On the day of the training fight, Chronos walked into the training grounds which were completely reworked into a sort of military settlement with many slopes and trees. Phil stood next to Chronos before the research team asked for the mock fight to start. Phil then walked outside and headed to the monitoring room to check the cameras placed in the area.

Once Chronos stepped into the area, a clock began to count the time elapsed. Elvira, after hearing the door on the other side close, started to move around the place trying to avoid being noticed by Chronos. So if I want to win this I just need to restrain him, hopefully, I won’t lose any arms in the process. –Elvira thought while hiding in different places, trying to see where Chronos was. On the other hand, Chronos felt oddly familiar with it, to which he began to walk around casually in order to study his environment, pretty aware of what the test fight was about.

I have a weird feeling, maybe this could be anxiety or excitement, and I’m not very sure, but this feels familiar, like that time in the forest. –Chronos thought while moving around and looking behind different obstacles, eventually picking up speed and running through the area, looking for Elvira. Elvira quickly took notice of this and patiently waited while hidden until Chronos ran next to her to quickly take him down. Chronos was aware that he would be eventually ambushed and purposely started to build momentum by running around the whole area carelessly, also expecting Elvira to seize any opportunity of capturing him.

After Chronos lapped for the third time next to Elvira, she decided to swiftly jump behind him to use his speed in order to throw him off balance. However, Chronos reacted in time and purposely fell to the ground to get himself room to avoid being caught and successfully spin away with the remaining momentum to then lever himself using the environment in order to attempt a kick to Elvira’s head. Right before the moment of impact, Elvira triggered her magic, slowing down her perception of the speed to which Chronos lunged himself towards her; this also allowed her to grab Chronos’ leg in order to then slam him to the ground using his own momentum.

In the course of 2 minutes, Elvira rendered Chronos unconscious after another couple of slams. The test fight was over righter afterward and the researchers requested Elvira to leave the area and to leave Chronos in there so the medical team would take care of him. Phil sighed as the outcome of the fight was similar to the rest: Chronos getting beaten until unconscious. Once he wrote a report about the battle for the research team, Phil attempted to talk with Elvira who was in the hallway next to the training grounds and seemed very relieved after the fight.

“I successfully restrained him, so the condition was met, no?” –Elvira shrugged with a smug smile while leaning against a wall.

“You know very well the point is to teach him properly, not to beat him down. At this rate, he will become either afraid or too reckless and that will end up killing him.” –Phil said while being clearly annoyed by the result of the training.

“I was told I can use magic, so I did. He should’ve been prepared for that. But I think he trusted on his speed alone.” –Elvira countered before crossing her arms. “I think he will learn that he can’t just be reckless all the time like that. In a real fight, I doubt he would lose like that since it would mean death. So thanks to this, I’m letting him know his limits without his magical spears.” –She explained while stepping closer to Phil. “You shouldn’t be as worried about him since he is proven to be tough, so why don’t you worry about me a bit?” –She complained before poking Phil’s chest and sliding that same finger down briefly before leaving to the living quarters.

Phil raised his hand, rubbed his forehead, and covered his face to then sigh while looking at Elvira leave to which he attempted to go to the medical bay and check on Chronos who woke up a few minutes later, feeling pretty sore but still enthusiastic about the result of the fight. Maybe I was worrying too much about Chronos after all. But that way of approaching me… was quite different from her usual self. –Phil thought while keeping in mind the conversation he just had with Elvira.

After waking up and coming to his senses, Chronos instantly understood Elvira used her magic, just like in the Pandora’s forest. The weight of failing the training test didn’t budge Chronos and he quickly attempted to leave the medical bay to search for his coach to learn more and train.

On the other side of the capital, Gree and Sinns were enjoying a meal outside of a restaurant after requesting to get a good meal after working so hard. Eloise accepted the request and sent them with Francois to one of the best restaurants around. Nat, on the other hand, had some questions for the ruler and asked if she could be granted some of her time. Eloise didn’t hesitate before accepting and went to one of her safe houses with Nat in order to drink tea and discuss what she wanted to ask.

“I know you are a very busy person, but I needed to ask why you agreed on keeping us here in Falladis, when you actually just wanted Chronos.” –Nat went straight to the point while Eloise remained calm while sipping from her cup of tea.

