Niken was taking a cla.s.s in water cla.s.s. This time she will learn how to change the form of water according to her wishes. The most basic lesson was to form water into bubbles that float in the air.Niken managed to do it but only lasted for two seconds before the bubble finally burst. Even so, she did not give up, she tried it on for hours. Too bad for her as the result remains the same. There was no progression.
"Niken!" cried her mentor who oversees her training. "How many times already and you still failed?" the sharp tone of his made Niken gulped nervously.
"Hm... three? Four?"
"Dozens of times! I can"t even count anymore. Do it right! Even small children can do better than this."
Niken"s heart immediately shrank. Why did she get such a fierce mentor? She tried her best yet the mentor couldn"t see it. She felt crying but no tear came out.
"Now, follow my guidance. Find your water elemental energy inside your astral dimension. Focus on that energy."
Niken obeyed every word said by her mentor. She closed her eyes and concentrated on entering her astral dimension.
Alas, she found nothing. She only found darkness surround her. Then how she supposed to find her water elemental energy?
"Did you find it?" her mentor"s voice rang through her ears.
"Not yet, sir."
"Then call it."
Niken"s eyebrows twitched hearing the command. "How do I call it?"
"Just call it! How come you know nothing about the basic summoning technique!?"
Now Niken really wanted to cry. Why was this mentor so harsh with her?
Once again Niken closed her eyes and regained concentration in her astral dimension. This time she tried to summon her water elemental energy.
"h.e.l.lo! Is anyone here? h.e.l.lo!"
Niken felt something was wrong. She thought this was not the right way to summon her energy. Yet, she knew nothing about summoning so she just kept calling like that.
When Niken decided to give up, she felt a gust of wind blow against her. That"s when she saw another girl in the dark place.
The girl huddled on the other end with her face hidden between her knees.
"h.e.l.lo? Who are you? How did you get to this place?"
The girl raised her face slightly to reveal a pair of deep black eyes. The next instant the gusts of wind grew stronger and formed a tornado making Niken shuddered in horror.
The tornado enlarged at frightening speed and then attacked her in one blow. All of sudden the darkness enveloped her vision. She could see nothing. She had heard several people call her name before she finally lost in the dark.
***
The door to the infirmary room opened when Kazuto and Scarlet were sitting beside the bed where Niken lay.
"What happened?" Richard immediately approached her sister who was still unconscious and held his forehead.
"She doesn"t have a fever, she doesn"t hurt either. Physically, she is very healthy." Scarlet explained. "So you don"t need to worry."
"If she"s healthy, why does she pa.s.s out?"
"Maybe because of fatigue. I got word that she used her energy to shape her water elemental dozens of times. It seems like she can"t regulate her energy well yet."
Richard looked at his beloved sister who was fast asleep. Come to think of it, her sister had never trained her elemental energy. There was no need for her to train as he would protect her. Besides, she disliked violence and preferred peace. Because of that Richard never forced her to practice.
Richard breathed a sigh of relief as it looked like his sister had indeed pa.s.sed out because she was too tired.
Even though Niken had gotten energy from a knight, Niken was still not accustomed to expending large amounts of energy. No wonder her body was not ready by the change.
"Then she just needs to rest, doesn"t she?" Richard just wanted to be sure.
"That"s right. So you don"t need to worry." Scarlet answered sincerely.
Richard glanced at Kazuto who kept looking at his sister with a tortured expression. He was touched to see the attention the man was giving to his sister. But why did the man had to put a sorrowful expression?
"Kazuto, you heard it yourself right? My sister is fine. So you don"t need to put on an expression like that."
Strangely, Kazuto"s expression grew like someone was depressed and made Richard even more confused.
"Richard. Let us take care of your sister. You should go back to cla.s.s. Don"t you want to graduate from the academy and be accepted at S level soon? Just go and leave your sister to us."
"Is that alright?"
"Of course. Besides, as you know, Kazuto couldn"t possibly leave your sister. Don"t worry."
Once again Richard glanced at Kazuto and Niken in turn before he finally gave in to Scarlet"s advice.
"Okay then. I entrust my sister to you guys. "
Scarlet responded with a smile and when Richard disappeared from their sight, Scarlet"s smile vanished without a trace, replaced by an expression of regret and guilt.
The truth was Niken was not fine at all. She was dying at the moment.