Much of the snowfall has stopped as the world of Eyur enters a new day once again. Avryn accompanied Vyktria as they bid farewell to Haley and friends. They journeyed back to the Academy. The two shared war stories as they went.

  They parted ways at the courtyard to find their squad mates.

  “See ya,” she waved goodbye.

  A crowd of freshmen approached him. Young hopefuls recognized him from afar. They bombarded him with a plethora of questions, curious on his life and current training regimen. The men asked the training questions, while a handful of women were more interest in his personal life.

  This sort of thing overwhelmed Avryn. He kept it humble and settled for the safe questions. They were all amazed by his Battle Festival performance, especially in the fight against Leandros. A huge crowd was forming, a bunch of the seniors had to separate them.

  Avryn saw his squad mates coming by and retreated to them. The Wildermann siblings were smiling as that occurred. Valoche remarked on his rising popularity of late. Avryn turned and barely recognized them. Valoche was leaner, and lighter on his feet judging by how he was walking. Tvira had a more elegant style as she got used to the city life. Meanwhile, Rinna seemed more graceful in how she carried herself.

  “Looks like some young lion has started growing his own mane,” Tvira pointed out.

  They expectantly looked at Rinna.

  “It suits you,” she complemented.

  “You think so?” Avryn was bambling over his words.

  He asked for a group hug since it had been so long since they were last together. Rinna vehemently refused so he settled for high fives instead. They all gave each other one. They settled down by their usual spot.

  Leifren’s squad wasn’t too far behind. They all caught up with each other. The noticeable changes were on Jenilah and Harver. The former had her blonde hair up in a ponytail instead of her old twintail hairstyle. Harver had gotten more muscle definition. Avryn noticed Leifren’s gun looked heavier and pointed it out.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  “Ha, knew you’d be the first to notice,” Leifren got excited.

  The two of them talked extensively about guns once again. Avryn noticed Jenilah was staring at him with a quick few glances. He let that slide for now. He was happy being among his inner circle of friends again. Kiria was enthusiastic learning how Rinna was doing after all this time.

  The freshman welcoming ceremonies had begun. Headmaster Aldric gave his speech. The entertainment began right after. It was nice reminiscing as they were in that very same position the current freshmen were.

  They all participated in the feast. Valoche and Harver challenged each other to see who could eat the most, which earned a chuckle from the rest. The freshmen were amazed at the sheer amount of food that was consumed between the two of them. Two crowds gathered behind, each rooting for one.

  The rest of the gang continued their talks. Leifren and Jenilah had went on a hunt at sea. Valoche and Tvira touted they had a better hunt. They had hunted a nest of giant hawks in their homeland. Harver and Kiria went soul searching and became normal sparring partners. All were having a blast sharing their tales, save for one: Rinna. She had mostly disassociated herself as the talks went on or perhaps she was in quiet contemplation. Determining that was a feat in and of itself. Avryn took special attention to that, and he knew the answer.

  The performance went on as they usually did. A dazzling spectacle of color and sound dotted the Academy courtyard. The instructors were in a cheery mood as well as the rest of the student body. Cheers rang through the air as each maneuver earned an ooh and gasp from the crowd. The next act had a bunch of breakdancers perform feats such as doing a triple backflip in the air and landing with a perfect split.

  The support class were in charge of the cooking. Its head chef raised his spatula,

  “Who wants seconds?” he exclaimed.

  Valoche went in for another fill,

  “I do.”

  Harver was trailing behind but he was not out. Pride was keeping him in this food fight. He raised his hand,

  “Me too!” he exclaimed.

  If one could look closer, Harver’s stomach had started to bulge from such an intake of food. Avryn gave him the heads up,

  “Don’t eat too much what your pride allows, mate!”

  Avryn had his fill. He noticed Rinna only ate lightly. Her plate was mostly clean. He had a feeling he knew where she had gone. He looked and saw her silhouette climbing up the same building as she did before. He waited for a bit, and saw her gazing from the same spot. He looked back down to see everyone having their fun. Once again, he saw from the corner of his eye Jenilah staring at him for a brief moment.

  He took his time, formulating his answers with each step taken. He reached the roof. Rinna was still there.

  “Thought the saying goes ‘new year, new me’, isn’t it?” Avryn asked.

  “I am not the same woman that stood here one year ago, if that’s what you’re saying,” she replied.

  Her voice was less monotone. It started to have the same grace as her mother’s.

  “I…really meant it when I said your hair was nice,” she confessed.

  “Good to know I have your approval. Thanks,” Avryn rested his arms on the guard rail as he leaned forward.

  They talked about their goals for the upcoming year. Training was going to be harder starting tomorrow. They needed to be ready for what’s to come. Avryn stated he wanted to get stronger and help his friends get stronger. Rinna agreed and stated the same, to the extent of just their squad.

  “What about the others? We’ll be sharing the same conflict, no?” Avryn asked.

  “They can handle themselves, I’m not their instructor,” Rinna argued.

  “Fair enough. You gotta learn to trust the person fighting by your side though. What if we weren’t there to help you?” he questioned back.

  “We can talk about what aboutism’s all you want. My answer’s the same. Maybe you’ll understand it soon enough.” she turned away. “At least that’s what I hope.”

  “Alright, alright. I won’t poke the hornet’s nest,” Avryn turned to leave. “Let’s start tomorrow.”