Chapter 10

This dream again, I'm in a boat this time. People around me were taking care of the wounded. I'm just there. Sitting, writing, and talking to myself.

I'm holding a book, some sort of tome, maybe. I took a small chest from underneath my chair. I put it in the chest together with a journal and a trinket of some sort. I put my hand on the lid and hesitated to close the chest. Another hand came from behind me, I looked behind and a woman with dark black hair was there. She closed the box and whispered to my ear. "Don't worry. It will be found, in time."

Another hand came from the side. I looked there and the silver-haired girl was there this time. She took the chest from my hands and calmly said "I'll take care of it. You just rest."

-

October 28, 11 AF – Signal Tower – 0500 hours

-

He woke up teary-eyed and his throat was dry, so he drank the glass of water he left on the bedside table. The morning was cold and dark. Must be the Low-Pressure Area passing through. He got up and checked the time on the terminal. It was 6:51 am. His first class for today starts at 7:45. He went into the bathroom, brushed and showered quickly. He got out and dried quickly with the towel. He dressed lightly then went down.

The breakfast today was longanissa (a local variety of sausage), sunny-side-up eggs, and garlic fried rice. His favorite set of breakfast. Seems like his mother was the one who cooked but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. He quickly munched on the food and washed his dishes.

He went back into his room and locked the door. He chose to wear a military parka over his uniform. He took his usual stuff and went towards Lisa's room.

He knocked twice but no one answered. He called her and she answered.

"Lisa, you awake?" he asked.

"What do you mean? I've been awake for thirty minutes now."

"Then why aren't you answering your door?"

"I'm already out of the house. I woke up early because I had to practice for a play."

"Uh, I didn't know. Then where's Mom?"

"She said she had to go somewhere. She left before me. Also, I won't be coming home tonight, I'll be spending the night at a friend in Silverwood."

"Okay. Take care of yourself." He hung up.

He went back down to the kitchen to fix up the remaining food left on the table but Lily already did. She was sitting on the table now, probably waiting for him.

"You already ate your own breakfast?"

"I already have." Lily replied.

"Then let's go," he opened his left breast pocket and Lily went inside. Kind of like a baby kangaroo in its mother's pouch. He went to the door and picked up a folding umbrella. He put on his shoes and went out the door.

He got to the elevator and pressed the underground parking lot button. The elevator went down smoothly without anyone else getting on and he quickly got to the parking lot. As usual, most of the parking space was empty. He looked over to his mother's personal parking space and noticed that her car too was gone. He then glanced towards the family SUV which was there. He went to his bike and proceeded directly to the gate. It did the usual profiling and he said his password and got out of the underground parking lot.

The sky ahead was dark and he noticed that sooner or later it will rain. He went pass the entry path to the tower and was just about to speed away when he saw Moon at the bus stop. She was wearing a white jacket on a yellow shirt and a frilly skirt. It seems as if she doesn't have a uniform yet. She then glanced toward Ethan and he motioned for her to come close.

"What is it?" Moon asked.

"Where's Arc?" he asked back.

"He went ahead earlier than me since he had an early class."

"Do you need a ride?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'll take you to NWI on my bike." He took out the second helmet from the compartment and gave it to Moon. "It's faster than taking the bus."

"Um, thanks." She got on and held on tightly.

"Thank me after we get there." He sped off and they were on their way to NWI.

The traffic was unusually moderate this time, even though it didn't really slow them down. It was starting to rain when they got there. They got off the bike when Ethan heard someone shout towards his direction.

"Light Break!"

By instinct he made a stone pillar toward the shouter. The ball of light exploded when it impacted. He looked over at the pillar, it was barely even damaged. Must be that idiot testing his new spells on me again, Ethan thought.

"Kei, you idiot, I have someone else with me today!"

The smoke faded and a blond-haired half-asian kind of guy emerged. He wore the same blue blazer as Ethan did, only his was untidy.

"How'd you like my new spell?"

"It's surprisingly weak. That stone pillar isn't even fortified and what's with the 'Light Break!' thing you did earlier. This isn't a game and offensive abilities are forbidden outside the NGME building, you want to get sanctioned after you just got back?" Ethan returned the pillar into the ground.

"You're supposed to comment something good. And giving the spell a cool name boosts the morale. Teach said so. Also, Light Break isn't an offensive spell. It has no damage to do."

