The training was done, and it is currently midnight. Exeo and Ember are sleeping on their respective bed. Riggs is still awake, drinking his coffee. Val was staring outside the window, with a pensive expression.

He was thinking, 'Are we really the best ones to be here?'. He didn't say anything, but Riggs was looking at him, and he asked, "What's wrong?".

Val turned around, and he simply shook his head, and said, "Nothing."

He went back to the window and kept on staring.

Riggs saw that, and he thought, 'You don't seem the same as before. You look more mature now.'

And so, another six months passed.

In the middle of the night, Riggs got out of bed, he was up early today, but this time, it was a bad dream. It was a memory from 13 years ago, it was the day his mother passed away. He was crying his heart out, the same day his mother died. His parents had told him to go to sleep but he can't. He had cried the whole night until morning. He still remembered that day and so he got up.

The cabin was dimly lit by the lights on the table and the nightlights, and Riggs felt relieved when he saw Bo in a sitting position on his bed. He saw the dark circles under his eyes and the exhausted expression on his face. Riggs quietly walked to the sofa and sat beside Bo, he didn't speak to him, as he doesn't want to wake him up.

Riggs sighed and leaned on the sofa, he just stared outside.

Bo also heard the sounds of the sofa creaking, he looked sideways and saw Riggs sitting on the sofa, staring outside. He silently went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water for Riggs. He thought, 'He probably didn't sleep well.'

After a while of sitting there, Riggs suddenly said, "It's been a while since I had a nightmare."

Bo handed him the bottle of water, and said, "Seems like it.", then sat on the sofa again.

Riggs drank the whole bottle of water and then went back to the bed. Bo laid down again, but he can still see Riggs staring outside. He thought, 'He looks sad.'

He then sighed and closed his eyes. Riggs is silent, he just kept staring outside, until the sun had risen.

Val woke up and looked around, he didn't see Bo in his bed, he saw him sleeping on the sofa. He got up and was about to call him when he heard a creaking sound from the kitchen. Val went there and saw that Riggs was there, and he was cooking, and he said, "Morning."

Riggs slightly turned his head to face Val and said, "Good morning."

Val looked around, 'Where's Bo?', he thought. And so he asked, "Where's Bo?"

Riggs answered, "He woke up early this morning."

Val nodded and didn't further question him, then he just sat on the chair. He felt something strange but he didn't know what, 'He's acting strange today.'

When Riggs finished cooking, he brought the food to the table. They ate breakfast in silence, with no one talking. After a while, Ember woke up, then Exeo, and they all ate breakfast.

"Riggs, I want you to go to Dr. Lewis later in the laboratory to get some equipment for the combat training later.", Exeo said.

Riggs just nodded and finished the rest of his meal.

The team kept on training every day, they got used to their abilities and tactics. However, there will still be times when Bo gets nervous, but this doesn't happen often now.

However, Riggs would still get up early in the morning.

Sometimes, it's night time when he goes to sleep, and he doesn't bother to wake Bo up.

And so, another six months passed.

It's already summer now and the weather is nice, and the training was still on, and they are all doing good, especially Bo, and Val is slowly getting used to his role.

However, the training is about to come to an end, so the team decided to relax on the beach, which is just a few meters away from the cabin. They got in the water and swam, and swam around.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh! This is refreshing!", Riggs said in relief, swimming while exhaling air, as if he's releasing the tension from all over his body.

Val nodded, swimming calmly, and the team smiled, feeling refreshed after swimming.

Then Exeo said, "This is great, but, let's go further out!", with a smile on his face.

"Wait!", Ember said, stopping Exeo. The other team members also stopped swimming and looked at Ember.

"I saw something over there! It's like a fish!", Ember said, pointing at the spot where the object was.

Everyone looked at where he was pointing, when suddenly, Ember had this mischievous grin.

Then Ember yelled, "Gaaaaaaaaaahhhh!", and splashed water on everyone's faces.

"Uwahh! What's that for?!", Exeo shouted.

"Oh, looks like I found your weakness.", Ember said, smirking.

"Oh yeah? Then let's see who's gonna come out of the water!", Exeo yelled.

