Stepping backward to create distance between him and her, William isn't sure what to tell or imagine. He looks into her serious eyes, noticing how she truly wants to know the answer to her question. But the question... isn't one in his mind.
William doesn't want to answer anything, because he fears the consequences of his words, nor he knows to say anything that would have some pleasing words.
It appears Jullieta is indeed what he thought of, which makes him glad his own common sense is still fine.
“I don't think it is that bad of a room, so I will take this place as mine for now. Have a good night and thank you for the meal and everything,” he tells, backs away some more, and shoves the door close right before her face. He doesn't even wait for her reply.
“Huh? Hey!” She shouts in surprise and thinks that he is a coward for not being honest. She bangs on the door but hears nothing in return. She grunts and kicks the door to vent her frustration.
“Uh. So be it. I thought he would tell me something more... understanding and nice. Hmmm. Well, he is still better than most boys in my batch I suppose. If he will end up succeeding with the rest of the Trial, I wouldn't mind being friends with him all that much. He is strong, and could be a Vanguard with his Emblem, but... what is up with that anyway, or what will be it like. I don't know, but I still need a team. What a predicament. There are also those girls I plan to invite too, but will they succeed? I hope for Celleste to do so, at least, but who knows how many darks they will have to kill, and what the requirements for the 3rd are like. ” She mutters out loud, but with how thick the door is, William doesn't hear anything.
Even if he can, he is long gone from the door, opting to dive into the bathroom, to wash his face and look at his hand. It hurts a lot and gives him an annoying look at how straining the pain is.
“Huh... Still hurts. It never hurt this... Nah. Who am I kidding?” William mumbles and chuckles in pain, which causes him to grunt. “Yeah. The last days weren't good for either of us. I know. Calm down with everything... So unnecessary. Damned Emblem.”
He washes his hands, and face and sees how the Vectors look around his right forearm. Tiny Vectors are swirling throughout his Emblem, and veins and muscles are visibly strained around it. It seems more bulged out than usual, and the Vectors are bigger
“Once more, another unfamiliar room is in my life. Is that right?” He says, voicing his words towards his forearm. “Not like you are listening, but you are within me for the entirety of my life. It is a constant struggle, or has been, and will be. I am sure of it, but... not as if you are? Well, not like you are disappearing so far into this 1st Rank, so I guess I am just being weird about it. As if talking to my own hand isn't weird enough, though. I am not kidding. I think I am insane.” William dismisses his train of thought, and chuckles, figuring he will take a quick shower before bed.
He does so, and in 10 minutes, he walks with a towel around his lower area toward the bed. Any dirt, dust, or dried blood is gone from his body, and he feels refreshed as if a huge weight is cut out of his body.
“New man, new me. That was nice. I wonder what will that 3rd Trial gonna be like. There are 8 of us now, so who among us will fail? Could be me, or anyone honestly.” William wonders and takes a look at his bag.
Taking a change of clothes from there seems like a good idea since he doesn't want to sleep naked in the bed of others.
Diving into the queen-sized bed, he is more than happy with the quality, and softness of the pillows. It's making him appreciate a good sleep, which will be soon upon him.
After this whole day, which has been incredibly hectic, but very interesting, he thinks he deserves this.
He fought with many students of the Emblem Academy and ascended the skyscraper as large as anything he has ever seen. Then, he fought with Tiberon, Rank 8 Walker! Calling his tiredness an understatement of the century is fitting since he never met such a high-rank Walker when he was Outside.
Just before sleeping, he decides on a quick rundown of this critical day of his life and decides to do something he wanted to do for a good while.
He lays his body wide and punches a fist in the air. He opens his System, which puts his mind in a pressuring scream, but it only lasts about 10 seconds. After that, it explodes, and he opens his eyes through his willpower. He notices continuous screams in his head, as if ants crawl there in a storm, and metallic pipes hit his brains. It is as mindless as crazy, and it has no voice, or something normal.
Before him is the System, as usual, but the Mindless Eyes give him some sort of painful anomaly. He doesn't know what the noise and pains mean, so he watches the System before his eyes.
It is there before him, and it is readable, but...
The screen flickers in weird screen shakes, and it seems similar to the notion of his pain and noise. It is all weird, and he doesn't know what to think of it.
He waits for a while, clutching his head with his left hand as creeping sleepiness gets into his head. He slaps himself to remain active and glances at the flickering screen and then.... pain.
So much pain.
His Emblem and hand jolt on their own, and Vectors flicker in the motion of the scene. It all trebles as if they are out of their mind, while he couldn't control his hand at all. The screen engulfs his hand, and Vectors seems to hug the screen.
