Chapter 14

Half and hour passes before I decide it's time to start moving again. In the meantime, somehow, Anna ended up on my lap to press herself against me. When I lifted an eyebrow at her she just pouted and buried her face in my neck while Eliza was giggling a little.. Smugly?

Anyway we're now going in our original destination's direction at a steady speed. Thanks to me being overly cautious we actually have quite a lot of time before the entrance exam. My lack of understanding of high speed trains and their evolutions kinda saved us from being late even with the attack. After all comparing between now nine hours of train and twenty-four hours before... Yeah there's no comparisons to make really. And I even took into account we needed at least half a day after traveling to settle somewhere before the exam.

Now? We are fine. Before the attack Eliza said we were six hours away from our destination. So we need to take a bit less than a day. Should be doable, but we'll need to speed it up at some point.

About where we're going. I didn't know before, Anna made sure to fill me in that knowledge, but apparently Euclydia Academy is in our country. In the capital exactly. It makes our home grounds a pretty powerful entity in the world. After all even if students comes from all around the world, most of them are from here.

Gondra. I'm pretty excited to finally visit our capital. And the girls are too. We never set foot outside of our little city before. Well, it's the case for most people. The Wilderness makes sure of that. Even if trains exist. Again, people like us three getting weapons or combat-related awakening aren't common. The others get things for everyday life and that's it, different races too sometimes. There's still plenty of people that can fight. They either enrol in the army or choose to travel around, diving in dungeons.

I, for sure, won't try the army. Sounds boring.

Around an hour after starting to run I feel my stamina and magic reserves filled enough to pick up the pace. I stop and look at them with a smile.

"Well. We may have a bit of time. But after all that happened I would love to settle and relax for a while. Sooo... Climb up!" I say with enthusiasm, my tail swishes behind me in excitement.

The brief full speed run earlier made me realise that I love that sensation. It's exhilarating.

I spread my arms toward them, letting them choose who will be carried here and who will latch on my back.

"Hm... Are your injuries fine for that?" Anna ask, her tone laced with worry.

"Yeah. Don't force yourself Jane. As much as we both really like latching onto you, we would hate if you reopen them." Eliza adds, her brow in a furrow.

I wave dismissively. As we were trotting earlier I already checked them. Thanks to Anna's healing and my own regeneration, that is way too much and I have no idea why, those wounds are almost healed. At least on the surface. Of course they still hurts like hell. I won't tell them that though.

"It's fine! Look!" I say as I lift my shirt right under my chin, showing my white bra, to make my point.

There's some bruises and discoloured patch of skin, but overall nothing seems to be ready to burst open once more.

"Alright we believe you! Put your shirt back down!" Eliza exclaim, her face turning red at an alarming rate.

Really? C'mon we took baths together recently...

As I glance at Anna I see her face blushing too, her eyes flickering between violet and red again. I sigh a bit and spread my arms again, wiggling them to hurry the two girls. They exchange a glance and Anna shouts a 'shotgun!' as she dives into my arms. I close them around my dear twin with a giggle.

Eliza pouts slightly but still climb on my back, her arms around my neck as she presses herself against me.

"Thank you ladies for boarding the Jane express. Destination: Gondra. Please don't stick your arms and legs out of the vehicle and don't worry about the lightning it will not do anything to you. Please enjoy the trip." I say as I try to do my best impression of a train conductor.

They both giggle, Anna tucking herself obediently in my arms and Eliza sticking to me even more closely somehow. I don't even know how she did. I shake my head at their antics and activate my 'lightning form'.

Alright my naming sense sucks, so what?

I crouch slightly and put force into my legs, shooting forward. This time I don't use the full speed I can reach like earlier. Even if we may be pursued, I doubt they will catch up anytime soon. They would already have.

It takes us a bit more than half a day to finally see the Dome of the capital in the distance, and I'm a little surprised at that. Seems like my speed in a straight line is indeed quite high. We did take a couple of brief breaks though. And each time they insisted to swap places.

As we approach the city we decide to slow down to a walk. I stop my transformation too. I highly doubt the army will let a weird foxgirl shining with lightning walk into the capital. Their reactions would be funny. But prison isn't on my bingo card.

It's after around an hour that we see the gates to enter. They are massive. And very busy. There's a long line of people that wants to go in. But a massive amount of soldiers are blocking the gates and inspecting everyone. That makes sense I guess. With Ouroboros's attacks on the cities and the train. I just wonder how they would know if a member of that group is trying to enter.

Yes that tattoo is certainly known by the authorities. But it would be quite dumb to be recognized because of that right? They must have a way to conceal that. If not... Well I guess it would be easy to spot and arrest them.

