《The Sage》


 Chapter 1

    Ascelmo stepped off the ramp of the transport ship, his ID papers in his hand. A few feet in front of him 3 officers stood, waiting to receive everyone¡¯s papers. Ascelmo stepped into one of the three lines formed in front of them. He stood at attention as he moved forward, trying to make a good first impression. As he got closer he could hear the deep voice of an Orc. ¡°Papers, please. Move along.¡± Is all he said, over and over again. Finally, Ascelmo stepped up in front of the orc, he was dressed in class A and a beret bearing the insignia of The Void Regiment rested on his head. ¡°Papers please.¡± Ascelmo handed him his ID papers and watched as the officer scrutinized every detail, after about 10 seconds he handed them back. ¡°Move along.¡± Ascelmo stepped to the side of him and continued on. He slipped his papers into his pocket as he stepped onto a moving holo-bridge.


    As Ascelmo moved through the tunnel as he continued into the next part of the long and winding base, he looked out through the window into the vast emptiness of space. Below him, he could see his home planet, Aebelon. He could see a large portion of it from up in the base, it actually looked very beautiful. Ascelmo was cut off from his thoughts as the bridge came to a sudden stop and he was thrown off balance. He regained his footing and looked around, hoping nobody saw him stumble. Luckily, it looked like nobody did.


    Ascelmo continued on for a couple yards until he was stopped by what he thought was a person until he saw the blue light stripe on his neck, indicating that it was a working-class android. ¡°Arms to your sides please.¡± The android instructed. As Ascelmo obeyed, the blue light emitted from its eyes. It moved up and down Ascelmo¡¯s body and suddenly shut off. ¡°You have been assigned to group Dragon, right over there.¡± The android pointed over at a group of 5 other new recruits with an officer standing in front of them. They all looked about 17, the same age as him. Ascelmo walked over to join them. As he walked up to them the officer looked at him. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s the last one. Let¡¯s get going.¡± He said. The group started walking down the hallway in a 2x3 formation, with the officer in front of them. They finally went into a room that had a silver plaque that read ¡°Dragon¡± on top of the door frame. The 6 cadets spread out into the wider space as the officer stepped onto a platform that raised from the floor. Everyone stood at attention as he began to speak. ¡°You all know why you¡¯re here. You¡¯ve been drafted into The Void Regiment to fight in the war against the Obsidian Coalition of United Systems, or OCUS. You are about to begin your training, But first, we need to find out if you¡¯re standard infantry or someone who¡¯s talented with magic. We call them Magi. Behind me, you¡¯ll see Mage Warren. He¡¯s here to help find out if you¡¯re a Magi or not. He¡¯s going to perform a ritual that will allow us to detect any magic essence in you. So we¡¯ll have you step forward, one at a time, if you¡¯re a Magi then move over to the left, if you¡¯re infantry, then move over to the right.¡± As Ascelmo got closer and closer to Mage Warren he saw that there were 1 Magi and 4 infantry. Once he stepped up in front of Mage Warren he began the ritual. As he was going he tried to make small talk, like a barber when they¡¯re cutting hair. ¡°If I had to make a guess I¡¯d say that you¡¯ll be a Magi, elves are more likely to have magical essence in them than most other races.¡± Once he was finished, he had a somewhat surprised look on his face before he wrote the results down on a holo-pad and pointed to the left with his pen. ¡°Magi.¡± Is all he said as he continued writing.


    After some more standard procedures, the cadets were shown to their barracks for the night. They were all handed a standard cadet uniform before being left alone. As everyone got into their beds, one of the other cadets, an orc, was the first to break the awkward silence. ¡°So what''re your guys¡¯ names? Mine¡¯s Orokas.¡± The only girl of the group, a blaze elf, looked over at him from her bunk, Ascelmo remembered her as the only other Magi in their group. ¡°Elenaire.¡± She had the look of someone who didn¡¯t want to be bothered. ¡°Talen-Ra.¡± Ascelmo heard the name from above his bunk. Based off of the voice, it sounded like a Teelian, a reptilian race. The monkey-like Volkmir in the bunk next to Asclemo¡¯s spoke up. ¡°Cydum.¡± Ascelmo looked at everyone else before finally speaking up. ¡°Ascelmo.¡± Everyone looked over at the last cadet. He was a snow elf, like him, his hair was dyed a deep blue, it was messy in the front and slicked back into a mullet in the back. He didn¡¯t say a word, he just stared blankly at a wall. ¡°Aranail.¡± Ascelmo looked at him, there was something about him that he was drawn to but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it.


    ¡°Geez, you guys sure are a talkative bunch.¡± There was a hint of sarcasm and humor in Orokas¡¯ voice. Aranail glared at him. ¡°Look I¡¯ve had a long day, I just want to cut the bullshit and get some sleep alright?¡± Orokas was somewhat taken aback. ¡°What the hell is your problem? Y¡¯know like it or not, we¡¯re stuck together for the foreseeable future, so you¡¯re better off just cutting the lone wolf bullshit.¡± Elenaire slid off her bunk, looking at Aranail with narrowed eyes. ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been a full day and you two are already at each other¡¯s throats?¡± Talen-Ra had an annoyed look on his face. Ascelmo sighed and rolled over in his bunk to face the wall, trying to tune their bickering out as he tried to get to sleep.


    Mage Warren stuck his keycard into the slot of the lock and pressed the buzzer. After withdrawing the card the door shot up. He went in to see Commander Bradford sitting at his desk. He gave the mage a friendly smile. ¡°Ah Warren, have a seat, you want some tea?¡± Warren respectfully declined and sat down. ¡°We need to talk.¡± Bradford was confused about the serious expression on Warren¡¯s face. ¡°Something¡¯s off about group Dragon, specifically this one.¡± He pulled up Ascelmo¡¯s record on his holo-pad. Bradford raised a brow. ¡°What about him?¡± Warren sighed. ¡°When I performed the ritual on him, he had the strongest magical essence I¡¯ve seen in anyone to date, including myself.¡± Bradford looked at the holo-pad, and then back to Warren. ¡°So what do you want me to do about it? You¡¯re the Magi here.¡± Warren picked up the holo-pad. ¡°Just keep an eye on him okay?¡± Bradford shrugged. ¡°Alright, whatever you say.¡± Warren gave him one last look before he left. ¡°Thanks, Hector.¡± He gave him a friendly smile before the door closed behind him.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Ascelmo was woken up by the voice of Commander Bradford on the intercom. And as he looked around, it seems everyone else was too. He changed from his fatigues into his uniform and everyone else did the same. Bradford¡¯s voice came on the intercom again. ¡°Group Dragon report to the firing range.¡± They lined up in a 2x3 formation and started following the signs to the firing range. When they arrived Bradford stood there waiting for them. He stepped to the side with his back facing the wall and a platform rose up from the floor. ¡°Today you¡¯ll begin basic weapons training.¡± He looked over at Ascelmo and Elenaire. ¡°Now as for you two, Mage Warren will come to get you shortly, so for now you better stay back.¡± Elenaire looked up at him. ¡°Why?¡± The door opened behind them and Mage Warren entered. ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked.¡± He looked at the whole group. ¡°There¡¯s a reason Magi aren¡¯t permitted to use weapons. For reasons we don¡¯t yet understand, whenever a Magi comes into contact with the crystals that power our weapons, the crystals release an extremely powerful blast of energy that can be very painful.¡±


    Bradford nodded as the platform descended and he pulled his pistol off of his belt. It had a very sleek design, it was black with glowing light blue accents. He stepped in front of the firing range and pressed a few buttons on the control pad. ¡°Before we get started, I¡¯m gonna show you what you¡¯re gonna end up looking like.¡± As he said this, 3 training bots appeared from the floor on the other side of the range. Bradford relaxed his muscles and aimed the pistol down range. But before the simulation even began he was knocked onto the floor by a blast of plasma from one of the bots.


    Ascelmo looked back at the bots to see their eyes glowing red, they were shooting rapid fire at the cadets. Warren quickly moved in front of Ascelmo and Elenaire and raised his arm, yellow energy formed in his hand, following this, a yellow shield of energy formed around the cadets. Ascelmo looked around, he had to do something. He saw a panel of the wall retract only to replaced by a rack of weapons. Ignoring the warnings of Mage Warren, he sprinted towards the weapons, as he got closer he kept bracing himself for the aforementioned blast of energy but as he picked up a pistol he felt nothing. He aimed the pistol down range and squeezed the trigger, a light blue bolt of plasma came out and hit one of the bots squares in the head, sending it to the floor. He aimed at one of the standing bots only to watch both of them fall to the ground as a bolt of yellow lightning hit them. Ascelmo looked back to see Mage Warren¡¯s other arm extended in the direction of the bots. At that moment Bradford regained consciousness and groggily sat up. He looked around the room but froze when he saw Ascelmo holding a pistol in his hands.


