26 He Hated I (1/2)

The coast seemed to be clear from what Reed saw, at least for now. Luckily, the bottommost level of the spire, which served as the only entrance into the building, was empty when they entered. It made sense; few people ever visited the spire. It was too remote -- in fact, it wasn't even on standard maps.

The locations of all training academies weren't accessible on standard navigational records as a security measure. Few had the privilege of knowing the reason for this decision in the modern era. Most people thought that it was a useless, outdated policy from a bygone time. They were wrong.

It was created for an important reason; it was far more... chaotic back when the four empires were founded. No -- it wouldn't be a lie to say that the earth and sky ran red with blood several thousand years ago.

Calling it a bygone era would be a gross mistake; it was a completely different world. It was an alien hellscape rife with conflict and savagery, unlike anything Mulia's modern descendants could ever imagine.

Contenders were nothing more than foot soldiers and were considered expendable assets during the unification wars that raged across the continent. They served as the main combatants and had the highest death rate during those maddening years of brutal conflict against the staunch rebellion.

The insurrectionist movement that opposed the four empires -- the New Mulian Federation -- was particularly malicious and unforgiving during these wars.

They were astonishing cruel and heartless to great success in battle. Often, surprise attacks were normal. Especially on enemy training grounds to snuff out potential strategic threats -- the massacres ensued that left even the most battle-hardened troops horrified.

As a result, it became military protocol to keep the location of contender training grounds top-secret, even to the highest brass in the military. Even so, the number of contenders across the continent dwindled to a precious few after the war.

Even after hundreds of years of peace, contenders have remained scarce, to the point that they've become somewhat precious in the modern era.

Contenders in modern times now enjoyed privileges that their ancestors would have never even dreamt about. They were now precious seedlings. Investments instead of the cannon fodder they once were during the days of yore.

It was humorous if not tragic; how the wheel of fate turned for the status of being a contender. For they were but cheap pawns for their masters many moons ago; now celebrated as living demi-gods, pampered by the same people who once threw them into oblivion.

Not that any of them would ever know the truth; almost everyone who lived during this bloody period had already died except for a notable few...

If he got caught, well -- c'est la vie, as the common folk often said. What more could he do about it? He'd deal with that problem if it came down to it. Reed resolved himself and focused on the job at hand; sneaking up to Axtorius's office undetected.

He'd already thought up a variety of tricks that'd give him an edge, but none of them were without flaws, so to speak. Creating a self-sustaining invisibility field by warping light was easy, but it had the flaw of being difficult to keep up while moving. He hadn't mastered the technique to point of moving and keeping it active, which was an issue of its own to consider.

Flying? If was he actually capable of doing it, he wouldn't even need to worry about this mess; he could have flown up to Axtorius's office from the outside in a flash. But it out of the question.

He could shake off gravity's shackles, but he knew that he had no fine control when it came to down to it. Chances were that'd he rocket off into the stratosphere like a human bullet if he attempted using the technique right now.

It was another example that proved he was woefully lacking finesse despite his outrageous talent. He knew he couldn't make up for hard-earned experience gained through practice even if he was a genius and that frustrated him.

An awful idea arose in the depths of his mind; he immediately hated it.

Short-range teleportation.

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He knew that'd be instantaneous, but he feared the possibility of another disaster. Even he understood that avoiding a bit of trouble and embarrassment wasn't enough to warrant the use of teleportation, even if it was short-ranged this time around. If he messed up again, it'd be another three-month vacation or worse with his luck. This was by far the dumbest idea he'd thought up and was the one he detested the most.

Reed mulled over his options and let out a deep sigh as if he'd let his soul escape his body. He had decided.

”Alright. Lu'um, here's the plan we're gonna go with...” Reed said as he explained what they were going to do. The absent-minded girl listened to the boy's plan and nodded as she looked at his twisted countenance. She laughed and gave a thumbs-up in approval...

It'd already three months since the boy's disappearance; was he still alive, or had he already died? The question continued to haunt him whenever he let his mind wander off.