A new day began as the sun rose above the trees, its rays shining through the thick forest and the deep orange hue imbued the edge of the blue sky which lay on top of the roofs. Most of the campers were still in their beds; silence filled the air, only a faint rustling of the trees could be heard as the dryads stretched their long branches after the peaceful night.

Today was all about testing Hyejeong's actual abilities. Just like the previous day Jiho had knocked on her door, waking the girl up, and brought her to the training area where Carystus was awaiting them. He wore a bronze torso armor, a sword hanging on his hip and his relatively long hair tied into a ponytail. However the unknown boy next to him caught Hyejeong's eyes. With his white sleeveless white shirt revealing his muscular arms and his thick thighs stretching his gray sweatpants, she could already tell he was buff. His messy bed hair was almost black and seemed to shimmer grayly in the sunlight. As soon as the girls stood in front of them, Hyejeong diverted her attention back to the centaur. They exchanged greetings and Carystus proceeded with today's plans. "First of all, we need know how developed your abilities are. Therefore I have brought one of my best students to assist me.", he squeezed the boy's shoulder as Carystus explained. "I'm Seungcheol, nice to meet you.", he offered her his hand with a charming smile. Hyejeong couldn't miss how his eyes turned into crescent moons and how his pearly white teeth were framed by his plump lips. She took his hand shyly, her eyes lingering in the most warm coffee colored orbs she has ever seen.

Then the four of them headed to the archery field. Seungcheol handed the newbie a wooden recurved arrow, the middle was thicker and bound in leather, and a quiver filled with a dozen of arrows. Hyejeomg's grip around the leather tightened, feeling the smooth yet firm material underneath her fingertips. Although she had never used or even touched a bow before, the feeling of this wood in her hand was just right. Carystus lead her in the middle of the field and instructed her to shoot at the first three discs in front of her. She raised her arm to pull an arrow from her back and put it on top of her thumb. The arrow was as slim as her finger and also very smooth, almost slipping from her fingers, and sharpened like an unused pencil with black feathers on its tail. Hyejeong took the end between her index and middle finger, pulling it against the string and across her chest. The first arrow landed in the inner circle but not in the bull's eye. Therefor she did it on the second one. As she pulled the third arrow, however, instead of the center she aimed at another arrow next to it. That arrow must have been there considering that it was still early in the morning.  Her arrow flew straight at its target and split the other one with force. Claps and 'Ohs' could be heard from the side. Not knowing whether she should bow and say 'thank you' or not, she just stood there awkwardly and waited for her next task. "Just as I expected. Well done!", Carystus approached her with the two other teenagers following behind. "Now let's move on."

They walked past the row of discs and headed towards the sword fighting arena. Before they laid a hand on any sword, Hyejeong and Seungcheol had to put on their armor first. Safety first. Jiho helped her with the dark brown leather plate, tightening the belts on her side. She turned the girl around, pulled and knocked on the armor firmly to make sure she really was secured. Wearing that armor felt strange, almost uncomfortable to Hyejeong. It was not that heavy, but still giving her the feel as if she was physically dragged down. At least she could move her arms and legs freely without feeling impaired. She listened keenly to Jiho's crash course about how to use and fight with a sword properly before the expert handed her the wooden sword. Then Hyejeong faced the buff guy, who skillfully turned and swung the well carved wood in his hand. He, too, diverted his attention to the smaller girl in front of him. "What I want you to do now is to attack him. Seungcheol will block them while Jiho and I will keep an eye on you." Hyejeong was feeling mixed emotions. Relief because she didn't actually have to fight against him. Nervous because now she had to attack him. Anxious because she doubted her sword fighting skills. In short, it was a cocktail of nerve-wracking feelings. "Don't worry about me. Just start whenever you are ready.", Seungcheol reassured her with a genuine smile. The girl nodded, letting out a rather shaky breath. Her eyes met his for the last time before they wandered to his right shoulder. She raised her hand to swing it back at his shoulder. But the boy took a step sidewards and rotated his upper body away, dodging the attack with ease. This time se fixated on his lower abdomen. And once again he dodged it and parried her sword with his very own. With furrowed eyebrows and the lower lip caught between her teeth, Hyejeong tried to attack him over and over. And he warded off every single blow. Frustration rose within her as she felt like failing so terribly. After several minutes of trying to hit him without being blocked, Hyejeong breathed hard from the efforts. Her eyes flickered to his face for a second. His breathing was a little bit unsteady, a small droplet of sweat running down his temple. She tightened her grip around the wood, her knuckles turning white, and lunged out in his direction. Seungcheol was startled but caught himself in the same moment and reached out to grab her arm, turning her around und pulled her small body against his firm chest. He twisted her wrist only enough so she would drop the sword and held his own against . "Your eyes are giving you away.", he murmured next to her ear, his hot breath and husky voice sending light shivers down her spine. ran dry and blood rushed in her head, at that point she couldn't tell whether it was her heart that raced so fast or his. Hyejeong nodded silently and made a mental note to herself. Then Seungcheol released the girl and stood next to her as the two observers came closer. "Alright, good job, you two. Hyejeong, you were better than I expected. There are just a few things that must be improved but that's why you are here.", Carystus and handed over to Jiho. "First off , you need more confidence and strength in your attacks. Your enemies won't either. Try using your full body instead of just your upper body - dare to take steps and occasionally twist your body - and lastly, don't stare at your aim otherwise your attacks are being predictable. Just take a short look." Hyejeong was impressed by her sharp observation and internalized her words. She truly was Athena's heiress. Carystus didn't have to add anything else, therefore he dismissed the teenagers for breakfast. The three headed towards the dining pavilion first as the centaur had to pay the Oracle a quick visit. On their way, the two campers kindly explained their schedule to Hyejeong who now had to live by it, too. Three sets of training a day: in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Each one of them lasted one and a half hours and were in different areas each time. To prevent the training areas from being too filled and chaotic, the campers were divided into groups and fortunately Hyejeong happened to be in the same as Jiho and Seungcheol. How they wanted to spend the rest of the day was up to them. 

