Life begins, ends, and the cycle repeats. A transference of energy that moves from one location to another from past to present to future; all have a destined path that bonds together like a link of chain. But why must there be a change that causes pain, hatred, jealousy, and anger? How deep does the complexity of events must unfold to see one turn that affects the millions of others around them? For what purpose? For what goal?
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Aurelius brought up his hands with the crumbled paper. Straightening it out, he noticed the list of activities that he needed to complete sword practice, elemental control, math, art, social studies, and many more. Art has been the number one class that took up the majority of the days and also was the most popular, especially after Maestro Regis had performed her songs ten years ago. It has become an instant hit.
Music wasn't always so popular. The majority of the time, it was quite dull with its hymns and chants. But, whenever Maestro Regis sang her songs, the beat and the tempo was different. Upbeat, fast, and even mind-numbingly unique. Classical had a whole different feel; she called it the new generation of modern day music.
"We have to finish all of this?" Aurelius asked a bit taken back at the amount of work that they have to do. "And there is no flight training. What's with that?"
Was flying taboo?
Aurelius didn't think so, mainly because he had seen the others flying around the training ground. The only thing that he could think of was probably because of safety reasons; everywhere he looked, there was always a teacher there watching.
"The shock your wings went through today, forcefully forms your wings and consumes a lot of energy. In such a case, you get tired easily," Lucian explained in his usual teacher voice. All he needed was glasses, and it was all set. "When you try to fly, you might injure yourself. Best not to risk something like that when you just opened your new wings. You don't want to be permanently damaged and never be able to fly again. There is only so much abuse your wings can take before they can't heal themselves back to its perfect condition, especially in the next three years. Until then, your wings aren't completely infused with magic. Watch yourself."
The thought of a damaged wing horrified him. He didn't want to be permanently grounded for eternity, just when he had gotten them.
"Let's get this over with," said Lucian. He was already swinging his wooden sword that he got off a rack that was near them. Each swing was a continuous fluid motion of a sword dance that reminded him of an ancient dance. Even the blade whistled in the air, bringing a surreal effect that only a master could pull off. It wasn't soft and elegant like the Angelous, but rough and explosive.
Every strike was a burst of power that brought out gusts of wind. Each blast of air pushed Aurelius backward, sometimes even making him stumble. He had to bring up his right wing to stop the harsh blow that smacked him around like a ragdoll.
Aurelius knew that Lucian had learned how to fight since the moment he could walk. He had heard about the hellish training that all Daemons go through—many are kicked out for failure, and there were instances where death was a natural thing. Lucian was one of the rare few that made it to the top of his class and even came out highly decorated at a young age. Truly, he was someone that even Aurelius aspired to be. His eyes twinkled as he watched Lucian finish up his dance and landed gracefully with his wooden sword brought before him and pointed up into the sky in an elegant manner.
Letting out a satisfied sigh, he turned toward Aurelius. "Pick a weapon and start working on the basics," said Lucian, he sheathed his wooden sword to his side out of habit. "Unless you want to spar with me."
Aurelius nodded furiously. Would I ever!
This was a perfect opportunity to see how much Aurelius had grown in the past sixteen years. He enjoyed sparring with swords, and he especially enjoyed fighting with Lucian, though he disliked getting beaten up by him.
He would be rewarded with large bruises and ugly welts. Although, as time went passed, the number of injuries did decrease, in which it was a celebration, but the difficulty level increased. These days, he didn't receive too many heavy blows that ended up in blackouts and was able to defend the majority of Lucian's vicious attacks.
It was a different story altogether when Lucian became focused. The last time he pissed Lucian off, he was knocked out with one perfect hit to the neck. Aurelius flopped to the ground, unconscious in under a second, and after that, he was hung upside down on a tree. On that day, he devoted himself not to piss off Lucian—better to learn and obey.
Picking up a wooden sword, Aurelius got ready. His wooden sword was in front of him; he observed every detail of Lucian's movement. The slight twist of his wrist to the shifting of his hips, or even the darting of his eyes.
There were many times where he was fooled by Lucian's small body movement hints after he realized that he wasn't able to predict a fair amount of Lucian's attack. Lucian used this knowledge and tricked him as often as he could. There was a fifty-fifty chance that Lucian would use the first slight movement to trick him into attacking first.
