Calm down and it’s not really that big, these were the two things that Luca repeated to himself in his mind as he ascended the stairs behind the director. Her gown dress had the hip part widened in order to make her look as if she had wider hips, he had heard this is something fancy women did in order to be seen more appealing by the eyes of others (which was definitely working for him right now). He grabbed onto this thought in order to calm down his arousal; it was taking a toll on him, it wasn’t even about pleasure or embarrassment anymore, he just needed the feeling to be over, in any way possible.

  “Mr. Luca,” she spoke, breaking the silence that was previously only filled with their steps up the stairs. “When we get to the top of this tower, we’ll reach the council’s offices, we’ll enter mine and I’ll ask you questions that you will answer.”

  “U-Um -” He wanted to agree to her terms, but she kept talking.

  “Therefore it’s only fair that I answer your questions back, however, I don’t like to be interrupted, so ask now Mr. Luca, and I’ll answer the best I can.” Luca opened his eyes wide, then tore his gaze off the director's bottom and faced the stairs as he climbed them, when his mind was clear, he asked what he thought was pertinent.

  “How can I write and send letters?” He asked this one almost immediately; it was the one thing he needed to figure out fast, so he had been saving it.

  “The post office is on the right on the main street of Zenith if you are facing outward from the center, the street is the one that leads to the southern entrance we were at not but a moment ago.” She talked very clearly, not stumbling or stuttering once. “There, you’ll be able to get 30 pieces of letter paper and 30 envelopes each month for free using your Zenith guild badge, which will be provided to you and your peers tomorrow. Then, once the letter is written and the paper is inside the envelope, you will give the sealed envelope to the person behind the counter and tell them you want to send it. On the envelope shall be written: who wrote the letter, who is to open and read it and where it shall be delivered. Finally, an employee with the capacity for travel, so to say a mailman or mailwoman, will give it to whoever it says on the letter or leave it wherever it says. Understood?” Luca blinked, taking in all the information. Yes, yes he did understand, and he felt like if he had everything taught by this woman he’d understand everything.

  “Y-Yes miss director, thank you.”

  “Good, next question.” He had to think about this one—what did he want to know about Zenith above all else?

  “Well, if you are director, which I assume only one person can be, what happene-”

  “Director Anami Kreaspell passed away at the end of st month, leaving us all with a heavy grief in our hearts.” Luca’s eyes shot open; he wasn’t that surprised, the man looked incredibly old when he met him and he had considered the option, but the news still shocked him. Kreaspell had gotten him into Zenith even though Luca didn’t see himself worthy. He pushed the thoughts away, trying to focus on thinking of other questions. “So you don’t waste a question, I’ll tell you that he died peacefully because of natural causes in his 139 years.” Though her words were kind, her tone wasn’t, while telling Luca how her predecessor died, she talked with the same monotone voice as when she was expining to him how mail worked.

  “Right… I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be, you didn’t kill him and he won’t care.” The director’s harsh words made Luca frown, but he ignored it and decided to just keep asking, he saw the next floor approaching.

  “Why don’t you like me?” He was running out of things to ask her, he was still overwhelmed by the pce, but he felt like he could only ask her a couple of things.

  “...” She stayed silent for a second. “I feel neutral towards you as a person.” The answer wasn’t what Luca expected but it did answer his question partly, it wasn’t about him directly, just something that had to do with him wasn’t to her liking. ”Any other questions?”

  “Umm…” In his head, while they approached her office, Luca thought to himself don’t ask if her butt is really that big don’t ask if her butt is really that big don’t ask if her butt is really that big. “I do have one more, actually.” He said this as they reached the floor, the only thing present in the squared space being four doors, one in the center of each wall.

  “Go on then.” She said this as she approached one of the doors, which had a pque above that said ‘Director’.

  “Why didn’t the dust affect me as much?” The director, whose hand was already on the doorknob, stopped and looked back, then an unexpected chuckle came out of her lips with a sly smile to pair with it.

