I had successfully managed to sneak back into the dorm room without waking anyone, other than Topaz at least—Granted I wasn’t even sure if the owl slept, his heavy set glare just bore into me when I had wormed my way back into bed.

The rest of the night was thankfully devoid of any dreams, the waning moonlight dragging me out of bed to get ready for Levi’s training.

“You sleep alright?” Tulip asked as she finished pulling the last of her clothing on.

“Not really…” I answered with an honest sigh, warranting a concerned look from Tulip. “I’ll be fine for today, hopefully.” I tried to sound reassuring, but I clearly failed at convincing Tulip even as we left the dorm together.

Akemi and Topaz both remained on our beds—Akemi was fast asleep still, Topaz just looked too angry to be bothered into moving even an inch away from his perch.

The morning exercises with Levi remained much the same to previous days, albeit I could tell he was starting to make the obstacles harder in order to account for Tulip and I getting better and handling them. I managed to get away from it with only a handful of scrapes and bruises, avoiding any actual injuries.

Breakfast went by in silence, after we had cleaned up and changed into proper school uniforms we were both starving. The mention of food was all it took for Akemi to finally get herself out of bed, while Topaz still insisted on remaining in the dark corner at the back end of Tulip’s bed.

“How much is she going to eat?...” Tulip asked with a horrified voice.

“I don’t know… she ate just as much last night too.” I spoke with equal terror in my tone as we were both left to watch Akemi gorge herself on everything that sat before her. She must have eaten through multiple times her own weight in just two meals—And she was anything but satiated from it.

Akemi looked up from her meal, giving only a quick yip as a response and a chance to breathe before returning to devouring the entire ham that was sitting on a plate in front of her.

“I’m terrified of what’s going to happen when we don’t have a buffet to pick from every morning…” I spoke out with concern, just poking at the pieces of food sitting on the plate before me.

“Hopefully she can hunt by then? Or you have a lot of money on hand?” Tulip offered, seeming equally concerned in the matter.

“I almost regret offering her food when we met now…” I grumbled out as my appetite was chased away from just the sight of Akemi eating.

The rest of the morning didn’t take particularly long—The ringing of the bell finally saved me from having to watch the Kitsune gorge herself on even more food, it was however a challenge to get her off of the table to follow me to my classes.

Waving our goodbyes to each other, Tulip and I separated into our own classes.

Akemi gave an uneasy yip as I entered the halls, her claws digging lightly into my shoulders to hold on through the bustling crowds. I tried my best to move with the horde—But I was still tossed and jostled around by the ceaseless migration of students to their classes.

Fighting my way through the tangle of bodies that made up the main hall, it took me right up until the bell began to toll to make it to my first class of the day. I pressed my arm forwards—Entering into Geography for the day.

—

“Ugh…” I groaned out as I walked towards the school once again. The rest of the students who attended the Beast Research class were already beginning to scatter themselves—Only Tulip followed alongside me, Topaz now perched atop her head.

“That was exceptionally boring…” Tulip agreed with my annoyance, letting out her own heavy sigh as we walked side by side towards the school.

“Why did he need to go and just ramble about Avian beasts for the entire class?” I wondered aloud. I had expected his class to be something more interesting—Maybe even preparing us for the expedition he planned to set out on in just a few days time, but instead it turned into an unhinged rambling about Avian Beasts. Over an hour of him listing off the different ways their feathers could be used, the ways they hunted and the different elements we knew them to come in.

“That is Sanders… he’s sort of known for that type of thing—All it takes is one word and he’s going to talk your ears off for hours.” Tulip answered calmly.

“You know him? Who don’t you know?!” I turned my head to Tulip, my voice dumbfounded as I spoke.

“Remember? Heir of the country—Gotta at least know about anyone worth knowing. Sanders just comes up a lot because he’s a self-made noble, he doesn’t come from any actual family. Made his own wealth through his research, that sorta thing,” Tulip supplied as she crossed her arms, her gaze settling on me gently. “You heading to work with Carmine again?”

“Yeah—Hopefully Akemi won’t keep me out so late gorging herself again.” I turned my eyes to the Kitsune dozing off on my shoulder, giving her an accusatory glare. Tulip just gave a haughty laugh, shaking her head.

“I’ll see you tonight Kirin. If I’m not in the dorm I’ll probably be in the library studying—Since a few of my classes actually need a bit of work done for them.” Tulip sighed out, turning to go on her own way towards the school.

I felt my momentary smile fading away as I watched her go, a huff escaping me before I was forced to turn and make my way out to the back of the school. As I walked I found my eyes settling on the statue and fountain in the center of the plaza for a few moments.

