23

Sion sits near the front of the room of his first class, his posture impeccable. He sits in the seat closest to the aisle of the long shared desk. Anima sits next to him while Scima and Eva sit behind them. The teacher has not yet come, leaving the classroom waiting in a strange silence.

Valere walks into the room in a slight rush, causing many of the students to straighten up in their chairs. Scima is one of the ones that does not, as he practically lies on the desk.

“Sorry I’m late, everyone. Sir Rebello was briefing me on…” He instinctively looks right towards Sion, then right at Scima with a greater intensity. “Certain things I should keep in mind when it comes to being in charge of this class. For today, I’d like to begin with introductions. I am Valere, and I will be the teacher in charge of all of you for this upcoming year. In addition to that, I am one of the swordsmanship instructors and one of the practical instructors. This is the beginning of my work as a teacher. I was working as an adventurer based out of Ecg before this.” Although they are sedated and attempts were made to hide them, several students sneer when he says he was an adventurer. Valere points towards Uro in the corner of the room furthest from Scima. “Alright, now it’s time for your introductions.”

They go across the rows as the students of the class introduce themselves to their new peers. For some reason or another, all eight of the competitors Rebello had chosen were placed in the same class. When Scima’s turn to introduce himself comes, he raises calmly, and the class makes their disdain known. There are several jeers towards him, several snide remarks told between neighbors, and a crumpled piece of paper thrown at him. Before Valere can do anything to defuse the situation, Scima begins to introduce himself.

“My name is Scima Yslende, knight of Dracabana. Let it be known that in regards to my behavior in my match with Lord Uro, I refuse to apologize. If you take issue with that, then make it known with a challenge. I’ll crush you in return.”

Eva’s turn comes right after his. She does not know how she will be received following Scima’s escalation of the issue, but she makes sure to remain composed, elegant, and graceful. Not a soul speaks, both out of respect for her presence and fear of what might happen if they did speak. Several more awkward introductions follow until it reaches Sion, who remains unfazed.

“I’m Sion. I’m from a small village near Clea. I look forward to learning with all of you.”

Sion sits back down, not having even given them enough time to say anything, not they were likely too. Scima’s immensely hostile disposition and Sion’s deeply peaceable one clashed too heavily. In a similar vein to Eva, he felt far too respectable to group in with Scima, even though many were inclined to that desire. Following Sion is Anima, who has seemed wracked by anxiety since Scima introduced himself.

“Ah… I am Anima Tredan. I’m from a merchant family in Ecg. I use Nature Magic and Summoning Magic…”

She feels she should say something more, but cannot find either a topic or words. Anima sits back down somewhat awkwardly. She discreetly glances past Sion towards the rest of the room, and sees one or two people whispering. Sion sees her looking in his direction. He inquires, trying to keep his voice low but failing to bring it down to the point of being clandestine.

“Anima, what are you looking at? Is something wrong?” Anima answers him quietly, her voice kind.

“No, it’s nothing… well, I’ll tell you later.”

They both turn back towards the front of the room. Valere continues the class now that everyone has introduced themselves. He begins to explain the course of the academic year, telling the new students when they will and won’t have classes, and when the previously mentioned routine diagnostic exams will occur. He then passes out a map of the academy grounds and begins an explanation of that. He tells them where every important facility is located and what purpose each building has. Once he finishes, Valere dismisses the class for the day.

Once they’re outside the classroom, Sion, Anima, Scima, and Eva stand around in a small group. Sion looks at Anima.

“Will you tell me now?” Scima and Eva both turn towards Anima, who answers him promptly.

“Well, it’s just…” She looks at Scima and Eva. “Actually… If it’s alright, could you leave us alone for this?” Scima reacts quickly.

“Oh my, how scandalous.” Eva pulls him away as she begins to walk off.

“Alright, we’ll see you later then.” Anima turns back to Sion.

“So, the thing is… Scima is just way more hated than I thought he would be. It was making me nervous.”

“I guess Scima really is hated. I hardly noticed.”

“How could you not notice?”

“I haven’t seen much hatred, I guess.”

“That’s lucky, I guess. Well, getting back on topic, it’s even worse because he’s provoking everyone. And I’m sure people are grouping us together, since we’re all from Dracabana. And plenty of people probably realized that you’re connected to both them and me, even if they hadn’t seen me before.”

“I see. I hope Scima realizes he’s wrong soon and apologizes.” Anima looks confused and slightly surprised.

“You don’t think we should be doing anything?”

“Father Cynde often said that it’s oftentimes better not to scold somebody until they’re willing to listen. He said that if you chided somebody while they still thought they were in the right, they would just double down on their behavior. So I think it’s best to wait, and give Scima the time to reach the conclusion himself.”

“I guess he already kind of is doing that already. Doubling down, I mean.” Anima looks at Sion’s face. “Sion, can you help me find an animal?”

“An animal?”

“For my Summoning Magic.”

“I see. Why so suddenly?” Anima gets slightly bashful.

“That’s a secret. Will you help me?”

“Of course I will.”

“Thank you. I guess the first thing to do is figure out where to go. Should we go to the library?” Sion considers it for a moment.

“No, I think there’s a better option. Follow me.”

“Sion, why did we go to a church?”

“One of the duties of churches is to keep records of the surrounding lands, so the priests will know where the best animals are.”

