He went to the mess hall for lunch and got his food without fuss, but he found almost all the tables full when sitting down for his meal. There happened to be one table with only two other people and picked that one and sat down. It was a male and female Cyril dressed down. They were Cadets. Kayden recognized the male Cyril from his combat training and that Cyril was the mouthy one that was now quiet and knew to give Kayden his space, but the female one didn’t.

“Excuse me, Sir Guardian, are you Guardian Kayden?” she asked, and Kayden forced a smile and nodded.

“That’s me,” he said as he took another bite. The female got excited and nudged her male counterpart, and he coughed.

“Your friend here is in my combat training class. He’s got quite the mouth on him,” Kayden said between bites. The female looked sternly at her male counterpart and glared.

“You bad-mouthed the Kayden Royal?!” she demanded. He averted his eye and looked down, feeling embarrassed about it.

“I said some stupid things…but he put me in line,” he admitted, and Kayden grinned.

“I can do it again if you need it out of your system,” Kayden teased, and the male Cyril blushed as he looked at his food. The female smirked and scooted closer to Kayden.

“Can I get your autograph Sir Guardian Kayden?” she asked as she held out her tablet and stylus to him. Kayden grinned and looked at the male Cyril—Carter, who was really annoyed-looking.

“So, is Carter your boyfriend?” Kayden asked.

“No, he’s my twin brother,” she said, and Kayden smiled.

“Twins going into the Guardianship…won’t you be lonely when you separate?” he asked, and the girl looked at Carter and smiled.

“I’ve doted on him enough. He needs to gain his own set of balls,” she said, and Carter blushed furiously. Kayden choked on his bite of food and looked at Carter, and noticed how irritated he was. No wonder he had a mouth on him, Kayden thought. He signed her tablet and put a heart on it, and she blushed as she saw it, and he smiled at her.

“Don’t overdo it out there; it’s a dangerous universe out there with plenty of criminals. Don’t be in a hurry to make a name for yourself. Take one case at a time. That’s what I did. Sure, I came across some hard cases, but I took them with a calm and cool mind,” Kayden said.

“Except for your stint on Earth,” Carter remarked. The female Cyril elbowed him in the ribs. Kayden laughed.

“I’ll remember your words for training tomorrow morning,” Kayden teased. Carter went pale.

“I won’t go easy on you because you’ve got a good sister; you ought to cherish her while you still can. Once you become a Guardian, holidays become a rare thing. You won’t see her much for the first ten years of your career, so keep close now while you can. Unless, of course, you two decide to pair up,” Kayden said as he finished his lunch and got to his feet.

“You can pair up with another Guardian?” Carter asked. Kayden nodded as he held his tray.

“It’s actually more common than you’d think, it’s meant to help Guardians have a higher success rate when they’re new, and after a handful of missions, you can choose to split up, and each get your own Squire or move into a team formation with several other Guardians. But you’ll need to work on your teamwork to get onto that kind of arrangement, Cadet Carter,” Kayden said with a smirk, and Carter blushed.

“Thank you, Guardian Kayden,” the female said.

“Good luck and see you in the morning, Carter,” Kayden said, and Carter gulped.

“Your stupid big mouth gets you in trouble! Being on Kayden’s side would have been in your favor, you idiot!” she scolded him, and Kayden overheard it. Kayden had telepathy but learned how to turn it off when around his superiors or with the young and the reckless to avoid conflict. On many occasions, he had picked up too much information from higher-ranked Guardians that landed him in worlds of trouble in his younger years and learned that turning a blind eye and zoning it out was for the best unless he was on a mission.

Late one night as he fell asleep, he started to dream. He found himself in a barren desert. He walked as if being guided somewhere in particular but had no idea where he was going. He just felt drawn to its location. He heard the flapping of wings in the distance. A great shadow came over him and past him before a sudden THUD! as a large red dragon landed. Kayden didn’t stagger back or even was afraid of the beast. The dragon let out a soft growl as it lowered its head to face him and get a closer look.

“I see Lockren left his mark,” a woman’s voice said. Kayden lifted his left forearm which was without his mechanical arm in his dream and saw the frozen crystalline scar.

“You know him?” Kayden asked.

