The weeks flew by in the capital while Kellen struggled to adapt the different lifestyle. Most his time was spent either learning at the academy or visiting the Slum Squadron with little to no breaks in between.
However, Kellen never felt fatigued to the point of collapsing or needing to skip a day for rest. The only issue he would occasionally run into was when Legionnaire Axus showed up for some more sparring.
Over the past few weeks when the small Legionnaire would swing by, he would always immediately order for a spar with Kellen. Afterwards, he would barely manage to escape the Legionnaire's questioning, but for some reason Axus was quite annoyingly persistent. The uncomfortable atmosphere between him and Rena also remained the same for the most part, but that was only one of the less concerning worries of his.
Currently, Kellen was in the middle of another successful escape from the Legionnaire with Tommy fleeing alongside him.
"Why have you been following me? What do you want?" Asked Kellen with an annoyed expression as he continued to dart between the walls and buildings on the academy's grounds.
"Oh, I'm somewhat on the run at the moment too." Replied Tommy in his usual carefree manner with a mischievous smirk.
Kellen shook his head in disbelief at the comical boy. Another common occurrence at the academy was this idiot constantly finding trouble for himself wherever he went. Kellen could not believe the frightening skill of Tommy. Whenever he decided to open his mouth, he could immediately summon a disaster.
"Let me guess, the Legionnaire again?" Sighed Kellen as he realized the kid next to him was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
"Yeah! How did you know?" Laughed Tommy as they scaled a wall and darted over the ceramic tiled roofs to avoid the Legionnaire's pursuit.
Kellen slapped his head with the palm of his hand.
'This idiot... It's practically every time he opens his mouth now, no, with just his presence alone he can successfully piss the people off here. Not to mention his father...' Sighed Kellen internally.
He quickly glanced over his shoulder passed Tommy to see the Legionnaire, (enraged father), easily following them.
"Shit, he's gaining ground on us!" Ticked Kellen as he and Tommy slid off the side of one of the tiled roofs and ducked down a narrow alley way.
The two boys looked like experienced thieves as they skillfully maneuvered the urban terrain.
Unfortunately, the next alleyway they turned to, near the edges of the academy, only lead to a solid brick wall.
"Fuck, what do we do now?" Complained Kellen as he anxiously listened to the approaching footsteps of the Legionnaire not very far off from their current location.
Kellen hurriedly tried to find a way to scale the buildings but sadly there were no decent footholds. There was not even a single plausible hiding spot in the one way alley. Kellen shook is head irritably as he raked his eyes over their surroundings in exasperation and with zero success.
'Why can't that damn lunatic leave me alone?'
Kellen scratched the back of his head with annoyance and kicked his foot as he recalled the aggressive actions of the Legionnaire that only increased with every class session and spar.
Originally, Kellen had enjoyed sparring with the Legionnaire since he was able to slightly and momentarily relieve the raging fire in his chest.
However, the Legionnaire was becoming more and more unbearable. Every new sparring session had an added ferocity and strength to it that surpassed the previous ones, and the injuries Kellen sustained afterwards were beginning to increase in amount and severity.
Luckily, the restorative properties of his demonic blood and body had managed to repair themselves up to this point, but they were requiring more and more time to heal.
"Hey, follow me! I got a way out of here!" Excitedly grinned Tommy as he punched Kellen's shoulder and beckoned for him to follow his lead.
Kellen hesitated to follow the whimsical kid until a thought struck him.
'Wait... He's been running away from his father and the instructors almost everyday, but I've never seen him actually get caught...'
Kellen curiously studied Tommy, who was now oddly pressing his ear against the brick wall and lightly tapping his fist on certain bricks.
"Ah! Here it is, come on!" Shouted Tommy cheerfully as he pushed with some strength in his fist against a specific brick.
Kellen widened his eyes in amazement as the brick that Tommy slowly had pressed deeper into the wall stopped and clicked. The bricks surrounding it similarly began to shrink deeper into the wall as the bricks surrounding those also followed suit. Like dominos, the bricks clicked and moved revealing a small opening in the brick wall, allowing for the two boys to enter.
"Ha, pretty awesome, right!" Pridefully grinned Tommy towards Kellen as he stood with both his hands resting on his sides and his elbows jutting out.
"Uh... Yeah." Stammered Kellen as the footsteps behind them grew much louder.
"We better hurry or my dad is gonna smite our asses soon!" Reminded Tommy in a sarcastic voice as he raced through the secretive opening in the wall without waiting any longer.
Kellen tore one last glance towards the entrance to the alley before racing after Tommy through the mysterious opening in the wall.
The passageway that was hidden behind the wall was quite narrow and had dim lighting. Kellen curiously watched as Tommy paused a few steps ahead of him and blindly felt the wall to their right.
The sound of a switch being pressed clicked off the walls of the dimly lit passageway. Kellen was surprised as warm red lights lining the sides of the floor illuminated the hidden passageway and the opening behind him quickly closed itself.
Tommy mischievously smiled back at Kellen and winked.
"You could say that this is my little ace right here for escaping those annoying instructors." He chimed proudly.
Kellen was dumbfounded and didn't know exactly what to say. He had always thought that Tommy was just a stupid troublemaking kid that would get caught and punished for his disturbances, but obviously their current situation somewhat proved otherwise.
