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<12/27/1971 ~ 11:00 | Dakota Training Academy, Fronas, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
The weekend passed by with little grace. Monday called into the session of another class at Dakota, beginning at eleven A.M. There was a lot more time in the morning because of this, but today, Dakota was planning something big. That was the supposed cause of the delay regarding the class start time. Though nothing noticeably changed visually within the classroom; Jane's behavior was the warning sign whenever anything unusual was in lurk.
Danny had decided with Taylor to finish their graduation of Leray training to the end at Dakota academy. It put a massive dent in the plan to travel out from Fronas, but at least this way they could stay here, learn cool magic, and keep Jane as their new friend. It was only a temporary solution that bought more time; Danny knew this much, but this way, he could continue learning Leray magic, thus making Taylor happy. At the same time, he could keep her away from the airport, putting all of that stress into a void. Danny might was well learn magic too at this point. After everything that has happened, there isn't anything he can do right now. Taylor didn't really speak about her past again, as if she had forgotten about it completely, but her mood and state of mind said otherwise. Danny rarely got to see Taylor like this at all; it was as if she was in a spiral of depression. Her spirits barely lifted at all over the weekend, even with the encouragement to train further on magical capabilities.
Jane was not oblivious to the situation either. She knew that something was going on with Taylor, but even after trying to visit and talk to Taylor this morning, she never opened up to Jane. Jane decided not to pursue the conflict, in all out respect for their privacy, but she kept a sharp eye on them both. Danny, (since he knew as well as Taylor what this was about) was her next focus, and Taylor too, since she was at the center of the conflict in some way. The context of their current peril was anyone's guess.
After they settled into to Eliza's classroom again, Danny and Taylor took their seats, remaining almost as lifeless as before. Danny knew exactly how he and Taylor were both feeling; it was a messed up situation right now, with little opening to resolve. Where could they go? What could they do?
Taylor was feeling slightly better than the day before, and she had Danny to thank for that. It was all because of his willingness to help her out no matter what he would be getting into, that she had some hope that all of this might work itself out somehow. She couldn't explain it easily, and it was a little confusing sometimes as to why Danny's support made her feel this way. She couldn't even sum up what this sensation was exactly. Despite being in a better mood, Taylor returned to her thoughts regarding her subtle notices that Danny was just a different person, long before he even discovered Taylor's past. He wasn't being arrogant or competitive like he used to be in Kalamo.
Back then, Danny was stubborn as an ox, over the least significant arguments. Taylor and Danny remained friends despite this, but such a detail wasn't the point of significance. Something about him changed ever since they reached Sprawn Valley, and Taylor knew of it. Particularly, he was different towards her too in the way he would normally treat her or talk to her. She would remember the countless times they used to argue, even if it was over a small bit of cash neither of them needed. Other moments also clung to her memory for comparison, often were their saucily disputes gateways to their communication. Never were one of them enemies to each other even in thought; the perpetual sarcasm so integrated into their friendship. But to see Danny so caring and sympathetic to her now made it feel like the entire world has been flipped upside down, as if she were slipping into a parallel dimension.
That's why Taylor couldn't get him off her mind. Just two days ago, she was sick with her own family problems, unable to find real relief except for some moments of Leray magical training. Yet now, Danny had somehow blocked it all out. Danny, the guy who has been rejecting magic from the start and trying to move them both out of the only free area she has ever been to in all her life. He was giving up so much right now by staying here to help her. Taylor let her thoughts trail on while sitting in the desk.
The teacher was not exactly ready to begin the next lesson yet, but it didn't bother Danny. Sitting just behind Taylor, he occasionally noticed that she was constantly looking back at him without much reason. It was kind of strange, but not really atypical behavior for Taylor. Danny however was also exchanging looks with Jane, who probably grew very suspicious of what really happened between himself and Taylor since their arrival to this continent. Taylor's secret is only for her to tell, and that's that. Danny didn't care how badly his friend Jane wanted to know about it; it is none of her business. That curious look in her eye was trying to defy his mentality, but it wasn't going to work.
