Noah is currently sitting alone, isolated in the corner of the room. He long ago moved from his previous position, as the art room has now filled up with a number of other individuals.
Noah sits in a comfortable position, slumped into his chair. The disoriented young girl that had been so close to him and even helped him significantly in his previous trials, has also moved.
She is now sitting near a group of four people on the opposite side of the room. Some among them are familiar faces to her, one that is even the art teacher, whom she is quite friendly with.
Noah can make out a few of the words from the conversations across the room, but does not care to pay attention.
He has not spoken a word to anyone in the room, even the girl that sat near him for far longer than anyone would expect. He remained silent, instead occupying himself with the dried wax on his left hand.
He completely picked off every bit of wax from his hand, which took far longer than expected. The sensitive red skin of his hand and arm made the task far more tedious. But Noah liked this usage of time, he enjoyed having something to work on, a goal to achieve.
The strong earthy smell of myrrh is still ever present on him, despite the wax being picked clean off his hand.
Currently, there is nothing else for Noah to do, besides waiting. His trial is uneventful and boring, he is doing nothing but sitting and waiting. Not bothering to actively go and do something to occupy himself.
Noah is unaware that this trial would not take very long if the other lifeless in this instance finished their trials quicker. As every lifeless must complete their trials before the evacuation can begin. That is why working together can be more efficient.
Noah himself would have struggled in his trials, if he did not have so much additional help. The help which allowed him to breeze through his own trials. Maybe he would still be working on a solution to creating a safe haven like the many other struggling lifeless.
Noah has sat slouched in this chair for a long time, far longer than even he has realized. So long in fact, that the pangs of hunger and thirst can be felt.
These are new sensations to Noah, As he has not eaten or drank anything since waking up in the Afterdeath
They are instinctual feelings, ones he knows how to resolve. But he does not move from his spot, preferring to sit motionless and let his mind eternally drift. Struggling to prevent any deep thoughts from consuming his mind.
He continues to wait, finding it harder and harder to suppress any thoughts. He looks around the room, staring at an odd drawing pinned to the wall. The countertop covered with various paints, then to the sink nearby.
Noah’s eyes roam aimlessly, not focusing too closely on any one specific thing. His attention is even drawn to the various people in the room, making only a general note of how many there are. Less than ten or so. Without a doubt, a handful of them being Lifeless like himself.
Noah has a natural wariness of others, only paying attention to their movements when they approach the location he is sitting. But none of them have come closer to him until now.
A man is walking in a general direction towards Noah, he is staring back at Noah with a disgruntled look. The man stops at the nearby sink and turns the faucet on, taking a drink from the water that flows out of it. Apparently he too is feeling thirsty.
Noah’s attention is focused on the man drinking water, not on him specifically, but on how he is drinking from the tap. Noah decides he too will get a drink, but waits until after the other man has left.
Waiting for a whole minute after he walked away, Noah finally gets up, feeling the stiffness in his legs and back. Lightly stretching as he walks, Noah approaches the sink and replicates the actions of the man he observed.
Swallowing the mouthful of water, Noah’s first reaction is towards its poor taste. However the refreshing coolness that alleviates the dryness of his throat is a welcome trade off. Noah takes another mouthful before turning off the sink and walking away.
This is the only small bout of movement before he goes back to sitting and resting, motionless on his chair once again. Waiting for the alarm to sound that marks the next step of his trial.
Unaware to Noah, other things are progressing all across the School of Dreams of Darkness. Just outside the art room, one person that Noah has met before, pokes his head inside, taking a quick look.
His eyes stop on someone he recognizes in the corner, sitting away from everyone else. Kaleb’s eyes flash with a light of surprise before an idea pops up in his mind.
He decides to walk into the room and greet his supposed friend. Slowing his steps briefly, Kaleb wracks his brain, trying to remember who this silent guy was.
Speeding back up and walking confidently closer, he calls out to Noah, his one time acquaintance as if they are close buddies. “Hey! Didn’t expect to see you here.” He says once he is close enough.
Finally picking up his head, Noah takes a moment to recognize who is waling towards him. This is the same eccentric confidence and friendly words from the man he met in the nurse’s office.
Kaleb acts with the same facade he displayed to Noah before. Some modicum of deeper intention being present in his actions. Just maybe, Noah could be of some use to him?
“How are your trials coming along?” Kaleb says with his large smile. “I’m nearly done myself, just been roaming around recently.”
