Chapter 13- Dance as Part of Education

There was a furious roar that rang in the room. William opened his eyes grudgingly and flipped the blanket over his head, he grumbled under his breath as Aaron made another roar. He got up from his bed and looked towards the direction of Aaron’s bed, only to see him tossing his blankets and punching the thin air. With a final roar, he sprang up and yelled, “I’m a Squire!!!” It took him 5 seconds to realize he woke up from a dream. He turned to see William looking at him, embarrassed, he dived back into bed

This is the third time William woke up in this strange world. It still feels strange and unusual. The world outside the window was totally different; it seemed like a mixture of both medieval and modern times where skyscrapers and small workshops made of rocks blend in together nicely in a comfortable city. The morning sun was rising from the horizon, it bathed the city in a soothing warm aura and brought peace to the world. The people woke up from their bed with a smile on their face, nothing could ruin this perfect morning for millenniums.

William spotted a wardrobe at the end of his side of the room. Unspotted when he first arrived yesterday, the wardrobe was long and dark brown in colour. He walked towards it and opened the two wooden doors, to his surprise, a long line of clothes were lined up in the wardrobe; the same uniform he saw the students wore the other day. Without further ado, William undress himself and took one of the many identical uniforms and put on the brown top, followed by the black blazer; it fit perfectly according to his size. “Whoa, where did you get that?!” asked Aaron, he rushed towards William, checking out his new uniform. “You have a wardrobe there, don’t you?” William pointed to the same brown wardrobe at his side of the room, “Oh,” stated Aaron, looking back at the distant he ran(which was rather long), sighed, he ran back to check out his own wardrobe.

The inner sides of the door were mirrors. William looked into the mirror, it looks great on him, the blazer gives out a manly sensation, he felt warm and all grown-up. His admiration was interrupted by Aaron’s excitement and squeals; he closed the door and turned around to see Aaron jumping around with the new clothes he got, “These are awesome, dude! Ha, they fit so well!” exclaimed Aaron. His friend’s uniform was rather loose than fit. Still, he decided to keep quiet and not ruin his morning excitement.

They left their bedroom and went for the room of statues. On their way there, one of the many doors opened and Gabrielle came out in her uniform as well. “Good morning.” She greeted, “Hey, Gabrielle.” Said William, he was amazed at how pretty she looked in the female uniform, her blond hair was tied into a loose ponytail and her fringe was tidy; the only extra feature she has was a pair of red, rectangular glasses on her nose, which made her look rather smart instead of nerdy.

“Well, you look rather good in that uniform.” Complimented Gabrielle, “Thanks.” Aaron replied sheepishly. “Ugh, I believe I was talking to William?” “Oh, right.” Muttered Aaron as William smiled, giving a silent ‘thank you’. The trio walked to the statue hall together. The search for the phoenix statue was easier this time, they took the portal and re-appeared at the foyer. There were more people in the foyer in the morning, people chattering while making their way to the Grand Hall. William, Aaron and Gabrielle joined the crowd and walked their way to the hall. The smell of pastry lingered the cool air, it was good and William’s stomach grumbled, he was eager to taste whatever they are serving.

William saw his reflection in the mirror again, and then, he remembered. The night before another reflection appeared on the mirror, but it wasn’t there today. The rows of mirrors were gone as William stepped into the hall; he looked away from the mirrors and followed the line to the food.

Breakfast was an interesting set of new delicacies; there is a variety of multi-coloured jams, some were bubbly while the others were still in their bowl. The breads however, were the same from Earth-crispy sides with a soft centre. There was a series of pans set above a row of burning charcoal behind the selection of bread, “Must be for making toasts, I reckon.” thought William. He moved to a giant silver bowl, it contained thick, beige-coloured liquid, which was boiling under a burning fire- mushroom soup. Finally, something William was familiar with. He took a bowl full of it and continued his tour around the table; there was salad of strange green vegetables and juices with small moving things swimming in it.

William arrived at the table where Gabrielle was sitting, he only had the favourable mushroom soup and a few slices of bread with him. “Not hungry?” asked Gabrielle, “Umm… no, breakfast is as weird as dinner.” Replied William, he looked at Gabrielle’s meal- she had 2 slices of bread with a purple jam that seemed to vibrate on the spot, few slices of purple meat called Stak meat(as seen on the lable during yesterday’s dinner) and a purple drink filled with tiny tad-pole like creatures. William shivered in disgust at the sight of the drink; Gabrielle laughed, “Plum juice, with tiny Hefrow offspring.” “Hefrow?” asked William, “Tiny when young, extremely large when adult; Very healthy.” She explained briefly, William didn’t need to know anymore, so it’s a healthy yet quickly-grown delicacy. Interesting, he thought.

Aaron came to the table last, he dropped his plate on the table and sat comfortably beside William, he raised his fork and knife and began gnawing on the Stak meat like a hungry tiger. His plate consists of mostly Stak meat, with a few red coloured grape-like fruits by his plate. William started drinking his mushroom soup as others ate along. Gabrielle finished her meal first and pulled out a parchment and caught William’s attention, “This is the timetable for the year, it’s divided into two category- the Mharia(weekdays, she explained) and Juwelian(weekends, she explained again) timetables.” She said as Aaron looked up, “How come I didn’t get one?” “I don’t know, maybe people with sense would know.” Gabrielle cleared her throat and read it out to the boys, “As for the Mharia timetable, after breakfast would be Ancient Geography at the East Sacred Garden, then there’s the Class of Mage at the Great Tree; there’ll be a 2hour lunch break after that and then there’ll be Herbology, Class of Squires and then Alchemy in the ; after that would be Class of Archers the Emerald Field and then dinner will be served, after dinner would be our last class- Astronomy at the common room of Phoenix’s Sky dormitory.”

