The group walked through the halls and headed to the nearest locker room. The empty walls of the hallway gave off a sense of gloom; green paint had begun to peel off the bricks, and windows struggled to let in the little light the clouds allowed to escape, making the atmosphere of the second floor all the more dreary. As the sound of steps echoed through the hall Remi caught Zane's attention.

"Dude, I know we just met and all but I gotta say what you did wasn't safe. I mean imagine if he was out for blood,"

Zane was quiet for a few seconds.

"I understand your concerns and I apologize for worrying you." He replied, sounding somewhat remorseful.

"I appreciate your apology," Remi said with a smile on his face.

"Savour it too, I'm probably going to repeat this scenario in different contexts and I probably won't apologize next time," Zane replied casually.

"I-"

Remi was taken aback by Zane's response and went quiet. After the exchange, Aenon's stifled laughter was the only thing to be heard in the hushed corridor. Following a few more steps they arrived at a forest green door with the words 'LOCKER ROOM' in bold above it. The door gave off a sense of purity and sanctity, in fact, most of the entrances and windows inside the building gave off this feeling.

Aenon spoke as he opened the door and led them in.

"Uh, Remi you can use the showers in this one, I'll take Zane to another one."

The locker room was (as expected) full of lockers, they were tall and painted red with reasonable width for storing clothes and such. Its floor was tiled with dark grey marble and walls of the same shade. Aenon walked into the showers and the faint sound of water splashing could be heard for a few seconds before he came out of them.

"I've used my edict to fill a pretty large bucket in there, the water should be pure enough to clean well," he voiced as he left the room and Zane followed after.

As they were going to the stairs leading to the bottom floor where another locker room was located, Zane stopped Aenon and said he forgot to give some items to Remi. He rushed back to the locker room and made sure to knock before entering.

"Come in!"

Zane opened the door to see a shirtless Remi with his red flannel and grey t-shirt lying roughly on a bench next to his bag. As Zane had expected Remi was in good shape, he had developed muscles that showed signs of some kind of athletic prowess, and his tall stature complemented his body type all the more. He wasn't bodybuilder buff but definitely fit.

"You like what you see?" Remi said with a smirk.

"What a weird thing to say," Zane said with his usual cold tone.

"You're a weird thing to say," Remi replied, mimicking Zane's accent terribly.

"You really got me good with that one," Zane mocked as he picked up Remi's clothes, folded them neatly, took out a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste from his bag, and laid them on the garments.

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"It's important to take care of your teeth," he uttered as he zipped his bag up and left the room.

Zane quickly met up with Aenon and together they went to another locker room. Upon arriving, Aenon eyed Zane's bandages, went to the showers, and filled up another bucket. Before he left, he let Zane know to meet up in the classroom from before when he was done cleaning up. Zane dropped his bag on the floor, untied his shoes and stepped out of them, slid his black sweater off his shoulders, and carefully unbuttoned his white shirt before removing the rest of his clothes. He folded them neatly and laid them on the bench. He did each step carefully and slowly to prevent any mistakes.

He took out a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from his bag and then headed to the showers. After brushing, he scooped out some water in his hands. The water shimmered with radiant blue light and had a pure refreshing smell. He lifted his hands overhead and carefully poured the water on himself, suspicious of its effects. As a drop made contact with a bandage on his face, he noticed that the pain was gone.

He quickly ripped it off and felt the area, it was completely healed as well as much cleaner than before, irregularly clean, he decided to speed up the process and (with some struggle) lifted the entire bucket above his head and doused himself with the glowing water. A few minutes later Zane returned to the classroom and opened the door, he saw Aenon sitting next to the classroom's window with his gaze focused on the sky. He quickly turned as he heard Zane coming in and had a relieved look on his face.

"Your edict is an interesting one indeed, you have my thanks."

Zane said as he tapped the now unbandaged parts of his face. He looked through the open door to see Remi heading in the direction of the classroom, he beckoned him to come quickly then he entered. Soon after Remi entered and they both took seats near Aenon. The plain classroom had wooden tables and a used blackboard that clearly hadn't been wiped in a long time. There was a deafening silence until Remi broke it.

"Hey, your injuries are gone!"

"You just noticed?" Zane teased before shifting his focus to Aenon.

"I have a few questions for you, I know we just met but I'm hoping you'll answer them honestly. Of course, if there's something you don't feel like answering, simply let me know," Zane said in a polite, gentlemanly manner. He spoke much softer than before although there was still a lack of emotion in his speech.

"Alright," Aenon replied, now that it was a peaceful situation his voice could be properly heard. It was gentle but deep and impactful as if hearing a word from it could sway your own beliefs, like the calming voice of a priest. The voice suited Aenon and complimented his sharp eyebrows and well-constructed jawline.

"First question, why are you here all alone? "

"I used to be part of a group, a pretty large one, but I left."

"Why'd you leave?" Remi interjected.

Aenon hesitated for a second, "Large groups attract more monsters."

Zane and Remi shared a glance, Aenon was clearly withholding something but they decided not to pry any further.

"Alright next question, do you have a cool name for edict? If not could I give some sugges-?"

"Ignore him. Anyways, could you explain how exactly your edict works?"

"I'm not so sure myself, all I know is that I can somehow create water that has healing properties. I do know that the water isn't made from thin air, I think it's condensed water vapour. I'm not sure how it gets its 'effects' though."

"So somehow you can gather and selectively cool water vapour in the air..." Zane lost himself in thought for a brief second. "You mentioned some kind of purity before, could you explain further and if your water only has the ability to heal, why were you so ready to face us?"

"Oh, yeah. So basically, I can choose how effective I want the water to be. Like, I couldn't see any injuries on Remi so the water I poured out for him was basically just slightly purer than average while yours was pure enough to heal injuries. For the whole facing you guys thing, most edict users can take on two or three pathfinders in a serious fight. " He said as he pointed out the lack of any noticeable marks on their bodies.

"So I knew I could take you guys on and heal myself if need be."

"Interesting...you seem to know more than Remi here."

"Low blow dude," Remi voiced in a fake hurt manner.

"Last question, The windows and doors in this building give off a strange ambience. Are you the cause?"

"True, it gives off a real churchy vibe," Remi added.

"Yeah, I am actually. I noticed that if I splash pure enough water on the entrances of buildings it wards off monsters and prevents the ones that stick around from entering, kind of like a barrier. It only works in large enough buildings with walls and a roof."

"Very intriguing," Zane said as he jotted something in his notebook, the other two had not even realized he had pulled it out.

" Now I have a question for the both of you, it's strange for two pathfinders to survive this long on their own. Don't get me wrong or anything but considering the situation we're currently in I have to ask. Plus I just gave you info about my edict so it only seems fair. "

"Well- "

Remi was cut off (again) by a loud banging sound.

"Uh...what's that sound?" Remi gulped, and his words were followed by a loud crash.

"Fuck," Aenon exclaimed as a chill ran down his spine.

"What? " Zane asked.

"Something's broken the barrier, and it's inside."