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<12/29/1971 ~ 10:00 | Dakota Training Academy, Fronas, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
With Wednesday now in tow, silence among several groups of the students persisted following the crazy events of yesterday. Though Jane took a jam to her energy, it did not stop her from attempted training further that night. She did so alone, hiding anything that she learned over that time, and remaining hidden in the night to avoid criticism.
Today was not a usual day either. With class starting at ten A.M. again, a sign was posted out on front of Dakota's territory. All students designated for Eliza's class of room 706 were to report to the dark room first thing. All of the other students were set to go to their dark rooms as well, but only after specific times later in the day, as to make sure everyone could use them. Dakota only had three dark rooms in total with specific shifts during school hours, and that left problems for the other classes claiming their use in times such as now.
Jane met up with Danny and Taylor on the way to school, but she lost her luster since this morning. Jane could only admit to herself that her attempted training session last night ended in failure. Though she recovered quickly after her return home after whatever caused her collapse yesterday afternoon, she felt weaker and more exhausted as the sun went down last night, without the proceeding symptoms. She felt drained out of her wits when trying to train outside by invoking magical skills in secret. Just from the attempted use of even the most basic spells, Jane depleted more of her stamina per spell invocation than what was essentially normal for a human being. Thus, she had no choice but to call it a failure and retire to bed.
While Jane didn't understand what any of it meant, that level of exhaustion carried through partially onto her this morning. Even now, she felt drained and sleepy, like she had just gotten out of bed from a long slumber. Jane did wake only 90 minutes ago, but her usual recovery rate was much quicker, and she knew of it. Yet Jane didn't say anything about it to her friends, since she wasn't supposed to train anymore in the first place. Besides, what's one secret to another, right? Taylor still has not confided to her about whatever brought her to tears last weekend, so this makes them even.
Taylor noticed Jane's exhaustion and naturally asked if it was okay for her to return to school, but even with such regards, Jane didn't appear to be in the same shape as before. She came here on her own power, having no such symptoms like sniffling. She just looked a bit tired, the usual morning exhaustion following her bones. Jane of course reported she would be fine in minutes after having more time to wake up, and that was the end of the conversation.
Danny on the other hand readied more practical questions for Jane, all of which regarded the mysterious reward and credit system, and how the currency here all works. Jane only summarized, even though it took over five minutes then to explain it to him and Taylor. As far as Danny understood it, credits in Sprawn Valley is a rarely exchangeable currency between other nations, which wasn't surprising given the reputation of magic. Supposedly, Leray wielders going into battle obtain or pay credits to or from each other by betting a fair amount prelude to battle. Then some strange automated digitally based program running in synch with the Leray veil works with the chips inside of the Leray license cards to make sure everything goes correctly. Drawbacks to such a system? Jane didn't say there were any, and the only other way to obtain credits is with a salary straight out of a job position. Personal transfers of funds were doable, but required the consent of both parties.
As soon as Danny and Taylor entered the dark room with Jane, after a long conversation about how the credit system works in Sprawn Valley, they were met with several teachers, including a few unfamiliar faces of adults. Jane however recognized most of them on the spot.
"Ms. Akura and Mr. Donvan?" Jane started. "What brings you out to Dakota?" Ms. Akura and Mr. Donvan used to be teachers at Dakota, but transferred out of the school to train people with private sessions in an undisclosed location. It really has been several months since she has seen their faces. What are they doing here?
"Look," Taylor pointed. "Eliza's here too." Their primary teacher was previously speaking amongst the other adults, but Taylor drew their attention with the assistance of Jane.
The man Jane designated as Mr. Donvan, who wore a specific uniform hunched over a little and explained all they needed to know. "Come on now Jane. Is that a way to treat your mentors? And I thought you of all people would be aware of today's exercise."
"Exercise?" Jane looked around the room more, as did her friends. There were at least three other in-staff teachers that Jane did not really talk too often. It appeared as if the entire staff gathered here just for Eliza's small class. None of the students changed in numbers or identity though; it was only every student from room 706. Eliza never spoke of additional lesson plans from yesterday; Jane was sure of it. Perhaps it was supposed to be a surprise, the usual thing Jane was normally ahead of on most days.
Standing just behind them, Eliza summarized the commotion from last night on her top student's behalf. "Jane is normally the one to stay ahead of the lesson plans, but yesterday was a bit exceptional. I'm sure you heard all about the situation in Fronas recently."
Mr. Donvan nodded in agreement, as he should know. "Yes. I heard it caused quite a stir. I'm glad that a person who would result to thievery was caught in the act. It brings music to my ears to know that the agents in Fronas are properly trained."
Eliza held her tongue with restraint. It defiantly wasn't their obligated business to know whether or not Jane was injured or negatively affected by the same events. It would have to be up to Jane to tell her own story if she wanted to, but now there was even more reason to keep it from these officials, for the sake of Dakota's reputation. Jane was the one affected, but she was also the one who stopped the criminal. If it weren't for her crazy blasting of magic in such reckless and extreme measures, the guy would have gotten away. How would the agents of Fronas appear then?
Danny was reminded again by that terrible moment. Though it wasn't as scary as it seemed in hindsight given the things that go on in Kalamo, it was surprising to see a slightly sophisticated crook hiding out in such a small town, especially where everyone can use magic to cause harm to others. Though conflicting details flooded his thoughts too, such as the fact that the unidentified thief was wearing a fireproof suit. He had never heard of such a thing, but it appeared to have been negating all fire elemental magical damage and force from those attacks. Still, even if it only worked for fire, why would he go with just one choice of elemental resistance? Couldn't the guy have worn like five cloaks over each other and make himself invincible? Maybe Leray agents prefer fire-based spells for some reason, and that guy must have known as much. Still...
"Anyways," Ms. Akura insisted. "Feel free to work with us today for as long as you like. If you will, prepare yourselves a good station as soon as we begin."
"O-okay..." Jane reluctantly agreed to something that she still didn't know about, waiting on Eliza to explain it to her, and she kept her friends close by as they awaited instruction as well. Now that Jane thought about it for a second, ever since last week, Danny, Taylor, and Jane all stayed together as close as possible. Despite what may have happened last Saturday, Danny and Taylor were still keeping close enough by her side everywhere they went, so it must not have had anything to do with her in particular. Jane figured that at this pace, she would only figure out their distress by accident. Anyway, back to the exercise, Jane did not recognize this event from before. Have they reached another topic she was yet to learn? Though this was all really a preparation for some exercise, Jane was sure this was something unfamiliar to her.
