26th August

All of the students had already changed into their jerseys and were out on the training grounds. Since Yuan had made the announcement the whole atmosphere had changed. Everyone was warming up while Iva was talking with Yuan in the courtyard.

After sometime Iva came onto the field and addressed the students, "Hey boys, and girls, as you know already that we have a big mission coming up, now I was trying to take things nice and slow with you but due to the current situation we have to jump directly into training."

At those words all of the students got excited, their brain started pumping adrenaline in preparation for what hell was about to come.

training. After joining Avalon all of the students know only one thing they wish to learn. . They are a set of techniques and smarts possessed by all the trained , these can include most basic stuff like projecting fire beams to sophisticated skills like telekinesis and teleportation. In the most basic sense it was what they referred to as 'magic tricks'.

"Now we will start with the basics until we realize what attribute each one of you is comfortable with, after that there will be the special training that will focus on it specifically. And with that out of the way, start with 300 high jumps kids!"

⛧ ⛧ ⛧

All of the students were exhausted just by Miss Iva's warm up. They were breathing heavily while their sweat drenched their clothes. But Iva wasn't done , she hadn't even begun, "Kids!" She clapped her hands to grab attention, " What are you all doing slacking off, the real training starts now." Everyone groaned at her words but she did not falter, "Stop groaning and start training idiots, we don't have enough time. Get on your feet. NOW!"

All of the students did as they were told without a delay of a second, they arranged themselves in lines with a distance of 3 meters from each other, content with the reaction Iva continued, "Now, your real training starts, I want everyone of you to sit down in meditation position and gather as much Crux particles around as you can, no holding back! Then you hold it for 5 minutes straight, during which you all will breath in a rhythm, taking a deep breath and then realizing it in 3-4 puffs. Don't let your crux leak during this. Now start!"

Yuki alongside other students followed her words and they all sat down and began their meditation. He closed his eyes and was welcomed by the abyss. As he was focusing more he started to see luminous particles of different colors like white, yellow and green in the abyss. He focused more to see them clearly, the particles kept increasing in number, yet the space between them seemed to grow as well. Yuki had never meditated, this was his first time but his focus was absolute. As his flow of concentration kept on increasing he then saw a particle bigger than the others, unlike any it was purple in color. On instinct, he decided to chase it, increasing his focus more he tried getting near it, but it seemed it was drifting away at equal speed. The more Yuki focused the more it was hard for him to catch it, and at one point the particle disappeared into the abyss in front of Yuki.

That's when he woke up from his state of meditation. More than 5 minutes had passed by and Iva was standing in front of him, "What did you see kid?" She asked. "Purple light" Yuki answered, her eyes widened after hearing those words, she stood blankly for a few seconds then slowly opened her mouth, "Purple light… Everyone who saw purple light during practice will meet me after you're done with your classes." All of the students had a confused look on their faces, they had no idea what this purple light meant, nor did they know why it was so special.

"Now everyone will line up according to the colors they saw, in order of the rainbow from my left beginning with violet and my right ending with red."

As Yuki was falling into lines as instructed by Miss Iva he bumped into another boy, they both apologized immediately before noticing who they actually had bumped into. The tall, slender young man with pale skin and dark green eyes said "Oh, it's you, the 'prodigy' Shaman, so you are one of the too, huh?". His black hair was chin length, with long bangs swept to the left. He also had a broad face and a strong jawline.

Prodigy Shaman, that how everyone called, no, mocked Yuki since his fight with John, but he wasn't any, and almost everyone knew that, which is also why Yuki was everytime provoked by those words, "Don't call me that! And to begin with, who even are you? I've never seen you here before."

"Indeed, someone of your degree won't be worth calling a prodigy, I'm glad you know that at least. And it seems you're not able to recall me already, I joined 2 weeks ago." The boy said in a low and calm vocal tone while taking short pauses to breath.

"Ah right, I remember now, you were the one who almost broke their head after tumbling while trying to sit down." Yuki replied mockingly. "What was your name again? Kane…? Kyle…? Perhaps Kylie…?" Yuki once again mocked him, this time on his fragile and somewhat feminine appearance.

"Tch!" He clicked his teeth, "'The fool doth think he is wise', your arrogance is too much, kill that ego or else you shall face your challenges with a lot more difficulty."

"Oh really? Then let's see how difficult it is fighting you!" Yuki got near his face, provoking him.

"Stop fighting! You bunch really are good for nothing!" Iva interrupted them, diluting the atmosphere. "Get in line and if you try fighting each other again I'll make you run 10 kilometers with your feet tied."

They both stopped, grunted at each other's faces and then went back to standing in the lines, before turning around, the guy called Yuki out, "Hey, the name is Kai." And saying so he went away from him.

"I'll make sure not to remember it." Yuki taunted.

After they all had settled in lines Miss Iva addressed all of them, "So y'all might be wondering, what this color scheme has got to do with anything, well it does, the color you all saw tells what you carry, which in turn allows us to evaluate what element you're most suitable with. Now this is not an accurate measure but it gives us the groundwork to begin with. So I'll start naming all of the auras and their attributes, make sure you follow:"

+

Purple 一 Acrux 一 Special Case

Blue 一 Arcas 一 Electricity, Water and Ice

Cyan 一 Callisto 一 Water and Ice

Green 一 Dubhe 一 Organic, Air, Water

Red 一 Gacrux 一 Fire

Orange 一 Ginan 一 Fire, Air

White 一 Imai 一 Air

+

"As you can see, some auras are acquainted with multiple attributes while some are acquainted with only one, so let me remind you that elemental attributes are not that simple; these classifications exist only to simplify things and you shouldn't be surprised if anything that doesn't follow the rules of these classifications happen. It's just like chemistry, hell lot of exceptions… maybe that's why I used to be really bad at it."