Gabrielle put the parchment down and looked at the boys, seeing that they both finished digesting the information, she continued, “For the Juwelian timetable, after breakfast would be Physical Education till’ lunch, and after lunch would be History and Legends followed by-” She stopped as the boys look at her, “What? What’s wrong?” asked William, “Ballroom dancing?” asked Gabrielle, shocked.

Chapter 12: First meets Second

Elena re-materialised into a grand ballroom. It was oval in shape and there was not a hint of light at all. The ballroom has no tables or chairs, leaving the room empty and eerie. Two doors were found at the opposite end of the ballroom, both are wooden and locked. Elena froze in her position, waiting patiently, everything was still nothing moved in the darkness.

Then, lights lit up in every direction possible, revealing the vast ballroom in a flash. It was empty, but the floor in front of Elena cracked geometrically; it moved upwards and formed a stairway, a golden throne was at the very top of the stairway, glimmering under the light of the ballroom. A old man sat comfortably on the throne, he stared down the stairway, right at Elena.

The old man was older than anyone in Nathrum Silvize; his forehead was filled with wrinkles, it fell over his eyes, making them slanted. He wore an emerald straw hat, his silver hair tucked nicely into it; his long silver beard was tied together with threads of red. He wore a long silky, black robe; it was so long covered a portion of the floor like a lady’s dress. The old man’s right hand was holding a walking stick; it was like an extended version of a magician’s wand, it was black in colour and its tip was white; a diamond was set on the hilt, where the old man grips it firmly. He is the First Son of the Immortals, Granedos.

“You’re right, the boy you asked us to bring back, he is the next Immortal;” Said Elena, not bothering to address the First at all, “we can save the execution of the boy.” “You now have 4-5 years of time before the rise of Fonte Maximus, train him well.” Said Granedos, “But 4 years isn’t enough to bring out the Immortal form, it takes at least decades to do so-” “Now is the time you make a miracle, Elena, now is the time you show Fonte Maximus that we didn’t goof off when he is plotting his revenge in hell.” Granedos cut in through her sentence. There was a moment of silence, Elena nodded her head in the end, and it was enough to please Granedos for the night. “For now, do your duties as a Headmaster, and help the others to prepare for the Yuletide Festival.” Elena nodded again as Granedos nodded too, “Very well then, you may go now.”

Three Hordicals re-materialised into the ballroom, they got onto their knees behind Elena and bowed deeply, “We’ve come back from our investigation, Master Granedos.” Said a cool voice as Elena turned around, her long white skirt slapped squarely into a man’s face behind her, he glared at her with the ruby-coloured eyes but did not move at all. The man has a head of long, brown-coloured hair, his face was perfectly shaped compared to his hard body build, and it fit nicely into the tight, white tuxedo he wore. Elena examined the other two figures; another man knelt behind the first figure, his hair was white and spiky, his eyes were small and his pupils were green; a wide grin smeared across his face. He wore a black chainmail with red trimmings by the side, his muscular arms exposing through the sleeveless armour. The third figure was a pale- skinned girl, her hair was emerald and curly. She wore a long beige gown that spread across the floor, her sleeveless dress exposed her delicate arms to the air, and they looked so fragile as if they could break if she bumps into something.

"Ms. Cornelia.” Addressed the man, “I’d prefer to be called Second Daughter of the Immortal, Alexander, or Elena the great at the very least.” Replied Elena but the man name Alexander didn’t bother to reply. “Speak, Grayflower.” Demanded Granedos as Alexander cleared his throat, “In the deep wilderness far south of Nathrum Silvize, we have finally recovered Sir Kelandome’s body. His body tells us he didn’t die in a brutal force; instead, it’s something else.” Alexander paused for a moment and then continued, “His face was stolen.”

“And how is that possible, Grayflower? Unless, you’re telling me this is the work of….” “Yes, master Granedos, we suspect that Scythenesis is the culprit here. He must’ve wanted something from Sir Kelandome.” Replied Alexander, “What is it that Sir Kelandome knows that makes Scythenesis so curious….?” Asked Granedos, “We’re currently looking into it, the Cryptors brought his body back to the research lab, further investigation will be done.” Said Alexander as Granedos nodded, “Very well, you are dismissed; continue with your investigation and hopefully, you’ll find something useful.” The three got up from their knees, bowed, and disappeared into thin air with a soft hiss.

Chapter 11: The Fourth Son of the Immortal

The smell of burnt paper lingers the air, the smoke cleared and William was able to see what the Vault of Names has given to him. It was a symbol different from any other on the page. It has 3 circles together in a triangle; the symbol of a sword was burnt into the top circle, the bottom left circle has a bow in it and the bottom right circle was a pointed hat. The symbols were burnt nicely into the paper, right beside William’s name.

“Well, congratulations, Mr. Rosewood, you’ve earned yourself a big title there.” Said Elena, amused, “What?” asked William but Elena turned to the curious crowd, none of them have seen such a dramatic classification. “Everyone, please give Mr. Rosewood a grand applause, after millions of years, Mr. Rosewood shall be the 4^th Son of Immortals!” The crowd roared and cheered wildly, the teachers at the back clapped their hands as well. William looked at Elena, confused.

