Chapter 2: Climbing the Ropes

Commander: Wake up maggots! *through the speaker* its 0800 hours, the day doesn't wait for no one.

Ghost: What, where am I? *jumping out of bed* Oh right, I'm here.

Flashes of what happened the day before came to mind. The arrival, Edgar, the Commander, and Gloria.

Ghost: Well I guess I have to get up and get ready now.

As he gets up he notices a mirror on his right side. Looking at his topless reflection he notices that he has, what seems to be, a tattoo. He is able to recognize the strange tattoo and determines that they are numbers. Three numbers marked on his right arm, but what could they mean? As he continues to investigate his body more he notices a couple of scars on his lower back. Just as he is starting to get some flashbacks, there is a loud knock at his door.

Commander: Ghost! Hurry the hell up! We don't have all day.

Ghost: Yeah, yeah sure whatever I'll get ready.

He opens his closet and notices the uniforms. The same white uniform with red stripes everyone was wearing yesterday. "Eww, I have to wear this?" he asked himself as he was browsing the closet. With the uniform now equipped, he steps outside and sees someone also coming out of their room. It's a girl that apparently lives in the room right across from him. Short brown hair, greenish eyes, and an emotionless face.

Ghost: G-Good morning.

There is no answer from the girl. She only closes the door behind her, ready to leave. "Maybe I didn't say it loud enough," he thought.

Ghost: *takes a deep breath* Good morning!

Girl: I heard you the first time. *making eye contact*

She spoke in a soft voice, however lacking emotion. Her stare made Ghost go in shock. Struggling to come up with an answer, he says the first thing that pops into his head.

Ghost: Heyyy nice boobs.

As soon Ghost said those words, he felt instant regret. "What the hell was thinking?! Well, here comes the slap" he thought, closing his eyes waiting for the slap.

Girl: Oh thanks, but mine are pretty average. *holding up her chest* *squish squish*

Ghost: Huh? You're not going to slap me?

Girl: For what? You're the first guy to tell me I have nice boobs, so thanks.

Ghost had a clear look of confusion on his face. He was getting mixed messages from the situation. The girl realized that he was struggling to come up with something to say after that last embarrassing attempt and helped him.

Girl: Well, my name is Brittany. What's yours?

Ghost: Oh right! My name is Ghost, nice to meet you.

The whole time Brittany didn't express any emotion. Almost like if she wasn't really paying attention to what was going on at the moment. Either that or she was indifferent to those around her.

Brittany: So are you going to get breakfast or what? *keeping a straight face*

Ghost: Right. Um, would you happen to know the way?

Brittany: Yeah, I'll take you.

Walking side by side in the hallway, they eventually reach the cafeteria. In the cafeteria, there is a round table where Edgar, Mayu, and Gloria were sitting.

Brittany: Come, let's pick up the food and join them. *pointing at the table*

Ghost: Sure.

Breakfast was made up of scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, pancakes, oatmeal, and bacon. For drinking there was the choice of milk, coffee, orange juice, and just water. Everything looked so good that Ghost couldn't decide what to eat. Brittany got some pancakes and a glass of milk. Ghost, being shy, gets the same thing as her.

Brittany: You know this is an all you can eat, right?

Ghost: Oh, well thanks for telling me *a bit embarrassed*

Ghost then proceeds to get a bit of everything, eventually leading him to get another plate. He can't remember when was the last time he had a bite to eat so his hunger was pretty noticeable. Arriving at the table Ghost decides to sit between Gloria and Brittany, trying to avoid Edgar.

Gloria: Good morning Ghost. *with a smile*

Edgar and Mayu: Mornin.

Ghost: Good morning everyone *trying to smile and fit in*

Gloria: Come on guys Ghost is new here, let's treat him like one of our own.

Ghost: *under his breath* Thanks, Gloria. So anyway, I have met everyone here except for you in the middle. *looking at Mayu*

Mayu was sitting in the middle of Edgar and Gloria. She had long black hair and bright red eyes. It looked like she was short-tempered by the way she said the "morning" earlier. And boy was he right.

Mayu: My name is Mayu.