During breakfast Hyejeong shared a table with this the same girls from yesterday again, only this time Seungcheol had joined them along with two friends. She recognized one of them as the copper haired archer. Now she could take a closer look at his face, cat-like eyes and heavy eye bags. The other boy had very feminine features and his long golden hair tied in a low ponytail, his fringe framing the right side of his face. His whole appearance gave out an angelic and warm vibe which immediately reminded her of Jeongyeon. It was impossible to not see the uncanny resemblance of the two, especially when they sat right next to each other. "Ah seriously, you shouldn't have woken me up this early.", the pretty boy complained and rested his head on his hands, closing his eyes. "If I didn't wake you up, then you would have slept till lunch and you know that", Jeongyeoon mocked him and then turned towards Hyejeong, "Meet my twin brother, Jeonghan." The said boy opened his eyes again - they were calming, yet so manipulative - and gave her a cheeky grin, "Hi." Then his companion, the archer, grabbed her attention. He offered her his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Hyejeong. I'm Joshua." His voice was smooth like honey unlike his fingertips which were slightly rough due to archery and playing the guitar so often. 

After the greetings were exchanged, the group started munching their breakfast while conversing in between. The close friendship among the same-aged boys was undeniable. They kept laughing and teasing each other throughout the whole time and Hyejeong wondered when the food even disappeared into their stomachs. Listening to the others on the table lifted her mood. It wasn't that she was sad or anything like that, it was just that the atmosphere spread by the others was so contagious. She took a look around the pavilion. The other tables were just as merry as them, there was barely any person who seemed to grumpy unlike most of the teenagers in the morning. Only a guy with pitch black hair wore a nonchalant expression on his face, another western-looking guy whose eyes kept repeatedly falling down and a third guy who darted angry angry glances at anyone who tried to interact with him. Despite them, the overall ambience was serene.

Never did she think that she would ride a pegasus. Nor that they would even exist. Any way, the group was preparing for the horse-riding - or rather pegasi riding - in the forenoon. They gathered in the south of the camp ground where the stables were located. Every barn door stood wide open, the winged horses grazing peacefully and flying freely around. As soon as the teenagers approached the green field, some of the pegasi began jumping and flying loopings in excitement. The instructor, a beautiful dryad with olive brown hair that embraced her petite body, ordered each one of her students to take an apple and win the pegasi's trust. One by one they grabbed an apple from the basket and tried to converge to the creatures. Hyejeong was the last to do so and followed the others carefully. She took a look at the whole scene in front of her. Some were already completing the task, feeding the pegasus - her new friends were among them. Then her eyes fell on one particular pegasus out of the dozen horses standing all alone and further afar from the herd. The hazel brown horse skin shimmered in the sunlight, the long dark hair resembled a mellow waterfall and its tail swayed back and forth to a silent melody. An urge to  caress the majestic creature built up within her. And as if it sensed her desire; the winged horse turned its head towards her and its black orbs melted into hers, slowly coming closer to the girl. Then it stood right in front of her, nose nuzzling in the hand in which she held the apple. She watched it consuming the fruit with low crunching sounds coming out from its muzzle. After the apple was gone; she stretched her right hand delicately out, touching the forehead with so much tenderness. Calmed by her vibe, the pegasus closed its eyes, both taking in the atmosphere. 

Most of the other winged horses were either busy eating or playing with each other until they sensed the change in the ambience. Every single head rose and turned towards the source. They, too, were captivated by her and began marching in their direction, leaving the campers dumbfounded. Soon Hyejeong was surrounded by the herd - even some birds and smaller animals nearby have joined them - and all of them looked like they were in a trance. The girl was flustered, not knowing what to do, looked around for help. Seungcheol, who made eye contact with Hyejeong, hurried to make his way to her without really thinking before acting. "Your animal pheromones must be out of control!", Jiho exclaimed from afar after observing the whole situation. Meanwhile the boy was busy worming his way through the horses. As soon as he made it, he put his arm protectively around her shoulder. He asked her in an undertone of worry, "Are you okay?". "I guess.", Hyejeong answered. They looked at each other, then around them. "Tell them to go away.", Seungcheol said. "What?"

"Just do it. They'll listen to you, trust me." The girl turned around and talked hesitantly to the animals in a gentle tone. And to her surprise they really did follow her plea and scattered again. Looking at her delighted smile, Seungcheol felt his own lips curving upwards. After the small incident everything went back to normal, the students seemed to be used to extraordinary events like that. Jiho came to her and pulled the girl to her side. "Let's talk with Carystus about that after this lesson."

Ω So now the two protagonists have finally met! 

If you are curious about the characters and their abilities + Gods and Goddesses, I have made a table on a blog( http://www.asianfanfics.com/blog/view/1152981).

What kind of ability/superpower would you like to have? Psylocke's (X-Men) power to make weapons out of energy is pretty dope. 

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