At some time in the evening at a time unknown to him, Jack sat hunched over on a bench by the practice yard Celsia had shown him a few days prior. The same bench where he had first tried arcane. With a twig in hand, he continued to try the simple spell she had shown him. The occasional gentle breeze would rustle the pile of leaves he had in front of him, getting his hopes up. Of course, he quickly realized it was the wind and continued, somewhat disappointed. Fortunately, Ceslia was wrong in her assertion that no one was at the practice yard in the morning. In reality no one was there, ever, leaving Jack to his own devices. After trying for what felt like an hour, but was likely no more than ten minutes, he gave up, tossing the twig over his shoulder and letting out a huff.

He sat up and stretched his back, looking around. Nearby was a quaint little garden with a handful of plants, some of which even had flowers. Jack rubbed his chin.

To think evolution came to the same conclusion twice. Flowers must be pretty neat, he thought.

The thought was both infinitely impressive and infinitely unsurprising given that convergence in the tree of evolution occurred often enough. He made a mental note to touch on that in a later entry to his notebook.

Leaving his belongings on the bench, Jack made his way over to the flowers and knelt down, getting a closer look. At first, he hesitated to touch them, but caved and gently felt the petals while examining them. They were a yellow-ish orange and, as a whole, formed a flower that he would have called a sunflower, if it weren’t so bulbous. It didn’t take him long to notice that there was life among the flowers other than himself. One creature was large enough to catch his attention. Covered in what appeared to be pollen or the like, it crawled around it probed the flower with two appendages separate from its legs. Whatever it was, it lacked the segmentation of an insect or the right amount of legs, Otherwise everything about it was reminiscent of Jack expected of an insect: two eyes, perhaps compound, and a set of wings on its back.

He shifted his weight slightly. Startled, the creature unfolded its wings unveiling a beautiful pattern of black, white, and royal blue, then flew away.

“Aww…” Jack gumbled.

While moping, a shadow stretched over him.

“Jack?”

“Eh?” he turned around.

It was Otono.

“What are you doing down there, crawling in the flowers?”

“I can’t inspect the wildlife from up there,” Jack said waddling around, still crouched. “You should try it sometime—crouching that is—given that you're so tall."

He squatted down and joined Jack in looking at the flowers.

“What now?”

“Look.”

“At what?”

Jack paused for a moment scanning the flowers.

“That.”

He fell onto all fours then scampered around the circumference of the garden and came to a stop.

“Look at this magnificent beast!”

The creature from earlier had reappeared on a different flower, that or it was another one.

“That is a flutter. I would hesitate to call it a beast.”

Otono made his way around to him and knelt back down. Jack leaned in closer to it.

“Fluttery-buttery bug…” he said.

Almost as if on cue, it flew off. He pouted watching it until it was just a speck. Otono blew air out his nose, a sign of amusement and a common occurrence when they talked.

“Before you suck me into your world, let me at least tell you why I asked to meet.”

“Right. It was on such a short notice. Must be important?”

Standing back up, he gestured to the nearby bench.

“I think you may want to be seated.”

“If you wanted to sit, you could’ve just asked,” said Jack, attempting to hide his concern.

They plopped themselves down and Otono continued:

“I caught a rumor flying around my peers. It has to do with you and Ada.”

Jack wasn’t hiding his concern anymore.

“Oh yeah?”

“Rumor says she wants a duel.”

“With… me?”

“Who else?” Otono answered plainly.

“Wha— What for? Her inbred vom-dog won the last one.”

“Not unscathed. You managed to wound it before getting knocked unconscious.”

“Oh? Holy shit…” he scratched his head. “ I… didn’t think I’d landed a blow. I guess keys make better weapons than I thought.”

“Regardless, she wants revenge.”

“Her or her pet?”

“Both, I suppose.”

Jack pursed his lips.

“The Brits have a word for folks like her. Begins with a C, ends with T. I ain’t a Brit though, I’m American, so I’ll opt to call her a huge fuckin’ bitch.”

“Her or her pet?”

“Both.”

They snickered.

“But really though,” Jack said abruptly. “She’s fucking bonkers. Is she going to try and kill me?”

“Mmm… No. She wants the proper amount of groveling from you.”

“Yeah… I don’t trust like that. If she’s as much of a smooth brained egomaniac as you say she is, she’ll try n’ maim me at the very least.”

“Dueling rules forbid lethality,” Otono retorted.

“Then how’d someone win?”

“Whoever is hit first, loses”

“Is that it?”