"Alright kids," Eliza began. "Today will only be a short lesson on item usage. After that, we will all participate in a special exercise that will test your readiness to advance your training further."
The entire class lit up from the news. Something special was going on today, followed by a short and almost meaningless session. Even Danny, Taylor, and Jane turned their heads to the front. Jane was the only one who was still paying only half attention, since she already knew everything there was to know about item usage. This would be a very short lesson indeed.
Eliza started her lesson by jumping straight into the topic. "In any Leray battle, official or not, it is important to understand how and when to use items specific to Leray recovery. I'm not talking about armor and weapons by the way."
Taylor realized that this really was a nice distraction from all of the heavy stuff, which naturally eased her straight into the lesson full throttle. "Which items then?"
Eliza replied, "The standard ones. Med kit orbs, boosters, and even spell bombs."
"What's a spell bomb," Danny asked.
"A spell bomb is an item used [only during a battle] that can cause many different affects for either character, depending on which spell bomb is activated. There are also spell orbs, which serve the same purpose, only you need to invoke a tiny bit of magic to activate them. A spell bomb might for instance raise your resistance to fire elemental damage where nothing else in your supply would."
"Cool," Danny stamped.
"You can always carry items around with you related to Leray wielding, and there are several different classes you can use as well. Healing orbs for example are out of battle items, which means you are not allowed to use a healing orb during a Leray match."
"So, you can only heal after or before a battle?" Jane summarized.
"Correct," Eliza granted. "Even in unofficial battles, healing orbs can lose their effectiveness, because sitting still to wait on their activation leaves you dangerously vulnerable to attacks and interruption. After taking on some damage, your HP levels will not recover quickly. It could take days or even more than a week of rest to restore HP that was lost in a fight. Not to mention that waking up from a direct knock out also only recovers five to ten percent of your overall health levels. So the only effective way to restore HP after losing much of it is to use a med kit item or a healing orb item."
Danny wasn't making sense of how that would look. "Wouldn't that imply that we need a lot of time and knowledge to know how to use the med kit utensils?"
"Negative," Eliza answered. "Med kit items are physically in the form of an orb, which is also consumed the same way a spell orb is used. Almost all Leray items are in the form of orbs, but their energy signatures only belong to Leray wielders. Med kit orbs and healing orbs are essentially the same exact thing, only differing by their developer corporation and effectiveness."
"Got it." Why would companies confuse orbs with utensils like that? Danny figured it made much more sense to just call them healing orbs, and buy only that brand to prove such a point. He had a clear sense that such thought was unified with others in this room.
"Other items can restore MP levels right when you need it for a battle, but with as little time as an hour or two, zero percent MP in any person can rejuvenate to 100% on the fly. Most items you can use are only outside battle items, meaning they don't work in a fight. Such technology decides it awareness of battles by restricting themselves or locking themselves in the presence of a Siriean dome. Next, you have your booster items. These may come in different forms, one that can be used in a fight, and one that cannot. Booster items such as an MP Up Spell Bomb will permanently increase the amount of MP points you can store, meaning you will permanently gain MP capacity. But such an item can either be an inside or outside battle item depending on its advancement."
Taylor raised her hand in confusion. "Wouldn't it just make sense to keep using millions of those on yourself until you're unstoppable?" If someone were to permanently increase their maximum MP points over and over since the items are assumed to be mass produced, such a user could become invulnerable with their MP stats.
"Such things have been attempted," Eliza nodded. "But the permanent boosters only work correctly once a Leray wielder reaches a high enough capacity in the first place. MP boosters come at different levels, and only work once a person possesses the minimum amount of MP energy there is to trigger its effect. Plus, there is a maximum threshold of which an MP booster can boost your MP capacity, after which, the orb becomes less effective. The same can be said for endurance boosters too. This prevents someone who wishes to level incorrectly from cheating the idea of fair battles, even though it was never an intentional goal put into the Leray veil. That said, old fashioned training and battling will always boost your levels higher regardless of that threshold."
