"Killian, wake up!" gently exclaimed Amber as she was shaking his wrist.
"What do you want, Amber?" Killian tiredly asked; he was still in his sleepwear and he can clearly see that the sun hasn't rose yet.
"We have to find the others! Don't you remember our discussion last night?" Amber replied, rolling her eyes at her younger cousin's ignorance.
"Don't you think it's a little too early calling everyone for a session?" Killian said, annoyed
"Well, how else are we going to make the most out of our day?"
"Just because you can wake up early and have a higher mental capacity doesn't mean you expect everyone to have the same"
"That's true, which means I can find other ways to make you get up!" puckishly said Amber, putting her oil lamp down.
"Make me."
Amber walked away from Killian's bed, giving him a brief moment of silence. The room became so quiet that he could hear the cold, morning breeze whistling inside the room. Just as he was about to close his eyes, water splashed onto his face. Right from across the bed was Amber, holding a bucket while chuckling.
"AH! COLD! IT'S BLOODY COLD!" the startled boy exclaimed.
Amber dragged Killian up from his bed and down the halls where they went to get their fellow friends. They first went to Laura's dorm, where she was already dressed up for the session. The group then proceeded to go down a floor and see if Xavier and Arthur were ready. With a gentle knock on a door the three of them were greeted by Xavier, who was evidently still sleepy and in his sleepwear.
"*Yawn* Don't you think it's a bit too early for this? I got up a while ago but I don't think Arthur's THAT punctual to remember our 'secret' training session." said Xavier, scratching the back of his head while snickering.
"Well, he's probably still asleep which means I'm wasting my time" Laura bluntly said.
"No, you aren't. We get to spend time together as friends!" Amber said to Laura in a really hopeful tone
The group headed to Arthur's room to see if he was awake and ready. To their expectance, the door was locked so Xavier knocked on the door to see if he would answer. Still nothing, Arthur was still in his room sound asleep. Xavier will not wait for him to answer the door so he decided to summon one of his spirits to help.
"Regulus Anima" Xavier called.
Suddenly, a wispy flame started to appear by his side. It was the Spirit Of Twilight, one of the several spirits Xavier has from his powers.
"You never told us about your powers. Mind telling us why a dark floating fireball is hovering above you?" Killian brought up.
"Well, I've actually gotten them about 2 weeks ago. It allows me to summon some spirits, which I'm still very confused about."
Xavier's body started to become transparent and a pitch black aura surrounded him. His formerly white hair turned black, the three were anxious but Xavier reassured them that he won't do any harm. He walked through the door effortlessly; it's as if he was intangible much like a ghost. Xavier scouted the room and saw Arthur, still in his bed and certainly looked like he was not waking up any sooner. Xavier retreated and reverted back to his original state.
"He's asleep and I think we should just leave him that way" Xavier reported.
Amber smirked, holding a bucket of water that was half-full.
"Go back to your ghost form and unlock that door. I have a better idea!"
The quiet dawn suddenly lost its tranquility as a loud scream followed by a splash of water came from one of the dorms. After waking Arthur up, the whole group went outside the academy's courtyard to practice their combat. Golden sunshine reflected onto the marble ground and the water from the lake was glistening. Birds were chirping about; it felt so peaceful and it was the perfect time for them. Of course Arthur, who was abruptly woken up was still a bit crabby.
"You could've knocked on the door, you know" Arthur argued
"Well, we figured that knocking on the door was still not enough. You looked like an angel sleeping though haha!" Laura jokingly said.
Arthur looked away, annoyed. Laura apologized, giving him a warm smile and a hug. He was still irritated that his clothes were now wet and he had to change but he still forgave his friends, Arthur smiled back at Laura.
"Hey Laura, you should probably start creating some dummies now. We'd love a challenge!" Killian said while suiting up his 'special swords'.
Laura began to gesture her hands in an enchanting manner. Out of thin air, inanimate figures that resembled the monsters from Tenebris began to form. They had bright lights of green and blue outlining their bodies, sharing the same trait as any of the things she creates. It was Laura's power – to create and control anything she desires by using her mana – she wanted to make the practice much more intriguing so she made the monsters resemble the most demented nightmares she can think of. The rest were startled, but Arthur looked so casual; he seemed like he was too busy checking his weapon – a magical orb that hovered up his head – to care. Xavier drew his dagger out from his coat while Amber decided to bring one of her many battle mechs. The thing was huge but not any bigger than the other monsters. It had huge, bulky limbs made of hard metal and a spherical cockpit. Amber didn't want to look flashy so she decided to go with something she can control in a small area.
"Ready?" asked Laura.
