The days after Virgil left for the Hunt were equal parts peaceful and dull. Yuriko spent most of her time training her body, mastering the Animus techniques taught by her father and Armsmaster Byrne and futilely trying to inlay her Facet.

The only highlight to her day was the time she spent at the hall sparring with her peers. New students had arrived in Faron’s Crossing to attend the town’s training camp and she met them in the sparring ring. She hadn’t expected much from the twins but she had been pleasantly surprised.

They were both slightly shorter than her but both had short, golden hair and quite expressive blue eyes. Kind of like puppies.

‘No, no. They’re people, not dogs!’ she furiously thought while she ran on her morning route. Though they did seem oddly familiar for some reason. Krystal was beside…well, behind her as usual. She had unconsciously increased her pace again.

“Wait…up!” Krystal gasped. Yuriko slowed down enough for the other girl to catch up. She needed all of her breath to run so Yuriko was often left to her thoughts. Yesterday’s session was certainly more interesting than all the days of the week before.

“I think I’m in love,” one of the twins--Braden, she later learned--said out loud while looking at her.

She didn’t quite know how to react to that; nobody had ever said anything like that to her. Except for family, of course. She wasn’t really sure if it had been directed at her anyway, so she’d just glanced at him then joined her friends.

Krystal and Mikel were near the lockers and both nodded in greeting. She dropped the duffel bag with her change of clothes by her feet.

“I wonder what we will learn today?” Krystal said as a way to bring her into the conversation. “We’ve been working on Empowered Strike for a week now. I think most of us have reasonably mastered it.”

“Da said I can inlay it if I want to,” Yuriko said, “but I’m waiting to finish my Facet first.”

“Any luck?”

“Still no progress,” she sighed dejectedly.

“I see. Mikel?”

“Good enough. I can inlay Empowered Strike already,” Mikel answered. “Haven't done my Facet yet,” he added in a low voice.

“What’s stopping you?” Yuriko asked curiously.

“Personal reasons,” Krystal answered for him.

“Hmm.” Yuriko frowned but didn’t push.

Armsmaster Byrne came in soon after and they proceeded with the lesson, which turned out to be completely a new one.

“You’ve all gained a fair mastery of Empowered Strike, except for the two of you, see me later and I’ll assess your skills,” the Armsmaster said to the twins. “So, we’re moving on to the next essential technique every citizen in the Empire should know. This is much harder than the previous technique and would have been better served if Spellweaver were the one to teach it but she’s currently busy, so…”

He gestured for the kids to gather around and, once they did, he folded his arms across his chest and started to glow.

The green light of his Animus seeped out of his bare skin and coated his body attenuating about half an inch away from him.

“This is the Field. In direct combat, it is mostly useless, capable only of stopping a slight amount of Animus from passing through it, but that is not its main use. When you encounter a Chaos Storm, if you’re on a ship crossing the Chaos Sea and there is a hull breach, or if you directly enter the Tidelands, then the Field technique is necessary for your survival.”

Yuriko raised her hand. “Is it similar to the Wyldling’s Field?”

“Good thought and in fact, our version of Field is copied from them. It ended up appearing a little different but if you develop your Field enough then the effects may mimic the Wyldlings’.”

“How many lumens will inlaying it cost?” Heron asked.

“You cannot inlay Field because it has no pattern. There may be some who think they have found the pattern but even if it works, it will only work for them. Maintaining your Field has a cost dependent on how prevalent Chaos is in your surroundings. Here, firmly in Rumiga, a Field will barely cost a single lumen per minute. Now, I will instruct you in the proper way to create a Field.” He gestured for each of them to sit down.

“Begin with taking Animus from your core. Bring it up to your heart, then your head. From there, let it spread into your body, do not attempt to give it an Intent. Let it imprint your body, your mind, and your heart. From there let it drift out of your body and hang outside your skin. Let it cover the entirety of your body and let it remember. From then on, only focus on maintaining that imprint, and no matter what happens, nothing will change it.”

Armsmaster’s voice droned on and the rest of the session had been spent trying to produce a Field. None of them succeeded, even by the end of the class.

After that session, some of them started to spar to get rid of their pent up energy. Heron had challenged her as usual. His mastery of his Facet had grown such that any of her strikes that should have hit his protective gear were quickly countered by a hexagon of hardened air.

