The Infinite Bk. 03 Ch. 06

"But if she shows up at your door..."

"Remember that healing trick I showed the two of you in the infirmary? Sending holy energy into the brain? I'm curious as to how it affects dreams. If used continuously, I bet it would give me the best night's sleep I've ever had. Afterward, if the truth doesn't cut it, she's free to tell people any story she wants, and I'll go with it. She can say I was asleep when she arrived, say I finished as soon as she touched my hand, whatever foible at my expense will make her look good. Imagine, forced to settle her abusive fiancé's debts, but as luck would have it, she walks away untouched with all the sympathy and credit and none of the shame."

"You expect me to believe you're doing this for her benefit?"

"Like I said before, I don't care what other people think of me, but sometimes I'll try to help them, so I don't forget what it's like. Altruism is like a muscle that'll weaken if it isn't used. Listen, you cannot tell her about any of this. If she knows it's fake, it'll alter her behavior. This will only work if Galvin believes it's real."

"How can I trust you?" Rather than answering, he let go of her and stepped back, holding his arms out to his sides. She stared at him, gripping her sword with trembling hands as tears budded under her eyes. "If you hurt her, I will never forgive you," she whispered. She then sheathed her sword and stormed off.

Noah didn't see Alexis at dinner, breakfast the following morning, or even lunch. He knew his gambit had left her trust in him frayed, and she would wait to see how things worked out before reconsidering their friendship. She wasn't the only one avoiding him. To the rest of the cadets, he was scum, and even the teachers were openly shooting him dirty looks. At one point, Lady Zodiac confronted him, and he gave her the same explanation he gave Alexis, with the same cold reply.

Finally, the time came. After his second class was over, Noah made his way to the field for the duel. A large crowd had gathered, everyone wanting to see how the match would turn out. Would there be a definitive winner? Or would it turn into a big mess and be nullified like the proxy match? Alexis was among the crowd, a simmering cauldron of fury, much like Seraph, burning with jealousy. Beside her was Sophia, looking like she was going to throw up. Galvin was in the ring, looking more than a little unbalanced. His smirk was gone, and his eyes were full of bloodlust. Rather than a sword, he was armed with a grimoire. Sir Kiev seemed more stern than usual.

"Have either of you reconsidered?" he asked.

"If he wants to fight me, he knows the price," Noah said.

"Your hubris is going to make it all the more satisfying to crush you," the prince replied.

"All right, I want a good, clean match. When I say it's over, you stop. Are we clear?"

"Actually, I would prefer you not intervene. I don't want my fun to be interrupted. We're done when I say we're done," said Galvin.

"That's not how this works," Kiev growled.

"If I may say so, I would prefer that as well," said Noah.

"We're not changing the rules of the duel! I am not going to let you two go out of control!"

"A compromise then?" Noah pointed into the crowd. "Let Sophia decide when one of us has gone too far."

"Keep her name out of your filthy commoner mouth!" Galvin shouted.

Kiev gave a loud huff. "I'm willing to extend your leash a bit, but don't push me. Now, both duelists ready!" Noah and Galvin assumed their stances. "Fight!"

Noah couldn't deny Galvin's speed. He opened his grimoire and slammed his hand on the ground, creating a magic circle of blue runes. "Quicksand Creation!" The ring shook beneath Noah's feet as the ground was saturated with churning water. The earth liquified, and both Noah and Galvin sank up to their knees in heavy mud.

"Ha! I got you, you son of a bitch!" Galvin cackled.

"Huh, you really did. I imagine you were preparing this spell last night? Well done," Noah said as he tried to pull his feet free. "Then again, you're stuck as well."

"That's fine with me since I don't need to move around, because unlike you, I can actually use magic! Watch, Mud Punch!"

He once more touched the ground, and this time, a lump of mud, the size of a fist, was launched towards Noah. The first came too fast for Noah to dodge and winged his shoulder, leaving his arm numb and nearly breaking his collarbone in the process. A second one was launched, and Noah managed to counter it with his sword. However, he simply ended up slicing through it, and the two halves still hit him in the chest, albeit with reduced force.

"See, I've been watching you in Elyot's class, and I have never seen you cast a single spell. You may be good with a sword, but when it comes to magic, you're utterly helpless! All you can do is stand there while I crush you!"

