FARHAYVEN: VENGEANCE

by S. K. Ng

  It was dusk when Ray was finally excused. As he stepped out of Master Santlyn’s room, the master called out to him.

  “Mistake _ never make the same of this twice, Ray; please remember this!” Master Santlyn said.

  Ray nodded but did not give a verbal reply. He was too dispirited to talk. He went straight back to his room and went to sleep. He slept all the way through to the next morning, skipping his dinner as a result.

  Breakfast the next day was a gloomy affair. All the novices were extra-well behaved, for fear of accidentally angering any of the masters. They conveniently decided to stay in as well. But as soon as the masters were gone for their meeting with the merchant, all the novices flocked to Ray’s room. Slide was the first to congratulate him on a job well done. Thunder patted him on the back. The Dellix twins gave him wide smiles and thumbs’ up. Cutter kept saying ‘Man _ you are the one of him!” Feather straightened her hands and ‘fake’ worshipped him. Ray was overwhelmed.

  Everything was back to normal the next day. The masters left to meet with the merchant and the novices went out to town. The novices broke into several groups this time and went their separate ways.

  Slide and Thunder went to visit a blacksmith to shop for weapons. They were to undergo their first test soon, together with Funnel. The first test was to hunt down and kill a demon in a group kill. Master Santlyn was to be their invigilator. But unlike Funnel, who was already a master Elementhar and has his own sorcerised item in the form of a sword, both Slide and Thunder did not have any. As a matter of fact, when they ran away and did battle with the centipede demon, they stole a pitchfork and an axe from a farmer and used these items as weapons. The pitchfork broke after a few exchanges with the demon and the axe-head flew away not long after. It was only by pure dumb luck that they finally managed to kill the demon. By the end of the battle, almost all of their soul energy was drained and the both of them were near soul depletion. This was one of the details that they tried their best to hide from the masters. They did not want the masters to know that they were foolish enough to have gone into battle without Sorcerised Items and Reservers. And luckily for them, Master Santlyn was too angry to have thought of this little detail at the time.

  Ray, the Dellix twins, Cutter and Feather went to the riverbank for a picnic. They wanted to spend their time looking at boats travelling up and down the river. There was something calming about the boats, they felt. Besides, they wanted to be as far away as they could from the streets of Timberstock, lest they bump into another bank robbery or something of the sort.

  It was late afternoon when Ray and the others left the riverbank and made their way back to the inn. Along the way they heard a loud commotion from one of the back alleys. ‘Not again!’ was what Ray was thinking. But before he could say or do anything, the others had already run off to investigate.

  When the novices arrived at the source of the commotion, they could not believe their eyes. Five well-built teenagers, all wearing some sort of school uniform, were kicking and punching a skinny one, who was also wearing a similar uniform. The skinny one looked familiar, they thought; and finally they recognised him. He was Stick Dugs!

  “Let me go, or I shall burn you!” threatened Stick as he crouched and took a defensive posture against the beatings.

  “Burn us? Ha! Ha! Ha! We’re not afraid of your cheap tricks! Fire Elementhar, my rear-end! You’re a dropout! You can’t burn squat! Now die, you skinny, arrogant piece of horse-dung!” replied one of the teenagers.

  Stick tried to execute a Heat Burst, but could not remain focused enough to do so due to the pain that he was experiencing. His Heat Burst fizzled out before it could be properly formed.

  “Help _ should we do of this of him, Ray?” asked Cutter.

  Ray was unsure.

  “No. Rot _ let him be of this!” answered Radiance.

  Bloom nodded her head in agreement. So did Feather. And finally, so did Ray. And he did not feel guilty about it. Not at all! Stick Dugs has always, and it seems, will forever, see himself as more ‘special’ than everybody else. So he was getting exactly what he deserved. The novices turned around and walked away. And that would be the last time they were ever to lay their eyes on Stick Dugs, thank goodness!

  That night Slide and Thunder showed everybody the items that they had bought. Thunder had bought a straight, two-handed long-sword and a bronze headband. His headband had been embedded with a large ruby. Slide had bought a bronze headband as well, and his, too, was embedded with a large ruby. The bronze headbands were to be used as their Reservers. All this while they were using bronze headbands that belonged to their order, but for their upcoming test, they had wanted to use their own personal ones. But seeing as they were still novices, they were restricted to only bronze headbands. They could only use silver headbands when they graduated. And as far as the buying of a weapon was concerned, instead of a sword, Slide had bought a battleaxe instead. When questioned by his fellow novices, he said that he felt more comfortable using an axe as opposed to a sword based on his farmer’s background. They also bought a number of jewels to be embedded into their weapons.

  Slide and Thunder headed to Senior Dencon’s room. The rest of the novices followed. They knocked on Senior Dencon’s door. He was surprised to find all of the novices standing outside his room. But he invited them in, as many as could fit into his room, anyway. It turned out that Slide and Thunder had a favour to ask of him. They had requested him to ‘sorcerise’ their weapons. Embedding jewels into their headbands was something that the blacksmith could do, but sorcerising weapons could only be accomplished by Master Elementhars of the Grand Order, and they were not up to this level yet. Senior Dencon graciously agreed to help them.