  “Not a bad question, unfortunately I can’t tell you, and for that I apologize.” She turned and opened the door, her smile dropping. “Although I’m sure you’ll find an answer if you search for it. Now, come on in and stand here please.” She pointed to a spot on the floor as she walked past it towards her desk, Luca walked in behind her, closing the door as he did.

  The room was simple yet striking. The floor tiles were the same as the main hall of the fortress, but the walls were more of a golden color than a copper one. The room’s walls were in a peculiar formation; the one behind him was normal, while the ones to his sides were at an angle, while Luca stood on the spot the director marked, he saw that the far wall was curved, a curved wall-wide window that probably gave a beautiful view of the city, especially now as the sun started to set even if they were facing east. In his mind, he put the pieces together and understood that the room was probably a quarter of a circle, a circle that had a square room in his mind he put the pieces together, and understood that the room was probably a quarter of a circle, a circle which had a square room in the middle that served to access every other room. The walls to his sides were decorated with a couple paintings and pnts, but mostly shelves with books. In front of the window the floor elevated itself by a couple steps, and on it was a huge desk of an intricate design, made of dark wood. The director walked to the side of the room on the elevated section; she opened a little closet on the wall and took out a gss bottle filled with a dark brown liquid and a gss.

  “Do you drink Mr. Luca?” She still spoke with the same stoic tone, the smile she had before seeming more and more rare.

  “V-Very rarely ma’am.”

  "Well, this is Gnomish ale so,” She emitted a sound simir to a giggle but he was probably imagining it. “As much as I don’t want you here, I don't intend on killing you.” She spoke with her back to him, filling her gss.

  “You don’t want me here?”

  “No I do not Mr. Luca.” She turned around and took a drink; her face turned in almost disgust but then sighed in satisfaction.

  “...” He didn’t know how to respond, how does one respond to that? “M-May I ask why?”

  “Well your turn for questions is over, but, sure.” She took another drink and leaned back on her desk, making the same faces. “Why did the previous director invite you?”

  “Well I-I saved him and his gua-”

  “No.” She interrupted with a dry voice. “You didn’t save anyone, the guards of Zenith are the most competent and strong in the world, you saved one guard some energy from fighting a retively bigger bull.” She took another drink.

  “... It was pretty big.”

  “Oh yeah? Like, big horns?” She was clearly being condescending, still Luca raised a hand slightly above his head, where Pierre’s height reached its peak, the director opened her eyes wide for but a second. “Maybe two guards. Nevermind that, point is, when director Kreaspell told us he recruited someone who didn’t request joining Zenith, I expected someone…” She thought of a word but shrugged. “Better.”

  “B-better how?”

  “Just better, Mr. Luca, smarter than a redneck from the middle of nowhere, stronger than your average Joe, fast, a good strategist, magic adept, anything.” She sighed, almost tired. “But no, instead the honorable Kreaspell brought a scared overgrown child because it gave him a good feeling…” She took another drink and faced the window, the sky darkening.

  Luca looked at the ground ashamed, he knew she was right, he wasn’t a legend and wasn’t cut to be, thinking he could was nothing more than a childish dream, and he wasn’t new to it either. Sometimes he’d spend entire nights just fantasizing about being a heroic figure, discovering he had some sort of innate strength that got awakened one day, even in his twenties he sometimes got lost in this fantasy, only to be pulled back into reality by the sun through the windows, the sound of something falling, or his very own mind reminding him of how his life was. And this wasn’t any different, except this time it was definitive; he could almost feel his nights of staring at the ceiling dreaming leaving his body, his hopes shattering, as his legs got heavy and his eyes started feeling wet, he would never be a legend, would he?

  “The train will pass tomorrow at the crack of dawn, it will loop and by midnight you’ll be back to your crumbling little town, with your loved ones and away from danger.” Crumbling? It wasn’t crumbly, everyone worked hard to make it so, to make it better for the rest, it was little, but it wasn’t in ruins; he knew ruins. “And don’t feel bad Mr. Luca, many fail; at least you’ll have known Zenith, even slept in it, and even more, you’ll get to see ndscapes you couldn’t even dream off on the train, clearly it was a good trip.” He could dream of ndscapes, he had heard many stories, he wasn’t stupid or unimaginative, and thinking about it, just sleeping in Zenith didn’t sound fulfilling enough to justify the trip. Luca felt his nails digging into his palms. “So go back Mr. Luca, with those who need you, and do all you can to help them; that will always be more than enough.” She took another drink and swished the ale in her gss as she looked out the window.

