The Ancient’s Son -The life and story of Arkanon Leyan

[sexy_parul]

Chapter 8

Arkanon was running through the dark empty space that surrounded him. He didn’t know why he was running, he only felt the need to run in fear of something. He kept running until he saw a light ahead of him and under that light, he saw his foster parents.

“Mother! Father!” Arkanon cried out.

They both smiled and held their arms out to Arkanon, as if to embrace him. But as he drew closer, the light flickered and where his parents were, two piles of flesh and bone appeared. Arkanon’s face froze in shock.

“Wha… Why?” Arkanon voice came out as a whisper. He then fell to his knees in front of the two corpses, tears streaming down his face. Three red-eyed figures began to approach him from the darkness. One had a hole in his chest. One of the other ones limped forward with it’s head at an awkward angle, had a missing arm, and a leg bent backwards. The last one crawled forward, missing his lower body, causing his internal organs to trail behind him. There was also a hole in his head where a sword pierced through. The three of them stared at Arkanon with pure malice and hatred. As soon as he saw them, Arkanon’s mouth became agape, as his body trembled with fear.

“How… How are you still alive? I killed you!” Arkanon cried out, terror-stricken. He looked for a way out, but the three of them surrounded him. Arkanon placed his hands on his head to try and regain his sanity, but to no avail. Eventually, the three demons came closer and the last thing Arkanon felt was a pair of hands grab his shoulders. From above, two big red eyes watched from the darkness.

Arkanon awoke with a scream. He still felt the hands holding on to his shoulders. He was covered with sweat and his body wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Arkanon, are you okay?” Jared was the one holding his shoulders with a face twisted with worry.

Arkanon put his right hand over his face and could feel tears coming from his eyes. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. Arkanon rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands to dry them.

“Must’ve been one hell of a nightmare.”

“Ha. Hell is too light to describe it. It was horrific.” Arkanon started to shake again. “I saw them. My parents and the three demons I killed.”

Jared sat down on the bed next to Arkanon and put an arm around him and pulled him close. “So you’re still a kid after all. With everything that you’ve gone through, I would’ve been surprised if you didn’t suffer some type of backlash. Go ahead and finish crying or whatever you need to do, I’ll wait for you to finish.”

Arkanon started to sob loudly and wrapped his arms around Jared. Jared sighed and stayed still. After a short while, Arkanon stopped and pushed himself away from Jared. He sat up straight and dried his eyes, his usual calm composure returning.

“Feeling better?” Jared asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

“A lot. Thank you.” Arkanon smiled slightly.

“That’s good, because we’ve arrived at the academy.”

Arkanon froze after hearing these words. “We arrived already?”

“Yeah, you were asleep for a good eight or nine hours.”

Arkanon started to get frantic and felt that he already messed up.

Jared laugh after seeing Arkanon panic. “Relax, we only just arrived. I’d recommend using the restroom to wash yourself and look presentable.”

Arkanon nodded and quickly headed to the restroom. Jared took a deep breath and stretched, raising his arms over his head. While stretching, he heard a knock at the ship’s door. He immediately headed over to it and pressed a button to open it. Standing outside was a rugged beastman with long, unkempt silver hair, ominous blue eyes and a sharp face. He wore brown leather-like armor that only covered his chest and legs. He had a muscular build with a two-handed sword on his back.

“I assume you’re Jared Winesk?” The beastman asks.

Jared nodded his head. “I am. Are you the one the academy sent to pick us up?”

“Yeah, I am. My name is Areath. Are you and that Arkanon boy ready to go?”

“Unfortunately not yet, Arkanon has some last minute preparations to do.”

Areath sighed and closed his eyes. “Alright, just be quick. That boy better be faster in the future, otherwise the academy won’t want him here.”

Jared grinned slightly. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll do just fine. He just hasn’t had much chance to rest these past few days.”

“Yeah yeah, we know of what happened, but he’s not the only student with a sob-story here.”

“I’m sure he’s not the only one, but he’s-“

“Hey Jared, I’m ready to go.” Arkanon came up wearing his grey clothes and had his cloak clasped around him.

Areath noticed Arkanon and spoke up. “So you must be Arkanon. My name is Areath. I’m one of the instructors here at the academy and I’ve been asked to show you around.”

Arkanon looked curiously at Areath’s silver hair. “Are you also a guardian?”

“Yeah I am.”

“How come your hair is a silver color instead of white? Most other guardians I’ve seen have white hair.”

Areath smiled slightly. “Hm. It’s because sometimes a guardian’s hair or eye color don’t change due to a problem with the body when they awaken.”

“Is that so? Interesting.”

“Not the first time I’ve been asked. Anyways, I see you’re ready. Shall we go now?”

Arkanon nodded his head, his eyes hardened and determined. “Yes.”

Areath chuckled. “That look in your eyes, never lose it. Now let’s go.”

