In a forest Silver was studying a hand drawn map in his notebook. He drew another X on the map and exhaled. He then angrily crosses out the whole map "Oh, Gaia hates me. Some people lose their knife or their gloves. Not me. I manage to lose an entire wisp!". He hits a tree branch which bounces back and hits him in the face "OW!". He looks up and sees the tree has been split in half by burn marks. Silver follows the burn marks on the other trees until finding the Laser Wisp lying paralyzed on the ground with a disc attached to his head. Silver stares wide eyed before taking out a knife and slowly approaching the wisp. He slowly smirked "Oh, wow. I did it. Ohh, I did it. This… This fixes everything! Yes! I have brought down this mighty beast!". He put his foot on the wisp but suddenly heard a noise and stumbled back. He holds out his knife and stares at the wisp who was staring right back at him. Silver took a breath and raised the knife "I'm gonna kill you, wisp. I'm gonna take your body back to my father". He closes his eyes "I'm a warrior. I am a warrior!". He raises the blade ready to plunge it down but his eyes open and he sees the wisp staring at him before dropping its head in defeat. Silver grits his teeth but is unable to drop the knife. He relaxes and lowers the blade. He stares at the helpless creature under him "I did this". He kneels down and uses the knife to remove the disc. The moment he does the wisp jumps up and approaches him as a laser bolt. Silver stumbles back in fear and leans against a rock. It considers him a moment before suddenly shooting off in the opposite direction but a strange burst sound could be heard. Silver holds his own chest and slumps back against the rock. He gets to his feet and turns back in the direction the village but then collapses.
Later Silver entered his home and saw Shadow at a table eating food. Silver quietly snuck past and went up to his room when "Silver". He stopped "Dad, uh, I… have to talk to you". He walked down to the living room, Shadow turned his chair "I need to speak with you, too, son". The two take a breath "I don't think I wanna fight wisps" "I think it's time you learn to fight wisps". The two look up "What?" they both said. Shadow shrugged "Uh, you go first" "No, you go first". Shadow sighed anxiously "Alright. You get your wish. Wisp training, you start in the morning". Silver gulped "Oh, man, I should have gone first. Uh, I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of wisp killers. But do we have enough bread-makers or plumbers?". Shadow handed him an axe "You'll need this". The weight made Silver fall "I don't wanna fight wisps" "Oh, come on. Yes, you do" "Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill wisps". Shadow started to look confused "But you will kill wisps" "No, you were right. I'm not a killer" "I was wrong. You need to learn this". Silver shook his head "Can you not hear me?". Shadow had a stern face "This is serious, son. When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you". He made Silver hold the axe properly "Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us. No more of this". Silver frowned "You just gestured to all of me" "Deal?". Silver rolled his eyes "This conversation is very one-sided" "Deal?". Silver lowers the axe and sighs "Deal".
The next morning Silver was standing at the docks watching the ships get loaded with supplies. He looked over and saw Blaze and Shard saying goodbye to their fathers. Shadow then approached him carrying a bag over his shoulder. The two stared ahead not looking at each other. Shadow cleared his throat "I'll be back… Probably" "And I'll be here. Maybe". Omega was loading one of the ships when he spotted them. He threw a crate at one of the crewmen who it hit knocking him off the ship. He got between the two of them and rolled his mechanical eyes. He then spoke with Silver's voice "Dad, I'll miss you. And I hope you find that Gaia forsaken nest so you can stop taking your frustrations out on everyone. Particularly Omega". More silence then he spoke in Shadow's voice "Son, I'll be thinking of you the whole time. Train hard, don't throw a house party and I'll do my best not to be eaten by a Kar-lek or a Frenzy. But if I do, well you know, that's that". The real Shadow gave a subtle nod "We're Onyx. It's an occupational hazard" "We're Onyx. It's an occupational hazard" Omega repeated. Shadow pushed past him "I said that part" "I'm so used to you not saying things I could not tell" Omega replied. Shadow got on one of the ships "I want him back with all limbs intact. Set sail!". Silver watched as the ship left the docks.
Omega opened the gates to the arena letting in Blaze and the other kids inside "Welcome to wisp training". Blaze took a breath "No turning back" they entered. Jet looked excited "I hope I get some serious injuries" "I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or back". Blaze shrugged "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it" "Agreed" said a half-hearted voice. They turn to see Silver behind them. Jet groaned "Oh, great. Who let him in?". Omega stepped forward "Let's get started. The recruit who does the best will win the honour of killing his first wisp in front of the entire village". Shard grinned "Silver already killed a Laser, so does that disqualify him or...?" they laughed at him. Omega patted Silver's head "Do not worry. You are small and weak. You will be less of a target. They will see you as sick or insane and go after the ones who are a greater threat". The teens lined up and Omega moved over to gates on the walls "Activate shields". All the teens flipped switches on the back of their shoes and an invisible shield form around them all. Jet raised his hand "What happens if we get possessed". Omega put his hands behind his back "Your apparent brain power is a strength and a weakness. It allows the wisps to unlock abilities it does not have. However, it means it cannot fully take control of you. They only do it as a last desperate act that is why we use the shields. Now stop talking". He walks up to the first gate "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Burst".
Rotor grins "Speed 8, fire 16" "The Destructive Cube" "Plus 11 weight. Times" "The Monstrous Quake" "Armour 15" "The Rhythm" "Strength 8, speed 12". Omega turned his hand into a gatling gun "Desist now!". He moves to the last door "And the drill" he put his hand over a lever. Shard stepped forward looking worried "Whoa! Whoa! Wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?" "You will learn by surviving" he pulls a lever, and the doors open. Inside the drill had black skin with glowing yellow eyes. The moment is saw the group it turned yellow and shot out of the cell. Everyone scattered as Omega watched "No projectile weapons. Today is about survival. If it hits you, you die. Every wisp has a weakness. What is the first thing you need when facing a drill?". Silver ran away from the drill "A doctor?" "Plus five speed?" Rotor yelled. Blaze looked around "A bedrock shield" "Correct. Get a shield". They ran around and picked up shields on the ground. Wave and Jet fought over one "Get your hands off my shield!" "There's a million shields!" "Take that one. It has a flower, girls like flowers". Wave hits him over the head "Oops, this one has blood on it". The Drill hit the shield, he didn't break through it, but the force knocked Wave and Jet over "Wave. Jet. You are out. Drills are confused by erratic noise. Make lots of it". They all started hitting their weapons against the ground confusing the Drill's aim. It shot randomly and hit the shield out of Rotor's hand making him run away screaming "Rotor, you are out!". Silver was hiding behind a wooden panel. Shard and Blaze were out in the open "So, I moved into my parent's basement. You should come by sometime and work out. You look like you work out" he was hit by the drill knocking him down. Blaze rolled over next to Silver "So, it's just you and me, huh?" "Nope. Just you". She moved and Silver's shield was hit out of his hand. Silver ran as the Drill chased him until he had his back against the wall. He saw the Drill about to go right for his chest, but it was suddenly grabbed by Omega. It spun in his hand creating sparks, but he didn't let go "Go back to sleep you overgrown tool". He threw it into its cage and closed the door "Congratulations on surviving. You are not as useless as I thought". Everyone looked exhausted but Omega didn't care "Remember, a wisp will always…". He leaned close to Silver "Always go for the kill" he pulls him to his feet.