IT'S OVER 9000! (for real this time). Can you image that this chapter was supposed to be connected to the previous one? Yeesh. And I thought I'd keep the chapters of this story between 3-5k.
Anyway, thanks to Lord of Moons I've learned that there's a site called Baka-Tsuki that has the fan-translated light novels. For those who don't know, the light novels got farther than the manga or Anime, and the last two volumes were created from the late author's notes in an attempt to wrap up the story.
Between this update and next months, I'm going to take a lot of time to read over the LN so I can get another perspective and see more of what Noboru Yamaguchi created in his universe. If anything contradicts something I already wrote, I'll probably AU the fact. But if it makes the story better, I'll make some additions to my plans. I've made edits to Chapters 3, 5, and 6 already due to reader feedback, rather expanding scenes or introducing characters/concepts to expand on them later. If you haven't already, please go back and read those. Especially Chapter 5, where I extended the Duel scene.
Also, there is a poll open on my profile. I'm trying to see who people think in Louise should summon next in this series. Votes do not guarantee who comes next, but they do influence my priorities. Basically, if people want it, I'll try to write it, but if it doesn't work, I'll shelve it like the dozen other potential summons I have. If there people you want to see who aren't on the poll, shoot me a PM. I'll keep track of everything personally.
Anyway, onto the chapter!
The passing days gave Ash a chance to become more accustomed to his new environment. The trainer was more used to traveling instead of staying in one place, but he appreciated the stability it provided. Without his Pokemon and gear, it would impossible to continue his normal occupation in the time period he found himself in. As far as he could tell, there were no pokeballs or even apricorns around, which was why mages had only one familiar and used runes to keep track of them.
But the more Ash learned about the world around him, the more skeptical he was about his current environment being ancient Kalos. The language and customs matched, but the mages and local creatures resembled nothing he heard about in Kalosian history. In fact, he couldn't recall any region with a similar history. Ash knew magic existed—he had run into a nice but weird magician once before—but it was a rarity. For a society to run entirely on magic instead of working with Pokemon was mindboggling to him. Additionally, it didn't seem like the region was better off for it. With a focus on individual power instead of cooperation, Ash could see why nobles were perpetual pains in the neck.
Ash took comfort that he at least was making good progress on Louise's attitude. While they still bickered on occasion, there was a levity to their arguments. Louise treated Ash less like a talking pet and more like the human he was. While she still had a habit of barking orders and yelling at him for being "improper" or "uneducated", Ash considered it a significant improvement.
With the change in Louise's attitude came the changes to Ash's daily routine. Or rather, Ash creating a new routine to adapt to his current situation. First and foremost, his sleeping arrangements.
"A pile of hay isn't good enough for sleeping," Ash pointed out the night following the duel. "It's uncomfortable and the floor gets cold."
"Was sleeping outside better?" Louise asked with genuine curiosity.
"Not by much," Ash admitted. "It was still cold, and the dew was wet, but I'm more used to sleeping under the moon and stars, and grass is softer than stone."
Louise raised an eyebrow at his singular use of moon, but dismissed it as a slip of the tongue. "If you need a different sleeping arrangement, I suppose we could share the bed," she mused.
"You sure?" Ash asked. "I thought you'd just get me another room or something."
"As my familiar you're supposed to share my quarters," said Louise. "It would be unusual to have you sleep in a separate location."
"I'm pretty sure some familiars sleep outside."
"Do you want to sleep outside?"
Ash held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, but why not another bed?"
"It would limit the space of the room," Louise stated. While the room was pretty roomy to Ash, he could see the impracticality of adding another bed. Between the table, chairs, wardrobe, and Louise's own bed, there would be very little available floor space. "The bed is plenty big enough for the two of us, is it not?"
"It is big," Ash admitted. And fancy, he mentally added. It even had frilly drapes hanging overhead, though Ash didn't see the point to them, since they were parted on all sides and provided no cover or warmth.
"Just stay on your side of the bed," said Louise as she crawled under the covers. "If you put so much as move a toe over to my side, I will punish you."
"Alright," Ash conceded.
In Ash's defense, he had taken the threat seriously. He just was a naturally restless sleeper. More often than not, Louise awoke in the morning to find Ash sprawled on the bed with his limbs outstretched. The mage took pride in her self-restraint. After throwing his offending limbs off her body, she proceeded to doll out his punishment with the temperament of a well-bred noble.
"Get off!" Louise shouted as she kicked Ash repeatedly in his side.
The Pokemon trainer slept peacefully, not giving the slightest hint of a reaction to Louise's furious blows. His nigh indestructability, however, did not apply to knockback. Through persistence, Louise eventually kicked him enough times to send his body over the edge of the bed. The resounding thud was loud enough to wake the dead. As it happened, it was just barely enough to rouse Ash from his slumber.
"Wah?" Ash said blearily. He blinked as his vision gradually adjusted to the light of day. "Is it morning already?"
Louise, kneeling on the bed, looked over the edge with a cross expression on her face. "I told you to stay on your side of the bed! Idiot."
"I was sleeping!" Ash defended himself.
Louise gave him a deadpan glare.
"I'll do better next time."
"See that you do."
Given that Louise left it at that instead of continuing to berate him, Ash could conclude that she wasn't too mad. When the mage approached her wardrobe, Ash turned around immediately. He still was uncomfortable with Louise changing in the same room, but as long as he was preoccupied, he could ignore her presence. As Louise changed into her clothes, Ash scourged around for Louise's school supplies. The task allowed him to be focused on something and help Louise for the day so she couldn't complain that he was being useless.
"I need to go out and buy some new clothes at some point," Louise commented as she finished buttoning up her blouse and tucking it into her skirt.
"Don't you have an entire wardrobe full of clothes?" Ash pointed out. "Why do you need more?"
"Well, a certain someone decided to rip an entire load of laundry when I told him to wash my clothes."
"How was I supposed to know your clothes would rip that easily?"
