"Sarah… that's enough… people are looking at us in a strange way." Theo tries to stop Sarah from continuing to kiss and lick his face, but he cannot stop laughing because of the tickling.
She only stops when she is satisfied and then grabs Theo by the hand before pulling him down the corridor. "Come on, we have to register for Nocthera." Sarah leads Theo back to the Hall of Stars, and the party continues very lively with music, drinks, and all the students celebrating the beginning of a new academic year.
Besides the new students and professors in the main hall, there are also four groups of veterans gathered around four large tables in the corners, each representing one of the Academy Houses. The newcomers can approach those groups and ask all their questions before choosing to join one of the Houses.
Sarah leads Theo through the crowd of nobles to a line representing the Nocthera House, which is clearly smaller than the other lines, especially Vaelthorne and Ignivar, whose students cheer loudly whenever a new member chooses them.
Yet, there are some people in the Nocthera line, and when Theo and Sarah arrive, Hermes and Clarice also join them, along with six other students, attracting even more looks toward the group.
"I thought you had gotten lost in the castle," Hermes comments in a friendly tone while his sister smiles shyly at Theo. "You were waiting for us?" Theo asks, and Hermes nods. "Of course, I wouldn't risk being in another House and ending up competing against you."
"Really?" Theo is surprised by Hermes' honesty, but Sarah gives him a curious glance. "You know that by choosing Nocthera you will be competing against the most talented students in the Academy, right?"
"But not against you two," Hermes says in a respectful tone to Sarah, avoiding much eye contact. She only shrugs while Theo laughs. "Looks like we will be dormmates then."
"Yeah," Hermes smiles excitedly at Theo, and his sister does too, but Sarah simply looks away. While Hermes begins talking with Theo, he looks around with a thoughtful expression, making the friendly young man curious. "Looking for someone?"
"Did you see Lorien around?" Theo asks, and Hermes makes a concerned face. "I saw him with a group of Vaelthorn students; they seemed to be heading somewhere north of the castle, I think."
"Hmm…" Theo frowns. "Maybe it's time to go get him back." He looks at Sarah, and she shakes her head. "He must be with his family, I bet they convinced him to join Vaelthorn, and honestly, that's probably better."
"He asked me to rescue him if he didn't come back." Theo seems determined to go after Lorien, but Sarah keeps holding his hand, and then they hear loud shouts. "Uhuuuu!! Yeahh!!" followed by many claps, which draws everyone's attention in the hall.
"What's happening?" Someone near Theo asks, and everyone looks to the opposite side of the hall, seeing a group of young people being received with great excitement by the veterans of the Ignivar House.
The group seems to be composed of a dozen young men and women, and even though they are wearing luxurious suits and dresses like everyone around them, they clearly stand out for not looking right in those clothes. That is especially because of their rustic and wild appearance, with their long gray hair and rough manners.
"Looks like the guests from the far North are getting quite the reception, huh?" Clarice comments, and Hermes nods. "I think the Ignivar House is coming in strong this year; those guys from the Skeldr clan are no joke."
The members of the Ignivar House seem truly very happy and proud of the new members, and even professors applaud the group that tries to escape the excited crowd of nobles while also drawing hostile looks from many others.
The group seems to be especially following one person who draws more attention than the others, that is a man as tall as Theo, with long gray hair, eyes so light blue they almost look white, and very muscular, attracting looks especially from the girls.
"That is Sven," Hermes comments in an impressed tone. "They call him the Barbarian Prince, and actually, he is already almost as popular as you, Theo," Hermes says to Theo. "I heard a group of veterans from the intermediate class mocked him and his friends because they entered without taking the aptitude tests…"
Theo watches Sven being applauded by dozens of nobles while listening to Hermes, who begins gesturing and punching the air. "They said he knocked down three veterans in less than ten seconds. Pah! Pow! With punches and kicks, he finished those guys like they were nothing."
"He looks so strong…" Clarice comments, and Theo cannot disagree, Sven's muscular arms seem twice the size of his. Hermes seems to admire Sven, but then smiles at Theo. "Impressive without a doubt, but I still think taking down the half-giant puts you ahead."
Theo would like to say he does not care about that, but he would be lying, so he simply looks at Hermes, who continues smiling honestly. "Yet, that guy is not very far behind. I mean, those were three intermediate students who passed the first-year trials. They were about twenty-two, twenty-three years old, although I don't know Sven's age either. He looks about twenty…"
"Nineteen," Sarah comments in a confident tone. "He turned nineteen two months ago." When she says that, Theo notices Sarah is looking at Sven with a friendly expression, which makes him even more curious about that guy.
