The next day, as we walked to school, I asked Anise and Felix about their new project.

she said.

I asked.

said Anise. After that, she gave me a more detailed breakdown the Zelyrian magic system, followed by an explanation of their project.

I said, once I roughly understood what they were planning.

Anise trailed off just as we walked past the security guards for the school. she said, finally.

After that, our group entered the classroom, before sitting near the front.

To my surprise, Vance, the boy who enjoyed fencing, sat next to us when he entered the classroom a few minutes later. Once I saw Vance sitting near us, I knew it was time to act. Old Mo had told me a few times that I really needed to interact more with normal children. The four of us were not that great at emulating real seven year olds, and in future worlds that could be a problem.

“Hi Vance!” I said.

“Hi! Your name was… Mir… Mir, right?” he said, awkwardly.

“Miria,” I said, grinning. “But you got the first half correct!”

He rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit embarassed, and I chuckled. “Don’t worry, there were a lot of names thrown around yesterday. The fact you still remembered the first half of my name is impressive!” I paused, trying to figure out what else to say. One of the things I had learned about normal children yesterday was that they were direct. If they had something to say, they just said it. They were much easier to understand than adults in that sense.

“You like swordsmanship, right?” I said.

Vance seemed to get a bit defensive, and warily scanned me. I resisted the urge to wince. That had not been the reaction I was going for.

“Yeah. I like fencing and swords. Why?”

“I think swordsmanship is really cool!” I said, hoping to dispel his anxiety. Vance almost looked like it might be a sore subject, and although I didn’t know why. “I used to have a friend who was a big fan of swordsmanship. She…” I felt a bit glum at the thought of Sallia's death, and then shook my head. “Anyway, I wanted to know what drew you to swordsmanship. It’s a pretty unusual interest, ever since the advent of guns.”

“Advent?” The boy looked confused. I winced. Was advent not a commonly used word among seven year olds?

“I mean, uhh… the beginning. The creation? Ever since guns came around, people don’t use swords much,” I said, trying to dumb down my vocabulary.

Old Mo was right.

I was awful at this.

Vance seemed to finally get it, so he nodded. “My dad says that hundreds of years ago, before guns, swords and spears were the kings of the battlefield. And the books I read are always about knights and mages!” Vance grinned. “I’ve never seen a picture of a knight with a gun, and that's because guns aren’t as cool as swords.”

“Why swords and not spears, then?” I asked, out of pure curiosity.

“Well, spears just aren’t as cool as swords either,” he said, a little bit more quietly. “But I think that melee weapons make battles way more interesting than guns. Guns are so easy to use that any war story featuring guns is just a question of numbers. There aren’t any tactics or amazing combatants at all.”

I spent a few seconds trying to parse Vance’s logic, before I rubbed my forehead.

I was pretty sure that wasn't true. Guns still required some training to use, and militaries definitely used tactics during wars. But I could definitely understand Vance not liking stories with guns as much. Everyone had their own preferences, after all. I also felt a strong urge to scratch my forehead in confusion. Did Vance liked fencing and swordsmanship because they showed up a lot in novels that he liked? I knew that fiction stories were popular here. But finding an avid reader among our classmates was rather surprising. The other children yesterday seemed to struggle with reading more advanced books.

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“What about magic?” asked Anise, looking at Vance. "Isn't magic way more interesting than swordsmanship?" I blinked.

I had almost forgotten. There had already been one massive story reader in the class, even if I didn’t include Vance.

“Magic is also cool. In stories, the witches and wizards are always my second favorite characters. But a knight with a sword is much better as a main character, you know? Spending years honing his swordsmanship, facing your enemy in close combat... I think that main characters like that are more compelling. Wizards just live in towers and practice spells until they join the main character. They're good side characters, but never good main characters.” said Vance. “If I lived in the faded era , I definitely would have wanted to be a knight instead of a Zelyrian mage.”

I blinked in surprise. The faded era was the name for the era where the Zelyrian empire had collapsed, but Zelyrian bloodlines hadn't quite died out yet. It had been an era of fading imperial power and the establishment of new kingdoms. I was surprised that Vance actually knew anything about the era, though. Even though I was terrible at pretending to be a normal seven year old, there were plenty of differences from one person to another. Perhaps that was the other reason nobody had ever realized there was something off about the way I acted.

Anise puffed up her cheeks as she looked at Vance. “Witches and wizards are cooler! They can control the laws of reality with their mind! With a wave of their hands, they can control the elements and heal people! Isn’t that much more interesting than a couple people hitting each other with swords?”

“I don’t know… it always struck me as kind of unfair,” said Vance.

I blinked. Unfair? Were fights supposed to be fair?

Anise seemed to also feel confused, although for a slightly different reason. “What’s unfair about using the powers you’ve spent years learning to fight bad people?"

“Well, maybe 'unfair' isn't the right word," said Vance, after a moment. "Maybe 'boring' is a better term?" I could see Anise start to give Vance an expression that somehow conveyed total disbelief as he spoke. "In stories where mages fight, they sit around flinging spells at each other. It’s just a matter of which one hits first. It just isn’t as fun to read about. In stories where spellcasters are the main characters, the fights are always dull,” said Vance.

Anise now looked like she was trying to stare a hole through Vance’s brain.

“Magic is so much cooler than swordsmanship!” she said, now sounding very defensive. “Think about it! Witches are basically the pinnacle of reality itself! They can heal, and warp reality with their mind. Isn't it neat to see someone just... summon water or fire by pointing at something?” I noticed that Anise had completely forgotten to mention wizards this time, but I decided not to say anything. Still, I saw Felix shoot me an amused expression out of the corner of my eyes.

“But it’s just not as interesting as two swordsmen fighting!” Said Vance.

Their argument started to heat up, while I shared a look with Felix.

“Do you think they’re friends, or enemies?” I whispered as they continued arguing.

“I’m… not sure,” said Felix. “Both? I mean, they both clearly enjoy reading the same kinds of fiction. Vance is also a much more advanced reader than most of our classmates, so Anise can talk with him. It's not as hard to communicate as it usually is. But they don’t seem willing to bend on their stance at all.”

A few minutes later, Iselde walked into the classroom, and sat down next to us. Anise and Vance didn't even notice her presence, but Felix and I gave her welcoming grins. She gave me a sad expression in response.

“Iselde?” I asked.

“Hey Miria,” she said, sounded dispirited.

“Is everything all right?” I asked.

Iselde pouted.

“I told my dad how yesterday went, and my older brother called me a dunderhead,” she said. “I don’t know what that means, but it sounds mean! And my father started lecturing me about how humans can’t drink fertilizer potions safely,” said Iselde. She mumbled something else after that, but even with my exceptional senses I couldn't quite make out her words.

I resisted the urge to start giggling, and instead gave Iselde a comforting hug. “I’m sure it’s one of those things you learn about as you grow older.”

Iselde muttered something under her breath, before she sighed. Then, she turned to look at Anise and Vance. “What are they talking about?”

As if her question had brought her into the conversation, Anise turned towards Iselde.

“Iselde! Which is cooler? Magic or swords?”

“Erm…” Iselde seemed completely lost after Anise’s question, and blinked in confusion. She turned towards Felix and I, as if hoping for an explanation, and I tried not to laugh.

“I guess… swords?” she said, sounding uncertain about her answer.

Anise puffed up her cheeks in outrage, but before she could say anything, the teacher arrived, putting an end to the debate.

“Everyone is here. Good morning, everyone!" he said, before he started writing on the blackboard. I resisted the urge to wince as I saw an addition sign. Learning addition was quickly becoming my least favorite part of the day. History was interesting, and alchemy was at least useful. Addition was... something I was already very familiar with. I resisted the urge to sigh as the first part of the day's lessons started.

Still, I was glad to see that Anise was making friends. Or enemies? It was hard to tell.

The rest of the day was mostly a longer version of the previous day. We practiced addition, reading, writing, history, and then did some sensing exercises. I was surprisingly happy to spend some time each break talking with Iselde and Vance. When I got more into the swing of acting like a normal seven year old, they were fun to talk to, and they melded into our group well enough.

Old Mo picked us up from school after the day ended, he complimented me about making efforts to improve my acting. It might not be fast, but I was shoring up my weaknesses and improving myself every day that passed. And the feeling of growth and progress, both magical and emotional, made me feel good about the day.