  Placing a ruby on the handle of Thunder’s sword and holding it in place with his thumbs and fingers, Senior Dencon closed his eyes and focused his soul energy. His thumbs and fingers began to glow white. Then he pressed the ruby into the sword handle. Then he repeated the process with a white diamond, a brown diamond, a sapphire and a golden beryl. When that was all done, Thunder’s sword was completely sorcerised. Then Senior Dencon repeated the same process on Slide’s battleaxe. All of the novices ‘ooh-ed’ and ‘aah-ed’, for they had not seen anything like this before.

  Two days later, the masters had managed to reach an agreement with the merchant. Senior Dencon left with the merchant for Fallsbay Town, where they were to be joined by several Earth Elementhars and Wind Elementhars. Then they were to set sail to the merchant’s homeland. The novices, meanwhile, were brought back to Monune Ruby. Their holiday was deemed over, much to their displeasure.

  On the journey back to Monune Ruby, Master Calnen sat beside Ray as he drove his cart. For the first one hour, both of them sat silent. Ray was wondering what the Earth Elementhar was up to.

  “Intelligent _ you are of this, Ray; and a great Elementhar you would make, but if only you knew how to be patient,” said Master Calnen suddenly.

  Ray sat silently. He was not sure what to say.

  “Idea _ what gave you of this to try to blind that criminal with your fire manipulation skills?” asked Master Calnen.

  “Know _ I do not of this, for I just acted instinctively,” answered Ray.

  “Instinctively _ you did reacted of this, but in a very intelligent way. Irresponsible _ you were of this, but intelligent nevertheless!” said Master Calnen.

  Ray sat silent again. He was not sure if Master Calnen was trying to pay him a compliment or reprimand him.

  “Plans _ what are yours of these when you graduate, Ray?” asked Master Calnen.

  “Plans _ mine of these are to travel the ocean and find the place where I came from, and of course, to find my parents as well,” answered Ray.

  “Plans _ so those are yours of these. Interest _ would you have of this to study the Earth Element after your graduation?” asked Master Calnen.

  Ray sat silent again. He had never thought of studying another element. Furthermore, he was not sure t
hat he was good enough to master a second element. And if he was to try, when should he do it? Should he try to find his parents first, or to study the Earth Element first?

  “Worry _ do not do of this now, Ray; for when the time is right I shall coordinate with Master Santlyn and make the necessary arrangements. Reject _ of course, you are always free to do of this of my offer; but I hope that you do not. Heard _ I have done of this of you from Funnel, and he does speak greatly of you; so I hope that you will accept my offer,” said Master Calnen.

  Ray sat silent again. This was all too sudden.

  “Reason _ may I know what is it of this that I am being made this offer, Master Calnen?” asked Ray, his curiosity getting the better of him.

  “Reason _ mine of this is simple, and that is to select the best Elementhars of whom we have and make him better, for we shall be needing better quality Elementhars soon. Events _ we are preparing for certain of these. Worry _ but do not do of this for now, Ray, for you will understand later,” answered Master Calnen.

  That was not much of an answer, Ray thought. But it sounded important. What was the Grand Order preparing for, anyway? Try as he could, he could not recall anything about any events being planned or prepared for. Then Master Calnen started talking again, but he was making small talk. He asked Ray of his history, his hobbies, his feelings and so on. And then he described to Ray about the Earth Elementhars and what their lives were like at Monune Brown Diamond.

  Master Calnen would alternate between sitting with Ray, Funnel and Master Santlyn throughout the journey back to Monune Ruby. Ray began to realise that Master Calnen had wanted to get to know him better, and had wanted be known better as well. Ray learned that Master Calnen was a strict person, but he was also fair. And being strict and fair, Master Calnen was pretty much a conformist in character. He would be a person who would do things in a fixed way because he thought that this was the way things should be done, and would consider any variation as a form of defilement. There were advantages to having this type of character. It would make one a good disciplinarian and it would make one a good preserver of ways.

  Master Calnen was a large contrast to Master Matten, who was emotional and instinctive. Master Matten was most likely to do what she felt and not what she thought.

  Senior Dencon, on the other hand, was a practical minded person. He did not believe in ways, only results. He did not care how a thing was done; only that it was done without causing any or little unwanted side-effects.

  Master Santlyn was someone who was in between what Master Calnen and Senior Dencon were. He was a conformist to a certain degree, but without sacrificing practicality.

  Finally, there was Master Shay. Ray did not know him well enough to figure him out.

  A month had passed. Master Santlyn gave Funnel, Slide and Thunder their first test. There were reports of a Secondary Demon preying on travellers in a nearby forest, and their test was to hunt it down and kill it as a team. Master Calnen was to accompany Master Santlyn and the three test candidates as an observer. As the five of them set out, all the novices gathered and gave them a warm send-off, and wished the candidates the best of luck and a safe return.

  The novices waited with great patience. A week had already passed by. There was no news of the five of them. Then another week had passed. Still there was no news. Then the third week had passed and Master Matten was beginning to panic. She was beginning to make plans for the entire order to go out looking for them.

