Chapter 35: 31. Aether Academy (Part 7)

Smoke wafted from his hand. The impact was scorching.

Rai was sat next to Sin, his arm outstretched. He blocked the punch after noticing Sin’s indecision. He frowned at her, “You should act faster Sin. I know you can, so next time have faith in your own skills.”

Sin’s initial surprise and wonder quickly transformed into irritation, “You idiot, I didn’t react on purpose. What do you think would happen if I fought him, huh? Dad would have to deal with a whole mess of stuff.”

Rai'd forgotten. Sin was the daughter of the Deceiver, and Haldi was the son of the Arbiter. “Ohh... Right, I forgot you had to deal with that.”

Haldi’s normally plain face showcased a flurry of annoyance, rage, and fury, all together. He tried to pull his fist away, but he couldn’t.

Rai’s grip was firm. “I don’t remember saying you could go.” His lightning blue eyes pierced the Archangel. He sighed, “What is it with you nobles. First Hiron, now you two. Can’t you mind your own business and leave others alone?” Rai stood up, letting go of Haldi’s fist. He walked over Tullian, who was unconscious on the ground. “Then you go and start a fight over something so small.” Rai stopped moving when he was in a position with a clear path to Hilda and Haldi.

He stared into nothingness for a moment. Then he turned back to look at Sin, who was staring at him with a look of anticipation. He slowly turned to the twin Archangels.

Stormflow.

Lightning flew off Rai. His expression remained blank as he glared at Hilda and Haldi. Rai took note of their shock, and the expressions of the people around them.

His voice crackled with violent energy. “How should I punish you for threatening my friend?” The air grew thick and heavy. His inverted eyes widened, “Maybe I should just kill you.”

Hilda and Haldi were terrified. They didn’t expect anyone to be this powerful. In front of them was a monster that they realised they couldn’t deal with.

Rai's eye twitched.

An instant.

Rai was in front of Haldi. His voice was soft, but still crackling, “You’re lucky. I decided to take the arm that threatened my friend instead.” Haldi was completely frozen. His brother fared no better. Rai grabbed Haldi’s right wrist with his left hand, and Haldi's torso with his right hand. He pulled them apart with ease, ripping Haldi’s arm off. Haldi shrieked in pure agony, his vocal chords nearly ripping themselves to shreds.

Blood dripped from Haldi’s shoulder socket, and his bone was protruding outwards. He screamed a feral howl as he reached for his arm that was no longer there. Unending tears flowed. His screams filled the otherwise silent room. Everyone in the hall watched as Rai dropped Haldi’s arm on the ground, and walked back over to his table. Their expressions were full of shock and confusion. Sin didn’t know how to react. Her eyes were wide, her face completely pale. She reached for Rai’s bloody hands.

Everything froze.

The room went grey. Everyone’s motions stopped, the blood flowing from Haldi’s empty socket was now frozen mid-air.

Rai was the only one able to move.

His indifference was gone, and confusion began to seep in. He looked around, then whispered to himself, “What the fuck is happening?”

The room faded to black, and Rai was left stood in an empty void. Stars could be seen in the distance where Rai was previously looking.

He turned around frantically, only to freeze at the view of what was behind him.

Zenith... His world. The twin suns were on the other side of it. For some reason, they weren’t that bright while he was stood here.

An echoing voice that was neither masculine nor feminine came from his side, “No. That’s not your world.”

Rai turned to look for the origin of the voice. There was a humanoid... a celestial looking figure. Their body was made up of mini galaxies and stars. Their face was completely obscured, the only thing that gave away some form of humanoid form being stars and galaxies that were in the same position as a pair of eyes and mouth would be. “Who...”

The figure echoed in their speech once again. “You need not know. Yet.”

He was furious, “What's that supposed to mean! One second I'm in my Academy and the next I'm here, wherever the fuck this is! Don't make me fight you...” Rai readied himself to fight.

The celestial figure's stars for eyes bore into his own. “Calm yourself. If I wanted you dead, I'd have just left you there in that state.”

Rai’s confusion was plastered across his face. He relaxed his stance somewhat. “What's that supposed to mean?”

The galaxies brightened and dimmed repeatedly... Is it laughing? The echoes made their way through his mind, “One day you'll understand.”

Rai stared at it. This... thing. It wasn't a human, nor was it an elf or dwarf or any of the other races on Zenith. He spent a whole minute just staring at it, in silence. After, he looked back at the world that was in front of him. “What do you mean that’s not my world?”

The echoes reverberated around the endless universe this time, “Well... It is your world. Your true world. The Zenith you know is a façade. A fake.”

A fake? What the... How is that even possible. They must be lying, or trying to deceive me. Rai’s apprehension toward the celestial figure was clear. But, he felt no bloodlust, no desire to kill. In fact he felt no emotions at all coming from the figure. He felt like it was true to its own words in that it didn't want him dead.

The celestial’s voice echoed with a serenity that Rai hadn’t felt before, “Little dragon. You’re much too early. Embark on your father’s path. Learn the truth of your world. Find the key. Transcend. Only then will you see, only then will you reach true Balance.”

Transcending again... Rai thought back to the old hobo who gave him the books, That’s what the old hobo said too. Wait... Dragon?

