Arts

At dawn, in a vast area.

Irnik walked towards his students, who were waiting for him. He had a bag in his hands, and it carried various small books.

“You sure took your time. Why are you lazy?” Efkil asked, sitting, legs crossed.

“Shut up…” Irnik gave him a side-eye.

“What are we going to do today?” Felmer asked.

“Today, you will do some more meditation and identify your Art…” Irnik replied, setting his bag down.

“Then combat?” Anderson asked, guessing.

“Correct…Then combat…”

“Why did you speed up the training so suddenly? Weren’t we going to grab the basics first, then combat?” Zendaya asked, confused.

“That was the plan, but for some unknown reason, your institute has ordered all trainers to ready their students fast,” Irnik answered, irritated.

“Will something happen after we are trained?” Felmer shared the same confusion as Zendaya.

“After that, there will be group battles. Which were never there before…” Irnik took off his robe and sighed. “Something has happened, but the administration is hiding it from us.” Irnik looked frustrated and angry at the same time.

“So what is the training today?” Efkil asked, standing up.

“As I have said, you will identify your Arts. There are two methods. One is the long one. In the first method, you meditate for a long time and discover the art inside yourselves. The second is to force the power out of you, which is very painful. Why? Because you will need to engage in extreme combat and probably receive severe injuries.” Irnik explained in a hurry. “So what will you choose?”

The squad looked at each other.

“The first one. It might be hard, but at least it is not painful.” Felmer answered, looking at everyone.

“True…He is right…I will go with the first method…” Zendaya replied, massaging her forehead.

“I agree with him as well…” Anderson said, more confident than before.

“Me too…” Efkil raised his hand, sitting down.

“Hmm…Good…Don’t worry. The method isn’t too hard. There is a trick to it, which might help you…” Irnik said and sat down slowly.

The other three did the same and looked at their mentor.

“In the previous method, you calmed your thoughts and nerves to detect the magical waves. It was all about your mind. The method to identify your Art is somewhat the same. But there is an addition. You have to calm your heart and blood flow, and at the same time, calm your thoughts, just like before.” Irnik explained, somewhat relaxed. “It won’t be very hard through this method. You might find it right here.”

“So no training for three days?” Anderson asked, calm.

“Yes, no such thing.” Irnik smiled back. “Start if you are ready…”

The squad sat comfortably and closed their eyes.

‘Okay…This is simple…’ Felmer mumbled inside. ‘First of all, repeat the previous method.’

Felmer listened to himself, calmed his mind, and focused on his thoughts. After resting them, he focused on his breathing and his heart. He slowed down and breathed calmly.

‘Yes, calm down.’ He softly said to himself.

Concentrating on calming his heart, he suddenly heard a familiar voice- the voice of the mysterious man.

“Fl-ame…” It sounded distorted.

‘Huh?’ Felmer thought, confused.

“Fl…ame…Open…Yo- eyes…” The voice again reverberated in his mind.

‘Flame? Open my eyes? What the heck does he mean?”

After hesitating for a few seconds and maintaining his calm state, Felmer opened his eyes. He was no longer with his friends. He was back in that void.

“I am in this emptiness again…” Felmer sighed.

The past words, ‘Our past is life, our future is death,’ echoed in his mind.

Smelling something burning, Felmer turned.

In the endless white void, Felmer saw a small flame, the size of his palm, burning brightly. It floated in the air, defying all logic. Felmer felt the urge to touch the flame, and he slowly walked towards it.

He stared at the small flame. Its colour was bizarre.

“It has the same colour as my eyes.” He looked at it keenly, amazed. “It’s beautiful…”

He extended his hand towards it, and suddenly the flame moved and began hovering over his palm. The flame lowered, and it was absorbed into his skin.

“I felt no pain…Did my body absorb it?” Felmer frowned.

“It is the flame residing in you. Now, you have just manifested it…” A voice spoke behind Felmer.

Felmer turned, blinked, and he was back in the vast plains, Irnik looking at him.

“If all of you are successful…Name and show me your art…” Irnik said.

“Water…” Anderson spoke first. He placed his hand on the ground, and then water spread from his palm.

“Air…” Zendaya said and jerked her hand. Her hand movement cut nearby blades of grass.

“Plant…” Efkil placed his hand on the ground, and a small flower appeared from the ground.

“Hmm…That’s great…” Irnik responded. “Felmer, you?”

Felmer, after waiting for a few seconds, extended his right palm. He focused some magic into his palm, and an odd coloured flame appeared.

He looked at Irnik and spoke the name.

“Cyan Flame…”

…

In the evening, in the markets of Maska.

