Training Day

After both Jayne and Maria were clean, fresh, and their lust brought back down into much more manageable levels, they left the bathroom to find that a servant had laid out a set of clothes, with a phone and a note on top.

Apologies Miss Bronwen, your school uniform is still in the laundry, however, we did find your phone well before it went into the wash. Seamstress Livia took measurements from your school uniform and we have provided you with a set of clothes for the day’s activities, that perhaps your uniform would not have been best suited for anyway. - Jeeves

Jayne slipped out of her towel and put on the outfit. A pair of gray boyshorts and a matching sports bra... Well, that is to say, she tried to put on the outfit. Her recent development in certain areas meant the size she’d been measured for no longer fit. She was barely able to fit into the boyshorts. The dual-tone, cream and khaki breeches required both girls to work together to get Jayne in them.

The girls finally resigned themselves to fact Jayne would need some other clothes. Fortunately, the pair were now much closer in size than they had been, so Jayne hadn’t to try to explain to the seamstress how she must’ve been mistaken. Maria found and gave her some underwear, which the girls giggled about a bit. Just some plain panties and a sports bra, but Jayne still managed to make Maria blush. A cream color pair of breeches, some short socks the brown leather fencing boots that the butler had brought in still fit well, and were fairly comfortable. A loose white blouse that tucked into the breeches nicely. However, they both knew they had to find something to do about the obvious bulge in Jayne’s pants. So Maria pulled out an old green tabard that went down to just above Jayne’s knees. It was split at the sides so Maria found her a broad brown leather belt to keep in check.

Jayne examined herself in the floor-length mirror, “It looks like I’m one of those streamers that dress up as game characters...”

“Hey. Listen. With that attitude, if I had a green hat I’d make you wear it too!” The pair giggled.

Their wardrobe taken care of the girls made their way down to the dining room for brunch. The staff fixed them omelets with a side of bacon and some sliced oranges. As they were finishing up, they were joined by the Lord of the house.

“Father-”

“Sir-”

The girls were cut off by Lord Lucero, “good morning, girls. That extra rest must’ve done you both some good. Miss Bronwen, you look much better than when you came in, and Maria” he paused and smiled, he wasn't sure what it was but his daughter seemed happy, in a way he'd not seen for too long, “well, whatever it is you look positively glowing today. I’m happy to see that.”

The girls shared a brief glance with one another as if to ask if they’d been caught.

The Lord continued, “no new assignment for you I’m afraid Maria. You’ll be keeping Miss Bronwen company,” he looked over to Jayne, “I’ve found a tutor for you, I’m afraid he is neither the mage you deserve nor need.”

Maria’s eyes went wide, “father... no you don’t mean...”

Lord Lucero let out a pained sigh, “I am afraid so. The guild was quite sure they couldn’t spare anyone at the moment, to the point they asked me not to call back anytime soon. We went down our list of independent contract mages... and I do mean down our list. Miss Bronwen, I’m afraid to call the only available tutor we could get for you unorthodox would like be saying that the schism was a minor theological disagreement. But he can teach you basic self-defense spells, to begin with.”

Said tutor was heard before he was seen, “woaaaah, I’m digging the energy here, someone got lucky this morning!”

The man was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, unbuttoned exposing a slightly stained white tank top underneath. Blue beach shorts and flip flops. He carried a hockey stick that had been decorated with trinkets at the blade, indeed its days of hitting pucks were over. In the other hand, he kept a thick digital tablet. Atop his head, he wore a ridiculously oversized wide-brimmed straw hat with several especially loud exotic bird feathers stuck near the crown of the hat.

“Oh heeey! Bossman. How’s it hanging?” He asked when he saw Lord Lucero.

The patriarch of the Lucero family bristled as he managed only with his many years of practice to maintain some sense of decorum despite the indignities. “Miss Bronwen, I present to you Bighat Brogan. One of the world’s foremost experts on crystalline magic, and your tutor.”

“Dudettes! Maria! I remember you from that crystal convergence. You cut a tail off a flipping dragon, that was hardcore,” he looked over to Jayne, “so you must be Jayne, the little eldritch powerhouse that’s got everyone freakin’ out!”

