Tre walked in front of the two young teens at a steady pace, pondering on his plans for the future.
'I had thought that there being a science club here was convenient, but it's more than that. It shouldn't even be possible. The fact that the leader of it, Eirini, hasnt been assassinated yet.. I can't trust any of these people, but especially her. The fact thst she was thrown out of her lineage seems to make sense. The reason for it though, I can't believe. Even for nobility, that's too ridiculous. Just mentioning science wouldn't be enough. There's something else.'
Tre stopped briefly, inspecting the large building of grey, weathered stone that lay in front of him. Turning his head, he glanced at the two young men behind him.
"Let's go. They should be in there right now."
Tre had a suspicion that she was going to be there. The room of the club wasn't that of a typical science lab, atleast from his knowledge. She most likely lived there. The room was decorated like living quarters. Infact, it looked even better than that of his own. He hadn't ask why she wasn't in class at all yesterday, but had a feeling she had special flexibility. Or maybe classes weren't actually mandatory.
'There's still too much I just don't know. Every single one of these people don't know how to just tell a truth. It's always a lie, or a truth covered by lies. The fact that I have no knowledge on this school remains. Or any school for that matter. Lloyd was rushing to put me in here, so I couldnt learn anything of this place, but what could possibly push him to do that..'
Tre shut his eyes for a moment, before casting his gaze upwards, shutting the thoughts out.
He pushed the wooden door that guarded the club building open, and was introduced with a long corridor of more oak doors, with numbers winding up, starting at 1; just as he remembered.
Tre followed the doors, until stopping st the science club, number 7. Before knocking, he turned around at the two teens that he brought along. He needed to know a few things about this school, and clubs in general before proceeding.
"Do clubs get funding?"
The two boys glanced at eachother briefly, before Guac spoke up.
"Yeah. Though, it depends on how many people are in a club. The more people there are, the more it gets. Actually, I've been meaning to ask Tre, it's almost as if you know nothing about this school. Clubs as well, are just a common sense type of thing. Did you not get told anything?"
Tre rested his hand on his chin, and continued.
"What do we learn here?"
Tre had suspicions about this place. Why were the buildings so run down? Why were the only decent looking places the dorms.. and the training hall.
"We learn swordplay, obviously? How to train how mana efficiently, and how to fight. I thought you knew that."
Tre's heart sank for a moment. He widened his eyes at this, before returning to a straight face. The feeling remained though.
'I had thought so, but.. hearing it like this confirms it. I was naive. It all clicks. Why Lloyd wanted me to go here so urgently. Why they're training as if they're getting ready for something. It's as if they're preparing for a war. I got too complacent. This school is located just nearby one of the central kingdom of this country, where the king is. Lloyd must have struck some kind of deal with someone to get me in here, then. Perhaps in exchange for my protection here, he had to fight.. more.. this country is planning to fight in some kind of war.'
Tre's expression soured as he bit his lip. He felt a sharp pain in his chest at the thought of Lloyd fighting for him once more. Just once.. he wanted to help.
Tre acquired very few scars on his body in his time as a vagabond, travelling from city to city, fighting for the right to live. The only one that aches right now though, is the burn etched deep into his skin, right on top of his heart.
Tre breathed a deep sigh, ignoring the sharp pain from within his chest, before turning towards the door, with the number '7' scratched into the wooden surface.
Knock!
A small thump was heard from inside, as if something dropped on the floor.
Silence lingered through the air, as if to cover the abrupt noise that just came from the room.
Knock! Knock!
"Eirini, open up. It's Tre."
There was no response for a couple seconds, until a voice resounded from within the room;
"Seriously?"
The door handle clicked, before twisting in response to a force on the other side. The hinges, once again, creaked harshly as if opening the door was a hassle for the old metal.
Facing the three teens was a young woman with visible bags under her eyes, and messy pearl white hair, donned in soft blue clothing.
Eirni was about to say something, before her voice got caught when she took a glance at who was accompanying Tre.
"Guac..? And the guy that got dirt thrown in his face? Actually, I don't want to hear it. Why are you guys here?"
Valnar's face grew a soft red, glancing away nonchalantly.
"They're joining the science club. If you're alright with that, of course. We'll get extra funding, right?"
Eirini stared at Tre, the shadows sinking into her sleep deprived sockets.
"..Guac, dirt kid. Stay here for a sec, you can join the club if you wish. I want to talk to Tre privately."
She entered back into the science club's room, gesturing for Tre to enter.
***
Tre and Eirini sat opposite eachother, similar to when they first met.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Seriously, bringing that green haired kid here is NOT a good idea. That's not even mentioning the other one. I thought you would be the type of person to think things through carefully. What are you planning?!"
Tre thought for a bit, understanding her point. He needed to tell her some of his plans for anything to work, but he still knew too little about her. He hadn't heard of her family before, nor did he know about her ki ability. There were too many unknowns with this person.
"I'll tell you. I want to know something before that, though. What is your ki ability?"
Her eyes widened when he said this.
"You.. don't need to know that. It's best not used."
"What?"
Eirini wore a pained expression, as if Tre had brought up a sensitive topic.
"I can't just tell you my ki ability like that. Abilities are supposed to be kept a secret. It's.. not one I want."
Tre scoffed.
"Everyone knows Typhlos' ability. You know my plans for this country; at the very least you should tell me your ki ability."
She scrunched her face, glancing longingly at her gladius in the corner of her room. At the water drops etched deep into the silver sheathe.
"My ability is to control fire. I can manipulate and create fire. It's a cursed ability, and one I never wanted."
Tre's eyes widened at this. At the thought of actually finding someone with a flame ability. His hands shook slightly, and the pain in his chest grew harsher.
"What is.. the weakness to your ability? How do you extinguish your flames?"
She looked taken back at this. The person in front of her, for the first time, looked vulnerable. It was as if an impenetrable shield finally showed a slight crack in it's metal.
"Why..? No, I shouldn't even consider this. I will not tell you."
"What if I tell you my weakness?"
...
"Your weakness? You mean your ki abilities weakness?"
Tre furrowed his brows, his eyes seeming sharper.
"No. You've probably deduced this by now, but I cant ultilise ki. I'm talking about MY weakness. In exchange, you tell me the weakness to your flame ability."
Commanding fire was an extremely rare ability, born from an extremely rare mutation. Anyone with the ability is usually ostracised, condemned to the fate of death. It was never passed on for this reason. So someone with the ability being at the school was extremely rare, let alone being one of the first people Tre ran into. This wasn't the reason he wanted to know it's weakness, though.
"Very well. If you tell me.. your weakness, I will tell you the weakness to this ability."
Tre nodded softly, grabbed the hems of his shirt, lifting the bottom of it to below his neck. In the middle of his chest, lay a burn the size of a large hand. Scarred tissue lay around the burnt skin, as if recent.
"What the hell? What happened? Did you get attacked?"
Tre didn't respond for a moment.
"This happened years ago. This scar serves as a reminder for me. For all the people that were killed, and for my own life."
He sucked in air harshly, as if breathing through a punctured lung.
"This isn't a normal burn. It's ki. It's blocking my ability to use ki, and is limiting my life. Im slowly dying. That's why I'm planning to circulate my ki."
He covered his burn once again, still staring at the Eirni, her mouth agape slightly, comprehending his words.
"So tell me, Eirini. What is your weakness?"