Equinox!

"Now I know I've been sent to hell…" Raten, Annie and Ace woke up and after freshening themselves up, went straight to the Fitness Hall and were now being made to lift weights and run on some kind of platform with a striking resemblance to a treadmill that ran on some kind of energy for lower body training.

Raten grimaced as he laid flat while Ace stood next to him in case the weights fell on him, acting as a spotter. "These weights have been increased by Taikon Beast energy so they're extra dense!" Ace enlightened him with his not-so-fun trivia fact, picking up a barbell which proved difficult but after enhancing his arms with energy, reinforcing his strength, he lifted into the air before abruptly dropping it back on the bar.

"Great," Raten remarked sarcastically, preppiing himself to lift the bar bell himself. The metal container appeared on his waist and he manipulated liquid metal from within it, condensing it around his arms and intensifying his strength. The metal within the container never seemed to run out.

'What did I do in this life to deserve this?' Despite this, Raten was able to lift them with relative ease.

Annie witnessed him having an easy time with the weights while she was sweating on the alternative treadmill. She gave a contemptuous look while she ran on the treadmill, amplifying her speed in unprovoked anger.

"Hey, Annie! You might wanna slow down!" A fellow member of the Heart said while Annie ran faster and faster on it until it eventually caught fire, alarming most in the room.

"Whoa!" Annie leaped away from it and took off her hat which was able to suck up all the fire somehow. "Hehe, sorry," She apologized.

After about another half hour, they moved over to the Mess Hall where they ordered their breakfast but rather than stay and sit down, they moved to different locations and finish their food there. After all, they weren't in some kind of uptight boarding school.

As Raten passed by, a girl moving in the opposite direction clearly with something else on her mind bumped straight into him, his plate having almost fallen but thankfully, he caught it.

"I'm super sorry. It was a total accident," The girl apologized in utter panic, bowing her head repeatedly with several working tools and equipment on hand. To any other soldier, she obviously wasn't a fighter but looked somewhat like a researcher. That was because she worked for the Research Facility; a part of the Heart.

The reason she was so scared was because word had spread about a Spirit Soldier being taken into the Heart and not only that but that he was really ill-tempered. One could tell just from observing him.

Raten exclaimed, extremely pissed off at the encounter. "That's it." He formed an acute needle out of metal with the intention of stabbing her. But someone caught his attention; the Vice-Captain Raldin, gesturing at the crystal around his neck. Using the chance she had, the girl had ran away while Raten returned the metal to his container.

Satisfied, he walked to his office while rubbing his temples. "He's really something."

After finishing his meal, Raten realized he was alone in the room. Good, gives me time to think, he thought.

'I studied the whole outline of this Base. Well, at least the parts I was granted access to. It's not impossible to escape but I wouldn't even know where to go if I did.'

'The best thing to do is wait until we go out on our first mission.' He planned ahead, then moved on to another topic of interest. 'Speaking of fighting, they have my sword confiscated but I have no idea where they've stashed it.'

An idea sparked. He stood up from the bed, exiting the room and making his way to his roommate, Ace who he had deemed to be the most cooperative than anyone else. Or the biggest dunce.

He investigated the Training Hall on their Sector but he wasn't there. Continuing his search, he located Annie instead talking to someone else but the spiky haired boy wasn't with her.

'It can only be here.' Raten stepped into the Fitness Hall, finding the boy lifting barbells like they were made out of rubber with energy enhanced muscles. Something most decent Energy Users were capable of to some extent.

He hadn't announced his presence and the muscle-head seemed too distracted by his workout and that was good, very good, he thought. "Hey, Ace! Just out of curiousity, if weapons were to be confiscated, where would they be stored?"

"I'm pretty sure they're kept in Vice Captain Kent's office in a secret place."

"Thanks."

"No problem, Annie," Ace replied, almost causing the Metal User to snicker.

Raten left the room, still thinking of how he would get to the office without anyone noticing. At that moment, someone crept up behind him, getting awfully close.

"Hey there, Raten! How are you?!" The voice was riddled with fake friendliness and deception.

"Skilled at burying people alive and making sure they never find them." Raten was being perturbed by none other than Sky; the supposed highest ranking Noble in the Heart who had a nasty habit of playing tricks on people. "What do you want? We aren't even friends. No one is. I may not be able to kill you but I can slash your body beyond recognition so get the..."

"I can get you into Vice Captain Kent's office." Sky revealed, making him pause for a moment.

"You can?" He reluctantly asked. 'This little punk.' He had to have been spying on he and Ace during their conversation.

Sky nodded with a winner's smirk plastered on his face. "Mhm. For just one price though."

"And what's that?"

"Get Annie to go out with me," He proposed and Raten instantly recalled her relationship with the Noble and knew well that Annie would never -in a million years- go out with him. He let out a low, barely audible chuckle like the Devil Himself.

"Deal." He agreed, sticking his hand out but Sky left him hanging, completely ignoring him and heading towards the office. Raten's left eye twitched at the action before following Sky's lead until they were about ten metres away from the office. "How are we going to get in without getting caught and questioned?" There were numerous Heart members and officials moving to and fro the area and the raven haired male wasn't exactly given the same privilege as everyone else nor was he very welcomed. Sky's smirk never left his face, as if he always had a plan for everything.

"Like this." Sky's eyes radiated intensely, switching from a tangerine orange to cobalt blue the moment he blinked his eyes. Since he was a noble and he didn't seem to be capable of magic, Raten deemed that his Power was Taikon. Grudgingly, Sky held onto Raten's back and in an instant, they camouflaged with the environment. They both became invisible. "Don't lose contact with me. Also, we're invisible, not untouchable." With that, Sky and Raten ambulated, avoiding Heart Members who walked past without even noticing them in the slightest bit.

'Damnit! How are we gonna open the damn door with everyone around?!" Raten complained, addressing an issue Sky had not thought about.

Sky grew embarrassed. "I... see your point." They were in a difficult situation. That was, until Raldin had stepped out of the office himself after dropping documents for his fellow colleague. "Now!" Using that moment, the duo passed through the door right after Raldin exited the room.

They had made their way in but the Vice Captain felt something was off and turned around to see nothing. He tried detecting a presence but was unable to.

Raten and Sky's body shook, terrified of being caught but it was more so for the latter and if he kept it up, they would be done for. Grunting, the ex-Spirit Soldier grabbed hold of Sky's hand and held it tight, prompting him to calm down.

"Hmm." Raldin turned at the documents one more time and left. He seemed ready to leave, closing the door but left it ajar as if he felt something was wrong.

'We're screwed.'