Year 2033, September
11:30 A.M
Goz Beida, Chad, Africa
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With my focus somewhere else, I absently scribbled on a notebook in my hands. At that time, my attention was on those two Aegis Users sparring in the palace garden. Observing every movement they made, I jotted down the things that popped up to me about them.
"Caesar!" yelled Hope.
Hope Domitius slashed at Caesar with his Aegis blade, but Caesar evaded it rather easily. The blade glittered with a bright gold brilliance as Caesar parried each attack with his own. Slowly, Hope took a few steps back, being wary of where Caesar would strike.
Caesar, as usual, wore his dark robe and boots, along with the two-horned Aegis mask. Hope, on the other hand, wore a plain white T-shirt, combined with a pair of faded dark jeans.
"Your golden eyes are indeed distracting, edgy blond teen," said Caesar as two yellow javelins sprouted out from his palms. "I can see why the former minister of external affairs has her eyes on you."
Hope shook his head in annoyance. "Urgh. Just hearing you said that reminded me of that woman. She's far too obsessed with me."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah . . . Heck--"
Hope barely dodged a javelin aimed at his head, and when he turned his head around, another javelin struck him straight in the jaw.
Caesar wielded that one javelin in his hands like a spear and continued to strike Hope with it relentlessly. When he was done, Hope fell onto the ground, defeated.
"I WON!" shouted Caesar, raising both of his arms up high.
The javelin in his hand disintegrated as Hope scrambled to stand back on his feet. "That's not fair!"
Caesar tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"You distracted me."
Caesar shook his head and clasped Hope's shoulder with one hand. "That's your fault for getting distracted. In a battle of life and death, a mistake such as that can mean the end of your life."
"I know . . ." Hope took a deep breath and patted at his T-shirt.
"Still, up until that point, you were able to keep up with my movements. Those two months you have wasted by being in The People's Light seems to benefit you after all."
Hope smiled. "Thanks, I guess."
"Though, with me being an ex-elite soldier myself, there's hardly anyone that can beat me. Haha!" Caesar laughed and slapped Hope in the back hard.
"Eh-hem," coughed Agatha just a few meters away from them.
Caesar stopped laughing and gulped when she walked towards him. "Y-Yes, Agatha, Your Most Gracious of all Highnesses?"
"Did I just saw you go all-out on this kid?" she said with a frown.
"Er . . . Yes?"
She clenched her fists when Caesar started to distance himself away from her. "That javelin you threw, it could have pierced his head."
He shrugged. "Well, that would've happened if he didn't dodge in time. But, I suspect, that was not the answer you want to hear, milady?"
Hope raised his hands in submission. "Actually, it's fine Miss Agatha. Caesar's just trying to--"
She narrowed her eyes at him, and in a split second, he was shut silent by her.
As those three indulged in a rather one-sided argument, I shifted my attention to Lily standing next to me.
She was silent the whole time, trying to activate and deactivate her Full Aegis Form as time passed. I had adviced her to do so since her combat prowess was dependant on that one unique ability. By being accustomed to her Full Aegis Form, she could activate it in just a second, or even quicker.
I proceeded to sit down on a stone slab near the palace garden's entrance and stared at the clear, blue sky.
"It's a beautiful day . . . Heck, what am I saying?" I rubbed my blond hair and skimmed through the notes I had taken.
I kept reminding myself that exactly two weeks had passed since Ivar's brief appearance in Gheele's palace. I was worried, in fact, of what the Pillars could do. Surely, it would be impossible to fight them the way Caesar and the others were right then.
So, I tried to come up with methods to hone and improve on how they use their Aegis. And so far, I have begun working on improving Lily's and Caesar's.
"Hmm."
I looked at Ava, who sat on a stone bench far away from the others. She kept staring at the grass ever since she came here. Perhaps, in her own way, she was thinking about what Ivar had said.
"Ava is still only twelve years old," I reminded myself. "But she has gone through so much that I couldn't even compare what I had done at her age."
I sighed and went inside the palace, to discuss with the other scientists about what improvements I had in mind for Caesar.
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The next day, Vincent, another scientist and a good friend of mine accompanied me that morning. We were heading towards the throne room where Gheele was resting. Vincent proposed that we should take the chance to actually get some data from Gheele's Aegis. And by no means, I agreed with him without hesitation.
No one had examined Gheele's Aegis before, and if we managed to run some tests on him, that would be great.
Or so I thought.
When both of us reached the throne room, a large cluster of orange Aegis crystals was blocking the entrance. We looked at each other for a moment, and the crystals changed its shape to form a gap in the middle.
"I know why you have decided to come here," said Gheele as he emerged from within the throne room.
"Then--"
"And I don't want it," he said sharply. "I don't need any advice or training for my Aegis."
"B-But--"
The Aegis crystals closed the gap immediately before I could finish my sentence.
"It's fine, Klaus," said Vincent. "Let's ask him again the next time around."
I looked at him and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. Gotta visit Maltyie in the hospital after this."
"Oh, I'll come with you."
I shrugged. "Eh, sure. Ava might want to come too, I think.
"Yeah, let's bring her with us. I'm sure Maltyie would be pleased to see her."