Nightblade (Darkest night)

"The essence of a good weapon is its bond with its wielder. Depending on the materials used and the capability of the weapon smith, a weapon can come to life." Rundrik boldy said.

Master weapon smiths can create weapons that can resonate with their masters to bring out their best potential."

Rundrik's eyes shone and a sly smile slowly curved its way onto his face.

He held out his hands, and two streams of liquid metal slowly rose into the air.

The metal began to morph rapidly, elongating into two cylindrical shapes. The molten cylinders bulged outward, becoming hollow on the inside and ballooning outward at the closed end.

The bulge turned into fingers and an opposable thumb on each mould.

Dark crystals slowly rose from within the metal, appearing on its surface, completing it. The silver colours slowly turned darker until the gauntlets had become completely black.

The gauntlets slowly moved onto his hands until they reached his elbows, perfectly fitting him.

The gauntlets pulsed with power, and a heartbeat-like sound emanated from them, echoing through the now silent chamber.

The kids stared in wonder.

Rundrik beamed with pride.

"Allow me to introduce you. This is Granvolt. He is my friend and trusted companion."

The gauntlets hummed with power, charging up the air around them.

Bolts of electricity in different colours, red, violet, and emerald, began to crackle on the surface of the gauntlets, and the dark metal rippled, turning a vivid golden colour.

"Calm down, Granvolt." He whispered.

The electricity dissipated, leaving behind a slight scent of ozone, and the gauntlets reverted to their darker colour.

"You will split into the groups we had previously formed. And then I'll have a small announcement to make."

The hall was filled with the shuffling of feet as the students moved to their different workstations.

Rundrik clapped, then spoke, his voice booming through the hall.

"The study materials for this lecture had been previously sent to your comlinks, and I'm quite sure you had ample time to study them." He grinned.

" We'll have a short question and answer session, except I'll be asking the questions. And whoever participates and correctly answers the most questions will receive a weapon of their choosing from me. I'll move group by group to make it fair and give you all an equal chance of attaining the prize."

Morgan was left standing at the center of the hall.

He hesitantly raised a hand into the air.

" Professor Rundrik, I don't have a group."

"Ah, Mr Thane, you'll be joining Miss Snow's group then."

Raven cast him a curious glance, and Morgan nodded at her.

" House Snow is supposedly an ally of my family, so I shouldn't push it with Raven."

He quietly glanced around at the other members of their group.

Lucian was surprisingly part of the group as well.

A green-eyed girl with long dark hair sat with an emblem that identified her as one of the talented.

Next to her, a brunette with brown eyes sat; she cast him a fierce glare, then turned to whisper to the green-eyed girl. The other memeber of their group was a dark-haired boy with dark eyes.

He had a peculiar blank look on his face, and his eyes had a strange, empty feel to them.

" Three talented, and three aspirants, how intriguing."

Rundrik smiled brightly.

" Oh, one more thing, the group with the most points will get the chance to return in the evening to watch me craft the weapon. You're also not allowed to use your comlinks after this."

Their comlink abruptly went offline with a small beeping sound.

Murmurs erupted in the room, as well as a few groans from those who hadn't read through the study material.

Rundrik made his way over to Morgan's workstation.

He tapped a button installed on the worktable, and a faint transparent forcefield rose u,p sealing the group off from eavesdroppers.

" Shall we begin then? Can anyone tell me the three most common metals used in weapon smithing?"

Raven's hand shot up.

" Miss Snow?"

" Silviric, Umbranite and Nextrine." Rundrik nodded.

" Which alloy can all three be used to form?"

"Chorvane," she confidently answered. Rundrik grinned in delight.

"In what proportions?"

Raven looked a little unsure, slightly shaking her head.

" Four points to Miss Snow. Does anyone else want to give the question a try?

" 30:50:20"

The green-eyed girl nonchalantly answered.

" Very good." Rundrik beamed.

" What colour of flame do we obtain when we heat Emberyte?

" Orange," Emily answered again.

" For one of the Talented, she's quite knowledgeable, time to switch things up a bit ." Rundrik inwardly thought.

" If we switch up the ratio to 20:10:30 and add Teranite, what metal do we obtain?"

Emily frowned, then slowly shook her head," I'm not sure, sir."

" 5 points to you, Miss Whizen."

" Whizen, as in Gregory Whizen? Are they related? It can't be a coincidence." Morgan thought.

He cast a furtive glance at her.

