Ch.14- Sports.

Amy trudged along the stone path leading to the Hall of Elements, where her combat class would take place, her eyes fixed on the cobblestones beneath her feet with a thoughtful expression.
[Help me become human]
… And how exactly am I supposed to do that…?
Libris’s request from the previous night echoed in her mind, a demand that she had no idea how to fulfill, or even begin to approach.
After dropping that bombshell, the book had fallen silent, refusing to elaborate further when she asked for any kind of clue on how exactly to do that. Which in turn made Amy wonder if it wasn’t allowed to share.
Things can’t ever be simple, can they?
“Can’t I just use my power to make the readers believe you are human?”
[No. That wouldn’t work. Transforming my nature requires… something else entirely.]
“Why not?”
[…] Libris remained silent.
“Then what? How am I supposed to help if my ability is useless for this?” She hissed, glancing around to make sure no one was watching her satchel. “You drop this massive request on me and then refuse to explain how I’m supposed to do it?”
The book stayed stubbornly quiet.
“Fine,” Amy huffed, shoving Libris back into her bag. “Can I at least put your demand on hold until I’ve dealt with some of my more immediate problems?”
[You could take all the time in the world if you want, I don’t care. Be one day, two weeks, four years, or a century. As long as you make me human, then I will be satisfied.]
Amy grimaced at Libris’s response. The lack of a time limit would normally suggest indifference, but weirdly enough, those words felt as if they were emphasizing just how important reaching its goal was.
“Will I even manage? How hard will it be?”
[It will be extremely difficult, if not downright impossible. But I trust that you will manage.]
Trust? In me…? It has to be joking…
“Well, that’s reassuring,” she muttered under her breath.
[So…will you help me?]
“Will I help you?” Amy stopped in her tracks, staring at the book in her bag with an incredulous expression. “Of course I will, you ridiculous book. I owe you one, remember?”
[I don’t believe that our exchanges are equivalent. As I said, this is quite the colossal task. I understand if you wouldn’t want to do it.]
Amy scoffed, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “If you weren’t here, with me, and I was alone. I don’t know what I would have done. When I say I owe you, I mean it. Moreover, this looks like it is really important to you… Did you seriously think I’d just say no?”
[…I wasn’t certain.]
“Well, that’s just insulting.”
[Many would refuse in your situation, with all the things you have to deal with, adding more to your plate isn’t wise.]
“Yeah, well, I’m not wise, nor smart, so I guess you got lucky.”
[I did indeed get lucky. Thank you, Amy.]
She rolled her eyes, trying to hide a little of her embarrassment. “Yeah, sure.”
The conversation died as she approached the Hall of Elements.
A steady stream of students flowed through the grand entrance doors. Amy joined them, feeling the familiar tiredness that always settled over her when she was about to work.
Would she someday escape school…?
“Amy! Hey, Amy!”
She turned to see Stella hurrying toward her with her crimson hair bouncing as she jogged to catch up. Alba followed at a more sedate pace with her pink hair neatly combed and her uniform perfectly pressed.
So much for my ‘vacation’… Back to acting, I guess…
“We’ve been looking for you.” Stella was still catching her breath as she joined Amy.
“Have you?” Amy tried to make it sound like an ordinary question.
Alba gave her a hesitant smile. “We wanted to see if you were alright. After Building B.”
“I’m fine.”
“We heard about it,” Stella said more quietly. “What you and the second-years did. It’s in the newspapers, even.”
“The ritual and everything?” Alba asked. “And the things pretending to be students? That really happened?”
Amy could feel herself tensing. She’d barely got out of her room and they were already asking her about it.
“It’s been dealt with.” She walked a little faster.
Stella kept up. “But how did you know they were there? Nobody else knew they were missing.”
“Luck.”
The two girls looked at each other.
“Well, then I’m glad you were lucky,” Alba said, trying another smile.
“I suppose.”
They left it alone after that. For a while they just walked, until Stella turned to Alba. “Ready for training? I’ve heard Drayke’s classes are really hard.”
Great. Just what I needed…
Inside the Hall of Elements, seven huge stone arches stood around the circular room. Amy could make out the markings for fire, water, earth, air, light, shadow, and spirit on them.
