After what seemed like forever, the questioning session finally came to an end. Seeing how asking the question about Rango soured Jordan's mood, Max tried asking questions like, "What was your best experience in your past life?", "What is your best time of the year?" and some other questions like that. It didn't help much but it made a difference at least.
Jordan's stomach growled like an angry dog, and he got out of bed for some late-night snacks. He opened his door slowly to prevent the others from waking up. It was a success, and he was on his way downstairs. When he walked past Layne's room though, he heard something that made him pause. It was the sound of Layne crying.
He knocked on the door and she sniffled a little before answering, "Come in."
Jordan opened the door and saw on her bed her face buried in one of her many pillows. He sat beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. With that, her cries got louder.
"What's the matter?" Jordan asked with a calm voice that contrasted with his usual sarcastic tone.
"Why do you have to leave?" Layne asked. This was the second time in one night that Jordan didn't know what to say. He couldn't 5ell her that he was off to cultivate and find the four Guardians. It was too much to process.
Layne sat up and looked at him, still waiting for an answer.
Jordan sighed, "Look, it's complicated but I promise one day I'll let you know the reason.""And don't worry I'll come visiting."
Layne nodded, using the sleeve of her pyjamas to wipe her face.
"Come with friends, okay?" Layne said, ruffling Jordan's hair.
"I will." He chuckled.
___ ___ ___
A week had passed since the attack and the day for Jordan's departure was finally here. He stood outside with a bag full of clothes and other minor things. He didn't want to carry a lot of things since he knew he wasn't going to be there most of the time. Bob, his personal driver, was meant to take him there.
"He's always late for everything," Jordan scoffed. He had been waiting for almost ten minutes. He sighed in relief when his red sport car pulled up in the garage and the baldie walked out.
"Young master, let me take your bag." He offered with a robotic voice.
"Thanks but I can carry itself." He rejected politely then he looked at Bob with furrowed brows. "Didn't I tell you not to call me young master?"
"My apologies you- Jordan." He corrected himself. He escorted Jordan to the car and Jordan kept his bag in the back seat. When he was about to enter the passenger's seat .....
"Where do you think you are going, young man?" Jordan turned to where he the voice had come from. Luna and Layne stood at the front door of the mansion of the mansion , looking at him like he had committed a grave offense.
"You think you can just run off without saying goodbye?" Luna complained.
Well, good job Jordan. How could you have forgotten to bid these worry warts goodbye?
Chris had gone to work quite early so he couldn't say goodbye to him.
He walked towards the both of them and stretched out his arm for a huge hug. They both hugged him at the same time, almost squeezing him to death.
"Don't miss me too much," he teased, letting go of them. Before he could turn around, Layne took out a heart-shaped locket made of pure gold and put it on his neck.
"Keep it safe," she said to which Jordan nodded with a smile. Now 5hat they had said their goodbyes, Bob and Jordan were set to leave. The journey was quiet due to the fact that Bob never talked unless he was asked questions. Even at that, he wasn't a man a plenty words.After roughly two hours, they finally arrived at their destination.
Jordan's jaw went slack as he looked at the so-called "mini-mansion". The surrounding was serene and was designed with floral ornaments. Seeing this choice of decor, he was instantly reminded of his mom. Her ability allowed her to create flowers and green life. It wasn't useful in combat but it suited her playful and sweet personality.
Apart from the surroundings, what shocked Jordan was that the building that was meant to be a "mini-mansion" was almost the same size as the main Callas mansion.
"Mini-mansion my foot." He smirked.
Behind him, Bob cleared his throat before speaking, "Master Chris had told me to inform you that a surprise has been prepared for you in the garage."
Jordan didn't hear most of what he said because he was still admiring the place so he waved him off and told him to return to the main mansion.
'If the outside's this good then how good will the inside be?' He didn't need to wait any longer to find out. He opened the door and as soon as he took the first step in, he heard a voice.
