Aethelos: The Bastard of Light

The preparation room was wide and quiet. Equipment lockers lined the walls, and the air carried the clean smell of wood and metal. · The three students entered behind Brock Rocket and stopped at almost the same time. The silence between them was cold and heavy. No one said a word. · Brock looked at the three of them, scratched the back of his neck, and tried to smile. · “You seemed more sociable during the Captation… ahahahaha.” · Yana rolled her eyes and stayed silent. · Eli put a hand on the back of his neck, forcing a shy smile. · “We’re just nervous, that’s all. Everything is still very new for us.” · Lygar let out a low, humorless laugh. · “The only new thing here is this human among the four of us.” · Eli looked at him, surprised. · “The four of us? With him we’re four.” · Brock opened his mouth. · “Yes, but—” · Lygar cut him off with a look of pure contempt. · “Yes, Eli. The four of us: me, Yana, you… and your pride.” · Eli felt his face heat up. His voice rose before he could stop it. · “What pride?! I didn’t do anything to deserve these jokes!” · Brock raised his hands, trying to step in. · “Come on, kids…” · He didn’t get to finish. Yana cut him off with a cold voice. · “Seriously, Eli? Are you having amnesia? Maybe an apology would put the pride aside.” · Eli took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and spoke reluctantly. · “Fine. You want me to apologize? Then… sorry.” · Yana looked at him with clear disdain. · “Worst apology I’ve ever heard.” · Lygar gave a sarcastic smile. · “That’s the Vindicari part of him.” · Brock used the brief silence that followed and spoke with more firmness than before. · “You have a mission. And it already started the moment we walked into this room.” · Silence returned, this time different. All three looked at him. · Eli was the first to ask: · “What mission?” · Brock opened the folder he had been carrying and took out a small folded map along with three evaluation sheets. · “Initial coordination mission. · You have until sunset to recover three training crystals that were placed at different points in the academy’s outer grounds. You cannot use full-power attacks. Only movement, positioning, and cooperation.” · He paused, letting his shoulders drop a little, as if he were already tired just from explaining. · “I’ll go with you… but don’t expect me to keep up with your pace. I get tired easily and I’m not much help in a fight. Basically, you’ll have to handle things yourselves and… make sure I don’t fall behind.” · Lygar furrowed his brow. · Yana crossed her arms. · Eli just stared at the map, feeling the weight of the tutor’s words. · For the first time, they had no choice. · They had to work together. · Even if none of them wanted to.