Chapter 10

The Exhibit

Seval awkwardly faced everybody, looking at Marien for comfort. She was the only one not snickering or showing some type of irritation, besides Arena as well. He kept his stance tall, his arms glued to his sides. There he stood in wait for his job. It took some time--some long, awkward staring--before he was relieved.

"Seval, would you mind showing your sword for everybody to see? As high as you can in a flat state," Shimmer mandated, her voice right in Seval's ear. He obeyed and brought his sword high above him. It looked like he was some symbol of a rebellion, his sword acting like a flag or war banner. He didn't seem to appease anyone's boredom.

"As you all can see, hopefully, this is raw magica contained by in form. In other words, it's as alive as any one of us here," Shimmer continued, her hand gesturing at the raised sword that proudly glowed. "It's rare to acquire such artifacts, for the most exquisite and powerful magic are as such. Magic with a mind is capable of performing beyond human will, the one thing that limits magical strength in the first place."

"How do we know if it's living or not, eh?" Ruck demanded, his arms folded to await an answer.

"Because of this," Shimmer replied, her right palm glowing before snapping her fingers. A great blue aura engulfed the room, like cosmos replacing the ceiling and millions of tiny stars dancing about. One white light stood amongst the rest, one that glowed so bright and large that it was unmistakable what it was. It even moved at times to bounce between the other miniscule orbs.

"Just by its sheer size, it's quite easy to identify the living magica. But if you're still reluctant about the whole thing, let me further my point." Shimmer thrust her right palm forward, her other being used as a means of conducting and navigating. The white orb grew in mass, its details all the more clear. Inside of its seemingly definite form, waves rippled across the surface with some spots glowing more than others. Though, one spot glowed the most, one that was a of a heavenly golden light, blended in with a marble white mantle. It was the heart. Omni's heart.

"See how it beats?" Shimmer asked wondrously, her own amazement shown. "It thumps just like our own hearts. Moving, flourishing, overcoming, and perhaps devouring." She shook her head, as the students murmured. "This is a parasite whose only existence is to feed on others. At this very moment, it is eating up untamed magica scattered around the air, an invisible spectrum that we cannot see; however, I brought it out just to show you how large and infinite it is. We have yet to explore the depths of this wonder, but for now we'll have to stick with what we know."

The mirage disappeared into nothingness. A normal ceiling was returned that came as a relief. There were too many orbs to look at, all the details impossible to grasp. It was art that would take centuries to spot every little speck and particle within.

"We're lucky that we have a real exhibit before us. I myself have not seen this ever, so I'm as amazed as you all," Shimmer said, her eyes narrowed toward the raised sword. Seval slowly let it drift downward, surprised. He did not expect Omni to be such a thing, more so to have an actual beating heart.

Seval was stricken by not delight but worry. Omni was a parasite, as coined by Shimmer, its existence growing on its own. In many ways, it was a wild species, soon to overpower what's in its way. That just happened to be Seval, the first barrier in Omni's path.

"You can take your seat now, Seval," Shimmer allowed, giving him a curt nod. But he had questions, or at least one in particular:

"How can I stop it?"

Shimmer's confident smile fell under siege to turn into a despairful frown.

"I don't know. You'll just have to stay strong." She returned her smile. "Just know that you're not alone. We're come to your aid when problems arise." Seval optimistically accepted her response before returning to his seat. All the eyes in the room were on him, or at least his sword. He felt another weight press down against him, one that was uncertain and unpredictable.

"You'll be alright, okay?" Marien assured him, her eyes meeting his own seriously.

"I hope so," he replied. He knew this was probably not a big deal. But the churning of his stomach, the nervosities of his mind, they all said otherwise. He couldn't help but feel scared of his future, his undecidable fate.

"Cheer up for once. Live today without worrying of potential hazards and roadblocks in the future. What would be the point of life then?" She laid out her hands on the table, one stacked over another flatly. "We'll get to the bottom of what happened last night, and we'll feel like heroes." When Seval faintly cracked a smile, she had already won. "See? It's not that hard. You just have to think of the positives."

