"Now you're up Halise. Enlighten us about Kismets."
Halise stood up slowly and began her demonstration. "Kismets are basically beasts or creatures. Basically uh...any dangerous species that are not human-like. There are mainly three types…Hybrids, Artificial and Destined." She glances towards Vidoria, who simply nodded in reply.
"So firstly, Hybrids are the Kismets naturally formed in nature. There are many species, each dependent on its environment. They grow, breed and hunt in their own small packs."
"Then are the Artificial. These creatures are..." She gulped, "produced by humans. The process to recreate this is not mentioned in what i read…but Mister Kidt you can't tell me that the Exousia are also creating monsters…" She questioned.
"Yes, the Artificial Kismets are made by us humans. For purposes I am not aware of…but rest assured the Exousia do not dabble in such dark arts. They are usually undertaken by groups or individual desperate for some power stunt. Please continue, Halise." Came the reply from the Decurion, easing back into his seat.
"And the third type, Destined. These are the most dangerous to human life and they are capable of using Destiny related powers. They show signs of intelligence above that of simple beasts and is a major threat to livelihood. On this same track, this variant of Kismets are extremely rare…most going extinct before the Seventh Period began." She looked around, done with her presentation.
"Excellent, now time for some questions." Vidoria said, standing up quickly. "You didn't mention any weaknesses or... how do we kill these Kismets? If our lives are threatened. Also what force was strong enough to wipe out the Destined Kismets?"
Halise stood there, paused. She didn't want to get the question wrong, so she cautiously opened her mouth to answer. "Well the Hybrids are all flesh. They can be killed with enough strength and blade…I guess?...and Artificials have some specific weakness. They are made this way so that their producers have a way to control them…The Destined are unique…there's no mentioned way to defeat them…" Her words came to a stop.
But Vidoria wasn't done.
"And yet they were almost completely wiped off. How? Halise How?"
She went through everything she had hurriedly read in the past fifteen minutes. Nowhere was it mentioned about the killing process of Destined Kismets.
"What is the answer, Halise. Come on."
"I'm sorry, Mister. I don't have it…" She mumbled quietly.
There was a chilling silence. Halise could feel Vidoria staring at her intently. She felt a massive guilt at disappointing him.
"Of course you don't…" He muttered.
And then smiling brightly he continued.
"…Because you are not cleared for this knowledge. Ease up. You did well."
Halise grinned, relief washing over her.
"Alright. Lets move on then. Midia and Riche. Your turn. Evil Organizations."
The two of them stood up and glanced at each other before Midia started speaking.
"Okay so I will explain about two groups. The Plague Doctors and the Red Sun." Midia was trembling with nervousness. She wasn't very good at speaking in front of crowds, even though here there were only five people. "The Plague Doctors from their name might seem like good people. But it's a guise. According to the texts i read here, the Plague Doctors actually want to cure the world from humans, using plagues." She winced, repulsed at what she was saying.
"The name glorifies the group but what they do is against the Exousia. Vile, merciless people that go after innocent life." She balled her fists while she spoke. "And then the Red Sun. This organisation are very quiet. They work in secrecy but their connections run deep. They work together to summon their god into this world, so that they can rule over all life. Records say they work relentlessly and their influence everywhere is great and very subtle." Midia turned to Riche now, signalling him to start.
"The Atrocity Sect are a group of Demon Destined. They are openly evil and worship a devilish god they call Father Shatan. They have publicity stunts often in major cities, and if they are in small cities like Niktha we are unaware of them." Riche paused to look around.
"And then there is the Unknown Consortium. Truth be told we know nothing about this group."
Vidoria suddenly stood up, eyes wide with shock. "Riche, tell me honestly. How do you know about this. Which book here mentioned the Unknown Consortium." He said grabbing Riche's shoulders.
"Uh it was titled, 'Hidden by the Exousia'…in a shelf, farthest away from the entrance." He replied, rattled. "Master, it also mentioned that the Founder of the Exousia was part of this group…"
Vidoria turned with a serious face. "Yes…that is because this group isn't an evil organization. It was merely a group of thinkers. Extinct now, of course."
Riche shook his head, "That's a lie. It was written that their goal is to summon a god as well."
Vidoria cursed silently as he turned away from them and headed to the door. "Well, forget about the Unknown. You are not cleared for that yet. Tomorrow you have morning duty of replacing the cloth of the lamps. We'll have classes after sunset. Stay here until I return." He hurriedly exited the Archives.
Riche turned and looked as his friends. Mihel shrugged in reply.
"Why was Master Kidt so agitated? I thought all books here were allowed to us."
Mihel rubbed his chin in thought, "Apparently this book doesn't belong here, meaning someone placed it intentionally. Their objective? We do not know…but Vidoria lying proves that there is something important behind this detail. What made you find this specific book though?"
"Well, now it seems very strange. A single candle lamp was placed on the shelf on which it was kept. That was what grabbed my attention."
They nod in silence, thinking about their mentors sudden change in behaviour.
Riche suddenly broke into a grin, "But hey Vinelyn you're saved from explaining a topic that strongly opposes your belief. Must be relieved eh?"
Vinelyn dramatically wiped sweat from his forehead, "Phew…I was tensed and barely had anything to say. The True Magic helped me through it."
They burst out laughing at the irony. But quickly shut up as Vidoria entered the room again. He had two other Exousia men with him and he pointed them to the place where the book was supposedly kept.
He then turned to the five of them.
"Well, class is finished for today. You are dismissed. Let me open the gate for you."
And with this they followed him and exited the Citadel. They strutted back to their lodging, bored as they had nothing to do. There was some weak suggestion about physical training but it was quickly shot down. They wanted something exciting to do.
Suddenly, just before their building, Vinelyn had an idea. "Let's explore what happened upstairs?" His eyes shone with excitement. "Scar was doing something up there, yeah? Let's go check it out."
Riche slapped his back, "Great idea, we can show the girls what we were up to. Lot of time to spend as well." He said laughing.
They turned to Mihel who was quiet, still in deep thought. "Mihel? Good plan yes? You're in?"
"Sure."