Fireborne: Rashen Rising

CHAPTER 4: THE IMPERIAL ACADEMY

"Come in" the Head Academic Officer called out to the person knocking at the door, Rashen slowly opened the door, walked in and closed it back,

"Would you mind helping me with the files on the top shelf?" He asked while pointing at said files on said shelf,

"You can use the stool at the corner there" he said pointing at the stool at the corner there. Rashen quietly complied,he grabbed the stool and used it to retrieve the files,there were a lot and were very old and dusty. The H.A.O took them from Rashen and drop them on his desk with a loud thud as dust from the files spread round the room,

"Well have a seat cadet" he said to Rashen while opening the files,

"Thank you sir" Rashen replied as he slowly sat down just across the Head Academic Officer Remry Gillurt,an old man with fresh problems everyday but he looked like he'd be used to it and as far as Rashen could tell he probably was.

"Nervous?" Officer Gillurt asked while still working on the files,

"N- No sir" he replied knowing fully well his stammering already gave him away. Truth is he was indeed nervous, and for good reason too. 4 years he had been at Nottenam Imperial Academy working as hard as he could with a record as clean as you could possibly get, he'd always avoid trouble to the very best of his abilities and now he was in the very office where troublesome cadets are sent to just days before graduation and deployment.

"So why don't you tell me why you're here" Gillurt demanded,

"Truth is I was sort of involved in an incident this morning but I don't think it was so serious that I needed to be sent here sir" Rashen replied trying his best to compose himself, and Officer Gillurt without taking his eyes off the files replied immediately,

"You do realize that before you got here I received complaints from a Squad Commander Kuro Malloy about manner ill befitting an Imperial Soldier..."

"But sir-"

"And hundreds of eyewitness reports about attempted murder from a demon with red wings..."

"Sir I can ex-"

"And a report from one Cindrus Macallin about how she was rough handled from who she claimed a quote on quote demonic perv" he said all that while still working on the files not even once looking at Rashen.

There was a brief period of silence between both of them.

"You're quiet" Gillurt commented,

"Yes sir I'm just waiting to see if you'll read the eyewitness report of the red winged demon catching the thief" Rashen replied with a little tone of bitterness in his voice. Officer Gillurt dropped the files at hand and looked straight at Rashen who himself was faced down.

"Why did you do what you did cadet?" Gillurt asked,

"Why did I try to save a distressed citizen? Because that's what Imperial Soldiers do"

"But you're not an Imperial Soldier. Not yet"

"Cadet training is officially over and the exams are done with so we have free reign to act as Imperial Soldiers. That's was written in the handbook that was approved by the Head Academic Officer at that time"

"Between the periods after the final exams and before deployment an Imperial Cadet is allowed to act as an Imperial Soldier EXCEPT in delicate cases that risk human lives. This was the rule written down stamped and signed by the then Head Academy Officer and I would know this because I was her personal assistant at that time I was there when she wrote it"

Rashen had no reply to that and Gillurt knew this so he continued,

"Cadet that was a delicate situation and no matter how you look at it you broke the rules"

Rashen was already feeling bad before hearing all this,now he felt unbelievably worse. He realized there was only one thing he could do,he got up and bowed lowering his head to desk,

"I, Imperial Cadet Rashen,am very sorry for behavior that would bring shame upon the Nottenam Training Center as well as the Imperial Forces."

Gillurt was a bit taken aback but he could hear the sincerity in his voice,

"Sit down" he ordered and Rashen complied.

"Look cadet...I know how hard you've worked both academically and morally these four years you've trained here. Despite your rather...complicated upbringing you showed excellent character here in this institution..." he cleared his throat and continued, "...I know how elated you must be at the prospect of finally becoming an Imperial Soldier and so you acted quite rashly but seeing as no one was hurt I'm willing to overlook this"

Rashen perked up after hearing this,

"Thank you sir" he said faced down,

"Oh don't thank me just yet Cadet because there's still the matter of your punishment"

"Yes sir I'm willing to accept any punishment for my behavior"

"That's good to hear because you'll be on toilet duty after the graduation ceremony" Officer Gillurt replied instantly,the look on Rashen's face was priceless he almost burst out into laughter.

"You can leave now" he said as he went back to tending to his files, Rashen slowly stood up,he thanked Officer Gillurt one last time before leaving the room,if anything he was grateful he wasn't expelled.

