Discordance III / Repeat…?

The following days were agony. I had been alone for most of my life, yet this suffering was beyond anything I’d experienced before.

A few times, we’d crossed paths in the corridors between classes, or in the dining hall during a meal. Each time, I’d feel an indescribable urge to chase after her, apologize, and beg for forgiveness. But I never did; I had no right to do so.

She, in turn, would stride past me, head pointed down, in silence. I knew she wanted nothing to do with me, and if that was the last gift I could give to her, then I would deliver it without complaint.

But, despite the size of Fordin Academy, it was impossible to avoid her entirely. Our weekly Inheritor Combat Training was one such circumstance.

Thwoomp! I parried the incoming arrow without a thought, my mind elsewhere.

“Tsk. At least pretend like you’re paying attention! You’re lucky I’m only firing freebies,” Mara, my current training partner, snapped.

We’re warming up right now! Why the hell would you do anything less?

I said nothing. In fact, I probably hadn’t uttered a single word in the past day or two. I was sure it was obvious to my friends that something was going on, but I found myself unable to reach out to them.

Because what if they find out how awful I really am? What if they start to hate me too?

Thwoomp! Crack! If I had to speak, I would speak with my sword.

“If the Foreigner won’t focus, stop holding back and nail him with a good one. Kid’s gotta learn that losing concentration in battle will get him killed.” An unexpected voice cut through our repetitions to offer some questionable advice.

“Vandan, try not to advise your peers to assault their fellow students,” Professor Anellia said, already fed up with him.

He huffed to show his disapproval but did not press further. Rather, he continued to watch the rest of us perform our rote exercises from the sidelines.

This was only the second time Vandan had shown up for our class, barring the incident with the Fragments. Though he always insisted he had no interest in us, he seemed to be here to observe our progress.

Professor Anellia, deciding we’d warmed up enough, soon clapped for our attention. “I’d like to begin class in earnest. Please, line up. And Shina, I want you to go first, so stand in front.”

The six of us in the center of the training yard obeyed her command without question, but Vandan remained rooted. I hadn’t expected anything less, but it appeared that Professor Anellia did.

“Vandan, you too,” she ordered.

“I have nothing to prove to these people, but they have plenty to prove to me. Just get on with it.”

“Vandan!” She lowered her voice to sound more authoritative, but Professor Anellia wasn’t an intimidating person to begin with, so it came off as more endearing than imposing.

He grunted. “Hurry up and get this rolling, A… Ad… An…” His words trailed off as he stared at Professor Anellia. Several seconds passed before he finally finished, “… um, Teach.”

“This is a joke, right? You do know my name, right? Right?”

“…”

“I’ve been your teacher for almost a year now! Respect me a little!” she whimpered in an exaggerated manner. Knowing she wouldn’t get through to him, she placed her hands on her hips and said, “Mrgh. Go ahead Shina.”

Upon hearing Professor Anellia’s request, Shina took a deep breath to summon her determination, and then she stepped forward to begin her performance.

“I know I don’t need to remind you, but Ames Nori’s greatest strength is its armor. Ideally, we want at least three or four of you capable of piercing it, so from now on, we’ll start working to improve your raw power output. Next week, I’ll have each of you show off the strongest attack you can unleash currently, and we can work from there.”

That had been Professor Anellia’s outline for today’s class, and the reason I presumed Vandan was here.

Shina conjured her staff as she turned toward the center of the arena. “C-can I begin, Professor?”

Professor Anellia gave an affirmative reply, a goofy grin on her face. She got hyped for things like this easily, so I had to wonder whether these displays were truly for our sake or hers.

Shina drew a sharp breath and gripped her staff with both hands. Then, a second later, she began her chant.

“Amest askeves nultereo annantis lyostives omeste worato!”

Her enunciation of each word was careful and precise, and as the final syllable rang out, the earth began to convulse as if screaming out in pain.

“What the—” One of my comrades attempted to express their disbelief, but a deafening scraping sound drowned them out.

A moment later, it slid forth from the ground, ascending skyward at an impossible speed. A colossal tower of ice, several feet wide and over a hundred feet tall, tore apart the heavens before our very eyes.

All at once, the sound and shaking ceased, leaving the frozen pillar as the only remnant of her grand work. We were all left utterly speechless at the spectacle.

That was, until Shina stumbled backward and violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Shina!”

Mara, who had been the closest, managed to catch her before she collapsed to the ground, and the rest of us arrived a split second later.

“Are you okay?”

“Can you breathe?”

“Do you need a healer?”

Several concerned voices bombarded her with questions, but I remained silent as my footsteps drew close.

Say something!

I couldn’t speak.

Do something!

I couldn’t take another step toward her.

You should be the one holding her! You should be comforting her! What are you doing!?

Pathetic as I was, I was too afraid to reach out to her, even now.