"They were lace! Lace is delicate. Everyone knows that!"
"Not everyone, because I didn't. Why would you even wear clothes made out of lace?" Ash asked. "Especially underwear? It doesn't even cover… much of anything."
Louise hesitated a moment before answering, "…It feels nice."
"I don't get it."
"You're not a girl!" Louise huffed. She clipped the clasp of her robe. After examining her clothes to ensure her appearance was presentable, she turned to the door. "I'm done changing. Let's go."
During meals, Ash sat in a chair at the same table of Louise. A few students sneered at his presence, but none were willing to challenge his place outright. Ash had proved himself to be a terrifying beast when backed in a corner, which convinced most students to give him and his master ample space. The few exceptions to the rule were, to put it simply, interesting individuals.
"So, this is the all-powerful familiar I've been hearing about?"
Ash and Louise looked up from their meals and turned around to see a bombshell young woman standing behind them. Ash was taken aback by the woman's greatly proportioned assets. Even with the top buttons of her shirt were exposed to show a significant amount of cleavage, her shirt still struggled to contain the rest of the mounds of flesh sitting on her chest.
Louise's teeth were clenched into a barely restrained snarl. "Zerbst," she said coldly.
"Little Louise," the woman said cordially.
"Hi?" Ash offered hesitantly, not sure what to make of the sudden tension in the air. Louise had been very testy when she had mentioned Kirche earlier, though Ash still didn't understand the meaning of half the words Louise had used. He had expected Kirche to be terrifying or clearly evil. But she seemed nice, even if the way she was looking at him seemed a bit predatory.
"Why, aren't you the cutest little thing?" Kirche gushed. "Almost as cute as my beloved Flame." She bent down to scoop up her familiar, which Ash had not noticed due to its low stature. Kirche hooked her familiar's forelegs under her arms, leaving its head resting just below her bustline. Ash suspected she would hold it even higher if certain obstructions on her chest allowed her.
"Your familiar is just a dumb magical creature," said Louise dismissively. "At least mine can talk."
Ash clearly remembered several times Louise had complained that he could talk. "You know I'm still here, right?"
"My Flame is a powerful salamander, befitting my element and natural talent in fire magic," Kirche boasted. "What does it say about you when your familiar is a commoner?"
"Ash is no ordinary commoner!" Louise declared, rising to her feet.
"I'm not sure if I should feel grateful right now or not," Ash deadpanned.
"Oh ho ho, I didn't mean to imply he was ordinary. While he may be a commoner, he certainly is an interesting specimen," Kirche agreed, giving Ash a sultry wink. "I'd love to get to know him more. Mind if I take him off your hands?" She released her familiar to snake her hands towards Ash.
Louise slapped Kirche's arms away. "Keep your grubby hands to yourself, harlot!"
"I'll let you pet Flame if I can pet yours."
"As if I'd let you near him, you Germanian cow!"
"Jealous that you can't hold onto a boy? You really do need to grow up, in all of your areas."
Louise turned red in the face as she looked down at her chest. "Better than looking like a sow!" she shot back.
"I'm going to go now," Ash announced. Seeing that the two had delved into their insult slugfest and weren't taking notice of anything else, he took his tray and moved over to the next table over, which was unoccupied except for a lone blue-haired student. In front of her was a rather small but well-balanced meal, unlike the massive proportions that most nobles were served. With one hand, she slowly spooned her breakfast into her mouth. With the other, she held up a small book which she read from.
"Hi, there," said Ash. "I'm Ash. Mind if I join you?"
The student made only the smallest acknowledgement to his presence by putting down her spoon. But she continued to chew slowly, and her eyes never left her book.
Ash stood there awkwardly, eyeing if there were any other nearby tables that weren't crowded. Unfortunately, it was the prime time for breakfast, so every other table had several occupants. And Ash didn't need to be a mind reader to know that most people were wary of him and probably wouldn't like to sit by him. He had hoped that a single person would be less wary, but instead was being ignored.
"Sorry, for disturbing you," Ash apologized. "I guess I'll go eat outside then."
The mage's eyes briefly rose from her book as Ash started to turn away. Her eyes widened when she realized exactly who had been speaking to her.
"Sit."
The voice was soft, but commanding. Ash halted his turn and immediately sat down in the nearest chair. The mage lowered her book, looking at Ash with inquisitive aquamarine eyes hidden behind a pair of red spectacles. She closed her book and watched Ash as he tentatively bit into some eggs and bacon. The food was delicious, but Ash found it hard to focus on the flavor when the girl continued to stare intensely at him. "What is it?" Ash finally asked. "Is there something on my face?"
The girl's expression was serious as she asked, "Are you a mage?"
"Uh, I don't think so." While Louise insisted that most of his Aura abilities were wind magic, Ash was pretty sure that was not the case.
"The duel. You won. How?"
"Aura, experience, these marks on my hand, and a bit of luck," Ash replied, the words flowing out easily. "To be honest, I hadn't ever tried to use my Aura that way before." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I really need to get in some more practice so I can use it properly."
The girl's brow furrowed at the unfamiliar word. "Aura?"
"Yes." Seeing the student giving him a questioning look, he realized what she was asking. "Right, mages use willpower for magic," said Ash. "Aura is basically life force. Honestly, Louise and I are still trying to figure out how Aura and magic are related, so I can't give you much more than that. All I can say is that it's very versatile."
The blue-haired mage nodded. "Runes?" she queried.
"I'm still not sure what to make of them," Ash said. He pulled off his glove to examine the markings. "Louise said they were a mark that shows that I'm a familiar, but they gave me some kind of fighting power whenever I held a weapon. I'm going to try to find out how they work later. All I know is that when they turn on, they glow so bright I can see them even with my gloves on."
The mage had heard of runes giving a familiar the ability to communicate with their master, but not combat abilities that mirrored magical enhancements. To Ash's surprise, the girl reached across the table and grabbed his wrist. Holding his hand in a surprisingly firm grip, she examined the runes on his hand. Ash was confused but didn't pull away. After concluding her examination with a small nod, she released him. Then she sat down as if nothing had happened.
