Date - 14th June 2004
Place - North District
Time - 8:37 am
(Brax)
Living in an actual house and waking up on a bed, eating proper food and having someone to talk with… A normal life, something I've always wondered what it must be like to have when I lived on the streets but even I have a chance now…the chance to live life.
"So are you ready for your training?" Lucy-no, I mean Sis said (it feels a little odd to call her Sis…)
"Training?"
"Seems like you already forgot huh? Did you think that you are gonna just have a happy-go-lucky life? I asked you on the way here yesterday if you wanted to become stronger and you replied saying yes you do"
What is she…oh! I remember now-wait…
"What if I had said no to that question?"
I asked.
"Hmm…quite the difficult query you've posed me to answer" She said and closed her eyes. She seems to be thinking deeply…
"I would ask you again until you said yes, if you kept saying no then your meals would be lesser and at some point of time I would slowly drag you into it fufufu" She says with that smug look again, so I didn't really have a choice to begin with…
"We are beginning already?"
I asked as I got up from the table.
"Why yes of course but go and get freshed up first, I'll go do the same but before that" She said and…?! Why's she on her knees and holding onto my stomach suddenly?!
"W-w-what are you doing…?"
"Wait, I am checking some things" She said…she's still holding onto my waist…
Is she…measuring my sizes? Yesterday that boy…Feirin gave me some clothes to wear after bath which I am still wearing, a light blue t-shirt and shorts.
"Alright, I've got them noted down now, for now wearrr…" She said and went outside this room…I think I should just wait here…
"These!" She exclaimed as she came back with a light yellow t-shirt and brownish pants.
"O-okay…"
I said and went inside the bathroom…once again…I am brushing like before but…do I really deserve such treatment…? Only until yesterday I was going to die of hunger and now…I am receiving this luxury where I can bath from a shower instead of waiting for rain…I can eat food…actual food from a plate instead of searching within heaps of garbage…I have actual clothes to wear, maybe even different ones each day instead of wearing the same one until it's unwearable…and a place that I can stay at…a place…that I can actually call 'home'...do I really deserve any of this…? But…it's not like I deserved any of what happened before either…I didn't do anything wrong ever…at least I don't think I did…so maybe…maybe I should stop thinking if I do or do not deserve things depending on my actions…things happen and I just happened to get the chance to turn things around.
…
Ahh…it feels so refreshing to use a toothpaste…I wash my face and wear the clothes that Luc-no Sis (still weird) gave me and step outsid-?!
"Look at yourself!" Says a large…talking mirror right as I come out of the bathroom…there's a hand holding on each of its edges, someone is holding onto it from the opposite side. This is…what I look like…? I seem different from what I remember looking at in a puddle of water…
"Ooh! You look good!" Lucy said (I nodded) while peeking her head from beside the mirror she's holding…so it was her talking and not the mirror (of course it's her, mirrors can't talk). Was she just waiting here with this until I was done freshening up…?
"Let's not waste any more time and get started with your training now" She said as she took the mirror away with one hand, why's there a mirror of that size here at all though…
…
"There's something I want to ask"
I say as she returned.
"Hm? Ask away"
"I…don't really understand what a 'lord' is, one of the things you explained yesterday"
(The only thing I remember about that is when she referred to herself as a…'Top Lord' when she gave her introduction)
"Oh…ahaha I may have gone on about it a bit too fast, my bad. A 'lord' is a common term used to categorise the strongest ten selected people of a provision, at least that's how it is here on our provision Thysia. The strongest three are called Top Lord, the ones from fourth to seventh are called Lord and the final three are called General; I am the 3rd within the group meaning one of the Top Lords" she seems quite proud of herself as she says that.
"But…" She continued, "The gap of power between me and the first two is quite wide"
"Is that so…?"
"I'll tell you the reason for that later when we are training so let's start now!" I nodded and Lucy walked into…my room (still unbelievable that I have a room of my own…) and opened the window which led to the yard, I didn't see the yard yesterday because of all the talking and then going to sleep immediately after. It's filled with greenery and there's flowers as well which are blue and purple in colour, it is…very beautiful.
