MaXabiere got to glimpse back at the Meadow’s orphanage, admire the diverse architecture of the Yardsville, and the greenish color of the trees before sitting down and relaxing on the seat with Wayde sat on the right side.

In front of the boy were the two guardians: Claes sat in an upright position, while Sean slouched while crossing his arms. There was silence as they mind their own quiet time during the rid until Xabe began. “So this Flash Guardian Academy, I have to go to a training ground, right?”

“Normally, yes…” Wayde reluctantly nodded. “But due to these… circumstances, we must make a heist of your training. Your awakening against Devastrigon had been recorded once the guardians saw you, and we shared it with the Flash Guardian Headmasters. They would immediately send you to a special class. And don’t need to be curious, we had put details in our records that you took part in the training grounds before the newcomers that you’ll be joining. It’s best to keep this a secret.”

“So, does that mean that I’m that confidential?”

Sean yawned, “Obviously.”

Claes then added, “Let’s say your awakening was like a test of the Flash Guardian Training Ground.”

Xabe slightly lifted his head. “Which I get an automatic pass, right?” Xabe turned to see Red pecking at the open window, which reminded him of something quite important as well. “Oh, and about the weird old lady?” he asked.

Wayde could sense that Claes and Sean were eager to learn about her as well when the tall blond man leaned a bit forward and the hippie with style rearranged his sitting position. Wayde began explaining, “The ‘weird old lady’ will settle with us for a while, saying that she had done her part… for now.”

Xabe looked down. “Okay… whatever that means. So… how far is the Etheron Flash Guardian Academy?”

Wayde rubbed his goatee. “Let’s see, with a normal transportation from Yardsville it would take a day or two?”

Xabe’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Huh?!”

“But, with Mr. Carry and Brenda. It won’t that long. Isn’t that right, Mr. Carry?” Wayde slightly leaned closer to the open window, so his voice could reach the driver. Suddenly, the carriage stopped. The father and son could sense that there was something wrong, but Wayde asked the driver anyway. “Carry, everything all right out there?”

“Uhh…” Mr. Carry raised his voice. “We got something here, Wayde!”

Mr. Carry was witnessing a group of travelers getting robbed by bandits. There were kneeling on the soil road, begging for mercy, while the bandits barged into the large red carriage. They weren’t just ordinary travelers, judging from their attire, they look filthy rich, but somehow powerless. Seemed to be a rich family: a father to rebel but was knocked out by a crying wife, a young son, and a young daughter.

“Bloody fuck,” Mr. Carry muttered, then he raised his voice as he leaned at his side while turning his head. “Bunch of bandits. People are in trouble. Rich people, to be precise.”

Inside the cart, Wayde glanced at the three and warned, “Stay here. This won’t take a while.” Xabe was about to say something, but his father immediately opened the door and walk beside Mr. Carry, who got off the driver’s seat and gently comforted Brenda, the brown horse of such sight.

Wayde scoffed, “How inconvenient.”

From his purple coat, Mr. Carry pulled out an extendable brown cane. “Then let’s clean up the mess, shall we?”

The target looked rich and had their goods with them, or so it seemed so according to the bandits. The bandits were laughing and surely took their time to admire the riches, clothes, and jewelry found in the chests and luggage inside the large red carriage. One of the victims looked at the road ahead of them to see two individuals walking toward them.

Mr. Carry whistled, so the bandits stopped and quickly turned to see the two individuals standing before them. “Oy! Don’t you all have better things to do?” he yelled.

Wayde just looked at them without a glare. “Put those back where they belong, leave these people be, and leave. There’s no need for unnecessary violence.”

Inside the other cart, Xabe eagerly lifted his head to the outside window to see the two confronting the bandits. Come to think of it, Xabe had not seen nor asked his father regarding his Drakoroarian magical powers. What surprised the boy was the fact Mr. Carry was standing beside Wayde.

Xabe caught a glimpse that Claes and Sean were just sitting comfortably in their seat. “You guys aren’t going to see this?” he asked them.

Claes just crossed his arms and stack his left ankle on top of his right knee, while Sean slouched even deeper while he put his hands behind his back. “Like Mr. Berrygrewd, said,” Sean yawned. “This won’t take a while.” After he looked at the two who were inside with Xabe, the boy quickly turned to see the two who were outside the road followed by Red the pileated woodpecker as its head popped out of Xabe’s opened pastel blue polo.

A male bandit pointed his blade at them. “You don’t get to tell us what to do.” He then gestured for three bandits to point their blades at the victim’s backs. “What are you, Flash Guardians?”

Mr. Carry slowly looked at Wayde and muttered, “So, uh… you may want to knock him some common sense, yeah?”

Wayde glanced at Mr. Carry without a word.

Back at the cart, Xabe didn’t even think about using his senses. He just watched in full anticipation, not knowing what would come next, though he thought it was best that way to witness his father.