There were also signs for the first-years, pointing toward the changing rooms. Those were considerably more useful to her right now. She followed Alba and Stella down the side corridor.
“Did you bring clothes to change into?” Alba asked. “I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to wear.”
“Yeah.” Amy patted her bag. She’d stuffed the training uniform in there before leaving. For once, reading the handbook had been useful; it was very particular about what they wore to combat classes.
Several girls were already changing when they arrived, talking about the lesson as they put their things away. There were lockers along the walls and separate stalls, with plenty of light to see by.
Amy picked an unused locker and changed. The black pants were loose and light, and the matching tunic had short sleeves and an Academy emblem on the chest. The shoes had soft soles, presumably so she could move more easily. As she pulled the tunic on, the material shifted a little to fit her. An enchantment, probably. At least it was comfortable.
“The seniors said his conditioning sessions are awful,” Alba said, tying her pink hair into a bun.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Stella didn’t sound particularly sure. “You will, anyway,” she added to Amy. “After what you fought in Building B, this can’t be that bad. Right?”
Amy shrugged. If she answered, they’d want details, and then she’d be stuck talking about it again.
She went back to putting her clothes in the locker. A second-year across the room was staring at her. Amy knew that look by now, and honestly, what was there to admire? She was putting clothes in a locker. She stared back until the girl turned away.
This is such a pain…
She shook her head, trying to get her mind clear. Sure, all this undeserved attention was annoying and somewhat downright disgusting, but at least it was just that, attention. Instead of continuing to worry about that, she decided to refocus on getting her things into the locker.
She paused with Libris in her hand. Bringing it along didn’t seem like a very good idea. There were going to be people hitting things, possibly including her, and she didn’t need to add protecting a talking book to the list.
[Try not to die,] Libris told her as she shut the locker.
“Thanks for the concern.”
Alba looked up from her shoes. “What?”
“Nothing. Talking to myself. I do that sometimes.”
“Well, if it helps, tell me what you’re saying,” Stella said with a grin. “I could use a little encouragement. My ability is…” She wobbled her hand from side to side. “Very unique. I’m a bit scared, honestly.”
Someone had put mats out while they were changing. Weights and balance beams stood around the room with a few training dummies. Amy didn’t trust those things to be ordinary dummies. Very little here was ordinary.
Drayke waited beside the equipment, watching them come back in. One wolf ear twitched. His training uniform was much like theirs, except his looked as though he’d actually trained in it. A lot.
Amy hadn’t expected the change of clothes to make him look any smaller, but it would have been nice. Without the robes, there was also much more of his mechanical arm on display. Light from the windows fell on the exposed parts, and she caught herself trying to follow how one connected to the next. She couldn’t begin to work out how they fitted together.
“Semi-circle. In front of me.”
Everyone hurried to get into place. Amy stayed toward the back, which did very little to stop people looking at her. Someone nearby said something about Building B. Another mentioned the students she’d saved. Could they please find something else to talk about?
“Attention.”
Drayke didn’t seem to shout, but everyone stopped talking anyway.
“This is Combat Applications. The returning students know the rules, so they can listen while I repeat them for the first-years. You follow the safety procedures. If you don’t, you leave. You respect whoever you’re fighting. And when I tell you to stop, you stop.”
He walked a few steps, gesturing with his mechanical hand. Amy could hear it whirring. “I don’t want to hear excuses afterward. Understood?”
A few students answered, “Yes.”
Apparently that was enough. Drayke nodded. “We’ll do conditioning, then some theory, then assessment matches. First-years, pay attention. Second-years, you may have forgotten a few things over the break.” He clapped. “Rows, please. Leave an arm’s length between you. Thirty minutes of exercise to start.”
Amy moved into position and tried very hard not to groan.
Push-ups, then squats, then lunges. When she thought they might be done, he had them doing planks. Drayke walked past, corrected somebody’s back, then stopped to fix another student’s stance. Amy tried to keep herself off the floor long enough for him to go elsewhere.
“You’re tired already, and nobody’s trying to hit you yet,” he said. “Having a wonderful ability won’t help when you can’t stay on your feet. Sometimes winning means lasting longer than the other person.”
