Bab 2: Chapter 2
It was a Friday and Ray woke up later than usual.
In Atlantis, weekdays are Monday to Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are public holidays so today is a holiday.
The fact that it is a weekend does not mean that Ray woke up later than usual because he was sleeping in on a weekend. In the first place, 'later than usual' for Ray means he woke up at five when most people would only start waking up at six o'clock. Of course, for the Heroes and Apprentices of the Academy, five o'clock is the usual time they start their day which is about two hours before sunrise.
Secondly, even though he did wake up later than usual and it happened to be a weekend, it was totally not of his own will. For Ray, there is no such thing as sleeping on a weekend. In fact, there was no such thing for any student of the Academies.
Thirdly, Ray had a very good excuse for waking up later than usual – he was in a meeting until almost twelve midnight.
The fact of the time was not the reason for his waking up late, Ray was no stranger to working hard until such late hours even when he is not on a mission and he will still wake up at his usual time.
Meetings however are one of those things that mentally wear Ray out so much that he gets a terrible headache because of them and can cause him to oversleep as it did the previous night.
Like the previous year, and the year before that, Ray is involved in organising this year's Final Professional Examination – the Trials of Valour. And like the previous year and the year before that, Ray just sat in on the countless meetings that all the committees felt they needed to have. He was forced to be a member of almost all the committees because they all think that they need 'The Legendary Hero' to be on their committee.
"Veethree, can you show me my time table for today?" Ray said as he put on his casual clothes. A black short sleeved t-shirt and a similarly coloured trousers. Ray believed in simplicity so his wardrobe consisted mostly of this pair of clothes. However, being him, he needed to have some amount of fine and formal clothing that he would wear when on official 'Legendary Hero' business. These though were limited to only five pairs, all of them gifts from different VIPs including two from the Emperor.
Vethree or rather V3 was the artificial intelligence that managed the boys' dormitory.
"You have three committee meetings this morning sir" V3 said in its asexual but distinctly male voice. "Oh… it appears that Hero Svetlana has sent a call for a meeting of the Safety Committee at three in the evening" V3 added without emotion. "Should I slot that in your time table also sir?"
Ray sighed. He felt that the Safety Committee is one where his presence is actually useful. The Trials of Valour will be a real battle. Most of the Hero training use real battles of course, but they are held in very well controlled environments and usually in small numbers where the instructors can ensure the students' safety. In the Trials of Valour though, they will be using a real battlefield where the Academy and its Heroes have little control of the environment. And because it will involve a large number of Apprentices, anything can go wrong. The Safety Committee held a very difficult responsibility to ensure the safety of their students.
"Yes please slot it in and can you send a reply to Hero Svetlana that I will be joining"
"Done sir"
Ray had two hours before his first meeting and he thought that he would take a walk around the lakes that surrounded the Academy. Calm his mind before the day's work. Truth be told, he was very worried about the final exam. Although he was not the head of any of the committees or in fact, even a formal member of any of them, he felt the burden to ensure that everything went smoothly. He knew that the headmaster and the other masters did not allow his name to be placed in any of the committees so that he can help all of them out, and ultimately be the final safety measure for the whole thing. This has always been his role.
If anything goes wrong, he will step in and end it all. He and the other 'Avatars', the most powerful Heroes of Atlantis Academy.
A group of boys was congregating in front of the dorm entrance. They were talking to a girl that Ray, at a glance thought was very attractive.
No wonder the boys are being so animated, Ray thought with a soft chuckle to himself and rolled his eyes.
Ray greeted them and was about to walk on when a familiar voice called his name.
"Hero Ray" a soft lady's voice called making him stop and turn.
It was the girl who was the centre of attention of the group of boys.
The moment that Ray set his eyes on her, a multitude of emotions struck him at once that drove out all of his worries about the exams. The first thing that struck Ray was a sense of calm. It was a familiar feeling that he couldn't quite place. This girl that he does not even know gave him this feeling.
The second thought that struck Ray was that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever set his eyes on. No wonder the boys were all nervous.
"Headmaster Edward asked me to look for you here" she said.
Even her voice was so heart melting, Ray thought. And somewhat familiar. Where had he heard this voice before?
Ray looked at the young woman's face, being very careful to not make it look like he was staring too much. Ray had met and dealt with many classically attractive woman but none of them made him feel as self-conscious as this woman. And she wasn't even wearing something that shouted purposely eye catching and only wore minimal make up.
"Princess Elle?"
She smiled slightly, lowering her head so that their eyes didn't meet. She looked even prettier with this gesture.
"I almost didn't recognise you. You look so different from the time we first met" Ray consciously avoided the words beautiful, pretty and attractive.
