Chapter 2: Burst End

Melia stood outside the door of the training room, breathing deeply, mentally preparing herself for what she thought was going to happen. The instant the clock tower chimed two, she walked inside.

Reddel was waiting for her in the observation room, sitting in a chair alongside his staff.

"Ah, Melia! Excellent timing." He stood up, his moustache twitching with a life of its own. "Come, let us head inside."

Melia followed him down the stairs wordlessly. Upon entering the training room proper, she saw a pair of staves perched against the wall. She recognised one of them as the one she had tried out several days ago, while the other featured an empty circle at the top and was painted a vibrant orange.

"First things first." Reddel held up the first staff, his face growing serious. "This is a Training Staff. You will be using this staff for practice, both alongside me and on your own. It is not to be removed from this room for any reason. Don't try to sneak it out, as its diamond design is strongly distinctive and will be recognised by anyone immediately. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

"Good." Reddel's face cracked into a wide smile. "Don't worry, that's really the only hard rule I have for you. Ether is a flowing, living force. If I put you under an iron fist all the time, you'd never learn a thing about it. Now then." He indicated the other staff. "This is a Practice Staff, and it's yours to keep. You can use it whenever you want, wherever you want, because it can't actually produce elementals. It gives you tactile feedback, so you can tell you're doing it right, it just doesn't make anything happen. Its orange colour and empty design make its nature clear to everyone. Got it?"

Melia was not prepared to reflect Reddel's informal mannerisms. "Yes."

"Okay then. Now, everyone does training their own way, and here's mine. You come down here three days a week and put in an hour of practice. I'll be here, but unless you ask for help or I think you're having a bad time, I'll just be observing. Once I think you're ready, I'll teach you something new. But for now, we'll stick with what you know." He pointed to one of the targets on the ceiling, labelled with an 8. "Let's see you hit target 8 with a summoned bolt."

Melia took up the Training Staff and started concentrating on the element of lightning. With no practice since her first attempt and no active thunderstorm to inspire her, it took a whole twenty-five seconds to successfully generate the ball of electricity. It then took no time at all for her to affix her gaze on the target and side-swipe the staff at it, launching the elemental towards it for a perfect strike.

"Very good." Reddel nodded. "Many first-timers can take an entire minute to summon an elemental. As you can guess, it simply takes practice to speed up the process." He demonstrated by producing a bolt of his own in the span of one second, which he subsequently dispelled without attacking. "Now, let's see you hit target 3 with a flare. Don't worry about the sprinklers, I have disabled the ones in this half of the room, and ordered some fireproof targets."

Having only succeeded once before, it took a full forty seconds for Melia to summon the fiery sphere, which she lobbed without trouble towards the designated target. This time, the detonation did not cause anything to be set alight.

"Excellent. Incidentally, your aim is impeccable. Some of my previous students have had trouble aiming their shots, which is not easy to fix."

Reddel continued ordering specific elements at specific targets, and eventually let Melia choose her own. Melia hit every one without fail, the only obstacle being her expectedly slow summoning time. She improved during the session to an average of fifteen seconds, though Reddel said this would go back down after time spent not summoning until enough practice was built up.

As the hour continued, Melia felt each launched elemental boosting something inside her. She mostly paid it no heed until it became too strong for her to ignore.

"...Mr. Reddel? I am feeling a...a pressure in my body." She didn't know how else to describe it. It wasn't currently unpleasant, but it did feel similar to pressure rising in a sealed vessel.

Reddel's eyebrows went up. "Are you now? Well then, you seem to be progressing quite quickly. Please keep at it."

Melia didn't know what to make of this comment. Was this sensation expected of an ether user? Somewhat disturbed, she resumed casting elements at targets, each one building the feeling up more. But after only a few more shots, she stopped again, leaving a bolt hanging on her staff.

"I...I...I do not feel I should continue." She felt quite bloated, and was unwilling to make any sudden movements. "I...I feel like I may...rupture something."

"Keep going." Reddel's tone was both firm and soothing. "What you are feeling is a critical part of the process. It is completely safe."

Becoming slightly dizzy, Melia closed her eyes for a few seconds before looking at the next target. Using the bare minimum of arm motion, she sent her active bolt towards the target, travelling slowly but eventually hitting its mark. The pressure inside her built even further.

"Yes! One more should do it! Discharge with authority, it will be more effective overall!"

Melia reluctantly began to focus on summoning a flare. Her nausea was building quickly, disrupting her concentration and doubling her time. Selecting a target at random, she gave her staff a strong swing in its general direction, expecting to vomit any moment.

