Cut to the boys
The two boys are hiding by the gate, and a loud clacking sound suddenly appears into the scene. An unknown knife was thrown at them, surprised by this, three guards started to head towards them, wanting to investigate the sound.
The boys quickly realised that they were compromised, so they decided to make as much noise so that all the guards would focus on them.
AC grabs the knife, and they charge towards them with a mighty roar. The fight begins.
Zane, a healer, summoned a staff and charged. The staff is an extra skill grade weapon and he has imbued his ability unto it, knocking everyone; not because he hit them hard, but because his ability on the staff was able to poison them into unconsciousness.
Acyrus, a manifest, manifested sand & stone, launched them towards the guards, and used the sand to tie them, unable to move freely, they remained helpless.
The boys are not permitted to kill as of yet, because they are still pages; only squires and knights are given authority to kill because they better understand the gravity of death and make peace with it.
Fighting the guards was surprisingly easy for them. More of them came, but it resulted in a similar outcome.
"These guards are weak, I'm starting to get bored," Zane said, thinking the guards would be a challenge when they grew in numbers.
"How about we split; the person who finishes and comes back first wins, the loser is forced to do whatever the winner requests for a day." AC suggests this as they sit on top of their bodies.
"I wonder what evil things you have managed to stir up in that head of yours," Ac replies, trying to hide a slight grin at the ends of his mouth.
"What? Are you scared I'll do something to you?"
"Not at all, it's more so, I was able to think of something even I wouldn't wish upon myself."
"Then let's shake on it."
A man afar was observing from above, looking at the battle between Rues and the Silver Knight, fascinated by what was unfolding, he accidentally moved his eyes to the boys, moved them back to the fight, and quickly back to the boys again.
"Am I seeing clearly? Why are the damn guards losing to those kids?" he says, perplexed.
"My eyes have never experienced such a thing before. Why is it even possible?" Marco Is now in disbelief and frustration.
"FLOYE! FLOYE! FLOOOOOOYYYYYYE!!" He yelled, wanting to know who was responsible for the guards.
"Yess, Marco, I mean Mr Marco, sir, I'm here," Floye answered quickly from the minute he heard his screams, he moved to see what was so urgent.
"Why are the guards losing to those boys? And dismally so, they aren't even squires yet."
"Well, sir, Pec Rosso was the one who hired them; I told him to hire the guards you suggested, but he chose not to listen, sir."
"Plus, on paper, they looked like a safe choice when I investigated them, and the majority of them were stated to be Baron." Floye said this while trying his best not to stutter.
As he was saying this, Marco's purple eyes brightened, in between his dark eyebrows wrinkles of rage started to form.
"My rank is Baron; a first class at that. When you look at them, do you see Baron?"
"They aren't even fit to be classified as Beronet."
"You know what, never mind, I'll deal with this later; for now, get the guards to retreat.
"Where are you off to Sir?"
"I'm off to be a substitute teacher. Class begins now."
He walks downstairs to quickly deal with them; when he gets there, he sees them sitting on top of the two guards, smiling, and shaking hands, like it's a random Tuesday, where nothing of significance happens. And he yells.
"HEYY! YOU TWO BETTER GO WAIT IN MY OFFICE, SO I CAN GIVE YOU A PROPER BEATING ONCE I GET BACK!!"
The boys simply took a fighting stance, signaling that if you want compliance, you must first guarantee yourself a victory.
'Aya yay, do they want me to commit child abuse or something?' he says in annoyance, the boys looking eager to fight.
"Anyways, You better not die on me; as your substitute, I don't want my spankings to kill kids, you know." He says as he's stretching his arms & legs.
In an instant he run towards them, his hands turn into black blades to strike them both, but they swiftly blocked and dodged his attacks, then backed for space.
The boys then simultaneously went on to attack. Acyrus manifested sharp rocks, and Zane raised his hand; the rocks turned red and dark brown, layered with poison.
All the rocks flew towards him, and he evaded as if they were towels being thrown. Once the rocks started to disappear, his arms aimed at the boys, his legs stretched up above in the sky, and he started to shoot rods from his arms.
They run while dodging, realising that long-range attacks aren't enough for them to win.
Marco, a man in black who smiles like death, attacks without rest, to show off his strength, he shoots rods from his hands, to further their dance. As they ran like ants, in search of defence, they soon hide behind walls to capture their breath.
