CHAPTER 12 - Irregular.

Trusting his instinct, Zewoulf decided then that he would follow the growth of this kid who he had made friends with.

"Don't lose hope so quickly. We are still not aware of what is going to be presented to us in this initiation test. Without knowing that, it is too soon to decide your outcome. Who knows that if you might encounter something that brings forth your hidden talents and you might end up getting selected? So at least stay strong till then." Woulf spoke to him in a clear voice.

"Yes sir. As for hidden talents, the only one I have so far is playing flute I guess." Azyl replied, taking out a bamboo flute that was nearly two feet long.

"This is the first time I am hearing about this. Can you play it well, or just some random noises?" Woulf asked. He felt it was nice to change the topic now.

"Hear me first, then you can judge."

"Sure."

And just like that, both of them made up from their earlier quarrel.

Shifting around his bed, Azyl drew a long bamboo tube. Opening the lid, he brought out a flute that which had six holes for the fingers and one near the top for blowing. After trying out a few notes on his flute to get familiar, Azyl took a deep breathe in. And then,

"Wait, was that all you were going to play? So it was indeed random noises huh." Zewoulf chided him. Now that he had decided upon a goal for himself and decided to trust Azyl, he felt a little more at ease and could even joke with him.

"Agh, don't interrupt me. That was just a warm-up. I haven't played in two weeks so I need to get the feel back first. Let me focus." Azyl immediately retorted. And then he went back to practicing a little while playing long and short notes.

Zewoulf just looked at him, while being aware that the notes were getting smoother and deeper as seconds passed. And then a few moments later Azyl once again stopped and took a deep breath in.

And the next moment, a deep and beautiful melody echoed in their room. Azyl immersed himself in the moment as he played the song that he knew the best and loved to play the most.

It was a song that he often heard around his village, being played by an old granny on her flute. He had learnt to play the flute from her and his flute was also made by her. The song was short, only a couple of minute long, but the sweet and deep tone that flowed around them made it feel as if a lot longer had passed. Before Zewoulf realised it, a smile had come across his face and he had closed his eyes to enjoy the tune.

The moment the music came to a stop, the tranquil around them merged with their surrounding and slowly both of them opened their eyes.

"Well your talent for flute certainly matches your laziness. I definitely could feel myself almost falling asleep in that mesmerizing sound. Now we just need to find an opportunity for you to bewitch the elders in the Academy." Zewoulf laughed while clapping his hands.

Azyl laughed along with him, feeling pleased with himself. After not playing for a length of two weeks, surprisingly he felt he coulf play much better than before. Also he could feel that Zewoulf had opened up to him more than before. He would not have noticed it if he wasn't in the much more cheered up mood currently.

"Okay then, what do you plan to do tomorrow?" Woulf questioned him.

"Practice here all day along? What else can I do now, there aren't any other last moment practices that can improve my condition. And there is no point in trying the thing Teacher Zeke told unless I want to give up on trying next year." Azyl answered.

Shaking his head at the response, Woulf explained that tomorrow was a rare chance for them to interact with the senior students. As they had no classes tomorrow, they might have a chance of encountering the seniors if they were lucky. Teacher Ren had mentioned it in the class that tomorrow was going to be a free day for the second and third year students as well. This might be a chance for the new students to gather more information about the exam.

"Oh yes, Teacher Ren did mention about that. It shouldn't take that long so I thought you will manage it on your own." he replied sheepishly.

"Honestly. You were going to sleep till late weren't you? I'll make sure to wake you up for an early morning run tomorrow."

"Ah well okay, I'll do as you say. Also about that dream, I forgot to tell you the details yesterday as I was too tired after the gruesome torture." Azyl sighed, as he remembered that he had to share it with Zewoulf.

Maybe he would finally be able to remember whatever that was obscured from him and explain it to him. It would be nice if some treasure could be found, he thought.

"After the initiation. Lets not fill our heads with even more stuff than we already have right now. Once we are done with initiation day after tomorrow, you can tell all that you saw in detail. I hope you don't forget it." Zewoulf answered him.

"Oh well sure then. We will discuss about it later. Now lets sleep early to be fresh in the morning." Azyl said as he moved towards his bed stealthily. Keeping his flute in its cover he was about lie down when Zewoulf stopped him.

"What do you mean by sleeping. The best form of relaxation would be to meditate through the night. You haven't put in any effort as of now in prana meditation anyways, so take this chance and get used to it. Its easy once you are able to pass the one hour mark. Its almost like you are in a trance or a semi lucid state. Feels better than sleeping for sure." He caught him and guided him towards the mat which was spread on the floor.

Azyl could only make a face as he followed his instruction. He knew that his talk about putting in his best effort was going to bite back at him, but he did not want to give up too soon either. So he sat down opposite to Zewoulf and then closed his eyes to focus and meditate.

.........

Somewhere deep in the academy:

"Did you hear that tune just now? It was coming from the new student quarters." Two middle aged men were seated across either, a cup of tea in their hands.

"Its the first time even for me to hear this. What do you think about it?" The other guy asked the man with deep black eyes.

"The sound produced was really beautiful. The person who played it was able to put his emotions very well into the tune. If he were taught to embue it with prana, he could be an irregular." Said the man with deep black eyes.

"Indeed, he might be someone who would have a chance to grasp the element of sound. Elements outside of the five basic ones appear rarely among individuals and its not possible to identify them through the Elemental obelisk. We will have to find out the identity of the student first." The other guy answered.

"You will have to make sure to hide this from the Principal. Irregulars are highly sought after by the new Royal family and we were already late to learn and identify them. This is a lucky chance for us. Irregulars are hard to identify and only there high talent sets them apart initially. Keep a look out for the one. In the past ten years, all five irregulars that appeared were bought away by the principal to the Royal family. We have to make our move swiftly this time." The deep black eyes man spoke.

"Yes, Vice-Principal." The other guy answered.