Revenge pact

The next day, 10AM

Dorm Alpha, public training gymnasium.

Inside a huge gymnasium crowded by dozens of sweaty teenagers, Adonis and Maxwell occupied a large mat.

"Magic?" Holding a large wooden hammer over his shoulder, Maxwell smiled at his opponent.

"No, that's going to cause too much damage." Adonis who tightly gripped a wooden gladius shook his head.

"Fair, but Aura is okay?"

"Yep! You ready?" Adonis grinned.

"Of course!"

DING DING

Prompted by the magic item alarm, the two dashed forward.

THUD

The two wooden weapons collided, signifying the beginning of their friendly spar.

"Let's get stronger Donny!"

Initiating the first attack, Maxwell swung his hammer at the boy's head horizontally.

Responding almost instantly, Adonis took a brisk step backwards to avoid the hammer's devastating force.

WHOOOSHH

Perfectly predicting Adonis's movements, Maxwell coated his weapon in a shroud of Aura and thrust it forward.

DUMMM

'He's gotten better.' Adonis smirked and brought his aura coated sword toward his chest, a succesful attempt at preventing the hammer from hitting anything vital.

DUMMM

BAM

"My turn." Taking the iniative this time around, Adonis dashed toward his assailant.

Unwilling to let his friend get in too close, Maxwell heaved his hammer downward.

WHOOSH

'Fast.' Flabbergasted by Maxwell's improvement, Adonis took swerved out of the hammer's path

SLAM

The huge hammer collided with the mat beneath, causing the entire gymnasium to shudder beaneath the first-year's strength.

Adonis proceeded to launch his first attack since the beginning of the fight, a sharp downward diagonal slash towards Maxwell's head.

WHOOSH

"You'll have to do better than that Donny!" Maxwell manuevared his head out of the way, efficiently avoiding any damage.

"Don't get too cocky, I'm not done yet." Adonis warned.

The silver-eyed youth transitioned out of the slash and introduced Maxwell to his left leg.

Showing remarkable reaction speed, Maxwell lifted his arms to block Adonis's kick.

THUD

The force Maxwell was welcomed with was much greater than anticipated, causing his own arms to hit his face.

"Argh!"

'The gap in strength is too much!' His eyes slightly watering from the impact, Maxwell noticed his sparring partner had disappeared.

'Where'd he go?! I closed my eyes for just a second!'

'Behind me? No, that's too obvious.'

'To the side? No I'd be able to see him from my peripheral vision.'

'Above?! No, I would've atleast felt the breeze of him rising. '

'Where'd he go! Think Max, Think!'

***

Ten years ago.

City of Netes - Facere Kingdom, Caelum Empire.

'Netes, the city without rest' truly lived up to its reputation, every corner of the city was occupied by a merchant, blacksmith or alchemist hustling to get their services or goods noticed.

Amongst this endless sea of (hard workers) stood the Aster's Arms store, a relatively huge building belonging to the generational family business.

CLANG CLANG

The sound of metal work could be heard escaping the store's basement, piercing the ears of those who entered the store.

The strong iron aroma permeated the customer's and worker's noses, adding to the pure atmosphere.

"Like this?" Dressed in brown overalls smudged in soot and iron fillings, a small child with black hair dipped a bright red rod of iron into a small pool of water.

"Yes Max, just keep it there for a bit longer." A large man wearing a white bandanna studied the child's movements, managing a large prideful smile.

"How long should I keep it there father?" A five year-old Maxwell asked.

"I don't know." The boy's father shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Maxwell panicked, the iron rod shaking in his grasp.

"Use your intuition..." The man commanded.

***

Present day

'Intuition? Look where that got you father...' Maxwell sighed.

"Below." Acting as a chilling prelude to his sneak attack, Adonis announced the direction of his assault.

"Huh?!" Maxwell widened his eyes as he looked down, stunned by the turn of events.

'How'd I miss that!?'

'What's wrong with him?' Brushing off his concern, the crouched Adonis sent his left leg toward his advesary's legs.

BAM

Although his sweep had sent his advesary falling to ground, Adonis refused to relent in his assault.

The purple-haired first-year followed up with swift up kick toward Maxwell's jaw...

WHOOSH

Regaining his composure, Maxwell dropped his hammer and moved out of the attack's way.

'His movements are fast and calculated, but they're missing something.' Adonis analyzed.

"I hope you didn't think that was enough to beat me." Maxwell smiled.

"I'd be disappointed if it was." Adonis chuckled...

***

At the same time.

Jupiter's residence- Minerva Kingdom, Caelum Empire.

"What is it this time?"

