“Correct pronunciation okay? One wrong lip movement and you explode.”

“Hey, no need to worry. I can handle talking. The problem is… will this really take down that giant?”

“This is a crystal grade technique! Of course it will! I swear… is there anything left in that head of yours big bro?” I don’t even know what the crystal grade is!

It’s been about five minutes since I’ve arrived at the battle. Bronya’s been relaying instructions to me since I’ve asked for her help. I expected some cool skill that would turn me into that monster form from before. All she told me was to say some words and the plant giant would be gone.

“So you’re clear on what this will do to your body right? You’re still sure you want to go through-“

“Absolutely. If I stay here doing nothing, then that’s as good as me personally taking their lives.”

“...”

“Thank you Bronya. No. Thank you lil sis. I mean it.”

I calm my mind. The world around me turns silent. No sounds of battle. No tremors from the ground. Just me and the giant.

Before me stands the heavens and the earth.

The orb in my body revolves. It’s speed goes beyond any previous instances. It almost feels like it’s about to launch out of me.

Unparalleled between both. They only serve to hinder me.

I can sense something gathering around me. Like the air but thicker. It seems alive as it goes berserk around me. Sparks of electricity materialize in the air.

There is only one path left for me to traverse.

The air around me pauses. Everything goes silent. I walk out into the clearing. Many branches come for me. All of them are repelled by the energy around me.

Passing through the thundering hell. Severed Sky!

Lightning from the sky lands on me. I can feel it burning through my veins. I redirect it into my hands. I try to form it into a blade. Sharper than anything. As fast as light. The lightning bends to my will. I raise my hands as if I’m holding an imaginary sword. I swing down.

A beam of light travels from my arms. The beam travels at light speed. The giant can’t even react. The giant pauses. An infinitesimal amount of time passes..

A thin line slowly forms in the middle of the giant. It continues until it is able to be seen on both the back and front. The two halves of the giant separate. They collapse onto the ground bringing down much of the surrounding trees.

“I think I got it- Urgh.” I collapse onto the ground. My body involuntarily convulses from the excess electricity in my system. From my peripherals I can see the six people running up to me.

“Cayden! You’re alive.” Phoebe pulls me into a hug. It hurts a lot because of my sore muscles. I nearly go unconscious again from the pain.

“That there was a fantastic display Cayden! I bet you only Natalia and I could've done something better than that!”

The four others stand far away from me. The guy manipulating the earth observes me with both admiration and fear. The girl of the duo nods to me while the boy remains apathetic. Phil looks to be pondering something. He takes glances at me from time to time.

Ah. Looks like the electricity’s dissipated. I get up from the ground. I walk over to the remains of the giant. “Be careful Cayden!” I wave back to Phoebe to show her I’m fine.

As I approach it my senses start going crazy. It’s giving me a headache. The closer I get, the worse it becomes. When I’m right up to the remains it feels like a million voices are screaming inside my head.

I lift up some pieces of bark revealing the figure of Lilea. She’s barely breathing. Her body looks dried up. I don’t know if she’ll make it. I search in my pocket for a hit and take out a water sphere. This should help a bit. I place it in her mouth. Her face seems to slightly regain some color.

She coughs out some green liquid. Her eyes turn to me. “So… you’ve come back to me, descendant. It seems that some of your powers have returned.”

“Don’t talk. You're running low on energy. Just stay silent for a bit.”

“No… No… it is alright. I knew this would occur. My life was already at its end long before I met you. It was truly a folly to hold my hatred against them for so long.”

“But you still have some life in you right? There’s no need for these sappy words. Just wait. I’ll get some medical help here soon.”

“And let those demons take me to be locked up for my last remaining days? Even you must understand the cruelty that a single individual can create. A whole race can be a vacuum that eats up its surrounding. Hear me descendant. I will give you one last gift before I move on. This is not due to my generosity, but one last gamble I would like to undertake. Would you agree to what I say?”

Lilea’s eyes suddenly beam with energy as she graphs hold of my hand. I instinctively nod my head. “Promise me that you will protect my last child and that you will guard her with your life.”

“If it’s to protect someone I wouldn’t say no even if someone had a blade against my neck.”

“Haha. I knew you would say that. Here. Take my nectar so it may nourish you on your journeys to come.”

