The morning arrives and Aziel was ecstatic from the moment he wakes up.
He picks up his luggage, and happily walks heading to their rendezvous point, which was in front of the Academy gate.
A little while later, their class starts to venture towards the woods.
Aziel was practically humming as he walks.
"I missed these!"
He thought as he breathe in the fresh air.
"Do you like it being in the woods?"
A female voice asked Aziel from behind that made him startled.
"I'm sorry, did I startled you? Hehe."
The one asking was Sabrina, she saw Aziel at the back of the line so she purposely stopped and went behind him.
Aziel who's indulged at the moment, didn't noticed Sabrina.
"Uh, yes. You could say it like that."
He responded timidly, as his great mood was starting to get foul.
"Oh, please don't be angry. I was just trying to make new friends and when I saw you at the back on the line, walking alone, I took the chance and speak up to you. I'm Sabrina by the way, Sabrina Snow."
Sabrina reached out her hand for a handshake but Aziel didn't shake it, instead, he continue to walk through the woods.
Sabrina followed him behind and continues to talk to him, which made everyone in front curious about their relation.
It annoys Aziel so much that made him stopped walking.
Sabrina, who's following him closely behind bumps her head into Aziel's back.
"Woah! He has a huge shoulders. I can't see the front line. Why did he stop?"
Sabrina's thought at the moment.
"Ow. Why did you stop?"
Sabrina asked in a sweet tone.
"Why? Why would you want to be friends with someone who has no magical abilities? And don't you dare lie to me about it, because I could tell if someone is lying."
Aziel finally asked Sabrina about the question that's bugging him since the moment
Sabrina started to follow him.
"Oh, is that why you're mad? I just wanted to be friends with you, do I need to have a reason for doing so?"
"Everybody has a reason for doing something, whether they want to do it or not. So, what was your reason for approaching me and wanting me to be your friend?"
This time, Aziel was starting to get irritated by Sabrina.
"It's because of your genuine smile."
Sabrina responded quickly without thinking, and it was too late when she realized that she had spoken something embarrassing.
"Oh, no! No, that's not the reason. I mean you had a great smile but it's not like I like your smile or something."
In panic, Sabrina explained what she said forgetting everything about the question.
It made Aziel's mood turn back to normal.
"I'm sorry. My name's Aziel Mateo, but you can call me Aziel."
Aziel continue to walk after telling her his name, which made Sabrina happy.
"Aziel is a bit long don't you think? How about I call you Zel, and you can call me Sab?
Sounds good right? Anyways, you still didn't answer my first question yet."
Sabrina was feeling a bit too close to Aziel already, however, Aziel didn't mind as he find it quiet refreshing to have someone to talk to. It's been forever since the last time someone talks to him genuinely.
"Yes. I liked it when I'm in the woods. It calms me, and makes me happy. Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah, that's the question I was talking about."
Sabrina answered with a gloomy smile.
"You know what? It was my first time coming right into the woods, or anywhere outside the capital. Ever since I was a kid, my life cycle was all books, meeting other family for a probable suitors. I never really experience how to live alone."
Sabrina was sad when she was talking about it.
"But, I am here now! I could see that it's a nice experience, and it makes me happy."
Sabrina smiled at Aziel.
It was already dusk when their class reached the camp site where they must stay and sleep every day during their training against beasts.
"I can't believe it was so far that made us spend a whole day traveling."
"Sigh! I'm so tired man! I can't stand anymore!"
"Dude, the instructor announced earlier that we're having an orientation later.
"Let's go to the orientation. We're must observe every move that bastard do. Furthermore, I want to eat meat tonight."
"Meat?"
"You'll see it yourself later."
Jason's group was the first to get a room where all his friend could fit inside.
Aziel was alone in a small dark room.
"Knock" "Knock"
"Who is it?"
"Oh, uhm. Zel, it's time to go to the orientation. Wanna go together?"
"Yes, Sab. Could you come in, and wait inside for a moment? I think it's gonna take some time."
"Why? What are you doing?"
Sabrina opened the room with only a lamp as the source of light.
"I was cleaning my magical stick."
"Huwaaaaaah!"
"Why? What is wrong!?"
"What do you mean magical stick!?"
"Oh, it's just my spear. Why?"
"Oh."
Sabrina's face was steaming hot when she realized that she was thinking the wrong thing.
A few minutes later, Aziel finished cleaning his spear.
"I'm done here. Shall we go?"
Aziel placed his spear in his bed and reached his hand to Sabrina.
"Yes."
Sabrina holds Aziel's hand and they walked out of the room.
"Do you always clean your magical stick, I mean spear?"
"Yes, and I gave him a name."
"You gave your weapon a name?"
Sabrina's face was blushing the whole time they talk about Aziel's spear.
"Yes, he was called Magi now. Although, you were the only one who knew it aside from me."
"Well, don't be sad about it, you should be happy instead because he's been accompanying you for so long now. Anyways, we should hurry before the instructor gets angry."
