From the beginning of the sunset to nightfall, William had all of them focus on their mana. This was the part of the Club Training Camp they agreed to so they would be allowed to go.
Mostly everyone struggled to grasp what William wanted them to do - detect their mana from within. This was no easy task, but once you got the hang of it, it would prove most useful.
Out of everyone participating, only Rose, Thomas, and Alice were able to detect their mana, but only a little bit. Thomas had the most success out of the three of them.
Allen figured Thomas' arm strengthening ability is a byproduct of using his mana. Thomas had always said he used his earth magic to do so, but even he wasn't entirely sure how he did it. Perhaps he is able to subtly control his mana without realizing it?
Either way, during William's lesson, Allen concentrated on his own mana. It was always difficult to do so, since he had two different types of mana - fire and air.
Since his fire mana was always overpowering his air mana, it was always difficult to control his air mana, from the beginning. He could easily move his fire mana, but had to be really careful. Otherwise, anyone mana sensitive like William could detect him and he could be in big trouble if they were to report him.
"Why can't I get the hang of this mana thing?," Thomas yelled and flailed in frustration.
"Just try harder," Cecily suggested.
"Cecily, I am trying as hard as I can!"
"Shut up and get back to it then," Rose remarked.
"Student Council President!," Thomas pleaded.
"Is anyone else having success?," William asked out loud.
"Not really," the others responded.
"I can't find my mana? I thought having more mana would make this easier?," Stephen complained.
"Having more mana actually does the opposite," William advised him. "It is actually a lot easier to use and regulate your mana when you have less"
"Is that why Allen accels at using his?," Stephen asked.
"Thanks Stephen," Allen rolled his eyes.
"Happy to help anytime," Stephen grinned.
"Any progress with you, Charles?," William asked, looking over at him. He had been sitting in his own little area, away from the main circle of everyone else.
"No," he sighed. "I'm trying"
"Well, all of you keep at it. We only have a bit more time until the sun goes down," William reminded them.
"Okay," everyone responded.
They kept up with their training until nightfall, as William had them do. Once they finally reached nightfall, it was time for them to go to bed, as they were leaving early the next morning to go back to London, as they have classes the day after tomorrow.
"Alright everyone, training time is over. Time for everyone to head to sleep so we can leave early tomorrow morning!," William announced.
"Aww, can we train longer? I am on the verge of figuring this out!," Thomas exclaimed.
"Nope! It's time for all of you to get some shut eye!," William responded as he went over to the unpacked stuff from the carriage.
"Where will we be sleeping? I don't suppose we'll be sleeping on the sand, will we?," Rose asked.
"Nope! We have these great things called 'sleeping bags'!"
"Sleeping bags?," everyone asked, curious.
"They're like beds, but portable. They are created by Reynold Enterprises. They create all sorts of things, such as these!," he explained while getting them out.
Wait, where have I heard of them?, Allen thought. Oh right, I saw them when Tom, Lily and I all toured around the shopping district of London for the first time.
"Reynold Enterprises?," Alice tilted her head in confusion.
"It's a company owned by Reynold Windblade, my oldest nephew," William explained. "He's Solomon's son"
"Oh right, I forgot the head director was a Windblade," Thomas awkwardly admitted.
"How can you forget that?," Cecily rolled her eyes.
"I don't know!," Thomas shrugged.
So the company's owner is William's oldest nephew. Interesting…, Allen thought.
"He's a rather important person in London, actually. His company is the largest and the most influential one in London," William explained. "I would be surprised if all of you haven't heard of him"
"Hmph, and he's rather annoying," Rose rolled her eyes.
"You've met him, Rose?," Thomas asked.
"Once, but not for long. It was when I was younger," Rose explained.
"He is quite the talker," Stephen shrugged.
"You've met him too Steph?," Thomas exclaimed.
"Well, of course I have. He's my cousin after all. Though I have only seen him a few times," he explained.
"Alright you all, it's time for some shut eye. Come get your sleeping bag and get some rest. Boys and girls will be split up, and Marth and I will be keeping an eye on both groups," William explained, eyeing all of them, especially the boys.
"Alright," all of the students said at once.
Once they each got their own sleeping bag, they split up into their two groups by gender, figured out how to use them, and then they all finally started to get into their sleeping bags.
"Remember, be quiet. Let everyone get some sleep, and get some sleep yourself. If you guys are too loud, I will personally throw you into the ocean," William advised the boys. Ms. Clark was watching over the girl's group.
"Okay," all the boys said at once.
