by TurtleMe
“You’re overthinking things, Emily. I’m more worried about the project that Gideon already assigned us. I’m so lost after missing the first week.” This was actually true. My critical thinking abilities and vague knowledge of technology from my past allowed me to make connections and understand better than most first years, but everyone was grumbling about how this class was one of their hardest. Leave it to that eccentric Gideon to teach a basic class as if it were several levels higher.
“Meh, I already have a couple LPAs I made lying around in my dorm anyway. Might as well put them to use.” She adjusts her oversized backpack and we head over to grab lunch.
“Wow… you could probably ace this class in your sleep.” I shake my head as I pick up a tray and grab some food.
“Kyu!” ‘Get more meat, Papa!’ Sylvie hops on top of my head in protest when I pick up some vegetables.
“Ok ok.” I go back and pick up a few more pieces of meat when Emily looks at me with a weird expression on her face.
“Can you understand what your bond is saying?” She lifts her glasses up in place as she looks up at Sylvie.
“Can’t all bonds?” I ask.
“No, not at all actually. They can understand their emotions to a certain extent but not… verbal cues.” Her eyes squint as she takes a closer look at Sylv.
Pushing her head back with my finger on her forehead, I respond. “That’s what I meant. I only feel my bond complaining and I just inferred that it was because I picked up vegetables. You’re overthinking things again, Emily.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right. She’s cute though.” She just shrugs and picks up more food for herself.
“Ah! There you are, Art! Director Goodsky wants…Oh, hello.” Elijah stops in his tracks as he realizes that I’m with a friend.
“Hey, Elijah. This is Emily. Emily, Elijah.” I say with my mouth half full with a piece of stewed beef.
“Nice to meet you! Emily smiles and sticks out the hand she wasn’t carrying her food tray with.
“A pleasure to meet you.” Elijah responds as he shakes her hand, a look of curiosity on his face.
“Anyways, Art. You need to…uh… head over to your training room. Director Goodsky, remember?” He gives me a look saying that it’s urgent.
“Oh… wait, now?” I look at my food.
“Yes. Now.” He gently pushes me towards the door while making me scarf down as much food as I can. Sylvie swept a big portion of the meat with her tongue as we placed the tray next to the trash bin.
“You two get acquainted! I’ll be leaving first!” I wave at my friends as they wave back.
I remember Director Goodsky telling me where my private training was while I was in the hospital room. Supposedly, the mana density was supposed to be a lot higher there, making it easier to train.
“I wonder what Director Goodsky wants. I should give her a mouthful about class today.” I say to no one in particular as Sylvie and I make our way towards the room.
All of the rooms were underneath the library where a staff member had to lead you to the rooms. Usually upperclassmen were allowed to borrow a room for a couple of hours to train in but I was lucky to have a private one all to myself.
There were two entrances in the library building; one to the actual library, the other to a sort of waiting room to all of the training facilities. Opening the entrance to the waiting room, I walk slowly past some upperclassmen before arriving at the front desk. “Hi, my name is Arthur Leywin.” I didn’t exactly know what Director Goodsky wanted so I hoped that the lady at the front desk would know what to do once I told her my name.
“Ah yes! Today is your first time visiting the room, correct?” The lady had a very refined suit, reminding me of a concierge at some fancy hotel.
“Yes.” I nod in response as she bends down and opens a drawer.
“Please place both your palms on this stone. Make sure all of the tips of your fingers are flat on it.” She holds out in both hands a flat tablet with various inscriptions etched onto it.
Doing as told, I feel a brief numbing sensation spread over my hands as she activates the tablet.
“Perfect! I’ll show you to your room. Please follow me.” Leading me to a room in the back where a scarred man about two meters tall held a spear guarded the door, the front desk lady ushered me forward.
The room that the scarred man guarded was actually some sort of elevator put together by various gears, which I assumed were powered by either mana cores or some other mana-producing ore.
“Wow. This is my first time riding in something like this.” I say in awe, reminiscing the last time I rode in an elevator.
“Fufu, yes. Not many of these exist yet. A genius artificer that is currently a professor here named Gideon built this device. I’m sure you’ve heard of him?” She says while admiring the elevator herself.
“More than heard of him. He’s actually one of my professors. With the way he teaches his class, I wish he wasn’t such a genius” I give her a wink making her giggle.
“Here we are! Make sure to remember how to get to your room. Since I’ve registered you to your room, you are allowed to come in any time you wish.” She says while guiding me through the halls.
“That scary scarred man won’t stop me?” I ask, pointing up with my sheathed sword.
“Hoho, no. He won’t stop you. Ah! We’ve arrived.” We reached the end of the hall where there was a large double door without any handles.
“This door seems different from all of the other ones.” I turn my head back as I compared.
