{Vol. 1 Arc 2}
Inside the classroom...
"Today is the last day for you at the academy." Elder Walath spoke.
"You have been with us for a year," she paused. "It has been a tough year. Some of your friends died during the awakening, some of you present here withdrew from the awakening, a few of you became seekers."
"We have taught you combat, we have taught you survival skills, we taught you the history of Amala and the other villages. You have learned a lot."
"Mr. Bauji and Mr. Talib and the rest of the teachers have worked hard to put knowledge into your heads." Bauji and Talib, standing beside Elder Walath, smiled.
Bauji was the one teaching survival skills and history. Talib taught combat. The other teachers at the academy taught lessons concerning seekers together with Elder Walath.
Combat classes were general; those who desired to become seekers or remain mundane could attend. Dedication and passion were the only requirements.
"For the fortunate enough to awaken, we have taught you how to wield your abilities. Now go out there and attain complete assimilation, go out there and serve Amala." Elder Walath finished her long speech. She exited the classroom together with Bauji and Talib.
"Finally, we're done with the academy," Isabella said.
"Do you guys have any plans?" Molai asked.
"Plans? What plans?" Isabella was confused by Molai's question.
"I mean, what are you going to do after the academy?" Molai clarified.
"Is that even a question? I'm opening a restaurant. My parents will be there helping," Isabella said.
"What about you, Barlelina?" Barlelina had moved her seat closer to her friends.
"My life will become chaotic from now on: learning village politics, attending boring ceremonies. I thought it's the same for you, Molai?"
"No, no, I'm not the firstborn. I guess I haven't figured things out," Molai said.
"Mateo, you have been quiet. What about you?" Barlelina asked.
"Mateo, are you thinking about him?" Isabella asked.
"Yesterday was Edwin's birthday," he stood up.
"None of you seem to remember. Well, thank me for reminding you." He left. Mateo had a brotherly relationship with Edwin.
"I didn't know of his birthday," Molai said, following behind Mateo. He had joined the team during the academy.
Barlelina and Isabella followed them outside.
"Mateo, what do you want us to do? Keep crying?" Barlelina said. "I don't want to hear that name again."
"You never liked Edwin anyway." Mateo stopped and turned. "I already know your father forced you to be our friend. Edwin isn't here anymore; you can drop the pretense." Mateo's words slapped Barlelina. She went mute.
"Nothing to say, ha? You hated Edwin for the marriage arrangement he didn't ask for. Though that idiot had a crush on you, that was before his near‑death incident with William."
"Mateo, cut it," Isabella jumped in.
"Bella, I have to set things straight here. I don't like having fake friends around."
"It's not like I hated Edwin. I just didn't want to get married to him. Come on, we all know what a loser Edwin is. Who would want to be a loser's wife?"
Isabella's face twisted. She couldn't believe the words coming out of Barlelina's mouth.
"But that doesn't mean I'm not your friend. I just didn't want to be a loser's wife, that's all."
"Hahaha, a noble girl with someone the whole village had bullied? That really couldn't work," Mateo mocked.
"Guys, let's not do this," Molai tried to cool the situation down.
"Not do what, noble boy?" Mateo cut him off. "You two could be a good match. Ah, but you're late noble boy? Another noble boy has already gotten the spot. Isn't that right, Lady Barlelina?"
"A good friend of mine just went missing, and a lady has already gotten a new one. What a quick…" Isabella slapped Mateo.
"Let's just go," she dragged Mateo.
"Don't be stuck in the past like Mateo. Edwin died a long time ago. No mundane can survive where seekers can't," Barlelina said to Molai.
"Is it true? A marriage arrangement between you and that dog William?" Molai asked. It's not that he wanted to replace Edwin; William was just a dog.
"What do you think?" Barlelina asked back.
---
"Fire!"
In the dark and cold night, a loud cry broke through the silence as guards at the council courtyard rushed toward the prison.
"Fire!"
Warriors hurried over.
The council courtyard was the beating heart of Amala, where almost everything administrative was located; The Hall of Elders, the House of Justice, and the House of Amala.
At the prison,
"Quick! Make sure none of those prisoners escape!" the prison warden ordered his men.
Meanwhile, inside the prison, the underground flooded maximum section.
A dark haired middle‑aged man dressed in red prison keeper attire walked into a cell. His footsteps splashed through the water flooding the cell. The flooding was ankle‑deep. The footsteps woke up one of the three men held captive here. Each tied with heavy chains to the walls.
"The Enforcer!" The man's unbelieving cry woke up the other two men.
"Huh, who the hell is the Enforcer?" The mundane man asked as he looked at the middle‑aged man. "Isn't that the deputy warden?"
The other man, a sentry seeker, was in poor condition; he didn't even bother speaking.
"Enforcer, please! Spare us," the man begged.
"Hehehe," the deputy warden faintly smiled.
"I swear in the name of our forefathers, none of us spilled the beans," the man said.
"The contract! If we had said what we shouldn't, we wouldn't be alive," the man cried.
The deputy warden placed his arms behind his back and turned around to leave.
"I'm delighted." Two blades appeared out of nowhere; they hovered around the deputy warden's back. One blade was an edgeless blade without shape; the other had pulled a stream of water from the flooding, coiling it around its surface like a snake.
"But I'm just following orders." The two blades flew toward the men. The edgeless blade slashed the man who was begging into two, from his head to his cervix. Split Bloody intestines and lungs splattered into the flooding.
The other blade floated between the mundane man and the sentry seeker. The coiling water slithered and coiled around their necks. The floating stream of water tightened its grip. In a few breaths, the two men became corpses. Their close to a year of captivity had ended.
The deputy warden turned. The two blades vanished into thin air. He moved toward the right wing wall of the flooded cell. His back rested on the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He began whistling a tune.
Footsteps of people approaching could be heard. The warden kept whistling.
Three prison keepers entered the cell. Two took the front, followed by a prison keeper who had a bear behind him. They stared at the messy scene and turned to face the whistling deputy warden.
"Deputy warden, what's going on here?" One of the men unsheathed his sharp‑edged sword. The one beside him lifted his hands, making a stream of water rise from the flooded cell.
The other took a step back as the bear covered him.
"Simple: you killed them, and I, the deputy warden, a patriotic citizen of Amala, am here dispatching moles from other villages." As he said that, he took out a dagger from his belt.
The deputy warden pounced forward.
Before the prison keepers could move, the bear's arm flashed to the neck of the prison keeper with the unsheathed sword. His neck snapped. His body smashed into the wall. He dropped between the corpses of the mundane man and the sentry seeker.
The other prison keeper tilted his head as he launched toward the warden. "Velenando, you traitor!"
Velenando smiled. He moved with a knife in his right hand toward the neck‑snapped prison keeper.
The deputy warden and the prison keeper collided mid‑way. The warden's blade slashed through the floating stream of water; another floating stream of water slapped the deputy warden down.
The deputy warden rose to his knee.
"You traitors, I'm going…" The bear had already snapped his neck. He threw him to the other side, slamming down.
The warden pounced to finish the job. His dagger stabbed the man's heart. He died. The cell flooding turned red.
The sound of rushing footsteps could be heard nearing the cell.
"Enforcer," Velenando whispered. The warden nodded.