Eliza waited to see if their questions were answered, and there were no more responses. "You also have HP boosters also known as endurance boosters, which permanently increase your endurance and defense against attacks by leveling the HP point capacity. However, the boosters that work during a battle only increase these stats and parameters for as long as that single battle persists. Their effects are therefore not permanent; only HP Up Spell Bombs are permanent. Then you have spell orbs or spell bombs, which are only used in battle. Depending on whichever one of many you try, their effects may either become permanent or temporary. Or... The spell bomb could end up turning into a summon of some kind, perhaps even a strong attack spell on its own. But all items can only be used once. When you consume a healing orb, or an MP booster, whatever item it may be, they disappear and disintegrate upon use. You don't get to keep it and use it over and over again. That's why, out in the real world, you need to have enough credits to buy healing orbs for yourself, to keep battling for more credits until you can sustain a budget."
There is all that career stuff again. Taylor glanced at Jane, who was only paying partial attention to the lesson. If winning so many times only makes you balanced on a budget, how is a person like Jane going to get even richer off of that? Surely, she can't hope to win every single battle there is to try.
"And since it needs to be mentioned at least once," Eliza added, "the items known as Starlov boosters are specially designed stimpaks, which are in the form of a needle injection that integrate special medicines into the body to quickly heal real time damage. If for any reason anybody takes real time damage, they need to reach a medical facility. The takeaway is that medical facilities use Starlov boosters to heal such wounds, and the recovery rate is only improved by a factor of two. Without them, you will take months to heal. It's best not to get regular healing orbs and Starlov boosters mixed around, since they heal different damage types."
Danny remembered back to Taylor falling off the cliff again. He hated that memory, and couldn't stop it from showing up at the reminder of real time damage. Leray damage and real time damage are different from each other. Real time damage is supposed to be specific to critical injury like in the world outside the veil. That's what Taylor suffered, wasn't it?
"Item usage doesn't have as many work-around strategies, right?" Jane was checking in with her teacher, confirming something she already expected.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Correct. If you rely too much on items, you miss out on everything else while opening vulnerabilities to yourself. On top of that, items don't come cheap. Their only best-known benefit is that the use of items, especially those for battling purposes will not consume MP from the user, except for a negligible amount unregistered to the energy scope, and that means you save usable energy; but once learned, the rest is simple." Eliza knew that the class would be thrilled to have such a short lesson like this. Item usage was important, but there really was not much to it at all. "And now, it's time for our school's mission day."
"Mission day?" The response was coming from multiple students at once. Jane heard about this before, where facilities occasionally give their students missions out in the field, big assignments that literally test one's Leray capacity as it is. Most of the time, it simply involves damage scoring, live fire testing, or other interesting adventures.
"That's right. Consider it a large portion of a test. As long as you have learned at least two magical abilities and physical attacks, it should be doable." Eliza was confident about the idea that everybody could end up passing this with flying colors. There may be one or two who are behind, but even then, there is still a chance. "The entire school will be participating in this assignment. I will now ask for all students to head outside to the front of the building and line up in wall formation. Instructor Harris will guide you through the test details."
Heads turned for a duration, echoing confusion whether Eliza was seriously allowing them all to participate in a training exercise without her. Danny and Taylor both looked to Jane, who would likely know what to do from here.
None of them exchanged much words, but Jane basically gave them signals to follow her to the front of the building on the outside. Danny and Taylor followed her carefully, wandering until they discovered the wall formation growing in front of the Dakota facility. Students of the entire school were all gathering here, lining up into segments of rows and columns as if it were a military operation. From the right angle, it created a wall of people with a certain length and width, and there was plenty more room to fill.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Brooding Lands ~ Two Worlds 2 OST
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Instructor Harris stood tall, strutting around in front of the wall of kids at the front of the school. He was still waiting on the rest of them to all become present to hear the mission details all of them would be receiving.
Danny and Taylor stopped at the very edge of the right side, lining up while keeping their new instructor in solid view. Jane was right in front of them both, but she didn't seem all that excited like before. She must still be mad that neither of her friends were trusting her with this new secret, but it mattered less to them to tell her than she previously reckoned.
