Just the Beginning!

AS Ryan walked into Stephanie's office, she looked as cheery as she possibly could, "Ryan, come in."

Ryan sat on one chair and Jasmine sat in the other, "This brings back memories." Ryan said

"Ryan," Stephanie said, without any evidence that she acknowledged his comment, "Jasmine briefed me on what happened during your… misadventure. And despite the fact that it was dangerous and you almost died multiple times, I'm impressed."

"Are you?" Ryan said excitedly, he imagined this daring caper had impressed her a great deal, even enough for special consideration to join the Rangers.

"Yes, I'll be keeping my eye on you." Stephanie said,

Ryan looked at her, "Is… is that it?"

"That is all." Stephanie said, "You may go."

"Alright." Ryan said as he got up, slightly disappointed with the results.

Stephanie observed him as he left, concern in her eyes. She had lost one person to secure that the lives she valued more, but there was no telling what other price she may have to pay.

… )]≥( …

As Ryan was going to the mess, he saw Simon with his gear all set.

"Hey buddy, you all packed?" he asked

While they were gone, Mas had submitted some of Simon's designs to a few friends of his at the Foundry and they had gotten Simon an apprenticeship to learn at the Foundry for a few months. It was a big opportunity for an aspiring artificer like Simon.

"Almost set," Simon said, "The airship's leaving in ten minutes, I can hardly wait."

"Don't go forgetting all of us little people when you become a big shot Foundry certified artificer."

"Nah man," Simon said, as they bumped fists, "I'm doing this for you little guys,"

"Well, us little guys are really happy for you." Ryan said

"So, how you holding up?" Simon asked, "since the funeral?"

"I'm taking it slow," Ryan said, "Christie was… very special to me,"

Simon raised an eyebrow, "did she know that?"

"I think she did, in the end," Ryan said, "she was too good for a guy like me anyway."

"She didn't think that," Simon said, "and she was probably smarter than the two of us combined."

"True," Ryan shrugged

"Give it time," Simon pat him on the shoulder, "it hurts a little less the more you go, eventually, you don't even notice it."

"How'd you get so wise?"

"Tragedy breeds insight," Simon said, a melancholic look on his face, before he suddenly brightens up, "anyway, I got something for you."

He hands Ryan a pair of black fingerless gloves, they seemed engraved with glyphs that shimmered in the light.

"Wow, gloves," Ryan says with lackluster, "just what I always wanted."

"It's a conduit device," Simon said, "should help you regulate your output so your casts don't backfire,"

Ryan slipped the glove onto his hands, they fit like a second skin.

"I can't wait to try it out," Ryan said more excitedly

"Just wait until I'm not around, okay?" Simon asked, "I haven't gotten a chance to properly field test it."

"Sure." Ryan said, "let me help you out with those,"

"Thanks," Simon replies as Ryan picks up one of Simon's larger suitcases.

After Simon left, Ryan went to the mess, as he entered, all chatter dimmed. He walked through the mess, with all eyes focused on him.

He walked over to a booth and sat down, a few minutes later, Noah, Helen, Kim, Elle and Maya joined him.

"Hey," Noah said, "How you holding out?"

"Yeah, you know; my roommate kissed me, then told me she loved me, the she died. It just feels weird, not having her here."

"Wait," said Helen, "Christie kissed you?"

"Yeah, it was kind of a surprise thing."

"So, do you wanna make out?" Helen asked

"Helen," Noah said, "Can't you see that he's grieving his girlfriend,"

"She wasn't my girlfriend." Ryan said guiltily.

Even now, he felt guilty that he still didn't feel the same way about her, she was his friend but nothing more. He wondered if, given time, his feelings for her would've changed, but even now, as he tried to remember her at her best, he still saw her as more of a sister than anything else.

"I think what you need now is stress relief," Helen said, "you need to get your mind off all the grief. I just so happen to know the perfect distraction,"

"Thank you for the generous offer, Helen," Ryan chuckled, "but I don't think I'm ready for that right now."

"Not that, silly," Helen smirked, "I was going to recommend you visit the pure springs, they are known to be quite relaxing,"

"Oh," Ryan said, Helen was pleased to hear a hint of disappointment in his voice, "sure I guess."

"Great," Noah said, "we can all hit the springs." 

… )]≥( …

Not far from the dormitories is a small clearing where the pure springs are located, it was a series of natural pools with recuperative properties due to the high magik energy present in the environment. Because of its beneficial effects, it was used by residents as a means of relaxation and recreation.

