Chapter 14
Weeks followed, Traveler woke up and found another scroll on his nightstand.
Traveler Sands,
You are invited to attend at the Royal Calic Academy. You are about to embark on a journey that many have done before your time. This place will give you the understanding that you need and guide you on your path to victory. Reveal your reflection to the world and show us your true fight.
King Gavel
The smooth parchment felt warm in his hand, but it was not the paper that was warm; it was the excitement of the journey he was about to embark on. He quickly rolled it up to its original state and placed it on his desk. He turned back around to find a large mirror appearing from out of nowhere. Its design looked much similar to the smaller one, which made him think to pull it out from under his bed. As he pulled out the mirror, he activated it as he did before. He had a feeling that he knew what to do, but did not know why. He walked toward the larger one and saw his reflection. He looked at the smaller one in his hand and it was black like from before. He then faced it to the larger one. The smaller mirror jumped out of his hand and spun in the air. It was a little frightening. The glass of the larger one started rippling then revealing an image of a castle, the same castle in Codextrius. Suddenly, he felt something pulling him towards the reflection. At first, he resisted, but then he finally let go and found himself jumping through the rippling glass. The smaller one did a little spin in the air and bounced right back into the case with the silver handle.
Traveler found himself standing in a room that looked much like his room in Santa Monica, but much bigger. He opened his closet and found that all of his clothes changed into the common clothing that people wear around Codextrius. He began to get dressed when Jelly came bursting through the door.
“Young Master, I have great news. I get to train with you,” Jelly said.
“I don’t get it. Is that a good thing?” Traveler said.
“Yes, the only way I can pair up with you is if I get to train with you. Now I am a little older than before, but I have a few tricks they haven’t seen yet.”
“Great. I wouldn’t mind if you are my assistant.”
“We call the assistant Calic, remember. Anyways, when you are done getting dressed, head down stairs to the formation.”
“I have a question, does everyone get their own room?”
“No, just you and me. They rest live in a dormitory.”
Traveler headed downstairs and listened to the loud chatter coming from the foyer in the castle. He saw many people and there were many different kinds of races there. There were Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Aeroans, and many other races he did not recognize. He stood in the back watching the party scene come together.
Then, a tall big-shouldered man opened the side door. He stood there with outlandish purple shoes as if he was making a fashion statement. He seemed to hover over the group watching the chatter amongst the crowded foyer. Even with the purple shoes on, the other people did not seem to notice him. He stood there for a couple of seconds and smiled. He cleared his throat and then let out this big voice.
“LISTEN UP!” The big-shouldered man said.
Just like that, the room came into a silence. They turned around and waited to see what would happen next.
“I NEED EVERYONE TO HURRY UP AND FORM TWO LINES OUTSIDE,” The big-shouldered man said.
Traveler could feel the castle shake a little when he spoke. It was hard to tell from the yelling, but he had a slight Germany accent. Everyone walked out of the tall castle door assumingly headed into the formation. Traveler overheard some people talking in the background.
“My brother told me about this guy,” A trainee said.
“What did he say?” Another trainee said.
“His name is Aiken Gantrick; his is the toughest Magister in Codextrius.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“Well, in a way it is good. The people that he has chosen have known to have done great things.”
“DID I SAY WALK? I BETTER SEE EVERYONE IN LINE IN 10 SECONDS,” Aiken yelled.
Everyone scurried out the door like cockroaches in the presence of a lit room; once outside, they hurried into the line.
“TIME’S UP,” Aiken said.
He snapped his finger and everyone froze. Traveler moved his eyes back and forth, for that was the only thing he could move. He tried to move any parts of his body, but it was as if someone flipped the off switch in his brain. He stood in a tranquil state along the line because he was able to find a spot quickly, but one trainee was not so lucky.
“Well, I spy with my little eyes, someone who didn’t follow my instructions,” Aiken said veering his eyes on the person.
Aiken walked over to the end of the line and stood right beside the trainee that was in his runner’s pose. If he had just one more second, then he would have made it. However, he did not and Aiken was not happy. Aiken tapped him on the shoulder and watched the person stumble a little as if his leg fell asleep. The trainee then stood straight up waiting for the next command.
“What is your name dirtbag?” Aiken asked.
“Jater Hesta,” Jater said.