As the flare soared through the air and struck the target, Melia could feel the sensation reach its breaking point. She covered her ears, expecting a loud noise for some reason. Instead, she felt the bloating inside herself burst, unleashing a vividly multicoloured aura all over her body. She stood up straight for the first time in several minutes. She felt great - no, wonderful - no, INVINCIBLE.

"Perfect!" Reddel backed off. "A splendid first burst aura! Now, focus the energy through your staff!"

Melia heard the instructions as if from a great distance. Twirling her staff around, she jabbed it into the air and did as she was told, releasing a golden sphere of light in all directions. The blast drained all the built-up power from her body, bringing her senses back down to earth. She felt both liberated and exhausted.

"Astounding!" Reddel clapped his hands together. "My word, you're a natural if I've ever seen one. Absolutely flawless Burst End execution on the first try! Too weak to have any effect, but regardless, none of my former students could lay claim to that."

Quite unused to receiving this level of praise, Melia did not react. She was more interested in trying to recreate the aura and maintain its feeling of unlimited power for more than a single attack - and figure out how to do so without the bloated feeling beforehand.

"I can see it in your eyes," continued Reddel. "You want to learn more about what has just occurred, don't you?" Receiving a nod in reply, he began the explanation. "Discharging elementals produces a buildup of ether energy within yourself. Once this energy reaches critical mass, it ignites into a burst aura. With a burst aura active, not only are subsequent elementals much more powerful, but it unlocks the potential of an art known as Burst End. The effects of Burst End vary between users, and you are not yet practiced enough for these effects to become noticeable, so we will have to wait to see what exactly it does."

Melia thought about how the Practice Staff would not create elementals, and so would not allow her to practice Burst End outside her training sessions. "...How do I practice Burst End if I must build up a burst aura in order to use it?"

Reddel shook his head. "There's no way to use a burst art without a burst aura to power it. Once you get better at using your elementals, you'll be able to charge your burst aura faster, but there's no shortcut here. It's the very reason that burst arts are tricky even for experienced practitioners. But don't worry about that. Focus on what you can control - your elementals. They are the foundation of everything you do."

There was a long pause as Melia considered the information. Upon first choosing the staff several days ago, she did not know that its usage extended any farther than "summon elementals, shoot elementals". She did not recall seeing any staff users ever bursting into an aura or unleashing spheres of light - then again, she had only ever seen them as guards and performers, never during a serious battle.

Reddel looked at the clock. "We still have ten minutes, but I think you've done enough for today. You've already achieved more success then some of my former students have reached in a month, I think that deserves a little reward." He reached into his vest and extracted a small wrapped piece of fudge. "Don't get too used to me handing out candy, now!"

Melia took the fudge and slipped it into her pocket before exchanging the Training Staff in her hands with the Practice Staff leaning against the wall. Looking down at its bright orange hue, she suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed, realising that the staff would act as a giant "I'm a trainee" sign to any who saw it. At least she would only have to carry it around this once - she could keep it stored in her room and never need to take it outside again. If I collapse it, then attach it to my belt like so...there, it should remain mostly hidden from view as I walk. She then realised she had a question.

"Mr. Reddel? How long will it take before...before I can get a staff of my own?"

"Eager to wield your own personal staff instead of this reused training one, eh? I can't fault your enthusiasm. Unfortunately, that decision is out of my hands. Your evaluator, Keldon, will decide at what point you may have a functional staff of your own."

Unsurprised that the answer was "a while", Melia nodded and turned to leave. "I shall see you on Wednesday, then."

"Indeed."

For the next month, Reddel mostly oversaw Melia's summoning practice from the sidelines. Melia had progressed to summoning bolts in twenty seconds when cold and ten seconds when warmed up, while flares took a few seconds longer. Her burst aura was also becoming more consistent, building from empty to full with exactly thirty discharges every time, though the sensation was still unpleasant and the subsequent Burst End had yet to show any effects on its targets.

Intent on improving, Melia had begun spending a large chunk of her free time in her chambers, using her Practice Staff to repeatedly summon pretend elementals. It was difficult to tell whether she was gaining any practical advantage out of it, but it was surprisingly effective at reducing any frustrations she wound up acquiring during the course of her daily life.

With the month coming to a close, Melia walked into her training session to find both Reddel and Keldon waiting for her.

"Hello, Melia." Keldon began. "Welcome to your first monthly evaluation."