“He and I go way back…but more importantly, we know you,” the woman said as she caught fire and started to shrink. She appeared as a woman with a fuchsia bodysuit with sporadic armored pieces and a spiked red sparkling crown.

“Who are you?” Kayden asked.

“Fira, the fire elemental of the inner elements,” Fira said as she approached Kayden and gripped his left forearm. Kayden was hesitant but felt that she was familiar.

“One by one, we will find you and draw you to your home where you belong. We will not let this life of yours be snuffed out like all those others before this one, Varr Sither,” Fira said. Smoke came from his arm and he felt something burn him terribly. He grimaced as he pulled his arm back from her and saw a burning mark on his arm. It wasn’t charred like a burn, but it looked like it was still on fire. He looked at it and jolted.

“Where is my home? I live at the Guardianship Citadel,” Kayden asked.

“Your home is Kastend,” Fira said before she started to fade. He slowly woke up to hear his alarm ringing in the background. He opened his eyes wide and flung upright to see his alarm had been going off for thirty minutes.

“Shit!” he exclaimed as he dove off of the bed and rushed to get dressed and head to the combat training hall. He was late by thirty minutes.

He was beginning to get stir crazy half a month in spending his mornings training a bunch of talentless Guardians-to-be with no challenge in it, and his boredom was beginning to show. At lunchtime, his Cadets joined him, and he was surprised as they silently sat next to him and across from him.

“If you’re trying to gain my favor, this isn’t how you do it,” Kayden said as he took a bite.

“No, sir, we just want to show you proper respect, sir,” one Cadet said as he looked up to Kayden, which surprised him. They had turned from reckless and tactless youths into even-tempered young adults, slowly.

“Perhaps you’re all not so hopeless after all,” Kayden remarked.

“Is it true you were the top of your class in combat and weapons?” one Cadet asked.

“Yeah, it’s true. I earned medals while still in training, even if I’ve lost them now,” Kayden said sourly as he looked across the room.

“Could you give us more tips, sir?” another Cadet asked, and Kayden smirked.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” he asked.

“I want to become a better Guardian, sir. Whatever would help that goal, I will do,” the Cadet said.

“What was your name again, Cadet?” Kayden asked.

“Regos, sir,” he said.

“Well, Regos, I’ll show you some tricky maneuvers, but it’ll be on you if nobody else likes doing them,” Kayden said, and Regos gulped as they all turned to look at him.

“S-So be it,” Regos said as he closed his eye and stood up. Kayden grinned and thoughtfully finished his meal. The next day he was with Regos and the Cadets readying his posture for a fancy maneuver. Kayden was sized down at seven feet tall in an adolescent stature.

“Come at me,” Kayden said.

“Try and tackle me,” Kayden elaborated. Regos ran at him with his arms open, and Kayden countered by grabbing his shoulders and pushing him to the ground with sheer strength.

“We’re Cyril. We’re the strongest race in the universe…use that to your advantage and use your raw potential. It doesn’t fall just on technique here,” Kayden said.

“But I don’t want to kill my opponent,” Regos said.

“Trust me. You won’t. In the moment, you’ll use just enough strength to take them down by gauging their race and their traits before you hit them,” Kayden said.

“But right now, you’re facing one of your own; you need to use your full strength. This time I’ll come at you, use all the strength that you’ve got to stop me and push me down,” Kayden said, and he ran at Regos, who was too timid, and Kayden ended up tackling him to the ground.

“If I’m talking to nothing but walls here, I’m wasting my time,” Kayden said as he stood up and offered Regos a hand up.

“Again,” Regos said, and Kayden was hesitant.

“Again, please, sir,” Regos said, and Kayden readied himself. He ran at him and was suddenly pushed to the ground hard and grinned as he felt the floor beneath him.

“Well done, Regos, you may not die yet,” Kayden said as he turned around and flipped Regos on the floor next to him.

“I’ll show you that move next because there will be times when you are caught off guard. It’s up to how you react that ensures that you are the survivor and the victor,” Kayden said as he stood up and helped Regos up. He continued his lesson and showed several of them the move, then moved on to the flip from the ground and was surprised how fast they picked it up.