Chapter 13 Traces

1st Rotation...

The first hour wasn't like the other. My back was scolding me from getting up, my head was telling me to lay down for more sleep, and my eyes were barely up. There wasn't even a single thought running around. Everyone else was just as tired as me. I wasn't quite sure what was happening. All I knew was keep moving. Keeping moving until I finally hear the bell. The air was starting to feel a bit cold but that wasn't going to stop me. A student to my left was already fell unconscious while another was on his knees. I could see the person in front of me taking some sick pleasure pummeling another student in the corner. Sweat started falling down from my forehead. This person was a man. He towered everyone in this square room. His brown shaggy moving about as he made his swift motions. Those sleepy looking eyes staring at us down like we were some kind of insects. He wore the yellow and black uniform just like "that" class. As I saw those colors highlighted on his sleeves, I only knew one thing about this man. He was part of the suicide squad. My legs started to charge forward with the intent of ramming him. That was foolish but I wasn't active up here. He took all of the power I threw at him. In return, he smiled then elbowed my back! This time there wasn't any pain. My adrenaline was pushing me to my limits. The last thing I could feel now was the hard blue mat. It looked like I wasn't going to make it. However, everyone seemed to be in the same positions already. Was I already the last one awake? The man moved out of the way then squatted down to see my bruised and bloodied face. He spoke with a light condescending voice.

Man: Tired already? I didn't even break a sweat.

Arc: ...Hah…. hah… I… I'm… still awake…

Man: You must be built differently because your class is already down. Don't you think it's impolite to keep the medics waiting?

Arc: I… Not… Failing!

Man: You sly dog! HAHAHA! I like your style. Saying those cheesy lines. It almost sounds like a comic book. Though you wouldn't know what a comic book is. What should I do about that?

Arc: … I… don't care…

Man: Huh? I didn't quite hear that? Did you say give you a comic book too? Well too bad I can't share. I've only got a couple myself hahahaha. I'll just punch you anyway though hahaha.

As I braced for impact, but he delivered a strong kick instead! The feel of those standard issue boots felt like nothing I had hurled at me before. I could feel that my nose was already broken making it hard to breath. The man started to walk off already looking victorious but I still wasn't unconscious. The rules said that being unconscious is a loss. I wasn't done. My legs started to get up one by one as I placed my hand on my nose. There was a lot of bleeding at this point. Things started to get worse for me because I was starting to see double. The man turned around once more with a playful smile. I couldn't even stand up right anymore.

Man: Damn, you're really different. I thought you were some kind of fluke.

PA System: That's enough Juxo. These ones passed.

Juxo: These kids passed? I don't think that's fair. Or has management turned soft?

PA System: One of them has displayed enough strength needed to stay in a fight with you. That's passing enough.

Juxo: That's what I'm saying! Only one of them did! The rest need to be sent back to basic training! If you send these guppies then they're just going to be cannon fodder. You wouldn't want that on your conscience?

PA System: Understood. 24th Arc you have passed physical assessment level 3. Please proceed to the requirement dock when you're ready.

Juxo: Lucky you kid. You won't have the guilt of having those kids die.

Arc: … They did… Their best…

Juxo: Oh really? If that's their best then they're going to die. You wouldn't want that if you were a squad leader right? Come on now, speak up.

Arc: …

Juxo: Exactly. Kids are a riot hahahaha! All innocent and stuff. It makes me want to beat you guys even more! If this is your strength for fighting hand to hand combat then how'll you survive against a creature from a different planet? Or perhaps a local? Or maybe something even worse? A magic born.

Arc: …

Juxo: No answer huh. Maybe some other time then. See ya.

There wasn't any other feeling in my body besides pain. I don't think I was even standing at this point. All I could see were the other students with me that failed. There wasn't any time for me to care for these people because I still had other training subjects to accomplish. I've even heard that a student from a different section managed to actually beat a proctor. Last I recall the rumours, it was a girl...

Present day...

