Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (21 page)

Terra just got the footing
right when Hikari sent her tumbling to the ground. Terra hit the hot
stone floor hard with a thump. Hikari turned her back to Terra and
stepped away.

Terra stood before rubbing her
back. “That hurt.”

Hikari glanced back to Terra
and glared before turning to advance again.

This time Terra got into
stance faster and even dodged the first blow. Terra's victory proved
short lived when Hikari kicked Terra in the stomach, sending her once
again to the ground. Hikari turned to walk away when Terra stood
again.

Once again, Hikari assumed her
stance and attacked. Terra blocked one kick before Hikari attacked
Terra's jaw with her palm, sending Terra staggering back. Not waiting
for Terra to recover, Hikari unleashed a flurry of blows. She struck
Terra multiple times in the stomach and face before sending her down
to the ground with a final blow. Everyone watching winced when Terra
hit the floor hard a third time. Hikari stood, panting as the
firelight reflected off beaded sweat on her brow.

Terra groaned while forcing
herself back up. Before she stood, Hikari kicked her hard in the
sides, sending her back down. Still groaning, Terra tried to stand
again, but her arms gave out under the strain.

Hikari wiped the sweat off her
face. “This is a waste of my time,” she said between ragged
breathes.

Nikias raised an eyebrow. “Oh?
I didn't realize your time was so precious. Do you have somewhere to
go?”

Hikari's lips drew to a line.
“Fights with the weak teach me nothing. I want that sword.”

Nikias shook his head. “A
training blade costs twenty five points. A real aeon edge is earned
only if you pass the Labyrinth.”

Terra groaned and forced
herself to stand.

He turned to Terra. “You
almost get a point for being an amazingly determined punching bag. As
a consolation, I will give you a free Restore instead.”

∞

A short thirty minute break in
the schedule to eat lunch followed sparring. Terra learned that the
centurions often hid things on the schedule. At times the schedule
changed without warning. More than one tiro ran from the cafeteria to
make it to their next training event. Thankfully that didn't happen
to Terra or her group this time.

After their meal, they still
had to move fast to the next event called Shieldwatch Basics. Terra
hoped this would not be as physical as the morning's training.

Nikias was not present at the
next salient. Instead it was a woman whose hair was more silver than
brown. Terra recognized her from her first attempt to get into the
Academy.

“I am Centurion Isra,” the
woman said, her voice soft. “You may address me as centurion. I am
not strict, nor am I lax. I do not require a salute, but I hate
repeating myself and I do not tolerate disrespect. Understood?”

The tirones nodded. “Yes,
centurion,” they all said at once.

“Good,” she said in a
terse tone. She then turned before changing the salient into a snow
covered tundra. “Follow and listen closely.”

Cold air stung Terra's skin as
she stepped into the salient. It was the opposite misery of the
morning.

Isra kept her back to the
tirones as she walked in front of them. She raised her shieldwatch
arm into the air. “For those who remain ignorant, this is a
shieldwatch. This is the real secret behind the Aeon Legion's power.
Time is fundamental to experience. To control time allows one to
control any combat situation. Today's lesson requires mastery one of
its most basic functions.”

They stopped in front of a
fast flowing river. Large chunks of ice floated downstream. The
others shivered from the cold though Terra was not that frigid yet.
As cold as it was, it did not compare to the scorching heat this
morning.

Isra turned, crouching and
scooped a handful of water before flinging it into the air. She froze
it in place, the droplets hanging in the air with a faint outline of
a grainy sphere around them. A few tirones gasped in amazement.

Isra
gestured to the hovering water. “Within this small sphere of
energy, the water is trapped in stasis. Most of the energy fields in
Saturn City are actually stasis fields. Time is
Stopped
within. Stopping time is an easier ability, but this is half the
lesson. The other is range. A shieldwatch can only affect an area
that you can reach to at any moment, the range of your core causal
field, but with concentration you can project twice that distance.
Remember, though, that it is more costly to do so. This makes the
shieldwatch's effective range nine paces for most.”

One tiro yawned.

Isra's gaze darted to the
young man. “Is there a problem, tiro?”

“It's cold!” he whined.
“Get to the point!”

Isra appeared in front of the
tiro. Terra only saw a blur. Isra grabbed him and dragged him to the
river's edge. “What did you mean to say, tiro?” Isra asked, her
tone calm as she dangled him above the ice cold water.

“Get to the point,
centurion!” he whimpered.

“Good. Minus one point for
disrespecting a superior officer,” she said before dropping him
into the river. He screamed as the ice cold water washed him away.

The other tirones stared in
amazement at Isra. “How did you do that, centurion?” one asked.

Terra didn't find Isra's speed
surprising after having witnessed Alya at the library.

Isra
dusted off her hands. “You mean that burst of speed? To me it
appeared as though everything had slowed. I
Sped
time around me. That is one of the four fundamental abilities of a
shieldwatch. With a shieldwatch, time can be
Sped
,
Slowed
,
Stopped
,
or
Reversed
.
Most of you first time tirones can only manage Stopping with stasis.
Now I have a task for you all to perform. Make it across the river to
earn a point. Make it across the river first, you get a point and
I'll let you stand by a warm fire I have prepared.”