Ash couldn't help himself as he let out a small laugh. "You're not much of a talker, are you?" the boy asked with a smile.
The girl gave him look that answered his question immediately. Feeling sheepish, Ash turned back to his food.
As if determined to continue catching Ash off guard, the young mage said, "Sylphid likes you."
Ash paused briefly to swallow before asking, "Who's Sylphid?"
"Wind dragon. My familiar."
"Oh," Ash said slowly in realization. "That makes her a girl then. Wait, if she's your familiar, that means you're Tabitha!"
She nodded. "You like Sylphid?"
"Yup," Ash replied with friendly smile. "She helped me out before, and she's very friendly." He laughed and added, "I'm also glad she hasn't accidentally crushed me with how affectionate she is."
When not accompanying Louise, Ash would occasionally spend time with the other familiars. Several of them resembled Pokemon. There was a fire-less Torkoal with a gem on its head. A quadruped Charmeleon—Kirche's familiar, Flame. A miniature Arbok. A short-tailed Glameow. There were so many different creatures, but the most noticeable was the friendly blue dragon that towered over them all. Ash had snuck Sylphid snacks from the kitchen whenever he could. Despite her size making the gifts paltry, she seemed to appreciate them. And she had yet to sit on him, which was a huge plus in Ash's opinion.
"Your smell is different."
Ash frowned as he sniffed his armpits. "I smell bad?" he asked. "I've been trying to wipe myself off every night, but not being able to take a bath is a problem."
Tabitha blinked. "Not bad," she corrected. "Different. New to Sylphid."
"Oh, you mean I smell different than what Sylphid's used to?"
Tabitha nodded.
"Well, I'm not from around here," Ash explained. "And where I come from, I'm a Pokemon trainer. I basically train magical beasts to become stronger. I guess some of their smell is still on me." He gave a sad sigh. "At least part of them is still with me."
While Tabitha's default bland expression made her emotions hard to read, Ash could detect a small amount of pity in the girl's eyes. "Alone?" she asked.
"Pretty much," Ash replied ruefully. "I've made a few new friends here, but my old friends, my mom, my partner, I don't know when I'll see them again."
Tabitha watched silently as Ash seemed to be lost in remembrance. The boy shook himself out of it. "But I know that I'll see them again eventually," he said, determination riding in his voice. "Whether it be a week, a month, or a year, I'll never lose hope. Because not even a space-time portal can't keep us apart!"
"Such vigor! I love it!" A pair of arms came up behind Ash and hoisted him up, burying the top of his head into a bountiful cushion of soft flesh.
"Put down my familiar!" Louise shouted, tugging at Kirche's arms. The difference in strength was obvious when even while using two arms, Louise failed to dislodge one of Kirche's from Ash's body. Ash failed around helplessly as he tried to lower himself back into his seat.
"Let's go," Tabitha said, standing up from the table. Leaving the rest of her meal uneaten—Ash lamented at the waste of a half-eaten meal—she picked up her book and began walking away.
Ash couldn't tell who she was addressing at first, but when Kirche released his arms and moved to follow Tabitha, it became apparent. "I'll see you later, cutie," said Kirche, blowing him a kiss.
"She was weird," Ash said to Louise as he watched Kirche hurry after Tabitha. "And she nice."
"Nice? That barbarian cow?"
"I meant Tabitha," said Ash. "But that's still not a nice way to call Kirche." He still didn't know what a cow was, but he was pretty sure it was an insult. He assumed any other unfamiliar word that Louise used was similarly insulting.
Louise growled. "That harlot's family has been rivals with my family for generations."
Ash frowned. "Family rivalry or not, you were being rude to her," he rebuked Louise.
"She's from a barbarian country!" Louise protested. "And she's relentless! She's always teasing me, and now she wants to steal you away. I won't let her have you!"
Ash watched calmly as Louise ended her tirade. "Just because she's annoying doesn't mean you have to be rude to her," he pointed out. "It makes you look like a bully."
"She bullies me!"
"And that makes it right?" Ash asked pointedly.
Louise huffed and crossed her arms. "Why do you have to sound older than your age?" she grumbled under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Louise dismissed immediately. "Come on, I don't want to be late to class."
While Colbert's translation spell allowed Ash to communicate verbally, Ash quickly found that it did nothing to help his reading comprehension. Louise had originally wanted him to accompany her to all of her classes, but when he pointed out that he wouldn't be able to learn anything and would probably sleep through the class, she conceded. As such, Ash only accompanied Louise to classes he could follow without needing to read a book. Practical magic classes were a particular favorite for him. Magic was exciting!
"One use of Earth magic is creating the stone walls that surround villages and hamlets," lectured Professor Chevreuse, a kindly and somewhat heavyset woman in her mid-forties. She wore a black dress that fell down to her heels. Over it, she wore a purple cloak and matching witch cap for her head.
"While this may seem like a menial task, it is necessary," the professor continued. "A single dot class earth mage could raise a wall around a village in under an hour. In contrast, a village of commoners could take a week to accomplish the same task. This power that we wield is to be used for the benefit of everyone. Never fail to remember that. Now, who would like to volunteer for a demonstration of turning this pile of dirt into a stone?"
Louise raised her hand. Chevreuse looked at Louise briefly in terror, before moving on to another hand raised on the other side of the classroom. "Mrs. Zerbst, if you would."
Ash considered Professor Chevreuse to be one of the nicest teachers in the school. She was friendly, patient, and never failed to remind students that powerful magic came with responsibility. There were only two things about her that annoyed Ash.
First, was how Chevreuse viewed commoners as weaklings who needed to be coddled—which, to be fair, was better than the attitude of most of the nobles in the academy. Second, she always looked at Louise like the girl was a terrifying creature in disguise. The professor was never overtly rude, but she avoided Louise like a Pokemon trainer avoided Beedrill swarms. Ash felt like there was a story behind the professor's attitude, but Louise wasn't offering to share, and Ash didn't feel like he should ask the other students. Knowing them, they'd probably use his question as an excuse to tease Louise.