They each chose their spot, not far away from each other. Charles was the only one who took a spot the furthest away, but close enough to where William could still keep an eye on him. Once everyone was in position, they began to go to sleep.
With them on the relaxing beach, with the moon directly above them and the waves making quiet but comforting sounds, you would think that it would be easy for everyone to fall asleep. In fact, almost everyone had fallen asleep at this point.
However, this was not the case for Allen. In fact, he was far from being able to sleep. He could only stare at the ocean from a distance. Something about it made him relaxed, but uneasy at the same time. Or perhaps his thoughts racing through his head also kept him awake. Either way, he wasn't falling asleep anytime soon.
After he waited some time to make sure everyone was asleep (including William), he quietly got out of his sleeping bag and decided to walk down the sandy beach.
After slowly walking for a few minutes, he found a nice sized rock to sit on. It wasn't the most comfortable seat, but at least he was somewhere away from everyone else.
Since he could not sleep, he began to think about the academy year so far. Dueling Charles and passing the entrance exam, meeting and starting classes together with Thomas and Cecily, his reconnection with his old mentor William, meeting and training with Rose, dueling Nathaniel Rivertide and almost winning, also dueling Stephen and winning, meeting Alice and her other personality Sarah, and then finally forming and participating in the Training Club.
He has come a long way in the several months he has been attending the academy. A lot further than he thought he would've been. He wouldn't have gotten this far without the help from his friends, and constantly pushing himself to do better. However, he still had a long way to go if he ever wanted to accomplish his goals.
He has yet to find any sort of evidence who his real parents are. All he has to go off of is that his mother once attended the academy he is currently attending, and she once wielded the same sword Allen is now using. His mother was an air mage, and his father was most likely a fire mage.
Just what circumstances led to an air mage and a fire mage having a child? Allen's very existence was unusual, as the majority of air mages hate fire mages. Not only that, but fire magic was completely banned at the time.
As he thought to himself about his fire magic, he stared at his right hand, which had the singular glove he wore. This was to prevent himself from casting fire magic, as he casted his air magic from his left hand.
"Can't sleep either?," a voice from behind startled Allen.
He turned around to see none other than Rose herself. She stood there, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. It looks like she wanted to tell Allen something.
"Yeah, I couldn't fall asleep," Allen admitted.
"Mind if I sit next to you?," she said, her face flushed.
"Umm yeah, go ahead," he said as he moved over to the left to make room.
"Thanks," she smiled as she sat down next to him.
They were both quiet for a few minutes, not really saying a word to each other. They each didn't really know what to say to the other. Allen just looked out at the ocean as he thought about his life so far.
"Thinking about your fire magic?," Rose asked.
"What? Oh yeah," Allen answered, but was first caught off guard by her sudden question. "How could you tell?"
"You kept looking at both your glove and the ocean for five minutes at this point," she giggled a little.
"Oh, I suppose you're right," Allen shrugged.
"Does it bother you?," she asked. "Having fire magic?"
He waited a few moments before responding. "Honestly, I don't know, nor do I have the best answer for that. If someone found out I was a fire mage and reported me, I would be instantly executed. In that sense, it sucked that I would be executed over something I was born with, and didn't choose. However…"
"However?," Rose asked, wanting him to continue.
"I hope that one day that either I or someone else brave enough will step forward and make things right again. I believe fire magic should be regarded alongside the other three, and hope that all mages and non-mages alike can just live in peace," he explained while looking out to the horizon.
"Seems like quite the goal to accomplish. I honestly wouldn't know what to do if I was in your shoes," she admitted.
"Say Rose, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?," she looked over at him.
"I've heard from William, that you have a bad history with fire magic. May I ask why?," he asked nicely. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to"
"That… is quite the question to answer," she admitted. "But… I'll tell you"
"Thank you," he smiled.
"For most of my life, I have hated fire magic. I hated fire magic and fire mages. However, you have changed my perspective on that by a lot," she explained, awkwardly smiling at him.
"Well at least you don't want to kill me," Allen laughed.
"Well, maybe sometimes," she admitted while laughing. "But not for that reason"
She looked at the horizon before continuing to explain. "I… once had an older sister. Her name was Lucy. She attended the very same academy we are attending right now. She excelled in the usage of magic and rivaled a lot of powerful mages. As her younger sister, it was no surprise I looked up to her"
"She wielded our family's sword - the rapier Riptide, the very same sword that I now wield in her place. With her magic and her rapier, she was almost unbeatable. She participated in the Magical Knights Tournament in her second year, and won easily"
"With her magical prowess, and her victory in the Magical Knights Tournament, she easily became the Student Council President in her third year at the academy. She then focused all of her time into being the Student Council President that everyone liked"
She took a minute to breathe, as she was talking almost non-stop.
