As we rushed away from the capital city of the enemy, I was in a slightly frantic and annoyed mood.

  We almost got a target given to us by a being so powerful that they could fight the lightning calamity to a standstill!

  Damn Steelbloods and their metal manipulation, we could have taken a few high class enemies off the world stage.

  Should have aimed for the calmest in the group rather than the liability to our intelligence first.

  As I watched my hunt partner run through the small trees, holding the quiver of black death arrows on his back. I felt a bloodlust rise as a most likely predatory grin spread across my camouflaged face.

  Suddenly, an invisible force cut through my hunt partner before he could even scream. His halved, immediately dead corpse splattered against two trees one left, one right.

  My eyes widened, my right hand moving over to my blade at my side.

  Too late.

  I felt my body stop listening to me as a precise strike to the back of my shoulder blades caused a white hot searing pain to erupt just above them.

  I would have met the same fate as my hunt partner if that same invisible force didn’t grab me out of the air and hold me there by the torso like I would have held a snared rabbit.

  The face of the thing appeared through nothingness, just trees past it.

  A black-hooded, mesh masked face of the same material glared at me.

  “You’ve done quite enough, insect.” A gravelly, metallic voice grated on my ears with a volume I would have expected an gargantuan orange back orangutan to exhibit in its breathing alone.

  “You’re quite fast, I almost lost my charge to you, you wretched thing.” It continued.

  I tried to spit at it, but the grasp of the metal-hard hand crushed me with an audible cacophony of crunches and pops.

  “None of that, I will look for any adjacent futures in your peripheral and be done with you in a painless manner comparable to what you will feel if you resist this.” He said with an even tone as the being’s magical will surged into my magicless spirit core.

  ‘Ah, so it's a mage?’ I thought to myself.

  “Astute, bug, now, lets see what we have here,” The face paused, staring into my soul with zero movement or breath, “you were with your hunt-mate, acting alone on the orders of that detestable creature Her Imperial Majesty has felled.” A slicing-tearing sound wretched out.

  My vision swam and flipped and I found my place in the infinite hunt.

  —-----------------

  An unknown amount of time later

  —-----------------------------------------

  I awoke with a startle.

  I wasn’t where I was supposed to be either, no opulent, comfortable ceiling I would expect from the academy suite I should be in.

  I tried to get up, but nothing responded. I tried to gasp but nothing came out, no air even in lungs that didn’t exist.

  I tried to look around but was relegated to being able to do absolutely nothing.

  “You’re not supposed to be in here.” A regal voice said with surety.

  My soul screamed, I screamed.

  —----------------

  ~sixteen hours later

  —------------------------------

  I awoke screaming, every piece of metal available to my will, turning into spears, crackling with electromagnetic energy, glowing hot with heat and moving to my side, pointing outwards to combat this new enemy.

  I then took the chance to look around, sensing no opponents to stick with these tens of enormous spears, easily two meters long each.

  I was in the academy suite where I fell asleep after being helped by Cerys.

  “What is it, Erec?!” Two soft but strong and warm hands landed on my shoulders, emerald green, sparking eyes stared into me worriedly.

  Do I tell her? I myself am starting to wonder if I went insane.

  I trust her, I decided. The pieces of multiple types of metals I used for my weapons were lost of their charge and returned to their forms as I flexed my now restored will. Cerys quickly retrieved the heat from the restored objects. “I was disembodied, floating in nothingness.” I gulped, remembering the pain I still faintly felt nowhere specific, but everywhere. “A voice sounded out, told me I was not allowed in there and started to hurt me,” I shivered, my body reacting to the adrenaline rush of a flight or fight response I haven’t felt with such ferocity before. “I now awoke, using this room and its metals as weapons to defend against an enemy no longer present.” I finished.

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  She listened with rapt attention, thoughtful but worried eyes stared into mine. Beautiful, emerald eyes.

  Didn’t this happen before in some form or another?

  Before anything else further could happen, a grey portal popped into existence with a crackle of displaced air. The general supervisor of the garrison of the imperial academy stepped through, a magi-pistol outstretched in his right hand, twenty other guards all armed with magi-bluss weapons right behind him.

