Author's note: Sorry for the delayed chapter, I had very limited internet yesterday. Enjoy!

As Ymil walked through the doorway he noticed he wasn’t the first person to arrive. He found himself in a strange round room with cylindrical pillars holding up the ceiling and a stage had been set up in the middle for some reason. There were approximately 30 students gathered around the stage and they were each waiting for Master Wux to make his appearance.

“Name please,” said a monotone voice and Ymil turned around to see a man standing by the door.

“Ymil Idagni,”answered Ymil. The man looked at the boy for a moment and nodded to himself. He scribbled something on a piece of paper and motioned Ymil to move forward.

“Please go to the middle of the room. The Assembly is about to begin.”

“Thank you, sir,” and Ymil started walking towards the mass of students. There were children of every kind: dark skinned southerners, pale northerners and even the odd few Nobles strew throughout the crowd. The Nobles had formed their own clique and were blatantly ignoring the other Non-Noble attendants who were just standing about, not knowing what to do.

Among these people was a girl Ymil recognized. The girl who’d almost been expelled earlier. With short green hair and wearing a bright yellow dress, the girl was standing to the side, silently observing the people in the room. She was fidgeting with her fingers and it was obvious she felt a little uneasy. A small peculiar creature sat on her shoulder and looked at the crowd with its hazy purple eyes. Ymil couldn’t really tell what kind of creature it was.

Ymil thought he’d talk to the girl and walked over to her.

“Hey there,” said Ymil as he reached her side.

“EEK!” she shrieked and everyone in the room turned to look at her. She had physically jumped up out of surprise. The entire room started to laugh while the girl turned and hid her blushing face.

“Haha, very funny guys!” yelled Ymil and then turned to the girl with a gentle smile on his face “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The girl calmed down a bit as she saw Ymil’s soothing smile and she straightened her posture.

“It’s fine,” she whispered. “I just didn’t see you coming.”

“I don’t think I was hiding myself,” answered Ymil honestly.”I just thought it’d be nice to talk to a classmate while we wait.”

“We’re classmates?” she asked surprised. “I don’t… Wait, are you that guy that hangs with those Nobles?”

“The one and only,” said Ymi boastfully. “My name’s Ymil, what’s yours?”

“Erm, my name is Rena, and this little fellow is Gin. Nice to meet you….” She pointed at the purple eyes ball of fur on her shoulder. Gin had light brown fur and big round eyes, but nothing else. It was just a cute little furball that looked like it couldn’t survive in the wild.

“Puu puu!” it screeched enthusiastically as it jumped up and down.

“Awww, how cute!” Ymil reached out to the creature and petted it. Its soft brown hair brushed through his hands as if Ymil were caressing water. A soft purring noise emanated from Gin’s body and it looked very pleased.

“How does it eat?”

“He has a mouth, he just doesn’t show it.”

“What kind of creature is it anyways? I’ve never seen anything like it,” wondered Ymil as he was petting Gin. He’d read a few bestiaries back in the bookstore and none of them had featured a creature quite like this.

“I don’t know. I found it today and it looked so helpless I had to help the little guy. Look at him, what would you do if you found him?”

‘Probably sell it,’ thought Ymil but he kept that thought to himself. This little creature was sure to cause headaches as it grew, so it was best to just get rid of it while it was still cute and fluffy. Nothing wrong with earning a few extra cents, right?

“I’d pick it up and cuddle it to death,” answered Ymil with a wry smile on his face.

“See?! That’s exactly wh…”

“Ladies and gentlemen! Wait, no… boys and girls! Please be so kind as to turn your attention to the center of the room.”

Before Rena could finish her sentence a familiar voice had reached out to every attendant. As Ymil and Rena turned around they saw teacher Jack standing on the stage, he was urging everyone to move in closer.

“You have all gathered here because you were able to decipher Master Wux’s message. This means that you are all capable candidates to join the Night Courses. In order to do so, you will be asked to complete a gruesome task, a mission that will scar you for life. If there any students that do not wish to participate, please leave the room now.”

The entire crowd was silent. Nobody knew what the Night Courses actually meant, but the excitement of following special courses was more than enough to motivate these children.

“Nobody? Then porters, please close the doors.”

The men near the doors pushed the heavy doors close and with heavy thumps the room was locked away from the outside world.

