Looking around, I saw everyone staring. My eyes met with Ms. Bell's, then Tiana's. I grabbed the hammer slowly before looking back down, storing it away.
"Mr. Felix, call your koi hammer back out. It is indeed your bond and a symbol of your status as a forger" Ms. Bell called out. I looked up and saw her smiling at me. Unwillingly, I called out my hammer and carefully set it on the table.
"We'll go into this now. There are also spirit tools that we make. Mr. Felix, would you like to explain how they are made? Or have you not gotten that far?" She asked out, making me nervous. Why is she asking? I nodded slowly while standing up.
"When you kill a spirit, there is a probability of it dropping a spark, as we all know. However, there is also an incredibly small chance for it to drop a soul. If you happen to find one, you have a chance to forge a spirit tool" I start, gathering everyone's attention. I saw a brighter smile grow on Ms. Bells face before I continued.
"However, even then, it wont be easy. Souls are extremely difficult to work with and you need a material strong enough to hold it, and then, you'd need to fight it's soul form to forge it into the material" I finish, sitting back down. A light applause rang out but I wasn't paying attention to them, but my watch.
A message read off from Tiana.
[I need you to forge me a septor of some transparent or translucent material 1 meter long with room for something at the top]
She sent it like I already agreed. Looking up at her, she was blatantly ignoring me, looking towards Ms. Bell like she didn't just demand for me to work for her, for free?
I deleted it and waited for the bell to ring. Soon enough, it did. Walking out, Ms. Bell called me over, sighing, I did.
"Im sorry about Kasteel, he's your acquaintance?" She called out, making me freeze. Staring at her, I shook my head.
"He's family" I whispered before walking out.
As I got out of the room, I saw Tiana waiting on me with her arms crossed.
"You got the material in mind?" She called out, making me pause. I looked at her glowing eyes and felt nothing. No rage, no fear, no disappointment, nothing.
"Im not doing it" I breathe out as I walked on, trying to get to my integraters course. She followed, staying too close to comfort. Suddenly, I felt the vibe flip and someone picked me up by my uniforms collor and bound both my hands behind me.
Looking back, I saw that armored light bond. Then, I saw Tiana walk infront of me.
"Are you sure youre not going to do it?" She asked out and I noticed something, something that really changed. He personality, yes. But her white feather tattoo changed into something else,a single dot of white.
'Master, im going to come out' Veil warned and I felt nothing. No fear, just nothing. Did any of this mattered? Even if I get beaten, it wouldn't change anything.
'Go ahead' I assure her as vimes grew out of my hands, wrapping around the light bond. Then, I felt it. A rush of gold energy through the vines.
Tiana was looking me in the eyes, looking confused. Should I even reply or wait till her bond dies first? Then, the choice was made for me as Veil crushed the hand holding me up and bound, letting me touch the ground.
"Im sure" I breath out as I walked along. She stayed behind but I didn't check on her. Soon enough, i made it to the room and saw it was already open. Walking in, I saw Mr. Orpheous writing out the equation on the board.
Sitting down, I saw Vivian glancing at me. Ooh yeah, she wanted to make some kind of deal. Walking over, I sat near her. She turned to me immediately.
"You want to get stronger? Want a higher koi capacity?" She started and I caught on immediatily. She wants to go spirit hunting. I looked deep into her eyes, looking for something. I really don't know what i was looking for, more like a feeling but I found it.
Her confidence, that spark in her that told her she could handle anything. Sighing, I shook my head.
"Im sorry, I can't go" I tell her before standing up and walking away, back to my seat.
'Master, are you ok?' Veil calls out. I hear her but I don't understand why she's asking.
'Yea, why?' I asked back, then feel her turning restlessly in her tattoo.
'You seem different since last weekend. You don't seem as... alive as before' she calls out carefully, making me depressed.
'Yea, maybe I am. Not like it changes anything' I sigh out mentally, making Veil go quiet. Then, I felt something. An emotion? thought? idea? Presence? It was like a memory was flashing through my mind.
***
I was a clove covered in blood, while 2 snakes fought it out. One was a deep black gold with lightning dancing around it, while the other was a bright green with blue scales throughout.
As they fought, there missed attacks shot out into the forest in the back ground. Countless animals dies, trees fallen. Yet they weren't done.
