'They seriously couldn't have been less conspicuous about their curiousity?' Jarren couldn't help but ponder as he recalled the board. His fight was meant to be on the third day, the first pair of two fourth year students clashing.
It was the second however rather than waste his time with training, he looked at the students clashing at the Bastions. This time it wasn't first year students but rather second year students facing against third year students. They weren't going to be in the actual tournament but they were allowed to showcase their prowess.
Be it under the cause of hubris, selection or gaining favor from the professors or older year students. This time less students had gone outside to Bolyres as they acted as the audience for the fight. Jarren being the only fourth year student present was shocking however it was clear that his interest lay elsewhere.
His eyes weren't locked with the fight but rather the people present and one of those people had their eyes on him. Harven who was overseeing the spars would occasionally cast curious glances in his direction to which he would mirror with playful smiles that existed to taunt him.
His smile lacked the fear factor that it once had and now contained taunts and games. Akin to ridiculing his work and efforts as a professor and his investigations. Bored he would pull out his phone and scroll through it to check what was happening outside the school walls.
News about the political shifts and games were mostly present however there were other articles such as the upcoming tournaments, the rampant increase of demonic attacks all over the world and the developments happening not in Reuthar but in other kingdoms as well.
Some propaganda sprinkled here and there however it was noise to him. There were also some articles that murmured about new technology in terms of military underway however the matter was paper thin to work with. 'This should be interesting.'
Also the academy had come to learn about such modern gadgetry and their uses however a select few individuals had them thus few rules had been instigated but that wouldn't last long. He couldn't help but muse as he made his way towards his room. Already bored with the lackluster fights, he chose to head back and get some shut eye.
However he ran into someone else. "Here's Callista's number, she says that she wants to talk." One of Callista's friends intercepted him and handed over Callista's number to him. "Just don't get any weird ideas." Her voice a threatening murmur before she took her leave. Jarren however brushed it off.
His room ever welcoming was cool to which he brought out his phone and scrolled through it.
[{Meet me in the knighthood training hall at 2 p.m.}]
Callista already had a message for her. He looked at the current time.
[{11:00 a.m.}]
He had time to doze off for a bit.
***
[{Knighthood Training Hall 1:47.p.m.}]
The sound of crystal clashing against crystal echoed through the wide stone hall, catching the faint light of noon through the high, stained-glass windows. Callista stood alone at the center of the arena, sweat dotting her brow, breathing controlled yet sharp.
A jagged spear of ash-colored crystal burst from her palm, arching toward a hovering crystalline shield she had set midair moments before. The impact sent shards flying in a glimmering spray, but she paid them no mind. She was already moving, forming a sword next. Sleek and tapered, twirling it experimentally.
The floor around her bore the marks of persistent practice, runes half-formed in malcore, shattered crystal fragments, and light scorch marks. She pivoted, summoned a broad kite shield from her other hand, and slammed it into the incoming spears conjured from her earlier cast. A flick of her fingers and they scattered like glass on stone.
But her hands winced, the act demanding of malcore in large proportions. The doors creaked open. He didn't announce himself. Jarren's silhouette entered quietly through the high archway, hands in pockets, golden trim catching the sun. She didn't stop training.
"You're early." She said without looking. "You're late," he replied. "Mentally, at least. I ran out of sleep so I decided to come here early not to mention what you'll be doing will have you here the entire day."
Callista exhaled slowly and dismissed the crystal constructs with a whisper. "So? You here to show off or actually teach?"
Jarren smirked and stepped into the hall proper. "I'm here to watch you try and fail." With a casual motion, he drew a finger in the air, trailing a faint, bending shimmer. like heat distortion and a glyph began to form. It pulsed once, then fractured. From the fracture, two circles split off, orbiting the first.
Callista blinked. "That's not standard."
"Of course not. Standards are for people trying to graduate. I'm trying to remake the script." She stepped forward slowly, eyes on the glyph. "Is it malcore based or something else entirely?"
"Don't worry about what it is. Just try to copy the basic glyph. The rest should come by itself." She stared. The patterns danced, resisting her mind's attempt to pin them down. She reached out and began to trace. A half hour passed in an instant.
Crackling whines echoed as she formed the first ring, then the second however before they collapsed into one another, her wrist flickered with pain. She grimaced.