Getting a blank stare from Noah, Kaleb continues talking unabashedly, “So, what trial are you on now? Stuck on anything?” Kaleb says, hinting he can offer some help.
Noah takes a moment to respond, then simply says, “Fifth Trial.”
“Ohh, so you are also just waiting around, right? Everyone I met has the same thing, waiting for the alarm, or something like that.” Kaleb says, waving his arms with energy.
“I’m impressed, you know. I honestly had my doubts about your capabilities.” Kaleb says exaggeratedly. “So tell me, what were your trials like? What did you think of them, were they hard?”
Kaleb barrages Noah with questions, his tone of voice is intense with emotion and feigned interest. However, Noah gives no response and just silently looks away from Kaleb, having no intention of sharing his recent experiences.
“Come on man, tell me something at least.” Then thinking for a moment, Kaleb says. “Okay, fine, I see how it is.” Kaleb holds up his hands in mock surrender.
“I know these first trials are pretty boring, they lack a lot of… substance, like what the real trials have. Hmm, how do I put this?” Kaleb stops to reconsider, trying to find the correct wording.
“Ah, got it. These first trials don’t have much depth to their danger. There is not enough consequence for messing up in them. You understand that?” Kaleb asks rhetorical questions of Noah, to which he will get no response.
Unfazed by Noah’s obvious lack of interest and straying attention, Kaleb continues to talk. “It is nearly over, then we will be getting into the meat of the trials soon, the real interesting stuff.”
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“That is when the danger is prevalent, not only will the others potentially target you, but the trials themselves are deadly. But that is where the real thrill and fun is, you get that don’t you?”
Kaleb seems to almost lose himself in his own words, displaying, for a few moments, his true character. The self absorbed maniac that he contains within his outer shell.
But most are unable to see this, as Kaleb is quite adept at making himself seem far less threatening than he truly is.
Noah’s words seem to pass right through Noah’s ears, as he does not listen, instead absorbed within his own impression of Kaleb, a negative one that is a result of their previous meaning.
Because of the words of some frivolous boon that Noah conversed with, Kaleb’s own good natured words during their previous encounter left a soured impression on him. Especially the statement: “Others will not be like me.”
Those thoughtless words he had spoken ruined the good image that Kaleb was and still is trying to build. A fruitless endeavor as he does not even realize it can never be restored, yet he will still try.
Noah’s thoughts come back to the present, focusing on Kaleb's next question.
“Hey, at least tell me where you got this strong cologne from. I might want to use some on myself to attract the ladies.” Kaleb says as an obvious joke.
But he gets not even a smile from Noah’s blank face. The joke falls completely flat, as they both enter an awkward silence while Kaleb scratches his head in supposed embarrassment.
“Uh, seriously, why do you smell like a strong spice?” Kaleb asks, resorting to a more subdued tone.
Noah finally decides to respond to Kaleb. “I found a candle and it melted in my hand. Now it smells strongly.”
Intrigued by Noah’s strange answer, Kaleb questions further. “Where did you find this candle?” He asks in a tone hopeful for another answer.
As a conversation where only he speaks is not a true conversation. Especially one where he can’t get any valuable information, which is Kaleb’s true goal in all this.
“I found it in the desk over there.” Noah says simply while vaguely pointing to the opposite side of the art room, towards the teacher’s desk where many others are gathered.
Looking over, Kaleb nods his head, inwardly happy that he has gotten Noah to speak. “I see. So did this candle look strange at all? Or say, did it do anything strange when it burned?” He asks, interested.
“The flame turned into a large white demon that ate all the ghosts in the room.” Noah states blandly.
“That.. hmm.” Kaleb did not expect such an extreme answer from Noah. “You wouldn’t make a joke about this…” he whispers to himself, barely loud enough for Noah to hear.
Then he speaks up again in his same friendly demeanor. “I can say with certainty, that candle was a strong artifact. You said it melted, right?”
Not waiting long enough for Noah to respond, Kaleb continues. “It’s unfortunate. I would have loved to see that candle in action.”
“It is strange though, I would not expect an artifact with such capabilities to be found here.” Kaleb says while holding his chin. Making a connection, while thinking about his own prior experiences with strange happenings and even stranger beings.
Kaleb notices the blank expression on Noah’s face, but can see the subtle difference than what it was before. There is a lack of understanding faintly present in his eyes and Kaleb believes he knows what is the cause.
“Do you know what artifacts are?” He asks this simple question, waiting patiently for Noah’s response. Which does not come as Noah just looks at him.