While Ms. Akura and Mr. Donvan took their places along with the other adults, the students all began to cluster themselves in the center of the dark room. Eliza knew this was her cue, but Jane was just as eager. "If you will Jane, please wait while I announce today's training exercise to the class. They don't know what's going on either."
Jane believed it, the way everyone was just glancing around. She thought it was strange that her classmates were twiddling their thumbs instead of firing magic at the walls, but she had only until now to finally begin waking up completely. Jane stood a little away from her usual training spot in order to stay closer to Ms. Eliza while she prepared to deliver the news. Because of little delay, the class reorganized themselves in separated groups, likely because they wanted to continue chattering about the stuff that went on yesterday. To Jane, that memory felt a lot like a dream than real life. It was just a hazy memory right now. Despite how tired she was a few moments ago, she could finally feel her normal energy and stamina beginning to return to her.
Eliza looked up and stood firmly. After preparing to make the announcement, Eliza was only going to answer to everyone's curiosity once. "Class? Listen up please." Though it was already a bit quiet in the room, the echoing of whispers cascaded everywhere, and Eliza used that to judge when the correct time to speak would arrive. "Today's session will be a bit lengthy, but now is the time to begin practice on evasion therapy."
Just from that bit of info, the class around her started getting pumped and excited. A few of them were already cheering, but Taylor felt like the odd ball already. She had never heard of evasion therapy before, so she gave Jane that curious glance for answers.
Jane needed a moment first to clarify Eliza's strategy. Having all of these teachers here finally made some sense, and Jane couldn't help but feel just as excited as the rest of the crew. With evasion therapy, they'll need a higher teacher-to-student ratio. Ms. Akura and Mr. Donvan must be getting paid to participate as well, their appearance unsurprising with Dakota's low staffing. Jane already knows how to dodge, so this could be a moment to show off everything she's learned. Taylor's fretting expression poked at Jane covertly, and she only barely noticed, but after piecing together what she already knew, it was not surprising for outsiders such as Taylor and Danny not to be familiar with terminology here. Jane kept her voice to a near whisper, as to not disrupt Eliza's announcement any further. "Evasion therapy teaches us how to dodge by using real attacks and experience against us. You two get to learn evasion firsthand!"
Taylor almost gasped noticeably, and returned her attention to the teacher. Eliza already knew the game plan for today, but as for the rest of the group... "Each of you will be divided into small groups, and each assigned to random teachers. These teachers will then launch a series of attacks at each one of you, and your chance to dodge will be proven and evaluated. This however is not an official test. If you have trouble dodging, we will mark you down for an extra (in school) assignment on Friday evening. There, we will teach you how to dodge spells firsthand. Anyone wishing to train with this early should partner up after class outside for practice."
Jane's newfound excitement also brought all of the remaining energy back from before. With so much experience, Jane was sure to make a great impression. She also glanced behind her, suspecting that Danny and Taylor both will not be great at this. Taylor never dodged a single attack from the Cran, obviously because she wasn't trained to. Even so, it was unquestionable that after today, Jane's friends will be asking her for personal training.
"The rosters of your opponents today are up on the wall, near the entrance of this room." Eliza simply waited for all of the students to eagerly begin pushing and shoving their way into that small cramped space where the roster was held, but Jane and both of her friends were not really moving. "Danny? Taylor? I have you both set up for a session with Mr. Donvan. Please line up where he stands and wait for your turns."
"Okay," Danny and Taylor replied. They were both on the same page, totally in sync with the lesson plan. Mr. Donvan was already taking his position at one of the special posts that has a larger space, as there were several sections of the room designated for much more than singular training sessions. Eliza watched the lines already forming, despite the ever-large crowd smudged into the door. Jane watched them both go, getting curious about who would be her sparring partner. "Jane?"
Jane gave Eliza full attention, but not without those curious and fight-ready eyes of hers. She didn't mind if Ms. Akura and Mr. Donvan were not going to be her evaluators. Anybody would do today.
"Today, you will be dodging attacks from me."
Jane instinctively took a step back in response, shocked at the decision. Eliza wasn't rostered to do her part today, but that was because it was her class, her responsibility to look after everyone. It's not that Eliza wasn't allowed to spar with her own classmates, but it was highly unusual to say the least. Eliza never did this with anyone during this type of session before, at least not to Jane's knowledge.
Predictable. Did Jane really think she was going to get off that easy? "Oh, don't give me that look. I know that you're more advanced and further along than the rest of the entire class put together. That is why I want you and I to have a go. I'll be able to account for a more challenging target." Eliza sounded certain of herself. If Jane were left to any of the official evaluators today, they would only throw the most simple of projectile attacks at her, and Jane would laughably make short work of it. But Eliza knew this particular student well, and what she was capable of. Jane needs to grow, even if she is ahead of the group, and it is high time to wipe that confident look off her face once and for all.
Jane was almost speechless, and felt like she could fly right off her feet. "Really?! That's—" Jane didn't want to sound too childish in her excitement, but this was such an honor! Eliza told Jane many times how well she was doing, but now she was offering Jane the chance to try an increased difficulty challenge. Eliza rarely did anything like this for anyone; though to be fair, Jane never got this far in her class sessions this year. She had to learn to dodge all by herself since they took too long to reach this unit. "Now we're talking!"
"I'm glad you're ready," Eliza prepared. At last, the class can finally learn that not every single ability can be dodged regardless of training and experience. That is important to know, but not by spouting it into a lecture that would, on most days - put people to sleep. "Now let's go to the station where there is much more room."
Jane happily followed her teacher to the spot she spoke of; sector A-9. It was still just a boxed off cubic area with lots of walls on the sides, but they were spread far apart, giving Jane and Eliza plenty of room to run around in.
A few more minutes passed before everything was in place, and now it was Taylor's turn, going up against Donvan. After watching the demonstration in front of her, it became clear what this was going to be about. Though Taylor knew not the identity of the student who just went, she saw the entire exchange of action. Donvan launched several magical attacks in a row at the kid, but the student never returned fire at all. That was probably the entire point of this; not to fight back, but to learn how to evade attacks coming your way, even at rapid-fire pace. The boy who went before Taylor didn't do well at all. He only dodged the first Fire Bolt attack, and then took on the damage from five more attacks spells in a row.
Now that it was Taylor's turn, she could already feel her entire body shaking. She couldn't believe that this was making her nervous, but the thoughts going back to fighting that Cran made things worse. That battle before reminded Taylor what happened when she wasn't able to dodge attacks from the Cran, and worse when equipped with the wrong fighting gear, which made her own dress take physical battle damage.
