RAVE'S POINT OF VIEW.
-Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, hundred-
At this rate, I don't think I'm going to be able to keep on holding my breath.
I reach upward, and push at this hand keeping me drowned in the water with all my might.
-What's the point of this whole tradition if nothing special or incredible happens?-
I know I still feel quite normal.
-The strength of the Mage holding me down, is extraordinary-
But if I stay here up to a minute longer, I'm obviously going to die.
-My flawed eye starts hurting as I apply maximum effort to shove this hand away-
But no attempt of mine is budging it.
-A wave of frustration washes over me; and I slowly begin to lose awareness-
SUDDENLY.
I am hit by an untraceable spasm of agony as something pierces into my left eye.
-This pain is followed by strange energy that propels me upward with strength and speed that completely off-balances my Immerser.
I surface from the water, desperately gasping for air and clutching my left eye in anguish.
About half a dozen individuals are sprawled out on the ground around me, their eyes regard me in astonishment.
-Don't tell me it wasn't just one, but all these people that were holding me down into the water-
I look around;
-The hall is almost completely emptied out-
"What do we do now sir?, it would seem that he survived"
I look round to see the Head Upper Mage at a corner being addressed.
He sighs heavily and shakes his head as he turns to leave;
"Just send him back home, he is of no use to us as an empty shell"
At that moment;
-My heart stops-
RAVE'S POV END.
CAMADA'S POINT OF VIEW.
We all chatter with excitement;
-It feels like a dream that I actually survived that ordeal; from now on, my path should be easy; with these powers nothing can stand in my way of becoming powerful! I may never even have to risk my life again for anything-
"This is where you'll be staying now" she gestures at a line of rooms.
-From the exterior alone, this is obviously a huge upgrade from where we stayed at as Applicants-
And Rev. Trinka; the Reverred leading us now; is at least a thousand times nicer than Rev. Kesha.
"I'll be letting you pick your rooms, in hopes that nobody causes any trouble... this time you'll be three in a room" she remarks as she opens the door leading to one of the rooms.
As my eyes span the room, a small gasp escapes my mouth;
-Now this is what I call fit for royalty-
The room has been segmented in a way which makes it appear that there are three rooms within one, ensuring for adequate amount of privacy; the beds are grandoise and light decorations like flowers and ribbons hang on the walls.
By each bedside is a table and chair, and a huge drawer lies by a corner;
"Don't worry, we'll be providing you with uniforms and any other clothing materials you require, even your most feminine needs will be tended to" she mutters with a knowing smile.
-Am I the only one feeling so uplifted about everything?-
I turn to Taki for concession, but her expression isn't so encouraging.
"Like how is moving from two people in a room to three people in a room an improvement?" she undertones in a grumble.
-I just don't know about this girl-
"We're going to start official lessons tomorrow by educating you about the System, the progenitors of the System and the Great Disaster of Tri-Century ago" Rev Trinka intones.
She turns to leave but stops in her tracks;
"Please, behave yourselves..." she pauses before adding with a menacing glare;
"I wouldn't want your first lessons to be about the countless Torture techniques modelled into Reverred discipline methods"
She flashes a sweet smile before finally walking away.
I shudder;
-Torture techniques?; I don't think I want to have anything to do with that so I'll avoid trouble making like a plague-
Someone grabs my hand;
-Taki-
"Well Camada, I don't know about you but I loved being roommates, so let's keep that record okay?" She pronounces while dragging me along.
-I really don't know about Taki, sometimes she's just so overwhelming and peculiar; while sometimes, when she does something like rucking a grown man; she's just so stupid and unnecessary to me-
She skips cheerfully dragging me to the very last room.
We peep in and see someone on one of the beds.
She stares up at the ceiling, and her face wears nothing but an expression of boredom.
"Um, hello there...if you don't mind, we'll be joining you in this room" Taki declares.
She turns to glance at us briefly but promptly looks away;
-Ignoring Taki's friendly gesture-
Taki seethes in rage at her nonchalancy.