Noah brushed some of the mud off his shirt and rubbed his shoulder. "Those blows really pack a wallop. Yeah, I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow."

His cavalier attitude cracked Galvin's mad grin. "We'll see how calm you are after I've broken a few--"

"Flashbang."

Galvin and the spectators were rendered blind and deaf, shocked by a flash of light and feeling like their ears had been boxed.

"...t r...ing..u h..r..." Unable to understand what Noah was saying, Galvin yelled and slapped himself until his senses came back under his control. "As I was saying, that ringing you hear is your ears dying. Every time it happens, you permanently lose a little more of your hearing. Well, holy energy can probably fix it, but it's still going to hurt." Finally, Galvin could see. Noah's arm was extended, and he was holding a card towards Galvin, on which a magic circle had been drawn.

"Let's see how many shots it takes for your hearing to disappear completely, shall we?"

"You son of a--"

"Flashbang."

Galvin just barely caught a glimpse of it, the sphere of light shooting from the card. It hit him in the face before he could react, and though he felt no physical strike or burn, it unleashed a blinding light that burned his corneas and a teeth-rattling thunderclap. He was stunned and in pain, struggling to stay on his feet.

As its name implied, Flashbang was a spell designed to act like a stun grenade. Derived from a basic lightning spell that would hit the target with an energy orb, Noah had reworked the magic formula for use as an illusion, boosting the light and sound produced at the cost of physical damage. Against enemies, it was like an arc welder going off right in front of their eyes and a gunshot beside their ears.

"Flashbang."

Before Galvin could even recover, he was hit by a third orb, leaving him struggling to stand. Noah wrenched one foot free from the muddy ground and began his approach. Galvin, unable to see or hear, tried to retaliate with another Mud Punch, only to be hit with a fourth flashbang. He was in utter agony and so disoriented he could barely stand. It took all of his strength and coordination just to cover his ears and keep his eyes screwed shut.

Now close enough, Noah grabbed Galvin by the collar. He opened his eyes, seeing Noah only as a blur. His mind was scrambled as if by a horrific drug, and he tried to brace himself for another flashbang, only to be struck by Noah's fist. It was the first of a painful barrage. Noah punched him with brutal force, rapid speed, and perfect accuracy, each blow drawing blood and disfiguring flesh and bone. Gripping Galvin's shirt, Noah wouldn't even let him fall and instead kept him propped up so he could continue beating him. Such savagery, but his face and breathing were perfectly calm. As gore began to splatter on the viewers, all those unable to watch the beating turned to Sophia, silently begging her to put an end to it, but she said nothing.

"Stop!" Seraph shouted as he jumped into the ring and grabbed Noah's arm, beating Kiev by a single second.

Galvin had been beaten into an unrecognizable pulp, so Noah dropped him into the mud and turned to Seraph. "Strange, isn't it? To witness brutality instead of being the one to dish it out? You should learn from this experience, both of you."

"I'll fucking kill you!"

"That's enough!" Kiev yelled as he separated them. "The match has been decided, and Cadet Noah is the winner. Any retaliation will earn expulsion! Am I understood?"

"Yes sir," Seraph grudgingly answered.

"Cadet Noah, if you have nothing better to do, I suggest you leave."

"Yes sir." Noah bowed his head and left the field.

As he walked back to the academy, he examined the card he had used in the duel, now crumbling to ash after excessive use. He had been hoping to avoid using magic in these duels, wanting to save the surprise for more critical battles in the future, but as a field test, he couldn't have asked for better results. All this time, his magic had just been a means of concealment and deception. Now, his illusions had been weaponized, and the results spoke for themselves.

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The women's bath gossip focused on one topic: the prince's loss. Those who had witnessed it complained about the ringing of their ears, the blinding flashes, and the savage beating Noah delivered with one bloody punch after another. Of course, there was another aspect to the story, one spoken of only in whispers. Sophia was washing in the corner in anticipation of the night to come. Her movements were sluggish, and her eyes were dim, not even feeling the warmth of the water.

Alexis was beside her, trying to ignore the women looking at Sophia and their hushed mutterings. She had resisted telling Sophia about Noah's plan, but she desperately wished to, if only to ease her lover's dread.