Ghost: Hey, nice to me-

Mayu: Okay enough with the introductions, let's talk about today's plans. First off, as we all know the tournament is in a couple of months.

Ghost: *taking a bite of his eggs and pancakes* What is this tournament that *gulps food* everyone is talking about?

Mayu: Ugh, can someone explain to this rookie here what the tournament is about? *clearly annoyed *

Gloria: Okay Ghost so listen closely. Every year there is this event called The

National Tournament, also known as TNT. Each nation has one every year as well as its own rules. Now this tournament is very special because it decides the future of our team. Throughout the tournament, teams work together to get as many points as possible. The teams with the highest amount of points receive tons of financial support from the nation as well as weapons.

Edgar: And the teams with the lowest amount of points receive close to nothing.

Mayu: Right and every year we are barely able to make it to the top 50. Which is not bad but it could be so much better if we could at least make it top 10.

Ghost: *taking a sip from his orange juice glass* Ahhh, so now I see why this so-called tournament is so important to you guys.

Mayu: Yes, so hurry up and finish so we can start on your training rookie.

Ghost: Its Ghost, please stop calling me rookie.

Mayu: To me, you'll always be a rookie until you prove yourself.

Mayu got up from the table with her plate in hand and left. Her white uniform contrasted her black hair showing just how long it really was.

Edgar: Well it was nice talking but I gotta go warm up.

Brittany: Same.

Both left the table to drop off their plates at the cleaning section. Now at the table was only Ghost and Gloria. He tried to come up with something to say while finishing his breakfast but nothing came up.

Gloria: I don't want to rush you but you sort of have a long day ahead of you so try to finish up quickly, okay?

Ghost: *with crumbs oh his lips and cheeks* Okay.

As Ghost finishes his breakfast he says "all done", and both get up. Going towards the cleaning section, Ghost sees Gloria put her plate on a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt leads to the back of the kitchen where there is someone washing the plates and cups. Seeing this, Ghost proceeds to copy her and puts his plates on the belt. They both leave for what seems to be the arena from yesterday. There, the Commander was waiting for him with her arms crossed.

Commander: Well well well, look who finally decided to show up. I was about to go get you myself.

Ghost: Well everyone else left me and Gloria was kind enough to wait for me.

Commander: Come on, let's get you started. Today is a long day for you.

Ghost: Yeah whatever, just tell me what are the plans for today.

Commander: So I will just give you a simple overview. First off, you and Mayu will have a weapons training session. She is our weapons specialist so she will be your training

partner. Next, you will have a training session with Gloria.

Ghost: Please don't tell me I have to fight Gloria.

Commander: No, her area of specialty is magic so she'll be more of a teacher.

Ghost: Whew, good.*sigh of relief*

Commander: So anyways, by then it should be noon and will have a lunch break. We will see how much more improvement you need before planning out the rest of the day. Do you understand?

Ghost: Yea I suppose *rolls eyes*

Commander: Good, now let us start your first day of training!

Ghost went downstairs and into the arena where Mayu was waiting for him. She had a wooden sword and the same cold serious look as before. As Ghost approached her she pointed to some weapons that were on a table. They were all real weapons, unlike her wooden sword.

Ghost: You want me to use a real weapon while you use a wooden sword? That doesn't

seem fair.

Mayu: What? Scared to fight a girl? Just pick one and attack me.

He grabbed a mace with a silver spiked ball at the end. Ghost didn't like the idea of fighting a girl with nothing but a wooden sword so he just grabbed the weakest weapon he could find.

Mayu: A mace huh? Well go ahead and attack first.

Ghost charged at her with the mace and swung it like a bat horizontally. Mayu is able to dodge his attack with ease and did a counter-attack. Mayu saw that the side of his stomach was completely exposed and attacked him with the end of her wooden sword. That attack sent Ghost tumbling to the ground, leaving him with no air.

Mayu: Get up and try again!

Ghost: *trying to catch his breath* Ugh fine!

Ghost got back on his feet and prepared to do his second attack. He thought coming up with a plan was better than charging in like an idiot. He thought to himself "maybe if she attacks first I can block and do a counter-attack". He saw that as his best way to at least get a hit in.

Ghost: Okay ready, but this time you attack first.

