Collin
It had been a fast few weeks for everyone but a long one for Ray. They both returned to Goldenleaf and Ray began training the five pledges for their upcoming graduation exam. Dayton and Theo were sent to Class B for the remainder of the time. Very few were allowed to know what they were doing. All anyone knew was that they were deep in the mountains with the gnomes. Collin spent most of those few weeks doing the day to day and preparing the village for the graduation ceremony. Most of the parents were mad about not getting more time with their children before they left, however Ray assured them they would have a full week after graduation before they were shipped to the compound. They were a bit happier but still not pleased. Ray could not blame them. For the last decade, going to the compound was a death sentence. They were doing everything they could to fix that and had briefed the parents on what to expect best they could. It still did not stop them from checking in every single day. Collin spent a good deal of time providing updates and answering questions from worried mothers asking how they were doing and if they were ok.
“Tim, I know they are your kin but I cannot tell you what they are doing. No it is not illegal. No it is not putting them into any more danger than what they will see in a few weeks. Yes, there are other adults beside Ray there. I don't know Jasper, they were good enough to protect the Supreme Bishop, don’t you think they would be good enough to protect your son? Yes they will be back Sunday. Yes they will have a full week after graduation where you can do whatever you want before they will leave. No, we cannot delay leaving. Do you know what we had to do to get these six months to begin with? If this was the old way, they would have been shipped the moment they were discovered to be magically adept. Charles, your son is in class B. He won’t have to do this until he is eleven. “ Collin explained to them nearly every day they were gone. Which was only two weeks.
In actuality, Ray had them go with him into Tonya’s Training Dungeon. He had it set at a 1:50 Ratio. The pledges spent close to two years in a matter of fourteen days. They mastered every weapon type, their own elemental affinities and mana control. Some even learned mana sight and mana communication. He put them through a level of hell no teenager had ever seen. They fought goblins, ogres, a small dragon, and even the chimera. All of his and Collin’s past fights were absorbed into the dungeon where they could be mimicked, nerfed or buffed depending on the situation. Ray taught them the history of the Regalian war, the history of the village and about the current war to the west with the demonic horde. He explained the kingdom's law and what to expect at the compound. He taught them to protect the weak but to not poke the bear. He went over exactly what to do and not do in each and every class. He explained everything but the final exam which magically he had forgotten. Even the six dice contributed by spending one outside day or fifty inside days each in the room with them, teaching classes, abilities, and any other subject they thought would be necessary. He finally explained what a matrix was. He described its use and limitations. He described how to level up and what it would do to their current abilities. He left out how it would be installed. The trauma associated with that was one of the many things that bonded pledges. They did not need to know everything.
Finally, graduation day came. A tunnel entryway was formed in the center of the village square. Everything was decorated. The gates were closed and no visitors were allowed to enter. All of the villagers lined up on the roof tops and in the streets. There was music and dancing and food being served. Some of the men were already drinking and yelling at each other. Everyone eagerly waited to see who would walk out first. Now it was understood that everyone would walk out, but the small village with nothing more to do, had running bets and wagers going for different odds. Who would walk out first? Scoring? What would they be wearing? Everything was calculated and odds were applied. A board was drawn on the side of one of the buildings with chalk and there was a pledge there with a ladder to post the scores and order as soon as they were confirmed.
Collin waited on one of the rooftops directly in front of the square. He had bleachers installed and was sitting with the six dice, the families of each pledge and all the guild masters and elders were also present. He looked up from his papers and noticed Caleb had arrived. He waved and directed him to the empty spot next to him. His smile faded when he noticed the pretty little brunette holding his hand and following behind him. They both took a seat and smiled at him.
“Annie!” Collin said. “ Your girl is Annie?”
“Hey Collin. Wait, you told them about me?” she said looking up at Caleb.
“How do you know my girlfriend?” Caleb asked, “Oh wait. This is your home village. I had completely forgotten about that.”
“How did you two even meet?” Collin asked. His shock was evident and his mind was bursting with questions. Ray is going to lose his shit.
“We went to the academy in Manchester. He studied politics and I studied to be a librarian.” Annie answered.