Once everyone was accounted for, Harris cleared his throat and gave the same speech he used to give before. "Good morning boys and girls of Dakota. I am instructor Harris, the overseer of this particular training exercise. Today, we will be sending you off to a nearby location to test your current skill levels and abilities with integrated Leray magic. But first, we need to go over a few things." Though their morning faces dampened with the variety of excitement and confusion, Harris could tell that this would affect everyone here.
There were so many people out here, all right around Danny. The crowd too easily stood out in the field of Fronas given most do not live here. He felt a little uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but at least the others were remaining mostly quiet. Since Harris didn't have any way to project his voice any louder than he was already, everyone had to remain silent enough to understand what was going to happen to them.
Harris ducked right into a side lesson that any teacher could have told them about, but it was certainly important to know for today. This only proved how often it might occur during the so-called mission. "Whether you've heard of it enough or not, we need to review what it means to be knocked out in a Leray fight."
Taylor clenched her fists tighter. Talking about knockouts must mean everyone here is a risk for that in the mission. She only mastered a few spells, and they want to put everyone in a full battle situation? How are people supposed to be ready for this? Taylor exhaled softly. It's either this, or travel all the way to the Junon region to meet her fate.
"You all know what happens when HP drops to zero in a fight. You pass out getting kayoed. But afterwards, you are physically fine, despite being under for a matter of minutes, maybe even half a whole hour for the weaker ones."
Wow! Taylor thought. This guy sure wasn't shy about calling certain people out. Jane was probably getting psyched by now.
"On this very assignment, you will be at risk for incapacitation during your test battle with our designated targets. Nobody needs to worry about the effects of incapacitation, as they are totally harmless."
Jane's spirits suddenly lifted like the top of her face! She gets to fight against live targets? In real battles?! This had to be the biggest let up of all her patience yet. She heard of something like this happening occasionally, but never expected to get this lucky of an assignment. It should be the most difficult one yet!
"The test is simple. You must emerge victorious in one battle against the target where you are sent. If you lose the fight and become incapacitated, then you would have failed the assignment. While I not need remind you that failing this test does not mean you have to wait for next year to obtain your Leray license, it would still be a major setback. So I want to see all of you doing your best out here."
"I expect the best from all of you out there as well," Eliza added. She had plenty of time to meet the classes outside and give them a push forward. Even though she remained attached to her specific class, she still had to address all of them equally.
Harris had no problem with Eliza helping explain the importance of this task, but he was still determined to continue most of the explanations himself. "This will be an individual assignment. All of you will be in this alone. No groups, no pairs, and no outside assistance will be allowed. Certain stats will be monitored by the use of special Siriean domes. Unlike ordinary Siriean domes, these domes will not form a defensive barrier in or out of the battle, but will provide logistical data based on your targets and how well you respond to real dangers."
Harris walked back and forth slowly, studying all of their faces. Most of the kids here were already excited, but not all of them. Fear set into some of the smaller and younger ones, but they still had no choice but to participate, otherwise forfeit their efforts. "You will all start by heading to the target destination individually. The Hix Ruins." He paused upon declaring the location, perhaps to seem more dramatic than Harris needed to be. "The Hix Ruins is accessible through the small Hix Forest directly one mile east of Fronas. You must all travel through the woods, and reach the ruins to land in the correct location."
"For those of you who don't know," Eliza translated, "Hix is the town that was burnt down twenty years ago. There are no inhabitants living there, only your targets."
Taylor found it a bit odd that they would eagerly send an entire class of people to a town that had been burnt to ruins so many years ago. Shouldn't that remain a resting ground for the people who died there?
"The targets that inhabit the Hix Ruins are not people. They are creatures that have been transformed by the Leray veil of energy. Spawns like these are uncommon, but these ones are specifically weak creatures by comparison. Formed from affected small sized trees and stumps, the Cran are interesting, yet powerless beings. They're attracted to the sight of the ruins, so they don't normally leave their territory." Harris paused, in alert that Eliza wanted to help give the explanation a shot as well.
