The Beginning After The End (Beckoning Fates Book 3) (22 page)

“Now that everyone is here, I’d like you all to come sit down so we can
start the meeting.”
 
Claire ushers
us towards the round table on the second floor.
 

The room consisted of two levels.
 
The lower level was just a wide area with all sorts of equipment and
also an arena for practice matches.
 
To the side where the equipment was was a flight of stairs that led to a
second floor balcony that overlooked the lower level.
 
On the second floor were a chalkboard,
some cabinets and a big, oval table with exactly 8 seats.
 

Claire sat at the very end of the table with the chalkboard behind her
while Kai and Theodore sat to her right and left.
 
I didn’t really know if there was an
assigned seating arrangement so I stayed standing, waiting for everyone else to
sit down first.
 
On Kai’s side sat
Curtis and Feyrith while on Theodore’s side sat Doradrea and Kathyln.
 
The only seat available was directly
opposite of Claire’s seat so I just took my seat there and waited for the
meeting to commence, my drowsiness from being up so early slowly overtaking my
body.

 
I glanced over at Sylvie who
hopped off my head and began playing with Grawder until our leader began
talking.

“This is the first meeting with everyone present, as well as the first day
where we will actively start duty.”
 
Claire announces in a serious voice.
 

“Although this is the first year that this Committee has existed, I’ve been
working with Director Goodsky and our Student Council President on how we
should efficiently structure and run the Disciplinary Committee in order to
create an environment in this academy that will not tolerate bullying,
dissented duels as well as intruders.
 
For that, we decided to split the Disciplinary Committee into two
teams.
 
These two teams are
separated by underclassmen and upperclassmen.
 
The upperclassmen, which includes
Theodore, Curtis, Kai and myself will split into pairs and watch over the
campus in the morning since we don’t have classes.
 
The underclassmen: Kathyln, Feyrith,
Doradrea and Arthur, will also split into two teams and go around campus during
the afternoon while the upperclassmen have classes.”
 
Claire writes all of our names on the
board in the teams she has already decided on.

Before I fully raise my hand, Claire already knows what I’m about to say
and interjects.
 

“Since Arthur is taking both upper division and lower division classes, he
will be waived from that duty.
 
However, he is to be on standby at all times in case backup is
needed.
 
Also, I’ve gotten
permission from Director Goodsky to allow you to be 10 minutes late to classes,
so just take your time between classes and be on the lookout for any
troubles.”
 
She smiles in
satisfaction as my hand goes down.
 

“This being said, I’ve already discussed the matter of who will be scouting
the campus alone between the underclassmen and Kathyln has volunteered to take
on this task.
 
Kathyln, remember
that even though the upperclassmen are in class we will still help you.
 
You are a part of the Disciplinary
Committee so if you’re caught in a situation where you’re not confident in
being able to handle it yourself, call for help.”
 
She turns her gaze to Kathyln while
saying this.
 
Our Princess just nods
while Curtis has a slight look of concern on his face.

“How are we going to communicate with each other?”
 
Feyrith raises his hand while
talking.
 

“We haven’t told you guys yet but if you imagine of any of the members in
the Disciplinary Committee while placing your hand on the insignia on the
sheath of your knife, the recipient’s knife will emit a bright light and a soft
shock, notifying them who is in trouble.
 
Each of the Disciplinary Committee members’ knife has a distinct color
so remember them well.”
 
While
Claire announces this, she begins writing the different colors that our DC
knife will glow in depending on who asked for help.

Claire – Pink

Kai – Silver

Theodore – Yellow

Feyrith – Green

Doradrea – Dark Red

Curtis – Red

Kathyln – Blue

Arthur – Black

I wondered how a black light would look while she wrote down what color the
DC member’s knife would glow in if I called for him or her but everyone else’s
colors were pretty self-explanatory and corresponded with their elements for
the most part.
 
It seemed like
Feyrith got the green color because of him being an elf.
 
I wonder if that can be considered racist.
 

“The last matter of business is surveillance at night.
 
I know that this might be a bit too much
for one person so we’ll be taking turns in pairs with this task.”
 
Our leader looks around for anyone in
case there are disagreements to this.
 

“Can I volunteer to take over my sister’s shift as well?
 
Call me overprotective but I’m not
comfortable knowing Kathyln might be in danger while I’m fast asleep.”
 
Curtis speaks up while scratching his
head but looks at me specifically.

“Are you sure you can handle that, Curtis?
 
It’s going to be tough doing two
people’s shifts at night.”
 
Claire
looks at him with a concerned look on her face.

I look over at Kathyln and I can sort of tell that she wants to interject
but keeps silent.
 

“Kathyln is my partner for night duties, right?
 
I can do it by myself.”
 
I speak up, knowing the real reason
Curtis wanted to take over his shift.
 
