For a while, there was only silence and then sighs of relief.

Doran's ass hit the ground as the consequences of pushing himself to spell cast despite not yet being completely healed, began to catch up to him.

Still, it was over.

The Beast was felled.

Aylin ran over to Marianne and Dana, falling to her knees by their sides to check on them. Especially Dana who had been unconscious before the team even arrived.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

Dana gave a weak smile in response.

"The Fourth Circle?" Marianne instead asked with wide eyes. There was always a tone of reverence whenever she spoke to Aylin due to the dynamic of their relationship but now, there was a kind of justification in her tone.

Like, of course she was right to think Aylin was worthy of her 'worship' if she had advanced to the Fourth Circle already. It took only a while for Marianne's mind to actually comprehend that the situation was not unique to Aylin.

Every spell she had sensed and seen both Kaya and Eloise cast had also been at the Fourth Circle.

She couldn't help but wonder, Was this why Aylin moved with Kaya and Eloise now? Because they were on her level and she(Marianne) was not?

The thought brought a pang of hurt.

Which was weird to Marianne because the basis of her relationship with Aylin was that Aylin was the gifted one. And she and the other girls were the less gifted who could bask in her glow.

"Don't make it sound like that?" Aylin said.

"Like what?" Marianne asked with wide, confused eyes.

"Like it's so surprising," Aylin said with a little snort, "I mean, look who you're talking to. Of course, I'm at the Fourth Circle already."

Marianne maintained the wide-eyed expression for a while and then laughed. She could detect the jest in Aylin's tone even though the Ice Mage actually believed and stood by every bragging word that left her lips.

"Yes," Marianne nodded, "How could I ever doubt the Great Aylin Khione?"

"Exactly," Aylin said with a nod with her nose lifted. And then she smiled.

It was a kind smile. The kind Marianne wasn't sure she had ever seen Aylin give her.

"You've done well," Aylin said.

"Huh?" Marianne let out, confused.

"With the Tests," Aylin clarified, "You'd racked up a lot of Study of Magical Beasts and Combat Magic Points. You know, before all this started and things went to shit."

Marianne flushed, looking down.

"Well, that's mostly thanks to Doran," she said in a mellow tone as she threw a look at the one commoner in the class where he lay face up, taking slow breaths.

Aylin thought the expression on Marianne's face as she said that, was a new one. The flavor of her tone as she said Doran's name and looked at him was also new. On Marianne anyway. Aylin had seen a similar one on Kaya and Eloise while they sat at their table with Caius. She had seen it on Delia as well even if the Mage-Knight-in-Training always tried to hide it.

Hell, she had seen it on her own face when she looked in the mirror and thought of Caius.

"Hey," Kaya said then, "Are you alright?"

Aylin raised her head to look at Kaya's face and there was concern there. She wondered what her expression had been like for Kaya to look at her like that.

And then she realized Marianne had seen that expression as well but hadn't had the same type of concern.

That one thing, which might honestly have been an oversight on Marianne's part, sent Aylin into an epiphany.

She knew it wasn't that Marianne didn't care… Just that their relationship was not one where Marianne should/would be the one to offer care. Because Marianne was a follower while Aylin was to be the Leader.

Theirs was a posse. A crew. But not one built on the foundations of friendship. Not one where she could actually engage in banter and arguments. Because she had cultivated a relationship of 'worship'.

Aylin was aware she had a 'quality' that made this such an easy thing to do. It was a quality her mother had told her was essential for any 'good' leader to have. A 'good' leader in this case being a Dictator. One surrounded by 'Yes' men and women to whom she could do no wrong.

That worked for her Mother and might even work for Aylin once she took over as Matriarch of the Khione Family but it was a terrible way to make friends.

For reasons, such as Kaya's already present 'dislike' of her at the time and the fact that joining the table was only a means to an end to get to Caius, Aylin had never employed the use of her 'quality' on Kaya and the others.

After all, she wanted them away. And not close. Even if they were worshipping her. The goal, at the time, was to have Caius to herself and it was all she set her sights on.

Aylin realized just now, as she looked back at Kaya's expression of concern, that this was the first time she had actually made friends.

The first time she hadn't started off with manipulation tactics to gain followers.

The first time she had been insulted, and fired back with insults of her own. And was then delighted to do it all again.

The first time she actually welcomed being countered. In fact, she hoped for it.

The first time she welcomed opposition.

The first time she had someone she felt she could confide in—even if she hadn't done much of that thus far—and welcome being confided in.

It was nothing against Marianne and the others. After all, she had deliberately fostered that 'friendless' relationship with them. No, she didn't hold anything against them. But she did now realize that while she never had a friendly relationship with them, the girls had had them with each other.

The concern Kaya gave her was almost exactly mirrored in how Marianne looked and tended to a weak Dana in her arms.

And that made her glad. That even though she had manipulated this bunch into following and 'worshiping' her, they found camaraderie with each other. And in the case of Marianne and how she looked at Doran, they might have found something even more.

"Yeah," Aylin said, "I'm fine."

Only when she blinked and her sight blurred did Aylin realize there were tears forming in her eyes.

"You sure?" Eloise asked now, coming closer, "'Cause you look like you're about to cry."

Aylin smiled then. A wide one. The widest Marianne had ever seen her give as she said earnestly,

"Trust me. I'm Great."

"Okay," Kaya said and turned away to look at the veil behind them with a studious expression.

"You guys should head out of the Forest now," Eloise said.

"And you?" Marianne asked her, looking up from Aylin's smiling face.

"We'll probably follow," Eloise said, "There are still parts of the Forest we've not gotten to. There might still be people in danger."

"Might soon be all of us," Kaya said then, calling all attention to her.

"What?" Came a chorus of response.

Kaya's expression turned grave.

"What do you guys think is behind that veil?" She asked, gesturing with her head in that direction.

"The end of the Forest?" Aylin said with a shrug. Her answer came off as a question.

It was Eloise who answered her.

"No," she said, "The Lochxen Forest spans close to hundreds of Acres. Home to Beasts up to Seven Stars. That Veil is part of the demarcations to keep the Beasts of various Star ratings separate…"

Eloise paused now. She noticed that the more she spoke, the worse Kaya's expression became. Still, she continued,

"… In this case though, the demarcations are probably to keep the stronger Star Beasts out for the sake of the Mid-Semester Tests. Since we can't handle that much."

"We just faced a Four-Star Beast," Aylin pointed out.

"One that was deliberately selected and peppered in to enhance the feeling of danger. Nothing compared to what's behind that veil," Eloise said.

"Well, it's breaking down," Kaya said.

"What?"

Another chorus response.

"The Veil is breaking down," Kaya said more urgently and more gravely than ever, "It's being eroded by the Red— the Demonic energy."

Doran sat up now, ignoring his pain.

"Gods…" he said.

Everyone shared his sentiment. Because if what Eloise said held true, then behind the crumbling veil were Beasts they had no chance of pacifying. Beasts who would mow them down in an instant.

They really just might be screwed.

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