Annabelle’s Bastion

“Boring Annabelle—ready for class.”

“If you hate it, work to get something better.”

“That’s not the point! I, for one, think that uniforms are silly and a harsh restriction on our individuality.”

“You just want to wear your skirts.”

“Guilty! To rob me of my clothes is to rob me of my soul.”

“Dramatic.”

Anna stuck her tongue out and opened the door—the click of the lock pleasing to her ears. Having her own key felt good; it was like the place was truly hers.

As she pushed the door open, the image of the aggravated man following Aria flashed in her mind. She wasn’t afraid of running into him; they woke up a whole four hours before class! But even if they did, Aria wouldn’t care. Anna didn’t want to deal with problems so early in the morning.

Despite it being 5AM, a few people and groups were wandering about.

To Anna’s surprise… and envy, Aria still wore her ordinary outfit instead of the academy uniform. She simply stated she didn’t care.

Disregard, or maybe a statement? Anna wasn’t sure. But they received a few stares heading down the stairs—the image Aria created by disregarding the rules wasn’t a good one. Something Aria herself couldn’t care less for, but association was an annoying thing.

Anna quietly sighed; it wasn’t her place to lecture Aria on her clothing choices.

“Ah, is that my two star girlies?” Gromak spoke in a little deeper and gravelly voice. He loudly cleared his throat—clearly, he had woken recently. “Early bird don’t get you no worm ‘round here. Some might think you just wanna show off. Y’know, teacher’s pet… and all that.”

“Good morning, Gromak!” Anna waved as she approached the counter, where Gromak was fiddling with a thin, rectangular piece of silverish metal. But the way it shined and the grain didn’t seem like silver, not that she was an expert. “What’s that?”

“Good morning.” Aria followed. The girl felt lighter around Gromak, something Anna noticed again.

“Mornin’ girlies,” He held up the silver block like it was a priceless trophy. “This here is a piece of mithril, a material nearly no more ‘cause of the... uninhabitable status of its world.” He looked at the piece like it was his lover.

Anna’s head slightly tilted. “What does that mean?”

“It means...” Gromak smiled and raised it a little higher. “It’s unimaginably rare!”

That wasn’t what Anna meant, but she got the hint.

“What are you going to do with it?” Anna inquired—it was an actual fantasy metal! “Make a sword? Or maybe a ring!” She imagined a powerful artifact wrapped around her waist or finger, capable of shooting destruction beams or making indestructible shields!

Gromak scoffed and lowered his metal like he feared Anna would steal it. “Wipe that looney grin off your face, girlie. I’m not no blacksmith, first. Second, even if I was, that last thing I would ever do is turn this beauty into somethin’ lame like a ring or a damn sword. Have at least some imagination, will you?”

Anna’s eyes widened. “You’re not a—” She sealed her lips. “Sorry for assuming.”

“Ha!” Gromak smirked and pointed at her accusingly. “Yeah, you guys think Dwarves are cave goblins who whack metal and mine stone all day.”

Anna dipped her head slightly. “I apologize if I offended you.”

Gromak waved his hand. “Count your lucky stars, girlie, that you said that to the magnanimous Gromak. If it were another Dwarf...” He hissed. But then shook his head. “But I’m no fool; I know what uneducated humans think from their own tales.”

“I understand… thanks for explaining it to me.”

“Dwarves used to be as you believe,” Aria explained, stepping beside Anna. “And some still are; Gromak is toying with you. The only reason they stopped being ‘cave goblins’ is because they discovered magic.”

“Oh!” Anna exclaimed, relieved. She really couldn’t tell with Gromak when he was serious, a rare thing for her. She chalked it up to literally being an alien race.

Gromak snorted. “Wrong! Us Dwarves are craftsmen. And it just happened that the most lucrative craft was minin’ and smithin’ Now? Well, our horizons have been… broadened.”

“Yet a lot of you still mine and smith,” Aria countered.

“A human arguin’ with a Dwarf about Dwarven culture?” Gromak said in disappointment. He wrapped the mithril in a velvet cloth and slid it into his heavy-duty brown overalls. “Where did we go wrong raisin’ you?”

Aria lightly snorted.

“Still,” Anna said and bowed her head again. “Thanks for telling me all of this. I love expanding my knowledge—I learn a lot every time I talk to you!”

Gromak sniffled and wiped faux tears. “If only more were like you.” He pointedly stared at Aria as he said that. “Just for that, I’ll cook you up one of Gromak’s famous breakfasts.”

“Yay~.” Anna clapped.

The breakfast he made for them yesterday was great. As pretentious as it was to others, Anna had quite the pallet from the foods her parents would have made for them. Which meant it wasn’t easy to impress her.

Today was her Mana Control class. Even though she expected it to be easy on the mana, a healthy breakfast was essential. She did have some expectations for what could happen after, whether she wanted them to or not.

She made a mental note to suck up to Gromak every morning so she didn’t have to join the hubbub in the cafeteria.

