When Friday came, Artem was ready to embark on the bus with his classmates from the professional combat elective class. Most elective courses proposed field trips to let the students experience their prospects in their chosen domain. The professional combat class was the first to do it because Mr Tawil thought it was crucial.

A training camp for recruits lasted several weeks. However, the students would only live like recruits for two days. Mr Tawil wanted to give his students a taste of military life and ensure they understood what it entailed. Not everyone could bear it. Knowing this in advance should keep unsuited people from signing up for five years.

Mr Tawil decided to leave Dascalos High School for the military base during the third afternoon period that Friday. The school allowed it because it was the period for the elective class. The bus was scheduled to arrive at the military base before the evening meal. The students climbed onto the vehicle with their backpacks in an orderly manner.

Artem had packed light, following the teacher’s instruction. However, Galen had given him some pills and ointments to treat injuries. The young pharmacist has been steadily filling their stock with the leftovers from his elective classes. From time to time, Galen would practice his pharmaceutical skills using cheap materials. Most of his products were in their inner world warehouse. Artem would always have access to it, but to keep this feature a secret, the twins had decided to let Artem physically carry some of it.

In his own elective class at the time, Galen was frustrated because he couldn’t see his brother off. He distractedly listened to Mrs Bousrani as she explained how to refine a pill he had helped his mother make for years. His attention fluttered, and he worried about everything that could go wrong for his brother.

“Hello?” Lyra called out to Galen. “Remember me?”

“I know,” Galen replied with a sigh as he understood what Lyra meant, “but Artem is going to a place filled with soldiers who might react like Cecelia.”

Lyra didn’t answer. As long as the twins couldn’t prove their father’s innocence, they could only tolerate such treatment. She took a peek at Artem. He was comfortably sitting on the bus with a free seat next to him. “Concentrate on your lesson instead of letting your mind wander uselessly,” Lyra finally said to divert Galen’s attention. “Don’t give your enemy anything on you.”

As Galen went on with his day, forcing himself to train seriously with Lucia and read more books, Lyra kept him updated on what was happening to Artem. However, she also had to deal with Artem, who didn’t want to worry his brother, even when Amir deliberately informed their drill sergeant that Artem was the son of a traitor.

“If I don’t keep Galen informed,” Lyra said with dissatisfaction, “he’ll stop trusting me.”

The twins were really a lot of trouble. Artem argued with her for a long time. She finally agreed not to tell Galen anything that evening because Amir was more bark than bite, and the drill sergeant should have already known who Artem was. Artem’s Family name was on the official papers, so except if the drill sergeant lived under a rock or didn’t know how to read, he wouldn’t have missed it.

However, things became thornier the next day. Lyra witnessed the drill sergeant finding faults with Artem for the tiniest things. Amir and his cousins also took every opportunity to mock Artem. They managed to trick the black-haired youth several times, worsening Artem’s punishments.

This time, Lyra dutifully reported how Artem had to do push-ups and more laps or chores as punishment because of the rumors. “At least,” Lyra said to Galen in an attempt at humor, “Artem has companions.”

Galen let Lyra divert his attention and played along by asking who they were. Lyra named some problematic students from the military class. She tried to describe them wittily to entertain Galen.

“Do you know Emilio Fava? He’s so slow and clumsy with all physical training that he’s always the last to finish. It’s like he has a crush on Artem and doesn’t want to leave him alone on the training ground.”

Galen smiled slightly like Lyra wanted. However, he soon frowned as he recalled who the boy was. Galen didn’t know Emilio personally, but the young pharmacist had seen him participate in competitions with Artem. Galen remembered Emilio was a sore loser and wondered how the boy had reacted when he failed his Awakening ceremony.

“What about Celeste Guerriero? Do you also know her?”

Hearing that name, Galen couldn’t help but sigh. The girl had issues. She was nice but had a strange grip on reality, and provoked endless troubles.

“You’ve met her?” Lyra asked. “I can’t fathom how this girl will ever become a soldier. She asks the silliest questions!”

“I had to give her first aid on several occasions,” Galen answered as he remembered a particular distasteful accident. “She was in our class last year. I can easily imagine the sort of questions she asked.”