Ryan and the others were by the pure springs, chilling out. It wasn't just the pools of varying temperatures, but it was also the ambiance, with large stone totems around them that just seemed to calm the mind and body. They even found Jasmine there, lounging in one of the heated pools in a black and gold two-piece bikini that suited her.

Ryan whistled, "So there is more to you than shooting arrows."

She ignored his comment, just enjoying the hot water in peace.

Ryan submerged himself in his own pool, sitting cross-legged at the bottom. He liked doing this at times, focusing on his own heartbeat and the rushing of blood in his ears. It calmed him.

Then he heard a scream, when he resurfaced, he saw the barrel of a gun pointed at his face.

"Hello, Ryan." Came a girl's voice

At first he thought it was Jasmine who was there, but then he noticed Jasmine to the side.

"Andrea," Ryan asked, "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here to kill you."

"C'mon," he said, "don't tell me you're still mad about that little prank?"

"You humiliated me!" she snarled

"I can't really take all the credit for that," he said,

"Oh I know," she said, "but it's time for you to die."

She charged her gun and Ryan recognized the sigil,

"Everyone out of the water!" he yelled

Luckily, everyone managed to get out before Andrea shot it at him.

Normally, when electricity hits water, any living thing in it would be electrocuted. But normally doesn't apply to Ryan Reins. The bolt hit him and the water was electrocuted, then, all the charge was absorbed into Ryan's body.

He held up his hands and could see the sparks dance between his fingers, the energy buzzing within him, waiting. Andrea looked shocked as Ryan absorbed the lightning.

"What… are you?" Andrea asked in a combination of awe and horror as she stepped back

"How about that?" Ryan said, then, he shot it back at her. She flew several feet.

"That was awesome!" Noah said as Andrea stumbled to her feet.

Several rangers came from nowhere to detain her, but she shoved them off, "Let go of me, you incompetent hacks. I am an A-class and was sent to apprehend Ryan Reins for questioning."

"That's not what we were told." Stephanie said walked towards her, "According to the recent update, you, Andrea Westerly, have been branded a deserter and a fugitive." Stephanie showed her tablet with a black notice for Andrea on it, "Keeper Michael put this up himself."

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Andrea screamed as she was restrained, "This isn't over!" she yelled as she was taken away.

"Sorry for the disturbance kids," Stephanie said, "Carry on."

And with that she left

"Wow Ryan, I didn't know you were a lightning user." Helen said, "very impressive."

"I thought lightning wasn't a magikal nature?" Ryan asked, "But this sort of thing has been happening from time to time."

Helen explained, "Well, it's believed that lightning-based magik is an ultra-rare form only available to some elementalists who awakened the ability somehow,"

"Well I have been struck by lightning a bunch of times." Ryan said,

"This is something unique, there have only ever been a handful of magi across history that have been known to possess such a gift." Helen mused, "As if you weren't already interesting enough."

… )]≥( …

Some time later, and the division evaluation exams came again, a lot of prospective candidates had applied, hoping to contribute to the Argus and the Sanctum. Each division had its own evaluation process, and for the Ranger corps, it began with measuring the power level of their initiates, luckily most of the initiates exceeded the minimum power threshold necessary to be a ranger.

Ryan found that he was not along in the evaluation, as Noah, Kim, Elle, and Maya were also partaking.

"I wouldn't have pictured you being here," he said to Noah

"Believe me, I would much rather be with the Custodians," Noah sighed, "but my sisters strong-armed me into coming here."

"That's gotta be rough," Ryan said

"Well sucks to be them, I'll just do my best to flunk out." Noah declared

"I heard that," his sister said, not too far from them, "and remember what Helen promised she'd do if you failed?"

Noah shivered, as a look of panic flashed across his face for a brief moment,

"What did she promise?" Ryan found himself asking

"Best you not know," Noah said, "wouldn't want to scar you too."

After that, they were told to assemble in the arena, where they found several rangers waiting. These rangers were their instructor, and they put the initiates through an intense and rigorous series of exercises, designed to test them, physically, mentally and psychologically, honing their skills and abilities, as well as identifying their limits. While Ryan did exceedingly well on the physical aspects of these tests, his magikal abilities did leave a lot to be desired. He had power in spades, but lacked the finesse to control it properly, which led to him scoring low in most of those categories.