“Gromak’s chosen craft is a chef,” Aria explained. “I fail to see the lucrativeness there.”

“Ooh.”

Anna needed to learn more about the races so she wasn’t embarrassed again. She knew Thagrin was a Barbarian and Gromak was a Dwarf, for obvious reasons, but she didn’t know what Nora and Alice were. The thought of discovering them left her feeling bubbly; this was the world of magic she craved.

“That’s ‘cause your head is empty,” Gromak mocked. He stepped out from behind the long counter and made his way into the small kitchen. “Come now, empty head and looney smile.”

Anna and Aria exchanged a quick glance, then followed.

Who would have thought she’d see a hulking, shorter man cooking with such intensity? It was difficult to picture a man of Gromak’s stature standing behind an oven with a chef’s hat on, yet here they were. Maybe not that difficult, but it was a comedic image.

Yet he somehow managed to make cooking look cool with the same fervor as Anna imagined a blacksmith would have while crafting a priceless sword.

Thanks to Anna’s hard work, they enjoyed a delicious breakfast.

“Ah,” Gromak suddenly exclaimed. “I think they’re speedin’ somethings up today,” he continued as he cleaned their dishes, “Dorms might be far more important this year than I thought.” He sighed. “There goes my year of deserved laziness.”

“Oh?” Aria questioned.

Anna paid apt attention.

Gromak scanned each plate he washed with appraising eyes, even trying to catch the slightest dot of filth. Once he finished, he turned to the two. “I dunno what exactly they wanna do, but they became a whole lot more serious about dorm managin’.” He scoffed. “Questionin’ my dorm management? I outta bash their skulls in.”

He actually sounded offended during the last bit.

“What does that mean?” Anna questioned.

All she knew about the dorms was that they would end up the center of future competitions. Information on the academy’s plans for them was sparse, and she’d be totally in the dark if it weren’t for Aria. Something she only just realized could present an issue.

“Dunno,” Gromak shrugged. “Find out in your classes since that’s where you’ll be informed... I think.”

“That’s not ominous at all,” Anna said.

Gromak snorted. “If only you knew the internal strife about how to run this damn place—almost didn’t even open up this year.” He shook his head. “I believe it’ll just be an acceleratin’ of their exitin’ plans. If that’s the case...” He stopped, and a smirk grew on his face each passing second.

“What?” Anna asked.

“We don’t need your suspense, Gromak,” Aria said.

“Yes, you do. And I’ll let that suspense brew.” Gromak didn’t wait and left the kitchen. “You two get on your way before everyone starts buggin’ me for food.” He said as he walked away without waiting for a response.

“Really?!” Anna exclaimed, only to receive a distant chuckle. She clicked her tongue. “I mean… surely it’s not bad… right?”

“He can be... annoying, sometimes.” Aria lightly sighed. “But if it was bad, he’d tell us.”

Anna nodded; she got that feeling, too. If not for her, then for Aria. “I’ll choose to believe you. But what do you think it means? Obviously, something to do with the—wait, didn’t you mention something odd with our classes?”

“Yes, but it’s most likely what Gromak said.”

“But what does accelerating their plans even mean?”

“I don’t know; all I heard was from eavesdropping when I could.” Aria sat up. “Let’s go.”

Anna sighed again, “Yeah, yeah.”

They left the kitchen and made their way outside the dorm. It would still be a few hours until class started, so they could do a little exploration. Being able to skip the cafeteria probably gave them a lot of places to explore without the bustling crowds making it difficult.

Once they got outside, they were greeted by little sunlight as dark clouds came in and a harsh wind brushed against them.

“Wow,” Anna chuckled. “I almost think Gromak did it intentionally because of the foreboding weather.”

Aria stared at the sky. “He did.”

As if on cue, a lighting strike lit up the distant sky.

He definitely did.

“Well, where do you wanna go?” Anna asked. She didn’t know the place, but Aria likely knew the best spots.

“The main building.” Aria took the lead, heading down the familiar path toward the big castle. “Many of the facilities aren’t open until next week.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Anna nodded. “So we head to class early? Or maybe we can just chat with people in the main building for a while.”

They were in different classes; it would be tragic for them to separate so early.

Aria paused. “We can spar.”

“What?”

“Not you and I, but some others.”

“No, no, no!” Anna vehemently shook her head. “You can’t go around asking for fights yet! Us Earthlings only just discovered magic and barely know how to control it! Most of our barriers would be shattered in a few blows from someone like you.”

The last thing they needed was more animosity so early!

“Ah.” Aria lightly sighed and continued moving. “You’re right. I’ll wait until next week.”

Her acquiescence surprised Anna, momentarily freezing her before she followed. “Then what? Spar every morning?”

“If able.”

“Crazy.”

“The best way to improve.” Aria countered. “The barrier our mana provides makes the perfect stopping point.”