Melia had quite forgotten that she was to be tested once a month. She suddenly became nervous - Keldon's tone of voice got across the impression that he was not to be disappointed.

"The process of evaluation is quite simple. I will set tasks for you to accomplish, based on what Reddel has informed me you currently know, and you will complete them to the best of your ability. You will be marked by various criteria specific to each task, such as completion time. Once the test is complete, I will compile a report, which will be given to both Reddel and the Empress within a few days. Evaluations will be held once every month, but reports need only be written if a major change in ability has occurred. Do you have any questions?"

Her heart beating a little uncomfortably fast, Melia shook her head. "No, I do not."

"Good. Reddel will watch from up here. Let's get started." Keldon started heading down the stairs. Melia glanced at Reddel, who simply gave an encouraging smile, before dashing down to follow.

The training room was already prepared. A row of ten humanoid dummies stood in a clearing, while a total of twenty blue bullseyes of various sizes were hung across the walls and ceiling. Melia picked up the Training Staff from where she had left it and awaited further instructions.

"Your first task is to strike each of the twenty blue bullseyes in numerical order, alternating between bolts and flares. You will only be scored on accuracy." Keldon produced a clipboard and prepared to start writing. "You may begin at any time."

Melia calmed down slightly. Not only was she starting with something easy, but this was basically a warm-up session so her summoning time would be at its best during the timed tests to come. Taking a deep breath, she found the first target and started summoning.

As expected, the accuracy test was rather trivial for her. Each direct hit disconnected the target from its perch, leaving it to fall to the floor with a satisfying thump.

Keldon kept a straight face while he jotted notes. "Good. Hold still for a moment, please." He extracted an ether wand from his cloak and began making a complex motion with it. "To keep variables under control for each test, I must remove your discharge energy."

Melia could feel a draining sensation, as if someone had stuck a straw in her body and was sucking everything out. It was quite disconcerting.

Keldon finished the spell and tipped the wand into a bottle, filling it with a thick multi-coloured liquid. "I will store your energy for later, to save time." He stashed the bottle and wand back into his cloak, pulling out a stopwatch.

"Your next task is to strike each of these ten dummies with summoned bolts from behind the indicated line. You will be scored on both time and accuracy. The timer will begin in 5...4..."

Melia shook off the feeling of being drained and hurried to the line drawn on the floor.

"3...2...1...Go!"

Melia started the process of repeatedly firing bolts. Under time pressure, her summoning time became much less consistent, a problem that started growing worse as she continued summoning and firing with no pauses in between. Her final time was two minutes and seventeen seconds.

The third task was exactly the same as the second, though with flares instead of bolts. Not given much time to mentally recover from the previous race, Melia took almost three minutes to throw ten flares. Keldon drained her discharge energy again before continuing.

"Now, we will measure the damaging force of your elementals." He pointed to a device sitting on top of a stack of mats. It resembled a giant lollipop, a disc mounted on a stick attached to a numerical display. "Strike this disc with a bolt and a flare. I will record the damaging force reported."

Melia did as she was told. The bolt caused the display to show a 28, while the flare only reached 9. Having no point of comparison, she had no idea whether this was good or bad. She did previously get the sense that the bolt had more up-front power, whereas the flare had the advantage of residual damage.

Keldon directed Melia towards a spot at the end of the line of dummies. "It is now time to test your Burst End. I will be funnelling your stored discharge energy back into you, and once you have achieved burst aura, utilise Burst End. Your score will depend on the nature of the art's effect. You will only have one chance."

This was the first test Melia expected to do poorly on. She prepared herself for the injection of energy, hoping that she could at least inflict the nearest dummy with something.

Keldon siphoned the prismatic liquid out of his bottle with his wand and started moving it back where it came from. Once Melia exploded with power, she quickly raised her staff and detonated the energy. Despite the golden wave travelling over the entire row of dummies, they seemed to be completely unaffected.

Hiding her disappointment, Melia watched as Keldon walked over the the nearest dummy and prodded it in several places with his wand. After then investigating the second dummy, he started writing in his notes.

Finished with his investigation, Keldon moved on. "This completes the ether staff portion of this evaluation. However, as this is your first evaluation, there are some additional tests you must undergo. Follow me."

Melia followed him towards the back of the training room, where the weightlifting equipment was stationed. She had avoided this part of the room before, as it held no interest to her.

"Regardless of your weapon of choice," explained Keldon, "all students in this training course must have their physical strength, ether ability, speed, and resilience monitored at least once a year. As part of your specialisation, your ether ability has already been thoroughly documented. Now we must move on to the other attributes."