The celestial figure made a body movement similar to earlier. A sound came out that somehow resembled a chuckle, if that was even possible. It echoed once more, “I will send you back. You cannot fight the Archangels yet. It’s too early...” The figure was rushing their speech, “Time is short, your opportunity will come. Focus on your path, you must reach me! Don’t let that boy fall, you’ll need hi-”

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Rai was back in the cafeteria. Sat in his seat, the chicken on his plate only half eaten.

“What are you two whispering about? Have anything to say? Perhaps you know who DARED TO INSULT THE ARBITER?!” The same phrase was repeated, in the exact same way. Rai looked at Sin. She was exactly how she was in the past. There was no blood on his hands this time.

He remembered the last words of the celestial figure that got cut off. How did it send me back!? This is absurd! Controlling time isn't even within the realm of possibility for a mage so how did it do that! As much as he wanted to know about the somewhat irritating figure, it felt like trying to learn anything about it was completely out of his grasp.

Rai saw Tullian about to stand up. Remembering those last words, he put his hand on Tullian’s shoulder. Tullian turned to Rai. He was confused. Rai shook his head and stood up.

“I insulted the Arbiter. Ask your brother, Hiron. He’d tell you the same thing.” Rai smirked, playing the part. Acting like this wasn't something he was used to, but Bort would often tell him how many times he avoided trouble by simply playing the part of someone else.

Sin’s face paled more than usual. She whispered to Rai, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Rai put his right hand behind his back, and summoned a phrase written in fire across his palm. He directed it towards Sin, so only she could see it. The message read, “Trust me.” He whispered under his breath, “This time I won't mess it up.”

Sin didn’t expect this. She didn’t like this at all but she would trust Rai’s judgement. Wait... What? This time? The fuck is he on about?

Haldi screamed with a righteous fury. He flew towards Rai, the same way he did with Sin last time. Rai dodged the punch with a wide sidestep. Haldi’s fury multiplied. He unleashed a flurry of punches towards Rai, who was moving into areas with no people crowded around. Rai skilfully guided Haldi’s onslaught into an area with no bystanders to minimise collateral damage. He also tried to avoid any unnecessary damage to the cafeteria. Since I've got a second chance to do this, I might as well do it right.

Hilda flew in from the side, just as Rai expected him to do after watching the same thing happen before. Hilda’s hand was glowing white, the same way that Haldi’s hand was glowing previously. They have similar powers. Makes sense since they’re brothers. Rai ducked while spinning his body between the two, sending Hilda flying into Haldi. A satisfying crunch came from Haldi’s face.

Without laying a single hand on them, Rai managed to knock out one of the twins. Hilda was distraught. His simple mind couldn’t comprehend that he’d just knocked out his own brother. “Brother? Hey, wake up Haldi. We’ve got to defend father’s honour. Wake up.” He shook his brother.

Rai watched the two. He was dumbfounded. All Rai could think about was how they grew to be as powerful as they were without any brains. I guess creativity doesn’t always make a mage stronger. These two are dumber than rocks.

Hiron arrived at the cafeteria, bereft of his posse. He watched Hilda knock Haldi out. “What are you two doing!?”

Hilda turned to Hiron, “Younger brother! Come, we must defend father’s honour. That boy insulted him!” He pointed to Rai.

Hiron looked where Hilda was pointing, then kissed his teeth. “Tch!” He whispered under his breath, “Fucking morons.” Hiron walked over to Haldi and Hilda, “Worry about Rai another day. We should take Haldi to the infirmary.”

Hilda nodded in agreement. The two of them carried Haldi’s huge form through the crowd that split apart to create a path for them. Hiron stopped for a moment, turning to look at Rai. Behind Hiron's eyes, all Rai could see was a silent fury.

Eventually, they were clear of the room.

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Rai felt a relief that he didn’t expect. Maybe ripping his arm off wasn’t the best idea... He felt relief that his mum wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath of his reckless decision.

Tullian walked over to Rai, and patted him heavily on the back. “Holy shit! You played them so well! That was awesome!”

The people in the hall slowly returned to their tables and groups, dispersing from the huge crowd that was watching the fight unfold. Voices echoed around the room about how the Archangels just got embarrassed.

Rai and Tullian returned to their table. Rai felt multiple pairs of eyes on him, and a soft happiness emanating from Sin.

Tullian patted Rai on the back again, “Hey Princess! You didn’t mention that your boyfriend was a brilliant fighter!”

Boyfriend?

Both of Rai and Sin’s faces were flushed. They looked at each other, then at Tullian. They spoke over each other.

Rai hurriedly said, “It’s not like that!”

Sin anxiously said, “We’re not together!”

Tullian's tone was purely that of curiosity, “Did I hit a sore spot? My bad.” He rubbed the back of his head, “It just seemed like you guys were together, whoopsie.” Tullian sounded genuinely apologetic.

Rai and Sin looked at each other with eyes that said ‘Do we really look like that?!’

The confusion that they shared would fizzle as the conversation drifted back to Rai’s 'battle' against the Archangels. In the end, their first Academy lunch was far too eventful for Rai’s liking. He hoped his next lesson would be a bit more relaxing.

Rai tapped Sin's shoulder, “What’s our next lesson again? We have the same lessons for the most part, I just forgot.” Rai didn’t want to take out his schedule because of the lightning it would emit.

Sin pulled out her schedule from her spatial rune. She read through the day’s schedule, “It’s weapon skills training, then we’re finished for the day.”

Rai whispered under his breath, “Weapon skills training... fuck.”

His next lesson wouldn’t be as relaxing as he wanted.

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