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<01/11/1972 ~ 10:20 | Dakota Training Academy, Fronas, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
"Icy Wind!" The gust of concentrated freezing wind pushed outward from Taylor's two hands. All she had to do was release energy into her hands and project her powers into a chilling ice attack, a spell that does not require the assistance of a glyphring. Taylor managed to score a direct hit on her target, doubtless, as the visible cold gust of air was so wide. The only target to aim at anyway was just a dark coloration in the section of the metallic dome she aimed for. Anyone standing in front of Taylor from any angle was going to begin freezing quickly from her newly mastered spell. Taylor finished releasing the energy, realizing that her attack form was successful. She then shifted her arms into a thrust to showcase her victory. "Yes!"
The classmates behind Taylor all clapped for the success in her skill. She perfectly demonstrated a new power that can be used in Leray battles. Icy Wind is a well-known ice elemental magical spell, but instead of dealing any damage, the target becomes surrounded in a cold mist that lowers their speed and flexibility. It doesn't always work in a battle, but knowing the invocation is better than not knowing.
"Well done Taylor," Eliza clapped. "Good choice of a skill. Next, we have Danny up for demonstration." Another whole day passed, leading into Tuesday morning. Eliza gave her class the homework assignment of perfecting a new spell to demonstrate tomorrow, which is now today. It was like show-n-tell for Leray powers. Everybody went their turn, only demonstrating one new skill as they took turns in one particular section at a station to fire at the indestructible dome of metal. The people watched each student go and demonstrate their new powers at the dome, one at a time. As far as requirements went for the new spells, it had to be something other than the three elemental balls of magic. Even elemental bolts were accepted, but less encouraged. The fact of the matter is that students today are being evaluated on how well they could perfect and demonstrate a new skill of any kind. With finals coming up very soon, this was defiantly something important.
Danny exhaled, feeling a bit of pressure put on him. The magic skill he wanted to perfect last night took forever to try, and he only invoked it twice out of many attempts when he did. Now it was his turn right after Taylor. Taylor seeped back into the crowd while Danny was forced out onto the station pad in the middle of the bright room. The metallic dome in the center was designed to absorb Leray magical attacks, but there were targets to hit everywhere, that is the dark speckled coloration noticed by the eyes. It was useful in the design since there was never a mess to clean up with traditional target dummies designed as scarecrows, a highly important detail since accuracy counts as well. In a quick moment, this distracted Danny with the thought of something. For becoming a Leray wielder just to challenge other people to a battle, this seems rather excessive. Either they really want to weave out the weak, or this is really training for something else. Becoming a Leray agent made more sense with the theme of how intense this training gets sometimes, though Danny and Taylor both knew that they would need to end up in Junon at some point in time. They were already going to be two weeks late just after their graduation, assuming that uncle Nyar doesn't find them first.
"Go ahead Danny."
Danny shook himself out of his thoughts in response to Eliza's instruction. He knew what to do and how, but being up here like this made him nervous. Danny concentrated quickly, doing all he could to block out everything around him. This spell makes use of a conditional generation summon, so it wasn't easy to use before. After concentrating the energy into his hands, and rearranging his arms as if holding onto a hilt with both hands, Danny cast the chant. "Hammer of Might!" Danny had his eyes closed, so he could not see exactly what was going on, but he still imagined everything to come as he did before.
Danny's arms created an interesting yellow colored glyphring around them. That glyphring was present for only a second, after which it disappeared. After fading away, it left behind a brighter yellow glowing sphere, floating at the center of where the glyphring was previously afloat. That light then morphed itself before everyone's eyes, changing form and casting a pixelated auric appearance of something new. Danny's arms were still the same way he had them, waiting for that light to completely transform into something. Finally, Danny's arms ended up holding onto a long hilt without effort. The light transformed into an incredible melee weapon before everyone's eyes, and it automatically appeared in such a way where Danny was now holding that weapon up right. It appeared to be much like a weapon right out of the popular American movie, Thor. The gigantic hammer had an incredible glowing aura around it, giving the hammer a shine, but this was no ordinary house tool hammer. The blunt weapon was so big that the weight and size ratio should have been impossible to hold onto. Yet somehow, Danny was doing it perfectly. After the spell-cast was over, Danny ended up with a new weapon for battle, a giant Hammer of Might, made of a solid metal - for the side used to hit people with. If Leray magic did not protect people from certain deaths, this giant monstrosity of a weapon would just be incredibly excessive.