"Alright, you won me over," Seval admitted, his mood quite uplifted.

"I know. Why else would I be talking to you?" Marien said, before directing her focus onto Shimmer. She really understood people and how they could react. It was why she spoke so fluently and smoothly all the time. Like a true noble.

"Thanks," Seval muttered sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Marien responded, somehow able to hear his whispering. He postured himself in utmost surprise, his jaw agape. He had thought he was so slick with how low he spoke. Apparently not.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Marien sitting all high and mighty with her legs crossed over another and her hands clasped together regally. Now he knew she could hear more than he could anticipate, so it wasn't safe to whisper any longer. It wouldn't be a surprise if she could hear his thoughts.

"So . . . I'd like to take the opportunity to give some news regarding the academy," Shimmer announced, her hands nestled in front of her waist. "There will be special apprenticeships given to those found worthy. So far, only one person has been found, which is quite the honor." She fell into silence to invoke a period of suspense. Her eyes darted from person to person, not a clear target in mind. Until they stopped right on Marien.

"Somebody has taken quite an interest in you, Marien," Shimmer went on, her eyes flicking above Marien's head.

"That seems to be the case, yes," a new voice, quite rough and slithery like Narx's, said, everybody turning their heads toward it.

A figure clad in a black cloak that stretched from head to toe stood against a wall. He had his face bent downward, so the hood concealed all of it. Two ears poked out of it, clearly marking that he was an elf. His arms were folded across his strict cloak that had very few loose ends, with hands that gripped the sleeves.

"I'd prefer to go someplace else everyday. I can train you in ways that you can't even dream of in this dull academy." Shimmer furrowed her brow at the description, tapping her heel against the floor. "What do you say?"

Seval shifted his eyes onto Marien and saw a great deal of wonder. She really desired to undergo such training. Then again, there was also a faint hesitation behind the curtain of her eyes. If she did this, she would have to embark on a new life, leaving behind her old one. Of course she kept some aspects of it, but it would change for the most part.

"I . . ." Marien shot Seval an utterly lost look, until she sighed. "I'll do it."

The rogue lifted his head up, showing beading dark green eyes reminiscent of bushes. He kept a frown, though there were some signs of happiness.

"Let's begin, then," he declared, before pushing himself off the wall to make his way toward Marien. "I'm Lorinax the Ranger, a Seeker of the Shadows. You may just call me Mr. Harruin, though." He shook hands with the excited Marien, and they were swift accomplices. Then they fled the room. Just like that, Seval was left in the dust. All alone and forgotten.

Before falling into a fit of depression that would have him dip his head down for the rest of the day and only think of sorrowful, rejected thoughts, relief arrived in the nick of time.

"I'll fill her spot when she's gone, don't worry," Arena promised Seval, so he felt tons better. He wasn't going to be alone after all.

"I appreciate that!" he replied, a bit too loudly, so he quieted down to a whisper. "Thanks." Arena nodded with a warm smile and twisted her body back into its normal position. Seval looked to his right, frowning that the chair beside him was empty. Life wasn't going to be the same, at least the periods that Marien wasn't around.

"Well, I'm sure you'll all be picked one of these days. Just not now," Shimmer said, the topic being changed. "So, let's continue where we left off, shall we?" Everybody groaned as she made more marks on the board. For the next hour so, they learned about the core elements of magica and its first discovery. Seval didn't care much about it, since he was distracted the whole time. He was quite bummed out.

Second class already started after Shimmer dismissed everyone. The last one out, Seval could see her claw at her sleeves. He immediately looked the other way, unable to provoke her.

Seval suffered the same treatment as before. He sat alone and didn't know what to do. Whatever Yvahen was teaching made no sense at all. Luckily he had outside aid that could take care of any tests or knowledge questions. For that, he just wasted all his time staring out into space, all the sweet and complex words of Yvahen flying by.