"Sophia, you don't have to do this." It was all she could think to say.

"Yes," she murmured, "I do."

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A knock at the door drew Noah's eyes from the book he was reading, a noise he honestly thought he wouldn't hear that night. "Cadet Noah?" A soft voice. He opened the door to Sophia, standing in the hallway. In place of her uniform or white vestments, she was garbed in a silk robe. She pulled back the hood, revealing eyes both fearful and determined. She brought the scent of soap and perfume to the room; such sweetness appreciated in these dorms.

"Sophia, come in." She entered and drifted towards the candle burning on his bedside table. "I must admit, I didn't think Galvin would have it in him to actually send you. To think that someone like him would be a man of his word."

She stood with her back to him, clutching herself. "He didn't send me. As soon as he was healed, he forbade my even speaking to you. I came here of my own free will." Her words, the way she said them, with equal parts courage and fear, he was snagged on them like a fish on a hook, pulled by a line of curiosity. He decided to tug back.

"So you chose to come here? To offer your body to a stranger, to be used like a slave girl to settle your fiancé's debt? Either you are truly devoted to your relationship, or it's the opposite. You're not doing this for him, or anyone else for that matter, are you? You came here because you want this."

She turned to him, struggling to maintain the blank face she was so used to wearing. "I'll never get another chance like this, to wound him so deeply. I'm willing to be known to be the defiled wife, settling her husband's debts with her body, if it means he is known as the pathetic husband whose wife was taken by the man he challenged to a duel. I'll bear this shame if it means I can drag him down with me, for him to know I'd prefer this twisted freedom to his imprisonment. I won't let him be my first, and no amount of money or power can give him a second chance."

"You mean he never..."

"No, he enjoyed the anticipation, savoring my dread. He would drag me to brothels and make me watch as he'd have his way with the girls, beating them and laughing while he did it. He made sure I knew what he planned to do to me on our wedding night so that I could... look forward to it."

"To be honest, it was never my plan to do anything to you. It was a bluff to mess with his head, and it still can be. You can leave here untouched and tell whatever story you wish. Think carefully."

"I can't take the risk, letting this chance go. Believe me, I've spent a lot of time thinking this over. If I have an affair with someone, it will annul the engagement, but my family will suffer for it. However, the fact that you won me in a duel means that if I go through with this, I can break the engagement, and Galvin will bear the disgrace. And even if, somehow, I still have to marry him, he'll know I never was, and never will be his. I will always be.... yours."

She slowly opened her robe, revealing the thin negligee, covering underwear of noble's lace. Daily training sculpted her body into an athletic figure, but she had all the right curves. Every inch of her was a feast for the eyes. Her tone changed, losing the bitter sharpness.

"Besides, after seeing you today, my feelings for you are anything but negative. I'm both grateful and impressed, so it wouldn't be so wrong for me to also feel a little... drawn, would it?"

She had been choosing her words all evening, how she would say them, basking in fantasies of finally speaking the truth to someone. Now freed, her words left behind a vacuum within her, filling with new emotions. She felt a fledgling attraction to a man who was all but a stranger to her, and a hesitant but hopeful curiosity of what would come next.

Noah's smile eased her, and he took her hand. "No, it wouldn't be wrong at all. If this is what you want, then I'll make this night worthy of those feelings."

He approached her and lifted her chin. He memorized her face, every detail from her fluttering breath to her gentle eyes. Impressed by her courage, he wished to reward her, if only in remembering her in the distant future. Her lips parted and met his. So soft a brush, so faint, but it cleansed so much of her anxiety and relaxed her. A second kiss, sending the warmth or exhilaration through Sophia as he pulled her closer. He could feel her trembling, shivering as if the hand he used to caress her cheek was as cold as ice. He continued to caress her lips with his own, feeling her tension fade away as if running off her skin like water.

"I have an idea," he whispered in her ear. "Let me give you a massage."

"A massage?"

"It'll help you relax and let us get to know each other a little better." He pushed the robe off her shoulders and hooked his finger on her negligee. "You won't need any of this." He kissed her neck, relishing the warmth and softness of her skin, dabbed so lightly with the scent of flowers. It was pointless for him to try and remember all of the women in his past, but even if Sophie was the millionth, she tasted no less sweet than the first. "Lie down on your stomach. Make yourself comfortable."

