Date - 13th July 2004
Place - North District, Home
Time - 9:08 am
(Brax)
It's been some weeks since I first came to this place, this 'home' and I've been training almost everyday all the time, even though it's just repetition of the same activities, it's so much fun. It's still difficult but I've grown used to it (A little, at least I don't faint anymore like I did on the first four days of it…) and my body seems very…different from how it was from when I first came here. I used to be all boney looking…now I have actual proper flesh; I can see and feel muscles in different parts of my body, it's amazing that I can do all of this at all…I know, I know…that I shouldn't think of this question again yet I can't help but wonder about it from time to time whether I truly deserve all of this…ahhhh I should just wear my clothes already! I've been standing aroun-
sheek
"You still haven't worn your clothes? You take quite some time just to wear clothes eh?"
"I-I…GO OUT!"
"Oh right!"
clack
She should knock at the very least! That was very embarrassing…
…Pfft!…still, this too is fun in its own way, embarrassing moments like these…
…sheek
"So (!) you are ready now?" Lucy asked as I opened the door (Has she been just standing in front of it while I was wearing them…)
I nod.
"Good, I have something exciting to tell you!"
Something exciting…everyday has already been very exciting, it can get even more exciting? But…why do I have a bad feeling about this… Ah! Maybe it's because last time Lucy said something like this…she gave me the weirdest name I've ever heard…
"What happened? Where's the excitement?"
"N-nothing, what's this exciting thing…?"
"Heh heh heh, I am glad you asked! (I am scared…) Starting today your usual training will halt for some time and you will learn how to take flight, meaning you get to fly!"
Eh...? IT ACTUALLY IS AN EXCITING THING?! (AND I DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT HELLISH TRAINING FOR A WHILE?!)
"R-really?! I can finally learn how to do that?!"
"Mm hmm!" She mumbled while nodding! "But (Oh no…) there's a condition…"
I should have known…of course it won't be that easy as she'll always give me some conditions…
"Once you learn how to fly and resume your training like normal, you'll have to spar with Feirin at the end of each day"
Ughh…hmmmmm…that stinks (I didn't have to fight Feirin after all the workout just yet, now I'll have to do that too…? But I GET TO FLY IN EXCHANGE!).
"I ACCEPT THIS CONDITION!-"
…why does she have her smug looking face again…
"You'd have to spar with him regardless because I will have made you do that either way heh" she says(Of course…)…
"Ahem! We'll start right away! Get into the yard!"
We are starting now itself?! (I jump into the yard through my room's window)
(Narration)
"I know you are excited but maintaining a calm mind is important when first learning how to fly" Lucy says to the boy as she enters the yard who is unable to keep himself standing still in one position due to the bubbling excitement he has.
"Mm!" He mumbled, nodding his head three times.
"sigh then look at me carefully"
"Mm!"
She stood in one position for some time, relaxing her body and leaving it free; then slowly, her feet were no longer in contact with the ground and she started levitating.
"Oooohh!"
"Now close your eyes and try to sense my energy as I do it once again" She said as she stopped and landed on her legs.
"Mm!" He closed his eyes.
"Can you sense my energy?"
"Nope!" A dumbfounded grin spread wide across his face.
…smack!
"Ouch!"
"Concentrate and focus properly!" She exclaimed, knuckling his forehead, "Or else I won't teach you how to do it!"
"Wah?! Don't do that! I'll focus properly!!" He cried out and closed his eyes once again, this time actually focusing properly and doing what he was told.
It has been a couple of weeks since Brax first started to train and one of the essential things he practiced was his sensory regarding energy by trying to focus everyday for half an hour; at an adequate level, he would become able to see a person's silhouette instead of a cloud when closing his eyes and even feel energy exertion from things or people without having to close them.
"So what do you see?" Lucy asked.
"Your energy, a silhouette" He answered as he had reached that level and could now see a proper bluish silhouette of Lucy in front of him which was dense in appearance.
"Good and…what do you see now?"
"It's floating…"
"Look closer and tell me again"
"Uhh-! Oh! The silhouette…it has very small amounts of energy flowing out of it…?"
