New Events

PART 1: FIRST RAIN

Things were getting back to normal. Raymond and Katie had almost forgotten that Gavin had caused trouble that morning. They had their lunch like every other day. Eve left for her home without telling much.

Raymond and Katie went to the beach in the evening. When they were coming out of the beach after relaxing. They saw a few trucks unloading some stuff on the sand. They wondered what that was about. As they had to leave for Master Wyngaf's speech on Battlelyte, they could not wait and ask. They were already late.

On getting back in the beech house they walked into their rooms to get ready. It was already dark outside. The speech was about to start, but Master Wyngaf had decided to go with Raymond and Katie, so he was waiting too. Raymond was ready and was sitting with Master Wyngaf in the living room.

Master Wyngaf looked at his watch and yelled, "Katie! Hurry up! We're late!"

Katie replied that she was hurrying. Indeed, she was ready, but her hair was wet. She did not have a hairdryer.

Raymond found out something to ask Master Wyngaf to pass the time, he said, "What is that, Master?"

Raymond pointed outside the window, Master Wyngaf looked through the window where the unloaded material from trucks was kept and a few people were setting it up.

"They're preparing for the First Rain," said Master Wyngaf.

"What?" said Raymond.

"As you know, Elemental Lands controls the weather," said Master Wyngaf. "But, as a ritual, they stop controlling it at the end of Summer. Like right now. They wait until the First Natural Rain to fall and then control the weather again. The day of First Rain is celebrated as a huge festival across the nation. They set up a Carnival here at the beach. People from all the nearby villages and towns come here to enjoy and celebrate."

"Interesting," said Raymond.

Katie came downstairs, drying her hair with a towel. She said, "Right now I can't leave like this.

Raymond laughed. Master Wyngaf shook his head. If Katie came like that, she would catch a cold.

"I might be able to help," said Raymond.

Katie's mind quickly started processing those words. She knew Raymond did not have a hidden hairdryer with him. She realised it. His face gave it away, Raymond was smiling nastily in front of her. He got up, Katie took a step back.

"No," she said.

Raymond raised his hands and fire surrounded it immediately. Katie placed her hands around her hair.

"No! No! No! You will burn my hair," Katie yelled. Raymond's smile did not fade. He still smiled.

"It'll only take a second," said Raymond. He took a step closer to Katie and she started to run away. Master Wyngaf could only laugh at this chase. This might have been the first time Raymond was playing a prank on Katie.

Raymond knew his control over Elemental Powers was not so great, but he decided to play a prank. Katie ran outside the window, Raymond followed. Soon, the chase continued along the beach. Even people setting up stalls at the beach thought something weird was going on.

"I don't wanna be bald, you will burn my hair," said Katie while running.

"We won't know until we try," said Raymond, dashing after her.

"Save me, Master!" Katie yelled.

PART 2: KNOWING BATTLELYTE

As there was no time to drive to the auditorium for the speech regarding Battlelyte, Master Wyngaf dived there with Raymond and Katie. He was smart enough to dive in near a restroom. Raymond and Katie were grateful for his decision, but they had no time to thank him. They quickly ran inside the restroom to puke.

After they were done, with that, and also, taking an oath to never dive again, they walked towards the auditorium's entrance. There were paths made of marble and were present between Garden grasses on its either sides. Lights were present to light the path. The area was vacant, as they were late, everyone had already gone inside.

Master Wyngaf was wearing a Blue Cloak now. Raymond had also noticed that Master Wyngaf's dive was different from Master Owens's. Master Owens had fire around him when he dived, but Master Wyngaf had nothing of that sort.

"Why didn't Eve come with us?" Raymond asked Master Wyngaf. "Wouldn't she miss all the details?"

"Ray, why are you always so worried about her?" Katie asked with a sneaky look on her face.

"No, I'm not," said Raymond with a red face.

"There is no need to worry, Raymond," said Master Wyngaf. "She already knows a lot. I have a feeling she has started making plans as well."