William almost screams at the top of his lungs at the amount of discomfort he feels. But he is used to the pain and harsh world, so he grits his teeth. He flinches his body to a sitting position and pushes himself from the bed.
He falls to the floor, and he soon finds himself in the corner with his back against the walls. He panics and is disoriented. His sight isn't clear with the System in the way, while his head isn't clear to begin with.
He doesn't know what hurts more. His head, screaming hand, or the shifting and trembling fibers of the Arcanite inside of his body.
It is similar to the initialization of his Emblem and System, but... something is stranger since he has the System before his eyes and it is doing something with his hand and head.
The screen flickers until the symbols appear in waves. They don't depict a language he knows, nor is he sure if it is Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, or others. They seem disoriented, disorganized, and senseless. They are similar to the ones he saw when this System started, but this?
It hurt much more and is weirder, and not dumb and dull like before.
He knows that much, but from where? His intuition? His mind? Nay. He never knew much, and even now, the situation doesn't change at all.
“My damned hells... What in the world is happening!” he grunts those words out, still clutching his head with his left, and secures some sense of security in the corner. It has always been some sort of armor of his. A lonely corner, where nobody is bothering him. It is pleasing, apart from all the pain.
He likes to excuse himself, so he is lying to himself too.
Through his clenched fingers, he pieces out some meanings... No. He doesn't dare to think of a meaning for this System. He doesn't know what it means, or what is inside of it all.
It is one of the only things that Roman didn't mention at all, so he knows what Mi-Yung told him about, and that is it. That is rather limited indeed, and he wishes Roman would tell him more about the System too. He did tell him more than plenty about the Emblem and the Annihilation, so that leaves him glad.
But he wishes to know more. Especially in a situation where he feels alone, clueless, and in pain. This seems like a situation where more information would ease his mind, and he doesn't know what to do and what not.
Scream? Cry? Whimper like a kid? He feels he wants to do at least one of those things, but all of those together wouldn't hurt him.
The pain continues until the System seems to calm with all of those Vectors on the way. His hand fall limp to his legs, and Vectors seems to be calming. Some remain to flicker through the System, and they all disappear into it.
Why? What for? Those two questions appear in his mind when the pain seems to subside, and the flickering symbols calm to latine-looking symbols instead. They are much more senseless than usual, and similar in shape to the ones before.
Symbols form words, and words are there to form sentences. But those symbols are in shambles and are no longer in order, so his eyes jolt back and forth, looking at them to form some meaning. He can read them, but whether they will come up as English or not, he doesn't know.
“Is this some sort of puzzle?” William asks. “I don't like puzzles... They make me think of a time when I was little. My mom... No... Not that.”
Some unpleasant memories jolt his head. A white room. A bright face of his mother, and a lot of crimson. It may be blood or Vectors. He isn't sure, but he sure knows it was confusing, hurtful, and chaotic. It is all hazy in his head nowadays, and he was less than 5 years old back then. It is no wonder he doesn't remember much.
The words before him speak some sense and he pieces them together in his head.
“Reinforced connection. V-021, Chaos Line, Wilder?” William speaks what he discovers, and at this moment, the System shakes, and changes.
Symbols intersect and smash to a pulp of light, and form the voice of reason he knows from before.
The System forms words this time around, and no longer some puzzles and it is all in English.
Perhaps it is some test or some sort. A puzzle for Walkers to solve, so the System could start some sort of process.
Welcome, Walker.
The System underwent an upgrade from the forceful influx of information, memories, and fundamentals between the status of the Walker and the System.
All connections: fine
All statuses: fine
All versions, iterations, and information: challenged
Walker's status: Covered
Then the scene flickers, and changes on its own.
New informations gathered
The Voice achieved. Now, Walker can use speech to use the System
“Huh? Speak?” William mumbles and the System writes back.
The Voice is for the Walker. The System is a provider.
William doesn't know what provider means. In what context it provides what?
He frowns, and System seems to initialize some sort of other sequence after hearing nothing.
Walker achieved the 30% effective way onto the Rank 2
Mental status: challenged, and confused
It is understandable under The Codex, and weak in others
Initializing a reboot and rundown after the last time before fighting, and enduring the Spiritter
Williams reads it and knows nothing or gets nothing out of this apart from a few things. 30% is his progress. Mental Status is... his head? Can it read his mentality now? What is this Spiritter?
He awaits the reboot and some sort of connection to go between him and the System. It works as some sort of electric current in the poorest sense of the word, but that is about how William can explain it to himself.
The System changes again, informing him of sequences of information that give him general gist of what will shift around his powers.