“Are we friends now? I don’t think we are friends. Do I need to know your first name? Your first name is always...” Aiken rocketed his face towards Jater’s face. “...TRAINEE!!!” Jater stumbled backwards on to the ground once he heard the words. “So, what is your name now?”
“Trainee Hesta,” Jater said while getting back up.
“Good. I am glad you can follow instructions, but you didn’t follow my earlier instructions. Did you?” Aiken said.
“But...” Jater tried to speak, but was cutoff.
“I didn’t ask for any explanation. You don’t deserve one,” Aiken said
Jater remained quiet, while Aiken looked at him up and down. The sweat dripping down the side of his head showed signs of emotional fear. Aiken snapped his fingers and everyone could move again.
“Listen up everyone. Who thinks I should let this person stay?” Aiken asked.
One person raised his hand. Aiken’s eyes shot right toward her. He pointed his finger and motioned the person to come over.
“You, front and center,” Aiken said as the other person ran up as quickly as he could. “Both of you stand here and face the line.”
They both lined up and watched the crowd in fear.
“You both don’t have what it takes,” Aiken said.
Aiken clapped his hands and both trainees burst into little balls of lights. The rest of the trainees could not do anything but gasp.
“LISTEN UP. YOU DON’T HAVE ANY OPINIONS IF YOU ARE WITH ME.”
Traveler could not speak for everyone, but he felt like he had been on a big roller coaster ride. He felt the anxiety lingering around the group and the vocal sound, forcing the tiny hairs on his neck to stand up.
“My name is Aiken Gantrick. I am your Magister this year, and that means you will call me Magister Gantrick. The reason you are here is because you have found this parchment and it states..,” Aiken read the parchment aloud.
“This is one of one hundred; if you have this parchment in your possession on this date you will receive the opportunity to gain a position with an Electus, a prestigious Calic. Understand that only one will be chosen and the road to the prize will be long and difficult. You will learn everything an Electus will learn so the two of you can work in harmony. If you have the courage to continue, then come to the castle and show us your true fight.” Aiken looked over at the rest of the trainees. “Okay everyone, with that said, this is your last chance to leave before you suffer from my wrath.” Aiken looked around. “No takers, huh? Well, it is your funeral.”
Aiken folded the parchment and placed it in his pocket. “Listen up, there are three other brigades here in Codextrius and you guys are the newest. My job is to take you to the next level and your job is to make me happy. If I am not happy, then you don’t belong here. It is just that simple.”
He continued to walk around the group of eager learners.
“You may also notice that I don’t speak as most of you do. I used to be an Electus from Germany. I was an English teacher before I was asked to stay behind and train. I accepted and everyone benefited. My job is to weed out the people that don’t belong and I have to say I do a good job of it. When you address me, you will end your request with the word Magister Gantrick. I need Traveler Sands, front and center!”
Traveler sprinted to Aiken and almost ran into him. He was able to stop after a slight bump and stood straight up.
“Front and center, Sir,” Traveler said.
“We are not in the military, don’t call me sir,” Aiken said.
Traveler was confused. From the way Aiken talked, he assumed that this was basic training.
“Traveler you knucklehead, just stand and face the line,” Aiken said.
Traveler did as he was told and dreaded the situation in the process. He did not want to end up like the last two people.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Electus for this year. I know it has been a long time since we had one, but this is him in the flesh.”
Everyone gasped as his or her eyes lit up, then a small chatter fell upon the lines.
“SHUTTTT UPPPPPP!!!” Aiken shouted.
Traveler felt his eardrums rattle a little. It was different hearing Aiken’s loud voice standing next to him.
“As you all may know, if more than one is able to finish the program, the best job we have for you is the king’s personal guard. However, as the parchment said there is only one person here that can be Traveler’s Calic.” Aiken looked down at Traveler. “Traveler you can go back to the castle to get something to eat.”
“How come you are being nice to me and mean to them?”
“Traveler you are an Electus as I was. This program is for you.”
“So I don’t have to do any training?”
“No you will, but P.T. or physical training for you commoners is something you don’t have to participate in unless you want too. I have to shape these people up through my grueling workout and you don’t have to because you are stronger than you think. You just need to brush up on the techniques. Come back here in one hour.” Traveler shrugged his shoulders and walked away. “Okay you little nuggets, we are going to take a nice lovely jog.” The line of people groaned. “Around the country.” The groans got louder. “Ahh, that’s music to my ears. Now, if anybody breaks the formation, then you are out. Oh there is one more thing. We have to do something about those dreadful clothes everyone is wearing. From now on, everyone is going to have to wear the uniform.”
