CHAPTER 13 "We Need to Wait for the Others"

  "Seline!" barked the professor, his voice echoing off the classroom walls, "Are you finished already? Then hand it in and get out!"

  Seline slowly tore her gaze away from the window and looked at the professor standing next to her desk.

  This test, just like the teacher, meant absolutely nothing to her.

  She knew she could handle it in five minutes. Not because she was overconfident, but because it was simply who she was.

  Web design had long ceased to be a learning experience for her. She felt the composition, the style, the whitespace between elements as naturally as breathing.

  What everyone else was still learning, she could already teach.

  In her freelance work, she already had regular clients willing to pay good money for her vision and professionalism.

  "No…" Seline answered barely audibly, "not yet."

  "Then why are you sitting there daydreaming?!" he persisted, "I don't recognize you lately… it's like you've been replaced… such a simple test, and you're just sitting there! Do you want to lose your scholarship?!"

  "How dare this little human speak to the girl like that… so much anger in him…" Rin, invisible to human eyes, observed from the shadows. He understood this wasn't danger, just a man resentful of his own life, taking his powerlessness out on the students. This was clearly not a moment to bare his sword.

  "Just thinking…" Seline justified herself quietly, "remembering…"

  "Remembering?!" the professor raised an eyebrow, smiling coldly. "If you had studied, you wouldn't need to remember!"

  Seline wasn't remembering test answers. She was remembering last night. She tried to forget, but with every attempt to suppress the memories, the picture of her walk with Dan became clearer and brighter.

  She lowered her eyes to the test. Her pen slid across the paper, marking answers at random.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  The bell rang.

  "Time's up! Hand in your papers! Anything you didn't finish is for the retake!" the professor scanned the class with his usual contemptuous look, lingering on Seline a moment longer.

  "People have truly become angrier… the last time I saw humans, they were kinder…" Rin reasoned.

  Students shuffled towards the exit. The professor, sitting at his desk, wouldn't let up:

  "I'll be grading strictly!" he threw after Seline's retreating back with a spiteful smile.

  She didn't react. She understood the teacher's remark was aimed at her, but she didn't care. She was heading for the classroom door.

  The professor watched her go, already ready to mutter another caustic remark. But suddenly he felt he himself had become the object of observation.

  His heart jolted. His gaze dropped downward…

  From the shadow beneath Seline's feet, eyes were watching him. Bright, emerald, evaluating.

  The lamp on his desk flickered, the sound of the corridor's hum seemed to disappear. The world became empty for an instant.

  The professor's fingers trembled, the pen cracked in his palm, and a drop of cold sweat fell onto his planner.

  Less than a second, and the shadow was normal again.

  But the fear remained.

  "W-what was that…?" escaped his trembling lips, addressed to the empty classroom.

  Rin, having hidden deep within the shadow again, merely chuckled lightly.

  Seline walked slowly, as if her legs were filled with lead. The world around her sounded muffled and distant. She left the university.

  Outside, she was hit by sunlight. The day was warm, +21°C, a light wind tousled the golden strands of her hair. Everything looked perfect. But the world inside the girl was slowly crumbling and turning to ice.

  "Hey!" a cheerful female voice caught up to her. "Don't sweat it. Unbearable prof! I'm sure you did fine!"

  Seline turned around; her gaze was empty and cold.

  "Huh? Yeah… I'm not worried."

  "Well, great! Look what a day it is!" her classmate smiled, squinting in the sun.

  Seline nodded silently and walked home.

  Meanwhile, Dan was walking past the alley where the Rift had recently gaped. Everything was normal, no hint of the previous night. Now, only laughter filled the air.

  Dan let his gaze linger on them for a moment and then walked on.

  Something glinted on the dusty asphalt. One boy froze, noticing the light. A crystal lay on the ground, resembling a piece of ice, but shining as if the sun pulsed within it. The child's hand reached for the crystal, and then a low, dry voice sounded:

  "I wouldn't advise that."

  The children turned around. A man in a black coat stood motionless, but there was something in his gaze that sent a chill down the boys' spines. One by one, they scattered.

  "Finally… who would have thought we'd find one of the Stones on this musty planet…"

  The man bent down, reached his palm towards the Stone. At that very moment, a flash of light, like an electric shock, struck his fingers. He jerked his hand back sharply. For an instant, his face contorted in pain, but immediately after, his lips stretched into a smile.

  "Hm…" his lips twitched in a smirk, "so the Masters weren't lying about their 'selectivity'... pff… don't like me?"

  He straightened up leisurely and, as if kicking an unwanted toy, sent the crystal skittering under a rusty garbage container.

  "Wait here. I'll find you a Vessel. One is useless anyway… we need to wait for the others."

  He turned and left, dissolving into the crowd as if he had never existed.