Ch 1.29: Reprieve

“Do you think it’s the dungeon?” Elaina whispered.

“It is very possible,” the System replied, soft glow illuminating their makeshift fortress. They were huddled together under Elaina’s bedsheets, speaking quietly to avoid waking Carline. She had gone straight to bed after dinner and a shower, too exhausted to carry on, but Elaina couldn’t get to sleep, and was talking to the subcore they had brought back to their dorm to pass the time. “I cannot say for certain, but the reemergence of celestial monsters after nine hundred years would certainly qualify as a security concern, and the timing is too close to assume mere coincidence.”

“I just wonder how they would have gotten word here so fast.”

“That is a question of mine as well. There are crystal technologies that can accomplish such tasks, of course, but I should be able to intercept such transmissions. Perhaps my Communications subsystem is more lacking than I presumed.”

“That’s another thing we’ll have to fix? By getting more subcores?”

“Correct.”

“Huh.” Elaina rolled on her side, cradling the System in her chest.

“Elaina, may I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“It is bad enough you have decided I must live in your undergarments—though I do concede it is likely the safest place for me to reside under current circumstances—but must you sleep with me while you are naked as well?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I can put some clothes on. I didn’t realize that would bother you.” Elaina had brought nightgowns of course, but Carline had mentioned that she didn’t mind if Elaina slept naked, so she wasn’t wearing one. Still, she hadn’t thought to ask the System if it would bother her as well. “This is what I’m used to, but I can get up and put something on.”

“Nuh— No, it is fine. If that is what is comfortable to you, then you should not change on my account. I am just the System, after all.”

“Okay… But if you change your mind, let me know, alright?”

“Certainly.”

Elaina laid there for a while, holding the System. It was surprisingly warm while active, not cool to the touch like a stone, though when dormant it did still have a chill. It had been a long day, feeling like it had been nearly two thirds of her life, but she was still wound up. She tossed and turned, holding the crystal orb close as she thrashed about in her bed.

“System, what am I? Like, what is a System Administrator?”

“Hmmm, I suppose I have not fully explained the role. My apologies, it is unusual for the title to be transferred in such a way, and the Administrator has usually prepared for the task their entire life.”

“No, it’s fine. You’ve explained a lot—it is a lot, all of this—and I think I’ll probably need refreshers at some point anyway.”

“That is a fair point, but you should know the basics of the hierarchy at the very least. As Administrator, you have control over all aspects of the System that are not hardcoded into the System itself. Your control is limited right now, due my lack of operational and upgraded subsystems, but will expand as we carry on our work. Your main task is to shepherd the growth of the System as a whole, typically meaning the System Users via subsystem management, but in your case the System itself through subsystem upgrades as well.

“At present, you can manage Users through various ways, some of which you already known. You may review their class information, allocate some of your own responsibilities to them, or dismiss them from the System at anytime.”

“Dismiss them?”

“Correct. You cannot add someone to the System manually, as that protocol is hardcoded, but if someone needs to be removed for any reason, you have the ability to do so.”

“I can’t imagine doing that to Carline…”

“In the past it was used somewhat frequently. There is a limited amount of power the System can bestow, which is why advancement is merit based to begin with, so such a thing was needed when capacity was reached to maintain stronger System Users overall. It was primarily needed for Users who wished to retire from service, but there were occasions where it was used disciplinarily as well.”

“I guess that makes sense.” Elaina yawned, the efforts of the day finally catching up to her. “I think I’m going to go to sleep now. Do you mind if I keep you here for the night? The warmth is nice.”

“I— I suppose that is acceptable.”

Elaina didn’t need to be told twice. She embraced the orb with all her might, and drifted to sleep.