“We didn’t start dating until about three years ago. She couldn’t move home because of all the stuff going on here so my parents let her rent an apartment at one of our buildings. We practically lived next door to each other." Caleb said.
He held her hand and looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered. She smiled and looked around at the craziness of the village. Collin couldn’t read her. He couldn’t tell if she was all about him like he was all about her. They seemed happy however.
Before Collin could ask any other questions. A horn was blown and the doors to the tunnel were opened. Everyone grew silent as they waited to see who would walk out first.
Ray
“We have about an hour left until you walk back into the real world. You will not be able to tell anyone about this. You all have worked so hard. I am very proud of each of you. The village is proud and cannot wait to see you.” Ray said to the group.
They didn’t speak. They each stood at attention. They were geared up and held their weapons. There was about five feet of space between each as they faced Ray. Each of them had a gnome geared up and standing next to them. They all had obtained the friend of gnome title. Byrd had even undergone a transformation. He was a fully grown adult falcon about three feet tall with a similar wingspan.
The growth spurt that they had been through was a bit overwhelming. It was one of the big issues he foresaw regarding having the five come and train with him. He and Collin had discussed it and even had their parents come in for a private meeting. They explained that the special training would cause a transformation as well as a bit of aging. Magically adept were gifted with a longer period of life so this was not as big of an issue. They also explained that this would put them at an advantage against the other pledges in the compound. Other regions were known to genetically modify or enhance their younglings which seemed a bit grotesque and unfair but for some reason the kingdom allowed it.
After a bit of back and forth an agreement was made. The pledges wrote a letter every single day they were inside. The mom’s would wait outside every morning to get a package from their children as well as deliver a letter and goodies to be transported to them. Ray’s mother Jane was among them. Ray wrote his parents a letter every other day like how he used to during the war. Jane would send sweets and baked goods for everyone to enjoy.
Dimitri was the oldest and at seventeen years old, he would be considered a man by kingdom standards. He had grown an additional four inches in height and his muscles were on par with two of the six dice. He had chosen to follow a body builder type physique and spend much of the time lifting and bulking up. Each was allowed to pick a class to specialize in. Once the Matrix was installed, they would go through three months of standard training and instruction before being advised to pick a class. If they had one already in mind, it made the process much easier. Dimitri took up a sword and shield and said he would be the tank and fighter for the group. As the leader, he felt duty bound to protect his team. Ray managed to get a couple letters sent to the front line hoping it would reach his dad. Daniel Boyer would be proud of what his first born is turning into.
Yugi, now sixteen years old, was an additional 2two inches tall. He did not bulk out like Dimitri but instead focused on his agility and speed. He was still toned and had much more bulk then he did before, however he chose to adopt a physique equivalent of a world class triathlon racer. His time was spent climbing the rock surface, swimming and running laps around the room. He chose to forgo the weights and instead focused on calisthenic type exercises. As for class, he was still thinking about it. His fighting style and use of shadows made him suited a rogue or assassin type, however he was not wanting to jump down any one lane just yet. Instead he learned as much as he could about every class.
Akota, now fourteen years old, did a combination of the two. His body enhancement ability had him working with both Dimitri and Yugi every single day. He had grown about an inch and lost all of his baby fat. His physique was closer to Yugi's, however his upper and lower body had developed closer to Dimitri. He was slender and fit, but with broad shoulders and large muscular arms. He chose the scout class and had begun working on his archery skills. He made mention once that he wanted to become a ranger type.
Simpy, Kimberly and Tiffany rotated out every few days. They had accepted the role as female chaperone and caretaker as Ray knew nothing about girls' development and the parents were not comfortable with all men and two young girls being alone. Girls had the lowest return rate at the compound compared to the boys and the three women went to some pretty drastic extremes in training the two girls. Each had grown a few inches taller, and had developed defining muscles around their legs, arms and core. They could outrun, outclimb, and out swim everyone but Akota. Jacie was now fourteen years old and had decided to focus on support and healer roles. She could easily have been a scout, but decided to let her brother pursue that while she studied something to better compliment the team. Sasha was also fourteen years old and was already on the path of Tamer. She started studying scout support and healer classes but had not decided which to pursue.
“Your final test is a simple one. Tonya, please bring him in.”
