CHAPTER 9: THE TWELFTH HOUR

Later that evening, in the dining room, the students of the haven and the library, both the representatives of the holds and the normal students were present and mixed up in groups engaging in small talk adding to the calm ambience of the evening.

After ordering their food, both Dela and Ivan went and settled in one corner of the hall to have their meals, as they were about to dig into their meals, a voice suddenly rang out.

"May I join you?" The voice asked.

Looking up, both boys were met with the sight of Chenai, the captain of the librarians. Clad in a white silk evening gown with yellow flower petals designed onto it that complimented her bright blonde hair, it was now neatly rolled.

The gown flowed down her waist, just going beyond her knees. She looked like a completely different person compared to how she was that afternoon.

Looking at the two boys with a bright smile, Chenai asked again. "May I join you both?"

"Beautiful," Dela muttered with a dazed look, his gaze fixed on Chenai's features.

Hearing what Dela said, Ivan turned to him in surprise and exclaimed. "What?"

"Why, thank you," Chenai said with a soft chuckle.

Taking her seat across the boys, she added.

You're quite handsome yourself. She said to Dela with a playful smile, causing him to blush foolishly.

Ivan just stared dumbfoundedly at the scene unfolding before him.

"Why don't you both just get a room?" Ivan's voice cut them short, his tone tinged with irritation.

Dela glared at Ivan after hearing what he said, as he was about to raise his voice in retort, Chenai's voice interrupted him.

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea," She said, while still maintaining her smile at Dela.

Dela blushed even deeper upon hearing Chenai's words.

"Wh-," cough cough, "What?" Ivan nearly choked on his drink after hearing what Chenai said.

Shifting his shocked gaze from Chenai to Dela, his expression morphed into an irritated one.

'Look at him, blushing like a fool.' Ivan thought to himself.

"Alright, alright, since this fool is too stunned to speak, I'll ask, What do you want?" Ivan questioned Chenai drawing an annoyed gaze from Dela.

Chenai chuckled again as she took a piece of the steak on her plate.

"What's so funny?" I asked you what you wanted."Ivan spoke again.

"Come on, why so stiff? Can't I just get to know you both?" She answered.

Is he always like this? Chenai asked Dela, catching him by surprise.

"Well, he-" Dela had not even put two words together before Ivan interrupted him.

"Oh! An introduction?" It's not like you don't know our names, but I'll humour you, why don't you begin then? Ivan said while gesturing for Chenai to introduce herself.

Alright, My name is Chenai Ember, I'm a local of Mensa. Chenai introduced herself. As you already know, I'm a student from the library.

"Alright then, my name is…"

"Ivander Rostov Marquez." Chenai interrupted Ivan with a light chuckle.

"No, just Ivan please, I'm a Yaran local," Ivan said, seemingly not impressed with his name being called in full like that.

Stretching out a hand to Dela, Chenai asked, "And your name is?"

Accepting her hand, Dela introduced himself.

"I'm Dela Vesper, also a Yaran local, nice to meet you," Dela said with a charming smile.

Oh, a gasp of surprise escaped Chenai's lips as she asked, are you in any way related to Master Berg?

"He's my dad," Dela answered.

"That's interesting, I'd expect the son of the master to be incredibly talented, well I guess the fact that you are the vice-captain of your team is a testament to that," Chenai said in praise, causing Dela to blush slightly.

"Title of head seeker might not be too much of a stretch for you to achieve. Chenai added."

"That'd be me," Ivan interjected, his voice filled with confidence.

"Oh, such confidence," Chenai remarked her gaze fixed on him.

"Indeed, I am confident," Ivan said, matching Chenai's gaze.

"Well, what do I know?" Chenai said as she took the last bite from the steak on her plate. Picking up a serviette she gracefully got rid of the grease in her lips as she stood up and said.

"It's been a nice talk. I hope to see more of you both later, you, especially Dela, she said her gaze fixed on Dela with a light smile colouring her features, causing the young man to gulp nervously.

With that, she packed her tray and left.

Sometime after she left, Ivan spoke. "Nice talk? We barely even discussed anything, heck we just introduced ourselves, what a weird woman." He said while shaking his head.

Looking at Dela, he raised a brow, prompting Dela to ask.

"What?"

"Nothing, never mind," Ivan said with a sigh.

Packing their Trays, the both of them left the dining hall and progressed to the students' quarters.

Dela and Ivan stepped out of a corner, into a corridor with doors lined up on both sides, progressing forward a bit. They stopped In Front of the second door by their right, the door had Ivan's name inscribed on it, indicating that it was his room. Ivan then unlocked the room.

Stepping into the dark room, Ivan moved in with familiarity and reached out for a switch, with a clicking sound the room was suddenly illuminated by a crystal-like substance in the ceiling, its light chasing away the shadows of darkness, bringing the room into clear view.

Ivan's room like every other student's was of a moderate size and setting, with a single bed fitting for a single person, a wardrobe by the side, a single window across the room from the entrance, a door in the room that led to the restroom, there was also study desk present in the room with notes and papers strewn about carelessly on its surface, a trash bin filled with torn and squeezed pieces of paper. On the desk there were empty ink containers stacked on each other, some could even be seen on the ground, with traces of black ink smeared on the table's edges and with some on the blue carpet on the ground.

