The Academy of Magical Arts

Chapter 23: Training

  ~Noelina~
  I woke up early today and quickly changed my clothes to get ready for training. Everyone else was already at the courtyard waiting for me.

  "Now that you're all here, I would like you to meet Elise, a graduate from the Academy of Magical Arts. She will train you to become stronger when the Province of Shadows attack." Grandmother said.

"Nice to meet you." We all greeted.

  "Good morning." She said. "I will be training you all will your magic abilities from now. Let's start with a few physical exercises. It's still the morning so you might want to wake yourselves up. We'll start by running one lap around the castle. You may begin."

All four of us started running. I was never really good at sports, so everyone else was ahead of me. I was behind and I couldn't keep up.

"Are you okay?" Emily called.

"I'm fine." I replied. "You guys can keep going."

Everyone probably already got back when I was only halfway. I could barely feel my legs. I decided to rest for a bit and started walking. I coughed.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Someone asked. "It looks as if you can't even continue with magic."

"Huh?" I looked up. "Oh Raynor, it's you." I let out a cough and I wheezed when I breathed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, patting my back. "Was running around the castle too intense?"

"No." I said. "This happens all the time. I'm just not athletic."

"But you seem to do fine when it comes to magic." He said. "You still manage to hold yourself together even after performing the shaping spell."

  "This is different." I said. "I can't even feel my legs anymore. You don't move around as much when you use magic, so I can keep it together."

  "Are you sure you'll be fine? You could collapse any time now if you continue to run like this." He said.

  "I'll be fine." I said. "You can go ahead with the others."

  "That's what you told us last time, and look what I did." He said. "What do you think I'm gonna do this time?"

  "Stay." I replied.

  "Exactly." He said. "We're almost there. Keep going."

  I looked forward and pushed myself to run. As soon as I reached the end, I fell on my knees.

  "Noelle, are you okay?" Emily asked.

  "Yeah, I'm fine." I said. "I'm just not good with these kinds of things."

  "Was the castle too much for you?" Miss Elise asked. "I'll try to find a place that won't tire you out too much next time. For now, why don't you rest before training? Tell me when your energy's restored."

  I sat on the bench and watched the others practice. My legs were numb and my throat hurt and breathing was a little difficult. I'm not quite sure if I'll be able to do training today. The castle was pretty big, one lap would definitely tire anyone out, but not like me. I'm not very athletic, so I can't handle these things very well. And soon enough, training was already over and I hadn't even done anything.

"I'm sorry Noelle, I didn't know you would tire out so easily." Miss Elise said. "Tomorrow you can just run around the garden in the back. You can try running around the castle again when you're ready."

"Okay, I'd appreciate that." I said. I dragged myself to my room and dropped onto the bed.

I'm gonna have to push myself if I want to get stronger. I can't be the only one who isn't trying as hard as everyone else.

As soon as I felt better, I walked back outside. I went to the place where we did training, and jogged around the castle from there. Since I was going at a slower pace, I felt less tired than before. But since I already ran this morning, my throat hurt again and my legs got a little tingly. I was able to jog one lap around the castle without stopping. I walked back inside and walked up the stairs to my room. As soon as I was almost up the stairs, everything got blurry. I was dizzy and began to lose my balance. As soon as I got to the top, I collapsed and saw nothing after that.

~A Few Hours Later~
"Noelle?!"

"Noelle!"

"Noelle?"

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in my room, on my bed. I sat up and saw everyone else around me.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Emily exclaimed, hugging me tight.

"Wh-What happened?" I asked.

"One of the maids found you collapsed by the stairs. She called your grandmother and we came to help. And so, here you are." Eric said.

"By the way, why are you still in your training clothes?" Raynor asked. "Don't tell me you were out running again!"

"Y-Yeah, I was." I admitted.

"This is no laughing matter." Grandmother said. "You need to rest. I know you, Noelina. You push yourself too hard to the point that you wear yourself out."

"Yes, Grandmother." I replied. Everyone stepped out of the room. Raynor was about to walk out before I stopped him.

~Raynor~
"Hey Raynor." Noelle called. I turned around.

"Yeah?" I said.

"I did it." She said.

"Did what?" I asked.

"I made it around the castle..." She said before falling asleep. I sat down next to her and ran my fingers through her long hair. I patted her head.

"Yes you did, Noelle."

"You did it."