29 They were forbidden

"Doubts? What might be bothering you so much that you decided to approach me?" Orion said with an emotionless face as he stared at Riana.

"They say nothing escapes your eyes. You were born with special eyes, infused with Qi from your birth. I am sure you saw it when they entered the academy." Riana approached Orion as she jumped right into the matter.

"Riana, you are one of the most powerful knights and are almost at the level of becoming a Paladin." Orion declared the facts with a straight face as he looked at Riana.

"Yes."

"But even though you are one of the most powerful knights in the kingdom, the truth regarding the seven is still below your pay grade." Orion didn't move an inch or change his facial expressions throughout the conversation as if he was an emotionless being.

"Below my...pay grade?! Mine!?" Riana raged at Orion who kept the same emotionless face.

"The information you are seeking was passed down from one king to another in all the kingdoms and only four other."

"One being the Wiseman, knows only half of the truth. The other three Paladins are chosen by the counsel of kings. Only the strongest and the most trustworthy are given hold of the truth. And I am one of the three. We three know the other half of the truth that the Wiseman doesn't. When the time comes, we were supposed to tell the other half of the truth to the Wiseman." Orion looked into a distance as he said those words.

"What time? When?" Riana squinted her eyes as she put a leg forth towards Orion trying to gain more information.

"The time, when the destruction of this world becomes inevitable."

"But it doesn't matter anymore. The forbidden act has been performed." Orion's face started to get angrier as he reminded himself of a few facts.

"What do you mean?" Riana couldn't help but question him.

"The Wiseman, your father will never betray our king. But I assume one of the kings who know the truth, have broken the ancient promise." Orion tilted his head slightly towards Riana as his face turned grim.

"Soon enough, I will be relieved of duty and as one of the four truth keepers, I have a duty to catch the person behind this. Things are going to busier, darker and bloodier, soon."

"I hope you take care of yourself. That is all I can tell you." As he said those words, Orion reverted back to his original state and observed the academy just as before.

Assuming that Orion wasn't intending to disclose any more information, Riana disappeared without uttering a word.

"You are known for being so silent, but you always talk too much when it comes to her. Hahaha." A voice echoed from the Templar in Orion's pocket as he continued to watch the academy without giving much care.

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"The dinner was heavenly, I just can't get enough of the food in this world. The food feels so natural, I wish I had a bigger stomach just to eat." Sai fell onto his bed as he let out a sigh of satisfaction from his dinner.

"The dorm filled up just in a day. Let's go and say hi to the others tomorrow." Ian had a straight face as ever as he said those words.

"Yeah, right. Remind me tomorrow, we will go visit our neighbouring rooms with Leo and Clint." Sai fell asleep in a few seconds as soon as he completed his sentence followed by Ian who didn't take much time either.

'Knock Knock'

"Huh...What?" Ian woke up hearing the knock on his door.

"It's me, Leo. Open the door."

"What? Leo...?" Ian rubbed his eyes slowly as he looked at the time on the wall clock. It was exactly one in the night which made him feel confused thinking what Leo wanted at this time. He got up from his bed slowly as he rubbed his eyes trying to see clearly.

'Thud!' It was the sound of thunder. Ian, not expecting a thunder, looked out of the window only to find out that it was raining.

'This is the first time I saw rain in this word.' Ian's thoughts were distracted by the rain and the thunder until he heard another knock.

"Yeah, coming Leo." Ian walked towards the door in a sleepy manner and opened the door.

"What's going on, it's one in the nigh-" Ian rubbed his eyes as he lazily opened the door only to see that no one was there.

'Thud' Another thunder hit the ground at a distance but was enough to illuminate the entire room.

"Leo?" Ian put a foot out of his room slowly as he called out in a low voice. Ian turned his head towards the left to check if someone was there.

And just as he turned his head to the right, 'Thud!', Another thunder hit the ground. Ian got up from his bed while breathing heavily.

'Wait, that was a dream? No, that can't be. I am sure I saw someone to my right.' Ian looked around the room only to see that the door was locked, Sai was sleeping peacefully on his bed and the skies were clear without any traces of clouds or rain.

'But that felt so real.' Ian lied back on his bed and was about to fall asleep when his eyes accidentally fell on something which gave him a wild chill down his spine. The minute hand moved from 00 to 01, while the hour hand was exactly on 1.

'Something doesn't feel right.' Ian pulled his blanket and covered his whole body including his head trying to calm down and sleep before finally, he gave in to his sleep after an hour.

"You don't look so good. Well, it's not like you usually have an active and cheerful face anyway. But something is really odd with you today." Sai commented casually as he put on the academy uniform which was given to every student as soon as they completed the ritual of breaking the Qi. The seven were given the uniform separately the before night.

"Nothing. I am fine, just as usual." Ian commented in his usual dull and nonchalant tone as he put on the uniform.

"But still don't you think these uniforms are cool. Just look at them. Seeing myself in them makes me feel so cool." Sai's eyes sparkled as he admired himself before the mirror. The uniform had a long sky blue coat with a white shirt, a navy blue tie and trouser. It had a symbol with a unique sword imprinted on a wolf situated near the position of one's heart. The sword represented the kingdom while the wolf represented the academy.

'Knock'

"You guy's ready to go?" Leo asked casually as he opened the door. But only god knew that Ian's heart raced like a horse at the sound of his door knocking.