Welldark

 

We tracked down to the train station. It was absolutely packed. The end of the semester was the clearest excuse to get drunk anyone could have around here and so everyone was either heading towards the university to participate in club activities or entering trains to hit the city.

To find a cabin for ourselves was impossible under these circumstances. I didn’t think anyone below Golden Eagles had the necessary space to deal with this onslaught of people. Just another reason to become a little more serious next semester. My women deserved maximum comfort and to get that we had to place high during the ranking tournament.

That was another semester out, though. Only after our first year was concluded, would we have to participate in the once-a-semester tournament. I wondered how that would be organized? I hadn’t seen them go on around me. They probably were held during the last week of the semester break or something like that?

Actually, why did I theorize when I had Aclysia right there?

“Hey,” I addressed the half elf. She was pressed tightly against me, for once for reasons other than our mutual wish for that. The segment of the train was just so packed that there was no alternative. She was holding onto me and I was holding onto a handlebar. “How exactly are the tournaments organized?”

Aclysia took the question without batting an eye. “First, there’s the preliminary segment. This occurs in the penultimate week of the semester break.” Alright, so I had been almost right so far. “People that are currently in Silver Knights or Golden Eagles need not attend this segment. All students that make it through the preliminary segment are then to attend the public tournament during the last week of the break. It is a standard one fight elimination tournament with a losers bracket that allows people a second chance. When you have qualified for the public tournament, you have already entered the Silver Knight ranks. After the tournament concludes, you can challenge participants for corrective placements.”

“Not a big fan that they’re cutting our vacation time by up to two weeks,” I grumbled. I knew that a month straight of vacation was the dream of every office drone. Even 2 weeks free twice each year was quite a lot. Still, I wanted my 2 months total free. “I wonder how many people drop out of the tournament, then challenge someone they know they can beat afterwards.”

“Father told me this strategy rarely ever pays off,” Aclysia informed me. “Out of tournament matches must be mutually agreed to. Any attempt to coordinate deliberate manipulation of the system is punished with immediate placement in the Wood Division for the rest of their attendance and revocation of working licenses.”

“Right, so if I make an agreement with ten people weaker than me, who would still go to the Silver Ranks, and we fight afterwards and beat them, I get placed in squalor.” I snorted, listening to myself. “I honestly think that’s a bit ridiculous.”

“The system exists to provide incentives to continue doing your best. To run the tournament on an entirely point based system rather than an elimination bracket is, sadly, administratively unfeasible. To not run it regularly is to not measure growth. To not have the potential for corrective duels is to have people stuck due to unlucky matchmaking.”

“I perfectly understand the reasoning, my Aclysia…” The two words made her smile devotedly. “…I merely wished to express that I still find it ridiculous.”

“Through the lens of close analysis, most systems spawned by the sapient mind are ridiculous,” Aclysia suggested. “A man has the right to rule by birth? Or by the decision of 50,1% of his subjects? I assure you that my parents have done their utmost to ensure that the tournament executes smoothly and fairly.”

The train came to a slow halt, and many a relieved whisper was heard. Universally, people moved and streamed out onto the platform. I took Aclysia by the hand and walked ahead of her. To go side by side was not possible in such a dense crowd.

Only when we reached the plaza, did we get the necessary space to return to arm in arm. It was a nice day. The summerly heat was draining away, as tomorrow would mark the beginning of autumn here in Welldark. In the interim, it was neither too hot nor too cold. The trees around still had their leaves. The sky was blue.

There was much to marvel at and I still chose Aclysia. Yet again, our crossed glances translated into a kiss. How much longer would we stay all over each other like this? Days, weeks, months, years? I hoped it was until eternity ended. Perhaps a bit beyond that.

“Lead the way,” I whispered to her. “I don’t know where to get the best steak in this town. I only know of a restaurant that serves one.”

Aclysia nodded and pulled me southwards – away from the massive shopping centre. “I will remark that I will see it as a great insult if you step into a restaurant again,” she said. I laughed, then realized that she wasn’t smiling. “I am serious.”

“No exception?” I wondered. “Not even when I want to take you out on a date?”

“The only exception is if I am somehow unavailable and you still require to eat,” Aclysia held me tightly. “It is, from now on, my obligation and privilege to cook for you. To have a date where you do not eat my meal is to skip out on the pleasure of watching you appreciate my skill.” She was confident in her meal preparation, with very good reason. “Do not insult me by eating out.”

“Understood… does that include the cafeteria?”

“Yes.”

“…You know that…”

“I will be designing my schedule with lunch hour in mind,” Aclysia stated. “I will be providing meals on every possible occasion. This is non-negotiable.”

The heart wanted what the heart wanted. There were certainly worse traits for a woman to have than to insist on cooking every day. Matter of fact, that was a bit of a dream trait for most men.

We eventually arrived at a butcher. The man behind the counter, a fat man in his fifties, greeted Aclysia happily. They exchanged a few friendly words that let me glean that Aclysia had been coming here previously with her mother. With everything else I learned about Derilea and her daughters, it was entirely unsurprising that she had brought her children to a butcher at a young age.