There was a shimmering of static forming from the ground behind Ray. A figure came forward out of it holding a hand and a half sword. He was dressed in all black and lightning seemed to radiate from his fingertips. Dimitri took a step back . The resemblance was uncanny. There behind Ray was…Ray!
“You may work as a team or you may take him on individually. Your goal is to either defeat him or survive until the time runs out. You will have 1 hour. Any questions?” Ray stated.
“Sir, that isn’t you? Is it? He looks young.” Sasha asked.
“This is me at age nineteen. One year after I left the compound. At this point, I had completed basic training and was a few months into the war. I had my matrix, all elements and many titles that I had gained while in the compound. This was about four years before I gained the title Dragonslayer. I did not have the control I have now and there is no berserker mode. I had a slight addiction to lightning base attacks back then however. I must admit that I deeply regret the soldier I became. Go at this with the intent to kill. Just like all the other beasts you have fought these last two and a half years, he will kill you if you allow him to. Back then I was not a good person. You may begin.” Ray said, stepping back out of the way.
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55 minutes 35 seconds later…
Out of the tunnel walked Ray. He peered out over the village. They had really gone all out for these five. Mace peaked out over his back shoulder before jumping down and walking over to sit with Georgie and the other children who had stopped playing in the square and were now sitting cross legged waiting.
“Hello everyone!” Ray began. He looked around, meeting each and every face. He found Collin and Caleb and...Annie? There she was sitting next to Caleb. He watched her for maybe a second longer than he should before turning his attention back to everyone else.
“Sid, the scores should be popping up in front of you now. Please go ahead and start writing everything down. Everyone, I want to share with you a bit of background while they are getting ready down there. Mom’s, they are healthy, happy, and did a very good job.” There were a few murmurs and sighs amongst the crowd.
“As you all know, for the last fifteen years, Region XI and more importantly, The Goldenleaf Village, has had a near zero rate of pledges returning home. Vice Lord Collin and I will attest that the compound is a brutal place. I am limited in telling you much more than that unfortunately. It is a necessary evil as magical adepts without the proper training are dangerous to themselves and others. You also know that three years ago, I promised I would do everything in my power to rebuild our beautiful village and protect every one of its citizens. This, Collin and I again swear to you will never change as long as we shall live. Now for the last six months, Classes A and B” Ray motioned to the group of pledges sitting over to the left. Theo and Dayton were also there. “They have trained and trained and learned everything possible to help them come home. You witnessed their abilities first-hand during the mid term exams. Class A did so much more in the past week than I am even able to properly describe. They fought many monsters, they survived in the wild, they trained and learned more about their individual gifts than a full year at the compound could ever teach them. Without anymore yammering on my part, please completely lose your shit as I call their names.”
Using his mana communication, Ray confirmed the five to be ready and began. “Dimitri Boyer, Yugi Creedmond, Jacie Godwin, Akota Godwin, Sasha Morrison.” he said, stepping to the side and allowing the five to walk out. The boys walked out each wearing the nicest dress suits ever to be seen in the village. All Black with golden decorative ties. The girls wore elegant black dresses with golden trimmings. The crowd absolutely lost it, clapping and screaming and sending fireworks into the sky. Parents came running up to hug their babies and the celebration commenced. Ray made a motion with his hand and the tunnel they had exited out of moved back into the ground leaving no trace that it was ever there.
Ray nodded to Collin who nodded back. He looked over at Caleb who was clapping and watching everyone else celebrating. His eyes moved over to Annie. She wasn’t clapping. She was just watching him. Her face was unreadable. They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. Her brown hair flowing in a wave like motion down her side. She was wearing a green sundress which made her hazel eyes that much more mesmerizing. She mouthed an inaudible Hi to him. He smiled and with his mana communication said Hi back. This surprised her a bit and then she turned to Caleb who had leaned in to ask her a question. Ray looked towards Collin. He had seen the whole thing. His face showed concern and he reached out to him mentally..
“So, Caleb’s girl that we have been ribbing him about is Annie. They seem really happy and it looks to be legit. I'm sorry bro” He mentally told Ray.” On a positive note. This is a success. We have other villages in the region asking to send their younglings to the future Baron for personal training. Next year's class will be a bit bigger. We might need to build a new facility.”