It is better than he expected, and... custom? Meaningful?
A tough fight uncovered the potential
The power of Annihilation was unleashed to its infinitely closing and current maximum
A Move unlocked within the Annihilation Claw, and Gears challenged to the 3 categories under [Memories]
First Move of the Annihilation Claw
Annihilation Storm: An all-out attack that Walker managed to unleash under stress and fight. Its might is one of the fundamentals of the Annihilation and Core Skills
Works on the premise of the Gears, or Annihilation Claw
Rank 1
----------------------------------------
Gears provided
Consensus of Gears: They form through the use of Feel of the Annihilation, and its effects. They are under the % base affinity of the Annihilation, which allows Walker to use the inner Annihilation to surge out of the Vector Claw
Feel of the Annihilation provides the most effectiveness towards the familiarity and upgrades of the Gears
% works in tandem with power, and Touch of Vectors.
Walker can use, and form other Gears after additional calling gifts, but care should be a focus
Density doesn't mean poor or high power, but an opportunity that needs much more care than in 3 simplest uses. Strategy and Molding should give Walker an edge, along with more familiarity
Annihilation is dangerous, and Gears is a Core Concept that Walker with Annihilation can get
Congratulation, Walker
Gear 1: Mild Gear 1 proves speed and easier movement
Density: Very High, not maximized
Gear 2: Middle Gear 2 provides general consensus of fight and defense. Has no redeeming qualities of Gear 1 and 3, and acts as a medium
Density: mild
Gear 3: Massive Gear 3 provides effective power, instabilities, and defense. Has the highest potential, but the highest degree of danger, of instability. Care should be maintained
Density: Poor
Gears are currently under the Annihilation Claw
They do not form a Skill on their own, but a Form under your fundamental power
Then, the System changed again, once William reads it all twice. He is flabbergasted, and silent.
Secondly, the Inner Enchantment has been challenged, and broken repeatedly under the Gravity Domain. Its structure has been broken and changed for the better stakes of its
Rank 0
Rank 1 achieved
Its powers are strengthened, and effects sharpened
Further use will guarantee the upgrades and further information
That is all
Hunts should be a focus, Walker
Unique Page of the Bestiary is yet to regain its meanings
Then the page turned to nothingness, and a blip later, System disappears in front of his eyes.
Before putting a word out of his mouth, a massive surge of information, and noise clutter his head next. He struggles, and tiredness overlaps his mind.
He doesn't fault himself for being clueless. He can always change and get better at things he isn't familiar with. That is his hope.
Amidst the chaos of his mind, William laps with his arms forward and wants to go to bed. It is far from him, and he stumbles and collapses to the ground.
There, he will sleep, albeit begrudgingly.
His struggle and pain go unnoticed by anyone and everything.
That goes apart from the weird mixture of spatial waves that suddenly spread in the room, revealing a figure dressed in a suit. It is a butler of some sort, but he or she wears a metallic mask across the face and appears out of some weird camouflage skill.
Butler stands as if nothing matters, overlooking William, but with what? How long has this buttler been here? William didn't notice anything, and it is a breach of his privacy for sure.
Though, not like the butler thinks of it that poorly.
Walking forward, butler crouches down beside his collapsed body.
“This boy is gonezo.” the butler says in a male voice, but one wouldn't necessarily call his figure muscular. He is lean and the suit gives him an air of importance. The mask also gives him some edge, while his dark brown hair sidelines his face, and a bit of his mask. His hair is longer than average.
He sights and touches William with his fingers. They are also skinny, and he even goes across his Emblem, Vectors, and face. “It is a Gale for sure, but the terms are weird. Is Kaufman fine with everything? What about Roman? Everyone is working behind the scenes, yet what about the truth? No one says or does a thing, but this boy... He appeared at last after more than 10 years. I heard that. I know. That is good, but the timing isn't. He should've done so sooner, but... Awakening. Right. He is right around the 16th year and is Galing like the wind. Interesting.” he voices his wonders out loud and continues touching him.
“So a V-021, Chaos Line, and Wilder. I sure would bewitch him to be lucky but ain't those some words to hear?” he chuckles and stop touching him. He stands, and snaps his finger, teleporting William to his bed. “I sure hope things won't fare badly for you, William Gale. If it won't, then a whole bunch of assholes will be unhappy, while others will be happy. Some more, some less. But then, what will the little Wild one think? It is too young... I know.” He argues with someone and touches his head to retrieve a receiver of some sort, hiding behind his mask. “I am getting out. No worries. I am already doing more than asked anyway, so what does it matter if the Federation wants this boy for something or not? They even touched him... Roman too. Do you know something? Nah? Nevermind... I am going.”
