TBATE - Lightseeker

.....

- Solis -

I turned back to where I had thrown the augmenter Ada was fighting, only to see that the three of them had vanished leaving only a simple small red flag. "The overseers must have snatched them. Makes sense considering the shape they were in."

"Mmm. I just hope that wind guy will be able to eat again..."

"Jack.. Just what did you do to him?"

"Punched him."

"Fair enough."

We recollected ourselves and stood around the green core dropped by the tree sentinel. We discussed who should get it, and I said I didn't need nor expect it considering I did the least, and voted for Ada to have it. She seemed oddly happy considering it isn't of much use to her.

"Captain Bella's birthday is coming up soon. I want to give this to her." She answered the question I didn't ask, and I understood why she was so happy to get it. The Captain was the one who took her in off the street and gave her the beast will. Naturally, she would want to gift something back.

"We're not too far from the hut. It's roughly 6 am. We should go now before the rest start moving." I gave my suggestion to my comrades and we began to move toward the centre.

.....

We arrived at the hut uninterrupted and walked through the front door. We approached a table with a man seated with a pen, paper and clock. "Welcome back! Your time is 15 hours, 43 minutes and 27 seconds. Congratulations on passing the difficult AA-rank examination. Please tell me your names and give me your rank IDs."

We gave the man our ID cards and he took down our names and instructed us to find an empty room to rest and stay until the exam finishes in more two days. We picked out our room and took off our masks and cloaks, finally dropping our guard for the first time in 16 hours. 

Just under 16 hours... How in the name of the Sun did Rindo do it in just 4?

....

Another few hours passed and finally, the team I had been waiting for finally entered through the creaky wooden door. 

So in the end you did make it, Note.

After he and his team had recorded their time and given their IDs to the proctor, I walked over to him and congratulated him on making it here.

"I knew you would show up, Note."

"Mm. All of the remaining teams were weak and cowardly, hiding in waiting for a tired team to fall into their trap. We cleared the forest without much difficulty, other than our encounter, of course."

"Note! So you made it!" Ada sounded both proud and infuriated. She wanted Note to pass so that she wouldn't be ashamed of losing to someone who couldn't even make it to the hut, but she was also upset to see the boy who knocked her out cold make it here against all odds.

The archer lady that I fought asked me, "How did you clone yourself? And what is that weird power you have?"

"Sorry. Trade secret."

"What happened to your arm? I don't imagine anyone in the forest could have beaten you up?" Note asked me curiously.

"I was ambushed in my sleep. I let my guard down, that's all." My wounds had fully closed with the help of my Holy Flame, but there were still many thin scars that looked like long knife cuts. It kinda hurt, too, though I wouldn't admit it.

...

Time at the hut was boring. No sparring was allowed and there was basically nothing to do. we weren't allowed outside and activities inside were limited to boring board games and conversation. Luckily the end of the exam was coming around soon and we would finally be allowed to leave.

The exam proctor called us all out of our rooms and officially announced the end of the examination. "Congratulations to the people standing here, all 9 of you, for passing the examination. We will now let you depart from the forest after you receive your new AA-rank adventurer ID cards!"

We walked to the door after our group was called up and the proctor gave us each our new ID cards, letting us out of the hut and back into the forest. "Let's move as quickly as we can. I doubt the other two teams will try to fight us, and even if they do the overseers will step in. Fighting is prohibited now. If we hurry we can probably make it out of the forest in a few hours.

.....

A little over 5 hours later, we emerged through the gate we entered through and saw the large carriage that had come to pick us up and take us back to Xyrus. 

15 teams entered that forest, and only 3 passed... The difference between A and AA truly is large.

After everyone had returned from the hut and exited the forest, we all climbed into the large carriage and began our rough journey back to the main city.

....

Stretching my limbs, I jumped out of the carriage and the teams began to go separate ways. "Note, will you be attending Xyrus Academy?" I asked him.

"Yea. Soon-ish."

Hmm. By answering vaguely, he answered my question but gave no hint as to his age. He could be starting tomorrow or even later than me. Smart.

Jack, Ada and I returned to the hotel room we had been renting and stayed in for the night. Jack was returning to the Academy campus tomorrow after his permitted leave. Normally, getting a permitted absence for an extended period of time was very difficult, but thanks to our relationship with Director Goodsky, it is quite easy for him.

....

"Have fun at the Academy, Jack!" Ada and I waved him goodbye as he turned to walk in the direction of the campus.

