On To The Next Phase

Though the meeting was't officially paused, the officers and board members began murmuring amongst themselves.

Kyle stood at the far end of the hall with Dorian, since they were not permitted to leave. Malren and William faced each other, still talking about Dorian, while Aurora was busy scribbling on some files.

Surprisingly, since he had arrived, that was the first time he had actually seen her look serious. It was quite impressive.

The other officers, some of them looked younger than he had imagined, considering the fact that the officers were Cadets that had been promoted, or something along that line.

Still, It couldn't change the fact that none of them gave off energy as intimidating as the one coming from the younger cadets and the board members.

Not that they were exactly Intimidating, just enough to feel the annoying pressure in his mind.

'I'm exhausted,' Dorian thought, shifting his gaze from everyone to the ceiling at the center of the hall. It was then he noticed the security cameras—all pointed at the elevated platform.

There weren't any other cameras facing elsewhere, and that relieved him a lot.

"I can tell you're uncomfortable with the presence and the feeling of being watched."

Dorian glanced at Kyle with a curved brow. Kyle didn't bother to look at him; he just smiled, still looking ahead at the others.

Dorian simply shrugged. "Even if I'm not, there's nothing I could do."

A soft chuckle escaped Kyle's lips. He didn't say anything afterward, and neither did Dorian. Their attention remained on the others, busy talking and doing whatever it was they assumed had to do with Dorian.

'Would be definitely irresponsible if they were just talking randomly,' he thought, letting a tiny snicker escape his lips.

Then suddenly, his mind drifted back to his battle with that wolf beast. He slowly closed his eyes, letting the scene replay in his head.

If there was anything he could pick from that fight, it was that—

'That's not a Rift beast.'

If he was putting all the facts together, one of them was the horns and its attack patterns. It attacked like a bull, then proceeded to use its claws, meaning there was a possibility the beast could have stood on its hind legs once it noticed he was starting to become annoying, but it didn't.

It had yellow eyes, another thing Rift beasts rarely had unless they were infected. Their eyes were either red, blue, purple, white, or black, and Each color was found in a rift, no matter the size.

"Dorian..."

Aside from that, if the beast was actually a Rift beast, it would have escaped from the cage, because it wasn't even that strong.

The cages used to contain Rift beasts, despite their sizes, were usually massive and incredibly heavy. He knew that because the roof of the cage sank when he stood on it, and the bars were not as thick as what he saw back at the other facility.

The most annoying part was how the beast didn't try to bite him, it was hell-bent on trying to kill him with its horns.

"Dorian…"

Dorian's head dropped, his gaze moving to his leg, yet he didn't bother to acknowledge it, or the voice. What mattered the most was the beast.

'The core.' He jolted in his spot at the realization.

'That thing's core was oddly easy to access. What happened to hiding their core deep within their hearts?'

His eyes slowly widened.

'Similar reactions to a normal earth bull, and a few attack patterns of a Rift beast…'

'...It can't possibly be, that's nearly impossible to pull off, well not yet, but why?'

A hand touched his shoulder, instantly pulling him out of his mind and back into the real world. Dorian looked at Kyle, expecting an answer for his interference, but Kyle just pointed forward.

Dorian reluctantly turned to the elevated platform to see everyone looking at him strangely. His frown deepened almost immediately, his curiosity and confusion quickly replaced with annoyance.

"Is anything the matter?"

Aurora shook her head gently. "Not exactly. We finished discussing and we've come to a conclusion."

"Okay?"

"Would you like to work on or off-field?"

"On-field."

"Will you stay here or come from home?"

"I'll come from home."

Aurora nodded, she lowered her gaze and began scribbling more notes. The scratching of pen on paper filled the hall, no matter how tiny it sounded.

"Would you like a custom-made weapon, or do you choose to fight with your summons?"

Dorian tilted his head. "Custom-made weapon?"

"Yes. All the cadets are granted unlimited access to weapons that match their fighting styles. Kyle over there uses gauntlets and a war hammer."

He slowly turned to look at Kyle, who raised a hand to the back of his head, laughing nervously.

'Not bad.'

"So what do you want? You can take your time to choose "

Dorian hesitated, It's true he hadn't thought of using weapons to fight the Rift beasts before. The first time he faced one, his sword broke before it could even tear through the beast's body, and that was two years ago. 

The last time he tried using a weapon, it was a small dagger, and he only blinded the beast.

Except for those times, he hadn't thought of it, or if his brief battle with the beast could be counted then, the thorns were better weapons.

But then, how could they create stuff like that for him to use without having to use blood?

"Uhm," Dorian began after thinking for a moment, "is it possible to have a weapon that I can use like it's blood?"

"Sorry?"

Doctor William then spoke up. "You want something that can act like those summons, but artificially made, correct?"

Dorian nodded, and a low sigh left Aurora's lips. "You should have said so, but I don't think that's possible, because all we have from the beasts is bones, metal, armor, and blood."

Dorian clapped his hands together, exclaiming loudly, "That works! But I don't know what to choose ye—"

"Twin swords," Kyle cut him off before he could finish, and this got everyone turning to look at him.

He raised a brow, annoyance spreading across his features at the look they gave him.

Then he gestured at Dorian, who was also staring.

"Look at him," he moved his hands up and down. "We watched his fight with that thing, he uses thorns and a sword. It's only right that he's a blade user."

Aurora smiled as she jotted down the last of her notes. "Alright then. Twin swords it is, for now. We'll draft the specs and work with MBW to get a prototype and blueprints. You'll have a week to test it. After that, you let us know what stays and what goes."

Dorian didn't respond immediately. He gave Kyle a side glance, unsure whether to be irritated or impressed. In truth, the suggestion wasn't half bad.

He hadn't even thought of it. He was about to consider axes and chains for long-range attacks, but then, he was more of a close-range attacker.

Because as his father always said, the closer the foe, the sweeter the thrill and better the damage caused.

"Fine," he muttered. "But I want to be involved in the design."

"Naturally," Aurora replied, without looking up. "Now, that'll be all. Kyle, please escort Zero to his ward. Uniforms, badges, and all that boring stuff. Then you all are free to head home for the day."

"Yes, ma'am," Kyle said, giving a small nod before turning to Dorian. "Let's get going."

Dorian didn't bow this time. He simply gave the board a subtle nod and turned, following Kyle down the central path that led to the large metallic double doors.

'Now I have to find out if that beast was a Rift beast that's just acting weird, or something else entirely.'