Irfika, alongside Melfer, walked through the bustling markets. Melfer looked here and there and saw a face he remembered well. He walked to the side of Irfika, hiding from the man.

“Huh? What happened?” Irfika noticed.

“That man…” Melfer pointed, hiding his face.

Irfika looked at the man and found nothing wrong. He had a sword and was looking around.

‘He is probably a guard or a soldier…But there’s nothing wrong with him…’ Irfika thought, confused.

“What’s wrong with him?” Irfika asked Melfer.

“He’s my father…I didn’t tell him that I had left the house. I think you remember what I told you about him…” Melfer slowly whispered to Irfika.

“Hmm…That your father is never home, never talks to you, and is always busy with his work, right?”

Melfer nodded in affirmation.

Irfika looked up and saw Irnik at some distance, busy observing a boom stall.

“Do you want something?” Irfika asked. “Just asking…”

“Ugh…No…”

“Then go back to the inn…If you somehow meet him, it would be pretty awkward…”

Melfer nodded and walked away.

Irfika watched Melfer walk away, then slowly walked towards Irnik.

“Shopping?” Irfika asked, placing a hand on Irnik’s shoulder.

Irnik jolted his head up. “Oh, it’s you…Well, just looking here and there. I came with my students to help them buy swords…”

“Hmm…great…” Irfika nodded. “You seem to be tense…Something’s wrong?”

“Yes…The school suddenly changed their training plans. Train them fast, and all teams will engage in combat as a final test. All to be done in three days from now…” Irnik replied, letting out all his frustration.

“Reason?”

“That’s another problem. They gave no goddamn reason. There’s something wrong, and the headmaster is hiding it. I can’t bear them.”

“It does sound suspicious…” Irfika said, thinking.

Irnik looked here and there, and suddenly his eyes stuck on two men. One was wearing a mask, and the other wasn’t. Irnik easily identified the one with no mask.

‘That man…Isn’t he the peon of the school?’ Irnik thought, confused.

He looked at the two men talking, and then the masked man took out a sealed paper from his coat and handed it to the peon.

“What are you looking at?” Irfika asked.

“There…” Irnik pointed. “The unmasked man is the peon of the school where I am teaching.

Irfika looked in the pointed direction and saw the two men exchanging something. As he focused, he noticed the seal on the paper.

“Falvaria?” Irfika whispered.

“Seems so…” Irnik whispered.

As they watched, the peon and the masked man shook hands and went in opposite directions.

“I will follow the masked man; you follow the other…” Irfika whispered and swiftly walked into an alley.

“Alright, then…” Irnik said, cracking his knuckles.

Irfika walked through the alley. He summoned a red orb and took off his coat. The coat vanished into the orb as Irfika turned left.

Walking through the empty street, he saw the masked man on the other side. The masked man looked behind, then turned right into another street.

Irfika, watching it all, turned right into the same street as the masked man. Irfika stepped into the street and saw the masked man walking towards him.

Irfika clenched his fists tightly and quickened his pace.

The masked man looked behind again, and then he turned his head forward.

“Hello, sunshine…” Irfika said softly, smiling, and landed a punch on the masked man’s face.

The masked man stumbled and fell backwards. Irfika immediately grabbed him by the collar and pinned the man against the wall to their left.

The man slowly opened his eyes. His head was still spinning from the sudden attack.

“Awake?” Irfika asked, mocking the man.

The man stabilised his vision, stared at Irfika for a few seconds, and suddenly changed into a puff of smoke.

“What? Smoke substitution?” Irfika frowned and turned.

Suddenly, a fist came into his vision and landed hard on his nose. The masked man was right in front of him. His attack was followed by more punches, all at breakneck speed.

The masked man didn’t stop and kept punching, the pace increasing every second. Irfika endured all the pain.

Finally, he found a split-second opening and turned his body inches to his left. As the next punch came, Irfika immediately grabbed the man’s hand.

“Enough…” Irfika said in a heavy voice.

Irfika applied pressure to the man’s fist, breaking the bones. He released the grip, and the masked man retreated many steps, screaming in pain. Irfika swiftly took out a dagger and stabbed it into the man’s jaw.

Irfika spat the blood in his mouth and looked at the corpse. His mask had a grey 8 drawn on it.

“Damn it, he’s dead. I wanted information from him…”

As he looked at the corpse, he heard footsteps rushing at him. He looked above and saw a masked man rushing at him with a wooden pole. Irfika didn’t flinch and grabbed the pole. Then he pulled the pole from the attacker and punched him hard in the abdomen. Then he grabbed his dagger and slit the attacker’s throat.