"We've been having a lot more meetings lately."

"Is it good or bad news?"

Irritated by the kings' incessant speaking, Emperor Jupiter raised his right hand.

DUMMMM

Obediently following their Emperor's instructions, every single king shuddered and instantly shut their mouths.

"Apologies Emperor." They said instantaneously, even those who hadn't even said a word apologized, they didn't dare to offend the emperor.

"Good morning." Emperor Jupiter opened his sharp blue eyes and gazed upon the kings before him.

'He seems to be in a good mood.' King Minerva observed.

'He actually greeted us this time.' King Mars, a man with short burgandy hair smiled warmly.

"Good morning Lord." The six kings replied in unison.

"The subject of today's meeting it is to simply inform you, it is time." Emperor Jupiter continued, his deep voice shaking the meeting room.

"Time? For what?" King Apollo raised his eyebrow.

"You don't mean..." King Juventas shuddered.

"It's about damn time." King Vulcan grinned.

"After fifteen years of weakness, it is time for us to retrieve our Imperial Regalia... My lightning bolt." Emperor Jupiter announced.

"My Lord, is the risk worth it?" King Minerva asked, his concern born out of a logical standpoint rather than an emotional response.

"The lightning bolt is my family's property... I won't let them have it." The emperor said sternly.

"Even if it means war?" King Juventas asked.

"It's about time this cold war ended." King Vulcan could barely contain his excitement, the thought of how much his kingdom's economy would grow during this war brought a smile to his aged face.

"Going from a cold war to a full on war isn't any better. " King Juventas countered.

"Don't be such a coward! It's about time we put those filthy elves in their place!" King Apollo cackled.

"Do you ever think before you speak?" King Mars glanced at King Apollo.

"Maybe if you were in your head less and were a man of action you'd be much stronger!" King Apollo looked at King Mars.

"Your taunts mean nothing." King Mars shrugged.

"How are we to steal back the lightning bolt, Lord?" Elder Hercule, the head of the Hero magic knights academy spoke up.

"Canus." Emperor Jupiter simply glanced at the wisest man in the empire.

"Well, to reduce the odds of an all out war. We'd have to send a small and extremely strong squad to retrieve it."

"Why small?" King Apollo asked.

"So that the spies in the empire don't notice their absence or atleast don't think of it as too suspicious." King Minerva replied.

"The squad would have to comprise of soldiers who are skilled at espionage and not necessary to the day to day functioning of the military."

"That greatly filters out most candidates." Elder Hercules.said.

"It does, but there are people who meet these requirements..." King Minerva thought.

"Who?" King Mars tilted his eyebrow.

"Your son. Vice commander Scipio Mars should be the leader of this mission."

'A mission into Fulgar's treasury? That's suicide...' King Mars's expression immediately went sour at the mention of his son's name.

"Scipio? He may be on military leave, but he's still a PTC and potentially the next transcendant. He's arguably Caelum's most valuable asset. That risk is too high." King Juventas's eyebrows reached for his hairline, his surprise evident in his countenance.

"I agree... Scipio is way too valuable to be sent on such a dangerous mission." King Apollo interjected.

"A prodigy like him only comes once in a thousand years, the risk is too high." King Vulcan agreed.

"What do you think Father-in-law?" King Mars asked Elder Hercules, his voice shaking with every word.

'Please, please... Don't send Scipio out there. It's basically a death sentence.'

"Scipio doesn't have enough experience with secret missions, especially those of this much risk." Elder Hercules replied calmly.

"It's perfect, Scipio Mars is the perfect man to lead this expedition." Ignoring the other five Kings opinions, Emperor Jupiter agreed with King Minerva.

"Lord?!" Hearing Emperor Jupiter's words, King Mars's heart dropped to the floor.

"Not only is Scipio's magic affinity perfect for the job, his physical capabilities grant him the ability to dominate most combatants... and most importantly no one would suspect we'd send a PTC on such a dangerous mission."

"My lord, he doesn't have nearly have enough experience."

"Consider this his experience." Emperor Jupiter said coldly.

"B-but..."

"But what?" Emperor Jupiter raised his eyebrow.

"He's just a kid!" King Mars slammed his hand on the armrests of his throne and rose abrubtly.

DUMMMM

***

*Extra Information:

Minerva family- Rules over the Minerva Kingdom. ( Empire's capital.)

Mars family- Rules over the Pugna Kingdom.

Hercules family- Rules over the Robur Kingdom.

Apollo family- Rules over the Chorus Kingdom.

Juventas family- Rules over the Miravulum Kingdom.

Vulcan family- Rules over the Facere Kingdom.