Lilea uses her hand to pierce her own chest. From within it she rips out her heart. She picks out a single seed on it before placing it in my hand. Her eyes glaze over as she loses strength in her body. She stares at the forest as if to give a final farewell to her children.

As I get up I hear a noise coming from the trees. At first I think it will be another attack like that screech from before, but instead a solemn melody is heard. The trees around us sway as if to mourn over their fallen mother. Lilea’s body dissolves into motes of green light that fly into the sky before scattering.

I can only sigh at the sight of this. Many lives passby in the blink of an eye. It’s only at death’s door that one can find true value in their life. It seems it’s impossible for people to understand how priceless their life really is.

Shay walks over to me and pats my back. Phoebe holds my hand as well. They both show concern over me. Heh. I’m glad I met you two.

“It’s… it’s alright. Thanks guys. Let’s head back.” I walk towards the direction I came from. The two still look worried, but follow me. Phil, the earth guy, and the duo also come with us. As we exit the forest we see the soldiers gathered up into a formation. They raise their guns up to us. We all raise our hands into the air.

One of the more important looking soldiers signals them to stop. He motions for us to come to him. “All of you are candidates, correct?” We nod in agreement. “Follow me. The city administrator would like to speak with you.”

The soldier leads our group towards the main building of the academy. As we arrive there we see all the candidates sitting at tables. It seems this is the evacuation site. I find Connor sitting at one of the tables and wave to him. He waves back.

Me and the others are ushered into a room. Sitting on the other side of a table is Claudia. On each side of her stands Bishop, the principal, and Corvus. She looks irritated. She continuously taps the table with her finger. As we get closer she balls up her hand into a fist.

“You all have done a great deed for us. Warning us about the threat. Evacuating the candidates. Preventing the escape of the forest spirit. But at the same time you needlessly endangered yourselves and went against our instructions. You all are very lucky to be alive.”

I quickly motion to myself. “Miss. It wasn’t them that actively tried to stop the forest spirit. I led them to the forest spirit because I thought it would be best to stop it before any more people get hurt.” Claudia stares into my eyes. She seems to be waiting for something.

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

“I’ve got witnesses right here.” I gesture to the six behind me, “They all agree that it was me who caused this mess.”

“...”

Claudia claps her hands. She gets up from her chair and smiles back at us. “Great! You five will be allowed to skip the rest of the trials for your great merits. Welcome to the academy. As for Cayden…”

“You have been disqualified from the exam. Pack your bags and head back home. My condolences.”

The rest of the group stands aghast at Claudia’s decision. I can give no response to her. I wasn’t expect her to be this swift in her actions.

“Corvus. Bishop. Lead them back to their rooms. They deserve some rest.”

“Wait Miss Claudia!” Phoebe runs up to Claudia. “Cayden saved my life so many times during these trials. I think it would be fair to let him back into the trials. You can even take my free entrance away from me!”

“Phoebe… it’s ok-“

“Wait just a minute. Ol’Cayden over here also saved my life! My last name wouldn’t be Isolde if he doesn’t get what is rightfully his!”

“Guys... I’m ok with not-“

“I might not know much, but I do know what a good friend is. Your one hell of a rival Cayden so you better not give up. Everyone! We all agree that Cayden should have another chance!” Phil interjects before I can say another word. He turns to Phoebe and Shay.

The three of them nod their heads. They all then look at the earth user and the duo. The girl immediately agrees while the boy trails behind her. The earth user looks back and forth between Claudia and them. He finally sighs and nods his head. “Sure. Sure. He did save us.”

“Miss Claudia. You see that all of us agree that Cayden should have a fair chance at entering the trials.” Claudia seems to be moved by their efforts. She slowly walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. Her eyes lock with mine.

“Absolutely not.”

“But- but- Miss Claudia! It isn’t fair for you to single him out when the rest of us have the same amount of responsibility as him.”

“But he didn’t say that did he? He said it was all his responsibility. Are you all saying he was lying.” Her eyes bore into the group. The six stay silent at her words. They can say nothing to refute her. “No matter what you say to me, he will not be allowed to stay in the academy as a student.”

