In the blink of an eye, an entire month had passed already. Matthew couldn't believe it, time had gone by so quickly. This day in particular seemed to be his prize for lasting this long.
Matthew bobbed up and down, silly grin on his face as he impatiently waited for his mother to prepare his things. "Hurry! The bus is gonna be here soon!"
Mary rolled her eyes, smiling at her son. She had never seen him so excited before, aside from the day Harold Kiertzche himself arrived at their front door. "Have some patience, Matthew, there is a reason why its a virtue," she patted him on the head, handing him his backpack filled to the brim with food and water. "Hand please."
Matthew hesitantly put his hand forward, he hated this part of the day, but even this wasn't going to ruin it.
Mary pricked Matthew's hand, dripping a tiny bit of blood into a pitch black orb. After whispering some command word, the orb hummed and glowed a deep crimson red briefly, before going back to its slumber.
Matthew felt all his strength drain from himself, having to hold on to his mom for support as his legs gave out. Sweating and breathing heavily, Matthew quickly shook it off after a minute.
"Be careful sweetie, look after yourself and don't forget to have fun!" Mary waved Matthew off as he got on the bus.
During the month that had passed, not a lot happened. Matthew had went to the gym and sparred with some people there, trained, read and hung out with Demetri, Lauren and Zayne while Prince hung around in the back. The three were a bit annoyed at first, but put up with it because Constance said so. Matthew, one could say, got a tiny bit closer (or rather got a bit more used to) to him as the two were practically joined at the hip. Still, he didn't like him.
Matthew and June chatted excitedly about the excursion all the way to school, whilst Gordon pouted about not being to go. Hazel had to stay home because Matthew couldn't bring her to and from school.
All the children from his year level lined up in the gymnasium in front of their homeroom teachers. Matthew, Demitri, Lauren and Zayne chatted amongst themselves.
"Have you guys read up on Calonian culture?" Demitri asked, a tad smug, "surely you know about the 'Hunt', right?"
Zayne rolled his eyes, groaning audibly. "No duh Demitri, its not like the Hunt is the most popular brutal sport in Ezune."
"The Hunt, referring to the sport the Calonians partake in. The Hunt is a name for the monster hunting game that the Calonian's have practiced since the olden days." Lauren mechanically recited from memory, definition identical to one somebody would find in a dictionary.
"Thanks for the reminder, I had forgotten" Demitri drolled. "What are you excited for, Matthew?"
Matthew was excited for many things, but what he was most excited for was the Adventurer's Guild. The Adventurer's Guild was what the "Hunters" used as their main base. It was the place where one would go to sign up and become a Hunter, where one would get their tasks and where one could cash in their kills for rewards. It was what Matthew had originally wanted to become.
Matthew vaguely remembered watching a game with his mother and father when he was young, being awed at the wealth that those hunters gained. Truly, Hunting was a sport that rewarded the strong.
A dull pain echoed in his heart as he remembered, his father, quickly changing into anger. 'Forget him...'
"I'm really excited to see what the Adventurer's Guild is like!" He quickly bounced back into the joyous mood he was in before. "I can't wait to see what its really like!"
"Yeah, right! I'm excited about that too! But what I'm most excited for is meeting Elias Lancer himself!" Demitri lightly fangirl squealed, coughing immediately afterwards to mask it. "...what about you, Prince?" He saw the ghost like Prince who stood there awkwardly, not making a sound.
"M-me? Hah, about time you peasants asked me!" And immediately, the group of four went back to talking amongst each other. "Wait! I'm most excited about seeing the beasts! It'll be my first time seeing them..."
The four, with the exception of Lauren, nodded in acknowledgement as they went back to talking.
Finally, they all got on the bus, and the journey began.
Matthew and the others sat around the back. He watched as the school got smaller and smaller behind him, as an uncountable amount of houses flew by, as the cars and other motor vehicles drove past. They all arrived at the train station where a train was waiting for them. Then they hopped off the bus and went on that.
The city, that he had lived in for most of his life, that had always seemed so big and unsurmountable, looked small as the train sped further and further away.
'Wow...' Matthew awed at the sight. He had never been outside the city before. The view was cut short as they entered an underground tunnel, all light from the outside was snuffed out as the only light came from the train itself.
The journey took about two and a half hours itself on the fourth fastest train in the country. Along the way, Matthew and the gang talked more. It was nice. Having friends, that is. Even Lauren partook in the conversations. Matthew felt strangely about her, I mean, their first conversation and impressions on each other were terrible. He got a bit annoyed as he remembered it. Then he felt a bit bad, remembering what he did after it.
Still, he was mature enough to know the past was the past. He enjoyed her company now, she was a tiny bit more lively now than she had been before.
The train came to a stop, the loud hum of its engines slowed and died down as the entire year level had finally reached their destination.
Stepping out of the train, Matthew's jaw dropped, eyes wide as he stared at the beautiful sight.
It was a fortress in every sense of the word. Standing so tall that its highest peak breached the clouds, with so many towers it looked like a forest of iron. Matthew found it beautiful how the hardness of it contrasted with the vibrant and beautiful forest that surrounded it. Like a cast, a jungle was wrapped around it, being repelled yet still being able to coexist with the iron city.
And standing in front of the crowd was a man of 28 years, blonde hair cut into a mohawk fade, face rugged with a terrible scar going from the top right corner of his face to the bottom left. He stood tall, poise unbreakable, gaze unfaltering, exuding an aura of might.
Demitri stuttered, hyperventilating a bit. "E-Eli-Elias Lancer!"
The man loudly projected his voice to the hundreds of students, "welcome, students of Kiertzche Academy, to Calonia!"