2 months earlier.

I was sitting at a large table and opposite me was a thin old man puffing on a cigarette which made the whole room smell of smoke. His tired eyes were looking down at his clasped hands while I nervously bit my lip and fidgeted with my hands underneath the table.

He looked up with a sigh. His expression showing defeat and then he said ‘Okay, look Seohyun, if you can go through these difficult preliminary tests with the boys, then I might consider your participation.’

“Yes, Mr. Shin, I believe I can go through with it. Any women can really if they were given the chance. Just because of Taeyeon, it doesn’t-‘

The elderly suddenly banged the table and pointed a knobbly finger at me, cutting me of in the middle of a sentence.

‘Don’t say one word about her! Don’t even say her name. She was bad luck to all of us, almost destroyed our world just as it was building up again after the Warlords’ doomed era. I have my limits dear Seohyun. I’m negotiating with you now, but one word about that witch and the deal will be off!’ he glared at me with his beady crinkly eyes.

I sighed. ‘Okay, okay I understand. No more about Tae- her,” he was ready to explode when I almost blurted out her name.

Getting back to the original topic before he decided to pull back, I asked, ‘So, all I have to do is get through the tests and be one of the top five?’

He folded his arms over his chest and huffed before answering. ‘Yes. And there’ll be no exceptions for you. Once you step into the training ground, rules will be abided just like always.’ he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

I nodded. ‘When does this start then?’

‘First Monday of next month. You’ll meet everyone at Helios gazebo at 5 am sharp unless there are any changes. Also, you’ll be staying at the dorms at the camp for a week depending on how many tests you pass. So pack enough necessities.’

I did a victory dance in my head. He was giving me a chance and the conditions weren’t that bad at all. The only thing is that I have to train harder than anyone else there as expected. Well, it’s about time I to attend more after classes at the local centre. Only the practices there were a little too simple.

‘Thank you very much Minister.’ I got up from my chair walk towards the mahogany door. I turned back and couldn’t help saying, ‘Loosen up Mr. Shin, you frowning like this all the time makes me worried about your head.’ I smiled sweetly and bowed before walking out of his office.

Outside was cool and there was a slight breeze. The sky was already darkening with purple clouds and an orange sun ready to set at the horizon. I hadn’t noticed how long I’ve discussed matters with the minister of Fotia.

I felt tired and a little drained after the lengthy discussion about letting me participate in the most important tournament in the whole world. People like Mr. Shin are a fellow who follows everything by the book, whatever he was taught and so on. I stretched my hands above my head and yawned widely at the front steps of the government building. Then I took a step down and proceeded to go home.

On either side of the path, there were beautiful flowers blooming and a nice patch of mowed grass stretching till the wall on the other side. I could smell the fresh air and the scent of the grass. However, if you meet any nature-based folk, they’ll tell you that the grass here is screaming in pain and cursing whoever that was cutting them over and over again every day. I thank my lucky stars that I don’t have such a connection to nature.

The strong connection I had more than with anyone else was with a hot, powerful and deadly energy. Orange, red and yellow were the primary colours also with bright blue.

Fire was my main companion, weapon and comrade.

I was not the only one who possessed this power though; after all I was living in Fotia, where the biggest community of fire users exist here - Mr. Shin included.

The further I walked along the path, the clearer the view of several bronze statues lined up against the fence can be seen. There were of course, built to commemorate and honour our previous leaders of Gaia, the Soul Leader and the Soul Guardians.

They were the ones who balanced the five elements that make up our world. Water, metal, earth, wind and fire are believed to what Gaia is formed out of.

Their job is more likely to control and keep peace between the people who possess any of these five powers so that wars don’t happen and Gaia won’t crumble into pieces.

These people have really had their work cut out for them. It isn’t easy controlling the five elements since some are natural born rivals.

Take for example, fire and water.

Somehow, fire users and water users can’t seem to get along. There have been many fights occurring along the way but not too serious till it threatened the peace of our world. There are some exceptions sure, but we can’t get that close somehow.

I believe that this was something ingrained in everybody minds since the elements were discovered. In truth, fire and water were always equal.

The other three are steadier, although wind users are known to be very moody.

As I looked up at all the statues, there was something that always bugged me. There wasn’t a single female at all.

All I saw were young and old men with proud, tired, or happy faces. Some were posing with weapons and striking a cool pose or just standing still.

No women were honoured because they weren’t allowed to be chosen to lead.

That law was implemented after the third generation of Soul Leaders and Guardians but lifted during the seventh generation. This year is governed by the eighth, and the ninth will be chosen soon.

Until now, there still weren’t any women who tried to participate because they still weren’t accepted. Most men were still against it and some women also agreed with the men.

And it was my goal now was to be the first woman to break this so called ‘tradition’ and become a Soul Guardian.

I think it’s time we were both treated equally.

So I was here at the council today to meet with Fotia’s minister, to allow me to participate in this year’s tournament.

This particular tournament is not only important for me, but for the people of Gaia. It is held every two years to choose the next Soul leaders and Guardians through lots of tests, competitions and challenges or whatever that has the same meaning.

But none of these tests was going to deter me from reaching my goal.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I noticed I’ve already left the path and was now facing a road. There were flashes of blue and yellow as two kids played with one another, trying their otherwise harmless powers against each other.

Checking my watch, I realised I was 5 minutes late for my ability training with my uncle. Oh brother, he was going to be really mad. I didn’t think that this meeting will take up so much time. Taking the normal transportation would take at least 20 minutes to reach home. I couldn’t tell him the real reason I was late because that meant telling him about the meeting and nobody in my family knew about this, except Tiffany, my best friend.

Grabbing my wallet out from my jacket pocket and checking the cash I had, I was relieved when I saw I had enough for one teleporter.

The teleporting system was the fastest way of getting to your destination and you could guess it came at a high price.

You could use the main teleporting machine but you have to wait for at least 5 people who are going to the same destination as you then only would it activate. If you want everything to be ASAP, best solution is to get a teleporter, as they can get you to your destination in a second.

At a much higher price of course.

And now, I desperately needed a 200 bronze worth of transportation to meet my extremely scary uncle, who couldn’t stand tardiness.

I hurried over to a station and saw many teleporters hanging around talking while waiting for customers and taking breaks. These teleporters weren’t the normal ones where they get tired after teleporting one or two people. They were already trained to send as many as up to 20 people a day or three people at once without exhausting themselves and fainting.

But not many people can afford such services, so very rarely do they have to teleport 20 people a day. And from what I’ve heard, they were a snobbish lot.

I went over to a booth and put my name in and told my destination to the woman at the counter. Once I registered the woman adjusted her earpiece and informed one of the teleporters.

‘Woohyun, you have a customer.’

I looked over to the room where they were and saw one of the young guys look up. He then waved to his friends and walked out of the room.

‘Thanks, Miss Moon.’ He told the lady at the counter and turned to face me.

‘Hi, I’m Woohyun. Where are you off too?’ he gave a friendly smile. He looked cute. I guess not all teleporters are snobbish.

I introduced myself and told him where I wanted to go. Then I handed him the payment.

‘Okay there, I know that place very well. Come on, just hold on to my shirt and we will get going!’ he said enthusiastically.

I grabbed his sleeve and then we disappeared.

Heheh i hope it's not too boring! XD