Melia did not like the sound of this at all. Her running speed was not that bad, but she had no muscle to speak of, and was always surrounded by bodyguards when outside the palace for a reason.

"First, we will measure your footspeed. Step onto this treadmill and begin running as fast as you can. Maintain your speed for fifteen seconds and then stop."

She did as she was told. The treadmill displayed her top speed in three different units, all of which Keldon recorded.

"Next, your strength." He held out a plain metal rod, with a wire coming out the far end. "Take this."

Melia reached out and grasped the rod. It was weightless.

"I will begin increasing the weight of the rod at a constant speed. Hold it aloft for as long as you can."

He pushed a button on a control panel on the other side of the wire. Melia felt the rod slowly become heavier. Grabbing it with both hands, she moved it to above her shoulders for a better holding posture, but it was still only a matter of seconds before it plummeted out of her grip. She thought she detected a hint of disappointment in Keldon's face as he wrote down a number.

"Now for the final test of this session: the resilience test." He directed Melia onto a large mat. "It is quite simple. I am going to direct a single weak attack at you, and you are to allow yourself to be hit. Your ability to withstand the attack will be recorded."

Melia really didn't like the sound of this, but stood firm. "I am ready."

Keldon took out his wand, muttered to himself a bit, and fired a hair-thin jet of light directly at Melia's chest. She was blasted off her feet, like a piñata struck by a cannonball, and tumbled across the mat breathless with the world spinning madly. Keldon shook his head as he added the final mark to his notes, then cast a healing art on her. Winded but not hurting, Melia slowly got to her feet.

"This concludes the examination. You may now leave." Keldon turned to leave himself.

Melia slowly followed him into the observation room; he had already finished a short conversation with Reddel by the time she arrived, and quickly left the room.

Reddel turned to Melia and interrupted what she was about to say. "Don't judge him by your experience today. Being an evaluator requires being completely impersonal with the student; it's part of why I chose to turn down the job. He's quite a nice guy if you get to know him outside of work."

Melia closed her dangling mouth and went to looking downcast. At least I won't get beaten up every month, she thought.

COMBAT TRAINING EVALUATION

28 March Entirmina 297

Evaluator: Keldon, James

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: Antiqua, Melia

Gender: F

Race: High Entia father, Homs mother

D.o.B: 22 February Entirmina 232 (age 65)

Height: 134cm

Weight: 39.9kg

Specialisation: Ether staff

STATISTICS

Note: Due to low magnitude, all provided values are estimates. Each value is scored on the related Eryth Combat Scale.

Physical Strength: 2 As an undersized adolescent girl, not much was expected in this category, and not much was delivered. While this is to be monitored, the recommended action is patience.

Ether Attenuation: 11 It has always been known that Melia's ether affinity is quite high, a trait that now manifests itself very clearly. It is expected that this will continue to be her strongest attribute throughout her life.

Agility: 3 Despite a reasonable running speed, Melia is somewhat uncoordinated. As this can also be attributed to adolescence, no action is currently necessary.

Resilience: 20 Even with her small stature and hybrid nature taken into account, this is a shockingly low score for someone of her age. Recommend physical examination to confirm that she is in good health.

Overall Combat Level: ~0.15 Melia shows incredible offensive ether potential, but is very behind the curve in strength and defences. Only time will tell whether this will be rectified through age.

ARTS

Elemental Discharge: A Once she has summoned an elemental, Melia can send it at a target with perfect accuracy without delay, though she currently seems to require physical motion to do so. At present, she requires 30 discharges to activate her burst aura, which is significantly ahead of schedule.

Summon Bolt: B+ Summoning time varies between 10 and 20 seconds, with less consistency and degrading performance under pressure. Discharged bolts are very well-behaved, travelling in perfectly straight lines.

Summon Flare: B Summoning time varies between 15 and 25 seconds, with less consistency and degrading performance under pressure. Discharged flares tend to follow curved paths, though they still have perfect accuracy.

Burst End: D+ While it is impressive that Melia has caught onto a burst art very quickly, the fact remains that it has yet to have any effect, and a single usage drains her entire burst aura. For now, all that can be said is that more practice is necessary.

Overall Arts Grade: B While an oversimplification, it would not be incorrect to say that after a big head start, Melia has fallen into a more natural rate of learning. Recommended next step: continual practice of known arts. Once enthusiasm for practice wanes and desire to learn something new rises, suggest a non-elemental ether art, possibly one of status as opposed to damage.