Rashen started the long walk back to his dorm room. He walked out of the pathway leading to Officer Gillurt's office and into the training hall. In the West wing,there he could see the third years having their training sessions with the combat administrators, Rashen remembered those training sessions all too well and the only thing he'd describe them as would be traumatic, his trainer was an accomplished woman in the Imperial forces, Retired Troop Commander Agniss Chuzu and she was as brutal as she was tough. He walked at the far end of the training hall and took the door leading to another hallway,as he walked by he could hear the lectures going on in the lecture hall for the second years and if he remembered the voices correctly the particular lecturer would be Bitters Bilkoinks the lecturer for Imperial history,the long history of the Imperial Soldiers and their involvement in forming the new world. Rashen could remember how he drilled in as much information on Imperial history as mentally possible,the events following the emergence of tamers,the period in time known as the Darkest Decades and then the events that followed known as the Great Age, for Rashen Imperial history was a very interesting subject but the lecturer known as Bitters made enjoying lectures very difficult,he never gives anyone a passing grade even though they deserved it and failed those who didn't deserve it,he was,as his nickname implied,bitter and extremely inconsiderate, he's also one of the oldest lecturers in the academy so any complaints about him directed to the Head Academic Officer would be brushed off. His attitude in general earned him the moniker 'Bitters',no one is truly sure when he earned the nickname but that's what he'd been known as for 27 deployed sets.

Rashen exited the Academic Halls and made it to the courtyard,the last place he wanted to be at this point because most of the other final years otherwise known as Imperial Cadets were there. He could feel their stares like knives piercing his back,he could hear their whispers and sneers,not that he wasn't used to it already, it's always been like this ever since he was just a first year he was already a target. The bullying only got less intense as Rashen consistently rose through the rankings proving he wasn't just what people thought he was. His success had left a lot of people envious and that envy led to bitterness and that bitterness led to hatred and that description perfectly fits the young man headed towards him,a long time bully of Rashen,Ballious Balder.

Ballious was a man from a noble family,he was the kind of person that would use his family's connections to get whatever he wants whenever he wants,he tried as much as possible to get connections with the other cadets from noble families themselves,the type of man Rashen wanted nothing to do with. As soon as Rashen spotted him coming his way he tried to evade without letting Ballious know he had spotted him but his plan failed when he felt two people grabbing his arms from behind, Ballious's goons,the thin wide eyes Durkins and the thick muscle headed Skimings.

"Well if it isn't the demon himself" Ballious said in a snarky tone as he stood before Rashen looking down on him with his big green eyes, just as he's always done.

"Hello Ballious" Rashen replied as calmly because in this situation remaining calm was the only thing he could do,

"I heard from a reliable source that you committed attempted murder today" Ballious said with a sinister smile on his face,

"Of course that's not surprising giving his...tendencies now is it Bal" Dorkins,in his high voice spoke out and Skimings sniggered,

"Exactly right Dorkins! Anyone who kills his own parents would have no qualms taking the life of any other person" Ballious said with the intention of having the cadets in the courtyard hear him and it worked because the crowd was gathering around them. Dorkins and Skimings let go of Rashen now that they had accomplished what they wanted,he had nowhere to go now. Rashen simply dusted his arms,

"If that's what you believe" Rashen simply replied without even sparing a glance at Ballious and his goons,

"And to think that if it weren't for the brave cadets who were quick at the scene-"

"Sure sure" Rashen interrupted him while still dusting off his arms not sparing a glance at Ballious and his goons and it was starting to get irritating.

"I can only imagine what the girl must be going through after such a traumatic experience"

"Well if she's anything like you in the bathroom after eating that expired spicy tarts she must be crying for her dear life" Rashen replied instantly and before the crowd could even react to what he said Ballious already landed a huge blow to his abdomen forcing him on his knees clenching hard on his gut.

"Oh you think you're funny huh!!? That you're some kind of clown? Well why don't you crack another joke for us" Ballious said with an irritable look on his face,he grabbed Rashen by the hair and lifted him up, Dorkins and Skimings held him up and Ballious landed another hit on the same spot sending Rashen down again. Those weren't just regular hits Rashen was receiving, Ballious had his Gem Glove on,one of the various forms exclusive to the Balder family that involves taming the earth to form hard gems almost as indestructible as diamond,a hit from his Gem Glove with just enough force could go right through another human being.

The crowd looked on but there was really nothing they could do and not that they wanted to,they already classified Rashen as an outcast,a demon who killed his parents at birth and no one wants to be associated with that. Rashen took a couple more hits before the the Senior Cadets arrived at the scene,

"Alright that's enough Cadet Ballious" one of them said, Rashen,who was still face down clenching could recognize the Senior Cadet's voice. He couldn't quite hear what was being said since he was too focused on the pain but once he looked up he saw three senior cadets standing over him,he recognized two of them,the same cadets who were there earlier in the market,the earth and wind tamers and the last Senior Cadet was someone he knew all too well, someone who always looked at him with disgust.

Rashen forced himself back up and as expected nobody helped him,

"Do you need to visit the med bay?" One of them asked

"No..." Rashen started making his way out of the courtyard "...I just need to be alone".

Rashen finally made it to his dorm room,a room he shared with three other male cadets but right now he was the only one there. He took off his armour a carefully arranged it in his wardrobe,he climbed his bed and shut his eyes hoping that the day ends already.