Journey

The planet Vel has three moons. The largest is named Tamond, the closest, Runa, and the brightest... Astra.

Harlston

Many hours after Professor Novin Oakenheart had left, Castus entered his bedroom to see his wife standing on the balcony looking at the moon, Astra.

For a few seconds, he was spellbound. The scene before him looked like one straight out of a painting. He walked behind her, kissed her cheek, before making her rest her head on his broad chest.

They stayed a few minutes like this until finally, he spoke first:

"You know Hade is going to be okay, right?" he asked.

Isabella sighed.

"Yes, yes I know that," she replied softly.

"But I am his mother, if I don't worry for my own child, who will?"

Castus put his arms around her waist locking her in a tight embrace. The couple stood in comfortable silence as they basked under the moonlight.

Isabella only spoke again many many minutes later:

"Did you already know that the third prince had ties to the Five Schools?" she asked.

"No," Castus shook his head, frowning slightly.

"That one also caught me by surprise. First the factions and now this... dark times surely come ahead. However, our family will stand firm no matter what... I promise."

His voice was low and deep, exactly how Isabella liked it. The beautiful dame could not help but squirm in her husband's warm embrace.

However, before she got lost beyond the point of no return, her mind soon wandered back to the events of that morning.

What happened with the professor should never have happened. What if she hadn't been there?

Like a sensor, Castus was able to perceive his partner's turmoil immediately.

"Don't worry," he comforted as he brushed her long, ruby-red hair aside.

"Hade thinks before he acts, today was just... just a mistake," he stuttered as his nostrils hungrily took in and savored her scent.

"Besides," he uttered with labored breaths, "it is my job to protect my family. I always have, and I always will. Nothing will ever change about that."

...

Five days passed quicker than Hade had imagined...

No surprise, he had spent most of this time with his mother. Isabella had barely left his side, only doing so when he bathed or was using the restroom.

Even then, you could be sure that she was always nearby. It was truly a wonder how Hade never had trouble relieving himself.

With his father, Hade rarely conversed but such had always been their relationship. The bonds that tied them together were practically indestructible... words were only spoken when necessary.

As the day of his departure fast approached, Bartholomew had taken on the role of imparter of wisdom. In his exact words, Hade was still too shallow and naive for the real world.

Hade, however, had not taken any offense. He had been happy at the opportunity to learn new things... however, the bald man's teachings proved to be a bit... peculiar, to say the least.

The lessons included topics like how to manufacture quick poisons and parts of the body to strike to ensure a quick death.

Hade was appalled. Just what was the old man trying to teach him?!

It was Dedric who had had to remind his old friend that killing other students was not allowed.

"Only on school premises!" Bartholomew had retorted back.

Speaking of Dedric, Hade's training sessions with him had gone from exhausting to downright brutal. It was as if the giant was trying to murder him before he got the chance to leave.

Body conditioning, the madman had called it.

When the day finally arrived for Hade and Novin to depart, Isabella cried and cried, almost as if she were sending her son to war.

Novin mused about it to himself but he dared not say it.

After ten or so promises to keep safe, Isabella finally let Hade go, immediately running into Castus's arms afterward.

Sometimes Hade wondered how it felt like to be in his father's shoes.

...

The journey to Harlston City -the provincial capital- was smooth and uneventful.

Hade and Novin had to use horse-drawn carriages since Greycastle was remote and quite far away from the city.

This had been intentionally set up this way in consideration of the denizens of the province. If the castle had been built anywhere near populous settlements, the carnage that would've been brought about by the giant lizard, as Isabella often referred to Castus' dragon familiar, would simply be catastrophic.

Just thinking about it sent shudders down Hade's spine.

It took him and Novin just under an hour to reach the provincial capital city where they had to rendezvous with another person.

After that, due to Hade's identity, it barely took any time at all to get their travel sorted out.

"So young master Ronen, have you ever ridden a teleportation device before?" Novin asked as they boarded a white-colored cubicle of sorts.

The cubicle had just enough space to accommodate ten people at most but it was currently empty save for them.

This was one of the few functional teleportation devices at Harlston City's teleportation terminal.

