The boy in the mask

"And who might you be?" Luck asked the masked boy, clearly unamused. They were surrounded by multiple clan heads, no one was bold enough to pull anything.

He turned to stare at Luck.

"Ah, that's not the usual response. Aren't you supposed to be a little more, hmm scared?"

The boy watched amused as Luck reached for his bag and procured a chip.

"Not really, no."

Then boy smiled and then suddenly the tone of his voice completely changed.

"Well, that's rather unfortunate. I was hoping to scare you at least."

The voice was all too familiar.

"Elder? What are you doing here? And how many masks do you have and why is your hair black?"

He greedily covered the chips to prevent Luck from reaching into the bag again.

"Which of those questions should I answer first… I'm here for the party of course and I have only one mask. Did you really think my hair was actually white?"

Luck had thought of the possibility of Elder modifying his hair to make it more difficult to spot him in public but also felt it was over the top.

'That completely rules out trying to identify him by the colour of his hair.'

"Well have fun."

Luck still had people waiting for him back at their table so he decided to end their conversation.

He grabbed the tray and was about to leave when Elder picked up the cola from the tray tossing it from hand to hand. Luck stared at him unamused.

"Luck."

He stopped to listen.

"Yes?"

"What day is today?"

"It's a Friday."

"And what is happening today?"

Luck gave him a confused stare.

"Today is the crux of the meeting of clans, the final event."

"Alright, thank you."

"You're welcome I guess… Now can I have my drink back?"

He dropped the drink back on the tray and went back to fiddling with the snacks on the table.

'That was weird.'

Shortly after, Luck was back on their table but when he looked back Elder was gone.

"Took you long enough." Jane said as she picked her apple juice from the tray.

Sarah took a large gulp from the bottle of yoghurt. "Thank you!"

Chari went to work on the crackers while Luck unwrapped his cupcake.

'What was that question all about?'

Luck wondered as he savored his snack. He popped open his soda but as soon as the can touched his lips.

'The hell? Why is it so cold?'

The drink was so cold that it was already beginning to slowly freeze, it was at that moment that it dawned on him.

It was the last day of the meeting of clans which meant it was his last day of training with Elder!

His plan was originally to leave the party early but the dance made him completely forget.

He quickly finished up his cupcake and left the unfinished drink on the table.

"I guess it's about time I went to bed." Luck said as he rose to his feet.

Sarah dropped her bottle of yogurt that was now empty.

"Really? There are still other activities you know."

"I'm already rather spent."

Sarah frowned at his response.

"I'll escort you to your room then."

After what happened with Diana, Luck knew that Sarah's offer was one that he could not refuse.

She got to her feet and turned to Chari.

"What about you Chari?"

"I'm good."

"Alright, let's go then."

***

After dropping Luck off Sarah returned to the party while Luck secretly changed from his clothes into a black sweatshirt with joggers and ran to the forest.

It wasn't long before he was back in his familiar spot.

The forest was very quiet, the sound of flowing water from the small river was the only thing that could be heard in the area.

Luck looked around the area but there was no sign of Elder anywhere, he was about 3 hours later than usual.

'Is he still at the party?'

Luck loathed the thought of not completing his training. Fighting with Elder and Ella had made something painfully clear… he could not rely on his old training if he wanted to survive in this world.

Yes, he could still fight but his skills were lacking by much and with no teacher, trying to learn a whole new fighting style was going to take far more time than if he had one. Currently he already had to rely on books to supplement his lack of a teacher.

Plus Staggered dance… if the technique was as good as it sounded it was definitely something he needed in his arsenal. He obviously knew that he couldn't learn how a new fighting style or even learn staggered dance in just one night alone.

"I just need to see it a little at least."

Than a familiar voice came from above him.

"And here I was thinking you didn't get my hint."

"Who do you think I am? Of course I figured out what you meant the moment you said it!"

A smile spread across Luck's face, he turned around to see the all too familiar wooden mask that covered the entirety of his face.

He was no longer in the clothes Luck saw at the party.

This time he was wearing a simple white shirt and black trousers and his hair… it was stark red, an entirely new colour.

'So he changed his color again.'

The way he switched hair colours so fast remained a mystery to luck.

Elder bent down to stretch his legs and then he stretched his hands above his head as he let out a yawn.

Luck stretched his arms as well as he waited for Elder to finish.

"So when are we learning the so-called staggered dance?"

Elder stood up, finally done with his stretching.

"Do you have the requirements for that class?"

Luck closed his eyes as he felt the flow of psyia within his body. He took a deep breath as he began to slowly move it towards his hands, once the psyia concentrated in his hands he began to extend it slowly, not too fast that it would disperse and not too slowly either.

Just like whistling.

The pysia then began to curl and curl until a glowing blue ball of psyia was circling around his palm.

"Like I said, who do you think I am?"

Elder closely observed the psyia.

"Slightly unstable but a pass nonetheless. Get ready, this is going to be one long night."