Chapter 14: A Guardian's Tutorial (II)
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After bearing the brunt of Elaine's uncaring gaze, Lucian was left with an uneasy feeling. He didn't feel a shred of camaraderie from any of the people in the party.
'They all look down on me, especially her. Does she detest me?' Lucian thought, watching Elaine kill the last beast of the first wave.
Immediately, they all retreated close to the Guardian Stone, recounting their earlier battle. However, as Lucian drew near, his movements looked awkward, apparently trying to avoid more derision.
"Tch, why did we get stuck with him? Ms.Frigid, I think this one is entirely on you. We told you to accept one of the others into the party," one of the other party members voiced. He possessed a muscular build along with dominant features.
Additionally, he was clad in a battle suit, except he chose the heavy version, complimenting his strong suitdefense.
For the likes of Elaine and the others were attack-oriented with lacking defense, he served as their shield. For those who were blessed with purely defensive abilities, the Monolith judged their actions differently to maintain fairness and allow all sections of the team.
"Elliot, you idiot. There's a reason for his presence, or do you think Elaine's foresight is lacking? If so, maybe you want to take that up with the Flame Sorcerer," one of the girls lingering around Elaine, chuckled. She clutched a staff, swinging her head toward Elliot, which caused her voluminous light-violet hair to sway along with her.
"W-what?! When have I ever questioned the Lord of Flames or Elaine for that matter? I'm just saying, Priscilla; this kid is very useless," Elliot retorted, presenting a fearful expression at the mention of the moniker "Flame Sorcerer."
Obviously, Elaine bore a relation to them, otherwise, Priscilla wouldn't have gone to the extent of mentioning them.
All of a sudden, their bickering was cut short by Elaine, her serene voice breaking the dissension, "Everyone has a purpose; even he has a reason for being here. I won't mention this again, so drop the topic and focus on the task at hand. That is, of course, if you want me to take the points for myself."
"Hell no, you ain't hogging them!" Cezar exclaimed, his silver eyes dancing with a fervent light. Within the party, he was one of the only ones ballsy enough to confront Elaine, but due to the relationship they shared, she never took offense to it.
The only other person was the most inconspicuous individual in the party, a black-haired boy wearing slim glasses and a leather battle suit with only a bow and arrow to accompany it.
"Matthias, why are you so quiet? That is unlike you," Priscilla questioned, noticing his lack of movement the entire time. While the others were focused on annihilating the beast, this individual remained perched against the Guardian Stone.
"Don't worry about me. Just do what you're going to do. It isn't time for me to act," Mattias replied, waving his hand with a partly opened eye. His lack of interest shocked Priscilla seeing as he was one of the three elites in the team.
In her eyes, his attitude simply wasn't befitting of his ability.
Nevertheless, she could only blink, swallowing the words which were stuck in her throat.
"Don't mind him. That weird fellow is actually telling the truth. It isn't time for him to act yet. 20 foes; that's not enough to rouse his appetite," Cezar admitted, stealing glances at the bow on his back.
'I wonder how much his skill with it has developed. It's odd that someone with absolutely terrible eyesight chose to pick the bow of all things,' Cezar internalized, dropping the subject moments later. The longer Matthias stayed idle, the quicker he could rack up his own points, after all, they were extremely important.
A few moments later, Lucian returned to the vicinity of the Guardian Stone but also kept his distance from the others. He could tell from the vibe surrounding them that it wasn't in his best interest to interfere or interrupt their conversation.
Instead, he took a seat next to one of the small trees still nearby and opened the pouch containing twenty small vials. Half possessed a red liquid similar to blood but too thin and light-colored to be actual blood, whereas the other vials possessed a deep blue mixture.
Naturally, these were the vials from within the Lesser Recovery Package, aptly named Lesser Health Elixir and Lesser Mana Elixir, respectively. Although their effects were heavily diluted, they sufficed to deal with any unforeseen circumstance that could arise during the remainder of the tutorial.
As Lucian inspected the vials, the snapping of a twig was heard next to him, attracting his attention.
"Are you thinking about taking one of those already? The complimentary supply is limited, so ask yourself, do you REALLY need that?" Cezar questioned, flicking a stone at Lucian.
It hit him square on the forehead, causing him to drop the vial back into the pouch. While the strike wasn't hard, it still somehow managed to make Lucian's forehead sore.
"Mm, you're kind of boring. I expected more of a reaction," Cezar muttered. Frankly speaking, he expected an exaggerated response from Lucian seeing as how a mere boar had turned him on his back.
"Not boring, just busy," Lucian answered, properly fixing the contents of his pouch.
"Busy, you say? Tell me, what do you know about Guardians? Everything that I've revealed thus far seems to come as a shock to you," Cezar asked, slightly raising his eyebrows. Although he found Lucian to be somewhat weird, the naivete was amusing to Cezar.
"Not much, I just know they're stronger than regular Awakened in connection with what the Overseer disclosed to us," Lucian answered truthfully, a composed expression lingering from start to finish, despite the red mark on his forehead.
"Mm, well. With that amount of information, you're bound to lose out. I suggest you heavily rely upon your abi-..."
Before he could finish, a shadow overtook him. Looking up, he saw Elaine's stern expression bearing down on him, "Why is that you always make your way over here? I told you to leave it alone. I think you want to deal with me, don't you?"
A ball of flames gathered in the palms of Elaine's open hand, flickering with a gorgeous orangish-red hue. Despite the beauty of the flame, it threatened to coalesce into a fireball.
Cezar didn't answer immediately. First, he looked towards Lucian, then back to Elaine began snapping his fingers in realization, "Ah-ha! So that's why you did that. Very well, I'll shut my mouth. Go on and put out your candle."
A gust of wind passed by Elaine, revealing the disappearance of Cezar. From their earlier fight, Lucian had already learned of his swift movements. But, the flames Elaine showed now were more menacing than the ones used to kill their earlier beasts.
"Does my existence annoy you?" Lucian asked all of a sudden, causing Elaine to finally look at him.
However, she analyzed him first, before shaking her head, "It doesn't."
"Then why do you stop him from talking to me?" Lucian continued to question. If there was no issue amongst them, then to him, it was uncalled for to act this way.
"That's due to my own reasons. If you wish to become a Guardian, learn how to handle yourself. The title of a Guardian isn't as sweet as you little Awakeneds believe it to be," Elaine said. With that, she turned away, her lithe figure growing distant.
'Your own reasons? Not as sweet? Is there something linked to the Guardians that the public isn't aware of?' Lucian thought, even more questions surfacing in his mind.
Since he wouldn't receive answers just yet, he pushed this matter to the back of his mind. He let his body naturally recover while waiting for the next wave of enemies. However, for some reason, Lucian felt it was taking unusually long.
A thought that soon spread to the others.