by S. K. Ng
Half an hour later, Ray was walking up the flight of stairs at the main building. As he stepped onto the third floor landing, he heard loud, dry coughs coming from one of the offices. He stood in front of the office of the High Elementhar of the Order of Fire Elementhars and knocked. There was a series of coughs before a hoarse voice beckoned him to enter. Ray entered and bowed to the two occupants inside.
“Back _ Ray Iddell, you are of this! Nature’s wisdom _ may you have of this and welcome home!” said the elderly man who was seated behind a large desk as he got up and reciprocated Ray’s bow.
“Nature’s wisdom _ may you have of this, Ray Iddell!” added the other occupant in the room, who was seated across the desk from the elderly man, as he too got up and reciprocated Ray’s bow.
“Nature’s wisdom _ may you have of this, Master Ridge Santlyn, Senior Rock Dencon! Back _ it is good to be of this,” replied Ray.
The elderly man, Grand Elementhar Ridge Santlyn, gestured for Ray to sit in the empty chair next to Master Elementhar Rock Dencon. Ray sat himself down next to his senior, who was in his late forties.
“Training _ of this, how goes it with the Earth Elementhars?” asked Master Santlyn.
“Training _ of this, it goes well, master; for I will finish my final year after this and will be back home this time next year a Master Earth Elementhar,” answered Ray.
“Good! Help _ we shall be needing yours of this soon, Ray, so the sooner you graduate and come home, the better. Issues _ certain of these have arisen, and some of them rather controversial; for our world is at a crossroads and decisions need to made and executed,” said Master Santlyn.
“Serious _ it sounds of this, so what is going on?” asked Ray curiously.
Grand Elementhar Santlyn let out a series of dry coughs. Both Ray and Senior Dencon looked worried.
“Issues _ the first of these is the integration of the Elementhars into the government; and as you know, we Fire Elementhars and the Earth Elementhars vehemently disagree to be integrated; but the Wind Elementhars are arguing for it, saying we would get better support in our war against demonkind,” explained Senior Dencon.
Ray looked confused and surprised. The Law of Elementhars was clear on this issue. This question should not have arisen.
“Integration _ of this is forbidden by Pioneer Vanguard! Issue _ it should not be of this at all! Why?” expressed Ray.
“Integration _ of this, there are some merits; for example, we would get government funding and military support; and also we would get a chance to influence the Fallsian way of life via our representation in the Council of Ministers. Belief _ it is a widely held of this by some of us that Fallsians have strayed from nature’s wisdom,” Master Santlyn pointed out.
“Funding _ of this, I can understand; but to influence the Fallsian way of life is neither our role nor our responsibility. Work _ of this, it is of the Receivers to do so, not us, Master Santlyn,” said Ray.
“Agree _ we do of this with you, Ray. Adamant _ the Wind Elementhars are of this of integrating with the government; and Master Whisper Nurten and the Water Elementhars firmly support the idea as well; so we will have to work hard to convince them that they are wrong,” said Master Santlyn.
Ray nodded his head in agreement.
Master Santlyn let out another series of cough. He seemed to look very frail somehow. It was as though he had aged ten years in the space of one.
“Issues _ the second of these is that we suspect that there is a demonic society in existence,” said Senior Dencon.
“What!?” expressed Ray in total surprise.
“Evidences _ there are of these to indicate that this demonic society does exist; and that they exist in hiding, waiting for the right time to strike!” explained Senior Dencon.
“Be _ but it cannot of this, for demons are not intelligent enough, or stable enough in character to form societies!” said an unbelieving Ray.
Ray was dumbfounded. All this while, the concept of a demonic society was never even thought of, let alone suspected to be in existence. Demons have always exhibited violent and destructive behaviours, even towards their own kind. Demons had been known to kill each other over disputes involving ‘hunting grounds’. It took him a while to even grasp the full extent of the concept and its implications.
Ray looked at Master Santlyn, then at Senior Dencon and then back at Master Santlyn.
“Investigate _ how do we do of this?” asked Ray finally.
“Investigate _ to do of this, we shall have to send an expedition into Forest of The Lost, for we suspect that that is where this demonic society would most likely be hiding. Expedition _ the cost of this would be expensive, both in finance and manpower,” answered Senior Dencon.
“Integration _ of this into the government, now you know why there are some Elementhars who support the idea. Integration _ if we do of this, we will be considered a government entity with full access to its resources, including the Fallsian Military; and we can train them in Elemental Sorcery and use their help in destroying the demonic society if and when we find it,” Master Santlyn pointed out.
Ray shook his head to express his disagreement.
“Integration _ but if we do of this, we are also obligated to support the government and the Fallsian Military in many matters not pertaining to demon hunting, such as wars or civil unrest; and these go directly against Pioneer Vanguard’s wishes and it will also distract us from our own, true responsibilities,” he protested.
“Right _ you are of this, but as you can see, the argument to integrate or not is a close call either way; and this has sent us into turmoil,” said Senior Dencon.
Master Santlyn started coughing again and Senior Dencon got up to pour him a cup of herbal lemon tea to sooth his throat. Senior Dencon turned and looked at Ray.