“What’s going on?” he asked again, “You’re an Immortal, Mr. Rosewood. You’re the strongest of all classes, the one which I stated when I escorted you to your dormitory.” Replied Elena, “Oh…. So what’s the difference between an Immortal and the other three classes?” asked William, “Well, to make long story short, you’ll have to do three times the work of everybody in this hall.” answered Elena. William still wore the confused expression, Elena laughed and patted him on the back, “Don’t worry, come to my office later, I’ll explain it to you thoroughly. Now back to your seat, others are waiting.” William nodded and got off the podium. Some people were still cheering for the new found Immortal, but to William, this just proves that he is still a freak among the others.

After he settled down onto his seat, Aaron began to blabber in excitement, “Dude, you’re the Immortal! How awesome is that?” “Give him some space, Aaron, he needs air” shot Gabrielle, “He looks fine to me, right, buddy? An Immortal probably means he doesn’t even need to breathe at all!” said Aaron; he was as excited as a small boy getting his Christmas gift. “Are you okay?” asked Gabrielle with a caring tone, “I’m fine, thanks….” Muttered William, he played with the purple meat on his plate absently, his mind drifting elsewhere. William thought he would fit in into this new world, where everyone was suppose to be the same, but he thought wrong; even in this world filled with strange and new things, he is still the odd one out. What does it take for him to live a typical life? Does being Immortal changes things for the better? Or is it for the worse?

After the Classification is done, the students returned to their own conversation. Some passed William and congratulate him. William decided to keep it low, but Aaron isn’t helping; he was telling everyone at his table that William the Immortal is his friend and everyone should respect him. At this point, William wished he could do something to shut him up, but that was proven impossible from the attempts he tried to keep him quiet. Meanwhile, Gabrielle (who sat across him) was keeping quiet, drinking her bizarre fruit punch all by herself and smiled when she made eye contact with anyone.

The night passed swiftly. Soon, all students were told to return to their dormitories and get ready for tomorrow because all classes begins right after breakfast. William, Aaron and Gabrielle walked in the crowd of students into the lighted foyer, back to the Centaur’s Forest. Aaron finally kept quiet, he was exhausted after spreading the news for the whole night; Gabrielle was quiet as well, “She must be disappointed that she became a Crusader.” Thought William, he himself felt uncomfortable, being an Immortal and all, though he really did not know what to expect….

“Hello, Mr. Rosewood.” Elena materialised right in front of William, startling him thus falling backwards and crashing onto Aaron. “How did you….” He muttered as Elena laughed, “Please come to my office.”

This was the second room in the Institute William has entered; the office was dim and made ofwood. As William walked in, the floor creaked and the smell of paint lingered in the office. The light in the room was orange and it was dim, the source came from the oil lamp that sits at the edge of a long, well-designed wooden table. The surroundings consist of bookshelves of thousands of books, all dusty and unused for ages. A bottle of glass, it contained bubbly violet fluid and a few cocktail glasses were placed at the other edge of the table.

Elena took a seat behind the table, onto the grand wooden cushioned chair; she gestured William to take a seat across her, he obeyed. Elena pulled the cork out of the glass bottle and poured the liquid into a cocktail, she gestured it at William, “What’s that?” “Grape Liquor, it contains 1% of Dragon’s Blood, a very umm…… nice elixir.” answered Elena,

“Am I even up to age for that?”

“You should be able to handle it.”

“I don’t know, in my world, I’m still underage.”

“Fine, be that way.”

She took a sip of the liquor; she shook her head a little and played her cocktail glass absently. “So…. Regarding on being an Immortal…?” started William, “Right, well…. Immortal, same as the other classes, were chosen by fate when one is born, whether it’s heritage or a new generation, one cannot simply choose his class for it has been set down by destiny.” Said Elena, she leaned onto her chair and continued playing with her cocktail glass, “But Immortals are so rare, that only 1/100000 of 1% chance in the world to have a baby Immortal born, which usually takes around one million years to have an Immortal born or none.” “So be proud of yourself for being God’s most powerful creation;” William nodded at every pause she made, to tell her that he is still listening. Elena took another sip and continued, “but being the most powerful creations comes with big responsibility, you have to master every class’ skills and techniques before you are a true Immortal, and to master one class would usually take 4years of intense training, but all three? It’ll take more than 12years to complete the task, I’m afraid.” “So…. Is there any different purpose of an Immortal?” asked William, “Well…. I’m afraid it’s too early to tell you that. For now, you will have to attend all three classes and the overall subjects. And you have to take private lessons with the Classes’ teachers, so you’ll understand better in the three Classes and not get confused in the process.” She answered as William sighed, she leaned towards him and met his eyes, “I know, it sounds like there’s a hell lots of work to do, but you’re destined to do so, and you’re not alone. I’m an Immortal too, I’m here to help.” William smiled as she downed the liquor in one gulp, she shivered a bit and waved at him, “Go to bed, you have a busy day tomorrow.” William nodded, thanked his Headmaster and went for the door. Before he exited the office, he heard Elena said, “Don’t forget your private lesson tomorrow, it’s going to be held after sun sets.” William nodded as he walked out of the office.

When William entered his room, he expected Aaron to pounce at him, but he was already in bed, sleeping soundly. William undressed himself and pulled on his pyjamas, he turned off the lights and laid on his bed, pondering once more. He still couldn’t believe all these have happened to him. Once so lonely, now he was brought to this world, where people are almost like him. It was a bittersweet thing; he now has friends, something he lost for the passed years; he is still rather different from others, but it doesn’t matter now. Everything will change…… very soon…..

