Location - Unknown
"How is the boy, Dame?" a gruff voice of a man that was hidden in the shadows echoed in the room. In the centre of the huge space, the pioneer, Dame Ilral could be seen kneeling down with respect and reverence.
A brief pause after the mysterious man spoke, Dme Ilral then began "He does not seem any special from any of his age, Commander. He has made quite a huge growth since he arrived in the Sanctuary two years ago. His Practical and Theoretical knowledge and skills are higher than average.Some…" before he could continue his statement, he was caught short by another voice that responded from the shadows.
"That is not what we require, Dame. How has his assimilation with SilverBane come along? We need this information if our goals and plans are to be met." a sturdy and collected voice echoed from the chamber. "Reporting to Commander. I have not noticed any change either physically or mentally and during his tests, it has been determined that there has not been any awakening of the SilverBane present in him." Dame replied as he kept his kneeling position.
"I see. Dame, report to us, is there a possibility that he has awakened and he is being cautious not to reveal and as kept in under wraps?" the first voice that questioned Dame asked. "That is a possibility but it seems to be highly unlikely. From what I have noticed and what the watchers have told me, he seems to be a very passionate boy that is mostly driven by revenge and self loathing and guilt. I don't believe that if he knew he had such powers, he would be able to remain silent and keep it under wraps, even from his friends." Dame said as he awaited the Commander's decisions.
"I see. We appreciate your work, Dame. Now if you'll excuse us. We have important matters to talk about." A Commander said effectively asking Dame to remove himself for the next conversation. Quickly understanding the hint, Dame stood from his kneeling position and after bowing to show his respect, he exited the room.
Once he was gone, the second Commander that addressed Dame spoke up while addressing the rest in the room. "What do you think? I believe that we should make sure that he has not awakened and if he has truly not, maybe try to nudge his awakening a bit faster," as the Commander concluded their speech. "I agree with what the Commander of Intelligence said. If what was written in the research paper is true, this will change the whole state of the war and humanity's stand. This could be our turning point against those Xions. We should make movements to see if that direction is available." Another member of the Commanders gave his opinion on the matter and possible way forward.
"It doesn't matter anyway. In the end, that boy is doomed to be our weapon. The piece we humanity have been searching for in order to take down those Xions and soon, once he awakens like Dr James reported, he will soon become our ace in the hole and the card that can change the direction of the game on board. Once he is settled into Sanctuary, we should begin moving to awaken him," a commander with a steady and deep voice sounded in the shadows to which sounded like what the rest of the Commanders could agree upon. "Since this has been accepted, we should begin planning and start making movements then. Is there any other issue that needs to be brought to the table?.."
Location - Sanctuary Base
"How was your assessment, Kael? You seemed out of it this morning." Monnae spoke as the three walked out of the arena after finishing their exams. "It was fine. Thanks Monnae. Did you receive your results?" Kael spoke as he addressed Lark and Monnae while trying to ease their worry.
"If you say so, Kael. What do you think your results would be? The staff said they'd release the results tomorrow but I'm sure that I'll pass quite easily. What of you guys?" Monnae said effectively changing the subject to something a bit more positive. "The exam was quite hard but I think I did okay enough to guarantee acceptance into Pioneer." Lark said with his common stoic face as he stated the exam like it was not such a big deal. Kael nodded to show that his situation was also the same as theirs. 'I did quite well in the exam considering what I had to use and the fact that I was able to use my environment to take those Xion's down would increase my points.' Kael looked upwards to the cloudy skies as he reminisced in his mind.
'So I've come this far. I am now close to killing that Xion who broke my world apart,' as he smiled, his first genuine smile in a long time, to be precise since what happened that day.
"Huh? Kael are you smiling? Really?! I never thought you would!" Monnae said with her voice leaking her happiness and enthusiasm. Lark glanced sideways at Kael after hearing Monnae speech but Kael had already gone back to his normal cold face.
"You looked so cool when you smiled. Why did you go back to brooding Kael? No fun!" Monnae said as she approached Kael and stretched his face trying to imitate a smile on Kael's face. "Did you smile, Kael? I didn't…" before Lark could continue his sentence, Kael responded "It was just Monnae seeing things. I never did." as he tried to keep his before personality. "Sureee.." Monnae said, clearly not believing what Kael was saying. "You missed it, Lark, he looked so cute just now. I never thought that brooding Kael could make such an expression!" Monnae said as she teased Kael, clearly intending not to drop it anytime soon.
"Either way, you noticed it right? The test just didn't feel right." Lark said as he bought back seriousness into the conversation from Monnae's playfulness. "Yeah, I did. There were two Common Class Xions in the Practical." Monnae spoke as all her previous playfulness seemed to have vanished and she became much more serious.
"I don't understand. Isn't that the normal test? What's the difference?" Kael said in confusion as he didn't understand what they were wary about. "It is too abnormal to test recruits with two Common Class Xions out of the blue. The last recruit batch test contained one Common Xion and sometimes it involved either survival skills or infiltration mission. But for some time now, the exams are starting to get a bit harder. Is the Sanctuary preparing to fight against the Xions or are the frontlines in trouble?" Lark answered as he stroked his head, a habit of his that could be noticed after spending some time with him.
"Maybe it's related to that team we saw in the morning? Maybe the Xions are acting up again and the Sanctuary wants to be well prepared and ready. That may be also why the tests are much harder this year to shuffle more reliable recruits who have a solid base which can later be polished in Pioneer." Monnae commented with her opinion.
