A Threatening Smile

After aggressively yelling at his family retainers for not having the clothes that suit his taste, Vil Fabian came out of his private room in the castle. Brazenly, he walked down the hallway while wearing his heirloom cloak alongside to his long sword, which was engraved with his family's crest, the Hydra.

He makes a left turn after he reaches two gargoyle stone statues side by side, which marks the ends of the hallway. As Vil approached the two-forked corridor, one of the gargoyle stone statues glanced slightly to Vil before speaking like a dull ticket seller, "Left to the Library, Upper Grand Hall, High tower and Bird Tower."

The gargoyle statue that suddenly spoke made Vil a little surprised and, at the same time, irritating -his anger at his retainer has not yet subsided. "Imbecile gargoyle, I knew my own way!" Vil replied rudely.

"Ohhh, imbecile, huh?" rebuked the gargoyle stone statue another loudly. "It's not like we just want to sit here giving directions!"

Vil ignored both of the statue and stepped ahead, that's when he saw a silver-haired boy entering the library from a distance. Automatically, his lip was engraved with an sly grin. He followed the boy and found that the silver-haired boy was staring at his book. There were many books beside him with the same title, more or less, such as The History of World Magic by Martins, The Development of Magic by Knutt and Hicken, Magic in the Ancient Century by Wenlin and several others. Vil could hear the boy talking to himself.

"It wasn't a myth…?" said Aure miserably. He read back a few paragraphs written in the book until his nose had almost touched the book.

Theories concerns the civilization that flourished on the Ruku islands of Hanta more than 4,000 years ago: the Meoans, named for the legendary King Meoa. Believed to be Hanta's first great civilization with neutral magic, Meoans built splendid palaces, constructed paved roads and were the first Hantas to use a written language…..At the height of their power, however, the Meoans suddenly disappeared from history -an enduring mystery that has fueled belief in this great, doomed civilization.

Vil could see that Aure has been flipping through the next page to find out more about the so-called neutral attribute but the paragraph ends there. But what Aure didn't notice is a pair of violet eyes were watching him like a hungry hydra in a state of amusement.

"Study for your non-existent attribute? And here I thought you were going home with your tails since you're gone," Vil rebuked, causing Aure to startle which make him nearly threw the book away. "Still, even if they do exist, what kind of magic you could do anyway?"

"Even so, I won't give up," Aure answered firmly, looking at Vil with his direct, unwavering glance. Vil could see his own reflection upon Aure's light blue eyes, an upset young boy who was desperate to conceal his emotions. Vil closed his eyes for a moments, and this is why he hates Aure. His eyes just seem to be looking down at him or worse, pitying him. Aure always reminded him how vulnerable he is, every time Vil sees that small body of his.

"Isn't that obvious? No matter what you do, your useless heirloom won't be able to join the Magic Knight" Vil grunted, waving his cloak proudly.

Whooshhh!

A sudden toss of a book from they don't know who, hit a jackpot in the direction of Vil's face, creating a loud cracked sound. Vil staggered in agony while holding his bloody nose. Both of them spontaneously look at the book, which is now lying on the floor. It was a thick book with hard-cover that entitled 'How to be proficient with magic in everyday life?'

Aure almost laughed at Vil who was stunned to see the book instantly flying straight to him, but then again, think twice when he saw the face that Vil was wearing, like an angry bull.

"Who. The. Hell. JUST THREW THAT!?" snapped Vil.

Vil narrowed his eyes toward Aure. His face did not turn red at all, instead his usual rose-looking cheeks turned paler.

"The book just now came from you, was it?"

Aure didn't have time to say anything when Vil rushed towards the innocent Aure and grabbed his collar. Vil may have been a bit exaggerated because he actually coated his punches with a rather thin earth magic that no one else could see but Aure. Vil grinned wickedly and swung his fist toward Aure. Aure can't dodge it because of the gap between the two of them was very close. It was hard for him to move around.

Thump!

Vil's fist struck the same book that once again moved and hovered in front of Aure to protect him causing both Aure and Vil to be shocked. The strong impact invited the arrival of those who heard the noise. There's a hole in the middle of the thick book, and what makes the book was not fully perforated was the last two-pieces of paper on the back. Aure bulging in disbelief at the state of the book. Is Vil trying to kill him?

"What's just happened?" asked a gentle voice.

Dame Lisa came out from the corner of the bookcase and got both of them. Vil wasn't so foolish to keep his anger going, leaving the place with his demeanor, as he swung his cloak. Dame Lisa just shook her head, frowning when she saw Vil's behavior until she was stunned to see the perforated impact on the book which is now the only remaining words between the hole are 'how' and 'life'.

"Look at what you did!" said the woman while stomping her feet.

Aure could sense the woman's gaze upon him. Strangely, staring isn't quite the word for what Dame Lisa does, though she'd fit the dictionary definition perfectly. Her eyes rest, not unblinking but slowed; yet the effect is gentle and inviting instead of harsh. Perhaps it is her lips that give away her intention, not quite smiling but tilting as if they mean to. She then averted her gaze, maybe just realised that she's been staring at him before leaving and said "I'm just going to let Mrs. Prune get you,"

He never expected that Dame Lisa will let him go just like that. Aure let out a sigh of relief after the situation had calmed down a bit (he had to endure the nagging of Mrs. Prune, the keeper of the library -though it was not him who do it). Mrs. Prune grinding her teeth before walked away, whining by herself. Aure finally turned away his body and he found a young man was eating an apple leisurely while leaning against the library table, blowing a whistle with his lip when he saw Aure. The 'he' who is his ring.

"Isn't she's just flipping hot? She seems to be interested in you," he said as he twisted the corner of his lip while eating the apple. Aure could see that he didn't necessarily mean the 'interested' part in particular. And now it was Aure's turn to narrow his eyes to the young man.

"It was you, right!? Do you realized what you just did!?"

"He called me useless."

"He called you everything during the ceremony too,"

"Lucky for him, at the time I was sleeping,"

Aure was stunned to discover the young man's response. Now he knew the reason why he didn't come forth during the ceremony.

"You-" Aure was about to strangle the man but he was already gone.

Aure swears over his heirloom causing the people around him to look at him like a madman who vents his anger against a wall. In the meantime, Vil came out of the library in rage. He walks too fast as he's about to crash against two royal maids who are practically on his way. His father's words somehow played on his mind, "Only you could bring honor to our family," Vil clasped his hands into a fist.

Vil quickened his pace until he reached the upper Grand Hall. He knew how immature he was expressing his resentment against Aure. He knew all of that but still he acted like he didn't know. Vil pulled out an application letter from his pants, once he reached the official's desk. He placed the letter on the counter and pushed it to the official with his finger. The official bowed respectfully to him and took the letter from him.

"Application for Paladin Knight?" asked the woman for conformation.

Vil said yes to the woman as she chanted a magic spell on the letter, "Charta Signum," and whoop, the letter just vanished. After a few seconds, a small brown paper made from Gozac (magical goat that could shed their skin coat in every month) appeared out of the thin air as the official took it.

"Pardon, my Lord, it seems that the paladin knight is no longer taking any participants,"

Vil flashes a smile. A threatening one, enough to make the woman feel uncomfortable.