NOVEL NEXT 38 – The General Meets a High Elf (Part 1)
Chapter 38 - The General Meets a High Elf (Part 1)
Chloe Evenhart:
I was rushing to get cleaned up in my room. My mom couldn't see me all dirty from rolling around in the grass while dodging Cylla’s fireballs.
She got carried away again...
Cylla always plays with us in that room, but part of me thinks she gets a little jealous when I'm too close to Nate.
"Thank goodness my dress didn't get burned..."
I looked at my dirty face and conjured a floating ball of water.
"It's so good to know magic," I said, washing my face and wetting a cloth to clean myself.
After all those years of reading books, I was finally going to learn from a real teacher. I was so happy to already be able to use my element and even happier when I discovered I could use another. Having that teacher would be a dream come true for me.
Not everyone can afford a good education and develop their magic, so what we had was an opportunity. Our Gem would grow with us, and if we learned to use our powers better, we could become stronger. We also needed to know how to use our magic well before going to the Apsalon Magic Academy. Unlike other Magic Academies, it was where the elite from all the kingdoms studied, so we couldn't afford to be embarrassed. Even in our first year, we had to be as advanced as someone close to graduating from regular Academies.
And there’s still that entrance exam... I’m so nervous.
At the Apsalon Academy, even though it was only for great nobles and cost a fortune in tuition, there was still a terrible exam to assess the mage. The exam covered everything, from noble knowledge, mathematics, kingdom history, magic history, and even the difficult practical exams. The practical exam was conducted with real knights from the Teresia Kingdom. Although it was in a neutral city, part of the Academy's administration was done in conjunction with the kingdoms, and the practical exams were brutal—they wanted the best.
We would have a practical magic test and a practical combat test... I wasn’t very confident.
"It's okay, Chloe! We still have years until that day comes. Mom has already planned our entire education!" I tried to reassure myself.
My family isn’t like other families, at least that's what I understood. To me, all other families were like ours, but Mom said we were different from other families and should keep it a secret. She reassured me that I would be trained in combat and that our teacher would evaluate our Gem and develop a specific mana training regimen for us.
It seems that our teacher in the past said she would always initiate the Everhart heirs into magic because we helped her. I tried to spy on the lessons that Hugo’s twin daughters had with other teachers, but Mom didn’t let me.
They liked having the fire element... they said it would be useful for torture.
I shivered just remembering them.
They're strange, but Mom said they have the potential to be excellent torturer maids.
Hugo’s daughters could go to Apsalon Academy when they reached the age, but I think they would prefer to go to an academy in our territory. They’re very dedicated to training for the work they will have in the future and would also be far from the family if they went to Apsalon Academy.
Part of me wants to go to Apsalon, but I'm a little afraid of being away from home.
Aunt Katie reassured me, saying she would also go to the city and stay in our mansion there since Mom needs to stay with the other Legacies taking care of the territory... luckily, I won't be alone; I’ll have Nate with me.
I sighed just thinking about that idiot.
"Good thing he’s going with me. I don't know how I would handle being surrounded by people I don't know..."
Nate is my first friend, and he's been helping me a lot these past three years. I like talking to him because he understands me and always has some advice for me. Once, I said I hated my mom because she grounded me… he told me I shouldn't say that kind of thing because growing up without a mom was something he wouldn't wish on anyone. He told me that even when she scolded me, it was for my own good and because she loved me.
I felt like an idiot when he said those things...
He laughed in my face and said it was normal for 'my age.' Nate is always training in his free time. I know he lies about not practicing with thunder since I've seen the level of control he has up close, and I've also seen melted silverware in his room. I think he was trying to channel energy into the metal.
One time, I walked into his room and saw him staring at a glass goblet. He was so focused on the goblet that I watched him for a long time. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was trying to break the goblet with his eyes. I laughed at him and said it wasn't possible, but he told me that long ago, a child was trained to scare a tiger with their eyes, and it all started with the exercise of staring at the goblet.
He's so silly... of course, that's not possible.
In the past three years, these hallways have become more lively. Before, I only had the maids to talk to, but I knew I couldn't bother them too much. When Nate came, I finally had someone else to play with, and everything became more fun. We played all the time, and even Cylla enjoyed it when she wasn't ignoring me. Once, I tried to ride on her back, and she got very angry but let Nate try.
As time went on, we became closer friends, camping out in the lake room every night... at least until last year.
That was my fault.
I told Nate I liked him... as a friend. I said I liked him as a very special friend to me and that he was irreplaceable... and that I would punch him if he stopped being my friend.
I might have overdone it...
When I said I liked him... as a friend, just a friend, he was a bit shocked and then ran off. I chased after him, and he told me he'd talk to me later because there was an annoying woman laughing at him.
I bet that was just an excuse to get away from me...
I feel a pain in my heart just thinking that he might someday say he doesn't want to be my friend anymore.
Ever since I said that, I've been a bit embarrassed... and he doesn't make things easier by getting nervous sometimes. He also stopped camping with me.
"No problem, Chloe! We'll make that idiot realize how clueless he is!" I said confidently to myself.