Book of Mysteries Part 2

Date: 30/12/799

Place: The Village Entrance(a short walk from the old man's house)

Ruby Did not know why Ms. Maurice -mother of Carolina- brought him along with her daughter until she talked.

"Ruby, do not worry even though it might take some time but I'm sure you will pass" When Ms. Maurice said that, both of her hands were busy holding Carolina and Ruby's hands.

"Today came some great people from the capital, I heard it's a scholarship to the Royal Academy"

Ruby felt how Ms. Maurice grip trembled during her sentence.

(She seems excited) Ruby thought

He wondered if his mother would let him go if she was here. She told him in the letter that if she failed to find what she wanted to find, she would come and take him. They would go to wander the world together. However (It's been two months since she left)

Ms. Maurice stopped and Ruby's head hit her butt. Ruby collected his scattered thoughts and looked straight. In front of him was a crowd of children, some were his age, some were older, some were younger. Some had their parents with them, some were alone like that blond boy.

"How are you, Ms. Maurice?" a woman approached, looked at him smiled then turned her face to Ms. Maurice.

"I'm fine, as you see I'm so excited for today's event... This has never happened in our village. A scholarship to the Royal Academy!"

"Yes! Imagine that we get to have some children to rise with the elite. Our village might even live with less hunger during winters."

Ruby listened to the women as they talked, but looked at the little girl the strange woman brought. The little girl was his age, both of her eyes purple and her hair somehow dark-purplish. The little girl also was staring at him... However, her stare was odd. First, she only looked at him with dead stare then gradually she smiled then few of her teeth showed and if he wasn't mistaken for half a second her eyeballs vanished.

Ruby's stare didn't even change...

The little girl approached Ruby and whispered into his ear "Today I will die... Hehehe" then added, "What do you think, will you survive?"

Then pulled her face back to look at Ruby's eyes... They didn't change at all. The girl for half a sec lost her eyeballs again, then approached Ruby's ear "I see. I've seen my death, I don't know about yours... Hopefully, my next body wouldn't be as useless as this" then stopped, giggled and continued Then added, "IF you live then remember, my name is Stella."

The girl then returned to her position beside her mother thigh. Her eyes returned to the dead look and looked at her mother face, pulled her mom clothes as she said "Mama let's go. I can't wait."

"Haha, fine fine we will go."

"Rawan looks excited today," said Ms. Maurice.

(Rawan? Not stella?)Thought Ruby, but carelessly didn't care.

"Yea, she really wants to win the scholarship."

"I see, we the village adults are winners regardless of whoever wins it."

And after a few sentences, the strange girl and her mother walked toward the village gate. Few minutes passed and a man came to the gate, asked all the kids to stand in front of it in one line and said that every two minutes one kid will take the road "It will be a bit long but with no crossroads. If you walk straight, you will eventually enter the school and pass."

Carolina was in front of Ruby... She said, "I'm so nervous are you the same?"

Ruby shrugged his shoulders and Carolina said: "I see."

It took more than two hours until the turn reached Carolina. After two minutes, Carolina shadow vanished from existence and it became Ruby's turn.

"your number 79," said the man beside the gate giving Ruby a half-grip sized plate with his "79" engraved on it.

"The road will be straight, never leave its edges, just walk, jog or run... eventually you will reach the school." The young boy Ruby positively gestured as he took his first step out of the gate.

After a few minutes, Ruby turned to look at the village. However, it was not there, it had disappeared. He was told that with enough walk he will reach the place. So he just walked, and in two hours he reached a wooden door, he knocked on the door and the door was opened.

"Look, second place has come," a bald guy said while opening the door to Ruby. "Come on boy you have passed the first stage." the smile on the baldy's face was so warm that Ruby entered with no hesitation.

The room was square, empty and large, in it was the four people excluding himself.

The bald man with a pair of brown eyes and brown lips, his armor looked lights, most of its metal parts were connected by brown fabric. The second person was a pink-haired guy who squatted in the corner of the room, both of his eyes closed and his hands moving in random directions.

"Don't give him much concern, he is trying to maintain the infinite time dimension." the baldy said as he noticed ruby's concern.

Then the third one was a guy who stared at Ruby, both of his pupils are as gold as his hair, he looked extremely handsome that it was impossible for anyone to dare and think that he was a commoner. The golden guy said,

"What is your number?"

Ruby, took the plate out of his pocket and showed it to the golden guy.