Jared and Arkanon stepped out of the ship, and Arkanon was amazed by the scenery surrounding him. He was standing on a grassy plain with a forest outcropping the area. In the distance, large mountains could be seen. What surprised Arkanon the most was the buildings they were heading towards. From what he could see, there was one large building surrounded by smaller buildings. The larger building looked like an institution while the smaller building all resembling huts.

Areath spoke out while Arkanon looked around. “So what do you think of our academy, Arkanon? After all, this will be your home for a while.”

“It’s a rather, err, interesting design.”

“Haha! I’m sure you’re curious about the design of it all. You’ll learn more about this place in the future, but for now, the only thing you need to remember is that the higher prestige students live in the large building while the huts are for the normal students and servants of the higher students.”

Arkanon frowned a little. “Seems like a hierarchy.”

Areath shrugged his shoulders. “Their parents are usually rich and help support the academy. It’s a small price to pay for showing better treatment to their kids. But no need to worry about that. It doesn’t matter if their rich or not, we train everyone hard here.”

“So while the prestige students have better living expenses, we are still taught equally by the instructors?”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it all. You catch on rather quickly. I’m sure you’ll do just fine here.” Areath stopped walking and turned around, facing Arkanon and Jared. “All right, I’m going to have to ask you to wait here, Arkanon. Jared, I need you to come with me to meet the head instructor here. He asked to meet with you.”

Jared was slightly surprised, but he nodded. Areath started to leave with Jared, but he turned around and said to Arkanon. “Actually, go ahead, walk around and explore. This may take a while and I don’t want to keep you standing there all day. Just stay away from the forest around the plain.”

Arkanon nodded. “Alright, I’ll try not to cause trouble either.”

“Hm. If you’re interested, there’s a training ground over there. You can see what some of the other students are like.” Areath pointed towards the institute. “Alright, try not to stray too far.” Areath and Jared walked towards one of the sides on the institute.

Arkanon headed off on his own towards the direction that Areath pointed. On his way over, he saw students walking to and fro from different directions. Most of them headed towards the institute as well. Most didn’t pay Arkanon any mind, but a few looked at him curiously for a moment before going back about their business.

‘There are a number of different races here, it really is interesting.’ Arkanon thought to himself. There were beastmen, rockmen, and draconians here. There were also people with wings on their backs that resembled angels. There were also a couple normal humans. He wasn’t able to tell the age of most of them, but was certain that quite a few were older than him.

“Hey kid, are you new here?” A voice called out behind Arkanon.

Arkanon turned around to see who it was. Standing there was a beastman with the usual white hair and blue eyes. He had no noteworthy features that Arkanon could see. He was wearing a brown cloak with a brown shirt and brown pants. The beastman seemed a few years older than Arkanon.

“Yes, I am. My name is Arkanon. It’s nice to meet you.” Arkanon responded politely.

“Huh, you’re not arrogant. Most students here seem to have a superiority complex and want to make everyone aware of just how powerful they are.” The beastman rolled his eyes. “Just a warning. Anyways, my name is Veld and I’m a student here. Looks like you’re a new student here. Keep an eye out, others may try to take advantage of that.”

Arkanon bowed his head slightly. “Thank you for the warning, Veld.”

Veld smiled. “Don’t mention it. If you ever need any help, come ask me, Arkanon. Where are you headed right now?”

“Well since I’m waiting for someone, I was told there was a training ground in this direction. So I was curious and decided to check it out.”

Veld smile turned into a small grimace. “It might not be a wise idea to go there.”

“Why not?”

“Because someone may challenge you to a duel. There are some people that’ll do whatever it takes to raise their standing, even if it means picking on a kid like you.”

“Wouldn’t picking on a kid lower their standing?”

“Haha, well that may be the case, but you still may get hurt.”

“And?”

“Arkanon, you don’t seem to understand. People that were praised as prodigies back in their homelands come here. Even if you are strong for your age, there are also other stronger people here. Prodigies are common here. That’s why the academy is for the elite.”

“That still doesn’t worry me. How will I get stronger if I don’t push myself?”

Veld sighed. “Alright then, since you’re so adamant, I’ll accompany you there. When we arrive, we’ll have a duel, only a small one to show the difference between you and others here.”

Arkanon’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Alright then, I accept your duel.”

Veld sighed once more, a look of annoyance in his eyes. “Okay then, let’s go.”

Arkanon and Veld continued on their way to the training field, only now there were more glances at Arkanon.

When they arrived, Arkanon looked around at everyone. Unlike at the guardian ship, most of the people sparring were fast and precise. All of them moved with practiced movements. But something shocked Arkanon, and that was that everyone was using real weapons. The continuous clangs of sword on sword, or the rumble of a giant hammer slamming into the ground could be heard all around him.

