Dark and chaotic. One can barely see anything within the storm. What was supposed to be an enchanting forest is now being ravished by menacing winds. But even with the forest's current pitiful state, it was as if the heavens still haven't punished it enough that the storm went on without signs of passing.
In the middle of this hellish scene was an existence that seemed to be out place. Veiled by the raging winds and flying debris, is an image of a person. A young man stood there. Calm and unmoving. Neither a strand of his long black hair nor a single fabric of his clothes disturbed.
"Master, I will miss you."
His voice was buried within the sound of roaring thunders. But for the young man himself, it wasn't the sound of thunder that is deafening him but instead the sound of his heart breaking.
It was a sad goodbye. He was blessed with a good master. He was treated and loved like a son. With the absence of his real parents, his master was his most precious treasure. But now, what was once his greatest source of happiness turned into a horrifying curse of sadness.
"Our path ends here. I have to do this. If it turns out to be a success then I, your master, will cease to exist and failure is not an option I can afford. Go to my homeland. I raised you to become a great Guardian and that's the place where you belong. Go and shine more brightly like no one else ever did. Make your master proud. I held you up for far too long. It's time to say goodbye now. For everything, I thank you."
Those were the last words his master left him. That time, his master spoke in a very calm and soothing voice but to him, every word felt like a dagger piercing through his heart. He had a lot of time to prepare for the farewell but he never felt ready. Countless negative emotions surged within him. Sadness, despair, regret, anger, and doubt ate his heart out piece by piece. Sadness and despair for his grave loss. Regret for the things he has done wrong. Anger towards himself for being useless. Doubt for his future that suddenly seemed so dark. Brought by the chaos within him, the power sleeping within him kept on surging out. He's actually the cause of the ongoing storm. To be exact, the storm is his magic that is going out of control.
He remained lifeless in the middle of the storm for a few more hours before he finally regained his reasoning. The weather calmed along with his heart. He looked up in the sky witnessing the heavy clouds vanish into thin air, uncovering the sun that shone through the lands once more. He closed his blue-colored eyes as he felt the warmth of the sun in his pale skin.
" Master, you just never cease to do as you please, don't you? What else can I do but obey? Actually, aren't you going too easy on me? Become a great Guardian? It seems like you're mocking yourself. With everything you taught me, theoretically, no one can surpass me in my generation. Rather than doing such an easy task, I will become the greatest. By 'greatest' I mean I will become even stronger than you, master. Watch me."
As he imagined how his master would have reacted on such an arrogant declaration, he finally gave out a smile and opened his eyes.
"Holy crap…"
He stood there with a stupid look in his face. The fact that he just caused such a massive destruction has finally sunk in his brain. "Mass murderer", "Illegal logger", "homewrecker" and a couple more of nasty titles came into his mind. To be someone deserving of such titles, he burned with self-hatred. He took countless animal life and destroyed their habitat just because he wasn't able to control his emotions.
"Mother Earth, I'm really sorry. For now, this is all I can do to pay you back. Forgive me."
A green light shone within the palm of his right hand as he cast a creation magic. In a matter of seconds, a magical seed was created in his hands and he carefully buried it in the wet ground.
"I may not be able to bring back the lost lives but the forest will surely take back its former beauty within just a month."
He let out a long sigh with a look of disappointment in his face as he despised himself for his mistake. How dare he declare that he will become the greatest Guardian when his first step towards such a noble goal is becoming a shameful weapon of mass destruction.
*Slap!*
He slapped his own face, not because of some sudden masochistic urges. It was to give himself a wake-up call because from now on, he can't afford to make such mistakes. He is now alone. He has no one to clean up after his mess. To make his master proud, he wants to do everything right, as hard as it may sound.
When he was about to slap his face a second time, he stopped his hand midway as he finally noticed a presence of something observing him from afar and two more figures flying towards him with great speed. Those two are still miles away but with his excellent vision and magic detection, their existence cannot escape from his eyes.