Lord Lucero cleared his throat in a manner that would cut diamonds, “Mister Brogan, some discretion is still in order.” He glanced over to mage with a look that could stop a jet fighter and make it turn around.

“Whoops, you got it, Boss. Sight unseen, say no more. Discretion is my middle name! Bighat Discretion Brogan.”

Jayne was suddenly very unsure about this. She looked over to Maria only to see her face buried in her palm, and Lord Lucero seemed... **** at best. She finally cut the silence. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Brogan.”

“Alright, let's get this party... uh I mean lesson started!:”

One journey to the firing range later, during which Mr. Brogan stopped to fist bump many confused guards.

“Ight, so I got this theory here,” the odd mage said flipped through something, “uh huh. Here, read this, dudette,” he said and passed his tablet to Jayne as they entered the reinforced range.

“Sure,” and shortly after her looking at it Maria and Bighat were stopped in their track by something akin to the sound of a dying animal, nails on a chalkboard, and rusty hinges amplified in 7.1 surround sound. The pair clutched their ears at the sound. Jayne was panicking a little, “oh my god, what did I do... are you guys okay? Do I need to get someone?!”

Bighat held up a cautionary finger as it started to subside, his ears still ringing, “OK. That was great. NEW plan, don’t read them aloud. See we’re learning things already!”

Maria just nodded and held her hand up to try and let Jayne know she was okay.

Jayne, who still felt terrible about the whole thing demanded to know more, “what was that?! The thing I just read. Why did it do that to you two?”

“Okay. So like... that’s kinda the thing the Bossman didn’t want me talking about...” he eyed the pair back and forth for a moment. “But no one has told you two, I’m guessing. Though Maria has some idea what it is at least.” The man sounded oddly sober from his previous attitude.

Maria spoke up, “I’m aware of what eldritch magic is based off... are you saying Jayne is...?”

The redhead who was looking a little distraught now, “can someone fill me please? I kinda feel like this affects me too. That’s just a thought though,” her tone not quite her usual friendly sarcasm.

Bighat let out a sigh that sounded more like a whistle, “okay. So I figure I’m like a substitute teacher here anyway. So I might tell y’all. Jayne, what I handed to you on that tablet was an eldritch rune. Yeeeaaaahh, kinda careless of me, but I had to know. See 'eldritch' doesn’t quite have a universal definition. It’s like an umbrella term for what we don’t, can’t, and probably shouldn’t fully understand. Even the knowledge to recognize let alone read aloud that rune I just passed to you is usually enough to drive most mages on a oneway trip to the straight jacket retirement home.”

Maria and Jayne both glared daggers at the man.

“HEY, I’m sorry. I admitted it was reckless. The point is you read that thing as easily as the Sunday morning funnies...uh. Something more contemporary. Webcomics! SO as you may have guessed, that’s not normal. Now back to what eldritch is. Typically we’re talking real old-school primordial magic. Wrath of god type stuff. Damn, look at me being all educational and stuff. Anyway... kinda thought you two deserved to know.”

Jayne thought about it and had distant look in her eyes, “if what you’re saying is true... that means I’m basically gonna have a target on my back for the rest of my life.”

Sounding slightly more chipper, “bingo my dudette. That’s why we gotta sharpen those magic chops of yours!”

Four hours later.

Maria and Brogan sat on the sidelines quietly. Each staring at Jayne for very different reasons. Brogan had tried to teach her the theory of spells and magic before getting into practical lessons but after some time he found it was faster to simply pass his tablet to the girl and let her study it.

“Bruh. This is so unfair. Take the Vinnheim academy for example. It’s two weeks before most students there can manage to toss a single bolt without scorching their hand,” he lamented. “I mean...good for her. But. I ain’t gonna lie, I’m jelly.”

Maria couldn’t quite comprehend the display she was witnessing, nor did she quite understand why Brogan was calling himself a spread. But she was transfixed on Jayne, admiring every twist and turn, the flick of her wrists as she commanded arcane energies like it was nothing more than an aerobics workout.

