ELEX VINSPEAR (POV)

The village felt more ominous than it ever did. I wasn't used to the feeling of uncertainty or not knowing what would happen in the oncoming future, but as I held my father's hand as he practically dragged me away from the village square, a sense of hope filled that darkened hole of uncertainty.

“Don't stop, keep running!” he said through panted breaths. My mother and Casper followed briefly behind us.

“How much further, dear?” My mother said worriedly. I think she was getting concerned that she wouldn't be able to keep up with my little brother in her arms, but she pushed through nonetheless.

“Not far now.” my father said, “We're almost there.”

His words of comfort weren’t simply used to keep our composure, there was truth behind them, because shortly after he spoke, we came close to the village edge. My father ran on ahead of us but stopped as he approached what appeared to be some sort of invisible wall preventing him from going any further.

“No, no, no, no!” He shouted with his voice wavering.

“What’s the problem, Raja?” my mother said as we caught up.

“We . . . We can't get through,” he replied, “there’s no escape.”

And with that, the hole of uncertainty and fear grew and transformed into an abyss of dread. The hope that once filled it was swallowed up and spat back out onto my face as hopelessness. There was nothing we could do, nothing I could do.

As we stood there watching my father bang against the invisible wall, I heard a ruffling in the bushes next to where we stood. It shouldn't have been anything that concerned me, but for some reason it did. I stared intently at the darkened woods area, expecting to see something - an animal - moving, scurrying around. All I saw was what looked to be the shadows of the night dancing and creating figures in my head.

“They're over here!” A voice shouted behind us, stealing my attention.

‘They’re here already? We have to get out of here.’ I thought. I turned my head back toward my father and the barrier, but to my surprise, they weren't there. I gazed forward towards a darkened wooden pathway that led further out of the village.

“What?” I said slightly shocked. “How am I on the other side?”

The sound of my mother's voice screaming, caused me to turn around. There she was, behind me, on the other side of the barrier which I could now slightly see as it distorted the air it stood within. A figure stood above her body as she lay on the ground, Casper not far away from her on the floor himself.

The figure slowly bent down toward her, its arm looking as if it were about it grab her head.

“Stay away!” I shouted. For some reason, I hadn’t moved. It was only when I attempted to do so, I realized I couldn’t. “Stop!” I shouted again.

My father was nowhere to be seen, as if he had just vanished. Standing on the outside of the village surrounded by darkened forest, the fear of exposure should have overwhelmed me like it did in the past. However, my focus was pinned on my mother, and the thing that hovered over her unconscious body.

It turned its head quickly to look up at me, halted in its crouched position. It stared at me in silence, the only sounds to be heard were the rushing of the wind and my panted breaths that rested under. The creature gazed in my direction with a distorted appearance, shades of black embracing and swirling around its figure as if they were a part of its being.

It rose back to its standing height, existing far taller than any normal person I had ever seen. It pointed in my direction toward the darkness behind me, and as I turned slowly to see what it was hinting at, I saw myself. Or . . . at least another person who looked just like me, standing right in front of me, it’s facial expression looking devoid of life and indifferent of my presence.

“W . . . Who are you?” I said slightly startled.

The copy of me raised its hand slowly to reach out and grab my face. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to make sure that it wouldn't touch me, but still, I couldn’t move. I could only stare in horror as this . . . look-alike slowly stretched its arm to make contact with my skin. And it was only then, that I saw the white markings that I had seen on my own body, enveloping its hand and arms, spreading up towards its shoulders. As it slowly widened its palms to embrace my shivering head, I shut my eyes in fear.

“Get away!” I screamed,

I sat up startled in my bed, the sweat from my body caused the linen sheets to stick to my torso. Panting, like I had run a marathon, I swung my legs over the side of my bed and got up to get ready for the day.

As I brushed my teeth, I stared and thought to myself in the toilet mirror, ‘These nightmares I keep having, I think they’re having an effect on me,’ I thought as I cleaned myself up and got dressed. ‘They’re becoming more vivid, more unusual . . . more frequent.’ A part of me didn't want to admit it, but I felt that the Trigon had a part to play in all of this. I just wasn’t sure how.

Meeting up with Chrollo in the cafeteria for breakfast, it was very apparent how insanely huge the school was with most of the students vacant on holiday. I could walk around the entire South district and not run into another student for at least an hour.

“So, I was looking at that book you gave me, you know, the one you said your dad got you, and there is a lot of information on the ruins within it,” Chrollo said.

“I told you, didn’t I. They only teach us the fundamentals about the Arcadia at school, but that book goes into greater detail.” I replied.

“I suppose so, but the knowledge seems waisted. I mean, it's not like we're going to encounter most of the creatures or dungeon formations that are mentioned in the book. I’m pretty sure we're only going to be staying within the Gala.” He said.

