That evening, Yuriko returned to the Shepherd’s Cross feeling wrung out. She went past the common room, ignoring the tantalising scent of sizzling beef steaks on the grill and the bubbling pot of gravy right next to it. True, her tummy started rumbling at the aroma but she ignored it and went straight into the room she shared with Kato and locked herself in the bathroom.

She drew up a bath, watching as the faucet gushed out warm water. She dipped her hand in the tub and frowned.

“Not hot enough.”

She gathered Animus into her palm and touched a panel by the wall, activating the runescript. The copper tub had a line of runescript running along the bottom and this glowed red. She kept her hand in the rising water until the heat came close to scalding. She removed her hand from the panel, taking back excess Animus, stripped off her dirty clothes, and sluiced the dirt off herself in the shower, added some bath salts, then settled in for a good long soak.

“Ahh…” she moaned as the heat worked its way into her knotted muscles. While she soaked, she couldn’t help but recall the conflicting results that the proctors had given her.

On the one hand, Master Antiga was harsh, if not derisive. But her feedback was all legitimate, if taken from their point of view. Yuriko didn’t think she was completely mistaken with her independent action, though perhaps she should have waited until she got permission. It was hard though when she considered who the squad leader was.

Nothing against Gwendith Sharine but Yuriko felt that if the mission had real stakes and wasn’t just an exam trial, she felt that she would be hard-pressed to leave her life in the hands of someone she had just met, no matter who their grandfather happened to be. Still, perhaps her actions had been divisive. She should have taken charge herself instead of letting the other girl do it.

The proctor, Instructor Gethen, told her that her martial skill was exceptional, but he didn't elaborate. Was it enough to get her into Agaza’s Elite Class? It suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t even know what Mum wanted her to do in the Academies. Who would she ask anyway? Well, Yuriko was sure that Mum didn’t want her to follow the Armed Forces track, so where would that leave her?

‘Ah, wait, wasn’t it Introduction to Spellweaving and Sorcery?’

No, no, no. She didn’t want such dry studies. From all the stories her Da and sometimes, her Mum, told her, Spellweavers were normally kept away from direct fighting. She wanted to be in the thick of things! Or even a league away from the enemy sighting down the barrel of a Plasma Caster and her one shot would determine the safety of her comrades and the people she protected.

She certainly didn’t want to be stuck in a town, churning out runestones. Sure, those things would save lives. She only had to remember how Braden’s life was saved by a quick Regeneration Runestone applied to his body immediately after he had been struck down. Or how the Drain Cubes made fight Wyldlings so much easier…

Alright, she just wanted to fight them off personally and not through a device she made. Not that she would be able to make any runestones if she wanted to anyway. She had no prior experience, no idea of the theory and practicals.

Isn’t that what the Academy is for?

Well yes, but…well…

Urgh! Even her thoughts were faltering. Well, as far as she was concerned, she would not be locked away in a safe place just because somebody decided that the best way for her to contribute to protecting the Empire was to create runestones, or whatever Sorcery was.

“Yuri! Are you done yet?” Kato knocked on the bathroom door. “I need to use the baths. Hurry up!”

“Fine, fine,” she grumbled as she got out of the tub and pulled the drain plug. She towelled herself dry and put on a bathrobe before opening the door. Kato rushed inside then shoved her out of the door. “Ack!”

“You’re so slow!” he yelled through the door.

Shaking her head, Yuriko changed into casual clothing, a green summer dress with white lotus patterns down the side, that she bought a couple of days ago from a shop. She’d seen a few more things she needed and bought some slacks, leggings, blouses, and button-down shirts from the same shop, giving her enough for a fresh change of clothes every day for a week.

After her bath, she felt much better. The immediacy of her worries was put into proper perspective. There was nothing else she could do to affect her chances of entering Agaza, and she might as well enjoy her time here in the Capital. While there were three more trials to go through, she’d decided she could merely coast through them. It wasn’t as if she wanted to enter any of the other Academies’ Elite Classes.

She headed downstairs to eat, finding Orrin and Braden just about to finish off their meals.

“Yuri! How’d it go?” Braden asked while waving at the waiter for the menu.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Yuriko said as she slumped over the table. “Master Antiga was there as part of the panel and she practically ripped all my efforts to shreds. I’m not sure how well I did with the written exams too.” She sighed, the warm feeling from the relaxing bath draining away.

“Oh, it can’t be that bad?” Orrin patted her shoulder.

“I honestly don’t know. I’d rather not think about it right now.” She looked at the waiter as he came by and just said, “Just give me the day’s special and lavan berry juice please.”

She could see Orrin and Braden exchange glances. Braden coughed into his hand then drank some more of his juice. Neither broke the silence and just stayed with her, keeping her company. As it was late in the evening, there was a musician playing a fiddle. Her haunting melodies fit Yuriko’s mood like a glove. The food arrived a few minutes later, sliced roast beef, three different sauces, baked potatoes and carrots, a couple of dinner rolls, and her tumbler of lavan juice.

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

“A pleasure.”

She sat up and tucked into the meal, eating quickly but neatly.

“Why are you two staring?” she asked.

Braden and Orrin were resting their chins on their palms, elbows on the table. They each had a slight smile, bordering on a grin. If they had tails, they would be wagging furiously right now.

“No reason,” both said at the same time.

“Oh.” When she finished, she signed the receipt from the waiter and headed back up to the room. The next exam was the day after tomorrow and well, she was planning to train hard the next day.

From dawn until dusk on the 55th, Yuriko spent her time either training her body or her Anima. She attempted to continue the inlay on her Facet, futilely, as it turned out. She couldn’t make headway in opening a new Facet either. The false terminus points she saw from when she first started the inlay on her initial Facet looked more and more like true points, just that she didn’t have the proper access conditions.