Kirche rose from her seat and walked to the teacher's desk. Pointing her wand at the clump of dirt on the desk, she said, "Transmutation!"
Ash watched in fascination as the dirt condensed into a ball before gleaming. When the glow died down, sitting on the desk was irregular, round grey stone.
"Well done, Mrs. Zerbst," said Professor Chevreuse. "Despite being a fire mage, I see that you are talented enough to use Earth Magic with no problems."
"I am a triangle class mage after all," Kirche said, flouncing her hair with one hand as she gave a wink to the rest of her class. "If I couldn't perform a task this trivial, I'd be a disgrace of a mage." She made eye contact with Louise as she said this.
"I'll show you, Zerbst," Louise muttered angrily under her breath.
Ash sighed. Those two really did not get along. Contrary to his initial belief, Kirche was the primary instigator of their bickering. The Germanian was subtle when she wanted to be, and knew exactly how to needle Louise to get the largest reactions possible. Ash would be almost amused if he wasn't stuck listening to their arguments every time. Sometimes, he was even the focus of their arguments, even when he never got a word in during their "conversations".
While dealing with Louise and Kirche's bickering put a damper on class sessions, At least the classes were helpful in learning more about how magic worked. Not only did Ash learn the theories behind magic and willpower, he was also able to observe how casting spells affected people's Auras. When he met with Louise after classes, they were able to take his observations and analyze them.
"The amount of Aura people in people's bodies varies a lot more here than it does where I come from," Ash began.
"How so?" Louise asked.
The two were in Louise's room, seated at her table. Louise had pens and papers neatly ordered in front of her, while Ash had nothing. He never needed to take notes on his observations, a habit carried over from his trainer battles. Additionally, due to the language barrier, Louise wouldn't be able to understand anything he wrote down anyway. It was better for the both of them for Ash to verbally deliver his report while Louise took notes in her written language.
"While I haven't used my Aura Sense much at home, the people I did use it on all had roughly the same intensity in their Aura," said Ash. "Pokemon have a little bit more Aura, and Pokemon who can use Aura have an even brighter aura."
"Is there a difference between intensity, amount, and brightness?" Louise asked. "When analyzing, you need to use the same terms for comparison. Otherwise you're comparing apples to oranges."
"Which means?"
Louise looked at him incredulously. "Are you seriously asking me that?" She shook her head. "Sometimes I forget how ignorant you are. What the saying means is that you need to use the same words when comparing different things, otherwise the comparison is useless."
"That's the thing, normally they are the same," said Ash. "How should I explain it? Um… if Aura is a like a fire in someone's body, then the more fire there is, the larger and brighter the flames are. That's the pattern that exists in everything I've seen. The amount is also mostly consistent for all people, except for me and a few other exceptions. I have the same Aura as a legendary Aura Guardian, so my Aura is a lot bigger and brighter. Anyone else who can use Aura have a similar difference, but I think I have the brightest Aura of anyone I've met." Ash suspected that some Legendary Pokemon like Mew could beat him when it came to Aura, but since he never used his Aura Sense on a legendary, he couldn't confirm it, so he didn't want to bring it up.
Louise scratched down the notes onto a sheet of paper, marking the correlations for equivalency. "And the difference between mages is?" she asked.
"Some mages have the same amount of Aura as people from my region, but most have a lot more. And when they have more, there's a lot of variance." said Ash. "Also, some of them have large Aura reserves, but they don't have as much of a glow as the size should have."
"So, the two key factors of Aura in mages are the size of their Aura and the brightness of the Aura, correct?" Louise asked. Ash nodded. "If that's the case, what's the difference between the size of someone's Aura and the brightness? What determines one or the other?"
"I'm not sure," Ash confessed. "Like I said, in the people I'm used to, larger Auras are always brighter Auras."
"So, there's an unknown correlation between an Aura's size and brightness that is constant in your country but not here," Louise mused. "Who are the people with the largest and brightest Auras in the school? Maybe we'll find the connection there."
"In size, all of the professors beat the students," Ash replied immediately. There was little contest in that area. "From the students, Tabitha is the largest by far. She almost has the same amount of Aura as some of the teachers. Kirche comes after her. Guiche is a distant third place, and from there it gets muddled. I'd need to take another look to make sure."
"Three of the best students at practical application have the largest Aura amounts," said Louise with a nod. "It's not enough samples to make a proper theory, but it's a strong correlation, especially since the teachers' Auras corroborate. How about brightness?"
"I'm still the brightest person," said Ash.
"Seriously?"
"I'm serious!" Ash insisted. "I can't even tell how much Aura I have because it's too bright for me to see it properly."
Louise puffed out her cheeks in a pout. Ash had to admit that she looked cute when she was moping. "Stop boasting and got on with it," Louise ordered.
"I wasn't boasting!" Ash protested. Louise glared at him, tapping her pen against the end of her inkwell. Rolling his eyes, Ash continued, "Anyway, the second brightest is you—"
Louise's face lit up. "Are you serious?" she asked excitedly.
"Yes!" Ash assured her. "Next is Tabitha, then Kirche, then Montmorency, and Guiche is the last person I can remember off the top of my head. I'd probably need to take notes if I wanted to keep track of the entire class."
Louise wrote down his words and looked at the results. "What about the teachers?" she asked.
"Professor Colbert is the brightest of them," said Ash. "He also beats most of the students, but he's still below the two of us. The rest of the teachers are somewhere between Kirche and Guiche." He made a so-so gesture with his hand to indicate that he was approximating.
"The brightness of the Aura has some correlation with its size, but there's too many outliers," said Louise. "Where does my Aura rank size-wise?"
