House of Amarin

It was noon when every participant finished, and the judges started debating who would get into the finals. Many of the students were nervously waiting, but their nervousness came not just from the competition… but from trying not to gawk at the wholly naked body of Koadriana. After her stunt, she simply undressed, without any reservations, lying down in the grass and started enjoying the autumn sun caressing her smooth, hairless body. For many, it would be too cold to sunbathe like this, but for her, this was like summer in the territory of the Amarins. 

"Whore." A jealous voice traveled into her ears, but Koa just smiled, not reacting to it, keeping her eyes closed. She simply put one of her legs over the other, taking a satisfied, deep breath. Whoever was the owner of that thought, spoken out loud, did not matter to her. She could feel the gazes of many young men, taking in her beauty, and it made her body heat up, feeling like she was closer to the sun than anyone else.

"I don't know where you are from, but acting like this is befitting only to cheap girls in a back alley rum house." Arrived another voice, quickly recognizing it to be Heliett's. "You are bringing shame onto your parents, wherever they may be!"

"Good," Koadriana answered, remaining calm, just lying there with a smile on her face.

"Hmf… Truly a whore."

"Can you step aside? Your breath alone stinks of jealousy. Not only do you obstruct the sun from licking me clean, but your breath also leaves a nasty stench in the air! I don't want my skin to take in your smell!" 

"You!" Heliett lost her composure for real this time, only holding back at the last minute, almost lashing out with the crudest curses she knew of. "I hope the Disciplinary Committee will give you a strike after this!"

"We come naked to the world without anything. We will go from this world the same way." Koadriana answered, slowly opening her eyes, sitting up, and propping up her upper body with her hands, not covering anything. She let her perky breasts gently jiggle a little, pointing towards the small but brave group of boys who somehow managed to sit just at the right angle, ogling at her.

"But while you are here, you should show some decency towards the others! No man would take you like this!"

"Oh?" Koa tilted her head, grinning, "I didn't know people have sex in clothes! Ahahaha, I always thought we must be naked for it~ My bad! Please, enlighten me more! I bet you are more experienced like no other girl here!"

"I meant as a wife." She sneered, looking down at Koadriana, not just physically. Her antics were grading at her nerves, and she couldn't explain why. 

"Nah, I'm not worried about that!" Koa waved her hand, standing up, stretching, making many boys gulp audibly. "You know, I am pretty privileged~ Unlike maybe you, I can choose who I'll take as my husband! Or how many~ I always wanted a harem, you know! Four or five boys… one of each kind!" She started listing it on her fingers, letting her voice travel far and wide. "One big, muscular guy, who can lift me with one hand! Another big boy, but with a soft belly that I can snuggle up against when I'm cold! A young, shy one who I can dominate! Then twins! I always wanted twins~ Then these are just the boys; I didn't even start to list the type of girls I like! Sadly… you are not on it. Sorry. Ah!" She gasped, "This is why you are so cranky? Don't feel down; there must be some desperate guys here who would ram you from behind! Until you look back, of course... No wonder you are doing it fully clothed!" She clapped, understanding dawning on her face, "Try wearing a balaclava too!"

Her words silenced any possible murmur and made the air to be stuck in Heliett's lungs, unable to breathe for a moment. When she recollected herself, she stuttered before turning around and leaving hurriedly. Looking around, Koadriana could see the many red faces belonging to guys and girls and could perceive the passion ignited in many of the eyes watching her.

"Hehehe~" She giggled, shaking her body, picking up her holding bag, summoning out a two-piece swimsuit, and dressing up in it after she was finally dried up. From the water, at least. "Nice~" she thought to herself, licking her lips with a fire burning in her belly. "This should bring me some fine boys and girls… Fufufu, now I have a place to bring them~ Oh my little Lia, how grateful I am to you!" 

…

….

……

From where Keily and the rest sat, they couldn't see what was happening on Koadriana's side, but the whispers and discussions quickly traveled to them. 

“She is… um…” Keily spoke up first, trying to find the correct words while turning bright red. He was… curious. He did have a thought to go and check on her, but it was quickly shaken out of his head.

"Unique." Aurora wrote with a deadpan look, "Let's ignore it for now."

"I don't get it," Raufon replied, crossing his arms and looking at them. "Why is it a problem? Where I come from, the women barely wear anything! So what? What is the meaning behind beauty if you cover it up?"

"A commodity that everyone has access to loses its uniqueness," Sion answered, making Raufon think about it a little, but in the end, he just shrugged.

"Whatever. Different cultures, I guess."

"Is she… doing it a lot?" Ceiline asked, her face turning just as red as the scales on her arms and legs. Even though she was the oldest in their group, she had the least experience among them. Not just with the other gender but with being around others in general. 

"She is a virgin!" Lia answered, in a voice that made everyone flinch around the group. "She has magic cast onto her body by Uncle! She can't do it yet! If she tries going against it, her body gets frozen in ice and immobilized! I heard Koa complain about it, that one of her boyfriends had his thingy frozen off when he tried to put it in!"

"...!" 

All the male listeners suddenly closed their legs, straightening up and looking at Lia with white faces and looks of terror in their eyes. Including Sion, Keily, and Raufon. 

"Really…?" Ceiline asked, amused but understanding the reason behind it. Her family did similar things, but she was never part of it… not that she ever thought she would need it as her claws and horns were enough of a deterrent for any brave souls from trying to court her… accompanied by the weight of her family's name. There were even rumors that some females from her species ate their mates… Completely untrue, but an urban legend floating around the world of Meriath. 