When she cycled Recovery after her morning training, she noticed some green lights floating out of her body and being subsumed by her Animus. She thought those lights were ambient Chaos that somehow managed to make its way into her body or…

Hit with a sudden fit of inspiration, Yuriko channelled Animus into her eyes with the Intent to see the ambient Chaos in the air. She felt her Intent take hold but for some reason, there was something like a barrier that stopped it from working. Every time she tried, her Animus would be ejected from her eyes. She was able to recover the stray Animus strands though, so nothing but time was wasted.

She kept at it for a good long while but since nothing she tried worked clearly, there was a huge chunk of knowledge she was missing. Perhaps she could read a book about it, or ask Kato, which would be faster and simpler.

Her brother didn’t return to the inn until dinner time and by then, she had almost forgotten about the matter. Just before she slept, beset by more anxieties, she remembered the question. So she hopped out of bed and knocked on Kato’s door.

“What?” came the muffled reply.

“I’ve got a question.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“Not really.”

“Fine. Come in.”

She found Kato in his pyjamas and snuggling a body pillow when she entered.

“Do you know how to see ambient Chaos?”

“Huh?” Kato rubbed his eyes. “No, I’m afraid not. It’s not really much part of the Agaza curriculum. Besides, the level of ambient Chaos in Rumiga is relatively even across the entire plane.”

“Oh. Know where I can find out how?”

He shrugged, “I’ll ask around if you want.”

“Thank you.”

“Fine, fine. Then come here and give me a good night hug,” he yawned.

She came up to him and hugged him across his chest, squeezing hard.

“Ooof! Not that hard!” he squeaked.

“Hee hee!” she chuckled. “Good night, Kato!”

“Good night.”

The next day, she was up early enough that she had some time to work up a sweat before she had to go to the campus and take the next exam. She hoped that the written and practicals weren’t too onerous, but well, she was under no pressure to do well here. In fact, she shouldn’t do well at all. Maybe if she scored bad enough, her Mum would realize how bad an idea this was.

No, no. There was no way she could stomach deliberately failing. Oh well. She threw on a blue summer dress with a halter-top that left her shoulders exposed. It was a warm morning and she liked the feel of the sun. A grey beret and a pair of sandals completed her outfit and she was ready for the day.

“Good luck!” Kato mumbled from across the room. “Oh, did you want me to accompany you? Today’s Sharom’s exam, yeah?”

“That’s right. Orrin’s with me on this one.”

“Oh. Hang on, I’ll get ready and go with you.”

Braden trailed after them on the way to the waiting shed.

“You’re tagging along?” she asked.

“Not at all. I’m close to fully recovering. Though I’ve lost some strength, I feel like I’m near the point when I can start rebuilding it.”

“I see. Good work!” Yuriko smiled.

“Thanks. Good luck to the both of you.”

The Examination room she was assigned to was in the Song Building, Natural Hall, 3rd Meditation Room. Orrin’s was at the 5th Meditation Room. The building was on the far side of the Great Reserve. Kato got lost in the trails.

Her brother, who had been living on the campus for the past three years, got lost.

“Disgraceful,” she snorted.

“What? I don’t go to Sharom much. Or at all, for that matter.”

They still managed to make it to Song Building in time though. Barely.

Natural Hall was on the north wing. The view of the planar barrier was clear, this close to it. The edge of Rumiga City, the Upper Ring, was about a couple of leagues from the edge of the plane. Aside from the Chaos Channel, the barrier here was impermeable.

The 3rd Meditation Room only had five examinees inside. Yuriko was the sixth and from the number of seats, the last one there. They ran into the proctor, an orange-haired woman with strangely shaped pupils, just outside the door.

“Go in, hurry.”

“Apologies,” Yuriko said quickly. Orrin ran past them.

Three of the five already in the room were girls. They were gathered in a clump chatting animatedly. Yuriko recognized one of them. Ella-Mai, girl in Gwendith’s posse. She looked much less subdued and more at ease here.

“Settle down,” the proctor said. Yuriko found an empty seat and waited for the exams to start. From the sheaf of papers on the desk, it was a written exam for sure.

When the papers were passed, Yuriko took out her fountain pen, ready to get on with it and move on with her life.

“Put that away please.”

“Huh?” Yuriko looked up to see the proctor looking at her. The woman’s pupils were shaped like a cat’s, she realised. It was what bothered her initial impression. ‘Chaos-touched?’ Yuriko thought absently, ‘manifested in physical characteristics. I wonder if she could see unaided in the dark.’

“Put your pen away, please.”

“Oh, yes, ma’am.” Was it some kind of anti-cheating measure? Would pens be provided from them? Yuriko didn’t see any pens on the desk though. Or pencils. Or even old-fashioned quills and a bottle of ink. Yuriko frowned. What were they going to use to write?

As if reading her mind, the proctor smirked. “No pens, pencils, or quills, for this exam.”

“How will we write the answers?” one of the other girls asked, consternation clear in her voice and expression.

“Hie hie, don’t tell me your parents or siblings didn’t warn you.” The proctor snorted in derision, “Use your Animus. What else? Make sure you don’t use too much or you might burn the paper.” She waved her hands derisively. “You may begin.”

Yuriko stared at the questionnaire and the answer sheet. The space to answer was minuscule,  about half the spacing as normal. She glanced at the other examinees only to find them as stymied as she was. Well, Ella-Mai had her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration, a bit of her red Animus projecting out of her fingertip.

With a sigh, Yuriko focused on her exam.

“Nothing’s ever easy.” Besides, after the initial shock, this was actually a rather interesting exercise.