A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

Several months passed without any noticeable events to be recognized in the academy. The guild got along with each other quite well, forming small friendsh.i.p.s within classes and other extracurricular activities.

Endless Sun has not challenged any other guilds, and none bothered to challenge back either. All the newcomer guilds were afraid to diminish their points unless a 100 percent victory was placed on the table.

Atlas, Rina, Paris, and Leo were all secretly practicing their magic abilities on their own for the past couple months. While Cartuja, Faibel, and Laena only really got to shine during several weekly missions and so forth. Once the end of October rolled around, Calvin called for a meeting in the middle of the week to announce some crucial news to his guild.

"Thank you all once again for coming on such short notice. I know you all must be so busy-"

"Get to the point.." Cartuja interrupted him, something Calvin was used to by now.

"As you wish... A guild has challenged you to a duel. One that has just 18 less points than you. We are at a total of 550 points now."

Paris sprung up from the rest, brutally embarrassed, "That's it!? I've been going on mission by myself every week and you people can't even pick up the pace? Pathetic."

"Oh yeah, I kinda forget to do those huh," Cartuja laughed to himself for a moment, receiving only blank expressionless faces in return.

"Than why don't we do a real mission? You know, the borderless ones." An unexpected reply from Atlas, making Calvin freeze in place, lost in his mind for a split second before answering, "Atlas. Those missions require a lot of years of training and practice, a couple months is not enough to take on such a large responsibility."

"But didnt you say they were the only way to realistically get to 1,000,000 points?"

"Yes, which not every guild manages to do in their lifetime, let alone their first year of school." Calvin looked down for a moment, releasing a large sigh filled with grief, "Besides, you have more important things to worry about right now. The guild that challenged you is Reapers."

Leo's face was instantly corrupted by nervousness, getting the attention of everyone quite quickly, "Isn't that the guild with Griffin Blood?"

Atlas was trying his hardest to remember that name, and how familiar it sounded until Rina sparked a bolt in his memory, "You mean that one guy who scored high on the Alchemic emitter? Who cares, it's been months now, and it's only a 1/7 chance one of us fights him anyways."

Atlas finally remembered Griffin, and Trey who was also in the same Guild.

Calvin broke the ongoing silence of everyone rummaging through their thoughts, "I'm sure you will all do fine." The match is tomorrow at noon, be at Arena 4 a little earlier for preparations.

After Calvin concluded his sentence, he followed by vanishing and leaving everyone else looking at one another confused out of their minds.

"So who wants to grab some lunch, I'm starving," A typical Cartuja conversation starter.

However, a response was given by Laena, which sort of had everyone surprised for a moment, "I would. Um, also like something to eat."

Even Cartuja was surprised to see Laena hungry, but instantly forgot about caring and judging others on his behalf, "Well if no one else is going than peace."

Everyone split off on their own ways soon after they left, leaving Cartuja and Laena grabbing some late afternoon snacks and scooping a nearby table for three, just in case anyone else decided to show up to the food plaza.

It didn't take long for Cartuja to start demolishing his food, while Laena held a bright green apple, sliced into 4 pieces with a side of peanut butter as her choice of refreshment.

"Cartuja."

He put down his clogg of meat back onto the sauce covered plate, "Yeah? What's up."

"Is Faibel. A human?"

His eyes widened, followed by a sigh, "Why are you asking me that? Did you see his other-"

"Yes…" Before she continued, a thrill of emotions filled her throat, unable to express them in the tone she d.e.s.i.r.ed.

Cartuja was motionless, not sure what to say, thinking that Faibel might hurt her. However, before he could speak, Laena looked at him, "The other Faibel I saw and spoke to at around 10pm two weeks ago, the emotions that plunged my heart so hard when he spoke. It nearly made me cry of joy. But when I talked to him the next day, he.. Ignored me, acting like nothing happened."

A silence followed her words, one that caught the attention of other s walking by, notifying them to not interrupt.