"Bingo! That's the right answer! You can open your eyes now" She said, landing on her feet, "Any guesses as to why that happened?"
"Erm…"
"You better know it because I taught you about how energy works not too long ago" She said, widening her eyes which reflected a plain but terrifying expression on her face.
"Ah uhm…OH! It's because you exerted your energy at a very small but constant rate, RIGHT!?"
"...Yeees! Good!" She exclaimed, stopping with the scary looking face and the boy sighed a breath of relief.
"Now it's your turn" She said and went to sit near the window, "Close your eyes, focus and then release energy very very slowly at a constant rate"
"That's it?"
"That's it"
"I don't have to figure out any kind of trick this time around?"
"Nope, not this time, all you have to do is concentrate"
"Okay…" Brax said and closed his eyes.
'Release energy…at a very very slow but constant rate…' He thought as he stood still, not realising as he was deeply lost in focusing but his body was already emitting small amounts of energy at the required rate and levitating a little.
'He's able to do it…hmm but what really matters is whether or not he'll still float normally after opening his eyes' Lucy thought with her hands on her chin.
"There won't be any tricks this time but there definitely will be a prank" She whispered to herself with her usual smug tone and stood up slowly, approaching Brax without making any sound.
"I DON'T FEEL MY LEGS TOUCHING THE GROUN-!" Brax exclaimed excitedly as he opened his eyes only to see Lucy standing right in front of him.
swoosh
In that instant, two things happened in quick succession. First, Lucy retracted her hand which was meant to grab Brax's shirt from behind in order to do a prank before he could notice it and secondly,
"AAAAAH?!?!"
In the excitement that Brax had within the moment he opened his eyes, he increased the output of energy more than the required amount and a breeze of wind carried him away into the sky.
"Ahaha, seems like the prank happened without me having to do it…" Lucy said to herself as Brax was 'flying' away with the wind, tumbling away in the sky.
(Brax)
Argh…! I can't stop! Focus…focus…focus…it's no use! Did I make a mistake? I think I put out more than the required amoun-! I AM FALLING NOW! FOCUS FOCUS…!!
grab
"You alright?"
Huh…? I am flying properly…? No…Lucy is holding my stomach from above…she grabbed me as I began to fall…that was scary!
"You, I told you to focus properly and you still messed up? sigh Well it's your first time so it's fine but what if I am not here watching…? I guess I'll tell Feirin to look out for you when I am not here. You aren't allowed to try to fly unless one of us is present, got it?"
"Okay…"
I said and looked down at the district, the houses seem so small from up here…
"So, how did you feel? 'Flying' for the first time?" She asked as we got closer to the ground.
"It was scary!" She seems…satisfied with that response (from experience, I can tell that this satisfied look from her means that she expected this to happen…), "But…that was my first flight…I can't wait for when I can properly do it…!"
"Exciting huh… All the best then, all you have to do is focus properly. In time it'll be as natural as breathing" She said as we landed back at the yard.
I
Date - 19th July 2004
Place - North District, Home
Time - 11:46 pm
I have been learning how to (finally) fly recently and the usual training has stopped temporarily (which is amazing)…but all I've been able to do is float for a while before I lose control completely and crash into the wall of the yard or get flown away in the sky by the breezing wind…even after putting all my focus into just flying, it's really difficult to do it…so today I am staying up a bit late to get it done faster (I must ensure that I don't lose control though because there's neither Lucy nor Feirin to look out for me…)
I close my eyes and focus.
Let out energy constantly.
At a very…very slow rate…
(Narration)
Brax slowly levitated in his position but didn't open his eyes and continued to focus. When the clouds blocking the moon passed away, it looked as if the light from the moon in this starry night sky was illuminating a spotlight for the boy, acknowledging his hardworking efforts up until now.