“Good, I will now give the stage to Master Wux.” And with those words Jack walked off the stage as the grizzly old man from the entrance ceremony walked onto the stage.

*Ahem*

Master Wux looked around the room and he was getting ready to give his speech.

“Before I start this meeting, I want to make one thing very clear. I do not tolerate traitors in my classes.” Wux pointed at a young boy somewhere in the middle of the crowd and the boy’s eyes grew wide with shock.

“Remove him,” said Wux with a calm but commanding voice.

Within the blink of an eye one of the porters had reached the boy’s side and stuck a knife in his throat. His lungs filled up with blood as he reached for his severed artery, he coughed violently and fell to the ground. After a few seconds of spasming on the floor and drowning on his own blood, the boy fell limp and his eyes stared into nothingness.

“And her.”

Master Wux pointed towards a girl who was already backing away slowly. As she saw him pointing in her direction, the girl immediately ran towards the nearest window but one of the porters suddenly appeared in front of her. She reached for something on her belt but the porter was much faster. With a clean swoop, the porter had taken off her entire head using only a dagger. The girl’s lifeless eyes were wide open as the head rolled on the floor.

“That should cover the intruder issue. Let’s move on to the main event.”

Every student present in the room had turned pale. Those children had stood among them as if they were normal students and they were killed in mere moments. Most of the students had never seen someone actually die, and those that did never saw it happen so fast, so efficiently. These guys were not to be trifled with.

“Allow me to explain your current position to you guys. You are here because you were able to decipher my coded message. I congratulate you on that, only 31 students were able to do so.” Master Wux looked at the two corpses and showed a slight grimace. “Make that 29. The point is that you all possess enough curiosity, ingenuity or intelligence for you to be here. It could be all three, or maybe you were just lucky, but the fact remains that you are here.”

The code Master Wux had used was fairly simple. As he was talking about the founding of Capital Halram Military Academy during the entrance ceremony, he’d tapped his cane on the floor at specific times. Every time he tapped his cane the next sentence would contain information with regards to this secret meeting. It was a straightforward cipher that wasn’t used in actual application, but it was a good way to communicate with the students that either had prior experience or those that were intelligent or creative enough to decipher it on their own.

“The Night Courses are a special program that are only available to those that can pass the two tests we set before you. The first one you’ve conquered, as is evident by your presence. Your second test will begin the moment you leave this room. Before I tell you what you will have to do, are there any questions?”

A single hand went up. Rena had a question she’d been wondering about ever since the entrance ceremony.

“What is it that we learn exactly, in those Night Courses?” she asked.

“Very good question, young lady. It is not something I can tell you though. You will first have to pass the second test. Any other questions?”

Even though everyone was brimming with curiosity, nobody had any questions that were likely to be answered.

“No? Then I will now tell you what you will be doing in order to enter these classes.”

And so Master Wux explained to the children what it was they were expected to do. Most of them turned pale, other grinned slightly, but they all knew it wouldn’t be an easy task. Were the Night Courses really worth the risks?

*****************************

Ragnar opened his eyes and found himself in the white world of his subconscious again. He looked around calmly as his memories of the place returned to him.

“Hay Djinn, we need to talk,” he shouted at the empty space, he knew it was in there somewhere.

A slight breeze brushed against his naked body and the small green ball of light appeared in front of him. The orb transformed into a more humanoid figure, assuming the form of the green clad gnome the Djinn seemed to prefer.

“What is it, Ragnar Aesir?” said the Djinn as he looked the boy in the eyes.

“First of all, stop with the Aesir thing. My name is Ragnar Forgeron, it’s starting to annoy me. Why on earth do you call me that?”

The Djinn revealed a faint smile but didn’t say anything else. He just floated calmly in front of Ragnar, observing the boy with his clear green eyes.

Seeing that the Djinn wasn’t going to answer, Ragnar continued:

“Whatever. There’s more pressing stuff to talk about. How many Djinns are there?”

“Ah, so you’ve noticed?” The smile on the Djinn’s face never wavered and he looked at Ragnar with playful eyes.

“Off course I have. That guy Chrysos was obviously using a Djinn during the fight. He even called himself the Chosen One. How many of us are there?”

The djinn turned around and floated away slowly. His finger was scratching his neck, as if he were thinking about how he should respond.