He stepped away from her, letting her discard the thin gown and move to his bed. She hid under the covers and removed the last few lacey garments as he pulled a small bottle out of his bedside table. It was the elven olive oil the girls at the Knight's Sheath often used when entertaining clients, appreciated both for its taste and slipperiness. Grabbing some for himself was a wise choice. Lying in his bed, blanket up to her chin, Sophia looked like she could have fallen asleep, but her heart was racing, and she was restless with anticipation.

He sat beside her and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "Feel free to stop me whenever you want. I won't force you to do or experience anything." Hearing those kind words, she didn't trust her voice and just nodded with a soft hum. Noah began rolling the edge of the blanket, exposing her back inch by inch. He heard her hold her breath as if he was instead ripping off a bandage. He stopped at her waist and ran his fingertips across his back. "You truly are beautiful." He then leaned down and kissed her shoulder.

The first line of oil was drizzled across her skin, making her shiver. It was cold, much like the room, but soon the window would fog from frantic breaths and evaporating sweat. Noah began his routine, moving his hands back and forth across this blank canvas. He was gentle at first, letting her get accustomed to a man's touch as he spread the oil. He explored her back, finding every rib, vertebrae, muscle, and pressure point.

Sophia's tension eased, her breathing now steady. Noah's hands, they no longer felt like the hands of a mere stranger. They offered her comfort, warmth, and relief. His moves were not rough or unpracticed, nor were they gentle or hesitant. The force he applied was increasing and sinking deep into her body. It was as though her voice was being squeezed out of her chest by his pressing fingers, the soft moans and whimpers slipping free before she could stop them.

She often thought of speaking up, asking him to be gentler when it got too much, but before she could say anything, his powerful hands would reach a knot in her muscles or a sore spot, and her voice would instead take the form of an unladylike grunt. The life of a knight in training accrued a lot of aches and pains, and all the pressure he applied was to release even greater pressure within her. He was forceful, audacious, but only because he knew exactly what he was doing, giving her what she wanted before she even knew she wanted it. Just the work he did on her neck made her feel like jelly.

After finishing her upper back, he gently pulled her right arm behind her as if to put her in handcuffs. It stretched her muscles and enhanced the feel of his press. He messaged her palm, kissed her fingers, and then moved his strokes along her forceps and biceps. Her breath, deep and slow from the bliss, then reverted to an anxious pant. His hand had slipped under her so that he could massage the front of her shoulder. His fingers were almost right on top of her breast, never reaching her nipple but kneading her soft flesh.

She felt it in his movements, the familiarity he was gaining with her body. Had the space between them really closed so quickly? It was a thought that scared her, but pleasure erased that fear. She awaited him to truly grasp her like a trophy, to feel his fingers sink into the softness of her breasts, but his hand, lapping at her like the sea, receded. Disappointment replaced anticipation, but her comfort zone had been expanded. He repeated the process with her left arm, and all she felt was pleasure.

He moved the blanket down to her knees, exposing her peachy derriere. Once more, she shivered in nervousness, but Noah's touch had instilled excitement in her. He resumed massaging her back, now going lower and giving her hips the attention they deserved. He caressed her sides, soft enough almost to tickle her, but with enough pressure to give her kidneys and other organs a yogic workout.

The blanket was fully pulled away, and Noah moved to the end of the bed. He caressed Sophia's skinny white feet and lathered them in oil. The smaller area let him apply more force and get better leverage, with the mere pressing of his thumbs forcing her into submission. Before, Sophia had simply hummed in bliss and shivered from his touch, but massaging her arches made her whole body rigid, with her voice projecting both pleasure and pain. He didn't ease up, rubbing deep into the tissue with a force that was as cruel as it was sensual.

Then lips replaced fingers, and she looked back to confirm the sensation of Noah kissing her toes. He made eye contact but didn't stop, and gave each digit the pampering it deserved. It was not a lewd act to fulfill a fetish, but an expression of sensual worship. This effort, it was all for her. She lowered her head so that he wouldn't see her smile, but moments later, that smile disappeared. This time, she didn't dare look back. What she felt touching her feet, it wasn't fingers or lips.