Stepping out of the main building, Rain’s mind wandered, still not quite sure what to think. On the one hand, he had received a great boon. Having someone like the Berserker as your teacher was surely going to help him become stronger more quickly. On the other hand, the news that his vision was seemingly set in stone disturbed him greatly.

  Walking down the cold concrete steps, Rain took a second to look at the grey sky overhead, thinking back on the current situation.

  ‘I can’t catch a break, can I?’

  Some time had passed, and Dawson told him to rest today so that they could train tomorrow in the afternoon. After all, now that he had been in the camp for two weeks, he would have classes for the first time.

  Activating his bracelet, he opened up his calendar, where the schedule for the upcoming classes was. The time differed throughout the days, but there were three main classes he was attending: Wilderness Survival, History & Geography, and Knowledge of Shards. There were many different miscellaneous classes he could enroll in, ranging from cooking and sewing to more abstract subjects such as alchemy and astronomy. From what he had heard, besides the three mandatory subjects, one could easily fit in two more in their schedule; more than that would take away time from the combat training.

  Making his way back to the dorm, he kept his head low while staring at his bracelet, still unsure of any decision he would make. Taking the long way back, he noticed he passed by countless others in a similar state, discussing among themselves their choices. Walking through the now crowded streets, Rain lost his focus. He had never been good with crowds, making him unable to think further on his future. Finding a gap between the masses, breaking away from the current, he headed towards the park for more peace of mind. The parks at the training camp were always desolate. With the quantity of duties trainees have, one could rarely find time to sit down and relax, which is what Rain desperately needed today.

  Not only did he push himself too far in training, but the meeting with his now new teacher had put quite a strain on his mind. Being trained by such a fearsome man would prove to be the biggest boon he could receive here. However, the knowledge of his teacher’s failed vision hung over him.

  ‘The death of a loved one…turned worse than envisioned…’

  Thinking about his own vision and the stakes at hand. He couldn’t imagine something getting worse. What was worse than one’s own death?

  ‘In the end it doesn’t matter…Don’t get hung up on it now.’

  Shaking off his thoughts, he released himself from his dazed state, wandering through the rather solemn park. Long patches of grass surrounded him, with the occasional shrub of flowers passing him by. Stopping, he took a deep breath, resetting his brain and thoughts, and standing on the open pathway, he conjured a small flame in his hand.

  His thoughts wandered to his parents; it was a weird thing for him. How someone he couldn’t even quite remember fully anymore could cast such a heavy weight on his heart and soul. What would his life have been like? Would he still have wanted to have been Selected? He didn’t know, and he never will.

  Feeling uneasy, he looked around the open grass, with not one soul to be seen. Sighing, he looked to his left, his eyes shooting open in surprise.

  A girl sat on the bench mere steps away from him, unmoving, simply looking at him.

  “Uhh.”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Taking a step back, he felt his ears turn red. Has she just been sitting there the entire time he was reminiscing about his whole life?

  He felt the urge to ask:

  “Have…you been here the whole time?”

  Looking up towards him, the girl tilted her head slightly, her eyes clearly showing confusion.

  “Yeah? You…didn’t see me?”

  Closing his eyes, Rain had rarely felt such embarrassment before. He didn’t do anything wrong, but being oblivious to someone watching you made his face flash red.

  Clearing his throat, he calmly answered back:

  “Ah, no…Guess I was too deep in thought.”

  The girl in front of him was beautiful, with fair porcelain skin, fine features, and long dark hair; she would surely draw a lot of attention from others. As she turned her face to the side, Rain couldn’t listen to a word she said. His mind caught in the memory of his vision. He had mostly seen the girl’s face from the side as they were running; any other angle was filled with blood due to the deep gash across its other side.

  Panic began to settle in. Had he really found her?

  Rain had tried his hardest to keep away from others in the camp, aside from his own group. His idea was that if he never met them, perhaps the vision could not be fulfilled. But now, he realized for the first time that fate is not easily tricked.

  ‘Damn it! I tried so hard…What the fuck am I supposed to do now?!’

  “Are you okay?”

  With his heart racing, her mellow voice managed to snap him out of the trance he set himself in.

  “Y-Yeah. Just…Had a long day.”

  “I see…”

  Standing up from the bench, the girl extended her hand toward Rain with a smile on her face.

  “By the way, I’m Aerin! From group F4!”

  “I-I’m…Rain. Group B3.”

  With a glint in her eye, she continued the conversation:

  “B3? That’s the group Lance is in, right? Lance Dyne?”

  Taken aback by the mention of Lance, Rain instinctively took a step back. He had seen what kinds of people Lance knew.

  “Yeah…Do you know him?”

  Shaking her head, she responded:

  “No, no…I’m in the same group as…Ves…Brixten? I heard there was almost some trouble between the two before. He keeps talking and complaining about him.”

  “Ah…That guy.”

  Thinking back on the commotion on their first day of training, he remembered Ves, who was quite simply, a jerk in Rain’s eyes.

  “Well…Sorry, you have to deal with him.”

  “It’s fine, I just ignore him.”

  Letting out a slight laugh, Aerin was carrying the conversation forward, while Rain desperately tried to get out of it.

  ‘Damn it, I don’t know what to do…What if knowing her helps? Maybe ignoring her leads to worse outcomes…’

  His brain was rattled; there were too many uncertainties and variables to account for. He couldn’t possibly know what the best course of action was.

  “Anyways…Your name is Rain, but you control fire?”

  Startled, he realized she had seen him use his Reflection, outside of a permitted area, no less.

  “Yeah, I…didn’t think anyone would be here.”

  A strong gust of wind blew across the park, sending countless leaves and flowers into the air. Turning his face to shield himself from the wind, he looked at Aerin. Still unsure of her identity as the mystery girl, he could only hope she wasn’t the one.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell…Well, only if you don’t tell about mine.”

  With a swish of her fingertips, a green energy flowed from them, circling her, before resting at her side as a massive wolf manifested itself from it.

  The wolf stared at him with his deep yellow eyes, his deep brown and black fur blowing in the wind as he snuggled Aerin’s entire body. Rain was considered to be on the taller side of men, so it seemed all the more impressive when he saw that her wolf reached his chest in height. For Aerin, she could touch him with her shoulder.

  The calm wolf quietly circled around her, brushing its gigantic face against her body, keeping Rain in its sights.

  “That’s Gael. My Reflection.”