" I'm gonna need to modify my evaluation of her" - Lortelle Kecheln
Janica Faylover is one of the main characters in the webnovel The Extra's Academy Survival Guide and briefly a major villain in the game The Failed Swordsman of Sylvania. She is the daughter of a small rancher in the eastern part of the empire. She wasn’t born into a rich family. Rather, she grew up playing in the fields as a commoner. The only reason she was able to attend such a prestigious academy was due to her incredible spirit resonance. Due to her capabilities, she had good grades and received a scholarship. At the academy she made a great number of friends including Ed Rothstaylor with whom she would find herself involved in a number of situations at the academy.
Appearance[]
Her plentiful light pink hair was brushed down well, and both sides of her hair were neatly braided, giving off a warm impression. She looks so cozy and sweet with her bright smile. With a smile on her face, it seemed like blooming flowers were flying around her. She looked like someone who was always positive no matter how bad the situation may be.
Personality[]
Janica is normally a bright and cheery girl, noted by all to be exceptionally kind. This, along with her talent as an Elementalist, made her very popular at Silvenia Academy. She never judged or condemned Ed, despite his despicable actions leading up to his disownment and near expulsion, and was the first student to try and befriend him. Janica constantly feels like she has to push herself further and live up to the expectations placed on her and justify the kindness and praise others shower upon her. This pressure, and her struggle to repay every single praise no matter how small, created a darkness that a dark spirit could latch onto and possess her. After being saved from this incident, however, she was still so beloved among faculty and students, which helped reduce the severity of her punishment. Janica is unaware of her own strength and can be airheaded at times, such as unintentionally scaring a fellow student into fainting and not realizing until a few moments after the fact.
After this incident, she develops a strong crush towards Ed. While getting embarassed at the thought of expressing her feelings to Ed, she does closen her bond to him. However, this crush rapidly grows to an obsessive infactuation. With the help of her contracted spirits, she stalks Ed, and is frequently seen walking with him when in the Academy halls. Yennekar frequently helps Ed with his day to day tasks, and rushes to his cabin the moment her classes are done for the day. She shows signs of jealousy towards any girl who hangs out with Ed, particularly Lucy Maeril (Who only visits to nap) and Lortelle Kecheln (Who is actually trying to court Ed). Yennekar is also fiercely protective of Ed and will immediately go into a rage and attack anyone who does him harm without caring what the situation is. Even though Yennekar is an airhead, she gets more attentive and her analytical skills are sharpened in situations involving Ed. Despite this, she is still very soft-spoken and has not made any attempt to advance her relationship with Ed.
Story[]
Janica first appears near Ed's camp, having been alerted to it by the spirits living in the forest. She attempts to befriend Ed, but fails to do so after Ed requests money, knowing that she is unable to spare some. However, this did not deter her curiosity and attempts at friendship, though she was a bit less intrusive in Ed's life. At the Joint Training event, Janica was the only second year student to have beaten a first year student, which was accomplished by both displaying overwhelming power and by technicality, as her opponent (Lortelle Kecheln) broke the rules by using intermediate tier spells. From Ed's point of view, Janica being the sole second-year victor of the joint training is a plot deviation as Taylor was also supposed to win his match. This led to all the second years focusing all their admiration on Janica. A few weeks after the joint training, Lortelle would approach Janica, harboring no ill will towards her, and attempt to sway Janica to support Lortelle's cause. Janica, however, declined the offer and focused on her developing her summoning skills, hoping to enter into a contract with a new spirit. This proved catastrophic, the amount of expectations her admiring students heaped upon her was too much for her to bear and in her struggle to meet them, she fell under the influence of a malevolent, dark spirit and summoned it to the academy. The dark spirit quickly took control of Janica, unleashing chaos within the academy grounds. This is another plot deviation, as the increased pressure from the first deviation led to these chaotic events happening one month sooner than in the original plot. Eventually, a coalition of students was able to defeat her.
Afterwards, Janica hid in a wardrobe in the destroyed Nail Hall, where she was found by Ed Rothstaylor, who reassured her that her efforts were not for nothing. This would be a plot deviation, as Janica was not supposed to have any involvement or mention in the story past the conclusion of the Glasskan Incident. As a result of the chaos she caused, she was to be punished, though her professors' and friends' defense helped reduce the severity of it. She was not expelled, but had to return all the awards and honors she received as well as lose the scholarship funding her tuition and the right to live in Ophelis Hall, the highest tier dorm reserved for the rich and top of class. Due to Ed's reassurance, which helped relieve the darkness clouding her, she started falling for Ed, so much so that she had her contracted spirits stalk and keep very detailed reports of Ed's activities. She eventually mustered up the courage to speak to Ed, and they bonded at Ed's camp. Janica becomes a daily visitor of Ed, helping him with his day to day tasks. Some time after the Glasskan incident, and prior to the start of the next semester, unbeknownst to Janica, Ed secretly agreed to help Lortelle's scheme to cause chaos in Ophelis Hall. With Janica not yet fully moved out of Ophelis, Ed did not want her to get caught up in the riot and asked for her to meet him at a location away from the dorm. Janica excitedly agrees to it, and patiently waits for Ed at the appointed time. However, while waiting, she gets worried about her outfit and decides to return to Ophelis to change her hair clip. Upon entering the dorm lobby, she sees Ed appearing to be hurt, with Taylor Mclore, Aiyla Friss, and Alvira Aniston standing menacingly over him. Assuming they were beating up Ed, she immediately gets enraged and prepares to attack the three students. Ed, however, manages to calm her down. While helping Ed recover, she noted that she observed a decadent gold carriage arrive near Ophelis, which Ed determines to be that of Elte Kehelland. He enlists Janica and Jikks Efflstein to stall Elte's mercenary forces and buy time for Ed to help Lortelle escape. The two students appear to do well at the task, but Janica ends up overdoing it after she loses control over her emotions when a spirit reports to her that Ed and Lortelle are spending time together at Ed's camp.