Danny was far from done with his skill. Eliza would probably pass him with just that, but all Hammer of Might does is spawn the weapon into the users hands for a temporary period of time. Danny then must use that weapon on his target if the opportunity is not to go to waste, and there was a target right in front of him. Danny charged at the dome, hammer in his arms as he held it up with both hands due to the weight. Though the metal opaque dome in the room was large, there was no actual obstacles in the way to prevent anybody from just walking up to each of the painted on targets. Therefore, Danny had an easier time charging like this. In a real battle, it would be harder with somebody who can think and counter his current move, but right now, all he needs to do is prove he can learn. That was the point of Eliza's lesson today. After finally reaching the target with a dash between running and sprinting, Danny shifted all of his muscle weight into his shoulders and his arms. It took quite a lot to lift the hammer up even higher. There were several methods he could have used to swing his hammer onto the target, but for now, the easiest way would be a quick swing from the right to the left. The hammer travels a bit faster this way, even though the opponent could think to jump over his hammer then. Though this was still not a moving target, his teacher must be evaluating every aspect available to her.
The hard clashing sound of metal against metal screeched and echoed through the entire room. The metal target Danny swung at stopped his hammer cold, putting enough force to disrupt his balance afterwards as the clash sent his legs shuffling and his hammer falling downwards. With metal strong enough to withstand any forms of Leray magic, it was obvious he was not intending to break through that steel dome, but the noise level caused by that collision spoke volumes about how much damage that could do in a battle, much more to how rough it would end up hurting people in that same battle. Eliza said that pain levels from damage are cut in half with the exception of piercing damage, while HP damage itself is reduced from what should be. The fact still remains; getting hurt in a fight can really mess with your mind when you're just battling to see who wins. Despite knowing you are shielded from death, the pain itself has the opposite intention of disrupting the thought of concept.
Eliza was watching every moment when Danny's hammer struck the target. It was a bit less usual to see someone actually go at it with a summoned weapon. Danny could have just been okay with spawning his Hammer of Might and continue to stand there, but he decided to go the extra step, so it better have worked. The sound from that metal clashing almost had her ears ringing. It was certainly a hard hit, which means he did it correctly. His balance was messed up though afterwards, making him totally open to a counterattack should he have missed, but that was something only to be judged on for advanced level classes. Thus, he defiantly did enough. Excellent! Danny's Hammer of Might began to disappear shortly after it impacted on his target. This was expected to happen as well. Not only is this hammer a summoned weapon only from phased energy, but it has a temporary life limit until the weapon unsummons itself, which is much more noticeable once that hammer gets used in combat. "Well done!" Eliza as well as the rest of the class began clapping for Danny's performance too. "Class? That is exactly how much damage a blunt weapon can cause in battle. But remember, blocking blunt damage with a high endurance really makes use of such items ineffective."
At first, Danny thought Eliza was dissing his skills, but it turns out that she was constantly doing this all day; giving out reminders about every specific detail and aspect of battling. People form strategies on these tactics, but leave themselves vulnerable to other opposing strategies as well. For every single solid weapon, there is a way to oppose it to a downside. Leray fighting is very complicated.
Eliza waited for Danny to walk back to the group before making the next announcement. "Last but certainly not least, Jane's performance is next."
Jane nodded at herself, building confidence that now is the time to show everybody her real skills. Jane was only picked last by her teacher under constant suspicion that she was still ill. Yesterday felt like a total drag to her, but after finally mastering that skill she wanted to, it was time to put the hard work into action. She managed to exert magic once again during yesterday's training without a single incident. In fact, she was in great physical health compared to before. No headaches, no muscle aches, and no strange static-electric sparking hands that prevent or disrupt magical control. For that reason, Eliza was no longer making many exemptions for her, which is what Jane would prefer anyway. Though there was still a small problem. "I'm here Eliza. Can you pull out the target dummy for me?"
Eliza turned to face Jane, off guard that she would request the three dimensional model target instead of the one everybody else was using. She must have a need to strike from behind or something like that. Jane is after all - the most mobile and agile girl in her class, and this was to be expected, after graduating from her close combat training class under care of Mr. Mire. "Uh-yeah. I'll get it for you."
