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<12/19/1971 ~ 08:40 | Fronas, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
Danny could feel himself shifting around in his bed, slightly colder from the drop in temperature overnight. Despite wanting to stay asleep, his senses were overwhelmed by the strong smell of steaming food. Whatever it was - motivated him to open his eyes and completely wake up on the spot. The scent was sweet and delightful, most likely something made out of bread.
He threw the covers off of him and slid to his feet, standing up carefully. After getting dressed in the same old clothes, Danny attempted to fixed his bed hair before making his way through the door. Following the scent of something fresh out of the oven, he navigated to the center desk of the medical facility in which he and Taylor slept in again. Though this time, Taylor was already there by the desk.
Kain, Francine, and Taylor were together, eating what seemed to be a basket of fresh buttered sweet rolls. Feeling left out, Danny sped up to the basket to claim his own meal. There were plenty of them left, all of which were still warm. Still, why didn't anyone wake him for this?
"I was wondering when you would wake," Kain spoke halfway before chewing his bite.
Taylor eyed Danny's expression. He still seemed to be in a half-asleep phase while beginning to eat his breakfast. "Yeah, Danny's always been like that. Always late to everything."
"Hey!" Danny retorted. "Not always." He took another long bite into a roll, failing to defend himself against Taylor's teasing. She did unfortunately have a point, but Danny always figured that he was more careful than Taylor; well, not including the events from her accident a few days ago. Still, nobody bothered to wake him up. Did Taylor just expect him to smell the sweet rolls and drift here on fumes?
"These rolls are really good," Taylor complimented.
Francine appreciated the remark. "Why thank you. We don't always get to make such great food."
Kain reassured them that nobody would need to resort down anything of lower quality. "Well it's no worry. We'll be down to our MREs soon, but Taylor and Danny have volunteered to help out a little with the shopping manifest."
"Oh, that's excellent news," Francine replied. Her voice naturally seemed higher and more cheerful than average, which in this moment was just weird.
Danny suddenly remembered everything from yesterday. There was an incredible lesson on Leray magic that these knuckleheads put together, plus that phone-call he made to Nyar, and the chores he promised to fulfill for Kain. In return, they were getting their own supply of MREs in order to travel to Junon's sector near the airport. That's the plan.
Kain tested the two teens he was beginning to know better. "Did you two have enough time to think more about all of the stuff we talked about yesterday?"
Taylor swallowed her own answer with the bite she took. What was the man really asking? "I don't know what you mean by that."
"If you think we're just going to stay here and learn how to use Leray magic," Danny assumed, "then you have another thing coming. Our focus will soon be travel."
"No, no." Kain nodded the reply. "That is not even an expectation of any resident of Sprawn Valley." Kain misread his own intentions about the two, and tried again. "I just don't want you to hate us for this. There are a lot of people that despise Leray magic so much, that they forget we are just people in a valley."
"Oh no," Taylor denied. "We don't hate you. And I can't really say I hate Leray magic either. It's just..."
"It's weird," Danny confessed. He had already finished eating two rolls, and was ready to put in some work. "I still know so little about it... Is it possible to tell us more?"
Kain had an idea. He turned around to where the television set was, hanging from the wall behind the counter. There was a VCR device there, and he had a demo tape to insert inside of it. "Perhaps this demo will help. Sometimes we record battles between Leray fighters for instructional purposes. Maybe you would like to see what one looks like?"
"Yes!" Taylor and Danny both replied together, equally excited to see some of the action they were told of.
Kain plugged everything in quickly, and waited for the TV to turn on. The tape was already fast-forwarded to the middle section of the recorded film, showing the battle as it had long since started. On the screen, there were two male adults, one older than the other. Both of them were using magic at the same time, invoking special types of glyphrings. One of them had a sword, and fought using magic attacks with that blade, but the other guy was incredibly quick in dodging those attacks. The bladed warrior launched some sort of spell that sent six large Fire Balls flying at different angles towards his opponent. The opponent jumped out of the way and ducked below the Fire Balls until he was in range to strike back. His version of a retaliation was some kind of electrical attack that was invoked in just a split-second, getting the upper hand on the person who used the Fire Ball attack.
As this was happening on screen, Danny was barely able to keep up at all. It happens so fast in a battle, everybody invoking special abilities on the fly as if it is second nature. Apparently, physical weapons can be used in battles too. The guy that took the electrical damage punched the other guy quickly, as if that electrical shock did not even scratch him. Was it always so intense like this?
Just when things were getting good, the screen blacked out, and a red light on the VCR player began blinking. Taylor gasped, hoping to see more. That battle on screen was only visible for about fifteen seconds total, and yet so much happened, but now nothing was playing. Something was wrong with the playback on the device.
"What happened," Francine copied. She took a closer look at the VCR player.
Kain stepped ahead and pressed the eject button. When he pulled the tape out of the player, there appeared to be nothing wrong with it physically. The red light on the device was still blinking every second. With a defeated expression, Kain gasped. "It looks like the VCR is broken."
"Broken VCR," Francine whined. "Well that figures. We'll always have something here that isn't usable."