"Guardians? Why are they coming for me?…Oh…right." When he realized why, he just felt stupid for his own thoughts.
"Well, this works for me too."
After a quick decision, he took out one of the two Guardian family emblems that his master left for him. He just readied it in his hand as he waits for the guardians to come.
___________________________________________
It has only been a month since Nick and Bob graduated from the Guardian Academy and today is their first day as a Rank 1 Sentinel, the lowest rank and every new Guardian's starting point. The two weren't particularly exceptional in their batch of graduates so they were assigned somewhere appropriate for their level of skill.
They were in joyous moods when they received their assignment. The planet Earth is a relatively peaceful place when compared to other planets. They were just told to assist the already existing two Rank 5 Sentinels on the planet. But things suddenly turned south for them and the smiles were immediately wiped out from their faces the second they appeared at the teleportation array in the Earth's Guardian base. They were greeted by a presence of a monstrous magical disturbance. They weren't even given the time to appreciate the beautiful scene given by their Guardian base that is hovering way above the clouds.
"Is Earth really as peaceful as they say? If so, then why should we face something like this in our day 1? Does this occur regularly, or we just have rotten luck?"
"Don't ask me, Nick. I have no idea. A magical disturbance like this can't be caused by regular demons. Our Rank 5 seniors couldn't be capable of this either."
"Right? The Rank 5 Sentinels we've seen before couldn't be this strong, could they? Isn't this magic in a level of a Captain? If it is a demon of that caliber, aren't we doomed?"
"Enough with the questions. Let's just find our seniors for now and await orders."
Bob may seem to be more composed out of the two but his legs aren't shaking any lesser. They cleared their minds for a bit then finally stepped away from the teleportation array and walked towards a glass-like pathway. It was clear and transparent that they can see the clouds below them. The pathway led them towards familiar looking buildings.
"So every Guardian base looks just the same. These buildings look just like hurriedly stacked cubes. Its squeaky clean, white and smooth appearance is awesome but can't they think of better building designs?"
Seeing a familiar scene helped them ease their minds a bit and so Bob even had the time to complain about architecture.
There are 4 closely packed buildings in total and the pathway to the teleportation array was connected to the building with the most stack of cubes. As the newbie duo approached the building, a huge door appeared out of nowhere leading them inside. They are already accustomed to this kind of mechanism so they weren't surprised. Inside is a huge cubical room with each side 50 meters long. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls are all glowing white so there was no need for any other light source to light up the room. Aside from the huge round table surrounded with 10 chairs at the center, the room was practically empty. There were people who occupied 2 out of the 10 seats and they just sat there with blank faces looking at a hologram projected from the table. They were the 2 Rank 5 Sentinels assigned to look after Earth.
They have watched over the Earth for 10 years already and during those years, a magical disturbance like the one that they are currently witnessing has never occurred before. In fact, something like this never occurred in Earth's history according to the data left behind by the Guardians who came here before them.
Unable to think of a method to deal with the possibly impending calamity, they just decided to wait and kept on observing the images presented in the hologram. It was a terrifying magical storm and the drones they sent could only observe from afar giving them no hints on what's the cause of all this ruckus.
Nick and Bob saw the images presented by the hologram as they approached their seniors and they just gulped at the scene. Horrifying. One of Nick's questions from before has been answered by the images they are seeing. Top grade Elemental Magic. That's what the magical disturbance is. That kind of magic is something only existences of a level of a Captain can cast. And so just like their seniors, they got stuck in place with blank expressions on their faces, completely stupefied by what they are witnessing.
