"Tea is silly."

 

Ryan sipped his tea and looked over the cup at the headmaster. The headmaster shrugged, "I find these small rituals are what give my life a sense of continuity and stability. It's also a matter of sharing a cultural touchstone with others." Ryan placed his cup down, "Oh, I understand entirely. Like how me and my brothers and father would all watch sports. Even when we were angry with each other, we could discuss and debate the nature of our favorite teams and theoretical outcomes." He steepled his fingers, "It still prefer coffee the same way I prefer my humor. Black and bitter.

 

The headmaster leaned back with a sigh, "Do you enjoy having no roots, just floating about without anything in common with anyone around you? You have this terrible insistence on isolating yourself."

 

Ryan echoed the headmaster's sigh and settled back into his chair, "You didn't invite me to your office to debate tea. I think my proposals are well written so if you had any questions we would be discussing that instead." He paused, "Although I do thank you for your insight into mana flow and applying it to conjured elements. It may actually be of use when I finally figure out how to break water down into its individual parts."

 

The headmaster smiled, "I look forward to seeing if you can set water on fire." He paused, "And... you are right. I'm hearing reports of you bullying the other students."

 

Ryan nodded, "A matter of perspective, but yes."

 

"Why?"

 

"Because they will eventually get over the whole dismembering incident. Already a number of the other alpha males have approached me. I have simply preemptively crushed and humiliated them in front of everyone else for the benefit of all." Ryan eyed the cookie sampler.

 

The headmaster echoed, "The... benefit of all?" Ryan nodded and took a checkerboard cookie, "Yes. You see, I'm here, so there must be a restructuring of the school hierarchy. I have no intension of being a part of it, so I must establish myself as a lone wolf. Therefore, I must crush a number of alpha males to make it clear I COULD be a mega chad, but I choose not to."

 

Ryan munched on the cookie before continuing, "By simply crushing an alpha male and then immediately socially isolating myself, the others will think I am not worth the bother and I will avoid other dominance challenges. Crush one to avoid dozens of fights. A cold, but pragmatic solution."

 

The headmaster squinted at Ryan, "Do you really think the boys in this school are like... wolves?" Ryan burst out laughing, "Oh hell no! I'd prefer a school full of blood thirsty wolves! Wolves would get beaten, figure their place in the new social pyramid, then move on. These guys are going to be petty, bitter, and cheap shot me every chance they can get. They'll never be happy with leaving me alone, but... at least now I'll be left alone until their memory fades and they need to be taught another lesson."

 

The headmaster pondered a while, "I'd like you to try making friends."

Ryan stared at the headmaster then cleaned his ear with a pinkie, "I'm sorry. I had a stroke. I thought I-"

"Could you please try making friends?"

Ryan just gaped at the headmaster, "Hey. How about I figure out... something... impossible. Damn, I am so floored by your words I can't think of anything funny to say to mock you."

The headmaster's expression was flat.

 

"Dude! They hate me. They hated me before when I was weak and pathetic! It's only going to get a thousand times worse now that I can't get kicked around anymore. Trust me, nobody likes the loser who turned into a winner. We root for him in stories, but in reality, everyone wants to tear that fucker down." Ryan pointed at his chest, "I am a threat to everything they believe in. I'm a halfling with POWER. They want me DEAD. I expect assassination attempts any day now."

 

The headmaster rolled his eyes, "Please... will you-"

 

Ryan cut him off, "Are You For REAL? Do you really believe what you are saying? Are you senile? Dude. DUDE! You need to grow up! I don't know what fantasy world you grew up in-" Ryan paused, then shook his head for a second before continuing, "But in THIS world? People suck. People are awful. People are vindictive little shits and they enjoy the pain they inflict on others because everyone is terrible." He pointed at his own chest, "And I include myself."

 

The headmaster held out his hands, "So I'm like that?"

 

Ryan nodded, "You are only as nice as the world allows you to be. When the chips are down, I have no doubt you will cold stone shank me if you need to."

 

The headmaster opened his mouth, but hesitated to answer. Ryan pointed at the headmaster and smirked, "See? You want to be nice, but the world won't let you at times. The world is unfair. It's okay. I'm just honest about it, and you just hate the fact I'm right. Honestly, I wish I was wrong. I like your world. I hope to live there, someday."

 

The headmaster sat still, absolutely flummoxed, especially because he was just reviewing security plans and had been trying to think of ways to kill Ryan if the need arose, "I'd... still like you to try. There are some open minded people here... so, if you get the chance, don't... push everyone away." He picked up his tea to sip, ~Damn it. I don't even believe what I'm saying.~

 

Ryan sighed and picked up his tea, "Fine... fine. I'll try and make friends..." He gestured his cup towards the headmaster, "But no promises."

 

The headmaster lowered his cup to his lap, "I'll take what I can get."

 

---

 

There are things in that are universal no matter what corner of the cosmos you find yourself in. Gravity. Matter. Energy. These are usually a given. The particulars may change, but the result is the same. After universal things come things that are... typical. To be expected. For example, if there are humans, usually you can divide them into two types. Male and Female.