Jayne had quickly surpassed using only one target at a time. By now she was using every lane on the firing line, with it set to top and bottom moving targets. After a time she learned she could cast the bolts without any movement at all, but she started trying to imitate the correct footing, positioning, and transitions she recalled from reading that book to Maria last night. Not only was she starting to look like some arcane dancer but she thought combining her actions had a more practical application... some documentary she once watched with her mom had a quote from a WWII general, she always found to be funny, but good advice, at least in video games.

“Now some troops can move and some troops can shoot. But if you can move and shoot at the same time, then you and Napoleon are pissing through the same straw.”

That was probably Patton, now that she thought about it as she pirouetted to her right, summoning another quintuple of arcane bolts and hitting just as many moving targets.

A small crowd of off-duty guards and servants had gathered from a safe distance to watch the display of precise arcane artillery. It did sort of look like she was a side character from Champion: The Final Wind Twister, directing a fireworks display.

“Yo! My dudette. I think that’s enough for today. Take a break,” Bighat yelled.

Jayne went ahead shut the range down, the targets groaned, no doubt in need of a little maintenance, as they retreated on their mechanical tracks. There came applause from the small crowd, a few whoops, and hollers. Jayne hadn’t even realized there was anyone else but Bighat and Maria there, she blushed slightly, though it was hard to tell since she was redfaced from the workout she gave herself. She bashfully waved back to the crowd as they dispersed before continuing back to Maria and Bighat.

The redhead gave the tablet back to her teacher, as he accepted it, “tomorrow I’m gonna need both of you in the practice field, maybe get acquainted with a weapon you like. I have got a few tricks you’ll wanna learn if you’re ever pressed into close combat. Anyway, I’ma go talk to the Bossman and head out for the day. Peace ouuut."

The girls watched as the odd mage walked away before turning their attention to each other, “guess you get to beat me with a stick tomorrow,” Jayne grinned and managed a laugh.

Maria closed the distance between the two, “well... you know. To make it fair, maybe I’ll have to let you beat me with your stick afterward,” she whispered so no one could overhear and flashed a mischievous grin to Jayne.

Well, Jayne’s cheeks had been returning to their normal color, but she blushed bright red at that, “your terms are acceptable...” she squeaked.

Meanwhile, indoors.

The mage knocked on Lord Lucero’s office door and waited for the accustomed, “come in.” Bighat Brogan, actually took off his namesake hat, revealing his thinning sandy blond hair, and a thick pair of dark-rimmed glasses.

“So I hear she’s quite the prodigy, Mister Brogan,” he eyed the mage curiously. Noting the downturn in his mood and energy.

“Yes, Sir. You could easily say that. I have a few more lessons for tomorrow, but I don’t know there’s much more I can teach her. It was a humbling experience.”

“I’ll allow it, and you’ll be compensated for today and tomorrow... but” he crossed one arm over his chest to support the other which he brought to stroke his beard thoughtfully. “You have something else you want to add, don’t you?”

“Yes Sir. She’s not casting magic in any way I’ve ever seen or heard. She doesn’t channel energy like... well literally any other mage I’ve known or read of. It’s as though she wills things to happen, and they do. If I may, I suggest we have a seer to observe her tomorrow, and maybe someone outside of a traditional magic practitioner. A techno-mage perhaps, to better analyze what’s going on."

Lord Lucero’s mustache twitched as he realized something, “you’re afraid of her, aren’t you?”

“Not in so many words. She’s a regular teenage girl, with a kind, if perhaps wounded heart it seems. I’d trust her with my life. But what she might be capable of? That’s the kind of thing to keep a man up at night. In short, do not cross this woman. Keep her hopeful and do not allow despair or cynicism into her life. I can already see even from the short time I’ve seen the two together, this girl would gladly lay down her life for your daughter, make of that what you will. But as for now, it would seem your order has a lifelong ally.”

The older man bristled at the implication. “Thank you for your candor, Mister Brogan. I see teaching her has been a somewhat sobering experience for you. I have some things to think about. I will however take your advice regarding a seer and techno-mage. As it so happens, Miss Bronwen is acquainted with the two I have in mind.”