Today as well as before, Taylor was still equipped with the white dress sphere Jane gave to her, but she was still not any better at dodging an attack, even if she could see it coming. During fights, time tends to slow down a bit when you're pumped up and ready, but that wasn't going to slow down the impossible speed of those spells and bolts. For a Fire Bolt attack, Donvan sure can send one flying at such a high velocity, and to stand there and take one to the face would be nothing less than humiliating.
Though there was a line behind Taylor, she put some distance between them and her, as well as putting distance between Donvan and Taylor. They were going to need a lot of room after all. The station provided much of that available room, but the sidewalls on all stations only prevented too much distance in one direction, while allowing total openings for the rest to watch. The usual magic dome that protects the bystanders was also absent for this practice. That means anybody could end up getting hurt here. Even so, damage in Sprawn Valley only decreases one's battle HP by a little. Taylor thus paid attention to the task at hand, knowing that the first thing to do is to engage the energy scope.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/RFxfktG3/S1-Taylor-N-000.png]
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Chapter Theme Shift: Kronor/Hugo ~ Serious Sam 2 OST
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The big status box of beauty floated above Taylor's head in phase. Donvan didn't need his scope running, since he would not be the one to get attacked. Taylor's mind began filling with so many random memories about battle tactics, types of attacks, power levels, attack patterns... It was clouding her mind with mesh she couldn't really pay attention to right now. Taylor just took her stance and got ready to dodge.
Donvan only moved up one step, making his voice project to Taylor with ease. "All right Taylor. It's time to see how good you fair in evasion so far. It's okay if you aren't that good yet, because we're only evaluating current skills per student based on elapsed time with semesters. That said; do try your very best."
Taylor couldn't stand how she was being talked down to like that. Sure, she might not be good, but Donvan was expecting her to be so basic. What gave it away? Was it her stance? Did she not need the energy scope?
Taylor could now feel it coming, the increased tension in herself and Donvan's current stance. He was ready to throw something her way, and it could have been anything unknown to her. The fact that nothing was coming her way already was only making Taylor sweat. She had never been in this kind of situation before. Well, there was the battle with the Cran, but this time it was different. She was expected to dodge an imminent attack. Nobody taught her this before, and Eliza only got to talking about it in class. Calm down! Deep breaths. He'll probably try a Fire Bolt like always.
Donvan finally decided to try an easy, yet quick kind of attack. Taylor looked as ready as she was ever going to be, and now was the time. Without first saying anything, he charged up his MP energy, forming the familiar red glyphring around his left wrist. Then, only after lifting his arm and launching his spell did he add the chant of the spell's name. "Fire Bolt!"
Taylor was frozen, watching a big ball of fire heading her way at top speed. What was she supposed to do? Donvan invoked the spell so quickly, it was a surprise to see even after watching the last kid go. Taylor just wanted to close her eyes and block, but that would mean that she would fail. At the last second, Taylor spun to the left, creating a swerve effect on her body. It was an attempt to dodge the Fire Bolt at the last second. Taylor must have forgotten that it was a homing projectile, and so simply swirling in one direction was not going to be enough.
Before she even knew it, Taylor was hit hard in her side with the ball of fire. A quick and intense burning sensation filled that side of her body, even though it did not burn any holes through the dress sphere or damage the suit in anyway. The pain level was quite high especially given that it somehow traveled through the dress itself without damaging any of the material, but Taylor simply hung on, doing her best to remain standing and stay strong. She remembered getting hit with a Fire Ball attack before, specifically by the Cran she defeated, though the force from it was nothing compared to this. The bolt of fire had a strong force attached to it, making it hard for Taylor to keep her balance when it slammed into her. Despite remaining tall and strong, she must have failed in her attempts to dodge the attack.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/brCZwS09/S1-Taylor-N-012.png]
Taylor didn't even want to check her energy scope after realizing that another attack could be heading her way. It must have been a shock for the others to see how far of an effect one simple bolt of fire had against Taylor. Usually in battles on television, they barely do any damage at all, but that has a lot to do with endurance levels, and Jane was the only person who knew more about that than Taylor ever dreamed of knowing.
Donvan exhaled, slightly disappointed that she failed to dodge the very first attack. It was usually easy to dodge the first one no matter what it was, but there is no stopping now. Donvan charged up his energy once again, preparing to unleash a different kind of spell. This time, he began charging at Taylor beforehand. Running on his feet was something people would not normally expect, but this would be something close range for her. That should give fair enough warning. "Hammer of Might!"
Taylor twitched, unable to move while Donvan was now chasing after her. Whatever he was about to do, he was getting in much closer than before to use the attack. After noticing a small yellow glyphring forming around both his hands though aimed vertically instead of horizontally, Taylor decided to move after realizing that it was in fact a close range skill. Instead of even pretending to dodge, Taylor ran in the direction away from Donvan, right from the line's perspective. Instead of dodging anything, Taylor was trying to escape the attack in fear.
Donvan's magical spell ended up spawning a very large and colorful glowing hammer in his hands from the small summoning glyphring. It was so large and bulky that he had to lift it up using both of his arms, but this only made Taylor want to avoid the attack even more. Donvan changed course and running speed to intercept where Taylor was trying to escape to. Now on a collision course and already in range, Donvan swung his hammer at Taylor's moving feet, tripping her onto the floor while dealing some heavy damage to her as well. Unfortunately, Taylor didn't have a backup plan after all. She was just cowering in fear because she hadn't the first idea how to dodge. That was all he needed to know.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/VsDrR2y0/S1-Taylor-N-013.png]
Taylor found herself on the ground, helpless on her back while Donvan stood over her. The large magical hammer in his hands dissolved into some strange glitters of lights quickly with a cool pixilation effect. Then, he kneeled over offering his hand to help Taylor get up.
While Taylor was being brought back to her feet after that humiliating performance, Donvan decided to give the status of her abilities early. "That's all I need to see for today Tay. You'll be rostered for some additional training Friday."
Taylor could feel nothing more than frustration, burning brightly in her cheeks as others waiting their turn were watching. "I did try..." Taylor's face sunk in defeat. She couldn't even hold her ground in a test battle, let alone perform at the average pace of the other students here.
Donvan patted Taylor on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it. This is everyone's first official evasion therapy. You think you're the only one who isn't trained to dodge? You'll get the hang of it this Friday. Now please wait while the others finish on our roster." Donvan left to get back to the next student, while Taylor stood alone, mourning her own failure. "Next!"
