Night Training at the Stable Grounds
He swept his gaze around the area and asked, "Are you sure no one comes here at night?"
"I told you, didn't I? Even during the day, it's just me out here besides the staff."
"Good. Then this is the place."
Quinn spun around and planted himself in front of Bayul. "What do you think?"
"…You want to do it here?"
"Yeah. It's not perfect, but honestly, it's pretty great for what we need."
"Great? What exactly about it is so great?"
While Aidan, the provider of the venue, beamed with pride, Eli's face curdled into something rotten. Just thinking about suffering through this filthy place night after night made his hair stand on end.
"Well, for one, it's safe. It's surrounded by trees on all sides, and who in their right mind would come to a place that smells like this? What matters most to us is security, first and foremost—second place goes to security too, doesn't it?"
"Quinn's right. Honestly, I'm not ready yet."
It was a world where no one even knew what spirits were, let alone Spirit Users. For someone as timid as Bayul, revealing the truth was a heavy burden. Once his ability came to light, he would have to explain everything—and eventually prove it, too.
Someday, the existence of spirits would come to prominence again, and when that day came, he hoped to reveal it naturally, or have it revealed for him. That was Bayul's wish.
"But it's so dirty, though! Fine, I can live with the smell. But did none of you stop to think we might actually have to step on that stuff?"
"We're not going barefoot. What's the big deal?"
"My shoes are precious to me, that's what!"
"Couldn't we just stop by the fountain on the way back to the dorms and wash off?"
"Gahk—Bayul! You've already given in?"
"You got a better spot? If so, by all means, show me."
Quinn's retort drove the nail in, and Eli's face crumpled into a look of utter despair. The training was Bayul's to do, but he had already promised to help, after all. Sacrificing sleep to roll around in a dung heap—what a truly lamentable fate.
"All right, we meet here tonight. That's settled, and I'm off to work."
"Weren't you off today?"
"Technically, yes, but they say a new shipment of books arrived. Yikes, I'm late!"
He was diligent enough that he probably wouldn't get docked, but he'd have a hard time dodging the scolding. Aidan waved a hand and bolted toward the library.
"That boy's basically a flying squirrel."
He'd noticed it before, but Aidan's sprinting speed was truly top-tier. Eli let out a long sigh as he watched the boy round a corner and vanish in the blink of an eye.
"I dread the coming of night."
"If you hate it that much, Rai, why not just sit it out? You've got Quinn and Aidan here—I'll be fine."
"Oh, you'll be fine, will you?"
"Huh?"
"Do you see any candles out here? Anything at all? In a little while this place will be pitch black. Or were you planning to train by torchlight?"
Bayul hadn't thought of that. Nightfall meant darkness, and darkness meant a narrow field of vision. Moonlight would be his only ally—and there was no guarantee even that would be bright enough.
"W-what do we do, then?"
"What do we do? Simple. You need me, that's what."
'He says I need him?'
Baffled, Bayul could only blink. It wasn't until that night that he understood exactly what Eli had meant.
"W-wow! Amazing, Rai!"
Bayul stood with his mouth agape, staring up at the sky. So this was magic. Watching the sphere hover above his head, spilling light in all directions, he suddenly felt like he'd drifted out of reality altogether.
Would it burn if he touched it?
Before he even realized it, his arm was already reaching out.
"…Huh?"
The sphere glided smoothly away, as if dodging his hand.
"Touch it and it vanishes. Ah-ah, sprout! Not you either. Hands off!"
When Innocent trailed after Bayul and tried to poke it too, Eli hastily intervened.
"Tch!"
"Rai, this is incredible. You could call yourself a real mage and no one would blink!"
"If this is enough to wow you, I'm a little hurt. It's just a first-circle spell, you know."
"First circle?"
"That's right—the very basics. Though, considering this body only just enrolled as a fresh student, I suppose it's slightly impressive."
"See? There's no way just anyone could do this. Rai really is amazing!"
At Bayul's praise, Eli preened with delight. In truth, very few students could float a sphere and sustain it for as long as Eli could. He was a model student, yes—but he was also a prodigy with an exceptional talent for magic.
"Is there anything you can do about the smell?"
Quinn asked, wrinkling his nose beneath the glowing sphere.
"What are you talking about?"
"You made light, so I thought maybe you could deal with the stench too."
"…You're asking me to get rid of the smell?"
"Can't you?"
"Of course I can't!"
There did exist magic that blocked odors—it was simply high in difficulty, and with focus one could manage it for a short while. But for Eli at his current level, casting two spells simultaneously was out of the question.
"So magic's nothing special after all."
As his hopes crumbled, Quinn sneered and turned away coldly.
"…Excuse me?"
Before his disbelief could even settle, Eli's face began cycling through shades of red and blue.
"Who do you think made it possible for us to train out here at this hour at all? You really think this situation would be possible without me?"
"Rai, Quinn's sense of smell is just unusually sharp. It's a bit different from us humans, you know?"
"Sharp? Whose isn't sharp? I'm dying over here too! My shoe soles feel gross and it's driving me insane! And besides, I'm not the one who dragged us here—Aidan is!"