Mr. Carry rested his extendable cane on his shoulders as he gazed at Wayde, who slightly knelt and changes his sight to each bandit. There were nine of them while wearing nothing but rags, leather armor, and cloaks. Their faces were either covered with ashes or with a cloth mask. First was the one in front of them, the other four were the ones inside the rich carriage, and the remaining four were taking the hostage.

Wayde enhanced his senses to hear their breaths and heartbeat. He could tell they were nervous, anxious, and afraid. They were bandits just because they were a victim as well as this rich family, but make no excuses, they chose to threaten.

Just like the wind, Wayde swiftly moved like a ghost and immediately pushed the bandit to the other four who were inside the cart with just one hand. The remaining bandits were caught off guard as they quickly backed away from their hostage.

A mistake that they had not thought of a sudden. It was at the right moment when the bandits behind the family were conveniently positioned in a straight line in front of him, so Mr. Carry came running to them and used his cane to propel himself before kicking a bandit’s face with such force, the bandit ended up clashing against the others.

After a roll on the grass, Mr. Carry rose just in time to grab his flying hat. He turned to the family to see the mother cradling her children while the father was still lying unconscious. “G’morning,” he greeted. Observing the large red carriage, it seemed that the bandits had released the rich family’s horse elsewhere.

As Mr. Carry was about to look for the bandits, only for him to see them all together as Wayde cast a spell to bind them with hollow chains. “I guess your boy can learn a thing or two.” Mr. Carry pocketed his extendable cane back in his coat.

The two men both looked at their cart to see Xabe’s head pop out of the window as if he was like a neighbor so curious to find out the commotion outside. “He already learned some things from me, “ Wayde replied. “So I have to let Dreyagon do his thing at last. Meanwhile, I must accompany Erik and his team to track down Devastrigon.”

“I see,” Mr. Carry nodded.

Wayde, then, pressed his communicator on his ear and said, “This is Wayde Berrygrewd to Yardsville. There are four people needing assistance and nine bandits were tied up. Requesting immediate assistance.”

“You got it, sir,” replied a guardian via comms.

A second later, a few guardians arrived as a flash of light came down from the sky. Xabe was astonished at the heroes as they escorted the tied-up bandits and aided the rich family. The boy sat back by the time Mr. Carry and his father came back in their carriage.

As Wayde finally got himself comfy at his seat, he found his son’s eyes fully locked on him- not to mention the woodpecker. “What?” he asked.

“Whoa,” the boy just said. “That was-”

“Fast?” Wayde finished, “It’s more effective and sufficient when you keep using your senses, son. And I told you that this will be quick.”

“And Mr. Carry.” Xabe looked over at the opened window. “I didn’t know you can kick ass.”

Mr. Carry chuckled, “You never asked, kid.”

It was not long after they passed the heroes and the family that Wayde told Mr. Carry. “I think we’re clear now?”

“Yup,” said Mr. Carry.

MaXabiere had no single clue of what they were talking about, but as for Claes and Sean, they knew what Mr. Carry was capable of- other than what he showed off earlier.

“Onward, Brenda!” With a lash of his long rope, Brenda the once brown horse had become a more beautiful steed as its color became white, shining brightly as a star. Not only that, Xabe was caught off guard as the inside of the once old-fashioned carriage itself turned white as if a pure spirit had possessed it.

With Brenda’s magnificent power, they moved at an immeasurable speed before ascending into the sky. Wayde and Sean laughed at Xabe’s shocked expression when the boy sunk into the couch, while Claes remained calm. “Relax,” he said.

It took a few breaths and Red’s recovery, only for them to see the clear blue sky. As he felt the carriage slow down, Xabe quickly looked over the opened window to see the vastness of the world beneath him. He held Red to make sure it doesn’t fly away or got blown off.

Seeing the white clouds diverged from his sight for him to see the incredible sight of Mt. Pike, the Wooded forest, Yardsville, the Berrygrewd house, and lastly the Meadow Orphanage made the boy grin with wonder and awe.

He also found the massive burned forest on the other side of Mt. Pike. He would never, ever, forget that moment.

He may live in a large town, but it was still a small world for Xabe to be in. And now, he would go into a much larger place where little does the boy know, his world would be bigger than he could have ever imagined… much, much bigger.

Even though Xabe felt that they were traveling at the speed of light, he still found it quite slow, but that didn’t mean he was too focused on the time. Instead, he used it as an opportunity to finally ask his father more questions.

“Soooo, Dad,” Xabe initiated. “How did you become a Flash Guardian?”

“Well,” Wayde breathe. “I was… a troublemaker, even though my intent was quite the opposite. During my early days here on Etheron, I kept seeing trouble since the time of Devastrigon and the Darken clan. Then, I saw a group of Flash Guardians requiring assistance. I was impulsive and went straight into action. And what do you know, they were a special force that deals with the Darken clan.”

“And just like that, you’re in as one of them?” the boy eagerly asked.

“After dealing with difficult tests, yes. My days as a rookie were indeed difficult, I had to make sure to get along with my fellow guardians since I came from another place. And just like that, I dedicated myself as a guardian and a researcher.”