"Laena…" Cartuja sighed, "Faibel is a cross breed of a demon and an angel." her eyes propped back up, catching her attention in Cartujas words with every letter. He tried his best to keep his voice down, "His mother was an angel, and father was a demon." Cartuja began to explain how demons and angels walk among the humans as carelessly as possible everywhere around the world, but forbidden to make offspring with one another.

"As you might of guest by now. They did. Only to be banished away by a force even Faibel does not know about… Every day from 9pm until 9am, Faibel slowly turns into the complete opposite of his usual self.."

Laena slowly began to understand, wiping her metaphorical tears off her face. "He was so nice to me… The way he spoke was like an angel…"

"Yeah, That's not all, he also becomes a monster. Although his personality might seem so light and fragile, his strength is unmatched. That's why he avoids the meeting at the headquarters at 6am, and any other interactions within his 12 hour time frame of polarity."

"Thank you Cartuja. I didn't know who else to turn to when my feelings overcome my train of thought."

"No problemo, you gonna eat that apple though or what's good?"

"Oh, yes," she put her hands back on the table, taking a small bite of an apple splice before dippin the rest into the small batch of peanut butter beside it, smiling back as a thank you for a pleasant conversation and wiping away any noticable signs of grief off her face. Although her thoughts were still wildly scrambling through her head about that night she spoke to Faibel.

The week leading up to the guild battle was slow, unusually slow for a week with no events. Classes seemed like days, hours felt like months, and days felt like years. The drought of anything exciting seemed to suck the life out of all the students, especially the ones preparing to duel the next day.

The morning of the Guild battle, everyone met up at the plaza for a hefty, but digestible meal to provide themselves with energy they will need. They grabbed their usual table for seven, sitting down one by one with plates of various food. Faibel was the only one that didn't grab any food, but instead a medium black coffee to fill his empty soul with some sort of emotion.

As they all sat down, Leo got their attention before anyone can take their first bites of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, "Who do you think will be chosen to fight?"

Everyone turned their head from side to side, hoping for someone to break the awkward silence. Paris was the first to do so after a few moments, "Well if it's me then it will be a guaranteed victory, I can't afford to lose."

Rina stood up, crossing her hands in response, "I second that! Only thing I'll lose is a laugh after a clean win."

"Wow that was so hilarious. I was rolling on the ground yelling in laughter," Cartuja claimed sarcastically with the most expressionless face imaginable.

"Whatever, I was just trying to cheer everyone up, this will be easy."

After everyone finished their food, and told a few more admirable jokes, they prepared to get ready for the battle, taking a nearby rift to one of the arenas. The lore was only reserved for special Guild battles and events, therefore, this battle would take place in an Arena.

When they arrived, Calvin was already waiting for them, as well as the opposing guild. Looking across the arena, Calvin's guild noticed that their opponents were ready for battle. Almost as if they've specifically planned to have lower points than Endless Sun in order to fight them.

As preparation kicked in, and the time ticked down, the battle was decided to be a one on one. From the Reapers guild, Griffin Blood was chosen as the competitor. From Endless Sun, Paris was chosen. Although she didn't seem too excited to be the first one to fight in a duel, at least a real one this time.

She tried to mask her nervousness with bravery, "Don't worry, I'll show him not to underestimate us!" But it wasn't working to well through the sweat starting to creep on her forehead, and vigorously shaking while reaching down to grab her sword.

The battlefield morphed into a sandstone covered colosseum. It stood like an ancient gladiator pit, with mercy and hope stolen from the weak that lied within.

Paris was standing about 50 yards away from Griffin on the opposite side of the arena. They were both staring down at each other, listening to one of the professors explain the rules, eager for the match to start. The rules were the same as the guild battle they both watched a couple months ago, and a few times after that as well, having some sort of preparation before they began.

Paris gripped her sealed sword as tightly as she could, imagining Griffin to be Rina as a reminder of a possible rematch. Griffin on the other hand looked as if he was ready to spill blood, not afraid of the consequences if that were the outcome.