“How should I tell you this…” started the Djinn and he turned around. “The world is in mortal peril, I’ve told you this, right?”

Ragnar nodded. He recalled their previous talk about him being the Chosen One and that he should save the world.

“Well, there are more than one ways for the world to come to an end.”

Ragnar was surprised. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that the time-loop thing is just one threat of many. You were chosen to find the culprit behind the Halram Reset phenomenon, but others are tasked with killing evil dragons and such.”

“Dragons?! There’s no way, those only exist in fairyta-… I’m starting to see a pattern here….”

The Djinn smiled. “You catch on quickly. Yes, fairytales are all based off of reality. Most of them even depict century old threads that could have ended the world eons ago if it were not for the Chosen Ones.”

“So Thaddeus the Great…”

“Thaddeus didn’t exist, how many times do I have to tell you?!” exclaimed the Djinn in irritation. Ragnar could have sworn there was some anger hidden in those words, but it might have been his imagination.

“Okay okay, but what other threads are out there right now? How many Chosen Ones are there?”

“I don’t know.” The Djinn shrugged and he started to hover off to the right. “I only know about the one I was assigned. The one where I find you and help you on your quest.”

Ragnar thought about that for a moment. He’d always dreamt of being the hero that saves the world, but apparently that wasn’t all that special. The whole idea of being the Chosen One kind of felt arbitrary at that point.

“Why don’t we help each other out then?” asked Ragnar. “We could form a hero party and destroy every threat together!”

The Djinn grimaced and turned to Ragnar abruptly. “Oh heavens, no. It’s essential that you don’t tell others about being a Chosen One, much less that you got my help.”

“Why is that? I mean, wouldn’t it make sense to bundle together such great strength to defeat the evils of the world?” It seemed like the perfect solution to Ragnar.

“Because there are some Djinns out there that don’t share our point of view. They would rather see the world burn. You can’t trust anyone.”

“Oh come on! What’s the point of saving the world when nobody’s allowed to know about it?!”

“The point is,” answered the Djinn calmly, “that I want to keep you alive. I’ve restricted your memories of me for the time being because I knew you’d blab about it to that shady Ymil character.”

“Ymil isn’t shady!” protested Ragnar. “I admit his uncle’s shady, but Ymil’s my best friend. He wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

“If he were trustworthy he’d be in his bed right now.”

“Eh… What do you mean?” asked Ragnar confused.

“I mean, you cannot tell anyone about my existence. I don’t want you to die because someone got jealous. Human kind has so many issues, I’d rather avoid them altogether.”

“And what about the other Chosen Ones? Why can’t I talk to them?”

The Djinn sighed. “Because not all Djinns are ‘good’. Some Djinns would just attack you in order to consume my power.”

“Is that even possible?” asked Ragnar.

“Yup, if our host dies while we’re fused, our True Form gets exposed. It is the only time a Djinn is vulnerable. If someone were to eat it he’d gain the powers of that Djinn.”

“And you can’t eat them otherwise?”

The Djinn shrugged. “Yeah, because we totally don’t have the ability to shapeshift. I might be eating it as a mouse, but I guarantee you I’d have an elephant in my stomach in no time.”

“I see….” If what the Djinn said was true, then Ragnar was on his own when it came to saving the world. He wasn’t allowed to trust anyone, not even his closest friends.

“Are you going to lock my memories again tonight?” asked Ragnar.

“Nah, I think you understand how important it is you don’t tell anyone about me,” answered the Djinn and he floated back towards the boy. “I’ll even come with you wherever I can.”

The Djinn’s small body illuminated and started to change shape. The humanoid form became rounder and smoother, slowly forming a bright green bracelet in mid air. The bracelet flashed brightly and Ragnar had to shield his eyes with his arms to not be blinded by the light.

“I’ll be here when you need me,” said a voice from Ragnar’s wrist and Ragnar looked at the newly formed bracelet on his left arm. It was shaped much like the Spirit Brace on his right arm and created a sense of symmetry to both his aesthetics as well as balance. It was a green golden armband with a few green beads stuck to it. It didn’t look incredibly expensive but had a simple charm to it.

“And remember, don’t tell anyone.”

And with those words the white world crashed into the black nothingness of sleep.

Edited by: Wesley Au (Paradox), 1Jayds