"Hey Zane, we should divide, you attack from above and I'll be below," AC suggests, once they finish resting.
"If we split, it'll be faster for him to defeat us, you know." Zane replied, being sceptical about his plan
"Yes, that's true, but we were never going to win; rather, we choose how we lose."
"What's your point?" Zane asks.
"My point is that if we split and attack, one of us has a better opportunity to escape and call for reinforcement, while the other distracts him."
"Oh, I see, but what happens to the one left behind?"
"We will worry about it once it happens. I don't think he intends on killing us, it's clear that he's holding back, so we should just focus on one of us escaping."
Marco continues to strike, but in with a hammer-like shape, his goal was to break the walls that they were hiding in, but they were reinforced by Acyrus's rocks from his manifest ability.
As he is doing this, a cloud of smoke appears, he pauses, and two giant creatures are summoned; they break through the walls and attack him, one from above and the other below.
The one from above is a Merlin bird that has two horns with manipulator ability, and the one below is a worm that has multiple teeth that grind whatever it consumes, known as an omni-worm, with a detector ability; they're known for eating any and everything while being greatly undetected.
Marco was entertained by this, seeing that the boys had the capability to escalate the fight; the bird flew at high speed while being able to attack at the same time, and AC followed Marco on the ground, which made things more challenging.
This is because multiple worms would appear in and out of garages, on and off the ground, without him sensing their appearance and disappearance, while a giant bird shoots giant feathers up above.
Marco dodged, blocked, and retaliated against some of their attacks with no room to breathe; the more worms he killed, the more worms would emerge from its dead bodies with less room for him to move.
But this was a welcomed challenge for him, and a greater challenge for the boys because they did not have the stamina to continue fighting at that level.
Marco then paused, his smile never leaving his face, slightly catching his breath, not because he was tired, but because it was great exercise for him.
"Oh my word, I must say, that was surprisingly fun, please tell me there's more."
"No, wait, that is selfish of me."
"I'll be the one attacking this time. I want you to experience my fun." He proclaims, his eyes full of glee.
As he's experiencing his slight euphoria, the boys have already ran in opposite directions, hoping he can only catch one of them but not both, in his retaliation.
"Huh, why run away?, I thought we were having fun."
"Oh well, I don't mind playing hide and seek too; however, I do find it unwarranted if you ask me."
Zane, flying away at high speeds with his bird, trying his best to escape, and AC inside a worm underground with other worms moving in different directions to distract him in case he decides to chase him.
'AC, I did what I could, now let's see if your plan works, and Master Rues, I hope you are still well.'
As Marco decides to go on the offensive, unbothered by their attempt to escape, both his hands start making hand signs and a clap at the end, two creatures emerge from a cloud of smoke; it was a summoning technique, summoning a large dragonfly and a centipede.
"Bring those boys to me, and bring them alive." Marco gives the creatures an order, and they immediately move. He then sits and stares far out into the unknown.
The centipede goes underground to capture AC, while the dragonfly flies to capture Zane.
'I think I may have gotten away, and even if he's coming for me, there are hundreds of worms scattered all around; it will take time for him to find me. I just hope one of us successfully escapes.'
The centipede is now on the chase and can see more than just energy flow to track people; it has unique spatial awareness sensors, meaning it can echolocate your energy frequency from the surrounding area.
Even if you suppress your energy, the centipede can sense energy frequencies from the environment that's affected by the energy you omit from your body.
Lots of rumbling underground, hundreds of worms moving all at once, AC covered in warmth, waiting to be transported to the nearest town, he then feels hostility in the worms, moving faster and rapidly.
'What's this sudden movement?' he asks
The worm is then split in half, AC in between, grabbed by the centipede's mouth, bringing him back to Marco, unable to move below ground. AC releases the most worms to preserve the small energy left, hoping Zane has escaped.
As Marco was sitting and lost in thought, the boy appeared below him, being held between the mouth of the centipede, looking as if life was drained out of his body, his eyes darting around, looking to see if Zane escaped.
But his eyes couldn't find him.
"Class is about to be dismissed; we are just waiting for your friend."
"Now tell me boy, what's your name?"
Acyrus closes his eyes and sleeps after hearing him speak.