The Professor from Reapers finished stating the rules, now awaiting for Calvin to begin the match between the guilds.

After the chatter and whispers slowly died down to a mellow silence, only being interrupted by the slight wind lifting specs of soft sand off the ground, Calvin raised his right hand and pointed towards the fake blue skies above. He patiently waited until both competitors were motionless in place, and slammed his hand back down towards his side yelling, "Begin!"

Griffin didn't seem fazed at all by the start of the match, he even seemed quite calm as Paris started running aggressively towards him while gripping her sword with every muscle fiber she had. Griffin tried his best to hide his hand, snapping his fingers and mumbling something no one else could hear.

Paris didn't get far, only after a couple seconds of dashing into Griffin's direction, she fell face first into the sandstone below her. She managed to extend her elbows in time to prevent a full on divebomb but couldn't prevent the fall being harmless.

From the sidelines, Calvin's face seemed as if he knew his guild would lose from the start. Her fall seemed to have been an outcome of something tragically unexplainable.

Even Faibel couldn't understand what happened, Atlas could see it with the expression on his face. Griffin started laughing hard, acting like he had no idea what had happened, as if he wasn't the culprit of the crime.

Paris slowly picked her face off the ground, m.o.a.ning in gruesome pain. She was used to always getting hurt, but this didn't even come close to any injuries in the past. After placing her left knee on the sandy ground, she tried to follow with her right to regain her balance. However, once she applied the pressure of her body weight onto her foot, she felt the pain spring like hell through her entire leg.

Trying her best to fight through what seemed like a completely broken leg, she managed to stand up on both legs, with uncontrolled balance and severe pain. After her attempt to take a step, she collapsed due to her circ.u.mstances, finally letting out an agonizing scream.

Griffin started to slowly walk over towards her as he noticed his professor about to call the match. As he approached Paris, he snapped his fingers while simultaneously saying, "Form."

Seconds after, the pain that Paris felt was gone, confusing her and the rest of her guild mates on the sidelines. She sprung up on both feet as fast as she could, still slightly confused, and furious at the same time.

She locked eyes with the merciless boy walking in her direction, eager to move again due to a similar outcome happening once more. She could tell he was behind the cause of her pain and suffering, not regretting his decisions even the slightest.

As Griffin approached Paris, he finally spoke out loud for the first time, "Endless Sun. What a shame… Such a wonderful professor to lead the guild, and yet such weaklings to stand behind it."

He started laughing to himself, along with Trey on the sidelines as well as his other guildmates following suite.

Paris didn't take so lightly to his comment, standing up and ready to dash at him once more, "What did you do to me you brat?!"

"Ooooo. Feisty one. Aren't you mad I broke your leg? What are you going to do about it."

Paris didn't respond after she realized her leg was no longer in devastating pain, and felt like normal once more. The eyes of pure death were looking back at Griffin, charging towards him instantly.

He was prepared, he knew she would get mad, he just had to let her get a little closer.

As Paris was just a few yards away, she felt an essence she never felt before. Just for a brief second, the world around her turned black and white, and paused all movement around her.

It was like she stepped into a void of despair, paused between reality and the unknown. She had no time to analyze her surroundings before it all faded away as if nothing even happened. Everything returned back to normal after a few seconds, with Griffin stretching his hand in front of him, snapping his fingers before she could attack, saying, "Tear," quite firmly this time.

As Paris was about to violently beat him with her sword, her arm stopped her motion, freezing it in even more pain than before.

The scream she let out was unbearable to hear. Although there were no physical changes on the outside of her arm, she could feel every single bone fiber running through her arm dissipate into incorrect alignment.

Before one of the Professors was ready to call the match, Griffin canceled the damage like before with the simple phrase, "Form."

"Now do you understand how weak you are. Unless you want more pain, surrender in front of everyone. Humiliate yourself."

Paris was breathing rapidly, her heart rate exceeded her regular beats, not sure of how to respond. She looked at her friends on the sidelines, all looking terrified for her. She then glanced at Calvin, who seemed like he felt responsible watching her suffering.