He was spoken to several times before realizing class was over. For half an hour. He missed lunch, to top off everything, and Yvahen was quite disappointed. Dipping down his head, he made his way to the next class, his punishment set of not eating anything.

Then came the longest, harshest, and worst class of his whole life. It all started with Seval walking over to his square, just by himself. He was approached by a confused Fury, who eyed him for a while.

"Where's ya partner, eh? Ya can't do this alone!" Fury demanded, as Seval nervously fell into a clumsy stance.

"I . . . Marien's doing something else today," Seval replied, his hands excessively shaking behind his back. Fury shrugged off the excuse before taking his place inside the square. He tossed his mace aside, cracking his gauntlets.

"No big worries, I shall train ya myself!" Fury decided, amd squared up his gauntlets defensively. "Give me ya best shot! Don't hold back, either, for the old dwarf strategy won't work on me."

"But . . . you're an old dwarf," Seval said, unable to even picture himself fighting the champion whose size didn't matter in the slightest. Fury snorted and bumped his gauntlets together loudly to startle Seval.

"Now! Or I'll come at ya instead!"

"Okay!" Seval exclaimed back, stricken by fear of the possibility. He immediately ran in on the dwarf for a brainless body push. It didn't work at all. All Seval got was a bloody nose and a welt across the back of his right hand. To make matters worse, he had fallen to scratch his knees up.

"Oi! What type of an excuse of an attack was that?" Fury barked right into Seval's ear.

"Sor . . . sorry sir," Seval responded, before getting whacked in the back of the head.

"Ya don't say sorry in this class! Ya show it!" Fury mandated, forcing the boy up himself with unmatched strength a dozen of workers would possess. "I see ya are hopeless with those wee fists." He snatched up his mace to invoke a frightened state upon Seval. "Weapon to weapon. Show me how that weapon works."

"Are you sure . . .?" Seval asked, with the knowledge that he would win in a landslide. Fury didn't seem to be bothered.

"Ye! Do something useful fer once!"

Seval hardened his grip onto his sword at the statement. For once? This dwarf had no idea who he was talking to. Seval had done plenty, so this was a downright insult. It was time for proper respect to be given. He wasn't about to be kicked into the mud by a dwarf.

"As ya wish," Omni replied amusedly, his smile hidden behind his gleaming sword. He took one step forward, another soon following in a mocking state. As he neared the dwarf, he widened his smile to the edges of his face, swinging his sword left to right with a loud whoosh in its wake. A trail of white flames rested in the air, no other sounds in existence. All fighting had stopped, all eyes were on the pair.

"Ya hit like a begotten orc," Fury said, with a strain. When the white flames cleared the air, he could be seen panting on the spot. Smoke arose off his mace, which was burnt in some places from the single impact. Already he was sweating and on the brink of collapse. Omni could laugh up a storm at how pathetic his opponent was, compared to other foes he had demolished.

"Comparing me to an orc is quite an insult," Omni commented, disappointed. He shook his head as he trotted around Fury in a semicircle. "Would you like a break? I see you're quite tired. Maybe it's your bedtime? Or perhaps it's time to retire? You're but an old, worthless sack of meat after all. Your story has come to a close." Omni balled up his free fist, the red ruby gleaming with all the light in the world. He kept his smile wide and strong to taunt Fury until his death.

"Ya haven't heard the true story of me. It's without an ending because I never die! I'm immortal!" Fury exclaimed angrily, before charging a dissatisfied Omni. The two clashed their weapons over and over, neither making ground. Then again, Omni was just testing limits. He could so easily demolish the frail dwarf before him. In the snap of a finger. Easy as that.

But the dwarf had endurance. His attacks wouldn't falter, as they felt like they got stronger. Omni couldn't help but nod at the efforts. Though he wouldn't stop snapping his sword in all the places they needed to be. That slow mace was never going to touch a hair on Omni. Not even a breath.