Teaser: The Day

How far will a man go? To try and to save his family from killing angels and body-possessing demons? The world is now over-flooding with Satanism, the number of those who believe in God has been reduced to such a small amount that no one cared anymore. Instead, the number of people who believed in the return of Satan increased rapidly that it cast a long shadow upon all the other religions.

The end is near, so close that they could see it right in front of their eyes. For God's presence has been neglected, He is tired of playing the nice guy. He sent angels to Earth, to kill the Satanism and atheist. On the other hand, Satan sent devils to notify his presence on Earth, possessing innocent mortals and creating massacre in any way possible. When angels and demons clash, neither of the side will give mercy, and both side will kill whatever that attempts to stop their battle.

So, will a man be able to bring up his courage to save his family from the these deathly events? Does he have the will to fight for his rights, and define God's decision for man's destiny? It will all happen on The Day....

Chapter 10- The Classification

After putting his things into the respective shelves, William sat on the edge of his bed and waited; he didn’t know why, but he was hoping something might happen to stop him from sitting there like a spastic. He looked at Aaron, who seemed to be lost in the process of tidying his side of the room; he shuddered and looked elsewhere, not wanting to see the sight of the untidiness anymore. For the time being, he’ll be sharing his room with a mood-changing craze and nothing could possibly make things worse than it is now.

Aaron yelled, he turned around and waved at William, “I finally finished tidying up, how is it?” asked Aaron as William looked around, the place was still flooded with Aaron’s clothing but William nodded to please his roommate. “Alright,” Aaron cracked his fingers, “Let’s go for the orientation, it’ll start soon.” He darted towards the door, unlocked it and dashed out. William hesitated; he is annoyed by Aaron’s attitude and wanted to change room really badly, but who should he look for to do so? Before he began to ponder again, Aaron appeared at the door and beckoned William impatiently.

William entered the hallway again, the hallway which he blacked out; he figured he shouldn’t tell anyone, especially Aaron, who was skipping on the spot. “Where should we go now?” asked William as Aaron pointed to the end of the hallway, “There, through that door is the portal’s room, the statues will have us out of here.” Saying that, he ran for the door, he opened it and beckoned William to follow him through. William walked to the door, to find Aaron blocking his way, he froze right after the entrance, not moving at all. “Oh no…..” muttered Aaron, looking straight ahead. A girl stood right before him, looking at him as well. She frowned, “Oh, great. We’re in the same dormitory? That’s great.” Her enthusiasm wasn’t helping her at all, William squeezed through the room Aaron was blocking to get a better view. The girl switched her focus from Aaron to William and back to Aaron, “And who’s this?” “Hey, back off! He’s my friend!” protected Aaron, the girl ignored him and turned to William, “I’m Gabrielle Paris, and you are?”

“William Rosewood.” Answered William, “Are you guys roommates?” asked Gabrielle as Aaron cut into the conversation, “Yeah, you bet we are! I’m sharing my room with the guy who can save us all!” “I pity you, having to share a room with such an annoying person.” Said Gabrielle, “Hey, he doesn’t regret sharing a room with me! Right, William? Tell her!” Aaron cut in again, William kept quiet as Gabrielle laughed, “Tough luck, Aaron, he doesn’t like you, just like everyone else!” “Shut up, Paris!” scolded Aaron, “No, that’s not what I meant-” muttered William, “It’s OK, nobody likes Aaron anyway, it’s fine just to admit it.” said Gabrielle. From Aaron’s expression, he was pretty much boiled up, the expression where he was about to pounce onto Gabrielle and beat her to death.

Gabrielle looked almost the same age as the two boys; she has shoulder length blond hair and blue pupils; her face was definitely not as thin as Aaron’s and she fine arms and legs; her sleeve-less violet sweater suited her black short-skirt. Her high heels brought her to the same height as William; if not, she’d be an inch shorter.

“So…. I guess you both know each other?” asked William trying to break the silence between them, “Oh yes, his father and my father used to be childhood friends, but what they don’t know is that we’re not meant to meet each other.” Said Gabrielle, “Yeah, my father always put me with that beast there whenever we go for vacation, it seriously sucks, you know?” added Aaron, “No doubt, that idiot makes my summer sour.” Said Gabrielle and then the silence came in again. “Come’ on, we should get going for the orientation.” Said William, they agreed and looked into the room again, and none of them spoke.

Two lines of statues, stretching far beyond the room, each is a unique magical creature and each stood in different poses. The statues were pale and grey; it gave the entire white room a cold sensation. “What now…?” asked William, “All the statues have a distinctive teleporting location, and one of these statues have to be one to takes us to the Grand Hall. We just got to find it….” Said Gabrielle, “This must be it!” said Aaron, pointing at a dragon statue excitedly, Gabrielle frowned and pointed at the statue as well, “In case you didn’t know, the statue’s podium says it’s the Slayers’ Dungeon!”

The trio spent their time looking at names written in the podium, they were all in odd alphabets so it made them hard to find the location “Grand Hall”. A long time they spent searching about, but there were no statues with the name Grand Hall on their podium. “I found it!” said Gabrielle as the boys gathered at the podium she found, it was a podium of a Phoenix, a series of letters were engraved into the stone podium, it says: G ran I-I all. “I’ve passed that podium a couple of times.” Stated Aaron as Gabrielle glared at him, “Well, why didn’t you tell us?!” “Come’ on, how would I know that’s the Grand Hall? It looks like Gran-I-Lall, I mean, what the hell is that?” Aaron’s excuse wasn’t working at all. Without any hesitation, the phoenix opened up a portal, the same portal the centaur made in the foyer, and they stepped into it.