"They're called Cran. Cran are the magical beings there formed into small stumps from trees. These stumps are equipped with arms and legs that are also made of wood as though the creatures have full life. They walk around with the ability to invoke attacks, being of course that they are affected fully by the veil."
Danny didn't believe it could happen again, but the world just got even weirder. Walking tree stumps that move and attack people? What is with this place?
Jane understood what Eliza was talking about even though it had been summarized so severely. The Cran were created by abnormal transformations in the life essence energy from the trees, and afterwards, the Cran were protected from a natural death like people here were. Of course, that means they can use magic too. It isn't unusual for creatures to have magical capabilities like this, but such things like Cran are incredibly rare, and only inhabit this tiny part of the zone. Not all animals are affected by magic however.
"Your mission might sound simple, but this will test everything you've learned," Harris assured. "The Cran are simply territorial, and defeating them in battle knocks them out for a long time. You're mission is to travel to the Hix Ruins, pick any one of your targets, which will be the Cran of your choice, and defeat this Cran in an official one-on-one Leray battle."
"Yes!" Jane whispered through her teeth. The thought of secrets and mistrust sank away quickly with this new development. This is the kind of action-packed adventure she has been waiting for. Sure it was easy, and would only be for today, but this was certainly going to be awesome!
Taylor saw how pumped up Jane was getting from this, and some of that exciting energy was spreading to her somehow. Taylor of course has never done anything like this before, but now was as good of a time as any to see what she could do with all of her current training.
Harris continued where he left off. "You only need to defeat one Cran in battle to be determined successful at passing this mission. Once you are done, you are then required to use the standard healing orbs you receive prior to heading out, and return back to the front of this facility for a full evaluation. Attempting to return without using a healing orb to heal Leray damage is ill advised, but not punishable by disqualification. You are also going to be given a time limit to complete this task. Everybody will have until five o clock this afternoon to slay their first Cran and return to the facility. Any person who breaks the rules of battle for any non-emergency related reason will be disqualified. Anybody who returns here after five, whether they have slain a Cran or not will be disqualified. Any person who receives help or physical support from another during their battle will be disqualified. Your kill limit however is not limited to one Cran."
It was a lot to take in on such short notice, but Eliza took over to describe the toughness of their jobs. "Running or fleeing from a current battle does not automatically mean that you fail in the mission, but getting knocked out will result in failure, and you only get one healing orb once this mission starts."
Danny could feel the rushing wave of excitement between himself and the entire crowd of other students around him. Such energy managed to find its way to him as well. It has been a long while since he and Taylor actually did anything that was related to Leray training after Saturday evening with one exception. He remembered that he at least managed to invoke an Electro-Ball Sunday night, so now he learned three magical skills, plus the use of items was allowed too for this exercise. He was carrying the training blaster in his back pocket, certain to take it with him on the task to make things even easier. This was fine. Danny knew that Nyar warned him about Leray magic, but nothing about it seems all that bad. Besides, there is a new problem getting to the airport. Might as well enjoy this while time allows.
Eliza continued the short educational lesson about Cran. "Cran creatures will be able to invoke physical and magical attacks against you in battle, and are not shy about fighting anybody who asks for a challenge. Outfitted with natural blunt resistant armor, the Cran also have their own HP and MP levels, which technically varies from creature to creature. But each and every one of them is susceptible to the same amount of pain and punishment each of you are capable of dishing out. In addition to their styles, Cran also have strengths and weaknesses."
Harris waited for Eliza to glance at him, and he nodded down for confirmation. It wasn't totally unlike her to mix in her own lessons into his time, not that it was forbidden. Seeing as the other teachers aren't close by, it must show how much she cares about her own class. This year will be interesting after all. "Cran are known to take much time to attack. They are not known for their speed, which will give each of you an advantage in attacking, or using your heads to come up with more effective methods to fight, but Cran are also known to be fire elemental users. This means that while remaining seventy percent resistant to fire elemental magical damage, they can also attack with fire elemental spells as well. So you can expect quite a blaze while out in the field. However you decide to defeat your opponent in the field will be entirely up to you."