I can sort of understand from his perspective being an older brother
myself.
 

“You don’t have to…” Kathyln stands up and speaks but I could tell she was
conflicted and couldn’t find the words to say after.

“Hmm… well, since Kathyln is scouting by herself during the afternoon, I
think this would be fair.
 
Okay,
I’ll allow it, but Arthur, Kathyln, I can already tell you two are the type to
try and handle things on your own but I’m requesting as the leader that you to
call for help immediately as soon as you think you need it.”
 
She leans forward on the table as she
states her conditions in a firm voice.
 

Kathyln stares at me but I just look at Claire and respond with a nod,
closing this subject.
 

“Okay, since all of the technical matters are settled, you guys are free to
leave or stay here and practice until classes start.
 
The room will always be open for DC
members so think of this as a second house!
 
I’ve already camped here for a couple of
nights haha!”
 
Claire scratches the
back of her head in embarrassment.
 

I let out a deep breath in relief.
 
Looks like I can have a little less than an hour of sleep before my
first class starts.
 
There were a
couple of couches that looked perfect for a powernap on the lower floor.

Curtis gives me meaningful pat on my back before he goes down but as I walk
down behind him, I feel a tugging on my pant waist from behind.
 

“Lets spar for a bit, pretty boy!
 
I’ve sparred with everyone else here but you.” Doradrea gives me an
excited grin as she drags me from behind onto the area designated as the
sparring arena.
 

“I’m still not fully healed Doradrea, I don’t think this is the best
idea.”
 
I groan as I’m dragged
helplessly.

“Stop being a baby!
 
The best
way to get rid of that soreness is to move around, don’t you know?”
 
She lets me go and walks over to the
other side of the arena.
 

Claire comes towards us and looks at me.
 
She was about to stop the spar when
Theodore walks past her and goes towards where Doradrea was stretching.
 

“Move it.”
 
He growls.
 

“Aww… no fair.”
 
Doradrea
grumbles as she slumps her shoulders, disappointed.
 

Great.
 
A muscular male replaces
my muscular female opponent.

Claire just sighs in defeat.
 
“All right but Arthur is injured so this will only go on for a
minute.
 
Let me activate the barrier
this time so we don’t have any more cracked walls.”
 
She looks at Curtis who just chuckles.
 

Sylvie, who was riding on top of Grawder, asks if I’ll be okay so I just
nod in response.

I may be injured but I was excited since I’ve wanted to duel against
Theodore as well.
 
I figure fighting
against deviants might help me learn a thing or two from them.

“Anything you want to say before we start?”
 
Theodore barks while he cracks his
neck.
 

“Sure.
 
Can I call you Theo if I
win? It’s only fair for me to give you a nickname since you already gave me
one, right?”
 
I give him a smirk
while I stretch my still aching body.

I can literally see veins popping on his head, as everyone’s expression
turns surprised.
 

I wonder why everyone’s that shocked.
  
Come on… Theo isn’t nearly as bad
as being called twerp.

“You sure are full of yourself, twerp.
 
Fine, but if I win, you’re going to be my little minion for the rest of
your school life.”
 
He has a
confident smile on his face as the rest of the DC members all got situated
around the arena.

“Remember, this duel will last one minute or until someone lands the
first.
 
That’s final!”
 
Claire barks as she unsheathes her sword
and stabs it in the ground.

The both of us nod in consent and Claire signals for the duel to begin.

As Theodore charges towards me, I augment my body using wind attribute mana
to skirt around the arena, keeping my distance.
 
Theodore’s gravity magic wasn’t
something to take light of since his powers have simultaneous offensive and
defensive powers.
 

It usually takes a bit longer to use earth magic while also using wind
magic.
 
I will shards of earth the
size of my leg and kick a couple of them towards Theodore while I kick the rest
further and further away from him.
 
I needed to gauge how far he can use his gravity manipulation and how
much stronger it was.
 

Theodore didn’t really get what I was doing as he kept charging at me,
growing more and more frustrated from me running away and kicking rocks at
him.
 

“Do you think I’ll let you keep running around?”
 
He roars as the rocks that I kicked
towards him all started floating.
 

Theodore kicks off and while the decrease in gravity around him increases
his speed tremendously.
 
He fell for
it a lot faster than I thought he would.

I will the earth around me one last time while jumping backwards and send a
boulder the size of my body flying directly at him a kick.
 
Theodore smacks the rock up easily with
the decreased gravity but in that moment where his vision was blocked, I dashed
directly towards him.
 

Draft Step was a foot technique that was inspired from the Flicker Step,
the dash skill using fire magic.
 
Draft Step allowed me to either suddenly accelerate or change direction
using a force of wind directly against my foot to use as a sort of
platform.
 
I couldn’t use this spell
if I was moving too fast but with practice, I hope to be able to
instantaneously change directions freely, even in the air.