"Straight to sleep huh? I guess I should put you in the waiting room, but I should first get you handcuffed. "
The centipede is then released, a cloud of smoke signals its release, and AC falls into the ground headfirst, showing no response.
Marco grabs the handcuffs from his back pocket, he then grabs the boy's hand with his left hand and AC quickly grabs his hand back and stabs him with the knife he picked up.
Marco screams in pain; a giant mouth with multiple teeth that grind arises underneath his feet as if to bite him, but it goes for Acyrus and onward he goes for the escape once more.
"You kids are a Manice, a complete piece of work." He says while his hand sprays blood.
The dragonfly was at a disadvantage when chasing the bird, but a threat nonetheless. Dragonflies are the fastest insects; it is 190cm tall and about 300cm wide from their wingspan with six wings, making them very light and agile when dealing with larger creatures.
Zane gave small glances when looking back to see if he got away, but as he looks, something kept getting bigger and bigger, moving fast and sharp like an arrow; the bird dodged without him realising that the insect was about to capture him in an instant.
'What was that?' he asks.
The insect makes a U-turn, flying twice the speed, so it won't be easily seen by the bird.
The bird now only sees glimpses of it. It then decides to fly up to higher altitudes, knowing the insect doesn't have strong enough wings to fly that high.
To its dismay, the dragonfly can reach those altitudes, getting closer and closer but slower than before, the bird getting more frantic by the second, not being able to outpace the insect.
The bird then uses its manipulator ability to create a tornado from its furthers, which surrounds its entire body, hoping it might get stabbed.
But something strange happened, the bird was met by a cloud of smoke. The insect was released by Marco due to him being stabbed.
The bird was confused by this but decided to flee for safety.
Marco screams, blood moving rapidly, his hand shaking.
"AAAAAAAhhhhhhh, WHAT THE HELL,What in hell's paradise is this!!!, what did you do to me, what is this!?"
Marco's screams silences the surrounding noise. The knife not only disrupts his energy, but it also causes severe irritation; it was like lightning stuck in between your arm, just constantly being struck at 120 BPM [Beats Per Minute].
Removing it by hand would make things worse since the knife releases spikes for grip when it contacts blood; his only option is to let it heal itself over time.
But the pain was too great for that; the strike was reaching his heart and energy core, where energy was being transferred to the body. He slams his arm against the ground to try and pass it through.
BANG BANG BANG, his hand hitting the floor at least 12 times, each time the pain intensifies by 3.
"Uggghh, huah Haaa, anggg ahhh!!" His mouth made strange sounds, spilling white saliva on the ground, his eyes exemplifying agony.
The more he slammed, the more it intensified, to the point where his nerve endings died. His hand is now numb; he is absolved from the pain, but the effects are still the same.
"If I see those boys again, I will actually kill them for this," he said in a low, panting, and groaning but stern voice.
He then reaches for medicine in his pocket, pouring it onto his hand. It hardens the blood from the surface to minimize blood loss.
He heads towards Rues and the Silver Knight, waiting for the fight to be over.
After a while, a smile is now placed all over his face. He's both soothed and amused by how Reus [Rois] is being abused as the fight concludes.
Marco is soon to make his move once Reus is left bruised, when the silver knight is out of sight, and far out into the other side, where her might can't be met due to her being a great threat.
Moments pass, and Rues wakes up in a carriage, where 5 knights are in full armor who serve as reinforcements, and 2 injury doctors who are wearing owl masks and portable backpacks to carry all the tools.
"Do not move, some of your bones are severely broken, but seeing that you are a Viscount, you should recover fairly quickly, whereas the average knight would be dead in your circumstances." The doctor said.
"May I ask as to who called for reinforcement?" Rues asked.
Unsure whether it was one of the boys or Marco, since he made a deal with him.
"Well, it was one of your students, but what surprised us is that, when we arrived, the people there were surprisingly compliant."
"We expected a full-on fight, but I'm glad we didn't fight cause they gave you a once-in-a-lifetime kind of beating."
One of the knights said this as he was looking out for bandits on the road ahead.
"Yep, I'm living the dream. Who wouldn't want to be a knight?" He responds sarcastically.
"Anyways, how and where are the boys?" Reuse asks again.
"They are doing great, they just exhausted their energy reserves, give them a week and they'll be back to top shape. And they'll stay at the Knighthood Association Branch once they get animated again." The doctor replied.