How often do things break so quick and easy in this town? Danny figured the rate was higher than it seemed at a glance. After all, Fronas has about thirty people in total. Who decides who fixes what? Maybe there just isn't enough people to support better funding for things in Fronas. Still, now that he had more time to think about it, Danny wondered to himself why Kain had this little demo tape ready and available in the first place. Newcomers don't arrive that often by what he was able to gather earlier, so did Kain plan showing them this whether he asked about Leray magic or not? Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions. "Well that's no good... But what I saw was pretty cool. And anybody can do that?"
Kain nodded left and right. "It's not that simple. If you want to become a Leray wielder like that, you would have to put in years or even decades of training with magic. Anyway, that reminds me. Are you two ready for your task? I hope you didn't forget."
Taylor answered, "Of course we didn't forget. We just find Lisa and give her that list."
Satisfied, Kain pulled a sheet of paper out of his shirt pocket. "Here you go then. Simply walk over to the Dakota training facility, and give this to Lisa. Tell her I sent you if she gets confused. The building is not hard to miss. Its outer design is larger than this one, and the building in question is made of metal material painted in black."
Danny collected some of his thoughts while Taylor was taking the sheet from Kain. It was about what uncle Nyar said earlier. He never specified exactly how, but he totally thrashed the very ideal of Leray magic. Something about it must really be horrible if half the entire world population finds it to be despicable, and this guy isn't telling him any of those details. If Kain knows something, he shouldn't just keep it in like that!
Taylor accepted the note into her hand, and promised Kain she and Danny would deliver it. "We'll be back." Taylor latched Danny's wrist as she began walking towards the exit door, making sure Danny was in tow.
Hold on Taylor! Danny was basically forced outside by the embrace of Taylor's hand. She is getting too excited! Why is she so happy all the sudden, and where is she getting that energy from? Doesn't she realize that you can't just go barging into a school or facility to find someone? What if they throw himself and Taylor out for trespassing? They're not students there!
Exiting from the Fronas medical center, Taylor walked outside to the brightness of the morning sunlight just before letting Danny's arm go. This time it was early, just after the orange glow became more yellow in color. It must have been around 8:30 AM from the looks of it, but neither one of them had the actual date anymore.
As usual, the people in the town were moving about. Some of them were traveling to and from the northern path through the forest, and one more was coming from the western side, where the Dakota facility is supposed to be. The building was somewhat visible in the distance, but a lot of random foliage and tree branches blocked its view. Danny had no idea what all of these people get up to do anyway, but it must not be to have a Leray battle. Nobody in here was even using Leray magic, so they must have business doing something outside of the town.
Taylor swept past Danny, who had slowed down to take in the view again. She seemed eager to get to the Dakota facility, more so than he did. Whoever Lisa is, they were supposed to meet her, but neither one of them had a clue what she looks like. Kain never really explained that bit of info either. Following his friend in reluctance, Danny sped up his pace to match Taylor's.
The walk over to the path was no longer than two minutes. Once they arrived, the narrowness of the gravel coated floor widened out more. Though from this view, the forest ahead seemed endless; the Dakota building was much closer by now. It had to be about the size of ten houses wide, but only as tall as one level. Made out of some unknown metal material, the paint job left much of the structure completely black with a shiny finish. There were also design patterns and symbols in random areas also painted on, much like the symbols on the posters inside of the rooms where Danny and Taylor had slept in earlier.
The building's exterior seemed vacant of anybody. The front doors were shut and sealed tightly. Taylor moved in closer to check it out, going slowly through the cut in path, until she discovered someone else, standing by a secondary well tap on the right side of the facility. The woman looked about twice Taylor's age, blond and tall, wearing some strange denim outfit. "Hello?" Taylor hollered.
Danny wanted to just walk back already. Taylor has no regard for their own business butting into others. The school is obviously closed. Why did Kain even send them both here anyway? Couldn't he just have handed the piece of paper to Lisa himself?
The strange woman looked up from whatever she was doing with the well. It looked like she was using the water to wash something. With her face clearly visible, she studied the faces of the other two youngsters. "Who's there?"
Danny caught up to Taylor, and cut right to the chase before she could do any more accidental damage. "We're looking for Lisa. Have you seen her?"
The woman put her things down and took a few more steps closer to the teens, stopping within normal speaking distance. "You're speaking to her."
"Great!" Taylor declared. "He asked me to give you this list to take care of, said you'd know a bit about it." Taylor pulled out that sheet of paper from earlier, containing a long list of materials and supplies needed set specific orders. "Kain is the one who sent us."
"I see." Lisa took the list into her hands, pocketing the sheet of paper without any hesitation, but her reaction to seeing the two of them made it clear that she wasn't absent for confusion. "You seem new in town?" Lisa studied the two teens with a puzzled expression in her face, realizing how unfamiliar they are around here.
Danny expected this coming from Lisa. She was a stranger to him as well, but in this situation, they were practically aliens to Sprawn Valley. In a town as small as Fronas, the low population makes it easy to detect anyone new to the area. And why wouldn't it? With such little people, you would quickly learn who everyone is. Any outliers are automatically highlighted in a place like this, so it was natural that this chick would see them as strangers. It even made sense as to how quickly Kain and Bella found Taylor at the edge of the woods. In order to seem natural, Danny introduced himself first, allowing Taylor to follow his idea. "My name is Danny."