There was a breeze of cool air again and William landed on his feet, few steps behind Aaron and Gabrielle. There was a voice echoing through the empty foyer, it was dim and all they could see is the statue of the centaur beside them. The voice seemed to come from a distant place, with cheers following after speeches. Orange light was lit at the far end of the foyer, there seemed to be shadows towering the ray of light, moving in small spaces. “That must be the Grand Hall!” said Aaron, his loud voice echoed in the foyer, creating copies of his squeaky voice. “Let’s hurry up, I think it started already.” Said Gabrielle as they broke into a run, they darted into the semi-darkness of the un-occupied foyer towards the orange light.

William shivered as he ran, the foyer was creepy when no one is in it; Only just now, the foyer was a warm place where people crowd in, but now, it is a cold and lonely. There were mirrors by the wall of the foyer and William’s reflection constantly appears every time he passed a mirror; but when he passed by one of the mirrors, a new reflection appeared on the mirror, a smaller and less opaque figure. William slowed down and returned to the mirror he just passed, only his reflection was staring at him. He frowned, he could’ve sworn he saw another reflection in that mirror….

“Hey, hurry up, will you?” yelled Aaron, they were already near the end of the foyer. William didn’t want to be left in this quiet foyer alone, so he ran for them. After a brief run, they reached a grand archway entrance; they could see a sea of people in the gigantic hall, cheering and chattering at the same time. The trio entered the hall and felt the cooling wind against their face, washing away the sweat and the tiredness from the run. What William saw was perhaps the most beautiful room William had seen in this Institute. A dozen of chandeliers were placed at the centre of the hall, with one giant chandelier in the middle, altogether holding billions of tiny crystals, shining and glimmering light of purity. Rows of long crystal glass tables were placed in the middle of the hall with long crystal benches. Banquet wooden tables were placed at the side of the hall, bowls and plates of food were placed on top of the tables, and the empty ones were stacked up high at the side of the tables, ready for use.

At the end of the hall, another glass banquet table was set horizontally, unparallel to the other vertically-arranged tables. Nineteen grand crystal chairs were placed behind the table; all of them were occupied except for the middle one, which is for the woman that is now standing on the transparent, cyan-outlined podium. Her layered, white dress swayed along with the cool air; her brunette hair now tied with emerald ribbons into a long pony-tail, her hands behind her back, she stood in a straight and sophisticated posture, waiting for the other students to settle down. William knew the headmaster. Mrs. Cornelia was her name and her elegance never stop to amaze William.

He followed Gabriel and Aaron as if they were tour guides; they grabbed their plates and utensils and started selecting their choice of food. Everything plate of delicacy looks the same as those they serve in the human world, garlic bread, cream of mushroom, salad potatoes and so on. He remembered the doctor told him that this world’s food is different from his. And the doctor was right. As soon as William reached the main course, the food started to look strange, from living squid-like creatures in dark-coloured dressings and vegetables to purple cold meat with the side of mince sauce. William wished he can skip this meal. However, to get used living here, he took a few pieces of the purple meat in grimace but he didn’t bother to consider taking the squids. After a browse around the hall’s food, the trio settled down in the Centaur’s Forest’s tables as Mrs. Cornelia clapped her hands to get everybody’s attention.

“Alright, everyone, can you please listen up?” Elena’s voice was drowned completely in the noise made by the students, she waited but the hall was as noisy as before, she shrugged and taps her heels on the podium. Suddenly, there was a quake and the chandeliers shook wildly as the students shrieked in fear, especially the newcomers. Then, there was a long pause, and the silence came. “Now we don’t need any voice amplifying magic, isn’t that just convenient?” Elena smiled, she cleared her throat and began her speech, “Good evening, students of all ages, welcome to another year in the Fadhalion’s Hordicals’ Institute. Whether you are a senior or a junior of this school, I open my arms wide apart to welcome you upon your arrival.” There was a wave of applause and whistles made by the senior; Elena blushed slightly and made elegant hand gestures, ripples of air burst in through the hell entrance, the wind swirled around Elena and transformed into sparkling green balls of light, they shot up high into the ceiling and exploded, the students roared in excitement as the words ‘Elena Cornelia’ began to form from the sparkle and smoke from the explosions.

“My name is Elena Cornelia and I am the new Headmaster from this year forth.” Announced Elena as the crowd started to whisper to each other, the seniors put on curious looks while the juniors were trying hard to keep up with the situation, “Yes, I shall explain now,” said Elena as she began, “Your previous headmaster, Mr. Kelandome, passed away in a rather violent death in the month of September, during your summer-autumn break.” The students gasped, some of the girls cried while their boyfriends comfort them, “Mr. Kelandome was off with his monthly hunting activities and well…. The hunter got hunted and his body was never found…” said Elena in a low tone, “Let’s take a moment to mourn for him in silence, shall we?” There was a long pause after her speech, and she returned with her cheerful tone again, “That brings us back to the main topic again. From now, I’ll be the new Headmaster and hopefully, we will learn to like each other, OK?” The students cheered for Elena as she bowed humbly, she came up again and waved her hands, the ground beneath the podium shook a little and a column of the earth shot upwards, breaking through the glass podium and it was not elegant at all.

At the teachers’ table, an old man leaned towards a man beside him, “She just broke the 600 years old crystal podium….” The young man didn’t bother to look at his college, he scooped up a spoonful of soup and sipped it, “I don’t like this new Headmaster much.” he replied in a cold tone as the old man shifted back into his seat uncomfortably. The man narrowed his eyes upon Elena, he did not like one bit about this new headmaster he will soon be working for, he tightened his grip on his spoon ,his fingers turned white as the resentment for the headmaster boils….