"Is he finally going to get a grip of it this time?" A person whispered to themselves, hiding near the entrance while watching Brax. It was Feirin, "He really had to do this right now? Master was right after all when she told me to ensure that I observe him tonight as he seemed really stubborn and dissatisfied"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Suddenly, there was a scream from inside which Brax heard but didn't alert Feirin. The houses on Thysia have a certain extent of sound proofing that don't allow sounds from inside a house to go outside and vice versa; this made Brax barely be able to hear the scream as he stood very close to the source which was Lucy's room on the first floor.
"Lucy…?" Brax said in a low tone as he opened his eyes and floated upwards.
"Eh? He's doing it…? Wait, why's he knocking at Master's window…" Feirin said to himself, looking at him.
(Lucy)
'How many…more of these do I have to see…'
That's the only thought I have each day every time I wake up, covering my face…I need some water…
knock knock
Hu-EH?! Oh…It's Brax at my window…
knock knock
No wait…Why is he at my window?! I didn't sleep in one of the rooms on the ground floor, did I?
creak
I open the locked window (He's floating… It is my room! So…he learnt it when I was asleep…seriously?).
"Did you shout? I think I heard you screaming" He said as he floated inside the room and sat on the floor. (Strange…he isn't excitedly telling me about his achievement like he usually does after being able to complete a task…)
Erm…I screamed that loudly…? I know that the houses don't have the best sound proofing but still, to think my scream would be loud enough to be heard across the walls…
"N-no, I think you must be imagining things…you were focusing too hard while trying to fly and perhaps mistaken something else as me screaming"
I say and sit on the bed's edge.
"You are righ-! Uh-uhm…"
He took the bait heh heh heh.
"So you were practicing without me or Feirin looking after you HUH!?"
I say, grabbing his shoulder and turn him towards me (He's trying to look away now that he's been caught)
"A-Ah…erm…uhh…sorry…"
"Hmmm" I mumble coldly, he seems a little scared (It's fun to be strict), "sigh At least you managed to finally fly on your own and no accidents occurred"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
…
Huh? Don't tell me…this guy…he was so excited about learning how to fly and didn't realise when he actually managed to do it? Hmm…should I not tell him to see his reaction later on when he does actually realise? That would definitely be fun on its own but…
"What floor's room is this?"
I asked.
"First floor…?"
"And from where did you come here?"
"From the window"
"And…how did you come from the window?"
"By…eh? EH?!?!"
He immediately crawled at the locked window and looked down. As much fun as it would be to not tell him about it, I am not so cruel as to make a joke about something he cares about so much.
"I FLEW BY MYSELF?!" He exclaimed loudly (hurts my ears a little but I won't stop him, his eyes are all sparkly looking now so it would be a shame to interrupt this joyous moment for him… To be honest, I am a little envious of his joy)
"Seems like it but how did you not even realise that you flew? You dumb somewhere in the head?"
I say teasingly, getting close and poking his forehead.
"Don't bully me! I was just…"
"Was just…?"
"I thought something happened because of your scream so I was worried…maybe that's why I didn't realise…"
He was worried about me…
"I told you it was your imagination so don't worry about it, what's the time now"
I look towards the clock beside my bed…it's 11:53 pm…
"B R A X"
I say, turning towards him (he was heading towards the window before I noticed HUH!?)
"I AM SORRY I WON'T STAY UP THIS LONG AGAIN!"
clench
(Narration)
"Eek!" He exclaimed and shut his eyes tight as Lucy grabbed onto his shirt but nothing happened so he slowly opened his eyes.
"I…have something that I want to ask" She said, her look completely softened and vulnerable now.
"W-what is it?"
Lucy wouldn't have brought up this question normally, perhaps it was because she just woke up from yet another nightmare that she sought some form of consolation and now was the best time to ask about it as nobody else was present.
"Did…Feirin ask you about anything related to that day…?"
Brax didn't say anything for some seconds but then he mumbled and nodded saying yes.
"gasp?! Y-you didn't tell him anything, did you!?" She asked as she grabbed onto both of Brax's shoulders with a bit of strength.
"N-no I didn't, I said that I don't know anything" Brax said in a pained expression due to the fingers that were digging him but more than the pain, something else bothered him; it was Lucy's behaviour which was far different than anything he had seen prior, it showed complete utter fear which was scary and gave him goosebumps.