"I'm Taylor," she waved.
Lisa put her hands on her hips, indicating that she was welcoming of the two newcomers. "Well anyone is welcome in Fronas. Should I be expecting to see you in class tomorrow?"
Taylor and Danny exchanged looks. With Danny silent from the misunderstanding, Taylor probed for more information. "Class? Wait. You're a teacher here?"
"Sure am. It would be a little late for entry now, but it won't stop hard working graduates."
Danny pondered Lisa's words carefully. "You mean, you teach people how to use Leray magic? Right here in Dakota?"
"What did ya, come out of the ocean? Of course we teach Leray magic. That's what training facilities do."
"Oh," Taylor finished subtlety.
"But of course," Lisa continued, "Dakota is not just any training facility. So we don't get enough funding from the city state official. That never stopped us before from turning regular people into excellent fighting spirited Leray wielders."
Danny spun his head slightly, taking in the words twice since Lisa was talking so quickly. It's like someone sped up her voice at the end of every sentence. She seemed to be interested in them both, but this was just another problem. Lisa is a teacher for magic, and this is a magic school. Being that, Lisa didn't actually know of himself or Taylor, which means that Kain must not have told her about this little exchange. It soon became clear that such action was intentional; it would give Lisa plenty of room to explain the wonders of magic to them both. Kain knew this question would come up! He's been straggling them both to learn more about magic from day one, but they already knew what there was to tell.
It was obvious to Lisa by now that Danny and Taylor are true outsiders, not even entirely comfortable with the Leray business yet, but she also had an idea. "How much you know about Leray magic?"
Taylor took time to answer the question, too much time perhaps. Danny ended up getting his turn before her. "We don't actually have much experience with it... And we don't have the cash to pay for an admission even if we wanted to." Danny felt his answer become intelligent after speaking it. This is good! This way, no matter what Kain says, they cannot take part in learning a thing about Leray magic. That guy has some sort of agenda, but whatever it was isn't going to work. If Danny had to guess, Kain wants both of them to get involved in magic, the exact opposite of what Nyar said. But Kain's method of doing all of this without asking is beyond infuriating!
"Oh. Well that's too bad," Lisa responded. "Admissions here are cheaper than the standard at any other facility, but not everybody can afford everything here."
Taylor wanted to know more about it anyway, and pressured Lisa for more answers. "Wh-What do you actually train people to do?"
Shut up Taylor! Danny wanted to scream his thoughts into her head as to not be rude to Lisa, but she just ruined their only chance to escape from this unscathed. Since she is so excited about magic, Kain has her playing right into his hands.
"It's simple really." Lisa had implied just how easy it is for anybody to learn the ways of magic usage. "After just a bit of studies and understanding, we train all our students how to actually invoke abilities, skills, attacks spells, and other forms of magic."
"S-so..." Danny appeared to be picking up where Taylor left off. "You can teach anybody how to use glyphrings too?" It wasn't going to look good if he let Lisa have it here, but this way he would still learn a little more about magic without having to learn to use it.
"Yep." Lisa seemed so sure of her answer. "But I'm not the only teacher here. No, I couldn't possible demand that many kids at one time. Classes are split up a bit, and there are more teachers than just me."
In a town of twenty plus people, how many teachers are needed in a school? Her logic makes no sense. Wait, what about those who come from the other towns? "Hold on," Danny pressured. "I thought Fronas is too small to have enough students for a school this size."
"Most of our class comes from Blue Port Town," Lisa answered. "There is no facility in Blue Port, so they all flood down here during our regular hours."
Taylor nodded, "I get it."
"You do seem more interested in this than you are letting on," Lisa decided. "But I have an idea."
This can't be good! Danny questioned, "What might that be?"
With a swift and enthusiastic reply, Lisa shared her insight. "Since you are both friends of Kain's, I'll allow you a free tour of Dakota."
No! No! No! No! No! "Brilliant," Danny muttered, unable to think of means to get himself out of it. He wanted to ask Taylor a rhetorical question, but instead kept it to himself in his thoughts. See what you've gone and started?
"Cool! We get to see inside the training stuff!" Taylor had suddenly become overly excited again, just like yesterday. Danny saw this coming, just not so soon. "I bet they train by battling each other. Pew! Pow!"
What are you, six? With a regretful nod, Danny followed Taylor, who was following Lisa towards the entrance of the building. At least it's only a tour. Once it's over, that's that. Kain knows damn well he can't enroll students who can't pay.
"Follow me inside, and I will show you around," Lisa explained.
Danny and Taylor silently trailed Lisa towards the front end of the building. It seemed that the double doors were not exactly locked, since Lisa did not even have to use a key to open them. The building looked pretty cool, but it was also deceptively easy to navigate to.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Following Lisa's entry, Danny and Taylor got a look at the very front room of the inside of the building. There was a front desk as usual, currently abandoned since it must not have been a school day. If Lisa said something about seeing her in class tomorrow, and today school is out, that must mean that today is actually Sunday. So far, it looked like any ordinary facility. Nothing special about magical training thus far.
"This is the admissions room," Lisa claimed.