Then he sights again, and flickers his fingers, blinking to nothingness as if he is a magician.
This leaves William sleeping in the bed, while the flickering waves of his Emblem are more alive than ever. If someone would attack him, it is a wonder if it would attack back. It sure seemed it would do something, but the butler didn't do anything suspicious.
Well, spying and touching him sure is weird, and William wouldn't like it, but he is out of his mind, sleeping and full of straining pain.
He shouldn't have done this barge into his System, but there was no one to stop him or remind him of doing this sort of thing when one is ready and not a day before an important mission.
***
Time moves on.
To William's lack of consciousness, there aren't any shimmers of light on his face, and not even any alarm clock wakes him up.
Instead of that, it's some voice. A girl's voice, followed by a rather physical touch. “Wake up already!” A slam to his chest ends up scaring him for his life.
William shouts as if darks bombard him, lashes at his face, and screams to his ears. He defends himself by flapping his hands forward, as if a true monster is before him, which isn't far from the truth.
For the lack of that surprise, Jullieta also shouts at him, surprised by his surprise. “Don't shout like that, what's wrong with you this morning? I am so nice to wake you up on your important day and who do I see? I find you sleeping soundlessly as if you are dead. Got me worried right there. I deserve better than a shout.” She complains and wants to slap him in the face this time.
“W-what? What? Don't do this bloody thing... Don't you... Nevermind.” William almost tells her something that Luke once told him, and he wakes up after this unpleasant wake-up call.
“I tried to wake you up for 3 whole minutes already. You were like a dead man who is clinging to dreams, didn't you?” she asks, standing beside his bed, and dressed in completely different attire this time around.
Unlike yesterday, which was a more combat and work-focused day, she wears more formal attire, which consists of a better-looking robe than usual and that is about it. This time, it goes below her bare knees and annunciates her figure better. It is some form of dress, but it's still some kind of uniform, apart from the shorts she doesn't have.
She finds this easy to move around, but kicking around with this attire... not so much.
“Damned morning... What's a time like?” William asks, still half asleep, and unaware of where his watch is.
“It's 8 AM already,” Jullieta answers thanks to her own watch that is in her robe pocket.
“So we have time?” William lazily says, going back to laying position, but only for a moment, since Jullieta drags him out of the bed by his foot.
Falling to the floor, this not one bit annoys him. He is still somewhat numb to everything and he feels as if he slept for ages. Memories and feelings flood his mind, and he sure doesn't feel as terrible as he did before sleeping.
“You alright in your head? When I do this to someone, they would fight, or complain in return. Some would slap me back for sure.” Jullieta says while looking at William's dumb expression. She also notices the Emblem on his right forearm, which appears significantly calmer, as William told her it would.
“I feel like a slept for eternity. What a day that was yesterday.”
“You sure about that? Today's the main course of the Trials. The last two were nothing, but who am I kidding? Tiberon doesn't make anything a nothing. He creates something out of nothing. Like a Spiritter he is. It has been certainly a much more interesting day than usual, but the 3rd!” Jullieta argues, trying to cheer him up by getting closer and smiling at him. “... is much important. Get ready.” she turns on the spot and almost walks away.
“Really?” he yawns, looking at the smiling face of this unfamiliar girl he knows for less than a day. She is somewhat pretty too, but he doesn't know her that well. She isn't like Ellie. This one is like a demonic dragon that is quite wild. He sure doesn't want much to do with her, but she can be quite helpful.
“Yea.” she resolutely says. “So? Are you going up, or do you want me to drag you across the room so much harder, that your sorry ass would bleed? I think I can toss you from the window without any issue, regardless of destroying the glass in return.” She says with a mischievous smile, forcing William to get to his feet.
Stretching his head, limbs, and body, William definitely feels the last day on his body, but his mind is surprisingly calm after a couple of minutes. This is rather surprising, considering what he went through. With Roman, he hasn't felt like this. He was usually tired before, during, and after his training.
Did Tiberon injure, or forced me much less than I initially thought? he wonders in his head, uncertain if that's the reason why he feels the way he feels.
Still, he checks his body in the mirror, finding some minor residual bruises on his forehead, temple, and his upper body seems worse, but not as bad. In fact, his upper body feels great, but his limbs feel kind of heavy and unfocused.
“Are you really fine?” Jullieta asks, appearing in the bathroom, and looking at William's bare upper body even though he asked her not to barge in. “You don't appear so ready.”
“There is no privacy in your dictionary?” William retorts, sounding a bit more awake than before.
