"Avatars!" the guard boomed, capturing their attention. "This is your fellow Representative. I do not know his name so I can not tell it to you. Communicate, and learn more about each other. Meister Grengo will soon be here."
He then turned to his left and marched out of the room, slamming the door after him. Spheris's mind had begged the guard not to leave him with those Gentlefolks kids, but now that the guard had left, he wished the ground would open and swallow him up.
The four of them were staring at him as silence capsuled the room. The tall muscly one with white hair had a more aggravated inquisitive stare, the other girl with short hair and boy on glasses had a more curious one, while the blonde girl's stare was just straight up lividity.
Spheris didn't speak much, in fact, he didn't say anything at all. With his hands folded, he walked towards the chairs, hoping to find somewhere to sit away from their intrusive gazes.
But as he got closer to the chairs, the taller boy with white hair like snow got in his way, sneering down at him. "What do you think you're doing?"
Spheris, noticing that his eyes were only seeing the boy's neck, lifted his gaze at him and they both engaged in a glare down. "I was going to take a seat, but I guess right now I'm standing."
"Heh!" Snow-Hair let out an unimpressed laugh. "So you think you're funny? Huh... Heathian?"
He said the word 'Heathian' with a high intonation as though he expected Spheris to be automatically hurt by it and fall into tears. But it seemed that the guard was right, you can not be hurt by it, if you acknowledge that it's what you are.
Spheris raised a brow at Snow-Hair. "Do you really have to do this? Is this necessary?"
The boy looked really annoyed about something, it couldn't only just be because he was Heathian. Spheris's best guess was that it had something with him replacing Bastopher, son of the First Wing Duke.
"Alright guys, let's not do anything stupid here," The boy in glasses spoke up. "Meister Grengo could come here any second."
Spheris eyed him. He was a bit more composed than the rest, his dark brown hair was long enough to reach his neck and in an inspired style, the hair waved down on his face, concealing a bit of his right eye. He wore an expensive brown coat with red and gold designs, an expensive shirt and a tie. Gentlefolk fashion had always seemed weird to Spheris, especially the Royal Gentlefolks, but this one was way overboard.
"He doesn't deserve to be here after what he did to Bastopher," Snow-Hair said.
"I'm a Heathian, remember?" Spheris chimed. "I don't deserve to be here at all."
"Okay, enough!" Eyeglasses ordered. From the silence that followed, it seemed like Eyeglasses also had the most authority within the four. Snow-Hair, in Spheris's opinion, was the least smartest but tough enough to let pride of his strength take all the space common sense couldn't take in his head. The other girl was still very silent, watching the event play out, she seemed to be the melancholic one of the team.
As for Blondie, who was still angrily gaping at him, he had no idea what her part in the group was.
"So these are the children who are supposed to destroy The Abyss?"
The five of them turned in surprise to see a dark tall Mage in a black and blue eyes robe adorned with intricate silver embroidery. The four Royal Gentlefolks hurriedly took a seat, leaving Spheris standing like a gander and staring at the enigmatic Mage.
'Did he just appear out of thin air?' Spheris thought to himself.
Meister Grengo acknowledged him with a nod. "You must be the Heathian thief from Oldracken. Quite the pandemonium you've caused on not just the town, but the entire First Wing. Everyone is talking about you." The Mage approached further. "The boy with the raven. The Raven Thief."
He placed the giant weathered book he was holding on the table. "Seems like you've earned yourself a name."
Spheris didn't know how to respond or what to say. For the first time in a while, he found himself utterly intimidated, puny under the imposing aura the Mage carried. Was this what it meant to be a Summoner Mage? Was this the power that came with it? The respect and authority that you receive from just your presence?
If this was it, then Spheris wanted it. He wanted it greatly. He wanted to be feared and respected the very same way he feared and respected this man that he had just met. And that want became a need very quickly.
"Why are you still standing?" The Mage asked him. He was close enough now, so close that Spheris could smell the Spellforce in him.
"I... I don't know," Spheris muttered.
"Take a seat, lad."
Spheris quickly obeyed. He looked around the tutorium. The Royal Gentlefolks were sitting in one line of chairs, a free chair was right next to Blondie, but Spheris would rather eat bricks than sit with her. And so he sat on the empty chair behind them, folding his hands as usual and waiting for the Mage to begin whatever this was meant to be.
Grengo, who had a satisfied smile on his face, walked back to the front of the tutorium and stood on the footpace. He gave them all glances of assessment before clearing his throat.
"Avatars? Some of you already know who I am, but for those that don't, my name is Meister Grengo Oradnobad. I am a Summoner Mage, and Summoner means that I have arrived at the highest level a Mage can be able to reach. I Summon gods, creatures, beings and entities from other realms with nothing but my bare hand and a Spell. Most of you already know what Summoner Mages are, but that was for those of you that don't."
Spheris wished he would just point him out already rather than using 'Those Of You That Don't'.
"The Convergence Ceremony is here once again, just like it is in every twenty-five years. And you are the chosen Avatars to represent the Five Celestials that protect the Continent."
Spheris heard Snow-Hair clear his throat sarcastically and mutter. "Some of us are." Then Blondie turned around to give him a quick glance, one that he caught immediately, causing her to look away.
"The Dukes have brought you here in the hopes that you can understand a little bit of what you're getting yourself into. To give yourself an idea of what awaits you in the nightmarish realm known as The Abyss." Grengo placed his hands behind him and highlighted from the footpace. "Because they think that you have a chance of surviving that hell hole."
Silence reigned, and everyone waited for what the Summoner Mage would say next.
"Well, I'm here to tell you that you do not!" the Mage declared.
Spheris's heart dropped. 'What the fuck?'