Zen had done a bit of thinking and decided to go against his own advice as he looked at the mirror-like ice although his focus wasn't on his own reflection, but behind it
Looking at the image, Zen realized 'she' was still there.
Behind his reflection was a girl with pale white skin and looked to be between five and ten years old. She had delicate soft skin, like she had been pampered all her life, she was in a pure white dress that stopped below her knees and a little bit short of reaching her toes, allowing her delicate bare feet to be visible as she floated a few inches of the ground,her messy, light brown hair seemed to flow even in the absence of any wind. Her eyes were completely pure white, seemingly without any pupils or irises. Almost as if sensing Zen's stare, she turned to face him and plastered a huge smile on her face that was nothing like that of a human's, revealing razor sharp teeth.
His vision suddenly flickered and he suddenly saw that girl covered in blood with that same inhuman smile on her face. The next second it immediately returned to normal but Zen's heart was already racing. The moment he saw that girl, his heart had sped up a little and it had gotten worse due to that brief image.
Zen felt a perculiar feeling from within him, but it wasn't something physical as it was already quite clear that Zen didn't do emotion,that reaction had stemmed from his soul. It somewhat resembled fear but not exactly,he couldn't be scared of her, he had been seeing her for years,ever since that faithful day six years ago.
There was definitely something between them and that girl.
Looking away, Zen asked Freya
"Did you see that?"
"Hmm?" She answered confused
Zen didn't bother wasting his time and brushed it off. It was just like before, only the fragments could see her, perhaps due to their relationship with the girl.
Zen was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a voice
"Is something bothering you?" Asked Jade, realizing he had Zoned out again
"..."
Jade smiled and decided to try and keep them both occupied with something, and at the same time get something off her chest
Can i ask you something?"
"..."
"Truth is, you're not the first person I've seen reject a free ability. You've already seen my ability,i use it together with my bow and arrow, both which are pretty useless right now" said Jade with a hint of self loathing and poor self esteem in the last part
She looked at Zen and although he seemed not to care, she for some reason felt like he was listening to her and continued
"I was actually meant to take an ability from the academy but my dad wouldn't allow it. We couldn't afford an ability and i told him it was fine because I'd be given one for free but he wouldn't let up and even ended up taking a loan and entering debt to get me this ability. After that he made me promise to use it and to not accept the academy's ability. I asked him why but he wouldn't tell me"
Jade stopped Incase Zen wanted to say something but after a few seconds she continued
"I guess what I'm trying to ask is, is there something wrong with the academy's abilities?"
"No" replied Zen bluntly
"Then why did he-?"
"For your own good"
"Huh?"
Zen sighed and decided to explain, although not without Freya's screaming
"Sentinel academy is run by the military, meaning every student is basically a low ranking officer. Being at the center of all the major powers of the world, the military has relationships with all of them on some level. Every ability handed out by the academy has deep roots in one of the major families, that's why every ability handed out by the military is a variant of the abilities of the major families, and each and every family functions similar to or even as an organization on a certain level, constantly hiring and recruiting workers for different purposes. Although this means the free abilities are more times than not,rarer and more powerful than the ones on the market, the moment you accept it, you've doomed yourself to serve under either both the military and one of the families. As such this creates an facade of a situation that benefits everyone. The military gets a powerful soldier even if for a limited time, the family gets a new employee and the student has a ninety percent chance of getting a rare ability as well as the chance to get stronger if they gain enough merit ,and joining a major power . However in reality it's a trap. The person will be unable to grow whatsoever no matter how much they work simply because the merit system is rigged,no matter how hard or how smart you work,as long as they will it, you are bound"
"W-what do you mean?" Jade asked confused
"The moment you accept that ability, you've effectively sold your soul, the term freedom no longer applies to you, you exist only to serve whether or not you wish too as you can only rely on them for strength"
"That's awful"
"Not exactly"
"What do you mean?" Asked Jade, even more confused
"Most people actually trap themselves. The ploy is simple, the only people who ever take free abilities are those who can't acquire their own either due to some tragedy or financial problems,those are people who would have experienced true suffering, the academy takes those people and gives them a taste of true power and how it feels to be the one on the other end,and then the rest is like clockwork"
Jade nodded and looked at the ground, deep in thought.
Noticing her inner turmoil, Zen sighed, he wasn't exactly the type to be talkative but
"In truth it isn't exactly a bad deal, the only actual problem with it is that you've essentially handed over all control over your own personal growth to the military and the family you serve. As such, your development is based off the whims and caprices of others and not your own hard work "
Jade stayed silent for a long time before speaking
".....So basically the trap is to either be weak and powerless in the academy In the early stages or be powerful within the academy and be weak and powerless regarding your own fate and become a puppet with no control over your life in the later stages, those people will never grow once they leave the academy but they just don't think about the later stages"
"..."