Ray smiled understandingly. It made sense now. He had said it was a girl from the library. She would have been the right age. As for the new class, he had to get these five to the compound first. Nothing mattered until that was done. Ray went over and greeted his parents and brother who had come up to congratulate him. Dean was back from the Kingdom and had tons of stories to tell them. They made plans to have dinner the next day and then departed. Ray saw Mace and the gnomes playing with Theo, Dayton and Georgie. He smiled and watched them for a bit in between people coming up to congratulate and ask questions. When it seemed as if he had been passed over by everyone, he teleported away. He didn’t seem to notice that Annie had been stealing glances at him every chance she could. She saw him disappear and with a frown, went back to talking to Caleb and Collin.
Ray spent the rest of the night on the roof of the main building. He watched the crowd below partying it up while he dangled his feet over the edge. At some point, Fil, Dil, and Lil showed up. They each walked up and said hi to Ray, giving him a hug before going to their respective areas and falling asleep. Slowly everyone began leaving and going to their homes. The pledges were whisked away by their parents and or in Dimitri’s case, his mom. They would be missing for the foreseeable week, but all knew to be back by morning of the eighth day.
“I don’t know how I feel about having you in my head sir.” a voice said. Ray froze and turned. There on the roof next to his house was Annie. Mace huffed and then went into the house. Ray suspected he was going to bed.
“How did you get up here?” Ray asked. Getting up and walking towards her. He directed her to a table he had near the dogwood tree. They both took a seat and Ray manifested a pot of coffee and 2 cups.
“I asked Collin where you would be and he said up here. I couldn’t get in the building, but your puppy here saw me. I asked if he could take me to you. I had no way of knowing if he would understand but he bit me and here I am. I am not sure how he did that. Annie said, sitting down. She was rubbing her hand where mace had bitten. There was no puncture mark, but it still probably stung a bit.
“What made you want to come find me?” Ray asked,
“Sixteen years. That is how long since I have talked to you. In the past three months alone, I have seen you two times. I would have seen you a third time, but you disappeared at the winter festival before I arrived. Every time I saw you, I wondered how you were and what had happened. I decided today was good as ever to try and find out”
“If I am being honest, I saw you about a month ago. You came into a bookstore delivering duplicates. I happened to be behind one of the bookshelves.” Ray said.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Annie asked.
“Got a bit caught up in a few too many flashbacks. You also seemed to be in a hurry.” Ray said. He didn’t mention the following and slight stalking by rooftop.
“You have done a lot here. Dad talks about everything you and Collin have been up to. Jacie and Akota adore you. Why do they all look older all of a sudden? Jacie was not that developed a month ago.” Annie asked.
“If I told you we went into a magical dungeon where they trained for what seemed like fourteen days but was actually two years, would you believe me?” Ray said.
“Probably, but I have read about dungeon cores and what they can do. That doesn’t sound like such a crazy answer to me. Do their parents know?” She asked.
“Yes, we had a meeting and obtained their approval. They were not to tell anyone.” Ray answered
“Prolly for the best. Still, you have done an amazing job with everything.” She said, “You look good. Much more mature than that little boy I used to know.”
“Thanks, It kind of just got thrust on me. I am trying my best. Collin handles most of the village stuff. I just train, teach and fight the bad guys, I guess. You look absolutely incredible, Annie.” Ray added. He wanted to say more, but she was spoken for, and they were both respectable adults. He had to behave.
Annie blushed a bit before changing the subject. “What have you been doing all these years? I mean. I know about the most recent stuff from dad, but what happened since we last..” Annie trailed off.
“Since Tim chased me out of your life? Man, that feels like a complete lifetime ago.” Ray laughed
“Did he get you? With the knife? Annie asked.
Ray pulled his shirt up and over his arm and turned to show the scar. Annie gasped a bit, leaning in to look at it. She rubbed her hand over the thin raised line. Ray tensed a bit at her touch.
She jerked her hand back. “I am so sorry. He completely overreacted. We hadn’t even done anything. I didn’t speak to him for nearly two months after you went back to the compound.” Annie said in a rush.