Taylor thought about that question again. He was right for the most part. Almost nobody here was even as good as dodging as Taylor was; even still, she was probably the only one afraid of taking a blunt hit to the body, running away to avoid an attack. She could bet that Jane didn't have this problem, even before she could use her first spell. Why would anyone run away from an attack in training? Nothing can physically harm anyone, even though it can inflict great pain.
Speaking of Jane, Taylor looked around for her after remembering that she wasn't to be sparing with Donvan. That could have put Jane against any other person in line, but much to Taylor's surprise, she spotted Jane with Eliza, getting prepared in one of the larger cubical stations on the far side of the room. Eliza wasn't supposed to be one of the teachers attacking, was she? Why was Jane and Eliza alone without a line just outside?
Taylor's eyes opened wide, realizing that Jane must be getting a fair fight with someone who must know her skills better. Who else was more qualified than Jane's own personal teacher? Since nobody else was there to watch, Taylor decided to get in much closer. There was no way she was missing this! Maybe there was a trick to this session that Jane was aware of.
Jane took care of her stance, standing up straight and tall with her arms unfolded down towards her knees. Her hands were balled into fists, and without even drawing her daggers like before, Jane declared her readiness by engaging her energy scope above her as usual.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/HsDK6vQH/S1-Jane-N-000.png]
Eliza was ready too, taking to her official battle stance, which she'd never shown off before. Jane already knew this stance by her memory, which was not a surprise to Eliza. Jane was a formidable student, always ready to take on tougher challenges, and being confident enough to stand up to adults above her own age. After what Jane has proven to Eliza yesterday, she could already be good enough to pass the evaluations for graduation in her own style. But Eliza had a trick or two up her sleeve for making Jane's dodging techniques take a run for their money. She engaged her energy scope just to show Jane that she was ready as well. Of course, Eliza would not be on the receiving end of attacks, but with Jane, anything was possible.
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image [https://i.postimg.cc/P5MBpbvH/S1-Eliza-N-000.png]
With Jane now ready to take on random attacks, Eliza began to charge up her MP energy into the first wave of magical spells. It was easy for her to charge up and invoke this first attack, in just one second of time. "Fire Bolt!" Eliza shifted both of her hands towards Jane's direction, using the force of both of her limbs to amplify the damage slightly. The sphere of fire formed shot forward through the red glyphring Eliza controlled.
Now that a bolt of fire was on Jane's approach, this was her first chance to dodge the attack. Jane let herself smile showing her white teeth, overconfident that it was a feeble attempt to try and get the best of her. Jane waited on the Fire Bolt, allowing it to get really close to her. At the last second, Jane jumped off of her right foot only, shifting all of her body weight to the left into a very quick jump. Jane managed to leap out of the path of the Fire Bolt, despite the projectile having homing capabilities.
Jane landed on the floor with her hands and legs shifted to catch her with a slide. She then sprung up quickly using her squatted stance. It was a nice tactic to jump out of the way and land on her hands and feet. It allowed Jane to not crash into the ground, and instead jump back up for a rapid recovery. Jane didn't even have to turn around to confirm that the Fire Bolt slammed into one of the walls behind her. With newfound confidence, she just stood there in front of Eliza, taunting her before anything else began. "That the best you've got?"
Eliza knew that first spell wasn't going to work, but in the event that it did, Jane would have been way off her game. Of course she would be able to dodge a simple Fire Bolt attack. Though the projectile has homing characteristics, it can only track a target with a certain amount of calculation speed. Jane moves too quickly for a guided projectile to get the best of her. But Eliza was far from finished.
Eliza charged up her energy, releasing it almost as quickly as she charged it. For her, it was done and over with in just under a full second, since Eliza was well trained in the ability to invoke simple spells. She was a teacher in this after all. "Electro-Ball!" Eliza shot a ball of electricity from her jade glyphring surrounding her hand like she did with Fire Bolt. Unlike the characteristics of holding onto an elemental bolt attack, Eliza went with an unguided projectile instead this time.
Jane was prepared for this. She already figured out Eliza's next strategy long before it was time to dodge the first round. This was a simple yet effective tactic, getting your opponent to dodge an easy magic projectile while making them vulnerable to a much more effective spell. Jane quickly jumped out of the way from the path of the Electro-Ball. Even though it was unguided, the ball of electricity traveled with such fast speed that it probably already hit the wall behind Jane, which was still seventeen meters behind her in perspective.
Eliza launched another magic spell before that first Electro-Ball ever came close to hitting Jane. It would take time for both skills to reach the target, but Eliza knew that if Jane dodges Electro-Ball, she will be a little less prepared to deal with a second wave oncoming attack, especially one with such power packed inside. It took little time at all for Eliza to charge up and release her energy again just like before. But this spell had a different kind of glyphring in front of her that resembled an ice elemental magical spell. "Ice Needles!" Eliza shot a barrage of frozen needles through the air, all forming right in front of the large glyphring while accelerating spread out and heading in Jane's direction.
Ice Needles was a lot like Radial Stars in the attack form it was designed for, but it is much less narrow than Radial Stars too. This gives the target a challenging time dodging the attack. One needle is never aligned with another one, which means getting out of the way for a wide ranged directional attack would be impossible. Jane saw a large barrage of ice needles heading her way quickly, just after dodging that Electro-Ball. While Jane was expecting this course of action, she also knew dodging this attack is not going to be possible. Blocking would disqualify her own skill name. So there is no choice now but to go with option three.
In a quick well-coordinated combination of fighting stances, Jane quickly drew her daggers and started performing kicks, slashes, and flips along with several dodging maneuvers randomly integrated into her combination. This technique looked exactly similar to the one Jane was practicing before in front of Danny and Taylor last Saturday, and much like the way Jane would attack the Cran at close range. Jane was giving it everything she had, facing the barrage of Ice Needles head on. She wasn't dodging or taking the attack. Instead, her combination was simply destroying the needles mid-air one by one. Jane's kicks were striking the needles that came close enough to her for a collision, causing the needles to snap in half and drop straight down to the floor useless. Jane was doing a lot with her daggers as well, giving some of the needles occasional slashes to cut them up in the air instead, and she was only targeting needles that threatened to harm her starting at the closest range. Jane knew it wasn't as overwhelming as it looked when she didn't need to shoot the ones down that were not on a collision course. Jane also naturally performed random flips in various directions, along with some ducks and even a few rolls. Near the end of the sequence of Eliza's long barrage of frozen ice sticks, she was given more room to relax.
Taylor watched the entire thing, Jane moving with lightning fast speed and reflex. In her perspective, this all happened since Jane first began her stunt just four seconds ago, and by that time, the barrage had already passed by Jane. The needles that she didn't have to worry about just kept going until they collided into that wall again. Jane moved so quickly that Taylor couldn't even keep up with her. How did that even happen?!