That made sense. Taylor noticed how unimpressive it was. The people who run the counter here must be in charge of admissions, phone calls, and attendance, but that was pushing the assumption very far that the place was funded enough to handle all of that for a small staff. All of the florescent lighting was turned on with white beaming light. They must run power through the building even on weekends somehow.
"I've got no volunteers for today." Lisa seemed to randomly rant on about things without explaining it all too well. Taylor had to ask about the volunteers.
"Volunteers for what?"
Lisa glanced back at Taylor, suddenly realizing she forgot to explain how this facility like many others operates. "Oh right. You're unfamiliar with our policies. We often get people coming in on weekends even though they don't have to. They do it to train harder and for a longer period of time, but they also help other students falling behind who need that training even more."
"I'm guessing you cannot just train anywhere," Danny assumed.
After a walk through the hallways, which were also uninteresting compared to normal schools, Lisa turned a corner, leading up to a secure metal door with a lock system involved on the outside. "Well you can, but there are some risks involved when one uses their abilities outside of battle in the wild, most often involved in accidental friendly fire with locals or civilians. The training rooms up ahead are specifically designed with special polymer patting that absorbs Leray energy."
"What happens if someone random is hit by friendly fire? Do they make it out okay?" Danny had believed from earlier claims that it would be true. After all, Bella said that one cannot die in Sprawn Valley, not even from Leray magic.
Lisa addressed Danny's odd question with her own thoughts in mind. It was so unusual to teach this stuff to a real outsider. "No physical harm can come of it. Of course, if the spell is powerful enough, anybody hit by it who is not used to taking magical damage - could in such a case pass out cold, a one hit knock out. When people get knocked out, it can last from either ten to twenty minutes without assistance."
Danny phrased his own question to something off topic to friendly fire. "What about the training rooms? You mean people can just go in there and shoot magic everywhere?"
"The training rooms are only designed for two purposes," Lisa announced. "The first is to prevent any ricochet magic from landing on someone it is not intended for. In official Leray matches, this is taken care of by a dome shield that functions in the same way as the walls in this room. The second purpose is to automatically absorb any magical effects that would otherwise cause some severe structural damage to this building, such as high level area attacks."
Taylor hunched a little closer to Danny, and whispered something in his ear. "What is she talking about now?"
Danny returned her question by whispering too, but he made his response short and quick since they were almost at the end of the hallway towards the secure door. "I'm not sure. Maybe we have to learn it in class to understand it?"
"Here we are," Lisa introduced. She only had to fiddle with the digital door controls for a moment before the door automatically slid open.
Danny was immediately impressed, not with the door, but by how a financially suffering town like Fronas could afford so little. Yet the Dakota facility has automatic digital security doors installed just for a training room? The side panel appeared to be twice as sophisticated as the electronic panel he worked with for the bulkhead door on the Tidal Max that night. After the door opened and the room was revealed, the lighting coming from it was a magnificent sight to behold.
Danny, Taylor, and Lisa all walked in after each other. Predictably, Lisa watched as Danny and Taylor were looking all around the room. There were training materials, mirrors, training dummies, and an arsenal of swords and other blades stacked in a weapons holder nearby, though the most alluring thing about the room was the incredible lighting effect it was giving off. There were no electrical light bulbs in this room or LEDs of any kind. Despite that, ocean blue colored pulsating lights were lit up in any dark corner. The room was all giving off a blue reflective glow from above, and the lights in here seemed magical. It best resembled a thick fog at the top of the area, which provided its own dark blue haze of light downward at a higher intensity. In other words, a colored fog that lit the area below well without reducing visibility as much as a normal fog would.
Lisa gave her next short lesson involved in the tour of the training room. "Our training room is outfitted with magically induced lighting that never fades or needs recharging. The walls, floor, and ceilings can withstand the most powerful of all attacks. The only thing that is lacking perhaps is the total size." Though the size of the room was about that of 30 square living rooms, Lisa considered that to be small. But there were also a lot of walls dividing the room into several random cut off sections, creating obstacles in the most interesting locations. Nothing about this place was actually parallel or built in a pattern. "This is where Leray wielders do their training before they ever become an official Leray wielder who are allowed to battle."
"Allowed?" Taylor was very busy eying the entire room from corner to corner, but she was still capable of paying attention to Lisa's conversation. While waiting on a response, Taylor checked out the weapons cache; more swords and small blades.
"Yes," Lisa replied. "Even with extensive unofficial training, everyone must officially graduate from one of any Leray training facilities in order to obtain their Leray wielder's license. With a license, any Leray wielder will be allowed to battle off site of the facility. It is a nationally established law, in order to weave out the weak in random battles, and to make sure people use magic responsibly."
"Well that's entertaining." Danny's voice echoed in the room, due to the low amount of people and existing noise inside. Anyway, at least it means no moron can just walk up to someone and use magic. They need a license to do so. Still, who actually enforces that law? Wouldn't people without a license still be capable of using magic?
"Of course, no general school is anything like this facility," Lisa admitted. "Though we have classrooms, desks, admissions, and weekend breaks, our objective is to prepare everyone to become Leray fighters, at least on a basic level. That is why we do not just use textbook assignments and make everybody do pointless homework. Almost everything learned is firsthand."