Not that she was particularly good at hitting things with a sword or spear anyway. She was, however, well-versed in protecting herself, having had more than half a decade of practice with her brothers and father.

Heron was particularly intense also a bit reckless since he was now relying on his Facet for defence. By the end, she’d work up a fine sweat and her clothes clung uncomfortably on her damp skin. Heron breathed heavily across her, trying to catch his breath. He didn’t say much, but then, he never usually did. He kept eyes fixed on hers and she shifted with some discomfort. He looked away right after.

The new-comer twins came up to her after the sparring match.

“Hello, I’m Braden,” the more athletic-looking twin smiled. There was a dimple on his left cheek, Yuriko noted absently. “This is my twin bro, Orrin.”

“Hello,” she answered slowly. “Yuriko.”

“Hi Heron, great showing just then,” Braden called to the other boy before turning his attention back on Yuriko. “We’re new in town, as you may have guessed, here for the training camp”

“You two came here early,” Yuriko said with a raised eyebrow. “It’s another seven days until the camp.”

“So we complained to our uncle,” Braden grinned, “but not anymore, I guess.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What do you want?” Heron grunted, walking up next to her. Yuriko couldn’t help but give him a strange look. This was unusual.

“Just being friendly,” Braden said easily while looking up at her eyes. He glanced at Heron with a smirk. The twins were shorter than Heron and their wide eyes made them look more child-like than anything else. Orrin stood behind his brother and his face was slightly red. He kept shifting his gaze from her to the floor or Braden for some reason.

“Hmm, you boys go ahead,” Yuriko said after a moment while Braden met Heron’s hawkish glare. “I need to shower.”

“Oh, uhm,” Orrin fidgeted as he took a step towards her while pressing the tips of his fingers together.

Yuriko had a sudden urge to pinch his cheeks and pull. Her hand twitched but she held down the irrational urge. “Yes?”

“We were wondering if you, uh, and your friends could show us around town? We rarely get to talk to anyone our age back home, since well, we’re the only thirteen-year-old kids there.”

“Oh-ho, what’s this?” Krystal cut in as she grabbed Yuriko’s arm, “how bold.” Her grin was so wide it almost split her face in two.

“Eh?” Yuriko blinked.

“Well, it’s always good to know people. Sure, we’ll show you around town. If you boys spring for lunch.”

“Of course, it will be our pleasure.” Braden grinned back.

“Tomorrow, an hour before noon, meet us at the statue in the town square. I’m Krystal, by the way,” she winked at them before she tugged at Yuriko’s arm. “See you then!”

Bemused, Yuriko let her friend lead her in the changing room, just managing to drop the training sword into the rack before they got there. Krystal’s shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter that she let out as soon as the door was closed behind them. “Hee hee hee, did you see Heron’s face?”

“Huh? Why? What was on it?”

Krystal rolled her eyes at her, “For someone who can see far, you’re surprisingly blind to what’s right in front of you.”

“Eh, what do you mean by that?” Yuriko poked Krystal’s side eliciting a yelp.

“Nothing, nothing.”

Millie, Ishika, and Maryn were already inside the changing area, unclothed and carrying towels as they headed to the shower stalls on the far side of the room. Like Krystal, Mille’s hips and breasts had already developed somewhat, in rather stark contrast to Ishika and Maryn who had more modest proportions.

Or like herself for that matter. Her bosom had only started to swell a few weeks ago, though her hips had started to broaden a bit earlier.

Krystal ran a finger across Yuriko’s back once she had disrobed, eliciting a squeal.

“Krys!”

“Tsk, why is your skin so pale?” she complained. Krystal’s face and arms had started to tan due to their morning runs but Yuriko’s skin remained evenly pale as if the sun had never kissed her skin. She didn’t redden or burn whenever she spent too much time outdoors either.

“I don’t know.” Yuriko shrugged. “I just don’t tan easily.” She studied herself in the mirror. Her face and hands were slightly darker than the rest of her body but it wasn’t entirely noticeable.

“Your brothers do,” Krystal noted as they headed to the stalls. The hot water began steaming up the place as the three other girls washed up.

“My mother doesn’t either.”

“Hmm.”