"Okay, time's up," Omni decided, jabbing the mace with his left hand to dent it in half. It was now rendered useless. "It was a fatal mistake to call upon a duel with me. To go unpunished would be too unfair for those that made the same mistake as you." He chortled and stalked toward the unarmed dwarf, like a lion about to kill its prey. All the while, Fury kept his stance and steaming fists raised. He was one hell of a tough wall to break.

"Can't one of ya disarm this fiend? What have ya even been doing in those classes of yours? Come on!" Fury requested, his confidence still intact as Omni got closer and closer. Until he halted right before the small dwarf, a towering giant himself. He stood up in the clouds, able to clutch the Sun and Moon as his own. To break them apart by his will. He was the judge and jury whose decisions have already been reached. All that was left was the finishing touch, the enforcer of the decision. The executioner and the execution.

"Hold your head high and maybe I won't purposefully miss a clean kill," Omni stated, reeling his sword back to his side. His eyes burned like coals, his smile showing red teeth. He was but a shadow in omnipotent light cast by his sword. Ashes and cinders popped onto the ground, drifting slowly and majestically downward. It was the role of Death taken into artificial hands. Surely it was just a way of speeding up things.

"Griar Me Trulo Shans Reine."

Omni puffed a heavy breath as if he had been struck across the cheek. He staggered backward, the light around him fading into cold nothingness. His eyes set on one target and one alone. Everything else was engulfed in darkness, everything but that shining light that dared to stand up against its rightful master. It stood like moonlight with a silver crown that sparkled like an ocean at night.

"You fight like a coward. At range. At safety. You're sucking on a teat." Omni anchoring himself upon his sword, so he wouldn't be dragged into the swarming abyss behind him. "Face me like a true warrior. Face me like we're but true adversaries to death!"

"Know your allegiance well, Guiad. Pick your . . ." The elf was about to go on with her stupid rant, but Omni had other plans. He reached out into the darkness with his red-light engulfed hand, a red claw gripping the elf from her neck down. Slowly but surely he pulled her into him, his sword ready for a quick plunge to the heart.

"You speak at a range, you attack at a range. How cowardly can one be? Hah!" Omni fell into hysterical laughter as his heart began to die out on him. He felt cold darkness seep into his new wounds, a heavy weight bringing him down into the void below. There wasn't much time left. He had to finish her off now.

"Griar Me Trulo . . ." Her mouth shut on its own, Omni's right hand propelling and conducting all of it. He knew that if she recited the same spell again, he was done for. But she didn't. Those words were powerful enough on their own, but her? She was just a calf, so weak that the strongest spell couldn't do what it was made for. So weak that she was going to die at the most advantageous position available. Ontop of the highest peak where snow and clouds hid her. No longer.

"I really hope you're the only one that can hold me down. I really do," Omni continued, his eyes widening as the elf came closer and closer to the tip of his sword. Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten. Five. So close, so close that he knew he had won. He knew he was undefeatable. His rise was now.

Sit down! Stay down! I'm your master! Seval screamed inside of Omni, just before the blade could end that miserable elf's life. Everything seemed to freeze and the elf wouldn't move any further. She levitated just mere inches away from a certain death. All because of that stupid voice.

"It's pointless! Give it up! You know it's inevitable!" Omni desperately exclaimed, as he attempted to thrust his sword further. It wouldn't budge. He was stuck in a precarious position, his feet about to be swept into the cold waves of the abyss. There he would have to wait. Patience, patience. Perhaps it was necessary.

Not now. Not. Now, another voice assured Omni into making a decision, so he just let his sword drop out of sight, out of mind. He gave the struggling elf one last smile before falling right through a hole. A one way ticket into nothingness. It would take time. Precious time. But it was too early. He had to wait. Soon, very soon. A coup d'etat of the ages. An assassin's dream realized. Must it be that long?