It had taken roughly a week for Rumina to get her hands on the information, and the details behind Loux Nekrot had taken Jennifer by surprise. As she made her way towards the Academy grounds, Jennifer carefully began to go through everything that Rumina had told her about Loux. The biggest surprise had been to learn that the girl wasn’t fully human, having part-dryad blood within her. Jennifer was aware of the predatory nature of dryads, yet she had never known they could bear half children. But it also explained how the girl had managed to skip grades and directly enroll as an Apprentice Mage.

The second biggest surprise that Jennifer had learned quickly afterwards was that Loux was the daughter of royalty. Or the equivalent of such among the dryads. Her own research into the dryads had revealed the structure to be something akin to a matriarchal monarchy, with the dryad queen being bonded to the ancient spirit tree at the heart of their domains.

I vaguely remember seeing the woman. The dryad that had arrived with the war council, a beautiful white flower decorating the sculpture-like woman. I wonder if she was the queen?

Jennifer wished she had paid more attention and memorized the name, yet the only thing she could recall was the mention of the White Blossom, but any research into the name had yielded next to nothing. I can only hope that the name holds some meaning to Loux, it seems to be my only good card to get her attention.

Being a princess among dryads, Jennifer had wondered what the girl was doing all the way out at Lienmont, in the Academy of all places. She couldn’t imagine the dryads suddenly taking an interest in Zwerilian magecraft all of a sudden. Shamanism and Arcane based magics rarely meshed well, and tended to be a topic of eccentric study for scholars at best, given how closely the dryads guarded their secrets. Perhaps they had come to an agreement of some sort to trade spells and information.

Or perhaps she is here for some other purposes, related to the happening of this month.

The academy soon arrived within her sight, as Jennifer walked up to the main entrance of the grounds. Quickly getting her name registered with the entrance guards she was let in and began to climb up the hill of magic to the entrance of the administrative and academic buildings. After having climbed the hill a few times, she’d started to notice how cleverly the Academy had placed all its displays of magic all across. Rather than blatantly display everything they had in the visitor's face, they’d spread all the various wonderful displays of magic across the grounds. Visible from the main path, yet far enough to be non intrusive. She had to admit that it was a clever way of doing things.

Making her way past the two tall statues that she was now certain were golems of some sort, Jennifer walked up to the counter in the hall, knocking on the desk.

“Yes yes, I’m here. Stop being so impatient,” Jennifer heard Minceli, the gnome woman speak, as she moved her small ladder, and climbed atop it, grumbling at human furniture once more.

“What do you need?” the woman asked, adjusting her glasses as she looked at Jennifer.

“I wanted to find Miss Loux Nekrot,” Jennifer replied, pausing when she noticed Minceli narrowing her eyes.

The gnome woman stared at Jennifer, looking her up and down once. “First year, from the look of it. Are you sure you’ve got the right name?” she asked.

Jennifer nodded in reply.

“Huh, I guess even that girl can make friends, surprising that she went out of her way to befriend a first year though,” Minceli said, glancing at Jennifer. A moment of silent staring later, the gnome continued. “She’s in the second dorm building, room 106. I’ll need your name before you go though. Only students are allowed in. If you somehow manage to sneak past the gates, this is where you turn around and walk away.”

“I’m Jennifer Laine. First year, specializing in Enchanting.”

Minceli opened up a drawer, pulling out a large book whose pages flipped open on their own as she quickly checked for Jennifer’s name.

“Alright, go ahead Jennifer,” Minceli replied, closing the book. Jennifer nodded, smiling at the gnome woman in thanks as she began to make her way. She could’ve just walked up to Loux’s door, having already been there once more, but that would’ve led to even more questions from the Academy, in case things had not gone too well, or from any potential demons stalking her. She wasn’t above considering the possibility anymore.

Time travel, a boon and a curse all in once. So easy to trip up and give yourself away.