Danny replied, "I think I'm starting to like this place after all." He would have sneezed if he explained why. It was more important to Danny right now that the only reason he thought the school was cool is because of the difference in work. He remembered all too well that the material learned back in Kalamo was quite useless in the real world. Despite being told how dangerous Leray magic can possibly be, he would still much prefer to learn this than boring quadratic equations and Kalamo's glorious history.
Taylor backed away from the corner, heading back towards Lisa at the entrance to the room. "So what are the classrooms like?"
Lisa prepared to move on from this section of the building. "If you will follow me, I will show you." Lisa turned around, leaving the room without actually closing the door behind her. To be on the safe side, Danny and Taylor rushed themselves out of the room with haste. It was not that long ago since Danny had locked them both out of an important door. Better safe than sorry.
With another lengthy walk around a couple of turns, Lisa led them both to another room. The door here seemed old and ordinary, complete with its own doorknob unlike that automated vault hold. After opening the door and walking into the room, Lisa waited for the others to follow. "This is my classroom of the day, room 505. It has the standard capacity of 20 students so that it is not overwhelming."
Taylor looked around everywhere. There was a white board and markers at the end of the room on the other side, and a little over twenty desks organized for space around the room. The desks were so cheap that the chairs were attached to them as well, making them unstackable at the end of the day, but the walls inside of the room were decorated with interesting posters. Each poster had some neat, graphical artwork of magical abilities, with the names of each ability plastered as a title above it.
"This is where the lesson plans begin each day. Many people underestimate how much knowledge is involved in any single Leray battle. There is much to learn, and not much time to learn it in."
"How much time?" Danny asked.
"Well that depends," Lisa added. "You see, certain training facilities have different specifications than others. Some classes take years to finish, while others take months, but it all depends on which course level you take. Basic can take months, but there are some facilities that don't teach that as fast. This particular facility runs through level one courses within a three-month period, but that does not mean that three months is the minimum requirement. It all depends on the pace of the class as a whole. If we were to receive any new students, it would force us by policy to slow down a little and rerun some of the lesson plans to ensure that everybody is on the same track."
"Bummer," Danny implied. "If anybody joins, the entire class suffers."
"Not entirely. Sessions tend to run all year long all the time, bringing in tow those who are getting left behind. Some people graduate at faster paces than others, through a series of evaluative tests."
"Oh, I get it now." Taylor folded her shoulders, showing off what she understood. "Every classmate is not impeded by others because their training is what counts. They don't really have to stop and wait for others to pick up, because if they are ahead, then they stay ahead by training some more."
"Exactly." Lisa had to at least congratulate Taylor for having some common sense. "My class is a month or two overall from graduation, but some other classes are closer, like Eliza in room 706. She runs a tough course, barely slowing down for anyone."
Danny respected that. Even if one is late or unfortunate, others shouldn't suffer in speed due to dead weight. Eliza must be a serious kind of teacher. 706 she said?
Taylor distracted herself again with all of the pretty posters all over the wall, reading each one to herself silently while admiring their visuals. There was one called Fire Bolt, showing the image of a flaming ball of fire that has been slightly squeezed down like an elliptical torpedo due to its high speed of travel. The artist captured the realism and perspective perfectly. Then she saw the one known as Lightning Strike, showing off in the form of a bolt of electricity with several branching off beams from the single bolt. The color was a bright blue, just like the one she saw Bella demonstrate earlier. Taylor then saw another interesting image, one with sharp orange glowing stars shooting out of an orange glyphring. All in one poster, it looked incredible, though implausible to real life visuals. It was called Radial Stars.
"Anyway," Lisa continued. "To know any more about Dakota, you would have to actually join us. I'm not certain if Kain would help you out with that, being that admission does have a price to pay. It's not steep, but it is also not just worth goat's milk either."
Danny was mildly surprised yet again, not by what Lisa said, but to think they have real goats hidden away somewhere.
"Are other facilities sort of like this one?"
Reluctant to answer Taylor's question, Lisa reported the sad truth about this one. "Not really. Lots of training facilities are different from each other, in either methods of teaching, or the money and advanced technology that is involved. As you may already know, people graduate with basic training all the time, but there are more than one levels of training, such as advanced training mark one through five. Anything above that is just personal mentoring."
"So how many levels does this one have?" Danny asked.
"Advanced training mark one is the highest. Unfortunately, Dakota is not well known for being the best. Official facilities like these are all ranked on a system by the local region commissioners. They rank all schools based on graduation rates and income alone. We have to make monthly payments to them to keep the place going, but in a poor town with a small population, you can imagine how low our budget and payments are. So the commissioner has ranked us with a two out of ten. Of course it's not our fault. Graduation rates and our allowed budget are directly related. If we can't put in the bare minimum to teach, then we have to get payment reductions we owe to the regions, which are allowed without interest. The cost there is the rank. And with a low rank, we don't receive as much income in return. It's a full circle of issues."
Danny and Taylor were both staring at Lisa for her long discontinued speech. She seemed really depressed about having to admit how poor the school's budget is, and how bad the rating was. There must be facilities out there that cost people an arm and a leg every single day, rich with outdoor ornaments, top notch training, and perhaps even snotty rich kids who bully the poor.
