Chapter 70: The Grudge - Part 1
By the time afternoon rolled around, Kir was nursing quite a lot of bruises from all the training the arcane knight cadets did.
His assessment about their operating beyond the level of Olympic athletes turned out to be more than correct. He’d been able to fight Ata because he’d been warmed up and fresh, but as the day wore on, he struggled to keep up during the sparring matches.
Thankfully he was expecting his magical uniform to be delivered to the school within the next few days. He’d remembered after receiving his helmet and had rushed with Rain to the store to put in a commission and get his measurements taken. Soon he’d no longer have to worry as much that he’d run out of clothes, even though it had cost him a pretty penny, Rain had managed to talk down the price.
His current shirt, however, increasingly felt like it wasn’t going to survive until then.
Throughout the day, many of the cadets would come and go, but for Kir, that prospect involved more travel than was convenient. He’d gone up to the Academy cafeteria for lunch only to find a long line that kept him from eating until he had only ten minutes left to get to his next Arcane Knight training session.
He was surprised, however, when another student joined him in the elevator.
It was the girl with the potion from the entry exam. "Oh... Hi... um... Kir," the girl said as she entered the elevator from the Girl’s Dorm with a tray full of green potions in round bottles stacked two high. She very studiously avoided eye contact with him as she looked at the corked glass bottles, her wavy blonde hair covering her face.
"What floor?" Kir asked.
"Oh, um, ground floor," she said.
The elevator started moving down slowly. The button was already pressed so Kir didn’t have to do anything. He leaned against the clear glass of the elevator. "I’m sorry, but I’m at a loss for your name," he said. She was wearing a second-year uniform, and he recognized her from the entry exam but that day had been rather full.
"It’s Ann," she said, continuing to stare hard into her potions.