“Hmm~ mmh~ hmmm~♪.” [Fyr]

Cheerfully humming, Fyr was readying herself for the day in her room. Sanctuary Academy had dorms for guys and girls and she was inside the room assigned to her. It was a simple one with a bed, a table and chair, a drawer and a closet. It was big enough for one person to live in, though she didn’t mind the lack of space since she liked having a room to herself.

The window with the curtains opened let in the faint rays of the sun because she had woken up early in the morning. Passing her head through the blue shirt that was like a camisole, she tied up each side and put on a pair of brown shorts. When she did, she felt a bit disheartened because of her body structure that hadn’t changed much. Basically, she didn’t really grow and had a small and childish figure. Certainly, she didn’t expect to turn into an adult, but she would have liked more than two centimeters of growth.

Fyr was in her second year of middle school and had turned fourteen years old. Having acclimated to her environment, she enjoyed each day peacefully while battling against the various tests that were thrown at her. Such was the life of a student. Although she was still timid, she had become able to greet her classmates and exchange some idle chatter.

Right now, every day was really fun because of her two friends, Ava and Allen. All three were in different classes, but everyone would meet up to eat lunch together without fail. She really enjoyed those peaceful days, passing time with the pure and kind-hearted human, and the sleepy-looking half-elf, who was somewhat weird. Many things stayed the same, while others changed, such as her usual routine in the morning.

“All good!” [Fyr]

In high spirits, Fyr left her room and went towards another person’s room after locking up. It was one floor higher, so she climbed up the stairs to reach a hallway that had a row of doors on each side, just like her floor. Standing in front of the correct door, the harpy knocked lightly to be polite and let herself in using the key given to her.

“Ava? It’s time to wake up.” [Fyr]

She called out timidly after closing the door behind her. The interior of the room was similar to hers as it had a bed, a drawer, a closet, a table and a chair. Just as she expected, the half-elf was still in her bed, which was in the corner or the room, with the white blanket covering her head. However, to the sound of her voice, she squirmed around and lifted the blanket, revealing her face.

“… I keep saying every time, but you can come a bit later. Like an hour later.”[Ava]

She said sleepily while lying on her stomach with her arms supporting her upper body.

“It takes time to properly take care of your hair. And, also, well, if I come an hour later, we’ll be late for class.” [Fyr]

Fyr rebuked as she stared at her friend yawn and slowly get up. The blanket fell off from her shoulders, revealing her sleepwear that was her usual white dress. Since she had grown up, she had received a new set of dresses matching her physique. Unlike the small harpy, Ava grew taller by nearly ten centimeters. Her figure had also become more feminine and, thanks to her elven bloodline, she was more beautiful than when Fyr met her two years ago.

Unfortunately, her messy hair that covered half of her face and her sloppy appearance as she lazily got off the bed ruined any image of elegance or beauty.

“Ava, please stop scratching your head.” [Fyr]

Having retrieved the comb she left in the drawer, Fyr approached her friend who was sitting on the bed, climbed on after taking off her shoes and kneeled behind her. She then proceeded to straighten out the disheveled black hair with practiced movements. This was the routine ever since she had met the white-haired elven woman. Every morning, Fyr would come to Ava’s room and help her fix her appearance.

Rather, instead of helping, she was practically in charge of her appearance. However, it wasn’t something she hated and she had happily accepted when Ava asked her such a request. She liked to be of help and the feeling of the smooth, silky hair was wonderful to the touch. All in all, grooming her friend who lacked awareness as a girl was a pleasant way to start the day.

“Once we’re done, let’s go brush our teeth and wash our face together.” [Fyr]

The harpy said as she carefully undid the knots without hurting her friend.

“You know, we could go there faster if you didn’t take so long to comb my hair.” [Ava]

“But you asked me to make you presentable every day, so I’ll do it properly.” [Fyr]

“For someone who’s doing me a favor, you seem to be enjoying yourself though.” [Ava]

“I-I’m doing it seriously!” [Fyr]

That was how another peaceful morning began.

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“History class was pretty hard to follow.” [Allen]

“Ahh, me too. I’m not good with that subject.” [Fyr]

At lunchtime, three students, Ava, Allen and Fyr, were eating together on the roof that had become their exclusive spot. The red-haired human and the brown-haired harpy were complaining to each other about the classes they had in the morning. Sitting in the middle was the half-elf whose black hair was combed to perfection, even gaining a glossy luster.

“…” [Ava]

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ignoring the conversation, she was intently staring at her right hand. Her eyes of different color remained focused on her palm as if she was searching for something.

“Ava?” [Allen]

This caught the attention of the one sitting on her left, Allen who called out to her, but she didn’t answer him.

“Ava? What’s the matter?” [Allen]

“Mhh? Nothing.” [Ava]

Finally taking her eyes off her hand, she told him that nothing was wrong, shrugged off his concern and bit into her ham and lettuce sandwich. Fyr, who was on her right, looked at her face worriedly just like Allen. Sometimes, the half-elf would appear to be lost in thought while staring at her hand. These two believed it to be some sort of harmless habit of hers, but they were happening more frequently. Furthermore, they learned that Ava was the type to hide her pain from others.

“Anyway, shorty, you got anything new to tell us?” [Ava]

Changing the topic to something else, she pushed the conversation to Fyr who looked hurt by the nickname.

