The hours after the lecture were a blur, yet the day had begun the same. The blare of an alarm on their bedside and the knock of a helper outside the doorway that signalled the start of another arduous day.
They got dressed in tired silence, making their way towards the dining halls as helpers scurried around the hall carrying different trays of food.
Ester ate her food silently, preoccupied with trying to focus on the faint frequencies ringing in her ears whilst Saphy absent-mindedly chowed down on her toasted bread. Since yesterdays practice with Markos, with the ringing too loud for her to bear, she had been trying different ways to limit the ringing intensity without it overwhelming her. She couldn't even remember how she had managed to fall asleep. This was the reason she was in the HoS. And Se'raf's warning didn't make things easier. She needed strength or she wouldn't survive the trials.
Carefully, she focused on the ringing, pushing just enough until it matched the mental dial she had envisioned in her head. Barely a few points away from no straining.
She focused on the wooden spoon she had been eating with, a thought experiment popping into her head. She didn't even notice Saphy pausing her bite of the toasted bread to watch Ester press down on the spoon with her thumb. Ever so slowly, she added more pressure until the wood began to give way, bending further and further back. Something in her wanted to break it with her full force. But she didn't comply. This was enough.
CRACK.
The sound of the broken spoon echoed throughout the hall.
A helper rushed over, scrambling to sort the broken pieces out, making sure Ester was okay before giving her a brand new one. She felt a bit guilty as the helper looked as if she was the one to blame. But she couldn't help but smile, she could use Flo.
"...Was that Flo manipulation?"
Ester looked up to see Saphy staring at her, her thumb on the spoon as she tried to break it.
Ester nodded quickly, trying not to notice the looks being directed her way.
"...With instructor Markos, most of the awakened Synchrites couldn't properly regulate the strain left everyone in agony." She mumbled. "...I think you need to be precise and intentional...Control is intentional.
Saphy stared at her for a couple of seconds before she gave a slow nod whilst she leaned back on her seat.
"Hm..."
Ester wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but the way Saphy looked at her made her falter.
Saphy seemed to mull over Ester's words for a moment longer. Then her expression changed, a small smile forming on her face.
"...Do you happen to like Cosmo?"
Ester narrowed her eyes, mid drink. The question so ridiculous Ester couldn't help the way she replied.
"...What? No."
Whilst Saphy burst into laughter, Ester wondered where she reached that conclusion or if she'd even listened to her in the first place.
By the time they made their way outside, Burnad was already waiting, arms folded, pacing around the grounds with a stern look on his face.
He looked around as they all waited for instructions, some yawning.
"...What are you all standing around for? Start warming up."
The Starless didn't waste time, going from quick scrambled stretches to loosening their shoulders. They were dutiful as they warmed up, after all, Burnad's exercises were no joke.
He then divided the Starless into four groups. Pure Internal, Pure External, Awakened Internal, and Awakened External.
Ester and Kris were with the awakened internal manipulators, whilst Ezekiel and Geire were with the pure External manipulators. Se'raf was with the Pure Internal manipulators, whilst Arthur and Saphy were placed with the Awakened External Manipulators because of their special circumstances.
Even though Arthur wasn't born a Synchrite, nor was he an Awakened one, he was an avatar of an ancient Flo beast, one he could converse with. And Saphy, who was a dual Synch able to use either paths, was more than happy to be with Arthur.
Ester, as much as she didn't want to admit it, wanted to see what being an avatar truly entailed, however she was also curious about Se'raf since Pure Synchrites could only use a specific aspect of Flo manipulation, she wondered what theirs could be.
"Today." Burnad looked around. "You will be strengthening both your Flo manipulation and your bodies."
"You will do this by continuously holding your Flo manipulation until you can't maintain it any more." He looked at the pure Synchrites. "You will run or carry weights, anything that will make manipulating Flo harder."
He turned to the Awakened. "This will also be a good time for those of you to start to experiment with Flo… hopefully you don't kill yourselves..." He muttered that part to himself.