“Hey Veld, isn’t it dangerous with everyone using actual weapons?” Arkanon asked with worry evident in his voice.

“Training with fake weapons won’t help. They don’t hold the weight and feel of real ones.” Veld explained. “If you’re worried about injuries, they will happen, but no fatal wounds. There are always instructors roaming through the training grounds keeping an eye on students. They’ll stop anything that look suspicious.”

“I’d like to say that’s comforting, but could there be any instances where they might turn a blind eye?”

Veld snorted. “Of course not. Every life here is precious, as most of us will become major war assets in the future. For all they know, the weak kid getting beaten up may turn into one of the greatest leaders.”

“Has there been any cases where some students took it too far and ended up killing someone else?”

Veld narrowed his eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. There were some students that ended up killing another student. Usually out of jealousy or resentment.”

“What happened to those students?”

“They were discharged from the academy and imprisoned.” Veld put his hands behind his head.

“Anyways, enough of the questions. What am I to you? A walking question machine?”

“No, I didn’t mean any offence. I’m merely curious about the academy.”

Hearing Arkanon apologize, Veld got flustered. “It was a joke, a joke. Calm down. I didn’t mean for that to be taken the wrong way.”

Arkanon smiled slightly. “Your reaction there was kind of amusing.”

Veld got angry seeing that Arkanon was messing with him. “Hey you little brat, you’re a cunning little devil, aren’t you?”

Arkanon could only laugh after hearing that. The two chatted about trivial things for a moment longer before they found an empty dueling circle away from the other students.

“Hey Veld, why are we so far away from the other students?”

“I prefer fighting without all the distractions.”

“Distractions?”

“Yeah, sometimes students watch others fight. Unfortunately, they also bet on some fights.”

“Why is that a bad thing? Isn’t being able to discern a person’s strength from viewing them a good trait?”

“Yeah, I suppose. I just have my own personal reasons for disliking it.” Veld shrugged and walked to one side of the ring. Arkanon walked to the side opposite of Veld.

“Alright, so what are the rules for duels?”

“Well, the rules vary from the people fighting. The two decide the rules, and if both agree on one, that’s one of the rules of the duel. The most basic rules are if you are ringed out or can’t continue, you lose the duel. The more special rules can include anything, such as you cannot use energy, or you’re limited to using your legs, things like that. So with that said, we’ll use the basic rules. Are you okay with that?”

Arkanon nodded his head.

“Okay then, then let this duel begin.”

Veld readied himself for a charge from Arkanon, but after a few seconds he looked at Arkanon, who was still standing there.

“Hey, you did hear me, right?”

“Yes.”

“So why are you still standing over there?”

“But you’re still standing still.”

“Are you afraid to come over?”

Arkanon started to smile. “I’m not stupid. I can tell you want me to charge you so you can use my own weight and force against me and toss me out in one move.”

Veld sighed. “I didn’t expect you to actually have some fighting experience. I thought you were still as new to fighting as most other students your age that come here.”

“Well, I barely fought at all before coming here. I guess it’s some type of innate battle instinct”

“Heh, that’s somewhat rare here. While this academy does produce great fighters, the strongest amongst them have battle instinct.”

“Veld, I thought we came in here to fight, not talk.”

“My apologies. Well, let’s take this to the center then?”

“Fine with me.”

Arkanon and Veld both walked to the center. They stopped a couple meters away from each other.

“Give me a good fight, Arkanon.”

“Same to you, Veld.”

They both grinned at each other. There was complete stillness between the both of them for a couple of seconds before Veld broke it first by rushing Arkanon’s left side. Veld swiped his hand at Arkanon with a chop, but Arkanon immediately dodged it by stepping back and turning his body towards Veld. Arkanon retaliated by bringing his left hand up as a fist and punched towards Veld’s stomach. Veld twisted his body as Arkanon’s punch scraped by. Veld punched with a flat palm towards Arkanon’s head causing him to pull his head back along with his body. Before giving Veld time to recover, Arkanon rushed forward and rammed his elbow towards Veld’s left side. Veld mostly dodged the attack, but the tip of Arkanon’s elbow caught his hip, the force causing him to spin around. Veld used this to his advantage and brought a fist around towards Arkanon’s face. Arkanon couldn’t avoid it completely and the punch hit him across the cheek. He immediately counter attacked with a kick towards Veld’s stomach, hitting him square on. Veld fell backwards, clenching his stomach.

Veld coughed a couple times before laughing. “You aren’t bad Arkanon. This fight is already fun.”

Arkanon grinned, but winced due to his aching cheek. “You’re a decent opponent as well.”

Veld grinned as well. “But you need to do a lot better than that if you want to win.”

Veld once more charged towards Arkanon, and the two continued to exchange blows. During the course of the fight, most of the blows landed on each other caused only minor bruising, while the heavier blows were either dodged or smacked away. While they fought, they started to attract a small crowd. Some other students walked over and started to watch.