“Um, Ava, please don’t call me ‘shorty’…” [Fyr]

“Ah, you’re right. That name should go to Allen now. You can be ‘midget’ from now on.” [Ava]

“M-midget?!” [Fyr]

“Wait a minute! Why am I ‘shorty’?!” [Allen]

Both Fyr and Allen cried out, unhappy with their nicknames.

“Because you’re smaller than me and Fyr is, well, Fyr is really small.” [Ava]

Ava said, pointing out the fact that she was currently the tallest among them. Allen had also grown, but not as much as his friend.

“Geez, you don’t need to say it.” [Allen]

“I-I’ll definitely grow next year…” [Fyr]

Allen pouted while Fyr poked the tip of her index fingers together with teary eyes. Such simple conversations had been exchanged many times since these three first met.

That was how another peaceful lunch passed by.

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“Weed. Weed. Another weed. What is weed anyway?” [Ava]

Under the orange sky that was lit by the setting sun, muttering to herself, Ava was on the green lawn that was maintained by the school, pulling out weeds with her hands. Since the campus was large, she was only in charge of the area behind the middle school building. Classes were over and the students were free to go about as they please, staying in class or going back to their dorms. Others, such as Ava, had taken up part-time jobs and acted as gophers for the academy.

“No matter which world, weeds are freaking tough. And some will eat you.” [Ava]

Squatting down, the half-elf mechanically rid the grassy field of weeds to get her pay. Since she wanted to save some cash for the future, she had begun working and earning money for nearly two years. Sanctuary Academy was large and offered many jobs to its students. The staff knew that many kids needed money whether it was to buy their meals or to shop at the school’s local store.

There were some that were more like chores such as washing the windows to others that involved paperwork like helping out at the library. They varied depending on the age group and they were even some that could only be taken by those with good grades and conduct. For example, only an honest person who was good at mathematics was allowed to work at the store and manage the counter.

Furthermore, jobs that required physical strength and were slightly dangerous were reserved for the high schoolers. Also, the most popular ones that paid well were often already taken. So, as some jobs had criteria one needed to fulfill or were not available, Ava couldn’t pick whatever she wanted from the list that was given to her when she said that she was looking for some work. Right now, she had chosen the one that was more like a chore, which was getting rid of the weed.

It was monotonous work, but she didn’t mind it despite her grumbling. She was getting paid for rooting out unwanted plants. It was nice, simple work. Once she was done throwing all the weeds in the basket the gardener gave her, she picked it up and went to report that the job was completed. The old gardener that was basically acting as her boss and supervisor kindly nodded, took the basket from her hands and gave her a piece of paper in exchange.

It was proof that she had done what was asked of her and she could then exchange it for money. That was how the system worked as the academy made its students do odd jobs for it, lightening the load of the staff, in exchange for proper compensation. Now that Ava was done with her job, she went back inside the middle school building and headed for the roof.

She didn’t meet other students in the hallways because not many chose to stay in school after classes, so there was usually nobody around during this time. Picking the lock, she easily opened it and arrived at the deserted rooftop. She took a deep breath as she stared at the setting sun over the horizon that had gained a reddish hue.

The half-elf did some light stretches to warm up her body and proceeded with her routine. On the rooftop, she ran around in circles to train her cardio. Then, once she worked up a sweat and her heart was beating loudly in her chest, she took a break to catch her breath. Regretting not being able to pull out a water bottle from her pocket dimension, she repeatedly took deep breaths, calming her heart.

“Haa, haa, haa… Thirsty, damn it…” [Ava]

Afterwards, she got on the ground and did some muscle training which included push-ups, sit-ups and squats. This was what she stuck to for the past two years. The routine grew harder as her body got stronger. Of course, she made sure not to overdo it because she was still growing. A half-elf’s strength wasn’t any different from a normal human’s, so her training resembled what she usually did when she was “Ryner”.

However, some parts were changed since her fourteen year old body was far smaller, weaker, and it was female. Because of her constitution, her joints, muscles, range of movements and exerted force were all different. As such, she modified the training routine that was for her original male body to maximize her current physical characteristics. This also included the way she usually fought.

“(Left. Right. Left. Right. Down. Up. Left.)” [Ava]

After finishing the muscle training portion and taking a short break, Ava was now freely moving around the rooftop and went through a series of moves. She punched with her left hand, then with her right, and repeated. She ducked, got up, punched, turned around, kicked and blocked. Connecting these different movements together, the half-elf employed every muscle in her body.

Without ever stopping, she attacked, defended, blocked and dodged, continuously chaining various stances and forms one after another. Never staying in one place, she took advantage of the open space as she stepped forward, turned, or moved backwards. Imagining herself in the middle of a group of enemies, she visualized different scenarios and reacted accordingly.

Her movements were too slow for one to think that she was in battle. She had a wealth of experience when it came to fighting. What she needed was for her body to react how she wanted. As such, she was focusing more on the precision of her techniques than the power or speed. She was making her body remember how to move properly. Her routine looked more like aerobic exercise, or a dance that mixed in martial arts.

Alone on the rooftop, the half-elf spun around, punched and kicked, grabbed and threw, blocked and dodged, jumped and crouched. Like a martial artist that diligently repeated the same technique thousands of times to master it, she built up her strength like this every day to become as strong as possible, as soon as possible. When Ava finished her daily training, she left the place and went back to her room.

That was how another peaceful day went by. In fact, that was how her school life had pretty much been since she got yelled at by Agis. She studied for exams, ate lunch with Allen and Fyr, worked to earn money and secretly trained alone. The half-elf basked in such peaceful days for nearly two years.

But, peace never lasted long around her.