Laiji Alatrea Namielle hugged herself around her waist as her first group of the year, and prospectively her group for the rest of her time at the Royal Academy, sat down across from her. One was a messy looking redhaired human boy with a decent complexion. She figured he was probably from one of the nearby cities in the province as he seemed very comfortable in the castle and around other people. His musculature told Laiji that he was some form of warrior. The person sat beside him was a pale high elf with hair the color of freshly fallen snow. The woman was like a slender branch of elegant whitewood, too pure for the world, and what little of her body that wasn’t exposed to the air was wreathed in silks and gold.
Apparently the dress code did not apply if you were pretty and from a special elf family…
The one male in their group had been struggling to keep his eyes off of the elf woman’s body, and they visited her slender frame frequently as the three of them sat in their newly assigned grouping. Laiji honestly considered if it would be possible to switch with someone at another, less conspicuous table.
“Now. Introduce yourselves and familiarize yourselves with one another’s classes. In fifteen minutes, we will all be heading down to the training hall for some group sparring,” the professor said, crossing his arms as he looked around between each group he had assigned. The man seemed disinterested to Laiji, and hadn't seemed like he had planned out their groups in any organized fashion. His demeanor left her worried, but she tried to focus her attention on the people she'd been assigned to.
“I'm Henric,” the boy said, smiling broadly, “You girls are in good hands with me. I'm part of a prophecy to defeat a demon lord.” The boy boasted about himself with the air of a prophesied hero who believed they simply could not fail, and his wide smile left Laiji with even more concern. “I'll be a hero.”
Those words gave Laiji absolutely no confidence in the boy, as she was pretty sure that anyone who was actually supposed to defeat a demon lord should have more guile, and probably not forecast their destiny to complete strangers. A prophesied hero who went around boasting about their fate seemed highly likely to get themselves killed, to Laiji. Wasn't declaring your status as a hero like openly declaring that you intended to murder a demon lord? That sounded like a quick way to get assassinated.
“I am Afenti Laurelai, Divine Maiden, and daughter of the mother tree,” said the elf woman, raising a hand and brushing back one of the strands of her snowy white hair. The gesture made Laiji even more uncomfortable, and she glanced between her table mates in genuine concern two people with divine powers or ordained destinies and no common sense between either of them.
When both her table mates looked at her, she sighed. “Laiji. I'm an elementalist,” she said, keeping things as simple as she could, hiding her hands in her lap.
“That's cool. Can you summon fire?” the boy, Henric, asked, eying her more closely.
“I c-could,” Laiji confirmed with a gentle nod. “I'm s-sure you'll see during sparring.”
“He might not. My abilities are quite dazzling,” the elf woman said, her pretty face alight with smug, competitive self satisfaction. Her tone said that the elf was far better than Laiji and her gaze held competitive fire that the elementalist had no interest in contesting.
“Then he'll p-probably see your s-spectacular abilities,” Laiji said, quick to agree with the other girl. The last thing she needed was to get into a pissing match with some girl over a man whom she'd much rather leave alone with the elf so she could find another table. They could have one another.
“He likely will,” the elf agreed, smiling wide and showing off dazzling, pearly teeth. Laiji sighed deeply on the inside, hoping that her surrender had earned her some good will.
“I look forward to seeing both of your skills,” the male said, ruining what little progress Laiji had made to try and take some heat off herself by making sure to include her. “Mine aren't that impressive yet. Just warrior skills. But I'm pretty sure when I advance my class, they'll get even better.”
“Oh I'm positive,” Afenti said, smiling like an angel at the boy, whose eyes dipped down her body for a long moment before he nodded and smiled back.
These two were meant for one another, and Laiji was eager not to be included in whatever the two of them were going to get into. She just wanted to take her classes, accelerate her growth, graduate, and then go on simple adventures to make a living. These two would certainly ruin that.
“I'm capable as a healer and enhancement support,” Afenti said, batting her lashes at the male. “What role are you suited for? Damage, perhaps?” She asked, moving her seat closer to his.
