Seth actually survived that family dinner. But just barely. He had tried to avoid his aunt's radar for as long as possible and had managed that quite well until the end of dinner when she had started bragging about her daughter becoming an approved Rune Bearer. Even before her full year of training, mind. After that she had started nagging about Seth, asking him when he was going to take the Trial. Seth had just been polite, saying he still had a couple of months under his Rune Master.

They couldn't take the Trial until they were recommended to do it. It wasn't anything they just could demand for themselves. If he just could, he had been taking that test at least four months ago. But that had been if it had been up to him alone.

Then she had been on about Seth being under Randy Orton and questioning why he hadn't managed a recommendation yet considering he studied under the best and how he was supposed to have been some "prodigy". Yes, it had been said with air quotes. Seth had actually closed off his ears after that, not listening anymore.

He really did his best to prove himself, he wanted so badly to get through to the next stage. And he really didn't need to hear that crap from her. He already felt frustrated about it without having someone else pointing it out. Especially someone that had a natural condescending tone. It didn't matter what she said, she always made it sound like bad criticism.

He had been quite relieved when the dinner was over and he was allowed back into the sanctuary of his room. Too bad she'd be staying the week and he'd have to meet up with her occasionally. He had his ways to avoid her, but some encounters were inevitable.

That had been the previous day and soon he'd be off to have some more Rune training. He packed his bag and had some bread on the go as he left for the academy.

The morning was cool, on the verge on being chilly. He liked mornings like that. They just felt fresh. Especially during spring and early summer. The air was just different during that time. It was like, heading for warmer temperatures, but still clinging to winter's cold. Maybe it was this struggle that kept the air so light and clean. A constant movement, not stilling and becoming heavy.

As for now, he seemed like the only one appreciating the morning. There was no one out except from some stray cats sneaking around the alleyways.

He arrived at the academy a bit early but he had always preferred himself to be early, waiting on the other part, rather than having someone else waiting for him. He really didn't mind these extra minutes; it meant he could do some reading in the meantime.

So on an isolated wooden bench, he sat down and brought out his book and continued his reading.

"So you think you've got time to read?"

Seth was startled by the sudden voice. He knew exactly who it belonged to though.

"I just wanted to do something useful…" Seth mumbled as he quickly put the book away.

"As if reading is useful", Randy Orton snorted, his gaze seemed to drill at Seth's soul. The young mage automatically looked way.

What else would Seth do? It wasn't like he was allowed to practice his Magic otherwise, so he just had to go with the theory. And how wasn't that useful? Not that he would argue with Orton about it.

"We're having field study", Orton just said and started to walk off. If Seth would be coming along, he'd better tag along quickly.

Orton led them out of town, into the surrounding forest and an open field in between some trees. There were some targets for combat practice there, both for close range as well as long range. Seth had been there before even though it was a little rare having Rune training there. (If you didn't study under Randy Orton.) Most Rune Bearers in training did it just in the field or in the academy court yard.

"Just because of your lousy performance last time, we'll just have to do the same practice again now", Orton said as they stopped in the middle of the training grounds.

"But Master Orton, with all due respect, I did hit the targets-"

"I'm the judge of that, and you did not hit them. Your spells were way off the targets."

Seth wanted to say that they had been at the same spots as the target's had been but he kept his mouth shut.

Orton started to focus and made some sweeping hand movement. Spread across the field, ten small flames started to float around midair.

"Your task is to extinguish the flames", Orton said.

Seth gave him a nod and started focusing. Ten flames, created by Orton. That meant Orton had complete control over them. He could expect every kind of trick from his Rune Master. With his eyes closed he inhaled and focused his Magic in his back Runes. The Magic channelled into razor sharp thrusts of Wind, like ten blades, and sent them to the targets. With one hand on his wrist Rune, he steered them round, taking the flames out. As expected, Orton moved the flames but Seth controlled his Wind blades, taking the flames out. He did notice Orton trying to make some flames so small, it looked like they were out, only to make them return in full force. But Seth put out said flames and gave chase to the remaining ones.

Then Orton suddenly sent a blazing arrow straight towards Seth. He barely managed to put up his shield, making it deflect the arrow and sending it the opposite way.

Right back at Orton! Seth immediately sent his already out Wind blades towards them, neutralizing the arrow. That was too much for the blades as they diminished into the surrounding air.

Seth looked towards Orton to see that he was okay.

"You fail", he just said.

Seth stared at him in shock. "I just saved you from the reflected Magic…!"

"It was my own Magic to begin with, idiot. I would just have neutralized it myself. You were supposed to extinguish the flames and I still see a flame out there." He pointed and sure enough, there was a small flame floating there.

Seth just stared at the flame. "But I… I had to defend myself…! And I took responsibility for my reflected Magic! I didn't let it hit you or anything else!" he said frustrated.

