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Hitoshi exhaled, carefully venting his excess magic. Five minutes left. Five more minutes, and the signal would go off to start the trial. He knew the course, knew the skills he’d have to demonstrate, knew that he was good at what he needed to be good at. But knowing didn’t ease the knot in his gut. He wasn’t strong enough to be a warrior, and his magic was poorly suited to combat besides. If he wanted to see the settlements they raided from, being a scout was the only option left available to him. He had to succeed here, he had to.
“Heya, Shinsou!” Tetsutetsu called, and Hitoshi turned to see his peer striding across the starting area towards him.
“Ashido’s further that way,” he pre-empted the trainee warrior’s question, pointing down towards the ward-maker’s friend.
“I know,” Tetsutetsu grinned, stopping and tucking his hands behind his head. “I just didn’t wanna miss my chance to see you before the trial,” Tetsutetsu clapped a hand on his shoulder as Hitoshi’s eyes widened. “By the blessing of the sun and stars, you’ll be the greatest scout of our generation.”
“Oh,” Hitoshi looked down, face warming. The heavy weight in his gut had lightened almost to the point of not being there anymore, and he mustered a smile as he looked back up at Tetsutetsu. “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”
“Well, with an affinity like yours it’s hardly a contest, now is it?” he gave Hitoshi’s shoulder a gentle squeeze, then removed his hand. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you after you make scout!” he jogged off, waving over his shoulder, and Hitoshi lifted a hand to wave back.
He’d never really hung around Tetsutetsu’s group of friends, never had much of a reason to, but after today he and Ashido might both be scouts. That’d be as good a reason to spend time with them as any, right? He turned towards the course, a small smile tugging at his lips. Tetsutetsu was right; as long as he didn’t have to contend with his uncle’s negation magic, he had this in the bag. Now he just had to hope that Ashido was as competent as she was exuberant.