"Man, Ares is pretty good" Orpheus held a white shortsword in one hand while fondling a black one in his other hand before they morphed back into two familiar daggers
"I know right" Tana nodded "If you toss them faraway and just think about them, they appear right back in your hands"
"Pretty cool" Andrian said "What are you going to name them?"
"Hmmm, the black is Chaos and white is Order' Orpheus rubbed his lower jaw "I'm going to name them Cosmos"
[Cool name. What about their individual names?]
"Khaos for the black one and ... Seira for the white one. I guess that is okay"
"Okay, that's enough chit-chatting. We're here" Aster said
"Man," Orpheus stopped in front of the academy entrance "Ace academy is a complete mess"
"Orpheus! Orpheus!!" A young magus ran out of the damaged academy entrance while screaming Orpheus' name
"Who is that delinquent?" Aster asked with raised brows
"That should be Loukas" Orpheus said "Why is he yelling like the whole world is about to end"
"Who knows?" Aster began to walk towards Loukas
"He's going to cause trouble" Andrian muttered "Aella, why so quiet? Anything wrong?"
"Huh?" Aella gasped "Oh, it's nothing"
"Are you sure?" Orpheus asked "Shit! Aster stop"
Orpheus ran towards Aster who was grabbing Loukas by his hair
"This idiot just told me to f*** off" Aster growled "It seems I should teach him some home training"
[Aster, do not bare your fangs at a human!]
"I didn't do shit!" Loukas yelled "Let me go"
"Aster!" Tana yelled "Let him go!"
Orpheus walked towards the duo and pushed Aster away from Loukas. Aster growled and began to walk towards him but was stopped by Aella
"Behave yourself. I'm not in the mood for this shit right now" Aellla growled
"Oh yeah?" Aster's energy spiked "Bring it on then"
'Both of you, stop it right now" Andrian yelled
"Are you guys done" Orpheus walked up to them "Mr Zissis is calling us. We have to go"
[Hey, can we continue this later? Let's face the current matter at hand]
"You Louka or whatever your name is. Pray to fate that I never ever find you again" Aster said
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Loukas yawned
"Shut your mouth and move" Orpheus pushed Loukas
The six of them walked into the academy and met an unusual sight. Dead bodies were lined up on the ground, most of them without limbs
"Man, I feel for them a little bit" Tana looked at the Magi mourning their friends or families
"Eyes on the road please" Orpheus said
'What happened to him? He suddenly felt so distant "Tana muttered to no one in particular"
[Shh! That's a very sensitive matter to him]
"But I didn't even say anything" Tana grumbled
[It doesn't matter. Just don't ask]
"Mr Zissis" Orpheus walled up to him "You wanted to see me sir"
"Ah, Orpheus" Mr Zissis exclaimed before turning to the person he was talking to "I'll talk to you later
"Before I start, I want to deeply thank Miss Aella for saving my life" he bowed
"Oh, it's nothing" Aella said
"Okay, but I have to ask though" Mr Zissis furrowed his brows "Why are there hoods on your heads?"
[Shit!!]
~I got this, don't worry~
"You see sir," Orpheus spoke up "They're so beautiful that they could be a serious distraction"
[Of all things to say. This young man]
"Hmmm," Mr Zissis stared peered at them "If you say so. By the way, I heard you single-handedly took down a three-star beast. I take it that you are now an advanced magus. No?"
"Ha ha ha" Orpheus laughed nervously "I'm still a junior magus sir. I was only lucky that the beast was weakened after it had evolved."
"Hmm, that okay. You can go now" Mr Zissis nodded
"Thank you sir" Orpheus bowed before they walked away
~How long am I going to keep up with this?~
[Until you have at least nine elements]
~C'mon man~
…
~that kid, he's hiding something~ Mr Zissis thought ~only time will tell~
___________
Far away in a dark place, multiple unknown creatures gathered together with a human kneeling at the middle of them
"You have failed me. Not only once, but twice" a voice said from within the darkness, addressing the human
"My lord, it's not my fault. It's those gods. They just don't like to mind their…"
"Shut up." The voice ordered "It seems I'll have to go myself"
"My lord," a creature said "send me please. I'll not fail you"
"Hmmm, you go then" the voice said "And you human, I never want to see you again"
"But…" the human protested
"Didn't you hear?" the creature turned to the human "Master doesn't want to see you anymore"
"This gathering is over" The voice said, fading into the darkness
_______
"Man, that was close" Orpheus walked into his dorm room while panting heavily
[Yeah, it felt like he could see through us]
"That reminds me" Orpheus sat on his bed "What did you mean by 'If I die, y'all die'?"
[*Sigh* I guess we can't hide it anymore]
"Orpheus," Tana said, "Like you know, there are three types of contracts you can make with beasts"
"Yeah. The blood, Soul, and the Blood-soul contract" Orpheus nodded "But I don't have any idea how they work"
"The blood contract binds humans to beasts by blood only. This is mainly used for pets," Andrian said, "The soul contact binds soul to soul. If the human involved in the contract dies, the beast dies too but if the beast dies, the human remains alive. It is mostly used for slaves though"
"How do you guys know of all these things… it must have been Costas" Orpheus muttered "So, what you guys are simply saying is that we are bound by the Soul contract?"
"Not precisely," Aella shook her head "We are contracted by the Blood-Soul. You know, when I saw you faint on the battlefield, it got me thinking; supposing you died now, what will become of us and the world?"
"Yeah, you're still too weak." Aster nodded "you need to become a mid-level advanced magus by the end of this month"
"Oh, so that's why Aella was quiet" Orpheus muttered before turning to a part of the room
[Let's begin training tomorrow then]
"Orpheus?" Tana called Orpheus who was still staring at a corner of the room with tears in his eyes
Following his line of sight, their eyes fell on a picture pinned to the wall
"Who're those?" Andrian asked
[His late family. Killed last month in cold blood]
"You know," Orpheus sobbed "Today is her birthday, my little sister I mean. She's turning 12"
"Now I get it" Tana nodded
Aella walked up to Orpheus and gave him a hug while patting his back softly.
"It's okay;" she nodded "Let it out"
Like a broken tap, Orpheus began to cry like a baby, making Aella to tighten her hug