The sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. The sun hung by itself, having nothing to block its radiance. Something that could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who.

  For the students on the Training Grounds it was a very very bad thing. Almost torture as they stood underneath the blazing glory of the sun with nothing to block off the heat but their uniforms.

  Uniforms that were designed for combat and training.

  But Damon doubted it.

  “Argh.” Damon let out a groan from once again hitting the ground, where he felt the glare of the sun on his face, leading him to raise his hand to block the heat. The heat and the beatings were unbearable.

  And so were the insults. “You give up, miner’s boy?”

  With a groan, he rose back to his feet to meet the condescending smirk on Kesh’s face.

  Kesh reached up a hand and brushed back the long dark strands of hair that escaped his bun while twirling his sword with the other hand. “What’s wrong? Don’t like me reminding of your father’s occupation? Why?” Damon charged with a war cry and swung at Kesh’s waist. Kesh reading the attack simply jumped back and with the force of Damon’s attack pulling him with the sword, he was wide open for a kick to land on him.

  “Argh.” Damon once again met the sand causing Kesh to roll his eyes. Kesh walked away and grabbed a canteen to hydrate himself.

  Damon lifted his head up to see Kesh refreshing himself with water, causing Damon to look for a drink. But before he could, Kesh stopped him “You think you deserve a drink?” Damon froze before letting out a sigh of frustration. Pushing himself off the ground, he walked over to his fallen sword and got into his stance. Kesh's eyes lit up and a small smile formed on his face.

  “Good. Let’s go again.”

  ***

  It’s been a week since kesh began training him and everyday felt like torture. Constantly ending class with bruises and a wounded pride was not how he wanted to be living for the next month. Luckily for him, he was given a lucky break. The trip to Flow City was tomorrow and he couldn’t wait. Not only will he get a break from Kesh but he will also see more of the world he probably would have never gotten to see if he didn’t Awaken an Element. He also might have a chance to join the Diamond class on their in person studying with Elemental Beasts.

  “Hiss.” Damon felt sharp pain in his wrist when he placed his tray down on the table. The noise caught everyone’s attention who reacted with winces of their own. All probably imaging the pain he was going through.

  Amelia, wearing a worried look on her face, couldn't help but ask “Are you ok?” Damon hearing Amelia’s concern nearly put a smile on his face but when he lifted his leg up to sit on the bench, another shot of pain hit him. This time from his ankle that bumped into the bench.

  Damon waved his hands “I’m fine, I’m fine. The training today was sparring. Kesh wanted to see if any of the footwork lessons and instinct training kicked in, that's all.” Damon sat with a wince, before once again waving his hands after noticing their eyes of concern were still on him ‘I’m fine. Let’s just eat.”

  Trusting his words the group went into the latest gossip.And the first one up as usual to offer their story was a grinning Sunny.

  “You guys heard about the Diamond class traveling to Flow City right?” Everyone nodded. “Well, guess who's escorting them?” Sunny raised his brows, excitement radiating out his eyes. The group took a couple seconds to think before blurting out answers.

  “One of the School Heads?”

  “One of the Instructors?”

  “A famous general?”

  Sunny shook his vehemently “ No to all of them. C’mon guess.”

  After a few seconds, Gina answered with “ Commander Grant?”

  Sunny immediately smiled at Gina before saying “Close. Very close.” Sunny pinched his forefinger and thumb.

  “So, one of the members of the Guard?” Damon asked, excitement in his tone.

  Sunny, not able to hold back, blurted out the answer by correcting Damon “Not just any Guard member, the member. The Berserker.” The name froze the group of disbelief.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “The Berserker? The Captain of the legendary Squad Four of the Guard?” Gina questioned him. Not believing such legends were going to be the ones to escort her. She wasn’t even aware of the escort, until just now. And now she couldn’t wait.

  The Guard is widely known unit created by the Academy to protect or guard the Academy and its students. Anytime the Academy or its students are in danger, they are sent to solve the issue.

  And to make sure their loyalties were unquestionable they were all former alumni of the Academy. Not only were they former alumni, but all of them are former top ranked students. It is said in order to be accepted into the Guard, you would have to be in the top twenty of your class. Due to this requirement, the Guard is seen and has been seen as one of the most dangerous groups in the world.

  Damon has heard of the Guard but was not given that much detail about it back home. He only knew they were the Academy's shield. But as time went on he did hear a few famous names from the Guard. Squad Four of the Guard was the name he mostly heard about. One of the jey reasons being the Berserker. The man was a walking legend. It was said he beat down multiple Elemental Beasts all equivalent to Elite rank Elementals.To think someone like him would be in charge of their safety, Damon felt more reassured.

