Stravos Vortaris
120 seconds to conquer this moment. Fine by me.
I looked back at Kuru; his hair was damp across his forehead.
Moving more than one person with his ability likely puts significant strain on him.
I couldn't allow him to drain any cosmic energy before it was time to leave.
"Kuru, stay back; I'll handle this."
He took a few steps back while I opened a portal to my astral forge. I grabbed my spatha and funneled cosmic energy through it.
"You ascended?" Kuru asked.
I exploded towards the five bots.
Surprisingly, all five bots lunged at me.
The first bot to make contact threw a punch with a hand that spun like a drill. I parried the strike while evading an attack coming from behind.
100 seconds.
Quickly regrouping, I knew just from that first skirmish alone that these bots had been programmed differently. They weren't trying to subdue me. They were using the same tactics hunters would use to kill a beast.
A couple of bots stood, their heads tilting.
Analyzing me.
Two darted to my left, and another pair went to my right, while the fifth dashed straight for me.
A pincer formation, against me? A prince of war.
I licked my lips and summoned my titan. It looked different; its grey metallic skin was glossier than before. The helm had changed to feature jagged edges at the top and pointed shoulder blades.
It looked even more menacing than before, and a smile tugged at my lips.
In tandem, my titan and I crashed the right flank that had two bots in the formation. With my blade, I sliced low, and my titan threw the finishing blow from above to the first bot.
Our connection felt stronger, and the titan felt more sentient than before. Every movement was a calculated decision, setting up another strike to be executed seven steps down the line.
I rejoiced that these robots were made with a higher grade of celestium. I could swing harder with as much destructive intent as I pleased, not needing to hold back from the thought of killing someone.
We raged on like a violent whirlwind of steel until the very last enemy was destroyed.
40 seconds.
When the final machine dropped, I threw my blade back into my astral forge and sprinted into the vault.
The vault was large and filled with rows of shelves housing astral relics and other machines of varying sizes.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" Kuru asked, catching up behind me.
"I'll know it when I see it."
30 seconds.
I rummaged through the shelves, desperately looking for the object that convinced me to attend this academy in the first place.
They said it was a silver rectangular box, engraved with my family insignia.
"Security bots, what is the status of the situation down there?" the raspy voice asked, sending a prickle down the back of my neck.
Kuru's black eyes locked onto mine, his body frozen in place.
"Can you hear me? Status report!"
15 seconds.
I continued to rummage through the shelves, even summoning my titan to do the same.
"I'm coming down."
I moved faster until I stood at the very end of the vault.
Where is this thing?
5 seconds.
Then I got a mental message from my titan. It was found.
But I also heard rumbling from the ceiling. Panels began to shift, making way for an opening.
"Now!" I yelled to Kuru as I commanded my titan to throw the silver box to me and then dematerialize.
Kuru sprinted towards me and summoned shadows to encompass us both. We shot through the ceiling above, just as something was descending.
The thumping of my heart echoed in my head as I gripped the prize of this mission.
I got it, thank the High Pantheon.
In a few moments, Kuru had us outside the faculty building and back in the courtyard.
When he released his shadows, he was hunched over, his breath labored.
"You owe me, Stravos, remember that."
I raised my brows.
"Being a member of my cluster is a reward in itself."
"Whatever, man, I'm out of here," he said as he walked away.
I looked down at my communicator and saw that we had thirty minutes till curfew.
Enough time to meet at the rendezvous point.
Need to sneak to the teleportation terminal.
As I made my way through the campus, I noticed that some of the trees were singed.
What happened here?
I pushed that aside and focused on sending a message to my contact. But no matter how many times I tried, it never went through.
Why is that?
When I finally reached the teleportation terminal, I found it heavily guarded. Three people stood watch at the entrance. Each of them donned an emblem of a crescent moon and a star.
All due to Cyrus, no doubt. It wouldn't be wise to fight through that.
Regrouping is best for now.
When I made my trek back to my isle and crossed the bridge, a single thought went through my mind.
What if I jump? I let my titan take the brunt of the fall. I could always say I slipped or that the wind just took me, and spend the night there till morning.
But just as I was about to go through with it, my communicator rang.
"Hello?"
"Did you get it?"
"I did, but the teleportation terminal was heavily guarded; I would have been compromised."
"Ok, good. Our rendezvous point was compromised, too. Flying up to you is also out of the question. Those clouds are starting to look dangerous," the soft voice said.
"Then how am I going to hand it over to you, without anyone knowing?"
"You have a rift exam coming up, right?"
"Yes."
"Ok, once you guys conquer that rift, I'll meet you in the astral realm, and we can do the exchange then. But until then, keep that machine safe. It will be of great importance to your clan's future. We succeed here, and your birthright will be restored."
"Affirmative."
"I'll see you then, Stravos. Job well done."
I felt the tension in my shoulders ease as I finished my walk across the bridge; the hardest part was finished, and I was one step closer to retaining my claim to the throne.