Forging her soul weapon turned out to be the hardest part of soul combat. The rest was straightforward.

"In forging your soul weapon, you learned much about yourself, choosing a memory that resonated with you powerfully enough to create a weapon. The memory you choose to invoke affects the power of your weapon. As you get more proficient, you will be able to combine multiple memories into a singular weapon that boosts its strength, but that will come later." Shiori looked at Jun and her friends critically.

Jun stood with her shield on her arm, fidgeting nervously next to Sara and Cecilia. Where her soul weapon seemed more like a piece of armor, her friends' weapons were not. Cecilia's, unsurprisingly, was a massive two-handed sword that looked like it'd been ripped straight from the heart of a mountain. The sword was a massive claymore that seemed to be made of stone lined with veins of gold and black iron, with a ruby that glowed set into the pommel. It seemed like it would be too heavy to swing quickly, but Cecilia proved that assumption false as she swung it around like the sword weighed next to nothing. It was an intimidating display, to say the least.

Sara's weapon was the most surprising. Or rather, weapons. Jun expected the elf to form a bow and arrows, but instead she formed a sword and dagger. The sword was a double-edged rapier that looked almost like it'd been grown from wood, the blade a pale white wood while the handle and guard seemed almost like the petals of a flower. The dagger looked like a smaller version of the rapier, but where the rapier seemed to exude life, the dagger was a burnt and gnarled thing that seemed to scream destruction. Jun couldn't help but wonder what kind of memory would form such a pair of weapons.

"—now, it's time to wake up."

With a start Jun realized she'd stopped paying attention to Shiori and missed whatever else her mother had been saying. But before she could say anything, the world went black. Long moments passed where Jun couldn't think of anything, then she noticed the warm caress of sheets around her body. Yawning, she pushed herself upright as the infirmary room came into focus. The room was dimly lit by an enchanted lamp turned low, the night outside the window silent as snow ghosted down. The sound of people moving pulled her attention back from the window as first Sara, then Cecilia shifted in their chairs.

"Congratulations young ones," Inari said.

Jun turned to look at the foxkin. She was glowing. A multicolored aura surrounded the foxkin.

"What was that place?" Sara asked. Jun instinctively looked at the elf only to softly gasp as she noticed a faint silvery glow around her and Cecilia.

"Soul space," Shiori said as if those two words answered everything.

Flicking her eyes to Shiori, she was surprised to see another multihued aura surrounding her mother, the colors constantly shifting.

Inari sighed in exasperation. "Soul space is an oversimplification. It's more accurately a form of direct communication between souls that people perceive as a physical reality that allows for the communication of complex ideas in a way that you can intuitively understand."

"Will we have to go back there to practice this soul combat? What about soul weapons?" Cecilia said, the silver aura around her flickering slightly.

"Going back will be difficult until you're much stronger," Inari said, shaking her head. "You may not feel it yet, but even that brief communication has left each of your souls strained. You'll want to avoid going back for at least a few months."

"Then how are we supposed to help Jun learn soul combat?" Sara hissed irritably.

"You will rest for a bit, and then once your soul has recovered enough, you will learn more. But now that you've forged your first soul weapon, you must recover your strength."

Shiori's tone left no room for argument, but Jun still couldn't help but frown. She didn't know when the soul parasite would become a problem again, but she felt like time was against her. Any delay would leave her that much more unprepared when the time came to deal with it in truth. "But—" Jun started to say, only for her mother to fix her with a withering stare.

"Kitten, you need to rest." Her mother turned to look at Sara and Cecilia then back to her. "All of you do. Your fighting spirits are admirable, but every hunter knows when it is time to fight, time to train, and time to rest. Right now, it is time to rest."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Jun was released from the infirmary the next day. Returning to classes, she got a few strange looks thrown her way by the other students, but if anything, she deserved it. After all, she always found herself staring at everyone.

The auras she saw that night weren't limited to Shiori, Inari, and her roommates. Everyone had them. Most of her classmates had a warm, golden brown aura around them, and she couldn't help but feel like their auras had emotions. Most seemed bored, but whenever people looked at her, Jun noticed many of the auras changed. They seemed to flicker with emotions, many of them negative. Derision, anger, lust. The auras around most of her teachers were different.