Jane finally stood still, slanted down on just one knee while checking to see if anything else was heading her way... There wasn't. Eliza was just standing there, probably too shocked to think of what to come up with next.
This was only the half of it. Jane and Eliza both immediately noticed that the entire crowd of their class, even the teachers who had not finished their session yet were all approaching and stopping here just to watch. Jane was so good that it was drawing in a crowd of spectators, all to see what Eliza tries next. Nobody was protesting this mild interruption either. Eliza certainly wasn't too surprised. The things they can both do are too impressive; they distract everyone from what they're doing.
Eliza ignored the crowd of watchers though. It was okay if they wanted to stop and watch for inspiration, as long as they don't get too close. She had initially wanted to show this off to her class in order to make an example out of Jane, but only after proving to herself that it was more than possible to trip this girl up. Jane was in her normal stance once again, ready to dodge the next attack. "I have to hand it to you Jane. You're doing exceptionally well for dodging attacks. But not everything can be evaded." Eliza knew her own words were true; she still never expected Jane's reflexes to be so fast. It seemed so inhumane and impossible, yet Jane totally deflected and evaded a full area barrage attack. Mr. Mire must have been in a league of his own... Perhaps Ice Needles isn't fast enough. There were plenty of other types of attack forms designed to make dodging physically impossible. It doesn't matter how good Jane thinks she is; nobody is immune to everything, and she needs to learn that now with the rest of her spectators.
Eliza watched Jane's expression change for a moment. It was clear to Jane now that Eliza was planning to hit her with something no matter what, but she needed to test Jane's other reactions first. It would be stupid to use Thunderbolt. Everybody knows it can't be dodged, and that was not the purpose of this test. Jane thinks she is so great at dodging, but she can't grow up learning that she can just side step anything. Eliza charged her energy again, this time unleashing her attack quickly, and without a glyphring formation. "Sphere of Might!"
Upon hearing the name of the spell, Jane quickly rolled down to the ground, making her body become a ball to roll around and quickly evade the attack. Though nobody else except for her and Eliza knew what that was about, it became clear right after Jane dodged the still invisible spell. A red magical sphere with a 1-meter diameter appeared floating up, right where Jane was standing a split second ago. Sphere of Might sends a damaging aura sphere at the target by spawning it right where they stand. With a bit of trickery, anyone who goes against a Sphere of Might can be in for quite a surprise since it doesn't form from point A; it starts at point B and immediately causes damage. Jane knew the spell by heart, and was quick enough to evade it before Eliza's attack ever became invoked. This only served to prove the downside of chanting spells aloud.
The crowd was still watching closely, excited to have such a show put on like this. Jane was so good that Eliza really had to make it a stretch of spells that nobody had ever seen before just to get Jane. Now that Jane was rolling to dodge the first attack, she might have more trouble against the next one. "Magical Blitz!" Eliza's hands both began glowing bright blue, after which she threw the magical blue projectiles at Jane with incredible speed and power. She threw them consecutively, making sure that one dodge would not interfere with the next blitz ball, and Eliza threw the third one beautifully by spinning around. She did this to give the last projectile an incredible boost of speed.
Jane was back on her feet before the first Magical Blitz ball came her way. Heading right for her at incredible velocity zooming through the air, Jane had no choice but to swerve out of its way again to the right. Jane even gave herself a spin around to help her move that way, but it worked out perfectly. In the middle of dodging, the blitz ball flew right past Jane, quickly enough to make the sound of a buzz overtake her ear. It almost hit her right in the face.
Jane then performed another dodging spin, but in the opposite direction. Since Eliza was smart, she was going to use Jane's next dodging point to try and get the second blitz ball to hit her. From the looks of it, the second one was on a direct collision course for Jane's new position. After spinning around again, Jane dodged the second energy ball just by a slight moment. She moved elegantly to avoid being hit by any and every attack, as if she had special training beyond what a Sunday afternoon could offer anyone.
Jane then noticed the third blitz ball, coming in much faster than the other two. Seeing no way to dodge it directionally as it were heading right for her waist, Jane immediately put her streak on the line by jumping up into the air as high as she could go. It was dangerous, since the blitz ball was not that low to the ground to begin with, but Jane used her special timing while lifting both her legs high into the air after her leap off the ground to allow the sphere to soar right beneath her at the same time.
Taylor and the crowd behind her watched as Jane perfectly executed an evasive jump into the air, heading right over that oncoming blitz ball just before impact. It noticeably moved much faster than the last two, but ended up striking against the wall yet again. How was Jane so capable of dodging everything?
Jane landed on her feet again with Eliza already whipping out something else. She could tell from this distance, but it must have been a weapon, because she wasn't shooting anything back at her just yet.
I won't let you make a mockery of my spell ordinance in front of the class! Eliza pulled up the blaster weapon from her pocket, charging MP energy into the device. She only lifted her arm to take aim at Jane just before unleashing that energy and chanting her attack for effectiveness. "Scatter Beam!" Eliza's blaster made the loud low pitch sound that was unique to shooting off blasts of energy from the big gun barrel.
Jane was in hot water now. With a Scatter Beam attack coming from a blaster, the Blast Shots are multiplied and spread out at once. The attack was similar to shooting a shotgun shell in the form of energy blasts, and Jane was going to get slammed with all of them unless she can dodge correctly. Since it was coming from a gun, Jane had less than a flash of light to do anything. Already on her knees from landing that last jump into the air, Jane instinctively hit the deck. Her body became flat on her stomach as she crouched as low as possible to the ground.
Jane could not see it, which is why she had to count a bit of time before lifting her head and getting back up on her feet. While she dove for the floor, the Scatter Beam shots all missed her, mostly hanging high in the air with a few of them low to the ground. Jane was even lower, and ducked below every single one of them in one short instance. Eliza's Scatter Beam attack failed as well, and from the looks of her energy scope, she would run out of MP soon.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/N0JSbgxP/S1-Eliza-N-001.png]
Eliza gave Jane the moment to get back up to her feet, cursing at herself for not being able to hit her. This method she had in mind was harder to execute than she once thought. Eliza knew Jane well, more so about her expected reflexes and her predictable evasions from attacks, and since she had been shouting the names of the spells aloud, it gave Jane too much time to predict Eliza's battle pattern. Jane is simply too fast for all of this. There has to be something Jane wouldn't be able to dodge regardless of speed... What about a multi-projectile homing attack?
