After spending about an hour and half chatting and eating with my friends I decided I needed some fresh air. "Hey guys I'm gonna get some fresh air. I'll be back." I explained, standing up and putting on my cloak on. Liyah and the rest nodded and I excused myself. I briskly made my way outside into the darkness of the night, walking towards the shared courtyard and sat down on a bench. Taking a deep breath, I felt my body become lighter. "Hey is that you, Lydia" some guy called out. I looked up and saw Chris and another figure approaching me. "Hello Chris," I said standing up. I then looked to the guy next to him and my eyes widened, it was Conner. "Oh this is the person I wanted to introduce you to, his name is Conner. Conner this is Lydia." He said doing self introductions. Then Conner said something I didn't expect, "can I have a word with Lydia alone for a bit." Both mine and Chris's eyes widened at the request. Chris looked between Conner and I before turning back to me, "as long as it's fine with you." "Sure" I responded, intrigued by Conner's sudden statement.
Chris turned away and Conner and walked to a more secluded location. He finally stopped and turned towards me. I looked at him and asked, "is there anything you need-" "SWOOSH" Conner unsheathed his swords and pointed it to my neck, taking me by surprise. Focusing I used wind mana to jump back a few feet and sent a fireball his way. Sidestepping, Conner avoiding the fireball and then charged. "Wait!" I called out, stopping him in his tracks. "Why are you trying hurt me?" I asked, trying to defuse the situation. If we were gonna fight I would want that as a last resort. "During the rehearsals, what did you see?" He demanded, still in a fighting stance. "I'll tell you if you put your weapon away" I proposed. Taking a moment to think, Conner slowly put his weapon away. We were still a good 10 feet apart so I slowly walked forward. "Mages have an ability to sense mana, If I concentrate enough I could be able to sense mana in good detail. But your abundance of mana was hard not to notice. It was different from any other mana I have seen." I explained, stopping 5 feet away from him. "That's why I looked so surprised at rehearsals," I added.
When I finished my explanation, Conner turned around and pulled at his hair in frustration. "Dammit!" He exclaimed. He then turned around and walked back stopping right in front of me. The tension in the air seemed to rise as he glared down at me. From up close I could clearly see him in the darkness of night. He was half a head taller than me with midnight black hair. His jawline was sharp and his navy eyes burned into mine. "You can't tell anyone about what you saw," he warned in a low voice, sending a shiver down my spine. Schooling my expression I raised my head and challenged, "what if I don't, this mana of yours could be an important discovery". "You'll be dead before you even have the chance" he threatened reaching for his sword handle. Seeing this I striked him in the chest, using wind to make him fly backwards. "I don't think I'll die that easily" I countered angry at his threat. "And calm down, why would I tell people about something that doesn't affect me." I added walking over. Relief washed over his face, then he seemed to remember what he just did turning away quickly. "Ehem, I'm sorry about what just happened. I didn't mean to draw my sword. I get like that sometimes." he apologized. "Your fine, when people get defensive it can turn quite ugly" I responded. "Can you just forget about all of that" he asked scratching the back of his neck. Thinking for a bit I came to a decision and curtsied, "hello, my name is Lydia Raven". It took him a bit to notice what I did before a small smile appeared in his face, "it's nice to meet you Lydia, I'm Conner Seref" he greeted bowing.
"I think we should find Chris now" I suggested. Conner nodded and we both started walking out and saw Chris near the fountain. He waved at us and we made our way over to him. "It looks like you guys are on better terms" he wondered aloud, looking between us. "Yeah everything's sorted out," I answered. "That's great, then it would be a problem if he comes with me tomorrow to spar, right?" Chris asked taking both me and Conner by surprise. "I'm fine with it, are you?" I asked, glancing at Conner. "Sure and we can test that hypothesis of yours" he agreed. First I was confused before I remembered that I said that I wouldn't die so easily. A confident smile spread across my face. "You're on!"
After Chris and Conner left I decide it was about time to go back to the banquet. I entered the hall again and found Liyah and Rachel. "Hey I'm gonna head back to the dorm now. I have an early morning tomorrow." I told them. "Yeah get some rest" liyah said. Smiling, I walked outside again and flew back to the dorms. I flew into the building and went up to my room. Then, I took off my heels and walked to my room. Taking off my dress I walked into my bathroom and washed off my makeup. After showering I change and dried my hair. Falling into bed I grabbed my phone and set an alarm for 7. Looking at the time it was already 10. Sighing, I laid down and fell asleep.
"Beep, beep, beep" my alarm went off waking me up. I sat up and stretched again. I stood up and walked into the kitchen to check Liyah's room to find her lights were still off. I walked in and lightly shook her awake. "Hmmm" she hummed, eyes fluttering open. "Lydia?" She questioned half awake. "Remember you're coming with us to spar," I reminded her. Liyah's eyes shot open and sat up, "how much time do we have," "we still have about 45 minutes. Let's change and then eat a light breakfast." I explained walking back to my room. Once I got back to my room I put on navy pants and a grey sports tank top. I then grabbed the issued first year cloak that was black and put it on. Then I found the badge to show I was a rep and pinned it in the cloak. I grabbed my phone and walked back out to the kitchen. "I made each of us half a sandwich," liyah said, giving me it. I sat down on the table and ate the sandwich. After we finished we made our way to the arena. Even though the biggest part of the arena was the actual arena, underneath there were sparring rooms. As we arrived at the arena I saw 2 figures waiting in front of the arena.