Elijah woke up with calm emotions after getting more than ten hours of restful sleep. He felt refreshed, anew, and content with his path forward. The day started with stretching just as usual. A horizontal split was held for more than a minute, and shortly followed by walking upside down on his hands. A couple drops of sweat were broken, and his thirst was quenched with lightly salted water. Since the entire kingdom was rationing food, Elijah and the whole estate had mainly been relying on frozen meat, eggs, and fruits and veggies that were grown on the rooftop. Phloria and Lea, the mothers of the Veran and Sinclair family, had completely taken over the small rooftop garden, and turned it into a produce powerhouse.
Alexia walked into the kitchen and was delighted to see a small breakfast being cooked up. Touches of coriander and cinnamon entered her nose, and she started to salivate more than what was natural. "I saw Novius walking up the stairs to his fathers office, and he told me we needed to go to the Hunter guild today."
"Do you know why?"
"He didn't tell me much as he was in a rush, but I think it has something to do with his pride, he wants to do another mission as soon as possible."
Elijah simply responded in agreement with Novius' thinking, and began to talk about his mental health with Alexia. Time passed quickly, and Novius joined the two in the kitchen, grabbed some food to go, and called a carriage. Elijah knew the next mission would be easier than usual if he used his space affinity. The idea of being able to cut through anytype of magic on the same level as his made his heart flutter.
"Are you okay Elijah?"
Novius' question didn't shock him because he knew his parents must have said something to both Alexia and Novius. "Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I know what's going on with my head, so I can deal with it. But I just want to go on another mission. A mission where I don't hide my affinity…"
"I agree. I understand you hiding it from the public, but not using your space affinity will affect your potential."
Alexia nodded in agreement, but also added a few words. "I think you should get a sword."
A sword had been in the back of Elijah's mind for sometime now, however, he did not want a sword like the one Novius had. Straight and long. A short sword, something that would work well with his knife if he dual-wielded weapons. The only downside was that Elijah wouldn't be able to fully use magic, which wasn't a problem since he had his feet. Custom shoes with protection from rocks, but with the ability to use magic through the openings or slits in the shoes was also an item to get, or make for himself.
"I will get a short sword, how about that?"
"Short sword? What do you mean?" Novius was confused by his response.
Elijah immediately knew that a short sword, or the name short sword didn't exist, so he explained what he meant even with the explanation within the name. Pfff, ten year olds…
"Oh! I thought that was what you meant, but we don't really have a different name for shorter swords. We call everything that looks like a sword, a sword." Novius explained.
Elijah was glad this kingdom wasn't stupid, although he hopes that short swords are a popular option. They are lighter, can be sturdier, and can be just as deadly. It all just depends on the person.
The carriage arrived at the busy western hunter guild building. Every face was unfamiliar, besides Emery's party which they ignored. Novius had received a message from Aslan saying to bring Alexia and Elijah to room 215 in the hunter guild building.
The door opened accompanied by stares, but shortly followed with a pleasant greeting. Theon had shook the hands of Novius and Alexia, and quickly moved to a long handshake with Elijah. Not weird at all. After a couple of minutes of greeting each other, their attention was taken away by Aslan, who was pointing at a large sheet of paper lying on the circular table. The room the party was in was dedicated for meetings and group learning. The edges were tinged and the faded color was a sight that Elijah had never seen before. A map! But more specifically Nova40 and half of the cave systems up to a certain point.
"This is the point of the mission where the ceiling caved in. That large pool of water was accounted for, and reachable by entering the ravine that came after the cave." Asland explained while pointing with his fingers.
"So why exactly are you showing us this?" Novius asked.
"Because I thought you guys should know. I don't think we will take the same mission again, but something can be learned from this. By knowing the layout of the cave system we are going into, we can use it to our advantage! If we truly knew what was above us, we could've reinforced it with metal magic, and stopped the ceiling from caving in."
They continued onto the next subject, which is Elijah's hidden affinity. He quickly explained to everyone what the mechanics were, and said he only wanted to keep it a secret from the public as much as possible, and was planning on revealing it when comfortable. His phenomenal performance and downfall after obliterating the gorgon was also discussed, however, not much was said besides his body hurting from low mana and the beast dealing a hit to his shoulder that no one saw.
Loud voices and shouts were suddenly heard coming from outside the room. The party of eight quickly opened the door, walked into the hallway, and followed the noise by walking to the right to the balcony that overlooked the grand foyer of the hunter guild.
In the very center was a Lorsen Cerveron, standing tall above all of the junior knights who were gathered in the guild, along with some older hunters including Alessia.
"Everyone please be quiet! I have a few quick words to say and I will be on my way! This has something to do with the outer region!" Lorsen's last sentence silenced the hunters as they were expecting candidates for the outer region to be announced.
"In one month, there will be a tournament meant to show off the talents of the junior hunters. If you want to participate, please write your full name and core color on the signup sheet next to the mission board. This is meant to provide us some insight on who to pay attention to, and also a way for you all to get competitive against each other as a change compared to slaughtering beasts all day. A Lot of you will find that battling fellow humans is much more difficult than stupid beasts. That is it, and I am sorry for lying."
The crowd of junior hunters once again erupted in chatter, while Elijah grew a worried pair of eyes. Becoming more familiar with his water affinity, and understanding how to embody its principles will need to be a priority. This definitely has something to do with being put on the team to go outside the walls, and even if Elijah is an orange core mage, he can still greatly help with his imagination.
"I guess we better choose another mission soon. I think we can do four within one month, which will help us improve our skills drastically." Aslan said to the party.
"I'm okay with that. In fact, why don't we choose one today, and prepare for the next 3 days."
Everyone added in their thoughts, and came to an agreement. Four days from now, they would be in The Catacombs once again, battling for their lives. The question was, would there be any surprises, stories to remember, or despair.