    ¡°A Sage¡­¡± Ascelmo barely heard Warren mutter to himself. ¡°What happened? Why was there no blast of energy?¡± Elenaire looked just as confused as him. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ a Sage.¡± Bradford looked at Ascelmo. ¡°In all my years I never thought I¡¯d see one.¡± Ascelmo tipped his head to the side. ¡°What¡¯s a sage?¡± Warren looked him dead in the eyes, seems to be recovering from the shock of the situation. ¡°A Sage is a special being, they naturally possess more magical power than a Magi could ever obtain through study, so much power in fact, that crystals don¡¯t react the way they do with Magi.¡± Bradford looked at the cadets. ¡°All of you go back to your barracks, we¡¯ll pick this up tomorrow.¡± He then looked at Ascelmo. ¡°You come with us, we need to have a talk.¡± He looked back at the group and watched them leave before following Bradford and Warren.


    Ascelmo sat at Bradford¡¯s desk where they sat across from him. Bradford looked him dead in the eye, the man who¡¯d shown him to his barracks was gone, replaced by a stone cold military officer. ¡°Alright, listen, kid, this war has been a stalemate for decades, but with you¡­ you might finally be able to turn the tide.¡± Warren nodded. ¡°And then there¡¯s the matter of teaching you and controlling your powers, a normally you¡¯d spend the day with either myself or Bradford, depending on if you were a Magi or not. But with you, we¡¯ll have you spend half a day with each of us.¡± Bradford looked at him. ¡°And of course we¡¯ll have to notify the Emperor about this but chances are that¡¯ll take a while to get through the chain of command.¡± He stood up and opened the door. ¡°C¡¯ mon we need to notify your squad about this.¡± Ascelmo stood up and followed him. Warren left too but went another direction. Ascelmo got more and more nervous the closer he got to the barracks, thinking in his head about all the ways this conversation could go wrong.


    Bradford opened the door to the barracks and took a few steps inside. Ascelmo swallowed nervously as the eyes of his peers focused on him. His eyes shifted around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone in the room, especially Aranail, who he could tell was giving him a glare. ¡°As we have all discovered, Ascelmo here is quite special. Now normally we¡¯d go through several tests to decide who leads a squad, but this isn¡¯t a normal situation, so I¡¯m assigning Ascelmo as your squad leader.¡± Aranail had a mixture of shock and anger on his face. Everyone else just looked surprised, including Ascelmo. ¡°Now I know you¡¯re all thinking that this is bullshit but trust me. Soon enough you¡¯ll all be agreeing with me.¡± He looked at Aranail directly. He turned around and left the barracks, the door shut behind him.


    The room was dead silent for what felt like hours. Everyone was avoiding eye contact with each other. Finally, Talen-Ra sighed. ¡°Sooo are we just not gonna talk about it?¡± Orokas looked at him. ¡°Talk about what?¡± Aranail glared at him. ¡°What the hell do you think?¡± Cydum was reading some sort of manual. ¡°You know, if you keep this up, you¡¯ll more than likely end up dead on the battlefield.¡± He spoke without even looking up. Ascelmo got out of his bunk and stood up. ¡°Enough!¡± Everyone looked over at him, surprised at the raising of his voice. ¡°We need to stop all this pointless bickering, it¡¯s getting us nowhere. If we¡¯re gonna be stuck with each other, we can at least get along.¡± Aranail slid down from his bunk and was face to face Ascelmo. ¡°What so Warren says you¡¯re special and now all of a sudden you¡¯re a leader?¡± Ascelmo tried to make himself look as calm as possible. ¡°I¡¯m owning up to the responsibilities I¡¯ve been given. Can you say the same?¡± Ascelmo braced himself, expecting to get punched, but instead, Aranail climbed back up into his bunk and threw the covers over himself. ¡°Good night.¡± He muttered, barely audible. Ascelmo sighed and did the same. As he laid in his bunk, he wondered to himself what he¡¯d just gotten himself into and if his life could ever go back to the way it was again.

 Chapter 2

    ¡°Hello everyone and welcome to your first lesson in magic.¡± Mage Warren stood at the front of a large classroom. Everyone sat at a desk, holopads ready to take notes. Most people typed on them, but Ascelmo preferred to write manually with a stylus. ¡°Now before we begin, does anyone have any questions they¡¯re dying to know about?¡±


    A cadet raised his hand, it was someone from another group that he didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°If we all have this magical essence in us, then how come we¡¯re only just finding out about it now?¡±


    Warren looked at him. ¡°Excellent question. For reasons we are not aware of, the only way to reveal this magical essence is through a special magical ritual, the same one you all underwent during initiation.¡±


    Elenaire raised her hand. ¡°But if the only way to discover magical essence is through magic, how did the first person to have that essence discover they had it? Isn¡¯t that a paradox?¡±


    Warren smiled. ¡°Another excellent question.¡± He turned to the board behind him and began writing something down. ¡°In order to wield Magic, you must first know its history.¡± He stepped to the side of the board to reveal a heading at the top titled The History of Magic. ¡°Where the first Magi came from has been the debate of religions for centuries.¡± He started writing again. magic has existed for millennia, yet we haven¡¯t even discovered a fraction of its possibilities. It¡¯s a shared goal of all civilizations to allow our understanding of magic to reach its maximum potential.¡± He looked straight at Ascelmo when he said this, although he barely realized it, he was busy jotting down as many notes as possible.


    ¡°In 6535 A.U, every major government, including the Coalition, signed a document called The Magic Development Pact. This stated that every government that signed it agrees that the furthering of our understanding of magic is to be prioritized over all else, even this war with the Coalition that you¡¯re about to fight, is secondary compared this.¡± Warren was writing all the main points down as bullet points.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s move on. In order to be able to use the magical essence you possess the way Magi do, you first need to harness all of it and be able to control it. And that¡¯s exactly what we¡¯re going to do.¡± He moved to the center of the room. ¡°This is what you¡¯re going to do. Close your eyes and clear your mind of any and all thoughts you might have. And then concentrate on the magical essence coursing through your veins, feel its power, welcome it, accept it, picture it in your mind. You¡¯ll know you¡¯ve succeeded when you experience a feeling that I can¡¯t quite put into words, you¡¯ll just have to experience it for yourself.¡± Ascelmo followed Warren¡¯s instructions, focused and concentrated, but after a minute of nothing happening, he was started to get discouraged. It didn¡¯t help that you could clearly see other cadets getting it by the looks on their faces.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t completely cleared your thoughts.¡± He could hear Warren¡¯s voice in his head, but when he looked around he saw him still standing at the front of the room. ¡°Your thoughts dwell on your fear of failure, you don¡¯t want to let your squad down. I know you¡¯re scared about these powers, but in order to learn how to control them, you need to not fear them.¡± Ascelmo sighed, he knew Warren was right. He tried again, truly clearing his mind of all thoughts. He dug deep down into his soul, feeling the power embedded in his soul. And then it happened, a wave of euphoria washed over him. Ascelmo felt stronger, lighter, all around better, his senses felt heightened. Warren was right, it was a feeling he couldn¡¯t quite put into words.


    Warren¡¯s eyes wandered up and down the room, inspecting the eyes of every cadet. He smiled with satisfaction. ¡°I can feel significantly stronger energy in the room. It seems that everyone has succeeded. Let¡¯s move on shall we?¡± He turned back to the board. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to bring out your vitality, as a Magi this will be your most important asset. Your vitality is, among other things, what¡¯s used to cast barriers and basic attacks. It¡¯s different for everyone but its appearance is decided by two things. The color is decided by your personality and-¡±


    A cadet didn¡¯t even bother raising his hand. ¡°Wait, are you saying that this magic essence inside of us is sentient?¡± Warren nodded. ¡°Exactly, as I said, there¡¯s a lot about magic we still don¡¯t know yet. Now as I was saying, the color is determined by your personality and the element is determined by the strength of the magical essence inside of you. There are three elements vitality can be. In order of least to most strength are ice, lightning, and fire. Now, casting magic is mental, what you need to do is think about the vitality in your hands, picture it in your mind.¡±


    The room lit up with a vast array of colors. As Ascelmo concentrated, his hand lit up with a deep green ball of energy.


    Within a few seconds, Warren was already at his side, holding a holopad. ¡°Incredible! You seem to have so much power that your vitality element is one we¡¯ve never seen before.¡± He was furiously typing away.


