"Then let us learn about the dangers of this world."
Almost immediately after entering into the Archive, Mihel caught his breath. The place was humongous. The ceiling was low, made with brass and other metals intricately fitted together, almost like a stitched tapestry. The floor was made of a dark wood, with patterns of swirls appearing randomly. Light was provided by beautiful chandeliers, hanging at regular intervals. On the side walls there were lamps, with brazen rods curving upward to hold the glass shade, shaped like a flower.
And the volumes. The vast amounts of texts. The Archives was overflowing with knowledge, waiting to be consumed by him. Rows and rows of metal shelves, stood lined up on the walls. And they held books of various sizes, colours and shapes.
'Woah…This is amazing…so many things to learn about here.' Mihel mused as he continued examining each row, going through the titles of every book in sight. Each new book found made him even more giddy.
Vidoria made them sit at one of the circular, wooden tables, placed directly under a chandelier. Mihel noticed that even though there were so many sources of light, the place was dim and soothing. Most of the lamps only gave off a little brightness, which made for a really calming sensation.
"So…Welcome to the Archive. Everything on this floor is accessible to you. And you will only get clearance for above floors as you advance in your ranks. I'll make myself clear again. No exploring above. This is the Exousia's Archives. Very serious offence." He stared seriously at each of them.
They nodded once again. 'Hold back your curiosity for now. Got it.'
"Good. So I'll be dividing today's topic, giving each of you a small portion to explain."
They nodded.
"Simple exercise. I assign a topic for you. I give you fifteen minutes to research across every book here. You present it in one or two minutes and I'll question you. Clear?"
"Yes, Master Kidt" they replied, bustling with excitement.
Vidoria took out a small notebook and went through the pages. "The general topic is 'dangers of this world'. Mihel, your topic is about what happens to those who lose their Destiny Slates. Halise, you are presenting about Kismets. Midia, I'll give you…uh…evil organisations. Riche work with her on the same topic. I'm not asking for all of them but at least major five." Kidt scratched his head as he stared at Vinelyn.
"And for you…the biggest danger to our society….heh.. The churches."
Mihel noticed Vinelyn's eyes widening as he got his assigned topic.
'Giving the most religious in the group such a topic is ironic…Vidoria is unaware of his faith.'
"Alright then! Your time starts now." Vidoria clapped once.
And they were off, hurrying into the vast library to complete their assigned task.
To Mihel's dismay there weren't any given headings to the shelves. Without a proper order it became even more difficult to locate books related to his topic.
'This is a topic that's been intriguing me for a while now. Everyone warns us to never lose our Slate…Your life will be endangered blah blah...and now I'm researching about this...speaking of Slates, is the bag with us?' He turns and scans around. Mihel breaths out a sigh of relief as he sees the pack on the floor under the table they were sitting at.
'So loss of Destiny Slate…which book would get me that information?'
His eyes flitted across every cover on the shelves. There were many people at this early hour, poring over books, there was even some Grade Twos like him, researching topics in silence, heads bowed over books.
'Hmm…This one here…'What is a Slate?'…might contain some information.'
He pulls out the hard-bound book and checks the index.
'Here! Warnings…Must contain something.' He quickly turn the pages, almost to the end of the book. There was only one page with 'Warnings' as the heading. He quickly went through the text.
"Damn it! Nothing but 'Don't lose your Slate' written in different phrasing." He cursed aloud, disappointed. He continued his hunt.
'No…No…Won't have anything for sure…Fateless...Nope...won't be useful to me...wait 'Fateless'?' He turned back to the book he had just passed. He pulled out the volume, bound in a green board. He checked the index. "Bingo" he muttered.
'This is it. It explains everything. No time for deep reading, sadly. Maybe later.' He quickly skimmed through the contents, getting a strong overall idea of the topic. He went through some other books in a hurry as well, before he heard the ringing of a bell. Fifteen minutes was over.
Mihel went over the facts in his head as he reached their table again. What he had learned had thoroughly shocked him. He was kind of hoping it was all lies and some grande facade. The truth about the Fateless horrified him. Slowly everyone returned and sat down in a circle.
Vidoria gestured to Mihel, "Begin." He said.
Mihel stood up slowly.
"Alright so uh…Losing your Slate has been heavily advised against to us, since childhood. Our parents prepared us from a young age. After doing some research I have understood their reasoning." He took a deep breath in.
"Our Slates don't just show us our predestined Destiny but it also is the connection of Destiny to us. The Slate is our anchor to Destiny. So…when we lose our Slate…we effectively lose our connection to Destiny." He looked at his friend's faces. They were listening carefully, curiosity printed obviously across their faces.
"Without Destiny…we become a Fateless…the uh... Fateless are said to have no conscious, no memories, no restraint whatsoever…We effectively become monsters…senseless monsters…That is why we must never lose our Destiny Slates" Mihel concluded silently. The other's faces now showed a horrified shock. They were realizing how close to a tragedy they were, some days before.
Vidoria just folded his arms and sat quietly. Mihel felt his gaze examine every pore of his body.
"So what are the conditions for it to be considered 'lost'?" he enquired.
Mihel racked his mind. "Well…uh I think anyone else touching your Slate immediately counts as you losing possession."
Vidoria nodded silently. "And how long until the person turns into a Fateless?"
'Oh…was that mentioned?...Think! Think!'
"Um? Around a day?" He made a guess.
The Decurion smiled. "Good. Any other information to disclose?"
Mihel went through everything he had read. 'Was there anything important I missed out?' His search hit a small detail he had forgotten.
"Actually, yes. Small point. The power of the Fateless is in relation to the level of the person's Circle. The higher the Circle the stronger the monster."
"Alright, then. Any other questions?" Vidoria asked the seated ones. "Good explanation. Not complete. No, nowhere near but satisfactory for now." His voice suddenly had a hint of sombreness. "It truly is a sad, humbling moment when somebody you know becomes a Fateless…and you're tasked at killing him…" Kidt's eyes grew distant as his mind wandered.
The five of them swallowed in silence. They gave their mentor time to recover.
Vidoria snapped back and smiled apologetically. "Sorry for that…I…uh…had an experience…but never mind that." He wiped his eyes quickly.
"Now you're up Halise. Enlighten us about Kismets."