“Getting knocked unconscious is a loss as well. That and yielding.”

Jack sighed.

“I’d like to avoid getting hit in the head again. I have enough brain damage already, but not enough to think I’d hit her first.”

“I suppose you could just yield before she does anything…” mumbled Otono.

“And that would work?”

“I— We Arcanists are a strict sort of people. Not following the rules scars the reputation. She is no exception.”

“I’ve gathered that much from interacting with Celsia. You? Not so much, considering you’re so out of line with everyone else.”

“W-What makes you say that?”

“You’ve made an effort to talk to me.”

“And Celsia?”

“We cooperate out of obligation. Myself as her pet and she… as my owner,” Jack ran a hand down his face. “I fuckin’ hate putting it like that. Way too fetishy. But it's too good of an analogy.”

“Is this a long way of asking me why I talk to you?”

“No. It's a long way of saying thank you for taking the time to talk to some freak like me.”

“I… I would not call you a freak.”

“To your people I, objectively, am. There is no denying a short man who speaks of foreign things in foreign accent is a freak by virtue of me as the minority.”

There was a brief silence.

“There may be some truth there, but I hold some hope that the foregin may become familiar and that the ‘freak’ may become understood.”

Letting out a huff, Jack leaned back and folded his arms.

“Well I’m glad someone has a bit of sense to them. I wish the rest of us had even a little bit of that insight.”

Once again there was a silence, much longer this time.

“Jack?” asked Otono.

“Yeh?”

“It just occurred to me. What if my assumption of Ada is wrong?”

“Oho? Changing topic are we?”

“Yes, because I fear for your safety if my assumption is wrong. It needs to be addressed.”

“Well you will be there, won’t you?”

“If I’m not?”

“I defend myself with or without you. I think...”

“Will you? You do not sound confident.”

“I’d like to think I would,” he sighed. “But you’re right. Whole lotta’ bark, no bite.”

“There is nothing stopping you from saying no. Unless your pride is at risk.”

“What pride? None to speak of. I just fear that if I don’t say yes, she will never leave me alone. I want to finish this squabble before it escalates.

“Into what?”

“I don’t know, maybe nothing, but I’d rather not find out. Looming problems tend to inflate. I’ve learned that the hard way…”

“So appeasement—”

Jack cut him off.

“That being said, I would love to tear her puborectalis via boot in ass. You ever see someone shit themselves? I haven’t, only ever had it happen to myself, but I think it’d be pretty cool to be a third party for once.”

“Jack, we talked about this.”

“I know I know,” he huffed. “No big words, no fast, just slow. What I mean is I want to put my foot up her butt-hole.”

“W-Would you?” Otono’s eyes widened. “Could you?”

“Fu— No! It's a metaphor… probably. I can barely put a foot up my own ass, let alone someone of her… calibre. Metaphorically or not.”

“Calibre?”

“Size,” answered Jack.

“Of what Her… butt?”

“No! Her… skill. Yes, skill.”

“You do not sound confident.”

“I— You know what? Forget it. I’m changing the subject now.”

“Go ahead,” Prompted Otono, smiling cheekily.

Ignoring him, Jack pulled the crossbow from his bag, or rather, what little of it he could fit.

“I was wondering what that was, sticking out of your bag like that.”

“I don’t have a sling or whatever and I didn’t feel like carrying it.”

“So what is it then?”

“A weapon. The one I told you about a few days ago?”

“Ah, yes… A ‘crossbow’ you called it?”

“Yep. A necessary development, even to celsia, seeing as how arcane is beyond me…”

“A fact that has not left me since it hit my ears,” sighed Otono. “ To think someone could be stripped of the one commonality of all.”

“Best start thinkin’ then because ‘could be’ looks an awful lot like ‘has been’ right now. Not that someone ever took it from me, as far as I know.”

“I thought arcane was to you as your ‘tech’ is to us. Something that has not happened yet. Not that it could never happen…”

“And that's what I thought,” said Jack, rubbing his chin. “But my results from my recent attempts don’t hold up very well. Maybe I’m an exception, or perhaps I’m just bad, but it would certainly explain why magic was just that to us: magic. Who knows, I am a bit of an airhead afterall.”

“We all are in our own right, yet here we are. Fire, a hearth, and walls around it at the flick of the wrist.”

“Provided you have the skill.”

“Of course, but skill is obtainable. Basic ability? Not so it seems.”

Jack shrugged.

“Such is life. I’ve gotten all the way up to here without arcane or whatever, so I think I’ll be just fine.”