"Greetings young master. I see you have arrived safely. I am your AI assistant, Lulu and I will be your guide," a robotic voice that sounded like Luna said from above. Jordan nodded his head in approval. The main mansion didn't have AI in it.
It just kept getting better.
As he familiarised himself with his new home, he noticed that unlike the main mansion,this version was not extravagant. It was rather plain and he thought it was better than having chandeliers made of power stones in every hallway. The house was renovated to fit his style. Everyone who knew Jordan well probably knew he didn't like extravagant decor.
He walked up the stairs and saw there were five bedrooms in the place but only one door had a key on it so he easily guessed it was his. He unlocked the door and he couldn't help but smile at what was on the other side.
It was the accurate definition of a master bedroom. The bed was wide enough to take six people and the room was quite luminous. At one side of the room, the wall was entirely a mirror. When he turned to his left though, he saw something that made his face flush in embarrassment.
On the wall, there was a framed photo of a certain baby who had black and gold hair, smiling cheekily at him with an incomplete set of premature teeth. He cringed at the sight of his younger self. Then it dawned on him that it was one of the numerous photos that Luna had taken while forcing him to smile. She kept pestering him so he opened his mouth as wide as he could. He had never seen the photo before so seeing it now made him question his actions.
Jordan placed his bag against the bed frame and without hesitation, he threw himself on his new, cozy bed. He was about to take a long nap but the sound of his phone chiming in his pocket made him snap awake.
He had received a text from his father.
[Hey son. Just wanted to let you know that the enlistment starts tomorrow.]
"You couldn't tell me this earlier on?" He complained to no one in particular.
"Lulu. I need your help," he said, trying out his AI assistant.
"Of course, young master. Go ahead and check out your closet," she replied in an attempt to to leave him in suspense.
"Umm...Where's the closet." With the arrangement of his room, it was clear that it wasn't in here.
"You mean closet room." Lulu chuckled childishly like his mother would. "It's the last room on this hallway."
Jordan groaned."Never mind. I'll check it out tomorrow morning." The bed had finally done its job and Jordan dozed off in less than 2 minutes.
___ ___ ___
"Hey. Jordan wake up, your gonna be late." A voice screamed in his head.
He didn't move. The voice continued shouting at him to wake up but the influence his new bed had on him was too strong. Suddenly, Max let out a high pitched screamthat sounded like a group of opera singers testing out their vocal abilities. Jordan jolted awake and slapped himself twice to make it stop.
"What the hell." "What do you sound like an excited pig."
"Whatever. Remember, you aren't going to get a lift from any fancy sport car like always. It's going to be some angry commanders so get ready or you'll get spanked by a group of weightlifters." Max ranted.
Jordan listened to his advice and went to the 'closet room', as Lulu had called it, to get something to wear. He wasn't exactly surprised that a room as huge as this was built only for clothes and shoes of different designs and colours. He shook his head and went deeper into the room and he couldn't find anything suited for military until he stumbled upon a military uniform hanging alone in one corner of the room with a pair of boots below it.
It was mostly black with blue outlines here and there. It was stretchy and from the looks of it, it couldn't get damaged easily. Towards the uppermost left, close to the shoulder, there was a crest on the uniform.
It was the crest of the Mistral Dynasty. It showcased an elegant feather, intertwined with a swirling mist. Below it, there was an imprint of the number three written in Roman figures.
He took the uniform and boots to his room and after taking a long shower, he put them on and turned towards the mirror. He nodded in approval at his image.
He rushed downstairs and just as he was about to leave the door, Lulu called out to him. "Young master has forgotten to check out what surprise awaits him in the garage." She spoke like an ancient storyteller.
"Oh. That."
On getting to the garage, he couldn't help but wonder what to expect. Before he could think of opening it, it opened automatically like it knew what he was thinking but of course this was Lulu's doing.
In the garage, there was a brand new super bike waiting for him. It was one of the latest models out there. It was jet black with gold flame outlines on both sides. When he was younger, he was obsessed with super bikesand he couldn't believe his parents would remember such a distant memory. He didn't want to admit that he was overjoyed by the gift so he maintained a pokerface.
