EQUINOX || The Catalysts Series, #3

XIII

Days bleed by, seamless.

Lena feels strange to have normal days like this without any major incidents. The trials are now over, and with no firm intention on joining the Annual Games, Lena is left with much more time than she's ever had while the rest of the school busies itself.

The City is circling its attention on Arcane Academy, just as the authorities wanted, and they make the headlines even if there is a large scale demon attack. Every now and then before the games, top flying—and apparently well adored—students of Arcane Academy are selected at random, and interviewed live. They also demonstrate their abilities to the public, broadcasted across the City.

Students looking to participate eagerly await their turn to show the world what they are made of. Lena, on the other hand, paces herself, allowing herself to adjust to the environment she was supposed to be used to by now. Sure, all that has happened helped her to fit in quickly, but Lena is glad to finally be able to experience what normal days are like in the City of Leatia and Arcane Academy now.

It's given her some time to think. Who is she, and what does she really want to do in this life?

It never occurred to her before—ironically, of all people—Viktas, the head of the authoritative squad who came to evaluate the students in Arcane Academy. He was the one who'd prompted her: Have you given thought of what kind of future you want yourself to have?

Ever since Lena learnt the truth about how she stumbled into this world, she's been lost. Multiple events have stopped her from thinking before, interrupting her 'life' here—Lena never thought about anything further than enrolling in Arcane Academy and simply surviving with such a run-of-the-mill ability. But now that she's been given a breather, she wonders what exactly is her goal of coming here. Sure, even with her false memories, she always wanted to come to the City of Leatia and experience the futuristic city for herself. She always wanted to be one of the powerful ability users—professional Catalysts—who fight demons.

So Lena figures that's the reason she told Viktas she'd like to be on the field. To take on the fights. And ever since she's started training her abilities and honing her physical combat in Arcane Academy, she is more confident.

These uneventful few days made Lena realise that even if she did shape this world's reality herself, it doesn't change the fact that she should still live in it. Learning the truth about her abilities doesn't stop her from trying to grow up normally in this world.

Every single student here strives to be one of the best in the City of Leatia, to attain a position in the best industries if not the best Catalysts upon graduation. Lena shouldn't be any different. She decides to live on as if she doesn't know the truth: find an ambition here, and work toward it. It's what every functioning human will do.

That's why Lena didn't hesitate last week, when the school asked them to fill up their preferences in the type of offers they may receive from the authorities after the trials. It's a system the City keeps so they can track talent and allocate them most efficiently based on abilities.

Shadowing an official Catalyst ('On-Field Catalyst Training') is by far the best offer a student training to be a Catalyst a.k.a. demon hunter can get—but it is highly competitive. And as students are only able to input their top three choices among almost fifty different sectors, Lena had left the third option for 'Industry Research' as backup.

Lena had also begun to think about her electives and focus for classes after her third year. Less basics are taught in the third year, and subjects like General Studies will be overridden by longer hours of physical classes. The fourth to sixth years of Arcane Academy become more specialised, and students can choose a major to determine their adult path. It's near the end of the year now, so Lena submitted her consent to more physical lessons than theory ones for her coming third year.