Chapter 11: In Three Years From Now...

It’s been a few days since Dillon joined the group, everyone slowly warmed up to him and finally accepted him as one of their own. A part of their family. Sadly they knew that once they were finished with the tournament, they would leave this place. Dillon’s parents would probably object to him leaving, too.

“Where do you think you’ll go after you leave?” Dillon asked. He was currently hanging out with the ‘alpha males’ - as he would like to call it - of the group.

“Somewhere far,” Orion answered, looking off into the distance. “Maybe in a new region.”

Dillon paused. He liked his new friends, he didn’t want them to leave, either. It was the first time kids his age treated him well and nice.

“...Will you ever come back?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. This earned him a head rub from all three boys. They all saw him as a younger brother, even Kai, who was younger. Dillon, of course, learned about Kai’s age yesterday, but accepted this hierarchy.

“Mmm, it’s okay, Dillon!” Kai chirped happily, smiling at him. “One day, we’ll come back for you.”

Caelus snorted, floating upside down. “You act like we’re leaving now - we still have two more years.”

“R-right,” Dillon stuttered, his cheeks dyed red.

“We should get back,” Orion said, staring at the sky. They were currently taking a break from their training and opted to sit outside rather than stay inside, where it had a so-called “stuffy” atmosphere.

“So, you’re joining the tournaments?” Dillon smiled, “I guess we’ll be up against each other! That is… if I make the team.”

“If you don’t make the team, you can join ours,” Kai told him, skipping back inside.

“Really?” His eyes brightened, following Kai inside. “Do you mean it?”

“Of course!” Kai grinned, puffing his chest out arrogantly.

“Arrogant,” a feminine voice commented. Eve smiled at them, “welcome back.”

“Yup!” Kai smiled cheekily, giving her a peace sign. Dillon swooned, all of the girls in this group were very beautiful. However, he saw how protective Kai was and thought of them as “untouchable.”

Eve grabbed their hands, “let’s hurry back!”

“Y-yes!” Dillon blushed.

“Welcome back,” Lilith said, holding onto Ley.

“H-hi, Lilith,” Dillon stuttered, to which Lilith giggled at. Eve urged him to sit down. Dillon felt flustered by the sisters who were both younger and older than him.

Is this heaven? He thought to himself.

Kai smiled at Dillon, which caused a bead of sweat to roll down Dillon’s face. Kai’s smile seemed platonic - and that was terrifying.

He mouthed to him, while smiling, “don’t look, don’t touch.”

“G-got it,” Dillon mouthed back.

“What’s wrong?” Eve asked.

“Nothing,” Dillon got up and sat next to one of the boys.

The children chattered and played around until Ezra walked over, a grim look on his face. He sighed and sat down near the children, who looked at him with concern.

“What’s wrong?” asked Orion.

“Tournament has been pushed back a year, due to the increase of demons,” Ezra groaned. “This ruins all of my future plans.”

“What? We’ll be staying here for another year?” Brent asked, walking over. He overheard the conversation. Ezra nodded with a glum expression on his face. “Yes! Civilization for three years!”

“Oh, well,” Ezra waved off the situation easily. “Everything will be pushed back a year, no matter. Anyway, to continue on with our morning training.”

Everyone groaned.

…

“You’re pretty proficient with mixed energy,” Ezra commented, staring at the two boys meditating. “Alright…. and… stop.”

“Will we be testing out our weapons again?” asked Caelus, slowly opening his eyes.

“Nope, today you’ll learn how to charge your weapons with your element,” Ezra smiled mischievously, “later, when you become more proficient at this, you can mix both element and spirit essence.”

Wait, wouldn’t that be too strong? The boys thought, frowning.

“In the next three years, I highly doubt you’ll cover even one-eighth of it,” Ezra snorted. “Now, get up. Materialize your weapons.”

They quickly complied, not wanting to get abandoned.

Ezra explained that this was similar to concentrating their energy into one area - except using their element. They called this elemental augment.