Suddenly, a massive bird landed in the water nearby, sending most if it flying. The bird itself was blurry, like a haze coated it. The bird chopped once, then the earth revolted.
Spikes shot out, piercing them and whatever I was countless times. I felt a pain unlike any others pass through me. The warmth leaving from my body, but I wouldn't die. Why was I so unwilling?
The 2 snakes died like that, leaving there bodies behind. The, I felt it. A faint warmth from below. I stretched out, trying to take it all in, but every time I did, it hurt. I felt like I was burning, but I didn't stop. I refused to die here, now.
A spark ignited. Then, I woke up from the memory.
***
I was sitting in class as everyone studied the equation. Even I felt my koi following the pattern but I felt something else, really felt it.
A will to survive.
'That was my spark, my will to thrive, to grow stronger so that I never end up in that situation' Veil called out softly, making me nod.
I felt it, yet it wasn't mine. It's not going to change the past. Looking up, I stared at the equation and felt my koi click into the cycle comfortably. Slowly, I felt something in my soul space. It wasnt physical, nor koi, but a clear mass of something ethereal.
"Aaah, 5 of you have formed it. We can begin" Mr. Orpheous called out. Looking up, I saw him smiling at me as he slid the white board aside and held hand. Slowly, a crown appeared on his head, Silver with leaf patterns around its front.
"This is my soul core, and 5 of you have one in its unconvinced form. Today, we are going to start with form shaping" he explains as he pulls out an old piece of paper, yellowing wouldn't do it justice for how old it was. It looked like it was about to turn to dust.
Wait, how does that work? The divine flame fell about 10 years ago, but this looks well over 1000 years old?
Looking at the unfurled paper, I saw writing that was translated to pictures? The first one was of a man pulling out the mass from his head. Then, the man made it into a shape, before finally pushing it all together, forming it.
"Now kids, this looks easy, but the minimum time required is a month. And the shaped can't be casual. They have to be practical and meaningful. Weapon, armor, and accessory, an outfit, a pet. Anything works, just be careful" he calls out just before the bell rings. We stand up carefully before heading out.
What should my soul core be? A weapon would be ideal, but he described it as a core. Weapons break so what happens if my soul core breaks? Even more so for the armor, leaving accessories. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, crowns, and anklets all ran through my mind but they all felt insignificant.
Soon, I made it to theh cafeteria but standing there, being in the area, didn't bring much but regret. I stared at the cutting board, at the counter and made a decision.
I stood there and pulled out a massive lizard corpse, laying it on the counter. It drew the attention of those nearby, but I wasnt doing it for that, not even for me. Im doing it for him.
Pulling out the knife from the block, I coated it in koi before cutting into it. It was already bloodless so it came apart a lot easier. Limbs started to fall, organs and guts disposed of. I kept the crystal claws of it and stored them away, along with the bones and meat.
'While im here, might as well prep all of them' I called out to veil, who chuckled slightly.
'Have fun' she laughed out as I cut them slowly. After a few, I started to recognise what to look for, where to cut to sever it completely, and what parts to keep.
By the 37 dissection, a woman came up to me with a cold grin. I didn't look up because I didn't need to. She wasn't important to me, until she started to become a problem.
She started touching the corpse, annoying me. Looking up, I saw it was Tiana. Of course it's her, who else has as much audacity as her.
"Don't touch my kills" I breathe out coldly, going back to cutting up the lizard. She clicked her tongue repeatedly and tapped on the claws of the lizard.
"I want you to make me that septer out of these. The claws are a beautiful translucent teal" she commented, making me pause for a moment before i continued.
"I thought I told you not to touch my kills, and I told you no" I explained coldly with a brutal glare. She paused for a moment before looking annoyed. Looking around, she spotted someone before bringing them over. I didn't look up as I started another corpse but they didn't stop.
"Roman, didn't you say you wanted a new set of gauntlets? There are spark grade materials ready with a forger. Ask him" she explained to Roman as he looked down at the claws while I cut them off, storing them away.
'Veil, what do I do. She's not listening' I asked out to veil, making her shift in my tattoo.
"Hey man, can I commission a piece from you? Im willing to pay you a decent amount" a man's voice rang out. I stored everything away while looking up.