"Let me take another look." Ash closed his eyes to better feel the Aura around him. Everything around him from the floor to the bed had trace amounts of Aura, but he and Louise stood out like twin lighthouses amongst a sea of fireflies. His own Aura was too bright for him to even gage how much it filed it body. Louise's Aura was also bright, but it was much more centered in her body. Like a blazing heart that spread its tendrils throughout the container it inhabited.
Louise could feel a tingling in her body. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, but she could only relax again when Ash opened his eyes and the sensation stopped.
"Your Aura looks about the same as most of your other classmates," Ash confirmed. "It's not significantly larger or smaller."
"So why is it brighter than even Professor Colbert's?" Louise asked. "He's a square class mage!"
"I have no idea," Ash replied honestly.
Louise did not appear satisfied by his answer. She scowled at her familiar, who could only shrug sheepishly. "How much do you even know about Aura?"
"Scientifically, I've told you everything I know," Ash replied. "Unless you want me to tell you some crazy stories I've had when I found out about Aura."
"Does it help our research?"
Ash considered the time he met a Lucario sealed in a staff. Meeting Mew in the Tree of Beginnings. Making an empathetic bond with a Riolu. Fighting Hunter J to rescue said Riolu. The memories were important to him, and they showed him how Aura could used, but it wasn't as if he had taken scientific notes during any of the events. "…no?" he said weakly.
"Then save it," Louise said dismissively. She gave a thoughtful hum as she consulted her notes. "Without any other information, I suppose we should focus on the easiest part to analyze. It appears that an Aura's size is in correlation to how skilled of a mage someone is. But there's a single outlier, myself."
"What do you mean?"
Louise rolled her eyes. "You know I can barely cast any spells correctly!"
"But you can cast Explosion any time you want," Ash pointed out.
"That doesn't count as magic!"
"I think it should," Ash said firmly. "Unless you know another reason why your Aura moves when you point your stick at something."
"My Aura moves?"
Ash sweatdropped. "Oh, I forgot to mention that," he said with a nervous chuckle. Seeing a scowl cross Louise's face, he elaborated, "I noticed when people cast spells, their Aura moves around, almost like the movements of a tide. The Aura rolls up as the spell builds, and once the spell comes out, it settles down."
Louise's rising anger abated with the new information. She looked intrigued as she began taking notes once again. "Does the amount of overall Aura change?" she asked.
"I think Aura is coming out," Ash replied. "But there's no difference in the amount or brightness of a mage's Aura after a spell is cast. At least, no difference I could recognize."
"Is it the same thing when you cast a spell?" she asked.
"I don't use magic," Ash insisted.
Louise rolled her eyes. "Wind Magic. Aura. Whatever you insist on calling it. Does it have the same effect?"
"Kind of?" Ash answered hesitantly. "I mean, when I make an Aura Sphere, it takes some of my Aura to create, so I know I'm using it. But I don't feel any different afterwards."
"How about after the duel?" Louise asked. "You felt tired after that, right?"
"I thought it was me getting off an adrenaline rush," said Ash contemplatively. "But you could be right. I didn't check how much Aura I had though, so I don't know."
Louise slammed a hand down on the table in frustration. "You're useless," she grumbled. "All those opportunities for research, wasted!"
"I'm a trainer," Ash reminded her. "Not a researcher, a trainer!"
Despite the frequent arguments, Ash spent at least an hour every day helping Louise with her research. Whether it was stalking other students for Aura data or demonstrating his abilities so Louise could compare Aura to known spells, Ash found himself stuck in the role of a research assistant. But Louise couldn't spend as much time as she wanted on this research, as she had her classes to study for. While she was a failure at casting magic, her grades on Magic Theory were incredibly high, and she preferred to keep them that way.
Thus, unless Ash felt like staring at Louise as she did her homework, he had to find other ways to keep himself occupied. He found one such occupation with surprising ease.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Guiche asked hesitantly.
"I'll be fine," Ash assured him. "I just want to test a few things, and your golems are perfect for the job. No need to be nervous."
"I'm not nervous," Guiche denied. "I'm merely exercising perfectly reasonable caution. How often do people come up to you and ask you to hit them?"
Ash let out a hearty chuckle. "You got me there," he conceded. "I know it's strange, but I really need the practice. Besides, you know I can take a hit."
"If you're sure," Guiche said slowly.
"I'm very sure," Ash replied with a cocky smile. He raised his arms defensively, feeling the Aura of his body surge up. While there was no outline of fire over his body, he was creating a small gust of wind around his feet even while standing still. "Hit me with your best shot!"
"Well, since you insist," said Guiche. He summoned a Valkyrie from the ground, equipped with a dull-studded mace. "Attack, my Valkyrie!"
Ash watched the Valkyrie rush towards him with bated breath. The attack was clearly telegraphed, allowing him to predict where and when it was going to strike. He steeled his arms and focused on his Aura. When the mace head was bashed into Ash's arms, it was stopped short by an almost transparent pale blue barrier. Twice more the Valkyrie struck, but the barrier held fast. The attacks made no contact with Ash's skin or clothes.
"Is that a wind barrier?" Guiche asked in surprise.
"Aura Barrier," Ash shot back. Before bringing Guiche out to this practice, he had tried to explain the concept of Aura to Guiche, but the noble boy had just shrugged and called it Wind Magic. Ash found that he couldn't be surprised by the mage's inability to quantify any ability as anything but a type of magic. "Alright, I'm going to try tanking it myself. Lay it on me."
Guiche hesitated once again, but after Ash gave him a confident nod, he had the Valkyrie swing again. This time, Ash focused on channeling his aura into his body instead of projecting it outward. The attack struck Ash's arms and knocked him onto his back.
"Oof!" Ash grunted as he hit ground.
"Are you hurt?" Guiche called out.
"Not really," Ash called back. "I just forgot that being able to take an attack doesn't stop me from being knocked around." He examined his arms and saw scuffed skin, but no bruises. He also only felt a lingering sting. "It hurt a bit, but I don't think it did any damage."
"Your durability is frightening."