Lyra noted that Galen, like Artem, sounded tolerant of Celeste despite the girl’s faults. Then, the CSI talked about the boy, who was punished almost as often as Artem. “So, do you also know Jarek Dolezal?”

This time, Galen winced. He had never met the boy, but Jarek was famous in school for being a delinquent student. The school had forced him to enroll in one of the military classes for his third year to discipline him, although it hadn’t shown any results yet.

Since Galen had confirmed Zane was an excellent source of information, he tried to meet the shy boy several times a week to learn the latest news around the school. Just this morning, Zane told him Jarek had been called to the dean’s office this week for having skipped all of his core army value classes and some other lessons. Galen asked why Jarek hadn’t yet been expelled from Dascalos High School. Zane answered that the boy’s background was special. It was intriguing because Jarek wasn’t from a Family.

Galen shook himself from his thoughts and went back to his studies. If Artem was only getting unfairly punished, it was alright. These kinds of punishments were bothersome but didn’t hurt his brother. Galen could concentrate on his work.

He was glad of his progress on the super-evolution pill. Galen was sufficiently familiar with fire spirit plants and knew of numerous light spirit plants. So, Galen had selected some spirit plants from these two spiritual elements as possible ingredients first.

For the fire spirit plants, he had looked for those blooming in autumn before choosing the reborn crimson azalea, the dazzling red chrysanthemum, and the scarlet gaillardia as his main targets. Galen thought the purple cobweb thistle was appropriate for the hunting path Artem wished for, but its spiritual element was air, and Galen wasn’t sure it was a good match for the Autumn Court. The red cobweb thistle would be a much better ingredient if it wasn’t more difficult to obtain. It only grew in the North of the Rio Grande Cities-States region, so that spirit plant was too expensive.

For the light spirit plants, Galen excluded any species of sunflowers, dandelions, and marigolds from the beginning. He looked for more subtle ingredients as he intuitively knew the super-evolution pills couldn’t be simple. It took him a long time, but he found some interesting species with a few illusion characteristics. Galen thought this characteristic was a perfect fit because Lyra – as his CSI – had given the rare skill [illusion] to Lucia.

“I didn’t give it to Lucia, it was luck!” Lyra grumbled as Galen ignored her. “Luck, I tell you! That’s the core of the random shuffle!”

Galen’s concentration wasn’t disturbed by his CSI. He wanted spirit plants that also had specific light power. Lucia said she felt different depending on the light she cultivated, and the young pharmacist included her observation in his considerations. The boy also felt wary about ignoring the idiom saying there was no light without shadow, so he wanted to find at least one spirit plant with the dual spiritual elements of shadow and light.

Galen eventually selected the jailed sunshine peonies, the mystic illusion dahlia, and the dreamy blue-dawn delphinium. He had considered the golden spider lily and the shining honeysuckle for its flowers. Unfortunately, these two spirit plants were also expensive because they grew principally in other Cities-States regions. The three spirit plants he chose were a good compromise between quality and availability.

Next, Galen wanted to examine trees, roots, and mushrooms. He already took note of the blaze autumn maple leaf, which was both of the earth and fire element, but it was from the Rio Grande Cities-States too. Roots also seemed like perfect ingredients for earth spirit plants, though Galen needed to find those linked to the right season or with some fire aspect. Some rare mushrooms had light characteristics, but what truly interested Galen was their secondary effects in case the dreamy blue-dawn delphinium were inadequate.

Moreover, he remembered reading about fairy rings made of mushrooms. Picking up plants mentioned with fairies in the Old World’s books was worth it. For instance, hawthorn or ash trees were supposed to be the home of some fairies. Nevertheless, these ingredients needed to be carefully studied.

***

Artem was exhausted when he returned to Dascalos High School on Sunday evening. He threw his backpack in his room before going to the cafeteria with Galen. The older boy studied his brother, visually checking his body for injuries. He was tempted to use his [Insight] but controlled his urge since it would only upset Artem.

“I’m fine,” Artem grunted without lifting his eyes from his plate. He knew his brother enough to know what he was doing without looking at him. Galen was even raising Lucia to imitate him.

The Light Fairy was hovering around Artem and Ayden. Galen didn’t insist and called back his fairy. He concentrated on his meal, planning to interrogate his brother once they were in their room. Artem might be fine physically, but Galen knew intuitively that something was wrong.