"I see, then sit beside number 46" number 46 was the fourth guy. A blond kid that ruby saw many times before, however, he knew nothing about him.

Ruby sat beside the blond kid.

The blonde looked at him as he said "My name is Dwayne. What is yours?"

Ruby stayed silent "Are ok? can't you tell me your name?" ruby still said nothing.

"Are you so arrogant that you don't even give your name to people?"

Here Ruby was extremely misunderstood. His eyes widened a bit as he negatively gestured...

"Then it's fine. I want to be your friend so tell me your name as soon as possible." as he completed his sentence, a big smile that showed all his frontal teeth appeared, the smile was fine and warm. Ruby looked at the smile for seconds then turned his head to gaze at a dust particle that he didn't want to miss.

However, that word stayed a bit longer in his mind... (Friends...)

Four hours passed and entered a girl with purple eyes... Stella's eyes looked swollen red and her skin white pale. She looked at Ruby as she entered then fell on the ground...

"It seems that she had reached her limits." the golden guy said but never moved a finger.

"Will she be okay?" Dwayne asked and the bald man, with a giggled smile said: "Yes never be concerned about her."

In the next hours more than fifty kids entered, Carolina was one of them. And when the hours reached a certain limit. The golden guy looked at the pink haired and said: "Time is over don't let any other one enter."

The pink haired guy positively gestured and the door to the room disappeared.

Carolina came and sat beside Ruby and asked "Will we be okay, It became a bit scary" however, Ruby only shrugged his shoulders.

The golden guy opened his mouth in disclaimer "Congratulations, all of you here passed the first stage which meant you are normal."

The kids understood nothing and the golden guy further explained "In the first stage, the road you entered was continuously being filled with poisoned mana, if that poison filled half of your mana storage you will get hallucinations enough to let you stop and dream. If your mana storage gets filled you collapse. But, if you resisted the hallucinations and continued moving forward you will reach the road your storage lets you reach. You are here because you are the kids with the largest mana storages in your village."

"What about who collapsed," Dwayne asked and the bald guy another time replied "Haha, you are really kind. Don't worry they will be fine."

The golden guy looked at all the kids then said "Now the real test begins. This room is getting filled with a different kind of mana. A magician body is naturally and unintentionally able to consume mana in a certain rate, then the body process that mana and filter it... and finally release that mana... I and the other adults here are highly advanced so our storages are bigger than yours by at least hundred times, so we will be out of the effect. Now, we will witness who of you have the biggest and the most quality mana processing system. The mana we will fill this room with is severely poisoned. If you stay conscious for 5 hours you will pass."

When the golden guy saw the fear slowly being drawn on the children's faces he said"Of course it deserves being scared. who win will go to the Royal Academy, the academy under the control of the human king, all of its graduates will be government officials or Knights, or even better royal knights. His highness released this scholarship when he witnessed the strength of Kandler and Rita. Now, he looks for new talents because he needs them for a better army... an army stronger than the other armies. A powerful army."

"You talked too much." the baldy answered.

"Don't worry they will forget everything eventually." as he said that a kid collapsed.

The golden guy looked at them as he said"The first loser, you still have about 4 hours and 55 minutes. Let's see who wins. "

After few minutes the golden guy added

"Usually mana is colorless except when it's dense enough to take a color. However, when your body process it, it will take your attribute color. Even though you are still inable to see mana, I can see your attributes clearly." Said the golden guy as he looked at the kids.

After one hour 10 kids fell.

The Golden guy was sitting on the ground with both eyes closed. However, he heard the bald man saying "Look at number 46!" with his voice a bit high-pitched.

Ruby wasn't aware of what was happening, he just saw the golden guy eyes widening as he looked at Dwayne. The golden guy approached Dwayne, and touched his cheeks as he asked "Who are your parents?!"

"Why?!" dwanye said, both of his hands trying to remove the hands that touched his cheeks.

"Just tell me!"

"I only know my mom, she died of disease two years ago."

The golden guy, then removed his hands and told Dwayne "Do you know how many guys are blessed with three attributes? Only the royal families and adventurers who can not be counted with two hands."

Dwayne understood nothing, "What do you mean." he asked.

"I mean you are gifted."

Ruby only listened to the conversation. His attribute was free-mana he knew about that. However, his mother only complained about how to teach him its essence "Fuck you Alton, why did you get such a hard attribute."