“Yes. Director Goodsky seems to place quite a bit of precedence in your training.” She gave me a charming smile.
“Yet, she doesn’t even bother to tell my class who their new professor was.” I mutter under my breath.
“Excuse me?” The lady tilts her head in confusion.
“It’s nothing. So how do I open this?” I respond while Sylvie jumps off my head and excitedly hops in place in front of the double doors.
“If you place either of your palms against the door, it will open automatically. If you need any further assistance, there is a communication device inside where you can contact me. If you are hungry, I can also send someone over to bring you some food.” She bows while waiting for me to open the door.
“Thank you. What was your name?” I turn my head, my hand raised, as I was about to open the door.
“Please call me Chloe. I wish you a fruitful training session.” She says, her head still down.
“Got it. Thanks again Chloe.” I turn back and place my right hand on the double doors. With a loud engine-like noise, the area I place my palm glows as streams of light branch out. Eventually, the light dims and the door slides open to reveal a room very different from what I imagined.
I turn my head back but Chloe was already gone. Sylvie runs off before I can even take a step forward and as I look inside the room, the sudden brightness compared to the dim hall makes me squint. My vision soon adjusts and, as I lower my hand, my eyes spot a familiar figure, fidgeting in place as Sylvie scurries up her leg.
I don’t know if it was from the sparkling brightness inside the room or the fact that this room looked more like a huge natural wonder rather than a training facility but my childhood friend looked stunning. Tessia, who was cuddling her cheek against Sylvie on her shoulder, was wearing a very loose, white training robe.
“H-hi.” Tessia says with her head lowered and eyes looking up at me.
I step forward as the door closes behind me. The floor underneath me was a field of grass and there was a rather big pond with a waterfall as well as huge boulders and trees, making me feel as if this was a dream. Snapping out of my momentary daze, I scratch my head with the hand that wasn’t holding Dawn’s Ballad.
“Hey, Tess.” I give her an awkward smile.
“S-should we get started?” Tessia puts Sylvie down on the ground before she shyly starts removing her robe.
“W-wait, what? Get start
ed in what?” I almost trip backwards as I see her bare shoulders.
“The assimilation! Grandpa told me that it works better if you help me through bare skin!” Her face is bright red as I realize she had her breasts covered in some gauze.
Ah right... the assimilation…
Wait, what?
Freaking Gramps, what are you making your granddaughter do!
“Gramps told you that? Y-you don’t need to take off your clothes for the assimilation, stupid! He was messing with you!” I cover my eyes with my hand.
Calm down Arthur. She’s just a 13-year-old. Looking at her like this is a crime!
“S-shut up! How was I supposed to UGH…” Tess falls to her knees before she’s able to lift her robe again.
I run as fast as my injured body would let me as I put Dawn’s Ballad back into my dimension ring. Kneeling down next to her, I place my palm on her warm, pale back. Her robe was down, revealing everything the waist up with the exception of her breast and a portion of her back, which were covered by the gauze. As I feel her body tremble in pain, I couldn’t help but notice how frail her body looked. I guess because I knew how strong of a mage she was; I forgot that she was still just a girl, physically at least.
Taking off the seal on my wrist, I will mana into my childhood friend. Using all four elements, I control the mana to spread throughout her body, counteracting the mana coming from the Elderwood Guardian’s beast will. What Gramps did while I was assimilating was just easing my pain, but by using a balanced mixture of mana from all four elements, I was able to essentially help her body fight against the beast will.
I never tested this but it was based on the same principles I used to help awaken Lilia and my sister.
Her ragged breathing soon calmed down, her trembling gone as she was panting from the relief. As I gently lifted her robe over her frail body, I walked over to the pond and splashed my face with its cold water.
I needed to calm myself down.
After a few moments, I feel my heartbeat slowing down but react again when I hear Tess making her way to me, Sylvie trotting behind her.
Sitting down on her legs next to me, she stares at me, her flushed, tired face still sparkling, as if she wants to say something. After a moment of hesitation she speaks to me in a firm voice.
“Art, can we talk?”
Chapter 60: Romantic Idiot
“Art, can we talk?” As she resolved herself, the slight trembling in her voice disappeared.
“Yeah… it seems that there’s a third party at work here trying to make us talk anyways.” I sit back, leaning on my arms, my face dripping with the fresh water.
“About the k-kiss… Are you mad?” Tessia’s face was bright red, revealing how nervous she felt compared to her firm face.
“I’m not mad. I was surprised, but I’m not mad.” I would be lying if I said I didn’t notice that Tessia liked me since all the way back when I lived with her in Elenoir.
“…”
There was brief silence where I could tell Tessia was waiting for me to say something, except, right now; I didn’t know what to say.
