The Beginning After The End (Beckoning Fates Book 3) (24 page)

‘Papa, Avier told me to head over to the training room again.’
 
Sylvie thumps my nose with her paw to
grab my attention.

‘Is Avier Director Goodsky’s green owl?
 
How can you talk with it?’
 
I ask my bond but she doesn’t really
know why either.
 

“Hey Emily, I have to head over to the library so I’ll be skipping
lunch.
 
Go ahead without me!”
 
I wave at my friend.

“Do you want me to go with you?”
 
She looks at me but I just shake my head.

“It’s fine.
 
Go find Elijah for
me!
 
He’ll be lonely if I’m not
there.”
 
I give her a smile before
running off in the direction of the library/training rooms.
 

“Good afternoon, Mr. Leywin.”
 
Chloe greets me with a professional smile and a bow before motioning me
to the back door.

“Nice to see you again, Chloe.”
 
I smile back, following behind her with Sylvie wagging her tail on top
of my head.
 

After passing by the scary man, I made my way downstairs without the help
of Chloe this time.
 
‘Hopefully
Elijah won’t be too bored hanging out with Emily, right Sylv?’

“Kyu~” ‘He’ll be okay!’ my bond reassures me.
 

As I place my right palm against the giant cold doors after reaching my
room, a bright light once again greets me.
 

“Boo!”
 
Tessia jumps from the
side of the door with her hands out wide.

“Hey, Tess.”
 
I respond
nonchalantly.
 

“Aww… you weren’t scared.
 
No
fun.”
 
She grumbles while catching
Sylvie who jumped off my head.

“Haha.
 
You’ll have to try a lot
better than that.
 
Come on, let’s
get started with your assimilation.”
 
I push her towards the center of the training room.
 
It’s amazing how dense the air was with
mana in this room compared to outside.
 
Even the very fact that there was grass and a waterfall put me in awe
every time I came in.
 

“How’s your body been feeling lately?
 
Are you still getting symptoms of rejection from your Beast Will?”
 
I ask while Tess takes a seat near the
pond.
 

“I haven’t gotten it ever since the last time we were here...” She responds
but turns quiet afterwards.

“Hey, Art?”
 
Turning her head
back, I see Tess’ long grey eyelashes fluttering over her distinct teal
eyes.
 

“Hmm?”
 

“
I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Well…compared to you, I’m so emotional and so I feel like you get
overwhelmed and just end up following my selfishness.”
 
Tess’ gaze shifts down as she says this.

“Ah, so you do know.”
 
I smirk
in response, which earns me a smack to my arm.

“We’ve known each other for how long, Tess?
 
At this point, you can trust that you’ve
seen all sides of me, even the ones I don’t want to show.
 
Even knowing that, the fact that you
accept me and have patience with me, I’m grateful.
 
Don’t ever think that what I’m doing is
out of obligation.”
 
Ruffling the
downhearted princess’s hair, we begin the assimilation.
 

Tess’ mana core has come a long way.
 
At her age, being a solid orange stage Conjurer is on the level of being
classified as a genius.
 
While she
isn’t able to refine her mana core until the assimilation is over, it shouldn’t
affect her too much.
 
While mine
took years, I estimate that with my help, it should only take a couple more
weeks for her to completely assimilate with the Elderwood Guardian’s beast
will.
 

“Let’s end it here today.”
 
I
pat Tess’ back to signal that we were done.
 

“Thanks.”
 
Tess shoots me a shy
smile as we both sit in the grass, the only sound coming from the waterfall and
Sylvie’s soft breathing.

“I-I know you said to give you time but, do you think I can maybe hold your
hand right now?
 
Just for a
bit?
 
If not, it’s okay I-I won’t be
mad.”
 
Tess couldn’t look me in the
eyes while stuttering.
 
While her
hair was covering her face, she couldn’t hide her red ears poking slightly out.

I gently grab Tess’ right hand with my left and squeeze firmly.
 
While our fingers weren’t interlocked,
the warmth from her hands spread onto mine.
 

“Is this okay?”
 
I try to take a
peek at Tess’ face but she leaves it covered.
 
I couldn’t help but smile when she
nodded her head furiously in response to my question.
 

For a couple of seconds, time seemed to go slower as we just sat there,
hands locked.

For the past several weeks, nothing
noteworthy happened, yet I was kept busy enough to not have time to visit my
family.
 
Disciplinary Committee
duties took up all of the time that I had remaining aside from school and
training.

The class that I taught had a
harder time than I expected when it came to divergent training, which I named
it.
 
The whole aspect of focusing
mana into a single point proved to be difficult for all of the Augmenters in
the class while reabsorbing a conjured spell was even more arduous of a task
for the Conjurers.