Kellen scratched the back of his head while inspecting Tommy in a different light. Although the blue haired kid still wore a mischievous expression, the cunning light hidden behind his comical eyes was more pronounced than before.
"So... Where are we? Or I guess, where does this passage lead to?" Kellen broke the semi-awkward silence.
"Don't worry, we are still in the capital at the academy. This passage is one of the many that dot its structure and as far as I know... I am the only one that has access to them!" Excitedly explained Tommy.
"Come on, I'll show you around!" He said without waiting for Kellen's response as he smiled and raced down the passage.
Kellen was again at a loss for words as he ran after the delinquent. He was unsure as to where this kid was leading him but anywhere safe from the prying Legionnaire was definitely better.
The warm red lights illuminating the long passageway felt oddly familiar to Kellen as he ventured deeper in with Tommy. They were like little orbs of energy that felt inexplicably connected to him in some odd way. Kellen couldn't put his finger on it exactly but the strange feeling in his chest he had been coping with for the past few weeks seemed to resonate with them.
After roughly thirty minutes of straight nonstop running, Kellen noticed Tommy was beginning to slow their pace.
'We must be reaching the exit.' He figured.
However, Kellen also had a feeling this was not exactly true. While they ran through the passage it seemed like they were delving deeper underground as the air had continued to feel damper when passing over Kellen's skin. The smell of moisture that penetrated Kellen's nose also felt a lot stronger and was another indication of their descent.
When the two boys finally came to a halt, Kellen also noticed the sleek concrete walls were no longer just plain and bare. He curiously ran his fingers over the strange patterns that were carved into the surface. The weird carvings almost looked like pictures, like old depictions of events that had taken place in the distant past.
Kellen paused his tracing and questioningly looked over to Tommy who was leaning against the opposite wall with a smirk.
"Pretty cool right!" The mysterious boy said as he pointed at the different depictions.
"Yeah, but what are they? Why are they here?" Asked Kellen as he stared back towards the intricately carved walls.
"Dunno. My guess is they're the history of this place before the Empire, probably even before the Legionnaire Gods." Tommy summed up with a childlike fascination.
"Before the Legionnaire Gods..." Repeated Kellen in a lower voice.
"Yeah... Back when times were a lot more simpler. When Legions, ranking, and Legionnaires didn't exist." Commented Tommy in a longing voice with a somber light in his eyes.
He walked over to the wall next to Kellen and studied the carvings intently.
"I hate fighting you know, but I realize that you can't have much change in this world without it... Pretty ironic, right? Probably why my father gets pretty frustrated with me..." He said with a strange light in his eyes.
"Is that why your always running off and arguing with the instructors?" Asked Kellen with realization.
"Yeah, you could say that." Tommy sighed with a seriousness unlike him.
"I just want an era of peace for a change... No more petty squabbles or fights over territory or power, or having even children train to become soldiers for a war they didn't even start." He continued as he glossed his hand over one of the carvings that depicted a fierce battle.
"Sadly, I don't think that would be possible with the state of things right now. I mean even your father seems to be pretty dead set on expanding the empire." Commented Kellen with a shrug.
"I know... But nothing will change unless someone challenges this broken system, right?" Beamed Tommy as he lifted his hand from the wall and grinned towards Kellen with determination.
Kellen nearly choked as he listened to the familiar words spoken by the strange boy next to him.
"R-right..." Kellen stammered as he listened to his own thoughts being practically spoken right back to him.
"I figured you also thought so. Even though your usually duking it out with my father during class, I noticed you never accept his invitations." Tommy poked thoughtfully.
"Invitations? Axus never mentioned that... I guess I usually run off before he can ask me anything." Said Kellen in confusion.
"Hahaha... Oh man! That's fucking great! You never even gave him the chance then!" Laughed Tommy as he pounded the wall with his fist and chuckled hysterically.
"Hey! What's so funny?" Asked Kellen with annoyance.
"Nothing, nothing, it's just that it explains why his mood has been getting progressively worse lately. Also probably why he's been harping and beating on me more than usual." Explained Tommy as he continued to laugh.
"What!" Exclaimed Kellen with surprise.
He didn't realize that his simple actions could have had an effect on the kid standing next to him.
"Nah, you don't have to worry about it. I'm already used to being the family "disappointment" anyways. I just didn't expect that his "amazing" Thunder Legion was getting turned down by a potential recruit. Usually, people beg to get into his Legion's ranks, but they're just another bunch of war-loving idiots." Cackled Tommy.
Kellen shook his head in surprise. He did not expect that Axus's intentions were just to recruit him into his Legion all along. Although he still would have turned the Legionnaire down and Tommy had expressed otherwise, Kellen felt Tommy's treatment was partially his fault.
Tommy noticed the pitying expression Kellen had accidentally shown momentarily.
"Hey! I said don't sweat it, alright!" Said Tommy as he punched Kellen's shoulder while faking an over the top expression of anger.
Both the boys paused before laughing again.
"If you haven't noticed yet, all the old guys here are pretty harsh in their training." Spat Tommy through his laughter.
"I know, fucking sadists... Am I right?" Chuckled Kellen after feeling a sense of kinship for once.