Jane watched Eliza's expression and body language change fast. She was just standing there, but her hands were beginning to glow as well... It's an attack spell! And with that much time to charge up, it was going to be something big. Eliza must be muting herself to make it less predictable! Jane thought quickly about her surroundings. From where she stood now, she was already out in the open. The only closest thing to her other than the crowd of kids on the side was the wall right behind her, sixteen meters away. With a quick gulp, Jane took off in a full sprint, in the other direction away from Eliza.
From Taylor and the crowd's perspective, it looked as if Jane was running away from the attack before her teacher even tried to do anything. But with how well she was doing with an undamaged streak, why would she run now?
Eliza could only watch as Jane was running from Eliza in the opposite direction. She struggled to charge up this higher-level spell since it takes away much more energy, but releasing and invoking the skill would easily be quick from here on. With the glyphring in front of her now hot and ready, Eliza threw her hands through the large red disk, firing her magic into the glyphring. "Tri-Fire!" Eliza's hands shot off a triple burst of flaming bolts, all separated and moving individually; all three of them only shifted angles for a brief moment to prevent collision with each other.
Now with three separate Fire Bolts heading towards Jane at incredible speed to slam into her all at the same time, Jane knew she had less than three seconds left. While heading for the tall metal wall in front of her, Jane finally got close enough. Before stopping or turning around, Jane jumped in the air, towards the direction of the same wall, but she only used both of her feet to impact off the metal. She didn't kick anything immediately. Jane simply used her feet to stop moving while the Fire Bolts were about three feet from the floor on the wall. Jane then twisted her body, while using her feet to kick off of the metallic structure at the same time in a full transition. Jane ended up kicking her entire body high into the air with a different angle setting than she was at before, and right as her body turned around enough to see the three Fire Bolts right below her, it was clear to the others what the plan was.
Taylor watched the entire moment in disbelief. Jane literally jump-kicked off of the wall that she was running towards, and jumped right over the three Fire Bolts just milliseconds before they impacted on her body. Since Jane changed direction so severely, the Fire Bolts just kept going towards the cold metal instead, all bursting off against the wall instead of trying to track Jane's movements. It was an impressive sight to behold. Though it happened so fast, Taylor caught the entire moment with her eyes this time. Incredible!
Eliza couldn't believe how well Jane was doing so far. Now she was much further in distance as well. That would give her more time to keep on dodging, but Eliza didn't have to get close. There was one more thing to try. After charging enough energy, Eliza released another big attack. "Magical Burst!" Eliza sent an incredible barrage of large energy balls dark in color towards Jane. This time, the field of the area attack was almost as narrow as Ice Needles gets to. Since it was such a fast flying and powerful ordinance with homing capabilities packed with too many projectiles to dodge, Jane wouldn't be able to jump kick again, not this time. Trying to shoot down magical bursts of energy was different than attacking a lower power level ice needle.
Jane watched the attack quickly coming her way, frozen in uncertainty. Magical Burst is a powerful area spell, designed to prevent evasion. Though it might look evadable at first glance, that's what gets the best of everyone who tries it every time. The barrage of energy balls was wide spread, and there were so many of them, with high damage dealing potential involved. Though the field of the barrage was quite narrow, it was wide spread in a horizontal fashion closer to the ground with a few high exceptions. Though that made it impossible to try jumping or ducking out of the way, the fact that it was that closer to the floor gave Jane another idea.
Taylor was watching closely, unable to unglue her eyes to the amazing scene. It was like she was watching one of those movies Jane had in real life, and with Jane as the big hero. Just watching her dodge attacks was beyond inspiring. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen before!
Jane unleashed her charged energy, preparing the speed and direction for the perfect timing of the collision. "Shadow Wave!" Jane threw the dark shadow towards the oncoming Magical Burst attack heading her way. Though the Shadow Wave moved just as fast, it was bound to the ground, only to expand once it impacts on something. Jane only stood still afterwards. If this doesn't work, than nothing else will either. Eliza could have done worse and used Photon Blast, but Jane didn't see it very possible since that spell is said to be a power level nine skill.
Eliza watched in a high building moment of suspense. Jane attacked back?! Before she could even figure out what the reason was for that, the Magical Burst attack came into contact near the floor with Jane's Shadow Wave, forcing them both together to expand and then explode into a force of wind and light.
The crowd watched in awe as the Shadow Wave then expanded high into the air vertically just after hitting one of the bottom energy balls from Eliza's attack. Shadow Wave is designed to hold an opponent where they stand while they take additional damage. Despite initially being bound to the ground, the attack aura expands upwards once it finally collides into something, attacking in all forward directions at the same time in a burst method, but Jane just used it to attack the magical spell Eliza had sent her way. The Shadow Wave quickly grew as tall as Eliza's entire spell ordinance at an untraceable speed. Once that happened, all of these black sparks shot outwards from the massive dark shadowy aura that Jane created. Once those energy spheres had nowhere to go, the entire center of the field exploded into a large cloud of shiny mist and smoke.
Taylor's jaw dropped in amazement. Once the smoke cleared, it revealed that Jane and Eliza were both unharmed from either attack, and that Jane successfully avoided damage from a massive attack without even dodging it.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/3Rk6cPSr/S1-Eliza-N-002.png]
With her breathing rapid and her stamina gone, Eliza knew when she was finished, but she never expected Jane to actually try for option three. Kicking down a needle barrage was one thing, but deflecting a barrage attack with just one Shadow Wave? This was beyond advanced level training! Eliza didn't have anything to get Jane with anymore. That was her best choice of attack skills, and now she was all tired out. Thanks to her MP getting so low, Eliza was holding her knees with her face hunched over, breathing quickly and panting as if she ran a marathon. It was a great exercise to use so much energy into random spells like that, but Jane is the one who just proved herself worthy today. It went totally against what Eliza wanted to prove, but she had no choice but to give this girl some praise. "Good job Jane!"
Jane finally realized that it was already over. Eliza looked much too wiped to try any more attacks against her. This was so great! Jane managed to evade or deflect every single attack, and that had to give her a perfect score. Eliza wasn't even giving Jane the usual ordinary test of evasion therapy. She specifically designed this exercise just for Jane, and Jane managed to hold her own the entire time. She stepped in much closer to Eliza, while the crowd of students to the right began clapping and cheering, as if they just finished watching some wonderful play.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Under Cover Of Night ~ Halo 1 OST
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Danny found Taylor standing right in front of him, but he also watched the whole event while Jane jumped over everything. "That was amazing," he projected towards Taylor. "Jane really did all of that?!"
Taylor turned around a little so that Danny could hear her through the increased noise level. "I know! She's better than anyone with evasion."
