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The Requiem of Ash

Following the two environmental cataclysms the world is mostly unhabitable. The remaining powers in the world have banded together to try and find a way to save humanity before the third cataclysm which will result in the end of the Earth. This story follows a few joys growing up in this world as they slowly discover the truth about themselves and the truth of the word they live in, all while trying to save humanity from multiple dangers before it’s too late. The story starts of slow, and progresses slowly at the start. It's because I'm trying to let Tenet grow and change slowly, my advice is to enjoy it before the novel picks up. I also try to limit any info dump, but I will slowly reveal more and more about the world as organically as I can, just try to be patient with me.

reader1346 · Fantasy
Not enough ratings
10 Chs

Chapter 7 - The first spar

Tenet woke up twenty minutes before his soul-wrenching alarm could do it. He didn't do it because he craved sleep deprivation. Nor did he have any sick enjoyment in punishing himself, he did it because after 2 weeks here he had decided it was a necessity for a peaceful morning. Scrambling down the flights of stairs, he ignored the burning pain in his legs. Exhaustion and aching muscles had become constant ever since coming to Y.S.C, meaning the flights of stairs usually didn't faze him as much. The bathroom was empty, so Tenet was able to get ready in peace. Ever since the first day he hadn't made any mistakes in cleaning his room, much to the disappointment of his sadistic Lieutenant.

 

He took two pairs of dried uniforms from the washing line that was strung across the width of their room just in front of the stairs. They had pooled their points to buy it from the commissary a week ago. It was a vital purchase. That and an iron to remove the creases from the uniform.

 

After ironing both pairs, he made the climb all the way back to the top floor. He hung both pairs, before changing into the third he had taken out the night before.

 

His morning routine finished, he made his way downstairs after cleaning his room in time for the rush as the rest of the unit apart from Theymin and Jellal rushed around to get ready. Tenet had never seen the legacy get ready but he always was, and Jellal, Jellal was probably still asleep.

 

 Soon Adam approached him.

 

"Wanna Play Tenet?"

 

"Sure."

 

After two weeks of living together Tenet had developed a relationship with everyone here, but in truth he didn't consider any of them his friends. They were strangers still, so despite his friendly attitude he had no sense of loyalty to any of them. If any of them felt friendship towards him, then they were simply idiots, and life would punish them for it.

 

They made their way to the table tennis area, playing casually. Tenet had quickly become infatuated with the game, playing at almost any opportunity, if he wasn't trying to catch up on sleep.

 

"You're getting better, I mean not on my level good, but decent at least."

 

Tenet snorted, "Calm down lamppost, I'll be moving on from you soon."

 

"You really wanna start talking about height."

 

Tenet scowled, his concentration lapsing as he hit the ball with too much power, causing it to fly out of range.

 

Adam laughed as he went to fetch the ball, he seemed to get a kick out of taunting Tenet. Especially since it was so effective.

 

...…..

 

At 5am they followed Lieutenant Scarlet to do the gruelling four hours of torture. Every day consisted of Lieutenant Scarlet's physical torture, Metaphysics class and Otto's weapon training. Tenet had already seen steady progress in his body. His shoulders and arms had gotten sturdier, making him slightly more broader than he already was. Now that he was eating enough, he slowly began filling out his frame, feeling better than ever. Still, he was far behind monsters like Theymin and Jellal. After two weeks the Unit had seen a slight shift in the rankings of Physical training. Bean, who had been stronger than them, seemed to be progressing slower than himself, the twins and Adam. Still, the top two stayed the same.

 

 Jellal had never been more than tired after courses in which the rest of them collapsed on the floor, or threw up. His previous joke about Jellal being half-angel was quickly becoming a reasonable explanation day by day. Jellal could probably overpower all of them, but then again, he did eat more than anyone. He accumulated points the fastest due to his physical abilities, but they were burnt away to purchase extra plates of food every day. He seemed to have a black hole for a stomach.

 

 

Afterwards, they returned back to their dorms for breakfast. First he washed himself, changing out of the dirty uniform that had been muddied by the obstacle courses. Everyone was eating on the floor around Finn who was on a chair telling them a story of his past in between mouthfuls of army rations. The ginger haired boy had a way of telling stories that made it hilarious, even if it wasn't.

 

"So, obviously we had no clue he was waiting for us, so down I went. Me pals were hiding behind a car further down. I crawled up to his door, silent as a mouse I was, thinking I'd be getting away with it. Knocked on his door, and I expected a minute or two at least before he'd opened. But No. He came out straight away with a fryin' pan on his bloody hand. The thing still had synth-butter still crackling on it. Oh I've never ran so hard me, but the man was faster. Next thing I know my arse got half-charred as he wacked it with the pan. Never went to that house again lemme tell you."

