Annabelle’s Bastion

As she headed to the main building, Anna was surprised to find no indication of Jared, Ashton, and their group. She half expected there to be someone waiting for her to show up. Just seeing her seemed to make Jared boil in rage, so she didn’t expect him to be willing to wait.

If they thought she was cheating, wouldn’t waiting make the disparity worse?

Anna arrived at the plaza shortly after—a beautiful fountain surrounded by benches and trees—separating the main academy building from the rest of the island. It was a nice, sunny day with a cloudless sky and a pleasant wind.

She caught a few of the teacher’s gazes, but none settled on her for long.

“I feel like I haven’t felt the sun in weeks,” she mumbled, then chuckled wryly. “So this is what it feels like to be you, Sarah.”

The plaza had few students but a large number of official mages wandering about.

Of course, most students were likely in a scramble trying to figure out which classes to take or bugging teachers for aid on the tablet. Gromak did say that they had more mages than she’d think of off-planet helping out with student help requests made through the tablets.

She shook her head and scanned the crowd to find a target.

Either the mages wore fancy clothes like suits or some type of mage robes; there was almost no in-between. At least the clothing choices made it easier for Anna to find someone who might be of some importance.

Target spotted, and Anna carefully approached.

“Excuse me, Sir.” 

“Hm?” 

“Uh…”

Anna nervously swallowed and fought the overwhelming desire to say never mind and leave—to apologize for disturbing the beast.

The mage was a tall man with short brown hair slicked back and piercing hazel eyes in a perpetual glare. He had a short beard, and a scar ran down the left side of his face, with his eye behind a simple patch. He wore some kind of military-esque uniform with a black coat with the same logo Anna saw on the tablet and a pair of dark cargo pants. He looked like he was impatiently waiting for someone, checking the watch on his wrist and tapping his foot.

In conclusion… she chose the wrong person!

Just being around him, Anna felt something primal—a deadly violence, along with an almost irresistible urge to run away. It practically oozed out of him like an aura of death, and she stood face-to-face with Thagrin!

“You’re a student?” The man squinted. “What the fu—” He cleared his throat. “What do you want?”

“Uh...” Anna swallowed again and dug up some courage. “H-hello… sir. My n-name is Annabelle Frost.”

That was embarrassing.

Anna took a few deep, calming breaths. Not that it helped when the presence of the man felt like a tangible pressure.

“I didn’t ask for your fucking name.” That fake decorum dropped quickly as his uncovered eye squinted. He crossed his arms. “What do you want?”

“I-I’d like to speak with Alisha... sir.”

That word tasted terrible.

His eye widened for a moment before he scowled. “What the fuck makes you think you have the right to speak with your headmaster?”

Anna’s turn to have widened eyes.

She knew Alisha was important, but she didn’t think she was the leader of the entire island! Not only did she control the academy but also all of Bastion’s Earth activities!

But she didn’t have time to take in that reveal. The man’s scowl almost made it seem like he would smite Anna where she stood if he didn’t like her answer.

“Ah... Sir, Alisha was the one who—”

A lighthearted giggle filled the air around them, the air around Anna feeling a bit lighter. “Down, Jaxon.” 

That light, simultaneously immature sounding, yet mature voice... it was Alisha.

Anna whipped her head behind her but couldn’t find the source.

“Ma’am?” The man, Jaxon, exclaimed. Similarly to Anna, he looked around but couldn’t find anything. His tone was far different than with Anna—deference.

Suddenly, a hand lightly pulled on Anna’s ear. “Boo!” 

Anna jolted and spun around.

There she was!

“You scared the hell out of me!” Anna exclaimed as she placed her hands atop her chest.

The woman who recruited Anna a week ago. Wearing the most normal, boring clothes possible; a dark pair of pants and a hoodie. Her mask was the same, and those mesmerizing dark blue eyes had a glint of playfulness.

Similar to when Alisha was in her room, Anna could feel her smirk behind that mask.

“Ma’am! What the fu—” Jaxon quickly cleared his throat. “What are you doing out here?” His change in demeanor was oddly cute.

Alisha put her hands in her hoodie pockets and shrugged. “I’ve been bored out of my mind all day! The restructure has long been finished, and entertaining the princess here is just what I needed.”

Hearing that nickname brought a wave of nostalgia. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d miss home after being away for a week and experiencing so much. Suddenly, she longed to hear her friends say that name again.

“Princess?” Jaxon analyzed Anna. “I suppose I can see it.”

Jaxon didn’t feel nearly as threatening anymore.