But there was something about this place in particular. It may very well be the first time Danny and Taylor entered a training facility for wielding magic, but even so, it was impressive for what it was. At least Lisa was nice to them both, giving them a free tour and talking to them firsthand. Maybe she was just lonely in Fronas, but on the other hand, Danny felt tempted to join a class here. He still had his doubts about whether Leray magic was the best thing or not, but after a full run conclusion, the magic here did save Taylor's life. It doesn't matter who you are. Nobody can't say that was ever a bad thing.
Lisa continued after the awkward pause between them. "I should get going with this list you two gave me. I've got things to buy in Blue Port Town."
"Okay," Danny allowed. "I really enjoyed the tour though. I don't think any school could do better than this one as far as being classy." No matter how strange it was, the layout of the school here reminded him a little of home. Leray magic or not, Lisa isn't such a bad person. Kain on the other hand...
"I like it too," Taylor added. "It's really the thought that counts anyway. As long as your teaching is great, you should be proud."
"Thank you," Lisa bowed. "You'll have to leave with me though. I can't allow non-members in the building all by themselves. That would be considered trespassing."
Taylor agreed, "Alright. We'll report back to Kain, and tell him we did as he asked."
"I think he'll be happy to know that you two are interested in our school. He used to teach here himself before becoming a Leray agent."
"Awesome," he sarcastically replied. As long as he can beat Lisa and Taylor to Kain, he could stop any more disasters coming from that untrustworthy worm. Danny had more issues with the vocabulary all the sudden. "Are agents like cops to a town?"
"Pretty much, but we don't have a jail to put anyone in. So if anyone were to cause trouble, it would turn into a heated battle quickly under dangerous circumstances. Then again, they could just send them to Verlith prison on the north island..." Lisa had nothing else to say now that Danny was considering all she said. After turning to leave the room, she could immediately feel the other two respond and follow her on the way out.
There certainly was a lot to consider about a Leray training facility, and Taylor was still a little undecided about whether this was something she wanted to do. They were after all supposed to be heading to Junon to meet Nyar at the airport. First, they have to go back to Kain so that they could stock up on clothes, MREs, and other travel supplies to get there. This would mean the end of Fronas Town should they leave tonight.
Lisa led them outside of the building, closing the double doors after the teens made it outside with her. Then she turned around, adjusted her hair, and prepared herself to go to the store. "I'll be back later, but I don't want you two to meet me here. Come see me after tomorrow's class if you find some way to pay for admissions."
"Okay." So not happening. Danny knew this would be the last time seeing Lisa today.
"I'll think about it," Taylor added after Danny's less detailed response. They both watched as Lisa trailed off in the distance, heading on the northern path from Fronas towards Blue Port. Blue Port was not very visible from here anyway, but Taylor wondered what the path there and the town were like.
First, they had to go and talk to Kain again. Taylor followed Danny, who claimed to have seen where he was standing. It was way too late for Taylor to get an eye on Kain well before they got close to him. Predictably, he was just standing on the outside of his house. Technically, it was his back yard, but the short grass here was the same as the rest in the whole field.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Reflected Moon ~ Star Ocean 3 OST
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"There you are," Kain greeted. "So how was it?"
"How was... what?" Danny did not understand his question. Did he mean how was Lisa?
"Don't think I don't know about your visit in Dakota. I know you still may be iffy on the Leray magical business, but nobody can resist a proud practice like that."
He knew about the tour? That bastard! You planned this! Danny knew he should have expected that. Only Kain would set up something deviously. Even if Lisa didn't know about being asked to give them a tour, it's probably something she would normally have done to people new in town, and Kain went to use that to his advantage. Why is he flexing an agenda to get them involved in Leray magic? It was worse than sneaky.
"It was great!" Taylor exclaimed. "They had a training room, weapons, and you can really learn a lot of stuff there."
Danny did not remember to consider how Taylor's exciting mood could often come out in situations like these. He simply gave a normal toned report. "It looks like a lot of stuff to learn. Oh, and Lisa already left to the store by now."
"I know son. Good job." Kain pulled in the two backpacks he was hiding on the floor behind him, and threw each one to Danny and Taylor.
Danny caught his bag perfectly, but was amazed at how he did not notice two large backpacks behind the man until they were pointed out. After catching the bag, the weight fell on his arms quickly. There was something a bit heavy in there, and he instinctively pulled the bag further up to unzip it.
"As promised, a week's supply of food and MREs, and two days' worth of water. I can give you some going money to buy more water, but the problem is storing a week's supply in there without smashing your food."
"Thank you," Danny supported. He canceled unzipping the bag, trusting that it was all inside of there. Taylor was a little more curious and opened it up anyway, but Danny decided to hold onto his bag with one strap, just like he did in the good old days.
"Dakota is a nice place to learn some basic Leray magic skills," Kain reported. "I think if you are interested, you two could really do great things here, learning how to fight."
"I would love to," Taylor agreed. She sounded so passionate about the call to go there and learn magic. Maybe she really likes the idea of it all.
