Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Phel stood in a relaxed pose, casually listening to what the two commoner boys were saying.

"So? How was your class with the nobles?" the giant redhead asked, grinning dumbly.

'This must be Arza… son of Aran. He's as gigantic as they rumors say,' Phel noted.

"Nothing much. Some talk about Imagination Casting, then some about its applications, and then the Chairman gave us this puzzle book," the commoner boy, Evin said and brought out a small book, "Told us it would help with casting."

Phel wasn't sure, but Evin sounded unimpressed by the ordeal.

'Well, since he knows how to cast with such precision and grace, it wouldn't be surprising if he found such basic knowledge unimpressive. Not to mention the puzzle book.'

"Show it to me," Arza said, trying to snatch the book away from Evin.

Evin deftly kept the book away from Arza's reach, "I can't show it to you. I'm sure I'm going to get killed or arrested for spreading knowledge I'm not allowed to spread."

Phel knew that the puzzle book didn't contain anything that warranted death or prison time. They were simply exercises for the mind, and aside from some puzzles containing some lesser runes, there wasn't anything scandalous in it. Probably.

"What else happened there?" Arza asked, excitedly glancing towards Decatur. "Did they hurt you in any way?"

"Nothing much happened," Evin said with a sigh. "And no. They didn't shove me into a corner and start beating me like you're probably imagining. Stop looking at them like that."

"They must've done something," Arza insisted.

Phel was a bit offended at the boy's accusations, but could only shrug it off as the occasional brutishness of a commoner. He knew they all weren't like that, but he did know that some were rather hard to converse with. His father explained to him that commoners often exaggerated matters due to boredom, and reminded Phel to take their words with a grain of salt.

"No, they haven't," Evin sighed again.

'He really doesn't act like how Decatur described him to be, huh?' Phel thought.

Phel and the other noble students did not participate in the Opening Ceremony held for the commoner students' families, as was custom. Only Decatur was needed to be there as the Representative of the year. But something must've went terribly wrong at the event, as Phel saw the boy being carried back to his rooms at the Academy Dormitories in a disheveled state, some parts of his hair singed at the ends.

When he came to, he spoke of a maniac commoner who tried to murder him in broad daylight, swearing upon his ancestors to rid this evil once and for all. But three days ago, Decatur must've had a change of heart, as he stopped talking about having the commoner killed, only speaking of putting him in his place.

"Well, tell me what the classroom was like?" Arza insisted.

"I found myself practically alone on one side of the room, while the barons and viscounts sit around their leader, Decatur, like they're some kind band of covens. And they sit there, diligently trying to kill me with their ancient, witch-crafting stares," Evin chuckled. "I suppose it's quite fitting that there were 13 of them in total."

Phel found himself laughing at the joke, despite himself.

'At least one of them isn't such a brute,' he chuckled, finding himself more interested in the black-haired boy.

Decatur noticed it from his side and asked.

"What happened?"

The words forced Phel to pull back his attention from Evin and Arza's conversation. "I just heard something funny," Phel shook his head.

"Tell me."

"I'm sure you won't find it funny."

"Alright, then. But who were you listening to, Phelippe?" Decatur asked.

Phel didn't wish for his childhood friend to find trouble with him, so he simply pointed a chin at Bellaslayn and the Vice-Chair talking seriously to themselves. Phel focused on their talk for a second and could hear they were talking about Enchanting oneself with Ivelisi.

"They don't seem to be having that much fun, or exchanging jokes for that matter?" Decatur asked.

"Which is why I said you wouldn't find it funny," Phel grinned. "It's a dumb thing."

"Is that so? Well, at least you seem to be having fun," Decatur shrugged and focused his attention to his gathering of covens, as Evin so casually described.

Phel looked around Decatur and he really did see the resemblance. The sons and daughters of barons were fussing about Decatur, while the latter reveled in the attention and was speaking of how he managed to create a spell of Lumiaris. Phel was sure that even if Decatur started talking about ancient midnight rituals and sacrifices, the rest would still be nodding along with a thoughtful expression.

