Jace walked out of the room, locking the door as he hummed a tune.
What was the best solution to an existential crisis and the dawning realization that you were a speck of dust in the universe.
One word: Music.
And so, with his ear buds in, Jace was trying to chase away his sadness and flood them with melodies.
Of course, Jace was aware of how dumb it was. Trying to ignore his thoughts was bound to ricochet back at him someday.
But Jace also understood that delving into them at that moment would do more harm than good.
Plus, Jace didn't want to think about it. The sinking fear that he could die and no one would care.
And so, Jace resolved to ignore those thoughts, at least for now.
Plus, there were other things to do. Like the weekly quest.
The quest was direct and simple to understand. Easy?, maybe.
The quest was to fight an Ability User. That was it.
Not to win or lose, but simply to fight one.
A smile crossed Jace's face as he whistled before coming face to face with a familiar figure.
Waving at him with a bright smile on his face, Jax called out "Hey, you're heading to the field too, right?"
"Too?" Jace repeated and for a second confusion clouded his features. He had assumed that only those who had been bestowed an ability would be called.
It looked like they were planning a test, for both those with hereditary abilities and those who had gained their new abilities.
Jace had assumed that the test would only be done with people who had just gained those abilities, considering they had just possessed it.
The test was obviously biased towards those with hereditary abilities and Jace guessed it was specifically designed to humble some of the more arrogant new ability users.
Of course, having the test the day after was still dumb. Jace shook his head as he got rid of those thoughts.
Jace gazed at Jax's smiling face as he gauged the offer to walk with him. From a standpoint, walking with Jax was a good way to make a friend.
From another, walking with him would be the most annoying thing ever and Jace honestly didn't have the mental energy for that.
Finally, with a soft sigh he remarked to Jax "Fine. Let's go". A smile appeared on Jax's face as the two walked down the hallway.
A couple of students seemed to be heading to the hall too leaving the hallway fairly crowded.
Additionally, Jax was trying his hardest to suppress his talkative nature, which while it was supposed to be soothing, felt more uncomfortable.
"So?" Jace started attempting to start a conversation "How was the party last night?"
Jax blinked in disbelief and for a second Jace thought he had said something wrong.
A smile crossed Jax's face as he replied slowly "Either you're joking with me or you're messed up because of the ability thing".
As he said that, he straightened up as if he said something wrong "Uhm, I wasn't actually the one to know about the ability uhm.. Silas did it. He just checked your name and found out you didn't have an ability. I don't really discriminate or anything, so you can still consider me a friend, only if you want".
Jace ignored everything Jax had said as he focused on one thing "What do you mean I'm joking?"
Jax looked confused as he enunciated clearly "The party was the night before yesterday. You were in your room for the entire day. That was part of why I asked Silas to spy, no not spy, investigate what you were doing. Of course we ended up…"
Jace ignored everything Jax had said after stating that the party was two days ago. That meant Jace had...
'No, no no'.
Jace tried calming himself down as he struggled to think. He had been in his room, unconscious for an entire day.
Jace searched for a reason, a theory on why he had slept for so much. The only ones that seemed most likely were the system interfering and his Vicea bloodline.
The system interfering, while an engaging possibility seemed too far-fetched.
The most likely was his Vicea Bloodline. Which gave Jace more questions on what that truly meant.
"-ce, Jace!" Jace glanced up in a fright as his thoughts scattered into pieces.
Jace glanced at his side to see Jax looking at him with an expressionless he couldn't quite discern.
Massaging his forehead, Jace spoke "I'm sorry for blanking out. I'm just really really tired"
Jax nodded as he ruffled his hair "Yeah, I can underst- Hold up isn't that Silas?"
His eyes brightened as he waved his hands over his head and called out "Silas, hey Silas. Over here"
Jace noticed the anxious dark-haired figure slowly take in the sight of Jax.
A sort of jittery emotion lit up in his eyes as he searched for his path of escape, but there was none.
The minute Jax noticed him, there was nothing Silas could do except trudge over to Jax.
Jace almost laughed as he took in Silas's soulless expression. Well, to be fair, the only other time Jace had seen him was when his face was in the shadows so maybe that was just how Silas's face was structured.
The three walked down the stairs and into the landing as Jax greeted almost everyone around.
Every single person around focused exclusively on Jax, smiles adorning their faces.
But behind their smiling masks were their seeking eyes. Looking, probing at Jace, Silas, even Jax.
Jax meanwhile smiled broadly, sometimes a little too stupidly. He laughed loudly and jumped into conversations between people.
An uncomfortable feeling rose up in Jace as he sought a way to at least make Jax appear even the tiniest bit serious or calm.
Until he saw it.
While Jax's smile was broad, his eyes were lit with a fire. Not the erratic one that Jace had noticed from him two days ago or even a few minutes ago, but a calmer more collected one.
And as Jace noticed that, he also noticed Silas.
With his head down and wearing an oversized hoodie that was clearly meant to cover him, he appeared anxious, weak, scared. Maybe even confused.
The dark pulsing viscous liquid, though, stated otherwise. It was small, large enough to notice but tiny enough to ignore.
The substance moved around, studying people around it at a distance no human could go close to.
When it had studied enough, it would come back to Silas, attach to its body and a new one would come out, ready for its mission.
As Jace gazed around, he noticed. It wasn't only Silas and Jax. Every single person in the building and even outside on the clearing, people gathered in groups.
Their faces were beacons of smiles and joy but their eyes portrayed the truth.
Each one of them gazed around, scanning, analyzing, identifying.
And in that moment Jace understood.
They may have been training to fight a war, but the moment Jace stepped into the academy, he was already in one.
As Jax slowly extricated himself from the conversation, the trio walked towards the hall, the dark substance attaching onto Silas's arm.
As they walked, Jax whispered "So, you guys find anything?"
Jace shook his head as he noticed a small pounding at the back of his head. A headache was forming.
Silas meanwhile, hesitantly spoke "I heard quite a few people talking about who is currently ranked first. Also, the test today is to determine the formal rankings".
Jax nodded absentmindedly as he offered his take "I heard a couple others. Apparently he's not a legacy. He also didn't attend the party".
Jace half-listened, the other half of his mind flying away with his thoughts.
Thoughts of the mysterious system, or the Vicea Bloodline, or of back home, in Apnea.
Thoughts of everything and nothing in particular.
Jace almost sighed before stopping himself. It appeared eating a heart had made him more melancholic.
As he did, a thought came to him. Turning to Jax and Silas, he asked "How do we find the field anyway?"
Silas looked at him in confusion as Jax exclaimed "You didn't know. There's a map in the cyberlink. Didn't you read the rules? It was right there".
From the corner of his eyes, Jace could notice a small frown deepen on Silas's face.
Nodding absentmindedly, Jace replied "Yeah, I read it. Just slipped my mind".
Jace frowned. Sure he didn't have a photographic mind but for him to forget something so important.
And then there was this pounding headache. Jace could tell. His headache, that was going to be a problem.
The worst part was that Jace didn't exactly know what to connect his headache to.
His system, likely. The Vicea Bloodline, a lot more likely. The Heart, the primary suspect.
Jace had heard that some people suffered side-effects from the bestowment and this seemed like one.
For a second Jace considered whether or not he could be given a pardon for his headache before laughing it off.
Ignoring the fact that it was unlikely, Jace guessed that was the point of the test. To not only rank the students but to see how the new ability users could deal with their new abilities and side-effects.
Jace was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn't even notice when he was standing on the soft green grass.
Jace turned towards Jax who had a smile on his face, a flicker in his eyes and a subtle grin as he said, both to himself and to Silas and Jace "Welcome to the Field".