Canaan: My World To Live

Essairyn returned the container of water to her inventory and lowered her head while turning to face him. With narrowed eyes and forearms resting on her t.h.i.g.hs, she asked, "Didn't we already discuss this? Why are you bringing it up again when I already decided to go?"

Darren's eyes twitched as he grimaced at her hostile tone.. "I see. Never mind." 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦. He shot up from his seat and stalked off.

As the boy strode away, Essairyn sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦… She pressed down on her upper legs and heaved herself up from the rock.

Looking at Darren's backside, she ruffled her hair in discontent. 𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥? 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨? She clasped her hand over her thumping heart and breathed in deeply.

… 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸; 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨…

For all her life on Earth, she had used her head and not her heart or gut. The feeling of release was still something she hadn't gotten used to, and she d.e.s.i.r.ed to grasp onto it more—to claim that freedom and mold it into something spectacular. That 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 she had always been missing.

"Hey!" A group of boys approached her. "How was sparring with Knight Hætherin? Do you think you can teach me some moves?" One of the boys punched several times into the air for accompanying effect. Then they all turned to Essairyn with expectant, eager expressions.

"Umm," murmured the girl who was at a loss. "I didn't really… get a handle on it much to teach anyone anything.." She scratched her head sheepishly. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥!! She furtively gritted her teeth behind slightly pursed lips that curled up into a forced smile.

"Oh, that's okay!" laughed the boys. "It's only the first day. Besides, that you can even last against him is pretty amazing!"

Essairyn blushed a little inside without it showing on her face. "Haha, thanks. I have a lot to learn."

"By the way," interjected the boy in front closest to her, "where did you get that water container? It doesn't look like the bottles you get at the store!"

"Yeah, it almost looks like it was crafted!" agreed the boy next to him.

"Oh, now that you mention it, it does! Do you know how to craft things, Essairyn?"

Her eyes widened a bit as she gazed slowly at the boys. "Uh yeah. I made that container out of wood…"

"Wood?! And then you painted it over? That's pretty cool! How did you do that?"

"Stupid, she obviously carved it using magic." The boy elbowed his overly enthused friend.

"I meant the paint, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥!" His friend made a face while accentuating his last word.

"That, I covered it with a waxy, colored paint," said Essairyn quickly before the friends could start bickering. She wouldn't go into the details of it of course.

Even though she now learned that magic users could also be "crafters," she wasn't going to mention that the 'paint' was actually plant dye, wax, and oil mixed together. Merely staining the wood with plant or berry-based ink wouldn't be enough to really dye the container a color. Also, it wouldn't look good. In truth though, Essairyn just had fun experimenting with 'making paint' and decided on this particular blend.

On that note about crafting, she asked after a breath's hesitation, "Is crafting that uncommon?"

"Hm?" grunted a boy with a raised eyebrow. "Well sorta. It's hard to control your magic to that degree of dexterity. Why? Is it common where you come from?"

He was referring to her hometown as the trainees didn't know that she was a traveler. But put on the spot without knowing exactly what he meant, she hastily answered, "No, I was just curious why my water container was that eye-catching is all…"

With the focus reversed back onto him, the boy simply replied, "We just thought it looked pretty well made since we didn't believe at first that you were a rank B mage."

"Rank B? Since when was I that rank?" Essairyn's head tipped to the side.

"You're not?" chorused the boys in surprise.

"I didn't take any test." She blinked.

"Huh, I guess it was just a rumor then," said the boy who first brought up ranks. "But you're definitely strong! So that rank is probably pretty close!"

"Ah, thanks," murmured Essairyn. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩? 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦…

Her musings were broken by Hætherin's booming voice. "Everyone, regroup! It's time for three versus one training!"

The trainees collectively g.r.o.a.n.e.d while rushing to gather in front of the senior knight. For the next hour or so, they rotated fights so that everyone fought as the outnumbered one, once. When it came time for Essairyn's turn, however, Hætherin increased the number to ten.

At first, she felt overwhelmed for various reasons. One being it was an abrupt change that caught her off guard, and another being it made her bashful. She didn't deny that was self-gratifying to receive special attention, but overall, it didn't settle well into her stomach. She just wanted to live life easily without being singled out.

After three versus one sparring, Hætherin immediately moved onto the next training session, garnering further hatred from the trainees. Their unanimous loathing was what fueled them to persist together. Unbeknownst to them, this was exactly the kind of situation that Hætherin was hoping to achieve. Hardship naturally could form bonds. But while it went according to plan, he wasn't so satisfied on Essairyn's end.

Peering at the girl who was currently sitting out of group combat for overall fairness, Hætherin pondered what the girl's future would hold. Everyone would face hardsh.i.p.s, and knights training would help in dealing with it by exposing cadets to simulated difficult situations.

But Essairyn would have to face challenges with higher degrees of intensity in order to be instilled with that necessary sense of urgency, distress, and determination. This meant that those around her could be involved in unduly danger. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘖𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩?

Seeing her solitary figure propped up nonchalantly against a tree trunk, curiosity mixed with concern glimmered in the depths of the man's eyes. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴…

Hætherin couldn't help poring over the possibility of a catastrophic mission happening like last time in Farinheld. Unlike the ignorant trainees, as a senior knight, he knew about the deal she made with the Academy in order to receive free training. He also was briefed on her and Darren's status as travelers from Earth. Hætherin merely connected the information received yesterday to faces today.

His eyes flickered over to Darren within the clashing mob of trainees. His mind flashed back to when he eavesdropped on their conversation. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭?Although Darren possessed no extraordinary abilities, he was still above average considering he was the most novice out of all natives present. He could live a successful and comfortable life without Essairyn. It was early enough for them to go their separate ways.

He shook away the rumination and issued the trainees to stop fighting. It was enough for today. They would return home for supper now. Jubilant cheers resounded in the forest, startling the birds out of the trees. The way home felt quicker than going to the hills.

Back in the dorms after dinner, Essairyn was currently standing resolutely in front of Darren's closed door. Since their conversation about the Farinheld mission, they hadn't spoken a word with one another again. She didn't want any bad blood or miscommunication between them, so Essairyn confidently rapped on the wood. A few seconds later of footsteps approaching, the door cracked open.

"Darren! I just wanted to talk about today in the forest! I—" she began quickly but then halted abruptly after seeing who opened the door.

It was Aispin. He leaned languidly on the doorframe and tipped his head to the opposite side. The middle section of his bangs drooped in the same direction, obscuring his right eye slightly. The leisurely pose was charged with charm and sent a strange tingle through Essairyn's center.

𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦—! … 𝘖𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭? 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.…𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. She inwardly laughed and waved her nervousness away from being caught off guard.

"Hello, Aispin."

The boy straightened his pose slightly and faced his head forward. His ocean blue eyes glittered like sun-struck waves as he greeted, "Hello, Sairyn."