Eliza had to turn around and head to the containment locker near the entrance of the room. The containment locker is used to safely store redundant battle items such as target dummies, battle suit prototypes, and other such things. It wasn't an issue to go and grab it for Jane, but it took some time. The class used that time to sink their suspense into themselves. Everybody must now be in wonder as to what strategy Jane had available. Before even launching a single attack spell today, she was requesting a slight shift in her target's variables. Eliza opened the locker, and pulled out the target dummy. There was only one, and she wasn't surprised that Jane already knew that that same one was available in the room today. She does get around when she isn't training.
The target dummy was just a solid beige colored figurine of a person, standing on a solid square design below it. It was not lightweight either, so it took her some time to move it into position. Eliza decided to place it in open territory before backing herself away into the crowd while Jane got closer.
Jane prepared herself in every possible way. Nobody was in her line of path or too close behind her, and her stance had already taken battle formation. Her target was set up perfectly, and this would be the best way to show off just how powerful and effective her new skill is in a real fight. Jane closed her mouth and used her hands to pick up both of her daggers from her boot hilts. Jane had a wide variety of clothes designed for battle, but the one thing that always remained the same was her willingness to hide two daggers on her sides or behind her. After drawing the daggers, Jane lifted them up to her chest, each blade point tip facing each other a foot apart. For this spell, chanting would only be necessary once it is time to throw the daggers.
The suspense had to be painful for the others, but Jane wasn't waiting on purpose. Even though she got it right yesterday without anybody seeing it once, it was very difficult to invoke, and demanded tons of concentration. One may think from the initial weapon wielding that Jane was about to use a weak and pathetic skill such as Knife Toss, but this was not what she had in mind at all. Jane kept focusing hard, now attempting to infuse a powerful concentration of Leray energy into both of her daggers. It took a few seconds, but they ended up glowing with a red aura around each blade. Jane had her eyes open too, so she knew when she was ready to unleash her new skill. After the daggers began glowing red, Jane tensed the muscles in her arms, and spun around with a quick flick of the heel. Jane's quick spin was designed to give herself some speed before throwing them. At the same time, she finally chanted the name of the skill while concentrating more of her energy into her blades, simultaneously throwing them at specific angles. Jane's left arm threw the left dagger forward with a slight horizontal twist of her wrist. Her right arm did the same to the other blade. It was a lot to concentrate on all at once, which is why the skill was so difficult to invoke the first few times. Though when used in battle, it can be highly effective.
"Flying Guillotine!" Jane took aim at her plastic or wooden target dummy, and threw both blades. The magical light in each of the blades became brighter as soon as it left Jane's hands. Once the blades traveled at least a meter away from Jane's body, something incredible happened in the middle of the knife formation. Jane's daggers each surpassed each other in a way that was designed to make their paths cross horizontally. The pathway formed an X in the air invisibly, but after the daggers got further away from each other, the resonating energy within them created a bright hot red circle traveling with the daggers. To be more specific, this circle was actually a magical aura bound by each spinning blade. The blades themselves were the border points of that spinning red circle, creating black lines everywhere as indications of slashing damage infused as well. At the same time, the distance between each blade didn't split further apart after the spinning circle attained a set diameter. The spell in general was beautiful, but it also moved so quickly that it was unbelievable to the class to see it in action. In less than a second of a flash, that spinning circle of doom finally reached the target dummy, colliding at its center with the cheap doll. Though it stood up to the first hit of Jane's attack, the Flying Guillotine ended up putting slashes and gashes into the material while the flying flat circle was cutting its way through.
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This was only half of the entire attack. As soon as it appeared that Jane's magical circle of attack aura completely drilled through the target dummy, the circle stopped sliding with the exception of the speedy and rapid rotation with the daggers. The guillotine spell was now causing damage to the target dummy without actually proceeding forward. This went on for at least a second more or so. Then, Jane's Flying Guillotine ended up heading backwards, still spinning with the potential to cause damage every millisecond. This time it was heading for Jane. Much like a boomerang, Flying Guillotine returns the daggers to the user while keeping up the attack the entire time. Now approaching the group quickly, several of the mystified students flinched and covered their faces, afraid of getting hit by Jane's spell. Jane knew better; she held out her hands, still glowing red from a slight magical infusion left in them. Jane's hands were glowing this way to attract the two daggers back to her. Just before the guillotine ended up crashing into Jane, the spinning dark red circle completely disappeared. The daggers however were still quickly rotating and drilling through the air with the same altitude as before. Jane caught both of her spinning daggers by the plastic handles with ease, and the attack of hers was now over. Though it was a lot to process, and complicated to dictate in a battle situation, it also happened in such a quick amount of time. Jane knew it wasn't easy to learn, but she was proud of that skill in particular, making excellent use of her daggers. Flying Guillotine can be used from long range too, giving her this edge - aside from her close combat style in a battle. There was no way she could lose to anyone now.