After a week of these intensive tests, they came for the final evaluation. All the Ranger corps senior officers were present for the exams, which they discovered was an extreme obstacle course that went through the forest.

"Alright," said the instructor, "this is your final test. We call this the War Path, a three mile course through the woods full of ravagers and traps. There's a special bounded field around the course that expels you if you've suffered serious injuries, but make no mistakes; if you are careless you can die before help arrives. You wont just be competing against monsters and the terrain, but against each other, the team that makes it to the end with the most members will receive special commendation. Good luck."

They were split into teams and gathered at the starting line, luckily, Ryan discovered that he had been teamed up with Noah, Kim and Maya.

As soon as the starting call went out, all hell broke loose. Some teams decided it would be better to thin out the competition and immediately attacked others. Whenever someone was struck with a bad wound, they was instantly vanish in a puff of smoke, removed from the course.

Ryan's team was a victim of this, as two other teams tried to attack them, but were able to push them back. After surviving the utter bedlam at the starting line, and ran into the woods, where they began the even more daunting task of fighting off ravagers and dodging booby traps of varying levels of severity. So far they had encountered a pitfall, knockout darts, snares and nets, swinging logs, and for some reason… a tentacle pit.

"I hate this so much," Noah complained as he stabbed a shadow wolf with a spear, "why am I even doing this?"

"Quit bitching," Maya snapped, "you're supposed to be a proud magus of the De Troy house. Act like it."

"Is it just me or are these traps a little… crazy?" Ryan noted, as a compartment opened up on the tree right next to him said, then spat some green sticky stuff on his face,

"Ah! Get it off me!" he cried

"C'mon, guys," Kim said, helping to wash his face, "We can do this."

Noah groaned, "I admire your confidence sis, but we're out numbered."

The continued like this for hours, fighting ravagers and occasionally another team, all while trying to avoid or disable whatever booby traps had been set for them. When they neared the finish line of the course, they saw that every initiate that had been expelled from the course were being treated at the finish.

"Finally," Noah cheered as they ran into the clearing that was the finish zone.

As the other successful initiates cheered and congratulated each other, Ryan suddenly looked up, seeing a giant red sigil suddenly appeared high above them all. 

Even before anything could happen, Ryan could already sense the immense electrical power being generated, ready to rain down on them. Enough lightning to kill everyone present, except him.

As the first bolts of lightning struck down, Ryan acted on impulse, throwing his hands up and calling the lightning to himself. The lighting arced, dozens of bolts now converging on Ryan. Good news; it couldn't kill him, bad news; it still hurt like hell. As that much raw power surged through him, he could feel every part of his body screaming at the same time. As the last of the lightning was absorbed into his body. his ears were buzzing and he felt bloated, pressure building within him at a volatile rate. He didn't know what would happen, be he knew he couldn't keep this in any longer.

He relented, releasing all the lightning he had just absorbed in a massive blast that felt like he was exploding. The air smelled heavily of ozone and there was a tingling beneath his skin that made his body feel raw. He dropped to his knees and promptly passed out.

… )]≥( …

The next thing Ryan knows, he's waking up again, in the medic ward, with a bandage over his hands.

"What happened?" Ryan groans, sitting up and seeing Stephanie talking to some healers.

"Ryan! Thank god you're up." Stephanie said, sighing in relief. She looked like she was about to hug him, before restraining herself, as she still has an image to maintain.

"What's going on?" he asked

"You've been out for days." Stephanie said, "There was some sort of magikal attack at the evaluation, but you absorbed it. Apparently, it was enough electrical energy to kill a kraken stone dead, and yet here you are, completely fine, relatively speaking."

Ryan smacked his lips, "Ugh, my mouth tastes like burnt power cables."

"That'll pass," Stephanie asks, "Jasmine, how are you feeling?"

"Better,"

It was only then that Ryan realized that Jasmine was in a bed next to Stephanie.

"What happened to her?"

"She was caught in the magik discharge you released," Stephanie explained,

"It's fine, really." she said, "I got too close to you when you went off, and it messed with the flow of my magik web. The healers just had me here under observation anyway, they said I should be good to go soon."

"So what's happened?" Ryan asked, "I mean where did that magik sigil come from?"

"I already have people looking into it, so don't worry about it." Stephanie said, "we have reason to believe it's linked to the same people behind the ravager assault a few months back."

"Oh, okay," Ryan said, "by the way, what happened with the evaluation?"

