Lyra pulled at the leather straps that bound her armor to her body. She wrapped her belt around her waist, where her sword now rested beside her, sharpened and sheathed. The armor shined bright from the morning sun, giving away her status of where she was on the ladder. She stared at herself in the mirror, making sure every piece fit snug to her figure. Her newly acquired armor wasn't a novelty set, rather simple and able to get her through the academy.

She rested her helmet against her side and turned to Aeris. Raising her free arm before dropping it back onto the pommel of her sword. "What do you think?"

"Oh, that becomes you," Aeris chuckled to herself.

Lyra smiled greatly while considering hacking down Aeris for trying to become a comedian.

"C'mon! Please be serious."

"Okay, okay!" Aeris' eyes flicked up and down, her thumb between her teeth. Lyra's eyebrows furrowed. "I just think you should wear your mother's armor."

Lyra let out a deep sigh as she rubbed her eyes. "I can't bear that armor just yet; it's not my right."

"It's your mother's," said Aeris, hoping to make any sense to her. "You are the right—it's yours. Maybe she left it behind for you to have."

Lyra knew she was right, but it still pained her to think about it.

A knock came from the door. Lyra's boots thudded loudly as she went to answer it. As the door cracked open, Lyra saw Kaelen standing on the other side. His armor fit him perfectly in his human form. She opened the door the rest of the way and said, "Well, that suits you very well."

Kaelen gave her a smile and a nod. "And yours fits you too."

Aeris approached the two with blue cloths folded neatly on top of both her hands. "Lastly is this," she gave them the cloth and stepped back. "This is so they know that the two of you are representing my family—kind of like a sponsor. Aristocrats love that."

The two held the cloth by their corners and let them drop. The crest resembled the one that Aeris' mother used when she was in the war, a phoenix overlapping a crossbow and sword.

"Surely we shouldn't be wearing these." Lyra tried to hand it back.

"I assure you this is what my mother would do. For both of you." She wrapped the cloth around their shoulders and clipped them from behind. "You two look great! Now go become knights!"

· · ─ · ◯☽✵☾◯ · ─ · ·

It was no unfamiliar feeling at this point, entering the Knight's Academy building. All of the previous candidates who made it stood in their shining armor—hopeful, but unaware.

The knights that held the recruiting approached them from the other side of the grand hall, their boots thudding against the stone as they formed a line. Their armor, scuffed and used, told a story upon seeing them. A great contrast to the new glimmering metal they see in front of them. One knight stepped forward. Her armor had nothing special to it, not even paint like the others. All she had was a crest on the cape that hung off the back of her pauldrons. She removed her helmet to reveal a woman in her thirties. Her eyes were blue, and her hair was light blonde and short.

"I am Joanne Melmarc. I will be your instructor for the day!" Her voice was still young and full of vigor. "Steele yourselves, as this academy will be the forge that makes or breaks you!" She stepped forward and began to analyze the candidates, all of their glimmering armor like a fallen chandelier. "Today we will be going over the art of the sword, the spear, and the mace. On the battlefield, you will not always have your desired weapon. You will learn to adapt, no matter how shrewd or imperfect the weapon is."

Joanne unsheathed a candidate's sword, inspected it, then returned it to its owner. She tightened the strap on some man's armor and gandered at their helmet.

"Let us start!" She said, turning away—her cape flaring behind her. "Choose a partner. Find a weapon rack and go through them."

Lyra and Kaelen glanced at each other and nodded. They found a weapon rack and proceeded to handle them, feeling the shape and grip of the weapons.

"So what are you going to teach me first?" Asked Lyra, holding a mace.

"How to swing, probably."

"I know how to swing!"

The corner of Kaelen's lips bunched in disbelief, his eyebrow raised right after. He readied himself with a mace of his own and signaled for her to attack him.

Without hesitating, Lyra went for a head strike—her mace coming vertically down. Kaelen parried it with ease, seeing the attack coming before she raised her weapon.