"pant…pant…pant…I see…thank you-gasp! Sorry…!" She exclaimed, realising what she was doing to his shoulders and let go, "Ugh…I must be still sleepy for doing something like that…"
"Mm, it's fine…" He shaked his head from side to side, "I'll go to sleep now…"
creak
He opened the window but instead of trying to float down, he stood still.
"G-goodnight" He said and simply jumped down, a height such as this isn't enough to cause any injuries for the people on Thysia so Lucy didn't react either. She simply held on her forehead for a while and sighed a few times then finally grabbed the jug of water in her room, gulped it down empty and went to sleep.
But unbeknownst to the two, someone was indeed hearing their conversation unintentionally yet very closely. He stood right outside the room with an expression of frustration.
'Grrh…so he does know something…' Feirin thought, clenching his hands tight but controlled his anger and emotions so as to not let out any energy which could alert Lucy of his presence outside the room.
(Brax)
creak
I entered my room through the window and laid on the bed which I had already prepared in advance before practicing.
…
I put my hand on my chest…I don't feel excited anymore; even though I really wanted to learn how to fly but…it's odd…my chest feels weird, seeing her like that…hurt me in a strange manner…
Will she be back to normal again tomorrow…?
II
Date - 21st July 2004
Place - North District, Home
Time - 8:53 am
Argh I just realised something as I am coming out of the bathroom…now that I have learnt how to fly, I have to go back to doing that hellish training again…
It's been a day now since that incident at night and…Lucy did start being like before again-
"Brax"
?! Speak of the devil (Why's she sitting on the bed in my room with her legs in a kneeling position though…).
"Y-yes?"
"Come with me, we are going to the mountains" She said and got off the bed. The mountains? Now?
"The ones where you showed me how to use energy?"
creak
"Yes" She said as she opened the window.
I was about to ask why but refrained from doing so as she'll probably not tell me regardless and who am I to complain if this allows me to avoid that hell! Following behind her, I enter the yard, she starts to float without closing her eyes. (I tried to fly yesterday but to initiate I still need to have a proper focus first before I am really able to do it for which I have to close my eyes for a few seconds)
"Let's have a race, shall we?" She said as I started floating as well; there's no way I'd even come close to beating her but it sounds fun, so I agreed.
"Ready…GO!"
ZWOOP!
E-eh…? EH!? She's way too fast…!! I can't stand here spacing out!
III
Place - North District, Mountains
Time - 9:01 am
"pant…pant…"
I flew so fast…I am a little tired…but it was fun! Flying by myself and looking at the surroundings felt sooo much better! (I'd like to fly slower next time though to properly enjoy the scenery…)
"Boooo! You are a minute late! I slowed down for you after some time and even waited for a while tch tch" She said with her usual smug face as I landed by the cliff from before where we also came last time. (That was her…slowing down…? I flew here as fast as I could and it still took me far longer…but seeing her with that normal expression that she normally wears…it relieves me)
"Lets walk inside a little then you rest for some time after which I'll tell you the reason why we are here" She said and we walked inside.
After resting for a while below a tree, I am now stretching…? This place we are at now is much emptier than all the other places I've seen on the mountain, it feels like a playground.
"Erm…what exactly are we here for?"
I asked as I stood up.
"You are going to have a sparring match with me"
"WHAT?! With you?!"
"Mm" she mumbled as she nodded…
"Wait wait, wasn't it Feirin that I was supposed to fight with at the END of the day??"
"Mm, you'll still be doing that in the evening after your training (I STILL HAVE TO DO THAT TODAY?! Tch…) but I want to test your current skills first hand which is why we are here"
"If that's the case then why did we come all the way here? Couldn't we have sparred in the yard like you do with Feirin normally?"