  Finally, after a month, the five of them walked through the gates of Monune Ruby. The masters’ robes were a little dirty and dusty, but the candidates’ robes were stained with demon blood. The masters showed weary faces of tired old men but the candidates had extra wide smiles on their faces. Everyone guessed that the candidates were smiling because they had managed to kill the Secondary Demon and succeeded in passing their test. But that was not to be the case exactly.

  It seemed that the candidates did not pass their first test as planned. They had passed both their first and second test in one outing instead. They had found and killed the Secondary Demon on their first week out. But on the way back, they encountered three separate Tertiary Demons. Each candidate then took their second and final test by killing the demons one-on-one. What a strange occurrence of events! Such a thing was never heard of in the history of the Grand Order. Both Slide and Thunder were deemed graduated and were each presented with a certificate, a silver headband with a large ruby set into it, and a set of orange-red robes. Funnel was now deemed a graduate of the fire element, and was presented with a certificate, a large ruby and a set of orange-red robes.

  The novices were all overjoyed. The candidates’ success felt like a victory for all of them. They felt inspired and hopeful. They now looked at their first test as a challenge to be looked forward to, instead of a moment of judgement to be dreaded. That night, they held a party; and though as tired as they were, the candidates took turns to regale their classmates with the details of their tests.

  Funnel left Monune Ruby with Master Calnen a few days later. All his classmates were there to send him off. Slide and Thunder were given their first assignments the very next day. They were to travel separately across Eastern Falls. Slide was to travel to the eastern-most town of Eastern Falls and then travel westwards. Thunder was to travel to the western-most town of the province and travel eastwards. They were to travel on foot, and stay in each town they visited for only a few days. When they were to reach a town, they were to place a notice at the town hall to inform the townsfolk of where they were staying, for how long they would be staying and where they would be heading to next. Once they had each reached the opposite ends of the province, they may then return to Monune Ruby and rest. This assignment was called a ‘Travelling Patrol’.

  A typical Travelling Patrol would last as long as five to six months. An Elementhar was required to do a Travelling Patrol only once a year. Travelling Patrols were necessary because people who had become subjected to demon attacks would not be able to get to the closest monune in time. It would take two months for people living at the fringes of the province to reach Monune Ruby and back. Therefore with Travelling Patrols, Elementhars became more easily accessible to the common folks. Once again the novices gathered to send off their friends. Monune Ruby just became a little more lonelier.

  When Ray was of the age 17, a sad event occurred. Master Autumn Matten had died in her sleep. It was Radiance who had found her in her room. Her death took everyone by surprise. She had not shown any signs of illness. Another funeral was arranged. By unlike Scorpion’s funeral, this was a more ‘private’ event. On the night following her death, the Fire Elementhars had sent Heat Burst after Heat Burst into the night sky. To the distant village below the hill and to the townsfolk of Eastpeak, it would seem as though the Fire Elementhars had lit up a bunch of fireworks. But in fact, it was a signal for all those who were on Travelling Patrol to return to the monune. Any Elementhar who was on Travelling Patrol and saw the display of Heat Bursts would also repeat the signal for others to see. They would then get to the nearest village or town, rent or purchase a horse, and hurry back.

  Master Matten’s funeral was held ten days later. This was due to the fact that the Fire Elementhars had wanted to wait for everyone to return so that they were able to pay their last respects. In the mean time, they preserved her body by keeping it in a sealed room and constantly drawing out heat from the room itself by using Elemental Sorcery. This action rendered the room and its contents ice-cold. Creating and manipulating heat was the Fire Elementhars’ area of expertise, and for this they were well-known; yet many seemed not to have realised that they were equally expert at drawing heat away from materials, thereby freezing them. This was a skill unique only to the Fire Elementhars; and to a minor degree, the Water Elementhars. As such, Fire Elementhars had been asked by the other orders to assist in such a manner when they have a body that they needed to preserve.

  The funeral was a very solemn affair. As
usual, Master Santlyn got up to the podium and said a few kind words. And the words he said were indeed kind, but they were not few. Master Santlyn described Master Autumn Matten’s life from birth to death, and he explained every achievement, every kind act and every peculiarity down to the tiniest detail. Then it was the Receiver’s turn, and this time, there was only one. The Receiver of Light made his speech and said his prayers. His prayer was in a strange language that Ray did not understand. But he bowed his head and emptied his thoughts; and then thought of Master Matten and whatever memories he had of her and in his mind, he said ‘goodbye’ to her. Then Master Matten’s coffin was set alight the same way Scorpion’s was. The atmosphere at Monune Ruby was gloomy for three months after the funeral. Such was the loss that they had felt.

  Four months later, Ray was deemed ready to take his first test. As usual, it was to be a group kill of a Secondary Demon. Ray was grouped with the Twins Dellix, while Cutter and Feather were grouped together with another classmate. Master Santlyn was to be the invigilator for both groups. Senior Dencon was to invigilate two more groups of Ray’s classmates. As usual, the novices were brought by Senior Dencon to Eastpeak Town to buy weapons, headbands and jewels. The night before they left Monune Ruby for Eastpeak, Ray was asked to meet Master Santlyn at his office.