Amos arrived, an amused smile on his lips.
"Seems like the princess knows how to defend herself."
Leah, surprised at first, turned around then replied, her tone slightly arrogant.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Amos laughed inwardly, leaning against the wall near Leah.
"I didn't know you were already able to control your psychic energy."
Leah dramatically flipped her hair, her tone confident.
"I'm a princess, after all. Excelling in every field is only normal for me."
Amos sighed while chuckling.
"Anyway, could I get my schedule?"
Leah scratched the back of her head, embarrassed as she realized she had completely forgotten.
"A-Ah, that's right, I haven't given it to you yet."
Leah rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a small card. "Here."
Amos took it, straightening up from the wall.
"Thank you, princess."
Leah tilted her head. Most of the time, she saw Amos closed off when they weren't alone together. Despite being in a place full of people, he was speaking openly now, unconcerned by others' gazes, smiling. Noticing this, Leah couldn't help but smile herself.
"So, this first day?"
Amos looked at Leah, thinking about his answer, recalling the day's events.
"It's a bit... new, but I like it."
Leah let out a small laugh at Amos' light response, which carried a deeper meaning.
"Alright, go to your next class, you're going to be late."
"Okay ma'am."
Amos turned around and waved his hand at her.
It was the end of the first day. Amos left his last class, analyzing everything he had discovered.
Dragging his feet, Amos walked towards his dormitory. The hallways were illuminated by Artasel's futuristic lights; it felt more like a complex than an academy.
He finally reached his room, and by pressing the button next to it, the door slid open. When Amos stepped inside, he noticed someone sitting on the other bed.
"Yoan?"
Yoan, who had been reading a book, turned toward Amos, not having noticed him before he spoke.
"Amos, I haven't seen you since this morning."
Amos dramatically threw himself onto his bed, face up toward the ceiling.
"Looks like they put us in the same room."
Yoan, still as serious as ever, spoke with a more relaxed voice, something that actually matched someone their age.
"What? You would've preferred to be with Lucas?"
Amos looked a bit surprised at first but chose not to comment.
"You have a point, it would've been horrible to sleep with that guy."
Yoan gazed out the window at the starry night sky, his eyes reflecting the lights above.
"This war that's coming... we need to be ready to face it."
Amos replied, his tone much more serious.
"Yeah, but our enemies are powerful. I met the sister of the former Guardian of Existence."
Yoan turned his gaze back to Amos, the sentence catching his attention.
"Verdict?"
Amos looked at his hand, remembering the strong energy she emanated.
"She... she's strong. The fact that Existence can manipulate any of the seven other elements makes it so unique..."
Yoan responded after analyzing his words.
"I suppose it's not perfect. Manipulating seven complex elements must be quite difficult."
Before they could continue, two portals appeared—one shimmering with blue light, the other dark and shadowy.
Allay stepped out of the blue portal, and Cloack from the dark one.
Amos and Yoan weren't really surprised anymore at this point. Allay spoke first, his voice still calm and elegant.
"Well, Vess— Heir Yoan, it's time for training."
Yoan nodded and stood up, heading toward Allay, and both of them disappeared through the portal.
Amos looked at Cloack, clearly too tired to want to train.
"I'm going to train too, aren't I?"
Cloack smirked, enjoying Amos' disappointment.
"Indeed. Come on."
Amos stood up, his back slightly hunched, heading toward Cloack. Both crossed through the portal and landed in a plain bathed in moonlight. Amos looked around, never having seen this place before.
"Where are we?"
Cloack had a neutral expression on his face, staring into the sky.
"We're in a place where you won't cause any significant damage."
Cloack's answer didn't help Amos much, but he chose not to ask again, not wanting to embarrass himself.
"Well, let's start by assessing your powers. You use the materializing Void, which allows you to—"
Amos cut him off before he could finish.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. There are also the other forms of Void, like Space, Time like yours, and the Elements."
Cloack smiled slightly, noticing Amos had informed himself.
"Excellent. We can jump straight to the important part then."
