The four promptly returned to their rooms before the gates shut for the night. The beauty of the sunset still lingered in the back of their minds, and none of them spoke during the walk back.
Their bodies ached and sleep immediately came over them as soon as their heads hit the pillow. They slept peacefully that night as they forgot about the competition coming up in a few days.
The crowd outside the academic building only grew larger as time passed. Students hurled in to see their position on the tournament bracket, and stayed there until the teachers shooed them away.
There were two brackets displayed on the board. The smaller one, which had only 8 participants, was for students ranked High-Gold or above. The other, much larger bracket, hosted nearly 64 students ranking from High-Silver to Mid-Gold.
The matches in the larger bracket would be held over the course of 5 days.
The smaller bracket matches would start the day after the finals. The judges and referee would be changed for these matches. Special guests would be invited to witness the finals and semi-finals of both the brackets.
Some of the second year students who passed the board were stunned at the amount of students in the smaller bracket. Since only the first year students were allowed to enter the tournament, the fact that 8 of them were above High-Gold was quite shocking.
The previous year only had 5 students above High-Gold, but the lack of numbers was made up for by their power. All 5 of these students were Mid-Broken Diamond or higher, and were easily some of the strongest students in all of Zychs. The second year students of that time were no match for these 5, and the same went for the third years. These five reached legendary status amongst all of Zodia and were praised for their abilities by many including the king himself.
All across Zychs they were known as The Five - a rudimentary yet powerful name given by the other students.
The only ones capable of defeating them were those in the 4th year. All 4th year students were ranked higher than High-Broken Diamond, and could easily challenge some of the teachers.
"Well. That's surprising!" Desmond said out loud as he found his name on the smaller bracket. His first opponent, a boy by the name of Sebastian Weles, was a quiet student who sat in the back of the class. The two had never spoken before, but Desmond had noticed the absent-minded boy sitting silently in class.
Sebastian had an air of mystery surrounding him and that, along with his good looks, made him quite popular within the class. But the boy never spoke to anyone during the classes or breaks. No one had seen him on campus after classes got over and those that tried following him lost him soon after he walked through the gates.
It was time for Desmond to scout out his opponent since he had nothing better to do. The boy's powers were a mystery to Desmond, so he had to make sure he was able to find out everything he possibly could.
While all the students crowded outside the building, Desmond alone walked in through the large doors. The unsettled dust rose in the air, shaping the path of the sun's rays that illuminated it. The high ceiling was held up by equidistant pillars on the east and west sides. The shadow of these pillars extended all over the western wall, obscuring most of the art pieces that hung there.
The delightful chatter coming from outside was a glaring contrast to the sulky atmosphere within the empty hallways of the building. Desmond felt his breathing stagger as the lack of human presence got to his head.
Being a direct descendant of the king was harder than many thought. Despite what it looked like, Desmond had not lived a trouble-free life. He was the only child his parents had conceived, and the responsibility of continuing the bloodline lay solely on him. He, just like Ray, had been thrown into training from the moment his powers manifested. While Ray had an understanding mother and a caring teacher by his side, Desmond wasn't lucky enough to have anyone like that in his life.
Being the grandson of the king meant that Desmond was expected to rise up to greatness, and his path was laid down before he was even born. He didn't have any choice but to become a powerful warrior, even though he had a keen interest in other aspects surrounding magic.
He was never given the opportunity to do what he wanted since that would "sully the king's name." His aspirations; his dreams, were all meaningless since he was born into the king's family.
Desmond would rush back to his room and bury himself in the large, fluffy pillows every day after training ended. Sometimes he would cry, sometimes he would lie there silently.
As he grew older he tried impressing his parents with his skills in order to quench that thirst for attention. He was sure they would be surprised when he revealed to them that he had gotten through Broken Diamond. He was so sure.
But neglect was the only thing that he received. Breaking through such a high rank was enough to fortify his position as one of the strongest up and coming mages in all of Zodia. But Broken Diamond wasn't high enough to please them. It was nothing in front of the greatness his father and grandfather had achieved.
"It isn't fair!" Desmond would shout as his pillows muffled his wails. The only thing comforting him now was the artificial softness of his pillows.
All of the neglect lead to a craving for attention. A craving that consumed Desmond's mind every time he stepped outside his mansion. A craving so bad that he went as far as to humiliate others if it meant a bunch of people would follow him around.
The empty hallways triggered that craving once again. A ghastly silence invaded the classrooms that Desmond passed by. The ground floor looked like it had been abandoned years ago, but the floors above were full of life. Desmond was beginning to get nervous, his legs shaking and his anxiety shooting through the roof. He needed people around him at all times. He didn't want to go back to the days where he had to rush to the embrace of his pillows every few hours. He wanted to put those days behind him.
His fear would have seemed irrational to anyone else. He had already crossed low- Broken Diamond by the age of 16 and had a successful future lined up for him. He was even the king's grandson and therefore had riches beyond belief. To the citizens of Zodia, Desmond had everything. But only he knew that he barely had anything.
To anyone looking in from the outside, Desmond had no reason to complain for the life he was given.
Desmond expected his classroom to be empty like the others, but to his surprise a pair of glaring eyes dug into him as he walked in. "Oh hey, Ray!" Desmond said sarcastically. Since Ray was here, he needed to hold up his farce of an emotionally stable person. He needed others to believe that he was strong for him to feel strong.
Ray obviously didn't answer, so Desmond looked around the room, scanning thoroughly in hopes of someone else being present. He had no qualms against Ray and completely understood why the boy reacted the way he had. It was Desmond's fault for annoying Ray the other day, and he understood that. That sinister craving of his had resurfaced as he saw people leave his side, and he had said something insensitive in the heat of the moment. He accepted his situation and forgot about trying to gain Ray's trust.
As he looked around, his eyes landed on the last row of benches in the class where one student sat with their head on the desk. Desmond smiled cunningly.
"Well hello there," he said softly before slowly walking up to the student.
The craving had taken over once again.