Harris took the rest to the finish. "There will be plenty of Cran for everybody to challenge. They won't try to double or triple team you in a fight either, despite being territorial beings. With everything revealed, your mission begins at the sound of my air horn. Eliza? Pass out one med kit orb to all participants."
"Yes sir," Eliza asserted. She had an everlasting respect for instructor Harris. The atmosphere changed a little when Eliza opened a large pouch full of medical healing orbs. She began passing them out, piece by piece and line by line. There was just enough room to travel between the lines of people in formation, but nobody was allowed to leave with their orb until everybody had one.
Jane picked up the med kit orb from Eliza, and began slightly bouncing up and down, irritable for her challenge. She finally threw out whatever happened two days ago, and turned around to chat with Taylor and Danny. "You two ready for this?"
Danny was surprised that Jane was already speaking to them again. It felt good to be forgiven, even if it was just for this little event. He was feeling confident in his skills to fight whatever a Cran is supposed to be. With his new ability to use Electro-Ball, he can score in some big damage points to the Cran, remembering that they are supposed to be resistant to fire damage. It was easy now to pity the other students, who were told to learn Fire Ball, a spell that is supposed to be ineffective against these new creatures.
Taylor was even more psyched than Danny, but not as much as Jane was. With her ability to use Ice Ball, a target made out of organic based material should crumble easily from the elemental factor involved. Not only that, but this would be her very first battle! Even if it was just a training exercise, those Cran probably didn't know that, nor could they care. Although, Taylor had never seen or studied a Cran. It could be more or less intelligent for what it is. It would be nice to have a live target to spar with this time.
"Don't forget," Jane reminded them. "You both need to remember to spool up your energy scopes at the start of the battle. The Cran will naturally have their own so that you can monitor your health and your opponent's health as well."
"Thanks Jane," Taylor granted. "That was nice of you to remind us." She felt very little guilt keeping things from her. It wasn't Jane's business to know about any of her life. It wasn't Danny's either, but that was different. She couldn't control herself in that forest, all of the painful reminders flooding her mind at the thought of going back home...
"Let's see which one of us can slay our Cran first," Jane offered. "And if we tie, best two out of three."
Typical Jane behavior. Danny liked the challenge that Jane was turning this into, and apparently, Taylor was too. Maybe this is the thing they needed after all, a nice break to dilute all of that heavy stuff. Danny had almost completely forgotten about Kalamo and New York, and hopefully, Taylor's excitement for this was not a facade anymore either. Danny looked to Jane with a confident grin. "You're on. I'll beat you and Taylor both."
Taylor turned around to face Danny after receiving her medical orb. "What are you talking about," she confronted. "I'm going to be the one who beats you." She was clearly talking about winning against Danny. Jane was another story, with her extra abilities that they probably didn't even know about yet. "And Jane? Hopefully I can be done before you as well."
"Alright!" Harris hollered, shortly before blowing the air horn. After Eliza confirmed handing everyone an orb, he blasted the device in his hand high in the air, and the race was on. Every single student took off in a rush, only a few of them jogging towards the other end of the forest on the east side of Fronas. It was going to be about a mile in distance to get there, so running and expending all of that natural stamina was not necessary, but this was pretty much a test of time as well. Anybody who comes back late will be judged as less worthy by their peers. The natural setting of dominance would play its part once again.
Eliza seemed satisfied, finally giving them the chance to prove their acceleration in Leray training in the Dakota academy. Since Jane became a top student at the academy, things have been livelier around the school, even more so with the two new arrivals Jane decided to befriend. It won't be long now until they're ready too.
Danny and Taylor initially traveled together towards the woods, trying to get a sense for this incredible event before wanting to split up. They both knew not to actually help each other out since it was forbidden. The town's people of Fronas watched the massive gathering and spread-out stampede of children and teens flood the field while heading for the Hix forest. Nobody got in their way either, despite how unsettling the scene was for the quiet town. As soon as they reach the Hix Ruins, the mission is on!