"The ranger corps evaluation was canceled," Stephanie replied, "you prevented the worst possible outcome, but there were still over a dozen casualties,"

"So, does that mean that there won't be any new rangers?" Ryan asked

"No," Stephanie said, "There were a few people that managed to impress the instructors during the tests, and tomorrow, these people will be welcomed into the ranger corps."

… )]≥( …

The next day, there was an open ceremony to welcome the new members into each of the divisions. Stephanie officiated the event, along with the upper echelon of the sanctum. with enough pomp and circumstance, that the new rangers were in their customary dark attire, evidently brand new, especially their sparkly badges.

After the assembly, they broke for lunch.

During lunch, Ryan sat with Noah and the gang, everyone laughing and joking as Noah showed off his shiny new ranger badge.

"How are you the only one who got in?" Maya demanded, "this is an outrage,"

"Can't you just be happy for our brother, Maya?" Helen asked

"No. He didn't even want to go to the stupid evaluation exams," she retorted, "I didn't work my butt off just to be passed over for this slacker."

"So what are you gonna do now?" Ryan asked

"Well, I'm joining the garrison." Noah said,

"The garrison?" Ryan asked, "Those guys are in charge of managing the camp defenses, right?"

"Yeah, it's the easiest assignment I can think of, I only have to man the fence." Noah said grinning

Maya punched him, "You're hopeless. The garrison is also in charge of border control, so you could be stationed at any of the zone border posts. Even the northern post, with the growing tensions with the forty-sixth."

"What growing tensions?" Ryan asked

"Ever since that attack a few weeks back, the forty-sixth has mobilized troops and equipment to their border with us, Stephanie has a few airships patrolling the border as well. Things are quiet right now, but you never know when tensions get high."

"You mean I might actually have to do something?" Noah whined as they all laughed

"Well you certainly seem qualified." Ryan said,

"You sound so down." Helen asked Ryan, "Is it because you aren't a ranger?"

"Believe me, I get it," Maya said

"No, it's not about that," he said, "I will be a ranger, sooner or later."

"Why do you even want to join the corps?" Noah asked

"Well, I found out that my dad was a ranger, and my mom too," Ryan said, thinking of that photograph in his room. The one of his parents when they were happy.

"I just feel like if I joined the corps, I could find some sort of connection to them, maybe even find out more about what happened to them."

"You mean the Reins Massacre?" Maya questioned, referring to the incident that resulted in not just the death of his parents but the complete collapse of the entire Reins House.

"Yeah," Ryan said, "Stephanie's the only known survivor, but she doesn't talk about it. So I figured this could be a way for me to look into what happened."

"I can't even imagine what it's like to have my entire house wiped out like that." Helen said, "I'm sure when the time is right, the De Troy house will be there to support you."

"Thanks," Ryan said, "I appreciate that."

"A toast then," Maya said, "to the friendship between our families."

They all cheered.

Some time later that day, Ryan walked towards the beach, he gazed at the sun as it hung low in the evening sky.

He couldn't help but wonder about what the darkness had said; 'your path is pave with the blood of your allies, your future founded upon their graves. We will meet again'.

"Bring it on" he said, "Next time we meet, only one of us is going to survive."

… )]≥( …

Elsewhere, Edison Sutten, A-class senior ranger of the seventy-ninth sanctum laid defeated in the middle of a war zone that had –up to a few moments ago— once been a busy market. The other members of the team that were with him now lay dead around him and standing victorious are five warriors. Each of them is dressed in combat armor; a gray vest with black linings over their clothes with gauntlets, shin guards and complete with the white monster masks.

"Hmm," says the woman with a mask that covers the top half of her face as she licks her lips, "That battle was actually worthy of my skill, and the metal-type brat was fun to toy with too."

The guy with a full mask with shark teeth speaks up, "You almost killed him, Seraz, but in any case, the pure blood Sutten is now in our hands."

"So, who's next on your list, Ramsey?" asks another woman with an owl monster mask, "He can't be the last of them."

"You're right, it has recently come to light that another has resurfaced. Next is the pure blood Reins."

"And what's his secret technique?" asked a guy in a hockey mask.

"That's what I'm dying to find out." Ramsey said, "Seraz, Mika, Ronan and Kraw, move out, before the 99th picks up our trail."

"I'm looking forward to meeting this Reins kid, I hope he'll be fun to play with." Seraz says as she drags Edison behind her as she walks.