"Are you still on about that? You'll get used to it in no time."
"Aidan!"
Speak of the tiger and it appears, as the saying goes—Aidan arrived, cutting through the darkness. To Bayul, who had been anxiously watching the atmosphere sour, his entrance was nothing short of salvation.
"Hey there, Innocent!"
At Aidan's greeting, Innocent trilled with laughter and looped through a somersault in the air, trailing a path of translucent water droplets that stitched glittering patterns across the empty sky.
"Whoa—wait, what's that thing?"
Any other day, Aidan would have been completely absorbed in cooing over Innocent, but he'd spotted the sphere floating in the air, and his eyes went round as saucers.
"Don't tell me this is your first time seeing one of these too?"
"Yeah! So that's why it's so bright around here?"
Aidan's green eyes sparkled beneath the sphere. Just like Bayul had, he raised his hand and tried to touch it, but it hung too high for him to reach.
"Whoa! I was worried it'd be overcast tonight, but I never dreamed of this!"
"And it made my life easier, at least."
"It's like Rai's suddenly spitting out light everywhere. Guess goody-two-shoes really do run on a different engine, huh?"
As the sphere whirled lazily in place, Aidan gave Eli a thumbs-up and spun in a slow circle, head tilted all the way back to follow it.
"Why does it feel like you're implying we're embarrassing?"
His barb struck home—Eli answered by pointedly looking away. Aidan glared at him for a moment, then abruptly changed the subject.
"Anyway, how was it getting here? Any trouble?"
"Didn't see a soul. You?"
"Me? I'm naturally quick on my feet. Almost ran into the patrol, but I slipped past them nice and smooth. Thing is, thinking about having to sneak out here all alone every time, it gets kind of lonely, you know? Any of you want to cross over to Turtle King? I'll welcome you with open arms."
"You think you can just transfer dorms because you feel like it? Don't be ridiculous. And besides, you've got Ingrid, don't you? Where do you leave him while you're off complaining about loneliness?"
"Ingrid?"
Innocent, who had been wandering around the livestock pens (which, apparently, was why the animals had been making strange noises), came bounding over at the sound of Ingrid's name.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Ingrid. Why didn't he come along?"
This was precisely Ingrid's hour—the nocturnal owl was just now waking into his element. Bayul found the little bird's absence curious too.
"He's standing watch."
"…Standing watch?"
"You never know who might come wandering by. It's not just the patrol—the duty professors make rounds sometimes too. I told Ingrid to keep a sharp eye out, so if anything happens, he'll come let us know right away."
"Ingrid can do something like that?"
"You've seen him and you still have to ask? That bird is brilliant!"
Like a proud parent bragging about his child, Aidan's face bloomed with confidence.
"I wanna play with Ingrid! I want to play now!"
"Innocent, we agreed to train today. Later."
"But I wanna see Ingrid right now? Can't I just play for a little bit?"
"There's no time for that. We'll go see him afterward, okay?"
"Aw, come on—we could just do the training later! I really want to see Ingrid!"
Watching Innocent plead with those huge, blinking eyes left Bayul in an awkward spot. The little spirit was right—there was no reason the training absolutely had to happen today. There was tomorrow, and the day after, and plenty more days besides. Only, he felt guilty toward the friends who had carved time out of their day to come all the way out here.
'What do I do?'
That image of Innocent, batting his enormous eyes and begging, was a weapon in its own right.
"Innocent, how about we make a deal?"
Once again, it was Aidan who stepped in as the fixer. Drawing freely on years of hard-won expertise from playing with his little sister, he solved the problem in one clean stroke.
"…You get it now, right? Innocent and Ingrid can only play once they've each finished what they need to do. Then we'll get to meet here again tomorrow, and the day after, and every day after that."
"Really?"
"That's what I'm telling you. And Ingrid likes you a lot too, you know."
"I like him too! I like him so much!"
"Great. So for now, let's all focus on the training. Deal?"
"Okay!"
All traces of the whining were gone, and Innocent burned with fresh resolve. It was the kind of moment that reminded you, yet again, just how wonderfully simple the little spirit was.
"Now it's your turn, you two. Get started."
"Watch closely."
Quinn's tone turned grave, as if he'd been waiting all along for this very moment. Facing Bayul squarely, he began calmly gathering his energy.
Shaaaa!
The sound came from behind him. A column of water had erupted up out of the ground at Quinn's back. Like a small waterfall, it swelled and gradually coalesced into a single mass of water—just as it had on the day Bayul first met him.
"I collected rainwater beforehand. For a merfolk like me, manipulating water like this is child's play."
Barely had the words left his mouth before the transformation began. The rounded lump of water swelled larger and larger, until one end sharpened into a blade's edge. What had been mere moments ago nothing more than plain water had, in the blink of an eye, become an arrow.
"What do you suppose happens if this thing flies off and pierces something?"
As Quinn smiled, the water arrow shot skyward.
'What's he—'
Before the question could even finish forming, the arrow sliced through the air like a ray of light.
Pang!