caught up with him.

"You'll never guess the most amazing rumor I've heard!" He said instead of hello.

"Are they going to have a sledding day?" Lynx guessed.. a bit wildly. A chocolate fondue party was his next guess.

"More amazing than that!" said Landon. His eyes were brightened with excitement. He leaned closer to Lynx and whispered confidentially, "It's about how the guy with the strong aura. he's not a witch he's a lycan !"

"Ace?!" I said. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Holy ..goodness," said Landon. "Do you even know what a lycan is?"

"I..well, no" Lynx said, these kinds of things weren't exactly listed in the printed code of conduct. "No. Not really."

"Basically they are stronger and faster than normal werewolves, they shift like them too, though their wolf form is bigger and monstrous like, Walking on two legs instead of four. they are almost as rare as hybrids," said Landon, perhaps to himself.

"Damn I didn't know that,.... are they stronger than hybrids" said Lynx. "Honestly Hybrids are the strongest creatures on this world way stronger than Lycans, I think it's because some hybrids can be born half witch half werewolf. though no-ones seen them so it might just be a myth. We looked at each other once. That's all it was. This school has a gossip problem that was morphed into such a stupid hybrid rumor."

"I guess there is a bit of a gossip problem," said Landon. "I guess that means the lycan could just be a normal werewolf since no-ones actually Seen him shift, or maybe he will on the full moon."

Lynx laughed, "It's not likely."

"So anyways, any luck on your magic?"

"I don't think so, I don't feel anything," said Lynx.

"You sure you're not just human? It could be possible I've heard of a few Witches of a strong bloodline not having magic"

Lynx paused. Since he can't use magic yet, maybe he'll be able to check his mana to see if he was born with it, and if he wasn't then he's not a witch. And yet... Now he has to find a Mana Orb. "Um, I don't think so," said Lynx at last.

"I heard if you don't have any mana then you're not a witch, maybe if we check your mana well know what you are," said Landon.

"I was thinking the exact same thing."

"Well where do we get a mana orb," said Landon. "Maybe. A magic lab unless there's magic shops around."

Before more could be said the pre-bell rang. And the remaining students started packing up and heading to class.

Lynx thought about asking Landon about the Class Markers. If anyone knew about them, he would, but he was already getting up, and taking his food tray to return it to the roundabout conveyer near the exit. So he instead looked at his schedule to see where he needed to go next. Fighting Defense..

room s592.

He'd forgotten how stressful the first days, in a new place, can be.

'Exciting too,' said a small voice in the back of his mind.

"I guess so," he said absentmindedly heading towards the staircase that would take him down to the third lever. He wondered what Fighting Defense would be like. He wondered if he should tell the teacher that he couldn't fight to save his life. He wondered if he should mention that he wasn't able to use magic... And yet, it seemed like the school had more information on him than he would like. The Zarkov Priestess might have told them about him not using magic... and yet, he couldn't be sure if he knew.

He couldn't be sure why, but he was reluctant to be forthcoming about it. What if they kicked him out of something... How would he help her orphaned family then?

No, he'd better keep things like that to himself. Better safe than sorry.

"Are you going to breakfast Lynx," said mason, Lynx's roommate. the next morning.

Lynx winced as he hopped out of an ice bath in the bathroom. His muscles ached with every breath. "I think I'm hurt too much to go to my classes today."

"Nonsense!" said Mason. "Did you read the code of conduct? Skipping class isn't allowed unless you've been admitted into the infirmary."

"I'm guessing I'd have to walk to the infirmary to be admitted?" said Lynx, opening the bathroom door.

"Yep, and I'm not sure if they accept patients just for muscle soreness."

"Well, that's messed up," said Lynx. "I guess I might as well go to breakfast then."

"Are you hurting that much?" asked Mason a few minutes later on their way to the dining hall.

"You were in the fighting class. You must have seen what a fiasco it was."

"Well," said Mason, trying to think of a way to put it nicely. "I suppose it'll be easier if you start winning your matches."

"Maybe," said Lynx. "Assuming they don't kick me out for my fighting inadequacies. I still don't understand why they would assign me all these hard physical classes. It just doesn't make sense."

"Maybe they see something in you that you don't," said Mason as they turned in the dining hall corridor.

"Or maybe they made a mistake," said Lynx with a tired sigh. He couldn't help but think about all the years he'd worked as a servant. He thought about how when he dried the dishes he would dream of an opportunity to be seen as an equal, and to have the opportunity to grow. And yet, now here it was, and... it wasn't that he wasn't grateful.... it's just that it turned out to be a lot more challenging than he could have expected.