It wasn't easy to figure out what Lucian will do next. What made it even more difficult was that Lucian's body movement was hard to decipher. He barely moved his muscles, never giving off any hint of an imminent attack. The only way that Aurelius was able even to know that an attack was coming was all intuition. Also, if it was that split moment was enough for Aurelius to get a feeling where he might attack. Where he would possibly strike, to how fast, and how strong of a strike that Lucian will deliver was all just guesses.
Sometimes, Aurelius was lucky enough to sneak in an attack, but most of the time, it was the other way around. He waited patiently, watching and waiting on what Lucian would do next. At that moment, he felt as if the world around him started to slow down. His heartbeat was speeding up, while everything else was not. His muscles were relaxed, his mind slightly tensed, but it homed in on Lucian.
In that split second, Lucian lunged forward, and, with a downward slash, he aimed for Aurelius' head. Aurelius didn't have time to think; he relied on his muscle memory to react to him. Side-stepping out of harm's way, and simultaneously knocked the incoming sword out of its deviate course of attack with the butt of his sword.
Lucian swerved in an unorthodox angle that looked close to a mid-air spin. Aurelius was shocked that Lucian was able to pull off such a ridiculous strike. He stumbled backward, holding himself off against Lucian's attack.
From the moment the two swords made contact was a blinding array of attacks that hammered into Aurelius' very core of the blade.
"Nice!" Lucian shouted, pleased by Aurelius' blocks.
"Not bad yourself," replied Aurelius.
Aurelius grunted at the power from the swing, making his very bones shiver in pain. All he could do was grit his teeth and bear with the pain.
With each strike, he felt the blade shake from the immense power that Lucian had put into his attack. He had to divert the other blade away, but Lucian didn't let him go as smoothly as he liked. Aurelius had to parry, dodge, and make a feeble attempt into striking when he had the chance.
"Step faster!" Lucian was pushing Aurelius to the point where Aurelius was bolting around on his toes. His whole arm was tensed from the powerful strikes that Lucian was able to swing in each attack. For an ordinary wooden sword, it gave off a thunderous sound.
Aurelius had a difficult time avoiding Lucian's attacks, diverting it made him stumble a few times, especially the ones that came straight at his chest, making the distance a bit harder to differentiate. From his misjudgment of his side-step, the tip of the wooden sword came flying toward his side. He brought up his wooden sword a second too late, and a sickening thud could be heard as the blade hit. The force threw him backward and onto the ground as he rolled a couple of times and ended up sprawled on his back.
"What?!" Aurelius was momentarily shocked. "How?" He was sure that he was going to dodge it, but his misstep had caused him to receive a painful blow.
For a moment, Aurelius was stalling for time. He wanted to go easy for a little bit, which he shouldn't haven't even attempted, and look at where it had ended up: on the floor.
"Get up. We're not done yet," Lucian ordered with a stern voice. He held the wooden sword at the tip of Aurelius' neck. "I have seen you do better than this." With a quick whack on Aurelius' arm, a red welt was left behind.
Grumbling, Aurelius pushed himself up from the ground with the help of the wooden sword. A slight throbbing pain pounded on his arm, but it was worse on his side. If he hadn't barely avoided Lucian's blow, he would've had a couple of broken ribs. Even though the pain was a slight distraction, he forced his attention back at Lucian. Staying on the ground any longer would just end up in him getting beaten even harder for not getting up fast enough. Lucian had done it before, and he would do it again. Raising his wooden sword in front of him, he observed Lucian.
When Aurelius saw Lucian slightly move his left shoulder, he sprung forward into an attack, striking twice. The first was aimed at Lucian's head that he knew would be blocked instantly. In mid-air, he diverted his offense to a slash toward the side.
Lucian moved in a blink of an eye; his sword was near his ribs where Aurelius' sword was. A crackling sound resounded outward in the field, the force of the impact was strong enough to push Lucian hard to the side, making him lose his footing for a split moment. In that moment of misstep, Aurelius dived forward with another swing.
Delighted by Lucian's misfortune, he put all his strength into the strike. He thought that he had got Lucian in an unfavorable situation but was proven wrong.
Lucian didn't even flinch; he dodged from his unfavorable position. He rolled and ducked out of Aurelius' swing and sprung forward. From his roll, Lucian then swung viciously toward Aurelius' legs. Aurelius felt a tingle of the imminent attack; he had to hop back before his foot would get another large bruise that he didn't want.
"That's better," shouted Lucian. His swing became sharper and faster than before. "Move faster."
Aurelius gritted his teeth, disliking how Lucian didn't seem to be sweating compared to him. He was sweating bullets to the point where his back felt wet.