Eliza waited for Jane to come by much closer, now realizing that since everyone was watching, it could become a wonderful learning experience after all. First, she had to talk to Jane. "Jane? You've just set a new, unbeatable record." Eliza extended her right arm to Jane, edging her to shake it for such an excellent performance. Ms. Akura would surely realize by now that the potential of her own class was totally higher than it seemed.
Jane paused for a quick moment, taken by surprise that her own teacher was giving her this much of a spotlight, even in front of the other students. Jane was bobbing up and down with her breathing as well from all of the dodging, but her excitement returned to her just as well. Jane shook Eliza's hand firmly, smiling at Eliza in her own victory. "Thanks."
Eliza saw that the other students were still clapping and shouting all kinds of nice things their way, but she quickly waved her hands downwards to try and get them to be silent. "Thank you. Thank you students. Please. If you will..."
It took a lot more time than Eliza expected for them to all calm down to a near silent setting, though it wasn't surprising. Jane went way beyond her own expectations of her. Jane must have been practicing a lot more than what she credited for herself, and that close combat training Jane got helped a lot as well. Such an option should become the prerequisite from now on for all entry-level students. Now with the crowd quiet, Eliza was able to explain how Jane was so successful. "What you all just witnessed was a modified evasion therapy specifically designed for Jane, and let me tell you that none of this was fixed or acted out."
Taylor, Danny, and everyone else was listening and watching carefully while Eliza continued.
"Particularly with that last moment Shadow Wave Jane just used on my own spell, I want you all to know that such action is what I meant earlier about deflecting your opponent's attack. The important thing to get out of this lesson is that not everything can be dodged." Eliza held a short pause to let that important fact sink in, which was the point of this after all. "But a wise Leray wielder looks past that. Dodging and blocking attacks are not the only way to cancel damage done to you. Counterattacks, deflective moves, and even some of the most unusual methods of canceling an oncoming spell exist in the field. And it is up to all of you to discover and figure out exactly what those methods are. Yes, Jane is a more experienced and better-trained student. But time has only one of many to do with mastering everything there is to know about Leray mastery. Hard training and determination to get better is a constant requirement for everyone. The same goes for myself as well."
Jane didn't realize that a full educational speech was on its way here. How far was Eliza taking this? There didn't seem to be a concise value overall; it's as if Eliza was struggling to quickly summarize what happened. The exhaustion might unfortunately be getting to her.
"No matter how excellent Jane may have looked to you just now, and no matter what position I am in as well as others, training and learning never stops. Despite what you have just seen, even Jane will come across an attack one day that she won't be able to jump away from. You all know about attacks like Thunderbolt and Meteor Strike. Unavoidable in battle no matter what those spells are. But so what? With further training, Jane can get even stronger and faster, and so can I. So can everybody here standing in this room."
Jane finally understood why it was a speech. Eliza was immediately going from congratulating her to demoralizing the rest of them... Well, not exactly, but she was really hitting everyone hard with one fact. No matter how good Jane gets, somebody else out there will eventually become better than her, at least for a while. Even the Leray champion is subject to this rule...
"So don't worry about whether or not you can move like that just yet. You will eventually if you try, and only by your continued support in yourselves and the thought of never giving up." Eliza had finally gotten off what she needed to say, and let it go towards the assignment at hand. "Now I expect all of you to return to your evasion therapy if you have not already completed your runs, and when you come in on Friday to further advance your ability in this one category, give it your very best shot every single time no matter what." It's what Jane does every time, the reason she is the best. Eliza wanted to speak that last part on her mind, but it would only put her back into the spotlight again. Jane is a great role model, but nobody is perfect. What Jane makes up in her own determination, she often lacks in patience. "That will be all."
With that, everybody began moving around again randomly. Most of the students were going to continue their evasion therapy sessions, while the ones who already have are free to do as they like. The other teachers including the outsourced tutors had to take the moment in. They were certainly not expecting such a display of force, but Eliza wasn't supposed to give students special treatment either. Fearing that she just set herself up for a double-edged sword, Eliza had to take another long breather. Danny and Taylor were both standing there however, unable to get all of what Eliza just said out of their minds. While their teacher finally let everyone get back to their things, she was now conversing with Jane privately again. This caused Danny and Taylor to approach them, eager about what was to happen now.
"I can't believe you gave me that much a score," Jane complained.
"Not me dear," Eliza corrected. "Your peers did so, as did your evidence in your capabilities." Jane was lashing out as quietly as she could, as Eliza already knew how she hated being a public example of anything positive or negative, attention in general. But that wasn't what this was about, and she would need to get over this pet peeve of hers as well. "Remember that when fighting in the field, lots of spectators come to watch the battle from a safe distance. They do this not only because it can be fun to watch, but also to absorb a chance to learn something new. Jane? If you keep at it, you will become a Leray master before you know it."
Jane couldn't stop herself from blushing. Her own teacher was giving her that much credit already? It was only two weeks ago when Jane was just considered the hot shot by her class, and two weeks before that when she failed in training an unmotivated couple. Come to think of it, only less than two months passed before Jane first learned her Radial Stars spell. And now her favorite teacher was in belief that she was about to be a Leray master already?!
Eliza could tell the words and inspiration left Jane totally speechless. It wasn't clear whether that have just inspired Jane or mortified her, since Danny and Taylor were now standing next to her again. "And when you do, I want you to come back here and battle me, one on one."
"Really?! You mean it?!" A battle with Eliza! Jane's entire field of view was suddenly replaced by the imagination of such a wondrous battle. Jane could already have what it takes to beat her, but this was just too sudden!
Taylor and Danny walked in on some sort of personal moment for Jane. It looked like she was about to have tears of joy brought to her eyes in no time, and there was still that excited look on her face that was too familiar for comfort.
"Of course..." Eliza replied. "I'll have grown much stronger too ya know. So don't expect it to be easy."
Jane was now in automatic response mode. She already could see the future Eliza was telling her about, imagining the moment where Jane would return to Fronas from as great journey, looking all excellent and powerful, and Eliza would be at the top of the challenge as well. A match with Eliza was sounding fun even if it were to be held right now. "Excellent! I won't let you down." The excitement burning through her sharp green eyes had satisfied her teacher thus far, and whatever bothered Jane seconds ago was no longer a priority.
Eliza turned her head over to a curious looking couple, the same ones that constantly hang out with Jane. "And I'm expecting great things out of you two as well."
Taylor and Danny both twitched. Already, their teacher was prepared to put the weight of Jane's entire journey on their shoulders. "Thanks..." They both replied in an awkward manner, since that was their only option.
