'I...I lost my ability!!!' Jules freaked out inwardly, his body trembling.
"What are you waiting for?, do something you idiot!" Elise spoke impatiently.
"Well..I..um..."
Elise glared at Jules and began to march towards him. She stood in front him and grabbed him by the collar.
"Get that boulder off of her or I'll slash your neck, you get that?" She spoke menancingly.
"I can't!" Jules yelled abruptly.
Elise raised a brow at his reply. "Huh?" She spoke.
"Oh..umm..I didn't mean..to yell.."
"What the hell do you mean by you can't?!, Mind explaining?" Elise tightened her grip on his collar.
"That's enough Elise" Master Benjamin walked in on them.
Elise then sighed and released her hand from Jules's collar.
"She's right though..." Master Benjamin spoke.
"Mind explaining what you meant by that statement?" He asked.
"Well...umm" Jules scratched his head awkwardly. 'I have to tell him' he nodded and stared at Master Benjamin.
"I...lost my ability" he said with his head faced down.
"Master" he added.
Master Benjamin stood there for a while and then chuckled softly.
'What the...is he laughing right now?' Jules stared at him in surprise.
"When did this happen Jules?" Master Benjamin asked.
Jules sighed. "Last night"
"Hmm, then it's probably just you thinking such"
"Huh?, What do you mean?" Jules asked in curiosity.
"I mean..it's literally impossible for a saviour to lose their ability. You must be mistaken" Master Benjamin said calmly.
"Now, scoot over and get that boulder off of Anne" He pushed Jules slightly towards Anne.
"Finally...i..it's Jules" Anne spoke.
'Huh? Really? Wait! What?' Jules's mind was all over the place.
"But Master I just said..."
"Get moving, we don't wanna dislocate all her bones now do we?" Master Benjamin said.
'Is he even listening to me?' Jules thought. He exhaled heavily and turned to Anne.
'What to do..what to do' He thought.
"You're wicked you know that?" Elise whispered to Master Benjamin.
"Well, I wouldn't say that" Master Benjamin smiled.
"Trust me, all he needs is some extra confusion" he added.
"I hope so" Elise sighed.
Anne looked up at Jules, he seemed appalled and confused.
"You can do this...Jules" She smiled.
"I...can?" Jules asked and Anne nodded.
'How silly can he be?' She chuckled inwardly.
'I..can, I can!' He looked up in determination.
"Hang on Anne, I'll get this boulder off of you" He said and bent down to reach her. He placed both his arms under the boulder and began to lift it up.
"Hmph" he breathed heavily but just like before, he couldn't do it. The boulder was still in place. He began to try harder, his veins bulging out at this point.
"Ha..ha..ha" He breathed heavily and let go of it. He looked back at Master Benjamin.
"I told you...I can't.."
"Are you even trying?" Master Benjamin asked.
"I mean, the boulder barely moved" he added.
"Huh...wait..I said.."
"I clearly said that it's impossible for a Saviour to lose their ability" Master Benjamin cut him short once again.
'Okay now I'm so confused' Jules stared down at the floor. 'He says it's impossible but I clearly don't possess my ability any longer' he stared at his hand.
"Want me to give you a heads-up?" Master Benjamin asked.
Jules turned to see him smiling right in front of him.
"Of course" he nodded.
Master Benjamin sighed. "Here" he placed a palm of Jules's chest.
"Huh?"
"Your energy core"
"Energy...what?" Jules stared at him in a confused state.
"Ha" Master Benjamin sighed once again.
He looked up at Jules with a serious expression. "Feel it, the energy sinking in. Release it" he spoke.
'Okay, I've got no clue what's going on anymore' Jules thought.
"Once you release it, then you can easily push off that boulder" Master Benjamin spoke. "Now..if you'll excuse me.."
"Elise, go get me some water from the kitchen" he walked back towards Elise.
"Ha, go get it yourself old man" Elise spoke.
'Release it he said' Jules placed his palm on his chest.
'Do these idiots even realize I'm still stuck in here' Anne winced. 'Ha, I shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place' she spoke irritatedly.
She looked up at Jules who was focused staring into his chest or at least it seemed like so.
"What in the world are you doing over there?" She spoke jolting him back to reality.
"Oh..yeah, I'm coming" Jules said.
He placed both arms at the bottom of the boulder once again. He turned to look at the others..both Elise and Master Benjamin were staring intently at him. Chris whom was absent for a while had just walked in and gave him a thumbs up whilst smiling from ear to ear.
"Ha" he sighed and turned to look at Anne. She had a tired and irritated expression on her face.
'Not sure what he meant by energy core but it's worth a shot' he thought, he had to free Anne as soon as possible. He then closed his eyes for a second..
'Still nothing' he couldn't feel a thing and raising the boulder was twice as difficult.
He took deep breaths and stepped back for a bit.
"What is he doing?"
"Ssh, I think he's figured it out"
The others stood still observing his every action.
Jules placed both palms on his chest and kept breathing slowly.
'I'm screwed, I'm screwed, I'm screwed' these words kept echoing in his head.
"No, not yet" he spoke and opened his eyes. He felt it!
Like a substantial amount of energy hidden deep within him and ready to burst at any moment.
'Is this what he meant by feel it?' He thought. 'Then how do I release it?'
"He's taking a long time figuring this out" Elise yawned.
"You're one to talk, didn't it take you about 2 days to release your energy?" Master Benjamin rolled his eyes.
"Urgh, that was Chris. It took me just a few minutes" Elise stared at him frustratedly.
"Oh, now I remember. Hehe, you can't blame me though, I'm just an old man with poor memory" he chuckled.