She always bad-mouthed his dad, but she never talked about him. She was just spending her time trying to find a way to enhance his imagination. Until one day she blindfolded him.

"Now all the time in your house you will be blindfolded," she said at that time.

...

The golden guy left Dwayne after few praising sentences then looke at Ruby.

"You are free-mana manipulator... We cannot see your perception as long as we are here. It's hard to know if you are gifted." The golden guy said as he returned to his place and sat again...

Eventually, five hours passed, all of the kids who passed 5 hours were on the verge of collapsing except for Dwayne and Ruby.

The golden guy told the baldy to go and give the ones who passed a recovering pill... "These are the ones who passed to the third stage." said the golden guy.

Ruby looked at Carolina and the other kids who fell immediately after taking the pill. then looked at the kids who fell before the 5 hours duration ended.

(They haven't taken any pill.) He then looked At Stella's body, her skin became whiter and her lips somehow dark purplish...

He remembered her words "I will die today... what's about you?"

However, he chose to ignore that bold disclaimer...

"Don't give these two any pill. Let's determine their capabilities." said the golden guy when the baldy offered Ruby a pill.

"Okay" Answered the baldy.

...

10 hours passed

"What is happening here?" The baldy asked looking at the golden guy.

"I don't know. These two are rare." Said looking at Dwayne and Ruby who still broke no sweat.

20 hours passed

"What about their families won't they be tensed... I think more than 10 hours passed."

The baldy pupils shrank at Dwayne sentence "He thinks only 10 hours had passed?!"

The golden guy ignored the baldy's sentence as he replied " Don't worry, we are using a no time dimension under the approval of his highness himself. Maybe now only one hour passed for your families senses."

30 hours passed, And Ruby's eyes widened while looking at Stella... A familiar smell came from her body. a disgusting one.

Ruby gazed at the baldy guy with both his eye disturbly flexed.

"I think he got a hint", The baldy told the golden guy.

"Let them notice they can do nothing." He said with ful casuality, he was not even trying to hide it.

"What is happening?" asked the blonde and was answered "Nothing important please continue"

...

37 hours passed.

The blonde with both eyelids flexed stood, went to Stella and touched her neck... Then touched all necks of the fifty kids...

Dwayne looked at the golden guy with eyes so blank that its pupils nearly disappeared.

"all the kids who hadn't been given a pill died."

The golden guy looked at Dwayne, and then at Ruby whose expression also changed... a bit though.

"What about it?" asked the golden guy...

"They were my friends. We usually sat together and listened to the old man tales."

The blonde voice slowly got louder. However, Ruby broke into sweat not for that reason but for another...

(The smell was for dead bodies? my blood was as disgusting?) Ruby's body heated, he didn't know what to do... was that why his mother told him not to let anyone smell his blood? "Bad people might hurt you when they smell your blood... So never get injured." Ruby remembered his mother's words.

However,

That was not the important right now.... Ruby's hair stood, his heart beat quickened.... He felt someone was going to kill him... and that feeling was coming from Dwayne.

Ruby looked at Dwayne... His eyes were filled with tears as he looked at The golden guy and yelled "You mother f*cker!! I WILL KILL YOU"

The golden guy's eyes widened as he looked in all directions, Ruby didn't know why but the the golden guy looked trrified...

"Hey boy!" Yelled the golden guy as he laughed.

"If you knew how much mana you are emitting, you will only befriend the highest elite."

The look on Dwayne increased hatred, his eyes turned red as flames showed all around him... Ruby pulled Carolina and sat at the corner of the room, he then made Carolina a human shield.

"Enough, Roland Break the deminsion, I will cast a memories seal upon all the people in this village." Said The golden guy looking at the pink-haired.

The baldy then intervened"But What about the dead kids?"

"Leave them in this deminsion."

Then in front of Ruby, like a whirlwind the whole room twisted and he lost consciousness.

#################

There was no chirps from birds to wake upon them, there was no gentle voice to hear upon his wake up. There was only whistles through the cracks of an old fashioned house... When he opened his eyes, they weren't as wide as he expected them to be ... He regained memories not just related to the whole events that happened in his place... But also, memories that his mother filled his mind with... he left the bed, removed the mattress. Under it was a dark pill, That was the pill his mother left for him.

"Whenever you need your power, I'm hiding it under your bed."

He recalled her words... then took the pill and swallowed it.

###################

Capter 4 ends

###################