So far, out of the Augmenters, only
a student named Benson managed to do anything remotely close to what I had in
mind.
 
As for the Conjurers, only
Kathyln succeeded in reabsorbing her spell and enhancing her body.
 
Even then, she only succeeded in
“augmenting” her hand.
 
Feyrith was
a close second as he was the only other student on the brink of success.
 

My Deviant Magic Theory class has
been moving along quite slowly as our Professor explicitly explained that she
will cover new material after we finish our mid-semester tests.
 
Since a semester is 16 weeks long and
we’ve only gone through 4 weeks of school, it’ll take another 4 weeks until
she’ll start going over what I want know.

“Are you excited for the excursion
trip we’re going to have this weekend?”
 
Tess leans in closer as she asks.
 

The two of us, along with Sylvie,
were inside the training room during lunch.
 
I had just finished helping her with
assimilation.
 
By my estimation,
Tess needs about one or two more weeks to fully assimilate, which worries me
because, until then, she is very limited in how much magic she can use.
 

“Hmm? Eh, we’re only exploring the
first three floors, right?
 
I doubt
we’ll find anything worth getting excited over.”
 
I just shrug.
 

This Saturday, we were to have a
one-night trip to the outskirts of the Beast Glades with our Team-Fighting
Mechanics class.
 
Professor Glory
received permission from Director Goodsky on the condition that we were not
allowed to go past the third floor of the dungeon we planned on exploring.
 

The dungeon was a minor one and a
popular site for new Adventurers since the mana beasts in the upper levels were
only E class so Professor Glory thought it would be a great way to have the
class get in some real life team-fighting mechanics practice.
 

“Pshhh… You’re no fun.
 
I bet you’re actually really nervous
that we’ll be in the Beast Glades.
 
I heard about it a lot from Grandpa.
 
He says that it’s filled with a lot of
mysteries and wonders but also dangers.
 
Grandpa said to never truly trust any source of information about the
Beast Glades because it always changes.”
 
Tess gets lost in her thoughts about how exciting our short trip was
going to be.
 

“We’re going to be fighting against
real mana beasts!
 
Can you believe
it?
 
I mean, I’ve fought against a
couple in Elshire Forest while I was training with Grandpa but I heard Mana
Beats are different in the Beast Glades, you know, more vicious.
 
We’re going to be sleeping in the
dungeon too!
 
That’s so
exciting!”
 
Her eyes begin to
sparkle as she imagines camping underground, surrounded by mana beasts.

Giving her a soft flick to her
forehead, I wake Tess up from dreamland.
 
“Just remember, you’re probably not even at half your strength right now
and the assimilation isn’t going to be in time for the class expedition.
 
Don’t get full of yourself.”
 

“Oww… I know I know!
 
Sheesh, you don’t have to baby me so
much.”
 
She pouts while rubbing her
forehead.

“Do you remember when we slept
together in the same tent?”
 
My face
turns into an evil grin as Tess’ face turns red immediately.
 

“Kyu?”
 
Sylvie tilts her head in curiosity since
she wasn’t born when this happened.

“What did you say again?
 
Ahh!”
 
Putting on a frightened face, I look at
my blushing childhood friend.

“A-Arthur?
 
W-well!  You see… beasts will more
likely appear if they notice you because they will see that you are a child.
 Therefore, I propose that for our s-safety that it would be better for
you to c-come inside the tent.”
 
I
say in a high-pitched voice, mocking Tess.

“Uuu!
 
You asked for it!”
 
She jumps on top of me and starts poking
me hard as I continue laughing.
 

“Owowowow!
 
Hahaha~ okay!
 
I’m sorry
I give
,
I give
!
 
Tess… hahaha… I’ll stop!”
 
Tears form in my eyes as I continue laughing and crying in pain.
 

“Kyuu!”
 
‘Me too, I want to play too!’
 
Sylvie hops around us.

Eventually, she comes to a stop as
I lay panting on the ground, catching my breath with Tess sitting on top of
me.
 
Looking at my childhood friend,
I notice that her face was still red.
 
Realizing almost immediately after what sort of position we were in, I
couldn’t help but get hot as well, as Tess lowers her head closer to mine.

“Hoho~ I see you two are getting
along well.
 
Virion will surely be
happy.”
 
The voice catches the both
of us by surprise and Tess immediately gets off me while we distance ourselves
from each other in embarrassment.

Director Goodsky walks up to us
with an amused look on her face.
 
How she got in without either of us noticing is beyond me but I couldn’t
hide the awkwardness in my face as she looked at me.

“Fufu~ how is the assimilation
going?”
 
Saving us some face,
Director Goodsky changes the topic.

“It-
it’s going
well!
 
Art helped me a lot these
past couple of weeks and I feel a lot better!
 