By the end, Amy hurt everywhere and couldn’t get enough air. She wiped her forehead and looked at Alba, who seemed about as close to falling over as she was. Even Tallen was breathing hard. He’d looked so pleased with himself at the start, too.
[You really are out of shape.]
Amy lowered her flask long enough to try answering Libris. Nothing intelligible came out, so she went back to drinking.
“Water and a short rest,” Drayke said. “Then we’ll cover the theory.”
When he called them back, there was a round stone platform beside him. Amy was fairly sure that hadn’t been there earlier. Runes and other markings covered it, giving off a faint blue glow.
“A few things to remember before we start hitting each other,” Drayke said, walking around the platform. “You might survive a mistake here that would get you killed elsewhere, so listen.”
He raised a finger on his flesh hand. “Know how much mana you have. You will run out if you aren’t careful.”
A second finger. “Adapt. You might have a way of fighting that you like. Be prepared to abandon it if it isn’t working.”
“Study whoever you’re up against. You need to know what they can do, and what they can’t.”
“Being stronger doesn’t excuse you from thinking. Someone with a weaker ability can beat you if they know what to do with it and you don’t.”
“And work on your control. I don’t want to see you miss an opponent and injure somebody on your own side. That includes yourselves.”
While he talked, the platform went through more colors and patterns. The students kept looking between it and the professor, following the display along with his explanation.
Jesus, why is everyone so theatrical here…? Am I watching a class or a late-night show?
“I know most of you would rather use your abilities,” Drayke continued. “By all means, use them. But learn to do something else as well.”
He indicated the platform, where a small figure appeared. It drew in more and more energy until it fell over.
“Push your core too far and that could be you. Some people recover in days. Others need weeks, or months, and some never recover completely. Don’t assume the damage will go away because you give it time.”
Amy looked away from the little figure. Yes, she knew. She’d done it recently enough that she really didn’t need him showing her.
“Now, assessment matches. I’ll be watching how you fight in pairs. These aren’t fights to the death, but I’d like you to put in the effort you would if they were.”
He looked around the class. “You don’t have to reveal your ability if you don’t want to.” His mechanical hand indicated the platform. “Just remember that whoever you’re fighting may be quite happy to use theirs.”
Several first-years started whispering.
“Yes, you can keep your secrets,” Drayke said over them. “You can also get your ass kicked because you kept your secrets. In fact, you probably will. Decide which matters more to you.” He took a crystal sphere out of his pocket, and names appeared above it. “Come up when I call you. You have five minutes, unless one of you gives up or can’t continue before then.”
The early matches were mostly between second-years. Amy watched them closely. Some used their abilities almost constantly, while others seemed perfectly capable of beating someone up without much help from magic.
Then Iris Wright was called up with a boy whose name Amy missed. She moved so fast that Amy had trouble following her. Her physical enhancement seemed to be part of every movement; Amy couldn’t tell when Iris was simply striking and when the ability was helping her do it.
[Look at how little energy she wastes. Someone else could learn from that.]
Amy barely heard Libris. After everything she’d seen these past few days, it was ridiculous that watching someone use magic could still hold her attention like this. But it did.
Iris put the boy on his back. He grimaced and conceded, and the students applauded.
Drayke waited for the noise to settle before checking the sphere.
“Amy Stake and Tallen Blackwood.”
Oh, of course. Amy’s stomach sank as the people around her immediately started talking again.
“The girl from Building B?”
“She killed three of those things herself, apparently.”
She stepped out reluctantly. Across from her, Tallen looked surprised, then hesitated before moving toward the platform. Sweat had slicked his dark hair back, but he still managed to carry himself like a nobleman walking into somewhere he owned.
“Stake.” He nodded to her. “You’ve been making quite a name for yourself.”
He was nervous. Most people probably wouldn’t have noticed. Amy could tell from the way he held himself, though. He really didn’t want to lose this.
She went to the other side without replying. She felt a hum through the soles of her shoes. The runes were getting brighter.
Drayke remained at the edge. “I’ll step out and let the barrier close. Nothing you do in there will reach the people watching. Five minutes, unless someone gives up or is unable to fight before that.” He waved his mechanical hand between them. “When you’re ready.”
As he moved away, a blue dome closed over Amy and Tallen. It did very little to hide the class from view. Everyone was still watching.