    Ascelmo inspected the energy in his hand. ¡°What is it?¡± Warren looked closely at it. ¡°It must be aether, there¡¯s nothing else it could be.¡± Anselmo moved it around in his hands, he contracted and expanded it, he made it float up and down. It felt right like it belonged in his hand. He extended his arm and it shot forward, hitting a wall. Warren spoke to everyone. ¡°I want you all to spend as much time as you can practicing and getting used to your vitality. Both as a projectile and as a barrier. He raised his right hand and shot yellow lightning at a wall, he raised his left hand and a barrier appeared. Not a bubble like he had used to protect the cadets yesterday, but more like a shield. ¡°Someone send their vitality at me.¡± One of the cadets stood up and sent dark blue flames at the mage. However, as soon as they reached the barrier he was holding in front of him, they simply dispersed. ¡°Continue practicing this and we¡¯ll pick up again tomorrow. Class dismissed.¡± He walked over to Ascelmo. ¡°Bradford¡¯s class starts in 10 minutes at the firing range, we changed up the schedule a little bit to make things easier for you.¡± Ascelmo looked up at him and smiled. ¡°Thanks, Warren.¡± He quickly ran out the door.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Ascelmo arrived a minute early. He went over to join the rest of his squad, who were standing near the front. He slipped in between Aranail and Talen-Ra. Commander Bradford stood at the far right side of the range on a hovering platform. ¡°Hello cadets, welcome to your first day of training. Today is the beginning of a new chapter of your life. So let¡¯s get started.¡± He pulled his pistol from his holster. ¡°This is the A-5 laser pistol. When you¡¯re backed into a corner, this will be your best friend.¡± He pressed a few buttons on the control pad at the front of the range. ¡°Now yesterday we had a bit of an issue with the firing range but that got all worked out.¡± Like yesterday, 3 training bots emerged from the floor, this time their eyes were light blue. Within seconds, they were all on the floor. Bradford turned back to the cadets. ¡°That¡¯ll be you by the time we¡¯re done, mark my words.¡± He set the pistol down on a table next to him. A large screen came down from the ceiling, and as it turned on it showed a bird¡¯s eye view of the pistol on the table.


    ¡°Before we get started, you¡¯re gonna need to learn everything about this weapon.¡± He flicked a switch on the bottom of the grip and a small cartridge came out, inside it was a small black crystal. ¡°First and foremost, this is the most important part of any of our weaponry, the void crystal. This is what powers our weapons.¡± He put the crystal back into the cartridge and slid it back into to gun. He then pointed to a small switch on the sit of the barrel. ¡°And this is the safety, this stays on until you¡¯re ready to shoot something.¡± He then went on to discuss the inner mechanisms of the pistol. He disassembled and reassembled it showing off every part.


    ¡°Now luckily for you, you won''t have to know how to disassemble and reassemble our weapons, but it¡¯s important that you know how they work so if something goes wrong during combat you can fix it on the fly.¡± A panel on opposite walls of the firing range lowered revealing rows upon rows of pistols. ¡°Now it¡¯s time to see how your aim is.¡± Dividing walls rose from inside the firing range. ¡°Now you¡¯re going to divide up by squads and we¡¯re going to see how you all do.¡±


    Everyone grabbed a pistol and stepped up the range. Training bots rose from the floor. ¡°Hold your fire until I give the word,¡± Bradford instructed. Ascelmo focused on a single target. With his magical essence harnessed he feel like he could focus better.


    Aranail stood next to him, he grinned. ¡°Sure you¡¯re ready for this hotshot?¡±


    Ascelmo looked over at him. ¡°You know it.¡± He returned the grin.


    ¡°Fire!¡± Ascelmo instantly squeezed the trigger. The recoil almost caused him to miss, it wasn¡¯t too bad, but it would still take some getting used to. He quickly locked on to another target and shot again. He was about to shoot the last one when another plasma bolt sent it to the ground. Ascelmo looked to his right to see Aranail smirking at him.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s see how you do when you¡¯re getting shot at, don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re using training guns so they won¡¯t hurt. They¡¯ll just knock you on your ass.¡± More training bots rose from the floor, this time with pistols. Ascelmo once again readied himself, sending a quick glance at Aranail. ¡°Fire!¡± Ascelmo once again downed a bot within the first few seconds. He was about to shoot another one but he had to dodge a plasma bolt. He quickly focused on the target again hitting it square in the chest. This time he got the final bot, he turned to Aranail and gave him a smirk.


    ¡°Now how about some friendly competition, we¡¯re gonna see which of you among your squad can last the longest, and each wave of bots gets progressively harder.¡± Ascelmo readied himself and waited. As the bots once again rose from the floor he focused on a target. ¡°Fire!¡± Again the bot was on the ground in seconds. He quickly shot another one and dodged a plasma bolt. Harnessing his magical essence definitely heightened his reflexes. He turned to another bot and sent it to the ground with a shot to the leg which he almost missed. In the corner of his eye, he could see the final bot turning to shoot him, but a plasma bolt landed square in its head, he traced the shot back to Orokas who looked at him and nodded. Ascelmo looked at some of the other squads. A few cadets had already gotten hit, but nobody from his squad. He prepared himself as the second wave of bots rose from the floor. ¡°Fire!¡± The cadets once again opened fire on the bots. Ascelmo was starting to get used to the pistol, it felt comfortable in his hands. A plasma bolt hit Talen-Ra right in the center of the chest, sending him flying backward. By the end of the second wave, there were significantly fewer cadets still standing. The next two waves went pretty much the same, about half of the cadets were left. The end of the fifth wave resulted in Orokas on the ground. A few waves later Cydum was down and it was just Ascelmo and Aranail left, as well as a few others from different squads. By the tenth wave, it was just the two of them, a large crowd had formed around them. They carried on for three waves until finally, Aranail went down. Cheers erupted from the crowd. Ascelmo offered Aranail a hand, but he just stood up and skulked off.


    After getting his uniform off and putting his fatigues on, Ascelmo stretched as he sat down in his bunk. As he sat there, he weaved a small ball of aether between his fingers. At that moment Aranail stormed in and sat down on his bed.


    Talen-Ra shot him a glare. ¡°Are you really that upset about it?¡±


    Aranail returned the glare. ¡°That¡¯s not what my problem is.¡±


    Cydum sighed. ¡°Then what is? I¡¯m sure talking about it would make you feel better.¡±


    He spoke with an exasperated tone. ¡°It¡¯s none of your damn business ok? So just lay off.¡±


    Ascelmo looked over at him and spotted a small bruise on his right cheek. He was going to say something about it but decided not to as to make sure the same didn¡¯t happen to him. He laid down and pulled the sheets over himself as he slowly drifted to sleep.


    Ascelmo awoke in a dark place, it was cold and black. He looked around and observed his surroundings. ¡°So we finally meet at last.¡± A man¡¯s voice said behind him. Ascelmo quickly spun around, a shield of aether in his left hand and a ball of aether in his right. He turned to see a man standing behind him, he was abnormally tall with a stocky build. He had long black hair down to his shoulders and small beard to match.


    The man smiled and laughed a little bit. ¡°I mean you no harm, lower your defenses.¡±


    Ascelmo cautiously obeyed. ¡°Who are you? Why am I here?¡±


    He disappeared and reappeared behind Ascelmo. ¡°I go by many names, The Dark One, The Void Master, Satan, but most commonly I go by Xenos. As for why you¡¯re here, I just wanted to meet you, I mean you are the first Sage to appear in over a millennium.¡±


    Ascelmo sighed with impatience. ¡°Well you¡¯ve met me, so I¡¯ll be going now.¡±


    Xenos reappeared in front of Ascelmo. ¡°Not so fast. Before I send you on your way, I wanted to let you know something.¡± He leaned in closer. ¡°You¡¯re the way that you are for a reason, and that reason is approaching sooner than you may think.¡± Ascelmo was about to ask him what he meant by this, but a wave of black engulfed him. He woke up in a cold sweat, he looked around to see that everyone was still asleep. He let out a heavy sigh and laid back down, trying to go back to sleep for however long he could.

 Chapter 3

    Ascelmo drowsily got himself out of bed to see Bradford standing in the doorway. He cleared his throat. ¡°Alright cadets, training for today has been canceled, it is with great sorrow that I inform all of you about the death of Emperor Altin. He died peacefully last night of natural causes.¡±


    Ascelmo looked back at the rest of the squad, and then back at Bradford. ¡°So what are we supposed to do today then?¡±


    Bradford shrugged. ¡°Well, you can always practice on your own time. Or you could take this time to get to know each other better.¡± Bradford turned around and left their barracks. Everyone looked at each other.


    Aranail put a pair of earbuds in and slid off his bunk. ¡°I¡¯m going on a walk.¡± Ascelmo didn¡¯t even have to look to know that Elenaire just rolled her eyes.


    Cydum looked up from reading some sort of manual. ¡°Really man? You¡¯re just gonna leave?¡± Aranail didn¡¯t even look back at him. ¡°I just need to blow off steam, alright? Just leave me alone.¡±


    Ascelmo watched him leave and looked back at the group. ¡°I¡¯m gonna follow him, see where he goes.¡±


    Elenaire scoffed. ¡°Better make sure he doesn¡¯t see, knowing him he¡¯ll probably punch you.¡±


    Ascelmo sighed. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    Ascelmo discreetly followed Aranail through the winding hallways and corridors of the base. He was watching him from behind a corner when four cadets from another squad came up and circled around Aranail. Ascelmo couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying but he could hear them laughing and shoving him around. Aranail looked furious, but before he could do anything, two of the cadets grabbed his arms. A tall Teelian cadet smirked at Aranail. He swung his fist right at Aranail¡¯s face, but to his surprise, the only thing his fist came in contact with was Ascelmo¡¯s shield. The Teelian looked over to see Ascelmo with his arm outstretched in their direction. They all walked over to Ascelmo, releasing Aranail.