Kei Feng is Ethan's fellow club member. They first met on the School Representative Tournament, which decides who will be the face of the school in the National Magician and Esper Schools Meet. They faced each other in the preliminary rounds and Ethan flawlessly defeated Kei. When he got the title of King Mage, people started to challenge Ethan for the title. Kei was the one who challenged Ethan the most. Even though he would always lose on Ethan's first move, he still kept on challenging him. So Ethan invited him to join his club and he accepted on the condition that he can use Ethan as a training partner.

Kei glanced over Ethan's shoulder and saw Moon.

"Moreover, why is it you only got back now when you've already recovered for a week?" He went pass Ethan and approached Moon.

"My name is Kei Feng. Might I ask what your name is, fair lady?" Kei said it as he held her hand.

"Umm… Moon." Moon said as she withdrew her hand.

"It's a pleasure to have met you." he said.

Ethan approached and tightly squeezed his shoulder. "Listen to me when I'm talking to you, you damned playboy."

He then pulled Ethan farther and whispered, "Well, who's the chick? You damn lucky asshole." Kei said coldly as he squeezed Ethan's shoulders.

"She's the new transfer student. We're in the same course and we live in the same building." Ethan calmly said and removed his arms.

The raindrops started to fall faster and bigger now. They ran to the entrance of the Main Building.

"Well, I'll see you later. Class is starting for me in a few minutes." Kei said as he hurried off.

When Kei was gone, both Ethan and Moon went into the Main Building and proceeded to the vending machines.

"Well, who's Mr. Kei?" Moon asked.

"We're in the same club." Ethan simply said.

"Nothing else?"

"He's a second-year SFS, 21 years old, uses arcane magic, and is the son of the Chinese representative."

"Chinese representative?" she asked.

"Oh, that's right. Since the Philippines were established as a "special case" after the war, world leaders sent representatives to govern the first successful internationally-run country. Didn't you know that?"

"I already know that. I just wondered why the son of the Chinese representative chose to be a soldier."

"You misunderstand. Just because he took that course doesn't mean he'll be a soldier."

"Well, what about you?"

"Class is starting soon. You don't want to be late at your first day." He walked ahead of her and she quickly followed suit, dismissing the topic.

When they got there, the other students quickly looked their way and remained fixated. Ethan sat at his usual spot and Moon sat next to him.

"Ethan!" shouted Anne.

"What now?" he said under his breath.

"What 'What now?'. You're not allowed to bring your girlfriend in the class. As Class Representative it is my duty to uphold the rules! Section F: Safety Law, Rule 5: Non-mage and/or non-esper students are not allowed to attend specialized classes."

"One, the first class is ESP history, which is not a specialized class since you can take it on any course. Two, this is the transfer student and she'll be joining us today. And three, she is NOT my girlfriend. Understand?" he said while putting emphasis on the last sentence. "Now, why are you overreacting? Isn't it a little early for your period?"

"Wah, that's not it!" she said.

"You really just don't understand women, Ethan." said Allen.

"You on your period too?" Ethan said while smirking.

"That would be physically impossible." he exclaimed. "Well, Ms. Transfer Student. What's your name?"

"Eliza. But call me Moon. What about you?" said Moon.

"I'm Allen and the girl on the period is Anne, we're twins by the way." he said.

"I'm not on my period, idiot." said Anne. She then looked at Moon. "Sorry about that, I got mad for no reason."

"No worries." said Moon. The class bell then rang and Anne and Allen sat next to Moon. The instructor said a few words of greeting and class started.

October 22, 11 AF – European Airspace – 0850 hours

-

"You know that feeling when you're excited and time seems to go faster?" asked Laura.

"I think that's adrenaline, my lady." Her maid said while typing on her laptop. "We've only been in the air for less than an hour."

"I know." she said. "But why isn't it going faster?"

"What isn't, my lady?"

"The plane," she said while tapping on the glass. "It's too slow."

The maid stopped typing for a while, "My lady, this plane you speak of is the current most advanced private jet, which includes a field generator, a mini bar, a 42" wifi-capable smart TV complete with a gaming system, two bedrooms, a bath, a sauna, a fully-equipped kitchen, a large storing space, the world's most advanced engines, an anti-matter-based hybrid generator, and an anti-amion defense system."

"But it's too boring. I want to get there faster."

