Phloria imprinted the Ballot before putting it away in her dimensional amulet.
"I promise." She said closing the door behind her, incapable to face him any longer.
- "Was it that hard?" Solus asked.
"Actually, it was." Lith replied.
"Good! Nothing that's worth having comes easy, remember? Your words, not mine."–
Their bickering was interrupted when the door reopened and Phloria embraced Lith, giving him a quick, soft kiss. Barely a peck.
"Also I promise I will try to share that happiness with you. No matter how thick skinned you have become, you are still alive. Please, don't talk ever again as you are going to die at any moment."
She held him tight for a long second, giving his body and mind the time to react to the sudden turn of events. Once again, a warm feeling spread through his being, like when he was in Elina's embrace as an infant.
With that also came the hunger. The violent desire to fill the bottomless void that plagued his existence ever since he could remember. His inner conflict resumed, part of him just wanted to drown in that warmth, while the other wanted to kill Phloria for being a liability, a weakness that could only lead to more suffering.
"Was my first kiss that good or that bad for leaving you in a daze for so long?" She asked blushing in an adorable manner.
"Woof." Lith' brain short circuited because of the conflicting emotions, suddenly remembering his lost bet with Solus.
Phloria chuckled at his nonsensical answer, giving him a second peck before disappearing behind her door.
- "Was it that bad?" Solus gloated.
"Woof! Woof!" Lith replied. –
As most of the happy times of his lives, it wasn't bound to last.
An almost inaudible sound drew his attention, making Lith activate Life Vision, spotting three figures hidden behind pillars and corners.
"Well, well, well. The academy is so clean, yet the roaches are so big. Three of them at that." He said out loud, making them come out in the open. Without the advantage of surprise, hiding was just useless.
"It's not the first time you follow us. Why you don't run away as usual? Isn't that what cockroaches do when you shed light on them?" Lith said with an amused voice.
The three students were all taller than Phloria, the shorter one was 1.82 meters (6') high. Yet they were all on edge. Their goal had been the girl all along, none of them wanted to face Lith unless he was tied up and drugged.
His background check was intimidating on its own and the fact that he had just survived the attack of professional assassins was public knowledge. They were three against one, all taller and heavier than him though.
He was also finally without a Ballot, so they only needed him to cast a spell in self defence to have him expelled.
At least in theory.
"I can't believe you gave your Ballot to that wh*re even knowing we were here."
The leader swallowed a lump of saliva, looking at his companions to gain some confidence. He didn't want to be there, but he couldn't disobey his mother.
Lith laughed maniacally.
"What use do I have for a Ballot? The rooms are all soundproof, why ruin our meeting with a recording device?" Lith's pupil dilated to the point of covering most of the iris, making his brown eyes seem to have turned black.
The corridors were lit by magic stones, fueled by the castle's power core. In all the academy's history, they had never malfunctioned.
Yet when Lith moved forward, the lights flickered at his passage.