“I never knew that.”

Sion and Anima walk into the church. At present there are few parishioners inside and no sort of event occurring, making it an opportune time to talk to a priest directly. The first Sion spots is a very old man wearing a priest’s vestments. Although he seems weak, he stays standing. He hunches heavily over his cane. He has no facial hair and the top of his head is bald, leaving only white hair on the sides of his head. His face has deep wrinkles and his eyes are squinted closed behind his round glasses. Sion approaches him calmly, with a slow gait, and Anima follows him at the same pace.

“Excuse me, Father, we have a request, if that’s alright.” The old man looks at the two of them.

“Oh my, I don’t believe I have seen you two before. Are you students at Sagax Academy? I am Mitis, the priest overlooking this church. I would be happy to assist you so long as it is within my power.”

“Father Mitis…” Just as he is about to continue, Sion decides to defer to Anima. She catches on right away and makes her request.

“I heard that the church has materials on the land surrounding the city, and we were wondering if it would be alright if we looked at them.”

“Of course, of course. Those records are for the sake of the people we serve, you know. Might I ask what you need them for.”

“We’re looking for animals.”

Father Mitis guides the two of them into an office connected to the main hall of the church. Inside is a cluttered desk and shelves filled to the brim with scrolls, books, and loose sheets of paper. Father Mitis looks through some of the scrolls, then pulls one out. He makes some room on the desk and unfurls it to reveal a map of Messis and the surrounding lands. He begins pointing around on the map.

“There are animals all around Messis. The best places, I feel, are the beaches near the port town, or this forest. There are animals in the plains too, of course, but not many because of the wards. Both the beach and the forest are about the same distance from the city, but they have some major differences. The beaches are full of people, even at a time like this, so it’s quite a bit safer. I would recommend you go there.” Sion lowers his head to him.

“Thank you, Father. I think that’s all we need, so we should leave soon.”

“It’s always a pleasure to help out young ones like you. Safe travels.”

Sion and Anima leave the church. Once they’re outside, Anima looks at Sion.

“I think we should go to the forest.”

“Alright. We can ride Regn and get there faster.”

“Thank you.”

Sion and Anima disembark from Regn at the entrance carved into the forest. Sion rubs Regn’s head gently.

“Regn, can you wait for us out here?” Regn whimpers slightly, but sits properly as Sion and Anima enter the forest.

The forest isn’t very dense, letting them walk through easily. It’s clear that the people of Messis come to the forest often and the city maintains it well to that end. Sion feels at peace in the quiet of the forest, reminded of the forest near his village. As he thinks with nostalgia of a life only a few weeks past, a small bird begins to fly close to him and Anima. It chirps as it circles around them. Sion puts out one finger as the bird passes by and the bird stops to land on it. As it rests on Sion, it begins to sing. Soon enough, several more small forest creatures have gathered around Sion. They stay peaceable, even when in other cases they might be in competition. Anima smiles at the sight.

“I’ve never seen animals do this before.”

“I don’t know why, but animals seem to like me. Would any of these work for your magic?”

Before Anima can answer in the affirmative, another animal appears from deeper within the forest, perhaps drawn by the same thing as the others. A large deer emerges from the trees. Its head reaches to Sion’s chest, and its antlers reach beyond his head. Each of the four tines on each antler is sharp and pointed. Its body is muscular and its demeanor almost regal. The deer otherwise looks ordinary, save for its piercing blue eyes.

As it looks at Sion, it begins to bray and roar. The deer charges at Sion, its antlers aimed to skewer him. Sion shakes off the animals around him and faces the deer head-on. Sion grabs the deer by the antlers and holds it in place. It shakes its head to try to escape, but cannot. Before Sion can do anything more, however, Anima calls out to him.

“Sion, if it’s alright can you leave this to me?”

“Okay. Good luck.” Sion lets go of the deer’s antlers and takes a step back.

Anima shoots out a vine and whips the deer. The deer turns and begins to charge at Anima instead. As it runs, Anima shoots a vine out of the grass. It wraps around the bottom of the deer’s hind legs. The deer keeps running regardless. Rather than trip on its bindings, the deer begins to tear the vines apart. As one vine snaps, Anima summons several more. The vines wrap around the deer and pull it down and away from Anima. The deer keeps trying to run, still able to rip some of the vines as it proceeds.

At last Anima proves victorious. Right in front of her, the vines almost completely consume the deer as they hold it down against the grass. Even as the deer continues to struggle, the vines hold strong. Anima sighs with relief, then puts out a hand.

“Familiar Contract.” A glowing sigil appears in the air between Anima and the deer. “Will you come with me?”

The deer continues to struggle for a while. When it finally stops, the sigil glows brightly then vanishes. Anima unfurls the vines, allowing the deer to stand proud once more. It has grown more docile now that Anima’s spell has taken effect. It lowers its body to allow Anima to ride atop him, and Anima does so. They walk out of the forest, having accomplished Anima’s goal.

Once outside, Regn bounds towards Sion. The deer does not shy away from Regn, a rarity among creatures smaller and weaker than Regn. As Sion and Anima ride back to Messis, Regn slowing to match the deers pace, they talk.

“I guess I need to name him now… Sion, do you have any ideas?” Sion thinks for a moment.

“Pryte.”

“I like it. I didn’t think I’d be so easy. Thank you, Sion.”