Emisarry Of Time And Space

(Hello guys, I'm sure some of you have complaints, and you're welcome to give them. I deserve them😔. I haven't posted in six days, and for a proper reason. I had an Anatomy exam week and it was quite stressful😭, but of course, this shouldn't affect you guys, so I'm prepared to renumerate by dropping 3 chapters every day for the next 1 week. I hope I have your forgiveness.🙏)

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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A certain group of silver heads and a few distinct colours were jogging through a forest, their pace steady and unhurried as they weaved through the obstacles on the way.

They numbered almost a dozen, yet their steps and arrangement were in perfect order, like a formation alert and prepared to react at the slightest encounter.

And at the forefront of the group was a silver-haired male figure, chubby and far from lean, his stature almost comical, yet if one were to see his face and expression, such notions would be immediately denied.

He was subtly attractive despite his age and stature.

To create a group as large as this would have been a massive undertaking, not to mention maintaining it and still remaining orderly and effective, but from the smiles and looks on their faces, one could tell they'd managed to pull it off. It was impressive.

Within the group, a boy and a girl were currently conversing.

"I didn't think the fatty had it in him." The boy commented, an unreadable expression on his face.

"That's why you shouldn't always be so quick to judge." The girl replied with a glance at him as they kept their pace steady.

"Well, forgive me for doubting his capabilities, but he didn't exactly scream competent." The boy quipped back.

The girl couldn't refute his words, even she had doubts at the beginning, but luckily they'd still chosen to follow the boy, and so far they hadn't suffered any major setback.

"Besides, after failing the trial two times already, I doubt we'd be allowed to try again after this." The boy stated with a weary frown on his face.

They both sighed before steeling their resolve again; they absolutely couldn't afford to fail.

Meanwhile, at the front of the group, the leader was currently in his thoughts, even while jogging and monitoring their surroundings.

He was currently evaluating his chances of passing this trial successfully.

He had entered last year and failed. He had been so close to passing, but in the late game, he'd been eliminated by someone far better.

When he got home, he'd been showered with praise for almost making it in his first try; his parents were commoners, and the prospect of his entering the academy was like a dream come true, especially for his merchant father, who would have loved to boast about it.

For commoners, failing in the first try was quite usual; no one had high hopes, they were a lot after all; the Chronos had one of the highest fertility rates in the human domain.

But despite the praise, he was very dissatisfied; he refused to let the terms of his birth describe his future. His genetics had already determined his stature, despite how much he'd worked out.

He refused to let this go; he'd graduate from the Chronos academy and move even further in life.

All these lead to a change in strategy.

He turned back and looked at his group before continuing on.

He'd lost last year because of a group; this time he'd employed his former opponents' strategy, and so far it'd been working out very fine.

Of course, it wasn't enough to be significant on the rankings, but it'd have to do for now. He was ambitious but not without tact; he knew where his boundaries lay, and passing would be enough for him.

He soon heard footsteps beside him, and he turned his head to find a young girl beside him.

Despite his preparations and planning and his moderate skill, he couldn't deny he'd been quite lucky a lot of times.

So many incidents could have gone out of hand, but they hadn't, though luck was quite an important part of skill, and the crowning moment of his luck had been when he encountered this girl.

'Selene Chronos,' He thought.

"Robert, we have two fleeing west from us." She muttered, her tone placid and her eyes looking west.

How she could tell that, he really didn't understand, but she had never been wrong.

He quickly rallied his group and surged west; every prey was worth it, especially now that they were far deeper.

Selene had been a key player in his success; she was sensitive, calm and most importantly, very powerful.

He had a very unsettling feeling; she could deal with every one of them in this group, despite how absurd it sounded.

Till now, he was still racking his mind why she'd chosen to follow him. They were still about four when they encountered her, and she'd defeated them soundly and was about to take their stones, but he'd followed that small sliver of hope that she might agree to ally with him, and she agreed.

When she joined, he had fully expected to lose his leadership role; he had no choice after all, but she had taken on a passive role and followed his instructions.

She only informed him of enemy presence, assisted when they struggled and offered advice. She never did too much or too little, and her attitude was perfect.

He was seriously wary, but he couldn't possibly chase her out of the group; she was too effective and too strong to attempt such.

He shook his head to dispel his worrying thoughts when their prey came into view.

They quickly got to work, defeating them and taking their sigil stones.

Listening to them complain and shout about how cowardly it was to gang up on them, he simply turned a deaf ear.

He'd gotten used to it by now, although he could understand how they felt.

But after this came the issue of who to receive the stones; despite the greed in everyone's eyes, the stones went to the next two persons on the list.

It was a turn-by-turn thing, and your luck determined the points on the stone you received.

He was about to change their direction back to their intended path when-

"I'm leaving, Robert."