Aradia's day had been awesome so far
And by awesome, she does not mean anything good happening, but rather, nothing at all happening
The day was as calm as the time they stepped into the yard of the illusion mansion
The red head was just glad she did not have to run around again
At lunch time, as always, the cafetiere was like a warzone. People queuing to get food, people going back and forth, food being served frantically and of course chatter all over the place
In this world, where people had every colour of the rainbow as their hair colour, it was still surprisingly hard to find people
Perhaps it's due to the fact many people alike have the same colour of hair, who knows
After getting her meal, which was planned by the academy. Aradia did not mind, the food here was far better than her previous world's school
It is truly a weird feeling having to attend classes and do assignments and what not yet again even though she was out of school already
Yeon Haa actually did not pursue a higher level of education, solely because, well.. she died before that?
She would have been in university in a better world right now..
Aradia looked over and saw a few familiar faces and went to sit down with them
Ming Baishi looked half dead. This reminded the red head of her first day here
Issac was talking non-stop while Astolfo looked like he was this close to falling dead
'Just what happened with them?'
Aradia could not help but wonder
Clara came over after a little bit and sat down beside her, instantly starting an argument with Issac
'these siblings..'
This is why we cannot have good things
"I have never seen you around here"
Clara commented off handedly at Ming Baishi who was silent the whole time. This made Astolfo pause
He was coming up with something to cover for him
This was what he has been doing the whole day, it gets really tiring after a while
But surprisingly enough, Ming Baishi himself spoke up
"You just did not see me, I have been here the whole time"
"Huh, strange. With your looks, you should have stuck out like a sore thumb but I guess not.."
Ming Baishi did not know if he should take offence in that while Aradia tried to desperately cover her laugh by eating some fruits
Clara turned towards Aradia
"We have training together later, stay behind"
"Huh?"
Aradia was confused. They did not have training together- oh, she meant Lir
Now that Clara knew about Lir, everything fell into place
Why Aradia had asked her to talk to Ellen, how she gave Clara a sheet of paper with training material or how she knew that she, Aradia, had a gate-way in her system
It was all because of Lir
"Alright"
Lunch ended quickly enough, Aradia had only one more class for today, there was an announcement about why the rest were cancelled but she was not listening
As she walked out into the hall, planning to return to the dorm for the time being and then meet with Clara again, she met Mei instead
Aradia panicked, she unfortunately could not just run in the other direction
"Hello.. ma'am"
Aradia greeted like a whisper, she wanted to get the heck out of here
Mei stared at her like she had in the illusion mansion, like she was trying to drill holes into her
"Um.. I will get going then-"
"Stop"
Aradia stopped. She knew she could not avoid this forever and looked over at her
"Did you not say you would meet me personally at the Rain Academy to learn from me?"
Mei raised a brow, she looked every bit like a thug
Aradia wanted to cry, why was her past self so damn stupid!
She could technically denie ever meeting her, after all she showed no recognition at the illusion mansion, no?
But that would be too harsh and something is giving Aradia the feeling it will only cause her more trouble in the long term
"I am sorry"
"Huh?"
Mei was surprised by the sudden head bowed deep apology. She was only trying to scare the kid a little!
"Hey.. no need for that.."
"No, I'm sorry I did not keep my word"
"Forget it. Do you still wish to train under me?"
That was why Mei was here, she actually was not expecting Aradia to be a student at the Rain Academy anyway. When she saw the red head at the illusion mansion she was genuinely surprised
But the only thing that truly matters to her is if Aradia still wants to learn, because if she does, Mei is willing to pass down her knowledge
Knowledge is not something to keep only to yourself, who you give it to however, is the important part
You cannot just hand out knowledge, and Mei knows that very well
But this girl.. she was truly an enigma. But regardless, Mei felt that she had what it takes to learn and continue the chain of knowledge
That is also why, she is hoping Aradia would say yes
Aradia on the other hand though, really does not need to
It is not that she does not want to learn sword art, it is more due to the fact Aradia knows herself and she knows that she is not fit for something like that
That is the whole reason she went through all of the trouble named illusion mansion, so she could excl in magic instead
"I.. would love to"
'fuck.'
That was Aradia's only thought as she said that
She hated how she agreed. She knew she should not, she could not. She would be a disappointment
But maybe that is also why she agreed
After all, Mei does look similar to her own mother..
'mommy issues are that bad?'
Aradia could not help but think that thought
Mei however, felt fireworks in her stomach. She was glad Aradia agreed
"Alright, meet me later today"
.
.
.
.
.
"You are an idiot"
Lir said laughing
"I know"
"The biggest one I know"
"I. Know."
Lir was getting a thrill out of her misery. When he heard what she had agreed to, he was first baffled and worried but then started to laugh
"You are so not surviving that, I know for a fact sword training will kill you"
Aradia let out a long suffering sigh. It felt like she did that a lot these days
"I am so doomed..."