She doesn’t want to see me. She doesn’t want me to be here. I’d just make it worse. I’d—

“I-I’m okay,” Shina muttered. “It just… took more out of me than I expected.”

She pressed her feet to the ground once more, and although unsteady, she held her balance as Mara gently removed her hands.

“Are you sure?” Mara asked. “That was a lot of blood.”

Shina nodded. “That’s a regular symptom of mana overuse. I’ll be a little lightheaded for the rest of the day, but I should be fine tomorrow.”

“We should have Professor Estor check you out, just in case,” Professor Anellia said, her voice tinged with concern.

Acceding to the request, Shina wobbled past us, wincing with each step. Mara followed close behind, ready to catch her should she fall.

Dammit! What am I doing?

I wanted to grab her hand. I wanted to walk with her. I wanted to prop her up, to let her lean on me, to carry her if she needed it.

I wanted to support her. I wanted to hold her close. I wanted to tell her how relieved I was to see she was okay. I wanted to pat her on the head and praise her for how amazing her spell was.

I didn’t know if my feelings were selfish or selfless, but I didn’t care.

Even if she hates me…

I swallowed my hesitation.

… I want to be there for her!

“Shin—”

“Pathetic.” The one person to have held their ground during the frenzy made their thoughts known, and everyone froze as his commanding voice washed over us.

“W-what?” Shina stared at Vandan, unsure of what else to say.

“You heard me. That spell was worthless. Even I expected better.” Disappointment melded with anger in his tone.

“What are you…” Suddenly, Shina clenched one of her fists. “What are you saying!? I put everything I had into that! D-don’t call it ‘pathetic’ or ‘worthless’. Even if it wasn’t perfect, I—”

“We need perfect. It’s already been months since Ames Nori last appeared; we probably only have one or two left.” His intimidating growl was enough to stifle any challenge with ease. “Do you seriously believe you’d be able to land a spell that slow against a moving target? Who gives a shit how much power it packs if it’ll never strike anything? And if your body is reacting like that even at peak capacity, you’d just kill yourself trying to cast it in a real fight.”

Although the points of his critique weren’t necessarily incorrect, they were all weaknesses she could improve through practice, not inherent faults of Shina as a person. Yet to Vandan, those concepts were one in the same.

It was obvious from the look on Shina’s face that she was terrified to confront him, but the brave girl stood her ground. “I-I know it’s not good enough yet, b-but I based this spell on Grandfather’s, so if I consult him, I’m sure—”

Vandan broke out into harsh, demeaning laughter. “Asdana Oryn? You think seeking advice from a disgraced charlatan like him will do anything?”

Shina’s face grew pale. “Y-you know… about Grandfather?”

“And that entire shitty line you seem so proud of. But it’s not just you. I’ve looked into all of you, hoping to find at least a hint of potential somewhere. But it looks like I was right all along. You’re all useless. I don’t know why I expected anything less.”

Although it had withstood round after round of Vandan’s abuse until now, Shina’s heart finally shattered. She turned her gaze down in a futile effort to conceal the tears streaming down her face, but I had already seen them.

And I would not excuse it.

Having grown disinterested, Vandan turned to exit the arena.

“You hypocrite!” In a flash, I closed the distance between us and grabbed his shoulder, flinging his body around to face mine. “We’ve been training and growing together for months, but you believe you can judge our entire worth in a few seconds? Bullshit! And if you think you can reduce Shina to nothing more than a single spell, you’re an idiot. She’s worth far more than you’ll ever be! And that goes for all of us. You have no right to look down on us when you have no idea what we’re capable of!”

Vandan pushed me off of him, but I maintained my balance and stood tall in the face of his imposing frame.

“Then prove it, Foreigner. If you think you can do jack shit, prove it.” A grin of malice accompanied his threat.

“Fine. But it’s not just me. I want you to recognize all of us. You would have no idea since you’ve never bothered to stick around, but we’ve been pushing each other and learning to work together this whole time. We’re a team, and you’d better respect every single one of us!”

His glare sharpened. “If you can show me that your training has amounted to anything, then fine, I’ll acknowledge you and the others. But are you really up for the task?”

“You want a duel, right? Like what you asked for when we first met.” I refused to shrink from his fierce gaze.

“Yeah, a duel. And to make it fair, I’ll give you five shots. If you can land one clean hit before I can land five, I’ll take your delusions at face value and consider your pathetic group to be worth a damn.”

Five lives to one. Even with that handicap, I’m still outclassed. I don’t measure up to Vandan in the slightest.

But I’m better off than I used to be, and I’m only where I am today because of them.

Shina, Akio, Mara, Kerne, and even Fleur. I can only stand here now because of what they’ve given me.

So if he insists on doubting them, I’ll show him the culmination of their efforts!

I took a deep breath.

“Three.” I uttered something insane.

“What?” For the first time, Vandan looked surprised.

“I told you not to underestimate us. Give me three, and I’ll prove you wrong.”