“Issues _ besides those which we have already discussed, there is another,” he said.
“Issue _ of this, there is another?” asked Ray, surprised.
Apparently a lot had happened in the one year since Ray was gone. It was the Grand Order’s policy that novices and visiting masters were kept out of matters not directly pertaining to their training. This was done so that they were not unnecessarily distracted from their studies. Therefore, the Earth Elementhars had never discussed any of these issues with him.
“Issue _ there is one other of this; and that is of the Independents,” said Senior Dencon.
“Independents?” questioned Ray in surprise.
“Independents,” confirmed Senior Dencon.
Ray had no idea what this issue was about. Independent Elementhars, or otherwise known simply as ‘Independents,’ had always stayed clear of the Grand Order and vice versa. What had changed?
“Independents _ of them, some of our fellow Elementhars have argued to recruit them, or offer membership to them, to boost our ranks,” explained Senior Dencon.
“Independents _ of them, they are not as well trained as us, which makes them unpredictable; it could even be that they are more of a liability than an asset to us, so why are we even considering this? Consider _ they would never do of this of joining us, our ways are too rigid for them,” remarked Ray.
“Need _ we may have of this of them,” said Master Santlyn.
“Destroy _ so that we have enough manpower to do of this to the demonic society?” asked Ray.
Both Master Santlyn and Senior Dencon nodded.
Ray shook his head in disbelief. Senior Dencon gave him an ‘I understand how stupid this sounds’ look. After a few moments of silence, Master Santlyn finally spoke.
“Integrate _ the government also wants us to do of this with the Independents, so that they could use us to control them and indirectly, reduce the crime rate in the kingdom,” he said.
“Ridiculous _ this is of this! Independents _ of them, they were never that heavily involved in crime; as a matter of fact, most of them are honest, hardworking and law-abiding citizens. Powers _ they only use theirs of these in self defence or in some cas
es, personal conflicts; but those cannot be classified as crimes,” objected Ray.
“True _ what you say is of this, but some Independents have accidentally destroyed entire villages when their powers go out of control due to their lack of training, and the government, understandably, needs to put a stop to it. Possibility _ there is of this that they could ban Elemental Sorcery altogether because of the Independents,” Senior Dencon pointed out.
Ray kept silent and shook his head. He did not agree at all. It was not that he did not think that what they said was true. It was more to the fact that he felt that the government did not have the right to do whatever it liked or wanted; and definitely it did not have the right to do whatever that was the most convenient, especially if it involved sacrificing fairness and justice.
“Government _ of them, they have gone too far!” exclaimed an angry Ray.
“Calm _ be of this, Ray, we are merely examining the possibilities, for the government has not finalised its decision yet,” said Master Santlyn.
“True _ what Master Santlyn says is very much of this, so you need to calm down; anyway, you need to focus on your training and there will be plenty of time to worry about this later,” said Senior Dencon.
Ray drew in three deep, slow breaths and calmed himself down. But he was still upset with what he had heard. Both Master Santlyn and Senior Dencon knew what Ray was thinking and why, and wished that they still had the innocence and simplicity in them to think as how he did. For they have often asked themselves one very important question, had they strayed from the path of nature’s wisdom themselves?
The next morning, Ray was at the monune’s field with Slide and a group of novices. Ray was only briefly familiar with the novices, having met them the year before. As usual, the novices were chatting away while Slide and Ray were setting up round, wooden boards on steel racks. A few of the novices helped. Slide called the class to order.
“Nature’s wisdom _ may you all have of this, novices!” greeted Slide.
“Nature’s wisdom _ may we receive of this from you, Master Moltox!” the novices replied in unison as they bowed.
Slide bowed in return.
“Guest _ as you can see, we have of him today, so let us welcome Master Ray Iddell to our class once again,” said Slide while reintroducing Ray to the novices.
“Nature’s wisdom _ may we receive of this from you, Master Iddell!” greeted the novices as they bowed.
“Nature’s wisdom _ may you all have of this, novices!” replied Ray as he returned their bow.
Slide turned around and faced the wooden boards. He then took in a deep breath while simultaneously raising his right arm to the rear about the height of his shoulders, as if he was poised to throw a javelin. Flames began to form around his raised fist and took shape into some sort of a flaming spear. With a loud yell, Slide ‘threw’ the flaming spear at the board. The board exploded into tiny pieces as the flaming spear hit it, sending burning debris soaring in all directions.
“Heat Spear _ the name of the spell is of this, and as you can see, it is an intermediate level, offensive spell. Execute _ this is how you do of this, firstly, bring your mind to anger to tune in and generate the fire element; then calm your mind as you breathe in to focus the energy to your fist and with a loud yell, throw it at the target. Version _ a more advance of this of this Spell, which you will learn later, will allow you to hit two targets at once, bursting through the first before destroying the second. Understand _ do you of this?” explained Slide.
The novices nodded their heads. Slide and Ray then divided them into lines of ten novices each, and each line took turns to execute their spells at their designated targets. The first line took in their breaths and generated their flaming spears as instructed. Then, with loud yells, they ‘threw’ the Heat Spears as hard as they could. Most of the Heat Spears fizzled out before even reaching their targets, while two or three made it. But the targets did not explode. They merely shook at the impact.