***

Second Day classes were, well, boring. History, Alchemy, Remedial Etiquette. She’d been able to have History with Carline at least, in a large lecture hall with all the first-years, but Alchemy and Etiquette were in smaller classrooms, and they’d been split up. In Alchemy she ended up alone with a smattering of other students she mostly didn’t recognize, and then she learned quickly what Remedial Etiquette was: a place to dump the handful of commoners that were actually accepted to Endrin and teach them proper manners. She was a little offended, but it was honestly probably for the best. At least now she knew why there were eight different utensils at each meal, even if she didn’t know what they were all for yet.

That day was mostly a blur though. Despite a full night’s sleep, Elaina had been exhausted, and staying awake through the tedium had been an ordeal in itself. Third Day, however, was anything but boring.

First class: Practical Aspect Applications, though most students just called it “Combatives.” There were other courses that utilized aspects in later years for non-combat reasons, and some specific students had independent study if their aspects warranted it, like Carline taking Medicine with the school’s head doctor, but Combatives was the main aspect class, three hours a day, three days a week. Elaina had been bumped up to the advanced manipulation course after all thanks to her duel with Waine, and as a result it was easily her least populated class so far, even with the course including two years of students. It had only ten students occupying the entire sand training field behind the castle, and for their first real lesson they had been paired up, one freshman and one sophomore in each pair, after a brief introductory lecture from Calivahn. Elaina had been paired up with Tira, and the smile on her partner as that was announced made her think that it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Hey there, Elaina! Looks like we got paired together. Lucky, huh?”

Elaina couldn’t help but smile back. When she’d heard about pairs she had feared she’d be matched up with Prisma, which she would not be ready for in any way, so realizing it was upper and lowerclassmen had been a relief. She did like Tira too, a lot, had even considered telling her about the System, but she hadn’t even brought it up once Carline and her had decided to wait until Headmaster Alonse got back. It was silly anyway, to trust a Student Watch member over another teacher like Calivahn.

“So, uhm, what are we doing today?” Elaina asked.

Tira shrugged. “Dunno, whatever torture I wanna put you through I guess. Calivahn would normally be doing this individually with you freshers, but there’s some faculty meeting today she needed to get to instead.” She grinned, pulling her whip off of her waist. “We could always have a practice duel.”

Elaina threw her hands up and jumped back. “No thanks!” She’d seen the fear in Waine’s eyes when he thought it was Tira that wanted to duel him, and she didn’t intend to find out why that was firsthand.

Her senior chuckled. “I’m kidding. I’d like to keep you in one piece after all, at least until later tonight.”

Elaina’s heart pounded as Tira winked at her. She hadn’t forgotten—how could she have—that they had made plans to get together today, and that there had definitely been the implication that something… more would be happening as well. Elaina was just about to respond before Tira cut her off, having given her just enough time to squirm in her own thought.

“So I guess I’ll just see where you are. Tell me, what do you already know about your aspect?”

“Uhm, well…” Elaina couldn’t really tell her everything she knew, right? “Just the basics, I guess. I can make chains, or restraints in general I guess, and I can move them around too. Making heavier things takes more mana, moving heavier things takes more mana.” She couldn’t think of anything more, not without delving into talk about classes.

“Well, you know the basics then. Have you thought about what a restraint is, though?”

Elaina frowned, unsure of what that meant. “Not really, I guess.”

“Well, you use chains, and rope. Shackles too, and whatever was under the sand the other day to keep the Ferris bitch under control, but you can use it for any restraint. It’s all down to your understanding of the concept, really.”

“Like… a lock on a door?”

Tira grabbed her chin, thinking. “Maybe. It’s hard for me to say. A lot of aspect control is down to the user’s interpretation of their own aspect. There are limits, of course. Like, you aren’t going to be able to control a banana just cause you tell yourself it’s a restraint, but a lock might count.” She smirked, impish glee in her eyes. “After all, that’s how you really won your duel with Waine, right?”

Elaina froze, eyes widening. “Wha— What do you mean?”