"After hanging out with Jane all the time, you might not realize it, but you both have gotten much better in a shorter time than standard, but you joined our class late, so it may not feel that way just yet, especially by immediate comparison. Trust me when I say that the proportions for your growth are much faster."
"I don't know if that's really true," Taylor bargained.
Eliza wagged her finger to deny Taylor's uncertainty. "If it wasn't true, then neither one of you two would have passed the test with your Cran battles. You might not feel it now, but just by following Jane around in her journey to come, you will both eventually turn into formidable Leray fighters, and you will get to see the rest of this world as well. I am told that you are both new to Sprawn Valley. I should have kept the possibility in mind, though I see your new friend has helped you adjust well enough. Jane? Excellent work keeping this cycle going this time."
"This time...?" Danny caught on to the words Jane didn't want to get out, but there was more to it than that. What business did Jane have telling their own teacher how they got here? Oh well, it's not as if Jane knew the truth about the cliffs or the Banshee slave thing that was beyond even his own business. Still, what's this about a different cycle of friends?
It was a little embarrassing in her perspective to talk about that, after Jane was technically looked down on by the teacher, who gave her that miserable assignment in the first place. How do you train people who don't care about Leray magic? At least Danny and Taylor weren't that crazy or stupid. "Ahaha. She means this one... Only time."
Yeah right! Taylor could tell how easy it was to read Jane today, which was often not possible. Eliza's talk with her must have put Jane in one of the most wonderful moods, and after that performance, Jane deserved every bit of praise. But what was this about keeping a cycle going?
"You haven't told either of them it would seem." Eliza saw Jane give her that stare that screamed at her to shut up, but it was too late for that now, not that it was much of a secret here at Dakota. "Jane once tried to train two newcomers much like yourselves, but they weren't that interested in learning magic. They just wanted that higher school social status. So Jane cut that training short, and she wasn't the most polite about it." Eliza knew it was more intense than that. The way Jane let those students have it practically made them quit the school while giving Jane that cold intense reputation. It may have been the reason Jane has trouble making friends.
It was a less, raw summarized version of the story, but Jane knew it was true. At least nobody was making a big deal about it like before. After all, she got in trouble for it too at the time. Jane eventually refused to have anything to do with those idiots! How dare they waste her time when they don't have any intention of learning anything! But Danny and Taylor are totally different.
"Yeah," Danny surmised. "I feel a type of pressure on our shoulders every day." A lame attempt of using Jane as a meme to his own stress, but he knew it was true. Every time Jane gets involved with his own training, it's never ending because of how serious she is about it. It was clear already that Leray magic and battling was one of the coolest things here, but to pour your every ounce of heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into the practice at all times just seemed like too much. Even if Jane is trying to become a Leray master, it doesn't have to be done today!
Taylor changed the subject quickly. After all, she already heard about that story before, even though it was easy to forget about it. Eliza must not have known that Jane already hinted some of that to them, and it didn't matter anyway since the three of them are friends. "Well Jane? I wouldn't mind at all if you could give us some lessons on dodging as well. Preferably before Friday's exercise."
Danny gave Taylor a worried glance. "Wait a minute! I didn't even get to go yet."
"So what?" Jane retorted. "The session's not over for another hour. We can meet up after you go through it."
Taylor knew her thoughts exactly. There was a good reason why it didn't matter that Danny didn't go yet. "You don't have to embarrass yourself Danny. I already know that you can't dodge anything just yet."
"Gee— Thanks a lot." Danny sounded depressed with his sarcastic response, but he was really just joking around about it. Might as well let them be themselves today.
"Anyway," Eliza interrupted. "You should both know by now that we don't have any sessions planned on Thursday, which is tomorrow."
"No school?" If this news were made back in Kalamo, the students would have a field day. But since it is happening in one of the coolest zones on Earth, it was mildly disappointing. "What's the occasion?" Taylor quizzed.
Jane seemed happy to let Eliza answer this one, since it wasn't that important anyway. "None really. Sometimes we just give you all breaks. You can choose to celebrate or train your hearts out. Jane? I know that it would be in your best interest to take option B for tomorrow..."
Jane knew what Eliza was talking about with the training over the breaks. That was usually her thing, but from the choice of her words, it sounded a lot like Eliza had something specially planned for her again. "Buuuuut?"
"But instead, I want you and your friends to run an errand for me."
Jane smiled, after realizing Danny's expression. He had to be lazy back in his old life, because that look of defeat said it all. Somehow, it was just amusing that he would have to do a little charity work, given that he isn't fond of this much. Most likely, it was going to be for the usual reason. "You want another supply run, right?"
"That's right," Eliza replied. "I need you to get the usual monthly supplies on the list for Dakota's manifest, and I shouldn't have to remind you that the shop is in Blue Port Town." Eliza was only stating that obvious fact for Danny and Taylor, not for Jane.
"Why do you want us to go?" Danny managed to make himself sound simply curious to avoid being rude or sounding lazy, but he wondered if that really worked.
The sound of spells flying on sides of the dark room was of little distraction, but Eliza was already in the mood for fresh air just thinking about a place outside of Fronas. All of this blue haze from the ceiling's magical lighting system got boring already. "Because," Eliza offered. "You two are new, so I bet you've never actually gone to Blue Port Town before. Am I right?"
Taylor looked at Danny. Eliza did have a point. Blue Port could be totally different from Fronas altogether. And with a shop designed only for Leray stuff... "Sounds great! We get to see what Blue Port is like."
Danny felt defeated by pure girl power after Taylor had decided for both of them. Only he was the one who didn't want to walk all the way to a new town, even if he never did see it before... Danny studied Taylor's reaction carefully afterwards. She didn't seem to give off any kind of language that it would be a bad idea. A more important thought came to mind. Since Blue Port Town is to the north, it would out them both just an inch closer to Junon's sector, according to that paper map he studied earlier. On the other hand, they were being expected to head there, and then head back with some kind of load that only Jane would be familiar with.
"Awesome!" Jane agreed. "I'll show them around to everything." Jane just knew it was going to be perfect. Even being new, Jane would have accepted the offer without Danny and Taylor's appearance here. Who wants to be constantly stuck in a tiny town like this? Just perfect! They can both learn so much new stuff, and all just by traveling just short of a mile.
"Just meet up with me here at nine am tomorrow, and I'll give you the list." Eliza was referring to herself giving Jane the list, but it was nice to give the new kids places to explore. With Jane helping them out like she has done already, there was no way anything bad was going to happen to either of them on the way there.