The sun was beginning to sink when our families finally reached the last stretch of road leading toward Bramble. The trip home actually went pretty quickly from John and I’s training. Mentally, I was tired and physically I was a bit overwhelmed. The Interface was starting to feel more normal, but it was all still an adjustment. I had to figure out where I liked it to be visible. I ended up with it being in the top left of my vision, relatively see through with just my Level, Health, Mana and Experience showing. I noticed that my experience had actually ticked up to 2 percent.
“Huh.” I thought, “I guess that is from John and I training? I thought it would be harder to gain experience, but that was hours of almost nonstop use of our abilities and trying to be more creative with them.”
“John, did you get experience from that training? Check your Interface because I got 2%!”
“Yeah, I am at 2% as well, wow, I hadn’t noticed.” John said, clearly distracted as he focused on what his Interface was showing him.
My body felt heavy, mostly from the walk, but partly because of everything we had been through today. Our parents said that the body takes a couple of days to really acclimate to the new attributes and for your mind to get used to the changes. John hummed beside me an off-tune song as we reached the path to John’s house.
Dad slowed his pace until he walked beside John and I. He didn’t tease or smile the way he usually did when he joined our conversations. His face was serious, making me think something was wrong.
“Boys,” he said, lowering his voice, “I want to talk to you about something before the world hits you harder than it needs to.”
John straightened instantly. I felt my heart beat a little faster.
“When you head to the Capital,” Dad continued, “you need to understand something about the people there. Not everyone sees the world the way folks in Bramble or Hawthorn do. In Acacia, there are powerful people. People more powerful than anyone you have ever come across. There is the royal family of course, but also lots of nobility and old families that have a lot of political power in the kingdom.
Steven nodded from up ahead. “The noble families, powerful factions, and wealthy merchants, many of them will probably look down on anyone who isn’t from their circles.”
“It isn’t everyone,” Mom added gently, “but you will meet plenty who think that their name or upbringing makes them better than you. Some will expect you to know your place and not count yourself of equality with them.”
Dad looked between us. “Don’t let them decide your worth and don’t start thinking you’re less than anyone else or greater. Just be cautious yourselves.”
John and I exchanged a glance.
“I can handle people like that, I’ll show them how strong I am.” John said confidently.
Dad smirked. “I hope so. But confidence and preparation are not the same thing. Remember that.”
I swallowed. “Are things really that different in the Capital?”
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Mom sighed. “It’s a beautiful place, but yes. It’s a different world. You’ll see that soon enough.”
Their tone lingered in my head the rest of the walk.
The days after returning from Hawthorn let me fall back into a familiar rhythm: farm chores, helping Dad with repairs, stacking metal scraps and other junk for Mom to use for later for repurposing. On the surface, nothing changed in my responsibilities, but everything felt different.
Right when I woke up, I’d test my Barrier, trying to activate it faster or at different angles. John was busy and Dad didn’t have time to practice with me as much as I’d like, but the Interface and my ability was starting to become a little more natural.
When John was free, he often ran over pretending to be attacked by invisible monsters so he could practice Power Swing, but he also practiced normal sword swings with a wooden stick, insisting warriors needed to be good even without Mana. We set up a little agility course to work on trying to jump and run while incorporating our abilities. I don’t know if it was helping with anything, but it was fun.
In the evenings, our parents checked on us.
“Try identifying that bird, now that tree, now that rock.”
“Watch your posture, don't lean forward when you do that.”
“Remember: controlling your abilities is half instinct, half discipline.”
They kept reminding us of the same idea that getting comfortable with things now will make the transition to the formal training at the academy smoother.
Some nights, after John would leave and it was time for bed, the quiet of my loft let my thoughts stir around in my head.
What if the Academy didn’t have a place for me?
Will I still be useful without a combat ability?
What if everyone else had abilities that are way better?
I would lie awake staring at the slanted ceiling, replaying Dad’s warning about the nobles. They had a lot more training and people to help them navigate the Interface and guide their abilities along, while I just had chickens and corn.
I already felt behind and I hadn’t even started.
Another week passed and the day to head to the capital arrived. There was a trip to meet the transport group heading to Acacia and it felt surreal, like stepping out of one life and into another. We would be heading to Hawthorn to meet up with all of the newly Integrated 12 year old boys and girls to go to the Acacia Academy.
Mom checked the bag I packed three separate times to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything, but it isn’t like I had much to forget. I had my new shirt and my old short sleeve shirt packed and a pair of pants with underwear and socks. I was wearing my pair of boots that were getting a bit too tight, but not too small that it cramped my feet yet.
Mom gave me a hug and a kiss that felt embarrassingly long, but I wasn’t going to be the one to break it off, this was probably the last time I would see her for a whole year.
Dad was going to be taking us to Hawthorn, so after giving Mom another big hug, we headed towards John’s house.
John was already at the edge of the road waiting for us early, wearing a new shirt and grinning ear to ear with anticipation. His parents were behind him, with his mom and dad standing close to one another and eyes red from crying.
“John, you know that we still have almost two days of walking, right? I asked him with a cheesy grin on my face too. It was all just too exciting to not smile.
John smacked at me playfully and said one last goodbye to his parents before we started walking to Hawthorn.
We walked together to Hawthorn at a faster pace than I would have liked. We were a little behind schedule to meet up where the Academy escorts would meet the village students outside of the city. Without the cart and the faster pace, it actually only took about four hours and the trek was uneventful. I was feeling a little stressed out that we wouldn’t make it in time or that they would leave without us. I was starting to get a little out of breath, but John and Dad seemed to be fine. “It must be that extra Warrior vitality.” I thought to myself as I tried to make it look like I wasn’t tired or breathing as hard as I really was.
As the city came into view, I felt my heartbeat quicken, feeling less excited and more nervous. I had never been away from my parents for an extended period of time and now it was all becoming very, very real that I was going to be away from them for a while.
I didn’t want to disappoint Mom and Dad. I also didn’t know what kind of friends, if any, I would make in Acacia.