She just gave him a smirk and proceeded to dash at him with her wooden sword. "Okay here she comes, be ready," he said to himself. Mayu launched a vertical strike and Ghost was able to block. Before he even had time to react or start his counter attack Mayu was already launching her second attack and third. Barely being able to block he is unable to return an attack. Her attacks just kept getting faster and faster. Ghost did his best to block as many as possible but it wasn't enough. Mayu was just too fast for him, Ghost is eventually outpaced and trips on his own foot causing him to fall to the ground once more.

Mayu: Again! Now with a different weapon.

This went on for hours. It didn't matter what weapon Ghost picked, Mayu was just so much more skilled than him. Exhausted with his back on the floor he tries to catch his breath. He started to think this was pointless and the only reason they were "training" was to make fun of his lack of skill.

Ghost: Can we please *panting* take a break?

Mayu: No! We keep going till you are able to get one attack in.

Ghost: Come on! I don't have what it takes to even keep up with you! Even less land an attack.

Mayu: *putting her sword down* Okay, quit. Go ahead. I won't train with a weakling like yourself.

Ghost: Weakling? Quitter? I am none of those! *the 3 balls of fire start to rotate*

Mayu: Well to me you will always be weak! A weak rookie with no future. *She spat on the floor*

Ghost: I. Am. Not. Weak! *eyes turning bright yellow*

He picks up a wooden sword that was on a different table and gets in a defensive stance. Mayu again only smirks and dashes towards him. As her attack is coming in, Ghost prepares to block it. Right when the two wooden swords are about to collide Ghost decides to dodge instead of blocking at the last second. This makes Mayu miss her strike. Ghost tries to attack but Mayu is quickly able to recover and block. A bit shocked from that last play, she goes in for another attack. Ghost has no problem blocking since he has learned her patterns of attacks. Now he is able to see her strikes coming and block ahead of time. As her attacks get faster, Ghost's blocking also gets faster. Eventually, they are attacking and blocking each other's attacks.

Mayu: Yes, this is much better! Keep it up rookie! *She smirks with excitement*

Ghost: My... name... is Ghost!

As he says that, Mayu does a horizontal strike and Ghost is able to dodge it by crouching. As he crouches he is able to do a leg sweep causing Mayu to lose her balance. Seeing the opportunity Ghost strikes her in the stomach with the bottom of the wooden sword, just as she did to him. Mayu on the ground opens her eyes, meeting the end of Ghost's sword. She clearly lost the match.

Mayu: Well done Ghost, I knew you could do it. *with a smile*

Ghost: Yeah thanks to you *lending a hand to help her up*

Mayu looks into Ghost's soft brown eyes as she is getting helped up and suddenly feels embarrassed. Her cheeks turn red and she shoves him away.

Mayu: Eww! I don't need your help rookie.

Ghost: But-

Mayu: I will inform the commander about your progress. Take a water break, Gloria will meet you here for your next training session. *trying to keep a serious face*

Ghost: Um, okay? *a bit confused*

As Ghost is taking his water break he thinks about the fight he had with Mayu. Maybe he isn't as weak as she said he was, or she was just going easy on him. Either way, he was pretty proud of himself for finally landing a hit.

Gloria: Hey Ghost *as she walks towards the center of the arena* heard you did great with Mayu.

Ghost: Hey Gloria, yeah she pushed me to do my best and it worked.

Gloria: Great! Well, I hope you are ready to start our training session.

Ghost: Yes, whenever you are.

Gloria: Okay so first thing is first, we need to find what is your magic domain.

Ghost: Sounds good, but how do we do that?

Gloria: There are five domains of magic. The domains are elemental, illusion, nature, null, and forbidden. They are listed from easiest to master to hardest.

Ghost: Okay, but what do any of these domains mean?

Gloria: So elemental magic, as it says, focuses on elements like water, fire, wind, and earth. Illusion magic is any magic that affects an individual indirectly. Nature magic allows the user to use their surroundings to their advantage. Null magic is special, it varies from person to person. In other words, null magic can not be taught or learned. Lastly, there is the most dangerous type of magic, forbidden magic.

Ghost: What exactly is forbidden magic?