"Yes I have," Hade replied absent-mindedly. "But only a couple of times when I visited my cousins in Karthmere. I can never get used to the aftereffects though."

Novin laughed.

"That's true for most people. What about you, young man?" he asked a youth who looked to be in his mid-twenties.

The lad, who went by the name of Wil, had fairly average looks and long dark brown hair that he tied into a lengthy ponytail.

On his back was a fiery heavy-looking broad sword on whose hilt was the engraving of a dark red phoenix.

The only other noteworthy thing about him was his abnormally large eyes. They were wide, round, and big... very big, in fact, they were almost... buglike.

Besides that, everything else about him was just... ordinary.

Wil was the person Hade's parents had entrusted with the task of accompanying him to the Schools... a bodyguard of sorts.

"No," he replied nonchalantly to Novin's query about boarding teleportation devices. In his surly gruff voice, Novin picked up a hint of the empire's southern region's drawling accent.

Wil was a man of very few words, and it was a lesson Novin had come to learn the hard way after numerous failed attempts at initiating small talk.

'Wil Baldric,' Hade thought.

The wide-eyed brute was an orphan Dedric rescued from a town ransacked by bandits a very long time ago.

Beyond the boy's tattered clothes and rough exterior, Dedric saw talent, tenacity, and a will to survive like no other. He immediately decided to take the boy under his wing.

Wil had awakened at age 16 and almost simultaneously, manifested the Earth law... which was quite the impressive feat when you remembered that Hade had spent nearly a whole year after awakening before finally manifesting his law.

Dedric had personally taught Wil the ways of magic and in the process, teacher and disciple became inseparable... no different from any father and son.

Fast forward many years later and Wil was now a peak Master class Earth practitioner. In terms of loyalty to the Ronens, very few people could stand on equal ground with him.

In fact, Hade had even sparred with Wil more times than he had with both Dedric and Bartholomew combined.

Although he rarely spoke, Hade knew from experience that Wil's skills and strength spoke all that was necessary on the battlefield.

"So, young master, do you know how teleportation devices work?" Novin asked Hade. He had finally given up on talking to Wil. It was a lost cause.

"Yes," Hade replied shortly.

He had tried to implement Wil's one-word answer policy many times already on this journey, however, Novin almost always failed to take the hint.

Even now, the young professor kept looking at him expecting him to continue.

Hade sighed.

"Teleportation devices are the brainchild of Supreme class Space practitioner Raymond Kroft. They use advanced Space magic to teleport long distances between two places.

"As long as there is a pre-established space channel linking the two locations and an adequate Space practitioner on either side, the process is easy enough."

"A simple but splendid answer," Novin praised.

"By the way, were your eyes always blue in color?" he suddenly asked.

For some reason, Novin couldn't remember the boy's eye color being blue, or any other color for that matter.

Blue eyes were not as common as black or brown... Novin thought he should've noticed.

"Yes, they have," Hade lied through his teeth.

"Oh well," Novin shrugged as the cubicle's doors closed shut. He then turned to look at Wil who was standing behind them.

"Brace yourself," he warned.

The brute only looked back at him blankly. However, what happened next made Wil regret not taking the professor's advice more seriously.

At first, the cubicle shimmered, and then, after a few seconds, started rocking gently from side to side. All of a sudden, the rocking turned violent, like an earthquake, and then, without warning...

*Flash!*

And then...

*Thud!*

...

Fifteen seconds later, Wil was throwing up in one of the toilet booths at their destination city's teleportation terminal.

The booths, Hade now realized, were specifically set up for this purpose.

"Can't say I didn't warn him," Novin gloated.

"For such an advanced method of travel, teleportation does not do one's insides any justice. You okay?" he asked Hade.

Sadly, the redhead was too distracted to reply him... Novin turned to look in the direction Hade was facing to see just what had captivated him so.

When he saw it, the professor broke into a hearty chuckle.

"Oh, I had forgotten that you have never visited Salancans before," he chortled.

Hade could not respond. He was simply... dumbstruck.

Just in time, Wil exited the booth with a distinct frown on his face. That look almost instantly changed to disbelief.

There in the distance, was a ginormous city with beautiful sparkling lights.