Professor Marcos had a shining golden aura that seemed to radiate curiosity and passion, but when he looked at her she also felt a tinge of what she could only describe as cold anger and resolve, though the anger didn't seem to be directed at her, but about her. Professor Lorne's bright silvery aura seemed to bleed disinterest even as he smiled at her before setting the class to work on control-type spells, something she'd long since mastered the basics of.

But what was most surprising was her classmate Mara.

"Can we talk?" The girl asked after Practical Spellcasting class.

Her partner, a boy named Tom, frowned and gave Mara a strange look while his golden brown aura pulsed with irritation.

Jun looked at Mara and the dark grey aura that surrounded her. The grey light seemed to thrum with resolve and concern. Since the hectic run through the Forest at the end of last term, the only time shed interacted with the girl had been after the ill-fated sparring match with Ivar, not that she remembered much more than the girl pumping healing magic into her.

Nodding awkwardly, Jun started to mentally prepare herself to be yelled at. Mara wasn't her friend, and as oblivious as she could be, even she knew that the girl and her friends didn't like her. She dreaded the idea of having a conversation with them, but feared refusing the girl's request. She didn't want to be rude.

Mara hesitated for a second as she opened her mouth to speak, only to glance at Tom who still stood nearby.

"O-oh, well that was a good class Jun. Thanks for the tips on using snares!" He said quickly as the golden brown aura around him glowed brighter with embarrassment. Turning around on his heels, the boy marched just a bit too quickly towards the door as Mara let out a girlish giggle.

Jun watched the boy retreat with a frown. Boys were weird. Turning back to look at the girl, she saw Gina starting to approach with a strange look on her face, the strange lights she'd been seeing around everyone radiating something like anger that felt almost like what she'd seen on the faces of Brad's friends right before they ganged up on her. But before the other girl could take more than a few steps towards them, Jun saw Mara shake her head and wave Gina away.

The other girl froze, confusion flashing across her face and the lights that hugged her as the two seemed to have a silent conversation. After a few seconds, Gina's shoulders dropped as she turned around and headed for the door, passing Aya who hovered awkwardly at the door for a bit before she too left, leaving Jun and Gina alone in the empty room.

"So, how are you feeling?" Mara asked.

"How am I feeling?" Jun blinked, confused at the question. She knew her emotions were still a bit frayed from the Trial and everything that happened in the soul world, but she thought she'd been hiding it well enough. She didn't expect anyone to ask about her feelings, let alone a classmate that she had almost never talked to.

"You know, after the spar with Ivar. You were in the infirmary for a few days and missed the first week of classes." Mara's voice was tinged with concern as the healer started to raise her hand up. Jun felt the girl's mana shift as she started to channel it, carrying the sensation of warmth that she'd long begun to associate with healing magic, but the girl stopped herself before she cast.

Oh. Jun felt the beginnings of a blush start to form at her misunderstanding but ruthlessly crushed it down. Mara was asking her as a healer. As realization bloomed, Jun felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease. "I'm fine," she said, her voice cracking slightly. Coughing, Jun cleared her throat as she fought down the embarrassed blush that tried to resurface. "Heh, sorry. I'm fine, I just needed to rest for a few days. The infirmary already cleared me to go back to the Sergeant's class."

"That's good. I, uh…" Mara fidgeted and looked away for a moment. "I was worried about you," she finally said in a rush. "Anyways, let me know if you start to feel off and I can heal you. You can come by my room if you need to…"

"Thanks for checking Mara, and for the offer. And… for healing me after Ivar…" Jun trailed off awkwardly. She wasn't sure what else to say to the girl. Her offer was a kind one, but realistically with the way Shiori hovered around her now, she doubted she would need Mara's healing. Especially since where her mother went lately, it seemed Inari wasn't far behind, and the foxkin had certainly proven herself a powerful healer.

"R-right, well, see you in class tomorrow then." The grey light around the girl pulsed erratically and gave off a strange feeling that only seemed to enrage Jun's blush that thrashed against Jun's mental restraints. Before Jun could make sense of whatever it was she felt from the healer, Mara spun around and quickly walked to the door, leaving Jun standing in the room a bit confused by the conversation, the auras she'd been seeing, and the strange sensations she felt from people.

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