"Young master, there's no need to pretend. Mom already knows you adore the gift. Or don't you?" Lulu asked teasingly. Jordan knew she was right so he didn't say anything.
"Ignore the talking machine. Youve got somewhere to be." Max warned once more. Snapping out of his daze, he left Lulu with one last message.
"Alright. I'll get going now. If anything happens at home or here , I need you to contact me. You can do that, right?"
"Leave it to me. I'm your AI companion for a reason."
With her reassurance, he left for the station his dad told him to head to.
The station was also on the outskirts of town so he got there in a few minutes.
It was a vast open area that was devoid of buildings. Ahead of him, there were seven people who were wearing the same uniform he wore. He assumed that was their gathering spot so he went over to them but he didn't say anything to them although most of them were around his age.
He closed his eyes, inhaling the fresh breeze. The mood was peaceful until he felt someone's gaze on him.
"You've been staring for quite sometime." He said curtly, his eyes still closed. This person had been staring at him for over 15 seconds which was odd.
"My apologies. I was just curious about the newcomer." A female voice replied. Jordan opened his left eye and saw a girl with red long hair and pretty red eyes to match, looking at him.
"Ooh. What a beauty." Max commented. Jordan ignored him.
"My name is Harper," she said with a smooth, mature voice. "How 'bout you?"
"I'm Jordan," he said, extending his arm for a friendly handshake but Harper looked at his hand strangely and shook her head.
Jordan was confused. Why did she refuse a simple handshake? He didn't think much of it, though and that was the end of their short conversation. The atmosphere was tense and he could sense that almost everyone around him was strong, including Harper. If he was right, then out of the eight of them, he was in fifth place in terms of strength. The aura around them was enough to tell him that.
Most of them got impatient because they had been waiting long before Jordan had arrived. When it seemed like their impatience was about to reach its peak, a portal made of magical runes started forming out of thin air a little away from them. Some of them were alert and pulled out their weapons meanwhile, a certain someone who didn't even have a weapon on him didn't know how to react. Once the portal was complete, a person walked out of it.
Out came a dazzling young man who had black long hair and sleepy blue eyes. He wore a uniform similar to theirs. The only difference was that his was slightly advanced showing that he had a high rank in the military and the badge on his uniform that said "3rd commander" was enough proof. He looked calm and carefree as he walked gracefully.
Following right after was a stern-looking beauty. She looked quite simple yet stunning with her brown long hair and hazel eyes. She didn't have a friendly look but the boys in the group were dazed. All except Jordan. This was because he had seen prettier ladies in his lifetime. Luna, Layne and even some people from his past life.
Rather he felt something was up. The expression she had on her face reminded him of someone he had seen before. Someone from his faint memories. He tried hard to pinpoint who it was but he couldn't. He looked at her a little long and eventually their eyes met. She flashed him a friendly smile but that was only for a split-second as her face returned to the expressionless look right after.
'I feel like we've met somewhere before but her face doesn't ring a bell.'
The 3rd commander looked at all of them with an amused look on his face. "I see we have brave recruits in this batch."
He looked at all of them until his eyes landedd on the only person who hadn't pulled out a weapon.
'Is it possible that he sensed that we were not a threat.' The third commander thought but he didn't know that the said individual had no idea he was meant to bring a weapon with him. He shrugged it off and proceeded to introduce himself.
"I am Chase Jett, 3rd commander of the third military base under the Mistral Dynasty."
The Earth was divided into Six Dynasties: Mistral Dynasty, Azure Dynasty, Obsidian Dynasty, Echoen Dynasty, Bloodwood Dynasty and finally, Serene Vale Dynasty, where Jordan and his family lived. The Mistral Dynasty had the strongest military force and Chris chose this for Jordan because he had already analyzed Jordan's possibilities of becoming an unstoppable force in the near future.
"Follow me," Chase instructed. The eight of them complied not knowing what to expect on the other side of the portal.