Chapter 1: Triangular Blessing

The crowd of students stormed into the mess hall as Edmund followed them. It was rather hectic and loud as Edmund tried to squish his way through the crowd. He tried to find a table where Caleb, Isaac, and Bobby were but could not spot them.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder, whirling him around. A pretty girl with purple hair was facing him with a smile and she said, "Antione I thought you were home, how come you are back," she finished with a curious tone.

Edmund looked confused and replied, "I'm Edmund, Antione's brother."

The girl's eyes widened in shock and she apologized sheepishly, "Oh, sorry I didn't know Antione had a twin. I guess the number of times I saw you, I thought you were Antione. Well this is awkward."

Edmund laughed, "Yeah, I get that a lot but what's your relationship with Antione," he asked, eyeing her warily.

She realized what Edmund meant and blushed deeply while shuffling her feet, "Erm, I uh I am friends with him. I guess," she mumbled the last word out, not looking at Edmund.

Edmund smirked and stated bluntly, "That's a lie. It's written all over your face."

Her face got even redder and she stomped her feet in outrage and said, "It's not! Ask him yourself."

Edmund laughed again and then simply asked, "Well, what's your name?"

She sighed and replied, "Terra Ersalon, 6th year from Ace Kingdom and you?"

"Edmund Vermillion, 7th year from Clover Kingdom," he answered while taking out his hand for her to shake, his face all smiles.

She shook it and said, "this feels like I'm being involved with Antione all over again," she finished with a gentle laugh.

"Argh, I hate it when people say things like that, I don't want to be compared to that dork," Edmund grumbled with annoyance.

Terra heeded the tone and asked, "Are you guys not close or something, I've never seen you guys together."

"We are close, it's just that we have our own friend groups," Edmund responded while looking away into the distance. The stares of some of the younger students made him realize that they were standing in the middle of the 2nd Year section.

Before Terra could respond, Edmund grabbed her arm and said, "Let's get out of here, the 2nd year would feel much better if we do."

That was just an excuse of course, Edmund's mana sensor told him something huge was outside so he summoned some mana to carry him as fast as possible while grabbing Terra.

Terra yelped in surprise as she saw them wooshing by the mess hall, students staring with wide eyes as they zoomed into the doorway, her long hair billowing in the air.

"J-just, w-what i-is going on," she stammered as a bolt of mercury came out of Edmund's hands blasting the doorway to pieces as they zoomed out of the castle.

They zoomed past training fields, the localrater(for crystal battle matches broadcasted to the school), and then the farm for raising exotic animals for students to study. Finally, they arrived at the Tree of Wisdom which stands in a field of grass near the forest where students usually lounge to study or rest.

Two boys were floating on top of the tree meditating while closing their eyes. Edmund could feel the mana vibrating through their bodies.

Edmund slowed the flow of the mana pushing them and as he tried to cushion their landing with condensed mana, he felt the mana peeling off as he lost control. They fell out of the air with a tumble as he scraped his knee. Meanwhile, Terra fell on top of him, arms waving around wildly. He grunted from the pressure of Terra and groaned.

Terra immediately moved away from Edmund and brushed her skirt, her face an eerie blue. She huffed out breaths to keep herself calm as her face slowly recovered its colour.

Two laughers sounded from above as she saw the two boys laughing their heads off. They stood atop from the trees as they stopped meditating. One of the boys, the one with an impish grin pointed at her and yelled, "Hey I didn't know Edmund had a girlfriend, what's your name?"

"Yeah, yeah what is it," the other boy said, his face shaped like a moon while straight yellow hair covered his eyes.

Her brows furrowed in frustration as she yelled back, "I'm not even close to him, he brought me here for god knows what."

"Edmund what's up with you bringing hot chicks over," the boy with the impish grin asked.

Edmund, who was still groaning, tried to stand up but could not do so. He tried again and this time a gust of wind pushed him into an upright position, keeping him stable.