"That's because you will be using energy as well in this battle unlike the matches that I have with Feirin, it's just a way to gauge up your immediate improvement so far, I did the same with him two months after Mom brought him" She said as she picked up a stick and is making something with it around herself on the ground…
"Two months? It's been only a month since I came though" If I am not wrong, it's been about half a year now that Feirin has been training under Lucy but for three months of time she wasn't here which I still don't know why…
"That's because I believe you are already at a very good level in far less time than him. I said you almost feel like a natural at this stuff, didn't I?. Now! Get ready!" She said as she completed making a circle around her, it's very small and she would get out of it if she took even one step-!! I can feel it…unlike that day when she sparred with Feirin, she's radiating much higher energy now! (Will I be fine by the end of this…?)
"And of course, I won't use energy blasts nor will I step out of this circle. If I do move out of it, you win" She said, ugh! That confident look is pissing me off! I will make sure to…uhm…err…at least move her from her spot!
(Narration)
"Come!" Lucy exclaimed and Brax immediately dashed towards her while making a fist but Lucy moved slightly while still being in the circle, swiftly dodging the attack.
Without wasting a second, Brax started throwing a barrage of punches but still was unable to hit her with any of them, either she dodged them or she blocked them with one of her hands.
"Then, how about this…!!" Brax exclaimed as he furthered himself a bit then flew at her extremely fast to tackle her out of the circle.
"Not a bad idea but!" She said, jumping before Brax even reached the circle, and as soon as he came within its vicinity,
THUD
"AAARGH?!" He screamed as she pushed him down to the ground by landing and sitting on him while still residing inside the circle.
"It won't be so easy~!" She said with her usual smugness as she folded her arms.
"Grh!" He groaned as he tried to get up but to no avail, "Why am I unable to push you off?!"
"I am pushing you down with a bit of my energy that's why" She answered and the weight on him suddenly increased by a bit.
"GRH!? You said you won't use energy ARGH!"
"I said I wouldn't use any type of energy blasts, not that I wouldn't use energy at all, there's more ways of using energy than just making blasts" She said as she increased the output even more, "Is that it? That's a little disappointing-"
SMASH!
Brax smashed the ground with energy imbued in his one hand and cracked it a little, then pulled out a part of it with both his hands, turned them around, putting them upwards as he laid on his front.
"Then!" He exclaimed and closed his eyes.
BLAST!
Just as Lucy understood what was about to happen, the pieces which Brax pulled out blew up into hundreds of pieces but before they could do what they were intended for, Lucy jumped up high and as soon as she did, Brax got up and away from the circle.
"Trying to blind me huh…" She said, landing back at the circle, "Claps for my perfect landing clap clap clap"
As she was clapping and flattering herself, an energy ball flew towards her.
BOOM!
"She deflected it?!" Brax exclaimed as a stray boulder on the side exploded as a result of Lucy pushing the energy away with her palm.
"I'll tell you this-" She said but her sentence was interrupted as two more such energy balls came towards her.
flick!
"EH?!" Brax exclaimed as she simply flicked the energy balls back at him by hitting them with her fingers which he barely dodged.
"Let me finish what I am saying!" Lucy exclaimed, kicking the ground, "The blinding method wouldn't have normally worked if I had put up an energy barrier on myself but because your energy was still within the broken particles of the rock, it definitely would have broken past a weak shield so that was good thinking on your part!"
"Is that so" He said as he made the energy ball even bigger in size within his palms which was now as big as a football, "How about this then!"
BOOM!
As Brax said that, the ground in front of Lucy exploded creating a distraction and a barricade for her vision for a very short duration. The energy ball flew through that barrier and got very close to Lucy, just about to hit her.
clasp!
"That was a really good one…!" She said as she destroyed the energy ball by catching and clenching it with one hand and caught Brax's fist with the other who had dashed towards her, taking advantage of the small smokescreen he created, "Throwing all those energy balls at me was just a distraction…you just did that to keep me occupied while you transferred your energy through your legs to right in front of me at the ground, once the collected energy couldn't be contained there, it reached its limit and the ground exploded… Obstructing my vision in such a manner, I must say that caught me a little off guard"
"pant…pant…pant…I am tired…" Brax said and fell to his knees with his fist still in Lucy's hold.
