Wynd Academy
Transference

A deep fog loomed over Aranei, Amanda was in her private chambers, Rory had returned to the city to receive new orders.

"We were paid a visit by Lumina again yesterday" Amanda sighed as she poured herself a drink.

"Interesting, what did she want this time?" Rory asked, as he sat down by the grand fireplace "More errands I take it?"

"No" Amanda replied "She wanted to make sure I'm toeing the line."

"And are you, dear Mother?" Rory grinned "Are you being a good little puppet?"

"Of course not, you really think I want that bitch of light to win?" Amanda threw Rory a look of disapproval "No, I am interested in mankind's future, I want to rule over an Empire, not a pile of dust"

Rory was taken aback by his mother's revelation, he had thought she was no more than a slave to Lumina's will "Well done, Mother, you have more sense than I thought" Rory slowly clapped "Though you do know she will turn us into those... light... things, if she discovers we are double-crossing her?"

"She can try, Rory, she can try, but with what The Empire learned of Elemental Infusion from both the Hubun Tribes and Crystech, I believe I have found a defence against her will" Amanda stood up and walked to the window "We shall become as Gods" she grinned.

"Interesting" Rory nodded "How soon will we get this protection?"

"Before the end of business today, I already administered the infusion to your sister, before she went on her recent mission, and it seems to have been a success" Amanda explained.

Rory stood up, and also walked over to the window "So what is the plan with Lumina?" he asked.

"We observe, look for weaknesses, keep your enemies close and all that, but we never give her an advantage, even with our protection, she is still dangerous, so watch your back" Amanda replied.

Outside Ishtall, stood a dense forest, a village stood in the middle of the forest. Which is where a small team from Wynd Academy had been sent to deal with the beasts that had been created from the Elemental Imbalance, the Fiends, as they had become known.

The team consisted of Roisin, Ashe, Dex and Victoria, a recent transfer student from Pyre Academy. Since none of the team had yet been able to call upon their Celestial Weapons, they had been outfitted with various normal weapons, Roisin had a longbow and was keeping her eyes out for any approaching beasts as they walked through the woods.

Dex had a halberd and had it at the ready, the team heard a loud roar coming from the path ahead.

"Stand ready!" Ashe commanded, being the team captain. Victoria nodded and readied her rapier, which unlike the other weapons, belonged to her, it was engraved with a fire like pattern. Up ahead, a twisted version of a bear stood, it had somehow grown four extra legs, and six extra eyes.

"What the Hells" Dex panicked, as the bear moved toward the team in a wholly unpredictable manner, he fell to the ground, but was quickly picked up by Victoria.

"Don't panic" She said as she looked him in the eyes, he nodded and got ready. Roisin loosed a barrage of arrows at the twisted creature, she managed to damage one of its legs and hit several of its eyes, Victoria ran ahead and jumped onto the bear's back, she plunged the sword into it's back several times in rapid succession, before back flipping off of it's back.

Dex ran at the creature, screaming, with his halberd at the ready. Before he reached the beast, he turned the halberd to the ground, jumped into the air, in mid-air, he turned the halberd back toward the bear, and pierced the weapon through one of its legs, the beast roared out in pain, as it slowed down significantly.

"My turn!" Ashe yelled, as she pulled her claymore sword from her back, she charged at the pinned beast, with the large sword at her side. When she reached the beast, she carved it down the middle, the beast fell.

The whole party cheered, it had been their first ever real kill, and they did it together. Just as they thought it was over, a pack of wolf like beasts ran towards them from all directions. Roisin loosed arrows at all of them in quick succession, several of them were direct hits, Victoria dashed at one and impaled it through it's jaw, killing it instantly.

Dex darted across to two nearing wolves, with the axe like blade of his halberd, he made easy work of them both. Ashe stared down the remaining wolf, it charged at her, she went to swing at the wolf but missed, it jumped at her, she dropped the claymore and fell to the floor... seconds later the beast fell to the floor dead.

In Ashe's hand was a sword that seemed to be made of pure ice... she had found the strength she needed to call upon her Celestial Weapon, she sat up and looked at the weapon, then at the wolf.

"Holy Hells that was a close one..." she caught her breath as she smiled at the others.

"Congratulations are in order, I believe!" Victoria clapped and smiled.

"Nicely done, Ashe!" Roisin cheered "I knew from day one that it was a good idea to befriend you" she laughed as she helped Ashe to her feet.

"Just... try not to leave it til the last second next time, huh? I nearly had a heart attack" Dex smiled as he patted Ashe on the back. The team moved the remains of the animals away from the road, then made their way back to the village. The sun had begun to set, and it was getting colder by the minute.

"Boy, I could sure go for a nice big mug of hot chocolate right now" Roisin exclaimed, looking up at the stars that began to slowly appear in the dimming sky.

"And a nice plate of biscuits... custard cremes specifically!" Dex laughed.

"Well I'd rather just get a packet of Crisps to be honest, I'm not actually that hungry" Ashe added.

"You may not be now, but come tonight, the hunger will catch up with you, you must keep your strength up for tomorrow" Victoria said in a commanding manner.

"Well, yeah I guess" Ashe shrugged "What are you looking forward to, Vic?"

"Hmm, I'm going to get a nice plate of roast chicken at the tavern, I believe" Victoria smiled.

The team carried on talking as they neared the village.

At Crystech HQ, Roisin's cousin, Petyr, was in the New Earth Crystal laboratory, with Rory, who had recently returned to Ishtall from the Imperial Capital of Aranei.

"So the vessel to the Crystal is now complete, but how do we get pure earth energy into it? I mean, it's not like we have an endless supply of it since the fall of Terrana" Petyr puzzled.

"Indeed, Mr. Luna, however, the Empire has been long developing a method of transference" Rory replied "You see, us humans are different from most animals, we have all the Elements in us, despite the loss of the Earth Crystal, we still carry a significant amount of Earth Aether within us."

"But, if we were to take that from someone... wouldn't that make the person who donated that aether no better than the fiends?" Petyr puzzled as he looked at the Crystal.

Petyr flinched as he felt a piercing pain in his back, he turned to look at Rory, who had impaled him with a device, Rory connected the device to the Crystal and turned it on, the crystal filled slightly with pure Earth energy, as Petyr screamed.

The energy stopped transferring shortly after it began, it had barely filled any of the Crystal.

"Thank you for your kind donation, young Mr. Luna" Rory laughed maniacally, Petyr was still in pain as his aether grew chaotic, Rory pulled out a small golden dagger and slit Petyr's throat. Petyr fell to the floor, his last thoughts being of his Mother, his Father... and Roisin.