Jennifer made her way towards Loux’s room, thinking over how she was going to approach the girl. Her plan was fairly simple for the most part, to make use of the information Jennifer had obtained and convince Loux to teach her, somehow. The only thing she could say about this plan of hers was that she’d made worse ones.

Reaching the girl’s room, Jennifer quickly made use of [Enhanced Mana Sense] to try and feel if anyone was inside. Despite the magical wards layered on the room, she was able to get a feel for Loux’s mana from within.

Alright, just stay calm, don’t act suspicious and approach her like a normal person.

With a light rap, Jennifer knocked on the door once. A moment later, wondering if she’d been too light, she knocked once more. The door opened part way through her knock as Jennifer found her knuckles hitting sharp teeth.

“Ouch,” Loux said, recoiling backwards as she turned to glare at Jennifer.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, wait hold on!” Jennifer shouted, fumbling over her words, as Loux stepped back, moving her hands up to slam the door shut. Moving quickly, she stepped foot in the gap of the doorway as the door slammed shut.

A sharp spike of pain made Jennifer wince as she pulled her feet back, yet she pushed through the pain. With tears glazing her eyes, she looked at Loux. “I know you’re a dryad, and I really need to talk to you.”

Wide eyes greeted her proclamation before a wave of hostility washed over Jennifer. Loux moved swiftly, grabbing Jennifer’s collar as she dragged her into the room and shut the door close behind her. With a rough shove, she pushed Jennifer against the door, still grabbing onto her collar and twisting lightly as she glared at her in silence.

“How?” the girl asked, her eyes focused.

Jennifer took in a breath, feeling uncomfortable at having her collar grabbed. She felt panic rising, as the memories of being strangled by the Mark of Drought started to tense up her body. Trying to curb the panic, Jennifer flared with glass mana, flooding her pathways as her eyes turned reflective, shimmering with power.

Turning towards Loux with mana burning through her pathways, Jennifer felt the grasp of panic slip by as a cold expression took over her. “If you let go, I’ll be able to talk.”

Loux watched her silently, her eyes set upon her, as if waiting for any suspicious movements. A few moments of silence later, the girl loosened her grip, yet refused to let go.

“Talk.”

Realizing that this was as far as Loux would give in, Jennifer decided to just go right for it, without pointlessly jumping around the topic. She’d lost her opportunity for being subtle when she knocked at the girl’s teeth.

“I know that the Dryads have sent you here for some reason. It’s not too difficult to learn if someone knows to look into you. I’d assumed it wasn’t a secret,” Jennifer replied.

Loux maintained her grip on Jennifer’s collar, her expression wary, but Jennifer could feel the hostility emanating from the girl starting to fade.

“Why look into me?” the girl asked.

Because you seem like my best bet to learn everything I can about Magus Beritross, and how I can beat that test of his.

“You’re well known Loux. A strange girl that’d arrived and quickly managed to skip grades, being taught personally by the Mages. Of course people will talk.”

Jennifer watched Loux’s eyes flutter around, as she glanced downwards for a brief moment, her lips puckered. A strange realization encroached Jennifer at the girl’s reaction.

“Do you… not want to be talked about?” Jennifer asked in surprise.

Loux looked at Jennifer, meeting her eyes. A moment or two passed in silence before she gave a light nod.

“You do realize that if you never talk to anyone it only adds to your mysteriousness making others talk even more?”

Loux’s eyes widened a touch at Jennifer’s words, as if she’d just had a big revelation.

“Do you… want me to help you?” Jennifer asked, looking at Loux silently. The girl’s dark green eyes remained on Jennifer, as the minutes passed by in silence.

“I’m not going to do it for free,” Jennifer added, and she felt the girl’s grip on her collar relax ever so slightly. Taking the signal, she continued with her offer. “I want you to teach me combat magic. I’ve just unlocked a [Glass Mage] class but… I’ve only known enchanting until now. I’m an [Enchanter] first and foremost. I can cast spells, but I’m not good at it. And I want to be. In return, I’ll be your pretend friend. We could walk around and do things together, and it’ll help take away from the mysterious lone girl thing you’ve got going on.”