"And we're about to land at the private air base to pick up Russell and the young master," she then looked at Laura and noticed her holding an empty wine bottle. "My lady, where and how did you get that bottle?"

"I asked Baros to get me a bottle since it's an occasion."

She stood up and approached Laura. "My lady, no, Laura Silenus, why did you choose to drink an entire bottle of wine when you know that you can't hold your liquor?"

"I just wanted to celebrate, Rin-rin. What's so bad about a bottle?"

"Everything! Whenever you drink something bad happens." she then blushed, "And the last time you almost sexually violated me, the young master, and a few guests."

"So what? We basically used to do everything together while growing up."

"That's only when we were kids, and you're only like this whenever you drink."

"Yeah, it's been a very long time." she then stood up and hugged Erin. "Hey, let's do all those right now. Take a bath and sleep together."

"Eh, right now? But I can already see the airstrip, we're already descending."

She then grinned and said, "Then we should probably hurry up."

October 28, 11 AF – Private Air Base – 0900 hours

-

"Master Greg," he said, "You shouldn't be bringing along the relics with you, let alone use it." They were in the hangar with most of their belongings together with a few relics waiting for Laura's plane.

"Stop being such a puss, Russ. So this is Excalibur?" said Greg while examining the dusty sword, its steel was glistening even after being kept at very low standards. There were words etched on the blade in Latin. The only word he understood was the words "…ex Calibur". "Legend says this sword can cut anything, let's test it out."

"On what would you test it out on?" said Russell.

"Your ability can make stuff invincible and that you could do the same to yourself, right?"

"I don't like what you're thinking," he then looked around for another target, "What about that steel pipe? I can just reinforce it." He then picked up the pipe and focused his power through it.

"Okay, hold it right there. 3, 2, 1." he then sliced the steel pipe in two. "Wow, it even felt like I only cut through thick paper."

"Unbelievable," he said staring at the sword. "That was the first time anything I fortified was cut."

Then they heard the plane descending towards the airstrip and Russell's phone rang. "Yes, who is this?" "Yes, uh-huh, they're doing what? Can you repeat that again?" "They really are doing that?!" "Just open the plane from your side, got it?"

"So," said Greg with a curious look on his face. "What happened?"

"That was the co-pilot from the plane," he hesitated saying it. "Erin is being violated by your sister."

Greg stood silent for a moment before reacting, "Ha?."

The jet then landed right in front of them. It was black with the name Silenus on it. It was a private plane, but it was two times larger, resembles a C-130, more like a flying house rather than an actual jet. It was unique with it being the only one of its kind. Custom-made for family use, it was aptly named "Silenus".

It was a good sight for Greg to see their plane again but the only thing that wasn't good in his sights was Laura and Erin halfway-naked.

"What the heck are they doing?" said Greg. The hatch opened and they quickly entered.

"Help!" was all that Erin was able to say before Laura kissed her again. Russell quickly approached them and did a chop at the back of Laura's neck. Laura fell unconscious and Russell carried her to the back of the plane. When he came back Greg had already ordered the staff to bring in their baggage in along with the relics. Erin was fixing herself.

"Erin," he said while he picked up the wine bottle. "Why did you let Lady Silenus drink liquor when you know she can't handle it."

"I," she then bowed her head "I'm terribly sorry, the fault is all mine."

"I doubt it." said Greg. "What actually happened?"

"Young master," she smiled and said, "I was busy making our preparations for our stay in the Philippines so I hadn't noticed. Lady Laura said she ordered Baros to get her a bottle of wine, presumably from the mini-bar. It was too late when I noticed the bottle."

"Well, that explains it." Greg then looked at Russell, "At least Laura doesn't vomit."

"Yes," he paused."Lady Silenus is at the first bedroom." said Russell. "Erin, continue what you were doing before while keeping watch on her. After you finish your work, report to me."

She only answered a quick "Yes" and took her laptop with her towards the bedroom.

"Why are you so cold towards her?" Greg exclaimed. "You're related but you treat her like a complete waste of life." Russell then gave Greg a look that could kill an innocent child. Woah… maybe I shouldn't have said that…

Russell closed his eyes and merely mumbled, "You should know."

"Huh? Did you say something, Russ?" said Greg.

"No, it's nothing." Russell said as he faded into the confines of the cockpit.

"…okay then…" Greg then started reading a document just out of the printer. "If you insist, Russell…" The rest of the flight was quiet, like the calm before a storm.