Elysia in Another World

Ch5 The Goddess of Light, P1

Chapter 5: The Goddess of Light (1)
~5.1~
*****

Soon, the first week was over and the students were enjoying their weekend. Most of them.

In a lab room by herself, a lone blonde student was busy channeling mana into a manasteel ingot on the table in front of her. She was focusing intently. Sparks jumped from both her body and the ingot as she channeled. Soon, she stopped and examined her handywork. Several piles of metallic dust surrounded her work area, the result of hours of failed attempts.

The method requires the enchanter to enchant the manasteel ingot they want to use. I have done that enough that it's second nature. But the next part... She looked at the piles of dust to her left, her more recent failures. Controlling divine mana is so much harder. She released lightning aether and began channeling it into the ingot. Too little and it won't enchant. Too much and I get a pile of dust. The line is very fine, and I have to maintain an even flow of that precise amount for a long time to successfully over-enchant.

A few minutes later, she sat back in the chair behind her feeling worn out. Her latest attempt resulted in another pile of dust. She let out a defeated sigh as she looked at her failure.

"Maybe I should ask for advice after all." The girl began typing on her NeuraPhone. In the top left corner was her name, Louise Chevalier. She pulled up Kye's public profile. She selected the option to send an invitation. At the top of the next screen was a disclaimer. "All invitations will be read by my attendant, Liliana Venturi."

*****

The dinner my mother invited us to was canceled. They had an emergency meeting after school in Atlantis. It seems the demon beasts are unusually restless. They've had busy days all week. It's probably good that the only eventful day for me was the first day... gives them less to worry about.

In the training grounds was another blonde student, Isabel Strauss. She was training alone with a polearm, practicing her technique. Occasionally she would release a burst of wind magic from her swings. There were some students spread out around the training grounds practicing, some alone, some in pairs, some just watching. Isabel wanted no training partners but had a few observers. Among the observers were Layla and Allison.

Soon, Kye and her group entered the training grounds. Kye and Alethea were together, as usual, and they wanted to have a quick spar before lunch. While looking around to find a spot open enough for them, they noticed Layla and Allison.

"Hello, mother," Kye said. "Allison." Allison waved briefly and turned her attention back to Isabel.

"Oh, what are you two doing?" Layla asked.

"Just coming to get some sparring time in." Kye followed Allison's line of sight and saw her classmate. "Isabel, huh? I haven't seen much of her yet. Maybe I'll sit and watch instead. Alethea?"

"Sure, that's fine with me."

Isabel was engrossed in her training but soon noticed her high-class observers and stopped in her tracks. It was such a surprise that she didn't know what to do. Alethea took it upon herself to break her from the shock and vanished. She appeared next to Isabel with her weapon already transformed into an iaitō and slashed at her. Isabel snapped out of it and managed to block the attack.

"Lady Alethea?" she said. "I-I-"

"Do you really have time to exchange words while we fight?" Alethea didn't relent, forcing Isabel to defend herself.

"B-but, over there-"

"They're just simple observers! Focus on what's right in front of you!"

As Alethea pressured Isabel into sparring properly, Layla said to Kye, "She acted quite quickly."