The Spiritguard

Today is July 29th, and we have been in the Spiritguard Training Program for almost an entire year. We gather in the lecture hall, and I see many of my friends. Mira and Kavella are together as always, sitting right by the exit. Mira waves to me as I walk in with Kael.

 "Hey Sigmund!" she calls, a light sparkling in her eyes. "How are you!? I didn't see you yesterday!"

 "Yeah, Kael and I were running some errands for Ms. Borden and we didn't get back until late," I explain. Lately, Ms. Borden has taken a bit of a liking to Kael, probably because of his immense intelligence. Ms. Borden is mostly in charge of our academics, so she doesn't care as much about how diligent Kael is on the battlefield. She sees that he repeatedly gets perfect scores, and she considers him the best in the class. The last test we had was an essay. The second-highest score was ninety. Kael got the full hundred points.

 "Aw, you two are so lucky! I wish I could hang out with the Instructors," Mira's voice trails off and I notice her look in the direction of Mr. Mark Copper, a.k.a. Princess Lollipops.

 It's no secret, but Mira has developed a bit of a crush on our male Instructor. We tease her about it at lunch all the time, and she always gets defensive and flushed. Honestly, it's hilarious. I told her once that it was strange for her to be so interested in an older guy, but she had a good explanation.

 "I don't want to date him," she said back then. "I want to date someone LIKE him that's my age!" I told her to check the sanitarium in Pearl City. There's probably a lot of people like him in there.

 I nod and I walk away, toward where I normally sit. Kael sticks around and starts to chat it up with Mira. I watch from my seat, and although I can't hear what they're talking about, it looks like they're having a good time. Kavella is sitting next to Mira, and while she isn't engaged in the conversation it looks like she is listening intently.

 Natalia plops down next to me. Normally Kael sits in between the two of us, but since he isn't here she's taken over his seat.

 "Sup, Sigmund?" she says. She's got a bottle of Vitarine elixir with her. The first time I saw her with a bottle, I thought she must have stayed up late and needed an energy boost, but over the past year I've seen her with Vitarine bottles almost every day. I've concluded that she's addicted to them. That must be where she gets all of her insane energy from.

 She chugs it down at an alarming rate and then stuffs the bottle underneath the desk. I don't litter, but I don't judge her for that.

 "Not much," I say. "Ms. Borden told Kael and me there was going to be a surprise for us today. What do you think it is?"

 "No clue," Natalia responds. "I thought it was weird that we're skipping out on physical training today. Maybe something to do with that."

 I look over at Kael and see him laughing and waving goodbye to Mira. Over the past year, he's gotten a lot more social. I've noticed he's become very close to Natalia, Mira, Marc, and even Lance. He talks to them all every day and his shyness has really gone away. It's weird, but I'm a little bit upset about it. The more he talks to them, the less he talks to me. And…honestly, if I didn't hang out with him every day, I wouldn't talk to anyone. My social life is based on his social life at this point.

 I occasionally get the feeling that most people don't like me for some reason. I don't know why, but that's always the way I feel when I'm around our classmates. They seem insistent that I'm always included, though, and that I spend time with everyone even when I want to be alone.

 Kael takes his place in between Natalia and I and our female Instructor starts to speak. "We've got a special treat ready for you all today," she says cryptically. "Today, you're officially halfway done with Spiritguard training. That's because a year from now, on July 29th, you'll all be graduating! Well, most of you!"

 That last part was meant to be a little humorous, but it sounded witchy. "To mark the halfway point, we're officially entering phase two of your training. That means after today, you'll only be in the classroom on Mondays and Wednesdays. Every other day of the week you'll be in physical training. But! Physical training is a little bit different now. We'll do strength and endurance on Sunday and Tuesday, but on Thursday and Friday…well, we have a little bit of a treat. Saturday will officially be a day of rest, but that doesn't mean a day of break! On Saturday, we expect all of you to go to the gym we have here and develop a personalized fitness plan that you follow through with, and we also expect you to work on an independent study project. We have a sizable library concerning Spiritguards and Spirits, so it won't be a problem for any of you to accomplish that.

 "Our new schedule is now in effect, and since today is a Thursday, I get to tell you all what the special event this week is. We're all going to be getting into carriages in just a few minutes and riding out of town. Just a bit out of town, there is a cave known as Arcon's Nest. Tell me, does anyone know what the Arcon's Nest is?"

 Nobody raises their hand, surprisingly. "Not even the locals?" she grins. "The Arcon was a species of bird that used to live near this town many years ago. They were very easy to catch and were considered the most delicious type of meat. They were a delicacy and they were enjoyed all around our nation…"

 I think about what she's saying. I haven't had delicious meat yet, and honestly the past year's meals have been excruciatingly awful. I don't eat lunch anymore. I only eat breakfast, because the breakfast meal does not have any meat in it. Well, it does, but it's easily avoidable if I just have the eggs and grains. I still have to suffer through dinner, though.

 "Anyway, the Arcons were hunted to extinction, and they don't exist anymore. This village we're in, Arcona Village, is named after those mighty birds. All we have left to remind ourselves of the bird is the village's name, and the cave a little bit out of town.

 "We're going there because…oh, you'll see when we get there. Everyone, gather your belongings and bring your weapons! I'll meet you all out there in thirty minutes. Pack whatever you might need to battle."

 Her orders are strange, but we all nonetheless comply. I look around the lecture room as my fellow students file out. Nowadays, there are only forty of us left. Many kids couldn't take it and had to drop out disgracefully. Then, we lost several during the tournament. Many others were kicked out because they weren't performing up to par.

 Kael almost got kicked out, because his combat abilities were deemed unsatisfactory a few months ago. Due to his incredible grades, however, Ms. Borden allowed him to stay. Since then his combat ability has really improved, as he and I have been working extra hard to get him to where he needs to be.

Even if his combat abilities aren't the strongest, his Animus control is incredible. If we're fighting with Animus techniques, I doubt I could beat Kael anymore. 

I strap my sword, Crossed Heart, to my back. Now that we've been here a full year, we're using real weapons for practice drills. As such, I'm allowed to use my sword now! No more wooden swords. 

I take a deep breath and relax my shoulders. Looks like we're heading into the Arcon's Nest.