Chapter 7 “chance of information”

A full week had passed and it was the first official day of school. The school uniforms had arrived in time. Odrian was awake and full with enthusiasm but found himself deciding how he would want to wear his uniform. Impressions meant everything to him, albeit the memory of the rejection still lingered. He wanted to move past it, he wanted to really flesh out the person he felt he was from within.

"Should I go ‘bad boy’ style with shirt unbuttoned at the top or where it proper" He gazed into the mirror indecisively. There were only so many ways you could where a uniform yet he scratched his afro to the point of dishevelment.

Sarah, on the other hand, knew she was going to put everything on the right way. She started with her skirt first which was lined with a white frilled middle black to the sides. Wrapped around the hem was gold trimming. Next she’d put on her black blouse that had a green ring under her chest that stopped in the middle. She then slid on her grey gloves and black and gold shoes. After all was done she took a look at herself in the mirror and spun around. She stopped in a position where she had bent over and struck a pose. It was as though someone was supposed to take a picture but there was no one there.

"Oh, I’m ready!”

Landon felt comfortable in his new uniform and he was already downstairs waiting for them. He could never understand why it would take them so long just to get ready. There was only so much time on a 48 hour clock. Growing slightly impatient he spoke up:

"Hey c’mon, let's head out!"

Within moments, Odrian ran down the steps with his vest open and shirt unbuttoned. It was undone to the point where you could see his white undershirt. Sabrina waited by the entrance to see them out. Of course Odrian’s unruly appearance had caught her eye like a random piece of rice on a clean floor.

"Is that how your leaving the house?" Sabrina had stopped him in his tracks with her glare. She pulled Odrian closer to her and buttons his inner shirt. Odrian fearfully assisted by doing the top buttons on his own. "Now, doesn't that look better?"

"I Guess" Odrian shrugged in what seemed to be defeat. How could he feel so defeated? No one knows. What was certain was that his answer was met by his mother’s frown of disapproval.

Soon after, Sarah jumped down the stairs, hitting the floor running. She ran up to Sabrina to get a kiss on her forehead.

"Where's Dad at?" Sarah had looked around for her father who was nowhere nearby.

"Your father is on another quest today,” Sabrina let out a sigh. “I could’ve sworn he said he’d stop once you kids were old enough but for as long as I’ve known him, he’s always had a knack for adventure.”

“Well, that’s dad for you.”

Aw, well, guess you’re right on that. You all have fun today! And Odrian… no trouble! This is your first day!"

Landon couldn’t help but smirk and brush pass Odrian as he exited the house behind Sarah. As Odrian followed, Landon said:

"Yeah! No trouble!'

As the three leave hopping from tree to tree, Odrian saw a large spiraling tower off in the distance. Odrian remembered that the area had refreshed, but of all his time living in the forest he had never seen anything like it. His interest was piqued.

"Hey I'mma check that out after school!" Odrian announced.

"You’re going to have to go solo.” Landon had to help Sarah with something later tonight. Although he was curious himself they still had all week to investigate, but there was no convincing his brother. There was something unusual that Landon couldn’t put his finger on. “Just be careful.”

“Oh, I’ll be fine!”

Odrian puts his hand into a fist, showing it to Landon.

They arrived at school and Landon and the others went about their day to their respective classes.

"See ya!" Landon waved at them with his back turned.

“C’mon, class is this way,” Sarah gently kicked Odrian in the leg. She walked ahead of him and turned left into the next corridor. They went up a couple flights of stairs and find their classroom 3 rooms down from the stairwell. As they slide the door to the side all other 16 students were already seated. Victor had saved them 2 seats next to him. Odrian takes the seat in the middle of them and Sarah along the perimeter. They sat in the back behind all the other students. The classroom had 4 rows of seats, each with 10 seats broken down into 3 circular columns that raised as the went further back. everyone quiets down as the door opened once again when their teacher walked in.