“Yup, but she doesn’t like it when you call her that!” 

That broke Anna from her stupor, and she nodded. “I don’t.”

But how did she know that? Anna recalled Alisha using it back in her home, but she had forgotten about it. So she really did interrogate her friends or stalked her!

Which also reminded her that she should rip into Alisha for letting her fill a suitcase collecting dust in her dorm room.

Grievances were piling on for this so-called headmaster.

“If the shoe fits...” Jaxon shook his head. “Whatever. Do you have business with this student, Ma’am?”

“Nope!” She chuckled, and before Anna could object she said, “Well, maybe.” Alisha pat Anna’s shoulder. “I was the one to recruit her, after all; the least I can do is listen to her woes.”

Jaxon’s eyes widened, and he looked at Anna with renewed interest. “You recruited her? Personally?”

Anna felt like a slab of meat under that violent gaze. Shortly after, his nose curled; he didn’t look satisfied with what he saw.

Alisha stood beside Anna and pat her shoulder again, like showing off a car to a friend. “Yup, last year.”

Jaxon’s brows raised slightly. “Can you tell—”

“Nope.”

Jaxon sighed. “Alright… Ma’am. Then I’ll take my leave… if you’re fine with her request to speak with you.”

Alisha exasperatingly shook her head. “My subordinates are like stray puppies sometimes.” She wryly and turned to Anna. “Annabelle, wait here for a moment while I speak with my lost lamb.”

“Uh... okay.”

She moved away and beckoned Jacon to follow. “Come, Jaxon.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

It wasn’t often that Anna felt like a third wheel or that she was talked about like she wasn’t there.

Jaxon and Alisha communicated privately a little ways away, by the bridge. She gleaned a lot from Jaxon’s face; his occasional glances toward Anna, his widened eyes, and his scowl. They were discussing her and were likely talking about why she was special.

Such an important secret right in front of her! If only she had an invisibility Sigil.

Eventually, Alisha returned to her, and Jaxon walked away without a second glance.

“What was that about?” Anna asked.

“They’re a loyal bunch. I felt a little bad for keeping him in the dark.” Alisha sighed and beckoned Anna forward. “Let’s go somewhere before we get harassed by the others.”

Anna followed slightly behind. “I take it you won’t tell me what you were discussing?” 

“Nope!” Alisha said, then giggled like she just performed a prank. ”You’ll find out eventually, but it definitely won’t be from my mouth.”

What more could Anna do? It was far from her place to be incessant about it, and all they had to do was reject her every time. She didn’t want to make anybody upset by harassing them about it.

For now, she was helpless.

Whatever. It wasn’t that big a deal for Anna to know… yet. It was only a matter of time until someone slipped, and it became too much to hide.

Anna sighed helplessly. “I wanted to talk about the paths.”

“I know.”

“What?” Anna froze.

Alisha stopped and turned around, a mischievous glint in her eyes. ”You’re my recruit; of course, I’ve been watching you.”

“How much? How often?”

“I’m no peeping tom, but I check in occasionally.” Alisha started moving again. “You never know when I’m lurking in the shadows.”

A shiver crawled up Anna’s spine. “That’s a contradiction!” 

Alisha chuckled. “I’m glad you came to me, and I can’t fault the reasoning behind doing so.”

Anna narrowed her eyes. “You think I’ll brush it off just like that?”

“Yup! I’m a busy woman; better get straight to it, little lady.”

Anna clicked her tongue. “Fine. What do you think I should do?”

“Good girl... As for your path? Well…” Alisha chuckled in amusement. “I probably should have told you earlier… but I was super busy! You don’t have a choice.”

Anna froze, “Huh?” 

“Yup.” Alisha nodded, clearly enjoying Anna’s reaction. “You only have one option available to you. Well, technically, a few, but one is the obvious best and is all the guide talked about.” 

“What?” Anna knew what that meant and wasn’t sure if she should be excited or creeped out!

“Well…”  Alisha paused. After a minute, she shrugged and continued, “You have an inordinate amount of mana purity.” She wryly chuckled, shaking her head. “That feels like an understatement.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “What?” 

When she had the suspicion, it was just a wild theory!

She had that high purity?! The thing she just read about a few hours ago, she had? That sent Anna reeling. The odds of someone with that sort of purity were so unbelievably rare that even she thought it was foolish to think she had it! But, then, why didn’t they tell her sooner?!

The only way for her to find out would be to try and absorb an elemental Sigil and fail!

