In Sector 11, on the 7th floor, Noah had fallen asleep. Neriah and Sirius had left the room to let him rest. Sirius turned off the lights and gave Noah a look full of worry before closing the door behind him.
Noah slipped into a deep but uncomfortable sleep. Every now and then, he heard strange, disturbing whispers in his ears that disrupted his rest. He tossed and turned in bed, sweating and overheated, moaning in pain occasionally.
Throughout the night, Noah didn't see any strange dreams or nightmares. What he experienced instead was the persistent sound of whispers echoing in his ears, along with the faint sound of a choir, like the kind played in every church—a soft, spiritual, almost operatic symphony. There was also the sound of a bell ringing every few minutes, and the whispers grew louder and stronger until they became screaming—like a chant of some sort.
"Bethelis."
"Guesara."
"BETHELIS."
"GUESARA."
The screaming intensified, and Noah felt as though he were gradually sinking into a nameless abyss—a descent into madness. His body seemed to float on the surface of water while simultaneously sinking deeper and deeper. When it finally felt like he had fully submerged, Noah lost all air. He was drowning in that void, unaware of what was happening around him. But no matter how far he sank, he never reached the bottom.
In that moment, through the darkness of his sleep and the tangled sensations of confusion, fear, and that strange experience of drowning, something appeared before Noah: it looked like an eyelid, slowly opening to reveal a massive eye staring directly into his soul. The iris was black, like a swirling vortex of nothingness, gazing into him as if testing him.
That's when Noah awoke in the real world, as if jolted from a nightmare. He was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as though he had been running for hours. He swallowed hard, tense, and looked out the window to see sunlight pouring through the glass and cracks in the curtains. It was morning.
Noah went to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water on his face to shake off what he hoped was just fatigue or exhaustion. He looked into the mirror to see his dripping face, with dark circles under his eyes from tiredness.
Then, in the reflection, he saw a group of mouths floating in the air, grinning wickedly and laughing with a sharp, piercing sound that terrified him. He punched the mirror, shattering it into pieces—and the mouths vanished.
He stared at the cracked mirror, at his own reflection now broken into dozens of fragments.
"What's happening to me?" Noah thought to himself in worry. He felt disturbed, tired, and scared by everything happening—but he couldn't do anything about it. All he could do was hope it would end soon.
That's when he heard knocking on the door. He turned off the faucet, rushed outside, and opened it to find Sirius standing there.
"Good to see you're awake," Sirius said cheerfully, walking into the room as if it were his own and sitting on Noah's bed.
"Looks like... you're still not doing great," Sirius said with a soft smile, but behind it was genuine concern.
"If you're here to make fun of me, just leave," Noah said, annoyed, as he sat beside Sirius.
"Come on, I've been waiting for hours for you to wake up. Can't you be a little nice?" Sirius said with a playful pout.
"Waiting? Did I oversleep?" Noah asked himself, grabbing his phone from the nearby table. His eyes widened when he saw the time: 10:27 AM.
"D-Damn! We're late!" Noah exclaimed, jumping up.
"Don't worry, the professors will understand. We'll just tell them you had a mental breakdown," Sirius teased with a laugh.
"T-That actually makes sense... but, did you really wait here the whole time?" Noah asked nervously, feeling like it was all his fault.
"Yeah, that, and also... I didn't do the homework for Professor Fauna. I'm just dodging danger," Sirius said seriously, standing up and heading for the door.
"Anyway, get ready. No need to rush—we've got an excuse," Sirius added, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
"Fine then... I don't want to go anyway. I'll just hear people whispering about what happened yesterday," Noah thought, feeling an extra wave of laziness.
He took a quick shower, changed into proper clothes, and locked the door behind him before catching up to Sirius. He took the elevator down and found Sirius waiting for him.
"You didn't have to hurry," Sirius said playfully, though he secretly wished they'd wasted another hour.
"Yeah, right. All you care about is avoiding danger," Noah muttered, glancing at the nearby desk and noticing something.
"That worker's not here," Noah said, puzzled, looking around for Jarod.
"You mean Jarod? He's probably on break," Sirius said casually, remembering what he did to Jarod's copy here and suppressing a quiet laugh.
"Forget about him—let's just go," Sirius added, trying to steer the conversation away.
"Didn't you want to stall a minute ago?"
