MATTHEW'S POV
My red button flung in the air. Pain shot through me, but not as painful as before. It was a sign that I was getting the hang of summoning my soul protector.
The red button transformed into a dark figure. My soul protector's eyes glowed fiercely, looking for challenges. When it spotted none, my soul protector vanished into thin air.
"Woah!" I heard someone shout. I turned towards the source of the voice to find the other elites standing there.
"Can you do it again?" A girl younger than me requested excitedly. I grinned and picked up my red button. I closed my eyes and felt my energy draining.
'This will be the last one, I'm tired.'
Pain jolted in my chest, but I got used to it so I maintained my composure. I flicked the button up into the air and my soul protector stood in front of me in mightily. You could tell by its gold eyes that it wasn't to be messed with.
The audience behind me watched in awe as they had seen another soul protector with a high level.
"Hey, Ashley! Could you summon your soul protector too?" Someone said.
Ashley furrowed her eyebrows. "What for?"
"So we could see two gold-eyed protectors! It'll be cool!"
"I prefer not to waste any energy, thank you very much." Ashley rebuffed the request.
"Aw, man. What a killjoy."
"Yeah, Ashley. You're just gonna summon your soul protector, what's so bad about it?"
"It's not like it's gonna drain all of your energy in one summon."
"I wanna see two gold-eyed soul protectors!"
Despite the pleads, protests, and the boo's, Ashley still wouldn't give in, but I could see her lip trembling. She was trying not to explode.
"Okay, that's enough! Miss Ramirez will be here soon. I suggest you go to the classroom now." Mister Angelo interjected, causing the other elites to stop.
As the principal said, the elites proceeded to the classroom with a pout. I attached my red button on my sleeve. Ashley sighed and looked down, her bangs created a shadow above her eyes. "Is it wrong to say no...?"
I felt bad for Ashley. Is it wrong to not want to do what they told you to? They were the ones who asked, but it was up to Ashley if she wanted to do it. Why were they so harsh about it? Instead of being mean, they should've just respected her answer. And Ashley had a point. It would be a waste of energy to summon a soul protector just for show.
"No, it was your choice." I said. Ashley looked at me, surprised by my sudden reply. She probably didn't expect that I would hear her. "You had a point there. Why would you waste your energy just so you could show off your soul protector? That's just stupid." I shook my head.
Ashley stared at me, the longest she had ever done. Then, I could see she was trying to suppress a smile.
"I know right? I could've used that energy to fight ventifios rather than putting on a show." Ashley nodded and held her head up high. I grinned and agreed with her, happy that she cheered up.
"That reminds me," Ashley said. "You know that it's our turn to go into the Night fog forest later, right? And you spent all your energy into practicing."
All the colors from my face probably disappeared. My mouth dropped to the ground and my eyes widened entirely. I ruffled my hair and shouted, " Argh! I forgot!"
"You have my permission if you want to sit this one out, Matthew." Samuel patted my back. "I'm your captain, after all."
'Maybe I should-'
I dismissed the thought. If I wanted to prove to the elites that they could rely on me, then I would just have to suck it up. Besides, there's gonna be fifteen of us. I didn't have to do all the work alone.
"We still have a few more hours before going to that place right? I'll recuperate my energy by then."
"Are you sure? Fighting ventifios is no joke. If you fight in a tired state, the injuries could be severe. Heck, death is also possible." Samuel was trying to convince me to sit this one out by mentioning death. But I was too stubborn.
"I'm fully aware of that, Samuel."
Silence dawned on us. Samantha was looking at us back and forth and Ashley looked amused like she found all of this entertaining. My gaze never left Samuel's gray orbs. Our staring contest came to an end when miss Ramirez called us.
"Class is about to start! What are you doing here?" Miss Ramirez put a hand on her hip and pointed towards the stairs. "Classroom. Now."
Samantha and Ashley went ahead. Meanwhile, Samuel and I didn't budge from where we stood.
"You're aware? So you'll stay at the mansion later, right?" Samuel forced a smile. He thought that he had won.
"Nope." I said smugly. Samuel's left eye twitched and he breathed heavily.
The captain grumbled and gritted his teeth. He exhaled deeply and combed his hair back. "I'm your captain. You should follow my orders. And I order you to rest for today. You spent all your energy on summoning your soul protector. And you just got used to it too. What's the difference in fighting on another day?"
"The difference is, captain," I emphasized. "I'm already two years behind. When you guys first summoned your soul protectors, you already knew what to do. You've fought with those creatures with the thought of death crossing your mind. My point is..." I stood my ground. "You guys fought with dangerous beings while I lounged around in the comforts of my home. That doesn't seem fair, does it? And I'm not even that tired! This small, simple thing can never drag me down. I want to help you guys, make the fighting at least a little bit easier." I lifted my chin up high when I saw my point got across.
After my speech, Samuel went quiet. He seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of bringing me with them. Probably catching on that I wouldn't take no as an answer, he gave up.
"Okay, fine. But you're sticking with me. It's either that or I'll lock you in your room."
"Aye-aye, captain." I saluted. Samuel pinched the bridge of his nose, but I could see him smiling. He mumbled something.
"What was that?"
'What is it with people and mumbling?'
"Nothing, we should go now. I can sense miss Ramirez is getting annoyed by our tardiness."
We hurriedly went to the classroom and saw miss Ramirez already teaching. She was writing on the blackboard, so her back was facing us. Samuel and I sneakily proceeded to our seats. We sat down without miss Ramirez noticing us.
-
It was currently 8:30 at night. My phone was ringing.
'First things, first, I'mma say all the words inside my head-'
This caused Samuel to pry his attention away from what he was doing and asked, "Aren't you gonna get that?"
"No. It could be Elijah or Sasha. It could also be my mom. That makes it worse. I can't say that I joined elites and that I discovered summoning a soul protector. She forbid me to talk to you guys in the first place! Heck, she flipped out when I told her I'd be attending this university. She'd faint if I said I was preparing to go to the underworld." I rambled.
Samuel tilted his head. "You're mom was- oh, I get it. Nevermind, then."
Once I answered the call and it turned out to be my mom, I would be in big trouble. I already made my mind up to fight Ventifios. Mom wouldn't accept my decision and could make me drop out of this university.
'She fought with those things. Why can't I?'
I always asked myself that. I already connected the dots on how dad possibly died. To avoid that, I made a promise to myself.
'If I need help, there's no shame in asking someone. If I feel like I can't take it anymore, I will not push myself.'
That was my promise. I felt like if I followed it, the chances of dying could decrease.
I continued to ignore my phone and kept checking if I had forgotten anything. When I confirmed there wasn't, I sat on the floor of the fighting ring. The other elites had gone back to the mansion. The ones that stayed behind were Samuel, Ashley, Samantha, the principal, me, and eleven more elites. They were all busy doing their things.
"Hey, Matthew!" Samuel jogged over to me. He was hiding something behind his back.
"Yeah?"
"I know you haven't practiced on this one yet, and I'll be with you the whole time, but I want you to have it just in case."
He revealed what he was hiding. A long, shiny, black object came into view. I could see Samuel's reflection on it. To get a better look at the thing, I stood up. I gasped when my eyes collided with the dark color of the object. It was a gun.
"Shooting a ventifio will not kill it. Instead, the bullet will make the creature stunned. It's ideal if you want to have an advantage or if you need to escape. There's no specific body part on where you need to shoot it. Just aim it at a ventifio, pull the trigger, make sure that the bullet hits the beast, and there you have it - a stunned ventifio." Samuel explained like it was the easiest thing to do in the world.
I didn't pay attention to any of the words he said. My gaze was fixated on the perilous gun. It may look harmless now, but when grabbed ahold of, it can be bloody.
I never imagined I'd be handling a gun, let alone using one. I didn't want to use it. I was scared I'd do something bad in accident and end up hurting my allies instead of the enemy. If I didn't use the gun though, there's a possibility that an escape could happen, and stunning a creature was needed.
'I'll just use the gun if I'm gonna escape. If it's not necessary, then it stays unused.'
I reluctantly took the object. Samuel walked to the tin cans and places them on top of a high table.
"We still have about twenty minutes left before going to the underworld. The gun only has about ten bullets, so use it wisely." Samuel gestured to the cans. "I think we can work on your aim a little bit. Here, we have five cans. Try to knock all of them with ten bullets."
I went into position. I looked at Samuel and blinked at him. "You know you're not supposed to stand so near at a shooting target, right?"
Samuel grinned cheekily when I said that and put a good distance between him and the cans. I breathed out before raising the gun at the targets.
'Here goes nothing.'
I pulled the trigger. The force of when I shot made me stagger backward and I shouted in surprise because of the loud noise. Some of the elites looked over in my direction because of it. I apologized for the commotion and looked at the targets to see none of them was knocked down. I could see Samuel snickering at my attempt to shoot. Receiving a glare from me, Samuel averted his gaze and whistled a tune.
