Monday morning was able to start with meditations. Those who were in combat classes no longer needed to attend morning PT. Since Lana was in tutored classes, she was also exempt. Once they were showered and ready, Kattie turned to Lana, "what happened yesterday while we went to the store?"
Lana instantly looked scared, "I really don't want to talk about that right now."
Kattie nodded and soon there was a knock at their door.
When the guys showed up to escort the girls to breakfast, Lana noticed something different. Dobin's watch was now displaying a "4". She got excited and gave him a big hug.
The morning passed uneventful. The boys decided to eat the remnants of dinner in their room for lunch since Lana was able to grow so much. In Beast Weapons class, Katie was finally starting to feel comfortable with her dual daggers.
In elemental class, Alto was still a level 2 water user while Dobin had just made level 4 in his earth ability. Dobin enjoyed stretching his wings a bit with stronger opponents.
In Agricultural club, Lana asked about research once more now that the class was two hours. She had been studying some of the books during class time for the past two weeks to curb the boredom. She was hoping to increase her excitement.
"I think to help you, I need to understand what you want to get out of my class."
"My ability works based on what I can visualize." She walked to an empty pot that was in the greenhouse and filled it.
"An example is," she placed her hand on the top of the pot, "Tomato" and a tomato plant sprouted just enough to get some tomatoes. She didn't want to show off too much.
"Now, if I knew what species I wanted to grow and what it looked like," she got another pot, put dirt in it and placed it next to the first one. She placed a hand on it like normal "Solanum lycopersicum" and a different tomato plant grew to the same size.
"For me, cooking is a hobby, a way to ensure my twin and I are properly nourished. What I'm really interested in is the medicinal and nutritional use of plants. One thing I'm thinking of is my brother wants to be a Hunter."
"If I can adapt my ability to feed him and heal his wounds, it would make me the ultimate support for his plans. If I can, what I would like is to grow a willow tree in this area and learn to not only grow these plants as I gain knowledge about them but also to experiment with them to determine the best way to use them in combat situations."
"I know there are people with the healing ability but there are not enough of them and I don't want my brother to die because there is no healer around."
Barry nodded. "You have an original ability that seems to be a great asset. I can allow you to do this. Pick a spot within the fenced in area for your tree. You'll notice our grounds are the biggest on campus. Provide me with a list of equipment you will need and I'll have it to you as soon as I can."
Lana smiled, "thank you!"
With that, she sent a message to Dobin.
[Go to dinner. I'm going to be quite a while.]
And she headed off to find the perfect spot for her new sanctuary.
--------------------------
In the dining facility, Blaine saw Dobin and the others but no Lana so he asked about her. Dobin explained she was still in the agricultural area and may be a long while.
----------------------------------
Lana took her time to determine the best place for her tree. There were several groves in the area. Barry wasn't kidding about how big the area was. This class was going to get serious about what they would be learning to grow. If it was food, they would be getting the details based on what she saw.
There was a space big enough between the apple orchard and the cherry orchard, so she placed her willow in the very center of that clearing. As her tree grew from small sapling at a rapid pace, she asked it to create the shelter up in the high branches once more for her own safety. She asked for a second shelter adjacent to it for her experiments so they would not be messed with in her absence. The branches bent and twisted to her will as the rooms she requested were formed.
She finished her construction then wrote up a list for her teacher of materials then returned to the classroom to ensure he got it. She did send it through her watch/tablet connection and her relationship with technology wasn't the best. She poked her head in, "did you get my list?"
He gave her a thumbs up, "reading it now. You'll have this stuff tomorrow."
"Thank you!"
She headed back to the dorms. Lana entered her room realizing she hadn't grown any food yet but not really wanting to go out, she decided to use the kitchen in her room and her pots.
She quickly grew a whole bunch of things which did not require deep roots. That meant she could not have carrots tonight. She put together something in a pot, wishing she had at least some potatoes to make a potato soup. Tomorrow will be better.
While the soup cooked, she grew a whole bunch of wheat and a few other things to make flour for bread.
Kattie came in the room to the smell of the wonderful aroma. "Darn! Had I known you were cooking in here, I would have avoided the dining facility! Though, it wasn't so bad tonight."
Lana giggled. "How was class?"
Kattie gave her the brief description. "Is the soup done?"
Lana nodded again, "Yes. I'm working on growing what I need to make flour. I was thinking maybe some rolls to go with the soup."
"Blaine asked about you at dinner tonight."
"Oh! I didn't tell him I wouldn't be there!"
Lana took a break from her growing to send a text.
[I'm in my room now. I was approved to set up to do research by my teacher! I set up a new tree in the area over there.]
[Can I come visit?]
[Sure, I'll open the door.]
Lana sent another text, this time to Paul.
[Can I opt out of the directory?]
[The families have a problem with general directories. Families are automatically opted out. I removed you.]
[Can you remove Dobin as well?]
[Done.]
Lana just completed growing enough to make more flour when Blaine and Chekof entered. They went straight to the kitchen, drawn by the scent. Blaine's stomach growled.
She smiled at them but noticed they were not. "Did you guys have a bad day?"
Blaine looked her straight in the eye, "Who's Pucket?"
Lana looked shocked and she started shaking. She looked between the two of them, "were you following me?"
Blaine shook his head, "Chekof and I were doing some training in the park yesterday. Since you are no longer in combat class, he's back in transformation class and I'm just in elemental class. We decided to spar with each other. Who is he? Why was there fear in your voice?"
"Just to be clear," Chekof added, "I heard you, not Blaine. We were close to you but not close enough to see with all the trees."
Lana sighed, "all I'm willing to say right now is that he was in the same orphanage as us."
"What he said about low-levels. It appears the same person who wanted to prey on the weak to make them stronger, also wants them to feel isolated. We don't know why yet. It's level 3 and lower so Dobin should be good but the roommates would be in danger."
Lana looked at Chekof whose watch still showed a 1. She had a thought and texted Paul.
[Do the watches read the MC in non-humans?]
[No.]
[Could you change 2 more watches?]
[Bring them when you bring dinner.]
[thumbs up emoji]
"Send a message to Karlen and see if he's available in about an hour."
Chekof sent the message and Karlen replied that he was.
Lana made the rolls and soon dinner was ready. She made too much as she always did. She offered some to Chekof and he declined having gotten full already.
Lana dished up 4 bowls and the pot was still half full. She set Paul's rolls aside and placed the other 3 bowls and the remaining rolls on the table, with the pot in the middle.
Blaine took a sip and exhaled happily, "real food. I thought I might need to order tonight!" Blaine had seconds then asked, "so, explain the tutoring thing again?"
Lana smiled because he liked the idea she was doing this. "Those who showed talent in martial arts or weapons but were in other combat classes were offered tutoring. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are for martial arts, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are for weapons. This means I'll take Paul's food up as well as Chekof and Karlen, leave them there and run to the tutoring session. Since it's not technically a class, I can be in civilian clothes, which means I need to change while you finish eating."
In Paul's room, Lana left it to the boys to explain the issue with the watch and left with Blaine. Blaine wanted to attend the session with her.
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