Dreams

Icarth was in a dream.

How was he so sure that it was a dream? It was the fact that he was currently floating in the sky. Well, floating wasn't the correct state either.

'Free falling...' Icarth confirmed as he felt the airflow around him. Icarth just silently fell from the sky. He didn't even bother to shift his vision to the direction that he was falling.

With a certain knowing, Icarth let himself drop like a rock without any resistance.

Icarth just closed his eyes to enjoy the sensation.

'It should be right about now....' Icarth thought after a while, putting a stop to his enjoyment at that moment. Just as he thought that, his world flipped and he slammed into the ground above him. All his downward acceleration suddenly reversed and plunged him into the ground that had appeared just above him.

"Aghh," Icarth let out a muffled grunt, trying his best not to swallow the dirt. Despite his best efforts, dirt filled his mouth, mixing with the blood from his broken teeth. Pain shot through his body as a delayed reaction to the impact. Icarth felt that multiple ribs and bones had just snapped on the impact, leaving him in a broken mess.

Ignoring the pain, Icarth tried to get up...only to feel a pressure pushing down on his back.

Gritting his teeth, Icarth pushed down, digging his palms, fingers, and nails into the ground into the soil underneath to find purchase. Using the Earth, Icarth pushed up with all his strength. Almost immediately, his left arm snapped and bent at an odd angle.

Losing balance, Icarth slammed back onto the ground with a rough thud. Although his head was buried in the ground and still sinking, Icarth still heard the mocking laughter of the man who was doing this to him. That cloaked figure who had almost killed Icarth that day. Icarth could hear his deep throaty laugh at his own condition at the moment.

Icarth grit his teeth, crunching through the soil inside his mouth.

A small flame lit itself in Icarth. A small flame of hatred blossomed and started to burn with a strength unlike anything else.

'I will get stronger...strong enough that I don't end up like gramps.' Icarth thought furiously.

Then in a decisive action, Icarth bit down on his tongue, waking him up immediately.

Icarth sat up in a cold sweat, his tongue still hurting from the force that he had bitten down with. His body still hurt immensely from the training session with his master. Although the wounds and welts were gone, the pain still remained, as Icarth could still feel stinging sensations across his body.

Rubbing his eyes, Icarth found that it was morning at the moment. Well, still night time according to him that is. It was currently 6:30 in the morning, which prompted Icarth to slump back into his bed.

Just at that moment, Icarth heard a click and Sefir walked into the room, sweat flowing freely from his toned body.

"You're awake?" Sefir asked with surprise. This was so shocking that Sefir just stood there dumbly, staring at his *awake* roommate from the doorway.

"...yes," Icarth murmured, trying to block out external light by covering his eyes with an arm.

"You know, I would check if the world was ending right now, but if that was the case, then we would already be dead," Sefir commented while heading to the bathroom. Not every room had an attached bathroom to it. But Sefir and Icarth's room was special in that sense, and the only reason they were allocated this room was technically because of Sefir.

It was all because of Sefir being a model student that he was able to live in this room.

And Icarth?

Well, Icarth got it because of Sefir. Obviously.

"You know, you should really apologize for destroying the window that time," Sefir called out from the bathroom.

Icarth merely yawned, too lazy to be bothered to answer Sefir.

"Lazy little shit," Sefir rolled his eyes and continued on with his business.

Icarth, on the other hand, just started at the wall, deep in thought.

'Strenght. I need more strength.'

'I need to get stronger. I'll ask Master about my gift next time. Maybe she has a solution for my problem.'

Icarth thought hopefully.

-----------------------------------------

Emmia let out another yawn.

'Why did I even stay up late again?' Emmia thought sleepily. Although she wasn't constantly sleeping like her brother, Emmia did like to get a good amount of sleep daily.

Class was currently going on, a Wildlife Biology class to be exact.

'And it just has to be wildlife biology...' Emmia thought despondently and drowsily.

Even normally, Emmia would have trouble paying attention in class. But now? Emmia was so close to pulling an Icarth and just sleeping in class.

And speaking of Icarth, he could be seen at the desk next to Emmia's sleeping soundly like always. Or at least that's what he looked like. Icarth was indeed listening to class for once. Part of the reason was just that he was too lazy to sit up and focus.

Thus he came up with the ingenious idea of laying his upper body on the desk and then listening to the class.

Of course, the other reason had to do with recurring dreams, which he wanted to avoid at this point.

'This class isn't half bad,' Icarth thought to himself, noting down the points he felt was important in his head.

"The spiked boar is a peculiar creature. It can actually be found in the surrounding Great Boan Forest during the day time as they are mostly diurnal animals."

Professor Jasmine was explaining the animal of the day currently.

"Now what are its main methods of attack? Anyone know?" Jasmine asked her students.

Multiple students raised their hands, including Sefir as always.

This time, Emmia didn't raise her hand. Luna glanced at Emmia whose head was continuously drooping.

'Did she sleep late again?' Luna thought to herself while refraining from raising her hand.

Even though Luna knew the answer, she just didn't want to draw attention to herself.

"Shui."

"I think it's that they expel the spikes on their backs, using them as projectiles?" Shui answered, slightly unsure of herself.

"Yes, correct, and can anyone tell me if that is their gift or a biological mutation?" Jasmine asked once more with a smile.

Another set of hands went up, of which Jasmine chose Sefir this time.

"It's a biological mutation. Their gift is actually sharpshooting," Sefir gave a curt answer.

"Yes, indeed," Jasmine's smile widened.

"Many people mistake their spikes as their gifts, but it is part of their biology that they can shoot and regrow the spikes. It's similar to our own nails or claws of an animal. If we cut off our nails or they get chipped, they will eventually grow back. Through this process, the spiked boar can replenish and.....blah...blah...blah..."

Jasmine's voice droned on, as Icarth's mind filtered out any unnecessary information.

'Spiked boar, roams around during the day.'

'Can shoot spikes from its back at pinpoint accuracy.'

Getting all the required information, Icarth started to deduce his own information.

'Is probably physically weak, considering its need to shoot its quills. Or maybe it's slow, and hence needs to shoot.'

'But that would mean that it is bulky and probably sturdy.'

'Maybe its eyesight is bad and hence the need for its gift? Wait that doesn't sound right.'

Icarth continued to brainstorm with his head down. All the while, Emmia had finally zoned out, her eyes staring blankly at the front of the classroom with just a single thought in her head.

'When will my suffering end?'