Infusion ll

"If you guys don't have any more questions, I guess we should move...-You know what? Forget the lecture. Let's go directly to the ground, Hahaha " said Sir.

Everyone smiled as sir was as desperate as us. He even got ready to skip the lecture.

"In 10 minutes, gather around on the ground-B of the old building. I guess it's time for you guys to see some real things."

Sir collected his books and took his leave from the class.

"I--"

I believe I heard Yui's voice; it was too slow in a hesitating way. When I looked at her, yes, she did seem a little anxious. It felt like she wanted to ask something, so I raised my concern.

"What happened, Yui.? You wanted to ask something.?"

"N-No, it's nothing."

"I see."

"Anyways, let's go to the ground. Others are leaving too. We don't want to get late." She said it with a smile on her face. 

"Yeah, sure. Let's go."

She brushed it off. Well, if she doesn't want to say it, then I can't take it out, can I? She is always conservative and slow with her words. She doesn't want others to take her words in the wrong way, maybe. She is highly sensitive.

After going three floors above our section and walking through the hallway, we reached the arch bridge that connects the three buildings of the academy. The bridge from one side to the centre is around 50 metres long. In the middle, there's a fountain with a statue of three different-headed animals. It consists of three heads of dragons. Each head of the dragon is facing towards the path of the three buildings that connect them.

The chattering noise of the students fills the entire bridge, even though it's just 30 of us.

"Let's go."

"I can't wait to see it."

"What do you think is going to happen.?"

"No idea. This will be my first experience too."

"Me too."

Everyone's walking at a faster pace than usual, including myself, obviously. After completing middle school, for three years all we were given was general knowledge, mathematics, language, martial arts training, and a little study of medicine. The key reason for those three years was to make us physically, mentally, and emotionally independent and strong enough. All the knights aspire to are confined to one location. They never allowed any real information about the higher studies and infusion ritual to get out until three years were completed. This is the first time we'll be seeing it with our eyes, so everyone is struggling in desperation.

"Eleanor." Marie called.

"Yes?" I asked.

"How's your dad like.? I mean, you never told us that your dad is a specialist."

Strange question, but I guess I know where she is coming from; after all, every knight isn't a high-ranking knight.

"The topic never came up, and to be honest, even I don't get to see him much often."

" Huh.? For real.? "

" Yea. He is always out for work and comes home once every few months, and you know the rules of knights, right.? They hardly talk about anything that happens in the core of the kingdom."

"No way. I mean, he can share a few secrets here and there with his beloved daughter." Marie said it sarcastically.

"Haha, I wish."

"That's kind of sad, though. I mean not being able to see your dad for months." Said Yui

"I know, but it can't be helped, and now I am kind of used to it. So yeah, even though my dad is one of the top knights and a specialist, I still don't know anything about him or his work in general." I said.

I saw Shawn slowing down his pace and trying to match ours. As soon as we came on the same line, he asked a question, which I saw from miles away.

"Hey, Eleanor," said Shawn.

"What?"

I said while not looking at him at all.

"Is he home today.?"

Yui covered her mouth while going red as if he asked her.

And here it comes..Ugghh, it'll drag the topic down if I lie. So I went with the truth.

"Yea. He is."

"Can I mee- "

"NO!"

Bwahaha* Marie burst off, laughing really hard. "Got rejected again." said Marie.

Even Shawn's friends were laughing at him.

"Oof Shawn, leave it now." said one of his friends.

He went ahead with a sulking face. His friends were patting his shoulders.

"Try again later." 

"It's pretty rough for you, man."

"Don't be discouraged. You know how the saying goes, right.? Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

" Yea..Yea.." Said Shawn with an absence of mind. 

Why does he keep trying even though I've already 100 times rejected him? *Sighs** I don't think I'll ever understand it.

After a few minutes of walking, we finally reached ground Alpha. Guards were stationed, and they directed us towards the seats as we came up from the stairs.

The atmosphere is quite chilling and windy, as ever. The dark clouds were surrounding the sky above our heads, as if the whole world would be covered in snow soon.

Our academy is quite big; we have multiple institutions built inside for different purposes of the king's regimes. At least five buildings exist, with two separate grounds for each one of them, and every ground is 105 metres long and around 80 metres wide.

We saw Sir Rain, who was looking like an ant in the middle of the ground, standing alone with a bow and three sets of arrows in his archery quiver on his back.

Our hearts were beating fast. Due to excitation.? Maybe. Something that we have always heard of but never seen in person. How an infusion weapon works and its full-scaled power.

We sat on the chairs that were lined up along the sides of the ground. As only our class was here, most of the seats were empty.

Slowly yet surely, the whispers and noise of the class vanished in the thin air.

"Everyone seems so focused all of a sudden. Even Shawn and his group are not acting stupidly, at least." said Marie.

"Obviously, no one wants to miss a second of it." I said.

"I w-wonder what's going to happen.? " Yui asked slowly.

"You'll get to witness something inexplicably phenomenal today." said someone from behind.

We turned our heads back as that new voice took us by surprise.

"Madam Jaleh." said Yui. 

"Hello, Yui. May I sit beside you.?"

"Yeah sure."

She looked at me and raised a question.

"Oh, hello, Elea. How's your father doing.?"

"Hello Mam, Yeah, he seemed all good in the morning."

"Glad to know."

Lady Jaleh, She is around 35, but she still looks so young. Her voice is soft, like she is still in her late teens. She had silver hair and long lashes. She used to be a knight too; later on, she decided to retire with Sir Rain as they decided to get married.

" Madam, What do you mean by something phenomenal? asked Marie. 

"It won't be fun, if I tell you. Patience and observation—you'll know it soon."

Madam's words just incited more curiosity in us. With every passing second, our eyes became more focused on you, sir.

For a few moments, time itself seemed to stand still, as if the world held its breath in anticipation of Sir's revelation. He had kept his eyes closed as he delved deeper into his senses. Then he slowly opens his eyes and calmly removes one arrow from his back. He took his time to place the arrow on the archer carefully while putting the tail of the arrow between his middle and ring finger.

When I was witnessing his moments, there was something that started bugging me. Something is missing, and I just realised what that feeling is.

"There is no target. Where exactly will he shoot the arrow.??" Marie said, casually looking around the ground.

....

Exactly. Did she read my mind? I was about to point that out too.

"Yeah, you are right, Marie." said Yui.

We have no clue or choice but to wait and witness it with our own eyes.

Sir slowly raised the archer and took his stance by keeping his left leg in a boomerang stance.

There was sudden yet slow awe in the crowd.

"For real?" said Marie, hesitating.

Lady Jaleh smiled with conviction. Looking at the stance, my desperation gulped.

Sir had pointed his archer straight towards the end of the sky above his head at an absolute 90° angle. He doesn't need any targets on the ground because the target is the sky.

A few seconds passed, and he was fixed on the stance. Just in that moment, we all saw something that we had read but never seen before. Golden, yellowish, sparkling lights were seeping out from the ground and from his surroundings. A type of energy bubble. Is it for real.? The energy bubbles started accumulating on the upper part of the arrow. We could feel the air getting heavier as the intensity of the light increased.

"I am S-scared.." said Yui.

"Worry not-" said Madam Jaleh as she continued.

" His archer shines. The light shows the colour of his soul. The illuminating energy is not something to be afraid of, as the weapon is a mark and the epitome of survival. Not to cause chaos but to put an end to it. When the warriors had started to lose hope and their cries were scattered in the field, the enemies were at absolute victory. Yet in the midst of that, a luminary person took the courage to raise his bow in the air as he prayed with his remaining hope. The pathway that connects a living life and a weapon. Infusion is a blessing that has fallen upon us by God's grace. Right now, the king of archers and the knight who slayed countless enemies sing aloud the name of the miracle that he holds.. "

"COSMIC DIVE...!! " said Sir Rain as he let go of the wonder from his hand.

A large amount of light went into the air before we could even grasp its position properly. I can say for sure that the arrow crossed the sound barrier in an instant; we only got to see a glimpse of its tail leaving the sky. The sound was like a strong whistle, which released the shock wave around it. My mind went blank for a few seconds until the questions erupted. Is there any chance of evading it.? And how far can it travel like that.?

We were all in awe of the moment, and our eyes were fixed up. Soon, everyone started to clap and cheer. In the middle of everyone's elation, I heard a voice.

"It's not over yet." said Madam Jaleh.

I turned towards her to ask.

" Huh.? Not over yet.? What do you mean by tha- ...

Before I could finish my question, A yellow flash of rays started blinking on my face, and the direction was obvious; it was coming from above me. 

Within a blink, everyone went silent. I lifted my head up to catch a glimpse of what exactly was coming. Everyone was pointing their finger towards the sky.

"What are those.?" I said it aloud.

The light was pouring down like arrows, and the countless sounds of thunder were pressing on the earth. Ten.? Twenty.? How many are there, exactly.?

"They are falling down.?"

"On the ground.."

"What's going to happen.?"

"Will Sir Rain be okay.?"

"What if it falls on us.?"

The students were panicking in confusion. I can tell it won't reach us. There's still a lot of distance between the ground and us, but what about Sir Rain.? He hasn't moved a bit from his place.

The countless light arrows were raining down around the entire field. The view was mesmerizing. The sound of the ground getting cracked and destroyed one by one as the shower falls on it—now we know why he was called the King of Archers and how he managed to take down multiple enemies at once.

At least a minute passed, and the smoke had started to lift up. We were all shaken and braced on our seats, but we wanted to see if Sir Rain was okay or not. There was complete silence.

Until finally, we saw him standing all fine. The students started to clap and cheer for him. Not a single arrow managed to hit him. So I guess the arrows don't fall at the centre.

He stands, holding his archer down while facing the ground. There's still a little smoke around him. But just then, I saw something pouring down his cheeks, which befuddled me.

Is it just me who's seeing it.? Or sir, Rain is crying.?