Cloack circled around Amos as he spoke, a mischievous smile on his face.
"You, heir of the Void. Like Vyran, you can manipulate all forms of Void."
"I figured that already, but what intrigues me are those black veins," Amos added.
"Listen closely now. The black veins are actually the beginning of the Empty King form."
"Empty King?" Amos asked, frowning.
"The Empty King is a form allowing you to become one with the Void. The Void is a psychic energy very common in the air, like Existence."
"I thought Existence just allowed the use of all elements, not that it was an actual element itself," Amos countered.
"In reality, Existence only mimics the ambient energy of an element to copy and use it. And to do that, one must use Existence."
"I get it better now. Does Existence have an apparent form?" Amos asked, more enlightened.
"During the war, I saw the Sovereign of Existence, Light, use a white mass to mold it into weapons, bring fallen soldiers back to life under a white smoky form, create flames, air, water jets all from that white mass, and much more. But he was the only one who could summon that raw form of Existence."
Amos made the link with the materializing Void.
"That sounds strangely similar to materialization Void."
"A bit, but he also mixed the other elements, hence Existence."
"I see. And what exactly is special about the Empty King?" Amos asked.
"It allows you to reach a form that drastically increases your psychic energy, your Void mastery, and causes Vyran's combat knowledge—hand-to-hand and sword fighting—to become reflexes for you. That's why you showed such extraordinary skills during your duel against Allay. But you activate it instinctively each time before fighting, which nearly drains all the energy from your core."
Amos sighed.
"I can never use my Void without the Empty King."
"We'll have to train you to invoke Void without it. Not just that—your close combat and swordsmanship too."
Amos nodded, knowing he needed it.
"Now, let's try making you summon Void without the Empty King."
Amos focused, filled with determination. Cloack analyzed what he was doing.
"Alright, I'll try."
Amos tried to summon a sphere, but as he materialized it, small veins appeared around his eyes—it was the Empty King. He let go and caught his breath, then tried again, but the same thing happened several times.
Amos growled.
"I can't do it... How?"
Cloack watched him, already understanding the problem.
"Focus on the palm of your hand, not on the ambient Void. Channel the Void through your hand first."
Amos closed his eyes, trying to apply Cloack's words. He started feeling the Void pass through his core, traveling through the channels to his hand. Then, a small black flame floated on his palm. Amos immediately touched his eyes to feel if the veins were there—but no, they weren't. A smile spread across his face as he noticed.
"I did it!"
But that wasn't what had surprised Cloack—no, it was that flame which didn't come from materialization, but an element in the form of Void.
"Kid... How is it that you're already manipulating elemental Void?"
Amos' excitement turned into confusion. He looked at the Void he had summoned—it was a black flame.
"It just came to me like that..."
Cloack paused for a moment, then asked a question, his calm tone returning.
"Interesting... Do you master other types of Void besides materialization and elemental?"
Amos replied, his tone also calm, looking at his palm.
"Yes, I think so." Amos snapped his fingers, and a black mass with violet edges enveloped him, teleporting him behind Cloack.
Cloack was astonished, watching Amos teleport.
"That saves us an enormous amount of time in our training."
Amos, his tone growing serious, turned to Cloack.
"Will you teach me how to use temporal Void?"
Cloack sighed.
"I guess you went to question Nike... For now, no, I can't yet. Your core could shatter with that much power."
Amos stepped closer, showing him that he was determined to do it, no matter the price to pay.
"I can do it. Don't worry about me."
Cloack sighed, knowing Amos wouldn't change his mind.
"I'll do it on one condition—if you beat me in a duel."
Hearing the word duel, Amos hesitated at first, but after thinking about the proposal, he accepted.
"Alright, let's go."
Amos snapped his fingers, teleporting to an adequate distance for the duel. Cloack let out a smirk seeing him move like that.
"Looks like you've learned to master Space already... this is promising."
Amos took a defensive stance, Cloack did the same, knowing his opponent wasn't just anyone.
End of Chapter 16