Eliza almost found herself unable to speak. Was it surprising that Jane learned that spell already? No. But the demonstration still set Eliza into a momentary trance of inspiration... That's why Jane wanted to use a target dummy. Flying Guillotine is an impressive attack, because it causes several dozens of daggers strikes to occur on the target if it hits, not to mention how difficult it can be to dodge the attack. Jane knew - that by demonstrating this skill like this, Eliza would be able to see exactly where each dagger hit the target, at what intensity, and exactly how many slices made contact as well. The impact was so well done that it had literally sawn the entire structure in half, with the top layer of the figurine sliding off to the floor. Jane really thought of every aspect when it came to this stuff. "Wow! Excellent job Jane. Look at all the damage that did."
Jane walked with Eliza to the target dummy. All of that concentration was short lived, but it had Jane breathing faster, as if the adrenaline rush of a real battle already affected her. The class followed Eliza as well, curious to see how effective the spell was. Since the cheap dummy was cut in half, it seemed rather impressive for Jane to perfect a spell with a higher power level.
Danny was impressed as well. Jane had been practicing yesterday, getting back into her training, but this right here should prove that Jane is actually getting back to her old self again. He remembered reading a bit about the spell itself in his guidebook of Leray attacks. Flying Guillotine. Power Level: 4.4, non-elemental magical slashing damage. That alone was an impressive settlement for damage potential. It's a strong attack in every sense of the way, so it made sense that Jane would take it upon herself to learn it for this assignment. She would do anything to prove to everyone that she was destined to become a Leray master.
Eliza waited for everyone to catch up, after which she held on to the target dummy that was still standing, and begun slowly rotating it around for the class to get a look at. This was simply to show off where all of the other smaller slashes were on the lower section that did not get drilled through entirely. Already, she heard gasps and impressed sounding whispers from the people that Jane didn't hang out with so often. There was reason to be impressed; there had to be at least fourteen separate cuts and gashes just on the front side of the fake body. The left side had a really long cut near the hip, and another set of slices inward close to the center. The dummy's backside took considerable damage too, and that was just the lower separated half of the structure. Eliza turned it around to show everyone. This was exactly the reason why Jane wanted to demonstrate her skill this way, because Flying Guillotine does damage everywhere. It can slice your backside, your front, your sides, even your feet and hair based on how it flies at which angle. If Jane were to try this on the metallic target painted onto the dome, it would have just absorbed her attack, not even allowing Jane's daggers to return the way they should return. Any impact that completely blocks out the damage from Flying Guillotine will cancel its formation before it can return. So it made total sense as to why she did this to a target dummy. "As you can see," Eliza elaborated, "Flying Guillotine is an attack that cannot be blocked, because it strikes in multiple places as that red circle of damage travels through your body like a ghostly aura. Of course, only what's on the outside of a person gets damaged due to Leray protection. This hunk of crap doesn't have that protection since it is non-living and non-synthesized. This particular skill is not easy to master."
"That's so cool!"
"I want to try!"
Eliza smiled in this familiar victory. Not one of those inspired voices came from Danny or Taylor. They already had their own inspiration, but it has been a while after Jane's accident since any of her other students were getting back on the level again. This is exactly the kind of cool demonstration her team needed. Jane really went out of her way this time, helping everyone by inspiring them to try harder while raising a new bar for them. Of course, since Jane's performance was last, that means there was plenty of room now to continue explaining why the use of weaponry was important. It was a longer kind of side-lesson, but really necessary. "And think. There are lots of skills out there that can only be accomplished with specific weaponry. Flying Guillotine does not summon daggers into your hands like Danny's Hammer of Might did for him. At the same time, Flying Guillotine can only be invoked with the use of two daggers."
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Chapter Theme Shift: Jungle Flight ~ Stitch Experiment 626 Soundtrack
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Jane folded her arms in satisfaction, but all she was doing now was resting. After the assignments were now complete, she didn't need to worry about training for the rest of today. Jane still loved training all the time, but as far as her recovery went, she was already bushed from that one attack. She still had some trouble with her natural ability to energetically last for long durations like she used to, and assumed it was simply her immune system still in flux over the last illness. That was okay. There would be plenty of time to stand around and do nothing, since Eliza is about to lose track of time and go right into another lesson that everybody should already know. It was typical for her to do.
