Leo sat in the chair behind the student support desk.
"You don't Look nervous at all." Luna said.
Leo looked around the room as if searching for words. "I have seen some things in my day." He said like a cranky old man. Even though he knew that was barely true, the most he's seen is a couple fist fights. This right here, he thought to himself, is war. In all truth he was nervous, so nervous he could barely stand.
Their brief conversation turned into awkward silence. Luna paced around the room like a mad man, and Leo studied each painting on the wall as if he was a connoisseur. It didn't take long for the silence to start eating away at him. "What class do you teach?" He asked.
She looked at him as if to ask if this was really the time for that. "I'm the bow instructor, I also work as a sub if needed." She replied.
"Oh, interesting."
Back to awkward silence. Leo looked around the room again, and thought about rereading a sign on the wall, but gave that thought up. Weirdly enough ever since coming to this school he almost completely stopped training, not his physical body or his martial arts. But strangely it's at this time that he has a strong urge to begin once again. Mabie it was his survival instincts, or perhaps out of boredom. "Would you like to spar?" He asked.
The look she gave him defied explanation, as if he was a dog who wanted to play. She couldn't even force a response out of politeness. causing Leo to look at his feet in embarrassment.
"As an archer shouldn't you be on the wall?" He asked.
"Cant you sense it, I'm weak same as you. I have little real combat experience and would be more of a hindrance than a help." She harshly replied.
Silence once again. Leo was tired of it, so he got up and started shadow boxing. She looked at him in estranged wonder. He moved left and right, dodge attacks, and perfectly executed throws. To Luna it was a tension easing show, but to Leoit was a fight to the death. In his mind he picked an opponent he fought before. It was Vex Iron, an opponent he fought when he was a lot younger, and an enemy he lost too. In his mind, and every time he replayed the battle he would lose, with barely a fight. It wasn't so much that he was overdoing Vex's skill, it just goes to show the difference between them. One might say that this losing streak would not help his training, and they would probably be right, after all Leo has barely improved in twenty years. He ended the fight falling to the floor after getting choked out.
"You're impressive for a captain." She said in a none praising tone, as if saying being stuck at captain at your age means you're probably going to be at it for the rest of your life.
****
To be or not to be, is a question describing life as we know it. The very being raps around all the facets of existence. Is someone who can't be remembered a person? I think therefore I am. If what makes humans human is the global acceptance of life. Then a man who lives in nothing, a man who you can pass on the street take one long look at, and forget ever existed, a man who cant be loved or hated, a man made of nothing, is that man really human? Imagen saving someone's life, just for them to forget you were there, imagen falling in love, getting married, and then just for them to wake up one morning like you never lived. What is worth if it can't be found in others, can worth be found in oneself.
When Zengo was younger he would often tempt such thoughts. He would fall into deep pits of despair. But then he was able to make contracts with higher level beings, for some reason the effect of his cost never worked on them. Hence a conundrum befell him. Summoning these beings gave him hope, those he could talk to, and those who understood him, and yet summoning them made it ever so harder for people to remember Zengo.
At some point in his life he found Saints Hand, an odd man, a man who could never forget him. He was truly the support to stop the collapse. A beyond brave man, who would rather give up his own life than to watch others suffer. After he met Saints Hand there were a couple others who could remember him, or more accurately it was harder for them to forget. Unlike Saints Hand, if he stayed away from them for long enough, or Zengo started casting spells they as if preordained will forget of his existence. It seemed like for those who were able to break the barrier of lord, and entered into the realm of king would become resilient to its effects. So this made Zengo wonder, would an emperor not forget him? How about a peak sovereign? He knew there was no way a man as strong as the Khan would forget. Too bad he was not able to put these to the test. Lords are rare, even in the biggest of countries you might find only 200, but that is the authorized lords there are plenty of hidden lords. The number of kings is even less than that, and the number of emperors let's say you would be lucky to find a single one. Although this shouldn't be taken as the gospel, there are plenty of rumors going around that humanity is getting weaker. In the time of the Khan the number of lords was said to be 90 times that amount. However, according to more recent news that number is on the incline. Newly powerful lords are popping up everywhere, some of the scholars believe this is proof of a great upheaval, others of the more mad mentality believe this is proof the demons are coming.
Overall Zengo didn't know what to think of it, all he knew was that he would do whatever it takes to protect his home. That leads to him sitting on the wall waiting
It shocked him how long it was taking for the main enemy force to arrive, to the point that he was able to recover most of his magic. "Pax, do you think I should call upon another contractor?" Zengo asked.
"Judging by the power of the scouts we may struggle to deal with the enemy's main unit. However, maintaining your magic power for the fight could be more useful." Pax responded.
"Who should I even summon? You are already the strongest one against the undead."
"Maybe." Pax shook his head as if disagreeing with himself. "Perhaps it might be best to summon that abomination."
Zengo knew who he was referring to, and regretted even the thought. If he summoned it, not only would the enemy be dead but so would the whole town.