"Thank you, guys."
INT. Association - Night
The two boys have reunited and have almost recovered their energy reserves as they lie in their beds.
"You know, I never thought we would go against a Baron without injuries, let alone escape from one," Zane said.
"Yeah, without Master Reus no less."
"I wonder where the knife came from, because it didn't feel like it was Master Rues'."
"How did you escape?, cause I never got captured." Zane enquires.
"I stabbed him with the thrown knife that I picked up earlier. I wonder as to who it was, and did he actually know that we would need it?"
AC left contemplating the intention of the thrown knife.
"Either way, it did help, and I enjoyed this month's mission," Zane replies.
INT. Association. Morning
The next day arrives, the boys looking alive and Master Reus looks sleep deprived.
That is because he is still injured, but he can do day-to-day things and be mobile; that does not mean he can fight or carry heavy things.
It's now 9 AM, everyone is settled and ready to have breakfast, and they meet at a lounge to not only eat but plan out their day.
Even though yesterday's mission was a failure, it came with experience to learn from, such as understanding your limits and your capabilities.
"Morning, Master Reus,are you healing?"
"Did you rest well?" The boys asked.
"Uh, I've been through worse, so please don't worry yourselves."
"Now, let's get to the meat of the matter. Today will be your last day here in Sofia Town."
"HUH!, Last day." They say in unison.
"Blasphemy." Acyrus added not wanting to accept what he heard.
"Do you even know what that means?" Zane asks
"Not exactly, we hear our mom say that whenever she argues with dad about something."
"Do you know what it means?"
"It's my first time hearing it so," Zane replies
"I should ask my sister wh…"
"Boys focus, focus." Reus said, stopping him mid sentence.
"The reason I say this is because the mission has been canceled along with the remaining ones, and both of you are unfit to fight."
"But, could we at least stay for a couple of days? Please." their hands and faces beg gruesomely.
"Mhh, I'm giving you two days." Their faces now plastered in joy.
"Meaning you'll do as you please today and tomorrow you leave by morning."
"Owww, " Zane, now painted in disappointment.
"Eish, mara why" Ac shares the centiment expressed by Zane.
"Listen, going back home is a 17hr trip and it's about 6hr by sky. If you leave in the morning you'll make it by early afternoon."
Reus states this thinking it would better their mood, y;et seeing how their face is saddened, silently wonders as to what to do for them next.
"We get that, but why can't we leave the day after." Zane, trying to negotiate the term of their stay.
"It's because I made a contract with your clan that if I'm not in a state where I can protect you, then you go back immediately."
"These two days are the days, where you'll have them to yourselves, even if it's in a carriage."
Rues now better understands their perspective, but hoping they capitalise on the one he presented.
The boys are less animated but shrugged nonetheless cause a day of fun is better than none. Ac raises lifts hand to signal that he's finished, and Zane follows along.
The servant then makes his way to the table to take away their plates.
"Eh, Mr. Cerulean and Conan, you have not yet finished your food yet." the servant said.
"Apologies, but it brings me great shame, that I must save some room for the rest of the day."
"Please offer it to those in need, I wouldn't want it to go to waste, even though the food is rather functional." Ac answers.
"Ohh, is that so? Must be an eventful day then, but please be sure to make room for sunset,"
"Dinner will also be functional, yet very helpful for your recovery."
The servant informs them, wanting to prioritize their health.
"We are off now, have a safe stay."
"Have a safe stay." both Zane and Acyrus say their formal goodbyes and soon exit the building.
"Talking formally sounds weird; do you talk like this with your family?" Zane verbalises his discomfort along with his curiosity on how the rich live.
"Uhm no, it's mostly Royal and Imperial Knights, you'll get used to it."
Cut to Master Rues
"Master Rues, I'm aware it may not involve me, but after what they overcame,"
"Are you really not going to spare them some few days?" The servant asks.
"I plan on doing that on a later date, for now, I have a Contract to fulfill with a friend of the Rosso Family." Reus answers while hiding his disappointment.
"I see, is it against the Empire?" The servant asks begrudgingly, but it is necessary information for him to acquire.
"It is incriminating but not against the Empire; if it were to, I would have succumbed to my death."
"Now, please excuse me, I have somewhere to be, and please look after the boys for me, will you.
"And uh, have a safe stay."
"Will do sir, will do."