In the uptown district of Estica, the sun shone down as the entire city was graced by pure golden radiance. The inhabitants of the city were going about their day, with numerous trading and experimental endeavors taking place throughout the city.

Much like the title of the island city suggested, The Estican Island was majorly renowned for its creative and explorative freedom, which led to it becoming a center of frequent visitation and migration of people from numerous countries and races.

Humans, Elves, Sapphites and even Vampires could be seen loitering the streets of the busy district, with each of them engrossed in their transactions and individual businesses.

Among the crowd, Tyrell could be seen darting covertly through the vast sea of bodies, as if trying to avoid the detection of an unknown person or group of people tailing him. He moved with sharp flow and movement as if a single mistake on his part would blow his cover and reveal his position.

A group of security officials suddenly appeared behind him, as they looked around the sea of bodies with hast and urgency. It would be hard for anyone to detect his presence within the crowd, especially due to his light blond hair, which was a racial characteristic of the elves who currently littered the streets.

Before the security officials could pinpoint his exact location within the vast sea of bodies, Tyrell sharply darted into a crowded restaurant, put on a feathered hat and some glasses and pretended to check the restaurant menu with no urgent haste.

The security officials, failing to notice his movements, hurried past the front of the restaurant, completely unaware of his presence inside, and proceeded with their pursuit.

This caused Tyrell to smirk in amusement, before ordering a standard Lorrainian lunch from the waitress with no apparent rush.

Due to the neutral and welcoming nature of the island, Estica was often home to numerous cultural and ethical traditions, causing it to have a wide variety of styles. It was no wonder that you could see a restaurant solely dedicated to the sale of Lorrainian meals within the city.

The meal set was labeled as ‘Quiche Lorraine’ on the menu and comprised a set of savory tarts stuffed with eggs, rich cream, cheese and bacon. It was often served with a salad side dish, which was optional depending on the personal taste of whoever was ordering it.

Tyrell didn’t need to wait for more than 15 minutes before his meal was presented to him, causing him to inwardly nod at the professionalism of the restaurant. He slowly dug into his meal, making it quite obvious that he was in no rush for time.

He enjoyed the meal, particularly the tarts, though he thought the bacon could have used a bit more cooking time. Despite this, he still found the meal enjoyable, prompting him to make a mental note to leave a generous tip.

When he was halfway into his meal, the doors of the restaurant opened up, while welcoming the footsteps of an unknown man. This man was dressed quite formally and had his hair slicked back, with his most defining feature being the calm look on his face.

The man bore the demeanor of a refined gentleman, the kind one wouldn't imagine capable of harming even a fly.

Upon entering the restaurant, the man's gaze roamed the exterior briefly before finally fixing on Tyrell's table, prompting him to head in that direction.

The man’s steps were graceful and listless, almost as if he was floating on air.

As the man settled into the chair opposite Tyrell, the latter raised his head towards his guest, taking the last bite of his egg tarts while setting down his cutlery with a chuckle.

“Took you way longer than I thought to get here…”

The man didn’t offer an immediate response to Tyrell, but used his eyes to scan the outside of the restaurant calmly, “That was close Tyrell… One wrong move and you could have been caught.”

Tyrell gave the man a spurious smile, before taking a sip from the iced tea which he had ordered some time ago. He still had a calm smile on his face, making it apparent that he didn’t place such a big deal on it as the man did.

“You worry too much Harry. I obviously knew what I was doing. I let the chase ride on for that long simply out of boredom.” Tyrell then adjusted the glasses on his nose while playing with the feather on his hat, “Besides they were just regular guards. At most, they would be Disciples, and I’m confident in evading anyone as long as it’s not an Apostle on my tail.”

The man returned his gaze to Tyrell while saying with an annoyed tone, “How many times do I have to keep repeating this to you? It’s Harrington and not Harry, we aren’t kids anymore.” He then straightened up in his seat while saying with more seriousness, “And it doesn’t hurt to be more careful, lest you jeopardize and put all of us in danger.”

Tyrell felt like he was getting nagged by his elder brother which caused him to shake his head in disbelief. He was just having fun, was there really any problem with it if he didn’t get caught?

Harrington sighed in frustration at his friend's antics, obviously aware of what he was currently thinking. He then decided to steer the conversation back on course, lest they get caught up in unnecessary things.

“Now as for why I’m here today. The one behind me has agreed to your group's terms and has sent me to deliver the promissory contract as well as the immigration plans for your group.” His voice then turned serious as he straightened up in his seat, “As long as you can assure us of no complications on that day, we can proceed with the handover as planned.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Immediately Harrington ended his sentence, the air around Tyrell took on an entirely different tone. If the previous Tyrell radiated a pleasant and free spirit, the current one seemed to be on the precipice of violent madness, as his face turned cold and full of wrath.

His golden eyes seemed to hold the entire essence of anger and bloodshed, causing Harrington who was staring right at him to shift uncomfortably in his seat. Looking at his friend's subdued bloodlust, his heart palpitated slightly, as he felt like he could no longer recognize him.

‘Ever since he joined that group of battle-hungry maniacs he has become so different. I can’t even recognize him anymore.’

Tyrell continued to stare at his friend in burning silence, before breaking out a weird and uncomfortable smile, “Oh trust me, dear Harry, you don’t need to worry about us. We just have to make some slight preparations before that day, and we’ll be good to go. We never shy away from a good battle of blood and fury.”

‘I thought I just told you not to call me Harry.’ As Harrington lampooned, he gave a curt nod to Tyrell, before passing on 2 documents to him which were carried under his coat.