He felt that he was finally getting a bit of revenge for all of the times Lucian got the better of him, but he got a bit too confident and paid for it. Every strike he blocked made his hands tremble, numb and heavy. Despite everything, it wasn't easy to block all of Lucian's ferocious attacks.
And so, for the next hour, they clashed among each other. Aurelius gained more and more bruises than after the last sparring session. Aurelius cursed under his breath but didn't groan. The welts on his arms were bruising over, but they were nothing but a second thought. Lucian didn't give him enough time to think too long on pain.
In one last struggle, Aurelius swung his sword toward Lucian's blind spot, but just as Lucian was about to get his first hit, Lucian flashed around and blocked the blow. Both swords shattered upon contact as debris of wood flew past him.
Aurelius stumbled backward onto the floor, while Lucian pounced forward with the broken piece of wood in hand. He aimed at Aurelius' neck, stopping Aurelius from attacking again.
"Not too bad. It's the first time where both our wooden swords were shattered. Most of the time, it was yours that ended up broken," said Lucian. He lent out his hand for Aurelius to grab. "Remember, even when the blade is broken, it doesn't mean the fight has ended. Use any and every method as you can to aim, to disable, or kill without hesitation. The moment your feelings waver, it will give your opponent a chance to fight back."
"If killing someone is so easy for you, have you done it before?" Aurelius reached up and grabbed Lucian's hands. Hearing the word kill from Lucian's lips was rare, especially when killing wasn't something condone.
Lucian quietly stared at Aurelius. He smiled, "I'll leave that up to your imagination."
"That's not fair. I know you went out on some kind of mission in the past. Something must have happened in one of your opponents!" Aurelius cried out in outrage. He disliked how Lucian, at times, gave him roundabout answers.
"What would you gain if I told you I had killed someone?" Lucian's smile turned stone cold, telling Aurelius that he was asking the wrong question.
"Uh, possibly negative thoughts toward you? I don't know." Aurelius kicked the rock in front of him, feeling a bit ashamed asking. He could feel the heated gaze from Lucian that made him squirm.
"Exactly. What comes to mind is usually distrust, fear, scared, disdain—or the opposite. It all depends on the person. The majority of the world does not condone killing another being as a holy and just act. To stain the blood of your blade of another being's life means you have to take responsibility for taking away the life that the creator had given."
"But don't those beings deserve to die the moment they have attacked you?" Aurelius asked, confused. "Obliteration of such souls is a good thing, isn't it?"
Lucian's mouth twitched at what Aurelius had just said. "Never think like that." His words were filled with a hint of anger. "Not every soul is condemned to such a point."
"Why?" Aurelius didn't get Lucian's philosophy or much of the Daemon or the Angelous ideals. There were too many ifs, then, and buts that it was too much to keep track.
"You and I have every right to defend ourselves and protect the precious life we were given, but that does not mean they deserved to die. Death comes in due time, some in unexpected end, and others die naturally, and others are killed or murdered. Killing with your hand is always the last resort. Even though the end of life is not the end in the physical world, in which case every being has a chance at rebirth. But to obliterate a soul out of existence in the spiritual plane is a heavier crime. It's the end of their complete existence, which means there is no coming back. Ever."
The way Lucian said the last words brought shivers to Aurelius core. Never coming back was something Aurelius never wished for. A chance was already a miracle, but ever or never was a different feeling entirely.
"You must remember, though, that almost all beings will not remember this promise that they are given," said Lucian.
"Why? Wasn't a promise, a promise?"
"Because one would throw away the life they already have just to be born out of their own selfish reason. Then they lose the meaning of what the gift of life means."
Aurelius was deep in thought. He was not too sure how to take what he said. In a sense, it made sense, but the answer wasn't fulfilling enough.
Throughout the next hour, both Lucian and Aurelius worked on different activities that they were given to complete. It was a tiring, strenuous activity that required both their mind and body to stay focused throughout their training. From practicing the basic foundations from body strengthening, rolling, dodging, parrying, and attacking exercises diligently through the afternoon.
Taking breaks was a luxury, mainly because Lucian continued to push him forward. Lucian's excuse was, "You needed to get ready for the future. And I will thank him for it one day."
Aurelius wasn't even sure when he would get such an opportunity to use it to the point of exhaustion. The whole idea sounded a bit too far, fetched, but he didn't complain.
"Aurelius," Lucian called out, stopping Aurelius in his dodging exercises.