“That was with tech.”

“Fair point, but given enough time I can fill the gap. I think. Just gotta’ start with the basics, like my crossbow.”

“Care to explain it? Now that you have it in person.”

“Sure.”

He stuck his food in the stirrup and hunched over grabbing the string.

“Stick your foot in the hoop and use your back to draw it.”

The wood creaked as he drew it back.

“Pull it over this spinny metal bit here ‘till you hear a click,” he said clearly straining himself.

Click. The nut spun into place and locked.

“Then that’s that. There the bolt, of course. A stubby little arrow you stick in this groove on top. I won’t be doing that though. If I was, I’d take aim…”

He shouldered it.

“...and pull the trigger.”

With the typical thunk and whir, Jack dry-fired the crossbow. He scrunched up his brow and shook his now free hand.

“That rattling feels not-so-good. Kinda like hitting a tree with a big branch.”

“When would you need to do that?” asked Otono.

“When it’s too big to break with your hands.”

“I have little need to break branches, especially big ones.”

“You’re missin’ out.”

He ignored Jack’s remark.

“So, this crossbow, did you come up with it? Or was it Celsia’s prodigy Uncle?”

“Prodigy eh?”

“He, and his fathers before him, are responsible for many of the mechanical whatnots you may see today.”

“Oh really? Name a few.”

“Most machinery powered by a water or wind wheel was created or at least inspired by Celsia’s Grandfather. The modern airship was a product of a much younger Uncle Andre. I could go on, but those are the notable ones.”

“Jesus. He didn’t tell me he was that accomplished.”

“Andre is a humble one, not one to champion his accomplishments, let alone mention them at all.”

“What about you, Otono? You come from an accomplished family?”

“I suppose. Trading is what we do, or rather, used to do. Now we encourage it.

“You… encourage?”

“We offer to take a person’s items to market. We sell it or trade it, take a portion of the proceeds, and give the rest to the original client. Why waste the coin finding the market yourself when someone else could spare you the effort. We have helped family Seliota since our Grandfathers first met. That is how we got our start, and how I know as much of their legacy as I do.

“It also explains how you and Ceslia know each other,” added Jack.

“That it does.”

Otono gestured to the crossbow resting on Jack’s lap.

“May I?”

“Go ahead.”

He took it in both hands and began to inspect it.

“You have not said much about your family Jack. Do you come from a place of accomplishment?”

“Uhh…” he scratched his head. “Not really. My father is a geneticist, someone who… studies life, to put it simply. My mother is an EMT, a uh... healer. I am, or was, a student, as I’ve told you.”

“You sound well off. What did you study?”

“Chemistry. It’s like imbuement without the arcane.”

“You had me fooled,” Otono handed back the crossbow. “I would have thought you were studying weaponsmithing or the like.”

“An interest of mine. I know a fair bit, but not as much as I’d like to. Something that is becoming obvious.”

“Perhaps it could be your purpose here? Besides being an object of curiosity.”

Jack perked up.

“Perhaps it could…”

“Well…” said Otono. “Have you anything planned now that this crossbow of yours is done?”

“Mmm… This one’s great and all, but now I know y'all wear armor, and it’s a composite at that. I don’t know the penetration metrics for what I have, but I’m inclined to believe it won’t be enough. It might not be a bad idea to get something with a little more power. Maybe a four-fifty pound with a goat’s foot? That or a gun. That would be dope.”

“A four-fifty what?”

“A bigger crossbow,” answered Jack.

“Gun?”

“A secret, for now.”

“Aww…” pouted Otono. “Even to me?”

“Yep. I will say that it's way bigger than any crossbow.”

“Literally?”

“No.”

“Well, big or small, I look forward to it.”

Hey, speaking of big,” said Jack, poorly attempting to change the subject. “Do you know where I can find Instructor Sarno when she’s not in class?”

“An odd way of bringing it up… I can show you. Unless it is urgent. Is it urgent?”

“No, not urgent.”

“Then I will tell you where to find her?”

“No. Show me when you get the chance. Waste of effort to tell me, I’ll just forget.”

“If that's what you want…”

Just then, the bell of the nearby clocktower chimed signaling the day was that much closer to being over.

“Well…” said Jack. “That's my cue. I need to go bother Celsia for a bit, then go to Hahnt before late night dinner.”

“You and Hahnt have something planned?”

“We sure do. I owe him a favor and I’d like to show him somethin’.”