“Given Chronos is maybe the only relative you currently have, I understand the worries. Yes, Chronos has the potential to be a biological weapon of my category, supposing you’ve heard of my feats.” –Eloise answered with a light smile while gently placing the cup on the table in front of them. “But he wasn’t the only reason I agreed on keeping your group here. Grace Myers, a genius able to created weaponry capable of matching the guardians and subjugate dragons. Phillip Moroc, a highly skilled soldier from Delcyt and according to his record files, is well versed in testing Grace’s new devices. Elvira Sevens, a solider, custom weapon user, and second stage mage that can strengthen herself; honestly think she is a very good military addition. Sinns Hernandez, the daughter of the Delcyt’s ruler, is a potential hostage in case I have to negotiate with him, and Sinns alone is a very rare and precious active; just like Elvira, a very good military addition.” –She continued explaining patiently while locking her eyes on Nat’s.

“Then what is the point of allowing me to stay too? I don’t really have anything you would need, so I wanted to say thank you for letting us all stay and give you a gift for it. It… might not be much and I am still learning but I made some cookies to go with the tea.” –Nat nervously said while reaching out for a little backpack she was given as she requested from Francois, she then took a bag out of it.

Eloise covered her mouth, feeling quite overwhelmed by the innocence Nat was showing at the moment. “I will go for more tea, wait here please.” –She said while blushing lightly and feeling quite moved by the gift. On the other hand, Nat felt quite nervous since she thought the ruler got offended by the cookies and tried to hold her shame to slowly place the cookies on the table. A couple of minutes later, Eloise appeared with a filled teapot and sat once again, leaving it on the table with the cookies around it. “May I ask for your background? I read about you in the report made by my subordinates but I don’t quite understand how you ended up being adopted by Chronos’ grandfather in Argos.” –Eloise asked while grabbing and biting one of the cookies as she kept eye contact with Nat.

Feeling rather nervous, Nat tried to sip from the cup Eloise gave her and kept it close to herself. “I don’t remember my biological parents. Doc raised me and took care of me since I was a baby, then I eventually got accepted by everyone in the town, it was a normal life. Eventually, I started to like the blacksmith’s work and began to learn from the local blacksmith at a young age. Then Phil and Gree met Doc and he offered them a place to stay and work with the blacksmith, so I ended up seeing them every day helping around and creating new devices. After years of hanging around them I grew fond of them and also consider them part of my family.” –Nat narrated while looking down to her cup. “Sometimes I just want to go back to those times when everything seemed to be peaceful.” –She muttered while sighing before taking a sip from the cup of tea. Eloise limited herself to listen while biting on a cookie and then sipping on the tea as well.

While Nat and Eloise were in the privacy of the safe house, Gree and Sinns were walking around the capital to enjoy the most popular places and check the guild registrations to enter a special mall for the guild affiliates; Francois was escorting and providing them with anything they needed and wanted. ”What do you say Sinns? I think we are kinda done with all this sightseeing, and I am missing my tablet, so we better get back to work. I bet these guys already have all our belongings, and I know Phil might be missing the car already.” –Gree casually mentioned to Sinns who didn’t really know how to answer the question.

“I think it wouldn’t be bad to begin working, but I’m not sure of what I can do, other than fight. Also aren’t you worried one bit about Nat? She left us that note saying she would go and meet the ruler of this nation by herself. God knows what she could be subjected to right now.” –Sinns replied while recalling the note over the table and how Gree was sleeping again without realizing it.

“I highly doubt this ruler is as fucked up like your dad, so I will just let Nat bond with her and maybe have a good time. She’s been through a lot of shit these past months, and it serves her well to have a talk with someone who seems decent.” –Gree pointed out while looking quite sad for a brief moment. It was a surprise to me when I heard Chronos was Doc’s actual grandson. Nat must be feeling quite bad now that Doc is gone, plus Chronos appearance is a big impact too. –She shook her head while sighing before meeting up with Francois to ask him about going back to the underground facility.

Several kilometers away from the capital, in Casamira, Ivan had a vision of certain individuals heavily armed from Delcyt entering the village. He quickly called Lorenz who was in his office signing some documents and warned him about it. Lorenz then instantly sent a message to the capital about an incoming situation and requested support.

Twitter: @Sbrcbleh12