Chapter 30: Adjustments and Annoyances
Jessica stepped onto the academy grounds, adjusting the hem of her modified uniform as she walked.
She hadn't thought much about it when she requested the alteration—it was just practical. The blisters left from her recovery still stung, and long sleeves only made them worse. The ointment they had insisted she take made fabric cling uncomfortably to her arms, and the idea of spending the entire day feeling trapped inside her own clothes had been unbearable.
So, she got rid of the sleeves.
Simple.
Except apparently, it wasn't that simple.
"Look at you," Tobias' voice came from her side as he matched her stride, hands tucked lazily in his pockets. "Finally embracing family tradition?"
Jessica blinked, glancing at him. "What?"
Tobias gestured vaguely toward her sleeveless uniform. "Moran family tradition. Sleeveless. You always ignored it before."
Jessica frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Tobias gave her a knowing smirk. "It's just how we do things. You've been avoiding it since you were a kid, but now suddenly, you're going sleeveless? Bold move, little sister."
Jessica scoffed lightly, shaking her head. "It's not a statement. The blisters are itchy, and sleeves stick to the ointment."
Tobias chuckled. "Mmhm. Sure."
Jessica rolled her eyes. She wasn't about to start debating the nuances of sleeve etiquette.
As they approached the academy building, Magnus, who had been lingering near the entrance, took one glance at her uniform and raised a brow.
Jessica braced herself for yet another comment, but Magnus didn't say anything at first.
He just... looked.
Not at the blisters.
At her arms.
For a fraction of a second, his usual unreadable expression flickered into something else. Not surprise—acknowledgment.
The quiet kind of recognition that only another fighter would give.
Jessica didn't think much of it. But Magnus, watching from the side, took a mental note of the definition in her arms—the strength beneath the scars.
Not just the girl who gave the healers trouble.
Not just the one who fought off Lucien in a haze.
The Moran family's strength.
Magnus exhaled softly, but whatever thought crossed his mind, he kept to himself.
Instead, he simply raised an eyebrow and said, "Interesting choice."
Jessica exhaled. "Not you too."
Magnus tilted his head. "Didn't say anything."
Tobias smirked. "He's just admiring your commitment to the family look."
Jessica gave him a dry glance. "It's not about that."
Magnus shrugged. "It is now."
Jessica didn't dignify that with a response.
Then, as she shifted her bag, Tobias gave her a sideways glance, clearly debating whether to say something else.
Jessica caught the hesitation. "What?"
Tobias hesitated for half a second before saying, "You know who paid for the ointment, right?"
Jessica blinked. "What?"
Tobias gave her a meaningful look.
Jessica processed.
Her expression remained neutral, but there was a weight in the pause before she exhaled.
"Lovely."
Tobias chuckled. Magnus said nothing.
Jessica didn't dwell on it. She wasn't going to dwell on it.
She just adjusted her bag and stepped forward, reintegrating back into academy life—whether she wanted to or not.
___
Jessica walked toward the training hall, her bag slung over one shoulder, Tobias and Magnus flanking her like some kind of escort detail.
She hadn't thought much about how people would react to her return.
Apparently, she should have.
The hallway was full of stares.
Some subtle. Some not subtle at all.
Jessica ignored them, but she still caught the different reactions.
The first set of reactions came from the pristine, prim-and-proper nobles.
The ones who gasped softly, whispered behind a hand, exchanged scandalized glances.
Jessica didn't have to hear them to know exactly what they were thinking.
Bruises. Blisters. Faint remnants of healing magic that hadn't fully faded yet.
Her arms weren't ruined, but they weren't flawless, either.
To them, appearance was everything.
And Jessica looked like she had just crawled out of a battlefield.
One noble girl—someone Jessica didn't even know—whispered to her companion, looking visibly disturbed.
"Does she not care how unsightly that looks?"
Jessica resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
No.
She didn't care.
But while the nobility only saw the scars, the fighters saw something else.
They weren't looking at the bruises.
They were looking at the strength underneath.
For the first time, without the sleeves covering her arms and now wearing a skirt instead of pants, people actually saw her for what she was.
She wasn't big. She wasn't bulky.
But she was toned, built for efficiency.
Even covered in blisters from healing magic, her muscle definition was clear.
And as she walked, she could hear the murmurs from some of the more combat-oriented students.
"Look at those calves."
"Oh my god, she's toned—that's why she's so fast."
Jessica pretended not to hear them.
But she could feel the shift in realization.
Some students—especially the ones who actually trained in combat—looked at her and thought:
"Oh. That's why she survived without magic in the forest."
She wasn't the strongest in the Academy.
But she was strong enough.
And that was far more unsettling than they expected.
___
And then, of course—
"Well, she is a Moran," someone muttered, sounding half amused, half resigned.
Another voice chimed in.
"She's ripped like her brother."
Tobias visibly perked up.
Jessica sighed.
Magnus exhaled through his nose, amused.
Tobias grinned, obviously eating it up. "See? Tradition."
Jessica gave him a tired look. "Do you ever get tired of validation?"
Tobias thought about it for a full second before shaking his head. "Nope."
Magnus smirked.
Jessica sighed, resigning herself to another long day.
___
Jessica glanced at Tobias as they continued toward the training hall, her bag shifting on her shoulder.
"Alright," she said, tone flat. "Why are you here?"
Tobias smirked. "That's a broad question."
Jessica exhaled. "Why is my second-year brother following me to first-year training?"
Tobias raised an eyebrow. "Glad you care enough to ask."
Jessica narrowed her eyes. "It's not doting on me, is it?"
Tobias barked out a laugh. "Definitely not."
Jessica watched him for a moment, noting the way he seemed more at ease than usual.
It wasn't just because she asked about him—it was something else.
She flicked her gaze to his posture, the way he carried himself in public, the subtle shift in his demeanor.
He was more relaxed today.
Like he was genuinely happy about something.
Her eyes drifted down to her bare arms.
It clicked.
Tobias always made a big deal out of family traditions.
And even though she had ignored most of them her entire life, he never held it against her.
Disappointed, sure. But never bitter.
Now, though—he looked content.
Jessica rolled her eyes internally. All this because of no sleeves?
But at the same time... he wasn't wrong.
For the first time, she actually looked like a Moran in public.
Tobias accepted his small victories with joy, no matter how ridiculous they were.
She sighed. Fine. He can have this one.
___
Jessica crossed her arms. "So, if you're not here for me, what's the reason?"
Tobias chuckled. "I'd have thought that was obvious."
Jessica raised a brow.
Magnus, walking beside them, didn't react—which meant this wasn't news to him.
Tobias gestured vaguely at the first-year ranks. "None of them can keep up with our little hero's candidate."
Jessica blinked. "...Magnus?"
Tobias grinned. "Who else?"
Jessica glanced at Magnus, who looked completely unbothered by the comment.
Jessica frowned. "Why are you calling him 'little' when he's not little at all?"
Tobias laughed, shaking his head. "Compared to you first-years, he's a monster, sure. But to me?"
Tobias clapped a hand on Magnus' shoulder.
Even though Tobias wasn't physically bigger, there was an undeniable difference in presence.
Jessica had never really compared them before, but now that she did...
Magnus was strong.
Tobias was overwhelming.
Magnus could break through walls.
Tobias held the line against creatures Magnus would struggle to kill alone.
Even without magic, he was built for absolute control in combat.
Compared to him, even the Academy's hero candidate seemed... normal.
Jessica wasn't sure how she felt about that realization.
___
"Only Lucien can keep up with him," Tobias continued, casual as ever. "But he doesn't use earth or water magic. That makes training him a pain."
Jessica glanced at Magnus, whose expression remained neutral.
Magnus was strong, powerful, someone people already saw as a top-tier fighter.
But Tobias?
Tobias was in another class entirely.
Jessica had never thought much about it before—Tobias had always been her annoying older brother first, Academy prodigy second.
But watching him now, seeing the way even Magnus—the strongest in their year—was still a step below him?
She tilted her head slightly.
Then why is our family considered backwater?
Tobias left huge impressions everywhere he went.
He trained in the most dangerous regions, fought monsters other people wouldn't dare touch, and kept pace with warriors who had years on him.
So why hadn't the Morans risen in rank?
Jessica didn't voice the question.
She just kept walking, wondering when she'd find the answer.