Restricted Magic - Arc 2: The Competition

Chapter 6

The ship below Erin's feet rocked gently as it set sail for the Ellurine Alliance. Erin stood at the bow, leaning on the side and looking out over the water with a calm expression as she thought about the what it had taken to get to this point.

The past two weeks under Aunt Elsinore's thumb had been nothing but pure hell. They trained around the clock, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night to perform exercises in magical control or spout data on magical theory, only to have to run around the school grounds 5 times to be allowed to go back to sleep. They fought, each time with stranger and more stringent restrictions placed on them, such as only using their left hand, or level 3 water spells. Erin had felt herself adjust to the hellish schedule, becoming more comfortable with the expansion of her newly available powers.

The group fight however... it was still going pretty pathetically. Try as she might, she just could not get the five of them to work together as a team. Frederick was more respectful to her since being completely defeated by her in a one on one battle, but still had a tendency to get impatient and charge ahead. Matthias was off in his own world, only occasionally listening to Erin's plans before doing something else that sounded more interesting. Gerald and Olivia were improving their scouting abilities, but this sometimes only frustrated her more as she now had more accurate information but no way to act on it.

Erin wasn't quite ready to give up just yet, though. She was determined to better understand her new teammates, and utilize their strengths accordingly. Which led to the current, uncomfortable conversation:

"What's got you so nervous?" She looked over at the irritated boy standing next to her, who was glaring at the water as if it had personally insulted him.

Frederick snorted loudly. "The question should be: 'Why aren't you more nervous?!" He shook his head. "We're going up against the top students from the most prestigious academies in the world!"

"Isn't St Jullienne's one of those prestigious academies?" Erin asked amusedly.

"Yeah, in magical theory! That's really all we're known for, it's the only category our academy wins on a consistent basis." He rolled his eyes. "No wonder you're so calm, besides the group battle, in which we're all getting slaughtered, no question, your only other category is the magical theory competition."

"But..."

Frederick laid a hand dramatically on his chest, interrupting her.

"I, on the other hand, have to compete in the physical prowess category. Meaning NO MAGIC." He groaned, leaning against the railing as if all strength had left his body. "The military academy guys are going to crush me into dust!"

Erin was getting confused. "Why do you say that?"

"Are you an idiot? I can't believe you get higher scores than me in academics." Frederick glared at her, speaking slowly as if to help her to understand. "The Sionelle National Military Academy... one of two from Sionelle besides us. They pride themselves on being able to fight hand to hand... they never lose the physical prowess category... never." He groaned again, covering his face with his hands. "I'm so screwed!"

Erin hesitantly reached out and patted his shoulder, pulling back as quickly as possible. "There. There."

Frederick looked up with an incredulous expression. "Was that you trying to be comforting?"

"Umm... yes? Sorry."

"..." He stared at her for a moment, and then broke out it a happy chuckle. "Don't be. It's just good to know there's still some things you're terrible at." He looked back out at the sea with a sigh. "You know, even back when they called you worthless, I was always jealous of you."