    The Teelian smirked as he stood over Ascelmo. ¡°And who exactly are you supposed to be? You¡¯re defending this loser?¡±


    Ascelmo got as close to his face as he could. ¡°That ¡®loser¡¯ is from my squad so piss off.¡± The Teelian smirked as he punched Ascelmo right in the gut, sending him to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. They all laughed as they walked away. Aranail walked over and helped him to his feet.


    He looked away, avoiding Ascelmo¡¯s gaze. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that you know.¡±


    Ascelmo smiled. ¡°Hey we¡¯re squadmates, we gotta look out for each other.¡± He looked Aranail in the eyes. ¡°No matter what.¡± He started walking. ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s head back to the barracks.¡± Aranail nodded and followed behind him.


    It had been about a week since Emperor Altin died. Everyone was silent in the barracks, they were all doing something to keep themselves occupied. ¡°So what do you guys think about the Emperor dying?¡± Elenaire broke the silence.


    Cydum shrugged. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s sad obviously, but I¡¯ve never really cared that much for politics. ¡±


    Talen-Ra sighed. ¡°Well with the war going on, I think the last thing we need is a kid barely older than us taking control of the Empire.¡±


    Ascelmo looked over at him. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I mean maybe Lady Eliza will end the war.¡±


    Talen-Ra scoffed. ¡°Yeah right.¡±


    Bradford¡¯s voice came over the PA system. ¡°Attention cadets. If you want, you can come down to the mess hall to watch the coronation of Empress Eliza in 30 minutes.¡±


    Elenaire sat up. ¡°Anyone else wanna go?¡±


    Talen-Ra shrugged and got up. ¡°Sure why not.¡± As they left, Ascelmo joined and together, the three of them headed down to the mess hall.


    By the time they got there, the mess hall was already pretty crowded. The three of them sat down at one of the free tables. Ascelmo glanced over at the line for food. ¡°Hey, you guys hungry?¡±


    Elenaire shrugged. ¡°I can eat.¡± Talen-Ra nodded in agreement. It took longer than he thought, but Ascelmo eventually returned to their table with their food. As the three of them ate, they directed their attention to one of the several video screens at the front of the room. They showed the royal throne room of the Aethereal Empire. There was a round of applause and then Lady Eliza appeared on the screen. She looked only a little older than they were, about 20. She had long black hair past her shoulders and bright blue eyes. And she was wearing a beautiful white dress. A few of the boys in the mess hall cheered and whistled. Lady Eliza stepped in front of the throne to meet an elderly man with the attire of a nobleman on. He extended his hand, clutched in his grasp was the hilt of a void blade, one of the Void Regiment¡¯s most signature weapons, despite being one of the least used in actual combat. Lady Eliza reached out and grabbed the other end of the hilt and the two of them held onto it together, eyes locked.


    The man finally spoke up in a soft voice. ¡°Lady Eliza, do you swear to defend the freedom and liberty of the citizens of the Aethereal Empire?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I do.¡±


    The man slid his hand slightly off the hilt of the blade. ¡°And that you will do everything in your power to ensure that they will live a safe and prosperous life?¡±


    She nodded once more. ¡°I do.¡±


    Again, his hand moved slightly off the hilt. ¡°And that you will serve as the example of order, peace, and stability throughout the galaxy until death, no matter the cost?¡±


    She nodded one last time. ¡°I do.¡±


    The man fully released his grip from the hilt. ¡°Then by the powers vested in me, I dub you, Empress Eliza. Ruler of the Aetherial Empire.¡± Cheers erupted from the crowd.


    Eliza turned to face the camera and the crowd in the throne room. She took a few steps forward and held the hilt of the void blade up high. As she ignited it, the blade shot out. It made a sound Ascelmo couldn¡¯t quite describe. And the blade was pure vantablack, with a faint white glow around the edge. The crowd cheered once more. She deactivated the blade and raised her hand for silence. ¡°I know I may not seem like the perfect replacement for my father, you may think that my lack of experience will be the downfall of the Empire. But lay your fears to rest, for we are going to a place where we fear nothing, where nothing is impossible. A place where there¡¯s no conflict in the galaxy and everyone lives in peace.¡± The ceiling started to retract, revealing a glass skylight. ¡°We are going to the future.¡± She gestured up at the stars in the night sky. ¡°A future where no-one needs to fight wars. And our only barriers are what the universe has in store for us as we expand outward, pushing the very limits of our own imaginations. My father¡¯s passing is a tragedy. But we are entering a golden age. An age that will be remembered by everyone for generations to come. And after seeing everything we¡¯ve accomplished.¡± She gestured once more to the night sky. ¡°Your children will look up at this same sky, and wonder what difference they can make in the universe.¡± Cheers erupted from the crowd once more, followed by a triumphant symphony of instruments.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    By the time Eliza had finished with her speech, most of the people in the mess hall had already begun to disperse. Ascelmo, Elenaire, and Talen-Ra started to make their way back to their barracks. Ascelmo turned around. ¡°You guys go ahead. I¡¯ll catch up, I need to take care of something.¡±


    Elenaire nodded. ¡°All right, see you later.¡± Ascelmo started making his way through the winding corridors until he finally stopped at Warren¡¯s office. He rang the buzzer and Warren let him in.


    He greeted Ascelmo with a friendly smile. ¡°What can I do for you.¡±


    Ascelmo looked around. ¡°I have a question I was wondering if you could answer.¡±


    Warren nodded. ¡°Go ahead, ask away.¡±


    Ascelmo looked around once more. ¡°About me being a Sage. Is that supposed to be¡­ classified?¡±


    Warren sighed. ¡°Well, there¡¯s not many people in this facility who don¡¯t know. And the enemy will catch on pretty quickly once they see you in combat. So I guess not.¡±


    Ascelmo smiled. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± He started to run off but Warren stopped him at the door to his office.


    ¡°Hey Ascelmo, don¡¯t forget to keep practicing.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t.¡± He then ran off into the base.


    Ascelmo turned on the lights of an empty room. It had two desks on either side, both were lined with three computers. Ascelmo sat down at one of them and powered it on. He sat back and waited as it rang. After a few seconds, another window opened up, revealing his parents. They both looked extremely happy to see him.


    ¡°Hey bud, how¡¯s boot camp?¡±


    Ascelmo smiled. ¡°It¡¯s going great, I¡¯m learning a lot of new things.¡±


    His mother looked at him, her eyes filled with anticipation. ¡°So? Are you a Magi?¡±


    Ascelmo laughed a bit. ¡°That¡¯s actually the main reason I called. I¡¯m actually not a Magi or standard infantry.¡± They both looked at him, confused.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Sage.¡±


    They both had smiles on their faces bigger than Ascelmo had ever seen. ¡°Ascelmo that¡¯s wonderful. I¡¯m so proud of you!¡±


    Ascelmo shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not something you earn, it¡¯s something you¡¯re born with, so really, it¡¯s all thanks to you guys.¡±


    His father nodded. ¡°Voralin would be so proud of you.¡±


    Ascelmo nodded, looking off at nothing.¡± Yeah¡­¡± He decided to change the subject. ¡°So how has everyone been over there?¡±


    His mother smiled. ¡°Everyone¡¯s fine over here, they all miss you already.¡±


    Ascelmo nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±


    His mother looked at him. ¡°What about you, are you getting along with the people you¡¯re with?¡±


    Ascelmo was quiet for a second. ¡°Well¡­ we definitely have some issues. But I think we just need to get to know each other.¡± He looked at the clock on the wall. ¡°Well it¡¯s getting late, I¡¯d better go get some sleep.¡±


    His father nodded. ¡°Right, well it was nice talking to you Ascelmo, good luck with training.¡±


    Ascelmo smiled. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll try and talk to you again soon, bye.¡± He hung up the video call and turned off the lights to the room before heading back to his barracks.


    As he walked in, he looked around and saw everyone else lying down in their bunks. He sat down in his and rummaged through his stuff before pulling out a picture of Voralin. He looked at it longingly until he heard some stirring in one of the other bunks. He looked over to see Aranail looking at him.