"Once she graduated from the academy, she became a Magical Knight. She easily then began to climb the divisions of the Magical Knights, almost reaching the very top. She had made it to Division IV, and was rumored to make it to Division V, which no water mage had ever accomplished before"
"However…," she tried to continue, but stopped for a moment.
"Are you okay?," Allen asked, checking on her.
"Yeah… I'm fine. It's just… hard to talk about," she said, wiping the small tears coming out of her eyes.
"However, before she could reach Division V, the highest rank you can earn as a Magical Knight, she was… she was murdered. She had been killed by a fire mage in the midst of trying to capture him"
More tears began to come out of her eyes, which she promptly began to wipe away. It seemed this was one of the hardest things for her to talk about. Allen wanted to make her feel better, but didn't know what he could do. All he could do was listen.
"I'm still fine, it's just difficult to talk about" she reassured him, as she noticed Allen's concern.
"After her death, I honestly didn't know what to do. I had looked up to her so much as a young kid. It hurt a lot finding out she had been killed, and I began to resent fire mages," she explained, looking out to the horizon once more.
"But with you, you managed to turn that around a lot. In my heart, I knew deep down that not all fire mages could be bad, and you helped clear that up," she smiled at him.
"I honestly don't know how to respond," Allen admitted. "But what I can say is that I am sorry that happened. I don't have any older siblings, but I do know if one of mine had passed away, I would feel awful"
"Thank you, that means a lot," she smiled. "But you don't have to feel sorry. What's happened has happened. I can only just keep moving forward"
"Moving forward?," Allen asked.
"Yes," she smiled and sighed at the same time. "Part of me wants to follow in her footsteps: becoming a magical knight and reaching Division V like she was supposed to. But another part of me says I will never be as good as she was"
"You are both a hard-working and talented mage. I'm sure if you work hard, you'll one day accomplish your goals," Allen reassured her.
"I suppose so, but…"
"But what?"
"All of my life, I was always compared to my sister. My mother… I always seemed to be in my older sister's shadow. I wanted to be like her. But when she died, the responsibilities she had were then thrown to me. And I don't know if I could ever reach where she was supposed to…"
"Rose, like I said before, you are very hard working and very talented. You've become such a strong mage, and even became the Student Council President. You work hard as the president and you are slowly but surely bringing change to our academy. I know that one day you will become a magical knight that everyone will look up to," Allen encouraged her.
"Thank you. That really does mean a lot," she grinned. "You really did help improve my thoughts about fire magic. Though, sometimes I do worry about you and your fire magic"
"Yeah, not a day goes by that I don't think about my fire magic," Allen admitted. "William even said simply attending the academy is dangerous enough. Even so, I do hope that I can one day become a magical knight, and perhaps there will be one day I can use my fire magic freely"
"I really hope so. I really hope that one day that this can all be fixed," Rose gave him a reassuring smile.
"Rose, can I ask you another question? It's been one I have been meaning to ask," Allen turned to look at her.
"What is it?," she asked, curious.
"Years ago, during my training with William, there was this girl that I trained with at one point," Allen began to say. "Was that… was that you?"
Rose sighed. "I knew you'd ask me that eventually. Honestly, I have been both looking forward to and dreading the day I would answer this question…"
"Why is that?"
"I- because it's not an easy question to answer!"
"I don't understand why it would be?"
"You really don't remember the past?," Rose asked, really confused. "You really don't remember me, and…"
"No I really don't. I generally remember my five years of training with William. But for some reason, part of my memory is foggy," Allen admitted.
"I see. So it seems I will have to answer your question, or you may never know yourself," Rose sighed again.
"So, were you?"
"Yes. I was indeed the girl you trained with during your training with William," Rose admitted. "But… it wasn't for long. We maybe trained for a few years at most. However, I had to leave…"
"Why did you have to leave?"
"My mother… I-," she tried to answer, but she couldn't.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Knowing it was you is enough," Allen gave her a reassuring smile.
Rose's face began to flush, and she looked out to the ocean again. She couldn't look at Allen after saying that.
"Is something wrong?," Allen asked, concerned.
"No… it's…"
"You don't have to-"
"No, it's better if I tell you," Rose answered, but you could tell she was very embarrassed.
"Tell me what?," Allen said as Rose turned to look at him.
"Allen, as I said before, you have helped me out a lot this year, more than you think," Rose began to explain.