  All of a sudden a hand slapped his shoulder making him groan in pain. The groan was accompanied by the familiar chuckle of his childhood friend.

  “Where were you?” Damon asked while massaging his throbbing shoulder.

  “Training. Just like you.” Rodrick answered before taking a quick scan “Nevermind, Not like you.” Damon sneered at the jab before telling Rodrick the news.

  Rodrick, unlike the group, showed no reaction. Something that disappointed Sunny who was the one responsible for bringing in the news.

  Sunny, annoyed that Rodrick didn’t give the same reaction as the other members of the group, asked “What? You don’t know who the Berserker is? The legendary Squad Four? Huh?"

  Rodrick shook his head in disbelief after seeing the judgemental glares thrown his way. “It’s not that I don’t know. It’s more like I don’t care. I mean it’s really not that shocking. Did you forget who the professor of Diamond class is?” His words brought the group's earlier excitement down after being reminded that they had a Grandmaster in their school. The legendary Windblade. A man whose legend lasted way longer and long before the berserker.

  The group’s earlier excitement quickly deflated at the reminder. Shocked at themselves for forgetting that one of their professors was a legendary Grandmaster.

  With their excitement gone, they resumed their meal. All grumbling to themselves. But their grumblings didn’t last long because they were once again interrupted by someone running inside the cafeteria shouting something, catching everyone in the cafeteria's attention. The group strained their ears to hear but the boy was too far to hear. Questions appeared on everyone’s face as they looked at each other, wondering if anyone heard what he said. A few moments later, the words from the boy were passed along by the people who were able to hear the news from the boy .

  “The arena is going to open up?” Sunny managed to hear the words around them causing his face to break into an excitement. The group quickly broke into excited chatter at the news.

  The arena was a building containing large stages used for sparring fellow students. It is said that the stages are lifted off the ground by giant pillars of rock. But that only happens when the End of the Year Tournament happens. An event that happens every end of the year to see who amongst the students was doing well.

  When Damon flew over the Academy he didn’t spot any building that shared those details.Which makes sense since the Arena wasn’t located near the Academy’s main buildings. Instead of on the mountain, it was on the side of the mountain. Right by The Academy’s Wall also known as the Guards headquarters.

  The arenas were kept Isolated from the main buildings of the academy to prevent any noises or damages to appear and break the peace of the academy. And it was closed since the start of the new year to prevent any fighting during the first month. As it was a place of learning, not setting differences as the Academy knew its students love to do, instead of it being seen as a place of learning.

  “Too bad we aren’t allowed to fight. I would have beaten half our class.” Rodrick smirked while biting into his food, leaving bits in his mustache.

  Damon rolled his eyes at his friend’s confidence, “I believe you can beat a good amount of our year but half? C’mon Roddy. Let's be realistic here.” Damon shook his head, not believing his friend could do it.

  Sunny laughed out loud, agreeing with Damon. “Yeah, I’m with Damon. I think you’re good with a sword, Rodrick but a fight of Elements?” Sunny tilted his hand back and forth. “Mmm. Maybe around thirty percent of us.”

  Rodrick looked at his friends in disbelief, wondering if they were truly his friends. “Are you guys serious? Do you all have no hope in me?” Rodrick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Turning to Baron for his answer, he tapped on his shoulder to get his attention off his book and give his opinion on the matter. “Baron without looking up said “ Since you’re my friend…” Rodrick's face morphed into a smile at his words “Forty percent.” Rodrick's smile fell just as quickly as it came.

  Rodrick grabbed his tray and got up and said “Traitors”. Before walking away, Damon getting up and laughed at his friend as he caught up to him. The group not that far behind came joining the two with teasing smiles.

  ***

  “So, I hope you got all your lesson plans from your professors. You will all be gone for a week and a half. Three days to get there, two days stay and three days back. So I hope you packed everything you need by tomorrow.” The trio of the Mortal Relations class nodded their heads.

  Damon’s excitement was ready to burst. It was similar to his time on his trip with his father to his work at the mine. His first time outside the city, taking in every little thing on the way there. He was feeling the same excitement.

  “We will be meeting an old friend of mine who works at the Commoner Hall. We will be given a tour of the Hall. Given the ins and outs of the Commoner Hall where we would be given first look at what they do. And then we will get a tour of the city. There you will be given a real life experience that is just like that Diamond class.” Professor Orion said, his tone leaking of mirth.. “After that the city is yours to explore.” Professor Orion’s earlier expression morphed into a smile.

  “Do you understand?” Everyone nodded in understanding.

  “Good. Well, let's have a fun and safe trip everyone.”