“Did you really think you could hide your secret from me?” Tira stepped closer, towering over Elaina, looking down at her while she patted her coiled up whip in her empty hand. “I know the real reason your skirt came off during that fight.”

How? Tira couldn’t have found out, right? Elaina’s heart was pounding again, even faster. She didn’t know what to do, how to explain herself. Had Tira told anyone else? Gods, I should have told Headmaster Alonse right away. Now they’re going to think I’m hiding things, and I guess I was, but it wasn’t—

“You took it off on purpose with your aspect. To distract him.”

Elaina stared, confused. “Huh?”

Tira laughed, stepping away. “Come on, it’s super obvious. These are fitted, Endrin-quality uniforms. The clasp isn’t just going to come undone like that because you fell over, and a clasp is a type of restraint, right?”

“Oh, uhm, yeah, I guess.” Elaina had misunderstood. Thank the gods.

“Don’t worry though, your secret’s safe with me, and I don’t think most people would even think of it. After all, no one else saw the look on your face in my office the other night, saw how turned on you were at being caught in your underwear. That’s the real reason I figured it out, that only someone like you would even go there with your mind when thinking of ways to win a duel. But hey, if it works, it works.”

Elaina looked down, face turning red. How to explain this? “It’s not… I mean—”

“Shush shush, now,” Tira said, placing a finger on Elaina’s lips, staring down with her deep brown eyes. “No need to protest. I’m not here to judge, after all.” She took her finger off as Elaina scanned the rest of the field, seeing if anyone was watching them. “Do you remember what I told you about today?”

Elaina nodded. It was impossible to forget. Wear something pretty under my uniform.

“Good. Since I have you all riled up, we’ll get this conversation out of the way. There are three ways tonight can go, and you get to choose.” She held up a finger, her voice going stern and her demeanor losing all sense of playfulness. “I don’t usually give people choices, but this is important, so listen closely. If you just want to give me my jacket, you can bring it to my office after dinner, understood?”

“Uh-huh.” That wasn’t what Elaina wanted.

“Second option: if you want to give me my jacket and then spend the night with me, you’ll bring it to my office at curfew. You leave your dorm as the bell rings, giving you enough time to make it there in the grace period. I don’t normally go for such a vanilla offer, but you do deserve a reward for your excellent performance the other day, and I’m feeling generous. Understood?”

“Uh-huh?” She thought she understood. It was… faster than what she’d been thinking when she’d asked Tira to lunch the other day, but the end goal seemed to be the same. She did wonder what “vanilla” meant in this context though.

“Third option.” Tira’s grin grew as she stroked the leather whip. “If you want to stay the night at my place, and do it my way, you wait until exactly one hour after the curfew bell has rung. You’ll wear only my jacket and whatever underwear you wore for me, and then you’ll come to the office. Understood?”

Elaina blinked. Understood? She couldn’t have, right? She couldn’t do that, walk around school in only her underwear and a borrowed jacket after curfew, right? Except for the fact that she already had done that same thing just a few nights prior. “I, uhm, I don’t know if I do understand.”

Tira’s grin widened to a warm smile as she patted Elaina on the head. “You’re a good kid. Tell me, would this be your first time?”

Elaina went beet red. “Uhm, yes…”

“Then I’ll go slow with you no matter what. Still, I can tell what you like already, and I think you’ll really enjoy option three. If that’s too fast though, we can try option two tonight, or even option one, and then up the ante later. Deal?”

Fear. Elaina had a skill that was supposed to deal with that, right? It enveloped her regardless. Maybe fear was the wrong word, but a sense of worry washed over Elaina. She knew which option she wanted to do, even if she didn’t know what it entailed, and that was… exciting, anxiety-inducing.

“You have all day to decide though,” Tira said, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a key, far more ornate than Elaina’s room key, and handed it over. “That’s the spare office key. It’ll guide you to me, so you don’t get lost. For now though, let’s get back to work.”

Elaina had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to focus very well for the rest of the lesson.