“It’s that simple?” Orion frowned.

“This time it’s simple, but don’t get used to it, kid,” Ezra replied. “Well? Are you going to try it out?”

It was exactly as Ezra said. Simple. Orion activated his element and concentrated it at his weapon - a dark substance crawled up from Orion’s arm and into the weapon. If you were to glance at the substance, you’d think it was black lightning. However, this substance was actually Orion’s darkness - it was wild and powerful.

Caelus, on the other hand, was told that he’s been using element augmentation this entire time, without him realizing it. He, apparently, uses it to control his sword.

“I knew there was a name for it,” Caelus mumbled, eyeing his sword and swinging it around.

Orion swung his scythe around, black “lightning” rippling around it.

“Cool,” he muttered, nodding his head in approval.

…

“So you’re a ki practitioner, too?” Kai asked, while attacking the dummy - he became more proficient in the hammer grip. Also, he doesn’t lean forward… that much.

“Yep!” Dillon said, waiting for Atira to return. She told him to wait here with Rhett and Kai as she went to get something for him.

Rhett, on the other hand, despite being told to stay with Atira, was training by himself. He said it was the most efficient and practical way for familiars to get stronger - battle or train in seclusion. At first, Atira wouldn’t allow him, but then...

“In two years,” Rhett told them, “I might breakthrough to A rank. Or maybe three years… who knows. Ah, well the spirit god knows - of course, but I mean, I don’t. Kind of jealous actually - you know, I’ve met him before? He’s big. Real big.” And so, Rhett would ramble on.

Thus, to make him shut up, she allowed him to train in seclusion.

“I’m back!” Atira yelled, a green crystal in her hand. “This is for you,” she handed it to him.

Dillon hesitantly grabbed the crystal. It was much bigger and heavier than he thought. “What is this?” he asked.

“Lapidus-”

“What?! I can’t take this!”

“Take it, it’s a sign you’re my apprentice, too, you know,” Atira pouted, which Dillon couldn’t resist.

“What?” Kai frowned, “you’re weak to women! I mean, I expected my sisters, but Atira-? Ouch!” Atira karate chopped Kai’s head while glaring.

“Shut up,” Atira growled.

“Yes, ma’am!” Kai saluted and continued to attack the dummy.

“Try to materialize it,” Atira ordered, to which Dillon complied.

He stuck his hand out and a red-colored energy began to gather in his hands, seemingly forming itself. However, after a while, he realized the red energy was getting larger, and larger, and larger, until… a large, red axe took its place. The size was around 8 feet, about the same as Eve’s hammer.

“W-whoa!” Dillon almost the dropped the weapon, the sheer weight of it was hard enough on him. He then wondered how Eve could swing around her hammer like that. A shiver passed through him

“Wow,” Kai whistled. “It’s big.”

“Yeah,” Dillon said breathlessly. This would be his weapon from now. A feeling of pure joy spread inside of him. “I’ll name him Gravis.”

“Oh, I should name mine, too!” Kai grinned, “let’s see… I want to name him ‘awesome.’” Kai nodded.

Atira groaned, “how about using a synonym?”

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“In the ancient language,” Dillon said, “awesome, or amazing, was Mirificus.”

“Ooh! That sounds cool! Okay, let’s go with that,” Kai grinned.

“Alright, now get back to training,” Atira clapped her hands. “Dillon, come with me, I’ll teach you how to use the axe.”

“Alright,” Dillon chirped happily. However, he noticed Kai’s sad face.

“Good luck,” Kai mouthed, making a cross motion with his hand and putting them together in prayer.

Eh? Dillon thought, as he followed Atira.

…

“Do you think I can attach barriers onto people?” Eve asked suddenly, playing around with her element.

“What do you mean?” Brent stared down at her.

“If I could attach my barriers onto people, I wouldn’t have to worry about constantly using my barrier to block others and focus more on the fight. Also, my barrier can heal, so they’ll have a constant heal on them, right?” Eve explained.