———————
Sirius and Noah headed to the northern train station, then took the train directly to Sector 1. Upon arrival, they noticed how empty the path to the building was—just a few students whispering among themselves. As Noah passed by, the whispers turned toward him. They were too quiet to hear, but likely mocking.
"You're becoming more famous by the day," Sirius said with a light-hearted smile.
"You mean infamous," Noah replied, sighing in annoyance.
"Anyway, it's 11:00. Let's wait for the bell," Noah said, and the two of them paused, taking in their surroundings until Sirius spotted a bench in the garden.
"Let's sit there then," Sirius said, pointing to the bench. Noah followed, and they sat side by side.
A silence fell between them—neither knowing how to start a conversation. Then Sirius glanced at one of the tall nearby trees. It was the same tree where Derek's head had once hung.
"I forgot to write his name..." Sirius whispered softly, remembering his promise with Neriah and their customs.
"What did you say?" Noah asked, confused, having not heard clearly.
"...Nothing important," Sirius whispered again, and just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of the next class.
"You've got history class now, right?" Sirius asked without waiting for an answer as he stood up.
Noah nodded and stood too. They both entered the main building. The hallway quickly filled with students, many of whom stepped back when Noah passed by, as if afraid of him because of new rumors.
"Well, I guess this is where we split. Will you be okay?" Sirius asked as they reached a fork in the hallway.
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll meet up with the others later," Noah said, waving Sirius goodbye and heading to his class.
"Alright then..." Sirius thought to himself, then turned toward his department with a sigh.
"...The big fish will appear soon... I have to be ready."
———————
In front of the history classroom, Noah stood and saw a shadow moving behind the small glass window on the door. He could tell it was the professor. He knocked, and a few seconds later, the door opened.
Standing before him was a tall man, slightly hunched. His hair was grayish, slicked back with a few strands loose. His brown eyes rested behind thin-framed glasses. His sharp features included a prominent nose and a short gray beard. He wore an old wool sweater with elbow patches and a white shirt with the top button undone.
"I-Is this Professor Dorian Velhurst?... He looks strict. He won't kill me for being late... right?" Noah thought nervously as the professor stared at him with unblinking eyes.
"You're the student Noah Grace, correct? Come in," Professor Dorian said, stepping aside to let him enter.
"S-Sorry for being late," Noah said as he entered. Immediately, he heard whispers and gossip.
"Is he okay today?" one girl said while chewing her gum loudly.
"Wasn't he possessed? He's not gonna try and kill us, right?" someone else said mockingly.
Noah walked past them and sat at a desk in the back row, staring at the floor to avoid eye contact—so much so that he didn't notice he had sat next to Luo Yan.
When he realized, both he and Luo Yan looked at each other in mutual surprise. Noah blinked, confused by his own behavior.
"Ahem! Ahem!" Professor Dorian coughed, grabbing everyone's attention.
Both Noah and Luo Yan jumped and quickly moved to opposite ends of the row to put space between them.
"Let's begin. Don't waste time chatting," the professor said firmly, walking to his desk, pulling a piece of chalk from a small box, and writing on the board:
"The Aeon of Twilight"
The sound of chalk echoed on the board, and once finished, he turned back to the class.
"Today we'll study the 'Aeon of Twilight'—from its beginning to its end with the revolution of the new world!" the professor declared, drawing everyone's full attention.
"As you all know, we are now at the start of the Fourth Aeon, known as 'Dusk'—an era defined by peace, weakness, and cowardice. But before that came the 'Twilight Aeon,' known for its severity and countless wars. It lasted over 3,000 years of non-stop conflict, yet it's still the shortest of all aeons," the professor explained calmly, placing his hands behind his back as he paced.
"The Twilight Aeon began with a series of human conflicts caused by the sudden rise of ten new religions, each worshiping a different god. This sparked the First Holy War, won by the followers of the Goddess of Creation, the 'Kindled Acolytes.' Their holy empire ruled the continents for 112 years before it was overthrown. The 'Children of the Tempest,' followers of the Storm God, and the 'Scions of the Wound,' followers of the Chaos Goddess, allied to destroy it in a war that lasted 300 years."
Professor Dorian spoke with depth, clearly absorbed in the subject he loved. Then he paused for a moment, as if the words caught in his throat, and coughed a third time.
"In any case... it'll be a long year. You won't pass unless you work harder than the rest, as expected. I don't expect much from you, but... I'll be here if you need answers."