It was stunning at night, but in the broad daylight it stood out like a beacon of unnatural light in the center of the plaza, the way it simply stood, holding its sword to the sky with absolute confidence in hand.

I slowly pulled my eyes away, focusing on the walk ahead—It at least didn’t take long to cut through the halls and make my way out to the rear of the school.

I looked on in surprise as I left the back doorway, stepping out into the grassy fields behind the campus I could immediately see Carmine—She stood in the training ring she had opted to use, and she had three entire racks set up and filled to the brim with different weapons.

“Kirin!” Carmine called out excitedly. “Finally! I’ve been waiting all day!” Carmine sounded far removed from the woman of high nobility that I knew she was, right now she sounded like an excitable young girl more than anything.

“You realize I have other classes… right?...” I asked with concern in my voice. Akemi was quick to stir from Carmine’s loud voice, her eyes opening as her jaw spread wide to let out a silent yawn.

“Of course! I just wish you didn’t so I could train you more—I’m excited to have a student again!” Carmine remained unnaturally peppy, especially with a broad, almost goofy grin spread across her face.

“Isn’t it your fault you don't have more students?” I asked in a deadpanned tone.

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“Ehh… fair point,” Carmine deflated, but quickly raised her arms to wave the question away. “But! That’s besides the point, today's lesson!” She clapped her hands together as she spoke, turning to face the multiple racks of weapons.

“I won’t pretend to know what you’re capable of using, so I gathered as many weapons as I could for you to try out today.” Carmine explained as I stopped beside her. As soon as I found my stop Akemi hopped off of my shoulder, finding a comfortable spot just outside the ring in the grass once again.

“So you decided on brute force?” I asked, looking at what had to be close to a hundred weapons. They were divided into similar areas, polearms and warhammers sat on the farthest end, followed by greatswords, curved swords, short swords and finally daggers. Each type of weapon had to have dozens of slightly different options between them, double-sided blades, single edged ones, curved or straight and so on.

“Yep! But, you’ll be able to narrow it down pretty quickly,” Carmine stated as she walked to the center of the ring. “Pick one up, swing it at me a few times, then we move on. Rinse and repeat until we find one that you like. Simple as that.”

“Alright…” I couldn’t argue with her idea—It at least seemed efficient, but when it came down to choosing a specified weapon I felt rather uncertain. So, to start I opted to begin with the largest weapons, just to get them out of the way first.

I reached my hand out, grabbing a large spear. The blade curved around the end like an axe while it held a massive pointed tip that extended at least seven inches past the massive handle—The handle which was more than a foot longer than I was tall.

“How do people even use these things?!” I exclaimed as I struggled to even lift the weapon. It was so obscenely heavy that I may as well have tried to beat someone to death with a door.

“Weapons like that are meant for people who focus a lot more on strength—But who knows, there are some in there you would like.” Carmine replied calmly.

With a heavy sigh I let go of the absurd weapon, moving down the line slightly. All of the polearms just looked too big for anything I could swing around easily—Plus I already knew how to fight with a sword to some extent and I didn’t want to abandon that effort immediately.

“It almost looks like half of these are meant for brutes like Levi… do they not make swords for short people?” I asked, exasperated. The first two racks were filled with blades so large that I knew I couldn’t lift them—And even the ones I could lift would have been at the absolute limits of my physical capabilities.

“Short people get left with lighter blades like mine or daggers more often than not.” Carmine answered casually.

“Finally…” I sighed out as I reached the first of the blades that looked practical for my size. They started out larger and bulkier, double-edged swords and longswords before they trimmed down into single-sided curved blades. The largest one was no longer than my legs, while the smaller ones were closer to the size of my torso.

“Find one to try out?” Carmine asked as I reached to grab a blade.

“These are the first ones that I can at least lift,” I lifted up one of the simpless blades there was—The first and largest one on this rack. It was a double-sided sword with a blade that was a little longer than my legs, its handle was large enough for me to grip it comfortably with both hands. “You want me to swing this at you?...” I asked to reaffirm, my gaze settling on Carmine dubiously.

“Yep! Don’t worry, I’ll have my shield up just in case—But even if you hit me full force I don’t think you’d have the strength to get through more than my clothes,” Carmine answered confidently. She began waving her hands towards herself rapidly, inviting me in for a strike. “Come on!”

“Alright…” I hefted the blade up as I spoke. I held it at a slight angle before me as I began to test the weight, tilting it side to side before taking a single practice swing.

My arms were already straining to take the practice swing—This blade felt almost as heavy as the picks in the mine always felt, but unlike them this was balanced and far easier to swing around.

