Attachments

Ren looked at Lorien's hand that held his dragging him along, the old Ren had dealt with a lot of things in his life... Betrayal, death and then him, rebirth and he was sure that if he could recall the memories of his own life then it'd probably be the same.

He just had that hunch.

He knew that even if he tried to ignore them, the twins, Lyra and Cale along with Lorien they would just adjust and then find new ways to be persistent with him, and he was happy about that, but he wasn't planning on ignoring them.

He thought of Ren and wondered if this is the type of life he wanted to live?

It probably was, because he himself liked the fact that he now had.... friends?

All through his inner musing, Lyra and Lorien had already had multiple banters.

He felt someone nudge him and he turned to look at Lyra who was looking at him with some kind of light in her eyes. "You don't talk much do you?"

"You do enough talking for the both of us already, why do I need to talk?" Ren replied, his eyes tone flat.

Gasping dramatically, Lyra spoke, "Is that a compliment? It feels like a compliment."

Cale nodded. "I think so too."

"It wasn't" Ren said.

"Sure, sure," Lyra chirped, unfazed.

Cale nudged his sister. "See? He's warming up to us."

Ren's eye twitched. "I'm really not."

"Lying is bad Ren." Lyra said in a sing-song voice.

"I'm merely resigning myself to my fate." 

"Same thing." Cale said.

Lorien, who had been the observer the whole time finally spoke up, "Honestly it's funny how much you're protesting, yet I can feel your heartbeat race, and look your ear's red."

Ren shot him a dull look. "No one invited you in this conversation." 

Lorien shrugged, his man-bun loosening letting his hair drop to his shoulder as he walked. "I don't need invitations; I go where I want."

"And yet you needed an invitation to be let into the academy." Lyra muttered.

"Huh, what did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Ren, you're good right? Why is your whole face red?" Cale asked, obviously teasing him.

"Oh my he's blushing.... ah I wish I had my phone on me." Lyra added in.

Ren feeling the need to salvage his reputation spoke, "I'm not blushing, I'm simply tired from walking, and mind you it's the heat that's making my face red."

"Sure." Lorien said.

Ren exhaled, debated whether throwing them all into a training pit with monsters would be considered attempted murder.

He was about to speak when the academy's announcement system came to life.

_"All first-year combat students report to the training grounds. A practical combat exercise will begin shortly."_

Lyra clapped her hands together. "Oh. exciting!"

Cale stretched. "I guess it's finally time to see what you can do, Ren."

Rem smirked. "You probably won't be able to keep up."

Cale grinned. "We'll see."

Lorien smacked the top of Cale's head, "what we'll see?" Boy, need I remind you you're a guide and you can't go toe to toe with an Esper of higher class?"

Cale was always this way, always wanting to fight espers, which was a good thing because now he had high combat abilities, if you fought against an esper of a lower class he'd win. 

The twin's dad had asked Lorien to keep Cale in check, for fear of him fighting someone above his level in his moment of his battle-craziness.

"What if Ren is the same class as the three of us?" Cale asked pouting his lips, his battle-crazed eyes finally going back to the meek and pure look he sported.

"You haven't seen him fight, have you?" Lorien asked.

"No."

"Well, you'll see him during combat training then." Lorien said.

Ren who was quiet was having a conversation with his system.

"So, Lyra and Lorien are class A espers while Cale is a class A guide."

[Right.]

"What about me?"

[Host is both a guide and an esper. Host has unlocked all physic abilities for espers, guides won't be able to assist you, so I have made sure there'll be no consequences for the use of your abilities, so in the eyes of humans, you're both.]

"That's possible?"

[Yes. But only to you.]

It sounded strange to Ren, but he didn't put much thought into it instead he asked, "What class am I?"

[Host can be classified as class S+]

Oh.

They soon arrived at the training grounds, where dozens of students had already gathered. The space was vast, designed for large-scale battles and practical exercises but was different from where they had their introductory evaluation. High barriers surrounded the area, ensuring that whatever training took place wouldn't spill into the rest of the academy.

An instructor stood in the center, waiting for silence before speaking. "Today's exercise will test your ability to work as a team in real combat situations. Monsters have been placed within the simulation field, all within your level and you will be required to eliminate them. The more you take down, the higher your evaluation. Lastly, I'm Professor Philips, your combat Professor."

Murmurs spread through the students. A combat test so soon? Most of them weren't even prepared for this, some were even recovering from the evaluation they had the previous day.

The instructor continued, "I know you all have formed teams already, and luckily that won't be changed, however you need a minimum of five to seven members for your team to be completed however that will be dealt with after the combat training."

"I'll now assign team numbers for easier identification, Florence...." The instructor called out student names and assigned them their team numbers.

"Lyra Rosenthal, Cale Rosenthal, Lorien Hale, Aaron Mordaine, Team three."

Lyra beamed. "Perfect."

Cale grinned. "I know right! We're so in sync with the universe."

Lorien gave him a disgusted face before looking at Ren with a teasing look, "It's fate, isn't it?"

Ren faked a sigh. "Or maybe I'm cursed."

"Eh eithers ways, we're tied together." Lyra said.

The instructor's voice cut through their conversation. "Enter the simulation field. Your time starts now."

As the barriers activated, Ren stepped forward along with the others.

This was going to be fun.