“Honestly, when I was with my partner… she did more damage than I did,” the boy said, looking up pensively, not noticing the venomous snarl that crossed the Elf's face for a moment. “So I'd guess I'm better as a tank. I also have good regeneration.”
“Your partner?” Afenti asked, her voice saccharine sweet.
“Yeah. Ambrose. She's gonna be my first wife, and she's great at doing damage,” he said. Laiji's eyes went wide at the assertion. She had known Ambrose for only a few nights, but the other woman certainly didn't seem like the type of girl to get involved with someone this dim witted.
“Your first wife? You intend to take multiple, like the royals?” the elf woman asked, her discontent dying down for a moment as she observed Henric.
“Yeah,” Henric said with a nod. “I figure, if I'm going to save the nation and maybe the whole continent, I deserve some extra happiness,” he continued, bouncing his eyebrows at Laiji, which made the elementalist want to sear his face from his skull. She had no intention of joining any relationship with this boy. Even if it potentially meant seeing that beautiful, pink skinned form of Ambrose's again. His attitude and lack of wit made the prospect wholly unattractive.
The elf woman seemed of a different opinion, though. The notion that he wanted to have multiple women calmed down her territorial glaring and preening almost immediately. Personally, Laiji felt it was unwise to get so territorial over a man the woman had just met, but Laiji wasn't about to voice that or participate in the argument that would certainly follow.
Instead, she simply nodded and resolved to ask Ambrose about Henric later. Her roommate would certainly be the less embarrassing one to talk to about their… potential relationship.
The Elf seemed like she wanted to go into more details, but the instructor called out just before she could speak. “Alright. Everyone up. We're heading to the indoor training room. Groups will pair off for sparring and then we'll rotate. Remember not to hurt one another too badly. We're all here to learn, not to kill one another!”
Henric was up in a flash and ready to go, his sudden energy startling both of his female table mates. Before either of them could actually protest, he was moving from their table and over to the door. The elf looked after him, while Laiji sighed and shook her head before standing and turning to follow the group toward the exit.
Before she had made it too far, Afenti stepped in front of her, a serious look on her face. She stood straight, putting on a regal air as she tried to intimidate Laiji. “He may want multiple women, but if this Ambrose is first, I will tolerate no other woman being his second. You are third, understood? And below me.”
Laiji’s jaw dropped in open astonishment as she was “cornered” and then told her place in a harem she wanted no part in to begin with. She put her hands up in a sign of surrender, her wind-tipped translucent fingers splayed.
“I have n-no intention of g-g-getting in your way!” Laiji stated as simply as she could with her nervous stutter, shaking her head to emphasize her denial.
The elf looked at her, frowning, and then at her hands with raised eyebrows. “An elemental-kin… rare. You may yet make an acceptable third wife,” she said with a smug grin, before turning and strutting away to join the rest of the class.
Laiji watched after her, a pit forming in her stomach as she trudged after the other two members of her ‘team’.
—
The interior training hall was a huge stone room, larger than the dining hall. With its walls and ceiling lined with wards to protect from damage if made for an excellent large space to practice combat in all forms. At least, that's how Laiji saw things when the class entered the space. There were some gasps as the sheer scale of the space became apparent to the other people in the class.
“This enchanted training hall is just one of the many benefits of the royal academy over other locations across our kingdom. This space will be available to you students throughout the year, barring very special occasions. It is large enough to perform battalion drills, and supplies from practice weapons to temporary walls are all available here. For today, I want each group to pair off and we'll have timed sparring matches between groups” the professor explained, his pride in the school evident in his voice.
Laiji hesitantly stepped over to join her group, looking between the two other members and trying to stow her concern. Both seemed to be practically vibrating with excitement while the other groups paired off.
“You! Boy with the pale elf!” called another group, led by a tall man whose musculature easily out did Henric’s in bulk, though maybe not so much in function. His broad shoulders and blocky build made him seem almost naturally cumbersome as he walked toward their group, a hand moving through his blond hair. “Your team versus mine.”