Pointing to the mop that is leaning against the table nearby, Kaleb asks. “Is that mop yours? Because it is probably an artifact.” He says with confidence.
“I’m not too sure what it can do, but it most probably is, since you’re carrying it around. Where did you get it exactly?” Kaleb asks for more reasons than simply declaring it an artifact.
“A janitor gave it to me.” Noah pauses, then adds. “After I helped him repair something.”
“Yup it's settled then. It's an artifact, albeit a weak one.” Kaleb says. Reaching into his own pocket and pulling out a thin cylindrical object, a ball point pen.
“See this? It's also a weak artifact I got from my trials. It doesn't do anything really, but I think it can keep writing forever. It never runs out of ink, at least it hasn't yet and trust me, I had to write a lot with it already.”
Kaleb rolls his eyes with the last statement. Referencing his 2nd trial where he had to write the same phrase over 100 times.
Kaleb turns back to the subject he was initially talking about. “Essentially, artifacts can be anything. Any sort of object or thing, but they have to have something special, some special property that makes them superior to a normal object of the same type.”
Kaleb scratches his head, somewhat embarrassed by his lacking description of what an artifact is. “Well, you will be able to tell if it's an artifact, most are pretty obvious.”
Looking back at the pen in his hand, Kaleb adds. “Artifacts with any major capabilities are pretty obvious anyways. If it's not a boon, then it is an artifact. It's pretty simple really.”
Artifacts are simpler, but also more complicated than what Kaleb has described. Any object imbued with a foreign and often magical property that either enhances existing principles or adds new ones, can be labeled an artifact.
“In the end though, Artifacts can have great use and be very strong, but they are often limited. Boons are always going to be more important, as they are permanent.” Kaleb states his own opinion on the matter.
“Speaking of boons,” Kaleb purposely changes the subject. “Did you find anything else lying around? Any hall monitors or shadows that had special abilities?” Kaleb asks one of his most anticipated questions.
One of the main reasons he even approached Noah in the first place. Hesitating, Noah cannot come up with a response. “I’m not sure,” Is all he says.
Even if he did remember and connect the dots between a boon and the impact of the words the disciplinary teacher used in his detention. Noah would not have told Kaleb.
Even then, the boon of the teacher lies within another’s hands, and not Noah’s. There is nothing that can be done even if either of them knew about it.
“Well, that's all right. They are very rare to find in the early trials.” Kaleb says happily, concealing the disappointment in his eyes.
Kaleb finally settles into an awkward silence. Having nothing else to talk about and Noah definitely not going to say anything himself.
After a prolonged silence, Kaleb awkwardly asks. “You want something to eat? I got an energy bar.” He reaches into his short’s pocket and pulls out a rectangular bar of colorful plastic.
But before he can even fully set down the energy bar onto the table between them, Noah has given his reply. A firm “No.”
“Oh, well alright then. You will regret not eating when food is available, trust me.” Kaleb says while putting the energy bar back into his pocket.
Standing up while stretching in an exaggerated manner. Kaleb indicates the end of their exchange.
“Well, I’m going back out to explore. You can come along if you want.” Kaleb throws out the question, already knowing Noah won’t accept the offer.
Just as he assumed, Noah replies with a quick “No.”
Not being bothered by Noah’s lacking social manners, Kaleb starts walking away, giving his last parting words. “See you later then, was an interesting conversation.” he says with a hint of sarcasm.
Noah watches the back of Kaleb as he walks across the room heading for the doorway. He passes by others, giving smiles and waves, displaying his social abilities to their fullest.
But Noah still is stuck in his negative view of Kaleb, something that won’t ever change. He does not like Kaleb, as the friendliness and energy that he has is unsettling to Noah.
He does not like the happy bubbliness of people. It doesn't help that he has a natural dislike of people in a general sense.
But Noah has made progress to be more social. When he first began his trials, he would not have interacted with Kaleb at all and he didn’t much in their first encounter. The few words and answers he gave this time can be inferred as small steps in a positive direction, from certain viewpoints.
The many social interactions Noah has been involved in surely are a factor as to why he is more accepting of others. But an even greater contributor may well be the greater powers influencing his choices and actions.
It is still too early to truly determine what is the ‘real’ Noah though. As he is merely a blank slate, a personality that has yet to be formed.
Only through more experiences will he eventually determine who and what he is. Whether gradually, or suddenly. He will be forced into it at some stage.