“Want to get the cut yourself?” the man asked.

“If that would be possible,” Aclysia confirmed. Even this did not surprise me.

The butcher waved us behind the counter and then to the back area, where various cleaned carcases hung from hooks. There were a few blood stains on the floor, otherwise the environment was practically sterile.

Aclysia kept a respectful distance from the bodies while she inspected them one after another with careful calculation. I could spot a few differences between the butchered cows. Build, the marbling of the meat, fat to muscle ratio, but I lacked the necessary experience to really know what any of that would mean for the final product.

“How do you prefer your steak, Karitas?” Aclysia asked.

“In terms of preparation, I defer to the chef. Otherwise, much like your thighs, I prefer my slices thick.” The butcher laughed, perhaps not used to such confessions being made in front of him.

“That one,” Aclysia pointed at a bulkier carcass. A clean metal cart, the kind I usually connected to service during banquets, was rolled over. There were a great number of knives and whetstones on top of it, alongside cleavers, bone saws, and whatever else a butcher could need. Taking quick stock of her tools, Aclysia swiftly and cleanly removed a cut of the meat, then cleaved a thick slice right out of it.

The butcher wrapped it in paper, then stuffed it into a bag. Before Aclysia paid, she put some seasoning onto the bill as well. Salt and pepper, with garlic butter being optional and denied on my part. Not for a lack of love for garlic, but for the lovemaking that would follow this date.

It was not as expensive as I would have expected. 20 Dark which, yes, was about as much as I would pay for 3 lunches in the cafeteria, but still nowhere near the abhorrent prices I knew food could reach. “I was afraid that you’d buy me some interdimensionally exported super steak,” I confessed.

“There comes a point, in culinary expertise, where the additional cost invested merely reflects novelty.” Aclysia ran her fingers over the surface of the bag. The action was accompanied by a layer of frost crawling over the surface. A casual and highly appreciated usage of her magic. “For most things, the production is not additionally difficult. When it comes to animal husbandry, most species of cow have the same set of demands. If one is acknowledged as more delicious than the others, it will replace others on the market over time. The prices will be driven down.”

“Demand and supply, ever reliable,” I hummed.

With the proper temperature of the steak assured for a few more minutes, Aclysia guided me towards that retreat of her family. It was a house, only about five minutes away, that was obviously being maintained by someone. The lawn in front of the deep purple and black building was trimmed and the windows and balconies scrubbed clean. Despite the colour scheme, it was a friendly looking house. Same went for the rest of the architecture in the area. Once more, I appreciated that uniformity of the base materials used in the individual houses. It really pulled the look of the city together.

Aclysia unlocked the door with a key that was hidden under a potted plant. A key she carefully put back into place afterwards. The inside was simple and homely. Definitely not large enough for an entire Anomalia though. A family of four could comfortably fit in there, nothing more and nothing less.

I sat down at the kitchen table and followed Aclysia’s handiwork. She grabbed an apron that had been left there and put it on expertly. Olive oil filled the pan, but the steak was not put on it yet. Instead, Aclysia put the oven on low intensity and let the steak get a bit of heat to it. A reverse searing, I believe that order of things was called.

While we waited, Aclysia offered me a few beverages. I took a coffee. On one hand, it felt wrong to just take from someone else’s kitchen. On the other hand, this was one of Aclysia’s family homes. Privileges of being an indirect part of a ruling family were doubtlessly many. Not that the Taurus Anomalia could be accused of nepotism of any kind.

After about twenty minutes in the oven, Aclysia moved the steak from oven to pan. Continuing the slow heat, she sprinkled on the seasoning. Repeatedly, she bathed the upside of the meat with the heated olive oil. At the end, she gave it a quick sear and then presented it all to me.

It was just one thick slab of meat. I gave it a cut and marvelled at the insides. There was a borderline erotic transition from the brown outside to the pinkish red inside. I took a bite and theatrically moaned when the juices spread through my mouth like a cascade of joy. Salt enhanced the taste immensely, pepper added a soft sharp undertone. Nothing more was needed to make this one of the best steaks I had ever had. “Well done,” I said.

“Medium, Master,” Aclysia corrected me jokingly.

I nearly blasphemed on this wonderful steak by spitting it out. In my defense, the steak tried to hurt me first by sliding down my throat when I was busy laughing. The pun had completely hit me out of left field. Aclysia hurriedly handed me a glass of water. Coughing and sipping, I gradually calmed down. “You can’t just utter such humour with such a straight delivery, you’re going to kill me!”

“If I must be the cause of your death, a rare moment of being funny shall be acceptable…” Aclysia shook her head. “…that was a joke. If I would be the cause of your death, Master, I would be shattered beyond repair.”

“If you’re the cause of my death, it’s because I switched out my sin of lust for gluttony,” I responded and devoured the rest of the steak.