The soldiers are still quite efficient and it doesn't take very long before it's our turn. Before arriving at the gates we took out some luggage. Why ? Because I have no idea if an ability like mine already appeared at some point. And so I'd rather avoid people knowing about it. At least not the common soldiers and civilians.

A quick inspection and we can finally see the city.

One of the first thing we notices are the building stretching high toward the sky. They are a mix of modern and medieval-ish design. Like they are showing humanity's re-progression after the advent of the dungeons so long ago. It should have felt weird. But there's a strange harmonious vibe coming from them.

The streets are lively, people walking alone or in groups be it of two, three or more. Chatter and laughter spreading from everywhere. My ears fold back a little at that.

Damned sensitive hearing at times like that...

I'm still surprised. I thought a more cautious or somber atmosphere. They did get attacked too right?

We're still dirty from that fight and then the run today. We did change clothes before coming, but now we really need to take a bath. Or at least a shower. Anyway we have a lot of time before having to go to the Academy. We need to be there tomorrow morning, pretty early at that.

"Let's find a hotel. Virina said we just have to show our invitations and we won't have anything to pay." I propose to the two girls.

"Right, I need a bath. Or a shower. Even just a trickle of water to get rid of that dirtiness. Please" Anna answer, her voice miserable.

We giggle at her antics and set off to find somewhere to pass the night. On the way I hear some snippet of conversations about the attack on the train.

It seems like the army arrived pretty fast after the explosion and defeated the Ouroboros members on board before escorting the surviving passengers. I thought a lot would die. But apparently the death toll is less than ten percent. I sigh in relief. I may not have done anything to help, I was quite busy surviving myself, but it doesn't mean I didn't care.

I suddenly take out my phone from my Space with a flick of my wrist. Here it is. There's a lot of missing calls and texts from Virina. Feeling a little guilty I type a quick reassuring message.

[Jane] : Sorry. We're safe. See you tomorrow at the Academy.

[Virina- Mysterious teacher] : Alright.

I'm surprised by her speedy response. The short message doesn't though. She doesn't seem like someone that likes typing. Her answers have always been a few concises words.

When I tuck back my phone in my Space we finally reach a decent looking hotel.

A few moments later we're in a big room with three beds next to each other, separated only by a small bedside table. I'm very tempted to jump on one of them. But I don't want to change the sheets after dirtying them. So, as much as my aching body ask for it, I turn away and gesture at the bathroom.

"Go ahead girls, I'll wash last. And no I'm not coming with you in there." I say with a stern tone.

Anna lowered the hand she was lifting, a pout forming on her lips. Eliza giggle at that and simply go into the bathroom first. We all don't take much time to wash. So before long we're on our beds in pyjamas.

"By the way Anna." I start with wonder in my voice. "Why don't you drink Eliza's blood sometimes?"

She's currently right behind me, arms around my waist and face in my neck. Little gulping sounds travel through my skin. I feel her stiffen a bit at my question. When she lift her head to look at me I see tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"You don't want me to drink anymore?" Her voice is cracking as she answers me.

"N-no! I didn't say that! I'm just curious that's all!" I say as I panic at her reaction.

I didn't expect a reaction this intense. I put my hands on hers and she tighten her hold on my waist, her body relaxing immediately.

"Y-yours s-smell better..." She finally answers with a barely audible whisper.

"O-oh." Is all I can sputter out.

For some reason I don't understand it makes my cheeks burn way too much. I see Eliza smirking in the corner of my eyes so I glare are her. It just makes her smirk wider.

I wriggle out of her arms as if I'm escaping, and go to my own bed to lie on it.

"R-right let's sleep girls. Tomorrow's a busy day."

They both giggle but don't say anything else.

The next morning we set out to the Academy. After asking the receptionist at the hotel we learn that the Academy is on the other side of the city, but a direct line of tram stops in front of it and takes only twenty minutes. We just have to get to the station, and not even one hour later we're in front of the place we'll spend our near future in.

Compared to the gates of the city, those are pretty small. Almost the size of a normal door. Just slightly bigger to accommodate any kind of people passing through. One curious thing is that there's only one guard in front of the door and no one tries to approach him. But the weirdest part: that door leads straight outside the Dome. It's weird to see it like that.

"Invitation letters Misses please." His voice is very deep, carrying a calm professionalism.

My instincts are screaming at me, if I ever try to fight him I will instantly die. That's how powerful he feels to me. So we just give him our letters Virina gave us. His eyes flicks between the papers and our faces, like he's remembering us, then bow respectfully while stepping aside. He opens the door and we are stunned.

I thought we would see the Wilderness. After all that entry is fused with the Dome. But no, beyond it stands a large field protected by another Dome. In the middle of that field is an enormous medieval castle with various towers. We can vaguely see training fields all around.