"So you see, it's not just about the magic and the practice, but the spells you try to invoke can also depend on your choice of permanent equipment in the field."
"Are there other examples?" Danny quizzed.
"Of course," Eliza claimed. "You could use the skill Blazing Sword during a battle. Blazing Sword infuses your bladed weapon with a fiery aura to add fire elemental damage to your normal slashing attacks for a period of time. But in order to use it, you must already have brought a long blade or a sword into battle." Eliza could see that saying as much just cleared up a lot in everyone's eyes. Their expressions of sudden understanding reflected intensely. "You cannot use the skill Blazing Sword without first having a sword, or nothing will happen. Even if you did find a spell that summons the weapon of a long blade, it doesn't mean you can infuse its magical properties with other abilities. Even if you could, it would be far most costly to MP energy supply. Certain exceptions to this apply, but do so under the conditions that a tremendous amount of MP is used in the same process, thus making the overall design of such complexities flawed. That's why you have to develop a style with your weapon and go with it. That's also why there are so many different ways a battle can go."
Taylor looked at Danny, hoping he would understand another lagging question on her mind. It would seem excessive to ask Eliza while the other kids were into her current lecture. "Hey Danny?" After getting his attention, Taylor asked, "People battle in Leray matches until one side's HP drops to zero, right? That would mean that the loser passes out with each loss."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Sounds embarrassing. Though I've never got to experience that happening yet. All we've battled so far were Cran from those ruins. A live battle that actually is supposed to take place is something I have yet to witness or be a part of." He knew that wasn't true given the incident with that crystal shard thief, but that didn't really seem to count, since the battle wasn't the legal type of thing.
"It won't be long now."
Danny turned his head towards the back of the crowd to discover who was talking. Was that meant for him...? Oh! It's just Jane. Of course that means she was talking to him about something... "What?"
Jane lifted her head, smug with Danny's cluelessness to what he wished to experience. Though the day of the robbery was different. Danny and Taylor both were about to pass out from that thief, but it wasn't the same. There was no way he could have been using just pure Leray magic, or else Danny, Taylor, and even Eliza would not have been wiped like that. The drain caused by heavy Leray damage does have a similar feeling and sensation, but it's less intense. Passing out in a battle is the worst that can possibly happen, which is exactly why that is the scale used to determine the winner and the loser. "It won't be long until you two are put in a real battle like it was meant to be. Danny? You'll experience passing out soon enough. Don't worry. It's not dangerous."
"Okay," he surmised. "You seem to make it sound like it will happen often for me." Jane didn't answer back, but at least she was talking to him today, unlike before when she went and totally ignored everyone.
Taylor pointed to Jane, reminding her that she wasn't alone in that bed. "Hey Jane? You'll be battling soon too. Don't forget that." Jane didn't reply, but her reaction was a bit unusual. Though Taylor's friend simply absorbed what she had just told her, Jane was also humble looking. It's as if Jane is finally getting back to her old self again, in a slow, sluggish kind of way.
"Wait a minute!" Danny reacted. "What do ya mean, I'll experience passing out soon enough?! You think I'm going to botch my first real battle! I'll have you know..."
Taylor giggled at Danny, drowning out the rest of his ranting. At least he wasn't ever going to change. All things considered, this all felt like normal. Everything back outside this country wasn't the best place to be right now; that's what Taylor thought anyway. Leray magic is an awesome priority to pursue. Even though Jane is an even higher priority to hang around, she can do both at the same time now, and Danny isn't leaving either. Being here really is amazing!
"As I was saying," Eliza was glaring at Danny's outburst after he had taken away the attention of the entire class. It took him a while to turn around and figure out what just happened. After seeing that Danny was calming down, Eliza continued her lecture. She already just changed the subject, but it was all for the best. "Whether from training or from battling, successful use of a spell over and over again makes that spell stronger. That spell's attack power goes up. The speed of the attack increases. Invocation time decreases. The change each time is unnoticeable, but in the long run, the difference is much bigger. Even simple skills like Fire Bolt can end up becoming a powerful long range skill with years of constant invocation."
"Well we already knew that."
Eliza was a little surprised to see Monica say something Jane usually says. It must mean that her own lectures are getting repetitive.
Danny leaned in closer to Taylor, trying to make a joke without alerting his teacher. His voice never surpassed a whisper while Taylor leaned back to hear the whole thing. "You would think successful repetition of her constant lectures would get more powerful too, but I wouldn't bet on it."