"You know him?" Clarice asks, but Sarah ignores the girl. Then, at the same time, Sven looks directly at her from afar and smiles. "He certainly knows her." Hermes comments while the group sees Sven crossing the hall, ignoring everyone and going straight toward Sarah.
Sven's smile grows brighter as he approaches Sarah, and Theo stands beside her, staring at the mysterious man while holding her hand, but when Sven arrives, Sarah releases Theo's hand.
"Sarah!" Sven greets her by name in a very intimate way, and Sarah smiles friendly at him. "Sven, it's been a while." Sarah seems very friendly, but Sven still steps forward and hugs her in front of everyone.
"I missed you," Sven comments while trying to hug Sarah more tightly, but she quickly steps back and then looks at Theo. "Sven, this is Theo, he is my…" Sarah pauses, and a sparkle appears in her eyes, but the two men do not notice because they are staring at each other.
"My friend." Sarah finishes speaking and then looks back at Sven. "Theo, this is Sven, my old friend." She introduces the two, completely ignoring Hermes and his sister, who remain silent to the side.
Theo and Sven stare at each other for a few seconds, analyzing one another from head to toe and concluding that aside from their similar height, they have nothing in common, being opposites. Theo cannot help but wish he were as muscular as Sven, who, on the other hand, cannot deny that Theo has an imposing and mysterious aura.
Both become serious, making the atmosphere tense, but then Sven suddenly shows a friendly smile and extends his hand to Theo. "Any friend of Sarah is a friend of mine too." He seems to be trying to make a good impression, but Theo keeps gazing into Sven's eyes with a serious expression.
Theo can see something in Sven's eyes, a familiar spark, but one he does not immediately recognize. He does not move, making Sven's expression grow serious, but then Sarah nudges Theo in the ribs, and he finally extends his arm, shaking Sven's hand, but in silence.
Sven keeps forcing that friendly smile and squeezes Theo's hand very hard, but although he feels a bit of pain, that is not a problem for Theo, who also uses his strength to squeeze Sven's hand, making a surprised look appear for a second on Sven's face.
Once again, the rivalry between Theo and Sven becomes evident, and Sarah needs to separate their hands by force while trying to smile. "Sven, your pronunciation is excellent." Sarah compliments, and Sven smiles at her. "That is thanks to you and the language lessons you gave me."
"Oh, it has been so long…" Sarah comments with a nostalgic expression. "It was how many years ago, nine? Ten? I didn't think you would learn anything, haha!"
"Haha!" Sven laughs too while looking at Sarah with shining eyes. " Eight, actually, and you have no idea how hard I tried to focus on your lessons," His smile changes from something friendly to something more intense and affectionate. "But the hard part was not getting distracted by your bea-"
Before Sven finishes, Sarah interrupts him. "You were a great student." She turns her gaze to Theo. "I met Sven during my childhood. My family traveled to the north to help some allies who were being attacked by the mountain tribes."
Sven watches Sarah with that loving look while she continues telling the story to Theo. "It turned out that the attacks on the northern kingdom were because the tribes were in conflict. And Sven's tribe, the Skeldrs, wanted peace, so my family gave them full support, especially by providing food and medicine."
"We only managed to bring peace to the tribes thanks to Sarah and her family," Sven comments in a grateful tone. "She stayed in my tribe the whole time helping my people, teaching us about magic, healing, and all kinds of useful things."
"Ah, it was nothing special," Sarah comments while smiling. "I was a child, and I was happy to make new friends." She looks at Theo. "I was ten years old and spent most of the time running around the village with Sven and his sister, children's things."
Sarah makes a curious expression and then turns her attention back to Sven. "Speaking of Skae, where is she?" As soon as she asks, Sven points in the direction of his group, still with the other members of the Ignivar House. Sarah and Theo look in that direction together with Sven and see his companions, and especially, a girl who draws a lot of attention.
Theo is surprised when he sees that girl because she is the same one who looked directly at him while passing through the square of Dragons' Gate riding a bear the day before. Now the girl is like Sven and their companions, wearing luxurious clothes, but she still has that mysterious and wild appearance, even somewhat frightening.
Without the hood, Theo can see the girl's full face, and she is so beautiful that she could almost rival Sarah a bit. Besides sharing very pale skin and long gray hair with Sven, the girl has eyes so light they look more white than her brother's, and together with light pink lips and a delicate nose, she looks like a Viking princess.
Yet, just like the day before, the girl is staring at Theo with a deadly gaze, and now that he has a better view of her, her expression seems like a mixture of frustration and anger, even hatred, which makes him curious. "So your name is Skae…" Theo thinks while staring back at the mysterious girl.