The sun was blazing and slowly sinking into the horizon. The sky was gold but its color was fading fast.
In agony, the scene of mounds of dirt form. A moody, deserted scene. Deserted with the exception of two boys wearing full green.
Julius and Yevian moodily picked carrots out of the ground, replanting them if they were untouched and yanking out strange purple worms if found.
They had been doing so for an hour.
Professor Zendow was so adamant about their punishment that the two had missed their last lesson of the day, Potioncraft just to lengthen their detention time.
After a bit of back and forth, Yevian and Julius concluded that the Glutos which had been blinded had no hope of ever seeing the light again.
From Professor Zendow's mad ramblings, they gathered that the Glutos were heavenly creatures and therefore lesser healing magic, in other words healing magic used by humans, would be deemed ineffective immediately.
Yevian sneakily attempted to use healing magic to cure the Glutos but was humbled swiftly.
Julius sighed awfully abruptly.
"Is this really what my life has come to?"
Yevian laughed heroically.
"Hah. Maybe if you looked at the light the shadows wouldn't look so meaninglessly dark."
Julius groaned.
"And where is this holy light of salvation waiting for me?"
Yevian pointed at the Glutos which was waiting behind them blindly.
No, quite literally blindly.
Yevian took a small break to cuddle the Glutos and to ruffle its flawless white feathers.
"Just look at this cutie."
He lifted it up. The fluffy golden sky resided behind the Glutos.
Julius squinted his eyes.
"I don't think you blinding a Glutos is an achievement."
Yevian froze up.
"W-well I didn't necessarily blind him."
Yevian stumbled strangely.
"Self-defense."
He found a wall to lean on. Self-defense. He had just been defending himself.
Julius coughed.
"Hoh? Why use a third-order spell then?"
He had grasped that third-order spells were far too dangerous for a Glutos' poor eyes.
Yevian felt a lump form in his throat.
"Those guys are lucky I didn't use a fourth-order. It wouldn't have ended so smoothly then."
Julius smirked, pulling out another carrot from the ground simultaneously.
"I wouldn't call this ending smooth."
He chuckled before a devious thought entered his mind.
"I mean does the Glutos even know that you're the one who blinded it?"
Yevian froze up once more.
He groomed his chin with a hand.
His eyes turned apprehensive.
"That's kinda dark."
Julius planted the carrot back in the ground.
"Mhm."
Yevian's mind paced back and forth as he scouted for a solution. Finally, an idea came. His face lit up.
"I know."
He spoke childishly and confidently.
"From this moment on I swear on my hind legs that I will cure this ball thing."
Julius grimaced.
"You do know that that's impossible right? Even if you reached the highest level or order of healing magic you wouldn't be able to save it."
Yevian tousled his silken hair soothingly.
"There are things out there far stronger than healing magic."
Julius raised his eyebrows sarcastically.
"And I'm sure you're going to obtain each and every one of them."
Yevian's atmosphere changed and solidified.
He grinned arrogantly.
"Give me a week. We'll see who's doubting then."
A bustling classroom. Its walls were painted an uneasy demented green. A group of around 30 students had been spread and seated on hard wooden seats that were packed behind perfectly aligned desks.
The students chatted freely and openly, due to the devoidance of a teacher in the room.
Two boys sat at the back, two you ought to be able to predict.
Julius tapped Yevian's shoulder humorously.
"It's been a week."
Yevian nodded slowly.
"Maybe."
It had indeed been a week since they had received their detention. They got 1 day off which they utilized by visiting an extremely old-fashioned arcade on the outskirts of Ruloy.
Julius smirked slyly.
"So. What new powers did you get? Fire-bending? Dragon-morphing? Super-strength?"
Yevian smiled mechanically.
"Well.. you know. When the dust settles and the weak men fall, it's not about the power. It's about the belief."
Yevian held his fist up in triumph, closing his eyes in bliss.
He spoke almost tearfully.
"And my belief is brighter than any Order of light magic."
Julius almost burst out laughing but he held himself back and asked a meaningful question.
"And how has your belief unblinded Jerry?"
Jerry was the name that Yevian had gifted to the Glutos.