Everyone looked at the fast
flowing river. After a moment, a tiro voiced what was on everyone's
mind.

“That's flowing way too
fast, centurion,” he said. “No one can make it across.”

The tiro who Isra had thrown
into the water had just made it to shore again. He walked back to the
others, shivering.

Isra's expression remained
unreadable. “A valid observation, tiro. Perhaps you should consider
what I have just shown you,” she said before shoving the tiro who
disrespected her back into the river. She then walked a short
distance away to a burning camp fire.

A few glanced at one another
before shifting their gaze to their shieldwatch. A few swung it
around, others pointed it at the water as if trying to stop the river
from flowing. One even took her shieldwatch off, trying to get it to
work. Terra hunted through menus, trying to find something that could
help her get across the river. After a moment, one jumped in the
river assuming the shieldwatch would work automatically. The flow
swept them away and several optios collected them downstream. The
optios then deposited them, still shivering and wet, right back with
the rest of the tirones.

Then one pointed his hand out
and placed some falling snow in stasis.

“How did you do that?”
asked another tiro.

He shrugged. “Don't know. It
just worked. I felt something strange, like I had another part of
myself to control. Then it just happened.”

After a moment and under the
cheering of the other tirones, he attempted to swim to the other side
of the river. He used his shieldwatch to slow the flow of water, but
it stopped working before the halfway point and the flow swept him
away. After a moment, the tirones returned to their own attempts with
the shieldwatch. All except one, Terra noticed.

Roland sat crouched on the
ground with a thoughtful look.

“Stuck? I bet you probably
can't get your shieldwatch to work either?” Terra chided.

Roland Stopped a bit of
falling snow in stasis before releasing it.

Terra's mouth hung open before
clinching her jaw.

Roland grinned. “I mastered
that trick weeks ago. I was just waiting for someone else to try
crossing the river first.”

Terra frowned “You what?”

Roland stood. “I have seen
enough fools hasten to be first. I shall not repeat that folly.
Besides, I think I see a way across now. Why make mistakes myself
when I can learn from others?”

Terra glared at Roland,
speechless, as he walked to the river's edge. Roland waited for a
large chunk of ice to drift near and Stopped it in stasis. He then
jumped on it and waited for more ice to drift close.

The others noticed and
cheered. Roland leaped from one ice chunk to another. When he drew
close to the other side, the ice ran out so he swam the rest of the
way after casting aside his chain mail.

Isra smiled while walking down
to the river bank. “It has been a long time since one made it
across the first try.”

Terra shot a hate filled glare
at Roland as he made his way back. Soon he stood next to the warm
fire while Terra only her her hot anger to warm her.

After another half hour of
trying and failing to get her shieldwatch working, she along with the
remaining tirones were forced to try to cross the river. She tried to
wave her shieldwatch at the water as she jumped, but she missed one
of the floating ice chunks before the river swept her downstream.
Terra struggled to stay afloat, but managed to swim back ashore. She
growled as she watched Roland stand by the warm fire while she
shivered in ice cold water. Roland enjoyed his warmth while only
Terra knew that he had succeeded by letting someone else fail for
him.

∞

Terra looked forward to
academic classes as she walked through the Academy's hallways. It
would be nice to have a break after the first two miserable lessons
of the day. Terra stepped inside after checking the room number,
confident her modern education would give her an edge here.

The classroom was circular in
design like an amphitheater and pearl white like most of Saturn City.
One glass wall allowed a view of the grounds. Desks and chairs stood
arranged in neat semi circular rows while a large holoface glowed on
the central circular floor at the base. A few tirones already sat
straight backed and staring ahead. Before Terra had time to find a
seat, a centurion confronted her. She had three locks of silver in
her hair.

“Name?” She asked, her
tone harsh.

“Terra Mason,” Terra said
without thinking.

The centurion grimaced before
moving closer to Terra. She looked Terra in the eyes, her face inches
away. “I didn't see a salute, tiro! Also you will address yourself
as tiro since I don't care about your worthless name! Do you
understand?”

“Yes, Ma'am!” Terra said,
standing straighter and giving her best salute, placing her fist over
her heart. Nikias had never been that insistent on ranks and
saluting.

The centurion moved closer to
Terra, her nose almost touching Terra's face. “Do I look like a
ma'am to you! I haven't suffered through Masada and the Faceless War
just for some worthless tiro to call me ma'am! You will address me by
my proper rank of centurion! Centurion Shani! Do you understand!”

“Yes, ma– centurion!”
Terra yelled as sweat beaded on her brow.

The door faded again and
Delphia walked inside. She spotted Terra and waved, smiling. “Hi
Terra. Um, is this Alpha Civ one?”

Shani turned to Delphia and
smiled, speaking in a kind tone, “Oh no, timeborn. That's down the
hall to the left in room one seventeen. Do you need help finding it?”

Delphia shook her head. “Oh
no. I think I can manage on my own. Thank you so much. Goodbye,
Terra. Good luck,” she said and waved at Terra before leaving the
room.

Shani's smile disappeared with
Delphia. “What are you doing you useless parasite! You stand at
attention in the presence of an officer! Now sit down and remain
silent!”