  Luca was going to turn around, he was gonna say thank you and open the door, close it and leave for the station, that was her pn, and she seemed to genuinely believe he was gonna be happy with it. If she said these things to the Luca of a couple hours ago, perhaps he would have seen her as a saint, but his people deserved more than just a guy who took a thing from one pce to another, they deserved the best he could be, Alyska showed him that, and he wasn’t keen on forgetting it.“

  I won’t leave.” He stated, he noticed his voice was maybe drier than he intended; perhaps the situation left his mouth dry.

  “Of course you will, you can’t do anything here.” She didn’t even look at him when she spoke. “You are weak and have minimal studies, you won’t make it past the first week, this is Zenith Mr. Luca, and we don-”

  “And what if I do?” He took a step forward and talked louder. “What if I make it past the first week, and the second and then third and so on huh?! This is Zenith, and it would still be Zenith wouldn’t it? Only now people would see they don’t necessarily need money or the university to be great like the rest of the guild members.” She stopped swishing her gss, still facing away. “That’s what it is isn’t it? If I, a regur guy from the middle of nowhere, make it into Zenith and thrive, people will realize the university isn’t all that, they’ll see less need for it and less need for the director position you got so recently.” He stood a couple feet in front of the step that led to her desk, behind her. “Well if you want my opinion Director, I think Zenith is great, and it would still be great without you, so don’t worry about that.”

  The director stood silent for a second, Luca’s anger subsiding after releasing his thoughts, he stood straight, took a deep breath and waited for her response. The director turned around, her face stoic, and took a full drink emptying her gss, but this time she didn’t make a face, she then leaned back on her desk and smiled, a warm, genuine smile that made Luca’s blood freeze, feeling a shiver go down his spine, but he still stood unwavering.

  “We meet at st; I was excited to make your acquaintance.” She sounded genuinely happy to talk to Luca, who found himself very confused.

  “W-what do y- We’ve been talking for like half an hour ma’am y-”

  “No, I was talking to Luca, a boy from a small town who was afraid of what Zenith could be, now however.” She descended the couple of steps and stood right in front of Luca. “Now I’m talking to a man, a man who knows what he wants and does it, like speaking his mind or running from a bull.” She then started pacing around Luca, slowly inspecting him, Luca stood still facing the same direction. “Tell me Mr. Luca, what were you thinking when you saw the bull?”

  “...” He was tired, angry at her and still annoyingly aroused; he wanted this all to be over soon. “Nothing miss, just that what they were doing to drive it away was wrong and that I needed to help.”

  “Mmm, how are your studies?”

  “I completed primary and secondary school.”

  “In such a small town?”

  “We have very good teachers, they know how to adapt to each kid.” She left a giggle out, Luca didn’t know if she was mocking the teachers by not believing him or if she found it quaint, either way it pissed him off.

  “Interesting… Any retion to magic? An adept family member, a neighbor?” Luca just shook his head. “I see, any combat training?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “Any experience in healing?”

  “Only in being healed.” Luca noticed she stopped on her second loop around him to stand behind him, he could feel her looking at him intently. “Ma’am?”

  “What’s the heaviest thing you’ve carried Mr. Luca?” The question took him by surprise, what was it indeed, thinking about it his anger subsided.

  “... Might be… sheep.”

  “A sheep? Well I suppose that isn’t too bad if they were adults…”

  “They were ma’am, they got handled wrong when young and got used to being carried, and it wasn’t an easy task to lift them all.”

  “Them all? How many sheep were there?”

  “At most 3 ma’am.” He decred, trying to be concise as to get this meeting over with. Then he flinched slightly, feeling her hand roaming slowly down his back.