It was perfectly reasonable for them to act like that because in the first place, what kind of concept is there behind a Captain? For sentinels, there are fifteen ranks in total. With mediocre aptitude, reaching that fifteenth rank is an impossible dream. In fact, reaching rank 10 is asking for a miracle. Guardians start out with developing their divine body. As they complete their divine body and become capable of cultivating magic, they can officially start as Rank 1 Sentinels. For those of ranks 1 to 9, they are only capable of flight and body reinforcement magic. Ranking up from 1 to 9 is just a matter of improving magic control and capacity. Rank 10 is a higher realm where one would be capable of casting simplified low-grade elemental spells and they rank up as they improve the number of elements they could cast and gain better control over it. Rank 15 Sentinels are already highly respected individuals but even with their notable power, they are still ants when compared to a Captain. Captains reign freely over all existing elements and their control over it is just synonymous to breathing. A single captain is capable of destroying a planet as large as Earth if he wishes to.
The four Earth's Guardians remained unmoving with stupid looks on their faces. If they were really about to face a demon of a Captain's power level they would choose to bail out and leave this problem for the higher-ups to deal with but they are still clinging to a hope that it's just a Captain who came out of nowhere.
After a few hours of nerve-racking waiting, the storm finally started to die down. Looking like programmed robots, they all did the same action of leaning their heads closer towards the hologram while narrowing their eyes with great synchronization, as they noticed the changes. Their heavy breathing broke the silence in the room as they were filled with anticipation. As synchronized as ever, they all widened their eyes when the cause of the magical disturbance was finally revealed.
"A Guardian!!!"
No words can describe their joy when the image a long black haired young man was revealed. He was emitting an aura of a perfect divine body. There is no mistaking it. He is a Guardian.
The two Rank 5 Sentinels jumped from their seats and hugged each other as they repeatedly jumped in glee. They were totally unaware of the presence of their juniors the whole time. Both of them are well built grown men with one man bald and the other one almost. It was such a sight to see.
Bob, wanting to escape from this agonizingly awkward situation, deliberately cleared his throat in a loud manner to acquire their attention. The seniors finally noticed them and their reaction was far from what Bob expected.
"My oh my! Hello there! I didn't notice that you juniors are already here."
"Me neither!"
"Hahahaha"
Both of the Rank 5 Sentinels laughed like idiots. The juniors looked at each other not knowing what to do. Should they laugh with them or should they just remain silent because they aren't even funny? They don't know what action will their seniors consider disrespectful.
One of the seniors noticed their confused expressions and decided not to prolong their agony. With a smile on his face, he clapped once to get their attention.
"How about you introduce yourselves my dear juniors."
"Rank 1 Sentinel Nick Stone, reporting for duty."
"Rank 1 Sentinel Bob East, reporting for duty."
They executed the Guardian salute as they stated their names. It was a simple act of activating their insignia on their left chest by hitting it with their right fist containing the right amount of magic force. A rank 1 insignia will only light up when it is hit by a magic force signature of a rank 1 Sentinel. The same goes for other ranks. It is one way of confirming ranks and avoiding false claims.
"I guess it's our turn now. I'll go first. I'm Rank 5 Sentinel Paul Bones.", said the square faced senior with a buzz cut.
"And I'm Rank 5 Sentinel Steve Apple." The bald senior followed.
"My oh my! It's good to know these kids also have generic and uncool names like us. But yours is still the worst, Steve."
"I know right?"
"Hahahaha!"
Both seniors went back to laughing like idiots, seeming to forget that they were facing a serious predicament just a few minutes ago. This time it was Nick who silenced them as he once again began firing a barrage of questions.
"Sir Paul and Sir Steve, what shall we do with the captain? Are we going to go out and meet with him? Are there evil captains? Is he going to kill us if we approach him? What if he demands something from us and we cannot comply? Will he get angry and kill us? If we ignored him, will he get angry and kill us?"
Nick's weird train of thought made it seem like whatever they do, they'd be killed. Bob gave him an annoyed look. He is already used to Nick's weirdness but for Nick to act like this in front of his seniors is something that never failed to make him cringe whenever it happens. Fortunately, these seniors seem to be like happy go lucky folks and they won't take Nick seriously. And just as expected…
"Hahaha! This Nick is an interesting fellow. Kid, you have nothing to worry about. Despite their monstrous power, they became Captains in the first place because their pure hearts were acknowledged by the Will of the Universe Itself granting them control over all elements. Aren't these things taught in the academy?"