'So the Sanctuary isn't all that safe from the Xion attacks either. I should ask Kina about this later. Wait…shit, I forgot Kina said to meet her after the Practicals!' Kael thought as sweat beads began to form on his face. "What's wrong, Kael?" Lark said as he saw the strange state of his friend. "Kina! I totally forgot that Kina said to meet her after the exams!" Kael said as his face showed a frightened expression, that seemed so strange to grace his facial features. "Oh..It was nice knowing you, Kael. You will be missed dearly." Lark said as he glanced at his friend in pity, his hands clasped together as he offered his prayers. "Don't count him as dead already, Lark. Kael, you should leave now and hope that you're not that late when you get there," Monnae anxiously commented as Kael nodded and began to hurry away from the group. "He's in huge trouble," Lark commented as he watched Kael speeding away. "Yeah. Kael's running to his doom. I just hope Team Leader Kina goes easy on him." Monnae said with worry laced in her voice.
"Don't worry, Mon. I think your crush isn't dying yet" Lark interjected as he glanced at Monnae's worried face, making a banter to bring back her liveliness. "He's not my crush!" Monnae stated with a flushed face as she began to walk away from Lark. "Hey, wait up Mon! I was just playing with you!" Lark shouted as he began to run to catch up with her.
Location - Sanctuary Base (Kina's Team Base)
"Leader, Kael is late today" one of Kina's team members said as he entered a room that had been scarred by sword marks and fist marks on the wall. In the middle of the room, Kina, a woman with short black straight black hair that framed her blue coloured eyes with her slightly tanned skin. She wore some training clothes as she drank water from her bottle. After taking a breath, she addressed her team members.
"Is he? So Kael has started to become a bit tardy. I guess it's time to teach him some manners again." Kina said with a soft smile but which seemed to be something else to the team member as he looked at her frightened. "What's wrong, Fin? Is there something else you want to report?" Kina questioned as he noticed Fin still standing there even after he was done reporting Kael's lateness. "I know this may be out of place for me, but leader, please go a bit easy on the boy. Maybe he just had some other things to take care of.." Fin stated as he looked at Kina hoping to see her understanding but instead, she maintained that smile that was on her face as she responded "So, Kael thinks that there is something more important than keeping to my schedule and therefore, making me wait? Hmm, I see. Don't worry about it Fin. I'll be gentle on him, afterall, he is my disciple." Kina said with her signature smile.
'I'm more worried now, Leader. Sigh..I wish best of luck to you,Kael. I tried my best to help you but I seem to have made it worse. Please forgive me!' Fin thought in his mind as he responded to his team leader. "Sure, Leader. I'll be taking my leave now" after taking a bow and then exiting the room. As he came out of the room, he found Min waiting outside for him. "So? What did the Leader say?" Min asked with curiosity as he leaned on the walls in the passage which led into the room. "I tried but I made the situation much worse I believe. I just hope Kael is able to endure it this time." Fin said with guilt on his face. "Haha. He'll surely curse you after he finds out, brother. But either way, let's trust that Kina is able to hold back…" Min said before he was cut short by the out of breath Kael. "Hold back from what, Vice Leaders Min and Fin?" he spoke with short pauses taken to catch his breath and steady himself. "Nothing to worry about, Kael. Just some talks between brothers. You should hurry up inside if you want to reduce your punishment." Min said as he beckoned for Kael to go into the room. "You guys seem shady but I don't have time to question now. I have to meet my master right now." Kael said as he opened the door to the room and after entering, closed it back.
"Poor Kael." Fin said as he watched the closed door with pity to which Min commented "Yeah. What should we get, Fin?" as he changed the subject of discussion. "I'm not sure. Let's go to the cafe to check." Fin said to which Min nodded and they walked away from the room.
Location - Inside Kina's Training Room
"So you have decided to show yourself, my disciple. Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?" Kina said as she continued to spar against some androids for training while beating them effortlessly.
"I'm sorry, Master. I was just caught up with something else but I came here…" Kael tried to give a reason for his lateness but he was cut short by Kina who commented "So you really were held up, huh. I didn't expect that there is something more important than keeping to your master's instruction, my disciple. It seems I have to train your manners a bit." Kina said with a smile as she stopped the training that she was doing and she clicked her fingers as the androids shut down and stopped working.
'What happened? I didn't fully expect that excuse to work but I believed that it could calm her a bit but this just seems to rile her up further! I'm so done for!' Kael exclaimed in his mind as he remembered the beatings he had gotten from this crazy master of his.
"Now, welcome, Kael to Manners Lesson 1 : How not to be late" Kina said this as she moved from her initial position within the blink of an eye and appeared next to Kael, her knees raised and she delivered a straight kick to Kael's stomach hurling him back to the distance. "Oh, nice reflex, Kael. My training seems to be doing wonders for you. Just keep up for about a minute and this punishment should be over by then." Kina started with a smile as she appeared next to Kael and then with her fist raised up high, she delivered another hit to where Kael was laying before Kael was able to slightly dodge it by somersaulting on the ground. Kina's fist connected to the paved ground which collapsed on itself as a hole formed around where her fists landed, making an impression on the ground.
"Not bad, not bad, Kael. Although that was a cowardly way to dodge, it doesn't matter in a life or death scenario. Let's continue, we still have so much time!" Kina said with excitement creeping into her voice, her iconic smile forming on her face.
'Ah..I'm done. I don't think I'll be able to endure an entire minute of this. And this crazy master of mine seems to be enjoying herself! She really is crazy!' Kael thought as he looked at her after standing from the ground while clutching his guts.