"I don't understand, what can she plan?" said Katie, trying to think.

"Neither do I," said Master Wyngaf.

They reached the auditorium entrance, Master Wyngaf had to go on his separate path. Raymond and Katie made their way towards the audience section. They knew they had to conceal the fact that they were humans. This place would be full of people like Gavin, although they would not attack them now, at Battlelyte, Raymond and Katie would become targets if everyone knew they were humans.

Inside the huge auditorium, there were lots of seats for students. Most of them were filled. Aarav and Annie were sitting side by side. Aarav seemed spaced out. Annie hit his shoulder.

"Hey! Stay here," she said, making a funny face.

"I am here," Aarav smiled and said. He remembered that it was a special day for both of them. He said, "It has been exactly two years since we talked for the first time."

"Aww! You remember. That's an improvement over your old self," Annie said.

"Thanks," Aarav said. But it reminded him of why he was not able to talk to anyone back then. What he had seen and done in my past was way too intense to take in. Even now.

Annie knew all that, she held Aarav's head between her palms. "It was not you," she said, "You are just a normal victim. You are blaming yourself because it's easier to hurt yourself than the culprit."

"Maybe," Aarav said.

Just a few seats forward, Gavin and Alice were sitting. Alice had long blond hair tied in three ponytails — one on either side — one at the back. They were sitting staring at the empty stage. The big screen was still blank. Alice looked around.

Alice had a good sense of Elemental Powers. She sat there quietly sensing everyone's powers. There were many who could be called strong. Alice was not worried, she knew she and Gavin together could take down almost anyone. It was only until she sensed someone. The reaction on her face changed, she was scared. This person's Elemental Energy was similar to what she always sensed from Aarav.

She checked the power, that person was not in the auditorium but was moving closer. Alice kept an eye on the entrance. Her sense was as sharp as a Master's, she was sure she could separate that person's energy from everyone nearby. Gavin was not paying enough attention, it was normal as Alice was the only one of her age whose sense for Elemental Energy was really sharp.

The moment came, she saw two people entering the auditorium. A boy and a girl. The power that threatened Alice came from the boy. He was short and had black hair. He was walking with a brown-haired girl.

"That guy seems powerful," said Alice to Gavin. She did not mention her frustration and worry. Gavin would not worry about that, so she had no reason to.

"It makes no difference," said Gavin, he did not even look at the person Alice was showing. "I will crush everyone who crosses our path with your help."

"I know we will," Alice said. "But, I think, you should still look at him."

Alice pointed at that guy and girl, looking for seats. Gavin looked at them, he was in shock for a second but he then smiled.

"Stop kidding," Gavin said. "Those two were the ones present at Master Wyngaf's house this morning."

Alice was informed by Gavin about his incident at Master Wyngaf's. He had mentioned that those two could not hit him even once. Raymond and Katie were strong, Alice's skills could not be wrong. If they were brought here only a few weeks ago, they might not be good with combat, but the potential which lay within was strong. If the time until Battlelyte was to be considered, those two would grow as powerful as her and Gavin by that time.

Gavin was impressed that Raymond and Katie showed up. He thought that he was successful in intimidating them, but they had a stronger will. He trusted Alice, if she said they were powerful, Gavin could add them to his list. Number one on that list was sitting right behind him. Aarav. Gavin smiled with excitement.

"We will win," said Gavin. "We will defeat everyone who crosses our path, even Aarav."

"Yes, that will bring glory to us," said Alice.

Raymond and Katie found seats for them and sat. The lights in the room dimmed. The stage was lighted more. Master Wyngaf rolled his wheelchair on the stage with background music like a parade. He had a microphone with him. The wire could be seen on the floor. It was necessary as Master Wyngaf used his Elemental Powers to control his movements on the wheelchair. If some wireless equipment were used, the radio waves could damp everyone's power along with his.

"Good evening, everyone!" said Master Wyngaf cheerfully.

The crowd cheered and greeted Master Wyngaf. Raymond and Katie were shocked. They did not know that Master Wyngaf was this famous.