“You got it! Just don’t cry when we beat you,” Henric replied, moving over to go pick up a practice sword while Laiji observed their competition. The big man was boxed in by his companions. One a halfling who seemed more dressed for roguish activity than anything else. Her uniform seemed like it had been adjusted to help with her mobility. On the other side, a dwarf with a ball headed mace stood ready and glaring at Laiji.
Laiji was about to go and see if any of the practice weapons would suit the fight when Afenti took her by the arm and pulled her close, causing the girl to flinch. The elf’s lips were brushing against her ear a second later, the high elf woman speaking into Laiji like her words could sear themselves on the side of Laiji’s mind. “Don’t try and steal the show, third in line. You may be our damage, but I will not tolerate you outshining our man. And if you do, I will personally track you down and discipline you.”
Laiji’s eyes were wide as she suddenly found herself under threat as the other woman tried to intimidate her and show their enemies that she was not to be messed with. “Do you understand me?” she hissed.
Laiji nodded, desperate to tell Afenti anything she needed to in order to be free of the elf. When Afenti let her go, Laiji jogged away, not looking back as she moved over to the weapon racks as any form of excuse to not stay alone around the other woman. Laiji found herself at the polearm rack well before she was paying attention to what she was doing, and rather than bother looking for something more close up, she looked around the rack to see if there was anything versatile that she could use.
She ended up picking up a Glaive, just because the long, single edged blade seemed easier to understand, and was closer to a weapon from the foothills and mountainsides where she’d been raised. She had very little experience using one, but she understood the basics, and that would have to do for this exercise. When she turned back, both groups seemed to be waiting for her, Henric testing the weight of his practice sword while he waited.
She started to return to her group, but halted when the professor's voice traveled over the hall.
“All Teams, group up! We’ll do this one pair of teams at a time at the center of the room. That way each of you can observe the tactics, or lack thereof on display and I can comment on other options to the class.” called the instructor from the side of the classroom, observing the separate teams with keen eyes as everyone came together in the center of the training hall to form a wide arena around where the first pair of groups would fight.
The first groups were fairly standard. To Laiji's surprise, it seemed the teacher had put everyone into a trifecta organization, with one tank, one healer, and a fill spot that usually contained someone capable of dealing high damage. Each fight was rather standard, with the tanks going after one another while the other members of each team tried to disrupt the central conflict.
When it came time for Henric’s group to step forward, Laiji gripped her polearm tightly, trying to prepare herself for what was to come. While the teacher had healed each group after the fight, during the sparring matches, he allowed anything short of killing the opponent, and a few of the other students had been particularly cruel once they’d figured it out.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
“The dungeon creatures will not stop because you’re in pain,” he said, when someone questioned why he allowed the fights to continue at such extreme points. “You all need to be prepared, and understand that being overwhelmed might end up being worse than just dying swiftly. If you have healers, use them, get back into the fight. If you don’t? Grin and bear the pain. Escape. Live.”
Laiji personally thought that was kind of a lazy bullshit answer dressed up in a ballroom suit, but she didn’t say so aloud.
The enemy team peeled away from the crowd, moving several paces off to the other side of the room to leave space for a clean engagement between both groups once the sparring started. The big blond stood at the fore of his group, the heater shield on his arm looking a little small for him, and the hand and a half sword looking more like a hand only sword in his large grip.
Choosing to move strategically, Laiji intentionally put Henric between Afenti and herself, and kept herself a few paces away from him to keep her weapon between herself and the male at all times. In this situation, she was defending against not only the enemy team, but her own. She would not be bested by these insane people.
“Prepare yourself!” he challenged, banging the flat of the blade to the face of his shield.
“Oh, we’re ready,” Henric answered, raising his own sword in a two handed grip, his guard high.
Seeing that both of the men planned to take on one another, Laiji chose to target the rogue if she could get there, and held the blade of her glaive low to the ground to be mindful of the size of her opponent. That left Afenti to deal with the dwarf, or at least fend her off until the other two could support her. Maybe it would also keep her distracted enough that the insane woman wouldn’t come after Laiji
When the professor announced the start of sparring, both Henric and the blond charged, Henric’s sword meeting the shield of the other man as he countered and tried to smash his sword into Henric’s hip. With surprising dexterity, Henric swung down the blade of his weapon and batted away the attack.