Damn, you really should tidy up sometimes Ivan, Dela said as he picked up one of the torn pieces of paper on the desk, looking at its contents, he raised a brow in surprise and asked Ivan. "Arcane?"

Drawn on the piece of paper was a circle with intricate patterns and rune words inscribed In and around it

"Just me being curious, nothing big," Ivan said, as he brushed off Dela's questioning gaze.

"I see, so your curiosity drove you to research and study arcane," Dela said with a suspicious tone.

"Well? Did it work?" Dela then asked, his tone switching from suspicion to curiosity.

"No," Ivan answered flatly, there's still a lot to learn. Ivan said while picking up the pieces of paper and arranging them.

***

Outside the students' quarters, Romnwell's tall figure was navigating the dark surroundings of the garden outside the building with familiar ease, before stopping under the light of one of the light poles.

Taking a deep breath, he stared into the night sky with a relaxed expression.

"Romnwell Castrol." A voice suddenly rang out in the dark, prompting Romnwell to look over to the source of the voice, his expression carrying a hint of indifference.

Haha, calm as ever I see, the voice said with a laugh. Echoes of footsteps resonated in the dark, indicating that the owner of the voice was coming closer.

After some seconds, a figure stepped into the light, exposing his features to Romnwell. The figure had light blue hair, with eyes of a similar colour, looking at Romnwell with a smile he asked, "What's up man?"

"Allan?" Romnwell said tiredly.

"What do you want?"

"Well, nothing, I was just enjoying a nice evening stroll like you, then I spotted you and decided to join you. Hope I'm not intruding on your space?" Allan asked.

Shifting his gaze away from Allan, Romnwell focused his gaze back to the night sky and said disinterestedly, "Do what you want."

Allan's lips spread into a wide grin." Sure."

Turning his gaze from Allan, he also looked up towards the night sky.

***

10:00 AM, the following morning.

After having their breakfast, on their way out of the dining hall, Ivan and Dela ran into Chenai.

"Good morning Ivan." She greeted Ivan with a nod, which he returned with a nod of his.

"Good morning Dela," she greeted Dela more enthusiastically with a smile. Causing Ivan to furrow his brows in annoyance.

"Good morning Chenai," Dela answered, seeming more confident than he was the night before."

"Say, Dela, I've not had the chance to explore the haven, why don't you show me around," Chenai said with a pleading tone.

"It would be my pleasure," Dela said while offering her a hand, which she accepted.

While leading her away, Ivan's voice rang out, "Don't be late for the exchange."

"Alright, Ivan," Dela said as he winked at Ivan while leading Chenai away.

***

11:50 AM

Time passed and about forty minutes were left till the beginning of the second part of the exchange.

Berg gathered his students, noticing Dela's absence, he spoke, "Where is Dela?" Usually, I'd expect it to be you who would be missing, his gaze focused on Ivan.

"Dela is going around acting as a tour guide for the library team's captain," Ivan said, annoyance evident in his tone.

Raising a brow, Berg asked, "Touring?"

Sigh, please go and get him Ivan, the exchange will soon begin.

With an unsatisfied grunt, Ivan set out to look for Dela.

***

In the main halls of the haven, some students were hastily attending to one chore or the other, to make it to the second part of the exchange on time.

Among those students, two of them could be seen carrying a shelf that needed two hands to move.

"Why do we have to be doing this now, the arena's gonna get filled up soon." One of them lamented."

"That's why we need to be quick with this Sam, so stop complaining and move," his colleague reprimanded him.

Sam complied reluctantly, his lack of motivation evident in his slow steps.

Suddenly the loud sound of a bell reverberated throughout the whole building, signaling the twelfth hour.

Hearing the sound, Sam complained again, that's the bell, there's only thirty minutes left. He said with a dissatisfied look.

But after he said so, he did not hear anything from his colleague.

Met with silence, he looked at his colleague wondering why he was silent. Seeing him, he noticed that his colleague's gaze seemed to be aimed at something or someone behind him.

"What? Is there someone at my back?" He inquired while looking back.

Thud, the heavy shelf they were lifting suddenly fell from the hands of Sam's colleague, causing it to hit his toe.

Wincing in pain, Sam turned towards his colleague in anger. What's wrong wi-, his voice was cut short as he was met with the sight of a shining black dagger rapidly approaching him. His brain screamed at him to dodge, but his body seemed to be paralyzed in place.

In the next moment, the black dagger that seemed to suck the light from the surroundings lodged itself deeply into his neck, causing a crimson fountain to spurt out from It. Sam's mouth moved as if wanting to say something, but only gurgling sounds were made.

Sam's eyes widened in shock, looking at his colleague who still had the dagger with a firm grip, pushing it deeper into his neck, with a gaze that seemed to ask 'Why?'

A second later, the light left his eyes, as his body fell lifelessly to the ground with a loud thud.