"Really?" Ash asked. "It's pretty normal for Pokemon trainers to be able to take hits like this."
"Pokemon trainer?"
"It's what I did before I cam here," Ash explained. "I spent my time caring for and training magically creatures to be stronger."
"A profession of training magical beasts requires you to be as durable as a suit of armor?" Guiche said skeptically. "Your land has strange customs."
"That's my line," Ash said under his breath. Louder, he said, "Alright, now get me a spear."
Guiche summoned a spear from the ground. It was elegant, and the tip was plenty sharp, unlike the weapons Guiche had made in their duel.
"Hit me!" Ash called once he was ready.
Ash already knew that holding a spear made the runes on his hands glow, which made him stronger and faster. This time, he wanted to see if it made him tougher. While holding the spear with one hand, he guarded with the other. He adjusted his feet so he could absorb the impact properly without getting knocked over.
THWACK
"Did it hurt?" Guiche asked, seeing Ash stand perfectly still after taking the hit.
"Not really," Ash replied after a brief moment. "It was weird, I could see the attack coming, and I felt like blocking it. But when I took the hit instead, I barely felt anything." He examined his forearm. "My arm still got a bit scratched. I don't think I'm getting tougher, but it looks like it gives me a better pain tolerance. Higher reflexes too."
"That's good, right?" Guiche asked.
"I think so," said Ash. "And now for the final test."
Ash stabbed the spear into the ground, a soreness appearing on his arm when he put the weapon down. "Pain tolerance only lasts as long as the runes glow, good to know," he muttered. He was surprised it hurt more when the runes powered down than it did when he had taken a hit without the runes in the first place. The runes were supposed to amplify his Aura when he used a weapon, so why were the effects different instead of strictly superior?
Deciding to leave that investigation for another time, Ash took a deep breath in. He tried to remember how Lucario used Bone Rush. Ash closed his hands and held his hands out. His fingers were curled in the air, and his thumbs sat underneath. As Ash exhaled, he extended his hands like he was sliding them down the ends of a stick. His Aura pooled out from his hands, coalescing into a straight staff with irregular nobs at each end.
Ash closed his grip and opened his eyes. In his hands was a glowing, translucent, blue bone. "Worked on the first try!" he exclaimed in glee. "Yeah!"
Guiche was staring at Ash's creation with an open mouth and wide eyes. "Is that a bone?" Guiche asked in confusion. "Made of wind magic?"
"This is a move called Bone Rush," said Ash. "I used an Aura version of it to make a bone out of my Aura. And it looks like it works with the rune too," he added, taking a look at the glowing symbols on his left hand.
"You can create weapons with Wind Magic and use them to become even stronger?!" Guiche said incredulously.
"Aura," Ash corrected reflexively. "And that's what it looks like. Let's try it out!"
Ash swung his newly minted weapon at the Valkyrie. Guiche didn't even bother trying to block the attack. He knew it would be futile. As expected, the glowing bone cleaved through the golem's shoulder and chest with ease, but as it did so, innumerable fractures spread across its surface.
As the Valkyrie's remains fell to the ground, Ash and Guiche watched as the aura bone dissolved into innumerable fragments and disappeared. The two stared blankly at Ash's now empty hand.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Guiche asked.
Ash sighed. "Looks like I'll have to practice that trick."
Ash kept himself pretty busy, but when he had some spare time, he liked to help out the staff of the Academy. Specifically, he spent plenty of time in the kitchen. He had a good relationship with the cooks and servers. They appreciated the presence of someone who could face down a noble and also was nice to everyone he came across. While there was some initial suspicion when they heard he had used magic, Ash assured them that what he did was a rare ability from his homeland, and—as far as he could tell—it was not magic.
Having the Head Chef in his camp helped smooth that matter over. The mountain-sized man let Ash have free access to the kitchen. Ash helped out with whatever he could, though after he almost set the kitchen on fire while helping near a stove, he had been regulated to small tasks, and only while under supervision. Still, Ash enjoyed it. And everyone pretended not to notice when he snuck some of the food aside for himself or the other familiars, which was a huge plus in his book.
If Ash had to nominate one place in the Academy with the cheeriest environment, the kitchen would win hands down.
"Hi, Ash!"
"Greetings, Mr. Ash."
"Hello, Ash!"
Turning around to a see a trio of young women entering the kitchen, Ash briefly paused what he was doing to give them a friendly wave. "Hi, Mary, Anne, and Mary Anne," he greeted them with a smile. "What are you doing here?"
The three ladies had expressively different personalities, but were nearly identical in physical appearance. If they hadn't introduced themselves as cousins, Ash would assume they were triplets, or at least sisters. They all appeared to be roughly the same age, late teens or early twenties—not that Ash would dare ask. All of them shared warm, golden brown eyes that they insisted was the color of honey. Their heights were almost a near equal match, with the top of Ash's head barely reaching their eyes. While their modest maid uniforms didn't show of their figures, the outfits also failed to hide the maids' womanly curves, which, as if they were triplets, also failed to give a clear distinction between the three. Even their faces, slightly rounded with full cheeks, had little difference between them.
As if to make themselves even harder to be identified, the only aspect they could attempt to differentiate themselves with—their hair—was kept wrapped in identical tight buns. Their hair color at least had some degree of difference. Mary's hair was a darkish wheat brown. Anne's was a lighter shade of flaxen brown. Mary Anne's hair carried a tint of red, being a light chestnut brown color. If it wasn't for that sole distinction, Ash felt he would never be able to tell them apart. He wasn't like Brock, who could determine the distinctions of any Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny with only a glance.
The three maids approached Ash with cheerful smiles.
"We're working in the kitchen today," said Mary Anne, answering his question. The other two nodded, Mary with enthusiasm and Anne with poise.
"I see you've been hard at work as well," Anne said, observing Ash rolling the dough of croissants.
"Sure am!" Ash replied.