“You can try,” Brent shrugged, “this is to discover your abilities, after all.”

Eve stood up and called for Lilith to come to her.

“I need your help,” she said.

“With what?” Lilith questioned, holding her grimoire in her hand. Just recently, Lilith learned of a secondary familiar that allows her to pick up things and move them around - perfect for her disk weapon.

“Just stand still for me.”

“Hm? Alright.”

Eve raised her hand and placed a small barrier around Lilith. However, this time she tried concentrating the mana for the barrier around the person, instead of in the surroundings. She felt the mana drain from her body quickly, yet continued to focus on concentrating the mana on Lilith.

Eve dropped to the floor, exhausted. “Try moving,” Eve panted out.

“Alright?” Lilith didn’t understand, it seemed like a regular barrier to her. That is, until she took the first step, the barrier moved around with her, surrounding her body in protection and warmth.

“Eve!” Lilith yelled excitedly. “I-it’s moving!”

“Wah! Seriously?!” Eve looked up, excitement written all over her face.

“Yes! Look!”

“WHOA! I’m a genius!” Eve laughed. “Ah… but it takes too much mana,” she groaned.

“Here you go,” Brent handed her a flask filled with a blue substance. A mana-regenerating potion.

“Urgh…” Eve reluctantly took the vial and drank it, knowing that their masters wouldn’t allow them to stop training.

“Hm…” Brent paused, “again. Do it over and over and over again for the rest of this period.”

“Y-yes, master,” Eve said, looking away.

Thus, Eve was forced to use the barrier on Brent for the rest of the period - exhausting herself and then regenerating her mana, only to repeat the process again. Brent then told her to work on this skill for the next few weeks, to which Eve almost cried after hearing him say that.

…

“It was definitely a good idea to choose Ophir,” Ley agreed, staring at the map. From what Ezra told them, both Gwydion and Ophir were having an increase in demons - making the two regions weak.

“Nereida and Polymetis will probably start raising their defenses, ah, but so will Eradion,” Eve commented, staring at the map.

The map, by now, was marked by several different colors. Red for regal cities, green for demons, blue for raising defenses, and a variety of others.

“W-what is this?” Dillon asked nervously, staring at the serious-looking children and their master, Brent, sleeping in the back near a tree. He wasn’t able to join this class yet, seeing as Atira made him due laps for the past few days until she became satisfied.

For world domination period, the children moved it to the grassy portion of the dome. It was in the corner and in the shade, also, they could tell if someone were to walk nearby more easily.

“Can’t you tell?” Kai pointed at the map, “this is our world conquering plan.”

“Huh?”

“We’re going to conquer the world,” Kai said more slowly.

“I get that… but why?”

“For fun,” he shrugged. “Also, I want to get rid of all the demons in the world.” His sisters nodded at this.

“I want all of the honey in the world,” Orion muttered.

“Sleep,” Caelus answered.

But you can sleep now?! Dillon thought to himself, he then stared at Ley.

“I just want to,” Ley said. “Don’t you want to?”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“I mean, if you conquered the world, doesn’t that technically mean you’re the strongest?” Ley said, ever so slyly.

Dillon gulped. Of course he wanted to be the strongest, who wouldn’t? He stared over at his school and watched them train in harmony. If he became the strongest, they wouldn’t dare to bully him anymore.

“I mean… of course,” Dillon muttered.

“Dillon is now our comrade in this!” Kai shouted, “if he backs out or tells on us, he’ll die by the lightning of Ley!”

“W-wait!”

“It’s too late,” Lilith mumbled, staring at him evilly. In fact, all of them were.

Dillon gulped and prayed he chose right to join this group, he then wondered what it would be like in three years from now, when they would join the tournament.

In three years from now… I will be stronger, faster… Different.

…

And so the months would pass by, working hard every day - morning to night. The children would steadily increase their training and with that, came even better results than they expected.

Ezra still forced Caelus and Orion to use their gravity bracelets, he even increased it to high. Also, he forced them to have it on low even after training ended - always increasing their strength. Though they were allowed to take it off when they sleep.