"Listen very carefully now, what I am about to say are the basics which are very important (I nod), there are two types of energies that we can-...what is it?"
Luc-...Sis stopped explaining as I lifted my hand upwards because there's something I remembered and wish to know about, which is,
"How can I fly?"
This is what interests me the most…it makes me very curious that I can do something like that.
"To do that it is important that you first listen to what I am saying right now" She said as she lifted up a stone, "stand a bit further from me and look at my hands now"
I do as she says and carefully observe both her hands, the right hand has nothing in it and the left hand has a ston-woh?!
"Heh you seem surprised" She has that smug face again but yes I am surprised…the stone is covered with ice now…and the other hand has…a sort of ball, a bluish ball floating in her palm.
"Ahem" The blue ball vanished in the air and the ice on the stone melted away, "Best way of teaching is directly showing practically first instead of explaining. What you just saw now are what you will learn (I will learn THAT!?), there are two types of energy one can use, one is called soul energy and the other is called elemental energy. The blue sphere in my right hand was the soul type and the ice covering the stone in my other hand was elemental energy. Which one do you want to learn first?"
That's…a hard choice…I can make ice as well…? There really are so many things I never knew of…but I want to learn how to fly the most…that feeling of being in the sky with the winds when I was…sitting on Luc-Sis's back, it felt really good…so,
"Which one is more important to learn about flying?"
I asked.
"That would be soul energy"
"Then…I wish to learn about soul energy first"
"That was a fast answer but it doesn't really matter because I wouldn't teach you elemental one right now anyways"
"What…?"
"Heh, you thought you had a choice? Pupu! Nope, it's important to learn the basics of soul type properly first anyways to even try the other one" She said…with that smug face of hers again, that's evil of her to do…
"Anyways, there's something else as well that is important, it's called The Balancer"
TheBalancer…this…
"It's present naturally within everyone who is born which allows one to use and control the energy I just talked about, do you get everything I said so far? I think you must have"
"Y-yes I do"
I…get the feeling that I've been told about all of this before but Lu-Sis didn't tell me about this yesterday…feels like this has happened before…
"But very rarely…there are times when an abnormal case comes, when a person is born without The Balancer and…in such a case…once a person crosses 13 Thysia years of age…at some point of time, they die…"
"T-they die…?"
"Yes, in your case Brax (oh right that's my name…being called feels strange…) I think your age is 10 Thysia years and I am 15 Thysia years old"
"Does that mean…I could possibly die when I reach 13 years…? Do…I have that balancer in me…?"
"That is something we can't determine just yet, you'll need to train a bit first before we can tell"
That is…scary…I could possibly die in some Thysia years…wait,
"Why do we say our provision Thysia's name whenever talking about years of time?"
I asked.
"That's because our provision's revolution around the sun takes twice as long than that of Earth and our lifespan is also twice as long compared to that of humans on Earth because of our slow growth. Therefore, it is necessary to specify such things so that the readers don't get confused about certain things!" She said and is looking into the sky with her hands on her waist…
"Readers…?"
"It's nothing, just a joke, anyways!"
…she's sitting on her feet now…
"Is something wrong…?"
"Hop on my back" She said…
…
"No! N-not this again! It's embarrassing!"
"Ehh? Why is it embarrassing? I thought you are like a little brother and I am your older sister or gasp! Do you feel something else about me?!"
She…has that smug look again…she's teasing me…
"Grhh f-fine!"
I exclaimed as I once again…sat on her back…
"Here we go!"
She's floating again…and now we are in the sky! The yard we were just in is already so far away in just a matter of seconds…this feeling of being one with the sky, it feels so good! I want to fly…all by myself…sigh…
I
Time - 9:13 am
After flying for a bit, I am allowed to get down (thankfully) and are now at a mountain, one that I've only ever seen from afar but from up-close, there are so, SO many plants and trees here! No wonder it looks so green…but why are we here?
