'The mechanical brace was a bust, I couldn't control it at all, but, as with all failures, I learned something. In this world, there is a desperate need for technology, everything is done with Eneru or muscles, there are no lightbulbs, there are enchanted motes of light and oil lanterns, electricity has not been truly discovered. Of course, lightning mages know that they can make lightning, but have no idea what that actually is.' I was deeply entranced by my thoughts
"Hey! Get back to brushing!" a mean voice shouted at me.
"I'm working on it!" I shouted back.
A hand came from behind me and pulled my glasses from my face.
"Haha! Loser!" Some kid who ranked low in the benchmark ran away.
I fumbled around, unable to see. "Where's my staff! I'll kick his ass blind!" My hand found my quarterstaff but when I went to chase after the culprit he was long gone, and so were Orin and Laura.
"Mercy damned sighted people!" I shouted to no one in particular.
"Hey, I'm sighted." Teacher came up behind me.
A familiar spell washed over me and I had sight again. My focus shifted to him and I made a deep bow.
"Thank you, sir."
"Quit with that formal facade, I know you want to hug me." Teacher smiled as I looked up, but frowned when he noticed my tears. "Hey there little one, tell me what's wrong, I can help." Teacher held me in a fatherly embrace.
"Why am I crying? I've been without spirit three times already!" I wiped my nose "I tried to justify it because I didn't know what was going on before but deep down I really did know." My sobbing renewed, Teacher stood there and comforted me for a moment.
"It's ok, little one, I'm right here, you're not alone." Teacher let me go and sat me down. "Ok, let's sort out your feelings, so lay them out."
I sniffed and stopped crying "I don't know why I am the way that I am, I'm inconsistent, unpredictable, trusting, paranoid and I don't know why." I sniffed again
"You're at a volatile age in your lifespan, when you turn eight the world energy starts binding to you properly, causing change in your body and emotional state, you might notice that you suddenly like a girl or you're getting stronger, and some other things I'll leave to your parents to tell you about."
"Really? It's not all just in my head, there is a real reason behind it?"
"Yes, there is, if you want to know more, talk to your parents for the second break, I can't fathom why you've stayed on the campus the first, you must be aching to go home after that." He nodded at my artificial arm.
"Larry! You need to fill in for Kendra!" Professor Unda shouted from the second story of the school building.
"Anyway, your friends seem to have retrieved your glasses, and I've got a job to do, so I shall take my leave."
"Ingen! We got 'em back!" Orin and Laura walked toward me, pulling my gaze from Teacher.
"It'll be great being able to see without this spell."
A confused expression formed on Laura's face. "Did Teacher cast it? You certainly didn't."
"Yeah, Teacher passed by and cast it for me."
"Good deal." Laura went up to me with my glasses.
THWAP!
I was punched on the top of my head.
"That's for not coming after us when you got your vision back."
'You freakishly strong girl.' I inwardly exclaimed
"Ow! Why are you so freakishly strong!?"
THWACK!
"Rude!" Laura shoved my glasses back onto my face aggressively.
"By Order! Stop hitting me!"
THUNK! Laura tried to hit me again but I blocked it with my quarterstaff.
"Don't invoke the gods at a childhood quarrel!"
I got my throat chopped, this time I decided to just shut up.
--------
After a few days, I was freed from the shackles of Eneru suppression and I could talk to Spirit.
"Ingen? Am I back?"
"Yeah, buddy you're finally back."
"Wow, it is so boring in there."
"It was so lonely out here, it was so strange, I was surrounded by people but I felt so alone." Tears started to form in my eyes but never fell.
"Well good thing I'm back, it seems you've come to rely on me." Spirit enveloped my spirit core with warmth, somehow it felt familiar.
"Thanks, Spirit, wanna go make something?"
"Yeah, that's always the best."
And make we did, as it turns out, the boots we were given when Teacher gave us a spirit paper was conducive enough for enchantments, they couldn't be too extravagant because the boots were only a little conductive, but it was enough, I could now create puffs of air while midair out of my boots to adjust my trajectory without landing. an unintended side-effect was that I could essentially jump twice in the air to go further and higher.
After gaining so much mobility, my life may as well be titled "The Misadventures of Ingen and Orin"
Soon, it was time for break, My test scores were good, not as good as normal because of my recent turmoil, but still top of the class, Devin beat me out in Runic Language and Eneruology though.
After much bargaining, I was allowed back into my tree tower before I left, and it had been moved further from the forest.
'How do they move such a big tree anyway?'
I packed my things from the workshop and infused the tree tower a little more before I left.
"It's time to return to my roots."