Once the twins were in their room, Artem took some clothes and went to the bathroom to shower. Artem was a conscientious person who took care of his equipment, but he didn’t unpack nor did any maintenance on the weapon he had brought to the training camp. Galen also felt that his brother was avoiding talking to him. The boy hesitated but still asked Lyra if she knew anything.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I can guess,” Lyra replied in a restrained voice, “but it isn’t my place to tell.”

Artem returned to their room and immediately went to lie on his bed. Ayden flew down next to his pillow. They were preparing to go to sleep. It was natural for Ayden to be tired. Even if the boot camp’s purpose was to train future soldiers, pets could sometimes trained with their tamers, and otherwise, they cultivated. However, Ayden was a lively pet who usually loved to fly around the room. For her to be so quiet, something had certainly happened at the training camp.

Galen worriedly looked at them while Lucia fluttered around Artem and Ayden. Artem ignored the Light Fairy and rolled over toward the wall. Without much choice, Galen climbed to his bunk bed with a book after lowering the light in the room.

***

The next morning, Artem acted as if nothing was wrong. He unpacked and did maintenance on his weapon as usual. However, he was withdrawn and didn’t talk to Galen about what was bothering him. It was as if Artem was subdued, and Galen didn’t like it at all. Despite his worry, Galen didn’t pursue the matter because he knew how stubborn Artem was.

Nevertheless, he kept an eye on his brother as Artem trained to the point of falling in exhaustion this evening. Galen knew such behavior wasn’t healthy, so he decided that if Artem didn’t snap out of it by the next week, he would force the issue.

Artem was also aware of his brother’s determination. He refused to talk because his mind was in a mess and he needed to organize his thoughts. Artem didn’t like complicated things, and thinking too long on matters other than improving himself or fighting made him impatient – he was aware that he had the same reputation as Orsella because of that. So Artem turned to what he did best and lost himself into training.

***

As agreed, Artem met up with Marcus on Tuesday before their first period so that they could train together. Artem didn’t want to see anyone from his professional combat elective class. However, he had given his word. Artem didn’t intend to do anything that could fuel everyone’s scorn toward the Eos Family. Moreover, since the last period of the day was the elective class, trying to avoid his classmates was useless. Artem wasn’t a coward, and it wasn’t his habit to do useless things, so he dutifully went to the training hall Marcus had reserved.

Once the two boys greeted each other, Marcus conscientiously insisted that they first help Ayden. Artem was in a brooding mood, but he trusted and respected Marcus, so he frankly explained what the skill [heat detection] was supposed to do and how it should work. If Marcus decided to teach it to his Magma Tortoise, Artem had no objection.

“Why are you teaching such a skill to your fairy?” Marcus asked with a frown.

Artem responded with his own frown. He knew Marcus expected him to teach Ayden the skill [fire arrow] like most tamers with a fire pet or the rare skill [fire wall] – a defensive skill allowing the pet to create a wall of fire in a place of its choice.

“Forget it,” Marcus said with a sigh. He shouldn’t involve himself in another beast tamer’s training choices for their pet.

“Marcus would understand you,” Lyra suddenly said, “even better than Galen. You know why.” She had kept quiet these last few days because she didn’t know how to help Artem untangle his thoughts. Talking to Galen was easier because she only had to guide him and let him draw his own conclusion. However, Artem was too stubborn and straightforward. If he didn’t wish to speak to Galen, he wouldn’t speak to Lyra either. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t let Artem suffer when the person before him could help him.

Artem didn’t answer Lyra. His head was lowered. Marcus looked at him and decided it was better to focus on the pets’ training. Before Marcus could ask what Artem needed out of him, the black-haired boy suddenly raised his head and said, “Should I still try to become a soldier?”

Marcus didn’t hurry to answer and earnestly stared at Artem. Hearing this question was both surprising and expected. Artem and Marcus had known each other for only two years but they interacted a lot. Marcus knew Artem and could guess what he was really asking. As Marcus kept quiet, Artem shook his head. “Never mind that. Just-”

“Are you asking if you should give up your dream,” Marcus interrupted him, “because of what happened this weekend?”

