Annabeth

    Training was fun! It was so much better than just sitting around and watching other people do it. That had been the hardest part about being told no or to wait. There was nothing she could do but sit by the wayside and watch as others grew or got better.

    She saw everyone else doing it, yet she couldn''t.

    Well, couldn''t in the eyes of her parents. They didn''t know that she''d already started training long before they gave her permission. Sensing mana wasn''t the only thing that she tried to do to get better.

    She still remembered the scary days before. It came in flashes, and she used to have nightmares about it, but they had gotten better with time.

    That didn''t mean she didn''t think about it anymore. They had put her in a guarded room and told them not to come out, but how was she not supposed to watch?

    Sometimes she wished she hadn''t.

    Still, in order to get better and kill all the monsters like Uncle Topher, she needed to be strong. So strong nothing could touch her! That way, no one else would have to be buried!

    Finally getting the chance to actually train made her progress a lot better. Especially with the held and guidance of others. A part of her felt like she''d wasted the time previously as her progress now was tens of times better than before, but she didn''t like to think about the for long.

    Mage training was... weird.

    It wasn''t boring, but it also wasn''t that fun. All three of her ''teachers'' focused on different things, and not all of them were exciting. Aunt Rachel had her focus on honing her Mana Sense and extending its range, which involved a lot of meditating and trying to see the colors again.

    Her Mom worked on mana manipulation and education. It was mainly boring books in the library, as she couldn''t really do anything with the colors yet. Sometimes Anna felt like they had moved, but it was hard to tell.

    Gabriel focused on Spells. He''d show her cool ice magic and try to describe the spell matrix behind them. It didn''t really make a lot of sense to Anna, but Uncle Gabriel''s sessions were definitely the most exciting.

    The next day, she was with Mitchell. He was quiet most of the time and didn''t really seem all that excited to be teaching her. It made his lessons not very fun. He hadn''t been the same since he came back.

    Still, they focused on making her sneakier, and that was a good thing! It also involved a class on poisons, which always left her nose burning and a perpetual stink. They also let her and Aurora out in the woods to practice being sneaky. It was Cold, but that was fine.

    Anna wasn''t that excited about Cousin Mitchell''s days.

    The next day was Sam and Ashley''s. They would mostly be healing people and would try to describe to her what they were doing, but it was mainly them asking her about body parts.

    Who could remember all of them anyway?

    They could have named them in a way that didn''t have them all sound similar. That was just making it hard for no reason. Tibia and fibula? Ulna and... something else.

    Anna''s day with the Healers was better than with Mitchell, but they still weren''t very fun.

    That was okay, though, because two bad days were made up with the next day. Hal let her train with his Order! They had all the wolves, too, so Aurora could come!

    Aurora liked playing with the Order''s wolves. Some of them were her siblings, so it was fun watching them compete or rough house.

    Those days would also let her be with Sarah, which was also fun. Anna used to not like her, but she had matured. Well, it took a talking to by her Dad to tone down what he said was ''jealousy'', but still. She was the bigger woman!

    Hal taught her how to shoot a bow and how to hunt. She didn''t like the messy bits, but Sarah made her do it. At first, Anna wasn''t sure why Sarah would usually tag along, but she gave advice and helped Anna get through it.

    She only wanted to quit twice!

    Bows weren''t that fun. And it wasn''t because she wasn''t that good with them.

    Then her favorite day came. A part of her believed that her Mother made her wait for Warrior training until last on purpose, but she couldn''t prove it. Mom said it was so they could give Uncle Topher a break, but that sounded like a lie.

    Uncle Topher didn''t need rest! She''d seen him fight for hours without getting tired!

    Warrior training started with her Dad in the morning right after breakfast. He taught her how to use a shield and how to defend herself from attacks. The shield was heavy, and getting whacked with sticks wasn''t very fun.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    He also made her exercise, which also wasn''t that fun. She got through it by imagining how much stronger she would be when the day to pick her Class finally came.

    She may, or may not, have been keeping a countdown on her wall in her room.

    Uncle Austin was up next, and he usually taught the spear. He would spar with her and point out openings to take advantage of and how to spot them. He used his mana to glow sometimes to help point out where to target.

    No matter how hard she stabbed him, she never did any damage.

    Then, finally, it was Uncle Topher''s turn!

    Training with her Dad was the first few hours of the day before school. She was with Austin after school, and Topher right before dinner, but he wasn''t here.

    She was a bit upset that he was late, but sat down and waited for a few minutes. It wasn''t long until he came jogging over to where she was sitting. The snow had been cleared, and the Cold wasn''t that bad here, so she was fine in her furs.

    "Sorry about that. I got carried away." He wasn''t wearing his fancy armor and didn''t have his hammer, which was a bit of a letdown. How was he supposed to train her without it?

    "Where were you?" She did her best to sound upset, "We were supposed to start ten minutes ago."

    "I was beating up on some bad monsters and didn''t realize what time it was." He tussled her hair, and she she swatted his hand away. She wasn''t a kid anymore!

    "You aren''t wearing armor and don''t have a weapon, though." She pointed out. Uncle Hal had taught her to be observant and Austin said to evaluate your opponent critically.

