"Okay, what did you bring me here for?" Alfonse looked slightly annoyed, which was in great contrast to his sister Sharena, who was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
"I told you already! We're here to see the progress Kiran has made in their training!" I was sitting on a small bench and looked up from the cheap-looking tome in my hands.
"Oh, hey Sharena. Alfonse. What's up?" Alfonse gave an exasperated sigh and straightened his back.
"We apparently came to check on your training progress. Are you finding it easier?" I nodded at his question and held up the tome.
"I decided to start with the very basics, but it turns out that wielding magic is a lot like using Breidablik. Only I can't summon heroes with it of course. I'm trying to get out of the habit of using Breidablik to cancel out spells and using the tome to counter them instead, but it's a little hard. Reflexes, you know?" Sharena smiled at me in an encouraging way. Alfonse smiled too, but it seemed forced. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Before anyone else could say anything, Odin and Ophelia approached us and struck some poses that looked hard to hold.
"Indeed, although our dear Summoner is still but a student, their instincts still drive them to fight!" Ophelia declared.
"Yes, but fear not! For the time is nigh. Our student has made astounding progress in harnessing the very energy that drives this land! And henceforth, we, as the masters of this sacred art, shall display the true greatness of our teachings!" Odin struck another pose as he shouted this. I looked to the Askran royals. Alfonse tried to keep a neutral face, but his brow was furrowed which gave away his lack of understanding. Meanwhile, Sharena did nothing to hide her confused expression, and looked to me for help.
"He wants me to show you guys what I learned so far." The siblings relaxed their expressions in realization, and Sharena became excited again.
"So, what can you do?!" I laughed nervously at her excitement.
"Not much actually. There isn't any magic in the world I'm from, so I had to start from scratch. Funny story actually, in order to help me learn through instinct, they put a tome in my hands and started attacking. I ended up bruising Hector's jaw by throwing the tome." I said, trying to hold in my laughter. It was more funny now that some time had passed. Alfonse cleared his throat and tilted his head down, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. Sharena had let out a snort and begged for details.
"Yeah, I panicked a bit. They pretty much assumed that I at least knew the bare minimum."
"In any case!" Odin interrupted, looking eager to move on.
"To truly see the progress you have made, we will be trying that same tactic we used on your very first day." As he said that, I grew more uneasy.
"Uh, Odin? Are you sure that's a good idea? I really am still learning the basics." He didn't even flinch as I protested.
"Don't worry. I made them prepare spells that are weak enough for you to counter without anything going horribly wrong." Hector entered the room, looking eager.
"And I won't be in the fray this time. You didn't seem too keen on that before." Hector proclaimed with a hearty grin. I laughed uncomfortably and looked around for Lucius, or really any healer that could help my predicament.
"Relax, Summoner. I will be assisting you like last time. By the power of the stars, I swear you will not be injured." Ophelia relaxed out of her dramatic pose and gave me an encouraging smile.
"Thanks, Ophelia. Well, I guess I don't really have a choice, so let's do this." I stood from my seat and made sure my steps were as carefully calculated as they could be, hoping that maybe if I wasted time, then I wouldn't have to do it. When I arrived in the center of the room, I took deep breaths. The same breaths I always took before the start of a battle. I stood in a stable stance Hector had taught me and readied myself.
"O-okay… I think I'm ready…" Truth be told, I hadn't actually applied what I lad learned in a way like this. The fact that Alfonse and Sharena were watching made me even more nervous. Ophelia stood near me, and we faced the room back-to-back.
"Alright, let the lesson begin!" Odin readied a spell like he had last time, and I resisted the urge to unclasp Breidablik from my belt. Instead, I turned my attention to the tome in my hands and what I could remember of its contents. Remembering on the fly was one thing, but actually channeling the magic was another. I tried to think of it like firing Breidablik, but while it felt similar, it was quite obviously different. For the sake of making them think I was picking this up with relative ease though, I would talk as if I truly understood what I was to do.
I sharpened my focus and tried to grasp for the feeling that I felt when magic was nearby. I had lived in a world absent of such energy, which made its presence easy to detect. It was similar to noise sounding louder when one had been in a quiet room for a long time. At the same time though, it made it that much more unnerving. I found the feeling that I had been searching for, and immediately concentrated energy gathered in my hand. Okay, I had made it this far. Just keep your focus, Kiran. I had to aim for Odin's spell. Splitting my attention, I searched the room and spotted the glow of his spell.
Unfortunately, he had finished preparing it faster than I had anticipated and it was already coming towards us. From months and months of countless battles, my reflexes kicked in. Of course, that was something I had wanted to avoid. I didn't fight, but I was better than dodging than probably anyone in the army, only because I relied on my adrenaline rushes and instinct to move out of the way or drag a hero away from an attack if they were close enough. In an unexpected flash of blind determination to protect the hero next to me, I forgot where I was and my body temperature seemed to drop. I shivered with a mix of adrenaline and cold. I didn't even think why I felt so cold, but it didn't matter now. I had to help Ophelia.