Some of them even called out. “Hey Veld, are you really struggling with that kid?” They were ignored, as Arkanon and Veld were completely absorbed in their duel. Eventually, Areath and Jared came over and saw their duel as well. They talked amongst themselves, discussing the fight.

Areath spoke to Jared. “That kid that you brought along is quite impressive. He’s fighting Veld to a stalemate.”

“Is that Veld that Arkanon is fighting someone strong?”

“Veld is one of the strongest students in his age group.”

Jared was surprised when he heard this. He thought to himself, ‘Arkanon, just what did you get into?’

A large crowd now formed around the duel and Arkanon and Veld continued to fight. Many of the younger students were surprised that this random kid that they never heard of was able to fight Veld, who was someone that they looked up to, almost equally. After a short while longer, Arkanon collapsed to one knee. He was sweating profusely and panting heavily. Veld was heavily breathing while also sweating, but he was still standing.

Arkanon waved one of his hands. “Alright, I give up. I can’t continue anymore.”

Veld laughed before coughing a few times. He walked over to Arkanon and offered him a hand.

Arkanon took it and Veld helped pull Arkanon to his feet.

Veld was the winner of the duel.

[sexy_parul]

Chapter 9

Arkanon was still kneeling down, panting heavily, while Veld walked towards him. Once Veld reached Arkanon, he offered his hand and Arkanon accepted it. Veld pulled Arkanon up to his feet.

Veld laughed. “That was a great duel. I haven’t gone against anyone that could push me so far. I was barely able to hold out. I’m afraid that in the next few years, I won’t even stand a chance against you.”

Arkanon wiped the sweat off his face and grinned. “That was indeed a great duel. I can’t calm down yet. My blood is still boiling, even though my body can’t continue.”

At this point, the two of them noticed the crowd around them.

“When did so many people come over?” Arkanon asked.

“I don’t know. I guess we were both too absorbed in our duel to notice.” Veld replied.

Since the duel ended, the crowd started to thin out. From within the crowd, Areath and Jared walked over to Arkanon and Veld.

Veld took notice and immediately replied. “Instructor Areath.”

Areath replied. “It seems you’ve met our newest student here. Not only that, you’ve already gotten into a fight with him.”

Veld scratched the back of his head while sheepishly grinning. “It was only a spar. I didn’t expect him to know how to fight so well. Most students that come here don’t fight so naturally.”

Arkanon smiled slightly. “You flatter me with your words. After all, you still won in the end.”

“Boy has a silver tongue.” Areath muttered under his breath sarcastically.

Veld frowned a little. “Arkanon, you know how close I was to losing. Please don’t make me admit it.”

Arkanon smiled widely. “I’m not making you admit anything, Veld. I was clearly stating that you won and are better than me.”

Veld turned and lightly smacked Arkanon on his head. “You’re a little scamp, you know that, right?”

Arkanon smile turned into a grimace. “Ah, please don’t do that. My head still hurts from the fight.”

Areath spoke up. “Alright, that’s enough. Veld, go back to your room and wash yourself off. Instructor Ber wants to see you.”

Veld turned towards Areath and nodded his head once. “Okay, I’ll be on my way.” As Veld walked away, he turned his head towards Arkanon. “Hey Arkanon, let’s meet up later.”

Arkanon smiled. “Yeah, let’s meet up.”

Jared walked over to Arkanon and tapped him on the shoulder with the back of his hand. “Already making friends, huh?”

Arkanon sighed a little. “It’s a start. After all, most of us here will likely fight alongside each other in the future. I want to try and learn about most everyone here so our communication skills aren’t in disarray.”

“Thinking of the future so heavily right now is commendable, but you should also focus on the present. You still need to become stronger before we even have the thought of sending you out on the battlefield.” Areath said.

“Yeah, just a little future planning.”

“Hm, alright. Now onto the important subjects. On orders from Harei, I am to be your personal instructor. Therefore if you have any questions regarding certain subjects, I’ll be the one you ask. I’ll also be helping you to learn how to fight with the weapon of your choice, or as long as it’s in my expertise. Your cabin has been prepared, with clothes, food, study materials and other various things. I recommend that you go rest for the day. A duel can be very tiring if your body isn’t trained fully.”

“Then I’ll listen to your recommendation. Will you show me where I’ll be staying?”

Areath nodded his head. “Yeah, follow me.”

With that said, Arkanon and Jared followed Areath out of the dueling grounds. As they winded around the academy, Arkanon spoke out.

“Areath, when will I be able to get a weapon of my own?”

“Tomorrow. I’ll answer any questions and show you the armory then.”

“What about food?”

“You have a stocked refrigerator full of food. You’ll find it similar to the food you had back on your planet.”

“Okay. One more question. Why does everyone I meet speak perfect english?”