The process for making croissants was simple, but time consuming. The dough had to be folded over repeatedly to create the fluffy, flaky layers that the pastry was famous for. A skilled chef could work a pile of dough with brutal efficiency. While Ash didn't have any training, he did have stamina. The best part about croissants was that until it came time for the final foldings, all that mattered was repetition. Which meant even someone like him didn't have to worry about making mistakes.
"You sure do spend a lot of time here," said Mary thoughtfully. "Don't most boys your age like to go out and play?" She gave him a teasing smile.
"I have a lot of time on my hands," Ash replied honestly. "This is fun, and different from what I usually do. It's a nice change of pace."
"Extra hands are always appreciated," another chef commented. Standing further down the table, he, like Ash, was rolling croissant dough. However, the superiority of his technique was evident in the speed he was turning, folding, and flipping his dough. His piece was also roughly in a square shape, which was easier to cut triangles into. Ash's dough was a deformed splat, more closely resembling a blob of slime that had carelessly fallen to the floor than any identifiable shape. "Hugo has us run ragged, me especially," the chef added in a low mutter.
Ash winced, remembering how Hugo had silenced Pierre when Ash had first visited the kitchen with Siesta. "I don't think he means anything bad by it, Pierre," Ash assured the chef. "He seems to be just a bit rough around people."
Pierre's shoulder slumped. The young man looked to be in his early twenties, but with his timidity Ash could easily picture him being no more than a teenager. "I know he's not a bad sort, but I wish Marteau was still in charge."
"Who's Marteau?" Ash asked.
"He was the Head Chef who retired at the end of the last school year," Anne answered. "He was a generally well-mannered man who ran the kitchen effectively."
"I'm sensing a 'but' coming along," said Ash.
Mary Anne leaned towards his ear and whispered, "Between you and us, he probably would have been fired in a year or two if he hadn't retired when he did."
"Why?"
"Well…" Mary drawled conspiratorially. "He was great when working with other people, but nobles were easily able to get under his skin. Spells go flying a lot in the Academy, and they can be quite annoying to some people."
"He nearly blew a gasket when an explosion from one of the first years caused us to lose an hour's worth of food to the floor," Pierre confessed.
"First years?" Ash mused. If that had happened last year, and Louise was a second year… Ash sighed. "At least no one was hurt, right?"
"We were all a safe distance away," Anne assured him. "The walls of the Academy are enchanted to resist wayward spells; it was the noise and vibrations that kept causing problems throughout the year."
"I heard some of the nobles were lightly injured," said Mary Anne. "But they have water mages ready to heal them at a moment's notice, so it wasn't like anything really bad happened."
"That's nobles for you, they do whatever they want and are never in any real trouble for their actions," said Mary with a small touch of bitterness.
Ash looked at the young woman in concern. "Do you… hate nobles?" he asked questioningly.
Mary's eyes shot open and she waved her hands frantically. "Oh, no!" she denied fervently. "Some of them are pricks, sure, but can you imagine not having nobles and their magic?"
"Disease and injuries would be incurable without water mages," said Anne.
"Without earth magic it's near impossible to construct anything made of metal or stone," Mary Anne added.
"Air mages are needed for weather control, especially in farmland areas," said Pierre.
Ash noted that none of them offered any praise for fire mages. Then again, lighting campfires and candles didn't sound nearly as impactful as everything else they mentioned.
"Nobles are a necessary part of society," Mary agreed with a nod. "I wish some of them would get off their high horse and pull the sticks out of their arses, but at least the teachers in charge of the school are fair. Unlike the students," she added with a snort.
"Normally they straighten up in their final year, but these students are an especially troublesome bunch," said Anne with a sigh.
"Especially the second-years," Mary Anne added. "I'm glad you put that class in their place by beating the playboy. They could use a good lesson."
Ash frowned. While he agreed that the students were a pain, it wasn't fair to group all the nobles based on what the loud obnoxious ones did. Even Guiche, who instigated the mess, wasn't a really bad person. Before he could open his mouth to respond, another voice cut in.
"Don't forget Miss Valliere is in that class, and Ash is her familiar."
The five of them jumped and turned to see Siesta standing behind the three maids. In spite of her unnoticed approach, in her arms were a stack of trays, dishes, cups, and utensils, all neatly arranged but reaching all the way to her chin. Her head that floated above the collection of silverware looked at her fellow maids disapprovingly.
"And as I told you before, Mr. Gramont apologized for his actions after the duel," Siesta reminded her coworkers. "Since then, he hasn't made a move on any of the other female students. He's learning, and I don't appreciate your gossip of him." Despite Siesta looking to be their junior by a few years, the three maids looked ashamed, like children with their hands caught in a cookie jar.
"Force of habit," said Anne ashamedly.
"We'll lay off of him," Mary Anne vowed.
Mary nodded, but added, "The other students are still open targets though, until they prove that they're more than magic moneybags."
Siesta sighed, but rolled her eyes good naturedly as she began carrying her oversized stack to the sink.
Both Anne and Ash moved to assist her, but Anne reached Siesta first. "You really need to take these in smaller batches," Anne said with a sigh as she removed the top half of Siesta's load, a tray containing all the neatly stacked silverware. "You're going to break something these days. Founder knows if its these plates or your back."
"Definitely her back," Mary stage whispered to the others, much to Siesta's embarrassment. "Trust me, the way she's growing, she's going to have plenty of back problems in the future." Mary Anne slapped her arm, and a discreet motion to Ash, but was also struggling to hold back her giggles. Pierre flushed and turned back to his task, determined not to entertain such thoughts while nearby his female coworkers. Ash… had the innuendo fly straight over his head.
"I keep telling you, it's not too heavy," Siesta insisted, though she had made no move to stop Anne from relieving some of the burden. True to her word, while Anne had to walk carefully with her load to ensure nothing would fall, Siesta moved with ease as she set the trays in an empty sink and began scrubbing away. "In fact," Siesta added, "I think the exercise helps me keep fit."