  He looked into my eyes that were peeking over Cerys’ clothed shoulder.

  He immediately saluted, “Apologies, your eminence,” he muttered as he turned on his heel swiftly as he signaled his men to turn around with a flurry of left hand movements.

  The portal quickly closed as air not so silently wooshed into the fissure.

  ‘That was an understandable misunderstanding’ I told myself as I realized I still was unclothed.

  Cerys, also picking up on what happened, blushed, then dismounted the bed in a quick movement that would put many warriors her age to shame.

  As she faced away, she responded to my earlier spiel. “I have no idea what that enemy could be, but it sounds dangerous, an enemy that can render a physical form unusable is as of yet, undocumented, far as I remember.” She paused for a breath, “If sleep is the trigger, we will need magical defenses put up to ward off any further incursion from said enemy.”

  I took some pieces of metal and searched the dressers for clothing that could fit my frame as she talked.

  “Are you wounded from the thing?” She asked.

  “A fading pain that I can’t quite place where it could have been.” I replied, trying my best to find the right words to describe the nightmarish and never before felt type of pain.

  I found an academy uniform meant for wear in an exercise environment, most likely. It was form-fitting, embroidered and stretchy. I quickly sent a pulse of weakened energy through my body, destroying any dirt or stink that still clinged to my body, much like with my face after surviving that dirt mound.

  I put it on as I said, “Whatever it was, the being is not only hostile and unknown, but capable of disabling me without a fight.” I shook my head, “I need to figure out countermeasures to such a foe immediately.” I went into stretches as I felt my new outfit for any restrictive defects or chafing, feeling none. “Fortunately, we are in the right place for the study of unknown beings of great power.” I filed off that tid-bit of a vital goal point for later.

  “We must check in with the general after the- misunderstanding and for other reasons of great import, we must get to know of the situation.” As I finished my sentence, a gravelly, worn voice sounded out from the opened door, which I never heard open, “That will be unnecessary, weapon, you are to attend the headmaster of this academy and start your formal studies, effective now.”

  I almost picked up multiple metal weapons from the room for the second time in ten minutes, but I refrained, seeing no point.

  Cerys looked just as exasperated, letting out an annoyed tongue click.

  “It would be polite to at least announce yourself, Agent Seer, I could have ruined the immaculate room we stand in.” I said with annoyance.

  “You will show respect to your protective detail, weapon, we will discuss the finer points later, but be assured the wood elven hunting duo is no more.” He revealed with an expectant tone.

  “As they would have been, thank you for saving me time, Agent, now, is the academy safe?” I flipped the expectancy onto him.

  “Yes, weapon, the academy had been cleaned while you recovered from your folly, notify the headmaster of said procedure and make him understand that it was in Her Imperial Majesties’ will that it was done so.” He ordered, putting emphasis on the word ‘folly’ as it left his mouth.

  “Is mother well, is the enemy vanquished?” I asked with a hopeful but slightly less disguised worry than intended in my voice.

  He paused for a few moments, the only indication he may still be there was the weighted door staying in place. “You will refer to Her Imperial Majesty as anything but ‘mother’ for the remainder of your stay at this academy.”

  I almost slapped my forehead, feeling stupid for my blunder, still not feeling one hundred percent there after the situation that unfolded as it did. Something was different about me, something that I couldn’t quite place as of yet.

  “Her Imperial Majesty was victorious and will make a timely recovery, do not fret, weapon.” His voice almost sounded apologetic, almost, but not quite.

  “Enough talk, you will do as I’ve stated- today- no later.” He commanded, his almost weary voice regaining its usual cutting edge.

  “Very well, that was next on my list anyways,” I said casually.

  No voice answered back, most likely already gone or standing there either way.

  The wooden double door slid closed with a quiet clunk, indicating he was gone.

  “That would be that, it seems we have a change of plans.” I grinned at Cerys as I turned to her.

