Anton entered the classroom, half-asleep. He took a look around the room, which was shaped like a small, dome theater. in the teacher's table was a crystal orb, adorned with golden bars that coiled around it, and inside those crystal orbs, a blue flame was burning, giving off a faint gleam.
He picked the seat closest to the teacher, and put his backpack on the top of it, diverting his attention back to the orb. He sat down in the teacher's chair, and plopped his head next to the orb, and stared at it, or rather, at the flickering flame inside of it.
It was contained like a bird in a cage; the flame brushed against the crystal edges of the orb, as if trying to escape. Anton stayed still, observing the peculiar artifact.
He could feel the light warmth of the flames, which felt like a comforting, soothing breeze from the sea. It felt familiar, somehow, as if the warmth was always there for him, as if it was hugging him. He extended his hand in direction of the orb, and the flame brushed against the part of the orb closest to him, getting stronger as his fingers got closer. But as soon as Anton touched the orb, the flame completely dissipated. Anton felt a shiver creep up his spine, as he felt one of his senses numb down.
He sighed, and removed his hand, making the flame appear again.
He kept staring at the flame and fell asleep.
--- --- ---
[It will soon be time…]
The distant voice sounded out to him.]
[You, child, must awaken soon enough.]
The voice boomed and echoed inside his mind, and he opened his eyes to find himself in impossibly large darkness, when suddenly, a thundering sound swept over him, shaking his very being.
He looked at the direction that the sound was coming from, and saw it.
A monstrous clock, bigger than any mountain that could have existed, made out of gold and brass. The millions of gears and clockworks turned and ticked, as the gigantic pointers stood still, titans of metal basking in glory.
[The gift you shall receive is already with you, and should you realize it at the correct time, well…]
One of the pointers moved, resonating into the roaring sound that shook him once again.
[You shall see for yourself, as shall I.]
"Gift? What gift?" Anton pleaded, trying to converse with the mysterious voice. "What are you telling me? Who are you?"
[I have not the time to tell you, but listen closely, young child.]
Anton was confused but did his best to listen intently.
[Follow your heart, trust your instincts, and history shall not repeat as it once did.]
"It won't repeat? But what happened before?"
[Your world, it-]
Another of the booming sounds echoed through the nothingness, and the distant voice trembled.
[Our time runs out. Trust yourself, child of time.]
"No! I have so many questions, I-" Anton felt his breath cut short, and saw the giant clock start falling into pieces, as the cogs and gears were sent out flying from the inside.
"No!"
--- --- ---
"No!"
Anton jolted awake, shouting and startling many of his classmates, who were settling down in the classroom.
"Hey there pal, are you okay?" A deep voice, almost a growl asked him from behind. Anton turned to look at it, only to find a floating hat, with nothing under it. "Haven't been sleeping well here, have we?"
Anton eyed the floating hat with curious eyes and nodded. He indeed hasn't been able to sleep properly, he found it hard to settle down with all the mana in the air.
"It gets better with time." The hat said. Anton felt a pat on his shoulder, but strangely enough, nothing was there. "A month and two, give or take."
"A month?" Anton groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Thank you for the heads up."
The hat nodded. "Aye, don't mention it. Name's Alvaro, I'm a Spectre."
Anton felt his hand being pulled, and then shaken. He politely nodded back at the Spectre.
"My name is, uhmn, Anton. A pleasure to meet you." Anton answered, his voice quaking. His brain went into overdrive, recognizing the name. (Ding!). Spectres were incredibly dangerous beings, invisible creatures who absorbed the mana of beings, killing them rapidly. They were usually incredibly hostile, and would roam the deserted parts of the Ruined Lands, taking lives of travelers.
"Worry not, aye? I am not like my uncivilized brothers, can you believe the lot called me a coward for learning how to speak?" The hat shook from side to side. "Anyways, the pleasure is mine, Anton kid."
'How would have they called him a coward without learning how to speak?' Anton quietly thought to himself.
The hat floated off to the deeper part of the classroom. Anton sat back in his chair, and took a look around. Many different kind of beings were taking the Manamancy class, it being a brand new path of study. Anton could spot several elves, a Urugham, a Shadow Demon, some different beasts that he could not recognize, and even a Pseudo-Dragon which was busy devouring a rather large piece of raw meat, which it had dragged into the classroom.
Anton sighed, and looked at the door vacantly, as more and more different students entered the room. Anton felt a bit lonely, as not a single human had entered the room yet, making him feel a bit like an outsider. And then a sensation filled him, one that he had some familiarity with now. The air grew saturated in the room, and a foreboding silence grew. All students stopped and took a look at the door.
