"Well, let's stop here for today. As you all know, from tonight, you will be on holiday for a whole week. This week, you will be free to rest or to continue training for the first exam. This exam will take place on Monday 16 March, so I wish you good luck and don't forget to take some time to rest aswell."
After her class, Lorena packed up her things and left. The students did as they pleased: some left immediately, while others stayed, as they usually do, in the classroom to talk.
This was the case with the Four Petalled Flower. Lei, Loki and Lily met constantly at the back of the room, at the desk of their fourth member, Sora.
The first member of the group to talk was Loki. Even before he spoke, he seemed amused.
"Are you ready for this test?" he asked, with a certain tone of pride.
"I guess you are. "replied Lei.
Sora and Lily looked at them with disgust.
"We can see that for some people it's easier."
Loki seemed to be hurt by these words:
"Lily! Don't compare me to our captain! At least I didn't only have to meditate to pass this exam."
Lei, in turn, tried to justify himself.
"Hey, it's still not so easy to integrate so much meditation and control time on top of my sword training."
Lily seemed amused to see them arguing over so little, Sora, on the other hand, seemed indifferent. Unlike Lily, who would be able to pass the exam in spite of it, she didn't have the slightest suspicion as to what style of magic to adopt.
Indeed, she was able to summon flowers, but this was of no use in battle, and even if she was able to find one, it was not a simple enough process to be done in a week.
Lily, on the other hand, was much less concerned than Sora, as she was certain that a week later she would be ready. She was able to invoke her magic, she just didn't master it well enough.
"And you, Sora, is there a certain place where you plan to train?"
"Ah"
Surprised, Sora was taken out of her thoughts. She was stunned and began to stare ridiculously at the person who had just spoken to her, Lily.
The three members of the group who were facing Sora started laughing out loud, while Sora looked at them, a little lost.
"Sorry Sora... But your face is far too funny".
…
After calming down, Lei explained the situation to her teammate:
"We were discussing where we would spend the week training. I plan to spend it at the top of Mount Tomavini, which is a mountain that is a bit sacred to the arcanists in the region. Lily plans to train on a little known beach east of here, and Loki wants to take a break by spending a few days in Stella, a town a little further north which is also the capital of the region. Do you have any idea what you are planning to do?"
Sora looked at her vaguely, before answering:
"I think I'm going to continue training in my neighbourhood. There's a lot of vegetation and I feel that I'll be able to find an answer there".
The four teenagers continued to talk while night slowly fell on the town of Suva. When Sora opened the door of her flat, it was already seven o'clock in the evening. She soon cooked her evening meal, a simple donburi with beef.
Japanese food was hard to find in Fiji's grocery shops, but following the peace treaty between Japan and Fiji, many Japanese shops were opening in the streets of Fiji's cities.
Although their shopkeepers sometimes faced some form of hatred, most of the time they were well received by people, tired of the incessant wars.
Sora decided to go to bed very early in order to stay fit for the coming week. She planned to start training early in the morning.
___
The first rays of sunlight were barely lighting up the streets of the ghost quarter that a young girl was already walking through them.
Sora was climbing the trunk of a gigantic tree. After a few minutes, she was able to slip into the tree's branches.
She sat down on a branch and began to meditate. She meditated throughout the morning. During her meditation, she kept asking herself how to use her magic in combat.
In the afternoon, still having no idea what magic to train, she continued to meditate. Actually, the first three days were like that.
It was only after the fourth day that her way of thinking changed. Sora no longer tried to use flowers as magic, but rather decided to broaden her field of research.
She wondered whether she could use plants other than flowers. So she meditated again all day long, but with a completely new mentality.
On the fifth day, the weather was ideal. The sun was shining brightly and there were few clouds in the sky.
For the fifth time in a row, Sora sneaked to the top of the same tree, located in the centre of the ghost quarter. This tree was well over twice as wide as a normal tree, making it a perfect place for training.
The morning was unfortunately fruitless. Sora was beginning to despair, but she quickly put these ideas out of her mind. After eating some rice balls, she resumed her training.
For most of the afternoon, Sora felt the Enkainias surrounding her. By dint of meditation, she began to be able to feel the presence of compatible Enkainias.
Their density increased as the day progressed. The hours went by, and the sun was making its way through the sky.
Around 7 pm, the sun reached the horizon. From her location, Sora could see the sea to the west. The spectacle of the glowing sun setting behind the ocean was magnificent. Unfortunately, Sora had not the time to admire the sun.
The density of Enkainias reached its peak shortly before the last rays of the sun hid behind the horizon.
At that moment, an incredible phenomenon occurred: roots of a phenomenal size grew out of the ground and rose into the sky.
The ground shook during the whole process and the few inhabitants of the ghost quarter panicked. When Sora opened her eyes, her surprise was unprecedented.
Half a dozen roots of the tree on which she was sitting had risen into the air and surrounded her, as if they were obeying her orders.
"Unbelievable..."
Sora was truly surprised by what had just happened. Many things jostled in her mind, and she was frozen for several minutes.
She only came out of her torpor when someone she didn't know called out to her:
"Hey! You! Get down from that tree!"
She focused her gaze on the person in question: it was a man in his forties, in military dress. On his right shoulder there was a dark-coloured decoration which showed that he belonged to the military corps of the Arcanists.
Sora was not long in coming down from her tree. She stood in front of the man who began to question her:
"Are you the person who caused all this disorder?"
"Yes, I am sorry. It wasn't voluntary, I didn't expect to make such an uproar."
The man stared at her and then asked her:
"Can you please bring down these roots?"
Surprisingly, Sora remained calm despite everything.
"Sorry, I'll take care of it."
She turned to the roots, and with a wave of her hand, asked them to go back underground. They seemed to follow the orders of her hand, and calmly returned to where they came from.
"Well, my name is Konrad Schumberg, a captain in the Fijian army. Who are you?"
"My name is Sora Akane, I study in Xinea as a first year high school student."
For some unknown reason, Konrad smiled at her.
"Good, don't cause any further disturbance to the lives of the few inhabitants of this district in the future. Especially in this way."
Sora bowed to him to apologise.
"I'm really sorry, it won't happen again."
Still with the same smile, the man waved to her and left. She did the same and walked towards her flat.
"Interesting"
Konrad's smile did not diminish the least, even after having left Sora more than ten minutes ago.
As for Sora, even though she didn't make herself seem anything, her heart was beating at an incredible speed. It wasn't stress, no, it was excitement. What's more, she was extremely relieved.
"Roots... I may not be as limited as I thought I would be."