Age of Beast Tamers and Exorcists
Chapter 73: Double Abilities

Chapter 73: Double Abilities

But what happened afterwards shocked everyone. The environment wasn’t silent nor loud. The villagers, in loose clothes, huddled on the verandas of a building. It was in a Greek style. They stood there and watched. This building had many more varieties around, up to four. They had symmetrical designs with pilasters, and the roof sloped with terracotta lines. The windows and the doorways appeared arched, with whitewashed walls. A muscular bald man, not younger than the age of 40, closed in on a little kid. He crouched with an easy smile as though he were close to being a Samaritan who could make jokes to cheer a kid up. But instead, he snatched the boy’s bread from his hand. He munched to his own satisfaction, despite the boy’s heavy crying. One of the policemen, wearing brown cloaks over black jackets, had taken a step towards the boy, only for him to halt on hearing this rushed movement... Swoosh! He shifted his glance left. And he saw the person... Callister sprinted to the damned man. The air rushed in the opposite direction of her movement as she moved with the fury of lightning. He saw her at one point. But instead of his position adjusting so he could defend himself, his eyes widened in shock. Anxiety and shock paralysed him, and the remaining bread he had just eaten stuck in his throat. Callister completely closed in on him. She punched him straight in the belly. The man threw up, vomiting the bread as soon as the blow came. Not holding back, Callister jumped, hitting his face with the back of her shoe. Whack! "Puarrh!" The man screamed out as the kick sent him crashing to the ground. Not only that, but five of his teeth fell out of his mouth too. He moaned in pain, not even knowing which injury he should nurse. Callister clenched her fist as she glanced down at him. She groaned, "Do it. Cry... and... cry... and do the same thing over and over again. You cursed bastard. If you’re such a madman, you should at least learn to keep your insanity in check..." Everyone had their eyes on her. Callister, the man, and the kid were amidst the Greek-like buildings. Why did she do this? For the boy, of course. That day, she insulted the man with all her strength. That was to someone who couldn’t say anything while she was still there. But, as soon as she turned her back and disappeared into the crowd, he started shouting to the police: "Get that bitch out of the team, or into detention!" He said it so many times. Right after then, Skyler took the boy into the shade where everyone else was. And she shared her bread with him. The boy had big cheeks and emerald eyes. Black dirt covered his face, ruining his cute features. One could tell that he wasn’t there with his parents. Skyler knew that the castle wouldn’t allow her to take in a child. But at least she could look after him for as long as she remained on the police force. The boy got justice, thanks to Callister. As a matter of fact, the villagers praised her among themselves. But they didn’t have the nerve to do the same when the bald thief was around. But one day, while on a night patrol, Zmey realised that the police chief had a different view of what had happened. He eavesdropped on what Martins said to Callister that night. For the first time in a while, he got interested in doing so. Martins had said, "You can say it was the right thing to do. But you aren’t on the Elite Team to act like a nuisance. Or a common thug you could find out there. If the man had awakened back in the days too, I guess both of you would have brought the sky to its knees today. Violence isn’t the only way to settle things, Miss Gallingwater. Your top priority is to protect the citizens, not to break them into pieces. Stealing and snatching are bound to happen in the kingdom’s current situation. If such happens every day, would you always beat the culprits to a pulp then?" Zmey didn’t wait until the end of it. He already knew where that was heading. Through the entire activities the next morning, Callister wasn’t around. Zmey didn’t catch sight of her. And, being the same as the other day, he concluded that Martins had sent her back to the castle to reflect on her actions. On the third day, Zmey was distributing plates of smoked fish and rice balls to people in a queue before him. He thought, ’If you ask my opinion, the Elite Team really lived up to its reputation. They think like actual soldiers.’ And the internship on the police force took the rest of their first month of joining the Elite Team. But every one of them knew the bigger game. It was waiting for them, without a doubt. All these were nothing but necessary tests. .... {Months Later} Zmey woke up from his sleep on one beautiful morning. The chirping of birds was inviting, no doubt. But it was a distant clattering sound that jolted Zmey to his feet as soon as he woke up. His room only consisted of a bed with its bedspread and a brown wooden wardrobe. He yawned as he shifted down the bed, causing the bedspread to rustle. ’What’s going on?’ He then moved to the small-dimensioned window of the room. He didn’t need to toggle any lock because it’s always left open. Then Zmey stared down. Scattered in pairs on the slightly wide space outside the storey building were some team members. They were sparring with wooden swords in pairs. "It’s time for that training already," he mumbled. At that moment, Gabriel glanced up at the two-storey building, along where he spotted Zmey. He waved at him, then said out loud, "Get down! Training starts this morning, bud." Zmey shifted away from the window. In no time, the iron door on the ground floor creaked open. As soon as Zmey came out of it, Gabriel threw a wooden stick at him, which he caught straight away. Gabriel said, "They have provided a nice location for your training. We should head there now." Right at that moment, the door creaked open again. Both Gabriel and Zmey glanced there to see Skyler come out of the doorway. She grinned as she walked towards a far corner. It was between the sturdy storage house and the living quarters. The sun was rising in the sky, casting golden light on the land. "Good morning, Skyler," Gabriel greeted. He was always the first to do so, generally. "Trust you had a good night’s sleep?" Skyler halted a few metres from the pathway. Then she waved back at him, "Good morning, Sir Gabriel. I slept pretty well last night. And you?" Gabriel returned the greeting. "Not better. Heading to your training already?" "Yes," Skyler said right away. "Then... I will be leaving. See you around, Zmey." She had already fidgeted in the corner before Zmey turned to respond. Gabriel asked, "I expected you guys to be much closer than this. Why not?" After asking that, he patted Zmey’s back, telling him that they should move on. They turned around and walked in the opposite direction of Skyler’s destination. A free path awaited them. The living quarters stretched on, and some other buildings loomed in the distance. Zmey shrugged at the question. He clicked his tongue. "I am not interested in getting along with people that much..." "... But you’re opening up to me as we speak," Gabriel cut in. "Do you still think you don’t want to get along with people?" Zmey wanted to speak. But he ended up sighing instead. He had always been perfect at nearly everything until he joined the Elite Team. Was this an effect of being around geniuses? Gabriel added, "Don’t hold back in getting closer to people. The moment you start going in the same direction as life, worry shouldn’t be yours anymore. It’s crucial to make friends and allies in this castle. The closer you are to people, the better things get for you." Of course, they arrived at the place where they were meant to start the training. The rule was that everyone could use their abilities. If it were only sword art, Zmey would have been halfway done. That Gabriel had two sets of abilities was a great obstacle. He could create ultrasonic sounds and had a tame serpent. Breaking through his attacks was like one man fighting against three elite men. The most difficult challenging part of the fight was that... the location was a field with a slippery surface. This made it hard for Zmey to lunge without falling. But Gabriel moves smoothly across it with practiced ease. Zmey knew that, even if Gabriel wins today as he would definitely do, the fight was not yet over. It would be until he could first lunge without falling. Then able to weave through Gabriel’s attacks and get his own sword close to his throat. Additionally, he knew that if he didn’t ever win, he would have at least grown familiar with the attacks. He would have developed new skills from fighting an elite. On reaching his room and ensuring that he had locked it well, Zmey went straight to his cupboard. He took out a bunch of incense. He said to himself, ’I should clear things out with Silvan today.’