"But we don't have the money for admission," Danny warned. He came close to smirking, defeating Kain's quest right then and there. Kain must have forgotten that school isn't free. Neither one of them are supposed to learn about magic anyway. Even though Kain knew this from the call he made to Nyar, he was still pushing for it purposefully.
Kain gave a short laugh. "That's okay. For helping out a little, I'll take care of admission fees for you. Then you can both enroll."
Taylor jumped and shouted, "Really? Hooray!" She attracted a lot of attention from the people walking around, including Danny.
What is she nuts?! She's acting like a child! Danny had regretful thoughts emanating from his mind right about now. Taylor of course isn't going to fight back against this offer, and for whatever reason, Kain had no problem putting himself in debt to make his mission come true. Why does he want to push them into dangerous magic? Why is Kain trying to keep them anchored in town? Something is very wrong here. Danny knew he had to put a stop to this before things get worse. "No! Really. I don't think all that Leray stuff is for us. And we don't want to owe you anything."
Taylor stopped bouncing, instead glaring at Danny with an evil look. "What's your problem? Leray magic is the coolest thing ever! You should be more like this instead of this." Taylor made hand gestures to simplify the height of her own mood in comparison to his, since he was recently without much emotion lately. Already excited again just by the thought of participating in the Dakota training facility, Taylor's energy and spirit rejuvenated on the spot, allowing her to ignore Danny's protest. "I'll take your offer, Kain."
"Hold on!" Danny protested loudly. "We don't know what kind of other effects this magic can have on us Taylor. Leray magic does sound awesome now, but it could end up more trouble than it's worth."
"You're just trying to get out of it cause you're a big chicken," Taylor argued.
"Am not!"
Taylor emphasized her point further. "Scared of a little Leray magic, even though we're both immune to death, by Leray magic."
Danny felt his edge slipping away from him, and he tried harder to convince her this was a bad idea. "This just isn't the right thing to get involved with, at least not right now. We have to be leaving soon anyway."
"You heard Nyar," Taylor reminded. "Two to four weeks is a long time, and isn't that only just a rough estimate? What if it takes longer?"
"I don't care; I'm not going through with it."
"Bock! Bo-Bockoca!" Taylor began imitating a chicken noise as loud as she could, making Kain laugh quietly.
Danny's head was already swerving, probably about to pop off on a lid. Kain! You did this; now fix it! He lifted his voice further, but only addressed Taylor. "Stop it Taylor. We're leaving! No school, no offer, no debt! We're going straight to Junon!"
What's wrong with him right now? Taylor had seen Danny lash out in anger at people before, but this was totally different. He was being completely unreasonable right now, even making decisions for her. "I can't believe you." Her voice was sunken in full upset. "You want to avoid having fun that badly? All I wanted to do here was relax a little after all we just went through."
Danny studied that expression on Taylor's face. She seemed so defeated and down now. Even though he expected this, watching Taylor's spirits get destroyed was less bearable than he predicted. And then there was Kain, holding back his argument verbally, since he seems to already be winning. Kain used Taylor's excitement to try and put a wall between Danny and Taylor, all for the sake of this. If Danny leaves now, it could push Taylor further away, possibly convincing her to stay here by herself. But if he stays behind and helps her directly, it could provide a way of protecting her from the danger Kain is throwing them both into. Nyar said not to get involved, but... This is a bad idea no matter what. Still... "Alright! Alright! Fine!" Danny turned and pointed directly at Kain. "I accept your offer Kain. Sign us both up for Dakota immediately tomorrow. That way I can show this turd just how great I am at learning Leray magic."
Taylor retorted simply by sticking her tongue out at Danny for his turd remark, who did not even want to keep this going on any longer. To think, both fifteen years old, and somehow they've both gone back to acting childish, Taylor mostly. But it was also interesting at least for Taylor, to see a total shift in personalities between her and Danny. She is usually the one who backs down from challenges, not even for good excuses either, yet this time, Danny was acting like the less confident one.
"Then," Danny elaborated. "Once we fail to arrive at Junon airport to meet up with our own families, they'll come find us in a nervous wreck thinking we've been killed. And I'll be the one to explain on our behalf that you are the one who kept us from getting there."
"Uh," Kain wasn't able to respond quickly enough now that Danny was focusing his tensions on him. The consequence he just spoke of was one he failed to consider.
Danny continued swiftly before anyone could reply. "Anything bad that happens to our parties will be on your shoulders. And if this magic really does have some dangerous drawbacks that ends up getting us hurt in the process later on, we'll all hold you personally responsible!"
"Oh?" Kain interestingly perked up. "I was not made aware that you two had business in Junon so suddenly. I feel bad for making arrangements you shouldn't have gotten involved in since you have important things to attend to." It was a bad attempt to evade taking blame, since he knew beforehand that Danny and Taylor had business in Junon.
Danny's voice tightened quickly, his aggression shooting itself at Kain. "Yeah. What did you think was going to happen here Kain? Two people show up here under impossible circumstances. You know we're new to this hellhole, you know we're trying to get back home, yet you only want to keep us here to learn about evil magic, and ever since this morning, you've been plotting for us to learn it firsthand. You don't think I knew about your video tape, your plan to get us a tour? How else would you have known about it if it wasn't a setup?" Danny slingshot his arm in front of him to gesture how serious he was to Kain. "What's wrong with you?!"