“That’s a question for tomorrow. Any more immediate questions?”

“Ah, alright. I suppose that was rather silly to ask in the first place. It was just bugging me.”

The three of them continued walking without saying anything more. They soon arrived at a cabin near the outskirts the academy’s grounds. Areath took out a keychain and selected a key from the many on it. He opened up the door to the cabin while also taking out another key and tossed it towards Arkanon.

“As you can guess that’s the key to your cabin.”

Arkanon looked at the key in his hand. “A key? I figured with current technology, we’d have something more.”

“You won’t always have this type of privacy out on the battlefield, kid. Anyways, this is your home now, it’d be best to get used to it.”

Home, huh? I’m not sure I can call any place home again. Arkanon thought to himself.

“I’ll take my leave now. If you have any emergencies, ask some of the students around you and they’ll show you where I stay at. If it’s something more important, don’t be afraid to ask the other students for help as well.”

“I’ll be sure to do so.”

“All right then. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning.” Areath started to walk away before stopping and turning around. “I forgot to mention one thing. The day and night cycle on this planet is different from your planet slightly. There’s four more hours. So from your planet it would be fourteen hours for day and fourteen for night. So if you wake up and I haven’t come yet, feel free to read some of the books on the desk in there. They contain a lot of useful information.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Areath nodded his head and continued walking.

Arkanon walked through the door to the cabin and looked around. Inside was a simple set up, with a foldable chair in front of a wooden desk with a few books on top of it, off to the left of the door. In the back right corner was a small bed. In the back left corner was a room that Arkanon assumed was the bathroom. To the right of the door was a strange grey rectangular box. Arkanon walked up to it to inspect it.

“What… is this?” Arkanon thought out loud.

At this point, Jared had walked into the cabin, following after Arkanon. He noticed Arkanon stare in confusion at the rectangular box.

“Why are you so confused by a fridge?”

Arkanon looked at Jared in a daze. “That’s a fridge? How do I even open it? There’s no handles.”

Jared walked over and ran his left hand on the front left corner of the box until he pushed in a trigger, and then pulled. Inside was a normal refrigerator setup. Bread, meat, and cheese were among some of the items in it.

Arkanon continued to look at the refrigerator, his stare turning into a frown. He finally spoke out. “Why the complexity? Was someone afraid of having their food stolen or something?”

Jared closed the refrigerator. “Don’t ask me, I’m not the one that made it.”

Arkanon sighed. “It’s pointless anyways. Thanks for showing me how to open it.”

“Not a problem. Well then Arkanon, I’ll be heading back to my ship. That’s where I’ll be staying. If anyone gives you and trouble, be sure to come see me about it.”

Arkanon nodded his head while walking over to the desk. “How often will you come check in?”

“Every couple of days to come see your progress.”

Arkanon chuckled slightly. “I doubt you’re going to see much improvement in a couple of days.” He looked at the book on top. It was titled ‘Races and History of the Guardians’.

“Well it’s more for me to check your rate of progress. If you continue to advance at an average, or greater, pace then all is good. If your progress is to start lacking however, then that’s when Areath and I step in to try and help you. Other than that, it’s all self-learning, with the exception of other students.”

“Other students?”

“Certainly. If you think that you can run into a battle field relying purely on instinct, you’re going to die rather quickly. That’s why it’s so common for other students to spar, just like you did earlier. You learned something from it, right?”

Arkanon took and opened the book from the top, and started reading. “That I’m not strong enough yet.”

Jared paused for a few seconds. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re saying that you ran solely on instinct in that duel?”

“Yes, is there a problem with that?”

Jared froze for a few seconds, as his face contorted trying to process what Arkanon said. He eventually shook his head. “You’re a strange kid, you know that?”

Arkanon waved his hand. “Yes yes, you’re not the first to tell me. If that’s all, then I have a lot to start on.” He stopped reading for a second and turned to face Jared. He had a small smile on face. “Thanks for worrying about me, but I’ve a lot to do. If I do have any questions about anything, I’ll be sure to ask.”

“Hm. I’ll trust your word. All right Arkanon, I’ll see you in the next couple of days.” Jared walked out of the cabin and Arkanon closed and locked the door.

Arkanon walked back to the desk and started reading again. Inside was a detailed explanation about what the Guardians were and how they came into existence. So the Guardians are actually the descendants of the Ancients. From what it says here, the draconic people that I’ve seen are actually the later generations. While everyone can be called a Guardian, they are the true Guardians. Arkanon thought to himself. He continued reading on how the Guardians started to oppose the Demons when they noticed that the Demons came to under the remaining Corrupted. The book then explained that the Corrupted were once Ancients that had their minds twisted and their sanity shattered due to a sudden incident back on the Ancient’s home world. From what the book stated and based on what some of the remaining Ancients said the planet was easily bigger than some of the now existing solar systems. Arkanon was extremely interested upon reading this, and kept reading hoping to find out more about the Ancients and Corrupted. He was disappointed when he couldn’t find anymore, but he continued and found the section containing information about the various races that are part of the guardians.