"You're definitely keeping fit in the right areas," Mary said as she looked at Siesta's body enviously. Mary, like her cousins, wasn't lacking in feminine charm. However, Siesta was winning when it came to bust size, and being younger, she still had time to grow.
"Exercise is great for staying healthy," Ash agreed, still oblivious to the byplay.
"It's different for women," Anne informed him. "Men don't like women that are too strong."
"They don't?" Ash said in surprise. "Most of my female companions were strong though, and I learned a lot from them. I like my friends for who they are. Anyone who dislikes someone for being too strong is just jealous."
Mary Anne's eyes lit up. "Don't go clouding his mind, Anne," she said to her cousin. "He's allowed to choose whatever type of women he likes."
"What?" Ash asked in confusion.
"I think its admirable that he likes stronger girls," Mary Anne continued, grabbing Ash by the arm. Ash looked uncomfortable by the young woman's proximity as she continued, "A strong wife is a good wife."
"I think you're being too pushy," said Mary, grabbing Ash's other arm and pulling him away. "There's a difference between strong-willed and annoying."
"That's not your call to make," Marry Anne argued, pulling Ash back to her.
"It's not yours either," Mary retorted with another tug.
"You both should be ashamed of yourselves," said Anne as she glared at the two.
"Stay out of it!"
"Are you okay, Ash?" Sieta asked as she watched Ash be tugged back and forth by the two arguing brunettes.
Ash made a futile attempt to shrug. He felt like a Teddiursa doll being fought over by two children. "I've been worse," he answered honestly.
"ASH!"
The kitchen door was flung open by a very panic-faced Louise. "Where's Ash?" she called out. With speed that betrayed their profession, the women surrounding him released his limbs and moved to stand behind him.
"Here!" Ash announced, stepping forward. "What's wrong?" he asked in concern.
Louise opened her mouth to answer, but closed it slowly as she eyed the women standing around her familiar. "You have quite a few female companions," she said suspiciously.
Ash turned around. "Oh yeah, you've met Siesta, but this is Mary, Anne, and Mary Anne," he introduced them in turn. "And he's Pierre," he added, pointing a flour covered finger at his sole male compatriot. The chef turned to give Louise a nervous nod before turning back to his work and doing his best to blend into his surroundings.
Louise shook her head. "Not important," she said brusquely. She stepped forward and grabbed Ash by the arm. "We need to go to the city to buy you a new outfit."
"Now?" Ash asked. He didn't plant his feet, but he walked slowly despite Louise's tugging as he tried to puzzle out the girl's urgency.
"Yes!"
"Can it wait a minute?"
"What's so important you can't drop it?" Louise asked. She narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me that want to spend more time with these women than your own master."
"My hands are covered in flour," Ash deadpanned, holding them up so she could see.
"Oh," said Louise sheepishly. "Yes, do wash that off."
"What's so important that we have leave now anyway?" Ash asked as he went to the sink next to Siesta and washed his hands.
"You remember the Void Day celebration is coming up?"
"Yeah, everyone's been talking about it. The kitchen's been busy preparing."
"There's a special guest coming to watch this year's celebrations, including the familiar talent show."
"Who?"
Louise's eyes lit up in sparkles. "The princess!"
The entire kitchen fell silent enough. The only sound came from the cackling flames on the stove. The entire staff knew that a visit from the Princess would make the event one of the most important days in the entire year. If the celebrations went well, the Academy reputation would skyrocket, and there was a chance they would receive a bonus in pay. If it went poorly… some people would be losing their jobs.
This news was monumental.
Ash looked at Louise surprise and uttered the first thing that came to his mind, "There's a princess?"
After Louise had dragged Ash from the kitchen, Siesta went back to the dishes, and the brunette cousins sighed and conferred in hushed whispers.
"How are we supposed to keep an eye on him if Miss Valliere keeps dragging him away," Mary lamented.
"Maybe it'd be easier if we didn't back off every time Miss Valiere showed up," Mary Anne pointed out.
"And make her even more suspicious?" Anne asked. "It's bad enough you two take every opportunity to cling to him."
"I moderate myself," Mary Anne said defensively.
"He's cute!" Mary protested.
"That's no excuse," said Anne harshly. "Remember, Osmond told us to watch him and keep his attention, but we can't let Miss Valliere know what we're doing. She's a possessive sort, and she would take drastic measures to keep Ash close to her if she found out we were keeping eyes on him. And since Ash is very open, it's imperative that we keep this secret from both Ash and his master."
"Keep what a secret?"
The three turned to see Siesta standing behind them, a confused expression on her face. Behind here were a stack of sparkling dishes that had been cleaned in record time.
"Founder foot fungus," Mary Anne cursed.
"Seconded," Mary said in agreement.
Anne sighed. "Why me?"
This chapter was the closest I could get to a montage. I needed to dump as much info as possible and set up a daily routine for Ash and Louise, and this was the best way I found to do it. This would be easier in a visual medium instead of a written story, but it is what it is. Stability to character lives makes it easier for me to write them going about their day, or making any changes to from the status quo. If it looks like Ash is always busy... Yes, yes he is.
In stories like these, I try to limit my use of OCs. I only use them if a canon character can't fill the role I need. I know some people hate OCs of any sort, but I need them, so I added them.
If you missed it from the top A/N, POLL is up on my PROFILE. Tell me who you want to see show up in the next addition to the Louise Summons series!
Looks like people are pretty satisfied with the explanations I've given for the runes and Ash's abilities so far. Glad to hear it! If you guys want, I can put together a list of Ash's currently discovered abilities for next chapter. Also, to the people gave me extra information on in universe mechanics/history, thanks! I've been loving the discussions I've been having you guys. People have really been challenging my choices for the story (in a very respectful and usually positive way), and I think the story has grown better because of it. Thank you for the heart and nutritious meal of reviews and PMs!
Keep the food coming. Even Bitter Herbs are still good for staying healthy! Reviews (and PMs) are food for a writer's soul!
