Chapter 14: The Vanguard’s First Lesson
808 Words
The underground training grounds were unlike anything Azul had imagined.
Torches burned with blue flames that never flickered.
Ancient murals stretched across the stone walls, depicting warriors wielding powers beyond ordinary imagination. Some commanded raging rivers. Others split mountains with a single strike.
Azul paused before one of the murals.
The warrior’s face had long since faded, but the symbol engraved on his chest was unmistakable.
It was the same mark that had appeared during his awakening at the Endless Stream.
“What are you looking at?”
Bashan’s voice broke his concentration.
“This symbol.”
Bashan glanced at the mural and shrugged.
“Looks old.”
“I’ve seen it before.”
“Where?”
Azul hesitated.
“I… don’t know.”
For some reason, the memory refused to become clear.
Master Kael’s staff struck the floor.
“Eyes forward.”
The six recruits immediately formed a line.
Kael walked slowly before them.
“Strength earned you a place in the Royal Vanguard.”
“But strength alone will never keep you alive.”
He stopped in front of Bashan.
“You rely too much on your fists.”
Then he faced Azul.
“You think too much before acting.”
Without warning, Kael swung his wooden staff.
Azul barely ducked.
The staff reversed direction, forcing Bashan to jump backward.
Before either could recover, Kael had already moved to the other side of the room.
“So slow.”
The recruits exchanged astonished glances.
Had he really crossed the entire arena that quickly?
⸻
“Today’s lesson is simple,” Kael announced.
“Trust.”
Bashan sighed.
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.”
Kael ignored him.
Instead, he tossed a small crystal into the center of the arena.
The crystal shattered on impact.
The room instantly filled with thick white mist.
Visibility dropped to almost nothing.
“You have one objective.”
“Reach the exit.”
The recruits instinctively spread out.
“No!” Kael’s voice thundered through the mist.
“If you separate…”
“You fail.”
Azul could barely see his own hand.
“Everyone, stay close!”
“I can’t even see you,” a girl’s voice answered.
Moments later, a loud crash echoed somewhere nearby.
“Watch out!” someone shouted.
A hidden trap launched wooden arrows across the room.
Azul grabbed the shield bearer and pulled him aside just in time.
The arrows struck the wall behind them.
Bashan laughed.
“Is that all?”
The floor beneath him suddenly disappeared.
“What?!”
He dropped into a concealed pit.
His laughter instantly turned into a groan.
The others couldn’t help smiling.
“You deserved that,” the spear-wielding girl teased.
“I’m fine!” Bashan called from below.
“I meant to do that.”
“No, you didn’t,” Azul replied, trying not to laugh.
Even Kael allowed himself the faintest smile.
⸻
Working together, the six recruits navigated the maze.
The shield bearer blocked incoming arrows.
The dagger wielder spotted hidden tripwires.
The spear user disabled pressure plates with the tip of her weapon.
Bashan, after finally climbing out of the pit, smashed through a collapsing wall that threatened to crush them.
Azul quietly directed everyone toward the safest path.
At last…
A beam of sunlight pierced the mist.
“We made it!” one of the recruits exclaimed.
The six stepped through the exit together.
Kael was already waiting.
“You passed.”
Bashan grinned.
“I told you we’d make it.”
Kael’s expression remained serious.
“No.”
“You survived.”
“There is a difference.”
The recruits fell silent.
“The enemies waiting beyond these walls will not give you a second chance.”
He looked at each of them in turn.
“So from today onward…”
“You will become more than warriors.”
“You will become each other’s greatest strength.”
Just then, a royal messenger sprinted into the training grounds, breathing heavily.
He dropped to one knee before the King, who had just entered the chamber.
“Your Majesty!”
“The eastern watchtower has fallen!”
The room froze.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“To what?”
The messenger struggled to catch his breath.
“We don’t know…”
“The survivors only said one thing…”
“They were attacked…”
“…by a man whose eyes burned crimson.”
A chilling silence swept through the underground hall.
The King’s face hardened.
“So…”
“It has begun sooner than I feared.”
Far beyond the kingdom’s eastern border, a lone cloaked figure stood atop the ruins of the watchtower.
The stranger slowly lifted his head.
His crimson eyes glowed beneath the hood.
Then, with a faint smile…
He turned his gaze toward the Kingdom of Azul.
- Writer