Laiji noticed that the Halfling was already strafing in order to take an angle and stab Henric in his back. Rather than let her team mate be forced to deal with the crippling wound, Laiji guided the haft of the glaive through her fingers in a smooth stab, the blade lashing out in a darting jab that forced the roguish woman to back off. But the halfling had not been prepared for a glowing bluegreen ball to follow the motion of the stab and chase her.
That little ball of energy was one of Laiji’s class abilities, Core Companion, which summoned a small elemental to aid her in combat. The halfling slashed ineffectually at the elemental as it darted after her and then exploded into a small burst of wind near her chest, sending her tumbling on to her back and then heel over head to land hard on the stone floor. Laiji didn’t let up, mentally instructing the core to pursue the target while she circled to the side of the blond in order to take more advantage of the situation and put pressure on the man.
As she circled, a blinding flash of white light lit up the other side of the room, and the Dwarf stumbled back, large cracks spiderwebbed across his barrier of light. Both groups turned to see Afenti standing with a summoned blade of dazzling, crackling white in one hand, ready to defend herself.
Rather than dwell on her team mate, Laiji made her core companion pulse with water, splashing the rogue and forcing her back to the ground with the force of the attack. While she had the other woman pinned, she stabbed at the side of the Blond, who deftly blocked her jab with a swipe of his sword and then bashed Henric in the side of the face with his shield, sending Henric staggering back.
The entire dynamic of the fight shifted with Henric recovering from the damage he'd taken. Laiji was forced to step forward and defend him, her blade weaving in a tight figure eight near the knee level of the opponent. The weaving strike stopped his advance as the blond was forced to protect his legs. Laiji wished she could pull the core away from the rogue, but if she did, the fight would quickly turn sour with the halfling moving around and causing damage and wounds.
Instead, she maintained her offensive on the rogue while warding the bulky blond back with her weapon’s superior reach. The Core burst with water again while Laiji drew on the power of wind to push back at their bulkier opponent.
To her side, she felt Henric, moving, more than she heard or saw it. Trusting him to come in on the side, she tried to step out of the way, to the outside of the blond man’s guard to continue the offensive. She saw the Blond man’s eyes go wide a second before the pain hit.
Henric’s full longsword hit her across the chest and arms, his strength tossing her back and onto her back on the ground. Her wind was completely knocked from her as she hit the stone floor, searing agony playing across her chest and upper arms. She coughed, barely keeping hold of her weapon as she was left helpless on the ground.
The blond warrior whooped in pre-victory celebration as he kicked Henric in the chest, sending him sprawling onto his back before he could recover from slamming Laiji to the ground. The brute moved quickly, stepping over Laiji and trying to bring down his weapon on her while she was dazed. Laiji barely brought her polearm up in time to block the heavy downward chop, her arms shaking as the impact rattled her bones.
Pain surged in her body again as, rather than dragging the weapon back to try chopping her again, the blond stomped on her stomach while her arms were occupied. Again, Laiji found herself struggling desperately for air. Her eyes were watering and it was almost impossible to see. In a desperate move, she unleashed all the wind she had stored up for her elemental charge in a burst where she thought the opponent was.
The weight on her midsection left her and there was shouting from above her, but she couldn’t understand what was happening. She groaned in pain, trying to pull air into her body. As her ears rang loudly. It took far too long for her to get anything into her lungs, and when she did, they burned.
She heard the shouting of Henric in the distance while she began searching her surroundings. What she found didn't look good. Henric was back in the fight, swinging his sword in a frenzy of poorly coordinated slashes that the bigger man was blocking and dodging while the rogue, who was still up and about, moved toward Afenti. The elf woman was distracted, pounding away at the Dwarf who was desperately defending himself from her oncoming blows.