"Take height into consideration," he explained. "If they're too tall for you, aim for something that's in reach; otherwise, you'll leave yourself open for an attack."

Lyra nodded. Her stance changed as she readied for her next attack. She stepped forward, her mace hooking around towards Kaelen. But he stepped back, seeing her attack coming again.

"This weapon is useless!" Lyra became flustered at the blunt weapon.

"It depends on the wielder."

"It's only good for cleaning gutters, and you can't convince me otherwise."

Kaelen charged at her, causing Lyra to go on the defensive. He started with an overhead blow, as she did, and she easily moved out of the way. His weight shifted as he got ready to swing his mace backwards.Lyra raised her weapon and reinforced it by bracing her other hand at the other end. Kaelen's strike was strong enough to stagger her, but she smirked as she stayed on her feet. He found a way in her space; pushing her by the breastplate, she fell to the ground. Kaelen pointed his mace at her head and chuckled.

"Blunt weapons are more for the brutes. I guarantee you if you handed them a sword, all they would do is swing it with no thought, just force."

"I'm really starting to think this isn't for me anymore."

· · ─ · ◯☽✵☾◯ · ─ · ·

Sweat beaded down Lyra's forehead. Her chest heaved in and out with every rapid breath she took. She tried to wipe the sweat from her brow, but the smooth armor didn't have plans to change its properties.

Kaelen, on the other hand, only breathed heavily—as if this were a light exercise for him. A lot of the candidates were like Lyra; some even lay on the stone-cold floor to cool themselves. Joanne stepped into the epicenter of the training and clapped her hands once. The echo that followed silenced the whole room.

Without realizing it, Kaelen noticed the sun had already set beyond the apparent horizon and the street lamps had already turned on. All the traffic on the streets had diminished to one person.

"This will be enough for the day!" She yelled. "You all have done well to not give up. Tomorrow, a battle simulation will be your next lesson. Do well to retain what you've learned here and apply it to your day tomorrow. Dismissed!"

Lyra let out a long-awaited sigh, her breath finally caught up. Her hands rested on her hips as she stared at Kaelen.

"This isn't fair."

"I think it's perfectly fair," Kaelen replied, rolling his shoulder. "Fortunately for you, I can still teach you at Aeris' manor."

"Oh, don't bother." Lyra walked towards the colossal door and headed towards the fountain. "I have other things to focus on tonight."

"Come on," said Kaelen, running to walk beside her. "You can take a break from that. I'm sure Aeris would love to see you again."

"She understands. And I'm sure your people need you."

Lyra waved at Kaelen as he stopped before the fountain. She entered the alleyway that held her entry point. Looking both ways, she moved the manhole cover and descended into the sewers.

Easily navigating through the trenches of stenches, she found the doorway and entered her mother's secret hideout. She removed her armor, leaving it in an organized mess on the floor. Her goggles slapped to her forehead as she applied them to her head. Lyra entered her small laboratory that took her several days to rebuild with several new nuances. But with her rebuild came upgrades. The crucial pipes and metal linings consisted of a rare alloy that she found in her mother's belongings—Nighlstone, a rare material that can be found only in the Forest of Nolguul that sat. It's fiercely guarded by the Kingdom of Nighlit.

She dinged the metal with a wrench after her final check, listening as it reverberated a sweet sound throughout the laboratory. Lyra pulled the switch, and her machine hummed to life, creating her anomaly. The room, once again, glowed purple and pink. She turned a valve, and the energy began to pour into a chamber where it pooled—the color of purples and pinks swirling with different densities—once the chamber gained enough, it opened a rift in her designated area marked by a hexagon-shaped metal plate. The phenomenon warped the space around it, bending light at its will.

Lyra didn't hesitate to step through; her movements were quick and deliberate towards her goal. Once she entered, she saw a familiar corridor. Like the one Draven has shown her. Her thoughts of the purple entity brought her to the dark abyss where it dwelled, surrounded by space debris. Lyra stepped through and felt a familiar warmth that it emitted.

"I come seeking guidance," she asked.

