Shadows of Atlantis: Emergence of the Engi by Donsha Hatch Page A

other students and was surprised to see a familiar face waiting along with several other instructors.
    “Greetings. My name is Professor Marz and I will be your primary bonding instructor. My colleagues will aid in helping you to harness your specific bonding abilities, as well as begin your parkour and freerunning training.” said Marz.
    While the other instructors began taking separate groups and teaching various academy skills, Marz began his lecture on bonding with Eiris and the small group nearest him.
    “Bonding is the Undarian term for manipulating various elements at will. The extent of your abilities will largely depend on your genealogy, although that is not always a dependent factor. The idea is to become one with nature, making it your ally. In order to successfully do that, rigorous training and unfaltering concentration is very necessary. Many, if not all of you are now in the beginning stages of the Undarian form of puberty, called the Undarian dew. That makes controlling your abilities especially hard, since common side effects of the dew are intense mood swings and seemingly uncontrollable urges. This is where we come in. Here we will teach you not only to weather the Undarian dew, but to gain mastery over your bonding abilities, making you formidable adversaries to any that threaten you. First I’ll start with a small demonstration.” said Marz.
    As the class looked on, he inhaled deeply and blinked his eyes. Now glowing blue, he focused his eyes on the large raindrops and began raising his arms slowly with his palms facing upward. Amazingly, the rain stopped hitting the ground and began flowing in whatever direction he swayed his hands. He then exhaled and lowered his arms, making the rain continue its normal downpour.
    “That ability is called waterbonding. There are several other disciplines, some more common than others. For instance, burning icebonding, shadowbonding, firebonding, frozen icebonding, and plasmabonding are more widely used. Whereas sandbonding, nebulaebonding, lavabonding, mirrorbonding, treebonding and mountainbonding are far more extreme and difficult disciplines. Albeit several, these are just some of the many disciplines of bonding and it will be entirely up to you, how skilled you will become in yours. Parkour and freerunning training is essential to using your environment to your advantage. We will teach you these skills as well as a defensive form of martial arts called Jyndo. With the encompassing skills you will learn here, you can become formidable warrior-athletes, paving the future of the Undarian race. Now let’s get started.” said Marz.
    The classes at the academy were intense, but Eiris relished the challenge and worked extremely hard each day. He desperately wanted to learn more about his heritage and live up to the great name his parents had left him. After months of rigorous training, the student’s attention began to turn toward the war sport competition as it drew closer. But before the big day, a student rite of passage was necessary. Eiris was so caught up in his studies, he had completely forgotten about it.
    “Where are we going again?” asked Eiris as he boarded the frigate with dozens of other fresh starts.
    “To the Lost Island.” Dex said. “You know, The Hunt?” he replied.
    “I think I might’ve missed that part.” said Eiris as he put his shock charger in its holster.
    “We’re going to a legendary invisible island in Pluvia, called the Lost Island. We go there to find our beast guardians. Similar to Kezzy’s saber-toothed liger.” informed Dex.
    “I didn’t know Slyphs had beast guardians.” Eiris stated. “And if the island’s invisible, how are we going there?” he asked rather confused.
    “Well once a year it becomes visible. No one knows why, but some scientists here in Pluvia think that it must have something to do with the dark matter around the island that makes it disappear and reappear. And yes, you’re correct.