"Yeah right" Elise rolled her eyes.
"Come on Jules, you can do it!" Chris yelled.
'Holy mother of biscuits' Anne sighed in frustration.
Jules stood there for a few seconds still clutching to his chest and breathing slowly. He could feel it, the great amount of energy in there but he just had to release it, it felt like a heavy burden ready to pull him down at any moment.
In a split second, he gasped and opened his eyes abruptly. 'Did I do it? Did I release it?' He thought and to his surprise, his body felt a lot lighter than before and..a brown aura.., it surrounded his body once again.
"What is this?" He stared at his arms and all over in surprise.
"He did it" Elise spoke, a noticable hint of surprise in her expression.
"Amazing!" Chris exclaimed.
"Told you he could" Master Benjamin spoke.
"Now, try to carry that boulder kiddo!" He yelled towards Jules.
"Oh..yeah!" Jules still in a confused state stretched out his arm once again to lift the boulder and this time....it came off like a piece of cake.
"Oh...my!" He stared at the huge boulder in his arms. He then carefully placed it next to Anne.
"Haaa" Anne heaved a huge sigh of relief. She stood up abruptly and began to stretch her arms, her eyes darted towards Jules with a glare afterwards.
"I almost died there you know" she punched him aggressively on the shoulder.
"Ow.., I'm sorry" Jules spoke but to his surprise he felt nothing from the punch Anne had given him.
'Wow, i feel so much stronger than when I first got this ability' he thought.
"Hehe, it's alright" Anne smiled.
"Congrats Jules" Master Benjamin spoke.
Both Anne and Jules turned to find the others walking towards them.
"You passed the test!"
"T..test?" Jules raised a brow at his words.
"Yeah, all this was a test and you passed it" Master Benjamin spoke.
'It all makes sense now' Jules thought.
Master Benjamin then walked towards him and placed a palm on his chest.
"When you agree to become a Saviour and is given a port-crystal. Your energy core develops and your ability becomes locked inside of it" he said.
"We conduct a test favourable to your ability to ensure you release it and gain full control of it" he continued.
"Haven't you noticed how much stronger you are now?" He asked with a smile.
"Yeah...I have" Jules spoke.
'So, I didn't have full control of it back then?' He thought.
"I used my ability to find your core and that's how I knew it was right here" Master Benjamin tapped him on the chest.
Jules stared down at his chest. "Wow" he said.
Elise sighed. "You should probably quit releasing your aura like that" She spoke. "It'll give you away easily" she added.
"Chill girl, he probably doesn't know how to...yet" Chris said.
But to their surprise, the brown aura surrounding Jules was no where to be seen anymore.
"Wait, did..you do that?" Chris asked in surprise.
"Wow, he actually did" Anne said
"Well....I figured I'd let it sink back into my core just the way I released it" Jules smiled.
'Wow, I'm actually getting the hang of this' He thought.
"Hmm, you're a fast learner. I like it" Elise said.
The others all turned to look at her.
"What? Something on my face?" She asked with an irritated expression.
"No...it's..just, from what I can recall...I thought you hated Jules" Chris grinned.
'So it's not just me huh?' Jules thought.
"Tch, go to hell" Elise said and walked away to avoid the topic.
"What a grumpy lady" Chris scoffed.
"She's just shy, let her be" Master Benjamin smiled.
Jules looked down with a small blush on his face.
'Guess she doesn't hate me afterall'
SAME DAY, 4:40PM
"Wow, this is amazing" Jules said whilst taking another bite of the meal in front of him.
"Master makes the best stew in the history of Giylberd. No, the country in general" Chris smiled, his voice muffled from the food in his mouth.
"You're just exaggerating" Master Benjamin laughed slightly.
"Oh, that reminds me. I've been meaning the ask..." Jules spoke, the mention of Giylberd triggered the question lingering in his mind.
"Where exactly are we?"
"Huh?" Master Benjamin asked, genuinely confused from his question.
"I mean...this place...the headquarters" Jules continued.
"Are we still at Giylberd?" He asked, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Oh" Master Benjamin let out a sigh.
"Yes, we are"
"Wait, really?" Jules asked.
"It's true" Anne spoke from beside them. Jules then turned to look at her.
"Let's just say...we're at the far end of the city. So it's much more convenient to teleport here" She added. "You're curious about that right?"
"Yeah" Jules nodded. 'Things are much clearer now' he thought.
"Anyways" Master Benjamin clapped to grab their attention.
"Eat all you want kids cause training is gonna be twice as hard starting tomorrow" He spoke.
"Urgh"
"Damn it!"
Both Chris and Anne groaned in agony.
Jules held a laugh at their reactions.
'Didnt he say I'd start training today though?' The sudden thought came to his mind.
"Oh also, that test was the first part of your training Jules" Master Benjamin said.
"Huh?" Jules looked up. 'Did he just read my mind or what?' He thought.
"I can tell what you're thinking" Master Benjamin chuckled.
"Ah" Jules smiled awkwardly. 'Well, that's weird' he thought.
Afterwards, his eyes darted towards the girl at the corner.
'She's awfully quiet as usual' he thought. Elise hadn't said a single word and was simply taking little bites of her meal while staring out the window.
Jules sat still, his eyes observing her as she paid no attention to the others at the table.
"Jules...Jules!" Master Benjamin called out.
"Huh! oh...yes..Master" Jules was jolted back to reality.
Master Benjamin smiled. "You're officially one of us now" he said.
"Welcome" he added, his warm smile not leaving his face.
Jules stared at him for a while and smiled.
"Thank you Master Benjamin" he said.
'I'll be sure not to disappoint you'