    ¡°Watcha got there?¡±


    Ascelmo sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a picture of my brother. He was serving in the Void Regiment until he was reported MIA two years ago, they looked for him for a year until they finally closed his case as killed in action.¡±


    Aranail sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that. Did you enlist because of him?¡± Ascelmo shook his head. ¡°No I was drafted, but I want to make him proud.¡±


    Aranail nodded as he yawned. ¡°Well, I¡¯m gonna get some shut eye. I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡±


    Ascelmo laid down. ¡°You too.¡±


    Ascelmo sat in his desk at the classroom the next day. Warren entered and stood at the front of the room. ¡°Hello everyone, since it looks like, after this past week, your basic attack and defense have gotten significantly better, we¡¯re going to try something a little more advanced today.¡± He stepped out from behind his desk. ¡°But in order to properly demonstrate this, we¡¯re going to have to go to the firing range, so follow me.¡± The class all stood up and followed Mage Warren into the firing range. He pressed a few buttons on the control pad and four bots all rose from the floor in a staggered formation, they all stood there blankly.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to learn two new spells today, both are more advanced versions of the ones you learned last week. But keep this in mind, just because they¡¯re more advanced doesn¡¯t mean you should only use these. The kind of spell you use all depends on the situation you¡¯re in. Now with that being said, let¡¯s get started. Your first new spell is an attack with your vitality element that hits multiple combatants in a chain. Like so.¡±


    He extended his arm out and yellow lightning flew out of his hand, sending all four bots to the floor at the same time. ¡°Your other new spell is a shield that acts like a bubble, which you can use to protect multiple people at once.¡± He extended his hand again and a yellow, electrified bubble formed around some of the cadets, he then lowered the shield. The cadets spent the rest of their time practicing, taking down bots and putting shields over each other. Eventually, their class was over and they all started filing out of the firing range, except for Ascelmo who stayed put as his next class was going to be here anyway.


    Bradford stood at the front of the firing range as he began the class. ¡°Alright cadets, this past week you¡¯ve gotten very efficient with using your sidearms. So now we¡¯re gonna move on and you¡¯re gonna get a primary weapon.¡± He walked over to one of the walls and a panel dropped to reveal several different weapons on a rack, they all had the same black and light-blue color scheme as the A-5. ¡°We¡¯re going to test you to find out which of these weapons you¡¯re most efficient with already and we¡¯ll move from there. But first, let¡¯s show what they all are shall we?¡± He started on the left of the rack. ¡°Now most of you will probably end up with this.¡± He pulled the first weapon off the wall. ¡°This is the A-2 Multipurpose Rifle. For the most part, it¡¯s a standard assault rifle, single fire, three shot burst fire, and full auto firing modes, iron sights, and a deployable bipod. However, if you flick this switch right here.¡± He pointed to a switch towards the end of the barrel as he flicked it. The barrel extended out and the iron sights rose from the gun revealing a high powered scope. ¡°It turns into a sniper rifle, in the event you ever have to perform recon.¡± There were a few impressed murmurs from some of the cadets. Bradford switched the gun back into an assault rifle and put it back onto the rack. ¡°Next up is this.¡± He picked up the next weapon off the wall. ¡°This is the A-1 Plasma Bow. The scope makes it good for combat at practically any range, and it¡¯s virtually silent, watch.¡±  He turned toward the firing range and pulled back the string, as he did, a bolt of light blue plasma followed the string. He let go and sent it flying forward, making practically no sound as it hit the other wall of the firing range. He set it back on the rack and picked up the final weapon on the rack. ¡°This will probably be the least common weapon you¡¯ll be using. This is the A-10 Minigun.¡± He aimed it down the range and spun up the barrel, it hummed for a few seconds before Bradford spun it down again. ¡°Now let¡¯s get started shall we?¡±


    They spent the next couple hours firing all three of the weapons down the range, testing their accuracy. As they finished, Bradford handed everyone their statistics and what weapon they¡¯d be using. Ascelmo, Talen-Ra, and Aranail got the A-2, Cydum got the A-1, and Orokas got the A-10. They all filed out the door and started heading back to their barracks. It was a quiet walk back, it was already late and everyone was tired. When they got back Elenaire was already asleep in her bunk. It wasn¡¯t long before everyone else did the same. As Ascelmo laid in his bunk, he looked at his picture of Voralin before shutting his eyes and going to sleep.

 Chapter 4

    Ascelmo sat at his desk, furiously jotting down notes as Mage Warren went through his lecture. ¡°Now today we¡¯re going to be learning a new spell, and this will be a simple spell to learn, but it will probably be the most important spell that you will ever learn.¡± This made Ascelmo look up from his holopad. ¡°Today we¡¯re going to be learning the healing spell. Now, normally when a soldier is injured, we use potions to heal them. However, we¡¯re at war, and in war, you never know what¡¯s going to happen.¡± Warren came around from behind his desk. ¡°Now demonstrating this spell is a bit difficult, since we don¡¯t want to injure anybody, even if we are just going to heal their wounds right away.¡± A student raised his hand and Warren looked over and pointed at him. ¡°Sir, what makes learning how to heal so much more important than any other spell?¡± Warren smiled. ¡°Simple, wars can only last so long, therefore learning spells for combat can only get you so far. But learning how to save someone¡¯s life in a split second notice, that¡¯s vital.¡± The student nodded with a sort of half-understanding. There was a knock at the door and Warren went over and opened it, as he did, five androids stepped into the room. They all had a red stripe on their neck, indicating that they were used for medical training purposes.


    ¡°Now, since we only have a limited number of androids you¡¯re gonna have to take turns here.¡± He held up a small clicker with a button on it. ¡°When I press this button it will simulate a number of internal medical injuries, you¡¯re going to need to heal all of their ¡®injuries¡¯ within a certain amount of time.¡± He pulled out a stopwatch as the androids moved over the first row of students and laid down. As they went down the rows, everyone seemed to be getting the hang of it fairly easily, and Ascelmo was no different. Warren smiled with satisfaction as the androids left the room. ¡°Now let¡¯s move on to something else.¡± He moved to the door. ¡°If you¡¯d follow me, we¡¯re going to the simulation room.¡±


    They arrived in a vast open room, larger than the mess hall or the firing range. There was a control panel on the side of the room that Warren moved over to. After a few button presses, most of the floor panels lowered about 20 feet, the other panels all scattered at different elevations. Warren looked out at the class as he stood at the edge of the drop he¡¯d created. ¡°Now, we¡¯ve covered spells for offense, defense, and support. But now it¡¯s time to cover something else, movement. Now, your armor does provide some mobility, we¡¯ll cover that tomorrow, but that can only get you so far. Now as you¡¯re aware, everything exists in three dimensions, however, this spell you¡¯re about to learn allows you to travel through a hidden fourth dimension, taking you from point A to point B within the blink of an eye, hence why it¡¯s called a blink spell.¡±


    ¡°Now your goal is to reach the other end of the simulation room using these platforms and the blink spell. Allow me to demonstrate.¡± He turned to face the closest platform and extended his hand, the yellow lightning of his vitality element appeared concentrating in his hand. However, rather than being pure yellow, there was a faint white glow in the center of the small ball. He released the lightning and within a second it shot out toward the platform, and when it made contact Warren appeared, standing there. He blinked back and moved toward the wall. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn. In order to prevent chaos, we¡¯ll go in groups five.¡± He split everyone up, Ascelmo, Elenaire and three others were last.


    They stood ready, waiting for Warren to give the signal. When he did, they all blinked forward, moving from one platform to another with grace. As they neared the end, Ascelmo extended his hand ready to blink, but as he blinked forward, he realized that he had undershot by a tiny margin, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Luckily, he was just able to grip the edge of the platform. There were a few gasps from the spectators. He extended his free arm form help, hoping Elenaire would pull him up, but much to his dismay, she kept going. He took a deep breath, what he was about to do was risky, but he didn¡¯t really have much of a choice. He let go and reached out with his arm. But as he focused, he realized that time seemed to be moving slower the more he concentrated. He used this to his advantage and aimed for the end of the course, but he aimed just a little bit above the floor. He could hear his heart beating in his chest as he slowly fell further and further. But he released the energy in his hand and it shot out. He then landed safely at the other end.


    Warren returned the platforms to their original position as the floor and looked over at everyone. ¡°Class is dismissed for today. But tomorrow will be a joined class starting here with everyone that will start a bit later than usual.¡± As everyone started to file out of the door, Warren stopped Ascelmo. ¡°Hold on, that stunt you just pulled. In all my years as a Magi, I¡¯ve never been able to pull something like that off. So how¡¯d you do it?¡±


    Ascelmo shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I just focused hard enough and everything seemed like it was moving in slow-motion.¡±


    Warren was both confused and amazed at the same time. He stood silent for a moment but then nodded. ¡°Alright, you better get going, Bradford will be starting soon.¡± Ascelmo nodded and ran off.


    ¡°Alright everyone, today we¡¯re gonna take a break from the usual training to talk about this.¡± Bradford pulled the hilt of a void blade off of his belt. It looked exactly like the one used during Empress Eliza¡¯s coronation. ¡°This is a void blade, and make no mistake, you may not use it during most combat situations, but if your back is ever against a wall, this blade will be your best friend.¡± He activated it and a vantablack blade shot out. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Now a few things you should know about the void blade. First of all, it can cut through almost anything, except for plasma, but I¡¯ll get to that in a second, and Magi¡¯s shield.¡± He walked over to a small metal plate and sliced through it like scissors through paper. ¡°Now, as I said, they can¡¯t cut through plasma, but they can deflect it, but it takes an incredible amount of timing and coordination to block the shot of a blaster.¡± Now today we¡¯re going to learn how to use void blades efficiently and effectively. One of the panels on the wall retracted revealing rows upon rows of void blades with training blades attached. Everyone grabbed one and they all split up into groups of two to spar with each other.


