The training was brutal, even worse than the punishment he usually hands out. Everyone was lying on the field, exhausted. "Professor? Why are we doing this again? It feels harder than usual. Any special occasion?" Tairo asked panting slightly, which shocked everyone, as he was tired, but only a little, while the rest were having a hard time breathing.
"My boy Tairo, I am so glad you asked. I thought everyone was going to sleep here after the warmup." He said in a proud voice. I was cursing inside mentally, "Has Professor Bright gone mad? This is a warmup? He thinks all are superhuman or something? But why are only the boys doing these exercises while the girls are doing self-defence?" I was lying down, breathing heavily while listening to Professor Blight's answer.
"Everyone here knows the arrival of special forces and their intention, but there are other reasons, too. There will be a competition between them and us. We will not let them win so easily," he said, but I interrupted him, saying," But Professor, we are ordinary students, and they are the ones with power. How are you expecting us to topple them? We are nearly powerless in front of them."
He looked at me with a smile and said, "There is no saying or a rule that only power can rule over. It's the courage within us and the determination that fuels us to drive forward without any fear. When people with power forget their duties. It is we common people, who need to remind them what those powers are for." Everyone was silent, hearing his words.
"Professor, is there anything you are not telling us? For the last 3 years, this institute has been shifting from studying to guide others to physical combats and I fear this standing institute built on the legacy of scholars will turn into combat-ready students. I know it has been a slow process, but you are forgetting we are the last batch of students who were admitted to this institute through our intelligence, and we won't be noticing it?" Toshiro asked the professor.
"Being intelligent has some kind of perk, huh? Well, sorry to say, but you are overthinking. Ha Ha Ha." He laughed away the question, dissolving the tense atmosphere. "You brats are asking too much question now go RUN!!! again 1!,2!,1!,2!." We all started running helplessly.
From above the building, a pair of eyes was following the movements happening on the field." So what do you think they will be able to do it?" an old guy sitting on the sofa, properly dressed as a gentleman, asked. "Yes, they will be able to pull it off. These are the students who are destined for one thing or another. They will write history, which will shape the course of humanity." The mysterious man said. "You always say that with every bunch of students, but very few have reached the heights of your expectations," the old man commented while drinking tea. He then continued, "So when are you publishing the paper? I hope you understand that any delay will lead to further problems. We are short on time."
The mysterious guy replied, "6 years is enough time. I won't be gone from the face of this world, of course, until I am backstabbed." he chuckled a little. With a heave sigh, continuing to watch the batch, he replied, "This will be my last bet, after that who knows what will happen. I hope my vision doesn't trick me. This is the only gift I am left with, and I hope this will continue generation after generation till the saturation is reached."
The scene changes to the little group who are suffering on the field. "Do we need to have another round, my boys?"Professor Bright asked with enthusiasm, and we made up an excuse of being in another class and left the field after getting tortured so much in the name of physical training."I think I will be excusing myself for today. I am going home. I can not stand it anymore. Bye, guys." Toshiro said while waving his hand weakly towards us, gesturing a farewell bid for today. "I feel pity for him. He is already a scrawny guy, yet he is getting tortured like this. May he have mercy on him." Arvyan said.
Suddenly, a pain hit my chest, I excused myself, and I quickly went to the washroom. "What is happening all of a sudden? Something is wrong with my body, but I can't put my finger on it." Suddenly, the lights inside the bathroom started to flicker. A cold sweat ran down my forhead and as I looked into the mirror, I was shocked because while I was panicking, the image in the mirror was smiling at me, standing and watching me. I began to put my finger forward to touch the mirror, and the image also touched my index finger, and suddenly, the image began to speak. "Its been a while. I think a lot has happened since I went for a slumber. You look like you were in hell." The figure said with a smirk while roaming in the mirror world. "Who are you?" I asked, and then he stopped and replied, "I am someone not from this world, and you are well acquainted with it. I am Vaelith. How could you have forgotten me that early?" He asked, and I replied, "I thought I was supposed to meet you at Innerveil. Why are you out so early?" He replied, "I was forced, and I had no other means to contact you, so I had to choose this way. Listen to me carefully, there are many unknown energy sources around you, so be on high alert and act normally. Someone is monitoring you, so be careful. You might get into trouble." I asked, "How much more time?" He replied," How much time for what? " I replied, "Till you are fully fit." He then replied, "I overestimated the energy density of this place, so it will take a full 5 and a half years for my strength to fully recover, and also I have to be careful while recovering, or else you may blast away, so I suggest doing the physical training to keep up with the rate of my energy recovery. You have now become my host, so take care properly." The image started to get glitchy, and then he looked at himself and said, "Looks like my time is up, so my last advice will be to be careful again, and yes dont worry, I will be helping you when I realise you are in dire need." With that, he completely faded away, with my reflection only left on the mirror. I was both surprised and impressed that he could access the mirror world.