"Hmm where will I find him?" Thought, he knelt with one knee and placed his palm on the floor closing his eyes and channeling his thought to the ground and hearing whispers, his head giving him vivid view of the school without him looking at it and then he withdrew his hand from the ground, "found you."
He went to the boys dorm and to Darius room and he knocked, "come in," a voice sounded from the other side and he opened the door and locking it behind him.
Darius lay on his bed and he turned to see the person that entered and he swings his leg to the edge of the bed to sit up.
"What a brings you here Van Leon?" He asked rudely glaring at Van Leon.
Van Leon, typically stoic and unreadable, walked directly to Darius's bedside. His voice a low, gravelly rumble that cut through the sterile quiet. "I see you are now perfectly fine Darius."
Darius gnashed his teeth saying, "quit talking and get out of my room, I am merely recovering from the poison Van," his voice devoid of warmth and emotion.
"You orchestrated this, didn't you, Darius?" Van Leon asked staring at Darius gloomily.
Darius's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise in them, quickly masked by defiance. "Orchestrated what, Van? The peasant tried to poison me with dark magic! You saw his pathetic dagger. He's a menace!"
"I saw the dagger, yes," Van Leon countered, his voice unwavering. "And I know its kind. Ancient bronze. Not dark, not evil, but wild. It responds to intent, Darius. And I saw you snatch it from the him." His gaze hardened. "That dagger didn't choose to attack you out of nowhere. You forced its sheath open, you grabbed it. It reacted to your aggression, your intent to mock and harm, not his."
Darius let out a short, hollow laugh, a sound devoid of humor. "So what if I did? You can't prove a thing. No one saw it but me and that useless recruit. And who are they going to believe? an ordinary boy who suddenly has a magic weapon that poisons people? He's as good as expelled, Van Leon. Soon he'll be out on the streets, where he belongs." He grinned, a chilling, malevolent smile on his lips. "You can't do anything to stop it."
Van Leon scoffed, "you think you are strong, what is the difference between you and him?" Van Leon voice was calm yet cold and hollow. "You did that by your self."
"Did what?" Darius asked acting clueless.
"Stop being oblivious Darius, I saw how you did it, you poisoned yourself just to get him expelled," his eyes then spotted a book laying beneath his bed, "isn't that your poison spell book? I will be quiet for now but don't think you are free under my watch."
As Darius gloated, "do you think you are stronger than me Van Leon, I am way more stronger than you, you impertinent peasant." Darius sneered furiously.
"I don't think so I know so," the grey head guy with the mark stared at Darius gloomily.
"You have the right to barge in my room and say stupid things to me," before he could land a punch on Van Leon, Van held his hand swiftly as Darius screamed, his hands were burning in his touch. "What are you doing to my hand, get your hands off me," Van Leon twisted his hands that was still burning and pushed him and Darius forcfully hit the wall violently because of Van Leon push that weighed his strength.
"Your burn will heal in the next 10 minutes, til then have a nice day," he smiled and left slamming the door. The expression on his face falters in an instance as he went to his dorm.
Eryndor and kaiden walked up to the school president office and Eryndor saw some Acranum students, two was quietly engrossed in the computer they were operating while the other two which were boys were talking and staring at the window, and their gaze shifted to the door where they entered.
"Isn't that the ordinary," the two boys standing whispered.
Lynn one of the ones operating the computer asked, "did the ordinary cause trouble kaiden?" She asked her voice chivalrous and calm.
"Yes as you can see I'm taking him to the authorities office, I just came here to find my other glasses," he then walked up to his drawer which was separated from theirs and had a special place it was stationed. He opened the drawer and saw his glasses and took it, "I'll be back after..." He tried and left.
The blonde haired girl with green eyes continued staring at him till the sound of the door slamming, "I've I met him somewhere before?" She thought and then went back to the computer she was operating.
Eryndor felt a fresh wave of despair. He walked beside Kaiden, each step echoing the slow, Kaiden led him through quiet corridors, past other students who cast curious, often wary glances their way. Eryndor's mind raced, trying to formulate an explanation, a defense. What happens if they don't believe me? What if I'm expelled? Why am I been screwed up like this..." The thought alone was a crushing weight. His hands instinctively tightened the dagger and he unnoticeably teleported the dagger.
They finally stopped before a large, heavy metal door, guarded by two grim-faced guards. Kaiden nodded to them, and they swung the door open, revealing a large, austere room. A long, polished table dominated the center, and seated behind it were three figures in the crimson robes of Proctors – the highest disciplinary authority within the academy. Their faces were stern, unyielding, their eyes sharp with practiced scrutiny.
"Proctors," Kaiden began, his voice formal. "We have a serious matter regarding Eryndor Thorne." He then recounted the incident, carefully omitting any personal opinions, focusing only on the observable facts: the argument with Darius, Darius snatching the dagger, the blade's sudden movement, and the resulting poisoned wound. He concluded with Darius's accusation of dark magic.
One of the Proctors, a severe-looking man with grey hair and beards, fixed Eryndor with an unblinking gaze. "Eryndor Thorne," he began, her voice cold and even, "you are accused of using forbidden dark magic to poison a fellow student, an act of grave forbidden art. Do you deny these charges?"
"Yes, Proctor!" Eryndor's voice was hoarse, but firm. "I swear I didn't use dark magic! The dagger... it moved on its own! When Darius pulled it out, it just... reacted!" He explained how he had only just acquired the dagger, how he didn't even know it was ancient until the shopkeeper told him. He tried to articulate the feeling of the blade responding to Darius's aggression, but the words felt clumsy, inadequate.
The Proctors exchanged skeptical glances. "An inanimate object 'reacted'?" another Proctor scoffed, a burly man with a scarred face. "That sounds like a convenient excuse, boy. Magic doesn't 'just happen' on its own. It requires intent, a caster. And the nature of the wound strongly suggests a dark, corrosive magic. Are you denying you wield such power?"
Eryndor felt desperation rising. "I… I have no magic, how can I possess dark magic! I swear! I would never—" He stopped, realizing his admission of any magic, especially after such an incident, was only digging him a deeper hole.
Just as the Proctors seemed to be reaching a verdict, the heavy metal door swung open again. Julianne stood there, her expression resolute.
"Proctors, I ask to speak on behalf of Eryndor, Thorne" she stated, her voice clear and unwavering, cutting through the tense silence. "I witnessed the entire incident from the front gate after they were all coming back from the market stall. I saw what truly transpired."