"So what we will do now is teach you all specifically the skills your aura is affiliated with, we don't have enough time to train and evaluate your exact attributes and strengths."

"You keep mentioning that we don't have enough time, but just how much time do we actually have?" It was Lin who raised the question that all wanted to ask.

Iva looked baffled by the question, she made complicated expressions organizing her thoughts for a moment and then replied, "It's just speculation but… around a month." It was not her usual cheerful tone but rather a far more serious one.

"Shouldn't it be enough to get ready?"

"No… not against the threat you little ones are facing."

Once again the environment grew cold as everyone was made to realize the gravity of the situation.

"But that's the part we don't worry about, we just train hard to face hard enemies, got it?" She once again returned to her usual tone with that.

"Now enough talking, let's begin with the skill training."

⛧ ⛧ ⛧

Everyone returned to the class after an exhaustive skill training, all of us were taught a wild variety of those.

Like the ones possessing were taught techniques like [Spin Wall], [Air Bullets] and [Vortex Creation].

The ones associated with fire were taught [Torch] and [Flare], whereas were taught [Healing], [Bubble Projection], [Silk Vortex] and [Blood Sense].

The ones associated with ice and water were taught [Cryo Bomb], [Cryo Beam] and [Hydro Pillar]. All of these were taught to too but with the inclusion of [Electric Blast] and [Bullet].

But that was not the case for those who possessed . As our affiliation was "Special Case" we were given special treatment. Not only were we taught advanced techniques but also given a small insight to relics.

We were taught techniques like [Repulsion Field], [Bullet], [Hell-Fire] and [Barrier]. But apart from that we were taught passive techniques like [Blood Sense] and [Regeneration] too.

In the beginning it felt like we were being given such special training because we were the chosen one or something, but in reality they were just trying to utilize their best assets. Out of the 32 students in First year only 5 of us had , namely, me, Kai, Lin, and two others students whom I don't really know.

There were many things I couldn't understand and wanted to talk to Miss Iva about them. So I approached her after the class while all the other students were going to the cafeteria to have lunch.

"What are you doing here kid? You should be having your lunch, aren't you hungry?" Miss Iva asked me as I approached her. "I have some questions." I said in a serious tone. "Guessed so. Why don't we talk while having a walk then."

*

"So ya want to know why was defined as a special case?"

"How did you-... Well, yes, that's true but I have more questions-"

"Like why your class was specifically selected for this mission?"

"How do you know everything I'm about to ask!?"

"I've been a teacher for 20 years now, kid, I can read students like an open book."

Twenty years? She looks like she's in her late twenties, just exactly how old is she now? Anyways, that isn't important now, "Then you must also have an answer to my question."

"Yes, what should I begin with? Pick your poison."

"Tell me about first."

"So ya see kid, these auras are all just a collection of around your body right? So why do ya think they possess types in the first place?"

"Hmm… I never thought about this… maybe because the have types too?"

"Wrong, are a form of energy, like light or sound, they don't have types, they are simply energy."

"Then why?"

"The correct answer is, the has nothing to do with . That's why normal humans who can't manipulate the particles also have an . As for why these have types, it totally depends on the nature of the . It depends on their capability to handle this energy, the more the strength of the the more attributes the can conjure during a fight.”

"So that means aura is the strongest? And anyone possessing it can conjure all types of attributes during a fight?"

"Non. Non. Non. It's not that simple, kid. The reason why is special is because ya don't actually have to harness it during a fight. Ya can use many kinds of skills and attributes without harnessing your actual aura. When ya actually do it, it is like using a special move in a game, it will be rare, probably only once during a fight."

"Wait wait wait! What do you mean by 'you don't actually have to harness'? Don't you need to harness any kind of to perform even basic ?"

"I knew ya would ask that! The thing is, when performing basic the you're harnessing isn't 'your' but the gathering of the around ya. The difference is like, when martial artists fight and when gunmen fight, gunmen are using the guns and their skill to handle them, which is not a part of them. While martial artists are using their own body and their own fighting techniques, which are a part of themselves. You get it now?"

"I see, I'm getting it now... Then about the next question. Why us? You could have easily got the seniors to carry out this mission"

"About that, kid… if it were me I would have loved to train y'all in this kind of situation… but even I know that this is too much for y'all. The teachers committee and Avalon HQ had a meeting where this idea was proposed, many teachers including me and Miss Yuan were against it, but unfortunately it all came down to vote. And because of one person y'all now have to go through this hell…"

"Who…?"

"That's none of your business, kid. Ya don't have to worry about the politics, teachers like me and Miss Yuan will handle it. And ye shall now return to class, Jung Ji-Yeong Sir will have their first lecture, after they are done with 'that' part then we can begin with the 'special' part of your training."

"What special part?"

"We will be teaching you how to wield weapons."