Aradia looked at the time and let out yet again, another sigh
"We have to meet Clara, let us go ahead unless you want to be late"
"Alright"
The sun was a beautiful orange, dying the surroundings in a golden glow. In the vast training ground stood Clara, doing some simple stretchs
Despite wearing the minimalist training clothes, she looked very eye catching
Truly protagonist privileges
"Hey"
Aradia finally went over to her with Lir right behind
Everyone had already left, these were the after hours of the academy. The time no sane person would be found
"Great"
That is all Clara said before they started
And it was hell
Clara, of course was doing amazingly well. Lir praised her multiple times
Aradia though? She felt like a frog trying to do ice skating
Do not ask why that was the only comparison she could think of
Lir told both of them to take it "easy" and circulate their mana to their core. It sounded like absolute gibberish to Aradia
She tried. She really did, but it was to no avail
She desperately tried to feel the mana circulating in her body and try to "guild" it to her core
But in the end, her concentration would break and all the mana would flow backwards
Lir has been telling her the same thing for almost two hours now and they still made no progress
In the end he gave up and decided they should try again tomorrow
Clara gave her a sympathetic look and told her to take it easy
It should have been comforting but it only made Aradia feel worse
The sky was different shades of purple and pink to navy blue, the dark endless night would soon devour the last bits of colour remaining in the sky
The moon was already high in the sky, shining like the lone star it is. There were no stars tonight
It would probably rain
As the red head was heading back, she remembered her stupid choices and the fact that she needed to meet Mei
'There goes my calm day..'
Aradia knocked twice on the door. She was standing in front of Mei's personal office
"Come in"
Came a somewhat muffled voice from the other side
Aradia pushed the door open and entered
The room before her was somewhat of a mess. Books scattered throughout the desk and chairs, the tea set from supposedly an earlier visit still on the table, papers all over the place
But even then, the room held a warm welcoming feel. There was incense burning on a shelf, it made the room smell pleasant
Mei was sitting at her desk, behind the hordes of books and papers, aside from a few hair on her head being a little amiss and wearing a pair of thin gold rimmed glasses, she still looked like when Aradia last saw her this morning
"Take a seat. I will be done in a couple minutes"
Aradia only nodded and sat down on the couch, continuing to look around
"Let us get one thing clear: everyone has one weapon they must choose when they train under me, and it is the same for you"
Mei spoke, taking off her glasses, she looked straight at Aradia
"It could be the sword, or perhaps archery or something no one knows about. I do not care which weapon you choose, as long as it feels right for you"
Mei finished and leaned back against the backrest, giving Aradia the time to think it through
Mei was truly a good mentor. She had been mentioned multiple times in the novel
And this short statement seemed to prove that further. Unfortunately, Aradia was looking for a way to refuse or rather- have Mei herself reject Aradia
She thought about it and finally came to a conclusion, the corner of her lips twitched upwards
"If that is how it will be.. then I will the choosing the Firelance"
Mei's eyes widened in surprise
"You.. what?"
Firelance. More precisely, a revolver
Yeon Haa had always liked guns, revolvers, pistols and more. It was an obsession inherited from her grandpa. When she was younger, she even had multiple fake guns that she had gotten from festivals and shops
She was used to be a bit of an enthusiastic during her middle school days and did some research on guns and its history
Aradia actually had no idea if this world had anything similar to a revolver or not, but she just used a past term for guns she had learnrd
If Mei turns out to have no clue what she was talking about, then that will be a hard one to explain. But judging by her expression, it seems Aradia hit the mark
"You want to learn to use.. that?"
"Yes"
In the past, unlike the modern day, people were not fond of the gun, mostly those of nobel status because it was a weapon that could kill armoured knights
Common folks either loved them or hated them, there was no in between
While the higher status people, like the Empire loved them. It was a dangerous yet fantastic weapon for war and did not cost an arm and a leg, unlike the cost of a properly trained knight
In the modern time, it is illegal to own a gun without training or a licence, but I'm th past, if you could afford it, you could keep it
That is also why it was liked my common folks
Aradia stared at Mei like she had not just given the poor women an existential crises
"Are.. you serious?"
Mei asked again for clarification
"Yes"
Seeing Aradia was not backing down on her request, Mei just let out a sigh and nodded
"Very well then"
Aradia's smile dropped
Bonus:
Lir: how do I politely tell someone that I want to hit their face with a brick several times?
Ming Baishi: one wishes to acquaint your facial structure with a rigidity edged object fundamentally used in the construction of walls repeatedly
Aradia: that was poetry
Astolfo: that was a cry for therapy from both of you
To be continued...
Sup bbg~? LMAO ANYWAY
As you can see, I'm in fact not dead and have yet again posted on time, very fucking proud
Anyway, trying to write this chapter felt like war because I didn't want to info bomb because this is meant to be a filler chapter but still needed something interesting so yeah-
Anyway, I'm running on barely any sleep, nah because why the heck did the street dogs outside my house decide to have an argument at 6 in the morning for like half an hour?? Help me brotha
Whatever, I just hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it
Once again please forgive this lowly author for any grammatical errors
Have a good day, afternoon, evening or night
And I will see you all after two weeks
Adios
Words: 2,261