"Yep." Aurora wrote, wearing a slight smirk, "It was reattached later, but… yeah. Those who want to have fun with Koa can only use her backdoor. Even that can be risky."

"Damn…" Raufon said, echoing many others' thoughts who read her words. 

"You are a weird family… I never thought you were like this." Sion said, twitching his mouth, his initial image of how the Houses were slowly morphing into something… else. 

"Koa is like a river!" Lia said suddenly, happy and carefree, "She goes wherever she wants, and you can't steer her will! You can try to modify her way and build dams before her… but she will do what she wants! Uncle restricting her is one thing. As soon as he leaves her be, Koa would break through her seal and continue on her way! That is what makes Koa, Koa! And that is why I like her! She is free and true to herself, and that is why she can manipulate water the best in our family!"

"Then why is her grandfather… restraining her?" Keily asked, soaking up Lia's words, forgetting to be embarrassed and starting to look at it differently.

"Because she doesn't know how to hold back yet," Aurora answered, writing it out. "She would lose herself to the pleasure. Master Parthorn would let her keep a harem if she so wished. But only after she could separate her duties from her instincts and cravings. We have roles that we must fulfill. He can't let her do it if her wild and free nature gets in the way of that."

"But…" Keily opened his mouth, thinking for a second before continuing. "Isn't that good? The lessons taught us that feelings and passion can strengthen a mage and his spells…."

"Excess does not equal listening to your feelings and letting passion fuel your spells," Ceiline spoke up, her eyes kind yet serious at the same time. "There is a saying that something that can heal you, in excess, can also kill you. Although… someone with her personality can only learn this lesson from her own experience, or it would be ineffective."

"She has four years." Sion sighed, listening to them, "If she can't learn it by then, I don't think she will… like… ever accomplish it."

"I wouldn't worry!" Lia giggled, the only carefree amongst the group, "Koa is smarter than you think! She already found her way; she just wants to have fun before she has to grow up!"

…

….

……

When the finals came, it was early afternoon. The ten participants were issued one of the piers built around the lake. Most eyes quickly landed on Koadriana as she only wore a skimpy, white and blue swimsuit, clearly enjoying the gazes landing on her from all directions. From the judges' side, it was Lorin who stood up, explaining how their ranks is going to be evaluated. 

"The last part is going to be easy, yet also not." 

He said as he smiled, letting his voice travel around the lakeside. Raising one hand, he threw out a small disc-like object that flew above the water before it stopped mid-air and started spinning, constantly picking up speed. It quickly siphoned up water from the lake, forming a 10-meter-wide ball of water, sustaining it in the air. It was not as pure and clear as when Koadriana did it but it was also way denser in its total mass. 

"Ten minutes." Lorin continued. "You have ten minutes to take control of the water in it and draw out as much as possible! The ranking will be determined by who has the most for him or herself at the end of the ten minutes! You can use any method to do so. You can transform the water's state and manipulate it in any way; just take control of it for yourself and gather it before you! BUT!" He raised his voice, looking at them from his elevated position. "You can't steal from each other! That is forbidden! This is a competition of wills, not a brawl!"

"..." Heliett silently looked to her sides, watching Koa's face from a dozen or so meters away. "Stealing from each other is no good…." She thought, unable to hold herself back from smiling a little. "But that does not mean we can't interfere with the others… or steal from them directly from the source." She thought to herself, confident in her abilities.

She started learning water spells when she was young and when her talent manifested itself, she was taught how to turn water into ice by a technique, originating from the House of Berison. When she did that, many water mages felt their connection being cut from any kind of water source. Just a change in the state of the water threw off the inexperienced mages 90% of the time. This should be a piece of cake. Her technique came from a House, after all! One which was famous for its ice magic and that it produced the strongest female mages in the realm. Thinking about that, she suddenly remembered the story of Reyra. Her gaze involuntarily traveled to where her son, Lauron, was sitting. When she first saw him as a 1st-year student, she felt that Master Lauron was the embodiment of all of the stories she read as a young girl. The prince of princes. Now, watching him looking at Koadriana, wearing a little smile, sent fury through Heliett's body and mind. Yet it was short-lived. Her mana reacted to her thoughts and extinguished her anger, turning into cold, calculated wrath. Into a fire that burnt coldly. She was ready to embarrass Koadriana before everyone, so Lauron's smile would turn into scorn when looking at Koa.

As she was thinking about it, her body suddenly flinched. She felt like a pair of eyes locked onto her, like a predator, looking past her cold interior and staring straight into her soul. She involuntarily looked around, trying to find its source and shake the feeling off, but she just couldn't. It came at the worst moment, as there was no time to be distracted. The countdown was about to begin, and she had to focus. Not that far away, Lia had fallen into a sudden, trance-like state on the spectator stands. Nobody noticed it, as everyone was watching the final round just kicking off. Her mismatched eyes were unblinking, her gaze burning Heliett's back. What Lia saw at that moment was not a human nor a competition. Before her eyes, mana was gathering, transforming, taking Heliett's anger and jealousy, flames of intense emotions, cooling them down and turning them into a kind of cold and controlled fire. Something that Lia's mind immediately latched onto, and many new ideas were coming into being, swirling in Lia's young mind, fusing with the theories gained from her old book.