The brown-coloured earth column has a smooth surface as if it was carefully shaped, no jagged corners were found and the designs around the pillar was magnificent, the result of careful cravings. The top of the column is flat; it expands diagonally outwards a bit, enough to fit a book on it, its edges curved in to prevent any object from falling. Elena snapped her fingers, a large book fell onto the column with a loud thud, the hardcover was dark brown and the pages within turned yellow through age. The title on the cover was in runes, nothing that any mortals can understand. Elena clasped her hands together, “Alright, we shall now begin tonight’s main even, the Classification of the Year Ones.” She announced as the hall was filled with applause, “We’ll do this in an alphabetical order and we’ll start with those in with the letter A. First one…..”

“Great, that’ll give me lots of time to finish up my meal.” Said Aaron as he started to wolf down his plate full of food, “Aaron Seth, it seems like you’re the first one.” Said Elena as the hall gave a great applause, Aaron frowned, “Oh, come’ on! I have to be first?” Moments later he was up on the podium, standing beside Elena, “Alright, listen carefully; this is what all the newcomers will have to do.” “As newcomers, you all will be classified into groups, whether you’re a Squire, an Archer or a Mage will depend on your fate. To be classified, you will have to register your name into this large book called the Vault of Names. I’m sure it should be called the Book of Names but I don’t know, if it’s the vault then it’s the vault… So anyway, you have to write down your name in the book and it will tell you which class you belong to.” she continued, “How will it tell me?” asked Aaron as the crowd laughed, “I don’t know, we’ll find out ourselves.” Replied Elena as the crowd laughed even harder. Aaron blushed and grunted, the Headmaster opened the book, thousands of names were written in such a small manner that one needs to narrow his eyes to be able to see it. Elena handed him a fountain pen, he took it and looked for the next available space for his name to be in it, then he gently wrote his name onto the ancient and fragile paper. With the final letter, Aaron completely wrote his name onto the book; then, the book vibrated in its place, a symbol began to burn on the page by the side of Aaron’s name. After a second or two, it stopped burning, and a black-outlined symbol was formed- a circle with a pointed hat in it.

“What’s that…?” asked Aaron, “Well, congratulations, Mr. Seth, you’re a Mage!” announced Elena, there was a roar of applause but Aaron wasn’t too happy. “Look, Headmaster, I know the book says I’m a Mage, but I think I should be a Squire.” Said Aaron as Elena raised an eyebrow, “The book clearly says you’re a Mage, Mr. Seth, you can’t deny that.” “Yeah, but you see, my entire family descendants are the Squires and I can’t really be a Mage…. I mean come’ on, I’m a man, I should be a Squire.” protested Aaron. “Not every man has to be a Squire, there are very strong Mages who are males. Furthermore, the book never lies.” she replied calmly.

“Look, the book’s so old; it could make mistakes, couldn’t it?”

“No, unfortunately, it doesn’t.”

“Well, this is its first time then.”

“Sorry, Mr. Seth, you just have to go back to your seat and live with it.”

Aaron grunted as he stepped down the podium, some still clapped for him, others were surprised that he was so sensitive being chosen as a Mage. He got back to his seat and started munching on his dinner vigorously, grunting right after he finished swallowing. “Are you okay….?” Asked William who was sitting right beside him, “Leave him, William, it’ll take a while for him to cool down.” Said Gabrielle as William obeyed. They ate their dinner in silence, witnessing the other newcomers to be classified. Soon, it was Gabrielle’s turn, she gulped and walked up to the podium, and she wrote her name and waited for it to happen. A few seconds later, the symbol began to burn on to the page and the result was: a circle with a sword in it- a Crusader.

Gabrielle got off the podium, disappointed, she has always wanted to be a Mage; but unfortunately, the Vault of Names tends to spite a certain group of people. She sat down again and ate speechlessly like Aaron. Then, after the letters start going on, it soon became William’s turn. After seeing many happy and sad faces after classification, William didn’t know whether he should be nervous or not.

William stepped up to the podium, his eyes met Elena’s, and she smiled. “Are you ready?’ she asked as William gulped and nodded. He took the fountain pen from Elena and wrote his name onto the page, he waited for a few seconds and nothing happened. William waited nervously, he looked at Elena, she was calm and steady, the crowd started to whisper around and it made William nervous. Suddenly, green fire ignited on top of the book, the crowd shrieked and William took a step backward, startled. Elena put a hand onto his shoulder, calming him. The fire was burning fiercely, but in a few seconds it slowly extinguish on its own. Elena and William bent over to read the symbol, and it was like nothing William has ever seen before…..

Chapter 9- The Boy with a Million Faces

The cool air swept upon William’s face. A bright flash of light dispersed as William was standing in an empty hallway. A red carpet was laid all the way across the hallway, the walls of the hallway was filled with doors, each leading to another unknown place obviously. William stood there, confused. Is this the dormitory where he was supposed to be in? If so, which room is his?

Suddenly, it was as if space and time warped the surroundings and William soon stood in an empty space of darkness. William’s heart was pounding hard, any moment and his heart will burst out of his chest. What is going on? Where is he….? His luggage disappeared, everything he first took a glimpse of immediately disappear. A few seconds passed as another flash of light dispersed. William rubbed his eyes and looked around, he was trying to accustom his vision to the current situation: the light was maroon and he was standing in the air, a huge mountain stood before him. The mountain has a path revolving around it, William saw people in torn, bloody wearing lying on the path, crawling their way up to the mountain, but the path was so steep they practically were falling downwards. There was a great rumble as William looked down; he was so high up the mountain that fog covered the bottom. There was a red glow glimmering beneath the fog, William squinted his eyes to see what was causing it.