“You can show that man anything and he will love it. If it comes from you, I think love may be an understatement.”

Jack paused for a moment staring off into space, thinking.

“Oh my god. I should invite you to dinner too! Then we all can enjoy the fruits of my favor! You know when Celsia eats dinner right?”

“Of course.”

“Then you should totally come. Can you?”

“I have no reason not to. So yes, I can.”

“Epic.”

Jack stood up and grabbed his things and took off back the way he came.

“See you later dude!” he waved.

Otono sat on the bench for a few moments taking in the silence, then stood up and headed the opposite way.

* * *

As per usual the cafeteria was empty at this time of night. All except for the usual suspects. Celsia sat in her usual spot tapping her foot, waiting. Occasionally bits of conversation leaked out from the kitchen making her that much more impatient. After a few more minutes of waiting the door opened, not the door she was waiting for though.

“Otono?”

“Before you ask, Jack invited me,” he responded. “Am I late?”

“No. Not at all,” she began to raise her voice. “They just want to take their sweet, sweet time!”

After a moment Jack peeked his head through the kitchen door.

“Culinary perfection takes time! Not that you or I would know!” he yelled.

Hant could be heard laughing in the room behind him.

“Otono now that you’re here could you keep her occupied for, like, two minutes?”

“Ah—”

“Thanks!”

He retreated back into the kitchen.

“How long is two minutes?” asked Celsia.

“I have no clue,” said Otono, seating himself. “Any idea what he is doing with Hahnt?”

“Food.”

“I guessed that much...”

“I know nothing beyond that.”

They sat silently for a moment.

“I told Jack about the rumor…”

“And?”

“He took it well, better than I thought he would.”

“I suppose that is good,” she sighed. “What will he do?”

“Accept, then immediately disqualify himself giving Ada the win.”

“What… Has he no pride?”

“According to him, he does not.”

“Confidence and lack of pride will get him killed, he knows that right.”

“Maybe,” sighed Otono. “Perhaps you should talk to him about it?”

Celsia shifted in her seat.

“Mmm…”

Just then, Haunt burst out of the kitchen carrying a platter in both hands.

“Grilled cheese, grilled cheese, grilled cheese!” chanted Jack, marching behind him.

Haunt placed the platter between on the table.

“Grilled cheese?” questioned Celsia.

“It’d be easier for you to eat it than have me explain it.”

“Hold for a moment will you? We are missing someone,” interrupted Hahnt. “Merek! We made five of these, best to get out here if you want one!

“Give me a moment old man!”

After a time no longer than a moment, Merek exited the kitchen carrying some rags.

“You will want these soon,” he said, passing them out.

“They’re a bit greasy,” added Jack. “Good call Merek.”

Jack sat himself down next to Celsia while Hahnt and Merek pulled up chairs.

“Well,” he continued. “They’re gettin’ cold…”

He took a sandwich off the platter and began eating.

“Ohhh sweet mother of god. It's been too long,” Jack said between bites.

One by one, the others began to eat. After a few moments each of them sounded their approval, even Celsia and Merek, who grunted.

“Why did you not tell me about this earlier!” exclaimed Hahnt, “Who knew that butter, bread, and cheese could make something so… Delicious!”

“I dunno,” shrugged Jack. “Oh and for god’s sake Hahnt, savor it, don’t eat the whole thing in four bites.”

Jack reached over and slapped him with the back of his hand.

“This is how I savor things!” he responded, words muffled.

“That is how you choke!”

“Save your words,” sighed Merek. “He will not listen, believe me.”

“It is true,” added Hahnt.

They ate in silence for a few moments.

“You never said you were a cook, Jack,” said Otono, wiping his hands.

“I’m not, I just know how to cook sometimes.”

“Oho~” butted in Ceslai. “So you do have skills…”

“I do as a matter of fact. Check this shit out!”

With his other hand, he grabbed his right thumb and bent it all the way back to touch his wrist, then presented it to Celsia. She stood up fast enough to send her chair flying backwards

“Eeeek!” she shrieked. “Hurting yourself is not a skill!”

Without saying a word, Jack let go of his thumb and it flopped back into place.

“Oh…” she said quietly.

Otono whipped his head back, howling with laughter, so did Hahnt. Meanwhile Merek, eyebrows raised, was examining his own thumbs.

“Does scaring you count as a skill?” Jack asked, smiling

Celsia frowned, but didn’t get angry, surprisingly. Instead, she folded her arms and sighed.

“Fine,” she said “You can have that one, Jack.”