Chapter 15: • A Friendship Offer
"For the next three days that you'll be here, you're going to engage in educational and mystical sessions on how to master your power, strengthen your Essence, and create stronger Influences." Grengo announced after no one gave a reply to his question.
"You will take the rooms on the highest floor, each one has all the necessities you need. Ardion will fill you in on more details such as when we eat and when the lights go out."
Spheris raised a brow. Who was Ardion? The forthright guard?
"I will do my best to teach you how to survive, as grim as your chances are... stranger things have happened." Grengo sighed despairingly, he started to seem genuinely worried for their well-being. "But I can only do my part. If you want any chance of surviving The Abyss, the most important thing is teamwork. Your Wings have put you up against each other, but you should remember to not see this as a competition, but as survival."
The Avatars glanced at each other, Meister Grengo's words resonating with them. Spheris on the other hand, started to realize how alone he was. None of these Royal Gentlefolks were going to have his back inside The Abyss. He suddenly began to miss his loyal companion.
"Lesson is adjourned for the day," Grengo declared as he returned to the footpace. "Ardion will be waiting outside the door to take you to your rooms. Do well to be obedient to his orders, although I'm quite sure that he will have no problem handling you."
Spheris didn't doubt that. The guard had a presence about him, he was dominant and intimidating. Sure his height and sculpted build helped, but there was something else.
"Now, Avatars, I have pressing matters to attend to. Have a fine first day, and we shall reconvene come tomorrow's dawn." The Mage then draped his cloak around him, vanishing into a swirl of green mist.
'Spellbreaking, fireballs, literal vanishing acts. What else is left for me to witness?' Spheris sighed within his thoughts.
"Do we really have that small of a chance to survive The Abyss?" he overheard Blondie ask her group. "I mean from what Meister Grengo just said it's pretty much a suicide mission."
"Nah, I'm sure he's just trying to scare us!" Snow-Hair replied. "He wants us to understand the importance of everything."
"Maybe," Eyeglasses joined in. "But either way, he's right about the teamwork part. We're friends, we shouldn't let the Convergence Ceremony ruin that. Teamwork has to be our priority if we want to survive The Abyss."
Snow-Hair scoffed. "Well, that's going to be difficult now that we have him with us, instead of Bastopher."
The Royals all turned to Spheris simultaneously, some with curiosity, others with contempt. He didn't shy away; instead, he maintained a steady gaze back at them.
'I guess whoever blinks first loses,' he joked to himself.
"I don't know, Nero," Eyeglasses said to Snow-Hair. "He did survive an attack from a Level Two Hellbender, which means he has experience."
"Hah! Experience, my ass! Didn't you hear that there were four other thieves in those caves with him? He betrayed them all and left them to die." Snow-Hair then shot Spheris a spiteful glare. "Which means he's not only a thief but a backstabber as well."
Spheris remained silent throughout all this, the impassive expression in his eyes unwavering as he gazed at them.
"Hmm," Eyeglasses shrugged. "I heard that they were attacked by the Gorgolith. If he's alive, it means he was the only one who knew how to survive."
Snow-Hair hissed defeatedly.
Eyeglasses then gave Spheris a long curious look that was a bit friendlier than what Spheris usually received from Gentlefolks.
"So what do you say huh, pal?" he spoke to Spheris.
Spheris raised a brow at him, feeling a bit of unease at the boy's cordiality. Maybe he was just too used to the frequent disdain from Gentlefolks.
"What do I say about what?" he asked him.
"Well, you heard what Grengo said," Eyeglasses turned around further, now face to face with Spheris. "We have to work together if we want to survive our conquest. So this is me offering my friendship to you so we can all get along."
Having no immediate response, Spheris shifted his gaze to Blondie, who, just like Snow-Hair, was still clearly stabbing him with her eyes.
"So my name is Thorin," Eyeglasses declared. "This is Nero," he gestured to Snow-Hair. "This is Akemi," he pointed to Quiet Girl. "…and that's Cerene."
Spheris gave each of them a swift glance after their introductions, then returned his gaze to Thorin. When Thorin noticed that Spheris wasn't planning on saying anything in response, he inquired. "So, what's your name? Or would you rather we just called you the Raven Thief."
He chuckled amicably. Spheris observed the boy had incredibly deep dimples that made him look like a baby when he smiled.
'Well, if he didn't charm a person with his nice words, his innocent face would certainly do the trick,' Spheris thought.
Seeing that Spheris wasn't at all amused by his joke, Thorin's smile vanished. He waited for a while longer, but Spheris still said nothing, and the longer time stretched, the weirder the atmosphere became.
"So... are you going to tell us your name?" he queried.