I was now on the branch trying to avoid yet another vibrational cannon my way. Yet again, the noise from each one was starting to deafen me. These fights are never in my favor. As Terra walked up, I set off the mud or ground trap to make her fall in deeper. It was just her torso now. She's been trying to throw me some projectiles to stop me from making her sink any deeper. Though knowing Terra, this was just an inconvenience to her. With another quick surge, I solidified the mud into hard ground. I jumped into a higher branch of the gigantic tree as I tried to ignore Terra's insults. At this point, I couldn't even hear them if I even wanted to. Able was just a few branches above me, I headed straight for him. Why did I remember that memory now?! I could've just remembered something a little bit more useful! It was just me getting beaten up. As I reached Able, Terra emitted another loud scream. This time it was followed by a dome that exploded the terrain around her. She saw us right on the branch and prepared another cannon again! This one looked like it was going to be huge. I could see a surge in her eyes! I was about to jump to the next branch but Nex appeared in front of us. We quickly grabbed his hand then teleported out. Just like some kind of strange new world, there wasn't a single sound in the area. It was just simple peace and quiet up here. Nex teleported us somewhere but where? My legs started to feel adjusted from the sudden change. I stood up to see us in an even higher branch than before. This area was so much higher that there was barely anything to see below. We were at the height of the clouds now. As I turned back to see the rest, someone slammed their chest on me! My footing nearly failed me but I managed to be fine. This person was quite tall and smelled good. Something that I hadn't felt in a while. After a second or two, I realized this was Nitra. I hugged her back knowing that she was fine. She let go, revealing her worried face. My stomach felt like something was punching it but there was nothing of the sort. Maybe this was just how true relief felt. Was I that worried about NItra? Of course I would be worried! She's my teammate. Why wouldn't I want to be? Nitra gave out a big smile. However, a second later she punched my arm really hard! It stung quite a bit because I didn't expect it!

Nitra: And THAT is for taking so long! But… You came. You actually came. I was so worried that you wouldn't find me. I was worried that you wouldn't know where to look. But most importantly I was worried that you were going to forget about me, Arc.

Nex: I'm here too y'know…

Nitra: Oh right! I forgot! My bad.

Able: That's cold!

Nex: How would you know what's cold?!

Able: I have thermal sensors. And that one is called a burn.

Nex: That's not how you say that.

NItra: Hahaha, It's finally nice to see some familiar faces.

Arc: I'm sorry for getting right into it but what happened?!

Nitra: I didn't think that a lot would happen in the time we were apart. But I was completely wrong. I want to talk but I want to do something first.

Arc: What is it?

Nitra: I need to find the tallest part of this tree. I need to signal a distress signal from here to the platform.

Nex: So you were the one in charge of the signal beam?

Nitra: No, why would they? It was given to Terra. She was the one heading the mission after all. Don't you know that?

Nex: Usually we just pass it around. We don't really care who has it.

Nitra: I'm surprised you guys stayed alive this long then. The reason is pretty simple why. It's so that the leader has the final input on whether the class is a bust or not. However, judging from these kinds of classes it supposed to be used for completing the mission. But I'm not going to sit around while a rogue magic born is around. We need to the platform to respond to this.

Arc: So she just gave it to you?

NItra: Of course not! Have you seen what happened to Terra?!

Nex: Arc had to fight her.

Nitra: You did?!

Arc: Where the hell were you the entire time!? Couldn't you notice the destruction of Talos?!

Nitra: No… because I wasn't in Talos anymore.

We were all surprised with that revelation but Nitra wanted to continue jumping to the top of the tree to signal the platform. This time, we didn't need to jump. Nitra conveniently used her air tunnel to get travel. However, this still felt like a long process. The tree just didn't seem to end! As we pressed on further, Nex was retelling everything that happened to us so far. Nitra was listening on like she was some sort of parent listening to their child. Though I wouldn't know what that's like. I've only seen it during times when people were in the recreational areas of the platform.

Nex: And that's how we ended up here. Arc wanted to find you first before doing anything else.

Nitra: My, what a gentleman.

Nex: I was the one who suggested it too!

Nitra: Good for you then!

Nex: Hmph…

Arc: So tell us what happened.

Nitra: Right! I almost forgot. It was just so nice hearing you two again. Well after we split up, we found an underground tunnel that led to some place else. We were quite confused. Personally, I wanted to stay and wait for you guys but Terra insisted that we just give our coordinates. Though something else pretty much ruined that because as we did, the signal was caught by patrol golems. Terra had to fight but she was a bit frisky and sent a vibration cannon in a metallic underground cave.

Arc: Classic Terra.