Learning from my mistake, I firmly grabbed the gun with two hands to balance myself when I shoot again. I measured the height, the width of the can, and braced myself for another loud 'bang'.
I pulled the trigger once again. This time, I finally managed to make a can move. Not knock it down, but sway it a little bit to the side. It turned out that my aim was a bit off. That was progress though.
"Are you ready, elites? We're about to depart." Mister Angelo announced.
I placed the gun in its holder that hung around my waist. I spun the red button on my sleeve.
'Are you ready, gold eyes?'
W̶h̶a̶t̶ a̶ n̶a̶m̶e̶, m̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶. I̶t̶'s̶ b̶e̶e̶n̶ a̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ w̶e̶'v̶e̶ l̶a̶s̶t̶ t̶a̶l̶k̶e̶d̶. A̶n̶d̶ t̶o̶ a̶n̶s̶w̶e̶r̶ y̶o̶u̶r̶ q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶i̶o̶n̶, I̶ e̶x̶i̶s̶t̶e̶d̶ s̶o̶l̶e̶l̶y̶ f̶o̶r̶ t̶h̶i̶s̶ p̶u̶r̶p̶o̶s̶e̶. S̶o̶, y̶e̶s̶, I̶ a̶m̶ r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶. A̶l̶s̶o̶, p̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ c̶a̶l̶l̶ m̶e̶ s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ e̶l̶s̶e̶.
'Uhhh, how about my nickname? Matt?'
I̶ s̶h̶a̶l̶l̶ a̶c̶c̶e̶p̶t̶ i̶t̶.
With that, we exited the elite building. Clouds covered the night sky, but a crescent that shone elegantly could barely be seen.
The sixteen of us made our way towards the school gates. Each step I took and the nearer we got to our destination made me even more queasy. I was about to see those horrid creatures again. Their sharp teeth and red eyes appeared in my mind. I was sweating with nervousness. But I knew I couldn't back down now. Like my soul protector said, 'once I summon one, there's no going back.'
Here we were - the school gates. I kept breathing in and out to soothe the tightening pace in my chest. I felt like I was drowning in fear.
The way I was feeling right now betrayed my whole speech with Samuel earlier. He probably felt my resolve earlier and thought I believed in my own capabilities since I was too stubborn to skip going to the underworld today. But now that we were standing so near to the portal, I was terrified.
I knew I said I didn't have to do this alone but I just couldn't help it. Would practicing summoning a soul protector really be enough to fight Ventifios? I felt like I was lacking something else.
"Ad Sekim Yu Melia" The principal's voice brought me out of my thoughts. A purple aura encircled the metal gate. The next thing I knew, Samuel, the principal, and I were the last ones outside.
"I'll be staying here to provide information." The principal said when he saw my questioning stare.
"Didn't you go with them the last time though?"
"I did. But that was when they were missing one member. For now, a batch has fifteen people, they were only fourteen. Now that you're here, they're complete." The principal spoke.
"How can you provide information without going down in the underworld?"
I was too busy asking questions that I didn't notice Samuel already went on without me.
The principal held up an object that was kind of similar to a phone. "This device right here lets me send warnings through your button. And I use my soul protector to inform me of your whereabouts. When you feel your button shaking or when your soul protector is getting restless, that's me telling you to be cautious."
I understood now. I faced the purple glowing gate. I exhaled deeply before nodding. "Here I go."
I jumped in.
I shouted as I kept falling. I forgot I didn't have anything to soften my landing. While flailing around in the air, my button kept shaking.
What does that mean?
Taking a random guess, I pulled my button from my sleeve. I tried to stop panicking, but that was rather hard since I was getting closer to the ground.
'I don't want to land on my butt again! That hurt!'
Something in me snapped in half. I tossed the button up in the air and my soul protector emerged. The dark figure embraced me as I was about to hit the ground. I didn't feel any pain. My soul protector protected me from crashing on the ground by carrying me like a sack of potatoes on its shoulder. I didn't know how it did that, but I didn't question it. I was just thankful I didn't land on my butt.
My soul protector put me down and poofed back into being a red button.
'Thanks for that, Matt!'
I̶t̶ w̶a̶s̶ n̶o̶ p̶r̶o̶b̶l̶e̶m̶, m̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶.
I dusted my clothes off and took a look around. The place was the same as before. Tall trees were everywhere, slight fog surrounding the place, and it added to the dimness. Fog plus darkness? A bad combination for vision. It made the place tenebrous too. But I noticed how it was really cold here. I must have not felt that before since I was scared out of my wits.
I breathed out of my mouth, emitting a cold, faint smoke.
'I'm back.'