When the light was illuminated the inhabitants of the planet 'Nest' were surprised.
—What's wrong? Wasn't the flame extinct?
—What does this mean?
An elderly woman and an elderly man holding hands made their way through the crowd. When they both reached the flame they looked at it in silence.
—This means hope.
The woman declared.
—This means trouble.
Declared the man.
With that uncertainty the people of the planet went about their business since it was not an issue they could do anything about and they could only wait for it to be resolved. Because they didn't know what had happened, but the person responsible would get to them sooner or later.
Meanwhile Olivia and Arlen were heading through the combat district to the Academy's central library.
—That was a bit of a strange request -What happened?
—Are you not curious about mythological animals?
—I'm not saying I'm not. But the strange thing is that you ask me for help and above all, you didn't say mythological animals, you said Phoenix.
—Hahaha, well, I meant searching in general. And you because you were with me when I fainted yesterday, so I guess after this I can buy you dinner.
Olivia smiled in satisfaction.
—If there's such a thing as an invitation that's fine with me.
As they walked and got closer to the library they saw a bunch of people in robes coming and going.
—These are from the science department, quite recognizable.
—They certainly stand out.
When they entered they were greeted by a stony silence that reigned, and only footsteps could be heard coming and going. But what surprised them most was the aesthetics of the building.
They both expected a rather simple interior without any kind of luxury, but they were totally wrong. There was a giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling that illuminated much of the library.
The first floor was filled with tables, and on the upper floors you could see thousands of bookshelves and tables, plus no noise at all.
—Impressive.
Olivia said, and Arlen couldn't agree with her more.
They both advanced through the library afraid to make a sound for fear of making any noise. However, Arlen bumped into a table and when he went to apologize he was greeted by a look of hatred from behind round glasses.
—Muggle.
And after saying that the boy went back to his own thing and Arlen kept walking, wondering what the boy had just said to him meant, but he felt that there was no worse insult than that.
After a while walking Arlen and Olivia reached the second floor to the mythological animal section. They could find fantasy books, books with details, with strengths and weaknesses. They could find quite a few more books than they both anticipated.
—Well, there seems to be quite a lot of stuff. Shall we get started?
—You feel like it?
—Sure, I've got dinner and dessert as a reward.
Arlen laughed as he listened to Olivia.
—Let's go.
Meanwhile, at a training camp were Kevin, Caleb and Laia. They were practicing and improving in their spare time.
Laia's family was under the protection of the White family, Caleb's family. Their bloodline are cats and they have the ability to wind, they are a pretty important family. Although Caleb had once seen Laia's parents he didn't know of her existence until Laia told him.
Caleb was teaching Laia how to improve her skill and handling of it, and while she practiced, he and Kevin engaged in physical exercise and a bit of sparring.
While they were practicing someone they weren't expecting came to them, Leo King. He and his followers approached the 3 of them making a lot of noise and showing that they did not come with good intentions.
—Good morning, failed heir.
Caleb whinnied his teeth when Leo said that. But Caleb was tied to his family and as heir he couldn't lose his temper. He could start a war between families and that would endanger a lot of people.
—What do you want, Leo?
—I was thinking it's a shame they won't let us sophomores fight the freshmen. Don't you want to know? What's stronger? Your ice or my fire?
—It's not the time for that.
—True, but that's not why I came here either. -Then someone they already knew stepped forward and waved with a smile on his face. -I've come for my subordinate to confront that one over there.
Leo pointed to Kevin, who was surprised. He thought the boy would go for Arlen without hesitation, but it seems he changed his target. But Kevin wasn't afraid, he stepped forward and addressed the challenger.
—Your name was Charles? Well, it looks like you don't even have enough spirit to ask for it yourself. Are you sure you won't piss yourself?
Charles, irritated, approached Kevin without taking his eyes off him. When their faces were 5 centimeters apart, Charles stopped and looked at Kevin cockily, taking advantage of the fact that he was taller than him.
—You're nobody, you're not from an important family, the other day you stopped me from playing with my toy and you think you're important. I have to take you down a peg or two.
Kevin got angry when he heard that and put on a serious face.
—I'm going to beat you so badly that the teacher will have to intercede so that he doesn't rip your arm off.
Sparks seemed to fly when Brand arrived.
—What are you sophomores doing here?
After a moment of silence Leo decided to speak.
—A fox showed up. I was just guiding a new student, the academy is big and it's easy to get lost.
—Well, he's already done as a good veteran of the school, I think it's time for you to get back to where you need to go.
—Okay, okay. I'll leave you little, I can't help you anymore. Don't screw it up.
Charles swallowed as he heard that. He couldn't lose now or he would leave his family in a bad place and it would all have been for nothing. With all that it had cost them to become King's family he couldn't lose honor so quickly. Determined he turned to Brand when Leo's group had disappeared.
—I call for an official battle against him.
Brand looked at Charles and then at Kevin.
—Do you accept?
—I do.
—Say the positions of your names and the position of your ranking.
—Kevin, rank 13.
—Charles, ranked 5.
Caleb, Kevin and Laia were surprised to hear Charles' rank. They might think he was strong, but that strong? Caleb had been rank 3, which meant he must be strong by comparison.
Although Charles was also slightly surprised as he hadn't expected the boy that was such a high rank. But he was confident in his strength to be able to surpass the one in front of him.
—It looks like on the first day we already have a top ranked fight. If Kevin wins he would improve his position to number 10, and if Charles wins his position would change from 5 to 4.
Both were satisfied with what they had heard and when Brand gave the signal they threw themselves at each other. Neither had any idea of the other's strengths and weaknesses. But when Charles saw that Kevin was heading straight for him he put up a three foot high wall.
Kevin was surprised to see a wall of earth rising in front of him and realized that this was his ability, somewhat annoying to him. Kevin without hesitation jumped over the wall, but was surprised to see Charles throw a stone pillar at his stomach. Which threw him several meters away and in pain.
Charles seeing that the trick he had done worked was running to get closer to Kevin who, to gain time, moistened the ground and created mud between the two of them. He didn't know it, but this also prevented Charles from throwing his skill as freely as he did before.
To do that Kevin had used one of the water bottles he had with him and he only had two left, which was a problem. He decided to get up and used the gua he had used to muddy the ground to move over that area and get closer to Charles.
Charles threw two stone pillars at him that he had been preparing for some time, but they were not going fast enough to surprise Kevin, who jumped over them and lunged at Charles, who had time to move and miss the kick.
They both looked at each other for a moment deciding what to do. They were pretty evenly matched in all characteristics and it didn't look like they were going to see a clear winner. But Charles still had something he could use, a pill Leo had given him earlier. According to him it could increase the strength and ability of whoever took it for a short moment, so without hesitation he took the red pill and noticed how his body felt stronger.
—What did you take? What was that?
But without answering Brand, Charles lunged much faster than anyone expected. When he reached Kevin he punched him in the stomach before Kevin could do anything and drove two spears that came out of the ground into Kevin's left shoulder and right leg.
Brand quickly jumped in between the two and with one swift move knocked Charles out and grabbed Kevin.
—The battle is off. You two also come with me to the infirmary —he said pointing to Caleb and Laia.
But Brand's head was spinning with what had just happened.