Jade's eyes suddenly went wide as she realized something. She suddenly grabbed Zen by his arm and looked him in the eye
"Does that mean when my dad took that loan he was..."
She stopped as she couldn't bear to say, Zen didn't reply ibut deep down she knew that her father had taken her place, where she was supposed to be doomed by the academy, her father had doomed himself to a life of running to escape vicious loan sharks just to ensure her freedom , and as long as she was in the academy, she was safe,at least from them.
After a few seconds,Jade realized what she was doing and quickly released Zen's arm and started apologizing shyly.
Zen actually didn't seem much bothered by it and continued walking in the tunnel that hadn't split or bent since they had been in here
Jade watched as he left and ran to catch up with him, smiling. She seemed to have regained her usual cheerful but bashful demeanor as she walked side by side with Zen
"Wait a second, doesn't that mean that that Neo guy is done for?"
"... he's a special case"
"What does that mean?" She asked confused but Zen seemed to be done entertaining her questions and didn't say anything. Zen had suddenly realized something. He wasn't usually the type to talk much but he already had with jade, he didn't know why but something just seemed to draw people to her.
Jade, noticing his silence, smiled as she already achieved her original goal and thought that she could ask him later
They both kept walking through the straight tunnel for another thirty minutes before they left the tunnel and realized that outside of it was actually a ledge inside a massive ice cave
In front of them was a huge cave made entirely out of ice and snow that resembled diamonds,with stalactites and stalagmites protruding from the ceiling and floor everywhere. It was like a frozen paradise.
"Beautiful" said Jade childishly while smiling, awestruck by the cave's beauty, she temporarily forgot about the freezing cold.
Turning to Zen, she asked
"What do we do now? Start looking for the token?"
Zen thought for a second and asked if they had been shown what the token looked like and luckily she replied that they had, although that was before Zen had woken up.
Zen suddenly looked in a random direction,pointed there and suddenly asked if Jade could hit that spot with an arrow
"Y-yes, but It's pretty far so I'd probably have to use my ability "
Zen the asked her to tell him about her ability
"Well,as you know,i can open portals, currently my limit is four portals at a time, one portal has to be an entrance and the other an exit, so i guess i really only have two, my range limit is twenty meters meaning two portals can't be more than twenty meters apart...oh, yeah,and the portal directions have to match"
"Meaning?"
"I can't make a horizontal directional portal as an entrance and a vertical one as the exit and i can't open a portal to one direction and then make the exit in another direction, it has to match"
"I...i see, so the main purpose of your ability at this level is just to shorten the distance something has to go through "
Jade nodded affirmingly
"Shoot an arrow right there, and put in as much force as you can" said Zen point in a specific location on the ground which just so happened to be a bit over thirty meters away from them
Jade, although confused, picked up her bow and took an arrow from her quiver. Suddenly,a portal only a few inches wide opened up in front of her and another a few meters away.
She had to somewhat tilt aim of her arrow and location of the portal so she could make a straight line, pointing the arrow downward as she aimed at a hundred degree angle made possible due to their elevated view.
As she nocked the arrow and pulled backward ready to fire, she suddenly squirmed and nearly jumped from fright as Zen put his hands over hers, helping her to steady the arrow and pull the bow string back
Zen had noticed that Jade's physical strength and proper shooting technique were lacking quite a bit and decided to help her.
Slowly whispering in her ear, he told her what to do, how to adjust her stance as well as the proper body mechanics to use while at the same time helping her pull the bowstring back to the extreme .
Although a bit uncomfortable at first,Jade had managed to relax in his arms and followed all his instructions perfectly .
At the right time,Jade suddenly and swiftly released the arrow which flew out with intense speed and the next second went through the first portal and at the same time out the other before slamming into the ground and almost like an explosive had been shot, there was suddenly a loud explosion at that location
Jade looked on, confused. The arrows weren't meant to explode, and even though the speed and power it carried was multiple times what she could normally do, it shouldn't have been enough to do something like that.
Before anything else could happen, they both suddenly heard a loud and beastly roar echo out all across the room .
Looking at where the arrow had hit, they both watched as the ice and snow was shaken off or simply broken as the cave rumbled and shook
Slowly, out of the disguise of ice and snow came out a large humanoid figure of about six meters with massive glacial claws and enormous fangs that shone like diamonds, it's entire body was covered in white fur which allowed it to blend in.
Having been discovered, the beast roared out angrily, shaking the cave in the process
"W-what is that?! Shouldn't there only be basic tier beasts on the first floor?" Asked Jade, panicking
Zen suddenly squinted his eyes and calmly spoke as if to the air
"What are you doing here?
Before Jade could ask who he was talking to, she heard a voice behind them
"Oh? Seems like your senses are still as sharp as ever, you already noticed me. Well then what are you just standing there for? Aren't you gonna do something to welcome an old friend?"