 

This is because humans, and humanoids in general, exist in a hostile world where survival is important. Typically you will find the more hostile the world is, the less freedoms you have and the more important following the dictates of society becomes. When screwing up results in death, the rules that people follow exist because they resulted in one group out lasting a different rival group.

 

Mother nature sides with winners and could not care one iota about your human rights.

 

For that reason, 'the rules of engagement' between men and women tend to become more strict over time, especially when society is under stress. When the threat that required the rules that ensured humanity's survival is finally dealt with, either because the monster population decreases, or food becomes more plentiful, these rules will linger for generations and become what is known as traditions. People forget why a particular rule of courtship existed, they just do it because people have 'always' done things this way. How the groom carries the bride across a threshold, for example.

 

Of particular relevance would be what clothing men and women wear.

 

Men wear clothing that is functional. As they advance in status, they will put many fancy things on their clothes to make them stand out. Wearing the right suit, for example, makes it easy for people to know your place in society. People like knowing what someone's place in the world is at a glance. Who would respect the pope if he didn't come with the tallest and most shiny of hats?

 

Women wear clothes that are of a less practical nature in order to show their place in society as well. This woman is dressed like she is married. That woman is dressed like she is not. This woman is dressed with high heels that force her to move her hips in an overtly exaggerated fashion drawing attention. That one has way too much make-up. The more difficult and expensive a woman's clothes, the more important she must be.  Fashion is often specific to a given region and may change depending on many, many, MANY factors. While people in a given area will often try to 'keep up with the times', fashion between countries can be radically different. What makes you seem normal in one country, makes you seem like a prude in another, and vice versa.

 

Which brings us to the new transfer student, Monique Bourgeois.

 

If one were to describe Monique as liquid sex in stilettos, you would be capturing her metaphorical essence perfectly. She was five foot nothing with oceanic blue hair that shimmered and flowed in its pixie cut around her face. Her skin was flawless and carried that sheen that only youth can provide. Her pert little nose had just a few freckles on it which were difficult to notice because your attention was more likely drawn to ruby lips that were luscious and plump. Lips that matched her ruby red eyes perfectly.

 

This was no porcelain doll. This was a full figured girl with a gravity defying chest, hips that demanded attention with every step, and a waist that made one wonder if she was missing a few ribs. Physically, she looked healthy and resilient. Men gazing upon her either felt an urge to protect her and put her on a pedestal, or find out how much... aggression... she could withstand. A strange combination of delicate flower and 'Junk in the trunk'.

 

Junk, one may point out, that she was showing off quite nicely with her miniskirt.

 

This, of course, was the problem.

 

In her home country, a girl wearing an outfit like hers was no big real. In fact, not wearing it was more likely to draw attention. In her homeland, men were intimidated by aggressive women. A woman who was dressed demurely was approached far more often than someone like Monique. If a woman wanted to discourage men from approaching them, you would dress like Monique. In her much warmer home country, her clothing said, 'I am a fierce woman. Leave me alone unless you wish your teeth kicked in.'

 

In Lyonesse, it was saying something quite different.

 

Having a skirt where bending over meant flashing everyone behind you, as well as displaying THAT much cleavage, combined with her ample bosom was having... shall we say... an effect on the male population at the Royal Academy.

 

Monique walked in and headed straight for her assigned class. She appeared clueless as she walked through the hallways. She ignored the many boys who would fall over themselves to look at her, instead focusing on how to find her class. The girls in the school were also affected, but in the opposite way.

 

They absolutely HATED her on sight.

 

This was an S-Tier threat. Get your men off the streets and lock them up because a calamity class critter is on the loose and she is a man-eater.

 

She stepped into the classroom with a small satchel of books in her hands that she held in front of herself, inadvertently squeezing her boobs together. Monique smiled at the professor, "Excuse me? This is zee classroom 'B', no?" The professor looked up and nodded, then did a double take, "Uh. Young lady... Your..." He cleared his throat, "Your uniform is..."

 

Monique laughed melodically, "It is quite cute, no? I just bought it before I left! It is quite the latest fashion! I am glad you like it!" She then spun around to show it off, causing her skirt to rise up and stun every red blooded male in the room into silence.

 

Except for Ryan who never looked up.

 

She tilted her head to the side and giggled oh-so-innocently, as she glanced around the room, trying to figure out where to sit. The room seemed to be already socially segregated. The boys in the room appeared to have claims staked on them by the girls present, who were shooting daggers at Monique if she so much as glanced in their direction. At the moment, it did not appear as if any particular spot was welcoming, but there was one spot that at least seemed to be unclaimed by the girls present in the room

 

Specifically the back row where Ryan and Aldelmo sat.

 

The cringe was real as every boy in the room felt the urge to warn her. No one approached Ryan in his corner seat. He was left alone. He left everyone else alone. That was the arrangement.

