25 The mark
Vincent begrudgingly took another spoon of the grey tasteless porridge.
"You should go sleep some too, or you will be too tired to fight."
Typh was back to her usual energetic mood. She gave him a small bump on the arm, her mouth curled into a mischievous smile.
"I will take great care of you."
Vincent only shook his head, his laughter bellowing through the dome. It earned him a few annoyed stares from the others – most of them, if not all, were beaten black and blue. Confirming Vincent's thesis on the lack of any real threat to their live.
"I don't need to sleep. Well theoretically. My magic is able to remove some of the causes of sleep deprivation, and heal others. It is not perfect though."
He unenthusiastically poked the spoon into the grey mass.
"But for now it is good enough to skip a day or two."
He suddenly got an inspirations and dunked his finger into the food. It transformed into a smaller well cooked steak and some by-products he shoved to the side. His spell was able to change molecules, transforming sugar and sodium into proteins. And similar stuff.
"I am a genius, obviously."
He bit into the meat only to spit it out again.'Tastes horrible. Must have jumbled up some measurements.'
"Hey, it can't continue like this!" A pompous looking young men stood up. He had played dice for the whole ten days.
His expensive clothes were ragged, bloody and had traces of wine from the day before. His face was a beaten down mess.
"Shut the fuck up, Gaius. None cares about you."
Laughter was heard from the corner of the commoners, who fared far better, although some nobles joined too. It lightened the mood somehow.
Typh pointed across the round stone table we sat on. Meals were the only time everyone was present, If you came late nothing would be left.
"Hey, has anyone bothered to look at the stele, because if not you should do so."
Vincent threw his gaze over, immediately seeing a new rule.
'Twenty of the twenty nine rooms will be closed when the sun reaches the zenith. Everyone who is not in possession of one room at the end of the day, will be disqualified.'
It took a moment for everyone to think before loud chatter emerged.
Vincent only shook his head whispering besides him.
"Are they stupid, no one says only one person can posses a room."
Typh only shrugged her shoulders, watching the screams with a hint of amusement.
Obviously no one came to any sort of conclusion, aside from a few alliances being made.
In the end everyone sat in their rooms, hoping they would not have to move.
Typh and Vincent sat together. "Well if we are unlucky, someone else will just need to be more unlucky" She shrugged her shoulders.
"Concentrate, or you will loose again." Vincent threw the dice, typh had 'borrowed' them from one of the rich kids.
They passed the time with games, they were not so arrogant as to spend their mana in vein.
He had gotten stuck in the study's of the sphere, only finding out two things. It was organic and it was able to ward of his magic with ease, while not being able to break free of the steel.
A red mark slowly drew itself on the front of the door they were in.
"Guess we were unlucky."
Typh did not refute his claim, the mana vision had proven to be an excellent ability in their spars and Vincent promised to show her in the academy.
Once they opened the door, they entered a quiet dome. Most had jet to realize the situation they were in.
Right next to them, Vincent's room was still free of any sign. They walked over with no hurry and leaned back next to the door.
The first to notice quietly distributed the free rooms among themselves, those that came late suddenly stood before a decision. Who to confront?
Fights broke out as people chose their matches. Most ended in a bit of a berating and a surrender. They knew they would never be accepted into the academy, should they seriously harm someone.
A well trained kid ran over, stood before their room and proclaimed: "This is my room, search somewhere else.
There was a reason no one snatched the room they were sitting next to. They did not have a single injury from the previous fight. And they were two people.
Vincent did not even glance at him.
He only felt the mana of the opponent moving towards his left arm. Flicking a coin propelled by mana, in his solar plexus interrupted the spell.
On the cue Typh rushed towards him, gave him a good beating and threw the coin back.
No one interfered.
When it was time for dinner, only the losers ate, the others remained in their rooms, barraging the entrance.
Typh went out and grabbed a meal for both of them.
