Scarlet
As expected, Sylver arrives nearly fifteen minutes later, only a couple of minutes after Tar vanishes again. And the Guardian has the terminal on his suit pointed towards me, showing the screen where Allen is currently glaring at me.
Probably to be expected.
What’s unexpected is that the first words out of his mouth aren’t to yell.
“You’re grounded from fighting in Fractures until you have proper combat training,” he says, the glare never leaving his face as he talks.
I blink in surprise before staring at him.
Is he even technically able to ground me? I’m a full grown adult after all…
“And before you try to argue, yes, I can do this,” he continues as if reading my mind. “As long as you are working under me, you will be trained for combat. You will not be recklessly endangering yourself without even the combat ability and experience to at least back it up.”
Oh.
I open my mouth to speak, but he just cuts me off again, “And if you don’t agree with that, then I wish you luck with finding an Association that’ll accept you.”
My eyes narrow as I turn my own scowl on the man in the screen.
“You’re willing to go that far?” I ask, my displeasure with his decision clear in my cold tone of voice.
He doesn’t even hesitate for a second before nodding his head, “Yes. Your safety is too important to be squandered for mere System rewards. And if you’re still going to risk your life despite my warnings, I want you to at least be as prepared as possible for it. Is that really too much to ask?”
I stare at him. He stares back.
Sylver awkwardly shifts in place, likely wanting to be somewhere else right now.
But we both ignore the guy as we continue staring.
Eventually I let out a sigh and mutter, “Fine. Have it your way.”
Allen grins like he’d just won the lottery before immediately saying, “Thank you!” and ending the call.
I blink in surprise at the abruptness of the exit, only to frown at Sylver, who clearly told him what happened. Unless Allen had nanomachines stalking me?
He just shrugs and says, “In all honesty, your father was correct. Because while I do admit that you’re incredibly strong for a new Guardian, you are far too reckless.”
My mouth drops open in surprise at his actually speaking to me more than necessary. Not to mention the compliment, criticism aside.
But then one particular part of that statement registers in my mind, and I find myself saying, “He’s not my father.”
Sylver just stares at me for a few seconds before shrugging and turning around, calling out over his shoulder, “Your family drama not mine. We’re headed back to base. I’ll be waiting outside for you to finish healing.”
“I’m serious! He’s not my…” I trail off as he enters the stairwell, “and he’s gone.”
I lean back against the window with a sigh.
Damnit.
Tar appears in the air with a smug expression somehow planted on his tanuki face.
Don’t. Say. A word.
“Okay, I won’t say that,” he says, equally as smugly as he looks.
I just groan while lying flat on my back next to the window.
My injuries weren’t all that serious, so most of them have healed to the point of scabbing by now. But I really don’t want to go down there, so I’ll give it another ten minutes to let them finish.
But just five minutes later, I’m interrupted from the impromptu nap that I ended up taking by my phone buzzing in my jacket pocket, which is lying next to me on the ground. And when I reach over to grab it, I find that it’s a text from Allen. One with a message at the beginning that makes it clear he really is watching me with his nanomachines.
[I can see that you’re mostly healed by now, so go head to the base with Sylver. You can rest in the room that I’ve assigned to you. All night long and even into the morning if that’s what you wish. But don’t keep him waiting to get a head-start on that sleep. Your schedule for the next few days will be sent through email after this message.]
Ugh.
A few seconds later my phone buzzes again and I find an email from Sage showing what Allen has planned for me in the next few days. Which basically includes rest for the night and however long I sleep in, a tour of the Association base after I wake up, introductions to the currently present Guardians of the Association, enrollment in the Lion’s Heart Guardians University – which I guess plays well with my entire reason for going to the Tier 1 city in the first place – and lastly, my combat training.
My arm flops on the ground with my phone in hand as I let out a slow groan.
This is going to be a busy next few days.
Although if I remember correctly, the Lion’s Heart Guardians University is the only Guardian University at the capital city and is the hardest one to get into in all of the Terran Republic, and even harder to stay in it. Not only do the Guardians there have to keep up really good grades, but they also need to participate in a certain number of Demonic Assaults each semester and have to compete in the Interschool Tournaments.
But I guess that’s just another thing to tag onto my list of things to do.
Probably gonna have to take an entrance exam as well, so I better start brushing up on the history of the Guardian Universities in general.
A few more seconds pass in silence before I get up with a grunt, putting my jacket back on and using repair on all of my clothes. Then I use clean after that and begin to walk towards the stairs.
“By the way, when using your blood siphon skill to transfuse blood into people other than you, make sure you pull the blood out of their body before you’re done,” Tar suddenly says, making me frown. “The only reason it’s safe for you to keep the blood in your body is because you’re half demon. Any other human would have a problem if it stayed in their bodies for too long.”
Oh. Okay.
Thanks for the heads-up.
He bobs up and down once before vanishing.
Time to see their base. And then to take a nap.