"Uh-uh.", Val said, trying to stop him, knowing that Exeo is always like this in the water.

The two continued fighting, then Val stepped in between, he then said, "Come on, you two. Let's just relax."

Riggs nodded in agreement, but Ember and Exeo still continued. Even though they are the oldest, they still continued like they were kids.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The team kept on laughing at the two's actions, even Riggs, but Ember and Exeo got mad at the same time and the two splashed water at the team.

The team was shocked, but they got mad at the two and then started splashing water back at them. The splashing of water between each other made them not realize that it had already gotten dark. It's already their last day on the island and when they will be back in Clareo, they'll soon take on dangerous missions.

After a while, they heard a voice. It was Dr. Lewis.

"What's with the noise?! It's already dark outside!", Dr. Lewis said.

The team stopped splashing water at each other and then they came to shore.

"Uhh... sorry.", Exeo said, as he scratches his head, slightly embarrassed.

"We didn't know it was this late.", Riggs said, also slightly embarrassed.

"It's just a little splash, we're fine.", Ember said.

Dr. Lewis just sighed and said, "This will be your last day here, so it's fine. However, the general needs you all to arrive back at Clareo first thing in the morning."

They nodded, and so Dr. Lewis went back to the lab, leaving the team to get changed, then the team decided to eat dinner. They didn't know what time they would arrive at Clareo so they decided to eat early, and so they did.

"Ahhh... I'm full now.", Val said.

Everyone else agreed, and then they put the dishes in the sink.

"I'll wash these dishes later. You guys go rest.", Riggs said, and Exeo and Ember just nodded and went straight to their rooms.

After washing the dishes, Riggs went to the sofa and sat there, and Val just quietly went to the living room. He sat on the sofa facing the other sofa. He stared at Riggs, then he said, "You look troubled."

"...", Riggs was silent, and then he asked, "You think so?"

Val nodded and said, "It's about today, isn't it? It's the last day of the training here."

Riggs sighed and nodded, and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

Val stood up and sat beside Riggs and said, "I see."

"What do you mean?", Riggs asked.

"You're troubled by this.", Val said.

"Am I?", Riggs asked, and Val nodded.

"It's nothing. Just get some rest.", Val said, patting Riggs on the shoulder.

Riggs just stared at Val and said, "Thank you."

Val nodded and walked to his room.

Riggs went back to the sofa, but he was thinking, 'How can Val notice me easily like that? It's been a while since I cried from a nightmare, but I never cried in front of Val. I don't know what it is, but it feels strange somehow.'

And so, the next day came. The day they will leave the island and where their training ends. They prepared their luggage and ate breakfast first before their departure.

After preparing everything, they went out of the cabin and walked towards the helipad. There they saw the helicopter, which was waiting for them. Dr. Lewis was there.

"Did you prepare everything? We're about to go.", Dr. Lewis asked.

Everyone nodded and then they all got on the helicopter.

The journey to back to Clareo only takes 2 hours, but they decided to sleep halfway. They were all already exhausted, so they fell asleep immediately.

When they arrived at Clareo, the sun was already high up in the sky. All six passengers were wearing combat uniforms underneath and covered with black cloaks.

When they landed, they immediately woke up, but the team still felt sleepy.

Val stretched his body and said, "Ah, I feel so good after sleeping."

Ember yawned and said, "Yeah, it's been a while since I've slept.", as he was still sleepy.

Riggs also stretched and said, "Me too. It's nice to sleep on the helicopter, it's better than sleeping on the sofa.", he said while smiling.

"I hope you guys don't get sick now that you've slept for a while.", Exeo said, trying to be funny.

They all laughed at that.

Everyone had changed. In just two years, they have pushed their abilities to the limits, some have almost wounds that were so grievous that even Dr. Lewis was not spared to patch them back into shape.

When they went out one by one, their cloaks flutter from the strong wind produced by the helicopter's blades. It revealed muscles carved on all of them even though they were wearing black combat uniforms. Val, Riggs, and Bo's heights had also increased, which happened in just two years.

When all of them were out, they were greeted by three military officers, three of the few who took the Mana Oath.