Ester then watched as the Pure Synchrites, as if they'd been waiting for this, exploded into action. External manipulators, arms stretched as they either conjured things from Flo or the environment. She heard clouds in the distance darken and rumble as Ezekiel held one finger above him. She saw Geire hold his hands out as tiny cyclones danced around him. Wind manipulation.
She saw the Pure Synchrite, Gideon, race around the field with incredible speed as he pushed weights in front of him. He had a serious don't get in my way expression on his face that was received clearly.
And then she saw Se'raf...who just seemed to be doing normal weighted training exercises. She was disappointed, but she didn't know why, maybe Se'raf didn't want to show off, or maybe they were already using Flo, Ester couldn't tell.
Compared to them, the Awakened Synchrites looked like fish out of water.
"As you can see…" Burnad said. "Pure Synchrites have a head start when it comes to Flo manipulation, as it is deeply ingrained within them since they were born. They don't have to manipulate Flo, they just do it." He said. "It's a part of them."
Ester couldn't help but feel a way. People only became awakened Synchrites through certain stress and trauma. Just how many went through the same suffering as her?
She snapped out of it, looking around the grounds with Kris as they thought about the best exercise to start off with.
They decided to run.
"I'll time you." Kris said. "We can do with and without using Flo."
Ester agreed, moving about one hundred metres before she ran, using the same form Saphy had shown her. She crossed the line in almost thirteen seconds.
The second time she did, she walked back, taking deep breaths and focusing on pushing the ringing louder.
She took a deep breath as she willed the ringing in her ears to sing louder, and at the drop of Kris's hand, she shot forward and then, she felt it. As if she was the only one living in that moment.
She stopped on a dime in front of Kris, whose eyes widened slightly, the candy stick he'd somehow sneaked out was hanging from his mouth. The ringing in her ears was still there and her heart was beating faster.
"...Seven seconds." He muttered. "...Did I count wrong?"
Ester smiled. "Your turn." She said.
Kris crossed the line without using Flo at almost twelve seconds.
Once he tried to use Flo, he shot forward, accelerating faster until she saw him wince in pain. He lost speed, stopping at Ester as he touched his ear. He crossed the line at ten seconds.
"A-are you okay?" Ester tried to help him, but he waved her off gently.
He looked at her.
"...You make it look easy."
Ester narrowed her eyes and couldn't help but laugh in confusion.
"What do you mean?" She said breathless.
He shook his head in fake annoyance. "Just...tell me what you did."
They continued a couple of times, alternating to a different station for strengthening as Burnad watched throughout the morning.
Since they didn't have a lesson with Lillia today, they took a small break before changing into their more combat-oriented uniforms and headed to Markos's lesson. He waited, a smile on his face, a glint in his good eye.
"Good morning, Starless!" He beamed.
They all slowed down, terrified of the way he was smiling so much.
"Today, we'll be building on your Flo manipulation and mastery whilst developing your combat prowess and senses."
He fixed his attention towards a wall where wooden weapons glinted in rows whilst gold ans silver glistened nearby.
"There is almost eighty of you…" He nodded. "So we will split the class."
"Those of you who want to practice weapon work, combat and stances will be with me. If you want to work on developing your Flo manipulation, you can go outside and practice on the training targets or the obstacle tracks." He paused, the slightest of a smile on his face. "Remember, what you are all training for the trials, so take that into your consideration."
He clapped his hands and the Starless stirred into action, bumbling as they whispered to each other, curious about what the others would choose.
Ester turned to Saphy. "What do you want to to do?"
Saphy watched as some Starless darted to the weapons rack, fighting over the coolest weapon whilst others went to the obstacle track.
"...I...um…" She trailed off.
"See you." Ezekiel was the first to move, marching outside as he left the others speechless.
"Wait, where're you going?" Kris asked.
"To the obstacle tracks." He called back. "I want to fry some stuff."
