Rising Shards

"OK, everyone, uh, go attack at once!" Caeda said. "Everyone all together like!"

As soon as we were within range to attack the monster, Caeda attempted to tell us how to strike.

"No, no!" Caeda said when we started to spread out. "Everyone hit the uh, the tail together!"

"What does that even mean?" Chickadee asked.

"Go like this!" Caeda clapped her hands together and pointed them forward like she was swimming. "All of us!"

Suffice to say, when she was in a mood to try strategizing like this, it rarely went well. While she yammered on, the dinosaur like void monster swung its tail, knocking all of us over.

"Alright, new plan," Caeda said as she sat up.

I rubbed my head. "We either overwhelm it with power or find its weak points and destroy them. Any preference?"

"Weak points feel more precise," Sai said. "All out power might get messy."

"Let's go with the weak point then," I said. I ignited my bloodsaber and slashed, sending a wave of shadowy energy filled to the brim with my anger at the beast. For a second, it cut completely through, cleaving the gelatinous beast into two. A chunk of something shimmering and golden revealed itself just before the two sides reformed into one.

"Almost too easy," I said. "Ash, Charmaine, get in front and attack. Myles, Chickadee, Esther, take point around and try to keep that tail from getting us again. Sai, I think you should be able to stab upwards if you get your shadow under it."

The others nodded, rushing to their points.

"Hey, wait!" Caeda said.

Ash and Charmaine landed some bolts of energy at the monster's face, drawing its attention. Esther, Chickadee, and Myles took turns slashing the monster's tail off. It wasn't very effective as the enemy kept reforming itself, but both groups were keeping the monster occupied. Sai dropped to the ground, taking the form of a shadow as they rushed forward. Without needing me to say anything, I cut forward again, exposing the core just in time for Sai to strike up, shattering the gold heart of the beast in one strike. They darted back, only leaving their shadow form when they were out of range.

The void monster exploded in a disgusting display as most of them did. We managed to avoid the splatter of Elka, at least.

"Simple as that," Myles said.

"Hey, maybe don't put me on tail cutting duty when I have illusion powers?" Chickadee said. "You could have had me trick it or something."

"You could have done that on your own at any point," I said. "And it's good to not just rely on the same strategies."

"I think Ana had the right plan there," Ash said. "And we took care of it in like, a minute."

The general sentiment carried across the group. Before we returned to my mother for further instructions, Caeda took me aside. She wouldn't make eye contact and hummed for a bit until I finally just asked her what was wrong.

"You sure have been getting a lot of attention this week," Caeda said.

"Uh huh," I said.

"It's interesting," Caeda said.

"We've all been getting a lot of attention lately," I said. "It's just my turn at the front with this mask situation."

"I see," Caeda said, not sounding like she was listening. I guess it was only fair after I barely listened to her commands. "If I can make a request."

"Sure," I said.

Caeda finally looked at me, her expression sour and serious. "Don't lead the others while I'm in charge, OK? It kind of undermines my whole deal."

I didn't answer. I could have mentioned that Caeda's strategies rarely worked out, but didn't.

"And also, if you do forget my request, which would really upset me, could you still make sure you include me in whatever your tactic is?"

"I'll do my best," I said.

Mother said she was pleased with our results and performance, but had something to ask of us before she could discuss that.

"One of the Rising Shards classes is here and is having trouble with a monster swarm," Mother said. "Would any of you like to help out?"

She pointed at another area in the field, where a group of Rising Shards students were making a pathetic attempt to defeat some ankle high monsters.

Ugh, they're struggling with such weaklings?

My nose twitched when I noticed it was Zeta's class. I saw her use her storm powers, somehow missing a target a foot away three times in a row.

"I'm not going," I said. "If they can't handle monsters at such a low level, they don't deserve help."

Mother's expression remained blank. Esther, the Althea sisters, and Charmaine went to help. Sai joined as well, giving me a silent look that made me feel guilty. But they all knew how I felt about Zeta Faleur, they shouldn't be surprised.

Are they all going to glare at me every time I have some reaction to Zeta? They knew how important it was for me to tell Faleur what I'd been feeling for ages, why was it an issue now?

My frustration was building up again, and fighting the monsters would have helped a bit, but I couldn't join in now after making a point not to.

"Was..." I gritted my teeth, trying to calm myself. "What were your findings, er, for the battle?"

Mother typed something into a tablet. "The serum is still working as intended. Your powers are growing with each day."

"That's...that's good," I said.

I tried to think of anything else I could ask Mother about our performance, but couldn't.

"Yep, this is still awkward as hell even with your mask off," Chickadee said.

"Ugh," I scowled, stomping away.

"Are you actually going to help them?" Caeda asked.

"No," I said. "I'll find something to fight."

I did a few full laps of the entire field of flowers, going around the trail looking for anything to take this burning feeling out on. At the tail end of the second, when I was farthest away from all the classes out practicing, exploring, and battling, I ran into someone.

It was Kalei, clutching her head.

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