"I did?," Allen asked, confused. He honestly didn't think he did anything to truly help her yet.
"In some ways, you have helped me change my views on fire magic. You also trained with me, which there aren't a lot of people I could truly train with. There aren't that many mages who are willing to use a sword alongside using magic," she continued.
Did our training together really mean that much to her?, Allen thought. She really couldn't train with anyone else?
"As the Student Council President, and as well as being a powerful mage at the academy, there are a lot of people who respect me and look up to me. However, I am then considered unapproachable. My only friends were some of the people I talked to in the student council. However, you were the reason I have managed to meet everyone else and become friends with them"
I guess I was the reason she met everyone else. If she hadn't trained with me, she probably wouldn't have met Thomas, Cecily, and Sarah. Although she already knew Stephen, she probably wouldn't be talking to him as much, Allen thought to himself.
"Even as kids, you were always helping me out. Even though I was better than you, and was arrogant as a child back then, you still were willing to give out a helping hand," Rose laughed a little.
I did that? Well, I wouldn't know because I don't fully remember, Allen thought again.
"Allen… I-"
"What's wrong?," Allen asked, not really sure what to say after what she has said so far. No one has ever said something like this to him.
"I have to tell you something… else…," her face was more red than Allen's own fire magic.
"What?," Allen asked, really confused. He didn't know what to say other than to just wait for her to answer. He began to feel really nervous.
"I… am in love with you…"
Rose's words hung inside Allen's mind for what felt like forever in mere seconds. Rose really liked Allen that way? Allen's mind could not comprehend it. The Student President, The Blue Rose, Rose Marion… really liked him that way?
He had never had a girl confess to him like that. But here, in this moment when everyone else is asleep, Rose confessed to him. Was he dreaming? Surely she was joking?
"You… what?," Allen asked, his face completely in shock.
"You're really gonna make me say it again?," Rose sighed. "I said I liked you. Do you… feel the same way?"
She really wasn't lying. Her eyes stared at Allen's, waiting for his response. Her face was completely flushed, completely red. And she was hanging on to every second Allen wasn't answering her.
As he thought about it, he didn't know if he felt the same way about Rose. He had only known Rose for a short time of his childhood, and then several months at the academy. Was this sort of feeling something that could truly develop in a matter of months?
Allen had never loved a girl before, at least not in that way. He honestly didn't know if he felt the same way about Rose. Maybe if he spent more time with her? But even then, in this very second, Rose had already confessed her feelings for him. But even so, Allen already knew his answer.
Could he really give her his answer? Would that answer satisfy her? Whatever Allen said, would she be content with it, even if she didn't like it?
He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he didn't want to lie to her either. The best thing to do in this situation, or in most situations, is just to be honest and true to the other person.
"Allen?," Rose asked, growing a little impatient. She was waiting every second for his response, growing more embarrassed as time passed.
"Rose, I… I honestly don't know how I feel about that. Nor do I really know how I feel about you," Allen began to explain. "We have only known each other for several months after our time as children together, but I honestly don't know if I like you"
She just stared at him, most likely in shock and embarrassment.
"I'm really glad you confessed to me, it does make me happy that you were able to be honest to me like that. And it also makes me really happy with what you have told me here tonight, all of it," Allen continued.
Her face began to turn from shock to sadness. After all, in a way, Allen was turning down her confession. But it's better than lying to her.
"I just want to know that I care about you. But I honestly can say I don't know if I feel the same way about you," Allen finally finished.
"I see," Rose said, looking down at the sandy floor.
"I'm sorry Rose, I-"
"No, it's fine. I can't choose your feelings for you. But I am glad that you were honest to me," she turned to smile at him, but you could tell she could tear up at any moment.
Allen didn't know what to say, but he was glad he was honest to her. But now that he had already answered her, he started to feel guilty. He feels like he did something wrong, but even then what else could he have done?
"I'm- going to go back to bed. Before you say anything, I'm fine," she said before Allen could say anything. "I just need time to myself. Thanks, Allen"
She forced a smile before leaving Allen there all alone once again.
Allen once again began to look out to the horizon past the ocean, once again thinking to himself about the year so far, and now with what happened with Rose.
Will things stay the same from now on? Or will things change for the better or for the worse?
Allen could only think about what else is to come for the rest of the year attending the Magical Knights Academy. Will he reach D rank soon? Will he ever manage to reach C rank and win four consecutive duels in the Magical Knights Tournament in order to graduate? It seems only time will tell.
And just maybe, maybe he will get some sleep tonight.
Volume 4 End