"You failed your task."

Seth clenched his fists. It was so unfair! He had done everything by the book and he still failed!?

"It's not fair…" he whispered.

"Life isn't fair. Quit your whining and cut those branches using those pathetic Wind blades of yours."

In pure anger he hacked the branches into nice even pieces, everyone exactly one inch long. He even let the leaves intact; just cutting the branches, as told.

"You'll never be a true Rune Bearer with that attitude."

"What do you want me to do!? I cut the branches. ONLY the branches! What else do you want from me!?" Seth snapped. He was just so fed up of being treated like shit all the time. "You can clearly see my control on the Wind blades, how fast and accurate I can use my shield. Hell, I even switched instantly from defence to offence after that reflected Magic! What else do you want from me!?"

"You think you know everything. But you know nothing. You're just a brat that has some affinity with Runes. It doesn't matter if you're able to neatly chop branches into pieces or if you can swiftly change between offence and defence. You'll need to be able to do what you're told and not stray from it. Especially if you want to be a Hunter.
But you'll never be a Hunter. Hunters have to take orders and you can't do that."

Seth felt a jolt in his stomach area. How'd Orton know that? He had never mentioned that too him. He hadn't even mentioned it to his family. And now he said he couldn't become one…?

"You're too soft, you'll never survive on the battlefield", Orton continued, keeping his sinister gaze upon him. "You're so finely tuned, your attacks are lacking. No matter how hard you try, you just can't deal any damage. Same with your Healing. You'd barely be able to cure paper cuts with your abilities. Can't you see that? Being a Wind Rune Bearer is just a waste of time."

Seth felt it like a punch in the face. How could he say that? That was what he was excellent at; controlling his abilities to the millimetre. And that wouldn't work out in the real world…? He had trained so hard, perfecting his Magic…

"You're a waste of my time", Orton continued, having his sinister glare in his eyes as he knew he had hit one of Seth's most vital points. "I can't believe they put me in charge of you, at this rate, I'd never recommend you."

Seth just kept his stare on him. He wouldn't recommend him…? He opened his mouth to say something… anything… but he just blanked out. Emotions took over and he felt his eyes start burning. But he would never give Orton the satisfaction seeing him cry, so he just started to run off into the woods.

He could hear Orton shout something after him but didn't hear nor care what it was.

Failure… no matter how hard he tried, he was never enough. He would never become a Hunter…? Too finely tuned…? Had he perfected it too much…? Was that even possible? Had he… destroyed his chances himself…?

Orton was the only one able to recommend him. And with him saying that… He would never approve him.

He could literally feel and hear his dream shatter inside of him.

He ran further and further into the woods. Suddenly he felt his foot stumble on something and he was thrown headlong forward into the ground. The landing was hard, but he just left himself there; feeling his tears started to stream down his face. He just let them, just lying here, sobbing.

It was like the fall just was the last drop to how he felt, just being down at the bottom again. Being totally worthless and a complete failure.

He didn't know for how long he just lay there, but when the worst waves were over he started sitting up, feeling a strain on his knee. Wonderful, the fall busted his knee opened.

"Damn Orton…" he cursed under his breath.

He felt a new wave of frustration and anger well up inside of him but it was interrupted by a sudden rustle of the nearby bushes. He quickly looked around.

"Wh-who's there?" he asked with a voice he barely recognized as his own. He wiped his nose on his sleeve as he continued to look around and sharpening his hearing.

There was another rustle in the bushes.

Seth started to figure he should get out of there, and had barely finished that thought and started to get up when the ground started to shake.

The coverings and bushes were forced aside, tree roots ripped from the ground as the ground bulged. Soil started to fall off a hard smooth back of a giant creature. Its shape was snail-like, but it was heavily armoured, like an armadillo. The ugly head and gaping mouth had countless razor sharp teeth.

Seth had never seen the like; he just stared at it as he stumbled back.

The monster growled when Seth moved. It faced him directly, some gooey fluid falling from its mouth and Seth realized it must have been the wound that alerted it in the first place. He tried to get away when the monster sent out some before-hidden tentacle-like vines from the back of its neck.

Seth managed to avoid them and sent out some sharp gusts of his Wind on pure instinct. Then he realized he wasn't allowed to, not being approved. But the damage was already done, so he just sent his Wind blades towards his attacker.

The creature was not even fazed by the attack. It countered with its viney arms, trying to grasp Seth. But the young man ducked and sent his Magic again, trying to slice the vines but they were harder than plants or wood. He could damage them at least, so he sent multiple blades, successfully cutting them.

The creature shrieked and readied a new attack, a poisonous gas. Seth quickly blocked it by creating a shield.

He didn't notice the cut off tentacles still had life in them as they crawled towards him like worms, snaking their way up his legs, entangling him. He fell to the ground again, a scream caught in his throat.

