Sora spent the rest of the evening training hard. He still had a full day to train but he couldn't get his body to relax. Something poked at his chest at intervals but he pushed through till he finally fell to the ground exhausted. He got back to his room and passed out on the floor skipping dinner.
Sora woke up the next morning drenched in his sweat and with a very shallow feeling in his guts. It was like nothing he had ever felt and his insides itched badly. His stomach grumbled over and over signaling its need for food so Sora got off the floor and immediately, the tight poking in his chest started again and his heart raced uncontrollably.
He hurried to the bathroom and freshened up quickly before running out the door to the Dining Hall. Luckily for him, the Hunters had their serving stand by the entrance and Sora packed as much as he could onto his plate leaving no space. He got stares from the mages around but paid them no mind.
Z was quick on her feet, she moved effortlessly around the room and she calculated her moves. She calculated some of Sora's too and would send backup charges at him that caught him off guard after dodging the first.Sora on the other hand endured the battle. He took some of her hits, deflected others patiently waiting, biding his time and saving up most of his energy while Z used hers against him. He had been unsure how to outsmart her until she gave him the idea.Their fight went on for a while and Z could see that Sora was fighting on the defensive but she realized a little too late as her strength began to drain and she tried masking it with lesser but more precise strikes.When Sora noticed the change in Z's attacks, he knew she was getting drained and took it as his cue to strike. All of a sudden he summoned water forces from the air and made them into darts shooting them at Z from all angles and she put her shield up immediately
His reflection looked… good?Sora stood, analyzing his entire look in the mirror.His hair wasn't all in his face anymore. He had spent his free day preparing for tonight and that included giving himself a haircut. His curly hair was cut short on the sides with a tousled top and he kept enough bangs to cover his scar.With a vest on, he ran his hands over his torso, feeling the muscles he had gained over the weeks of training. His body seemed to fill out in places that had been scrawny and his face structure had changed too. His face seemed more defined and his moles didn't seem experimental anymore. Now, they suited him.He put his hands through his jacket and pulled the zip up then picked up Z's note again. Her parcel had arrived for him at noon with the most thoughtful note."Wear it or you're dead. Literally."His very own uniform wit
Suddenly a foul smell hit Sora "What's that gods awful smell?""What smell?" Kain asked.Sora looked between Z and Kain. They didn't seem affected by the smell."It's dirty.""Is it blood?"Sora shook his head. "No, this is foul.""Soul eaters…" Z affirmed "…makes sense that you'd smell them. Shadow mages privilege. Be alert.""That means they're here." Kain noted."We're going in." Slowly, Z pushed back on the door and they made their way in. They walked into the lair and didn't walk for too long before a strong grating voice came from within."Welcome to the party, Hunters."Sora assessed the Soul eater as it emerged from the shadows. In appearance, it had a few things in common with the soul eater that had attacked him and Ryo. It had the gaunt skull-like head
"You took him on a mission without my permission. Why?"Z shrugged, seeming uninterested. "He wanted to go."Z stood across from Tydinn, who sat at his table. Tydinn was stiff. The muscles around his forehead tightened and from the way his office was rearranged, she could tell he was mad. Must have taken him all morning to sort it out, which meant his anger was pent up."What if he wanted to burn down the Academy? Would you help him?""You're exaggerating Tydinn. It was an irrelevant mission.""One you took him on, without my permission." Tydinn's tone was firm.Z could tell he was trying his best to keep up his anger from how he avoided her eyes. "Are we really going to dwell on this? Won't you ask me how I'm doing?""If you didn't return fine from dealing with Gargos, then I would have questioned your status as my daughter."<
His sudden movement startled Z. "What?" she asked completely confused."Were you going to hit me?""I wasn't.""Ohh… sorry." Sora relaxed."Why would you think I would?""No offense but… it's you."Z nodded, "Fair enough… welcome back. Took you long enough, you've been out all morning.""Where am I?""The infirmary… Kain and I brought you here. He sends his regards by the way, he wanted to stay but Tydinn is out to get him so… yeah. You get it?"Sora nodded gently and sighed, and he sat up in bed."Do you remember anything?"Sora was quiet for a while, recollecting events from the night before and then it dawned on him. "I'm a soul eater.""You are a mage." Z countered."But I too
Dressed in their uniforms, Sora and Z walked through the Academy's hallway, taking turn after turn before finally arriving at Vorak's door."I will wait here till you're done. You'll be fine." Z reassured him, then made two knocks on the door before opening and giving way to Sora.Sora sighed and walked into the room to find Master Vorak already seated at his table. Vorak looked serious, but calm. He was always meticulous about his appearance, but today he was dressed more officially than the last time they met and not a single grey hair on his head was out of place."Welcome Sora, please take a seat."Sora took the seat across from Vorak."How did your training go?""Great, my teacher was exceptional." Sora replied."And you've progressed quickly, I heard."Was Vorak stalling?"I guess... my teac
Vorak nodded to Anaise beside him, and he took over."It has come to our attention that you are quite an unusual mage. We have questions and we would appreciate honest and very precise answers. Is that okay?"Sora nodded;"Please use your words, young mage, for the sake of clarity."Sora cleared his throat. "Yes, it is okay.""Before a month ago, how would you describe your life as a mage?""Ordinary, useless and painful.""And why was that?""I couldn't harness energy and I was useless to everyone and myself.""Any particular reason why you couldn't harness your energy?""I have no idea. No one had an idea, not even the best mages knew why."His comment made the mages a bit uneasy and he could tell from the way their eyes shifted between each other.<
"Do you see anything?" Z whispered as low as possible from behind."I can't see anything from this angle," Sora replied in the same low tone.Crouched behind the trees, with Z behind him. Sora scanned through the building across from them. The fog made it difficult for him to see as clearly as he would normally, so he tried relying on his sense of smell, but that didn't work either. It wouldn't be easy this far away and the fog made it worse.His senses had gotten stronger in the last month since they started going on these missions—always with Tydinn's permission. On missions, Z was to be his guardian, as decided by the Academy, to watch him, make sure he stays in line, and make sure to kill him if he ever breached their agreement.But he hadn't tried to take any more souls, not even soul eaters', and every encounter they had had with soul eaters nearly drove him to the edge. After taking Garg