Aiken pulled out a white, smoke-filled crystal ball from his belt and threw at the feet of the trainees in the middle of the line. POOF! When the smoke separated, everyone was wearing white track pants with a black stripe along the side of the leg and a white polo with a crescent design in the upper left part of the shirt.
“This is your uniform for the entire year. This will let everyone know that you’re a first year trainee. So let’s head out.”
With the brigade taking a forced scenic tour of the country, Traveler ventured back into the castle to have a wonderful breakfast.
Traveler came back to the courtyard only to find the rest of the brigade struggling to stay upright. He stared ahead as he watched the other candidates laboring back after a long run. It was a funny sight to find Aiken not laboring in anyway, but behind him, everyone had exerted a great deal of energy, sweating through his or her uniform, and undertaking the monumental task of gasping in the precious air around them. Surprisingly, Jelly, as round as he was, did not break a sweat as well. The formation finally halted and Aiken gave them a quick once over.
“Alright everyone, we only lost two people. Good job,” Aiken said. “Everyone, shower up and go get some breakfast. Meet back here in ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes,” Everyone said in unison.
“Yep, ten minutes, and your time starts...now.”
There was a mad rush towards the castle door. It looked like an episode of the three stooges that Jake used to love watching.
“Do you think everyone can get down in 10 minutes?” Traveler asked
“Yep, I can do it in less than a minute,” Aiken replied.
He pulled out his sword, did a spinning maneuver, and was clean in a matter of seconds. He took out a tablet from his pocket and popped it in his mouth.
“See, less than a minute,” Aiken said.
“Isn’t that cheating?” Traveler asked.
“Magic is not cheating.”
Jelly walked up all dressed and cleaned as well.
“You see Traveler, Jelly is finished. You have a lot to learn.”
“So, what happens next?”
“Well, I am going to send them to the history of Codextrius and then we’re going tree dancing.”
“Sounds fun.”
Traveler sat in a circle with the rest of the group. They were all staring the middle part of a large diamond on a pedestal. Aiken came over to the huge diamond and rubbed it a few times.
“Everyone listen up. What I am about to show you only a select number of people have seen. This is a brief history.”
The diamond flashed a white blinding light and an image appeared in 3rd dimension form. The whole chamber turned into a functioning town with the brigade immersed right in the mix. Then, a ghostly figure came into the room from the diamond. He started to narrate in a deep somber voice.
“This is Codextrius. An enormous body of land that covers most of this planet we call Dextrius. This was a very peaceful nation. We live amongst all kinds of races. Elves, dwarfs, ogres, goblins, and etc...”
Traveler continued to be very intrigued with the story. It was like a virtual reality movie.
“There was another planet in a different galaxy called Sisitdyne. They were millions of years ahead of everyone, even this planet. However, brewed with corruption and deception, their civilization got greedy, which brewed a civil war. The eight Elders of the planet left the corrupted planet. They wanted nothing more than peace but peace, was never in sight. They brought their wisdom and knowledge to the nearest planet inhabit by peaceful life forms.
They traveled far and wide and managed to find a planet to their liking. It happened to be Dextrius. They love the peacefulness and simplicity. Once they arrived, they went their separate ways to bring a better way of life. Each of the Elders was an expert in his or her own field of energy. Their names were Terrorene - Darkness, Lumonus - Light, Ignis - Fire, Pentune - Water, Auraus - Air, Terrala - Earth, Decibella - Sound, and Panis - Animals.
They shared their knowledge with the different regions of the land and the people there loved them for it. However, Terrorene, over time, became greedy and wanted to steal the rest of the powers.
Terrorene and his people were sealed off from the rest of the territories. And then, Terrorene’s people grew angry. They were all inflicted with the same greediness. If the rest of realm did not want to share, then they would take it by force. The nearest land to them was ruled by Panis. They were surprised with the attack and were overrun. Only a few were able to escape. Paralyzed with fear, the rest of the country fled to the other side of the mountain as they found the Darthians did not like the cold mountains.