(Brax)
"You kept on firing those energy blasts like crazy so it's understandable but there's a proper way of using them to not get exhausted when performing so many at once" She said as she let go of my hand and sat in her circle (should I try to push her out now? No…I am too tired to even move anymore…).
"Is that so…? Why didn't you tell me about it then…"
I asked and turned myself the other way round, towards the sky.
"That's because I wanted to see how you perform first and then critique you, otherwise what fun would it be to be perfect from the get go?" She said, putting her hand up in front till her chin and created a small energy ball, "Whenever you made an energy ball, it seemed as if you were tightening your body too much, that's not how concentration works"
"Mm"
"When making an energy ball, you should let your body loose and focus only on the hand on which you are making it"
"There's so much of focusing everytime aaaaaaahh"
I said, swaying my arms and legs around.
"That's only for beginning to get used to this habit, in time you'll learn to focus as easily as you breathe"
Mm, that makes sens-
"Lets go now, you have to do your training now" (Ugh…I had forgotten about that…)
"Ah and" She said as she stood up, "You did very well, much better than the expectations I had, you strategized and acted on a plan which you developed all the while being on the losing end. It was better than simply brute forcing but remember that in a fight like this where you are on the losing end and clearly at a disadvantage, being efficient is always better than being effective"
I…didn't expect to be praised even though I lost… She did say that it was a test of my current skills so maybe the circle was just a method of testing me…
"Ho? Isn't someone quite happy~"
"Don't tease me…!"
IV
Place - North District, Outside Home
Time - 7:03 pm
"pant…pant…pant…"
It's still…a bit difficult to run all this distance… Normally this would have been the end of the training for the day as I've run all the way back home (standing outside the gate right now) but…starting today I have to spar with Feirin as well… I got done with the running earlier than usual too, maybe I am getting accustomed to this hell! Also unlike before when Lucy or Feirin accompanied me for all my training, I can do it all by myself fine now, Feirin has his own training to do after all but for some reason he's not been talking to me at all since yesterday, not that we talk much anyways but he hasn't uttered a single word to me and when I did try to talk, he seemed to avoid me…
"sigh…"
Thinking that I have to spar as well now is a bit exhausting but…I haven't fought against him ever since that first day when I started out all of this; I wonder how I'll fare against him now-! I can sense Lucy exerting a bit of her energy…she's in the sky flying away from the house, uhh…(I look up trying to locate her) there she is!
"Oi!"
I shout, waving my hand at her (she's noticed me aaand is coming down now).
"Ho? You are done with training about an hour earlier than usual, you didn't cheat did you?" That's the first thing she believes…? And not praising me instead?! That annoys me a bit…
"I didn't cheat! I did it all fair and square hmph!"
"I am joking, a joke! Jeez you take it too seriously" She says as she pokes my head and pushes it a bit, "Good work, you've been doing really well"
Hehe…oh,
"Are you going somewhere?"
I ask, she was flying away from the house just now after all.
"Mm" She mumbled while nodding, "It'll take me a bit of time to return, about two to three hours I think"
That late? It's already evening, by the time she returns it would be way past our sleeping time.
"I should go now, Feirin will prepare the food, you two eat it without me, I have already eaten so no need to keep any aside for me" She said, turning her back towards me (She's eaten already? Just where is she going…).
"Oh right, you aim to be a lord either way so telling you is probably for the better" She said, turning towards me, "Every six months or so, a meeting between all the lords is held and that's the thing I am heading to attend now"
Ooh…there's something like that too? All of the lords come together to meet… So from the weakest to the stronges-WAIT, that would mean that the strongest will also come?! I don't know why but that sounds really cool!
"But you know… (why does she look so exhausted suddenly…) The meetings are very boring! (Eh) I don't know about before I joined but very rarely has there been any point in doing these so I haven't gone to one since about two years now (Wow…), they didn't fulfil much of a purpose and were just done for the sake of being done until this point"
"Until this point? So today is different?"
"You sure are observant of what people say" she said as she stretched, "This time around it appears that the meeting will actually be an interesting one to attend"
"How's that so?"