"You're missing the point," Eliza responded. "You should have interrupted me to say that simple spells like Fire Bolt and weaponry in the field are not reliable on their own. It doesn't always matter how powerful you make your skills by invocation practice. The only way to get an edge over your opponent in battle is by switching up the spells that you use constantly. Make yourself less predictable, and the opponent will have a hard time adapting. Tactics can be swapped mid-battle, and so can the actual spells you invoke as well. That's why knowing how to use so many different skills is so important. The more skills you have preemptive to a battle, the more adaptable you have already become."
Jane nodded without saying much else. Her teacher was right this time. That last part is something she had not repeated once before, at least not to this team. Jane thought about every single skill she was practicing so far, and pinning them up to the spells she has already mastered. Going over the list in her head, Jane closed her eyes to help herself visualize herself using the spells she already performed at least once. Knife Toss. Radial Stars. Fire Ball, Ice Ball, and Electro-Ball. Aero Blast. Fire Bolt, Ice Bolt, and Lightning Strike. Ice Needles. Hand Grenade. Wind Slash. Magical Blitz. Shadow Wave. Flying Guillotine. Those were all of the skills Jane could use. Some of the skills she knew of were easy to learn, that is the skills that Danny and Taylor were able to use today, but they weren't part of Jane's ultimate style anyway.
Of course, the more powerful spells that Jane had yet to learn bugged her, hung on her mind while taunting her very intelligence and skill. Spirit Bolt, Flamethrower, Triple Fire, Drilling Fate, Quake, Zero Zone, and Crimson Flare. But Jane had another type of power on her mind. She never did give that strange stuff about the moonlight a rest. After a bit of research, there actually is a certain connection to the moon and specific spells. Unfortunately, Eliza's volume copy of special abilities is just far outdated. I know there has to be an ability or two associated with the powers of the moon. I just know there is...
The bell rang, interrupting everyone. Even taking Eliza by surprise, the day was finally over for training. It was only the early afternoon moments, but the students were already taking initiative to leave the room and go train outside. Not everybody left in a hurry however, and there were still going to be some others who would stay behind and train harder in this dark room. Eliza did her best to try and spoil the surprise for tomorrow. "Remember class. Keep training for Friday. Final evaluations are soon!"
Jane caught Taylor and Danny approaching her from the corner of her eye, but she didn't face them to say anything. She was too tired to train today after all she had done before. Every muscle and joint in her body felt overworked.
"Looks like that shoulder finally healed," Taylor began. Without knowing what much she could say to get Jane to speak to them, Taylor decided to go with something lame.
"Yeah." Jane loosened up her muscles, making sure she was completely healed by now. Her headaches were gone, and so were the fevers. Jane gave her entire right arm a few twirls round and round slowly to get a good feel. There was no pain to it at all. "I guess it did. Must have been the flu after all."
Taylor wasn't sure about that. There couldn't be illnesses that give people's magic the finger like that. The way Jane's hands were sparking earlier, no way that was supposed to be normal, even for Sprawn Valley. The way Eliza and others reacted to it proved so. But as of now, Jane looked great physically, other than the slight fatigue of not eating enough. Taylor's stomach was empty sympathetically, and she whipped up an offer Jane shouldn't refuse. "What do you say we grab a bite to eat? I'm buying."
"Sure." Jane's voice was monotone, as it had been for an entire week. Despite Jane feeling emotionally numb for a while, Taylor was somehow making her more at home. Whatever it was about, at least she gets to eat now.
Danny couldn't sense this at all. As far as he could tell, Jane looked totally depressed. What kind of dark thoughts could she be hoarding in that thick skull of hers? Was Jane ever going to go back to normal, getting all excited and passionate about training with Leray abilities? She was a bit better today, but still far from her old self. The thought alone was beginning to depress him as well.
Though perhaps she was still just sick. It was harder to tie in all of that spell bomb nonsense back to her illness since it was now beginning to heal up. Even if her recovery was so slow, Jane was getting better, and after everything that has happened, he considered himself lucky that he nor Taylor caught the unknown flu. Come to think of it, Mr. and Ms. Venn were looking healthy too, not that he was able to visit Jane's home that often. Maybe what she had wasn't as viral as the doctors thought. Whatever! At least agents have stopped coming to question everyone about it. It has been a whole week now since anything bad has happened. Please just keep the peace going longer!