"*Sigh,* now what do we do?" Ada questioned, mostly talking to herself.

"We have just a little over two years until we start Xyrus Academy. We aren't just going to wait around here at Xyrus. We're going home. We can use this two-year period for valuable training."

With that, the two of us exited the hotel and looked around for a carriage stop. We didn't wear our New Dawn uniforms other than our rings, which are mostly insignificant at a glance. The journey back to HQ would take us at least two months, so it's best we leave as soon as we can.

...

[Two Months Later]

"Haah, finally home!" Ada said in contentment as we phased through the invisible mana barrier behind the drooping vines. We knocked on the wooden door before entering and seeing that no one was home. I returned to my room and took a much-needed warm shower.

Looking in the mirror, I marvelled at my shockingly unique appearance. "Thank the Sun for the New Dawn's uniform that covered most of my features, or I'd be easily recognised." I had too many recognisable features. A scar over my right eye, a large unique tattoo on my neck, tattoos on each of my palms, numerous scars on my right arm and a tattoo-like rune on the back of my right hand. Not to mention my Eyes that have to be seen for the illusions to work. I don't doubt that there is a drawing of my Eyes on some bounty poster somewhere in the Glades or at the Royal Guard HQ.

*Sigh,* trying to stay hidden while being so unique is so hard...

.....

[One Year Later]

Nothing much had happened in the last year. Besides the occasional spar and easy dungeon dive to stretch my limbs, I had done nothing but sit in my room and think of new spell ideas that I could create, and try to improve my control over my elements to a further degree. Right now, however, is the first time since returning from Xyrus that the New Dawn was making a move.

Cobra, Badger, Lucy and I were posted outside an Alacyran camp deep within an A-class dungeon. For the first time in over a year, we had found an Alacryan camp! We were waiting outside their walls for them to fall asleep and let down their guard before we stormed their base and annihilated them all. We didn't move a muscle for hours in fear of a sentry discovering us and blowing our cover.

False nightfall came swiftly and the dungeon fell silent. We entered through the main gate and crept over to the barracks. Lucy conjured a large, thick dome of metal around the entire barracks, save for a doorway-sized opening at the front for me to use. I circled mana through my body and into the back of my throat, igniting it as it came out of my mouth, spewing a massive white fireball into the dome prison. Lucy immediately closed the hole and we waited a few minutes for the panicked screams to die down. 

Lucy opened the dome and we walked in. I created a small fireball above my head, illuminating most of the dark prison of metal. Three figures emerged from the charred bodies of their fallen comrades, somehow unharmed. 

They used their comrades' bodies as shields!.. Filthy wretches..!

"Sand Coffin!" Cobra voiced deeply, and sand rose from the ground and swallowed two of the three remaining Alacryans. "Sand Burial!" Cobra clenched his fist, and chunks of flesh and sand splattered the ground and walls of the dome.

"Fall." Badger increased the gravity around the final cockroach and he fell face-first into the hard ground. Badger stood just in front of the struggling Alacryan survivor and greatly increased the gravity around him.

A small gravity domain...

The Alacryan beneath him was quickly turned to mush, his sludge-like remains flowing across the ground and onto other burnt corpses.

These two are truly ruthless... Their efficiency is incredible. They killed three people in seconds, with Badger clearly being able to finish his opponent- no, prey, far quicker if he wanted to.

Lucy and I searched around the camp for anything useful like documents or diaries but unfortunately found nothing of the sort. We did, however, find a small dosage of the chemical the Alacryans use to corrupt and tame mana beasts.

"Sorry you had to witness that, kid. Those two can be a little brutal." Lucy hooked her arm around my neck and apologised softly.

"Don't be. Though I may be a child, I'm still a member of the New Dawn. I know what I signed up for; it's my duty to crush the Alacryans - and despite the fact I dislike violence and killing, I do it willingly."

"You're a good kid, Solis." She patted my head lightly and we regrouped with Cobra and Badger.

After we exited the dungeon, a small carriage pulled up in front of us. "I told my men to arrange us a carriage so we can return to base quicker. Good work, Baxter." Badger explained and praised his subordinate.

"Right. I forgot you were a gang boss." It had completely slipped my mind that Badger was the leader of a Beast Glade gang, the Honey Badgers. They are more like mercenaries than a gang, and the racketeering rumours are mostly false. Mostly.

...