"W-what," he said to himself as a person appeared behind him.

"You've been slacking, Edmund," the person said with a grin.

Terra was pretty sure she had seen him before at the school meetings and at the crystal matches. He was the school president after all, Caleb Extor, the direct heir of the Extor family.

Edmund muttered, "Argh of course it's you Caleb. Anyways, I brought the girl you wanted. She said she is from Ace and her name is Terra Ersalon so yeah it's her."

Caleb's eyes widened in pleasant surprise as he smiled slyly, "Yup, it's her. Good job Edmund."

The two boys on top, whooped and yelled in celebration. The boy with the impish grin said, "So you're Terra huh, I am Bobby and this ugly dude next to me is Isaac. I heard that you have the ability to map out things mana related."

Bobby floated down from the trees like some angel coming to Earth and took out his hand for her to shake while still grinning.

Terra did not shake them as she looked with worry at the guys surrounding her. She did not know what they were planning but felt horribly uneasy at the potential outcomes.

"So what's the answer," Bobby pressed on while the others stared intently at her, awaiting her response.

She gulped and said, "Yes, I can track down anything mana related. The more condense the mana there are the more I can trace. Distance does not matter."

"If that's the case," yelled Isaac, his blonde hair swaying in the wind, "then tell me what's under your feet right now."

She concentrated and felt the condensing of mana under her feet in the shape of a golem and she answered, "A golem is currently 5 feet under me."

Caleb and Edmund smiled at each other and Bobby said with awe, "You are the perfect person for this."

"For what," Terra asked with confusion.

Caleb stared at her with an empty smile, his handsome face shined weirdly in the sunlight as he answered calmly, "Basically, we are trying to find mana beasts to hunt and tame. With your help, finding them won't be a problem."

Terra stiffened upon hearing those words. Hunting beasts using tracer magic was forbidden in the international law. Doing so could result in a life stuck behind bars of the sky prison. She could not be so naive as to believe they were ignorant of this fact.

Edmund seemed to read her mind and responded, "If you are thinking about the consequences, we know it. The fact is tracer magic cannot be detected outside the range of the sonar magic enhanced by the chancellor."

"As you see Terra, we have been preparing this for a long time and you are the last piece to our success," Caleb said while walking towards her, each stride bringing an increase to her heartbeat.

These guys are total weirdos, they can float, fly at high speeds and use mana as a communication tool, she thought as she slowly stepped backwards. She made up her mind.

"I don't know how you guys found out about me but I have no plans on involving myself with you guys. Doing so would tarnish the emblem of the Ersalon family and the Ace Kingdom," she said firmly as she turned away from them and started walking towards the castle.

"Wait," yelled Isaac as he tried to follow her, but Caleb put an arm to stop him.

"Let her go, we will find more ways to get her to help us," Caleb said with no emotion as he made a magic circle on the ground. It glowed in purple etched with weird symbols.

"Let us consulate Aelous," Caleb said while the rest grinned in anticipation.

Bobby produced a candle and lit it with fire. As the small flames danced around, Bobby placed the candle in the middle of the magic circle.

The runes glowed even brighter as Caleb whispered quickly, "Oh Aelous God of Winds, Tempest of Storms, give us an answer and a way to bring the tracer to our side."

Edmund stared at the candle as it melted into the magic circle while the flames danced in the middle of the purple circle. He watched slowly as the flames came to life, blinding him.

—-------

Terra walked fast, not slowing down as she reached the Pavalion building next to the castle for recreational activity. She spotted students in there playing all sorts of games requiring mana use. She decided to go inside and look for paper. She had to write a letter to Antione. The students inside did not pay much attention to her as she went to the paper rack and felt a slimmer of mana course through her arms as she willed the paper to come to her. One of the papers slid from the rack and floated gently into her hands. She took her paper and walked out of the Pavalion as she went to the tree beside it and started writing.

Dear Antione,

An extraordinary event just happened to me today as I spotted your twin brother, Edmund. I mistakened him for you and we had a short exchange before I was whisked away by him. He took me to find Caleb and his friends, a kid named Bobby and some guy with blond hair. Let me just say that they were rather creepy. I felt like I entered a cult, with Bobby floating around like some kind of God. When I arrived, Edmund talked about bringing me as if his whole goal was to take me to them. Then Caleb started sprouting about tamed beasts and using me as a tracer which is illegal. It seemed to me as if they were up to no good. Moving on, Caleb also mentioned needing a tracer and how he knew abuot it all along. This strikes me as very suspicious and due to that I refused their proposal to help them track down the beasts. What should I do Antione? I am afraid that they won't let me go so easily. Could you maybe give me a run down on your brother? I really need to know. Thank you!

Sincerely, Terra Ersalon

She looked at it again and after doing so she went to the transmitter which was just ahead of the Pavalion. Upon reaching the big black box, she whispered under her breath, "To Antione Vermillion in the Vermillion Manor."

With that, the paper was sucked into the black portal inside the box, transmitting it to Antione.

—----

It was noon and sunny, as summer was slowly approaching when Antione heard a zzt sound. He saw a paper fly into his room from his transmitter. The paper floated around before Antione grabbed it and spreaded it on his desk. His room was rather quiet now as no one bothered him. His parents were gone, and Anthea was outside on the lawn frolicking with Browick, the family dog. Edmund was at school which left Antione alone in the house. He felt a sense of sereness from this new life that he hadn't felt since he was 12. It was rather refreshing for him as he started scanning the letter. His emotions throughout reading the letter went from surprise to anger and then to frustration. He had a feeling this was bound to happen. He always tried to prevent Edmund from hanging out with those guys but Edmund was a Tempest and he was an Enteric. Both factions differed heavily from each other and both dorms were far away from each other. They never had the chance to meet each other, causing a distance between them. The four factions were an important part of school life. By the time a student enters at the age of 11 or 12 they will be selected into a faction. A faction contains a spirit, there are 5 factions in total. Weathercliff the hawk is a lightning spirit, Enteric the Penguin is an ice spirit, Archemore The Scorpion is a sand spirit, Xanthus the Bat is a dark magic spirit, and last but not least, Tempest the Owl is a wind spirit. These spirits place students in a dream world where they would test them and see if they are applicable to be selected. Antione still remembered his selection process vividly where Enteric the Penguin said he had the potential to become one of the greatest defenders he had ever seen. He remembered how mad he was when he did not get a magic circle on his hand after he finished the selection process. He was so sure of himself, that he would be an optimizer. But he wasn't. It was a mere dream. On an yearly basis, only 3-4 students on average receive the magic circle on their hand which symbolizes the spirit's favoritism for them. These optimizers have the ability to call on the spirit's help when they are in danger and they would be able to use these spirit's abilities for some time before it runs out. Optimizers in a sense are a distinct class of themselves. In history, most optimizers have shown great abilities in magic and most end up as captains or upper magic knights themselves. Thankfully, Edmund was not chosen either so that was a relief for him. But in his year, there were 4 people who were chosen as optimizers, this sand kid named Alan who he only saw occasionally at school but there were weird rumours about him being the lone survivor of an ancient sand clan and how Archemore only selected him because of that. Then there's this other kid who was a hybrid of an elf and human. They allowed him into the school as the first hybrid since 500 years ago. He got into Tempest and the owl gave him the magic circle making him an optimizer. Then there was that bronze dude who got into Weathercliff. Everyone was shocked when he got the magic circle considering he used bronze but he ended up being one of the captain of Weathercliff. Xanthus the bat has not picked an optimizer in centuries due to him being picky, something that Antoine wanted to be false. But alas one can dream.

Antoine knew what Caleb was attempting to do. He wanted to summon a wind spirit from the spiritual world illegally because he was not chosen by Tempest. He made a pact with the magic circle, a forbidden magic. That's how he was able to use Aelous's power during the provisional exam. Antoine knew he had to stop them at all costs or else the spiritual world would be in a mess.

Antione looked up through the window, the sunlight blinding him as he asked, "Edmund what happened to you?"

—--------

The story goes back to two years ago…

"Professor Taylor, is it okay if I turn in my paper by Friday, I have to run to the healers," a boy named Evan asked.

"Sure, as long as you get it done," he answered.

The days were starting to get hotter as April was approaching. Taylor wanted to lay down in the arms of his wife and just enjoy the warm spring but he could not. Life for him was spending his days away at the academy teaching students the fundamental principles of magical artifacts. As much as he disliked his job. At times, he felt pride at being the youngest professor at 31. He also loved to flaunt his knowledge to students, soaking up the awe in their eyes as he demonstrated the amazing qualities of each artifact.

As he thought of all this, the students started to pour out of the circular room, ready to leave as class was over. Only one student remained, and he already has his bags packed, ready to leave. He did not leave however, instead he trotted over slowly to his desk.

Taylor finished propping up the papers needed and was about to put them in his bag when the boy asked, "Hello, Professor I am here for something if you don't mind."

Taylor looked up and saw a handsome face with sharp, regal features, and eyes so green that he could picture the sea behind them. He was mildly surprised as he did not expect him to come. The student was Caleb Extor and though he barely talked in class, he got perfect scores in every single test and assignment. He also heard that he was the school president along with being the vice captain of Tempest. In sum, he was the typical perfect student, the Ace they call him. But there was something off about him that Taylor sensed. A twisted sense of energy. As if he was not what he looked like.

Taylor felt uneasy when he replied softly, "Sure, what do you need?"

Caleb gently smiled and said lightly, "I just want to consult you for a bit, Professor about some myths. Myths that could perhaps change a person or…," here he hesitated for a bit looking unsure until he continued, "or a nation even," there he stopped his eyes staring intently into Taylor.

Taylor felt a shudder run through his body involuntarily as he cowered a bit. What was this mana emitting from this boy, he thought with sudden fear as Caleb retracted his gaze.

"Sorry, about that I just wanted to test things out," Caleb said grinning sheepishly at Taylor.

"W-what," Taylor stammered as he tried to regain his composure.

Caleb looked at him with what looked like pity as he said, "S, about the myth."

Taylor readjusted himself quickly on his seat and moved his glasses to the right position before saying, "Yes, I can help so what myths are you talking about?"

"A myth about surrounding spirits from the spiritual world," Caleb stopped as he saw Taylor's expression, "I know, I know, it's a forbidden topic that the founders have sealed for centuries. You might be wondering how a 5th year knows, and all I can say is, it's a secret."

Taylor recovered from his shock as he responded in outrage, "You seriously can't be talking about this right now. You know how much trouble you will get into?!!," he aimed the last part at Caleb hoping that he would realize his stupidity.

Caleb did not look disturbed he merely nodded and said, "I know what I am getting into, I just need you to play your part and answer me."

Taylor's forehead creased in anger as he answered, "Like hell I would, I don't want to spend my life behind bars," at this point his voice was rising into a yell, directed towards Caleb.

Caleb sighed and said, "I thought I could come out here and get answers from you but I guess I was too naive."

"Well, you are and I have no plans on revealing anything to you. Not even over my dead body," he yelled again, his face all red.

"Well, here goes nothing," Caleb muttered as he leaned over Taylor's desk in a flash and touched his eye as he embedded mana into his eyes causing him to shiver and crumble on the desk. Caleb gently placed Taylor on the desk making it look like he was sleeping after a tiring day of work.

On the tip of Caleb's finger was a silvery wisp of gas that Caleb took from Taylor's eye. Inside were all the memories of Taylor that Caleb needed to gain in order to have access to the spiritual world.

Caleb started fumbling for something inside his robe and found a small vial. He corked it open and poured the silvery gas inside it. He then slipped the vial back into his robes swiftly and proceeded to move out of the circular room.

As he walked the corridors of the castle, he maneuvered in and out of the students coming in all directions. He knew what he had to do but he would need the time to do so. He walked quickly as he navigated to the dungeons where his friends would be waiting for himi.

But his plan was stopped short when a hand grabbed his shoulders roughly. He whirled around to face a boy much shorter than him with curly black hair. His face was stern as he stared at Caleb. It was Felix Kira, the captain of Tempest.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that we have a match next week and we are concerned about the meetings that you have been missing," Felix started with a nervous tone as he tapped his feet lightly.

"Ah, uhm I was kind of busy with schoolwork that I forgot to alert you, sorry Felix," he replied while scratching his head.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. I know you are a busy person after all," Felix said without looking at him as he started walking away.

Was that sarcasm? Caleb could not tell as he gave a quick salute and walked in the opposite direction, eager to arrive at the dungeons. He descended into a flight of stairs and ended up in a deserted corridor under the castle. There was a dead end at the end filled with a stone wall with sand colored bricks.

He walked to the dead end and used his hand to tap on the walls, he tapped at different areas of the wall with a pattern and said, "Orseleus."

With a groan, a square section of the ground under him descended in a flash while the darkness surrounded him. Within a few seconds, he saw a narrow passageway dimly lit by the torches around it. It was carved out in dirt as he placed his footsteps carefully on it and started walking. After a few minutes of silent walking, he saw a door on the right side of the passage and knocked on it twice.

"Caleb," he yelled as the door creaked open revealing a boy with dark circles under his eyes.

The boy looked at Caleb with dead eyes as he asked, "Did you do it?"

"Yeah, I had to do it the hard way," Caleb answered while walking in.

The room was very different from the passage outside. It was like the inside of a cottage, very polished and neat. Ten or so students gathered near the furnace which was on the right side of the room. A staircase led upstairs and another door opened to the exterior where a beach was present.

"Caleb is back," the boy with dead eyes announced as the students chattering immediately turned to look.

Bobby ran up to Caleb in excitement and prodded, "You got his memories right?"

Another boy came, his red hair shining brightly, as he asked cautiously, "Did you get his memories or did you," he stopped there, eyeing Caleb nervously.

"I got it Adam, don't worry," Caleb answered with a smile as he produced the vial from his robe.

Adam took a sigh of relief as he walked back. Meanwhile, a stern looking girl with dark hair stared at him emotionlessly from the corner.

Caleb walked up to her smiling and brandished the vial in her face, "Hey Takumi, I did it!"

She looked away and responded dully, "Good for you, I guess," as she went back to her book.

"Hard to please, huh," a voice sounded from behind as he turned around facing a smirking Edmund looking like a prep boy with freshly combed hair and a smell of perfume.

"Yeah, but I guess we go to Stage 2 now," Caleb said, still smiling.

"I've never seen you this worked up before," Edmund noted while grinning at him playfully.

They had been best friends after all since the day they first came into the castle. At the time they were still little kids not aware of the mess they would get into. The amount of events that happened in the past 5 years was just incredible as Caleb tried to wrap his mind around them. But during this time period, he grew very close to Edmund.

"Yeah, well it's one step closer to realizing our dream," Caleb said, putting the vial back into his robe.

Edmund stopped him as he grabbed the vial to inspect carefully.

"So this is how memory looks when condensed into mana, interesting," he observed as he ran his fingers around the vial, feeling it.

"I realized the days of getting chewed out by Fintly were over when we are able to accomplish a feat like this," Edmund added as he placed the vial back into Caleb's robes.

Hearing Fintley's name brought Caleb back to his senses as he started laughing, "Oh man I miss him."

"What are you guys talking about," a voice interrupted as a girl came from the furnace room to greet them.