Even after a few months, Caelus and Orion haven’t even touched the surface of mixing the energies together. It was frustrating, but at least they were making little progress every day. To cheer them up, Rhett told them it took him forty years to finally mix all of the energy. They were going at a faster rate than him, which they were glad about. They still wanted to be young and handsome by the time they finally became strong.

As for Rhett’s progress, he stated that he was close to breaking through, which made Lilith absolutely ecstatic.

Lilith, on the other hand, summoned a secondary familiar and made a contract with her. Her name was Bell - the handmaiden familiar. Unlike Rhett, Bell could be returned to the spirit world, only to come back when needed. Her powers included lifting objects, but that was about it for now.

Eve could easily attach barriers onto one person, although it would take a lot of mana to create a second one to place onto someone. For now, she’s stuck with one. Also, her barrier’s healing abilities have increased from some healing properties, to a small amount. She could now turn the healing on and off, conserving mana for herself. The shield, itself, was slightly thicker than it was when she first started.

Also, her hammer skills have improved a lot. In fact, all of their combat skills increased, due to sparring every day. Unfortunately for Ley, who still couldn’t participate. However, his lightning was stronger, therefore making their sparring harder - as he could now control how much lightning he could release. As for the power, not so much. To which everyone forgot, Ley, in fact, did have a weapon - or two. However, he refused to tell anyone about it.

Dillon could finally lift his axe without trouble. Although, he still had to learn how to swing it around. Still, he was getting there. He also learned several ways to use his earth element. This one was an accident, but still helped him: earth armor. He found it by covering his body in earth before Eve obliterated him with her hammer - it saved him broken bones.

Kai, surprisingly, improved the most. He became proficient with the knife. In fact, Atira made him practice with the knife so much, it became a habit to spin a knife inbetween his fingers - or anything for that matter. After Atira approved of his skills, she finally taught him how to use his guns.

He - again - was surprisingly talented with it. Coupled with his speed, he was given the official role of the one-man guerrilla team. Kai would randomly appear, fire off his guns, and disappear. He was impossible to catch. However, Brent and his masters could still easily catch him.

His only weakness was that he had no defensive abilities, making him easy to take care of if you caught them. Each one of them had a glaring weakness.

Eve’s weakness was her poor offense, despite how skilled she was with her hammer, her abilities were meant to support others. Although if you got hit by her hammer, you’d break a few bones.

Lilith’s was her defense and her mobility - she was meant to be a glass cannon. Packs a strong punch, yet is easy to break.

For Ley, well… he his mobility was lacking as he was still… a baby.

Dillon’s weakness was his mobility. He was definitely the slowest out of the six, discluding Ley. Dillon also had trouble with his offense, seeing as his element was more defensive.

For Caelus and Orion… they were monsters. Their offense was outstandingly scary, their speed was second to Eve and Kai, and their defense - well, they had their own abilities to escape and block attacks. It was troubling to know that they barely had any weaknesses.

Eve became a pillar in the group. Her abilities allow her to cover for most of their weaknesses. Speed? No problem, she’ll rebound you away. Defense? Also no problem, her abilities were made for that. Got hurt? She’ll heal you. As for offense, she left it to the group, albeit she could hold her own. She thought of herself as the trump card for offense.

“No one would suspect a thing,” she laughed evilly. “They’ll think of me as weak and aim for me… and then I’ll-”

The rest was omitted for your imagination.

Even more time would pass by, the children getting stronger everyday. Their training changed as well, more hard, rigorous training - enough to make a few of them cry after the first day. Yes, it was very hard on them.

Their running increased to 5 miles in 35 minutes with gravity bracelets on. They even sparred with gravity bracelets. However, they continued to push through.

Rhett finally broke through to rank A, years earlier than he thought it would be. Of course, he joined the children’s morning runs and workouts - training his plush-like body. Albeit his body looks soft, if you lied on it, it would feel like bricks. Lilith told him he wasn’t comfortable anymore and he was to sleep on the bottom of the bed - right at the edge. Also, he was transform into his smallest form, which is keychain sized.