Princess Elle chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand as she did. A very princess like manner which Ray thought made her look very cute.
"In a good way I hope" Princess Elle said jokingly. "Headmaster Edward has been very kind to us. He has even allowed my knights to train with your Heroes. That is why he asked me to look for you here and ask you to be my escort today"
Princess Elle visibly blushed when she said this as did Ray. The boys who had been talking to Princess Elle before all put on disappointed looks when they heard this and slowly took their leave.
This of course made the two of them all the more nervous.
"Headmaster Edward said to tell you to look at your mission log" Princess Elle said, breaking their moment of awkwardness. "He said that you should understand" she added with a slight shrug.
Ray did. He pressed the 'Menu' button on his Universe 7 arm band. A rectangular hologram appeared in front of Ray which was the menu screen. Ray pressed the 'Missions' button and then 'Mission Log'. Sure enough there was a new mission registered. In fact it had a golden star at the side indicating that it was a high level mission.
"You have a new mission log sir. Ah… a starred mission. Do you want to have a look at it now?" Vethree said, its voice coming from Rays Universe 7 arm band.
"I am already looking at it Vethree", Ray told the AI. The fact that Vethree was only just informing him of the new mission did not surprise Ray. He had set it so that the AI would only inform him of any new messages every one hour, and important messages every ten minutes. This meant that the new mission had only just arrived within the last ten minutes.
Ray pressed the mission button.
Of course. Ray thought to himself, doing a mental eye roll and chuckling slightly. It was not a surprise that the one who had ordered the mission was the headmaster himself, and his tone in the mission description was also rather conversational as opposed to the stiff ordering tone that the usual mission orders use. From this Ray knew that the headmaster must have written the mission order himself.
Good morning Ray. I hope you're doing ok with all the stuff that's going on with the exams and all. I wish there was something that I could do to make things a bit easier for you but… well… this might not be much of a consolation but I believe that you know better than I do what it means to be a living legend.
Anyways. Yes. This mission. Again, I ask that you keep this mission as a secret. I've marked it as top secret class S so no one will be able to question you about it, so that might keep people from prying.
You remember Princess Elle of Lyonesse I presume? I daresay that she certainly remembers you. *Wink wink*
Ray surreptitiously moved to hide the screen from Princess Elle, although he knows that she wouldn't be able to see anything even if she looked. Mission orders are programmed in such a way that no one except the people involved in the mission are able to read them.
I am having her knights train with our Heroes while they are here so that they may be more adept at fighting the Demons. I daresay that we may also learn from them. Anyways, besides her position as a princess of Lyonesse, Princess Elle is a very crucial figure in our war against the Demons.
As such, she must always be under the protection of a reliable guardian. As her original guardians are required elsewhere, I ask that you substitute them in protecting the princess.
Please note – and I am very much serious as I say this – I do not believe that having one of your calibre as her guardian is overdoing it.
This part of the Mission Order got Rays attention. He sneaked a peek at Princess Elle, half expecting a Demon to suddenly pounce at her. Although the headmasters tone throughout the Mission Order was his usual carefree manner, Ray knew that this part was very serious and that the headmaster was not joking in the slightest.
The headmaster however chose to end his order in a playful manner that made Rays heart race which was something that rarely happened to the walking legend.
I suggest that you give our lovely princess a tour of our Academy. Afterwards in the afternoon, her knights will be finished with their day's lesson. I think it would be nice if you could show our guests the jewel of our nation. I personally feel that it is a great shame if anyone comes to Atlantis and do not visit our Floating Gardens.
That will be all for your Mission Order.
P/S: I pray that you can allow yourself some time off as well. I have informed all the committee heads of your mission and that you will not be able to attend the meetings today.
Ray sighed and smiled appreciatively. Headmaster Ed, or Master Ed as Ray usually calls him always considers the things that other people may see as trivial. So he knew that Ray was being stretched to his limits with the coming final examination.
Part of him felt guilty about not attending the meetings although he never liked meetings in the first place. He also felt worried that he might miss some details that could compromise the examination, but he knew that the headmaster was right. He did need the time off and he was grateful that the headmaster was helping him get that rest.
"The headmaster has asked me to give you a tour of our Academy and in the afternoon, show you and your friend's one of our most famous tourist attractions"
Princess Elle's face turned red all over. Because her skin was so fair and fine it was impossible for her to hide it. She stuttered when she spoke. "I will be in your care then Hero Ray" she said in a tiny voice.
"Please just call me Ray" Ray said.
As Ray led Princess Elle to their first destination, she spoke as if continuing their prior conversation, but being somewhat delayed.
"You may call me Elle"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone