Skyler's eyes widened with disbelief. What were the chances he would meet his own sister in such a vast place? Nearly zero! His eyes flashed with relief as he momentarily forgot the past and forced himself to stand and move toward the sounds with a smile.
He noticed four people walking in the distance, discussing where they should camp for the night after an exhausting day: two young males and two females.
They all wore Starlight Academy uniforms, with glowing fireballs illuminating their path. One of them was indeed Jenny!
He hurried to reach them before they left, but in his haste, he tripped over a protruding tree root hidden in the night's darkness, and a sharp groan escaped his lips as he fell.
The noise successfully attracted the attention of the group in the distance.
One of the male, with a pair of piercing obsedian eyes and dark hair, grabbed the javelin strapped to his back and aimed the sharp, gleaming tip directly at his neck.
"Who are you? Why are you following us?"
The rest three quickly followed him, and the other male in the group, with a pair of kind golden eyes and black hair speckled with white, hurriedly pushed his weapon aside.
"Austin, don't just casually point your weapon at others! It's dangerous!"
Skyler froze when he saw their faces. He had always considered himself handsome, but this group was no less striking. They all looked as if they had stepped right out of the cover of a magazine.
Austin lowered his javelin and strapped it on his back with a click of his tongue.
"You are too soft, Max. All the professors said at the academy: if we encounter any suspicious individuals, we eliminate them. People from all over the universe are here. What if this person is dangerous?"
He glanced back at the two females.
"Jenny and Elena, can you two please put some sense into this head, will you?"
The two girls simply shook their heads, not wanting to interfere. Max pushed him away and sat down in front of Skyler to see his face, which wasn't visible.
"Are you alright?"
He asked in a very soft voice and even went so far as to look around for injuries on his body with a worried expression, as if Skyler were his long-lost brother.
Skyler finally snapped out of it, but just like how Max pushed Austin earlier, he shoved the man away. Then he stood up, dusted off his clothes, and stared straight at his sister.
"Jenny! It's me!"
Hearing his voice, the woman with long dark hair and blue eyes—similar to Skyler's but lacking their crystal-like brilliance—finally whipped her head toward him. Her eyes widened when she saw his face.
"How...?"
She muttered, and seeing the look of sheer disbelief on her face, everyone else glanced at her. Elena, the short woman next to her, played with the tip of her curly red hair.
"You know him? A friend? He's either very weak or very powerful because I can't sense any elemental power from him."
Jenny did not respond, causing Max, who had fallen over when Skyler pushed him, to approach her with a worried expression.
"What happened?"
Skyler's eyes traveled to the hand that rested on his sister's arm, and he raised an eyebrow. It seemed his sister already had a lover without their parents' knowledge.
He planned to blackmail Jenny once they were out of this place to get his tiny, mini revenge and settle old scores with her, but his sister had other thoughts in mind.
Jenny Ironhart was tongue-tied. Skyler's condition didn't look good, but she wasn't worried about that. The surprise and shock of seeing him here in this dangerous place when her brother wasn't even 20 or eligible to participate in the test wore off, giving way to a larger issue of how she should introduce him to her friends.
They didn't remember Skyler. And how could they? They had only seen him once at the testing center two years ago when he awakened his affinity and potential.
Skyler was about to introduce himself, noticing his sister was silent. But she didn't let him and finally spoke up.
"Yes, I know him."
Max nodded at her, and Elena turned to scrutinize the injured youth.
"Who is he? He looks younger than us. Is he even 20? But that can't be possible since only those who are 20 are teleported here."
Skyler rolled his eyes inwardly when he noticed how long his sister was taking to introduce him. Why the hell was she taking so much time? Can't she see he is badly injured and needs treatment, along with some shoes and clothes? But what he heard next sent chills down his spine.
"He's the son of an old neighbor who lived next to my family when I was in school."
He stared at her dazedly and muttered.
"Neighbor?"
She looked away, not answering anymore. Max released Jenny's arm and glanced at Skyler with a polite smile before turning to his only other male teammate.
"He's injured. Now that we know him, let's help him. Austin, use your Light element power to heal his injuries since yours is the most powerful among all of us."
Skyler just watched in a daze as Austin cursed and moved closer to him, telling Max that he wasn't his servant. A bright golden light emerged from his hands, cascading onto Skyler's injured body.
An hour later, all his injuries were healed, and Max gave him a set of new clothes and dark blue sneakers to wear, but he remained silent and didn't say anything.
He held the clothes and shoes in his hands and watched as the group of four retrieved tents from their storage rings and set them up at that very spot in front of him.
Suddenly, Max invited him to sleep in his tent for the night and to join their team. He couldn't sense any elemental power from him, nor did Skyler appear strong.
Max thought that Skyler might not survive the preliminary test, which is why, despite Austin and Elena's objections and Jenny's silence, he chose to extend the offer.
Skyler stared at the offered hand. For some reason, he couldn't stand this group. He let out a self-deprecating smile and pushed Max's hand away.
"I am just the son of her neighbor—someone she won't even remember for long. There's no need to pretend to be kind to me just to impress her."