Arkanon found out that the beastman race that he often saw were called Trethians. The book gave a general description of them.

The Trethians are a race of beast-like people whose appearances vary depending on the type of ‘clan’ they were born into. Their general description of them is having fur on their forearms and below the knees. Animal ears usually sit on the top of their head. Most of the time a tail is at the base of the spine.

Arkanon read onto the next section, which was about the rock people.

The Garks are a race of rock giants. Their general appearance are described as having rocks of different sizes making up their body. Due to this, a Gark can easily exceed the height of 4 meters. There are also special Garks, known as Variation Garks, which are sometimes born. These Variation Garks are stronger and tougher than normal Garks, and their appearances are all different. No Variation looks the same.

Arkanon continued reading and found a couple races that interested him.

The Spectres are a nocturnal hunting race that are normally never seen during the day. Their skin is pitch black and can excrete a black mist that hides their form. The have claws on both their feet and hands. Spectres are extremely stealthy, and will most likely never be noticed by the prey that they’re hunting.

The Val’Kikth are a full metal-bodied race. Their ‘skin’ is colored a dull grey. On their back, they have six appendages that are similar to a spider’s legs. Two are on the backs of the shoulder, two in the middle of the back and two at the base of the spine. A fully grown Val’Kikth can independently control each separate appendage. Their hands usually end with sharp tips, similar to claws.

Arkanon was fascinated when he read about the different races. The number of them was high. The number that was in the guardians was only around three-hundred, while the number of sentient races according to the book exceeded one-hundred thousand. Arkanon skimmed through the rest of the book, until he reached the end. He then looked back through the books that were piled up. Within a couple seconds, he found something that caught his interest. It was a small and thin book titled, ‘What is Energy and how to control it’. It seemed like a training manual mixed with information about what energy is. Arkanon grabbed the book and started reading.

[sexy_parul]

Chapter 10

Arkanon skimmed through the first few sections of the book, nothing really catching his interest, or it was something that Jared had already told him. He found a few things worth noting. One was that when a guardian or demon uses energy, it takes on one of four forms. The four different forms are lightning, fire, liquid and air. Each separate one has a unique way of materializing depending on if it was a guardian, it would be white energy, and if it was a demon, it would be black energy. If it was lightning, lightning would crackle around the person. If it was fire, fire would form around their body. If it was liquid, streams of liquid would coil around their body. If it was air, a miniature cyclone would form around their body.

Another interesting fact Arkanon found was that energy resided within everything. Although only Ancients, guardian, Corrupted and demons were the only ones that could use it, it was still a power that was a part of anything and everything. .

The last fact Arkanon found interesting was that not one form was limited to anything. It truly was an omnipotent power. The two problems stopping people from running mad with this power was that you needed a strong body and complete control over energy. The better control one had over it, the better the results when they used it. From healing life-threatening wounds or illnesses to being able to decimate thousands to forging the mightiest weapon in existence, anything was possible if the user was strong enough.

Arkanon moved onto the next section of the book which included the way to use energy. The book first said to feel the energy flowing through their body. The next step said to focus on a region of their body and “force” the energy in that area to come out. The last step was to direct the energy somewhere. Where it was directed and for what purpose was based on the wielders intention.

Arkanon was extremely excited upon reading this and put the book back down. His curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to try it. He stood still and took deep breaths. He searched and felt inside his own body, entering a meditative state, feeling his blood flow and his heart beat steadily. He stood like this for a few minutes searching for the strange power, but to no avail. He became worried that it wasn’t there until he finally felt something. A mysterious and divine power could be felt surrounding his body. His heart beat faster as he once more felt excited and eager to use his new found power.

He then attempted to summon it around his left forearm. At first, nothing happened, but a few seconds later white lightning started to crackle around his arm. First a look of awe was on his face before it turned into a large smile. Arkanon started to laugh, completely entranced by the lightning that surrounded his arm. Suddenly something went wrong, and the lightning turned wild. Before he could do anything, a small explosion happened, sending Arkanon flying and slamming against a wall. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs.

When he landed, he could only let out a soundless scream as his left forearm was in absolute agony. When he looked at his arm, light burns could be seen all over it. He sat up as he thought about what to do for a moment. He suddenly surrounded his arm with lightning again, before directing it to heal himself. The lightning covered his arm and soon after his burns started to disappear. ‘As I thought, the energy responds to the will of the user.’ Arkanon thought to himself. The lightning healed the worst of the burns, but some still remained.

Arkanon looked at his arm as he turned it around a few times, inspecting the remainder of the burns. He then sighed and thought to himself ‘I suppose that’s what happens when I screw with things I’m not familiar with.’