Gloria: Forbidden magic is any spell that is deemed too powerful to use. It's called forbidden magic because the use of it usually requires a sacrifice. The sacrifice varies on how big the spell is being cast. We are not going to worry about that because forbidden magic is almost impossible to master and execute.

Ghost: Okay I understand, so this means we are going to start with elemental magic right?

Gloria: Correct, glad you are a fast learner. So we are going to run a couple of tests to see how good you are with elemental magic. I need you to imagine an element, it doesn't matter which one, just close your eyes and try to visualize it. If it's fire, focus on how hot flames feel. If it's water, focus on how it feels when water passes through your fingers. If it's wind, focus on how it feels when the air is on your face on a windy day. Now extend your hand and open your palm, focus on the element, and try to grasp it.

Ghost closes his eyes and tries to focus on the element of fire. He tried to remember how fire felt, the warmth of flames. Suddenly a small orange flame bursts in his hand.

Gloria: Ghost you did it! Look!

Ghost: *still with his eyes closed* Well of course I did, it was really easy.

Gloria: Um Ghost you may want to open your eyes and look at your hand.

Ghost: Why?

As he opens his eyes he sees what Gloria was talking about. What started as a little flame in his right palm turned into a wild flame that started to consume his hand.

Ghost: *running around in circles shaking his arm around* Ahh! Put it out! Put it out!

Gloria casts some water magic and soaks him completely.

Ghost: Whew that was close, but I said put the fire out not soak me.

Gloria: Sorry but you were moving around too much and I didn't want to miss. *giggling*

Ghost: (Yeah that's probably what I get for trying to show off.)

Gloria: Anyways glad you can use fire but now you have to focus on controlling it.

Visualize the shape and form of the spell. If you only think about the element and not its properties the same incident will happen.

Ghost: Think about shape and form, got it!

Ghost closes his eyes and tries to recast the same spell. This time, not only thinking about the element but also its properties. He extends his arm once more and shouts out "fireball"! A ball of flame appeared in his hand.

Gloria: So far so good. Now try tossing your fireball in the target over there. *pointing at a target dummy*

Ghost: Sounds easy enough.

Just as Ghost is about to throw his fireball it bursts out his hands and disappears into the air.

Ghost: Wait, what? *looking at his hand* Where did my fireball go?

Gloria: Your focus changed from the fireball to the target. You have to stay

completely focused on your fireball spell while also keeping an eye on your target.

Ghost: That sounds hard, but I will try again.

Ghost again was able to summon the fireball but unfortunately, upon tossing it, the spell dissolved in the air. He tried again, again, and again but still to no luck. He was getting frustrated at this training and at himself. How could he impress Gloria when he couldn't even execute a simple spell.

Gloria: Uh, Ghost I think we should take a break.

Ghost: *hands on his knees, panting* No! I have to keep trying.

Gloria: I appreciate your determination but you are low on mana. That is why you feel exhausted. You spent almost all your mana, please take a break.

Ghost: Fine Gloria.*with a sigh of failure.*

Gloria: Here take this. *offering him a water bottle*

Ghost: Thanks.

Gloria: Don't push yourself too hard, magic isn't for everyone so just take it easy. Running out of mana is also dangerous, it can result in death. Not everyone has the same amount of mana so please, Ghost, take it slow.

What was this feeling? Ghost sensed a feeling of pity coming from Gloria. Almost as if she looked down at him. "I bet she thinks I'm hopeless" Ghost thought.

Ghost: Okay, I'm ready. *getting up to continue training.*

Gloria: But-

Ghost stood there and tried to cast the spell again. However this time it was different, he didn't think of the element or its properties. All that was in his mind was how Gloria looked down at him. A sense of despair and self-disappointment took over. Why did he feel so weak, why couldn't he get a simple spell like this right? Just then, before closing his eyes the three fireballs started to spin once more. He extended both of his arms and shouted "fireball"! Then he opened his eyes, what once was a soft brown now were a dark red, and two fireballs appeared. Ghost had copied what Edgar did yesterday when they were dueling.

Gloria: *shocked* Wow!

Ghost then threw both fireballs and hit the target dummy. He made it look so easy after only practicing a couple of hours.