Following the riot, Janica returns to being one of Ed's most frequent guests and helpers at his camp. At the same time, a rivalry with Lortelle began to emerge, as both were now in competition for Ed. Ed asks Janica if she could teach him how to contract a spirit, which Janica enthusiastically agrees to. With the aid of her contracted spirits (who also have been giving Janica dating advice), she selects Mugg as Ed's first spirit. Over time, she notices Ed becoming increasingly more fatigued, a consequence of Ed overworking himself, worrying her. This comes to a boil during a meeting between her, Ed, and Lortelle, in which Ed collapses and succumbs to his fatigue. The two girls bring Ed back to his camp to rest and recover, with Lucy helping to repair the flow of his magic. Janica realizes the best way to care for Ed is to simply be a silent, calming presence for him. She continues helping Ed after he wakes up, as much of Ed's supplies either rotted or were damaged beyond repair while he was recovering. During this time, Ed got kidnapped by Professor Glast. Janica was informed of this through Mugg, whom she had instructed to seek her aid whenever Ed was in trouble. She flew into a rage upon learning of Ed's predicament and immediately went to the underground waterways of the island. She inadvertantly terrorized a student upon arriving, clearing the way for her and the arriving Lortelle. While Lortel attempts to throw her off the trail, Janica easily sees through the ruse; however, the two put their love rivalry aside and prioritize rescuing Ed. This nearly causes a misunderstanding with Taylor, who assumed Janica was there as an enemy. Luckily, Ed showed up and defused the situation, determining that a meddling Elte was a greater danger. As Ed, Lortelle, Lucy, and Janica ran to deal with the situation, Janica firmly protested Ed's involvement, deeply concerned about his still tenuous health. However, Ed insisted on being involved, and Janica relented, reasoning that his insistence was to preserve the contract he had with Lortelle.
Some time after the incident, Janica attempted to guilt Ed into showing some affection, but Ed turned the tables on her. She was excited at the prospect that Ed might move in to Dex Hall the next semester and offered to help him out, even going so far as to help him fill out the application; this drew fierce opposition from Lucy. Later, she was having lunch with her two best friends, Clara and Annis Halelan. Clara scolded Janica for being too passive on her pursuit of Ed. Anise, on the other hand, quietly harbored skepticism that Ed was a good match for Janica, or even a good person in general. Anise would attempt to test Ed's character, including trying some flirts. This act would be noticed by the spirits in the area, who would report this to Janica. However, without knowing of Anise's actual intent, misconstrues these advances as genuine affection ( Janica was not too far off the mark though, as Anise's attempts backfired and she genuinely fell for him ). Janica, heartbroken, could not help but unleash her rage. This, unfortunately, occured as Ed's younger sister, Tanya, arrived to introduce herself. Tanya also accidentally aggravated the situation by attempting to describe her negative impression of Ed, resulting in Janica tormenting Tanya's attending servants. Janica would later go to Ed's camp. While Ed did not pry into her situation, Ed noticed she was distraught and offered a shoulder to cry on.
Relationships[]
- Ed Rothstaylor - Janica is Ed's first friend at Sylvenia and to Janica, Ed is her first crush. While their relationship started off with Ed trying to keep his distance from her. However, following the Glasskan Incident, the two grew closer together. However, the infatuation Janica had was extremely obsessive and to the point where her spirits helped stalk Ed. Janica, however, knew she was not as naturally assertive as her other rivals for Ed. She instead tries to prove her worth by being Ed's biggest supporter in surviving in the woods, assisting Ed with his chores like cleaning, cooking, and various other upkeep. Of all of girls chasing after Ed, Janica is the most sensitive to Ed's emotions and health. This is to a fault, for when Ed appears to be injured and in trouble, Janica will not attempt to understand how or why and will instead immediately (and violently) try to eliminate the cause of Ed's suffering. her mental abilities appear to be much sharper whenever it concerns Ed, and Ed is the only person who can calm her. In turn, Ed has come to see Janica as a source of great support. While Ed does not appear to be interested in dating, he does show signs that he is close to Janica. Ed genuinely appreciates everything Janica does for him. He also offers Janica genuine emotional support and is attentive to her feelings, something that Ed has not shown towards the other girls vying for him.
