Jade Phoenix

Instead of interrupting her narration by asking, I simply listen to what she had to tell me about the Phoenix gem.

" Vares is also known as the land where Devine beings originated. The Jade Phoenix gem was an instrument to prevent our empire from collapsing and getting exposed to danger. It serves as a shield from Dark domination and creates a stable state for our Empire. Had we known it's a crucial benefit, we would've defended it with all our might from being destroyed. "

" Destroyed? I thought you said it was located in the land of Veres or Vares? " I couldn't help but ask this time cause the whole situation needs more than a mere narration.

" Ooh, I forgot to tell you! The Jade Phoenix Gem was dispersed into five pieces during the war of Dominance. out of the five, only two of them are missing. each piece is activated with the help of the other. We currently have three of them in the tower of Zeal where we gather the parts to activate them. Your duty as Hisashi told us is to restore the 2 lost gem portions "

" w-what? but you said the Jade Phoenix gem, not gem parts !? " I was stunned to hear her remarks. My mission is getting bigger as time passes, but if only it hadn't.

Yui kept informing me about the Jade Phoenix Gem. I was slowly comprehending her statements, preventing myself from a mental breakdown.

" But Yui, if the location of Jade Phoenix Gem is known, why can't other beings restore it? " I had to interrupt her again to quench my thirst for curiosity.

" They've tried, but the problem is...only Human beings can sense its presence. No matter how much information we have, we can't point out the exact whereabouts of the Gem besides, even if we did only a unique force of humans allows it to get extracted " She clarified everything by giving reasons.

As Yui finished her long monologue we agreed on walking back to the Cabin.

I sighed, looking towards the night sky, once which displayed a marvelous view, with a pale crescent moon shining like a silvery claw.

* chirp--chirp *

The deep silence of the night was interrupted by the quintessential sound of a cricket. The biting night breeze made my body numb, forcing me to retract my hand into my armpits which were once exposed to the chilly air.

" brrr ! " wobbling as I walk, I wrapped myself tightly with my hands and wavered it to create heat by friction.

We finally reached our cabin where I was greeted by a warm and cozy atmosphere. I entered, leaving behind my shoes outside.

Yui returned to her room. I slowly walked towards my room, addressing faint footsteps. I closed the door behind me once I set foot in my room and lay on my bed. I let my body sag and muscles loose. I covered my entire body lifting my blanket upwards with all the energy I have.

Falling asleep was one of the pleasant moments for me. There in my cozy blankets, snug and safe, letting the world of dreams come to me in its dancing way.

The occasional " hoots " of owl-like birds gave me a hard time sleeping, instead, I looked through the window, gazing at the remote pinprick stars which stretched to infinity.

The fascinating pattern of the fixated night glitters brought back memories from home. Mom used to take me to star gazing now and then so I could see constellations of different patterns...

Not so long after I started my flashback, My vision was getting blurred, feeling drowsy and sleepy. A new image was painted inside my head as I closed my eyes, is it a dream?

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* Groan *

I groaned pulling away my blanket from the top of my head. I then stretched and yawned letting out a deep sigh --- " I don't want to train today " was what I had in mind, but it seems like I can't do as I please.

It has been a total of 10 days since I arrived at the training center. We spent the past week training hard like cattles on the field, strenuous exercises wore us out to a shadow and run us ragged.

My Cabin mates however are the ones whom I'm happy to have on days like this. Kanji never seizes to lift our mood and laugh our hearts out. Yui keeps informing me about important things, while Kiyoshi handled their everlasting hyper enthusiasm of Kanji by knocking him out a few dozen times.

On the other hand, Akio that pesky bastard has been a complete jerk all week long. He kept snitching on me to Hisashi like a child and made my life twice as hard. If only Hisashi wasn't in control, I would've gotten into a fight with him.

" Shizuko ! you're late !! " after interrupting my thoughts, my door was almost bombarded by Hisashi's violent knock. it hasn't been a minute since I woke up, but I'm already getting nagged to arrive early -- oh! how much I missed home.

I changed my clothes and exited our cabin. We arrived very early, so early that none of the students in my class have arrived.

" what's going on? "

" did you forget your reward yesterday ~"Hisashi who dragged me unwillingly from the comfort of my bed smirked as he replied in a sarcastic tone.

" Memorize all these documents till the weekends " after ordering me to stretch my arms, he lent a heavy pile of documents onto my hands.

" I'll be back ! " he snorted as he left my sight.

I started flipping the documents one at a time, trying my best to give my full attention to memorizing them, however, my hardship was suddenly eased when I glanced upwards.

A bench in front of our training area was occupied by the red-haired guy from yesterday. His hand was leaning on the arm rail and his tightly sealed eyes were coated by his long lashes. why is he sleeping here?

" Since he's asleep....would it be wrong if I take s a closer look at him? " I asked myself, and of course since I'm the one to answer I found no fault.

I tiptoe my way towards the bench refraining from uttering any sound and bent forwards to take a closer look.

" Wow .... so pretty " my eyes sparked as I glanced at his features, his appearance was just fully spectacular. I can now rest assured that this is a surreal world.

" what are you doing ? " his eyes became half squinted, making me flinch as our eyes met.

I leaped backward in surprise as realization banged me in the head. I quickly turned around averting my gaze in embarrassment.

" Oi ! where are you going, you haven't answered my question yet " his snarl unveiled the husky voice of his, hoarse and low-pitched with a hint of inadvertent clarity.

I froze in my spot, not knowing what to reply. I can't possibly say that " I was subjugated and allured by your dazzling beauty that I wanted to come close and make sure what I saw was real " especially when he was asleep !!

" Can't you speak or something ? " enraged by my long silence he stood up from his seat and grabbed me by the collar as I was walking away.

He then twisted me around to face him " It's very weird to stare at people when they are as....." his voice slowly faded away, eyeing me with surprise.

" Y-You .... are you a human ? " his cold tone was now warm and his anger quickly pacified.

" me! I... y-yes " I replied in a trembling voice mixed with that of hesitation.

Once I had reviled my identity, the red-haired guy started introducing himself.

" I'm Hinoji from Cabin F1, nice to meet you.... ?"

" it's Shizuko, I'm also from a cabin somewhere " I giggled, acting all girly and shy, wait a minute.....what the heck !? I'm flirting.

Before I could confirm my abnormal act, two hands firmly grabbed my waist from behind and pulled me away from Hinoji.