We proceeded to just linger in the house for a while. Me, sitting in the chair, she, standing next to me at the tableside. When I requested she sit down, she politely declined. I only did it once. Something about this just felt right. She smiled at me, hands folded in front of her lap, and listened to me talk. As per usual, I did the most of it. She was a fantastic listener. She kept eye contact, nodded, and gave the occasional comment that clarified that she had missed nothing. It was beyond flattering to have someone that devoted. This particular aspect of her, she had shown me before our relationship had exceeded casual though.

Eventually, we moved back out and just walked about the city. “What would your dream house be?” I asked, while we moved around.

Aclysia hummed and had her answer ready right thereafter. “I would like a sizable estate beyond the borders of a town. Something of appropriate size for the Anomalia and the few children that will be playing about…-“

“Few?” I asked. I had very intense doubts that, when I finally got the confidence to procreate, it would stay at a few.

“Oh, I suppose it would not be few in the beginning? You must excuse me, my parents and anolia have been keeping deliberate gaps between their children for a long time.”

“Ah… hmm… I guess that would be the wise policy…” I had never given that too much thought, but Aclysia probably would have at least 4 siblings currently enrolled if Taurus had just been breeding his women like the bull he was. “Sorry for interrupting you, my beloved servant. Please continue with your pleasant voiced explanation.”

“…Maybe a little farmstead, enough to supplement our diet with homegrown plants,” Aclysia finished her recounting. “Not much… I am sorry, I think it actually is quite a bit by your standards? I do not want to appear snobbish.”

“No offense taken,” I assured her. “It is all relative to where we go anyway. Such an estate is a pipedream in one world and the norm in another. The universe will be ours to travel.”

“Affirmative. What would your dream house be?”

Despite it being my question originally, I had to think about that for a while longer. “I honestly have no specific image in mind,” I confessed. “I just know that you’re in it. I want to wander the worlds for a time, after I graduate. Help the people where I can and all of that.”

“A noble endeavour. I would enjoy supporting you in this,” Aclysia assured me. “Would you entertain the thought of taking a route outside the city? I do not find looking at these buildings stimulating.”

I had to agree. Even as someone who hadn’t grown up here, the outskirts of the city were dull to behold. This had nothing to do with the architecture or a lack of individuality and everything with me just not finding buildings in general that interesting. I could acknowledge a gorgeous house when I saw it and yet it would never reach the majesty of a mountain piercing the clouds.

We wandered where the city transitioned into plains. We gazed out into fields, wondering how many different kinds of grain were planted here. Aclysia informed me that the vast majority of food in Welldark was grown in an attached artificial world that only existed for that express purpose. The fields that were on the university island were only there to provide a minor buffer in an emergency.

At some point, when the sun was getting low, I checked my Ashod and blinked when I realized over four hours had passed. “Esther must be waiting for us.” I showed Aclysia the time.

“Our allocated time was at least four hours,” Aclysia put my mind at ease. “I do, however, believe it would be appropriate to return at this juncture.”

The train back home was a pleasant experience. Our fellow freshmen were still in the city and would remain there until the late night or early morning, I reckoned. Consequently, we had a cabin to ourselves and enjoyed it arm in arm.

I took a moment to check my Ashod again, this time to write to Willt. I hadn’t seen him nor Arlethia after the end of semester speech. Typically, they would have congratulated me in their friendly degrading manner, as good mates would do. A quick inquisition on the matter revealed that they had been approached by Melina after the test had concluded and they were staying over at her place for the night.

A valuable bit of information, loud as it allowed me to be.

I also got a message from Voxxy that simply said. ‘Love our Queen, stud.’

“Sounds like Voxxy and Esther had a good talk,” I informed Aclysia and showed her the message.

“Unsurprising,” Aclysia commented and raised an eyebrow at me when I let out a high-pitched sound. “You disagree?”

“I understand that you and Esther are highly compatible, but my… our Queen is not exactly what I’d call conventionally charismatic,” I told her. “Then again, Voxxy does value directness a lot and Esther knows that. Not like it was the first time they talked.”

“Not everyone is a Karona,” Aclysia pointed out.

“I sure hope not. One is enough trouble for me… incredibly attractive trouble…” I mumbled. Time would elapse, until I came to a proper conclusion regarding the handling of that hot mess. Then I would reconsider. Then I would re-reconsider. This would continue until the situation was solved one way or another. I already knew that would be the case, because I really liked Karona and I thoroughly loved Esther.

“Are you not going to comment on Voxxy having written ‘our’ Queen?” Aclysia investigated another angle.

“Could be a typo, could be deliberate. I’m pretty sure she’s going to dedicate herself to joining our Anomalia.” I squeezed Aclysia’s thigh. “I made a good first impression on her. Today must have made it clear that I truly am an impressive specimen of the male sex.” I put away my Ashod. “I trust that Esther grilled her properly.”

Aclysia had no further comment on that, so we spent the rest of the drive back in that wonderful silence.

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