Anna couldn’t argue with that. Although it wouldn’t completely dismiss the possibility of injuries, like what happened with Jared. Still, once they got better control over their mana, spars could easily be ended when a barrier shattered. The only concern was having the mana left over for other classes or in case of emergency. That, and potentially being exhausted the whole day from mana drainage.

However, Anna needed to spar to gauge her mana since actively using it seemed to be the best method of discovery. They really should get some fancy tools for things like that!

“Now that you mention it...” Anna closed her eyes for a moment and checked her mana—it seemed at full capacity. “Yeah, my mana is full, I think. I should have paid closer attention to its regeneration rate.”

Aria nodded. “It varies, but the average is 24 hours to go from empty to full.”

“I thought being empty meant you died?”

“It does; this is just a metric.”

“Huh.”

That was dreadfully slow. If Anna were in a combat scenario, she’d be taken out for a whole day once her mana ran out! There had to be some way to regenerate faster.

“What do you mean when you say average?” Anna asked.

“Another aspect of talent is how fast your mana regenerates. The average rate is 24 hours.”

As Anna expected. Still, she was so occupied by her conversation with that group of five yesterday that she forgot to pay attention to her regeneration rate. It might be faster than 24 hours, but she couldn’t make an accurate guess since she didn’t drain her supply.

It wasn’t long until they reached the bridge to the main building. There was a light sprinkle rolling in and flashes of thunder in the cloudy distance.

So much for exploration.

Crossing that bridge left Anna feeling surreal. The grand statues in the middle, the lit, magical lights on the edges, and its cobblestone body. Even the lake underneath was beautifully clear.

Quite a few mages were scampering about, and they looked to be in a rush—probably related to what Gromak mentioned. Anna wanted to talk with them more than anything; not just to learn more about magic, but just about them.

“Oh… damn it,” Anna cursed under her breath once they reached the bridge and she saw who was in the middle of it.

Anna and Aria weren’t the only students to arrive early, but who she saw didn’t bode well. She recognized the tall blonde-haired man, Ashton, from her class with a posse around him outside the main gate.

“Hm?” Aria followed Anna’s hand gesture. “Do you know them?”

“Not really.”

But there was no way they wouldn’t try to have a conversation with her while she tried to pass.

“The blonde-haired man is approaching us,” Aria said.

“Of course, they are. And…” She paused. There he was, somebody with unreasonable animosity. As she thought.

“I guess they really are friends. But, how?” Anna mumbled. She couldn’t recall if Jared was part of the group before the combat class started. But the way Ashton looked at her before, during, and after the fight made it seem that way. That, or he just didn’t like her from the get-go? There were people like that. She definitely didn’t know him from Earth.

“Is that the man you defeated?” Aria asked. She had moved slightly forward and a little to the right—a protective position. Not one that indicated she sensed a threat, but one where she could react instantly. “It seems he cannot be humbled.”

“Yeah… that’s him,” Anna sighed. “I hoped I could explain to him during class today that it was an accident, and I didn’t mean to hurt him.” She pat her cheek. “Not to mention, he did get a solid blow on me.”

Her jaw still ached slightly, but she had a sneaking suspicion that mana aided the healing process because she thought it’d be worse.

“Maybe we get to spar today, then,” Aria said, a trace of amusement in her tone.

Anna clicked her tongue. “Maybe, but let me try to communicate with him first.” She shook her head. “I won’t have this kind of absurd drama impede me here.”

“Those who can’t be humbled will only be satiated via cruel violence.”

“Alisha?”

“Yes.”

Well, Anna figured out who Aria’s primary mentor was. Being raised by people like Gromak and Alisha—was there anyone in the Academy who would ever match her level?

“I can’t say it’s wrong,” Anna said, then sighed dejectedly. “But I can’t jump to extreme conclusions without at least giving him a chance.”

“Naïve.”

“I prefer keeping my humanity as intact as I can, thanks,” Anna replied sarcastically.

Aria didn’t say anything, but her silence felt like enough of a response.

Anna had experience with unreasonable people before the academy. And Jared was just one of many she’d likely encounter on her journey, made worse by the addition of magic. His position on her importance meter only went so far as for her to want to apologize for nearly breaking his leg. After that, it was a blank slate.

It was an olive branch.

She wasn’t naïve. While it may be true that Jared will only be satisfied with her screaming on the ground, she couldn’t just kill him over what she thought might happen.

If he really wished to try something, Anna wouldn’t cower out, and she certainly wouldn’t let Aria fight her battles. Not anymore would she retreat behind someone else; she had the power. She could back up her own words.

They met halfway across the bridge—almost cinematically—as the clouds rolled in and the increasingly harsher winds hit their clothes. The rain picked up, threatening to soon become a downpour.

Anna had to resist chuckling at their meeting spot. The two statues of mages with crossed staves touching in the middle of the bridge would lead one to overestimate the importance of the meeting.

The only thing missing was well-timed thunder.