As he tried to wriggle himself free, he cut at the vines with his Wind blades again to get them to lose their grip on him. The monster dragged itself closer, chomping its hideous jaws at him.

It was then he heard a metal hit on something hard, followed by a loud scream from the monster. It bent itself backwards as it turned around and sent out spikes all over its body.

"Shit!" A voice shouted.

Then another hit followed by more screams.

Seth wasted little time; he sliced through the tentacles and wriggled until he finally could kick himself free.

He stumbled to his feet and got to see two men that had engaged the battle, taking on the monster, one from each side.

One had long dark hair and carried a blue deadly spear. The other had short messy hair and wielded a great red gleaming sword.

Wasn't that…?

The swordsman continued slashing at the monster, obviously trying to penetrate the thick body armour.

The man with the spear changed sides and just then noticed Seth.

"Hey, you're okay!?" he asked quickly, not quite taking his eyes off the fight before him.

"Y-yeah", Seth stuttered.

"Just stay back, we'll take care of it." With that, he returned his full attention to the fight, putting a hand on his right shoulder. It was covered in Runes. He was a Rune Bearer?

The Rune man started attacking the side of the beast as the swordsman came closer to Seth as he tried to wear the monster down. He had a smile on his face. The man was actually smiling.

The monster whipped its tail-like body around, catching the warrior off guard and stabbing his leg before sending him into the nearest tree.

Seth made a scream, but the monster was occupied by the Rune man. He made a quick decision and hurried over to the wounded swordsman.

"Are you okay?" he asked, fear all over his voice and face. He put a hand on the man's leg, but was just swatted away.

"Here, let me help you", he tried again. The leg wound seemed painful and he didn't know how severe it was but he could at least use his general Healing on it.

"I don't need your help…!" the man said through gritted teeth.

"You're wounded…!" Seth said and put his hand on his leg again.

"Don't touch me. I'm fine!"

Seth just looked at him. He sure as hell wasn't fine. Why was he so stubborn and hostile?

He heard another growl from the monster and knew it was about to use its poison again. And it was directed at them. Without a second thought, he shielded them both.

The swordsman just stared at the wavering shield and then at Seth.

"Wha-" he managed out.

"Please, let me help you. I'm a Healer, okay", Seth said, knowing the shield would buy them some time. The monster was once again focused on the Rune man.

The swordsman tried to stand but failed.

With the shield still up, Seth focused some more defence Magic through his body, letting a soft green light surround his hands over the wound.

"I said I don't need your help…!" the man squirmed under his hands.

"Please, just be still. I'm soon finished", Seth said, trying to calm the man. It must have worked; the man stopped wriggling and seemed reluctantly relaxed. His body still very tense.

Seth let his hands hover over the man's leg a little while longer as the wound started to close up. The man just stared at it. There were all kinds of emotions, but mostly confusion.

"There. It's just an emergency heal, though", Seth said, smiling a little, even if it was a little apologetic.

"I didn't ask for your help…" the man grunted as he got back to his feet, just pushing Seth aside as he did so.

"I know… I just wanted to-"

"Stay outta it."

The swordsman retrieved his weapon and charged at the beast.

Seth just sighed, and cancelled the shield.

As he watched the fight, he noticed there was a gap in the armour that the swordsman had successfully hit it. He charged some more Magic and sent his blades accurately penetrating said area. The creature bellowed in pain.

"Now's your chance…!" Seth shouted.

The man with the spear stopped in his tracks, seeing the creature as the looked at the swordsman.

They instinctively rendered their weapons through the creature's open mouth, impaling it. Seconds later, it fell dead to the ground.

Seth waited for some long seconds before the adrenaline rush escaped him, making his knees weak. He couldn't stand anymore, he just felt himself glide down on the ground, panting.

"Hey, nice work there, kid", the Rune man said, smiling.

"Um… thanks…" Seth said, he was still a little out of it.

"You're hurt", the man commented.

Seth looked down his leg. Indeed, he still had the wound from the fall.

"Here, let me-"

"It's okay. I'll manage", Seth interrupted, focusing his Magic again. He was running low but it wasn't alarming yet. Healing himself drained less too, especially minor injuries. He held his hand over his knee, using his curing spell.

"So you are a Healer?" the man with the Runes said.

"Yes." Seth looked up, giving him a slightly confused look before going back down to keep an eye on what he was doing. It tickled a little when his Healing Wind patched him up.

"Some think that hair's just fancy", the man answered a question never asked.

Seth unconsciously touched his blonde side. "The hair gets this kind of change with the appearance of the Healing ability."

"So it seems. I'm Roman by the way. Roman Reigns."

"Seth Rollins", he said as he was done fixing himself up. "Thank you for your help, Mr Reigns."