Taking in a breath I stepped forwards and raised the blade up. I turned and swung down at a hard angle while aiming for Carmine’s shoulder, the blade cut through the air like it was nothing until the edge hit the ground and stopped hard. The shocking pressure that rocketed up through my arms nearly tore it free of my grip, Carmine was able to just sidestep the strike, voiding it entirely.

“Still a little too heavy…” I sighed out heavily. Hefting the blade back up I turned back to the weapon racks.

“But it’s a start, try one of those thinner blades. I’m a little biased as it’s the type of blade I use, but it could work for you.” Carmine offered her opinion as I set the sword I held down on the rack, leaning it carefully so that it wouldn’t fall.

“This one?” I asked as I reached for one of the curved blades—It was just as long as the previous one, but less than a third of the thickness of it. The blade followed a gentle curve from the hilt all the way up to the edge of it. Reaching to grab a hold of it I did have to admit that it was substantially lighter, I could even lift it with one arm if I needed to.

“Yep! It’s called a katana, originally forged in my home city, Ferilis. They’re light and fast blades, but if you’re not careful with them they can break rather easily compared to larger swords.” Carmine supplied with a helpful tone and a kind grin across her face.

I raised the katana into my hands, turning and swinging it a handful of times to feel the weight of the blade. It felt much lighter in my hands, and much easier to move around because of that.

“I think I can see why you like this.” My words came out dry despite my growing intrigue with the blade. Turning on the spot I offered Carmine a smile—All it took was a mutual nod before I began forwards.

I swung down in the same arc, aiming first for Carmine’s shoulder while cutting down to the ground. Just like the first time she was able to sidestep the strike with ease, shifting around to my left side.

I had to fight the momentum of the bladee—Despite how much lighter it was I still struggled to keep it under control until I turned it, pushing my entire body into a thrust aimed at Carmine’s chest.

Once again she stepped away from the strike, this time as she stepped away however she pushed out with her open palm against the flat of my blade. The shove pushed me to the side, sending me stumbling forwards for a few steps before I caught myself.

“How do you like it?” Carmine asked as I recuperated.

“Maybe—I’m not sure yet but it’s the best one so far.” I began back towards the weapon rack. Filled with the marginal knowledge of something that worked for me I was curious to try a few other weapons around the Katana, since there were several that looked similar to it.

“Maybe this one?” I asked quietly as I grabbed a sword sitting directly next to where the Katana had been. It was a fair bit thicker than the Katana, but not quite as thick as the first sword I had grabbed. Similar to the Katana the blade was curved, but instead of bowing it bent backwards in a sickle-like shape at the end.

Hefting it up I was surprised by the weight of the blade—It was light, not quite as light as the Katana, but it was definitely not as heavy as the first sword. The grip felt nice in my hands as I twisted it side to side, testing the weight. I could even comfortably hold it in one hand or two with how long the grip was.

“Ah, a scimitar—It should be about the weight of the Katana, you’re losing a bit of reach but you can make up for it in a number of ways.” Carmine supplied the name of the blade as I turned towards her.

It was impressively comfortable in my hands—Tightening my grip I felt a smile cross my face as I gave Carmine a quick nod, one which she returned just as quickly.

The same pattern began repeating again, I took a step in and swung from high to low while aimed at Carmine’s shoulders. She sidestepped the strike as I came up for a twisting thrust, but this time when she reached to push me away I reaffirmed my stance.

Pressing my foremost foot into the ground I began to pivot hard, spinning towards Carmine as I let go with one hand. Holding the blade with only my right hand the scimitar felt nearly uncontrolled, but it didn’t turn or wobble in my grip—Not until it suddenly stopped blade first in Carmine’s open palm.

“That looks like it fits you well.” Carmine commented with a smirk.

“I think it does.” I answered with a grin of my own, the way the sword was balanced felt perfect in my grip. It wasn’t so long or heavy that I ran the risk of swinging it into the ground if I missed even a single strike, and it had enough weight behind it that I felt comfortable clashing with something using it.

“I’ll be making you commit to training with that if you choose it, just so you know—Try some others if you aren’t certain. And if you are? Then we can get started on some proper bladework.” Carmine spoke happily, casting a quick gaze back to the remaining four racks of weapons that I hadn’t even touched.

“I think this one works—Anything smaller puts me in too close for comfort, especially if I had to fight someone massive like Levi.” I answered contently, a grin still plastered on my face while I performed a few mock swings of the blade.

“Then the Scimitar it is,” Carmine spoke confidently. Her right hand extended out with her palm open, in a mere moment a blade formed in her grip—Her Katana—While her violet eyes settled upon me, I couldn’t decipher what emotion I saw in her gaze, but it left me suddenly very worried.. “Let's start sparring, shall we?”