Before Jakon knew it, he was already back at his mom’s blademaster academy, but the clanks from countless blades hitting each other, hmmm, today those sounds sounded … different, for some reason, yet he couldn’t point his finger on how.

Yet.

First lesson of the basics was to double check his surroundings. Pay attention to what was around him, so let’s see …

The floor of his training room was the usual smooth yet gripping dark granite. The walls were mattressed thick with regenerating cushioning fashioned by the best dwarven alchemist and the high ceiling was flat yet glowed full of countless gemstones like most rooms throughout the mountain city of Dirlop did.

Nothing unusual there. Nothing to make those clanks … different. Somehow.

The arched doorway ahead of him should lead to wider and busier but otherwise similar rooms than this one, but the arched doorway behind him, where he came from, was from a narrow granite hallway that circled the whole place. It was only used by some of the better students when they trained alone here, and only if they didn’t want to disturb the other students if they arrived or left at different times than the lesser skilled students still in classes.

In fact, with the taste of strawberries and cream in the back of this throat, and the lingering memory of Ivy’s orange and cream scent, and the softness of her hands and how warmly they touched his … sigh.

Sure, tigermites in the forests below weren’t thought well of, but they rarely joined up with other darklings to cause trouble for lightlings. They harassed everyone equally, so to speak, and dwarves here just happened to be close enough to get the brunt of it, but not all tigermite were … unpleasant.

Ivy, for instance, yet the thought she could get monster carded …

But even Ivy knew better than to show her face around any other dwarf. Too many were too stubbornly against tigermites of any sort. Some of the alchemist might even use her for parts to make their magical gadgets and trinkets. Of course, most alchemists preferred their material monster carded first. For easy storage and summoning. The very reason few beast elves of any allegiance ever showed up in Dirlop Mountain except as cards to be used as material for alchemists and smiths forging magical objects.

That Ivy was almost always around that hot spring nearly every morning …

No.

Focus on why those clanks were … off. Not on Ivy. On whatever she might be doing when he was gone.

What she was never going to tell him.

Jakon had his pair of steel sabers, points and edge dulled, of course, since they were practice blades, of course, so they were a good bit extra heavy as well, to strength his arms as much as possible.

So all in all, he was ready to go through the exercises alone. All to cover for his lateness, and then join the others but … the clanks, there were no cries of pain. No smell of blood or injury.

Just lots of panting and determined huffs.

Enough that Jakon risked running through a few of the usual exercises extra hard to build up a sweat. To hide the fact he arrived late.

The usual lateness. Since Ivy needed a reason to come every day, and he needed a reason to see her every day and … sigh.

Mom would not be happy but … time to finally check out the main classroom.