"If you would follow me, sir," Velruud held out a hand and gestured for Eiden to follow him as he started towards a door to the right of the hall. Eiden followed and Cypher trailed shortly behind him, confused at the whole process but unwilling to ask any questions.
The butler opened a door that led outside to bright sunlight. A courtyard with a small water fountain and several benches scattered about blooming flower beds and shrubbery soon entered their sight. Stone walkways curved their way through the rich green grass, and a few marble statues of robed Conductors stood in the four corners of the area.
As they walked along the pathways and neared a door on the opposite side, Velruud held out his hand, stopping their group. He inclined his head slightly to Eiden and turned to face Cypher.
"If you would be so kind as to wait here, only applicants are allowed beyond this point. You may seat yourself upon one of the benches as you wait, another butler will be along shortly to offer you food and drink if you so desire," Velruud said respectfully. However as he turned to continue with Eiden, the young boy furrowed his brows and crossed his arms.
"The bastard servant I brought along with me needs no such luxuries. He is not worth such accommodations. No, he shall wait here for me to return, and then we will depart to my quarters so that he may know where to find me when I call for him. As I understood it servants have their own quarters elsewhere on the academy grounds?"
Velruud scowled in disgust before Eiden could turn to face him and Cypher felt embarrassed and worried that the butler was scowling at him. However, as Eiden looked upon Velruud the emotion on his face vanished, replaced with an impassive expression.
"I see. Very well, if that is your decision. However, in regard to your inquiry about servants’ quarters, no such place exists on these grounds. If your servant is to accompany you, he will be required to stay in your room should you somehow manage to pass the exam."
Velruud's response was to the point and curt. Eiden though did not seem to notice as he thought about what the butler had just said for a few moments.
"Understood, who am I to question the strange ways of the academy? After all, you allow commoner trash to attend this prestigious school, I'm not surprised you have no proper servant’s quarters."
"However I shall not share a bed with him. He can find a place on the floor out of sight. Let us continue butler, I am eager to finish this so that I may rest and put away my things," Eiden said before walking towards the door that led further into the testing grounds.
Velruud turned without a word and followed Eiden, overtaking him in a few steps and opening the door for him to pass through. The butler gave Cypher another curious glance and disappeared as the door swung shut.
Cypher sat upon one of the benches and listened to the soft splashing of the fountain as he thought to himself, watching as a light bubbly foam gathered around the edges of the round sculpted rim.
He had not expected to be more than a servant to Eiden, nor join him in his lessons. But the knowledge that he held no special connection with an element bothered him. Eiden's test had been simple enough and he wondered how the boy had failed to notice the bracelets early on.
He was bothered that someone who could not even notice such a simple thing was allowed to have such a rare element while he didn't even have a common one. Still, if all the noble students were as unobservant as Eiden was, stealing supplies or other goods should be easy enough.
Cypher was still planning to escape somehow. He had hoped to learn a few spells here and there from the books Eiden would undoubtedly leave scattered about. But with no elemental affinity, he doubted that he would gain much from such unfocused study.
He watched as a butterfly hovered about a flower and noticed that out here the temperature was much warmer than when they had first arrived. The mountain chill was gone, and snow did not fall here as it had outside. Cypher suspected that the area was enchanted. After all, this was a school of not only combat but magick and so such a thing would not be unthinkable.
After a time, a butler appeared holding a tray. It was covered in all manner of fruits and several different kinds of cheese, with a flaky croissant resting off to the side. The quiet man also held a silver decanter that was giving off a pleasant aroma. He offered them to Cypher, and despite what Eiden had said, he happily accepted it. His mouth had grown dry during their trip here as well as during the long first testing phase.
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Eiden he knew, would not be pleased that Cypher had indulged himself but he didn't care and the young heir wouldn't even have to know about it in the first place. The butler also produced a crystal goblet and set it down to Cypher’s right. He left shortly after that, and Cypher began eating. The fruit was sweet and far juicier than anything he had ever eaten before. As for the decanter of liquid, it was filled with a delicious juice that Cypher couldn’t get enough of.
It was cold as he drank it but as it settled in his stomach a vibrant warmth spread through his entire body and he felt energy course through him. The sensation left him feeling incredible and he felt as though all of his fatigue had vanished. Cypher quickly finished as much of the platter as he could, unable to resist the plethora of flavors that lay just an arm’s reach away. A few moments later a door to the left of the fountain opened.