(A meeting among the lords…how could such a thing be boring in the first place though…)
"Have I explained yet what 'a horizon' means?" She asked, I shook my head saying no.
"How do I say it…hmm…showing you directly would be a better way of explaining" She said as she started flyin-?!
(Narration)
"Up you GO!" Lucy exclaimed as she grabbed Brax's hand and threw him in the sky.
ZWOOP!
"EHH?!" He exclaimed as he ascended up the clouds.
'I literally just came after my training and she does this all of a sudden?!' He thought with his eyes closed, 'Focus, focus, FOCUS!'
"PANT…PANT…sigh…"
Breathing a sigh of relief, the boy levitated among the clouds after managing to gain control of himself in this dusk full of twinkling stars as if sleeping in the sky.
"Now then"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'Now then'!? DO YOU KNOW HOW TIRED I AM?! WHY'D YOU JUST THROW ME IN THE SKY LIKE THAT?!" He exclaimed, lifting himself into a standing position when Lucy came beside him.
"I wanted to see how much better you've gotten at controlling yourself, if you can fly despite being tired then that means the training is going very well, that's why~" She said as if singing a rhyme, "And even if you were to fall down, I'd catch you soooooo"
…
"Hmm…we have come a bit too far up though…let's descend a bit tehe" She said and descended a little, Brax didn't say anything but just stared at her face for a bit in annoyance and followed after her, "Now, look over there, what do you see?"
She said, pointing straight towards the south from her position at absolutely nothing.
"...Nothing at all…?" He said, putting his right hand above his eyes trying to understand what he's supposed to be looking at exactly among all of these houses.
"Not the houses dummy, look beyond them at the very edge of what is visible. If you see properly, you'll see that there's a line where the sky and the earth meet"
"Earth? What?'"
"I mean the surface, not the planet where humans live"
"I see…" He said and continued looking, trying to understand what Lucy meant, "! I think…I see it, so what is it…?"
"That's what a horizon is, that edge, it looks as if you reached there then that's the end of the provision's (Thysia's) land but that's not really the case, as to why though is something I'll explain later on"
"I see…then the topic of the meeting is regarding this horizon thing?"
"Erm…yeah? But also no…?" She said and looked as if she fell in deep thought for a moment, "To put it simply, on Earth, I mean the planet Earth, something has happened and you can sort of say that like the horizon you see here, there's a thingy that has emerged in theirs'"
"Eh…?"
"Unlike Thysia where land is the majority of the area and the oceans are much smaller and shallower, Earth is the exact opposite where water covers about seventy percent of the planet"
"Oh I remember you teaching that, the size of Earth is MUCH bigger than our provision so it's not an issue for the populous yet"
"Yep, somewhere on the vast ocean side of things, a large amount of energy has emerged seemingly out of nowhere which keeps extending in the sky like a massive ray of light"
"Energy…? Like the one we use?" He asked and she nodded in response, "Wouldn't that be harmful to humans? You said that they can't control energy like us"
"That's also what is interesting, that energy itself is so weak that it doesn't even hurt them which is very unlike the energy we use but still the possibility lies that it belongs to someone from a provision and that is the topic of this meeting. This phenomenon has been named as Horizon's Twilight"
"I see, I get it…I think I do"
"That's the topic and the gist of things in short, I'll go now. You have to spar with Feirin now, remember?" She exclaimed as she started flying away.
"Yes yes I do! See you later!" Brax exclaimed, waving his hand as Lucy went on her way at a very fast pace.
"sigh, got to go spar as well now…" He said to himself as he descended back to the house, into the yard, "I do get to rest for some time so it's fine I guess…I should go freshen up-"
fyoom!
"Eh…?"
thud
'What…just happened…?' He thought as he fell on his knees and put hands on the ground, looking towards his stomach which had a clean tiny hole in it. He turned towards his room, the source where the stray energy beam pierced through him came from; it was Feirin who stood there.
"pant…pant…I wasn't ready ye-"
whirl!
"I'll ask once again" Feirin said aloofly as energy gathered at the tip of his finger which he aimed at Brax's face, "What happened on that day?"