“No… Maybe, but not just because of that,” Artem replied as he felt frustrated not to know what he felt or wanted. Artem took a big breath. “This weekend, did you … was it...?”

“Was it what I expected?” Marcus finished for Artem.

That was it. Expectations. Unfulfilled expectations. Or maybe these were just his misconceptions. Those were the problem. Artem had dreamed of becoming a soldier for as long as he could remember. He idolized his father not because he was a Beast Warrior but because he fought for great causes. Artem had imagined himself in epic battles against Abyss monsters, not only killing his enemies but saving his comrades’ lives. He liked the idea of being a protector, a hero.

Artem was convinced his father was a hero, so the youth had always assumed the people Xander Eos was leading and the organization he belonged to were heroic too. But that was childish. The world wasn’t made in white and black. The Army couldn’t be made of only rightful and selfless people. Some individuals didn’t become soldiers because they shared the core army values or out of a sense of duty. Some only wanted a chance to become beast tamers, others needed money or were forcefully enrolled to pay for their crimes – though these last ones were in special regiments. That was how people like the drill sergeant who had harassed him all weekend or those who just passively watched it all happen came about.

It wasn’t the harassment that bothered Artem, it was what it revealed of the Army. That it wasn’t the honorable place he had dreamed about. This weekend had made him realize that, like all places run by humans, it could be corrupted and ugly. Artem was uncomfortable with this realization while feeling stupid and blind for not realizing it sooner. Of course, the people accusing his father had to have been helped by soldiers. It was so obvious, so why didn’t he see it sooner?

“To protect yourself,” Lyra softly said. Blinding herself was her favorite way to cope. When you can’t fight back, ignoring the problem becomes much more attractive. Artem fought back against everything. Faced with something he couldn’t control by fighting back, he didn’t know what else to do and subconsciously ignored it while feeling awful about it.

“I see becoming a soldier as my career,” Marcus said to answer Artem’s question. He was unused to seeing Artem so lost. So even if he wasn’t one to talk a lot, he went on, “War isn’t heroic, it’s ugly and dirty. My father often talks to me about deaths, injuries, human mistakes, pettiness... Soldiers aren’t heroes: they’re just humans who do what they must do to survive.”

“That’s why you’re still speaking to me,” Artem quietly replied as he understood what Marcus left unsaid. It wasn’t that Marcus believed Xander Eos to be innocent, but that he had never put the general on a pedestal like most others.

Thinking further about it, Artem understood that Marcus hadn’t experienced the same days as him during the training camp, but even if he had, it wouldn’t have bothered him at all. Marcus’s convictions were solid, and the boy wouldn’t be swayed by others’ opinion or actions. Marcus was unwavering.

Artem still didn’t know if he should give up his goal of becoming a soldier. It wasn't the first time he was considering changing careers. A Beast Warrior wouldn't suit Ayden’s strength, and Artem needed a wider skill set to support Galen. However, he had only thought of becoming a Beast Ranger instead. It seemed fitting as Lyra called him Artem the Hunter. However, Artem had still thought he would be a Beast Ranger for the Army. Realizing that the Army wasn’t as ideal as he thought made him question his path.

It felt like a betrayal to his father. Artem respected his father too much to betray his expectations. But what else could he do? The CSI’s title for him wasn’t a real job. There were no beast hunters – killing wild beasts was forbidden by The Peaceful Treaty. Becoming a mercenary didn’t feel right either.

Artem could become a Beast Warden – a beast fighter who specialized in protecting and taking care of wild beasts. That was the nearest fit for his hunter title since Beast Wardens needed to be able to track and sometimes capture ill or corrupted wild beasts. However, Artem would have to work for the Beast Tamers Association. Artem trusted the Association even less than the Army because of the way they had treated the twins during the investigation. Artem also didn’t forget that the twins still didn’t know what the inspectors did to their housekeeper Melia.

“You don’t need to find your answer today,” Marcus said firmly to cut off Artem’s wandering thoughts.

“Yes, I should be training,” Artem agreed. It was a decision to ponder carefully. For now, teaching Ayden the skill [heat detection] was more important.