A frown set upon Loux’s eyebrows, as she glanced downwards, as if considering the idea. Realizing something a moment later, Jennifer added another thing to her offer.

“If you promise to teach me, then I’ll also help you out with the academic side of things. I can tell that you have trouble with the language, and I can’t imagine you’ve undergone the basic education that people in the Alliance would’ve gotten,” Jennifer said.

Her words seemed to have captured Loux’s attention as she looked up. “I don’t know,” the girl replied, letting go of her collar. Loux stood frowning, keeping a close eye on Jennifer as her green hair swayed behind her, tied in a ponytail.

"I don’t like you,” Loux said, looking at Jennifer. “You’re coming here with schemes and plans, and I dislike that. I also dislike that I’m very tempted to say yes.”

Jennifer stared at the girl as Loux continued to murmur something under her breath. A moment later, she looked up to face Jennifer. “Give me some time to think.”

Nodding, Jennifer left the talks at that and turned around. Despite knowing that she shouldn't, Jennifer couldn’t keep the smile off of her face as she walked out. There was little left to do now, besides continuing her studies as she waited.

It didn’t take long for Loux to call her back.

***

The wind rustled Jennifer’s hair, flinging her light brown hair over her eyes as she stood in a small field behind the Academy’s buildings. Loux stood nearby, the girl’s hair flying in the breeze, as she looked back at her with the usual blank face she had equipped by default.

“So, uhh, why have we come here?” Jennifer asked, glancing at the empty field. There was nothing special about the area, besides the fact that it was slightly out of the way, and difficult to find if you didn’t know which turns to take to get to it.

“To train,” Loux replied, as the girl glanced around, before beginning to do some stretches.

“Okay? And why can’t we do that in the training hall? Students can make use of them, right?” Jennifer asked.

Loux stopped mid-stretch as she turned towards Jennifer, her eyes narrowed in a way that told her just how highly the girl thought of Jennifer’s words. “Too visible. Everyone watches the combat halls. You’ll be presenting all your spells to them to work on and counteract. It’s stupid.”

Jennifer almost asked her why she’d then been practicing with Beritross in one, but she swiftly caught herself. That hadn’t happened.

“Alright. But then why are you stretching? We’ll be practicing our spells right?” Jennifer asked, and saw Loux continue without glancing back. A few seconds passed without a reply, and Jennifer decided to just follow the girl’s lead and do some stretches of her own.

Going through the motion, Jennifer started to feel the pull on her muscles. There was a slight disconnect between her body and her movements, and she noticed that a part of it was her overestimating her flexibility and strength in each motion.

I don’t have the muscles I’d gained so rapidly in the month I’d trained with Viel.

Jennifer lightly rubbed her belly, feeling a bit sad about the lost muscles. She’d never been skinny and had always had a decent amount of muscle on her body for a girl her age, yet the smooth toned muscles she’d gained so rapidly from the hellish potion infused workout Viel had given her was definitely something she wished she still had.

Adjusting her body and her own expectations accordingly, Jennifer spent a few minutes warming up properly. Once she was ready, she got up and found Loux standing up front, and facing in her direction. Her hands were positioned in a way that made Jennifer feel as if there should’ve been a blade in her hands, but the girl stood unarmed.

“How many spells do you know?” Loux asked.

Jennifer went through her spell list, counting all the combat spells she knew of, alongside the new ones she’d learned from Nathaniel. “Seven spells, with a few that I know but can’t cast yet. A few more that can possibly be used in combat, but are not direct combat spells.”

Loux frowned, humming. “You have… glass. Rare. Show me a spell.”

Jennifer ignored the strange tone, as she followed the girl’s word. Drawing on her mana, which was now a lot deeper and had her affinity a lot stronger thanks to [Glass Mana Pool], Jennifer weaved a glass bolt.

She silently shot the shimmering bolt of glass forward, as it struck a nearby tree, digging into it before exploding with mana.