"Come on, just call me Roman. Mr Reigns makes me feel old." He laughed. "And don't mention it. Glad to be of help."

"Done yet?" the other guy interrupted.

"That's Dean Ambrose. Don't mind him. That's just part of his charms."

Seth gave the man called Dean a glance, he didn't know if it was charm though… He just now saw the swordsman had blood running down his face.

"You're hurt", he said.

"I don't want your damn help…!" Dean snapped, making Seth jump a little.

"Excuse me for caring", he mumbled as Dean stomped away.

"He got hurt before, maybe it re-opened", Roman said. Seth just looked after him as he walked around the monster's corpse, seemingly looking for something. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"I… just happened to get here…" Seth said, facing down as he was painfully reminded of Orton's words. Maybe he was right… if Roman and Dean hadn't showed up… he couldn't damage it at all… maybe he just wasn't fighting material…

"Lucky we passed here as we did. Dirt snails are some nasty monsters." Roman's voice interrupted Seth's thoughts.

"Yeah… thanks again. And thank Mr Ambrose too", he said quietly.

"Dean. And again, don't mention it." Another smile from Roman. He had a very friendly smile. "You're from Authority?"

Seth nodded.

"You wanna tag along? We're on our way back there."

"You sure? Mr A- Uh, Dean, doesn't seem to like me…"

"Dean's just grumpy. Don't mind him, okay? We're happy to escort you home. Not that I'm implying you're not capable by yourself, I saw your performance. I'm just asking."

"Thank you. If you don't mind, I would like to accompany you."

"Great!" Another smile.

Seth felt very lucky and grateful they happened to pass through here as they did. What if they hadn't? Seth wasn't a fighter obviously, he didn't even carry a weapon apart from his Magic. He could probably manage to wield a dagger, but that would probably be as efficient as a mosquito bite to that thing. Was his Wind Magic the same…? Was that a mosquito bite compared to the other Elements?

It was heavily armoured though, even those fighters had trouble damaging it. They even got hurt in the process.

But his Healing had been good for Dean, right? His wound had closed up, and he walked around without problem. If he wasn't just too stubborn. But he really seemed okay. Didn't he…?

Seth had never been so filled with self doubt. He had always believed in himself. Believed in his abilities. Just wanting to prove everyone wrong. But it was different when he had gotten all those words spat at him from the only one that could approve him. It just seemed like, 'that's it'.

And the fact that he had used unapproved Magic just now wouldn't help. Orton was one of the more sensitive Rune Masters. And he was probably aware of his usage, and that would just add to his decision to not recommend him.

He didn't even know what would happen now. He'd probably be taken in for like questioning. Or he hoped so, so that he wouldn't just be taken in and sealed right away. Did he have a say? What if that depended on who was the one taking up his unapproved vibe…? If Orton had been the one… what if his recommendation would be sealing instead…?

Should he just turn himself in…? It made it sound like a crime. But maybe it was a crime? But maybe he'd have a better chance if he told them about it before being summoned? They obviously already knew though he'd been using his unapproved Magic…

Why'd this have to happen…? Why couldn't he just… have bent down to Orton's orders… he had tried to be the best student, but maybe he just wasn't good enough… He'd tried so hard. But did it really matter in the end?

He didn't know anything anymore…

Seth sat with his thoughts, occasionally looking at the two men going around the previous battlefield. Dean still walked around the dead monster, and Roman had joined him. Dean seemed to be doing some bickering, just by his body language. Roman was just smiling at him. Funny that, just to be smiling. It seemed to have some effect on the swordsman though.

They seemed so close, and from what he'd seen, they seemed like good partners. They just couldn't be just your average fighters and with their skill, he was positive they were Hunters. He'd been thinking like so ever since he happened to bump into Dean before.

And it was interesting about Roman, having Runes but still being a fighter. He had just thought people were either mages or warriors. But Roman was both, though he seemed more of a fighter that had some Magic in his arsenal. He wondered if Roman was Earth. It was just a vibe about him. He seemed so protective. Maybe he had some supportive Magic then. It would fit well with the protective Earth anyway.

Dean didn't seem to have any Runes though. Not any visible at least. Well, Seth's own weren't that visible either if he didn't choose to show them. But he hadn't seen anything that hinted about Dean having Runes. But what was the probability of having two Rune warriors? Roman seemed quite rare as it was. Dean seemed to know his way around the battlefield anyway. He seemed like an excellent swordsman.

That had a random dislike for Seth. Or was it just him feeling like so? Dean always seemed so hostile around Seth. Was he always just grumpy or had Seth seriously done something sometime but he didn't remember?

Sometimes there just was something intimidating about Dean, but at the same time there wasn't anything like that about him at all. More bark than bite and all that.

But there was just something about Dean… He couldn't say what it was though, just… something