Memories of a past he’d rather not remember slowly faded as he sank deeper into the lake. He shook his head, fully pushing those memories away, and swam back to the surface.

As soon as he broke through the water’s surface, the panicked shouting of Willow reached his ears.

“You could have killed him!” she cried out.

“He’s fine,” Instructor Soraya’s said dismissively, waving her hand as if she was trying to chase Willow away. “See, just a few scratches and bruises, right?” she smirked as her gaze met Midhir’s.

He swam back to the shore and climbed out of the water. “Right,” he grumbled as the wind blew. He shivered, “I should get changed.”

Instructor Soraya pursed her lips. “That is a correct assessment, go on.”

Midhir sheathed his sword he had somehow been able to hold onto. “How long did I last?”

“What?” Instructor Soraya seemed surprised.

“Fifty eight seconds,” Alistair replied as Instructor Soraya smirked.

“Oh, right. That,” she chuckled, “It wasn’t a bad try, but you’ve got a lot to learn-”

“You used dual resonance casting against a first year student,” Alistair cut her off with a flat voice. “Against someone who was released from the hospital not too long ago, and against someone you know gets easily exhausted when resonance casting. Not only that, but you also used your augments like staves – a rare ability.” He folded his arms and glared at her. “I would urge you to reconsider how well you think he did.”

Instructor Soraya smirked. “Well, he clearly has the ability to separate the resonance from his weapon as well. You can call it evening the playing field.”

Alistair continued to silently glare.

“Fine, fine,” Instructor Soraya rolled her eyes. “Point taken. For an ordinary person, he did better than expected,” her gaze turned to Midhir. “But ordinary people don’t come to Solus Academy – and they don’t get put into this class. You nearly died because you’re unable to resonance cast without fully draining yourself. As soon as you summoned those flames, your motions became sluggish. Had you not immediately become exhausted, my dual resonance would have never been able to harm you.”

It was unpleasant to hear all of this after giving it his all. He had just cast back to back resonances, something he couldn’t do before. Yet, his best wasn’t enough. “I’ll practice more,” he replied curtly, trying to keep his disappointment from showing.

Instructor Soraya smirked. “That’s what I want to hear. Anyways, you pass with flying colours, now go get changed into some dry clothes and come back – and don’t drop by the healers for those scratches and bruises.”

Her last request seemed somewhat odd, but he nodded, nonetheless. Eager to escape from the frigid wind, he hurried inside. Ignoring the couple of odd looks he got along the way, he rushed up the stairs to the dorms. After changing his clothes and throwing the wet ones into the laundry basket, he threw a towel over his head and attempted to dry his hair as best as he could.

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When he returned to the courtyard, he had the hood of his cloak pulled up in an attempt to protect his damp hair from the wind. Despite not having hurried too much, he saw Instructor Soraya standing on one side of the courtyard, and Willow on the other. Alistair and Arwen were stood next to the door, leaning against the wall, watching.

“Did you fight her already?” he asked as he stood next to them.

Alistair nodded. “I lost within half a minute – and she didn’t even cast any resonances.” Despite that, he didn’t seem particularly upset.

“It was a little surprising,” Arwen shot a wary glance at Alistair before continuing. “I think she was a little upset with you.” Her gaze returned to the two duellists as they prepared to begin.

Willow gripped the hilt of her rapier and bent her knees slightly. Her gaze was focused on Instructor Soraya, who seemed to be quite relaxed. She was holding her sword with a loose grip, her dagger was in its sheath, and she hadn’t cast any resonances yet.

A moment passed in silence before Willow kicked the ground, dashing towards Instructor Soraya. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed across the courtyard as their blades met. The Instructor easily deflected Willow’s blade, then went on the offensive.

As she took a step towards Willow, the young woman’s augment began to glow. A strong wind pushed the instructor back as she quickly retreated. Beads of sweat rolled down her chin, which she quickly wiped with her sleeve.

She lunged at the instructor again, her movements faster than before as the winds whirled around her. Once again, their blades met, but this time Instructor Soraya wasn’t as relaxed as before. She held her blade tightly with both hands, her feet planted firmly on the ground.

As soon as their blades met, a crimson glow shone from the guard of Instructor Soraya’s sword. The metal blade burst into flames that roared as they lunged at Willow. The young woman’s eyes opened wide, her lips parted as she pulled her head back. Strong winds pushed the flames back, keeping her hair just outside their grasp.

Instructor Soraya smirked. Their weapons still locked, she pushed with formidable strength, causing Willow to lose her balance. As the young swordswoman stumbled backwards on uneven terrain, and fell. The Instructor stepped forward, putting the tip of her blade against Willow’s neck. “And you lose!” she cheerfully declared.

She sheathed her weapon, then turned her gaze to Arwen. “What do you think she did wrong?”

The young woman hesitated. Her lips parted, but then she paused. “I think… she shouldn’t have gotten into a battle of strength with you?” she sheepishly asked.

“Exactly!” Instructor Soraya clapped. “Now then, Willow, you pass too, though certainly not with flying colours. Arwen is right, you’re not strong enough to lock blades with me. You need to find another way to gain the upper hand.” She helped Willow up, then folded her arms. “Arwen, now is the time for your test.”

The young woman’s eyes opened wide. “But I thought I wasn’t going to fight!” she protested, gripping the shaft of her crystal staff.

“You won’t,” Instructor Soraya shook her head. “See the cut on Midhir’s face? If you can heal it, you pass.”

Arwen turned to look at him, while he remembered the small cut on his cheek. It had stopped bleeding a while ago, so he had completely forgotten about it.

“Then, excuse me.” Arwen took a deep breath, her hand caressing the shaft of her staff. The golden coloured gem held in the air by the four prongs of the staff slowly began to light up. It wasn’t as bright as before, she must have worked hard to learn to control the flow of power into it.

Soothing warmth touched his cheek. He felt a sting as the wound began to heal. He braced himself for the worst of pain, but it didn’t come since the wound was so negligible. A few minutes later, Arwen breathed out in exhaustion, the glow of her staff faded as she stumbled back and leaned against wall.

Midhir touched his cheek. He couldn’t feel the wound anymore, nor did he feel any scar tissue.

“Not bad,” Instructor Soraya narrowed her eyes. “But it took you four minutes and some, for such a small wound too. In your free time, go to the hospital and ask them for help. They’ll help you find subjects with suitably simple wounds to work on.” She smiled, “You all pass. Good job. Now, go back and get some rest, since tomorrow will probably just as tough as today. Midhir, you stay.”

Once the others left, Instructor Soraya folded her arms. “I was told to deliver you to the headmistress. She apparently wants to personally make sure you don’t have any lingering effects from the incident at Lohssa.”