Gloria: Ghost you did great! How did you-

Gloria sees that Ghost has a sad look on his face. Almost like he wanted to cry. She also noticed that his eyes had changed color.

Ghost: How did I do what? *turning to look at her*

He blinks and his eyes go back to being the soft brown they originally were.

Gloria: Did your ey- *she stops herself* I mean you did great! I knew you could do it.

Let's report back to the commander and tell her about your progress.

Ghost: Sounds good! *with a smile*

After what Gloria saw, she didn't know if the smile displayed on Ghost's face was real or forced. It was like he was someone else, she decided to keep it to herself at the moment. They both leave to the cafeteria to eat some lunch. At the same table, there was everyone else from the morning as well the commander. Everyone is eating some type of sandwich since that was today's lunch menu.

Commander: Hey it's the rookie! I heard about your progress in training, not too bad. I have high hopes for you so keep up the good work!

Ghost: Yea thanks, I've been trying my best. *as he took a bite from his sandwich*

Commander: Well since you are doing so well it looks like you and Edgar will have another duel at the end of the month to check on your progress.

Edgar: Yeah and this time I won't go easy on you! * punching his right hand into his left*

Ghost: *with his mouth full of food* sur- whatev- you say.

That made Edgar's blood rush, he had felt insulted. At that moment all he could think about is punching Ghost in the face but the commander gave him a look. A serious look that made him understand that it wasn't the time or place for such action. "Please excuse me," says Edgar as he gets up and walks away with his plate.

Commander: So anyways, *trying to clear up the tension in the table* Ghost you seem to be a big eater huh?

Ghost: *as he was about to take another bite of the 5th sandwich he stops* I'm sorry am I eating too much? I'll stop.

Commander: No it's fine, eat till your heart's content. *with a smile*

Ghost: Yea thanks. *putting his head down* well, to be honest with you guys, I can't remember when was the last time I had a proper meal. So I've been starving since yesterday.

Brittany: Here, you can have a bite of my sandwich. *offering her sandwich*

Ghost: Oh no thanks, I think I had enough.

Brittany: Fine, if you won't take it I guess I'll just feed it to you. A ver di (Let's see, say) "ahh", *as she airplanes the food into his mouth*

Gloria: Wait, *stands up from her seat* that's not fair! How come you get to feed him?

Here Ghost, *offering a bite of her sandwich* you can have some of my food too!

Gloria and Brittany continue to feed Ghost almost as if it were a competition on who could feed him the most.

Brittany: Here one more bite.

Gloria: Don't take her bite. Take mine!

Mayu had already finished her food so she didn't have anything to offer. But if she did have the food she would still hesitate to join them.

Ghost: Guys- wait! *trying to breathe* I can't eat that fast!

Ghost proceeds to blackout. In his last thoughts he wonders, "Is this really how I go out? Killed by damn sandwiches, great."

Commander: *faint in the background* Quick! Get me a medic!

From the dark comes a beam of light, at the center of the light there was someone, a girl. She looked familiar but Ghost couldn't recognize her. "This isn't your time to go," she says in a warm tone. "You have much more to do in this life" She had the voice of an angel. Maybe it was his guardian angel he thought. "Who are you?" he asked but no answer. He tried approaching her but suddenly was getting pulled back into darkness, it was like he was falling when suddenly he opens his eyes and is back in bed.

Ghost: W-what happened? I thought I was dead.

Commander: *standing next to the bed* Well you almost did, luckily we got you just in time. Those girls really overfed you.

Ghost: Right, the damn sandwiches!

Commander: *gets up* well I'm glad everything is okay. Keep resting, today your training was cut short so tomorrow you will have to work twice as hard.

Ghost: *in a tired voice* Ugh yeah sure whatever.

Commander: Goodnight Ghost *as she steps out of the room*

Ghost was too focused on the girl he saw in his blackout to answer back. Who was she? Did he know her in his past life? As he kept thinking about these questions his eyes slowly shut. For some reason, he felt more tired than yesterday. Was it the training? The food? The girls? The sandwiches?! Who knows, all he knew is that he wanted to go back to sleep. He slips into a deep slumber once again.