Sweat ran down Tobey’s face as he stood in front of the stone building which was meant to be his dormitory. Fereth was carved atop the building in sharp silver stone. Tobey’s nervousness was unreal. He had spent three days in the hospital, far longer than he would have wanted. Classes had begun the day before, and Bell had come to inform him that the Dorm head wanted to meet him.
Perhaps it was that, and the knowledge that he was already behind his mates that caused sweat to drip down his face. Or the scary-looking shark carved on the building as well. Everything about it looked sharp and not just the teeth, like a crossbreed between porcupine and shark.
Tobey turned above, raising his hand to shield him from the sun’s rays. He had been standing for over an hour now. Everyone else was in class, he deduced that from the lonely sound of running breeze and rustling leaves. He tried opening the door earlier, but it didn’t budge. The reason as to why he had been summoned here immediately after leaving the healers was still a mystery to him.
Ten minutes. That’s how long he was going to stay there before proceeding into the dorm since no one was coming.
“Good. You’re here.”
Hold that thought.
Tobey’s eyes turned to a boy behind him. He was smaller than Tobey, his rough uniform aside, it was clear he had more bones than meat on him. He had short cut grey hair, a straight face with black eyes.
“Oi,” the boy said snapping his fingers. “Is there something on my face?” he asked with a displeased look.
“Ah, sorry,” Tobey’s eyes widened as he stepped back a bit and allowed the boy to draw closer. Even up close he was barely a bit taller than Tobey’s shoulder. Yet he was almost as intimidating as the Arcstones.
“Are you a third year? The Dorm head?” Tobey asked a bit nervously, wiping sweat off his forehead.
“No, and Yes,” the boy replied. “I am a second year, but I am the head of the Dorm. My name is Larce. Larce Selloh.” He cast a long look at Tobey. “I heard you’re a Morpher.”
“Ah, yes. Name’s Tobey.” He could feel Larce’s eyes analysing his entire body in those seconds.
“Nice to meet you,” the boy said. “Well, come with me.”
Tobey followed closely behind as Larce proceeded to open the doors of the dorm. They walked into the fluorescent-lit hallway which had a more modernized look than its exterior.
The foyer was large, with a chandelier hanging in the ceiling above. There were two doors with panels beside them at opposite ends of the hall. A single staircase made of glass led to a small balcony above them. There were no portraits, but more sharks carved along the walls of the hall, giving off a fierce yet somewhat eerie aura.
“I’ll be honest with you Tobey,” Larce spoke, interrupting the sounds of steps of the tiled floor that rang in Tobey’s ears. “Regardless of your situation, you missed the orientation. And running through it is going to be a bother to me, especially seeing you're alone and a boy no less.” He shrugged.
“Sorry. I thought I would leave the hospital earlier since I recovered quickly.” Tobey replied with his eyes down. Get a good first impression on those in charge of any new territory you find yourself in. Street knowledge.
Larce scoffed, “You fool. It’s normal procedure to allow those who have healed or are healing stay twenty-four hours with the healers as a precaution during their recovery.”
Larce proceeded up the stairs to the balcony. He walked up to a small table where there was a carved Fereth insignia on a stone tablet set atop. He gazed down at Tobey from the balcony.
“But whatever. You're here now, that’s what matters,” Larce said as he placed his right hand on the stone-carved shark.
“Each Dormitory has a “Word”. A motto of sorts. A code of conduct that members of the dormitory live by. Like a guiding principle really,” Larce spoke.
Tobey’s eyes widened with interest as Larce continued.
“Fereth’s word is simple. Saradis Naught.”
“Haaaa? What language is that?” Tobey asked with his jaw dropped.
Larce chuckled, “It’s ancient Runic Laverian. One of the languages spoken over hundreds of years ago that managed to survive till this point. And one of the few adopted by our nation as a Runic.”
“What’s a Runic?”
“You’ll learn in class. Sorry, I’ve got no time to spare on questions.”
“Hmph. Fine.” Tobey folded his arms in awkward submission.
Larce pressed his hand against the insignia beneath him and slowly turned it right. Suddenly hologram images flew into the air, several of them. From the first look, they appeared to be different parts of the dorm. A gym, a library, a training room, a lab, a cafeteria, rooms for sleeping.
“What is this?” Tobey gasped out his question.
“Parts of Fereth’s Dormitory. And so, a part of you.” Larce said as he joined his hands together. Tobey watched as Larce began to weave his fingers.