Suddenly, flames burst out of the fog, shooting into the sky in an amazingly rapid speed. William screamed, he was paralyzed in his position and the fire was rushing up. Soon, the fire consumed William in its pit as it revolves around him. William covered his face with his hands, the fire was in an immeasurable high temperature but he wasn’t hurt at all. The fire subsided as a figure stood before him. He was wearing a white long coat with black singlet and pants, his face was thin and his pupils were like ruby. His face carries a stoned expression; he stood motionless in front of William.

“W-who are you…?” asked William, his voice shaking, a smile stretched across the figure’s face, his brunette hair covered the left side of his face, but the ruby-coloured eyes were glowing beneath his shoulder-length hair. “Welcome to Hell.” Said the figure, “What…?” muttered William, “So you’re the boy that everyone taught he could bring me to my knees, huh? You’re William Rosewood?” asked the figure as William nodded despite the fear was gripping his very soul. The figure laughed, he stretched his right arm back and pulled out an oddly-shaped sword; its white handle is thin and its hilt has a black stone attached to it; its white blade is in a shape of a kite, a black line stretched from the tip of the blade to the handle. He pointed the sword at William.

“I’ll kill you.” Said the figure, “You’ll just have to wait when I come out of Hell, only then I’ll have a ball with the 4^th Immortal named William Rosewood.” He continued, he waved the sword slightly and there was another flash of light and everything blacked out. William felt cold sweat dripping down his neck, he opened his eyes again and he was lying on the hallway carpet, the sound of people walking in the floors below soothed him. He got up, felt really sick and heaved his luggage; he walked towards the end of the hallway and reached for the doorknob, only to find it locked- and that’s when it hit him. Where’s the key to his room? Is there even a key? If so, where can he get it? Who was the one who was supposed to hand it to him? William cursed, is he going to be stuck out here until someone comes to help him?

Then, William felt something around his neck, he did not feel anything before but all of a sudden, something seemed to curl around his neck. William reached for the object on his neck and what it felt was like a necklace, he ripped it off and found something else hanging on the necklace- a key. It was in a shape of a six, the edge is so slim and sharp it could cut through his skin. Could this be the key to the door in front of him? If not, which door fits this strange looking key? And where is the slot of the key to go in? William noticed this rather slim vertical slot right below the doorknob, so slim it could barely be noticed. William had to try his luck on this one.

He gulped, and slowly slides the odd key into the slot, he pushed it in hard and there was a ‘click’ and the door shuddered slightly, he pushed the door open and what he saw amazed him. A room expanded to a larger space, the largest William has ever seen in his entire life. The room was painted golden, a giant chandelier with million pieces of tiny crystals hanged in the centre of the room, bathing William in the soothing, warm light; two luxurious beds were found in the room, each placed at the far side of the room. The beds were large enough to fit three people, the pillows are golden and the blanket is red, drapes of red hanged around the bed, preventing any insects to enter when one is sleeping; windows were aligned in an orderly manner at every wall of the room, a serene environment can be seen through the window as if adventure giving a friendly beckon to you from afar.

Unfortunately, at midst all the perfection found in the grand bedroom, one half of the room is messed up, completely messy and untidy; clothes everywhere and luggage in every direction. The back of a boy was seen, throwing his clothes out on his bed, not knowing that William has entered the room. The boy was mumbling to himself, clothes flew in every direction, landing gently on the floor. Then, after a period of time the boy searched, he got up and yelled, “Where the hell is my damned hair wax?!” He stopped right after he turned around and looked at the newcomer, William was looking at the outraged boy as well and none of them spoke.

“Sup,” the boy cleared his throat and William nodded, “so…. You must be my room mate, huh?” he asked, “So it seems.” Replied William with an uneasy tone, “Okay… Sorry you had to see that, I kind of need my wax, ladies dig me for my hair.” Said the boy, William nodded to pretend that he was interested. William picked up one of the boy’s jeans and fished out a can of hair wax, the boy’s face lightened up so quickly it’d seemed physically impossible. He threw it to the boy as he caught it, the happy expression on his face didn’t wear off at all, “I owe you one, mate.”

“So, what’s your name?” asked the boy as he turned around, attempting to re-pack the things he threw out, “William Rosewood.” Answered William as the boy halted, the hair wax fell from his grip, he turned around and ran towards William like a wild dog, he gripped William at his shoulders and his face turned deadly serious. “Did you just say…. William Rosewood…?” muttered the boy as William nodded, not knowing what is happening. The boy gasped, stepped backwards and started jumping and giggling. William moved back as well, frightened by the ever-changing mood swings of the boy in front of him.

“Dude, you’re William Rosewood! Oh man, I can’t believe this. God, are you playing with me? This is William Rosewood, oh my God!” the boy was extremely excited, “William Rosewood! The guy who’ll save us when the world ends! The guy… who is sharing a room with me! Woohoo!!” exclaimed the boy. In a split second, he stopped jumping offered William a handshake, “My name’s Aaron Seth, a boy which you obviously don’t know about, but you, my friend, you’re famous! You know, my great grandmother is a prophet and she predicted a boy named William Rosewood will rescue us when the world ceased to exist, the moment when Fonte Maximus comes back from Hell.” The boy spoke so fast his words seemed to blend with each other, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” Said William, he didn’t really want to believe what Aaron said, but it sort of reminded what Elena told him when they were still in the ward. Now that William noticed, Aaron seemed like a boy at his age, only a few centimetres taller than he is, the boy has dark brown hair and black pupils; he has a long face and very thin arms and legs, so thin it looked as if he was lacking of nutrients, his red jersey and jeans seemed loose due to his bony body build and yet, he is so filled with energy, jumping around like a dog getting his meal.