The four simultaneously nodded and Laura began to animate the 'dummies'. Blue smoke began to emit from the lifeless creations and one by one they began to move their limbs, growling. Xavier and the others grouped up at the center of the courtyard, now encircled by a savage horde of beasts. Laura clapped as the sun rose up and they began to engage.
Arthur's eyes began to glow along with his orb, he levitated off the ground. With one swift gesture, the ground began to quiver and the monsters were launched up into the air because of the force. Xavier and Amber advanced, slashing and hitting the monsters away with their weapons. Xavier moved quickly enough to dodge their attacks, tearing into the crowd with incredible speed. Laura watched from a distance as they take down her dummies. She couldn't possibly interfere because that would make the fight less exciting, and she knows that her friends love a good fight. A creature tried to propel its tentacles at her, but she noticed it in the nick of time to make the monster vanish into petals. As to not disturb her, Laura created a bubble for protection along with a chair to watch them in. On the other hand, Amber swung her robot's hammer at the creatures, knocking them into the ground with a loud bang. Arthur waved his hand and manipulated the gravity in the area once again, causing some of the creatures to collapse into the ground due to the immense pressure. He aimed his orb at them, commanding it to release a strong magnetic force, pulling the monsters towards it. Meanwhile, Xavier summoned in a fire spirit beside him, lighting his entire body in a bright orange haze.
"Regulus Flagro!" Xavier shouted; the spirit ignited and bursts of flame scorched the creatures.
His trusty dagger lit up like a fire and he continued lunging at the monsters, slitting their limbs apart several at a time. As they two were handling the horde below, Killian fought the bigger ones behind the crowd of smaller monsters. Killian's swords clashed with their skin as he spun around from monster to monster – his weapons were 3 pairs of short swords bound to a magical string he can control, they really were 'special swords' – allowing him to grapple away or towards them. Kling! Kling! Kling! The swords whistled as they pierced through the monsters. As Arthur was occupied with the monsters, a long claw reached out and unknowingly grabs him. He struggled to break free, using the orb to pull away the claw but it was no use. Amber rushed towards him, ramming through the horde. She smashed the claw into the ground causing it to burst into a hundred blue petals. Xavier, now worn-out, wiped off the sweat from his face as he fought with his fire spirit. With each second, his energy was draining and he can't do anything about it. The group was overwhelmed by Laura's creations. Killian was now having difficulty with slaying the bigger foes – he noticed that they have become much tougher and can now endure his blows. Some monsters broke free from Arthur's pull so he delivered another large gravity wave that caused the ground to rupture upon the beasts once more; the giant creatures at the back did not seem to be affected by his attacks at all and were meddling with Killian instead.
"I think you've made it a little bit too difficult for us this time!" Xavier shouted.
"Don't you think we should slow down?"
"Well, we could take a brea-" Laura stopped; she saw Xavier's father and Master Delfoy walking towards the courtyard .
"What is this?" Master Delfoy asked.
"S-sir! Uh, we were just practicing our combat while class hasn't started yet!" Laura nervously replied as she was clenching her fists, causing the monsters to dissipate into a rain of petals.
Xavier, Amber, Killian, and Arthur were all very confused until they saw the two great knights talking to Laura. The four quickly ran near the stone steps to greet them. Xavier made his spirit disappear while Amber and Killian took off their battle equipment.
"With all due respect, Masters, Laura was simply helping us get better with honing our skills. I think we are making good progress!" Arthur stated.
Master Delfoy smirked, seemingly pleased with their work.
"You are trained to be Ephronia's greatest knights and as you all may know, a knight is not limited to a sword and shield. We encourage our student's versatility and expertise. What you are doing shows that we have thought you children well, King Orion would be happy to know!" Master Delfoy answered in an optimistic tone, scratching his beard.
"How is that spirit-summoning doing, son?" Mr. Cowell asked.
"Well, I did use it to wake up Arthur."
"Hey!" Arthur bleated.
"And I recently did learn how to summon a fire spirit that can aid me in fights"
"Good to know. Well, you kids better go back to your dorms! Delfoy and I are holding an arrangement with one of the kingdom's best knights in commemoration for the upcoming event."
"You mean the tournament, sir?" Killian was curious.
Mr. Cowell nodded in response and the group was reacted with enthusiasm. Mr. Cowell dismissed his pupils back into their rooms. As they were leaving, he could hear the conversations they were having as they walked away. Master Delfoy examined the aftermath of their 'training session'.
"How do you expect us to clean up these petals, Christopher?" Master Delfoy asked.
Mr. Cowell gave him a stern look.
"Do you want me to call them back?" Mr. Cowell sighed.