“Harsh,” Rhett cried.

“That’s what you get,” Lilith said coldly, lying down onto her side of the bed. Her younger sister asleep, right next to her.

At night, the children would sleep, but one girl would sometimes randomly wake up, searching for food, then realizing they weren’t in their log houses anymore.

“Oh, I forgot,” she mumbled to herself. Eve was now wide awake, unable to fall asleep again, she wondered what she could do to help her sleep.

“Why are you awake?” a familiar voice whispered, the figure sat up and stared at her with his icy blue eyes.

“I was hungry,” she pouted.

“Again?” It was Caelus, he, too, barely sleeps at night. Rather, during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, he sleeps.

“Why are you up?” she asked.

“I’m always awake at night,” he replied quietly.

“Are you bored again?”

He contemplated, before nodding and saying, “I guess.” As he said this, Eve grabbed something from the side of her bed and walked over to his bed.

Eve and Lilith’s bed was located near the door, whereas Caelus’s bed was the closest to the window. The moon shone on his bed sheets, highlighting where his body laid.

“What are you doing?!” he whispered harshly, frowning at her.

“Last time you asked me to entertain you,” Eve told him, sitting down at the edge of his bed, the moon illuminating her round, silver eyes. “I have cards. Wanna play blackjack?”

“What’s that?” he asked, scrunching up his nose.

“It’s a game Brent taught me, he said it’d help me in the future - I don’t know how, though,” Eve scratched her head in confusion. “I think he said the person closest to the number 21 wins.”

“Simple… how do we play?”

“Uh… like this,” Eve explained to him all that she could remember. Caelus interjected a few rules, which he thought would be a part of the game if you thought about it logically.

So the two children played for the rest of the night, and talked from time to time. However, they only talked when Eve was frustrated about losing in blackjack to him - over a hundred times.

“Cheater,” she muttered, sticking her tongue out at him.

“Spoil sport,” he shot back.

“Hmph,” Eve turned away from him and looked outside of the window. The city was alive - even more so than in the morning. Cars were rushing down the street, people, young and drunk, were walking with their friends.

“Hey,” she whispered, lying down on his bed.

“Hm?” Caelus mumbled incoherently, and turned around to face her.

“What will it be like in three years from now?” she asked, fidgeting her spot, her eyelids slowly feeling heavier and heavier.

Caelus grinned, “I’ll be the strongest boy alive.”

She snorted at his immature answer, “that’s if you beat Kai and Orion.”

“I’ve already beaten Kai, not Orion.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyelids closing.

“Definitely.”

“I don’t think so,” she laughed, her body feeling heavy

"Sleep," a soft voice whispered, that was the last thing she heard before falling asleep.

______________

Stellar's Corner:

Thanks for reading! Remember to comment/give feedback!

So I was hesitating whether or not to put more Eve and Caelus scenes, because they're still young and it might seem inappropriate. But then I realized, they're freaking 5/6 - this stuff probably means nothing to them. Heck, when I was 5/6 I was sleeping next to those of the opposite gender, too. In fact, your pre-k/kindergarten teacher tells you to sleep with the whole class.

TLDR; don't say these scenes are "inappropriate," they're more innocent. If I ever saw 5 and 6 year old children sleeping next to each other, I would think so, too.

Woof, we're finally getting into the story-ish, if you know what I mean. c;

Also, are my chapters long enough? When I scroll through the page, it seems rather short. On google docs, though, they're around 7-13 pages. (Except for ch. 2 which was a pathetic 4 pages -sigh-).

So, is this enough? Or should I write more, but take a longer time...

In my art thread, someone mentioned that I should try doing an LN-style fiction - aka for pictures. Should I try that?

Lol, I also realized I write a lot in my corners, oops.

Welp, thanks for reading! Look forward to next chapter, hehehe....