Catching the rest of the crew up on what happened was just as tedious as Aida had expected. Lily, Sue and Levi bombarded Caleb with questions, while Vanita looked sympathetically at Aida. She shrugged off their concerns, easily redirecting their attention back to Caleb.
“What do you think their policy will be for the Festival recess?” Lily asked, worried. “I was thinking of staying, but with the increase in attacks they might not even let us leave the school at all.”
“They may still let us out in the day time, as long as we don’t go out alone,” Vanita said uncertainly. “I certainly hope so…I wanted to hike up the mountain and have some time to do some Earth training up there…”
“You’ll have me at least,” Lily said loyally. She wilted slightly. “I don’t know if the two of us will be strong enough to handle the new breed of monsters…”
“Don’t worry! I’ll go with you,” Sue declared. Her eyes gleamed. “This is a great time to gain some experience against stronger monsters.”
“Well, if Sue’s going I might as well tag along, too” Levi volunteered, leaning back as he tucked his arms behind his head. “Won’t hurt to be a party of four.”
Lily and Vanita beamed at him, bolstered by the friendly support. They looked at Aida expectantly.
“Um…I guess I don’t mind coming along for one day,” Aida said hesitantly. It might be fun to see the view from the mountain, and there would be five of us…
Sue clapped her hands. “Perfect! I can bring my fire float along if we’re tired after the hike,” she chirped. She pointed at Levi. “You’ll have to stand in the middle. Girls will sit at the edges.”
“This is discriminatory!” Levi gasped.
“Nonsense! You’re too heavy, so you’d unbalance the float platform if you were on an edge,” Sue retorted. Levi jutted his bottom lip out in the worst pout ever, crossing his arms in a childish sulk.
“She just called you fat,” Aida whispered dramatically across the table. Lily and Sue sniggered, while Vanita and Caleb smiled reluctantly. Levi tossed his napkin at her in mock rage, before nodding his head behind her. “Hey, Ezra.”
Aida looked up. He nodded at Levi and Caleb, before looking down at her. “So it was you two?”
“Yes, we got unlucky,” Aida responded. “Or we got lucky, I guess? Since the Strongholders got to us in time.”
He pressed his lips together, eyes dim as he thought. “And it was a regular monster this time?”
“It was a charred zard!” Lily exclaimed. “I’ve never heard of a zard coming down into the forests.”
“It’s very odd,” Vanita agreed. “And the fact that it actively hunted Caleb and Aida…they’re normally quite peaceful.”
Aida swallowed her words. She didn’t have enough familiarity with the local wildlife to chime in on the oddity of the zard’s behavior, but based on context she was getting the feeling that the hike up the mountains would put them across the paths of more charred zards. But there will be five of us, so it should be safer…
“I think,” Caleb said hesitantly, “it was hungry. It looked kind of shriveled, and the flame on its tail was quite small for the size it was.”
Aida stifled her horror. A regular healthy charred zard was going to be an even tougher fight. “On second thought…maybe it won’t be such a good idea to go on that hike?”
All eyes turned to her. She scrambled for a believable explanation.
“If the zards really are starving, then wouldn’t it be possible that they might…hunt us? There will be five of us, and they might, I don’t know…team up to take us out so they have a better chance to eat?”
Aida’s theory was met with silence and awkward shifting.
“I didn’t think of that,” Lily finally said. She looked a bit ill. “I was certain five of us could take on a zard easily, but I don’t know if we can take on more at once…”
Vanita looked forlorn. “That’s true…with how chaotic everything is right now, maybe it would be better to not push it. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of my whim.”
Levi exhaled. “Who knows. Maybe the instructors will clear out certain zones for us. I can’t imagine they would want to deal with a build-up of monsters near the school.”
Everyone else nodded hopefully.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The rest of the star cycle passed quickly. All the students seemed to take their training more seriously in light of the news that there was a close call for a Class 1 student on the path to Buddington Town, which was typically regarded as one of the safer routes to travel for third-year students.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The girls in Aida’s class expressed concern, while Dev, Abedi, and Shon cast sympathetic glances in her direction. Pritchard avoided her gaze, which in itself was a win, since he seemed to be focused completely on his own training and was less interested in meddling with others.
It was only when Aida managed to corner Professor Kozu during the free period on the last day of the star cycle did she manage to get any insight into what the teachers were thinking.
“We were worried,” Kozu admitted, as they walked the perimeter of the new boundary the teachers had established. “The Border patrol that found you came to us immediately after delivering you and Mister Tulver to town. We were already aware that monster activity had increased in the vicinity around the school - even before you and Mister Riolt were attacked, so please do not think I’m accusing you - but certainly not to the level of having a charred zard roaming the woods.”