  “It would seem so.” Her eyes darted from the door to mine.

  “Would you like to take a tour of the academy grounds until we find the proper secretary or the headmaster himself?” I asked, my grin gaining more ground on my face as I looped my left arm for her to take.

  A smile appeared on her still red lips, “I would like that, Erec, lead the way.”

  Her right arm looped into my left, and I pushed the double doors with some metal taken from some candle holders affixed to the marble wall.

  The hallway was spacious and just as well furnished as the suite we used for the night. I was just now realizing how under-decorated the Steelblood castle and estate truly was. Especially my room. There had to be more to that.

  Filing that little observation away for later, I turned us left and we started walking down the yellowish-beige carpet of the hallway.

  We soon ran into a guard post after a few minutes of walking while taking in the sights in comfortable silence.

  Two squire class mobile cogs fitted with full plate armor stood there at each side of the hallway in low ready, armed with sheathed long swords.

  An alcove in the hallway to the left held a clothed scribe.

  One of the guards’ vision landed on Cerys and I, immediately saluting.

  The other guard across the hall also saluted after seeing his partner do so.

  The scribe got up from his desk and turned, hearing the commotion, clearly tired and had a slightly cranky expression as he opened his mouth to talk.

  All words died in his throat as he looked into my eyes, quickly saluting after recognition and fear appeared in them. “For the imperial will!” He held the salute.

  “For the eternal service, guide us to where the headmaster is.” I commanded him.

  ‘oh well, I should've known we wouldn't have an adventure with each other and time to enjoy ourselves today.’ I surmised in my head.

  “Yes, your eminence, right this way!” He almost shrieked, keeping his wits about him but clearly out of his depth.

  ‘He must be new to this entire thing’ I thought, which put me into an alert mode.

  I then recalled that Agent Seer had claimed he had ‘cleaned’ the academy.

  This man is either new and innocent, or I misinterpreted what that Agent meant by ‘cleaned’. Maybe, it was a cleaning of threats I couldn't currently handle?

  I followed him, but remained ready for whatever may happen.

  —------------

  ~an hour later

  —------------------------

  The academy grounds were truly a sight to behold. An enormous multi-building campus of many different purposes each.

  We exited the building and walked in the open. Beautiful, well kept shrubbery and other plants accented the perfectly even marble tiles that we walked on.

  The mobile cog guards walked at a distance of about two meters, silent besides their foot falls and armor clicking against the tiles and itself respectively.

  Just a meter away, the scribe hurried along, out of breath, but clearly that couldn't stop him from shuffling along as he guided us towards a two story building accommodated by a multi story tower.

  The same white marble were its walls and the windows were see through with the same yellow-beige colored curtains that I had seen as we exited the building we had slept in.

  We passed no one as the void attuned spherical shield crackled above.

  As we arrived at the tall, wooden double doors of the building, the scribe turned and saluted once again.

  “I am but a lowly scribe of the writers guild in service to the headmaster here at this empire's academy, please head inside without me.” He half stated half pleaded with a sheepish tone.

  “Very well, scribe, you have done well, dismissed.” I acquiesced, allowing him to return to his duties.

  He scampered off after losing his salute with his guards following him as they went.

  I turned to Cerys, who was at my side, opting to walk without taking my arm for so long.

  “Let's get this over with, the sooner I get to increase my power and knowledge, the better.” I stated with a grin appearing on my face as I looked into her eyes.

  “What's so funny that you would grin?” Cerys asked, a humored expression appearing on her face.

  “I was expecting the scribe to be some hidden spy, here to lead us into a death trap or ambush, but alas, he seemed to merely be a less confident tradesman.” I confessed, a chuckle leaving my mouth as I thought back to my earlier suspicion.

  A gentle smile appeared on her lips, “It would be of the expectation, given our recent happenings.”

  “So it would seem.” I replied, another soft chuckle sounding out.

  Without further ado, I turned the door knob with my hands this time, readying myself to talk about my future in this academy with the headmaster.

  ‘I need to get more powerful.’ I reminded myself for the umpteenth time.