Chapter 56 - Personal order.
The Midar University hall where Bioconductivity was taught was a wide amphitheater of white stone tiers, climbing in steps toward a vaulted ceiling where diffuse light filtered through turquoise stained glass and fell in narrow bands across the gilded railings and white desktops below.
At the lectern, the professor traded low words with a colleague while the hall filled with a steady hum of whispers, none of the students taking their eyes off Aren, who sat at the left edge of the third row.
Everyone who had been sitting near him had already moved to the right side or climbed to the rows above, leaving an empty half-ring of white stone around him.
Eveline sat in the fifth row on the same side, her eyes fixed on Aren as he looked slowly around the room with a faint smile, no notebook or pen on the desk before him, only his palms tapping softly against the white surface.
When the professor finished with her colleague, she turned to the students, cleared her throat, let her gaze rest on Aren for a moment, and addressed the whole room.
"Dear students. Since your group now has a new... um..."
The professor glanced at her colleague, who furrowed her brow and nodded with a faint smile. The professor sighed and went on.
"...new student, an exchange student... anyway, today we'll briefly go over the basics you should already know by heart."
The whispering picked up again, indignant now, while Eveline silently watched the back of Aren's head where he sat in front of her.
The two of them were all that remained on that side of the amphitheater, the rest of the students having shifted across to the right, leaving Aren and Eveline alone in the emptied rows.
Outside the university building, at that same moment, Artus and Olen stood by their flyers, rubbing the backs of their necks.
"I can't believe it... two days ago we were leading this guy around in handcuffs, and today he's enrolled at our university..." said Olen.
"Yeah... but don't forget, this guy took down a beast-god," Artus replied.
"Speaking of which, nobody here even knows about that..."
"Yeah... let's hope he doesn't stir up trouble here..."
"Well, either way, it's not our problem anymore. We were supposed to deliver him here, and we did. Now we can finally get back to Solum and continue our internship," Olen finished with a smile and a sigh, heading for his flyer.
"Not our problem?... Olen, we're defenders of the Republic. If something happens to her because of him, we'll have to do something about it," Artus replied, climbing onto his beast.
"Oh, quit lecturing me. Have you forgotten what Archon Lucia did to him? If he pulls anything, Lucia will deal with him herself, and we won't even have to lift a finger."
"You really do love pinning your hopes on other people, Olen. Can you be more responsible for just one minute?"
"And you love taking on too much. Think about it, why should we worry about something we couldn't handle anyway? You really think that if things went wrong, we could stop someone who beat a beast-god? Ha, don't make me laugh."
"Sometimes you irritate me down to the bone."
"Probably because I'm right so often?"
"Because you love stating things with confidence when you clearly don't know them."
The cadets were about to take off when a voice rang out below them.
"Artus, Olen!"
Both leaned out over their saddles and saw Niavey standing there.
"M-Mister Niavey!" Artus said.
"The foreigner... Aren, I believe it was?... Is he at his lecture already?" asked the Archon's advisor.
Artus and Olen exchanged a glance, then looked back at Niavey.
"Yes. Would you like us to bring him?" Artus asked.
"No, I just wanted to confirm it. Aurelius asked me to deliver his order to you in person."
Olen glanced at Artus again, who kept staring at Niavey with his brows drawn together.
Back in the hall, the lecture went on, and the professor turned to the class.
"So, who can tell me the basic properties of photocytes?"
Every student raised a hand, Eveline included, while Aren sat in silence, turning to find a forest of raised arms and the eyes of the whole class on his own frozen face, lips parted and brows drawn together.
His gaze lingered a moment on Eveline, who sat a row behind him, staring just as silently back at him, before he turned to the professor and raised his own hand as well.
Students and professor alike arched their eyebrows at the sight of Aren's hand in the air, and the professor folded her hands in front of her and, straightening her back, gave a short nod in his direction.
"Go ahead," said the professor.
Aren lowered his hand slowly and let a beat pass.
"What's a—" he began, but the professor cut him off.
"Stand up when you answer."
Aren stopped short, catching the muffled laughter of the students behind him, and turned to see the silver-skinned Heliosians whispering among themselves, all except Eveline, who sat quietly with a calm, even expression.
Aren pressed his lips together and, turning back to the professor, rose slowly to his feet.
"So, your answer?" the professor asked.
"Well... it's more of a question... what exactly are photocytes?" Aren asked.
The professor's eyebrows lifted, and the hum of laughter in the back rows grew louder, while Eveline's lips parted slightly as she watched Aren's motionless back.
"I asked a question I expect an answer to, not a question in return."
Aren rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his gaze, while the professor kept staring intently at the outsider.
"It's a special magical crystal capable of interacting with light magic," a voice suddenly spoke up behind him.
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He turned and looked at Eveline, who was watching him with golden-yellow eyes. Aren froze for a moment, at a loss for what to say next, while Eveline shifted her gaze to the professor.