"Hey, Danny?" Taylor called. "It's fine. I don't have to stay here. We can just go like you said." Why is he acting this way? And what was he talking about with Kain?
Kain put his arms out a little in gesture. "Please stop fighting. This is my fault after all. I'll make sure not to pay for your admissions, and give you the info you need to make it out of Sprawn Valley through the airport." Kain had never expected this. Despite the other being excited by magic, Danny was the opposite. In an understandable way, Kain did actually push for them both to learn about magic more than he should have.
But this is a problem now. It's too late for Kain to take back his offer, since Danny is the one who just talked him out of it. Taylor will wind up lashing out at him for this later despite what she just said, and then, she'll just leave and end up back in Fronas without him. "You know what Kain, screw that." Danny dropped his bag as if it made him appear more serious. Only now was he was being cynical. "We'll just sit here learning magic like you want us to, twiddling our thumbs and waiting for our parents to make it all the way down here instead. That way when they all get angry, you'll be the one responsible. Or maybe I'll learn a thing or two while I'm here, magic I can use to kick your ass for trying to disobey our wishes. You want us in school that badly, so be it! We start tomorrow!"
Taylor couldn't possibly understand what was going on inside of Danny's head. He had somehow gone from reluctant to learn magic - to ultra-passionate about it. The motive couldn't be the same though. The worst part is that he did actually have a decent argument this time, which never happens. Kain did keep them here even if it was by mistake, but now Danny wants to stay here too? It doesn't make any sense. Taylor wanted to argue a little more in hopes to figure him out, but she couldn't think of what else to say in time.
Kain's expression changed to a serious and worried look quickly, but despite that, he kept his tone the same. "I see... It's decided then," Kain announced. "If this is really what you want after all, I'll be covering costs to the both of you. The money really is no big deal to me by the way. We might look poor, but this is something I can handle... Now, covering an entire class worth of admissions would be impossible, but you are only two people." Kain spoke so slowly, treading carefully to figure a way out of his own mess.
"Great," Danny muttered sarcastically. "Happy now Taylor?"
"Stop being such a sour puss! I just wanted to give it a try, not stay here forever. You act like I was trying to abandon the idea of getting out of Sprawn valley. If you don't want to let me learn anything though, I won't force you to." With that, Taylor faced away from her friend in a saddened expression, unsure what to expect of him next.
Danny felt somewhat defeated, but resented being called a sour puss, whatever that is even supposed to mean. Taylor seemed so down too. Was it true what she just said, or did Taylor act like that to cover her own intentions of really wanting to dwell forever and learn magic they should both stay away from in the first place? Whichever it was, that look she gave him just before turning away, it was too much! "I'm sorry." His words sent a brief shock down her spine; Danny saw it from his position. "I'm not myself when people make plans for me like that. If you wanted to learn magic that badly, then just talk to me about it next time, okay?" Danny didn't let a short pause take away his point. "Look, I was being serious about the offer. If you want to learn even a spec of magic to see how it feels, I'm not going to stop you. In fact, I may just join you." I really shouldn't though. Nyar specifically said not to get involved. However... Danny turned a quick evil glare towards Kain, making him wince in silence with his arms slightly up. The moment I do learn how to use magic, you'll be the first target practice assignment!
She turned around carefully, addressing Danny's hazel eyes with uncertainty. "You'll learn it with me?"
Danny put a hand on the top of his head, further putting more thought into whether this was a bad idea or not. But the way Taylor was looking at him now with so much promise... "Y-Yeah." For a reason unknown to him, Danny didn't refuse. He should have, but the task of trying was in itself impossible. A moment ago, he knew he could refuse despite what Taylor said, but now...
"Very well then," Kain sighed. "I'll sign you up today for a class tomorrow. Though I can't promise what room numbers you will get."
Taylor figured, "Maybe we'll get Lisa for a teacher."
"Maybe," Danny emphasized. After that had ended, Danny decided to pack it in for today. It was far from the end of a day, and he was nowhere near sleepy. But what else was there to do around here anyway?
After Danny picked up his bag he threw to the floor earlier, Taylor walked off with him, but her plan was more thought out. Since it has not been done yet, she decided to ask around for the showers so that she could wash up and change into something more fashionable. Kain's offerings had some clothes in the bags he gave them, so at least now they could quit wearing mushy worn out cloth.
Danny went back into the medical facility again. He wanted to study up on that map, as well as talk more with Francine about how medical facilities work in general. He also ended up going back outside to try and talk to some of the residents there, but that only went half as well as it did with Bella and Kain. None of it worked as well to calm the storm building in his head. Learning about Leray magic must be very bad if half the world thinks so, and Kain still isn't telling them what it is. Of course, Kain will end up in terrible conditions if this happens to somehow bring any harm to Taylor. But there isn't any way of knowing what will happen now, nor could he learn anything new from today's efforts. It would have to wait until tomorrow, which was still a long way off. The only other way to kill time was to do a bunch of chores. Might as well tire out tonight anyway. There was going to be a different day tomorrow.