I had heard similar things myself. And honestly, I doubt the school would send us into the main Arcadia. A Gala is a safe haven section that has been populated and colonized by adventurers. Galas usually contain their own dungeons that are on the easier side of the spectrum and are usually used by beginner adventures. All Galas lead to the main section of the Arcadia, commonly known as the Arcadian ruins. Galas are spread throughout the entire continent, but they all lead to the same Arcadian ruins. That's how big it is.

“Well, better to know now than have to ask in the future.” I said, “Besides, weren't you the one who said he wanted to become an adventurer? You're going to need the knowledge now if not in the future. Also if we perform well, we could ask whichever teacher is leading us if we could go to more dangerous areas?”

Chrollo looked down slightly embarrassed, “I guess your right. By the way, where did your dad get a book like this anyway? Surprisingly, I’ve never seen a book that’s so broad with detail on the continent's land before.” Chrollo asked.

I hesitated a bit, “He got it from our old hometown village square market. It's not known for anything special within the kingdom, but you can find good things there every now and then.” I answered.

“Hmm, you'll have to take me there sometime,” he said.

I turned my head away slightly, not wanting to bring up the memories that the village gave me or think about the nightmares that could very well trigger my insomniac. “Perhaps,” I said, softly.

Shortly after we finished eating, we headed to go train at our usual practice stadium. However, instead of taking a carriage to the district where the building was located, we decided to walk off our breakfast by traveling on foot.

“You know, it always amazes me how stupidly big this school is,” I said whilst gazing at the woodland scenery down below as we walked side by side. “I mean, where in Sunderland is this academy even located, and how can the school afford it?”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Well, obviously, the majority of high-born children attend this school, and seeing as they were even able to get the royal family to send their child here, you can imagine their financial status isn’t really a problem.” Chrollo said, “ As for its location . . . Well, don’t you know the school is located on an island?”

I turned my head to face him abruptly in shock. “Your joking!” I said in disbelief.

“No, I'm serious!” he replied smiling at my reaction. “Just off the coast southwest of Wayford Forrest, the school owns this entire island,” he said, “There isn’t any civilization around here for miles, which is why we use the teleportation gate. And the fact that we are so isolated is also the main reason why we only have one gate.”

“Because the academy can't risk something or someone foreign entering the school grounds without their notice.” I finished his sentence.

“Exactly. Knowing you, I would have expected you to know this already.”Chrollo said.

“I guess I never took the time to learn about it,” I replied.

In all my excitement and eagerness to come here, I still missed out on such a blatant fact about this school. I wonder what else I could have left out. The vast scenery of the land below us, and the various statues and monuments that decorated the school grounds in between the districts only piqued my interest in the things that I didn't know about this academy.

Approaching the gates of the North district, we headed for the Nethuin Ranvier building as usual and changed into our training kit before we entered the indoor stadium. Our training was slowly improving at a rate that we were both comfortable with. It seemed like training was pretty much all we did during our holiday. Ever since the news dropped about us going to the ruins when the next school year starts, we made it a priority to get stronger as much as possible.

I was blessed to have someone like Chrollo with me. When we sparred he always saw the flaws in my fighting and made sure to exploit them, forcing me to improve faster. Of course, I would do the same when possible, but his hand-to-hand combat and control over his flames seemed to be more refined than my own. I don't tend to pry into someone's past as I wouldn’t like if someone did that to me - Leo being the exception - but, it does make me wonder how he was able to get to the level he is at today. His knowledge of internal mana control was far better than any other student I had seen in my year, let alone the older years. The moments where I would go and watch the older classes sparring sessions in my free time really let me see and understand that the kids in my year weren't that far off. In fact, some of us were even better than them.

When we first started sparring with one another, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to bring anything to the table, and that our sessions would mainly consist of him teaching and me learning. However, thankfully of the external mana training with my father, I was able to exchange the knowledge I had learned from him with Chrollo.

“Try closing your eyes,” I said, “when I first started, that helped me with sensing other mana signatures around me.”

“Okay,” he replied.

Chrollo wasn’t ignorant when it came to external mana techniques. Just like internal techniques, he knew there were three main external techniques to learn: sensing another mana signature, dispelling your own mana signature, and exerting your mana signature. Most people were more confident with the last one, but Chrollo wanted to improve on sensing another person’s mana signature. He told me he found it surprising when I attacked him when he was behind me without looking during our first battle.

“Alright, I'm going to exert a small amount of my aura while I move around you. All you need to do is point in the direction you think I am in.” I said.

“Ok, let’s go”

I began to walk to the left of Chrollo, slightly releasing my aura as I did so. When I stopped, he pointed in my general direction but missed me slightly.