In front of all that is a sea of people of various race. When we pass through the door and it closes behind us the city disappear. Like we just entered another dimension. I'm sure it's not the case. But whatever shenanigans are at play here isn't the focus.

I take in everything around us. Everyone is nervous, of course who wouldn't be? I spot in the corner of my eyes a cat girl that seems alone. She's shrinking on herself, ears folded back and tail flickering in nervousness. Her hair, ears and tails are a lavender pink. Her face seems soft but I'm not sure, she's too far and not in a good angle to see properly.

My attention is drawn back toward the front when our surrounding gets quiet all of a sudden.

A woman is now hovering in front of all of us. Thanks to my quite better eyesight than most I can see her clearly.

Virina? What the?

I don't really have time to question anything because she start to speak, and it feels like she's talking next to me.

"Hello dear future students. I am Virina, Headmistress of Euclydia Academy. If you are all here it's because you got invited. Be it by a teacher, a coach, maybe even myself." Her voice is as steady as the last time we met her, right when she gave us our tickets and invitations. "Why did you get invited? Because we thought you were someone exceptional. At least someone with talent worth developing."

She pauses for a few seconds, her gaze going over everyone present. I have a feeling she looked at me for a heartbeat longer. Must be an illusion though.

"This still doesn't mean you are automatically accepted in the Academy. You will first need to pass our entrance exam. Please don't be alarmed. We are perfectly aware that some of you got their awakening before the others. Even by a few months. But it doesn't mean anything right now."

Most people's awakening are about what they did before. But there's exceptions like me. Or Anna. Even mage's elements are awakened because they were already close to it and their mind were stronger than most. For people like me though? It almost feels like something random. Even if the dungeon we did hinted at a purpose I'm not sure I understood.

"Why are we testing you, you might think. It's simple. We will first confirm the elements you have. Then verify when you got your awakening. And lastly you will all compete one against the other. We'll judge if you really deserve the invitation you got. Of course students will be paired based on the time of your awakening this year."

Oh. That's why they are checking when everyone got their abilities. It seems pretty fair to me.

It means I won't have to fight Eliza at all. Virina said nothing, but I don't think they will put non-combatants against combatants. Or even healers against mages etcetera. It would be pretty unfair for some.

"The entrance exam will take a week to conclude and the results will be announced at that moment."

Makes sense. I heard, Anna taught me, that the Academy has a lot sections. From combat to crafters, musicians and even chefs.

Wait. Except the musicians... Isn't everything important in a war? Or conflits?

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if someone managed to use instruments to fight. And I don't mean just bashing those on the monster's head. But music.

"That will be all. I wish you all good luck and hope to see you in our halls in a week."

The instant she finished her speech she disappeared. I don't know if it was real flying magic, or an illusion. But if she really was flying then she's fast. Very fast.

I look at the two girls and take their hands.

"Let's go. It'll be fun." I say, smiling at them.

They smile back and we make our way toward one of the booths that appeared while Virina was doing her speech. I was too focused on her to notice how they did it. But I guess they moved it with magic or built them fast. Either could be possible since it's mostly tents.

As we are waiting I take the time to observe how it's done. Apparently we just go in one by one and exit a bit later. Nothing too complicated.

The lines are moving pretty fast and it's soon my turn.

I enter the tent and see a table with some sort of tablet on it. Behind this is a burly human. When he smiles it stretches the various scars present on his face, making him pretty intimidating.

"Hello Miss Denki. Please put both of your hands on the tablet. It will verify the elements you possess." He says. His voice is surprisingly gentle.

"Uh? You know me?" I ask, bewildered.

As soon as the question leave my lips I realize my mistake. Of course he knows. Virina, the literal big boss here, is the one that gave me my invitation. AND I'm the only Foxkin in the world.

"Yes. Lady Virina told us." He answer, confirming my thoughts.

I smile sheepishly and finally put my hands on the imprint of the tablet. It suddenly lit up with every colour possible for a brief second before a sharp pain go through my head. The instant it fades the tablet is lit with only two colour. Dark blue/violet and gray. In the middle of it is a date. The day of my awakening.

I tilt my head on the side as I look at the man. His mouth hang open in astonishment.

"Hmmm was that normal?" I ask with curiosity in my voice and tone.

He shake his head with his brow furrowed.

"No... Hm. Maybe it was just the tablet malfunctioning for a brief instant after all the tests before you. I'll still report that to the headmistress. You can go now, thanks you." He answer slowly, still confused.

I shrug a little and simply leave the tent. I don't know what happened, but as long as it doesn't come bite me in the ass later, I don't care.