Yelena closed her eyes as she rested on the backrest of her chair. The orange light streaming through the windows indicated that evening had arrived, signaling the end of her duties.
Until a few moments ago Yelena had been working on some documents which she finished a few moments ago. Normally she would have already left her cabin and returned to her dorm. But today she decided to delay her departure as her state of mind was not good.
Her mind was constantly racing through countless thoughts causing a great deal of stress to her. The reason behind it was none other than her brother Lucas.
She had heard rumors regarding Lucas's attitude but she paid them no mind. Some people say that he had opposed his instructor Liz Snyder on his first day and almost faced serious punishment.
Given how absurd the rumor was, it was only natural for her not to pay attention to them. The Lucas she remembered was someone who was strong to weak and weak to strong. He didn't have the guts to do something like that.
But later she realized just how wrong she was.
Not only did he oppose her decision, he didn't even seem to fear expulsion which was a huge shock for her. The contrast between the Lucas she remembered and the present Lucas was too big.
In reality, Yelena already had enough proof against both classes. She could've punished them both and closed the matter right then and there.
However, she decided against it because there were many things she needed to teach these first years.
For starters: Justice is not served; it's earned.
And of course, there are consequences to one's actions however big or small they are.
Then again it wasn't that bad.
Although everything didn't go as planned she was able to accomplish her main purpose and she was satisfied with that. However, if there was one thing that didn't sit right with her, it was Lucas's defiant attitude
*****
(Lucas's PoV)
Swoosh—!
In the garden at the back of our mansion, Father was training like usual.
Today, I mustered the courage to sneak a peek at his training.
My father was a huge man. He had big broad muscles, a large figure, and several scars covering his ripped body. One could argue he was the epitome of masculinity.
But unlike his scary appearance, my father was a kind-hearted soul. He was a big softie, at least to me.
Swooosh—!
The garden was an oasis of lush green, awash with vibrant plants. At the center of it was a large pond, where I had spent countless hours playing.
Birds soared through the cloudless sky above, perching on the garden's trees to rest and chirping merrily.
The sound of a bamboo fountain, with its calming repetitive rhythm, could be heard throughout the garden, adding to the serene atmosphere.
Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy of leaves, illuminating a man practicing his weapon arts by the pond.
With every graceful movement of his halberd, he trimmed the neatly trimmed grass even further.
Thwaaa—!
Suddenly, he stopped his swing and shot a look in my direction.
"Aieek!" startled, I quickly hid behind the wall that I was peeking at him from, realizing that he had caught me watching him.
How did he find out? I thought. I was sure he was going to punish me but instead, he simply chuckled and resumed his training.
As he did so, I peeked my head out again.
This time, I saw my father adopt a new stance for his swing, one that was unlike any normal stance for a polearm weapon.
It was a sword stance? But my father wasn't a swordsman. His choice of weapon was a spear…
My father assumed a swordsman stance, pulling his halberd back as he grasped its handle with one hand and its hilt with the other.
"Watch this," he says, pretending to speak to himself but clearly directing his words toward me.
I anxiously held my breath as my father tensed his shoulder and calf muscles. He grasped the halberd's shaft tighter in his hands before…
Fwoooooosh—!
He swung it in a horizontal slash like a sword and unleashed a powerful strike!
Even though he was roughly ten meters away from the tree in front of him and he didn't use any mana, a deep cut etched onto its trunk.
"Woaaaaah!"
I was left so mesmerized by the beauty and the power of the move that I didn't even notice my father had already appeared behind me.
"Ahh!" I exclaimed after finally noticing his presence. "Father, I'm sorry!"
It was not allowed in our house to disturb Father during his training.
I remember Adel, my younger twin brother, once had to run 80 laps around the city for disturbing him.
So of course, I was scared.
But instead of anger, my father flashed a bright, loving smile at me and ruffled my hair with his giant hands.
"It's fine, son. Don't tell your brother I let you go without any punishment," he said before crouching down and rubbing his cheek against mine.
"Hehehehe! Father, your beard!" I cried out as I felt his porcupine-like beard tickling my skin.
Tring—! Tring—!
But before the scene could go any further, suddenly the high-pitched sound of the alarm ring fell in my ears.
Drenched in sweat, I woke up from my slumber and sat straight up.
****
"The fuck was that?" Lucas asked himself. "Was it a dream?"
That wasn't a dream, those were indeed Lucas's memories.
But why did he see those? And in a dream, no less?
Calming down his beating heart, Lucas used the blanket he had over him to wipe the sweat off his face.
"Well, at least it wasn't a nightmare but it sure weirded the heck out of me," Lucas grumbled to himself as he got up from his bed.
Anything related to his parents always puts Lucas in a bad mood and today was especially so since he was able to have a good night's sleep in a long time.
But it's not like he could dwell on them forever. Today was a big day for his class and he can't waste any time on silly dreams.
****
"Hola, Lucas! Good morning."
"Good morning, Kent. "
"Are you okay?"
"I am fine why do you ask?"
"You know about the upcoming battle."
"I don't care about that."
"Though so. Honestly, I don't want to fight class 1-C-8. Why are we fighting them? We were not even the ones who got involved in the dispute?"
"It's her way of teaching us that we have no choice in which battles we want to fight in."
"Her? Oh, you mean Yelena. I guess you're right. Hey, I just remembered; you guys are siblings right?"
"Yes, but as you already saw, we are not on good terms."
"Yeah, I could see that. But anyway, you were totally cool back then man. Even now whenever I think about it, I can feel shivers run down my spine. You even got her to compensate us for this fight."
"That's the least she should do to make me go through this."
As soon as Lucas entered the academy gates, Kent spotted him, and came to walk together.
It has become a daily routine by now for Lucas to spend more and more time with this blue-haired elven boy during academy hours.
Even after he went home, Kent either continued to text him, requesting Lucas to join him in exploring clubs and bars, or sent memes.
But today's main topic was the mock war that was about to start.
It has been two days since Yelena came to their class and gave them a lengthy speech about justice and strength and whatnot. And yesterday, she officially announced the mock war event to happen between classes 1-A-1 and 1-C-8.
And today is the day it'll start.