I haven’t been feeling any pains from
the rejection lately and as long as I don’t use magic too much, I think I’ll be
okay!”
 
The flustered Tess scrambles
her words as she flails her arms to hide her embarrassment.

“She should be fully assimilated
with her beast will in about a week or two.”
 
I clarify after calming myself.
 

“Hmmm…” Director Goodsky nods at me
before she kneels down in front of the still red Tess.
 
Gently placing her hand above Tess’
stomach, Director Goodsky closes her eyes to sense Tess’ mana core.

After a brief moment, she retracts
her hand and nods, satisfied.
 
“Good, good.
 
I’m glad that
there were no troubles along the way.
 
I knew I could trust you, Arthur.”
 
She says to me before getting back up.
 

“Where have you been these past
couple of weeks though, Director?
 
You were always in contact from what I heard, but I noticed you haven’t
been inside the Academy for a while now.
 
Did you just get back?”
 
I
say, tilting my head.
 
My eyes
couldn’t help focusing on the small cut she had on her other hand.

“Ah yes.
 
I’ve been away for some personal
reasons.
 
I am back now though, so
come to my office if you need anything.”
 
Director Goodsky quickly covers her hand and gives me a soft,
grandmotherly smile.
 

“I better get going now,
though.
 
I have a lot of work to
catch up on.
 
Be sure not to
overexert yourself, little one.
 
Be
especially careful while you are inside the dungeons.
 
One should never underestimate even the
lowest level mana beasts.”
 
Director
Goodsky gently pats Tess’ hair before disappearing with a wisp.

“S-so what are your plans after
this?”
 
Tessia says, trying to break
the awkward silence that the Director left us in.
 

“After classes, there’s an
emergency meeting for the Disciplinary Committee since Curtis, Claire and I are
going to be away from campus over the weekend.
 
We’ll have to work on some of the
details in case an
emergency arises
while the three of us aren’t here.
 
After that, I’ll probably go back home for the first time and sleep
there.
 
I’ll get back to campus by
tomorrow morning in time to head out for the excursion.
 
What about you?”
 
I say while leaning back.

“Well, Professor Glory said there
won’t be any class today since she wanted us to rest for the excursion tomorrow
so I’m free until the Student Council meeting.
 
We have to go over a couple of things on
the agenda since both Clive and I won’t be there either.”
 
Tess responds a lot more calmly
now.
 
I had to admit she was pretty
cute while she was playing with Sylvie’s paws.

 
After spending a bit more time talking to
Tess, I eventually had to leave to go to my remaining classes.
 
Even though we didn’t have our
Team-Fighting Mechanics class, my other two classes seemed to drag on forever
as we already started reviewing for our mid-semester exams.
 

“That will be it for today,
class.
 
Remember to keep up with
your studying instead of procrastinating and cramming it all on the night
before.
 
I know you all
love
doing that
.”
 
Professor Mayner says
sarcastically as he hands out some review sheets on basic spell
formations.
 
After my last class was
over I trudged on towards the Disciplinary Committee room with Sylvie weighing
down particularly heavily on my head tonight.
 

“I trust that you guys will be able to handle keeping the Academy in check
while the three of us are out.
 
We’ve been through a couple of the emergency procedures these past two
weeks so I’m confident that everything will be fine.
 
As you all know, Kai is in command while
I am out.
 
Remember that Director
Goodsky is back and on campus so if things go for the worse, don’t hesitate to
have her help, although, unless it’s serious, I doubt there will be a need
to.
 
Dismissed!”
 
Claire claps her hands as the rest of us
get up.

“Twer…I mean Arthur.
 
I want
another practice match with you.”
 
Theo places a hand on my shoulder as I head down the stairs.

“No!
 
It’s my turn.
 
You lost to him last time so I get to
try now!”
 
Doradrea squeezes in
between us and looks up at me with her masculine face.
 

“Grr… That didn’t count!
 
It was
a lucky break that he just had, that’s all.”
 
Theo refuted, his face red from both
anger and embarrassment.

“No can do, Theo, Doradrea.
 
I’m
going home to my family tonight.
 
My
driver is already waiting for me outside of the Academy.”
 
I shrug, hopping down the stairs without
giving them the time to convince me to stay.

“You have the protection ring that Father gave you, right?
 
Use it immediately if you feel like
you’re in trouble.
 
Promise me that,
okay?”
 
I hear Curtis worriedly nag
at his younger sister.
 
We’ll be
leaving early tomorrow morning so tonight was probably the last time he’d be
able to see her until we get back Sunday night.
 

Kathyln just responds with a silent nod, her face expressionless as
always.
 
She catches me looking at
the both of them and quickly turns her head away.
 
Curtis leaves his sister and walks
towards me.