After it was over, Terrorene had taken the middle castle, Panis’ knowledge, and three quarters of Codextrius. He found a way to grow his army that could surpass the elements of the cold mountains. He traveled to the nearest planet that harbored other life-forms, which happened to be Earth. He traveled inside earthling’s minds and developed different types of Tecks, helping to amass his army.
The seven Elders came together and conjured up a force field to block Terrorene’s path back to Dextrius, leaving his body stranded in Kapricia. This slowed down the progress of the Darthians. For without his presence, the dark magic is weaken.
The seven Elders knew what they needed to do. They sacrificed themselves, put their souls into the mirror, and spread it across Earth. That is how Electus began. Their last words before their sacrifices were, “To bring back peace, Terrorene must be killed”.
The ghostly figure entered back into the diamond and the virtual reality image disappeared. Everyone in the room cheered.
“Good, I am glad everyone is pumped up. I need everyone to meet in the courtyard. It’s time for the first lesson,” Aiken said.
“Do I get to come too this time, yes?” Traveler asked.
“Yes, this time you get to come along,” Aiken said.
The first brigade stood in line as they did in the morning. They felt the cool breeze, the warm sun, and the whispers of the trees. Aiken stood motionless in the foreground. The first brigade stood there hoping for Aiken to say something, and at last Aiken spoke.
“Today’s first lesson is Tree Dancing.” He grabbed a green ball with a tree on it from his belt and threw it down. POOF! In a matter of seconds, the entire brigade was in the tall wide tree.
“This is my assistance for the day.” Aiken pointed to the right of him, but nobody was standing there. Then, he waved in a figure eight motion and someone emerged from thin air. It looked just like him but it was very transparent.
“I want everyone to watch me. I am going to demo an actual fight. Then, I’ll teach everyone how to do a simple move. You got it?” Aiken said.
“Yes Magister,” everyone said.
The fight began. The two individuals fought each other attacking and blocking each other with ease. They moved up and down the skinny branches without so much as a stumble. The clone did a jump attack, but was easily blocked. Then, Aiken spun around doing a sweep motion causing his clone to fall off the branch. Everyone gasped as they saw the clone fall into the bottom abyss.
“And that is how it is done. Everyone pair off and I’ll show some moves.”
There were almost five requests to be Traveler’s partner.
“Traveler, can I work with you?” The trainee asked.
“No, Traveler fight with me,” Another trainee asked
“Hey, I asked him first,” Another trainee said.
Traveler was not used to this attention. Traveler just closed his eyes and pointed. In the excitement of being picked, the bluish elf with green eyes and black hair stuck out his hand and greeted his new partner.
“Hi, my name is Traveler Sands,” Traveler said.
Griff spoke as if he was star stuck. “Oh, I knooww who you arrre. You donnn’t have introdducee yourself. My name is Griffff Northhhernnn,”
Traveler noticed his even voice cadence, but it was not monotone.
“Hello Griff, you can calm down, I am nobody special.”
“Okay, but don’t be too hard on me during practice. This is not my specialty.”
“It is okay Griff, I am new at this too.”
Aiken walked over to Traveler. “Listen up. These are the four basic moves. Study these and you can evolve to be a great fighter. Everyone break off a branch from a tree,” Aiken said.
Everyone stumbled on the bough trying to break off a branch. Some of them almost lost their balance in the process. Once everyone broke off a piece of the tree, the group watched closely as Aiken displayed the moves.
“On defense, block up and block down. Offense, overhead swing and side swing,” Aiken said.
“Is that it?” Traveler asked.
“Yep, master these moves and you will be the best fighter ever. Now, practice with your partners,” Aiken said.
They all took turns practicing the offense and defense. It was hard enough to practice on the ground, but to practice on a branch that is as wide as a balance beam felt awkward.
“Wow, I can’t wait to tell my brother that I am training with an Electus. He is goin to be proud of me,” Griff said.
“Who is your brother?” Traveler said.
“Oh, he is nobody special. But, he is in the third brigade,” Griff said.
“Where is he?” Traveler asked.
“Well, from what I hear after the first year, they sleep and train in different areas in the clouds. And the first year, everyone trains in the castle,” Griff said
“I see, I guess the training gets harder as we go along the way,” Traveler said.