Nitra: Yeah! I was pretty annoyed about it because I couldn't hear anything for a while. Well because of that my watch broke except for Terra's. It must've been a special design for hers not to break. That's why I couldn't send any relays back to any of you. The only thing left behind was the original coordinates. It went from bad to worse as more golems came through the underground systems. We didn't want to waste energy fighting an endless amount of golems so we ran inside the tunnel. Eventually we found a teleportation portal. Just like the one down below the tree. It took us into another different area. It was one of the cities of Plaux. From there, it was quite the adventure.

Arc: A city? How did you two get from that to here?

Nitra: Well… a lot happened. Besides it wasn't really a city. Rather it was just a formation of small towns in a small area.

Arc: Isn't that a village.

Nitra: I'm not quite sure. It doesn't make sense to me because it was all one city. The whole entire place was a city. However, once you enter it's like a compound for each individual village. Each district is governed based on their own individual rules and leaders. Different factions… Yet they all call themselves some kind of combined city.

Arc: Does the place have a name?

Nitra: "The Joint Federation."

Nex: What happened when y'all arrived.

Nitra: We weren't quite sure what to do. Our watches were far from working and Terra didn't want to send an SOS. Eventually we came across different citizens, some that were strange. But there was one person that stood out from the locals. A man in an old lab coat.

Arc: Peter?

Nitra: Yes, it was him. He was the only human around. We thought he was someone like us. A magic born. However, he was much worse. A monster.

Arc: He's the one that turned Nitra against us.

Nitra: I wish I could confidently say that he was. But that wasn't the case. He simply convinced her overtime. His words were charismatic and eventually Terra accepted to join his experiment, to seek the truth

Arc: He still had something that changed Terra.

Nitra: I thought so too but no. Terra defected to the otherside by herself. She learned a truth that was blocked from our minds. Something that day changed her. I wished I knew what she learned but I refused. She called me a coward and kept me under lock until I was ready.

Arc: I see…

Nitra: Whatever he used. It had something to do with cognitive magic. But he himself doesn't even have magic in him. How he did it was a mystery to me.

Nex: Did he even have a secret lab?

Nitra: Nothing of the sort.

Arc: Then how? I don't understand you Terra... I don't get it at all!

Nitra: Calm down, Arc. I understand how you feel. When she turned I didn't believe it either.

Arc: It doesn't make any sense!

I stopped onto a tree branch and looked below. There was nothing below anymore. All I could see now were the clouds. I couldn't tell if Terra was still chasing us at this point. There were too many things going on inside my head. Nitra had stopped next to me, she looked like she was in the same boat.

Nitra: I don't get it either. I didn't know if I should stay with her or look for you guys. But as things progressed in the city. I had to leave her to find you all. She left me no choice, I needed to signal the platform. It wasn't easy escaping from where they held me captive. Terra was watching me too.

Nex: Does she even have a plan?

Nitra: She doesn't have a plan but he does.

Arc: Tell us.

Nitra: I don't know what it is. But they said the grand scheme of it was a crusade. They were going to try to kill magic borns. Terra was going to be the one at the forefront of it all.

Nex: She's going to try and kill us…

Nitra: I tried… But nothing seemed to work. She's gone now Arc.

Arc: No, I don't want to give up just yet. We can find Peter! Convince him that he was just manipulating Terra and fix this!

Nitra: Arc… Terra went on her own… She's not the same person anymore. Whatever she learned, changed her. There was nothing I could do to convince her. Her mind was set after what she learned.

Arc: No…

Nitra: She tried to kill you Arc! Wake up! You have to snap out that she's not Terra anymore! You didn't see what she did during those days! Those people in the villages…

Nex: Huh!? What are you talking about?!

Nitra was filled with tears now. Her peppy exterior now slowly drops away. I was the same. No matter how many times I've thought. If the situation comes up again, will I have the courage to kill Terra? She would do the same but the thought of even coming close to that situation truly scares me. Those previous battles might have been for survival. However, if it comes up I know I'm just going to fail. My frustration was starting to burn my head. It was like some kind of parasite that wouldn't let go of me. I can't find any hatred inside of me to fight to kill someone I know.

Nitra: Arc! We have to go… Wake up!

Arc: Huh! Oh… I'm sorry. I spaced out there.

Nitra: It's okay. Let's just get this transponder up then we'll decide what to do from there.

Arc: Wait before we continue. I need you to answer this for me. I'm scared that the time might come for this to happen or something similar to this.

Nitra: What is it?

