The sweat was dripping off Aelor's clothes. Her breath was heavy. Her mind focused on the enemy. Forward Stab, upward Slash and a Chop. Then Guard, Deflect and Parry as needed. She must have practiced these moves thousands of times in her years as a student but she had to be perfect.
Today all of her efforts to successfully become a police officer would either pay off or leave her in the dirt looking for another job. She could not afford to make mistakes. The robotic dummy was invulnerable but she was proud for all the scratches and gouges she had inflicted upon it through the years. Every successful hit sound was an anthem to her ears.
It was getting late and she could feel all her muscles burning. She looked at her watch. 05: 47 A.M.. She was here for almost 2 hours. At 6 A.M. everyone was waking up and they would have their breakfast before heading out for Trithor. She hadn't slept well and that was stressing her. Perhaps she should have gone back to bed.
She decided to take 10 minutes of rest before heading back to the kitchen to have her breakfast with Arthas, her best friend for the past 4 years. She registered her results in the Training Console and sat at a nearby bench. 93% was her score for this session. She felt kind of relieved. She was the best fighter in the Academy, everyone strived to be like her.
She started thinking. If she passed the final test as a police student, killing a Memory Aes, should she enroll for a SEC and become an Aid or should she skip the SEC and become a Guardian?
Police officers were separated into 2 main groups in Visthansia. The Aids and the Guardians. Aids had the obligation to have, at the very least, SEC1 on them. The SEC that didn't allow you to inflict physical damage on another person. They mostly concerned themselves with bureaucratic and other miscellaneous affairs that didn't require much action, hence their name.
Guardians on the other hand were obligated to not have a SEC on and subdue any kind of issue by any means necessary. As a result, they got a better salary, since they were not getting paid for a SEC, and some other bonuses like better insurance as well as family protection. Also, Guardians had a really good reputation with the people of Visthansia since they protected them by the warring factions of the Purists and the Anarchists.
Visthansia had no military, since there was no opposing force on the island of Aezla, but relations with Gaia, the second big city in existence, were not the best. Visthansia was more of a technocratic state while Gaia was much more religious and spiritual. Some Visthansians believed that even sorcerers could live there, although magic was an imaginary thing, as most people would tell you. They were much stricter in their rules enforcement and tried to achieve Utopia by other means, not dependant on technology.
Utopia was the ultimate goal in Aezla. History had taught humans well what could happen if they didn't find a way to live in eternal peace. History books mentioned the 3rd World War and then history vanished. There was an undefined period, called The Void, when noone knows for how much it lasted or what happened. They only knew that Aezla was their home and they had to make ends meet with their limited island resources and good will for one another.
The islands was surrounded by the Great Mirror Walls. Noone had travelled beyond this artifcial blockade since the government said that the Aes corruption was so great outside of the island that noone could survive out there.
The alarm hit Aelor like the bad dream she had ealier that night. She could feel her stomach tensing, as she was walking towards the kitchen. The time was drawing close that she would have to put all her skills to the test. And would she be an Aid or a Guardian? Every skill she had was pointing towards her being a Guardian but she liked the idea of the SEC and the ability to help people without the need to become violent.
When she reached the kitchen, most of the other students were there. Typhon was here as well, which weren't the best news. Although they were formal and polite to one another, she never really liked him. He was too arrogant, wanted too much attention and would do anything to achieve his goals. He never really cared about other people and that's what annoyed her the most on him. Arthas was on the other side of the kitchen all alone, thankfully, so she needn't say hell to him.
- "Hey, hey!"
- "Oh, Aeyor! Pyease, huave a sit.", said Arthas while muching on a cheese strudel. He was a really big guy and food was one of his favourite past times.
- "Are you ready for today?", asked Aelor while sitting down next to him.
- "But of course! Where were you by the way? I came and knocked on your room but noone answered and I thought you wanted some extra rest today."
- "I had a bad dream and couldn't sleep again so I decided to get some training. 93%. Not too shabby if I may say so.", she replied.
- "Are you stressed?! You are the best fighter in the Academy last time I checked.", he said kind of amused.
- "It's not funny." replied Aelor. "Today is make or break. The theoritical exams went pretty well but this is the real deal. We actually have to KILL an Aes, Arthas", she said and she could feel her stomach getting ready to explode.
- "Are you worried it's some kind of human soul? Would you be willing to maybe have the memories of random people for the rest of your life and go insane instead? We do what we must, Aelor. If that's killing a human soul that lived, God knows when, then so be it. We have to be determined.", replied Arthas with too much confidence.
- "And we don't even know if that's true as well. So relax, do what you know best and everything will go well", he added.
- "I'm not worried about that.", lied Aelor who definitely didn't appreciate the thought. "I just don't know why, but I feel like something bad is gonna happen. Call it intuition but I would be more wary than you going to Trithor forest. They say, all kinds of Aeses live there. If we're unfortunate we might not make it, Arthas. I just want to be over with it, I guess."
- "Hello to the best student in the Academy"
Aelor turned around, not wanting to see the face she saw.
- "Oh, dear Typhon, thank you very much. Salutation to you as well. And the best of lucks.", replied Aelor. The reality was that she wanted him to go away as soon as possible.
- "I heard that you were training earier. Did you do well?", asked Typhon with a tad more care than he was willing to show.
- "Indeed. 93% in this session. I am ready for anything.", replied Aelor while the need to punch him was growing more intense by the minute.
- "Impressive. I'm sure you'll do amazingly during the test as well. Please, have an eye on us. I'm not so sure about myself.", said Typhon and Aelor could believe he wanted to stress her even more.
- "Of course! Have no fear, I'm sure you'll do splendidly too though, Typhon.", she said with a little more iron in her voice than needed.
- "Have a very merry day to both you and Arthas", smiled Typhon.
- "Right back at you, Typhon!", replied Arthas, who was not as patient as Aelor most of the time.
- "I hate that guy so much.", said Aelor who was furious by the time he had went away.
- "Everyone does. And mark my words, that will be his downfall. No need to think about it.", replied Arthas. "Come on, let's head to the Main Hall. Owen should be waiting for us by now.", he added while grabbing a chocolate strudel for the road.