The moment Kai saw Shane, he wanted to hide, but it was too late as Shane had already seen him.
Kai adjusted his uniform and walked past him in careful steps. Although he wanted to look like he was not scared, his steps gave him away.
Shane was not evil, so he ignored him and let him pass. Kai was still higher than him in ranks though, so he wasn't sure he could defeat him in a clear fight.
"How was today's training?" Tatiana asked as they made their way to the dining hall.
"Not bad. I guess I like it here." Shane said, full of smiles. Things were getting interesting for him. He had powers now and, more importantly, he possessed a power that no one else did, which made him stand out.
"I guess everything is turning out well in the end." Tatiana smiled, holding his arm as they walked to the dining hall.
Her smile died when Luna walked in front of them. "Shane,"
She called. After the fight with Kai, they hadn't seen or talked. Her eyes went to his arm where Tatiana held him and she looked at Tatiana and then back at him.
"Luna, it's been a while," Shane said.
"Yeah, how have you been? And congratulations on being accepted into the Academy." She said with a smile;
"Thank you," Shane replied.
"Do you perhaps have some free time? After your dinner, I mean."
Tatiana gave Shane a pinch. She didn't want to get on Luna's bad side so she did not answer for him.
"… no, I'm not free this evening. ''
"Oh… tomorrow then?" She asked and Shane nodded;
"Maybe tomorrow."
"Alright, see you then." She said and cast Tatiana another look before walking away.
After learning that he had powers, he was now more attractive in her eyes. Not in the sense that she had seen him before. Before, he was just a pretty boy she wanted to sleep with. But now, she was seeing him as a man.
She couldn't order him around like before. He was strong now and wouldn't just bow to her; so she checked her words when she spoke to him.
And she didn't like that Tatiana, always stuck like glue to his side.
Hmph!
Luna sighed as she walked away.
Tatiana rolled her eyes after she had left;
"I guess now she can't order you around anymore. Don't even see her tomorrow. I don't like her."
Shane laughed, "Don't be like that. She actually helped me get into the Academy."
Sky and Finn were already in the hall when they came in and joined them. As they ate, they noticed some descendants scampering out of the hall.
"What is going on?" Shane asked,
Sky dug into his food as he studied their move; "Well, when you see descendants scamper like this, it means there is a new demon and a list has been posted."
Shane turned to look at Sky. "A list of what?"
"Descendants deployed for battle."
"Hmmm… I wonder what kind of demon it is," he said.
"You should be more worried if your name is there. Not every descendant who departs returns alive."
Sky said, and fear gripped Shane, his heart pounding.
It seemed he just realized that having powers did not make one immune to death.
When Sky saw his face he laughed, "don't mind me, you are most likely not going to be on the list. They deploy higher ranking descendants, they leave the younger ones to train for a while."
"Thank goodness. I don't think I can fight any demons now, even the lowest of them."
"Hmm, what if they deploy Shane? I hear over half the council does not like him." Finn said and Tatiana was quick to reply;
"They won't be that heartless. Even if they don't like him, I doubt it would cloud their judgment."
"Well, let's go check the list. We don't know if our names are there."
Finn spoke, and they quickly finished their food and went to the notice gate.
As they approached, some descendants cast them strange looks, and Tatiana began to worry;
"I hope what I'm thinking is not true." She muttered, walking faster.
Shane was the last one to arrive at the gate and he was surprised when Finn and Sky turned to him with a look of pity;
Shane frowned and then looked at the names pasted on the gate;
"These descendants have been chosen for deployment. They are required to report to the council hall first thing tomorrow morning. Failure to do this will attract a penalty;
Nyx Aoki - First Rank
Dai Ryo - First Rank
Sky Seki- Third Rank
Yuri Mente - Second Rank
Shane Rodgers - Fifth Rank
Shane's eyes widened as he read his name again. He couldn't believe his eyes.
Didn't Sky say they don't deploy 5th rank descendants?
He looked at Sky, who was looking at him in shock too. He couldn't even console him as his name was boldly written there, too.
"Shane…" Tatiana called, not knowing what to do.
Shane smiled, "It's fine, no need to stare at me like that. I'm not going to die."
He said.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing that Nyx is with us, Dai is also a first rank, so we're safe; provided the beast doesn't attack us from behind." Sky said, trying to lighten the air.
"But it's not fair that they are sending Shane to fight. He just got accepted today."
Finn said, "seems like they just want to get rid of him quickly."
"Shane is going to shock them all by returning alive. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when they see him coming back with the others."
Sky said, laughing.
"Don't worry, everything is going to work out fine. Just pray that this beast is something the first ranks can handle on their own and we're just going to tag along. "
"I hope so. When are we supposed to leave?"
Shane asked, and Sky chuckled; "first thing in the morning."
"What?!" Shane exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, as soon as the list is posted, the descendants leave as soon as possible. You don't want to waste more time and risk humans getting killed."
"What kind of demon is it?"
Shane asked as they turned to walk back to their dorm;
"We'll know tomorrow. But I think it's a strong one or they are more than one, since two first ranks are listed. "