 

Everyone was roaring in laughter, even Theymin who after talking with Tenet had immersed into the Unit. Tenet could tell it was fake. Everyone else thought that Theymin had overcome stiffness, but Tenet could see it for what it was. He was faking getting along with them so they wouldn't think he's a legacy, or anything special at least.

 

"That's nothing, I remember I stole a block of syntha (Synthetic block of tasteless but nutritious food). The stall owner chased me down three blocks. Cornered me in an alley. That's fear right there." Bean chortled, relishing the dark memory.

 

'Again I wonder what type of life the scrawny boy lived.' It seemed to be unforgiving yet Bean always spoke about it with a tone of fondness, as if he missed those times.

 

"Hey Tenet wanna catch a nap."

 

Tenet turned to Jellal, one eyebrow raised.

 

"How many times do I have to tell you Jella I ain't interested, I like women."

 

Jellal closed his eyes, trying to hold back his frustration, "If you try it one more time I'm not going to offer you any more."

 

Tenet laughed, it felt good teasing Jellal. He didn't even mean to do it anymore, it came to him naturally.

 

"Course I want to nap, you got any more stories to tell me though?"

 

Jellal had made a habit of telling Tenet bits and pieces of his culture, and Tenet had developed a fascination for it. He had developed an interest in the cultures that had existed prior to the cataclysms. The knowledge felt almost sacred to him. It was something that had existed prior to the cataclysm, where the Earth was full of people all over the world.

 

Tenet found it hard to picture it. A world full of people, with thousands of cultures and languages. He had always lived in the time where the world had meant danger, freak storms and radiation. Not people, civilisation and culture.

 

 

...…..

 

After the much needed nap, they made their way to the training hall, getting ready for a grueling weapon training session.

 

They saw Otto's huge figure waiting for them. Lining up they all saluted.

 

"At ease Cadets. Today is going to be a special day. We're going to introduce sparring, after all you have exams in two weeks."

 

Everyone froze, none of the Lieutenants had mentioned exams before.

 

Seeing their expressions Otto bellowed out his seismic waves of laughter. "Don't worry. It has no effects on your grades or standings. You see the first month is more of an introduction army period to form connections with your unit. After the exams you'll be training with other units, with a range of subjects to choose and specialise into."

 

Tenet was reeling from the information. Sparring, exams, other people? More and more the Y.S.C felt more like school than an army camp. Pushing away his worries and questions, he calmed himself. Best to focus on the task at hand first. Today was the first day they would be sparring. Tenet was eager for it. It would be a good way to see if he was actually the weakest here or not.

 

 

"Follow me Cadets, we'll be doing simulations. You see as soldiers we need to get you acclimatised to fighting to kill, not to spar. Simulations are a good way of doing that."

 

He led them into a small room where there were eight pods. They looked more advanced than the one he had used for his physical test.

 

"Hook up."

 

Tenet climbed into one, hooking up to the various apparatus. As soon as he put on the helmet, his awareness of reality disappeared.

 

He found himself on a large piece of grass land. 'Amazing, I can feel everything. Sim tech is almost scary.' Tenet could see the blinding sun in a sky of glowing blue. Opposite him, a tall bronze skin boy materialised from light. Adam.

 

They faced each other silently. They were going to fight.

 

Otto's voice came, sounding from everywhere. "It'll be a tournament. 1V1. Winners receive points. Losers, well I guess that's punishment enough already."

 

Two swords materialised in front of them.

 

"Begin."

 

There was a pause for a moment. Tenet acted first, grabbing the sword and running towards Adam, hoping the sudden momentum would catch the larger boy off guard.

 

'Adam is larger than me, he's got a height and reach advantage. I need to be quick and get close.'

 

As soon as he came into reach, he thrust his sword forward. It was a simple one handed European style weapon. Adam parried it clumsily, but as soon as he had raised the blade to parry, Tenet's lead leg stomped down on his knee.

 

Adam's knee buckled causing him to stumble backwards. Tenet stepped forward, not wanting Adam to have any space. In panic Adam swiped the blade in a wide horizontal slash.

 

Panic gripped Tenet's heart as he saw the blade coming for him. His mind went blank, and he clumsily blocked it, causing him to go off balanced. Adam recovered quickly. He was still limping, but Adam was large, and strong. He brought down the sword in a series of violent and quick slashes, hammering down on Tenet, who was barely able to block it, the force of the blow causing his hand to go numb as he slowly buckled under the repeating blows.

 

This was Tenet's first time in a fight, a true fight. The burst of adrenaline coursing through him had made him lose his head for a moment. Adam's efforts finally bore fruit as one powerful thrust broke through Tenet's crumbing guard, piercing his right shoulder.