A tall slender male walked in, slamming the door behind him and stood behind his neatly organized desk. With a flip of a switch he turned on their displays on everyone’s desk as well as the electronic board behind him. He had medium-length straight hair with cold steely eyes that gazed upon them as though he was analyzing the room. He wore suit black slacks and a white button up shirt with a necklace with an indistinguishable symbol. With a forced smile, he introduced himself to them:

"My name is Deen and I will be your teacher for every subject. I will be assigning all of your quest as well. Here at G.O.U we don't waste time. Now with that said, it's time for a fact check pop quiz to see how much you know. Raise your hands to answer!"

Thinking about what his questions would be he immediately spouted the first few question.

"What were the previous Age of Ember winners wishes? And I want to know all 4 of them."

A silver-haired girl sitting in front of Odrian raised her hand almost immediately:

"The first wish was for one universal currency. The winner was a greedy man that wanted money to be more understandable and universal as well as making it easier for him to stack money."

Just as she finished her answer a student to the left raised their hand:

"The second wish was for angels and demons to have their own realm connected, reachable but separate."

Then Sarah raised her hand:

"The third wish for Vampires to be able to have taste buds and to be able to eat regular food.”

Another hand shot up with the last person with blonde hair in the front answering with the last wish:

"The last wish was for all who reach max strength to have their bodies to be immortal. And only immortals can kill other immortals but monsters can kill immortals for balance. In addition, you age from 21-40, back or forward."

“Impressive.” Deen had chimed in before quickly changing the display on the black board. His behavior became erratic. "I will now teach you science, physics, and math, so pay attention!"

He rambled on for hours, without pause from school’s beginning to end, covering a bountiful amount of information with breaks in between. Among the many things he had said, Odrian seemed t to have caught on to certain information:

"Theory of endurance - flying takes up the most endurance thus everyone walks or runs for movement. Flying is regulated to battles or needs of importance."

"There is 50 times more gravity here than that of any other planet."

"e=mc^2"

"Breeding theory! Everyone wants a powerful child so everyone is mixes races hoping for a good power pool for their child. However, what many forget is the Forux may randomly depend on the parents. There is still research that needs to be done on how it is actually determined. On an interesting notes, ancient civilization had looked down upon this now accepted concept, calling it eugenics."

"The top 5 consist of Lazarus, Assori, Angelo, Dominus, and Zion. Now, many know their names but not many know their faces, only select few ever meet them. But all are free to challenge them for their position!"

At the end of class Deen kept it simple as seeing that his students were exhausted by the information overload.

"Tomorrow I will issue you your first quest, so be ready."

With an exasperated and synchronized sigh, everyone left the classroom. As Odrian stepped out. Victor pulled him to the side.

"I got a date with Kris today, so we can catch up later."

“No problem. Have fun.” Odrian responded as he bid his friend farewell. Odrian would have to go over to the mysterious tower alone. Sarah came from behind Odrian and they walked together toward the entrance of the school.

Odrian and Sarah waited a few hours in the front of the school as they waited for Landon to finish his class. Exhausted, they head home travelling on the tops of the trees and once again Odrian saw the spiral tower off in the distance.

"Hey everyone,” Odrian caught everyone’s attention. “I'mma go check it out now"

Landon stops on top of a tree, somewhat concerned about Odrian’s venture. He still couldn’t shake the feeling he had about the tower itself but he knew this wouldn’t stop his brother from going.

"Odrian if things get bad, don't hold back."

“I will,” Odrian stopped and took a moment to respond. His brother seemed to be genuinely concerned about what he was about to do. None of them had ever come across this tower before, even after countless remappings of the forest. Odrian heads off toward the tower as Sarah and Landon watched before heading home.

"Will he be ok?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Odrian will always be ok," Landon placed his hand on top of Sarah’s head.

Odrian found himself standing before the front of the spiral tower, gleaming with excitement to enter to see what he would discover. He grinned:

“Alright, let’s see what’s inside!”