When Yoel opened his eyes, he found himself sitting cross-legged on the spot where he had lost consciousness.
He remembered that the professor ran to his aid, but Yoel couldn't hear what he had been saying, and he certainly wasn't awake for the rest of the process.
What he was quite baffled at, was the fact that something even more bizarre had happened.
Why… Why can I hear you, exactly? Or rather, why are you in my mind?
Yoel was suddenly able to hear Consequence's voice inside his mind, the devil he had formed a contract with.
'Why, you ask? You have only yourself to blame.'
'I was never planning to do this so early on. It was you who hastened the process. Moron.'
Yoel stared blankly into the floor, as one of his eyes slightly twitched at the devil's comment.
Are you… are you telling me I'll always have you in my mind from now on? Great. That's exactly what I needed right now.
The voice took a bit longer to respond this time around, and for once, Yoel had not been able to enjoy the quiet of his mind at all.
He couldn't do so knowing that there was a devil nestled deep within it.
'How about you look at things from a brighter perspective? With me in your head, it'd be like having two minds! Two minds are always better than one, let me tell you.'
Ugh… Isn't my soul going to disintegrate or something if you decide to give me a helping hand? Remember what happened last time? Y'know… when you tried to tell me something.
'Of course I do. Therefore, I won't be helping you at all, until you can handle it of course. I can help with idle chatter, however. With me in your mind, you will never feel lonely again!"
Not too eager to continue this conversation, Yoel offered the devil no reply, instead focusing his senses to the outside world.
He realized that everyone had left the arena, with only himself remaining in it.
There was a single person there with him. The professor.
"What're you looking at, I told you. You guys have a small break before continuing your classes. Go out before you don't have any time to rest!"
At his flurry of words, Yoel's sense of time was brought back abruptly, hitting him like a truck.
Time! How much time do I have?
'Eh, you have a good while until you're summoned back here. I suggest go out and relax. Find those… uh, friends? of yours.'
I really don't know if I should be listening to you right now. Well, I don't know if I should listen to a devil trying to give me advice at all.
'And despite those words, you've already done so a few times before.'
I needed a way forward. I'll at least learn who my real parents are, even if I can't regain my memories fully for whatever reason.
'Using others as stepping stools? Quite the devilish deed, indeed. You would make a fine Bearer, I believe.'
No, I'm not using others, just you.
When Yoel spoke to Consequence and listened to him, it was as if he was flexing a muscle he had never knew existed before.
Therefore, it took a lot of concentration to keep up a conversation and doing so while trying to walk around and act normal would be a hard accomplishment.
I feel like I'll be seeing headaches a lot more often from now on…
'Oh come on, that'll only happen for a few days now. Well, maybe a bit more than days… since your soul and all… We can just keep it at that, yeah?'
Yoel exited the arena, the large door and its handle fitting more of a dungeon look than any kind of classroom, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Come to think of it, why did I even faint? I don't remember what I was doing before. I hope you can give me a good explanation.
'Ehh? I wasn't really paying attention. All I can recall is that he examined your body, and let you be. I'm assuming it was nothing too bad, if that was his reaction.'
I know you're a devil and all, but you really should pay more attention to human matters, especially when the one you're contracted with is a human… But I do feel the same as before, my body feels a bit lighter, actually.
'I guess that's our proof. And don't worry, boss. Will do next time…'
Before he could talk any longer, Yoel noticed his group sitting around a bench, none of them really sat on it, they either used it to lean or something or just laid down on the grass.
As he approached closer, he could also hear their not-so-enthusiastic comments about the lesson.
"I never thought I would find it pleasant to lay down on grass. That class sucked the soul out of me, I swear."
Cole was lying on the grass, seemingly exhausted from the previous class. He still somehow kept a cheerful tone to his voice. Although, Yoel felt like it was kind of forced.
"At least you managed to do something with it. All I managed to do was wave it up and down!"
Loki responded angrily, Yoel had never seen Loki lose his composure, or at least if he did he never showed it. It seems that this class really was a bad experience for them.
Vasil, as usual, didn't speak too much. He only nodded and smiled at their words, while occasionally glancing at Yoel.
Otherwise, he kept quiet and stared at seemingly nothing with a thoughtful expression.
"How about you, Yoel?"
It was Silenus who addressed him this time.
He was so used to Cole asking him these kinds of questions, he didn't respond for a few moments, trying to form an answer in his mind.
"I only managed to move the water enough to create a hole for my palm to safely go through without getting wet. That was about it though, nothing too crazy."
"What's important is the fact that you managed to do it. After this, it'll only be a matter of time until you're able to control it better."
Quite surprisingly, Connor jumped at the conversation. Yoel had known him to be quite reserved, only speaking when spoken to or when it was required of him.
"I guess you're right. Thank you, Connor."
Casual conversations erupted amongst the group, each boy talking about specific moments in class, or talking about women who had caught their attention.
At some point, Yoel realized that Brandon was squinting, his face scrunched up, as if he had something to say.
After a few moments, the rest of the boys also came to an understanding that Brandon was not acting himself.
"Brandon… you okay?"
As soon as the question went out, Brandon opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth, as if he was going to scream, but then…
"W-When I tried to control the water with my avon, it turned into a trumpet!"
The low chatter the group was having amongst themselves broke at once, silence befalling them.
For only a few seconds.
Cole burst out laughing, rolling around on the grass; many blades of grass stuck to his uniform, which looked quite painful to clean.
The rest soon followed suit, they laughed more at the fact that it had been such a random and sudden confession, more than it being funny.
Yoel laughed too, but eventually, he quietened down, a sudden question coming to his mind. How did Brandon's enigma even work?
"Come to think of it, Brandon. I never really understood your enigma. How do you even do all of that crazy stuff from before?"
"Yeah, Brandon! Why are you able to just tell people to fall and slip and create out-of-place two-dimensional red arrows!?"
"Ehh, my enigma isn't really that strong. I have to spend a lot of time understanding the meaning behind all the words I use, you know? And there are other, less pleasant… side effects. Power doesn't come at a cheap price, you know?"
Power doesn't come at a cheap price…
'That's right, kid. So make sure to never slack on your practice.'
Yoel slightly flinched outwardly at the devil's sudden comment. Inwardly, he was startled at his sudden intervention.
I know that. You don't have to remind me.
"Now that we're on the topic of enigmas, there is one last class for today, isn't there? I believe it had to do something with enigmas."
Ah, right.
"I believe it was called Enigma Basics? Something along those lines. Whoever came up with these names has a boring naming sense, for sure."
Cole spoke with his usual jokes, but Yoel saw him shiver at the joke he made over the class's name.
"Enigma Basics? What is there to even know about enigmas… Aren't they all different?"
Loki questioned. It was a normal question to ask, considering that enigmas were almost never the same.
"Maybe we're thinking about it too much like the Avon Control Basics class. What if this class is supposed to help us learn how to control our enigma better? Or better yet, learn how to use it differently?"
Use it differently…
Shadow Sight was amazing, but Yoel still required something that possessed a more direct attack power, something like what he had unleashed before.
That is exactly what I need!