" That's certainly strange; they share no resemblance. Could it be a coincidence, or perhaps she's a distant relative?"

Rundrik moved on to Lucian.

" Well, Mr Ash, what do you think?"

Lucian inwardly grinned, then slightly adjusted his glasses.

" Noctylium, sir." He said with a confident smile.

" What unique property does Noctylium have that sets it apart from other metals?"

" It's able to absorb and redirect powers of the talented."

"Which material does Noctylium form after it has been refined using blue flame for a fortnight?"

"It seems the Ash boy has been studying during the time he hasn't been attending my lectures." Rundrik thought with pride.

Lucian surprisingly received all ten points. He grinned smugly, his chest puffing up with pride.

Warren passed his turn to Samantha. Samantha managed to score 2 points, but that was it.

It was finally Morgan's turn.

" Mr Thane, you're pardoned since you recently joined." Rundrik said with a smile.

Morgan smiled, then calmly spoke.

" On the contrary, Professor, I'd like to give it a try. I read a little bit, but I think I should be able to answer one or two questions." He said humbly.

Rundrik enthusiastically beamed at him.

" Attaboy, that's the spirit. Alright then, I trust you know what a Nexus vein is, which metal can be mined from these veins?"

Morgan frowned slightly.

Raven's eyes narrowed.

" Is that a trick question? As far as I'm aware of there are no metal ores found in Nexus veins."

Lucian similarly frowned, then his eyes widened in realization.

" None that I'm aware of, sir, but what I do know is that Darkstone crystals mined from Nexus veins can be refined using violet flame to form Darcium."

Rundrik's eyes gleamed with approval.

"Excellent, Mr Thane. That's quite astute of you. Five points."

Inwardly, Morgan sighed.

" All that studying with Rebecca paid off."

Rundrik shrewdly gazed at Morgan.

"A little studying, you say, Mr Thane."

Morgan purposely failed the next question, fumbling about as though he was unsure.

Professor Rundrik quickly moved to the workstations of the other groups to assess them.

After he had assessed the last group, he moved back to the center of the class.

Rundrik smiled warmly, piercing the aspirants with a warm gaze.

I'll now announce the top scorer of this small quiz. Lucian Ash. And ..."

"Surely that can't be right, professor," A voice said derisively, cutting him off mid-sentence.

A tense silence filled the chamber.

"Axel Dark, you have a problem with the result I take it?"

"With all due respect sir," Axel said in atone that was devoid of any respect,"Lucian hasn't been attending class, how could he have topped the class?"

He stood up to emphasize his point. pointing at himself.

"I got eight on the quiz. I find it hard to believe that a person who hasn't been attending the lectures could do that. Could there have been some kind of mistake, professor?" Axel continued, a grin appearing on his face.

Rundrik calmly stared at the youth who was speaking, his orange eyes boring into his own.

" Damn brats of the great houses thinking they can have their way just because of their last name." He thought, his eyes narrowing.

" Mr Dark, Lucian Ash topped that mark you seem to be so proud of. I'm also quite aware of the fact that he hasn't been attending my lectures."

Rundrik had implied that he knew the exact reason why Lucian hadn't been attending his lectures.

" But sir.."

" Are you trying to say that I'm lying, boy? Or you're trying to question my qualification for this job?

Rudrick's orange eyes turned fiery, burning with illusory flames. His short figure suddenly seemed to grow larger, looming over them.

Granvolt sensed it's master's agitation and it's surface fluidly rippled turning golden, the dark crystals embedded within it emitted black bolts of electricity that crackled violently across it's surface.

Despite his passion and cheerful outgoing personality, Rundrik was the Head of the Weapon Smithing Department.

He was also a Maestro, a living, breathing, walking calamity.

Axel shrank back in shock, wildly shaking his head in fear.

He opened his mouth to speak, but failed to form any words.

Morgan suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

The air became noticeably heavy, and the aspirants turned pale, gasping for air.

" Excuse me, forgive me for that outburst. Mr Dark, if you have any problem with how I do my job, you may take it up with the administration." Rundrik said, walking to the center of the class.

"But I will not have you question my integrity. Are we clear?" He asked, glaring sternly at Axel."

Axel rapidly nodded and took his seat to save himself further embarassment.

"Moving on, Lucian Ash scored highest on this test; he will get to choose a weapon of his choice. In addition to that, his group had the highest total points. They will return here later today to observe the crafting process of Lucian's weapon."

He sternly gazed at the class.

"If that's all, this class is dismissed."