“So, these fellow guardians of yours? Are they still… you know?” Xabe made a circular motion with his hands.

“I’m not quite sure if they’re alive,” Wayde replied. “We haven’t been making contact with them since.”

Xabe then furrowed his brows. “‘We?’”

“Mr. Carry and I.” Wayde tossed his head to refer at the driver. “To make it short, son, he’s a Flash Guardian, and we do a couple of exploits side-by-side in the past.”

Mr. Carry’s voice boomed from outside. “Yeah, you tell him, Wayde.”

Xabe didn’t bother to think of their past, but only in a brief moment based on Wayde’s words, which would suffice the boy’s thoughts of their previous exploits. It was no surprise that Xabe wanted to know more, so he asked, “Speaking of those, what do you guys have to deal with?” Aside from his father, Xabe also turned to Claes and Sean for more details.

Sean chuckled, “Kid, have you been living under a rock or something?” Then immediately changed into his joyous-chill attitude. “It’s alright, though. We’ve been dealing with the usual: helping the needy, kicking bad guys’ asses, and trying to maintain Enchanterian peace throughout for generations- oh, and joining the Code Crimson operation.”

The boy then asked, “Who do you serve, anyway? The Alliance Council? A royal family…? Communists? Democracy?”

Claes broke his silence. “Here I thought the word ‘guardian’ is enough.”

“To answer that, son,” Wayde placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m giving a lecture in a flying carriage… uh, anyway, Flash Guardians have been the protectors ever since the flash of a miracle happened long ago. We may not share such leaderships of the government across Enchanteria, but we lead by examples, not under command.”

Sean spread his hand as if he was about to do a magic trick right after Wayde’s explanation, “Like I mentioned, the usual.”

“Finally.” Mr. Carry’s excitement grew by the time he saw the place- it certainly changed a bit from the last time he was there. “Hey, Xabe, you may want to look at this.”

As the driver said, Xabe quickly took a peek and what he saw was no other better words to use than… heavenly.

“Holy shhhhhiiiii-moly!” Xabe couldn’t bring his full reaction when his father was present, which Sean noticed, so he couldn’t help but laugh.

Behold, the Flash Guardian Academy of the land of Etheron. Built on a floating island with waterfalls beneath it. Shining from the sunlight with its white and beige color. The architecture was like a grand castle, yet for some reason, Xabe thought the size of the windows and doors were too large for every mortal’s standards. It was as if the academy’s size could even match Devastrigon’s- but still, it wasn’t THAT large.

“You know, a Great Giant named Geronimo used to live there ever since the fore-fathers and fore-mothers of the Flash Guardians,” explained Wayde. “They had a rough time and came across the big guy when they accidentally dropped a magical beanstalk on top of that. Being a nice and reasonable giant, he let them in, then the rest is history.”

The son looked back at Wayde with a grin. “No way. That’s awesome!”

By the time they flew nearer to the academy, Xabe’s awestruck had ascended even beyond his wildest expectations. Up close, the walls could almost block the entire castle inside. In front of them was an enormous entrance arch sealed by a misty shining wall.

As they were about to be near the misty wall, it quickly collapsed just in time they flew straight inside the entrance area. Xabe turned back to the entrance arch as it was sealed back. “Cool,” Xabe exclaimed.

It was finally time when Mr. Carry halted Brenda to stop at the top of a round platform. “You have arrived at your destination, gentlemen.”

Abruptly, the door inside the cart magically opened on its own. Xabe was quite eager to strap his seven-foot backpack behind him to finally set his foot on the stone floor. What he was seeing was more than just a mere castle inside a wall. It was like a kingdom- with all the buildings, streets, and guardians wearing none other than semiformal wear no matter what race.

Sean flexed his legs before raising his arms high with a yell. “Ahh, that was fun.”

Claes breathed, “It’s good to be back again.”

Wayde nodded to him, “Agree.” When he looked at Xabe, he watched as the boy kept circling the surroundings.

His excitement grew as Xabe still couldn’t believe he was standing at the large academy… more like a university. From turning around to see the whole neighborhood, he abruptly stopped to finally see the vast, giant castle in front of him. Of course, right at the front was the huge round arch with golden banners between it. He could only imagine how big Geronimo was.

Despite all the hype and amazement, though, Wayde must still focus on his mission at hand. He couldn’t help but want to be with his family after six years, but there won’t be any when Devastrigon and the Darken clan were still on the loose. He must rely on his research of the prophecy, the unity of the guardians, the teachings of Dreyagon, and lastly the awakened power of the boy.

Xabe must be ready, he needs to be ready. For what comes next could be much more of a challenge than the boy would think.

Wayde could imagine the weight the boy must carry, but he must be there to be an aid to carry it. Showing support to Xabe, the father rested on the boy’s shoulder. “Welcome to the academy, son,” he smiled to bring a sense of a new beginning… a new start of hope… a new flash of a miracle… a long-anticipated Dragonslayer awakens.