"The basic properties of photocytes are: saturation, conversion, and generation."
Aren turned back to the professor, who looked from Eveline to him, sighed quietly, and turned to the board.
"Correct. Given that, what fundamental factors determine how strongly these properties manifest?" she asked, beginning to write on the turquoise board.
Aren sat back down, watching her write, while Gray went on whispering jabs to his friends.
"Gray," the professor said, without turning to face the class. Gray and his friends fell silent at once and stared at the board, and then he stood up to answer.
"The degree of manifestation depends on the Unified Field, the purity and shape of the crystal, and the strength of the Pandorum," Gray answered, shifting his gaze to Eveline on the last word.
"Correct. Though I should point out — a right answer doesn't excuse you from my warning about discipline in this hall," the professor replied, turning to Gray.
"Understood... my apologies..." Gray replied, sitting back down and looking at Aren, who looked back at him.
"Next. The term 'Unified Field.' Who can explain it to me?"
Aren raised his hand again. Eveline's eyebrows lifted, and the professor went still for a moment.
"This isn't going to be a question, I hope?" the professor said.
Aren shook his head, and the professor let out a quiet breath through her nose before giving a short nod.
He rose slowly to his feet and cleared his throat.
"The Unified Field wraps around our whole world and lets us use magic."
The hall went quiet for a moment, then broke into a louder swell of stifled laughter and whispering, while Eveline propped her cheek on her palm with a smile and the professor drew a deep breath, raising her eyes toward the vaulted ceiling.
"You've never actually defined a term before, have you?.." she replied, as her colleague stepped closer and whispered something in her ear.
The professor looked at Aren again, then stepped closer to him, forcing a smile.
"Since you're new here... let's make a deal... today you just sit and listen to our lecture, and..."
She lowered her gaze to his desk, found neither notebook nor pen on it, and raised her eyes back to him.
"...you write down everything you learn straight into your head. Deal?"
Aren nodded slowly, looking her in the eye.
"Good, let's continue then," she said, returning to the board and carrying on with the lecture.
When the lecture ended and the students filed out, Aren stepped into the main foyer, where he stopped with his mouth slightly open, taking in the university's vast interior and never noticing the stares of the other students fixed on him.
"You've never seen anything like this before, have you?" came Eveline's voice behind him, and Aren flinched slightly as he turned to her.
"Y-yeah... all of this... it's like I'm in a dream..."
Eveline studied his face in silence, hands clasped behind her back, leaning slightly forward, and Aren went still.
"Mm... so what's your name? And where are you from?"
"...Aren... From Waldruhm..."
Eveline raised her eyebrows, then straightened up and offered her hand with a smile.
"Well then, Aren from Waldruhm, I'm Eveline! Eveline Garden! Nice to meet you!"
Aren froze for a moment, then smiled and shook her hand, her palm soft against his.
"And I'm... glad," Aren replied.
Eveline's smile widened as she let go of his hand, only to start fading the moment she spotted Gray and his friends standing off to the side behind Aren, arms crossed, watching them and snickering to each other.
Just then someone walking past clipped Gray's shoulder.
"Hey, watch where you're—" Gray started, and cut himself off at once, catching Artus's cold stare as he turned toward him.
Gray stepped back immediately, and Artus turned to Aren.
"Aren. Are you free now?" Artus asked.
Aren turned and saw him standing there with Olen.
"I think so," Aren replied.
Artus let out a heavy sigh and turned toward the exit.
"Let's go. We've got things to do," he said as he walked.
Aren glanced back at the students, their eyes still on him, then looked at Eveline.
He lifted a hand and waved to her, she waved back with a smile, and Aren fell into step behind the cadets.
Artus walked down the corridor, lined with students who watched them go, his jaw clenched as he replayed his conversation with Niavey.
"WHAT?! W-WAIT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO WATCH OVER HIM?!" Artus shouted.
"AND LIVE WITH HIM, TOO?!" Olen added.
Niavey stood in silence, hands folded before him, meeting Artus's eyes with an impassive face.
The cadet's eyebrows rose and his mouth fell open, while his shoulders dropped and his arms hung limp in front of him.
"Oh... god..." said Olen, standing behind Artus, fingers pressed to the bridge of his nose, head bowed.
"Alas, such is the will of the Archon of Light," Niavey replied.
"But why us?! We just graduated from this university!" Artus said.
"Our internship ended before it even properly began..." Olen muttered.
"That's precisely why Aurelius chose you. You're freshly graduated students, perfectly suited to the role. And besides, tell me, does an internship really carry more honor for you than carrying out a personal order from the Archon of Light himself?"
Olen let go of the bridge of his nose, glancing at Niavey, then at Artus, who had turned toward him. Both lowered their eyes in thought, while Niavey smirked quietly and walked past, setting a hand on Artus's slumped shoulder as he went.