"Be careful or you might fall off"
!? She's right…I would have fallen off the cliff we are standing on if I stepped back any further…
"Let's go a bit more inside" She said and so we started walking deeper. Just how much time did it take for this many trees to grow…
"Alright, here's good, stand right here beside me" she said as she picked up a big rock in her hand, "It's bigger than your head!" (...yes it is bigger than my head)
"Don't mind me, this is for your protection" She said as she put her hand on my chest for a moment (…), I don't respond back in any form, "Hmm this much should be good"
(Narration)
Lucy held the rock within her right hand and created a small sphere of energy in her left hand and pushed it into the rock which appeared to phase right through inside of it.
BOOM!
The rock then exploded in all directions, into hundreds of pieces.
(Brax)
W-what was that…the rock…is gone…I covered my face with my arms in fear that I would get hurt when the pieces flew at me and some did hit me but it-
"The pieces hit you but it didn't hurt, did it?" Lu…is said and I nodded.
"But why? Why didn't it hurt you or me?"
I asked.
"When I placed my hand on your chest and you became embarrassed, (she had that smug face for a very slight moment just now…) I actually placed a small barrier made of my energy which protected you"
So that's why she put her hand on me…not to tease me…
"What about you? You didn't place your hand on yourself"
I asked.
"Because I don't need to…? Are you a part of my body?" She said and is…leaning in front of my face…
"N-no…"
"Of course not, you are a separate person so I had to place my hand on you to ensure that I put the barrier on. For myself however I can just do that automatically, how though is something you'll understand naturally as we go through the steps" she said and moved away.
"Alright…"
"So before teaching you further, it's important to first explain how this rock exploded" she stopped and…looks puzzled.
"Uhm…?"
"Wait a minute I am trying to think how to explain this in a way you would understand…" she says and looks lost in thought, "Hmm… Alright! You see, the energy ball that I made, if you force it into something that is not a living being unlike us, it might explode, however that depends on what object you are forcing your energy into, this was but still a small rock, a bigger rock may not even take any damage if you force the same amount of energy…yeah" she said with her hand on her chin and nodded. That wasn't so hard to understand…wait…oh…OH! I have an idea! This is the first time that Lu…cy seems a little confused (and maybe even embarrassed) so I might have a chance to tease her just like she does to me!
"I had to explain it in a way that you could understand it in, hopefully that made sense"
"I-I-I am sure it wasn't that hard to explain!...you just…didn't know how it happened either!"
How was that! You must be embarrassed now!.....she's just…staring at me…
"The energy I gathered had high kinetic particles present within it then when I forced that energy into that rock, the particles present within the rock couldn't handle the energy I made and as a result ended up exploding, so you get it?"
"W-what…?"
W-wha…what did she just say, I didn't get it at all-NO! SHE HAS THAT SMUG LOOK AGAIN!
"Huh huh? Your face is all red, is something wrong~?" (I cover my face) I give up…
"Oh! I was going to be sparing with you but I guess that won't be needed, Brax, look up, here comes my…uh…student I guess?" she says, pointing with her finger upwards still looking at me-?!
"Who said you could wear my clothes without asking me?!" (what is happening?! Something came from the sky and sat on my shoulders all of a sudden!)
"I did"
"Oh…Master gave them to you? Uh then I am letting you go" He said as he got off from me…(it's Feirin, that other boy who's her student)
"Master! To think you would leave without me and go with this Brax guy to train!"
Huh? How does he…
"How do you know what my…name is?"
"Huh? Master told me the name when you were still dozing off, after that I went out to buy some things but when I returned, nobody was home"
"My esteemed and diligent student Feirin! Your timing is impeccable! Spar with Brax" Luc…SIS said with folded arms and a very 'serious' (forced seriousness, that's how it feels) looking face…
"Huh? Why should I waste my energy on someone who's a rookie and wouldn't know a thing abou-"
"Didn't Rebecca also fight you when Mom first brought you?" She replied. Rebecca? Who's that? The boy's face right now…he appears annoyed.