“Spirit of Kulan, I call for the light of Valis.” Larce chanted.
Suddenly, the swirling holograms in the air halted, Tobey, could feel the sudden change in the air as Larce stared at him with glistering grey eyes. He continued weaving his hands and from the holograms, Tobey could feel lines of mana, each connecting to the other like a self-fixing puzzle. The hall suddenly brightened with a sharp blue and the mana continued to rise. Almost as if the hall itself was reverberating.
“Collapse,” Larce said clapping his hands together.
In that instant, all the holograms converged and fused together. In a flash of light, it rushed into Tobey’s eyes. Tobey stumbled backwards from the sudden impact, nearly falling to the ground. The feeling was almost like when Finn used his magic on him. But now, he could feel excess information pouring into his head. All the images he was looking at seconds ago, overflowing like water in a glass cup.
Tobey tried to scream; his body twitched in bits as the light continued from Larce's chant. He stared at Tobey who had begun to hover above the ground.
Not yet. Larce thought.
Tobey raised his hand to his head, moaning as he felt loud thumps inside him. It felt like a hammer smashing against every cell in his brain and the images continued to enter. His once steady breathing became ragged and heavy. Seconds later, the fused bright light all condensed into Tobey who dropped to his feet on the floor.
Larce released his hands and placed his hand on the stone shark, reverting it back to its original position. He gazed at Tobey who stood still, looking at the floor.
“Tobey?” He asked.
Tobey rose with widened eyes and looked at him.
“How’re you feeling?”
Tobey looked at his hands, squeezing them both. What was that chant? He wondered. They were just images but now, now he felt like he knew everything about the dormitory. He knew the roads, how to get anywhere he wanted. People assigned to different rooms, when to head to the cafeteria. “I…I feel…”
“Like you know everything you need to know about the Fereth Dorm,” Larce completed.
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s it,” Tobey slowly replied as Larce walked away from the table and down the stairs.
“That’s good,” He yawned. “Congratulations, you just completed Dorm orientation.”
Larce walked over to Tobey and rose his hand to tap his shoulders. “The Fereth Dorm now recognizes you as one of its own. Feel free to look around and drop your stuff in your room. I'm heading out to meet with the principal.”
Tobey nodded as Larce walked past him headed for the entrance.
“Saradis Naught,” Larce said as he walked away. Tobey tilted his head, staring from the corner of his eye. “It means, Hail the Predators. Don’t forget it.”
“…I won’t,” Tobey replied.
“Imagine me saying that to a Morpher,” Larce chuckled.
“Do you resent me for it? For being a Morpher?” Tobey’s voice was low. He asked the question without turning back.
Larce stopped in his tracks. He took a long breath and rose a hand to scratch his jaw. “If I resent you for being who you are, for being a victim of crime you did not commit…just what sort of Dorm head would I be, huh?” he replied as he walked out, shutting the door behind him.
“…Thank you,” Tobey said as a soft smile grew on his face.
Tobey stood in the silent hall, taking measured breaths as he recapped what just happened. After a long look around the hall, he turned to the elevator by the right and walked towards it. He pressed his hand against the panel’s scanner which glowed green in response opening the door for him. It took less than fifteen seconds for him to arrive at his desired floor.
Down the hall, two rights and the second left. Like a voice in his head told him where to go. He kept his eyes forward till he got to the door. He was expecting to see something familiar. Like ROOM 101 or something of the like. Cadre 24, it read.
He pushed the door open. There were two beds, two tables, two chairs, and a joined wardrobe. He could tell from the resident mana that his already-in roommate, was Finn. He walked over to the bed by the window at the other end of the room away from the door. On the bed was a clean, folded uniform jacket.
Shit. I forgot I had classes.
Tobey hurriedly stripped off his grey jacket and wore the jacket and rushed out the door, closing it behind him. He ran back to the elevator and before he could press the panel, the doors slid open. Out stepped Finn, uniformed, with a bag strapped across his shoulder. He wore a stern look on his face as he gazed at Tobey.
“Where are you going?”Finn asked.
“Uhh… Class?”
Finn shook his head and walked past him. Tobey jerked as Finn clashed shoulders with him and walked to their room.
“Are classes over? Where’s Bell?” Tobey called out to a silent Finn.
It was clear the classes for the day were over. Irritated, Tobey followed his roommate-arms crossed-in silence.
Comments (2)
See all