Although the pain was no longer as bad as before, it was still uncomfortable. Arkanon stood up, his body aching slightly from when he hit the wall of the cabin. Remembering how hard he hit the wall, he turned around to see if he caused any damage to it, only to find that there was a single scratch on the wall. He was confused on how the wall was undamaged but quickly dismissed the thought from his head.

Arkanon walked over to the bathroom and went in. Inside was normal looking with a sink, shower and toilet. There was also a chute that Arkanon assumed was where dirty clothes were thrown into. He walked up to the sink which had the two normal knobs, the left hot and the right cold. He turned on the cold water and held his arm under the water. Arkanon’s arm clenched for a few seconds as the water irritated the burns, but soon a soothing numbness could be felt. He turned off the water and grabbed a towel on a wall nearby and dried his arm.

He hung the towel back up and searched around the bathroom until he found something similar to bandages. He took out the roll of bandage-like material and wrapped his arm up. He tore the bandage off once he covered his forearm, the bandage tearing off of the roll with ease.

‘These bandages are strange, they are strong yet I was able to break it away from the roll with ease and for some reason they also seem to be healing my burns fast.’ Arkanon thought to himself. ‘They must have stocked these here in case a student injured themselves and they weren’t able to get treatment quickly enough.’

Arkanon walked out of the bathroom and grabbed some food from his fridge as a quick snack before going back to the desk to finish reading the book on energy. The remainder of the book was a couple of warnings about what would happen should the wielder lose focus or if they try to do something that exceeded their limits. For the first warning, which Arkanon experienced, if the one using energy ever becomes distracted and doesn’t direct the energy somewhere, the energy will backfire and usually wound the wielder. The second warning was to never attempt to do something that exceeded one’s strength. Should that happen, the one using energy will quickly use up their life force and die.

Arkanon pressed these two warning into his head before closing the book and going to sleep for the night. As he laid in bed, he yawned and said quietly, “A lot has already happened, and yet it was only the first day. The upcoming years are going to be really busy.” With that said, he turned on his side and fell asleep.

Arkanon woke up when he heard knocking at the door. Groggily getting out of bed, he got dressed before walking over to the door. Rubbing his eyes as he opened the door, Areath stood outside waiting for him.

Areath spoke first. “Seems like you got a good night’s rest. Anyways let’s get going, you got a busy day ahead of-“ Areath noticed the bandage on Arkanon’s left forearm. “What the hell did you do already?”

“I made a mistake while trying to use energy yesterday.” Arkanon didn’t hide anything.

Areath put his hand on his head while he gave an annoyed chuckle. “You got too excited when you summoned your energy and lost concentration, which resulted in a backfire, correct?”

“Yes.”

“At least you’re not trying to hide it. Anyways, take off your bandage and show me how bad it is.”

Arkanon nodded his head and removed the bandage on his arm without hesitation.

Areath inspected Arkanon’s arm on both sides, only finding light scarring. “Hm. Your arm is a little scarred, but that’s a small price to pay considering what could’ve happened. What was the original injury like?”

“There were multiple light burns.”

“Multiple you say? Why is your arm only slightly scarred?”

Arkanon thought for a moment before answering. “I think it may have to do with me using energy once more to heal my arm.”

Areath’s face was torn between annoyance and incomprehension. “What… what exactly is wrong with you?”

Arkanon tilted his head to the side, confused. “What do you mean? Is that not normal?”

“A ten year old brat backfiring while trying to use energy is common enough, but to immediately heal it afterwards? Never have I seen a kid like you before.”

“Am I really that rare?”

“Let’s put it this way.” Areath crossed his arms over his chest, his face now serious. “A ten year old would normally be traumatized in some way after having suffered a backfire. Some never dare to use energy again while others eventually overcome their fear of it. You however decided to use it again without a second thought and healed yourself. Now you tell me, is that normal?”

“I suppose not.” Arkanon grinned sheepishly.

“Well no matter. The problem is already taken care of. Alright boy, follow me. As I said yesterday, you’ll get your weapon of choice today.”

“Alright.”

Arkanon followed Areath as they walked through the maze of buildings. While walking, some students called out to Areath saying ‘good morning’ or ‘hi’.

“You seem to be popular, Areath.” Arkanon said.

“Because I’ve known those kids for a large part of their life. I guess you can call us something along the lines of a family.” Areath replied.

“How long have some of them been here?”

“It all depends. We never send someone out to the war unless we know they’re prepared and trained for it. Some only need a few years here while others need a couple decades.”

“How long do you think it will take for me to be ready?”

“I don’t know. You can never really evaluate when someone’s good to go.”

“So then it’s mainly based off of the person’s training speed?”

“That’s the best way to put it.”

“Hey Areath, I asked this yesterday, but how are we all able to understand each other. It seems obvious that not everyone here speaks English like I’m hearing.”