 

Aldelmo, Ryan's only friend, even HE didn't sit next to Ryan. Instead he sat two seats away from Ryan because Ryan liked to sprawl out and needed as much work surface as possible. He was always working on something. The professor used to try and catch Ryan in some gotcha question, assuming Ryan wasn't paying attention. However, he stopped that since Ryan never failed to get the answers right. In fact, he once corrected the professor and that was a little embarrassing.

 

So, needless to say, the room collectively held its breath when Monique walked over and dropped down into the seat between them.

 

Ryan stopped sketching. He looked up and out towards the front of the auditorium, then slowly turned to look at Monique. She smiled brightly and looked from Ryan to Aldelmo, "Hello! I am zee new transfer student, Monique! This seat is not taken, No?"

 

Aldelmo's nose burst with a fountain of flowing blood as he fell backwards, passing out.

 

Ryan just stared at Monique like he was looking at a bug and said, "Yes." as he went back to drawing.

 

The jaw of everyone else in the room dropped to the floor. Monique looked confused, "Uh... are you sure? It looks like it is just the two of you, No?"

 

Aldelmo slowly pulled himself back up, holding a handkerchief to his nose, "What? He then glared at Ryan, "Actually. Nobody sits here!"

 

Ryan's eyes grew wide as he leaned back to look at Aldelmo past Monique's back, "Yes. It is taken." Aldelmo glared back, "No. It is not." Ryan narrowed his eyes, "YES. IT. IS."

 

Adelmo leaned forward to get back into Monique's field of view, "It USED to be taken, but then our friend left. Died. Tragic... death. He died a tragic death. Ryan there is still choked up about it." Aldelmo leaned back to glare at Ryan behind her back and spoke through gritted teeth, "BUT IT IS TIME WE ALL MOVED ON."

 

Ryan stared back, then eventually just rolled his eyes, "Ugh. FINE." He returned to his sketching, "Just don't talk to me."

 

The room grew silent. More than one person watching asked themselves, ~Is Reed GAY?~ The professor stared, weighing if he should move her, but thought better of it. Reed was annoying and if this girl was annoying him, who was he to interfere? ~Serves him right.~ The professor looked up, "Ah... Lady Monique, Come see me after class and I will go over the lesson plan with you and see how far behind you are. I was told you were top of your class back in your home country, so I don't think we'll have much to worry about." He made a dismissive hand gesture, "So for now, just listen along." He returned to what was written on the chalkboard and resumed the lesson.

 

Monique nodded and smiled brightly at the professor. When he turned away, she sort of deflated and just glanced around the room, looking at everything but the professor. Aldelmo spoke quietly and offered his notebook, "If you got questions I can show you what we're doing. Currently we are learning containment tracks for magic circles."

 

She nodded enthusiastically and looked over Aldelmo's notes, but quietly started looking over towards Ryan and his sprawling mass of notes, drawings, sketches, charts, and more than a few books. She nodded to Aldelmo as he commented, but couldn't help but be drawn to what Ryan was working on.

 

She gingerly reached out to pick up a piece of paper on the edge of Ryan's workspace to get a better look at it. Ryan's hand shot out to slam down on the page, making a loud banging sound that got everyone's attention.

 

"What... are you doing?" Ryan's fingers drummed on the page in irritation.

 

Monique put on her best sweet and innocent expression and looked at Ryan with the biggest of eyes, "I was just aaahhh... how do you say... curious, No?" Ryan snatched the paper away and put it as far from her as possible, "I doubt you could even understand what it is."

 

Monique smiled and tilted her head to the side, "It just seemed to me that you were attempting to make zee functional Burnelli Sphere, yes-no?" Ryan eyed her, "A what?"

 

She leaned into him to reach over and point at what he was working on, pressing her chest up against his arm in the process, "Zee Burnelli sphere was first theorized by Lord Burnelli as a means to make a magic circle more effective by attempting to manifest it in zee three dimensional space. Of course zee design never worked because it required multiple containment tracks to prevent mana leakage and more than one containment track will always interfere as they each try to contain zee other."

 

The professor butted in, "I haven't gotten to that part of the lesson, but yes. You can only have one containment track in a magic circle. If you have a second one at a ninety degree angle, like one needs in Burnelli's sphere, each one will attempt to expand to include the other, thus causing the containment tracks to require an infinite amount of mana as each one draws down more power to overcome the other."

 

Ryan held up a finger. In the air directly above it appeared two faintly glowing blue rings, each joined at right angles to each other. Inside it were a half dozen circles stacked up on top of each other, up and down the central axis. It created a sphere that hovered in the air no larger than a baseball, "Are you talking about this?"

 

The professor nodded, "Yes. Exactly. Such a configuration will collapse instantly, thus earning it the nickname of Burnelli's folly. It serves as a wonderful example of the lim-lim-lim-lim BUWHAAA???""

 

If it was possible to spit your own skull out of your head, Professor Thorn would have done it at that precise moment.