Arc: What's it like? What's it like to kill another son of Adam?

Nex: Hey Arc! You can't just ask that!

Arc: I know! I know! But if we're going to continue on then I want to know. Nitra… I'm sorry. But tell me.

Nitra's expression turned dark as if she had remembered everything. There was one thing that everyone knew about Nitra before she arrived in our team. She was part of the Vanta color class. Ours was yellow to signify that we weren't scared to die no matter the color of our uniform. Thus our class was called the suicide squad. Her class specialized in finding rogue magic borns. This meant that she was used to fighting magic borns. She looked at me with lifeless eyes and a smile as cold as moons.

Nitra: If that time comes Arc… I'll do it myself…

Arc: No… please… let me do it.

Nitra: NO!

Nex: !

Arc: !

Nitra: Ah! I'm so sorry! I just don't want y'all to get involved in this kind of thing. Killing magic borns, even if it isn't a crime will never feel good. It's like an infection that keeps growing until it consumes you.

Arc: Please…

Nitra: No… You've done enough. You were one of Juxo's students weren't you?

Arc: How did you know?!

Nitra: Your fighting style, your decision making, and your spirit. They're quite similar to Juxo.

Arc: Were you one of his?

Nitra: Before he went into Vanta. He was never the same again after. Juxo was completely different right after those missions. I don't want that to happen to you.

Arc: Juxo…

Nitra: Promise me.

Arc: Promise you?

Nitra: Promise me that you'll never kill a magic born. Actually no! All of you promise me! That you'll never kill a magic born! Leave it to me… A vanta member never ends being a vanta member. I guess you never really get out of it.

Nex: Nitra…

Nitra: Please… Do it for me. I know killing was always free for us but it doesn't feel right when it's our own kind. It's a strange thing it is. When I kill any other species it feels like a normal idea. However, our own kind is different. I guess that's what every species feels. I don't want anyone else to experience it. I'll fight her. It's a duty of a Vanta member to fight rogues. Even if it is Terra.

Arc: I can't make that promise.

Nitra: No…

Nex: I can't make that promise as well.

NItra: Guys…

Arc: We're in this together Nitra. This is what being a part of the team. We can't allow you to make a decision like that. Even if it's one that kills another member.

Nitra: This can't be happening…

Arc: We'll bear the burden as a team if the situation comes.

Nitra: NO! I NEED TO PROTECT YOU! I CAN'T LOSE YOU ARC!

Arc: What!?

Nex: Lose him?! He's not going anywhere!

Nitra held me in her arms as tight as she could. I could feel her quivering but I wasn't sure. This wasn't something I wasn't expecting. Lose me? What did she mean?

Nitra: Just please. Don't… I'm sorry…

Nitra's eyes surged bright blue. With a swift push, she shoved me off the branch! I reached over to my boots but I was pushed away by a wind tunnel. My hands reached over, except I was already too late! The tree was getting farther and farther! This tunnel was going faster away from where they were. Nex held out his hand to reach out. However, it was way too late for that. Everything started to get smaller at a distance. I was long gone from there.

Hours came by but the tunnel never stopped. This was going towards a direction that I didn't know. The evening started to roll around. I needed to switch to my contacts sooner or later. There was going to be trouble soon because I don't know how long the path is. Nitra's air tunnel is still pushing me somewhere. Though I'm positive it might be that so-called city. Just as I mentioned it, an area appeared behind me that had lights on. It wasn't like the city of Talos. The place was filled with thick and high barricades stopping people from passing to the other side. Some districts looked like they were stuck in an old era while others weren't. This city was nowhere near advanced as Talos. Looking down, it reminded me of what a honeycomb looked like. The middle of the city was the biggest section and looked to be the one set in an old era. The tunnel began to die down, it's speed slowing down by the second. What did Nitra mean by losing me again? Have we met before? I wanted to make her answer these questions but I was too busy starting to get into free fall! I modded my boots as quickly as I could. I shot the ground with a surge of magic then aimed right for it. I landed with a mild explosion. The ground felt like I landed on some kind of rock tiles. My magic saved me from getting critically injured but it still hurt. As I tried to get myself off the ground. Someone was looking down on me. It was a girl! She looked human but there were some features that were off. Her eyes were completely different than mine. Their colors kept changing the more I stared at her. She placed her finger on her lips.

Girl: Another magic born?