Ester could feel the cocky smirk in his stride.
"Wait for me big bro!" Geire chased after him.
"Stop calling me that!"
Ezekiel paused, "You coming Kris? I don't want to be alone with this guy..."
Kris shook his head.
Ezekiel groaned loudly before Arthur raised his hand.
"I'll come."
Ezekiel did not like this. His frown deepened as he rolled his eyes. "Great." He said, gnashing his teeth.
Arthur gave the others an annoyingly gorgeous smile and a shrug before going to catch up with Ezekiel. Saphy was heartbroken.
"You guys want to join me in the obstacle course?" Kris asked.
Ester thought about it and before she could answer, a muffled voice came from behind her.
"I will."
Se'raf was there, a humorous glint in their mismatched eyes, as if they got a kick from scaring others.
"Boo." They simply said.
Kris just shrugged his shoulders.
"Then…" He turned to Ester and Saphy. "You guys are going to..?"
"I'm going to do combat lessons with Markos." Ester said, glancing at Saphy.
No one said anything, but Kris nodded, changing the subject to Saphy as she was quiet.
"What about you?"
She was deep in thought for a moment longer, before her eyes twinkled.
"Hang on…" She said before darting over to Markos, pulling on his sleeve.
"...What is that girl…" Se'raf began.
Markos looked surprised before giving her an approving nod to which Saphy thanked him before running back, a small smile on her face.
"I'm going to meditate." She said. "...I think it'll help me understand what kind of Synchrite I want to be."
They were stunned with her answer, but it somehow made sense. Saphy was a dual Synchrite who could use both paths fully, meaning her potential was almost limitless.
But just because that was what was expected from an ultra rare dual Synchrite didn't mean that was Saphy.
And Ester could understand that.
She gave her a smile before they all parted ways. She headed towards the weapon rack, looking at the array of wooden choices she could pick from.
Twin blades, spears and sabres looked so appealing. She would've picked one as she was inspired by Cosmo, but another sword caught her eye.
"Oh. A rapier?" Markos was standing behind her, admiring the shape of the weapon. He looked at her with a slight amused smile.
"Interesting..."
Ester didn't know what he meant by that as he walked away, but she took the weapon off the rack and admired it. The blade was long and slender, with wooden bars guarding the grip and wrapping around her arm. An elegant weapon that whooshed through the air.
The Starless who wanted to develop weapon combat gathered around Markos, who examined the twelve of them with a smile.
"...You all thought you'd be using weapons immediately?" He said, hands behind his back. "Wrong."
Perplexed expressions spread across the Starless.
"Put your weapons down. We're going to practice forms first."
The Starless reluctantly placed their weapons aside and watched as Markos shifted his feet into a fighting stance.
"Watch carefully."
They followed his movements as he demonstrated the stance, copying his footwork and positioning as best they could.
Markos moved between them, correcting their stances and adjusting their footing.
"Don't lean forward."
He nudged one student's shoulder back.
"Keep your weight centred."
He moved to another.
"Your feet are too close."
Ester quietly adjusted her stance.
"Good."
Markos stepped back and looked over the group.
"Again."
A collective groan escaped the Starless.
It was almost strange seeing him like this. The usual amusement in his face had disappeared, replaced by a stern focus as he watched every movement they made.
"I don't expect you to memorise everything immediately," he said. "That's why we're going to do it again."
The groans grew louder.
Ester rolled her eyes.
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The fire crackled underneath the night sky.
I listened to her tale as Red cooed on my shoulder. The cave seemed such a long time ago, but a part of me was glad i wasn't there any more. I even was more glad someone was with me now. No matter how scary they were.
I was so deep in my own thoughts that I hadn't even realised how quiet she had gotten. The only sounds were the eerie cries coming from the dark, alien looking forest they were in.
"….What's wrong?"
"I…" She whispered. "...This is where it began..."
When she said this, a chill ran through me.
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