-I already have a really bad feeling about this arrangement-
"Hey Taki, why don't we try checking other rooms or some-" "No Camada, we're going to stay here" she interrupts in a loud voice.
-I sigh heavily; well, I guess I just have to settle... I'm too lazy to go round searching for another room that'll welcome me-
I take a bedspace and jump on the bed.
-I groan in pain as my messed up arm roughly brushes against the bed; I was totally unmindful of my injury-
"Speaking of which, how in Lady Senaya's name, did you injure your arm so severely?";Taki asks regarding the arm contemptuously.
-What kind of stupid question is that?-;
"We were battling for our lives against monstrous man-eating creatures, isn't the fact that you didn't have any fatal injury more strange?!" I snap back.
She chuckles; "I'm sorry Camada, take a chill pill would you?"
I rub my shoulder gently.
-I healed my back earlier, can't I do the same for this arm?-
I place my other hand on the wrapped up shoulder and shut my eyes;
-If I focus hard enough, I should be able to recreate that moment and heal my arm-
-Focus, focus, focus, foc-
"NO WAY!!!!!"
A resounding voice of alarm shatters into my session.
Taki rushes out, I follow suit out of curiosity;
-The room opposite ours-;
"Is anyone hurt?" Taki barges into the room.
-It sure doesn't look like anyone is-
A girl with bobbed blonde hair stands toe to toe with another girl who looks like she'd rather be dead.
"I am NOT putting up with this FREAK'S ATTITUDE ANOTHER TIME!" the blonde girl roars.
"Calm down, Hana... you're attracting a whole lot of attention" a fidgety girl with a really long pigtail; apparently the mediator; whispers to blondie.
Hana exhales deeply as she turns to face us;
"Hey you, yes you... do you want to become my roommate?" She points at Taki.
Taki chuckles;
"Of course not, I just heard an alarming scream and came to check out-" "-Then, how about you?" She interrupts Taki, now wagging her finger at me.
Just as I'm about to decline;
"I'd like to become your room-mate..." Taki and I turn to see our rude room-mate at the door;
She really doesn't want to have anything to do with Taki and I right?
-Well, for the record, I don't like her one bit either-
Hana groans as she yells;
"EVEN WORSE!!!!"
CAMADA'S POV END.
THE HOODED ONE'S POINT OF VIEW.
I have never seen the kind of expression Rave has right now on any body's face before.
-It is a mixture of fury, pain, frustration, confusion, helplessness, regret and so many other negative things, but mostly fury-
I have carefully listened to his story, analysed his flawed eye and determined that he is undergoing the worst case scenario possible;
-He wasn't born an empty shell, but made into one-
It's thrilling to think of how unstable his future is;
"Hooded One, I WANT TO BECOME A MAGE... essence or not" he verbalises straightforwardly.
-I am impressed that he has so quickly overcome the shock and pain of being labelled an empty shell despite his labour and dreams-
"Hmmm... I've never heard of any empty shells becoming Mag-" "-Allow me to be the first" he cuts me in with an icy glare.
-I smirk to myself in delight-
"Well, I suppose it can't be helped... you DID survive the Screenings, I could talk to the..."
I notice him staring intently at me, his red eye uneases me;
I flick out my kerchief;
"Here... you should cover up that eye before it draws any unwanted attention"
He receives the kerchief;
"Thanks"
I watch him wrap his new eyepatch securely around the eye.
-I would love to do more research on his body and find out about the entity responsible for all this, but I can only do that if Rave is entirely demobilized-
"If you want to become a Mage then the only way you can do so is to build your physicals so well that you may gain recognition even as an empty shell...work twice, no thrice more than others, and maybe someday you can crush the System"
Rave just looks at me, then he takes a deep breath;
"Tell me the truth Mr Hooded One, was I always an empty shell?"
-Silence-
"It would seem that the entity you contracted with got direct access to your Essence flow and completely sucked you dry to sustain itself"
Rave gradually begins to tweak as subtle realisation hits him.
I grin to myself;
-Rave never ceases to entertain me-
THE HOODED ONE'S POV END.