"As most would ask of us." It replied. Its purple light, pulsating.

"How would I be able to intertwine this power into a suit of armor?" Its colors swirled and flared as it stood in silence. "I guess what I'm asking is, is it possible?"

"The possibility is high with the right tools and programming. However, programming has not been created in your world—at least, in the technical term. Your version of programming would be. . ." it paused, searching deep in its memory for the most relatable term. "Enchanting."

"My world has a saying that magic and science don't mix," Lyra's eyebrows narrowed at the phrase, her face scrunched. "But I've done this so far."

"Magic and science are seen differently due to the understanding of the terms and all that applies. Example: a person who wields magic only knows the laws of magic, becoming stupefied by science. This is also inversely related to science with magic."

Lyra tilted her head with one of her arms crossed across her chest while the other was on top perpendicularly, allowing her chin to rest on her hand. The confusion was visible on her face.

"Magic and science are seen—"

"I heard you the first time!" Lyra interrupted. "I just. . . I don't understand how they don't mix." Her thoughts began to trail.

The entity held on to the silence before it said, "Imagine science and magic as water inside two glass containers. Each having different measurements, magic being the most full."

"How come magic is more full?"

"Magic is a basic understanding, or summary, of science. To create fire, a fuel source is required. However, the index supplements that. And with enough oxygen going through, like wind, the spell fireball is created. Which is almost an instantaneous cast in most worlds.

Unlike science, a fireball would be created through a combustible chemical reaction, such as carbon and hydrogen, and a propellant."

"So magic is cheating?" asked Lyra.

The entity swirled in silence.

Lyra needed to find a way to get an answer from it. How would she be able to? Most of her questions, which answers would accelerate her research, have only met dead ends.

"If I were to enchant," she emphasized. "The armor, what would I need?"

"Certain materials have a better affinity with certain magics, as explained before. In your instance, Ulacrum—or Nighlstone—will be the material used here for your enchanting."

"Nighlstone is only located in the Forest of Nolguul. That's not going to be an easy task."

"The material is more of a crystal than a metal and is capable of crystallization or crystal growth."

"So there must be a deposit between our borders!" she shouted. Mostly being an exclamation to herself, knowing the entity wouldn't answer a question like that.

Shortly after, Lyra made an appearance back in her laboratory. The rift closed behind her, and she shut the power off. She felt the need to let Aeris know of her exciting new discovery.

Lyra hurried through the sewers, her excitement driving her legs as she climbed the ladder to the surface. It was still dark. The streetlights illuminated the entrances to the alleyway, their light slowly fading as it refracted off the stone walls—the perfect condition for stealth. She winced as the metal manhole scraped against the stone once when she got up, then put it back. It brought no attention to her. She dusted herself off and hurried to Aeris' manor.

A laugh almost escaped her as she ran through the barely empty streets. Once she saw her house, she sprinted up the hill. As she approached the front door, her chest heaved as she caught her breath. She opened the door to find Higgs carrying a pile of white towels.

"Higgs!"

"Good evening, Ms. Lyra," she said, a smile present on her face. "Do go to Aeris; she has been wondering about you."

"Already planned on it."

Lyra ran up the stairs, her boots thudding against the wooden floors. Once she found Aeris' door, she burst through it. To her surprise, Aeris wasn't at her desk. She had an envelope to hold documents in her hand, and she wore a fancy dress with her hair done up—all complimenting her blonde hair and blue eyes.

"You're all dressed up," Lyra pointed out. "I didn't realize the Senate had a meeting today."

"I scheduled one as soon as I was put in this position," she said, resolve and determination fortifying her words. "I promised that farmer's daughter I'd talk to the Senate. Today's that day."

"Well, I found something that might help our kingdom."

Aeris moved past her, opening the door with the envelope in hand, and said, "I'd love to chat, Lyra. But this is important too."

The door shut as Aeris walked through. The crackling of the Everfire filled the cadence of the room along with her colliding thoughts.

She threw her arms up, letting them crash back down to her sides with the newfound time she had discovered.