“Energy _ yours of this is not dense enough, so you need to take your time in generating the energy before you focus and throw it,” explained Ray to the novices.
Shaking their head in disappointment, they moved to the rear to allow the next line to move forward.
The next line of novices faired slightly better, having learnt from the mistake of the first line. They took their time and generated a denser mass of energy, which they moulded into flaming spears and threw them as hard as they could. All the spears impacted their targets this time, and although a few of the boards cracked, none exploded.
“Energy _ yours of this is better than the first line, but is still not dense enough, so you need to generate more,” explained Slide.
The third line came up. Eager determination was expressed on their young faces. They took a long time to generate and gather their energy, so that when they finally ‘threw’ their flaming spears, not only did all their spears impact the targets, but a few of them actually exploded. Slide and Ray broke into wide smiles.
The first line came up again. Having learnt from their mistake and the mistake of the second line, they managed to destroy all their targets in the second attempt. The second and third lines did equally well. After several cycles, all of the novices were adept at executing the Heat Spear Spell.
Slide instructed the novices to stop and move to the side of the field. Ray and Slide then stood facing each other across the field. They bowed to each other and then stared at each other intently. Slide began generating a Heat Spear that was longer and denser than any that the novices had ever seen. And to their utmost surprise, He threw the Heat Spear at Ray! There were gasps and shouts of surprise.
But equally as surprising was that the Heat Spear ran into a vertical circular disc of flames that acted like a cushion and slowed it down, before both were finally absorbed into Ray’s outstretched palm.
“Elemental Absorption _ this technique is named of this!” explained Slide as he walked towards the shocked novices.
“Elemental Absorption _ of this, it is executed by generating a protective shield to slow down the enemy’s attack and absorb the energy to recharge your own,” added Ray as he joined Slide.
Some of the novices ‘ooh-ed’ and some of them ‘aah-ed’. Ray found their reaction amusing.
“Restrictions _ there are several of these for this technique, however; and these are that the elemental energy must be of the same type, for example, the fire element must be matched with fire element; and this technique cannot be used to absorb demonic energy,” elaborated Slide.
“Advantages _ of these, there are also a few, namely, you can recharge yourself and gain back energy which you have spent; and also this defensive technique consumes less effort and energy as compared to the other defensive techniques,” added Ray.
Then a novice raised his hand to ask a question.
“Consequence _ masters, what is it of this if we do not match the elements correctly or if we tried to absorb demonic energy?” asked the novice.
“Consequence _ of this, if you do not match the element of the attack, it will go through instead of being absorbed and you will be injured, although not as badly as some of the energy would have been dissipated,” answered Slide.
“Energy _ as for demonic of this, if you tried to absorb it; your soul will be polluted and you will turn demonic yourself!” stressed Ray.
There were gasps and shocked expressions coming from the novices. They knew that they were being taught a considerably advanced technique that was highly advantageous if they could apply it properly but would turn equally disastrous if they could not.
Slide and Ray then broke the group of novices into pairs and had them practice the Elemental Absorption Spell with each other. But due to the advance and dangerous nature of the technique, they restricted the novices’ attacks to only a quarter of their own maximum strength. Even then, there were a few incidences of novices getting hurt.
Finally the Farhayvenyte sun was directly over
head in the Fallsian sky. Slide and Ray broke the group of novices for lunch. The novices were chatting away, and showing off their bruises and injuries. These were the souvenirs of their hard-learned lessons and their sacrifices for success. The novices stayed true to the wise saying of ‘no pain, no gain!’ Both Slide and Ray could not feel any prouder of the novices.
Lunch, just like breakfast and dinner, was a sort of family affair for the Elementhars; for they often gathered and had their meals together in the mess hall. Ray took his seat next to Master Santlyn while Slide sat opposite him, next to Senior Dencon. Thunder sat on the other side of the Master Santlyn. Cart Dirrell was seated on the other side of Senior Dencon. Master Santlyn was still coughing occasionally, although with every sip of herbal lemon tea, the frequency and intensity of the coughs seemed to diminish.
“Better _ master, your cough seems to be getting of this,” said Ray.
“Better _ I feel of this too. Tired _ I am of this, that is all; so give me a few more days of rest and I shall be fine,” said Master Santlyn.
Slide put his corn cob back down on his plate in anger.
“Fault _ of this, it is of that egotistical, sad excuse of an Elementhar, Rapier Shay!” he said angrily.
“Fault _ of this, it is no one’s, Slide,” corrected the Grand Elementhar.
“Fault _ of this, it is of his, master; for if it were not for his proposals, you would not have to do so much travelling to conduct these ridiculous meetings and you would not be as stressed up as you are now!” protested Slide.
“Agree _ I do of this with Slide,” said Thunder
“Right _ master is of this, Slide; for High Elementhar Shay is just doing his job to ensure what is best for his order and for the rest of us; which includes raising difficult and sensitive issues if and when he has good reasons to. Outburst _ cease yours of this for it does nothing to improve master’s health,” Senior Dencon pointed out.