Chronicle of the Eternal: Volume 1 by D. Wolfin

student next to him, who fires an ice
spear at one of the practice dummies.
    Veronica Hayfare chose the
fourth Divine Art from the ‘Ice Heart Alchemy’ skill, ‘Chilling Wind’. As the
Divine Art has no attack power and is simply a control skill, she and the seven
other students are currently casting the skill on one another. Even those
sitting down to recover mana are no exception to being targeted.
    Regal’s mana completely
recovers after a ten minute rest and he resumes creating ‘Ice Bullets’ and firing
them at the targets. Half the morning is spent in this cycle of using his
Divine Art and then replenishing his mana with ‘Mana Rations’. Despite all his
effort, he still has no comprehension of the skill.
    Mid-morning, Mr Razor
stops everyone using their Divine Arts so as to have them start practicing the
second alchemy skill they learned, ‘Vigorous Earth Alchemy’.
    He also says a few words
to encourage the less proficient students, “Everyone who had difficulty
comprehending the profoundness of ‘Ice Heart Alchemy’, do not let it get you
down. Some people who aren’t skilled in ice alchemy are skilled in other
elements. There has never been a person who had no skill in all of the alchemy
elements.”
    “Next we will practice the
‘Vigorous Earth Alchemy’. It will be a little different this time however.
Those who learned ‘Stone Wall’ will pair up with someone with ‘Rock Cannon’.
‘Quagmire’ and ‘Stone Skin’ students will also form groups of two and move into
the yard for practice. Any students who are left can join an already formed
group or self-study.”
    All the students move
about in an incoherent mess. They hurry to find someone with the opposite skill
for them to pair up with. The four Soulless students gather together and are
surprised that all four of them chose separate Divine Arts. This also makes it
incredibly easy for the students who others avoid to form pairs.
    “Regal, big sis Veronica
will take care of you today,” Veronica pulls on Regal’s cuff as they head
outside the gym to practice in the yard.
    The reason these groups
are practicing outside the gym is due to ‘Quagmire’ requiring natural earth to
be the target. The metallic floor in the gym is too hard and would cause the
skill to fail.
    Despite it raining
outside, the students cheerfully run across the wet and muddy ground. The wind
has a slight chill to it that makes a few shiver, but exorcise quickly warms
their bodies.
    Veronica has long amber
hair that has a slightly wild appearance as it flows down her back. She wears a
couple of clips in attempt to keep it under control, but it has little effect.
Her eyes are amber like her hair, only more vibrant. While not being as
beautiful as Piora Flameheart or Hazel Marquis, her impeccable face has a charm
of its own. If she was not already labelled as a Soulless, most of the class
would have already approached her to make friends.
    Veronica’s academy uniform
is kept in pristine condition, but at the moment the rain is causing it to
stick to her body, revealing the still developing womanly curves. Two mounds
have begun taking shape on her chest that will attract the eyes of many men in
a few years. She is 4 foot 7 inches tall, two inches above Regal and one of the
taller girls in class.
    “Veronica, didn’t you also
have ‘Chilling Wind’? Why did you pick two control Divine Arts when one would
have worked?” Regal asks her in puzzlement, thinking her choice of Divine Arts
doesn’t make sense.
    “So I can respond to any
situation. I am going to focus my alchemy on control Divine Arts to be prepared
for any situation. Also, I can use both skills on one enemy to have an
increased effect.”
    “I understand now. Sorry,
I didn’t see it before.”
    “It’s fine. We’re friends
so we will have to form a squad when we get the chance. I will hold back
the enemy while you quickly kill them.”
    “I look forward to it.”
    As the conversation
between