Even as Laiji tried to reach out, to warn Afenti, she couldn’t call out and Efanti was set upon by the halfling, who lashed out and jabbed her in the back with a pair of dull training daggers. The Elf yelped in protest and then, during her moment of distraction, took the head of the mace to the side of her ribs and dropped to her knees.
Laiji called on the power of her core companion, forcing it between the three as the dwarf and the halfling moved to beat the elf girl into submission. The great burst of wind that came off of the core blew all three of them apart and knocked the mace free of the Dwarf’s hand as he tumbled onto his stomach.
“This fucking bitch and her stupid ball!” shouted the halfling, kipping up to her feet and charging toward Laiji, but Laiji was already charging another blast. She wasn’t going to let anyone else attack her while she was down or get behind her again. She had made the mistake of trusting these people once. She still hurt in her chest and stomach because of it. If she had eaten anything for breakfast, she’d likely have thrown up. No. No more.
Laiji raised her hand, palm wide and fingers splayed, ready to cast her burst of elemental fury, only to hold it and let the rogue try to dodge to the side. Laiji’s blast caught her mid dodge, firmly in the chest and sent her rocketing away, bouncing off the floor as she was sent tumbling toward the far wall.
She noticed as Afenti was knocked back to the floor and turned her head in time to see that the dwarf had gotten the advantage over Afenti and was moving over her to bring his weapon down on her. With a little more air in her, Laiji advanced. She may not have liked the girl, but she certainly wasn’t going to let her be beaten to a pulp by a very frustrated looking, vengeful dwarf. Moving forward, Laiji brought her weapon into play and with an upward cut she blocked the downward swing of his mace.
Just when she was feeling good about helping the other woman, a blinding burst of light seared her retinas and ostensibly the retinas of the dwarf, who howled in pain and began swinging his mace blindly. Laiji only knew he was swinging blindly because he hit something. He hit her in the shoulder forcing her to turn and stagger away, her arm screaming as the joint protested the sudden abuse.
Laiji cried out before gritting her teeth, finding herself liking team battles less and less. Twice, her team members had led to her getting hurt. Twice, she had tried to cover for them and received nothing but pain as thanks. Specifically from them. It would have been different if the opponents were so good that she had just taken a wound in the act of defending. Instead, all her injuries came because her teammates kept hitting her.
Laiji blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. Her shoulder hurt, but it wasn’t broken. She could likely still control her weapon with that lead hand, so the only thing left to do was save herself in this instance. She backed away from where she heard fighting, desperate to protect herself. The roar of the dwarf and a yelp from the elf told her all she needed to know about what had happened during her moment of complete blindness.
As her vision came back, all she saw was shapes. She couldn’t tell who would approach her. And at this point, she didn’t care. No one was allowed near her. Calling her core to her she summoned a burst of flame between her and the group, a loud ‘fwooosh’ of air resulting from the burst of crackling flame. The burst seemed to give her more time, and Laiji continued to try and recover her own sight. She saw someone coming toward her from the side and swept her hand in that direction sending a searing stream of orange and red to wash over the stones in a temporary barrier between her and whomever it was. The yelp of surprise told her she’d bought herself more time.
Henric called out in pain once, then twice beyond her vision, which was beginning to genuinely clear. With one more blink, Laiji looked upon the scene with mostly clear eyes, and a very dark outlook. Afenti was on the ground some distance away, unconscious. Henric was down, holding his arm, his weapon knocked away as both the big blond warrior and the dwarf stood over him, ready to beat him down if he didn’t surrender. The halfling was cursing and trying to get around the flames, which Laiji maintained for a moment longer to keep her at a distance.
In mere seconds, her teammates had completely fumbled and fallen. And she was left to deal with the displeased and likely vengeful opponents. This was… too much. Laiji’s instinct was to surrender. She wanted to put her weapon down and put her hands up. But one part of her, a part deep down screamed at her that it wasn’t fair. That it was an injustice that her team could hold her back. She was better than a surrender. She was better than her team, and if they wanted to hold her back, she would win without them.