“It’s okay. We were young. The law is clear about being a non-citizen and having relations with the opposite sex. Your dad was just protecting you. Did you ever get my letters? I wrote a couple and waited.” Ray asked.
“I did not. Every time one came in. Dad would burn it without opening it. He made me stay in Manchester during the summer breaks in case you came home.” She said.
Ray nodded in understanding. He had written her a letter each day for close to a month. He eventually received a letter from Tim advising him to stop. Shortly after that he received a letter from Adam advising that She had moved to Manchester permanently to continue her studies and that he would need to quit bothering Mr. Tim.
“It’s getting late Annie. Won’t Caleb be wondering where you are?” Ray said.
“He is at Collin’s place. I told him I was going to catch up with an old friend.” Annie said.
“How did that happen anyway? You and our new Duke,”
“I asked about you first. What happened after you left” Anne asked again. Her eyes focused on him as if she was able to read his every thought and memory.
Annie was that one person Ray could never make himself lie to. He couldn’t do it when they were teenagers and after a long pause, he decided he wasn’t going to do it now. Ray told her everything. He talked about the compound and the war. About slaying a dragon and killing people who were hurting others. He talked about losing his Matrix and the year it took him to recovery. He talked about Minh and their relationship. About the village he stayed with them at. He talked about the plans that they had made, and the apothecary shop they had opened here in the village. He explained what happened when the dark mages came. He explained the darkest day and how he had planned on dying in order to save everyone. He talked about the grief and the outbursts and how he eventually got help and started working on the rebuilding. He talked about the Berserker King and the gnomes and how all of a sudden, he is the Baron to be. He noticed a tear coming down her eye when he talked about Minh dying and transferring her bond over to him. He talked until he couldn’t talk anymore and then he just sat there and watched her. She was silent for a very long time. Ray thought about it and figured it was much more information to process and started to regret telling her so much.
He saw her take a deep breath and then began telling her story. He watched her go over everything she went through. He could not keep his eyes off of her as she spoke. It was as if he was trying to memorize every sound she made and every inch of her being. She went back to Manchester after the incident with her father. She explained her schooling and being sent to the library. She explained meeting Caleb and how they have been dating all this time. Caleb was literally the best guy ever for her. .It was slightly annoying, but Ray was genuinely glad that she was happy. She talked about her research and what she needed to do in order to finish it. Like Ray, she needed to go to the Arkadian Desert. There evidently was a lost library with all of this information that for some reason just disappeared in the middle of the sand.
They talked until Ray received a mental message from Collin that Caleb had left and was heading back to Annie’s parents. Ray told Annie and she agreed that it was time for her to go. The sun was going to rise in just a couple of hours anyway. Ray took Annie’s hand and teleported her to the roof of her family's home.
“Ray, why did you not heal the scar? I have studied healing. I can’t do it myself, but that scar could have been healed to where no scar would show. Why didn’t you heal it? Was dad’s knife poisoned or something.”
Ray smiled. “It was a normal knife although it may not have been sanitized from whatever he was cutting up before. I guess if I am being truthful, I never thought I was going to leave the compound. Everyone was dying back then. I thought I was going to be next. I thought I had lost you so I kept it as a reminder I guess. Something to remember those few months we had during summer break.”
Annie did not say anything. Ray took her hand into both of his and kissed it before letting her go and turning away. He teleported back to his house and looked back in her direction.. His mind was completely torn by all of it. Between loving Annie and then losing her and then loving Minh and losing her and now Annie was back but she was someone else's girl. He was a good guy too. Someone that they needed and would continue to work with and rely on. The reprogramming his mind would need to perform to function was a bit too overwhelming for this early in the morning. She stood there on the roof looking in his direction before mouthing goodnight. With his mana Communication, he told her sweet dreams. Something that he used to tell her when he was younger. He stopped before saying the rest. Originally she would say goodnight. He would reply with sweet dreams and I love you. She would say she loved him too and then he would depart. This was clearly silly. A sixteen year old boy and a thirteen year old girl falling in love but not even knowing what love was. Ray shook his head at the kid that he was. He turned and went inside his home to fall asleep in his bed for the first time in nearly two years.