    Ascelmo stood a few feet away from Orokas, both of them in a fighting stance, waiting for Bradford¡¯s word. As soon as they began Orokas immediately went on the offensive. He made swing after swing, each one more powerful than the last. Although, despite how powerful they were, they were all fairly easy to block. Every time Ascelmo blocked, Orokas would swing harder. Bradford was moving around the room, inspecting each pair of cadets. Orokas made one really hard swing, but Ascelmo parried it with ease, sending him off balance. Ascelmo used this to his advantage and went on the offensive. He made a few successful hits while Orokas was off balance and kept pushing him back, eventually, the two got in a lock. With all his strength, Ascelmo twirled both of their blades around until he had enough momentum to send Orokas¡¯ blade flying out of his hand.


    Bradford stood over them while this happened, he looked over at Orokas. ¡°Brute strength can only get you so far.¡± He picked up his blade and handed it to him. ¡°Try again, this time, less power and more speed.¡± Orokas nodded and the two got ready once again. This time their fight was a lot more evenly matched. Orokas actually ended up beating Ascelmo the second time. They spent the next few hours sparring, rotating out with the others from the squad. Bradford called everyone back together and stood in front of them, looking very pleased. ¡°You all did well today, I¡¯m impressed. Tomorrow class will start a little earlier and it will be in the simulation room. It¡¯s going to be a joined class with the Magi cadets. That¡¯s all for today, have a good rest of your night everyone.¡± The cadets all filed out of the firing range and went back to their barracks.


    It was quiet and dark, the only thing lighting the long and winding hallways were a series of small, dimly lit lights on the floor. Bradford walked up to the door and stuck his keycard into the slot before pressing the buzzer. He pulled his keycard out and the door shot up. He entered to see Mage Warren hunched over his desk, writing something down on a holopad, the only thing lighting up his office was a small lamp.


    Bradford sat down across from Warren, who looked so tired he could fall asleep at any second. ¡°Jamie, I¡¯m sorry to disturb at this hour but I¡¯ve got some important news.¡±


    Warren sat up, trying his best to stay awake. ¡°Alright shoot, what is it?¡±


    Bradford sighed. ¡°It¡¯s about Ascelmo.¡±


    Warren looked much more attentive now, he had Bradford¡¯s full attention. ¡°Empress Eliza finally found out about him, and she wants to be there for his final test.¡±


    Warren looked confused. ¡°You¡¯re making that seem like it¡¯s a bad thing.¡±


    Bradford looked at the floor. ¡°Well, to tell you the truth, I¡¯m not sure if they can do it. From what I¡¯ve seen, all that squad does is argue and bicker.¡±


    Warren nodded with understanding. ¡°So what do you want to do about it?¡±


    Bradford sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I guess all we can do at the moment is wait and see what happened.¡± He looked at Warren. ¡°All right, well I just thought I¡¯d tell you.¡± He started heading for the door and stopped. ¡°Oh and one more thing Jamie, get some sleep.¡± He smirked. ¡°That¡¯s an order.¡±


    Warren rolled his eyes. ¡°You can¡¯t give me orders, we¡¯re the same rank.¡± Bradford opened the door and headed out.


    The whole squad headed down to the simulation room in a two by three formation. When they arrived, most of the other squads were already there. They waited a few minutes for the rest of the squads to arrive and they began. Warren and Bradford both stood at the front of the class. ¡°Alright everyone, as you might have noticed, we¡¯re doing something a little different today.¡± Warren said.


    Bradford nodded and stepped forward. ¡°That¡¯s right, today we¡¯re going to talk about your armor and equipment that you¡¯ll be using in the field. They had an armor stand next to them wearing the standard uniform of the Void Regiment. Like the weapons, it was black with a glowing light blue trim. The helmet was fairly average with a tinted glass faceplate. The armor itself wasn¡¯t that special either. It wasn¡¯t too light or too heavy, just the perfect balance.


    ¡°Now as you¡¯ll notice, the armor comes with several utilities, but we¡¯ll get to those in a second. I¡¯d just like to point out one thing, this armor is completely resistant to the vacuum of space, so on the off chance that you¡¯re stranded, this armor will protect you. Now, let¡¯s move on, the primary feature here is the jetpack on the back.¡±


    Bradford spun the armor stand around to show it off. ¡°The jetpack also has retractable glider wings attached to it.¡± He pressed a button and a wing shot out from either side of the jetpack. Bradford retracted them and spun the armor stand around again. ¡°Now on the right arm is a grappling hook, this can come in handy when your jetpack runs out of fuel, and yes, it does run out of fuel, although it¡¯s not very common. But even so, there are some places you can reach with a grappling hook that you just can¡¯t reach with a jetpack. Now aside from that, the only other thing there is to cover is the utility belt for things like your sidearm and void saber.¡±


    ¡°Now we¡¯re going to organize an obstacle course that you need to pass using only what you have on your armor.¡± Warren moved over to the control panel and pressed a few buttons, the course was strikingly similar to the one the Magi cadets maneuvered yesterday. But despite that, it was still fairly easy for everyone to complete.


    They kept going over the course several times for the rest of the day until they could get across the gap in a matter of seconds. Bradford and Warren both looked pleased with the results. ¡°Alright everyone, nice work today, we¡¯ll be spending the rest of the week here learning how to do things live dive-bomb attacks with your glider, but for today, get some rest, you¡¯ve earned it.¡±

 Chapter 5

    Everyone stood at attention in the large briefing room. They were all divided into their squads, looking up at Bradford and Warren. ¡°Alright everyone, listen up. Today you take your first practice test in preparation for your final exam. The test you¡¯re about to take is going to be exactly the same as the one you¡¯ll take in your final exam. I ain¡¯t gonna sugarcoat this for you. It¡¯s gonna be hard, and most of you are gonna fail, but that¡¯s why we¡¯re doing this so that you know what you need to work on so you¡¯re ready. Now we¡¯re gonna do this one squad at a time, so let¡¯s get to it.¡±


    After a few other squads went, Ascelmo and the rest of the squad were up. As Bradford predicted, all the other squads failed. They all geared up and stepped into the elevator to the simulation room. It was practically pitch black as the elevator rose, except for the faint lights in their helmets illuminating their faces and a few lights outside in the shaft that were gone as soon as they appeared. They started in a typical V formation, with Ascelmo at the front and everyone else on either side of him. He took a deep breath as the elevator started slowing down. The elevator stopped and it was dead silent. Then there was a buzzer, followed by a green light in the elevator. Then the doors started to slide open. The room that was once vast and open now seemed far more cramped. Certain parts of the floor jutted out to serve as cover. Other parts rose up several yards to serve as towers. Toward the end, there was a wide gap and at the very end of the room, there was a large building. Training bots armed with all kinds of weapons started rising from the floor and turned toward them, opening fire almost immediately.


    Everyone dove for the nearest cover and hid behind it. The communicator in their helmets crackled to life. ¡°Your objective is to clear the area of enemy presence and rescue the hostages.¡±


    Ascelmo pressed the button on his helmet to start transmitting. ¡°Solid copy, out.¡± He turned to the rest of the squad. ¡°Alright, do we have any ideas?¡±


    Aranail peeked over the cover and fired a few shots before vaulting over and going for the next available cover.


    ¡°Wait! Get back here, we need to hold our formation!¡± Ascelmo went after him.


    Elenaire rolled her eyes. ¡°Great, we¡¯re off to a fantastic start.¡± She peeked over the wall, bringing up her shield in one hand, and shooting a few bolts of fire with the other.


    Talen-Ra looked at Ascelmo and Aranail, then looked back at the rest. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go make sure they don¡¯t get themselves killed.¡± He looked at Orokas. ¡°Give me some cover.¡±


    Orokas nodded and revved up his gun before jumping up behind the wall and spraying plasma bolts down the room.


    Talen-Ra crouched down and moved around the wall, joining Ascelmo and Aranail behind the one they were behind.


    One of the bots in the towers started opening fire on them with a mounted machine gun, one of the stray bolts of plasma hit Orokas in the shoulder, sending him back behind the wall.


    Elenaire put up a shield protecting the three of them and looked over to the other three, looking for some kind of help. Aranail peeked out from behind the wall, switching his rifle into a sniper and aiming down the scope. He took a second and fired a well placed shot to the bot¡¯s head. Elenaire put the shield down and the three of them advanced to the wall the other three were at. More bots started rising up from the floor, immediately shooting at them. Without notice, Aranail jetpacked upwards trying to hover for a few seconds and shoot at the bots. But before long, one of the bots managed to hit his jetpack, sending him spiraling out of control until he slammed into a wall, falling unconscious.


    Orokas glanced from Aranil to the bots and then back. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go get him.¡± And before anyone could stop him, he ran out. But almost immediately after he left the cover, he got shot square in the chest, sending him to the ground. The bots started to close in on them, fanning out into a semicircle. Elenaire cast another shield around the four remaining cadets, but as the bots kept shooting at the shield, her strength started fading, before long the shield vanished and she collapsed.