If I had to choose between like and dislike, of course I liked Tessia, but what did that mean? Do I just go out with her? There’s also the fact that we were both young. I mean, it wasn’t unnatural for children, especially of royalty, to get married at the age of 13-14 but it wasn’t exactly normal from where I came from.
Sigh… what’s the point in being so experienced in fighting and politics when I don’t even know where to start when it comes to something so basic like love.
“Arthur… you know what I’m waiting for, right?” She leans closer as her brow furrows. The intensity in which she was staring me made me uncomfortable but this issue wasn’t something I could keep pushing aside.
“Tess, we’ve known each other since we were four. The first time I saw you, you were getting kidnapped after you had a fight with your parents. The first thing you did when I saved you was crying your heart out. After we made our way back into your kingdom, I was fortunate enough to be able to stay in your castle, where your grandpa and eventually even your parents warmed up to me. Even now, your family and mine get along to the point of it being weird…” I take a deep breath before I try to continue.
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.” Tessia has an irritated look on her face as she puts one hand on top of mine.
“Tessia. We’re still so young. I mean, I’m only twelve and you’ve barely turned thirteen as well! I know that it’s not weird for a girl your age to get married since you are royalty, but I mean, I don’t have that background.” I realized I was stuttering a bit.
“Art. I know you well enough and right now, you’re just making excuses. You and I both know that what I meant wasn’t to get married right away. I-I just want things to progress. Even from the time we were back in Elenoir, you just treated me like I was a kid! It’s been almost 8 years since then, Art… I have a lot to learn but I don’t consider myself such a child anymore.” Her stern gaze turned soft as she was desperately trying to reason with me.
“Sigh…It’s because I’ve known you since we were both children that it’s harder for me to see you as anything more, at least right now, Tess. It hasn’t even been that long since we’ve met in quite a long time as well.” I can feel my argument coming out more and more as petty excuses.
She lets go of my hand and springs up. I look up to see her shaking, trying to hold back tears.
“So, you’re telling me that all of this time, you haven’t once thought of me as anything more than a childhood friend?” She softly mutters.
“…”
I didn’t know how to respond. I, of course, did try thinking of her as more than a friend, but it wasn’t just about that. Although I’ve spent 12 years in this body, I’ve spent over thirty years in my past body. I’ve visited the orphanage I grew up in multiple times and helped take care of kids that were Tess’s age.
“I see.” She whispers.
I guess she thought of my silence as my answer. Tessia spins back and stomps towards the door of the training facility.
“You know, Arthur. You’re so confident in so many things. Magic, fighting, using your brain. You’re so damn confident in everything you do because you’re good at them. But, you know what? There are things you’re not good at. You’re not good at confronting your feelings. You always put on a mask and pretend you’re happy or apathetic when you can’t handle a certain situation. I think in that sense, you’re a lot less mature than even the so called children you see in this academy. You’re just using your confidence in your strong suits to mask the insecurities you have in aspects you know you’re not good at!” Tears stream down Tessia’s eyes as she cries this last rebuttal.
As the door closes behind her, I’m left with an eerie silence that not even the sound of the waterfall could cover.
‘Papa’s a dummy…’ Sylvie curls up a couple of meters away, turning away from me.
I sat in front of the pond, stunned by Tessia’s last words. I had to admit that in some ways, maybe Tess was more mature than I was. Even in my past life, aside from being a great fighter, I wasn’t that impressive of a man. I had the charisma and character to appeal to the mass but when it came to interpersonal relationships, I consider myself mediocre on a good day. I grew up avoiding long lasting relationships, seeing them as nothing more than a burden that would eventually be used against me. In order to be the best, I had to have no weaknesses, and having a lover would eventually lead to my demise.
I’ve come to realize this even more since coming into this world. Having family that I would happily die for makes me think of how truly weak I am. If someone were to kidnap any one of my family members, no matter how strong I personally was, wouldn’t I just be at their beck and call?
The thought of having a lover, someone I could call my other half, was a wonderful thing, but it was also something that truly scared me.
After putting back
the bracelet that sealed my fire and water elemental attributes, I made my way back to the surface and headed towards my next class. How was I supposed to face Tessia in my Team Fighting Mechanics class? Even Sylvie was pouting on top of my head because I made Tess angry.
_________________________________________
“Good to have you back, Art.” Claire ran next to me, giving me a firm slap on the back.
“Are you feeling a bit better?” Curtis also catches up to us, Grawder following behind him.
“I’ll probably have to sit out for a couple more classes, but I’m okay.” Giving him a weak smile, we arrived at the field.
“Good to see you walking, Mr. Leywin!” Professor Glory beams when she sees the three of us arrive but when she was about to walk over to us, I feel a killing intent radiating next to her.