On the left, a slit-eyed grey-haired man in his 40's, wearing a military uniform, is Colonel Shiko Hento. He is responsible for all military intelligence. On the right was a man in his 50's, with a body that is buffed with muscles, and a peculiar scar shown on his face that runs from the top of his left eye down to his left cheek. He is Lt. Col. Jaro Pertul, and the one in the center is the General of Clareo Military Forces, General Carl Luis. A man in 60's, with a body more buffed than Lt. Col. Pertul, and with some beard on his stoic face.

When they saw that all of the young men had arrived and were out, the six of them walked toward the three people who were standing from afar. Exeo was the one who spoke up first, "General, we're back."

The General nodded and said, "I see that you're all doing good.", and then he gave a nod to all of them, including Dr. Lewis.

"Thank you for all the help.", Exeo said.

The General nodded, and said, "We wanted to greet you and see your other members.", and soon looked from left to right. He could see that Val and Ember would yawn with their tired eyes, while Bo and Riggs were unable to keep their eyes open and almost fell over.

General Luis chuckled at all the faces he saw and looked back again to Exeo and said, "You guys worked really hard. I know your training is on another level than in the military. You can all rest for now. I have prepared your own dormitory rooms, just near your own office.", and looked sideways to his left.

"Col. Hento right here will guide you there. Go rest for now boys, but after 8 hours, please go meet with Lt. Col. Pertul right here.", pointing to his right.

Exeo and the rest all nodded and followed Colonel Hento, who was leading the way.

General Luis went back to the room where the other military officers were waiting.

Lt. Col. Pertul looked at General Luis and said, "They're doing good?"

General Luis nodded and said, "They are.", he looked at everyone's face, especially the three who were tired. He sighed and continued, "I told them to go rest."

"What about the other two, Riggs and Bo?", Lt. Col. Pertul asked.

"They're still tired.", General Luis answered.

"The military has prepared an office for them as well, right?", Lt. Col. Pertul asked, looking at General Luis.

General Luis nodded and said, "Yeah."

Lt. Col. Pertul nodded and said, "So, their first mission will be in 8 hours, correct?"

General Luis nodded again, and said, "Yes."

The two military officers stared at each other for a moment, and then Lt. Col. Pertul looked away.

"Then, it will be done.", Lt. Col. Pertul said, as he made a salute, and then he left the room.

On the other hand, Exeo looked back and said, "Alright, guys. This is Col. Hento.", they stared at him and saluted curtly. The colonel nodded and said, "Welcome back. I will also not keep you more than the General so follow me.", and swiftly turned around.

They were guided by the colonel, who had been pressing some buttons along the way, which are secret paths to their office. Along the way, Dr. Lewis had separated ways with them and went into his own office.

After a series of lefts and rights, they arrived, Col. Hento moved to the side, opened the door, and said, "These will be your quarters.", letting them see the inside of the room.

The ones who walked in and looked around were Bo, Val, and Riggs.

"This is our office?", Exeo asked.

Col. Hento nodded, "Yes.", then pointed to the far end of the room, and said, "Right over there will be your living quarters."

There were two bunk beds and one single bed. The three are now fighting about where they were, while Ember rolled his eyes at the sight, went inside, saying lowly with 'Idiots' can be heard, and put his bag down in one of the two bunk beds. He immediately lie down and slept on the bottom part.This led to the three who were fussing over earlier abruptly stop, Val decided he'll be at the top bunk where Ember is now fast asleep. The other two had also decided to stop fussing and put their bags down, Riggs on the top bunk, and Bo on the bottom bunk.

Col. Hento watched all of them with a smile on his face, but when they all finally decided to sleep, he looked at Exeo and asked, "Are you guys fine like this?"

Exeo nodded and said, "This has been how we choose our beds when we were on the island. So, it's really fine Colonel."

Col. Hento nodded, "I see, I'll take my leave then. We will be meeting again later, Exeo.", and went back outside.

Exeo turned around, and said, "Well then, I guess this is our room now.", as he sat on the bottom bunk where the single bed is.

And so, Exeo's team had decided to rest before their first mission.