“But he can stay if he’s not a student. Am I correct?” From the doorway, the kid from before who led me to the fields appears. He still wears an oversized lab coat. He stares at Claudia without a hint of fear.

Her previous overbearing image disappears in front of him. Her eyes turn into crescents as a smile is plastered on her face. It is most certainly a fake one, but she seems to strain her mouth to keep her appearance.

“Professor Felix? To what do I-“

“Cut the crap Claudia. You still owe me a favor for when I helped advance ten of your elite guard.” Professor Felix‘s eyes lock with mine. He grabs hold of my hands. “Cayden. Would you like to explore the wonders of science as my test sub- er… lab assistant?”

“Oi, pipsqueak!” Corvus suddenly arrives in front of the professor. He holds the professor up by his collar. “I had my eyes on him first. He doesn’t want to play doctor with you and your group of pansies. He wants to learn under me to test the limits of strength! Isn’t that right Cayden?”

“Like a buffoon who only uses their muscles instead of their brain could understand. Cayden’s body- er… mind is perfectly suited for all the experiments I’ve planned for him.”

The two move their sharp gazes towards me. I instinctively shrink back from fear. It’s as if I’m prey and two prehistoric predators are competing to see who gets to eat me.

“May I perhaps make a suggestion ma’am.” Principal Bishop taps Claudia on her shoulder. Claudia manages to spit out her words through the gaps of her smile. “Go ahead.”

“We recently had a groundskeeper position open up in the academy. Someone to watch over the fields in the back. We need somebody to fill in the position. Would you like to be hired, boy?”

I sigh in relief. The professor and Corvus can’t muster any response to him. I gladly shake the principal’s hand.“Sure! Glad to be working with you all!”

“No need to be formal. Now you can go back to your rooms while we make an announcement to the rest of the candidates.”

Before I can leave the professor stands in front of me. He stretches his hand towards me. “The offer still stands for you to be my lab assistant. You would truly bring great support to my studies.”

Corvus swats the professor’s hand away. “Don’t listen to him, kid! Just come to my place and I’ll make you stronger than anyone in this whole school!”

The rest of us leave before the conflict between them can get any worse. We all go our separate ways promising to meet each other in the future. As I’m walking back to our room I notice Phoebe seems to want to say something to me. She seems to hesitate whenever she wants to say it though.

“What’s wrong Phoebe? Something on your mind?”

“It- it’s nothing! I was just pondering the amount of times you saved us.”

“I did save a lot of people huh? It’s never enough though. I’m still too far from my dream. I don’t know if I’ll ever be a hero…”

“That’s not true!” Phoebe grabs a hold of my hands. Her nails dig into my skin. “You’ve always been acting like a hero! There’s no person I know more attuned with the chivalric code than you.

“What does that mean? That chivalric code thing.”

“Eh? I thought you would know best since it’s exactly what you seem to base your beliefs on.”

“I’ve never heard of this chivalric code before.”

Phoebe eyes me quizzically. She ponders for a second before bringing out her holocube. She types in a few words before an article title appears before me.

Ancient Writings and Their Impact on Modern-Day Society

Phoebe scrolls down a long list of names such as Mystical Beasts of the Forests or The Knights of Maellus. I can only recognize a few with all of them being folktales or fantasy stories I heard about the past. She finally stops on one article titled the Collection of Chivalric Values. She hands her cube to me before I begin to read the article.

To be chivalric is to understand the basics of justice. One must follow these seven principles to truly have earned the title of Chivalric.

Never falter on one’s belief in justice

Conceding to evil is the same as if one was to perish by another blade.

Sacrificing oneself is no more than a breath for those who wish to stand for justice.

Know that many others have and are still fighting against the wicked alongside you.

Stay true to one's nature as it is the basis of your belief in justice.

Shoulder the burden of others.

Strive for success and glory under the banner of justice

The words in the article ring like a bell in my head. They echo multiple times throughout my head before I can settle myself. I feel as if I’ve awakened from a deep sleep. I think I’ve finally found what I needed.

“Cayden? Are you okay? You stopped moving all of a sudd-“ I lift Phoebe into the air with a hug before she can say anything else. Her face turns red as she flails her arms. “Wha- Wha- What are you doing?!”

“Thank you! Thank you! I’ve finally found it. I’ve finally found my path!”