“Anyway, put your stuff down, we’re going to be late for the Classification!” said Aaron as he leaped his way back to the puddle of clothes he made. William shrugged and walked his way to his side of the room, he put his luggage down and sat by the bed, not wanting to see Aaron worsen his side of the room. Thoughts soon shrouded him again… OK, it is weird enough that he is now in this new world, and to top it off, he is sharing his room with a freakishly random boy who knew about him. He shook his head hard, it is now simply impossible to predict what is going to happen next.

Chapter 8- Grieving History

“William Scarlett Rosewood?” asked William as Elena nodded to the counter lady, she turned her head down and started doing the job she is given in this counter. “Oh, right. Rosewood is your last name; your mother put her first name as your middle name.” explained Elena, “So my mother’s name is Scarlett…?” William muttered, “Scarlett Candace Bellarome to be exact.” Elena corrected him.

Yet another gushing feeling filled the insides of William. he had never knew his own mother’s name, and now it felt like as if he had unlocked yet another secret, the secrets that have kept him in the dark for 13 years. “Alright, Mrs. Cornelia, your registration for Mr. Rosewood has been completed, you can now bring him to Centaur’s Forest so he can unpack his things and explore his surroundings before the Classification in the evening.” Said the lady as she handed Elena a flat square piece of rock, a strange symbol has been engraved onto the stone. “Thank you.” Said Elena as she turned around and got ready to leave, “Wait!” the lady shouted as Elena turned back, “I truly respect your grace, Second Daughter of the Immortals, so I was wondering if you could give me some advice so I can be a more successful woman…?” the lady stood up and asked nervously, Elena gave a laugh and waved her hand randomly, “As you said, I’m an Immortal, not a career therapist, I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. Good bye.”

Even William can’t help but to laugh, the face of the nervous registration lady gave him a laugh, not to mention about the ridiculous request she had. “Mrs. Cornelia,” William asked as they are walking into a large hallway that connects the first hall to the next, “what did she mean by the Second Daughter of the Immortals?” “Oh, that? It’s just a title given to me.” Replied Elena, “For what?” he asked again as Elena sighed, “I’d really wish you could learn this in Ancient History, but guess you can’t wait, huh?” William nodded continuously.

“There are four different types of Hordicals, the main three are classes are the Squire, Mage and Archer; and then there’s this class consisting of only 3 people in existence, they are known as the Immortals like one myself. We are given titles of numeric orders, so the founder of Hordicals who became Immortal will be known as the First Son of the Immortal.” Explained Elena, “You said there are 3 Immortals in existence and you only named two, who is the last one?” asked William as Elena stopped in her pace, and all of a sudden, the noise around William seemed to cease as he focused onto Elena. “Thus, having the Third Son of the Immortals has been the greatest mistake the world had made, the Third Son is Haidrous Dameucan, now better known as Fonte Maximus.” She muttered and continued walking again, William gasped as Elena continued.

“We three used to work together, help to maintaining evil in the other side of the world. I used to tease him a lot, saying that he’ll never surpass my strength and power,” said Elena, her eyes looking forward and didn’t even care if William was listening or not, she went on, “and I guess he can’t take it anymore, he disappeared from the Hordical board, and from the face of the land. Then…..” William could’ve sworn he saw tears in Elena’s eyes, but then there isn’t any and William thought if she used some sort of magic to cover her weak side. “After a million years or so, he came back and he declared war to our world.” She took a deep breath, “At the very end, we saw each other again, so we fought.” “He grew extremely strong for the pass million years, and to tell you the truth, he had already surpassed me.”

“So in the end, before he gave me the fatal blow, I opened a portal to the Nether world and sealed him for good.” Said Elena, “Whoa… You fought with Fonte Maximus? From what I heard you must be like the strongest!” said William. He can’t help it, even though it is a grieving matter, he can’t stop feeling bewildered by what this woman in front of him had committed, “He’s coming back though, and I can tell, he’s not going to be happy this time.” replied Elena.

They stopped in front of a statue; it was a marble figure of a bold centaur holding his bow highly, as if he is aiming to shoot down a hawk or some sort. On the surface of the podium where the centaur stood, a slot was seen clearly and seemed to fit the square stone. Elena bent and pushed the stone into the slot and all of a sudden, the centaur moved. “Mrs. Cornelia, how may a humble statue such as myself be able to assist you?” asked the statue as it bowed, William startled and took a step back. “Yeah, I would like you to teleport Mr. Rosewood here to your dormitory.” Said Elena, “Oh, so it’s a dormitory? I thought I was about to live in a real forest.” Said William in relief, “Would you like to?” asked Elena as he shook his head hard. The centaur nodded at Elena’s orders, a portal ripped open behind Elena and William, a hallway was visible from the portal.

“Well, off you go.” Said Elena as William looked into the portal then he asked, “Mrs. Cornelia, will the people here still tease me?” Elena bent to his height and put a hand on his shoulder, “William, the people here are the same as you are, you will never feel left out anymore.” She gave him a warm smile, hearing that, William bided Elena goodbye and stepped into the portal. For the first time, he felt as if he belonged.