While Artem instructed Ayden to close her eyes and ignored most of her senses as much as she could, Marcus ordered his pet to use the rare skill [lava stomp], which was of the fire and earth spiritual elements. The tortoise had learned it recently, and while it was an area attack, it was less spread out than the Magma Tortoise’s innate skill [eruption]. As such, [lava stomp] was more suited to help the Fire Fairy detect heat. Marcus also wanted to take the occasion to make his pet train this new skill that needed a lot of control.

As the lava appeared and spread from the tortoise’s foot, Artem guided Ayden to let her use her spiritual energy to feel the heat. It was hard at first. The skill [lava stomp] produced a loud sound, so Ayden was tempted to rely on her hearing instead of her spiritual power.

Moreover, Ayden had to produce a thin blanket of spiritual power around her to make it work properly. Mastering the perfect dosage was difficult. The skill [heat detection] was supposed to be inconspicuous, so the spiritual energy needed to be invisible. The Fire Fairy was hard-working and trained until her tamer told her to stop.

As the pets went to cultivate to refill their energy, Artem concentrated on helping Marcus with his request. The black-haired youth first needed to understand his classmate’s talent better.

Artem had closely observed Marcus during the exam. The tortoise was a heavy and slow pet, which gave Marcus few opportunities to close in to attack without leaving it behind. That left the boy on the defensive, with his only possibility to react to threats. So Marcus stayed near his pet for all his matches. This lack of mobility hadn’t handicapped Marcus on the exam because this suited his fighting style. Artem had also noted that once Marcus transformed his tortoise into a shield, he smoothly shifted to close-contact combat.

Artem could easily guess that Marcus wanted to overcome the obvious weaknesses of his pet and his talent. To determine the better course of action and confirm his observations, Artem asked a few questions. “Do you need to touch your pet to transform it? How long does it take?”

“I need to touch my tortoise. I think it’s convenient. What’s the use of a shield if you don’t hold it?”

“That might change once your talent levels up. My dad had an epic armament talent. At his level, he could transform his pets from afar and summon them in their equipment form to his body, making the whole process more convenient when fighting.”

“That would be nice,” Marcus answered plainly. “As for your second question, the transformation takes four seconds now.”

“I take it that you’re able to reduce the time through training.” Artem stopped briefly to see Marcus nodding. “Is your tortoise aware in its shield form? Could it move on its own?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“So, your request is to prepare some specific maneuvers to counter your tortoise’s lack of mobility, especially when you must stay next to it for several seconds to transform it, isn’t it?”

During the exam, Marcus had ordered his tortoise to use the skill [eruption] to gain the seconds needed for the transformation. However, if his pet ran out of spiritual energy, Marcus needed another solution. Artem was one of the best people to ask for advice about the moves Marcus could use instead.

“Knowing all that, if I had to fight you, I’d do my best to separate you from your tortoise. You’ll also need counter-measures for this.”

“Orsella tried that during our bouts last week. It was annoying.”

“Last question,” Artem said as he contemplated several ideas. “Do you need a firm touch or is light-skin contact with your pet enough?”

Marcus didn’t know so the boys decided to experiment to find out. Artem first used a prop as high and wide as the tortoise – the pet was more than one meter tall, and its carapace was wider – to demonstrate the steps and moves he found most appropriate. Since the tortoise was a defensive pet, moving around it to dodge while keeping in contact with it wouldn’t endanger the pet. Its carapace was made to tank damages.

When the Magma Tortoise had finished its cultivation, it came over to let Marcus train his talent in real conditions. Marcus tried rolling over the tortoise and combined this move with several other dodging steps while Artem relentlessly attacked him.

It was difficult for Marcus, who never really fought using his agility. Each time he lost contact with the tortoise, the activation of his talent was canceled. Their experimentation showed that any skin contact could work, though it couldn’t be too light. This made Marcus consider adapting his armor to show more skin before dropping the idea: it would work in competition but not in real combat.

When it was time for their first period, the boys were both satisfied and frustrated. They would rather stay there and train some more than go to the mathematics class. However, Marcus and Artem understood the importance of the general knowledge classes – even without Mr Carter’s endless reminders. Without any other choices, they made another appointment to train together later, juggling between Artem’s tutoring sessions and Marcus’s obligations.