But there wasn’t one attacker. He was surrounded by four masked men. Irfika sighed and observed his enemies. They all had coloured symbols on their masks.

“Red 8, Blue 8, Green 8, and Golden 8…They are from the Vanguard 8…” Irfika mumbled under his breath.

“This is going to be nasty…” Irfika said and tossed his dagger high in the air.

The Red 8 and Blue 8 rushed at him at the same time. Irfika leaned back, and both attackers missed. Irfika moved fast and hit the ankles of Blue 8. The man lost his balance and fell to the ground. Red 8 didn’t wait and lunged at Irfika, trying to land a blow with his left fist.

Irfika stood straight, moved to his left, grabbed the attacker’s left arm, and punched hard at his elbow. Red 8’s elbow broke, and he instantly stepped back, screaming. Green 8 wasted no time and attacked Irfika from behind.

Irfika noticed and blocked his punch with the back of his right hand. He turned to his side, and then Golden 8 attacked him with a sword. Irfika immediately kicked Green 8 in the chest, grabbed his falling dagger, and deflected Golden 8’s attack with it. He hit the sword, and Golden 8 lost the sword.

Irfika grabbed the sword and stabbed into the neck of Blue 8, who was about to stand up. Green 8 rushed swiftly at Irfika and landed a successful flying kick on his target.

Irfika fell hard on the ground. Golden 8 took the opportunity, pulled the sword out of Blue 8’s neck, and attacked Irfika.

Irfika, still recovering from the kick, rolled to his side and stood up. Golden 8’s attack missed, and his sword got stuck in the ground.

As Irfika balanced himself, Green 8 lunged at him. Irfika blocked his punch, and Green 8 followed with another one. Irfika blocked all attacks and kicked Green 8 in the groin, followed by another kick to his chin from below.

Golden 8 pulled up his sword and went for a thrust. Irfika grabbed the blade without a care and pulled both the sword and Golden 8 towards him. Irfika kicked him hard in the face, and Golden 8 fell.

Green 8, groaning in pain, stood up and rushed at Irfika like a bull. Irfika moved to his right and stabbed Green 8 in the neck several times.

Irfika moved swiftly and stomped forcefully on Golden 8’s neck, crushing it.

As a last desperate measure, Red 8 took out a handgun and fired at Irfika. Irfika summoned the red orb and stopped all the bullets.

Red 8 kept pressing the trigger, but nothing happened. He had fired all the bullets. Irfika grabbed Golden 8’s sword, walked up to Red 8 and stabbed him in the heart.

Irfika took a deep breath and observed his surroundings, looking for hidden enemies.

“Hmm…No one remains…”

After confirming that he had dealt with all enemies, he searched Grey 8’s corpse, took all the papers, and left the street.

…

As the night arrived, Irfika opened the door to his hotel room and entered.

It had two beds on the left and two chairs and a table on the right, with a window to the left of the table.

“Welcome back…” Melfer said with a gloomy face.

“You look sad…Something happened?”

“Well, yes, a lot happened…” Melfer looked at Irfika. “Two hours after I returned to the room, someone came. I thought it might be you, so I opened the door. But…”

“Who was it?” Irfika asked, concerned.

“It was my father…”

“Huh?” Irifka frowned.

“He had brought a letter by some Irnik. Both of us were shocked and stared at each other for quite a while. I got scared, so I snatched the letter and shut the door on him. After a few minutes, I opened the door to check if he was still there, but he wasn’t.”

“Oh…” Irfika grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the nearby chair. “Don’t worry…One day, you will meet and explain everything. I am sure he will understand. No father is cruel.” Irfika took a sip. “Rest now…I have work to do…”

“Fine…” Melfer sighed. “The letter is on the table…” Melfer pointed to the table and went to sleep.

Irfika grabbed the letter, opened it, and read its contents.

“I successfully interrogated the peon and got all the necessary information. He didn’t know the actual plan. But what I learned is that the sudden change in plans is influenced by Falvaria. Rigner family seems to have a part in it as well. I also learned the location where the team battles will occur. The south region of the Hilston Forest.”

“Hmm…But what’s the purpose?” Irfika muttered, lost in thought. “Falvaria is influencing it, but why?” As Irfika took another sip, a thought flashed in his mind. “There is a person in Irnik’s team. What was his name again?” Irfika massaged his forehead, trying to remember the name. “He was of the Gorbin family. Falvaria has been chasing the Gorbin family for decades…”

Then he grabbed the papers he had obtained from Grey 8’s corpse. He flipped through it and found what he was looking for. A hit list. He read all the names and found it.

“Here it is…” Irfika mumbled, angry. “Felmer Gorbin…”