"So, without any more delay," said Master Wyngaf, "let's start our lecture on this year's Battlelyte."

The screen behind Master Wyngaf started presenting with the first slide titled as "Battlelyte". Then an image of an arena appeared. Like a soccer ground, but much bigger. With hundreds of gates for the entrance. The Bird's eye view showed the stands surrounding the arena which had forests, rocks, grass, ponds, and fire hearths and lamps small enough to ignore on such a scale. The crowd made excitement noises.

Whatever Master Wyngaf spoke was shown on the screen with computer animation.

"This will be the arena you will compete in," he said. "It's under construction now, but it will be complete soon. As you can see there are many gates for your entrance, these gates are tunnels from inside. They are straight in the path but bend many times, some are even a kilometre long. This is done to shuffle the participants randomly. Depending on your luck, you might be running to enter while one or two teams clear the test."

The crowd giggled. Master Wyngaf was a cool figure for them. Being disabled in a world where combat and power were so important was really a disadvantage. But he still became a Master. Master Wyngaf's respect had increased in Raymond's and Katie's mind.

"Coming to teams," Master Wyngaf said. "It will be your choice if you want to go in pairs or individuals. Any Master's students will be going in pairs."

Raymond and Katie looked at each other. They were relaxed, none of them wished to go alone.

"Yes," said Master Wyngaf, "there is a disadvantage to the people who go alone, but it's their choice. If you want to go in pairs and can't find a partner, contact your academy, they will help you. Form filling will start in 3 days. Be ready."

Eve's thought came to Raymond's mind, but he knew she was a genius and would be one of the very few who would rather go alone than with a partner.

"Now," Master Wyngaf said, "on the matter of what has to be done inside Battlelyte. The Arena is bigger than 60 acres. The competition ends when every participant leaves the arena either by passing or failing or even giving up.

After one hour, the gates of entrance will show a red light on their top. Only a few will show that. We call them "Red Gates". These Gates will lead you outside where your passing criterion will be judged. This hour rule is to judge how well you defend your victory in this hour. All the other gates can be used to go outside if you decide to quit for any reason.

"Normally, this ends in three-four hours. But in the past, the longest Battlelyte lasted four days. Of course, sleep was given to the participants with a prohibition on attacking after sunset. Food was also supplied. But I suggest you take some food with you, to keep your strengths up."

In the seats, Katie tapped Raymond's shoulder. Raymond did not need to look at her, he knew her very well, he directly said,

"No, Katie, we are not taking cakes with us."

"But I didn't even say anything," Katie defended with a pout.

The slide at the stage changed to a picture with a cross mark on swords and daggers. Master Wyngaf continued his speech,

"Your task there will be to fight with honour with your fellow participants and collect the crystal spheres of their names inside it. Those will be given at the start to each participant. This is not a doubt that weapons are forbidden. The team, or an individual, who collects maximum crystal spheres will win.

"Let's also go over some main rules first. Seriously injuring your fellow participants is forbidden. The place will have a network of cameras through which everyone will watch your actions. In the case of injuries, healers will come to heal you. If your opponents admit defeat, you should not fight them anymore. And you should admit defeat as well when your opponents are stronger than you."

Gavin smirked. He was sure no one would quit. Everyone was too into winning and passing. Even after the crystal spheres get taken away from the people after defeat, they just go and attack someone else to gain someone else's crystal spheres. One could only be eliminated when they break the rules. And there was no rule that one had to have his or her crystal sphere secure for passing.

"As your actions will be viewed at every instant," said Master Wyngaf, "I suggest you behave like proper soldiers. This is the platform which will allow you to get recognized by E. A. A."

The room was fired up all of a sudden. Everyone seemed determined and motivated. The noise was broken by Master Wyngaf,

"Enough with that. Let's discuss more on Battlelyte if you have nowhere to go that is."

The crowd said yes excitedly.

END OF CHAPTER. TO BE CONTINUED.