“Your mana purity is among the highest I—we have ever seen.” Alisha rubbed one of the dragon heads as they walked by it. “So, yes, I know better than anyone where your talents lie. You could do a hybrid between combat and support, as you mentioned to Aria. Or you can do pure support and be the greatest in Bastion history. Or, do pure non-attuned combat, but that would mostly mean fighting like a Barbarian. In other words...” She trailed off.

In other words, she should either do a hybrid or full support.

She still couldn’t fully comprehend it—she has high purity. A purity high enough to bar her from elemental paths. Despite that, she felt excited.

Anna ran up to Alisha, who hadn’t stopped moving. “Wouldn’t I be weaker if I became a hybrid?” 

Nothing could beat pure combat Sigils. From what Anna understood, supporting Sigils weren’t too outlandish in their effects. They couldn’t make someone immortal, multiply their power tenfold, or grant them impenetrable defenses.

And the power of combatant Sigils was simply too great. Alisha could literally freeze time!

And the greater the Support Sigil was—the more it messed with the body—the heavier the mana cost.

Alisha was silent for a minute but suddenly stopped and turned toward Anna, her mischievous eyes gone. “Make no mistake, the world of magic is just as incomprehensible to us as it is to you. Hell, we don’t even know how or why Sigils exist. To say hybrids are doomed to weakness?” She scoffed. “Absurd.”

“Are… are you saying I should definitely go for a hybrid path?” 

Though Alisha sounded so confident, Anna was still indecisive.

“You should go for whatever you desire.” Alisha placed her hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Sigils make the mage, not the path they choose. Those are just something we made to make it easier for new mages to grow in strength and help them figure out which Sigils to get.”

“That... makes sense, I guess.”

Alisha pat Anna’s head, something only she would get away with doing. “You can’t predict what Sigils you’ll absorb unless you intend to only grab the listed ones—but that isn’t advisable. You never know what kind of absurd ones you’ll find traveling the endless worlds. Maybe there will be ridiculously powerful supporting Sigils.”

In other words, they only say supporters are weaker because that’s based on the Sigils they know about. But the risk was whether she could get good Sigils. Even then, it could take her far longer to get one that could make up for any she may end up wasting space on.

“How common are new, undocumented Sigils?”

“Common enough. That’s why you”—Alisha poked Anna’s chest—“shouldn’t use our guide to define your future. Others, maybe. The harsh truth is that there are very few students in this academy right now that we are to offer personal guidance to.” She removed her hand and turned back around. “Besides, wouldn’t it be fun to trailblaze—to make a new, unheard-of path? No roads to follow. I think you can do that.”

Those words ignited Anna’s adventurous spirit, but she suppressed that.

Anna squinted. “You know a little too much about me.”

Anna spent most of her life following what her parents wanted from her, and forging a path herself was one of the primary motivators for her agreeing to join Bastion. She wanted to go forward blindly, to see something nobody had seen.

“What can I say?” Alisha chuckled. “You were recruited by me; of course, I ensured I got someone of the highest quality.”

“We call that stalking.”

“I call it research.”

Anna shook her head and sighed. “So, you really think a hybrid is the way to go? Not one hundred percent support?” 

It was heavily implied that full support was the superior option. If not for combat ability, then because by doing so, the supporter could secure a luxurious position. Anna didn’t care for that, but it could make her worse in both categories until she got a truly magnificent Sigil.

“The paths are pretty much meaningless outside of the academy. Nobody cares if you choose to master the sword, learn a few fire sigils, and then switch to a water mage because you found a spectacular water Sigil that makes the switch worth it. Similarly, nobody cares if you take a few combat Sigils and then go all in on support. All it takes is one superior Sigil, after all.”

With how Sigils worked, that did make sense—technically. But if two people who had a Sigil of similar strength were to battle, then the one who had more at his disposal had the obvious upper hand. That was Anna’s worry.

“Could I… could I be just as strong as someone like Aria?”

“Absolutely,” Alisha responded instantly, nodding confidently. ”Maybe not immediately, but I have confidence you will surpass even the highest expectations we have of you.”

Not even a pause, and spoken so confidently as if Anna was the silly one for asking.

“Why do you believe that?” Anna said beneath her breath, knowing she wouldn’t get the answer.

“Sorry, can’t say.”

Anna clicked her tongue. “Whatever.” She bowed her head. “Thank you for the help, Alisha.”

“Look at that! You should show me some more respect!” Alisha said unseriously.

“Nope.”

No matter what, it would be impossible to treat a woman barely taller than Anna like an authoritative figure when she acted and dressed like Alisha.

But the meeting went far beyond what Anna expected and gave her quite a bit to think about.