Edmund's smile grew bigger as he saw her, a girl with long dark blue hair with bangs covering her forehead. She was the definition of pretty as her features stood out prominently in the firelight.

"Marielle, you were too busy talking to Isaac that you didn't notice me," Edmund said while faking a pout.

Marielle laughed heartily and responded, "Yeah, we didn't even realize Caleb came back until Kai told us."

"Yeah, well here it is Marielle," Caleb said while pulling out the vial once again.

"Marielle, do your voodoo magic and show us the memories of Professor Taylor," Edmund demanded as he watched in eagerness.

Caleb was about to announce that everyone gathered up but the rest were already coming in pairs, all excited to experience the memories of Professor Taylor, even Takumi was in.

Once they all gathered up, Marielle opened the vial as the silver gas escaped and floated around the ceiling. Marielle opened her palms and made a pulling gesture where the silver gas was split apart which started diffusing slowly spreading around the area. All of them looked up at the gas as Marielle made a downward gesture with her hand as the gas flew into their eyes. In a second, everyone was out cold except for Marielle who took out deep breaths in exhaustion.

All of them crumbled on the floor as Marielle ran to put them in the right positions. Edmund's face was smacked right into the pasta she was just eating. She tried to move him but with no luck.

Wow, as heroic as Edmund makes himself to be this was just definitely not it, she thought with pleasure as she sighed. They will wake up in 12 hours since the memory was a long one. She would oversee them as she felt too excited to sleep. Today was a big day for every single one of them. It was a day of immense progression. A day that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

How right she was but how wrong she was also.

She looked outside through the window, the moonlight illuminating part of the cottage. She could not get over the fact that this cottage was in an artificial world linked to the passage by Eleanor's magic, who was a dimensional mage. This private island along with the cottage was built for them and she suddenly felt utterly grateful to have Eleanor as an ally.

Hours passed as Marielle slowly dozed off until a rumbling from above woke her up. The rumbling was like that of an earthquake as she felt it growing louder and louder by the minute. The others stirred from their sleep as she ran to them trying to wake them up. Caleb was the first to get up followed by Adam and Eleanor. Soon enough, everyone was up and alert.

Eleanor shrieked in terror, "what the hell is this, how come my dimension is affected?"

Edmund woke up with pasta all over his face, his eyes groggy as he mumbled, "Where is the ham?"

Eleanor glared at him and pulled his cheek, "Now's not the time Do you hear this?!!"

Edmund heard an explosion from above as the shaking continued and said, "Oh shit, let's do something," he rubbed his hands together and proceeded to slap himself on the face.

Caleb who calculated the situation perfectly said seriously, "I know the memories are ingrained in your heads right now but let's focus on escaping first." With that, a swirl of winds covered his feet as it propelled him slowly to the door. He opened it carefully and stuck his head out. The passageway was still clear but it was shifting heavily. If it weren't for the winds carrying him, Caleb would have lost his balance. He poked his head back in to check on the situation and found Bobby providing floating waxes for each of them as they straddled on.

"Seems like you guys are ready, follow me," Caleb yelled over the noise as they followed behind him in a single straight line.

Caleb was the first one to get out as his winds propelled him forward into the passage as the shakings continued. The others trailed behind him closely, all silent either with fear or nervousness.

When they reached the end of the passage, he entered the dark box as they clamored in. The 12 of them were packed closely in the darkness as a girl whispered, "Arseleus"

Like an elevator, the box zoomed upwards as the passageway faded out of sight. Once it stopped, a clang sounded as they saw the deserted corridor. The shakings and rumblings were now more pronounced than before. They heard screams and lots of shouting as explosions echoed from above.

Marielle started trembling with fear as the others stared at her with what looked like utter horror. They knew it, they knew they were coming for her sooner or later. They thought they could put it off as a dream or a distant future but it was actually happening.

"Blimey, what the hell is happening," Edmund said in awe as he stared at the ceiling above.