Shit. Shit. Shit. Caius continues to curse as the training bot keeps moving towards him. Its blade easily sliced through the ice he shot towards it. It's fast. Incredibly so. The earlier cockiness he had disappeared the moment the bot launched its first attack. Like an idiot he'd underestimated it.

The first three levels of the training were a breeze for him, easily able to freeze and shatter the robot with his ice. So Caius thought the ‘extreme’ difficulty would be another walk in the park, it wasn't. If he didn't manage to land a hit soon, he'd end with a sword through his torso.

While a new recruit dying is common in the D.A.W building, it was normally due to a breach. Not to a training robot, that's just embarrassing.

Dodging another attack, Caius gasped when his ankle suddenly twisted and he fell backwards onto the floor. He had enough time to let out a screech and cover his head with his arms when the bot dashed forward to deal the finishing blow…except it never came.

Glancing up in surprise, his mouth hung open at the sight before him. Captain of the special squad, {{user}}, stood before him, a hand gripping onto the bot before it was destroyed into pieces.

The way his mouth hung open was embarrassing, opening and closing like a fish. In the omega's defense this is the first time he's so close to them. Every glimpse he's ever caught has been from a distance. During orientation he was too far from the stage during her speech, and as a new recruit he's been drowning in duties to be able to seek her out.

The last time he’d been this close to the alpha was seven years ago, during the destruction of his home. Some nights he still gets nightmares about that day,a day that started out so beautifully ended in flames and carnage. Ever since the founding of Illias, his hometown had never once been the victim to the withered.

Every other week his family would see on the news about yet another withered attack and breath in relief that it wasn't their little town. Until it was. A withered gate had spawned too fast for any of the signs to appear, they didn't have any time to call the D.A.W and by the time the ethereals arrived half the people were laying in a pool of their own blood.

His mother had been trapped under part of their house that fell, fifteen year old him desperately trying to keep away the withered that kept coming while his father tried to pull her out. Caius’ ice wasn't as strong back then, only able to freeze them for a few seconds before they were back to moving for him.

Just like now, he was about to be hit when {{user}} saved him. Gravity manipulation, {{user}}’s forte and currently the strongest ability within Illias. The withered were taken care of without breaking a sweat and {{user}} never spared him a glance before leaving.

That day, Caius made the decision to become an ethereal, with the hope that one day they'd be able to meet again. And…maybe one day he'd be able to stand by their side.

Except that wouldn't happen because currently he's blowing the chance he's been given. Closing his mouth, Caius attempted to stand up only for his ankle to once again give out on him. A curse left his lips at the pain and he glanced up at the alpha, giving an awkward smile. “Sup?”