“That’s a difficult question to answer, as even the Ancients don’t know how we have this ability. The most we’ve been able to come up is that it’s a hereditary ability passed down from the Ancients to us.”

“So a ‘gift of tongues’ of sorts?”

“Yeah, ‘gift of tongues’ would be the only way we can describe it.”

“So we can understand and be understood when we talk to others. That’s a rather convenient ability.”

“Certainly makes talking with others easily.”

“Also, another question. I’ve seen mainly melee weapons, such as sword, staffs, axes and such. How come you don’t use something like guns?”

“Hmm, good question. The reason why is because the materials required for weapons and ammunition would be extremely high. However, the weapons we make right now can easily be salvaged off of a battle field. If they’re damaged, it’s simple to repair them. But if we had our forgers constantly creating billions of bullets every day, it would exhaust them to no end.”

“What about cannons? I remember seeing one on the giant ship where I met Harei.”

“You mean the galaxy headquarters ship?”

“Yes.”

“There are cannons on each headquarters ship. What they use to fire are large crystals that have energy infused into them. Infusing crystals can vary depending on the size. For the crystals powering the cannons on the headquarter ships, one can take up to six thousand years to make.”

“How many headquarter ships are there?”

“I believe around thirty.”

“How long do the crystals last?”

“If I’m not mistaken, if not used, the crystals can last for around one-hundred thousand years.”

“What about if they are?”

“Well, each crystal can only be used around a total of five times. Their blasts are easily planet busting level though.”

“Does the planet size matter?”

“Most of the time, no. The only time it wouldn’t be able to pierce the planet easily is if it was like the Ancient’s titan planet. Enough of the questions for now, we’re here.”

They arrived in front of a large stone building and entered. Inside, weapons of all kinds could be seen. Claymores, sheathed short and long swords, estocs, giant clubs and hammers, axes, staffs and other rather strange weapons could be seen. Some were gloves with claws, others looked like sharp metal sheathes. Arkanon even saw a pair of retractable arm blades.

“Haha, Areath! It’s been a while!” A loud, rumbly voice roared out. A Gark came walking out of the rows of weapons and greeted Areath. The Gark glanced at Arkanon momentarily. “I’m guessing you brought this boy here to get a weapon, right?”

“Yep.” Areath said casually.

“Name’s Krik, boy. Nice to meet ya. Anyways, feel free to try any weapon you want here. When you pick the weapon you like, let me know real quick.”

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to do so.” Arkanon replied politely.

“Hah! This kid is more respectful than some of them other bastards around here.” Krik chortled while walking away.

“Alright Arkanon, look around and try any weapon you want to. Once you find one that you feel comfortable with, let’s go. I’ll wait here for you.”

“Okay.” Arkanon said as he walked through the rows of weapons, looking carefully at each one.

While inspecting each weapon, he took into account his strength and weaknesses. Any heavy weapons would work against him since his body isn’t very physically strong yet. He thought about using some type of staff-like weapon, but he decided against it. Looking at the unique weapons like the arm blades, Arkanon thought about trying them out, but dismissed the thought. Walking towards the swords, he knew the claymores were large for him right now, but thought about using a long sword. He picked out a long sword and tried holding it in front of him. Arkanon gave it a couple practice swings, then tried moving around with it. He decided he didn’t like how the long sword slowed him down too much, and put it back. Arkanon then picked out a short sword. He tried swinging it a few times and moved around with it. Satisfied with how it let him keep his mobility, he decided to use a short sword.

Arkanon walked around looking for Krik to let him know of his choice. Soon he found the Gark as he was rummaging through a box.

“Ah, where was that damn thing. I coulda sworn that it was here somewhere…” Krik mumbled.

“Krik, I found my weapon that I want.” Arkanon spoke out.

Krik jumped at Arkanon suddenly speaking to him. “Ack, damn boy. You’re as sneaky as a damn gniver.” He pointed at the sword in Arkanon’s hands. “So, that’s the weapon you want?”

“Yes. Also, what’s a gniver?”

“Never mind about that. Here, take this.” Krik reached into a box behind him and pulled out a belt and handed it to Arkanon.

“I clip my sword to this, right?”

“Yeah. If you ever need a new one or have a sword that needs repairing, come see me.”

“Okay, I will.”

“See ya later boy.”

“See you.” Arkanon waved as he started to walk away. He fastened the belt around his waist and clipped the sword to his side. He found Areath still waiting at the front.

“Got your weapon?” Areath asked.

“Yeah. A short sword.” Arkanon replied.

“A short sword, huh? It fits you well. Alright, let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“The training grounds. I’ll be teaching you how to fight and how to properly use your energy.”

“Was it the same place I was yesterday?”

“No we’re going somewhere different. Where you went was mainly where the other students duel.”

“Alright then.”

Arkanon and Areath head out to the training grounds.