"You're forcing it." Jarren said, seated now on the nearby steps with his demeanor lacking in profession of an instructor as he mindlessly scrolled through his phone. "It's not a code to be broken. It's a language that understands you. Stop speaking like a stranger."
She gritted her teeth and tried again. It was only then that he turned toward the far corner, not even bothering to look. "Orissa, you can come out now." A pause. Then a soft rustle of fabric as a figure emerged from behind the support pillars. Dark-clad, lean, her eyes cautiously locked on him.
"You sensed me?" Orissa asked, voice low. "Please, you breathe too loudly when you're anxious." Jarren shrugged. "Since you're here you might as well take a seat. Maybe you'll learn something, even if it's just how to not flail." Callista scoffed under her breath but didn't object. She was just getting the bare gist of the glyph to argue.
Watching from the side, Jarren took the time to question Orissa as to why she was stalking him. "So you do stalk other students for a hobby or is it just me?" He started out of the blue, the two watching Callista who was absorbed by forming the basic.
"...No I'm not a creep I was just curious as to how your glyph works is all." It was contradictory of her to state such a claim. "If you're curious for a lesson then I'm free for tuition. It just so happens that this is a favor I'm doing for Callista."
Orissa paused for a moment, her mind recalling the rumors that she had heard about Jarren. 'Selfish, arrogant, entitled...' The list went on however now that isn't what she saw. Sure he was more laid back and didn't into trouble as often however something else seemed to replace him.
His demeanor was cooler, callous and felt like his eyes saw feats that shouldn't be. "Since when were you so generous? Or is it karma that drives you? Maybe intraspection or such." Jarren knew that she was shifting the question to him, probing him for what he hid behind his serpentine smile.
"I don't believe in karma Orissa, as for introspection. I've never been myself in my entire life. It's just that here my actions between these halls have consequences. However it's the eyes that I have to avoid is all." His last statement felt ominous however before she could focus on it, Callista let out a short sigh.
"This is implausible Jarren." She didn't seem all that bothered at all with her face call as always. Rising to his feet, he made his way to her standing next to her. Stretching his hand, not only Callista but Orissa pay close attention to what he was about to demonstration.
This time the glyph wasn't jet black but a deep crimson signalling fire. He bore the Velros Family sigil and his talent in it was reasonable. The glyph circle started like normal before forming two inner circles. Callista's eyes noted the shift of malcore surrounding him. More circles with their own orbital circuit grew out of glyphwork however by now the girls had lost track.
"Your malcore usage seems to halve everytime a new pair of sub-glyphs come into the fray. At this point it's so minimal I can barely sense it." Callista noted, her eyes still locked with the glyph. "Really, then..."
As if by design, the malcore that was once barely present skyrocketed. It's amount was so insurmountable that Callista's legs buckle at it's presence, Orissa's body subconsciously flinching backwards as the hall was bathed in fire however there was no active damage.
The circle glyph size increased tenfold covering the entire Knighthood Training Hall as all kinds of weapons, beasts and obstacles filling the place. Be it spears darting all over, traps laying all over as he two ladies remained still. The crystals that littered the floor melted in an instant however never once had the temperature rose.
*Snap*
The glyph shattered like glass and the fire died in a blink of an eye. As for the caster, his smile never wavered as he pocketed his hands and his shadow swallowing his figure dissappeared and flashing next to Orissa.
"There's more to it than just reducing your malcore usage but greatly increasing your output as well but that will take you way too long to master but when you do, it should be eye catching." The ladies fell silent, their minds screaming to get as far away from Jarren as possible.
His fire glyphwork was more than just eye catching as he played it off, such output was present in higher ranks of the Maga path. Determined to master such a skill, Callista took a glance at her wrists, gritting her teeth as she tried to remake what she had seen.
"Imitation without understanding is idiocracy Callista. Just try to form two separate glyphs then merge them. Of course it won't be easy and from there try to redo it in a single glyph. If you can't get over this small barrier then I'm afraid that you can't learn such a skill." Jarren mused as his figure unraveled at his seat.
Callista now pleased with deeper insight went on with her training however Orissa shot a question that had been nagging her, her throat dry. "Just how did you come to learn such arts. After all bizzare glyphs could be associated with demonic relations."