“Close,” I said, “try again”

I moved to his backside, forcing him to have to turn around fully if he wanted to find me. He pointed behind him towards me, but his arm went wide just slightly.

“Oooh, that was closer,” I said. “You’re almost there.”

“Agh, this is so hard. I already know your general location, there’s no need for me to get your precise spot.” he said “Let’s do a different external technique, I’m done with that one.”

“No, Chrollo. You were hard on me with the internal techniques, I won’t let you get off so easy” I said smiling.

He sighed, “You try then, maybe by watching you I can get an idea of what I need to do to get better.”

“Good Idea”

I took my position standing straight and closing my eyes. I began to sense the area for any mana signatures around until I caught Chrollo’s aura behind me. I didn't bother pointing at him, I just turned my head to face his direction. As he continued to exert his aura, he moved around, and I kept my head facing to where I could sense his aura.

“Try and picture where your target is, after all, If you find yourself in a position with little light, knowing vaguely where your opponent is, will only give you a small advantage. Plus, you may have to take into account other factors that might stop you from throwing your flames freely in that direction, like other people.” I explained.

“You sure your eyes are closed?” Chrollo said as I continued to keep my head facing directly at him.

“I'm just picturing where you are,” I said. That’s what my father had taught me to do. It was almost as if I could see an outline of his body made from dim colours that represented his mana.

“Picturing where I am, huh . . .” he repeated. I heard him scoff, “Try and picture this.”

Suddenly, an overwhelming wave of mana flooded my senses and I was forced to open my eyes and take a defensive position from the shock. Chrollo stood around twenty feet away from me, and his hair along with the dust from the ground surrounding him, flowed in the air as he exerted his aura with increased potency and force.

“Stop, what are you doing!?” I shouted, still slightly startled.

He laughed at me, “God, you should have seen your face. You even got ready to fight there aswell.”

‘What was that?’ I thought ‘That strange feeling.’

I smiled back at him, letting down my guard. “I think that's enough training for today.”

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“What happened to him after that?” I asked eagerly.

“No one knows,” Chrollo replied, “many claim he just disappeared off the face of the planet. While others believe he was caught by the Giant royal guard and sent to the Gallow Peninsula”

“Hmm, that just doesn’t seem to make any sense,” I said.

“Well, that's what my mother would tell me when I was younger. I wouldn't be surprised if she was just hiding the real truth from me because of my age.”

“That seems reasonable,” I said. I stretched forward from my cushioned chair in the common room to grab another sugar-coated biscuit as Chrollo finished telling me about a story his mother told him as a child.

We sat in silence for a bit, watching the hearth crackle and fill the absence of sound in the spacious room.

“Hey, Elex” Chrollo finally said.

“Hmm?”

“Do you believe in religion?” he asked.

The question seemed to be somewhat random, albeit we had never had a conversation about religion before. I suppose it was time we got to know each other a little more once again.

“I believe there is a higher power, but I don't inherently follow a specific religion,” I said. “That seems a little strange, I know, but I have never had any encounter or experience that would lead me toward a specific religion.” ‘Or at least one I’d be willing to share with reason’, I thought.

“I think I’m in the same boat. However, The Arcin Born does seem to pique my interest.” He replied, “I think that the God they believe in . . . the one they worship, I mean - Arcinose - seems to expect his followers to have good morals. You know, with all the forgiving and sharing and being kind to one another, all that cliché stuff. It’s good for the world, I guess,” he sat slightly forward in his chair.

“You think so?” I said whilst watching the fire rage.

“I just wonder, If there was something that was inherently wrong with a person - In Arcinose’s eyes, or in least the religions - but at the same time completely out of that person’s control, would he still forgive them?”

I sat up slightly, fully taking in what he had just said. “I . . . I don’t know,” I responded. “To be honest, I’ve not read much of the religion’s scriptures, just a few bits here and there, but I think as long as you are generally a good person, you would be forgiven and accepted into Paradise,” I replied half-heartedly.

He sat back in his seat and turned his head to face the flames, I noticed he looked slightly dissatisfied by my answer. Although, I’m not sure what he really expected.

“Don’t take my word for it,” I added quickly, “I am still ignorant of the religion myself, so I won't have all the answers. I think you should speak with someone who has more knowledge.”

“Yeah, your right. Thanks anyway” He said with faint smile. Slightly waving his hand, the orangy blaze the fire emitted quickly turned blue, changing the color and atmosphere of the room. The room held a cold color, but the fire raged hotter.

And there it was again, that strange feeling I had felt earlier from Chrollo. It seemed so foreign, and yet, so familiar. What was it? I could sense his mana signature like always within those flames, but ever since he released his aura in a huge wave like before, I could pick up something else. Something that reminded me of my home village, something that reminded me of the nightmares that haunted me at night, something that reminded me . . . of myself.