Spheris took one quick glance at Snow-Hair and Blondie, then sighed. "You say you're offering your friendship to me, yet your fellow companions don't seem to share the same sentiment as you."
Thorin took a long look at his friends then returned back to Spheris. "Don't worry about them, just trust me."
"Hmm," Spheris got to his feet. "Either I can trust all of you or none of you. I'll be on my way, it seems some of you are annoyed at my presence."
His chair screeched on the floor as he began to leave, but before he could reach the door, he was stopped by Snow-Hair's voice.
"We never said you could leave, Heathian!" the boy declared.
Spheris stopped on his tracks but didn't turn back to acknowledge the toughie.
"I'm talking to you!" he boomed again. "No one said you could leave."
Spheris took a deep silent breath and turned around gradually, facing the overly antsy boy. If he didn't act like an airhead, Snow-Hair would have actually been someone Spheris would respect.
Not only was he inches taller than him, but his chiseled frame and muscles looked deadly compared to Spheris's slender build. He had the true face of a prince; handsome, pampered and stoic. And then his white gear was probably the most impressive thing about him.
"Is there something that you want from me?" Spheris asked him, finding courage from hell knows where.
Snow-Hair scoffed. "What I want from you? I want you to give Bastopher what you stole from him and return to the wastelands where you belong." He began a slow advance toward Spheris.
"Believe me, I want the same thing. Last thing on my wishlist is following you psychopaths into The Abyss. But unfortunately, I have no choice."
Snow-Hair licked his lips, irate. "This guy thinks he's funny."
"Alright, Nero. Stop," Thorin interjected.
"Hold on, I have to teach this squab a lesson."
Everyone gasped. Spheris narrowed his gaze, unsure of how to feel. He was used to being called the S-word, but from a kid his age who was supposed to be a companion in a deadly conquest? Never.
All Gentlefolks really are the same, and Spheris detested every single one of them. There were no good ones, no kind ones. From the oldest to their unborn babies, they were all vile beings filled with hate and discrimination.
Snow-Hair was proof.
"You are a bloody squab, are you not?" the boy pressed. "You don't deserve to take Bastopher's place."
Spheris remained standing, his legs almost failing him, and surprisingly, he feared that he was going to leak a tear. He'd been disgraced so many times but never around kids his age.
Snow-Hair then seemingly gently placed his hand on Spheris's chest, and gave him a soft nudge.
Only it wasn't a soft nudge. Spheris felt a cold force push itself against his torso, sending him flying through the air and crashing into a shelf.
Books from the shelf rained down on him, and when it stopped, he was sitting on the floor, too disgraced to look up. He was angry, but was too outmatched to do anything. And when he saw Snow-Hair approaching, his heart sank.
"Nero, stop!" To Spheris's surprise, it was Blondie who got in the way to stop the bully. "We don't want to get into any trouble with Meister Grengo."
Before Nero could respond, the door creaked open, and the guard stormed inside. "What in the Five Wings is going on here!?" he demanded.
Spheris stood up, brushing off the dust. "I fell," he answered the guard.
"You fell?" The guard echoed, not at all convinced.
"Yes," Spheris replied. He felt so ashamed that he could not look the guard in the eye, or the rest of the Avatars.
The guard glared sternly at everyone, and they all looked away. He glared at Snow-Hair the longest, knowing what had happened.
"You five are fools. You have the chance to save your realm and bring peace finally to our world, and you spend your time in petty arguments. Follow me to your rooms, you clodpoles! No one comes out until I say so."
Quietly, the five Avatars followed Ardion out of the tutorium and up the creaky stairs. They arrived at a floor which was lined with six tall wooden doors.
The guard then allocated them to their separate rooms, which from the stairs was arranged thus; Akemi, Thorin, Nero, Cerene, an unoccupied room and then Spheris.
When Spheris got inside his room, to his surprise, it was decent. More than decent in fact.
There was a bed, which made it ten times better than any place he had ever slept. It was clean with comfortable linens, and beside the bed was a lightlamp fueled by Spellforce. There was a chair, and a door to what Spheris guessed was a bathroom. The room itself was neatly arranged, creating an atmosphere of unexpected comfort within the otherwise foreboding mansion.
He collapsed on the bed, fixating his gaze on the ceiling as the recent events in the tutorium replayed in his mind like a haunting melody.
How could he feel so confident against a Hellbender, and be intimidated by a fellow human? He thought he had mastered all that, he thought he was now fearless.
'Uh, you are so weak! '
Spheris sprang up from the bed. 'What the... ' his mind rang. "Who was that?"
No answer. Silence.
He turned around, heart racing as his eyes darted around his room. "I said who the hell was that!?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone