Chapter 4

The trio made their way back to Ethan’s dorm room, the walkways of the training campus full of other Class Marked going about their days. The weight of the morning’s revelations about the significance of Ethan’s class hung heavy in the air, and each of them were silent as they went over their morning in their heads. As they entered the room, Penny took the lead, her voice steady and determined.

“Alright, let’s talk about this,” she said, gesturing for them to sit down. Ethan and Alice followed suit, taking seats on the bed and the small love seat respectively. “Clearly the political implications of your class are huge, Ethan. The guild is taking this seriously, and we need to be prepared for what’s coming. An entire team of advisors, ready to meet us at a moment’s notice? The guild is clearly taking you having an S rank class seriously, and we should as well.”

Ethan nodded, his expression grave. “I know. They made it pretty clear that there are a lot of expectations for me. Being S ranked is one thing. They have experience with that. The idea of permanent growth from Essence Imbuement seems to have been all they could focus on, though. I knew that it would be a big deal, but I think I underestimated how they’d react.”

Alice chimed in, her voice thoughtful. “The advisors they assigned to us aren’t just random, either. Each of them are the heads of their respective departments, and they’re all at least B ranked. I think Mage Thompson is related to the Guildmaster, too.”

Penny agreed. “Exactly. And the question about why you’re working with D-ranked teammates ... it’s clear that they want the best possible team composition. But we know each other, and we trust each other. I just worry that’s not going to be enough. Trainer Harris was pretty clear about where he stood, even if Mage Thompson took our side.”

Ethan took a deep breath, feeling a sense of determination wash over him. “I agree with Harris to a point. The idea of making A-ranked Marked even stronger is an obvious application of my abilities. You heard Thompson about the rise in S-ranked Dungeons appearing ... But I still believe trust and synergy are crucial when I have a class this weird. We’ve trained together for years, and I believe in our abilities. I was serious about not intending to let them pick and choose my teammates just because of my class. We’ve all planned to work together for years and that hasn’t changed.”

Alice nodded. “They did seem to understand that we had a history together, but I’m not sure how much that will matter to them if we can’t show results. Trust and synergy are great, but they can’t make up for the disparity between class ranks.” She paused before continuing. “I think we need to start testing the limits of your class and see how the long-term growth manifests. The advisors want to conduct extensive tests, and we should be prepared for that. If it’s possible the long term growth could make up for us being D ranked...” She trailed off.

Penny leaned forward. “I have an idea. We should test what the bare minimum for bonding and Essence generation is. Remember when you and I felt essence from just a kiss? Maybe that’s all it takes.” She said, speaking to Ethan.

Ethan looked at Penny, surprised but intrigued. “That’s a good point. If we can generate essence through a simple kiss, it might be worth exploring. It could be the bare minimum for bonding. If we could find a way to create Essence without going further...” He left the rest of the statement unsaid.

Alice hesitated before speaking. “I’m not sure how I feel about this...”

Penny reached out to take Alice’s hand. “We can figure this out together. We’re all in this as a team and we can’t let anything get in the way of that.” She met Alice’s eyes. “What do you think? Should we try it?”

Alice looked at both of them, her expression thoughtful. “Alright, let’s do it. But let’s set some ground rules first. This is just an experiment, and we need to keep it professional.”

Penny nodded in agreement. “Absolutely. We’ll start with a simple kiss and see how it goes. If we feel essence generation, we can explore further. But for now, let’s keep it at the bare minimum.” Penny pulled Alice to stand up, gesturing for Ethan to come over. “We know from last night that even a quick kiss can generate Essence. A quick peck, the same type of kiss you’d give an aunt, okay?”

Alice nodded, still seeming unsure, but willing to give it a shot. Ethan moved forward to stand close to Alice, feeling the moment grow awkward as the waited for the other to make the first move.

“A quick peck, right?” Penny reminded them.

Ethan looked back to Alice, seeing a mix of emotions on her face before it resolved into a look of determination. “Okay, fine.” She said, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. Ethan did the same, leaning forward. As their lips met, Alice jumped back in shock. She had felt the essence they had told her about, not expecting to feel it so quickly. “Uhm, wow, okay. I definitely felt something.” she said while nodding.

“I did, too” Ethan replied. “I wasn’t able to activate my bonding skill, though. We pulled away too quickly.”

“So hold it longer?” Penny suggested.

Alice nodded, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. Ethan moved in again, pressing his lips awkwardly against Alice’s, waiting for the feeling of essence to activate his bonding ability. As he felt the essence begin to build, he reached and tried to activate the skill ... and got rejected. He pulled away and spoke. “I don’t think it’s enough essence to offer a bond. When I tried to activate the ability, it failed.”

“The way the two of you are going about this isn’t helping.” Penny chimed in. “Look at you both, you’re standing so far apart you have to lean forward at the waist as awkward as middle schoolers kissing for the first time. And neither of you know what to do with your hands, just letting them dangle. If the Essence generation is actually tied to intimacy, I doubt the sort of kiss that makes a person cringe just seeing it is going to cut it.”

Penny stood up and turned Ethan towards herself. “Like this.” she said as she grabbed his hand and leaned in to give him a peck. She felt the essence present in the kiss and pulled back. “Was that more or less essence than before?” she asked.

“It was a bit more, yea” Ethan replied, feeling a bit awkward.

“Ok, then let’s try this.” Penny said as she grabbed his hands and put them on her waist. She leaned in and gave him another kiss. “How about that?”

“A bit more than before, for sure.” Ethan’s cheeks turned red as he blushed, still holding onto Penny’s waist.

This time, Penny leaned into Ethan, pressing her body against his as she kissed him for a third time. She held the peck for longer, the kiss lasting for a few seconds. “That has got to be enough essence, right? She exclaimed as she pulled away from Ethan. She took Ethan by the shoulder and turned him, pushing him towards Alice. “Let’s see you try again like that. A peck, but intimate.” she said to Alice.

Alice stood there, eyes wide and cheeks red as Penny demonstrated the kiss. “Hey, you can do this.” Penny said softly to Alice. Alice gave a small nod in reply, still looking anywhere but Ethan. Penny grabbed Ethan’s hand again and placed it on Alice’s waist, pushing Alice closer to Ethan by the small of her back. “Try again like I showed.” Penny instructed.

Ethan and Alice were only inches apart now, one hand on her waist, with Penny’s hand holding it here. Alice closed her eyes once more as Penny brought the two together. Ethan felt Alice press against him, her face turned up towards him as he brought his lips down to hers. With Penny holding them there together, the kiss was far beyond their first awkward attempts. They felt the essence building as they kissed until the threshold was broken and Ethan offered Alice a bond.

Alice felt the bond being offered to her and hesitated for a moment, a small feeling of panic rose in her chest causing her to pull back away from the kiss. She took a few steps backward and began apologizing. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened, I ... I...” She stammered, feeling a bit overwhelmed in the moment.