Laiji didn’t understand why she listened to that part of herself. She didn’t know why she felt the surge of anger and indignation well in her body to burn away her defeatist attitude. All she knew was that she didn’t want to lose. She didn’t want to be hurt any more because of incompetent team mates. If she was going to be beaten, it would be on her terms.
Gritting her teeth and glaring at the rogue, she maintained the stream while she pulled her core toward her, lining it up behind the shorter woman. When she let the stream of fire peter out the halfling smiled, stepping forward in the beginnings of a lunge, before Laiji’s core burst into a shower of stones, the rocks pelting the back of the halfling and knocking her toward Laiji, who stepped forward and onto the back of the halfling drawing the dull blade across the back of the neck of the downed woman in a blow that would have severed the spine if the weapon were real. Flicking the blade back up to defend herself she kept her foot on the back of the halfling as she waited for the two suspiciously healthy looking males, her core buzzing around her with more stored energy.
The big warrior took the lead, smiling and keeping his shield in front of him as he advanced his longsword gleaming in his back hand, ready to stab out. Laiji kept her blade low, and when he was in range, she made tight cuts toward his legs and thighs to force his guard down before swinging up to make high slashes at his head, all the while ignoring the pain in her shoulder and core. The dwarf came around behind Laiji while he thought her full attention was on the tank, swinging for the fences only to be hit head on with a directed burst of air from the core, which sent him staggering even with all the force he had meant to put into his charge. He went wide and so did his swing.
Laiji was forced to hop back off of the halfling as the Blond charged, intent on bashing her with his shield. Rather than missing a beat, the obviously trained warrior stepped over his comrade and pursued her. Laiji saw it this time, when the enemy dwarf healed the Halfling, who was already pushing herself to her feet, huffing in anger.
Laiji growled in frustration. Their healer had done nothing to help her. She wondered if the woman had even thought to heal herself, like the dwarf obviously had. She hissed in displeasure as two on one, suddenly became three on one. Her odds were non-existent. She should quit. The enemy team was healthy, she was cornered and injured, and no skill she had could fully even the playing field anymore.
She should have given up. But she didn’t.
—
The bruises she had gotten from the beating she had taken at the hands of the enemy team once they’d charged and overwhelmed her stung, but they had felt great in comparison to the wounds Laiji had taken at the hands of her own team.
According to the instructor, none of the injuries she would have caused the enemy team, including the deathblow on the halfling, counted, because her tank had beheaded her at the beginning of the fight, and no one had bothered to heal her. That meant that in a real encounter, she wouldn’t have been able to function well enough to fight the opposing team even if she had survived. He did commend her on her weapon ability, stating that she was likely more advanced than her team mates in that regard. He also commented favorably on her use of her abilities, and the effectiveness of her elemental core companion.
He recommended that the group try to exercise stronger teamwork in the following fights, before patching Laiji, Henric, and Afenti up.
“Get yourselves ready for the next group,” he said before turning and walking over to give advice to the winning team, who were rightfully celebrating a win.
“I’m sorry,” Henric said, looking at Laiji, who had pointedly seated herself away from the two of her other team mates.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Afenti said, putting a hand on Henric’s shoulder. “She got between you and your opponent. It’s only natural that she’d take damage.”
Laiji grit her teeth and remained silent. She was fairly certain that if not for her rather balanced vitality stat she would have cracked a tooth with how furious her teammates had made her. She didn’t want to talk to them, didn’t want to look at them, didn’t want to breathe air in the same space as a pair of selfish backstabbers.
“I mean… I think she was just trying to protect me. I was the one who basically cost her all the points she earned,” Henric said pointedly to the elf. The fact that he accepted the blame was almost enough to earn a little respect back from Laiji. Almost.
“Trying and succeeding are two different things,” the Elf said, shutting down all reason in order to coddle Henric. “She tried to help and got in the way. Now she’s grumpy because it’s her fault we lost.”
Laiji was back to gritting her teeth all over again. She was the reason they lost?! No. She wouldn’t accept that. She wouldn’t even entertain the damned conversation. She would do things her way from that point on. She was on her own team, and she would not lose to anyone again. Never again.
special support site!