“Hmm. Creation? No, Alteration too. Lucky,” Loux replied, thinking over something. “How many of those can you shoot?”

Jennifer realized that she didn’t know. Her mana pool had been growing at a quick rate already before she’d gained her [Glass Mage] class and [Glass Mana Pool] skill. She closed her eyes, feeling at the ball of energy near her abdomen as she tried to guess.

“About forty? Fifty maybe?” Jennifer replied, receiving a nod from Loux.

“Decent. Your casting speed is good, but you’re clumsy. You show exactly where you will shoot. Your eyes follow your target too closely, and you move your hand to gesture what you’ll be shooting next. All of that is a weakness,” Loux said, looking Jennifer in the eye.

Ignoring that, the words were likely the longest she’d seen Loux talk without a pause, Jennifer gave the thought some consideration. She was used to gesturing, as doing so helped her better cast any spell. Same with calling out the spell name for anything she was going to be using. It was just silly to not rely on every toll she had for better control over her magic, so that she could work as precisely as possible on her enchantments.

“Cast another spell. A stronger one,” Loux said.

Jennifer began to weave her glass blade. Mana thrummed, filling her pathways, as she focused and a shimmering blade of glass formed in front of her hand, glowing with power. The wind rustled around Jennifer in a frenzy as she shot the blade. Her spell flew like a speeding arrow, as it cut through the area, tearing out a massive chunk of the ground.

“You’re not used to casting silently,” Loux observed. “That’s the first thing to work on. Using spells or skills out loud is foolish. It helps, but it’s also a crutch you become dependent on. Half the mages out there keep on blabbering their spells out loud to allow themselves better basic control that they already should’ve had.”

Jennifer felt a light heat flush to her cheeks at Loux’s scathing words. She’d indeed never tried to improve her silent casting before, not finding any real need for it prior to the recent events.

“Hmm. Let’s spar. I’ll show you how you should fight,” Loux said, and before Jeninfer had any time to prepare the girl shot towards her. A blade of glowing magic appeared in Loux’s hand as she swung it towards Jennifer.

Dodging backwards, Jennifer felt the blade slash at her wrist drawing blood. She quickly realized that the other girl had a very different definition of spar when compared to her. Wind burst around Jennifer as she flooded her pathways with mana, quickly using Agile Wind to create some distance.

Gliding back, even while off balance, Jennifer shot off a glass bolt towards Loux as she turned mid air. Using a gust of wind around her wrist she rolled to the ground, finding herself on her feet again.

A slash swept past Jennifer’s face as she barely dodged back. On instinct, she called on Glass storm, forgetting to even prepare the spell matrix, as the spell formed itself purely on instinct. Shards of glass danced around Jennifer in a hurricane of glass particles. Jennifer quickly used Wind Blades alongside the spell, as a howling sharp wind swirling with the glass, forcing Loux to create some distance.

Taking the opportunity, Jennifer dashed ahead, going on the offensive. Glass mana roze in a haze around her, as she stacked glass bolts upon glass bolts. Forming a chain of five bolts she fired them all together.

With a kick to the ground, Loux shot a precise shot of mana bolt, so fast Jennifer could barely see it. One of her glass bolts shattered, exploding as the green haired dryad-girl dodged to the side with inhuman speed, rushing towards her with her sword raised.

Without realizing what she was doing, Jennifer reached out to the chain of her glass bolts and stringed them together on a mana thread. The same trick she’d used to swirl her leaves of light. Tugging on the mana string, she pulled backwards as her bolts curved backwards, following her command as they went after Loux once more.

For a brief moment, Jennifer saw Loux smirk, before five blades appeared around the girl, all formed of glowing blue magic. Shooting out, they struck at her bolts, crashing together and nullifying her attack, while the rest went after Jennifer.