"Tch fine, I'll spar with you. Come at me when you feel like getting beaten up" …he said and is standing a bit further away from me…before today I'd always hated fighting because of how tiring it would be…but right now it's different, I am far more energetic than ever before and having to sp…ar yes spar like this, it's exciting in a way…
"Fight!" Lucy exclaimed and I dashed towards him.
(Narration)
Upon Lucy's command, Brax leapt and closed the distance between himself and Feirin. The instant he came close enough, he made a fist with his right hand to punch his opponent but before it made contact, Feirin swiftly pushed Brax's fist away with his left hand and was going to counter with his own fist,
clutch!
But to his surprise, Brax caught his hand tight before it hit him, pulled Feirin closer and kicked with his leg on the side of his opponent's stomach, knocking him a little away.
'...I am the one who just did that…but…how…?' Brax thought but his opponent wasted no time and unlike before, he dashed towards Brax instead.
'I can see it…' He thought, surprised that he could clearly see Feirin's fist approaching his face, something that's never happened before when he got beat up by people. He grabbed the approaching fist with his left hand and was about to hit back with his other hand but-
pow!
"Ow!?" Brax exclaimed as Feirin headbutt him, grabbed his hand,
thud!
Flipped him over and smashed him into the ground.
"Grh?!" Brax groaned in pain as he laid on his back but got up again in just a second and dashed right into the battle again.
(Lucy)
Hmm…it's been some seconds since these two started sparring, Feirin's skilled with his moves since the last time I saw him as he's been training for a few months now but as for this boy, Brax…it's strange that he's actually managing to even put up a fight at all…strange…
Now both of them are exchanging hits but neither are actually landing an-oh Feirin kneed Brax in the stomach, he's losing his nerve now that it's not an easy fight huh sigh…seems it'll get out of hand if I don't step in.
"Aaaaalright! That's about enough now!"
(Brax)
I…slowly opened my eyes (shut them tight because I didn't want to see the hit land on me…and also because I thought it would hurt quite a bit) after not feeling any pain that I thought I would…oh…eh? Did she…just…by her finger? Lucy…stopped Feirin's fist just by her…finger…
"sigh Okay" Feirin said and turned away.
"And you, Brax!"
"Y-yes?"
"You did pretty good! Well…Feirin was holding back but you still did really well which is making me a liiiiittle curious…is this really your first time fighting?"
That's…I am surprised about that as well…I've never properly fought anyone from what I remember, it was just me getting beat up most of the time…but then again even if I wanted to fight back, I just didn't have the energy to do so unlike now, still…
"I don't know…it felt like my body just knew how to move"
"Eh…? What kind of answer is that…" she said as she closed her eyes and put her hand on her chin. (I don't know any better either…)
"Well at least this means that we can start with your energy training already"
I can do that already? I thought that…that would be quite hard to learn just yet. Oh right,
"There's something I want to ask"
"Hmm? Ask away"
"Who's Re…becca? The name you said earlier"
I said, looking at Feirin who looks annoyed at the mention of the name again.
"Ohh, Rebecca's my little sister, the 8th lord, about your age I think"
Her little sister…I think I remember her saying that before but she's a lord at my age…?
"Wait…could it be that you are interested in her…?!" she asked with that…smug look.
"Yes I am"
If she's the 8th lord then that would mean she's the strongest general already…I've never really cared about such things (not that I had to) before but she sounds quite strong. S…is is looking at me with a surprised look and Feirin is looking at me…with a disgusted look, did I say something wrong? (Why do I feel like something similar to this has happened before…)
"I-I mean you said she's the 8th lord meaning she's the strongest General…right?"
"Ohh that's what you are interested in (what did she think I meant?)…yes she is. In fact the strongest Top Lord, the King himself specially chose her for the position"
…I don't really know whether that is,
"Is that something big…? I don't know"
"Tch, normally to be chosen as a lord one needs to be thirteen (Thysia) years old. If you tried to become one, you would be denied as you don't have the age criteria fulfilled and there's also a selection tournament you have to clear. That's what would be the case normally but it wasn't that way for her" Feirin replied (with clear annoyance) to my question, "Which is also one of many reasons why I hate her…"
"Is she that strong?"