Just as Yevian's mouth barked open, the door swung open. The entire class was silenced immediately.
There stood Professor Silver.
Now infamous among the students for giving out a record-breaking 27 detentions in the first week alone, he had gotten the most silent classrooms on record in Ruloy history.
He walked up to the front whilst holding a glorifying grimace on his face. The past week had been the peak of his teaching career. Not even learning Wind State had produced such wild and cheerful emotions within him.
He shuffled some documents before calling out to the class stoically.
"Morning students."
He slid few some of the documents in his hands before finding the perfect one.
"As some of you know, it has been a rather quiet first week at Ruloy. Just normal lessons and not even a speck of danger."
He sighed, it sounded in the ears of each and every student.
"But at the end of the day, Ruloy is a military school made to prepare for wars surrounding the danger of the Kingdom of White."
"That is why the authorities have found it of the utmost importance to get you all some real training. Tomorrow, each of you will be sent down to nearby dungeons with the intent to clear them. These dungeons will be at the bottom of the dungeon hierarchy and you will be supplied with military-grade artifacts to ensure your safety rather than an advisor of sorts."
"Issues like teams will be solved later on."
"Questions?"
3 students nervously raised their hands.
Silver acknowledged the one closest to him.
"Yes?"
The ginger boy who had been ruthlessly beaten by Vibra chirped up squeamishly.
"W-will we get hurt?"
Silver hissed looking down upon the boy.
"Next question."
The boy almost died from embarrassment.
A girl sent her hand flapping all over the air.
Silver acknowledged her next.
She had deep brown hair and a mole right in the center of her forehead.
"What are the rewards? And what is the point of said rewards?"
Silver smiled weakly.
He muttered lowly.
"Finally a question."
He cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
"The fastest team to clear their entire dungeon by breaking the core will earn 5 Orths per member. An Orth is a point that is added to your house as a whole."
"The purpose of an Orth is an obscure question. Right now I can only give you a small but useful silver lining of the Orths."
"The house that acquires the most Orths at the end of its cycle at Ruloy will head into the Orc war with an advantage."
"That was the sentence I was permitted to expose."
Another student rose a hand but Silver ignored them and continued spouting out information.
"Second place will have hidden benefits but rest assured that they will by no means surpass the benefits of the first."
"By any means, you should all give your very best when it comes to this Ruloy academic event. After all, it will be your lives that get affected by this change."
Yevian popped a hand up.
Silver nodded at him.
"Speak."
Yevian cleared his throat with a cheeky smile plastered onto his face.
"Professor Silver, are there any other events to do with these Orths upcoming in our stay at Ruloy?"
Silver took in a deep breath of dusty air.
"Indeed there are events to do with Orths upcoming. The easiest one will be the Enemy test but I am not permitted to spill information on that. Just remember that when all seems well..."
"The enemy is near."
Yevian shivered, whispering into Julius' ear sneakily.
"Scary."
Julius sighed. He had written all the information that had just been given out on a note of paper.
{Notes}
{Dungeon Event tomorrow, team making unsure.}
{Enemy event. All is well, enemy is near?}
{Orths=very good.}
Professor Silver began reading out the notices of the day.
Julius thought back on his last week.
It was surprisingly uneventful. Other than some unpleasant encounters with Vibra's gang not much had happened.
Since Ruloy was a military school they held beddings. Julius shared a dorm with the rest of the Lighthause members. There was less than he had assumed.
The beds were like bunk beds and to enter the dorm room all one had to do was knock twice.
People kept getting locked out when the password was anything harder.
Julius almost fainted on the spot when someone from the Blade house accidentally entered because they thought it was the infirmary.
Silver finished the day's notices and Julius awakened.
He clenched his fists.
And the hours zapped by until the school dungeon competition was no further than a soothing night away from Julius.
He covered himself in sheets carefully as he slid himself into his top bed from a bunk. Yevian was below him, snoring lightly.
Julius slapped his pillow over Yevian, muffling his snores.
And then he fell to the same old tight grip of sleep.
AT: I sped up pacing here because I really don't want to spend 10 more chapters on basic school stuff. Expect a slightly better splonk of pacing from now on. (Better meaning faster.)