As Tyrell received the documents, he glanced at the promissory contract before chuckling naughtily, “Wow a fee of 15,000 Nel? Whoever is behind you must really be loaded Harrington, for him to spend this much money on a task that we would usually do for free.”

Harrington ignored Tyrell’s act of probing, before standing up and straightening his jacket and shirt. He spared his friend one last glance, before saying in a grave voice, “It would be wise not to be overly curious about who I work for, as it involves matters way beyond your pay grade. Even your leader, the renowned Battle Tyrant, is barely qualified to know.”

After saying this he gave Tyrell a curt nod, before walking out of the restaurant in a gentlemanly manner.

As Tyrell watched his friend walk out of the restaurant, the seething anger and fury within his eyes slowly dimmed as he regained his usual demeanor, as a calm and spirited smile appeared on his face, as if the previous display had been nothing but an illusion.

…

Within the main auditorium hall of White Helm Academy, a group of students were receiving an orientation speech from a female professor of the academy.

Light streamed in from the hall's crystalline windows, painting the group of more than a hundred students in a subtle orange glow.

The students within the hall all had excited expressions on their faces, expressions which were brought about by the announcement of their having completed and passed the entire assessment process.

Some broke down in tears, some yelled in excitement, some unclenched their fists and others had blank, surprised looks on their face. But among the myriads of expressions, one feeling dominated the entire hall, and that was happiness.

Professor Harleigh stood on a raised podium, giving a speech to the new academy inductees about the rules and regulations of the renowned theosophy college. The speech was supposed to be delivered by the principal of the academy, Professor Giuseppe Conti, but due to some unknown circumstances, the task was delighted to Professor Harleigh, as the principal was currently preoccupied with some important task.

Elias stood in the hall amidst the excited Damien, who couldn’t stop chattering due to his excitement of both of them making it through the most important day of their lives. But unlike Damien, Elias wasn’t too excited, as he currently had multiple things plaguing his mind.

‘Things in my life have stopped making sense ever since the eve of my trip to this academy. If this is an indicator of something, does that mean that I will continue to be put into more inexplicable situations in the future?’

Elias visibly shuddered at the thought, as he felt like his life had already been set on a path he wasn’t really prepared for.

His goal for coming to this academy was one of self-accomplishment as well as necessity. His original goal of wanting to become a Disciple or an Apostle stemmed from his desire to unearth the mysterious circumstances surrounding his guardian's death, as well as provide a better life for himself and his family. But not only had that now changed, but it had also seemingly become sidetracked.

He was stuck wondering about the mysterious circumstances of the dream and the message hidden in that cryptic language. Aside from that, after coming to the academy, he had realized that the inky black mist in the dream actually resided within him in reality, which added more and more questions.

Also after the last part of the previous ritual, Elias was left wondering why the concepts of life and death would combine like that and form that irregular ball of light. From what he learned after speaking to Damien and listening to talks around him, such a phenomenon wasn’t common and had only happened to him, so he was beyond confused and more than that, scared.

His face slowly started to turn grave, as the possibility of the future had turned totally scary and unapproachable to him. Damien noticing the dark look on his friend's face, nudged him in his side which seemed to startle him a little.

“Hey man are you okay? You look so dull and weak.”

The nudge appeared to jolt his mind back to reality, causing him to smile weakly at his friend. “Ah yes, I’m okay… just a bit tired I guess. Today has been a long day for me.”

Damien gazed at his friend with worried eyes, before sighing and patting him on the back, “I understand, you’ve had a really long day. The speech would soon be over and after we write the written exams, you should have some time to rest before registration begins later on.”

Elias thanked his friend sincerely, before remembering an important issue he had almost forgotten; they hadn’t written the written exams yet. That was extremely detrimental to his scholarship!

Elias decided to throw his worries to the back of his mind for now, as he would have all the time in the world to brainstorm after his admission process had been completed.

After steadying his emotions, he called out to Lars in his mind, as he wondered why he hadn’t said anything thus far. Lars simply told him that he was resting to regain his strength, as the two assessment processes had been very taxing on him. Avoiding detection by the Elven Naturist during the ritual had proven to be extremely challenging for him.

Elias, acknowledging his feelings, apologized and left him to rest. He told Lars to say something when he felt better, so he would know he was alright.

As Elias focused on the closing remarks of Professor Harleigh, he caught the last line of her speech, a line which left a deep impression on him.

“And now for my last piece of advice, ensure you remain a gentle candle wisp that silently burns beneath the morning cover…”

…

Deep within the academy groups, a series of shouts and maddening screams echoed throughout a room, painting the entire scene in eerie detail.

The source of the screams was a solitary man, with two gaping holes for eyes and crimson blood all over his face. The nails on his hands were eerily absent, apparently having fallen out due to the man's insistent act of clawing at the floor. A hand was placed above his head, causing him to struggle intensely as if he were a mad dog.

The hand held his head firmly in place, as a subtle and ethereal aura permeated from his hands onto the man's head. This aura caused the man to temporarily seize his maddening acts, before erupting again abruptly with newfound intensity.

The hand slowly withdrew from the man’s hands reluctantly, as a voice sounded behind it, “Hamilton any news?”

Bishop Hamilton, who was the owner of the hand, slowly turned towards the group behind him with a complicated expression, as his mouth quivered slightly, “No none at all… I couldn’t find anything. It was like he just suddenly ran mad.”

He then paused slightly, before gazing at the group with a grave and fearful look,

“And it is the type of madness I know nothing of…”