"You know what this is about?"
"Just a normal orientation."
"Okay."
When Aziel and Sabrina get to the "Orientation", they weren't expecting to see a party.
The instructors made a welcoming party for the students, where they can grill meats for their dinner.
"You wanna eat meat?"
Sabrina's face went red again, after Aziel offers to cook Sabrina's food.
"No, it's my first time experiencing things like this. How about we grill together?
"That's not a bad idea, either. We should do that."
After eating dinner, Sabrina and Aziel spend more time together under the beautiful night sky on top of a watch tower inside their training camp..
"What are your reasons Zel? Why do you persevere in everything?"
Sabrina out of the blue asked Aziel a very personal question.
"I hate to see myself cry because of regret. Regretting after failing is okay, but what if you could have done something to prevent that from happening, and that is to persevere in everything that you do. Would you do it, Sab? I would do it every single day so that I won't fail. But if I ever fail while doing everything I can, then, I won't regret it, instead I will happily take it with all my heart and move on."
Sabrina was moved by Aziel's perception in life.
They both look at the starry night, their hands touched each other.
"Will you choose to be with that guy?"
Aziel asked while his face was closing to Sabrina's face.
"I know, I won't regret this so yes."
Sabrina closed her eyes, and slowly, their lips touched each other for longer than they expected.
Aziel realizing it, retracted himself from Sabrina immediately.
"I… I'm sorry Sab. I got carried away, please don't be mad with me."
"Oh, Aziel. You're such a kid. Anyways, let's go back our rooms, it's getting late."
"Yes, you're right."
The two of them climbed down from the watch tower and sleep for the night.
After that, they began to hang out more often during the training.
Since Aziel knows a lot more about the forest, he taught Sabrina what he knows, and sometimes Sabrina would teach Aziel something as well. The two of them learned a lot together in their training.
They become stronger by facing wild beasts during the day, however, every night Aziel trained himself in the woods until curfew without letting Sabrina know.
These constant actions of Aziel caught the attention of Jason's group.
"We'll proceed with our plan on the last night of camping. When that night comes, I want you to be prepared for that boys."
Jason instructed his group before going to sleep.
On their sixth day, Aziel and Sabrina trained in the forest until dusk.
"Hey what are you doing later tonight?"
Sabrina asked Aziel on their way to their camp site.
"Nothing much, maybe I'll sleep early."
Sabrina knows what Aziel was doing every night in the woods.
When the night falls, after eating dinner, Sabrina saw Aziel walking towards the woods, so she followed Aziel behind.
Aziel however, decided to train deeper into the woods for the night.
He was walking with his spear when something flew towards him.
He easily evaded the attack, only to be hit by another one coming from behind.
Aziel staggered when he noticed that he was surrounded by enemies.
Jason revealed himself with a huge smile on his face.
He talks to Aziel as his group was preparing to attack.
Sabrina saw Aziel caught in an ambush.
She tries to confront them but Jason shoots his fire spell towards Aziel, which he had quickly evaded. But Jason's group also casts their spells towards him, he couldn't completely avoid their attacks, and he was hit in his gut making him feel weak on his knees.
Jason seizes the opportunity and dash towards Aziel to break his arms, and another one from his group break Aziel's left leg. Aziel couldn't do anything in the situation, all he could do was scream in pain. That's when he feel a cold breeze coming from the shadows of the forest.
"Stop what you're doing!" Sabrina shouted towards the group.
But Jason just scoff in disdain.
"And who's gonna stop us? You? What can you do to save this little boyfriend of yours? Freeze us to death? Oh please.
Jason creates a blue fire ball as he stomp on Aziel's guts.
He wasn't afraid of Sabrina because he has the advantage. Even if Sabrina has a greater magical powers, his brother serves directly under their god, and he could use his brother's fame to influence people.
"Should I help Zel? But I can't put my family in danger. What do I do?"
Sabrina was facing a conundrum for a moment, and Jason's group continued beating Aziel.
Until a huge beast appeared from above.
The beast has wings and as tall as a three storey building.
The scales on its body was shining magnificently.
A four legged monster with a long tail, and a fierce looking face appeared before them.
Everyone quickly escaped as they were afraid of losing their lives, leaving Aziel behind.
Sabrina stayed not because she wasn't afraid of the beast, it's actually the opposite. Due to fright, she froze there watching the monster devour Aziel's whole body.
The monster turned its gaze towards Sabrina, after eating Aziel.
She couldn't contain her fear anymore.
"Aziel! I am very sorry."
All she could do was cry as she retreated from the scene.
When Sabrina got back to the camp, everyone was in panic, preparing to fight the monster.
Sabrina collapsed to the ground in front of the camp, her energy was drained by the fear of the monster.
Luckily, her friends saw her, and got rescued.
The monster that was seen in the forest flew away.
Everyone saw this, and left the camp immediately, fearing that the monster might come back for more.
-End of Prologue-