 

Tenet screamed as white pain radiated from the wound. He could see his own blood spilling out of the gaping hole.

 

'SHIT, SHIT, SHIT I'M BLEEDING.' He began to feel an overwhelming pressure boring down on him. 'I'm going to die.' It was a stupid thought. He knew it was a simulation, but he couldn't not feel it. An overwhelming sense of despair.

 

Gritting his teeth, Tenet pushed away the feeling, the fear, the panic and pain, forcing himself to have some semblance of rational thought. 'I can't beat him fairly. I need to trick him, it's the only way.'

 

Feigning weakness, he lowered his arm, stumbling forward, as if he was going faint from blood loss. It wasn't hard to make it seem realistic as he was rapidly becoming more dizzy.

 

Adam spotted Tenet's weakness and approached quickly hoping to take advantage. He swiped a horizontal slash at Tenet's head. At the last moment Tenet's stance became firm as he flicked his blade up to block the blow. Doing so made his arm become numb as the swords smashed together.

 

Then with a primal growl, he kicked at the same knee he had hit earlier, using all his strength.

 

SNAP

 

Adam fell onto the ground howling with pain, clutching his leg which was now bent at a weird angle. Stumbling forward, he looked down at Adam. It all felt too real, causing his weapon to hesitate above Adam's neck.

 

 He knew it was a simulation, but it looked too real. Felt too real.

 

Otto's voice sounded through again, "Finish it cadet, otherwise you fail."

 

'Don't be an idiot Tenet, it's just a sim.' Cursing at himself, he brought the weapon down impaling it into Adam's neck. It startled him to see the light in Adam's eyes rapidly die, his body going limp.

 

Just before he was beginning to doubt if it was a sim, Adam's corpse exploded with a myriad of colours, before dissipating.

 

Tenet fell onto his knees. His wounds had been healed, but the battle had left him mentally drained.

 

 

Soon Tenet saw another flash of light before Jellal's figure appeared. His deep blue eyes were alive with anticipation, his red hair glowing in the sun like a crimson flame. Unlike Tenet, Jellal seemed to be alive with the thrill of battle, his body practically shivering with eagerness.

 

Tenet sighed sadly. 'Ah fuck my life man. Course I got to be pitted with a angel blooded combat junkie.'

 

Raising his blade, he heard Otto's voice sound again. "Begin."

 

 Jellal darted forward at an inhuman speed startling Tenet. He raised his blade trying to block the blow. But it was a feint. At the last moment his blade flicked down, turning from a slash into a thrust. Tenet looked down to see a shaft of metal inside his body. He felt it sliding through his chest passing through his ribs and piercing his heart.

 

He collapsed, coughing blood, seeing Jellal's face looking down at him. Then his surroundings rapidly became dimmer.

 

'Dying feels like shit.'

 

The surroundings vanished and soon Teent became aware of the real world again. Taking off his helmet he left his pod to see Adam, Bean, Finn and Kolb standing there.

 

Tenet sighed when they looked at him.

 

"Jellal." He responded. That answered everything. They all nodded.

 

"Yeah, no chance."

"Youse unlucky."

"Unlucky."

"Nothing you could've done."

 

Otto had decided to switch on a screen for the final match. Unsurprisingly, it was Theymin and Jellal standing opposite each other. Kalb must've just lost.

 

Tenet's eyes were fixed. He, like the rest, was interested in seeing who was actually stronger between the two Demi-gods.

 

They both faced each other silently. Then he saw Otto lean forward and utter the words, "Begin."

 

Jellal exploded forward, moving at rapidly. Theymin stood still, guard raised. Jellal came forward with an inhumanly fast but simple thrust. With a flick of the wrist, the Legacy parried it easily, before snapping the blade upwards to slash Jellal's chest. Jellal reacted at the last moment, moving backwards, resulting in a shallow slash across his midsection.

 

Ignoring the cut, he brought his blade back in a backhanded slash. Theymin parried it, redirecting the blade upwards, before sliding his blade forward and downwards, impaling it through Jellal's neck. Jellal staggered backwards, his hand clutching the hole in his neck, as blood gushed out.

 

Tenet sighed, so Theymin won then.

 

Just before he was going to look away he noticed that instead of collapsing Jellal surged forward, faster than he had ever gone. Theymin who was caught off guard could do nothing as Jellal's weapon pierced through his midsection. Then with a colossal effort he heaved upwards, causing Theymin to stagger backwards as a huge slash from his stomach to chest gushed out blood. Then in synch, both of them collapsed to the ground.

 

Tenet breathed out a huge breath that he didn't realise he had been holding. Was it even possible to fight back after having your neck pierced? He, like everyone else, didn't expect Jellal to be able to do anything after being so outclassed by the Legacy. They all, including the legacy, had been proven wrong.