    Talen-Ra peeked over the wall, spraying a few shots at the bots before ducking back down. The three remaining cadets did their best to fend off bots, but there wasn¡¯t much they could do since they were pinned down. But as they were fighting, a few bots starting moving around them, and before they could even react, all three cadets were sprayed down.


    Ascelmo came to in a small room. Everyone else was with him, and already awake. His right shoulder blade hurt like crazy, he figured that must have been where he got shot. At the front of the room was a table with some chairs and a large screen on the front wall. Bradford and Warren were both standing at the front, next to the screen. Ascelmo stood up and joined the rest of the squad.


    ¡°That very may well be the most horrendous excuse for a practice test I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Bradford started. He pressed a button on a remote he was holding and the screen flashed to life. It started playing a bird''s eye view recording of their test. ¡°First of all, right off the bat, you-¡± He pointed at Aranail. ¡°Broke formation, and as a result, put the rest of the squad at risk. Then you-¡± He pointed to Ascelmo. ¡°Worsened the situation by following him. Then, when he went down, you-¡± He pointed to Orokas. ¡°Went out, without assessing the danger, and got shot immediately.¡± Everyone just shuffled around awkwardly.¡±


    Warren nodded. ¡°It¡¯s abundantly clear that you six don¡¯t know how to function as a team. You need to realize that this isn¡¯t a game, this is war. And war costs lives. You need to be able to work together. Otherwise, you¡¯ll have no chance of passing this test.¡±


    Bradford sighed. ¡°Starting tomorrow, your training is about to get a lot more complicated. So if you can¡¯t handle what you¡¯re learning now, you¡¯re gonna need to step it up if you have any hopes of graduating and becoming soldiers. So go and get to know each other better, you¡¯ll need it. Dismissed.¡± Everyone stood at attention as the two commanders left, and they followed behind, going in the opposite direction toward their barracks.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Ascelmo sighed as he sat down in his bunk bed, everyone else did the same. Talen-Ra shot a glare over at Aranail. ¡°Y¡¯know why that whole thing went wrong, right? It¡¯s because you ran off.¡±


    Aranail looked back at him with an equally powerful glare. ¡°Have I done something to you? Because it seems like all you do is get on my case.¡±


    Elenaire sighed. ¡°Can we quit bickering, please? This is exactly what they wanted us to stop.¡±


    Ascelmo glanced over to Cydum, expecting him to weigh in, but instead, he saw him looking at a picture with himself and two other Volkmir in it. He assumed they were his parents since they all shared the same dark brown fur. Ascelmo looked back over at Aranail. ¡°She¡¯s right, we need to work together as a team.¡±


    Orokas looked at Aranail, unlike the rest of them, however, he didn¡¯t seem mad. ¡°Why do you feel the need to go off on your own?¡± There was a genuine tone in his voice.


    Aranail sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. ¡°I just¡­ I do things better by myself when I don¡¯t have people slowing me down.¡±


    Elenaire looked over at him. ¡°Well quite frankly, most of us are thinking the same thing, or at least I am. But we¡¯ve just gotta suck it up for the greater good.¡±


    ¡°But what is the greater good? Whatever a bunch of rich people tell us?¡±


    Talen-Ra slammed his hand against the wall. He looked like his scales were about to turn from green to red with pure rage. ¡°The ¡®greater good¡¯ is getting rid of the Obsidian Coalition because if they¡¯re left unchecked, this galaxy will fall to its knees.¡± He snapped


    ¡°Oh really? And what makes you so knowledgeable about what they¡¯re capable of?¡± Aranail glared at him.


    Talen-Ra looked like he was about to explode, but he sighed. ¡°My home planet was invaded by Coalition, they took the whole planet within a week. My parents and I were taken to an internment camp, and I never wanna go through that experience again, I still have nightmares about it sometimes. I lived there for about seven months until the Void Regiment came and liberated the planet.¡±


    Aranail was quiet for a minute before he sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I had no idea.¡±


    Talen-Ra shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m just¡­ touchy about it.¡±


    Ascelmo looked at everyone. ¡°Look, we¡¯ve all had a long day, we should probably get some sleep. I¡¯ll see you all in the morning.¡± He threw the sheets over himself and rested his head on the pillow, gently brushing his icy white hair out of his eyes for falling asleep.


    Ascelmo yawned as he sat up in his bunk. After staying here for about three months, he went through his routine like clockwork. Wake up, get dressed, spend a few seconds fixing his hair, head down to the mess hall, brush teeth, go to training. It was nice for him to have a routine, it helped relieve some of the stress. As everyone started getting ready to head to training, Bradford¡¯s voice came on the intercom, telling everyone to go to room 10-B for training. They followed the directions until they came into a large open room. Bradford was standing at the front of the room. Warren must¡¯ve been working on something else.


    ¡°Alright everyone, today we¡¯re going to be starting a new part of your training.¡± Bradford began. ¡°In addition to fighting on the ground, you¡¯ll also be fighting in the sky, as pilots.¡± There was some murmuring among the cadets, but it was quickly silenced by Bradford raising his arm up. ¡°Now, I know this may seem like a lot to take in, along with your other training, but trust me, in a few months you¡¯ll be the among the best soldiers in the Void Regiment. Now as you¡¯ll notice, this room is filled with fighters, these are the ships you¡¯ll be using, the X-32 Valkyrie. These fighters were all repurposed to be used as simulators. From now on, you¡¯ll all be coming here every other day to practice flying in addition to your normal training when you¡¯re not here. But before we get in the cockpit, you¡¯ll need to learn about the ship itself.¡±


    He brought up a hologram of the ship. It had a very aerodynamic design to it like it was meant to be fast and maneuverable, although that¡¯s probably because it was. Bradford started pointing out parts of the ship as it spun around. ¡°These are the engines, they¡¯re made with the newest technology and can reach speeds up to 2000 miles per hour if you push it hard enough. They¡¯ve also been outfitted with emergency pulse boosts in case you run out of fuel.¡± He spun the hologram around to face the front, he pointed at two small tubes about an inch in diameter on the bottom sides of the nose of the ship. ¡°These are the main guns. It¡¯s pretty simple, you press the trigger once, it fires once, you hold the trigger, it fires shots for as long as you hold it.¡± He spun the ship at a slight angle and pointed to the two tubes at the end of either wing. ¡°These are the missiles. They have a targeting system that¡¯ll lock onto anything as long as it¡¯s electric or has a heat signature.¡±


    He zoomed in on the hologram and it started showing the cockpit of the ship. ¡°This joystick here controls your pitch and yaw, it also has your trigger for the main gun and the missiles. This stick over here moves back and forth, that controls your speed. And these pedals will roll the ship. Believe it or not, it¡¯s actually a lot more straightforward than you think.¡± He looked out all the cadets and smiled. ¡°So, who¡¯s ready to get flying?¡±


    The six cadets started making their way down the hallways back to the barracks. Ascelmo looked over at Aranail. ¡°Where¡¯d you learn to fly like that? That was incredible.¡±


    Aranail shrugged. ¡°I dunno, I mean, I used to make deliveries back home. But then again there¡¯s a pretty big difference between flying a land speeder and a ship.¡± He shrugged again. ¡°I guess I just have a knack for flying.¡±


    Ascelmo could just barely hear Talen-Ra mutter something under his breath, probably a sarcastic remark if he had to guess. Luckily, Aranail must not have heard it because he didn¡¯t seem to reply. Which Ascelmo was grateful for because he probably couldn¡¯t handle another one of their arguments. The day had exhausted him, more than usual for some reason. All he could think about was getting to sleep. Which thankfully didn¡¯t take long for him.


    A man quickly made his way through the large, roomy hallway. He made slight, nervous adjustments to his uniform as he walked. He rounded the corner to see the large metal door he had walked through so many times. As he neared it, the two guards standing in front of it stopped him. ¡°Halt!¡± One of them said


    The man looked at the guard. ¡°I have urgent news for King Vandran.¡± The two guards nodded to each other and stood aside, the large metal door split in half and groaned as the two halves pulled away. The man stepped into the large ornate throne room. At the end of the room, there was a throne on a slightly raised platform. And on it, sat a large orc. The man stopped a few feet in front of the throne and kneeled. ¡°Your Highness, I have excellent news.¡± He smirked slightly as he looked down at the floor.


    King Vandran looked at him, intrigued. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°We just received word that Emperor Altin has died.¡± The man said.