And then entered a majestic eagle made out of blue fire, Anton could feel all of his senses exploding once again.
"Amir?" He quietly muttered to himself, trying to regain his focus. "Oh, he did say that he would meet me today."
The bird's azure flames roared and flared, as the form of an eagle transformed into a small fireball. The flame floated next to Anton.
"Greetings, Anton. I believe you may recognize me." The Blue Flames bellowed out in a deep, grand voice that still shook Anton to his core.
"A-Amir. I wouldn't be able to forget you." Anton said, bowing to the Kaedra. The rest of the class stared at the two.
"Excuse me, young Anton." Amir said, while floating to the center of the class.
"I shall skip the Alorian costume, and introduce myself to all of you. "I'm Amir, a Kaedra, as you must surely have noticed. I hope we have a bountiful year of learning together, and I also hope that my presence is not distracting enough as to stop any of you from paying attention in class."
The Shadow Demon that had entered before, lifted himself from his seat, filling the classroom with a sensation of dread.
Anton racked his brain for information about the Shadow Demon. (Ding!). Shadow Demons were part of the Demons race, powerful entities created through rituals which demanded blood sacrifice. Most Demons were chaotic beings, which would offer services or power in return of life force, in what would come to be known as 'Blood Contracts'. This particular species, Shadow Demons, were Demons that would manifest as moving spots of darkness. They were shaped like a black mist with two red, glowing eyes, but their true form was beast-like, the mist being an illusion created from their chaotic mana.
"Amir." The voice that rang out was dark. It held a growl quality to it, causing Anton to shiver. Just hearing the first word was like standing on the edge of an abyss, close to death.
"Another year studying alongside you. What a pleasure." The demon's voice was dripping with sarcasm and malice, as if it was only natural for it to speak in this manner. "I hope you have learned to control your aura better, or will that be a problem again?"
Amir's aura flared, and Anton felt his chest getting smashed in the pressure.
"Oh, Sha'tham. I'm sure it won't be a problem. Now can't you see you are scaring our fellow classmates? Show some restraint."
The demon snarled, and sat back down. Amir then returned to Anton's side, his aura dulling to the point it became imperceptible.
"Y-Your aura can be very scary, A-Amir" Anton tensely stated. Amir emitted that weird sound again, that Anton labeled as a laugh, but wasn't quite sure anymore.
"It's of no concern, young Anton. I can control it with some moderate effort. But alas, the professor hath- excuse me, has arrived in the class."
Anton looked around the room. Besides his classmates, which included three threatening beings, the professor was nowhere to be seen.
"Ah, he must be invisible to you. Here's an opportunity for your first lesson, young Anton, trust your mana sense. It's the most reliable tool you have.
Anton closed his eyes. He tried to feel the mana in the room, the slight energy flow that radiated from each and every living being. The mana sense was difficult to train or get used to; it felt much like an instinct, like sensing heat in the air. He took a deep breath, and concentrated. He felt the corrupted mana coming from the Shadow Demon, the extravagant mana from Amir, and the void mana from the Spectre.
And he felt a different kind of mana. It was pure and concentrated, as if someone had taken thousands of pure hrystals and refined them even further. He felt it coming from his front.
He opened his eyes. "I can feel his mana. This clean, pure mana, I've never felt anything like this before."
"You have done well, young Anton. It is, indeed, one of the purest manas I have felt in my years of living. This might prove to be interesting."
The door of the classroom slammed shut, by itself. The torches that filled the room, burning with neversmoke, suddenly put themselves out. The curtains on the windows all fell down at once, and the room would be at complete darkness, if not for Amir's azure glow, the Shadow Demon's crimson eyes, and the blue flame inside the crystal orb that sat in the teacher's desk.
The blue flame inside the crystal orb started to burn brighter. It blazed stronger and stronger, until it was occupying the entire orb. It was burning brighter and brighter, until it slowly started to die down. The flame then dissipated and changed into a lightning bolt, which leapt inside the glass orb, ricocheting on the walls.
The contents of the orb changed multiple times. From lightning, to water, to a white cloud, to a leaf that floated and grew, to flames of multiple different colors.
Then, the neversmoke torches lit up, filling the room with light again, and revealing a skeleton touching the orb. The skull of the skeleton had flames in its eye sockets, which burnt in a bright, purple color. It was dressed in black robes, which covered most of its body.
"Welcome, students." the skeleton said, a grand voice that soared across the classroom. "To Manamancy. I am professor Arthas."