- Clara and Annis Halelan - Clara and Annis are Janica's two closest friends outside of Ed. She can reliably turn to them to confide in her troubles and ask for advice as well as share gossip. The two are very supportive of her well being, though they have different ways of expressing it. Clara often encourages Janica to pursue her heart, and even gets frustrated when Janica appears to be too passive and is afraid Janica will not achieve that dream, while at the same time she is careful enough to steer Janica in a way that would not lead to damaging gossip against her. Annis, on the other hand, worries about things that may threaten Janica's happiness. To that end, due to Ed's shady history at the academy, leads her to assess Ed's worthiness as Janica's crush. Unfortunately, this creates a misunderstanding between Annis and Janica, as Janica believed Annis's attempts at flirting were genuine. This severely strains their friendship.
- Lortelle Kecheln - Lortelle is a fellow student at Sylvenia Academy, and her rival for Ed's love. The two do not have any significant interactions until after the Ophelis Hall riot, which is when Lortelle falls for Ed. The two quickly realize they are at odds with each other in this regard and competitively try to outdo each other to get Ed's attention. This is particularly difficult for Janica, as unlike Lortelle, assertive behavior does not come naturally to her. Lortelle, on the other hand, has an uncharacteristically overreactive imagination when even the slightest hint of losing Ed to Janica appears. Despite the jealousy, the two do not disparage each other, with the worst jab merely being Lortelle attempting to trick Janica to leave a rescue attempt so Lortelle can take the credit. in fact, Lortelle and Janica are both able to put their differences aside when Ed's health and safety are concerned. When Ed collapsed from exhaustion, the two were constantly at his camp after class and there were no major incident between the two. Later, in the sewers, both Janica and Lortelle were concerned about Ed's health and did not want him to enter combat.
- Lucy Maeril - While jealous of Lucy, particularly because Lucy is another daily visitor to Ed's camp, Janica quickly realizes Ed is (initially) indifferent to Lucy's presence. Her feelings of jealousy aren't incensed as Lucy has not made any apparent move to win Ed over. She was somewhat concerned over Lucy spending more time with Ed after Ed collapsed, but, along with Lortelle, relented because Lucy was the only one among them that could use healing magic to help Ed recover. Lucy, on the other hand, found the experience of having been watched while she heals Ed to be overbearing, and later somewhat hostile against Janica when she offered to help Ed move out of the forest and into Dex Hall.
- Merilda, Takan, and other Forest Spirits - Thanks to her high spiritual resonance, Janica has contracted many spirits, including high-level ones, as a student. She is close with all the spirits. Initially, she converses with them to make sure the Northern Forest is protected, but as she falls in love with Ed, these meetings begin to focus more on Ed than the original purpose. The spirits are generally in Janica's camp when it comes to her pursuit of Ed, viewing other girls as rivals. To that end, and despite having no dating experience, they attempt to give Janica advice on how to advance the relationship.
Powers and Abilities[]
- High Spiritual Resonance - Janica has an innately high spiritual resonance, which lets her see, hear, and make contracts with up to high level spirits. This talent helped propel her to the top of her class in the Magic Department.
- Expert Elementalist - Janica has contracted many different types of elemental spirits, ranging from earth, wind, fire, and water spirits. Fellow student Alvira has compared the number and strength of the spirits at her command to a small army. Her high level fire spirit, Tarkan, is among her strongest spirits, and is so strong that during a training battle, Tarkan injured Lortelle to the point where she needed to be taken away by a stretcher, and whose hide is so hard to damage that only a full powered attack from Lucy could render it brittle.
- Powerful magic aura - Janica's aura gets unleashed when she goes all out in combat. It is strong enough to visibly damage concrete flooring beneath her feet.
Weaknesses[]
- Lack of emotional control - While Janica can normally maintain some semblance of emotional control, any situation that provokes her jealousy, such as another girl flirting with Ed, or seeing Ed harmed will immediately provoke her wrath. As a spiritual elementalist, these emotions fuel the strength of the spirits she summons and if she cannot get her temper under control, the power she unleashes goes out of control and become more dangerous than intended.
- Susceptibility to dark spirits - As with all elementalists, Janica is particularly vulnerable to the influence of dark spirits. If she is not vigilant in how she summons spirits or which spirit she listens to, she may accidentally summon one. The dark spirits are malevolent entities that seek to possess elementalists so that they may exert their influence and cause chaos in the world. Janica succumbed to the influence of one after struggling to meet the expectation of her peers. An elementalist getting possessed by a dark spirit appears to extend to the spirits they've contracted with, altering the spirits' appearance to that of dark spirits, and the spirits still obey their contractor's now dark will. This effect was reversed once Janica was freed from the dark spirit's influence.
- Magic suppression tools - Since summoning and utilizing spirits require using magical energy, Janica's spirits will be forcibly de-summoned if she is rendered unable to use her magical energy, leaving her helpless.