Out of it stepped a man in his mid-forties, a trimmed beard of speckled grey and brown upon his face. Round reading glasses sat on the bridge of his hooked nose and he wore a dull blue round-rimmed hat upon his head. The man wore a set of robes that matched his hat and were similar to the ones the Conductor at the Slingate had worn. These robes however were missing the shouldered gemstones, and the man wore no sash nor carried a weapon.
Instead, a glittering finely shaped blue gem set in a golden frame molded like that of a downward pointing arrow hung around the man's neck from a silver chain. He held some scrolls tucked under his arm and carried with him a book in one hand, also, a chest hovered a few feet off the ground behind him.
The man looked at him for a moment and then settled upon a bench across from Cypher. He set his book down and then pulled the scrolls from under his arm and set them beside him on the bench. The wide chest he willed to move in front of him, and it settled on the ground between his feet.
“Now THIS is a Conductor!” thought Cypher, excitement growing on his young face.
"Hello there, how are you doing on this fine day?" the man asked, a smile forming upon his face as he greeted the youth before him.
Cypher paused and then said in a timid voice, "I'm alright, and you?"
The man beamed and then clasped his hands together, "I am quite well. It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Alvin, Alvin Lardok. Who might you be?" The man smiled again and gestured to Cypher, before pushing his glasses up and adjusting them to get a better look at him.
"I'm Cypher, a servant of the Galvan family. It's nice to meet you as well, Sir Lardok." Cypher was unaccustomed to being talked to by a man of Alvin's bearing in such a manner and fidgeted in his seat, unsure of what to say next.
"There is no need to call me sir, at least, not yet anyway. Actually…” Alvin removed his hat and chuckled softly, “Sir has never suited me so don’t worry about it! Anyways,” he continued, “I understand that you came here with the young heir of the Galvans. He's quite the character, isn't he?”
Alvin’s smile vanished and his face scrunched up a bit, “Eh, never mind That doesn’t matter now, does it? Was the welcome platter to your liking? If you wish I could have something more substantial brought out if it would please you."
"No, no, it's quite alright. I wasn't that hungry and it was very filling! That juice was surprisingly crisp and delicious! You have my thanks. Only, I'd prefer if you didn't let Eiden know I had any. He wouldn’t be very happy with me if he found out I disobeyed him and uhh… he can be quite the handful when he’s angry," Cypher responded, his voice wavering a bit and his eyes darting to the ground.
"Ah, I see. Well, worry not, you need not concern yourself with him for now. In any event, my reasons for coming here are two-fold. Firstly, I wished to talk to you about your affinity!” Alvin removed his hat and adjusted his glasses once again. “It has been quite some time since someone like you passed under the divining arch. Secondly, I wished to offer you something but only if my suspicions are correct. Is this agreeable to you?"
Cypher paused, wondering what a Conductor of the academy would have to ask him about his affinity, or as it would now seem, his lack thereof. He eyed the man suspiciously and wondered if he was in trouble for some reason.
"I don't mind answering whatever questions you might have, but you'll have to forgive me, I don't seem to have an affinity to any particular element," Cypher answered. "When I passed under the archway it didn't shine with any particular color as it had with Eiden or Velruud. It was just dull grey and plain. I very much doubt that Eiden was serious when he said I was the first dust element conductor in the world but… yeah, I don’t know what else I can really say about it."
"Dust element? Obviously, the Galvan family has fallen from grace if their heir is as uninformed as this Eiden is. His sense of humor and respect is clearly lacking as well. No, my dear boy, there is no such thing as a ‘dust’ element. There is, however, a Null element and it is the rarest of all the elemental affinities. That is what I wish to discuss with you today."
"As I said before if my suspicions are correct and you are indeed a wielder of such a rare and powerful element, I would like to formally invite you to join the illustrious ranks of the Guardian Hall academy. Not as a servant to some…” Alvin paused and continued, “headstrong noble, but as a student."
Cypher's jaw dropped and an expression of confusion worked its way across his face as his blood went cold with shock. "What? Me? A student? WHAT?"
Alvin laughed and smiled at him. "Of course! How could we be so foolish as to turn away both a noble heir and a rare oddity such as yourself in a single day? The elders would never let me hear the end of it!"
All grew quiet in the courtyard, save for the bubbling of the fountain. Something had suddenly shifted in Cypher's mind and a feeling of hope surged to the forefront. All his plans for escape fell away in an instant, and in their place a new emotion, one he could not name took hold.
"What… what do I have to do?" Asked Cypher, his voice now full and clear. A serious look stretched across his face, and Alvin smiled as he stroked his beard.