    Uncle Topher also didn''t have blood anywhere, which was a sign against him fighting monsters. He always came back bloody after that.

    "You''re underestimating your Uncle, Anna. My body is a weapon!" She knew it was from a movie, but she wasn''t sure which one. "Besides, my armor is broken."

    "Broken?" She asked, "How did it break?" She''d seen his armor and knew it looked tough. He even put Runes on it!

    "No armor is invincible. Eventually, it breaks and you have to make a new set." He said. "Or you can grow out of it, but I haven''t done that yet. Maybe one day when things stop being so shit."

    "Ope! That''s a bad word." Anna wanted to call out ''swear jar'', but they didn''t have it anymore.

    "Anyway, why don''t we sit for a second. I''m sure your Dad trained you hard."

    Anna was a little tired, but she wasn''t going to admit that. Okay, maybe she was a lot tired.

    "You''ve been with the others all week, and I''m sure they''ve shown you a little of what all the Classes are about. Do you have one you''re leaning toward?" He asked.

    Anna nodded vigorously, "Yeah, I want to be a Warrior! Like you!"

    His face turned sad for a second. "Have you really thought about it? I mean deeply thought about it. Your first Class does not define your future. It''s the first step in what will hopefully be a long road.

    "Each has their benefits, but don''t tell them I said that." He smirked.

    Anna was confused, "But isn''t Warrior the best?"

    "There is no objectively best for everyone. It is what''s best for you." He poked her in the chest. "One Class can be perfect for one person and terrible for another. This first Class choice isn''t about finding which is best or most powerful, it''s about finding which one you want to walk down."

    "Picking Warrior just because you think it''s the best isn''t a good enough reason. To be a Warrior, you have to fight like a Warrior. You have to want to be a Warrior. You just don''t pick up a sword and become one." He was speaking heavily.

    Heavy like the time Mom said Grandpa wasn''t coming back.

    "It''s also a dangerous path. I''m sure your Mom warned you against picking Warrior?" Anna nodded sadly, "That''s for a reason. In the two big battles we''ve fought, over half of the deaths have been Warriors."

    Anna was sad. She wanted to be like him...

    "I''m not trying to tell you not to," Topher said, and she cheered up a bit, "I''m just saying not to close off any doors yet. You still have three years until you have to choose, don''t waste this time you have making this choice early. You know what Grandpa would say."

    "An informed decision is better than a quick decision." She mumbled.

    "Exactly right. And what do you think he would say if you didn''t take this time to learn about all the different Classes?" He asked.

    "He''d be upset with me," Anna mumbled again.

    "Right." He said sharply, "Now, I didn''t mean to get you all mopey. How ''bout we start training."

    Anna jumped up. Finally!

    "What are we going to do first? Do I get to pick a weapon?" Her training with Dad was shields and conditioning, and Austin made her use the Spear. She hadn''t gotten to choose the weapon she wanted to yet.

    "Why is that your first thought?" Chris laughed, "The weapon isn''t important. We''ll give all of them a try in the time you''ve got left. Being a Warrior isn''t restricted by what shape of metal you swing around."

    Anna wanted to say, ''But you swing Ice,'' but decided not to.

    "Then what are we going to do?" Anna asked curiously.

    Uncle Topher had a small smile, "The first lesson about being a Warrior is that pain is inevitable. It took me a long time to learn not to flinch from pain, and since we''re going to have to go slow, we''ll have to start now."

    Anna suddenly wasn''t looking forward to training with her Uncle.

    Anna was hurting, tired, exhausted, wiped out, and every other word she could think of that meant tired. Every time she fell, Uncle Topher expected her to get up.

    He didn''t ask, didn''t yell or scream, just stood and waited in expectation.

    Somehow, that was worse.

    She didn''t want to let him down.

    It wasn''t until Dinner time that he finished, finally letting her collapse to the cold ground. She''d gotten too hot for the furs she''d been wearing and had to take them off midway through.

    "Now we can''t have you dying of hypothermia. You''re Mother would kill me." Thankfully, she was scooped up and carried inside toward the food. She was super hungry, too.

    She must have fallen asleep, as she didn''t remember being placed in her bed. The furs were warm, and she sighed into the soft bedding. Her body still hurt, but it was better now that she was in bed.

    Anna heard yelling through the wall. She didn''t even need to press her ear against the door to hear the words clearly, as they carried through the heavy wood easily.

    "What were you thinking, Chris! I had to use a healing spell on her!" It was her Mom, and she was angry.

    "You told me to train her, and that is what I did." Uncle Topher was also loud, but not yelling. Close but different. His words were angry too. Anna had never heard him like this. He was usually never angry.

    "She''s a child!" Her Mom yelled, "You can''t push her this hard."

    "If I don''t, where do you think she will end up?" Oh, he was really angry now. A pressure started to push on her, "I trained the Order as best I could, and look how that ended! Half of them died!"

    "This is different! If you can''t tell the difference, maybe we should just stick with Austin and Jon." Her Mom said.

    No! Anna yelled in her head.

    There was a soft sigh and then the pressure went away, and he wasn''t yelling anymore. "I''m sorry. I''ll tone it down next time. If you need me, I''ll be in the forge."

    Anna heard a door open and close, and her Mom sighed.