  “Impressive, if we assume they were all at the maximum standard that’s more than 600 pounds, and all from just hard work and no training.” She roamed his back along his upper muscles, slowly trailing downwards and getting softer with her touch, just the hand of an attractive woman roaming his back in such a manner was already as much stimution as Luca could deal with, no matter her age. “And stly Mr. Luca, why do you want to be in Zenith?” She took her hand off his back and paced around him to face him again; he spoke as she did this.

  “T-To provide to my family ma’am. To them and my town.” His breathing was ragged but he was determined to keep firm.

  “And?”

  “...And? And what?” She turned around and again went to her desk, serving herself another gss as he asked.

  “What will you do after providing Mr. Luca?”

  “... K-Keep providing?” The question confused him. “There will always be a need for money ma’am, as long as the kingdom asks for tax.”

  “Well yes but, eventually you’ll get it no?” She turned around and took a drink, again making her faces because of the ale. “What will you do after achieving a good livelihood for your neighbors? You won’t just leave will you?” The bad feeling came back, Luca felt it slightly when he saw her up close first but he was still just hit with the succubus dust; he was preoccupied with other things to worry about. Now more settled down, he felt like if he said anything he shouldn’t, dire consequences would follow, so he spoke as convincingly as he could.

  “... Then I’ll...” He cleared his throat. “I’ll make a name for myself ma’am.” She nodded and turned her face to look out the window, the night sky decorating the ndscape.

  “The usual answer.” He didn’t know if she believed him or not, but she turned again and, in all fairness, Luca felt more rexed looking at her, perhaps he said the right thing. “Your room Mr. Luca is 216 in the university student’s section, I apologize but the room division is something we do very early on and you came after we decided, this means that you will have a roommate. I hope it’s alright.”

  “S-Sure… no issue ma’am.”

  “Good, I have pns for you Mr. Luca, for one you’ll obviously follow the usual schedule like the rest of the new members; however, I’ll add a couple tasks to you right now.” She took a drink and shrugged. “If you want to bme something for it, bme your unusual method of entry.”

  “Understood”

  “Good, your first task will be going tomorrow morning to the pace’s doctor for a full examination.”

  “I-I thought we had to have the examination done, I-I sent it with the mail did it-”

  “A new one, from one of the most intelligent doctors in the world, maybe she’ll be able to tell you why the dust acted upon you how it did.” He nodded sheepishly, her point was pretty valid. "Then, after the day and your routine, which will be sent to your room during the night, you’ll come here for your next task. Have I expressed myself clearly enough?”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “Marvelous” She turned again to face the window and then said the words that Luca wanted to hear most. “You are dismissed; you are free to go to your room and rest.” Luca sighed in relief.

  “Thank you ma’am, truly.” He turned and, at a brisk pace, walked towards the door. “I’ll be here tomorrow after the uh, routine.”

  Luca grabbed the handle of the door, hearing a slight rummaging behind him, as he was about to leave, however.

  “Oh and Mr. Luca, one st thing, just to crify a confusion you seemed to have.” Luca turned his head, excitement to leave and any other thought disappearing at the sight. The director had pulled out one of her breasts, which was significantly rger than Luca imagined, he thought the dress and a corset were making the impression of its size, he was wrong. The breast was sagging slightly, less than it should be for a woman her age, and the nipple was hard and as dark as the areo, the director had a smug grin on her face. “The dust affected you just as much as everyone else, you just deyed it.” She stood there and took a drink but Luca wasn’t focusing on her face enough to see if it changed. He had barely seen a woman naked beyond his family and even then that was rare after puberty, the sight made all the warmth he felt at the beginning come back, his member erecting and his face blushing. “216 Mr. Luca, you probably want privacy right now.”

  The door smmed shut, and director Caushmar turned to face the window, contempting the city, she put her breast back in her bra with one hand while she swished her gss with the other, the only sound being the incredibly fast footsteps of the boy as he ran down the stairs. The director wondered to herself when he may have run faster, escaping from the biggest bull the guards of Zenith had allegedly ever seen or now.