After grasping her sword once more, she looked back up at her opponent, who stood just a few feet away with his hand ready to snap those deadly fingers at any moment. She knew the second she took a step in his direction another body part would take damage she did not want to deal with.

However, sometimes, our ego takes over when a crowd is watching your every move. She lunged forward, already seeing the motion of his fingers in action. Right before the sound of a simple snap was made, the world froze once more for her.

Similar to right before her arm previously took damage, everything turned black and white, with what seemed like all life on Earth was stripped away. Paris could feel her body be free, like a feather falling freely from the sky. She could hear a very soft voice in her head whisper, Reverse. That word echoed through her head, sending slight goosebumps down her spine as it came into thought.

She could feel her sword shaking beneath the shackles she couldn't break, knowing exactly what to do. After just a few moments, the world started to slowly shift back to normal, and she could see Griffins fingers complete their full motion of the snap.

As the snapping sound flew across the Arena, he followed with the same word as before, "Tear."

Time moved slowly for Paris, she could feel the pain creeping in on her entire body this time. She only had one option at this point, in which she didn't even feel control over. A second before her entire body was filled with immense torture, she managed to grip her sword as tightly as possible, screaming, "Reverse!" as loud as she could.

The pain that was filling her body vanished within a brink of time, being replaced with a sensation of freedom, allowing her full access of her own body. Nonetheless, the pain didn't just vanish, it was transferred. Transferred back at her opponent who caused the attack.

Griffin didn't even scream, he slowly fell to his knees, forced to undo the damage that's done. Trying his best to motion his lips to say, "From," was the hardest challenge he's ever faced. The damage wasn't just reversed, it was countered back with double the amount of harm it would of done at the start. This was a catastrophe for Griffin, who originally had the intention to absolutely cripple Paris of every bone in her body.

"F….. F…. Fo…." He tried his best to say his words of freedom to free him from the pain. Blood was pooling inside of him, purging through his mouth in small coughs of dark red.

During this time, Paris walked over to Griffin, who was motionless on his knees. She stared at him, and couldn't help but feel his pain. Not physically, but mentally. She saw herself in his eyes, always feeling pain throughout her life, and never able to undo it, until today. Today she felt free, broken from the shackles that tortured her her entire life.

"Let's call it a draw." She said calmly as she saw his professor running over, and placing her hand on his shoulder. As her hand touched his body, the pain was finally gone for good. Griffin was speechless on his knees, only embarrassed of himself for all the pain he caused to everyone in his life. Staring at the ground, unsure of what to say, he had no choice but to apologize, which happened to be his first in a very long time. Paris reached out her hand to help him up, which he grabbed gracefully.

Before Paris had a chance to say a word, Griffin silenced her thought by unexpectedly hugging her deep within his arms.

Shocked, Paris was unsure of what to do, standing firmly in her boots, looking back in the direction of Griffin's guildmates and seeing their faces filled with disgust.

Reapers' professor was now standing right next to them, unsure of who to claim the victor as he saw both of them unharmed, despite some blood on the ground and next to Griffin's mouth from a couple of coughs.

Griffin turned to the professor, "We're calling it a draw sir." He looked at Paris who nodded in response.

The professor didn't take lightly to their reply, "Sorry but that's not how these battles work. We challenged Endless Sun, so either one of you is unable to continue fighting or you surrender."

Before Griffin could say a word, Paris stopped him, "Then I surrender."

Griffin tried to deny her, eyes wide and ready to stop her and take the loss himself but before he had a chance to do so, the professor raised his hand, claiming him the victor of todays match.

Griffin looked at Paris with a face of sorrow, and mouth expressed with regret. Paris looked back, smiling in return, "Don't worry, we'll fight again later if you want. You know where to find me."

She turned around, walking back towards her friends and Calvin, knowing she lost all her Guild's points, but gained a friend and life changing view of her own gift in magic.