Death, Devotion, Dissonance

"We became friends during the Combat Training classes. Our body sizes are practically the same, so almost always, we would do pair exercises together. Phel is always helpful to me during these classes, teaching me whenever he could and making some small-talk while he was at it," Evin recalled. "At first, I was skeptical of his intentions as he was friends with Decatur, but when I one day confronted him about the topic, he cleared up the situation."

"What did he say?" Leanne asked.

"He said in some embarrassed tone, 'Isn't it weird to assume that I can't be friendly with two people that aren't so friendly with each other? Just because you two don't like each other, that doesn't mean that I have to defer to your animosity and betray my own wishes… At least that's what my father says to me all the time,' "

"He-he, that does sound like him and his father," Leanne chuckled.

Evin chuckled along pleasantly, but was soon reminded of a nasty incident that came next.

"But then the Chairman came to the Combat Class later on. After that, the Vice-chair started to pair me with another student, a commoner, even though he was half a head taller than me," Evin was reminded of a rather confusing memory. "I'm not sure, but I think the Chairman saw that I was getting along well with a noble and decided to spread us apart."

Leanne frowned at the story, but obviously, she couldn't outright agree with Evin, "That could've just been a coincidence. Perhaps the Vice-chair saw that Phel was helpful to other students so decided to give him a student that was struggling."

"No, I don't think so. Phel was paired with Theundel, and that guy definitely doesn't need help in pretty much anything in combat class. In fact, I think he was as helpful as Phel himself," Evin rebuked. "Why does the Chairman do these… almost childish things? No matter how I think about it, they're just that: childish, impulsive things that he does to make me hate nobles."

Leanne sighed, unable to agree nor disagree to Evin's arguments. Sensing that the flow of the conversation was on his side, Evin continued.

"And it doesn't end with just the swapping of my training partner. Whenever there's a chance, the Vice-chair would pit me against Decatur on every little task we must accomplish during the lessons. Long distance spells, close quarter combat, exchanging techniques, and even running!" Evin remembered all the times he had to be humiliated by Decatur in front of everyone and couldn't keep the anger out of his voice.

The only satisfying thing about this whole process was that Evin was getting better and better at handling these sudden interventions. His casting had become much quicker, he could hold much more mana in his core now, and his cooperation with the Voice became much smoother.

He was actually confident that he would put up a much better fight against Decatur if he was forced to fight him once again. After all, he had access to six more Worlds compared to last time. He absorbed all the World Shards he got from his bet and managed to obtain the Shards of the World of Water, Ivelisi; and the World of Light, Lumiaris.

"Well, it is what it is," Leanne sighed and offered an explanation. "Maybe he does them because he thinks that you don't know about his intentions… You did keep our conversation a secret from him, right?"

"I did make sure to keep things secret from him. So long as he didn't learn about them with some other method," Evin said as he looked around the darker corners of the room.

Leanne noticed this behavior and reassured him, "Magic isn't so omnipotent as you think. And just because the Chairman is a High-mage, it doesn't mean that he can go around doing anything he wants. Sure, his mastery over Seyethe, the World of Air, is scary, but that mastery comes with a cost. It might sound ridiculous to you, but I have far better control over the rest of the 11 worlds compared to him. Actually, maybe not the World of Life."

"Because he only focuses on that one single World?" Evin asked.

"Yes. And that's mostly the reason why he was able to create Conditional Absolutes."

"Wait, he has many Absolutes? How many?" Evin asked, stunned by the news.

"Who knows? I know he has three, but I'm sure he has at least a couple of others in his head," Leanne shrugged. "But like I said, this profound mastery of one world costs him. Perhaps in a couple decades he'll be able to bring one other world to the level he mastered Seyethe... But it's more likely that he'll chase this one world to the peak."

"So he shouldn't be able to hear what we've discussed without you knowing about it. The Worlds for spying are the World of Darkness and the World of Thoughts."

"That's right. And I was especially careful when I went to talk with you that day," Leanne reassured Evin.

Evin then thought about the situation from the Chairman's side and realized that Leanne was right. If the Chairman assumed that Evin held no animosity towards him and held no knowledge about his plans, he would think that Evin's animosity would only go towards the nobles and maybe the Vice-Chair.

It also explained why the Chairman never bothered to talk with Evin, after that brief meeting they had with Decatur and his mother, Alix din Carew. Of course. Why would he need to talk with Evin? On the outside, he was a distant and untouchable person to Evin - a Chairman of an Academy in which Evin studied. As for the two times he personally intervened with Evin, which happened during the Opening Ceremony of the Academy and later on when he forced Evin to fight seriously against Decatur, it could be explained by a Chairman's interest in a 2nd grade commoner being able to Imagination Cast better than most nobles.

This realization shed light on the situation that Evin was struggling to understand for a long time. The Chairman still believed that Evin was ignorant of his plans. In that case, it was natural for him to do these subtle changes, even though they looked childish or foolish in Evin's eyes. But even so, his actions were confusing to Evin.

'And why did I always assume that he knew about the talk Leanne and I had?' Evin pondered. Even though Leanne had reminded him that the Chairman knew nothing of the talk, but always, in the back of his mind, Evin assumed the gentle looking man knew about it all. 'Is it just because the Chairman looks so powerful from the outside?'

"Let's stop this talk about the Chairman and his nefarious plans for now. It will be hard for you to be subject to his whims, but I can tell you with certainty that it's best if things go unchanged."

"I know," Evin nodded and continued in an almost bragging tone. "The Chairman and Decatur can do whatever they want to me, but they'll never achieve what they want in the end."

Leanne nodded and poured Evin another cup of her sweet wine. She then started to ask for more stories of Evin and his friends, away from those serious dreary topics. Evin was all but happy to talk about something other than the machinations of others and gladly recalled even the smallest things he did with his friends... though he was careful not to speak of Bella too much, as Leanne was very interested in that topic for all the wrong reasons.

Leanne would also touch Evin sometimes, but those were casual touches: a pinch on the cheeks, a ruffle of his hair, a slap on the shoulders. Nothing to suggest something else. But even these thoughtless contacts with her sent Evin's heart on a wild ride and it took all his effort to maintain a calm façade. Evin perceived these touches as subtle hints of Leanne's invitation, of her acceptance of him as a man.

Evin's would constantly feel urges to just take her hand in a soft, yet decisive way and tell her all he felt for her during these few months. He would imagine himself uttering his feelings towards her, and then imagining her reaction to them. But despite her hints, Leanne rarely took Evin seriously in these imaginations. It was confusing to Evin.

A passing thought suggested that he was presuming too much, but Evin ruthlessly ignored it, happy to ponder about Leanne and himself.

'Leanne's definitely sending me some kind of signals. She touched me so many times during this brief talk, there has to be a meaning for them. So then why is it that I'm so afraid of telling her my feelings? Why am I so sure that I'll be refused, or worse, not even taken seriously? Why is it-' Evin was absorbed in his thoughts, before he felt something wash over his mind.

It was something he wanted and desired badly during this past two weeks, but now, he didn't want anything to do with it. It was of course, the Voice's mind superimposing itself over his.