Aurelius could feel his leg muscles burning. He wanted to sit down.
"Yeah?" Aurelius got up, a bit shakily. He patted the grass off of him.
"Have you started on your magic practice?"
"No." Aurelius was never told he needed to practice magic. He thought everything was supposed to be learned at school.
"Really?" Lucian seemed curious about why Aurelius hadn't learned magic.
"I can't seem to bring anything out."
"Still?" Lucian was a bit surprised at Aurelius' comment of magic.
"Yeah. I just don't fully understand how everything seems to work. The element stuff is just confusing." Aurelius looked away in embarrassment. Magic in itself was almost all beings could easily use, but he was one of the rare few that couldn't. It just didn't come naturally to him. Every time he attempted to use it he got a migraine.
"Well, you're not considered late in learning how to use magic, very few learn how to summon their basic element at the age of fifteen, and the majority learns how to summon when they finally awakened," Lucian replied with a knowing nod. "Haven't any accidents happened yet?"
"Not that I know of." Was he supposed to have an accident? Hopefully, he didn't because it sounded like trouble.
"Peculiar, you must be a late bloomer." Lucian stroked his chin. "Everybody seems to have something happen in the first twenty-four hours then the next in forty-eight hours. Any later is a bit odd."
"I'm not too worried yet," Aurelius said with confidence. "It's only what? Twenty-four hours?"
"Yes." Lucian nodded, reassuring Aurelius words. "Did you figure out what your element was, though?"
"No." Aurelius shook his head and shrugged his shoulder. His natural affinity between the elements didn't want to show up even if he tried. "I have seen the Angelous specialize in Sound and Light while you Daemons are masters in Void and Dark."
Lucian nodded. "That is true. There is a special saying that each Angelous and Daemons are counterparts of each other, and when a new child is born, the other half of the element is born at the same time and date. They are like fraternal twins, one female, and the other male, but with different parents. We can find our counterparts in Infinitas Infinitio, but…." he trailed off, "finding our other elemental partner is something we don't always want to do."
"You guys need to let go against your grudge matches. History is history." Aurelius threw out his words a bit without thought.
"Our ideas and thoughts clash too much," Lucian said. "We don't see eye to eye, Aurelius. You wouldn't understand as you are neither."
Aurelius felt a bit ostracized by Lucian's words. He knew that Lucian didn't mean to prick his ego. He understood why they wouldn't want to see each other, but would Lucian understand him?
Aurelius knew that the Angelous and Daemons were complete opposites in ideals and behaviors, making them a heated storm if they ever came in contact. If he remembered correctly, the last instance when two opposite found each other, a full-out brawl went into effect, and it took a good hundred Angelous and Daemon army to stop the fight between the two groups. That didn't always happen, but the chances of something that bad happening were a lot higher than a peaceful resolution.
An abrupt thought hit Aurelius, he unconsciously spoke his mind. "I thought each Angelous and Daemon were considered a perfect half of each other?"
Lucian nodded, understanding why Aurelius had asked that question. "It took this long for us to get to the point of agreement and equality. Any wrong move and it could boil over into a full out dispute."
What Lucian said was true. Daemons and Angelous were considered the same species; they never saw eye to eye. If they did, it was considered a miracle.
"Why hasn't it?" Aurelius carefully asked.
"That is because of the agreement between the Daemons and Angelous since the beginning of our existence. Both of us have kept their end in high regard since breaking it would be considered picking a fight with the creator." Lucian shivered. "Just the thought of it is catastrophic."
That wasn't a good sign, especially when it made Lucian shudder. There weren't many things that made Lucian afraid, and it was one of them.
"Has anyone tried?"
Lucian stepped forward a bit too close for comfort. Their eyes met, and their nose barely touched each other, he could feel the silent rage in Lucian that told him, no, screamed at him that wasn't something he should ever consider doing.
"Yes." Lucian's eyes glowed red in displeasure. Aurelius could feel the air around him tense, and the air crackle. "Our whole existence was put on the line, especially since it was all of us who have agreed to write our names on the pact. The king as a witness to see it agreed upon."
Aurelius gulped. "I see." He stepped backward, trying to hide his discomfort from the impressive energy that Lucian was giving off.
"With that being said, on to the next task." The intimidating air was gone in seconds as if it was never there. Aurelius was finally able to take a breath from the stifling air.
Suddenly, a loud commotion could be heard from a distance. It was becoming louder and louder to the point where the sound was all around him.