You're sure it's nothing you should worry about, and you quickly get something you can worry about

First day of classes proceed as they normally do. You are still far ahead of the curriculum so while you pay attention it's not exactly riveting. A lot of students seemed either hungover, or to not have steady legs. More than a few comments were made about the men who couldn't quite walk straight, thankfully you weren't one of them but the fact no comments were directed at the bow legged women felt a little offensive. Still weird being on this side of things even after the last few weeks.

When Stephanie's class started things changed. At the end of the practical magic class fifty older women turned up and sat in even ranks in the stands. You didn't recognise any of them from yesterday but most shared Vatarie's olive skin, formerly brown eyes and hair and general handsome features. You'd guess they were on average thirty and very obviously fighters.

Stephanie's students all lined up and waited for her. The fifty new observers studied the eleven of you very closely but none of them said anything. Looking down the line you saw Vatarie standing very straight and her aura had a desire to impress.

"Students." Stephanie's voice made a few of the students jump. Being under the gaze of all those older women was making people nervous. "Greet Princess Mary's personal guard." Stephanie came to stand between you and them. "This Friday they will pick someone to duel. If more than one picks you, you'll be dueling more than one of them. If you win one fight you will not be removed from my class next Friday." There was a stirring from the student's. Those at the lower ended looked excited at the prospect of safety, the higher end was nervous. "Today we will be working on shield from physical attacks." Stephanie called each of you out in turn and threw a magically accelerated rock at everyone's heads. No one got hit but only your, Vatarie and Anastasia's shield actually held up. You thought that was odd, at the very least Asune should have been able to resist without much effort but she ended up ducking out of the way as the rock smashed through.

After that Stephanie broke you into pairs and had you throw things at each other and block them. You and Ana got paired and while you could break through her shield regardless of how she tried to stop you, you didn't. This was about learning so you started slow and built up power of your throws, aiming for weak spots then telling her how you saw them. She improved quickly and at the end of the class looked rather pleased with herself. Stephanie dismissed you all and the personal guard stood and left. The uniformity with which they moved was a little unsettling, more a mechanical departure than a human one.

That night was spent with everyone at Ana's no orgy this time, you think the party last night did manage to tire them out. Vatarie hadn't sorted out her **** against Asune since she could think of anything that Asune wouldn't enjoy without making Vatarie herself uncomfortable. Delilah did pull you away for some private time which consisted of a very quick lean against a wall and clothed pounding before returning. Edin gave you a longing look so he was next on the bent over list. When you got back he was wobbling a little and Clare made a comment about your growing one sided experience.

The next day the only interesting class was the elf's. She spent it discussing how one persons magic could affect the others around them. Does belief in someone else make that person stronger since magic responds to the nonself-consciousness? It was something you perked up at. Your experiences in the church certainly suggested it was possible. You yourself didn't feel more powerful but it was consistently where your aura share was most effective. Sadly she didn't come to a conclusion, instead leaving it to next class.

At Stephanie's class she had everyone imbue their sword as powerfully as they could and try to break through one of her shields. Ana and Vatarie broke through but no one else, you looked at your sword then at Stephanie and decided to not try. You were beginning something was going on with Asune. You'd seen her overcome Stephanie before.

When you asked her about it she said she wanted to fight someone easy. You didn't get it but she didn't elaborate. You considered prying but you had something else to do. Stephanie had said there was another sky steel weapon at the academy and you could really do with an advantage when it came to imbuing after that afternoons self made point. Starting with Ana you asked if she knew about it but all she could say was that the academy had one from a former duelist turned teacher, one of Stephanie's predecessors in fact. You spent the afternoon asking any attendant you could about it but none of them could tell your much more. Seemed to be a matter for the other teachers. Shame you didn't have a relationship with any of them.

The rest of the week passed quickly. The elf's second class was disappointing however, the conclusion was that no one was entirely sure. Powerful people had followers if those people augmented that power was unknown, though she did say that she believed it was the case. It made you wonder about Clare's sister and her angling to turn you into a religious symbol. Little concerning if that was the reason, it would mean her champion would very likely be stronger than they were when you picked Clare and stopped her from judging how strong the other champions were.

Stephanie's last two classes were all about endurance and speed. Those two you breezed through, Vatarie struggled with the endurance but made it through and aced the speed, Ana made it through both without much difficultly. Asune failed both and only at the end of the last training session did it occur to you that Stephanie wasn't punish failure in any way, then it clicked that she'd said the personal guard would be picking their opponents, and this was about show your upper limits, or in other peoples cases, concealing your upper limits. Good thing it doesn't really matter to you. You assume the same was largely true of Ana being a Princess and all. Vatarie might be doing it on purpose to show off so whoever challenged her would be a good fight. It was important for you to note yourself however that your power was making you breeze over some things. Apparently learning you are kinda untouchable had made you stop paying attention to people who might want to touch you.

On Friday afternoon things were tense. A massive crowd had formed to watch the fights, including a lot of noble were weren't students. Mary herself showed up and gave you a nod as she stood at the edge of the arena, pointedly refusing to sit.

Stephanie walked between her students and the guards. The silent patrol up and down the line built tension to the point you saw one of the guards shift slightly.

Stephanie finished a lap and returned to stand in front of you facing the guards. "Does anyone challenge him?" The guards remained perfectly still.

You looked at Mary who didn't seem surprised, and her aura certainly wasn't disappointed. Made sense, part of being an actual fighting soldier is not jumping into a fight you'll be hopelessly outclassed in.

Stephanie stood before Asune and asked for challenges. Eight guards knelt. And so it went down the line. Nika had seven challenges. Asune had five. Ana, surprisingly had six. Stunningly when Stephanie stopped in front of Vatarie fifteen of the guards knelt, almost all of them were the ones who shared her heritage. Vatarie beamed at them in response. Six had two, Seven had three, Eight, Nine, Ten and Eleven all had one, you think that was on purpose so everyone got a fight.

Stephanie had the field cleared and Asune took her place watching her challengers as the formed a line at the edge of the arena. The tension that Stephanie had built with her silent walk hadn't been reduced with the selection process. You could feel it, everyone was invested in this, everyone was excited to see what would happened, and everyone was a little scared of how things could end.