I could sense the magic from our attacker, as well as a foreign magic I had not seen, but felt familiar somehow. I moved in one swift motion, shoving Ophelia out of the range of the spell and throwing my hand up to intercept it. I couldn't see because of the blinding light that had followed my actions. I could sense that the magic of our attacker however, was overcome by whatever foreign energy that had made me feel so cold. I could hear a strange crackling as well, but other than that, silence. I stood still until the light cleared and the spots in my vision were gone. In front of me were spikes of ice that protruded from the floor up to the height of about my knees. A light frost had covered the surrounding area, as well as the entire lining of my glove and the edge of my hood. I was still trembling.
My eyes drifted up to our attacker… no… to Odin who stood shivering as well, but also in shock. He was covered in a light layer of frost as well. In my daze, I didn't notice the hand slowly touching my shoulder, followed by a soft voice.
"... Kiran?" I jumped at the noise and the sudden presence behind me, and I heard the shuffling of armor.
"Kiran, you need to calm down. We're only in the training room." That voice was deeper… Alfonse? Wait, what did he say? Training room… oh. Darnit. I took a gasping breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding and lowered my hand.
"Kiran, It's fine, it's just me… I'm coming closer, okay?" I saw Odin's lips move when the voice came, but it sounded far away. All at once, the adrenaline rush was gone, and I was left in the middle of a mess. I felt light-headed, but I made sure to stay upright. I had to figure out what on earth just happened.
"Are you okay? That was a lot of magic, you know. Is Kiran going to be okay?" I recognized Sharena.
"They'll be fine. I think that was just a lot of energy they weren't used to. Come on, let's get them to a bench." Alfonse again.
"Are you sure? They're not responding to anything." That was Ophelia. She was okay. Thank goodness.
… Wait. What am I saying? Of course she's okay! That wasn't even real for goodness sake! What happened?! What did I do this time?!
"Someone get a healer! I really think we need to do something."
"Ophelia, the last thing Kiran needs right now is even more magic. I don't think they can take that much like we can. Remember why they couldn't cast spells?" The voice of Odin was firm, but it was starting to feel farther now.
"Well then what do we do?" The voice was female, but not Ophelia's. Sharena? Maybe.
"... We need to wait it out. In the meantime, we need to think of a way for Kiran to get used to such high energy." Another voice. It was male, but who? I could hardly hear it and the world looked like it had some kind of film over it. I couldn't move anymore, but my mind stayed awake. I felt like I wan't in my own skin, but nevertheless, I listened to the conversation happening near me.
"I didn't even know it was possible for someone to overload their bodies like that."
"Well, until now, it hadn't really happened. We don't even know if that's what went wrong. That's all I can think of though. There's no magic in their world after all. It makes sense that even after months of being here, Kiran still wouldn't be conditioned to high concentrations of magic."
"Yeah… are you sure Kiran is okay?" there was a break in the conversation, and my mind wandered to the thought of whether or not I should keep trying to train after this.
"Yes. Our Summoner has survived a lot. They'll make it through a little more." I think they laid me down on the bench, because all I saw now was the ceiling through my unfocused eyes, and the blurs of barely recognizable faces had gone away. I heard a shuffling and echoing clicks that sounded like footsteps.
"Hey, what happened here?" The voice was harsh, but still panicked.
"Oh no, is Kiran okay?" This one was harder to understand, as it was more frantic and high-pitched. Both of them sounded familiar and reminded me of the library for some reason.
"They're fine. Just shock from a lot of magic."
"Someone used magic on them?"
"No, well yes, but that's not what caused it. Kiran panicked again and used a powerful spell that they hadn't learned yet. The frost hasn't melted completely yet. They'll be fine though." There was another pause.
"I'll go get some medicine. Takumi, you stay here and watch Kiran, okay?" The higher pitched voice said.
"Right. Make sure to hurry, okay Tiki?" Ah, that's who they are. I heard what I assumed was a door opening and closing, followed by silence. The conversation seemed to have died.
"I'll help with training for now, okay? Before we even try to have Kiran spar, we need to address something more important."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Kiran told me about it. I've seen it happen to people before, but there's a name for it in Kiran's world. Acute stress disorder I think. They called it ASD. I did some reading in the library and I know Kiran has been more jumpy lately. It was just a training session, right? They seem to panic even more than they used to. Now, I could be wrong, but I think we should keep an eye on them. If it gets worse, we'll need to do something about it. Kiran can't keep doing this. They've been so jumpy. There's also the.. " The voice cut off.
"The what, Takumi?"
"... The nightmares. Apparently they're new." Silence again.
"For how long? Do you know?"
"They started showing up in the library a few weeks ago. We would read and talk about nightmares we had that night. They only came when they had a nightmare, so I know how often they actually happened. Only once the first week, then twice the second. Four times during the third week and every day so far this week. So total… that's eleven so far."
"... We should hold off on training for a while. Kiran needs to rest." Rest did sound nice right now. Unfortunately, I knew my body would not let me. For now, I was stuck in an immobile state of shock.
Hey guys. Sorry for the late chapter. Its testing season where I am so things have been hectic. Thankfully though, summer is almost here. Until then, updates may be a bit sparratic. Until then, thanks for reading, and for all of your amazing comments. I try to take each one to heart, so if you have anything you want to tell me, please do not hesitate! Have a lovely day.