“Privacy? This is my castle, and I watched worse sights. Limbless, headless, or full of holes. Your body needs some bandages for sure. I have some. Wants some?” she asks innocently.
William doesn't fault her and nods.
“Figures. Outside is Outside while I grew the way I grew. It doesn't matter in the end, William. Some care or worry is outside of the wordy dictionaries. Care for some talk afterward? I can be understanding. Sometimes that is.” She says, appearing somewhat approachable.
Nah, she is surely playing with me. William thinks to himself, putting his shirt away and gesturing to her to care for his wounds. She does as she says, and before she gets some other ideas, his wounds are clean.
“Thanks. I just need to wake up a bit better, and I am all good. I am still beaten from yesterday to some extent.”
“How so?” she asks, watching how William takes the uniform from Mi-Yung and changes into it.
“Whose fault that is, I wonder?” William gives her a deep look, figuring she is the cause of that too, but only a little.
“Oh, wait, I haven't been that harsh with you!” she quickly catches up to his words, figuring he means her fight with him. That one went rather well than he speaks of, but depending on who is speaking about it, it could differ.
“Surely you weren't that harsh. I get it..” William gives her a dismissive look, checking his hair, clothes, and head if he is even ready to argue with her any longer.
“Heh. How funny that is, but I may as well tell you my thought on why you feel this way. I had some seminars regarding the flow of Vectors, even though I am not someone with this type. Care to listen or not?” Jullieta changes her tone, trying to appeal to Williams's curiosity that she sure knows he doesn't lack.
“Too bad for you. I had a good Instructor about Vectors, and my Emblem.”
“Ah! Wait... That's unfair!” She complains, showing a finger right to his face.
“No need to be so pouty about it. It's not like it's hard to guess my issue. Last day, my Vectors were indeed beyond their limits. They caused even my body to go along with it, which explains how I feel right now. They even strained my System and messed up my body... How poor.”
“So you know? So much for me knowing about it. Hmph!” she flicks her head away, frustrated by her lack of help. “Since you are so good, let's pack your things, and get some quick breakfast before we leave. You have less than 30 minutes, since we aren't THAT close to the location, get it?”
“No, but I am ready,” Williams says, and grabs his bag and that's about all it is to his belonging.
“You don't even change to something better? Some shoes? ” Jullieta gives him a questionable look.
“I have what I have and this set is more than capable for my needs. I don't need ages to get ready, and I would surely eat a pig right now. So hungry.” he says, giving her no choice but to accept his answer to her unnecessary question.
“Fine... Let's go then.”
***
In around 20 minutes, William is before his breakfast. He eats some leftovers that Jullieta has in her fridge, but that isn't infinite, and so is the limit before the start of 3rd Trial.
Around 8:38 AM, the pair leaves this castle in a hurry, hoping to reach the destination in time, since they wasted a lot of time talking. Well, Jullieta is that reason.
Their destination is in the East Isle, with the name of Travel Pavilion, which Jullieta knows quite well, but William doesn't at all. Travel means a lot of things, and for once, he thinks he would see fjords or some sort. He is wrong.
To get there, the pairing is the reason why Agatha forced them together, but it's not only about that, of course.
5 minutes before 9 AM, they walk toward a rather weird looking building out of the past. It has a strange structure, which doesn't seems normal. It has curved pillars, and a roof curt and shaped in many sections, which makes it appear as if some architect had a stroke.
One of them questions this building, and it is in the middle of the island. Not fjords, as William assumed.
Entering it, there are already waiting groups of first-timers, ready for the proceedings of the 3rd Trial.
Unsurprisingly, William is the last one, while Jullieta nods to herself in approval that she isn't late. For once. That doesn't happen a lot to her, but she manages to be on time for the sake of someone else. Isn't it very kind of her? She is definitely happy.
The group of first-timers is awaiting in the hallways of the entrance. Before them is Tiberon, and Agatha, wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and both appear serious and calm.
William joins the former group, noticing everyone is already present. Even Stark's group is, and even Rozzante is still intact. There didn't seem to be a problem after all, since William left him alone with Stark of all people. He is yet to forget the thing he did to him on the voyage to the Academy.
He didn't forget that, and he made sure to give Rozzante a hint to be careful.
“You lucky bastard, you had Jullieta in the pairing?” Behind him, Louise whispers to his ears, carefully speaking so she wouldn't hear him from the other group of students.
Willian looks around his shoulder. “Yeah. She is a handful one,” he says, shocking Louise with his choice of words. “Wait really? What have you done with her, or.... was it her? Don't tell me...” he asks further, but William doesn't pay him any more attention and turns his head away.