With a quick bolt of her own, she destroyed one of the spells. Dodging the other mana blades, Jennifer quickly started to prepare her own attack. Wind burst around her in a frenzy as she ran to the side, letting Loux chase after her. The other girl was faster, but Jennifer had ways of preventing Loux from reaching her, and the range of her blade limited the other girl severly.

Forming shards of glass Jennifer used [Enchanted Glass Creation] to layer them with ‘Sharpen’. She focused on the shards of floating sharp glass around her, as she started to crash them into smaller and smaller pieces. Soon, Jennifer found herself running amidst very fine shards of glass swirling all around her. Sharp enough to poke an eye out.

“Annoying,” Loux grumbled, as mana flared around the girl. With a powerful shot, she rushed towards Jennifer, swinging her blade. Blades of wind shot forward, formed from the mana blade Loux held as they cut through the sharp mist of glass shards, and towards Jennifer.

Stumbling backwards, Jennifer rushed on ahead, as she shot another glass bolt. Her mana was dipping rapidly, and Loux was chasing her at a steady rate, attacking her just enough to keep her occupied, and retaliating.

Frowning, Jennifer felt her glass blade spell. Weaving her mana together she began to stack the blades one at a time.

Sensing the influx of Mana, loux shot forward, her movement speed rapidly increasing. With a powerful slash of wind that kicked up a dust cloud, the girl launched herself ahead. A fist came forward, landing on Jennifer’s gut as she tripped. Her control slipped from her magic, her spells dissipating as Jennifer crumbled onto the ground, clutching her gut.

Before Jennifer could snap back about being hit so hard, she felt a hand rest upon her abdomen as a soothing sensation filled her body. Within moments, she found all sensation of pain gone, feeling as good as new.

“Clumsy. You got your affinity recently didn’t you?” Loux commented.

“Is it really that obvious?” Jennifer asked. She’d have thought that with her practice and training she would’ve overcome any such issues by now. Taking a moment to check for injuries, Jennifer pulled herself to her feet.

“Was the healing your Dryad abilities?” Jennifer asked. Loux nodded in reply, but didn’t deign to comment any further on the topic.

To think I’m not even angry at being attacked so suddenly in the ‘spar’. All these combat mages and their violent tendencies.

“Why didn’t you try to use your glass on me?” Loux asked.

“Huh?”

“Why didn’t you try to stop me with your glass?” Loux asked once more, frowning.

“What do you mean why? I can’t use my glass directly on you can I? Unless you don’t know about mana saturation boundary, because if not, everyone could just summon things inside of people and kill them instantly,” Jennifer replied.

“Yes, I know about the mana thing. But the boundary is stronger inside the body than outside. You don’t need to form anything in direct contact, form around it, to restrict them. Like this.”

Plants rose near Jennifer’s feet, latching onto her ankles as they grabbed her foot tightly. She pulled her feet up, straining as she tried to pry them out. After a few moments of struggling with the plants, she looked up at the girl, who continued to look back at Jennifer with an impassive expression.

“You try it,” Loux said.

Hesitantly, Jennifer raised her hand, reaching out with her mana. She summoned glass around Loux’s feet, fighting through the resistance she was facing. Her first attempt failed, the glass not forming at all in the way she wanted it to. Her second attempt was closer, with three spikes of glass that formed around her feet. She could still pull her feet out but the glass could dig in and leave an injury. By the third try, she managed to form spike traps around the girl.

“Good. Doing it while fighting is the difficult part. We’ll practice that. You should also try to form glass on your body. If you can do it quickly, you’ll be able to protect yourself from blades and other weapons,” Loux said.

Jennifer tried it out, extending her hand, as she tried to cover her hand with glass. She managed to form a thin layer that cracked far too quickly, and if it was too thick, then she could struggle to keep it on her body. Jennifer frowned, experimenting with her new techniques, before she looked up towards Loux and dipped her head in thanks.

“Let’s practice a bit more. After that, I want you to help me with Manifestation Theory - II,” Loux said, grimacing at the words Manifestation Theory and Jennifer couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Taking a stance, the two girls started slinging spells once more as they trained.