"Please, watch over him and take proper care of him. He is our guest, after all, and one our Archon received warmly, so you're expected to show no less hospitality yourselves. Agreed?"
"Yes... Mister Niavey..." the cadets said in unison.
"Good. Until next time, Artus, Olen," Niavey said as he went, heading for the university's main gates, waving his right hand as he walked and keeping his left tucked behind his back.
Artus unclenched his fingers and let out a quiet breath as they came out onto the university's main square, walking up to their flyers.
Later, Eveline eased her bedroom window open from outside and climbed quietly through it, crossing to her desk, where the seekers' book she'd gotten from Uro still lay.
When she turned back to the window, about to leave the room again, a voice came from the doorway.
"I wonder what the front door ever did to offend you," said her father, arms crossed over his chest, shoulder leaning against the doorframe.
Eveline froze without turning her face.
"I... I just figured you were asleep, and... I didn't want to wake you coming in."
"Do I usually sleep at this hour?"
Eveline clutched the book tighter, still frozen in place, while her father stepped away from the doorway and walked slowly toward her.
"Look at me."
"Dad, I need to go, I've got another lec—"
"Eveline."
Her lips parted slightly as she stood there, still turned sideways to him, her hair falling across her profile. She turned to face him slowly, lifting her chin and letting him see the patch on her lip.
"Should I start asking the questions myself, or will you answer on your own?"
"It's just a pimple, Dad... a little blemish came up, and I decided to cover it with a patch."
"A pimple that has you tiptoeing out of the house every morning, sneaking back into your room through the window in the middle of the day, and too afraid to even turn around and show it to me?" he pressed, raising one eyebrow.
"Dad, stop. You're doing the soldier thing again," she replied, her shoulders dropping as she looked away.
"I'm not doing anything. This is just an ordinary worried father's deduction — trying to find out what happened to his daughter and WHO is responsible," he said, tilting his head to one side, arms crossed over his chest.
"It was nobody—!.." she cut herself off mid-word when she met her father's eyes, boring straight into her.
"Eveline. You know I can't just let this go," he said, while she dropped her gaze to the floor.
"Tell me who did this, and I'll deal wi—"
"DAD, ENOUGH!" Eveline suddenly cried out.
He went still, his lips parting slightly, his brows drawing together.
"Please... don't. Stay out of it..." she said quietly.
"But Evie, understand..."
"I understand, Dad. I understand everything... but... you understand me too... If you go over there right now and start sorting it out, you'll only make it worse! All they need is another excuse to mock me... So please... Dad... trust me."
Eveline raised her eyes to her father, and his eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Let your daughter handle this on her own. You know I'm strong. Like you. Like Mom. I can handle it myself."
He let out a heavy breath, his shoulders sagging, paused a moment, and pressed his lips together.
"Fine."
Eveline smiled and turned back to the window.
"Thank you, Dad," she said.
"BUT I HAVE A CONDITION," he added.
Eveline turned back to him, and he stood with his hands braced on his hips.
"If things get worse, no matter what, you tell me about it, and I'll take care of it. Deal?"
Eveline smiled again and snapped to attention.
"Yes, sir!" she said, then headed for the window.
"No hug?" he asked.
Eveline stopped again and let out a breath with a smile, stepping away from the window to cross to her father, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face to his chest, while he stroked her back and held her just as tightly in return.
"And please, use the front door... like a normal person," he said, pressing his lips to the top of her head.
Eveline laughed quietly into his chest.
"Okay, Dad."
Meanwhile, Aren, Olen, and Artus stood frozen with their mouths hanging open, staring at the new Hall they were to live in from that day on.
"I mean, I pictured something when they told us the Archon of Light had set aside one shared Hall for us... but not like this..." said Olen.
"Yeah... at least one nice thing about this whole day..." Artus added.
The Hall rose across two spacious levels beneath a high vaulted ceiling held up by rows of white stone columns capped in gold, while daylight poured in through the massive panoramic windows along the far wall, falling across the marble floor in broad pale-gold bands, and from that height those windows opened onto Midar's spires, domes, and rooftops stretching all the way to the horizon.
The lower level held a spacious lounge with low, soft couches gathered around a hearth and a long dining table, separated from the kitchen by a light archway, beyond which stone countertops and shelves of dishware ran along the wall, while a faint warmth came off the windows themselves and mixed with the coolness of the marble underfoot.
A wide staircase curved around one of the columns and led up to the second level, opening onto a narrow gallery lined with the doors of three separate rooms set along either side.
Artus and Olen moved on deeper into the lounge, while Aren stayed where he stood, taking in the columns, the staircase, and the city spread out beyond the windows, the corners of his mouth lifting little by little into a smile as he leaned slightly forward, as if ready to take his first step into this new world, vast and still so unfamiliar to him.