Kozu lit a torch with the flick of his wand before they continued on their way.
“However, this is causing a headache for the logistics next sun cycle,” Kozu sighed. “We haven’t finalized anything yet, but we will likely have to eliminate all the solo sponsored assignments. It is just too risky to allow a student to go out on their own without an escort, which would completely defeat the purpose of a solo assignment. Were there any assignments you were looking forward to doing in particular?”
“Uh.” Aida was alarmed. “I enjoyed helping out at the Tulvers’ Bathhouse, so if their assignments are approved, I would have liked to have practiced my Regen skills there…but otherwise, I think I would be interested in developing my Healing abilities.”
Kozu nodded thoughtfully. “Healing should be an easy enough assignment. If we must, we could coordinate with Luk and have her offer some assignments. The sky knows she needs help preparing medicines.”
“Do you have any recommendations on which Affiliates might be interested in taking on a Healer?” Aida asked quickly. Kozu had offered to hook her up with some connections during the placement matches, and here he was discussing career opportunities with her…
Kozu thought as they made the rounds, peering beyond the wall into the wilderness before lighting the torch and continuing his patrol.
“We always have a few clinics come recruiting,” he said finally. “I would say those should be the first Affiliates you speak with.”
Aida mulled over his words. He seemed reserved about the options; he didn’t seem against her being a Healer (which she appreciated, since as a Combat specialist she would have expected him to look down on people who didn’t specialize in combat), but he definitely seemed to feel some type of way about the Healer Affiliates attending Maglica's career fair.
“Is there something I should know about these Affiliates?”
Kozu’s lips quirked. “I hesitate to say more, because I don’t want to poison your perception of them…”
“Why do you not trust them?” It wasn’t difficult for Aida to keep her tone curious and free of judgment. Her experiences in the real world showed her that many medical professionals could sometimes come across as even more callous and uncaring than regular people; she understood the concept of empathy burnout, so she wouldn’t be surprised if Kozu’s experiences mirrored hers.
“Please believe me, I do not think this of all Healers,” Kozu said delicately. “…But the Healers that are afforded the privilege to come recruit at Maglica…”
Aida considered the words hanging in the air.
“Would this brand of distrust extend to other Affiliates as well?”
“By the flames, I’ve said too much,” Kozu sighed. “It is against policy for me to say more. The last thing I shall say is that there are many Affiliates who have it in their interests - and hearts - to do right by the common people, and that includes mentoring you up-and-comers. So my advice remains the same: speak to everybody you are interested in, ask questions for yourself and your future.”
Aida absentmindedly followed Kozu back up to the school, having completed his rounds. He stopped in front of the steps leading up to the school’s main door.
“Anything else on your mind?”
“I’m just wondering what my alternative path might be, if not a Healer,” Aida sighed.
Kozu raised his brow. “Didn’t you say you enjoyed helping out at the Tulvers’ business?”
“Yes, but…they’re still growing, and…”
“Ah, I see. They may not offer the most competitive salary?”
“Something like that,” Aida mumbled, abashed. She really would love working with Connie and John…but with their margins as thin as they were, she felt awful thinking about receiving payment.
She had to admit to herself: she felt much more comfortable with the thought of getting paid by a corporation. A headless entity. It was easier to remain emotionally disengaged from a large company; thinking about working for the Tulvers made her think of her family - hard workers, willing to roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches beside her. Knowing she would be highly valued, and could actually make a noticeable difference in their business…along with a correspondingly heavier sense of duty and responsibility.
“Joining one of the Strongholds is not a bad idea. They can always use a Healer - and if you find you would like to do something else, it would be easy to transition to another role within their system.”
“Yeah, Ezra mentioned that,” Aida murmured. She peered up at Kozu. “Do you distrust the Strongholds as much as you do the Healers?”
“My dear,” Kozu said, shaking his head. “Do you recall the advice I shared just a moment ago?” His words were reproving, but he dampened the effect with a slight smile.
“Ask questions for myself and my future,” Aida mumbled, flushing. She understood his point. No organization was completely black or white. The best she could do was find an organization she could live with…and hope that their goals were compatible.
Kozu placed an understanding hand on her shoulder. “It is difficult to make plans when you don’t have any distinct details in front of you. My last piece of advice to you is to always remember your goals, but do not expend unnecessary effort on forcing a specific outcome. You can fan a flame to burn in a certain direction, but you cannot force it to burn in a specific path.”
Aida nodded thoughtfully. Keep my eye on the prize, but remain flexible and open to opportunities. She cracked a smile. “Not even you can force a flame to burn in a specific path, Professor?”
He chuckled. “Of course I can. But we’re talking about you, not me.”