    The king was quiet for a moment. ¡°Was he killed?¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°No Sire, he died of old age.¡±


    The king smirked. ¡°Excellent, that means his precious daughter is now on the throne. I believe we could use this to our advantage.¡±

 Chapter 6

    ¡°Alright everyone, today we¡¯re going to be working on another crucial aspect of using magic,¡± Warren began as he stepped into the room. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s something you all experienced during your practice test.¡± Ascelmo tried to avoid eye contact with Warren, feeling some slight guilt at the fact he didn¡¯t use his magic at all during the practice test. ¡°It¡¯s something called magic fatigue. This is what happens when the magical essence inside of you gets worn out, for example, when you have a shield put up you¡¯ll experience magical fatigue the more hits your shield takes, you¡¯ll also experience fatigue when you go on the offensive. The more energy you spend on attacks, the more fatigued you¡¯ll get.¡± He paused for a moment, waiting for everyone taking notes to finish. ¡°Now the only way to build up your tolerance to fatigue is practice, which coincidentally ties into what we¡¯re doing today. Now another thing I¡¯m sure you noticed during the test is the lack of magical opponents. This is because we can¡¯t simulate magic. However, you still need to be prepared to fight other Magi, the Obsidian Coalition has just as many as we do. So in order to prepare you for that, you¡¯re going to be sparring with each other.¡±


    Ascelmo stood a few feet away from Elenaire in a circular arena in the simulation room. Warren stood on top of the wall. ¡°Begin.¡±


    Elenaire struck first, sending a ball of fire at Ascelmo within seconds. He rotated his upper body to the side and the projectile flew past him. By the time he rotated back another ball of fire was already barreling towards him. Ascelmo put up a small shield in his hands, only barely blocking the whole ball, making it disperse into the air. Ascelmo shifted his shield to only his left hand and started conjuring a ball of aether in his right, firing it forward. He dispersed his shield and brought up another ball of aether, sending two more towards Elenaire. She rolled forward, the projectiles flying right over her. She started sprinting towards Ascelmo, bringing up a shield in each of her hands. Ascelmo hastily made a shield in both hands, but couldn¡¯t bring it up in time to block Elenaire from punching him in the face with her shield. He fell to the metallic floor with a loud thud. As he made an attempt to get up he saw Elenaire¡¯s hand in his face, with a ball of fire pulsing in her palm, ready to be shot forward at any second.


    Warren started clapping. ¡°Excellently done Elenaire, you¡¯re actually one step ahead of me. One of my lessons is about using your shield in hand to hand combat so well done. Ascelmo, you need to work on your reaction time, you would have been able to defend yourself from most if not all of those attacks if you had reacted quicker, other than that, nice work. I hope you both noticed how quick that was, even between two fully trained Magi, a battle is usually about that quick. Let that be a lesson that it could just take one second, and it would all be over.¡± The two cadets nodded silently and Warren smiled. ¡°Good, now go get some rest.¡±


    Ascelmo sat in his bunk, trying his best to ignore the awkward silence. Bradford opened the door and stepped inside. ¡°Good evening cadets, I¡¯m borrowing Ascelmo for a while, he¡¯ll be back later.¡± Ascelmo hesitantly slid off of his bunk and went to join the commander. As he followed Bradford out of the barracks he saw that Warren was standing outside waiting for them. He nodded to Bradford and the three of them started moving down the hallways.


    ¡°So what¡¯s this about?¡± Ascelmo asked, his gaze shifting between the two men.


    Warren sighed. ¡°Listen Ascelmo, we¡¯ve been watching you and your squad very carefully and we must admit, we¡¯re disappointed in the lack of progress, not just as a squad, but with you individually.¡±


    Ascelmo looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with them.


    ¡°Look, you¡¯re a rather unconventional case, plain and simple,¡± Bradford began. ¡°So because of that, we¡¯re going to have to use some rather unconventional training methods.¡± They stopped and Bradford opened a small door revealing an ascending staircase. ¡°Go into the simulation room, your gear is there, put it on and wait there.¡± Before he could ask any questions they started climbing the staircase and the door quickly sealed shut behind them.


    Ascelmo glanced around at the simulation room as he entered. Similar to during the test, small walls jutted up from the floor as cover and several towers. The floor made a gradual dip at the middle, forming a kind of bowl. Just like Bradford said, the standard armor and weapons were waiting for him. He put the armor on and grabbed the weapons.


    ¡°Go stand in the middle of the room,¡± Bradford said over the intercom.


    Ascelmo did as he was instructed and stood in the middle, cover walls surrounded the whole area, except in the corners of the dip.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    A computerized voice came over the intercom. ¡°Beginning Eclipse Protocol, maximum difficulty.¡±


    The lights in the room started fading until the whole room was pitch black. The light in Ascelmo¡¯s helmet automatically lit up, he switched to night vision, allowing him to see. Training bots rose from the floor and opened fire on him instantly. He dove behind cover, shooting in a circle at all the bots that could see him. He peeked up from behind the wall shooting at the other bots, but he quickly felt a pulsing pain in his back and he fell forward landing face first on the metal floor falling unconscious.


    When he regained consciousness, he stood up and looked around, the bots were all gone and the room was lit back up.


    ¡°What was that?¡± He yelled at the room, hoping someone besides his own echo would give him a reply.


    ¡°That was the hardest pre-programmed scenario ever designed, it¡¯s impossible to complete,¡± Bradford answered over the intercom. ¡°We¡¯re doing this until you start to show some progress.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you crazy?¡± Ascelmo asked. But the only reply he got was the voice telling him that the simulation was about to start again.


    Once more, the lights faded to black and Ascelmo readied himself. The bots rose from the floor and Ascelmo opened fire just as soon as they did. He tried putting up a shield behind himself which worked for a small time until one of the bots got wise to it and aimed around his shield, once again knocking him to the floor.


    This went on for several hours, every part of Ascelmo¡¯s body felt like it was about to crack. He kept hearing the sounds of gunfire in his head, and Bradford¡¯s solemn ¡®again¡¯ every time he was knocked down. They finally agreed to stop once Ascelmo had lasted for a good three minutes. He opened the door to his barracks, the lights were out and everyone was asleep. He practically fell into his bed, not even putting the sheets over himself before he fell asleep almost instantly.


    ¡°Dragon 1 to command, we¡¯re about halfway through our patrol. How copy? Over.¡± Ascelmo said in the seat of his cockpit.


    ¡°Solid copy Dragon 1, report back when you¡¯re done. Out.¡± Bradford¡¯s voice replied.


    Ascelmo warily kept his finger on the trigger of his controls. ¡°Stay alert everyone, it¡¯s been pretty quiet so far so I expect that we-¡± He was cut off by a loud boom as the sleek, black design of a Coalition Frigate emerged from warp speed. ¡°Command this is Dragon 1, a Coalition Frigate just entered the area! Requesting backup. Over,¡± He said. He banked right and the other five followed.


    ¡°Roger that Dragon 1, we¡¯re dispatching reinforcements, just hang in there until they arrive,¡± Bradford replied.


    ¡°Alright guys listen up, this is how it¡¯ll go.¡± Ascelmo began. ¡°Orokas, Elenaire, and Talen-Ra, I want you three to move on the Frigate and take out as many of those surface cannons as you can. Cydum, you and- wait a minute.¡± He looked around and checked his rear camera. ¡°Where¡¯s Aranail. Aranail, come in. Over.¡± He looked over to see the Frigate firing on Aranail¡¯s fighter, which was quickly darting around, avoiding getting hit.


    ¡°That idiot! Here we go again, I¡¯ll make sure he doesn¡¯t die.¡± Talen-Ra groaned. Pulsing forward in the direction of the Frigate. Orokas and Elenaire went after him.


    Fighters were starting to emerge from the Coalition Frigate and made their way to the three pilots.


    ¡°Come on Cydum, we gotta intercept those fighters.¡± Ascelmo said, thrusting his engines forward.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t gonna end well, I can tell already,¡± Cydum mumbled.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s not much we can do about it now except to just roll with it and try to stay alive,¡± Ascelmo replied.


    He started locking onto two fighters and fired a plasma missile at each of them. One hit but the second fighter deployed countermeasures to throw the missile off. Ascelmo pulled a hard left, weaving in and out through the formations of Coalition fighters, firing off shots and narrowly avoiding getting hit. He checked behind himself to see how Cydum was holding up. He was fairing about the same as Ascelmo was, but when he turned back around he saw that he was about to collide with a Coalition fighter. He yanked his joystick to the right as hard as he could, but the left wing of his fighter got torn off, causing his ship to spin uncontrollably. He tried to regain control but the ship kept spinning, and eventually crashed right into the side of the Frigate. The screen of the cockpit went black, and then red text saying ¡®Crashed¡¯ flashed before Ascelmo swung the cockpit glass up and hopped out of the simulator.


    After a few more minutes, the rest of the squad crashed and they all emerged from their simulators. The six cadets stood in a line at attention. Bradford approached them, headset still on. His gaze went over each cadet before it rested on Ascelmo. He simply sighed. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed with all of you, I really am. Your final test is in three days and you haven¡¯t advanced nearly enough to the point where you¡¯d be able to pass.¡± Ascelmo looked down at the ground to avoid Bradford¡¯s stare. ¡°Dismissed.¡± They spun around and started walking back to their barracks.


    Warren opened the door to Bradford¡¯s office. He looked up at his colleague from his desk and shook his head. ¡°It was the same mess as before, they just don¡¯t work together as a unit.¡±


    Warren sighed. ¡°Well their final test is in three days and the Empress is already on her way. I don¡¯t know what we can do.¡±


    Bradford smirked. ¡°I think I might have an idea.¡±