She nodded, that sounds…interesting…
"You seem lost, something on your mind?" she asked.
"No…it's just…I was wondering…if I could ever be that strong too"
"I think you can do it"
"Really…?"
"When I first started, I couldn't even dodge an attack properly, which unlike me, you can do far better, as long as you work hard and have the determination, you could reach my level, or maybe even surpass it"
She couldn't even dodge? And she's this strong now that she's the 3rd Top Lord…I could be as strong as her one day…?
"You want to become a lord?" Feirin asked as he came closer. A lord…I never thought I would be interested in fighting…maybe it's just that because my life is starting for real now that I am coming to know myself better.
"Will there be a lot of strong people?"
I asked. (Erm…I blurted that out without thinking…)
"In the selection tournament, yes. There will be many but being a lord doesn't mean you always get to figh-"
"I will try to be the…s-strongest then!"
Oh…I cut his sentence off…s-sorry…
"sigh I am gonna go home" he replied and started FLOATING! (He can fly too?! Wait…he did sit on my shoulders out of nowhere when he first came…so I guess he can)
"What about your part of training?" Sis (Sis…yes) asked Feirin.
"I know what to do, I've got it written down, I'll do it in the yard" he said and flew off…is he angry because I said in between before he completed talking…?
"sigh he's always like that, don't mind him" Si…s said as she picked up a stone and gave it to me.
"What do I do with this?"
"This is the first step to controlling soul energy, close your eyes as you hold it and just concentrate at what's within your palm, eventually your energy will pass into it"
As she said, I close my eyes and…concentrate…
…
"It'll be some time before you get any resul-"
snap!
Huh…? I…I felt something within my hands…I opened the-?! T-the stone! It broke into five pieces?!
"Si-...i-it broke! See!"
I say as I show her the broken stone…even she looks…surprised!
"E-eh…it took me two days before I managed to break the rock when I was your age and you…not even an hour to do it…you are…kind of insane at this huh…maybe even a prodigy…" she said!
Wow…I can't believe I did thi-
"But" I look at her as she sai…she has that smug look again…she's up to something…
"Now we can move to the next phase of the training my dear disciple which I exclaim isn't as easy as this one! Heh"
What's it going to be…
"Here, take another" She said, handing me another stone, "Now concentrate again but ensure that it doesn't break"
That…doesn't sound that difficult, I close my eyes once again and do the same thing as before.
snap!
…I look straight towards her…smug face… Seems like this will take time after all…
II
Place - Central District
Time - 7:58 pm
"Has there been any progress, Doc?"
"sigh…she's somehow out of death's door but her condition…it's still very sensitive, I did a check-up to see if there was any external material within her body, doesn't seem like there's any but…"
"But?"
"There's traces of foreign energy on her and the problem is that there's too little of it to detect whom it belongs to…analysis on it is to be done quickly or else it'll disperse"
"Are the higher ups aware about this?"
"Informing them was the first thing I did as soon as I found out about this"
"No need to worry then… The 8th lord Rebecca…isn't she still far too young to be a lord to begin with? Perhaps it was the lack of experience that reduced her to such a state"
"Do you doubt the selection made by the King?"
"E-erm…no…"
"Then stop spouting such nonsense, she's very much skilled for her position…it's good that she, the 8th at least managed to survive. After all the 2nd strongest died…worst thing being that we don't even know how all of this was caused"
"It's…a big tragedy…the reaction of the public, I can already imagine the situation when the King announces this to the provision…how could someone as strong as the 2nd be killed…?"
"It wasn't a murder"
"What…? Do you mean the 2nd committed suicide?!"
"No! Actually…I don't know…It's just, it doesn't make sense, both the 8th and 2nd were found at the same location with the 8th lying right beside the 2nd but…"
"...but?"
"The 8th appears to have fought someone due to which she appears to have these…horrifying injuries but the 2nd had none of that…it was such a creepy sight…her dead body was smiling and she held one of her eyes crushed within her right hand…"