Chapter 19 - Honesty
Minx took a deep breath then looked around to make sure they were alone.
"I saw you in the library with that girl the other day. I was worried at first but then I saw your reaction when you realized what you had done, and you took her carefully out to get her medical help. That wasn't the action of a bad person. Don't worry, I was the only one who saw."
She looked him in the eyes. "Look, I'm not a threat to you in any way. I just didn't know how injured you were going to be, but my friend is in your combat class and told me what happened. Yes, I drew the blood before you were injured, I think. But it was your friend who was in trouble so of course you were going to help. Oh yes, can I have my pot back?"
Quinn seemed to relax a bit and handed the pot back, "What's with this plant outfit thing?"
"Oh, I call this stage-1 armor. I'm working on training climbing roses to be my stage-2."
Quinn scratched his head, "what is your ability?"
Minx laughed nervously, cleared her throat and allowed her natural bubbliness come through, "plants. I can do a few things but right now I'm studying a lot and working with Dr. Hayley during combat classes to gain experience using the healing aspect. It takes forever it seems, to heal people. It's slower than the healing ability but it does work. It's just that my knowledge is really limited still." She smiled, "any other questions?"
"Um, yeah? What species are you?"
"What do you mean, species? I'm human, of course."
"You don't smell human..." Quinn stared at the vial of blood for a moment then opened it. "This is just… strange," as he swallowed the blood she gave him and handed back the vial.
Minx chuckled, "story of my life! Enjoy your weekend," and she ran off before he had a chance to respond. Quinn saw the plant wither to dust as she ran off.
Minx ran off to her tree, but it soon switched to her normal skip. She felt nervous around Quinn but somehow didn't become a rhyming idiot. She considered that a win. She wanted to prepare dinner then go get her friends and show them their new hangout if they wanted it to be. Once dinner was ready, she asked the tree to form extra roots and branches to create a table and benches for everyone to eat at. It resembled a rough picnic table. She then set the table and covered the food to keep it warm. She messaged her friends to let them know she was coming to get them and to meet her outside the canteen.
On the way back, she noted there were soldiers everywhere. She also noticed those who usually bullied others were not around. What she was unaware of was Peter had gotten a teacher to come to the assembly hall and that teacher called a meeting to discuss what the second-year students had done.
This resulted in soldiers being called to conduct security to prevent further interference between the two years for a temporary time period which was set to be 3 months. This would give the first-years time to engage in their combat classes to learn better to protect themselves.
She found her friends and brought them to the Agricultural Club. When they got close to her tree, the branches swung to the side and allowed the students to enter the peace and tranquility the tree offered. They all noticed what she had created for herself. She asked Revlis if he could help her create an actual kitchen and he said he was not strong enough with his ability for that. None of them were. She told them she aimed to change that.
They sat down and enjoyed their meal and the company of each other. While they were eating, Minx asked for details.
"So, what exactly happened in the assembly hall?"
It was Raven who chose to speak first.
"We were intercepted by the second years just after beast weapons class ended. The second years forced us to follow them to the Assembly Hall. The blond boy was chained to a wooden platform. The second year, his friends called him Mono, had these balls and wanted us to throw them at the blond boy."
Aqua chimed in, "Mono had one of his goons attack a boy who refused until he was knocked out."
Minx felt fury rising within her as she listened to her friends.
"Mono made the first years line up and take turns activating the balls, which were activated the same way beast weapons are. We then were told to hit the target, meaning the boy."
"Quinn, he was amazing. He activated the ball and it glowed so bright, but he hit a second year instead. It soon became chaotic, but it resulted in the blond getting free. He and Quinn and a few others fought the second years," Revlis chimed in excitedly.
"So, this Mono, character. He's the one that hurt the blond and caused others to hurt him as well?"
They all nodded in unison. Minx wore a calculating expression but remained silent for a few moments. A smile slowly spread across her face. Her eyes darkened as she began to chuckle. Soon, the people around her developed a level of fear at the laughter emitting from her. They all had some form of thought about not doing wrong by her.
After the meal was over, she sent her friends off so she could do some more work on those energy bars. None of them were impressed with the level of energy they received when they ate them. She wanted them perfected before their first portal outing, which was still a few months away but it could take a while to make them right. It also gave her time to think about her plan.
The next day was Saturday. She invited her friends over once again for lunch and they would return for dinner after heading to the store to get some provisions. Just after they finished eating lunch, the tree warned Minx there was a stranger in the area. She put on her level 1 armor, and her twin accompanied her outside of the tree. They noticed a blind man walking their direction without a cane as if he could see clearly. She could see the strong energy from him and though she could see he had no bad intention, she was immediately intimidated.
Minx and Midas could see the man had white eyes indicating he was blind. What they couldn't know was that he was able to get around as though he could see because his ability showed the world in a wire-frame format. He also had the same skill Minx did with the white energy, but far more years of practice and he had official training. The man stared straight at the female in front of him who had a green energy.
As he approached, the man asked, "Are you Minx Botan? My name is Leo. I am the Beast Weapons instructor, and I was asked to come meet you by Doctor Hayley. Is that okay?"
She hid behind her brother, "why did she want me to meet you?"
Midas chimed in, "beast weapons and my sister don't mix well, sir."
"Hayley is concerned you will not be ready for the portal outing in three months unless you find some combat lessons that are appropriate. She asked me to assess you and see if we can find a fit for you."
Minx screamed and ran into the tree. She was in the room up in the branches before Leo could even respond.
Midas scratched his head trying to figure out how to respond to this. Combat was the one thing his sister wanted to keep a secret from the school and here a teacher was asking about it. He understood the intentions of the doctor, but this put him in the hot spot.
Leo looked at Midas, "did you call her your sister?"
"I'm her twin, sir. Our growing-up was a long string of trauma. It's not that she can't fight, it's that she is afraid of adults. She literally protected me our whole life. We have two friends who are in your class. Is it okay if she learns the lessons you teach through them? It's the best I can do if you really want her to learn."
Leo responded, "It's not that I want her to learn my lessons. It's that she needs to know how to fight to protect herself on the outings. At some point I want to assess her abilities. For now, if she is willing to learn from her classmates, that's fine. Are her friends around for me to speak to?"
Being this is a tree, of course everyone heard the whole conversation. Revlis and Raven both emerged from the tree.
"We can teach her," Raven responded with Knight on her shoulder.
Leo looked a bit surprised. "I didn't know I had someone from the Bree family in my class. How often do you practice with him?"
"In terms of combat, once a month when I meet with someone from the Bree family."
Leo nodded, "You may teach her but at some point, this assessment needs to take place. Understand, I'm not trying to be mean. This is for her own safety."
Revlis chimed in, "is there anything else we can use to get stronger?"
Midas and Revlis looked at each other.
"There is a game called Power Fighter in the student's entertainment area. It's popular with the kids but it helps you to fight against those who are in the same strength category as well as above your level. If your ability is in the game, it is more advantageous because you can grow with your ability."
"Raven here can practice what she learns in my class, for example, but not her ability, the same with Minx. They will need extra training to practice their ability. This school takes the training of originals seriously, though I take training seriously for all my students. It must be done fairly regardless of backing."
Leo raised his voice a bit but maintained his friendly tone, "Does Minx agree to lessons from Revlis and Raven?"
He heard a very weak "yes" from the tree and smiled sadly as he walked away. He didn't get what he needed, which was the knowledge that the student was going to be okay. Instead, he got a mystery of what had this poor child gone through that she was so terrified.