Well, it was a natural thing, as most of these noble families' lands fell under the rule of Decatur's mother, the Countess of Greater Ankelite. Their families must have repeatedly instructed these noble students to not offend Decatur in any way or form, and agree with his whims no matter what they thought of it inside.

Phel's own family fell under the lady's control, but since the Phel spent most of his childhood together with Decatur, he could enjoy a more casual friendship with the Countess' son. It also helped that Phel was an heir to the Narke family, a distinguished family ruled by Viscount Perre Narke, Phel's father.

Phel was one of three students coming from a viscount family in this room. One other was Byron Landon – the tall, buff youth that shadowed Decatur. Phel was never close with him, so aside from the fact that the Landon family was inseparably loyal to the Carew family, he knew close to nothing about Byron.

The other was Bellaslayn Borna. A veritable prodigy among the batch of young mages in this year, a celebrity among the nobles of Greater Ankelite. The only reason she wasn't as famous as her skills suggested her to be, was because of the distinctly foul attitude she held against those of noble birth. Phel even heard that the girl was considered to be tested for the Arcvallen Academy, the pinnacle of education in the kingdom, but due to her rebellious nature, she was refused at the last second.

Some of the barons' heirs confronted her regarding this… and they quickly realized the rumors were true. Most of the time, Bellaslayn regarded them as no more than air. If they managed to annoy her enough, they would receive a dehumanizing glare from her sharp eyes and perhaps a small demonstration of her skills and capability to hurt.

Phel himself tried his best to steer clear from the girl's radar, only interacting with her by upholding the bare minimum of social etiquette.

Thinking of her, an idea came to Phel's mind. He poked Decatur's side and whispered to him. "I wonder what would happen if Bellaslayn were to combat with Evin? One of them was someone who challenged noble society in general and the other was someone who challenged an Earl's future."

Decatur also seemed to find the thought amusing, as a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"That would be a spectacle to see…" he murmured darkly.

Phel suddenly felt like he did something he shouldn't have. But before he realized what exactly he did wrong, the Vice-Chair clapped his hands twice to garner everyone's attention on himself.

"Let's begin the class."

The bulky Northerner had everyone in the class (which was only 20 students, 13 of them being nobles), dress up into a more comfortable wear, and then had them pair with someone closest to their builds. Decatur was matched with a fidgety baron of the same height – Phel felt quite sorry for the poor soul; Byron was matched with Arza; and as fate would have it, Phel was matched with Evin.

"Good day," Phel took the initiative to greet, despite it being a slight faux pas in the eyes of other nobles. Commoners were expected to greet first in a meeting with nobles.

"To you as well," Evin replied politely. Phel didn't notice any distaste or some other kind of excessive emotion from Evin as well.

'He really doesn't act like Decatur describes him to be…'

He thought the commoner boy wouldn't have the mind to be courteous, but so far, he was doing a better job than Bellaslayn.

The two helped each other stretch and warm up, and then the Vice-Chair told them of what he would teach them during the course. There would be three classes on combat training in a week, two of them will be on close combat, while the latter would be dedicated to long range spells.

"But first, we must establish a hierarchy among you. Decide who's the strongest among you and create a ranking," the Northerner said. "We all like to say we live in a civil world, where all problems are solved by proper communication. It's a beautiful ideal, but as things stand, it is but an ideal."

"Similar to how Mage Society works after you graduate from the Academy, the ones higher up in the ranking shall receive more privileges, and they'll have the right to pick first when it's time to give away World Shards or other items. The ones on the bottom can only receive the leftovers, and sometimes, they might not receive anything at all."

Phel nodded with a sigh. It was a system that supported the ones already at the top, leaving little chance for those stuck on the bottom. But Phel knew it was necessary. He was sure that the kingdom would take on a different approach if it was possible, but World Shards and other such resources for mages were rare. Mages were also a rare breed, but the kingdom simply couldn't let themselves waste precious materials on the less talented ones.