“Yes, his class started with 100 people and whittled down to ten people. I sure hope I make it to the end.”
“So which territory are you from?”
“Well, my family is from Pentune.”
“Is that why you are so blue? Do you know any water tricks?”
“Well, I know one.” Griff held up his wooden stick and right before Traveler’s eyes, the stick turned into a freestanding clear liquid. Traveler stuck his hand out to touch it, but the stick immediately turned back into wood.
“Wow, that is neat. Can you turn anything into water?”
“Well, almost everything; I can’t turn living moving objects into water and I can only have it stay liquid for five seconds. My family could hold it for up to a minute. It was a gift from Pentune and my family members are the only ones that can do that.”
“Well How-”
“Squad, listen up.” Aiken interrupted Traveler’s question. “It’s almost time to go. But, I need to show you something. So gather around.”
The rest of the squad carefully hopped along the different tree branches.
“Okay, I need a volunteer. Who thinks they can take me on?” Aiken asked and found that nobody wanted to raise his or her hands. “Alright, you hop on this branch.” One of the members of the brigade carefully hopped over. “I know it looks scarier up here, but you have to learn about the fundamentals of balance and power. There are going to be times when you have to fight in tight places.”
Aiken yanked off a branch from the tree and snapped it in two. He waved and changed it into two wooden swords.
“We are going to start off easy. I want you to attack and after the fifth hit, I am going to counterattack.” He turned to everyone else. “Everyone keep an eye on what I do.”
The trainee did several attacks and each time he swung the sword, Aiken blocked each one of them. When he did the counterattack, the trainee forgot all about it. The combination of the dazing hits and the surprise attack caused him to fall off the branch. He regained just enough consciousness to grab the nearest tree’s limb on the way down. Aiken did nothing but looked down. The individual hung for his life, but his weight and gravity did not cooperate with any of his lifesaving efforts. Everything happened so quickly, there was not enough time for anybody to react. Everyone grasped the moment he fell down. Without any reactions from the others, Traveler dove in and tried to save him, but missed within microseconds. Also, Traveler did not realize how small the branch surface area was and had fallen off as well. On the way down, he was able to land on a thin piece of wood, and then started to glide on the branches. His balance was amazing. The falling trainee managed to grab another branch on the way down, which helped slow down his descend. Traveler was able to glide down the tree, stopping on a strong branch near his body and he pulled him up. Once they were safe, they wondered how they would get back to the top. Aiken watched the entire scene then snapped his fingers and a puff of white clouds appeared emerging with the two of them at the top.
“I wish you had not done that,” Aiken said.
Gee what is with this guy? Traveler thought.
“Thanks for caring” The trainee said.
“Just watch,” Aiken said.
Aiken jumped backward off the branch and plummeted to the ground. Traveler and rest of the group watched in horror. They gasped as they watched him stand in midair.
“You see, this is a training site. There is a net here to keep you from falling to the ground. I think that is enough for today.” He threw his sword towards the crowd of students, and then the sword turned into this bright blinding light. When everyone’s vision returned, they were back in the courtyard again.
“Everyone is dismissed for the day. Be lined up here in 0700 hours,” Aiken said while motioning Traveler to come forward. “Traveler, can I talk to you?”
“Yes.”
“I think there is someone you should see.”
“Really, who?”
“Come back here in the morning.”
Traveler went back to the room. After getting cleaned up, he noticed the journal on his desk. He still had not figure out how to open it. He sat down to remember what Elwyn said. He remembered that she said it had to be opened with a key. He wondered what she meant by it, because there was not a visible lock. Traveler thought that maybe it was a code or another way to say a word.
“Hey, what if I translate the letter into numbers? 11 – 5 – 25. Maybe it is somebody’s birthday. No hmmm, I bet it has something to do with music. If you keep on adding the numbers, the outcome is five and the fifth letter is E. So, I probably have to use the key of E to open it.”
He looked around for anything that could play music. When he did not find anything, he ran to Jelly’s room. He noticed that Jelly’s room looked nothing like his room; it had white marble walls and wood flooring.
“Jelly, do you know anything about this journal.”
“Ah, it looks like the same journal that your grandfather had.”
“Well, yes it does, but it is not.”
“Young Master, where did you get it?”
“Archer’s sister Elwyn gave it to me?”
“Traveler, it is not nice to lie to me.”