“Mr. Flame?”

“Hello kid. How are you?”

“I’m alright, sir. How are you?”

“Good. I’m fine kid.”

“…”

“How’s your training?”

He knows about it?

I stayed quiet.

“Come on, buddy. You think I wouldn’t know?”

“…”

“The boss told me, don’t worry.”

“Alright, sir. My training is going well.”

“So, when are you going?”

“Going where, sir?”

“To The Convergence Point.”

I was startled, He knows about that too?

“Kid, relax. The boss has handed you over to me. I will be training you until he returns from the swapping event.”

“…”

Oh dear. This man will train me? I thought while focusing only on his pronounced muscles and the six-pack that protruded from his uniform. Despite his calm, feminine voice, the scar on his nose was utterly menacing.

“Come on, kid! We’ll get along.”

“Sure, sir.”

He started escorting me to the dorms. He told me some other things along the way.

“Sorry we didn’t start earlier, kid.”

“It’s alright, sir.”

“I was caught up in duties of extending the wall around camp. I was told that the rogue that attacked you jumped over the wall as he fled. We had to make arrangements to make it higher for future rogue attacks.”

I nodded.

When we were only a few blocks away from where I stayed, Mr. Flame stopped walking, then I also did after seeing him stop. He stood still, looking forward.

“Sir…Sir?”

What is wrong with him?

I glanced at his twitching eyes then held his hand trying to shake him.

“I see,” He mumbled, now looking down at me, “You are a quiet one.”

Uh?

“We’ll get along. I know how to deal with quiet ones.”

What’s with the smile?

“…”

He waited right there where we stood and told me to go on into the dorms, “Go on now, kid. Have a great night.”

We waved at each other as I walked to the door, “Thank you, sir.”

As soon as I stopped waving and turned my head forward, I felt a thin wire  pass just near my neck over my left shoulder. It missed me, but was thrown with remarkable speed—no human could throw it with that speed. I turned back and…

“We start the training now, kid!”

It was Mr. Flame holding a threadgun. He ran toward me ready to pounce, tucking the threadgun back in his belt. C’mon door, open, I was pushing the door but it wouldn’t budge.

“Mark! Tione! Somebody help!” I was shouting hoping for one of my mates to open the door. No one answered, and no one came out.

If I survive this, I promise I’ll start being nicer to the other kids.

“Why are you running, kid?! Don’t you wanna get stronger, uh?!” Mr. Flame got nearer and nearer to me.

I don’t know what I did to deserve this. Why did you leave me with this crazy man, Elder Zakai?

When he was a few steps from where I was, he jumped high into the air as if he had springs for feet. He folded his right hand into a fist with knuckles as large as rocks, drawing his right arm slightly back to build momentum. He kept the left arm stretched forward. Mr. Flame was gliding through the air as he prepared to hit my face with his huge knuckles. Why is he doing this? I looked on as he glided toward me, ready to strike.

“Aaah!”

“Mr. Flame!”

ZAP!...SHICK…CRACK…DISH!

It worked.

When Mr. Flame was only a few inches away, attacking from the air, I had put the scroll right where he would hit. My eyelids were trembling. Veins as intricate as a root system bulged on my eyelids. I couldn’t watch myself perish. I decided to shield myself with the scroll and hoped for a miracle to happen because the man was attacking with menacing agility.

All of a sudden, I heard a zap that almost tore my eardrums, followed by a rumble and shaking of the ground. Though I kept my eyes closed, I’d perceived a glow from the scroll. On opening my eyes, I found Mr. Flame laying face-down on the ground in a crater similar to the one during the rogue attack. However, this time it was larger with more jagged edges.

I felt an unimaginable surge of energy in my little body. I felt warm and light in a good way. Then, also, my sight felt as if it’d become a thousand times sharper—like I could see everything in no more than a five-hundred-meter-radius.

Wait. It’s dark. How am I able to see this clearly?

When I focused, I observed a pair of light beams that reflected on the stone-paved camp ground. They looked like golden torches. I pulled up my left hand, and shifted my gaze to it.

What?! Is this light coming from my eyes?

“…”

“Mr. Flame! Are you alright?” I rushed to him with worry that counterbalanced my fear.

The man got up sluggishly, with a smile on his face. A narrow stream of blood had escaped his smile, staining his teeth red and ran down his chin. Several scratches were visible on his face and his eyes were as if he’d just risen from sleep.

He raised up his trembling right hand and waved at me saying, “I’m alright, kid.”

Luckily, what had happened didn’t alarm anyone. So, we sat down right there in the crater as I reverted to what I’d feel normally. My eyes also stopped glowing.

“You did well, kid.”

“…”

“Do you know how to use it?”

“To use what, sir?”

“That thing you’re holding.”

The scroll, “No. I do not.”

“I see. That crater on the eastern wall. It was formed in this same fashion, wasn’t it?”

“Y-yes sir. It was.”

I had never seen Mr. Flame with a sterner face than he had that night. His voice deepened a little, “Kid. Prepare to start your real training.”

What?

“…”

“Tomorrow, we train in the night, like we have done today. I only have time to spare at night, so be prepared.”

I looked on as he kept talking.

“…”

“It should be easy for you, since you’re already spending nights in the central database.”

“Right, sir.”

“Okay. Go get some sleep,” He walked away.

I also got up, looked at my hands, and at the scroll, What’s happening to me? Perhaps the captain will tell me about it tomorrow. I sure hope so, I glanced at Mr. Flame limping the way he went, holding his right shoulder with his left hand. He was visibly in pain.

I looked down and saw that he’d dropped his threadgun. I took it with me and went to a dormitory that was not yet in use. There I spent my night. I barely slept due to a chilly wind blowing from all sides in the wreck.

I managed to make it through the night, and it was finally morning. I hoped for the day to end soon so I could start the training with Mr. Flame. Fortunately, the day was uneventful with only me trying to make my eyes glow like they did the night before. Despite multiple attempts, I failed completely to make my eyes glow, or to see anything new appear on the scroll, Oh crap. Nonetheless, it was a swift cruise through the day.

The night had come and it was my first training with the captain, This better be good.

“Haji. Well done. I’m glad you made it here, kid.”

“Thank you, sir,” I bowed.

“Alright. I need you to understand what makes you special before we begin.”

Uh? Special?

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you know why each child was monitored by the Supreme Harvester in the preliminary training phase?”

“No, sir.”

“He was looking for the child meant for the scroll’s prophecy.”

Ah! That’s why he no longer trains the pre-academy.

“…”

“The scroll had predicted your exact energy frequency, Haji. You should be honored to hold that thing in your hand casually.”

I nodded.

“You see, the scroll also predicted that the child would be born in Sao.”

Wow! That’s incredible!

“…”

“The breathing technique you learned with the boss is the key to stabilizing your emotional and personal energy as a Wielder.”

So, I am a Wielder.

“Right.”

“There are many Wielders from among the harvesters, but none are as well-defined as you. You are a true Wielder.”

Well-defined? I don’t even know how the scroll works.

A true Wielder was defined as ‘someone who is associated with an energy object’ in the untitled book I had read from the library.

“I’m guessing you witnessed Tina’s mastery of her weapon.”

“Yes, sir. I did.”

“Good. She’s a Wielder. What she does is to stabilize her emotional and personal energy as she focusses only on the target.”

“Wow!”

“Yeah. It’s cool. She clears her mind of any other thought except her target while maintaining rhythmic breathing.”

“Rhythmic breathing?!”

“Yes. You can do it too.”

I hope.

“Alright, Haji. I’m going to teach you how to use your energy object.”