"Forgive him for being stupid, Sir Paul."
"Haha. It's okay. I don't mind. I'm fond of weird people."
".…"
"Anyway, Bob, how about you and Nick go and greet the Captain. Ask him if you can serve him in any way. If by any chance you earn a Captain's favor, it's a blessing that only comes once in a lifetime. Consider this as our welcoming gift to both of you."
"Here. Take this. It will guide you to him."
Steve gave Bob a device that looks like a metallic ball with a diameter of a single inch.
"You know how this works, right?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Then off you go!"
Nick and Bob gave a quick salute then departed.
With their incredible flight speeds common to all Guardians, it took them no time at all to reach the place where the storm occurred. Their jaw dropped now that they are personally witnessing the outcome of the terrifying storm. Within a diameter of 10 kilometers was just a scene of absolute destruction with the aura of death filling the air. Bob frowned from the thought of the countless animal lives lost from this disaster. Bob felt his heart ache and Nick was the same. The captain must have important reasons for causing such a storm. They comforted themselves with that thought.
Soon they finally arrived close to the man they believed to be a captain. Nick was already fighting an internal battle as he did his best not to fire another barrage of questions. His rarely prevailing reasoning cried out that a Captain is just too scary to annoy. Bob was rejoicing deep inside for how Nick is handling himself. He gave him a thumbs up and a heartfelt smile.
"Leave the talking to me, Nick"
Nick just gave him a nod, still doing his best on keeping his mouth shut.
"We are the Earth's Guardians, how may we address you, senior?"
"I go by the name Athos."
Followed by his brief answer, he presented the emblem that he has with him. It is a shield-shaped, white colored emblem with an azure colored tree engraved at the center.
Bob thought his day couldn't get any more interesting but another surprise bomb just blew right in front of him.
'Am I imagining things now? There's no way he could be…'
"Azuriel family's emblem?!" While Bob was deep in his thoughts, Nick finally broke out of silence, unwittingly answering Bob's doubts with his question.
As if they both agreed upon it beforehand, Nick and Bob fell to their knees with great synchronization.
"We are deeply honored to be graced with your presence, Lord Athos. How may we be of service?"
'Is this emblem really that amazing?' Athos thought to himself as he gave out a slight grin.
"Oh please. No need for such formalities. Be at ease. Actually, I have a favor to ask from both of you."
"As long as it is within the realm of our capabilities, we will absolutely realize your wishes, my lord." Bob answered with fervor. Nick and Bob's eyes were burning with enthusiasm. They didn't expect such an opportunity would really fall upon them.
"Haha. Such great attitudes. I just actually wanted to use the Earth Guardian base's teleportation array. I need you to guide me there."
"As you wish my lord! We'll depart at once." Nick and Bob's eyes shone like lanterns. Gaining a captain's favor by doing such an easy task is like a dream come true.
"Your names?"
"Rank 1 Sentinel Bob East."
"Rank 1 Sentinel Nick Stone."
"I will remember them."
As they stated their names, they were already screaming inside. 'JACKPOT!!!' They weren't able to contain their happiness and they revealed a smile going from ear to ear. Their curiosity towards the Captains' reason for destroying the forest was now totally forgotten. They excitedly flew off, heading back to base.
Are they totally simple minded idiots by acting like this? No. They are idiots if they aren't acting like this. The Azuriel family is in question here. The top. The Greatest. The Strongest family in the current world of Guardians. The family who sired the one who holds the title of being the current strongest Guardian - The Hero.
'Master, my journey is just about to start. When he wakes up, I'll look after him. I promise.' Athos took a step into the teleportation array and vanished into thin air.