Noctic couldn't help but feel disgusted looking at the little creature: sharp, pointed teeth covered in mucous and long, razor-sharp claws that could slice through skin like butter. Tearing his eyes from the Hollowtooth, Noctis faced Anderson's amused gaze.
"So who wants to go first?"
Looking around, Noctis finally understood why the other students watched them with expectation, sending a chill down his spine. They had all gone through this—the initiation rite Noctis now faced.
Of course, they enjoyed his discomfort—they had survived it, too. He couldn't blame them, but he still seethed inside.
Siana hesitated slightly before asking uncertainly, "What are we supposed to be doing?… with that thing."
Thanking Siana silently, Noctis turned his gaze to Anderson, who responded with a slight giggle.
"As I said, this hatchling is nicknamed Symbolism Syphener for how it feeds: by extracting and consuming symbolism from beings.
In the wild, they're dangerous and not native to the 'Space realm', a true plague upon the lands.
We brought them here because they must physically extract your symbolism to feed on it. When it does, you'll see your symbolism and understand it. If you let it feed until you faint, you can even measure the size of your concept fragment by how much symbolism is taken before you lose consciousness."
Having his fears come true, Noctis asked.
"Are we going to check both of these points today?"
Anderson answered promptly.
"No, that would take too much time and isn't really necessary. Today, we're going to simply check your symbolism and let you get accustomed to it. Would you like to go first?"
Wait what?
Cursing him quietly, Noctis started frantically searching for ways he could decline, for a way out of the situation. Sadly, however, he didn't find any logical excuse to extract himself from the endeavor.
At a loss, he slowly, begrudgingly accepted his fate, with strong regret for his impertinence in asking questions. Never ask questions, that only leads to consequences!
"What... do I have to do?"
Walking awkwardly, with a bit of tension in his step towards Anderson, the classmates he passed tapped him on the back, pushing him forward, one by one. Guessing that this was part of the initiation, he simply accepted it and walked towards the box.
Once before the box, the gremlin darted crazily around the cage, slamming into the bars and clawing wildly as it tried to reach Noctis. Annoyed by the noise, Anderson shot the imp a glare, which made it stop its frenzied attempts, freezing instantly and pressing itself against the far side of the box, trembling.
Turning his attention back to Noctis, Anderson handed him a small knife and said casually.
"Use this and make a small cut on your hand, then put your hand in the cage and wait."
Skeptical, Noctis felt a cold shiver at Anderson's omission.
Why the secrecy?
What was this thing going to do to his hand?
Seriously, just explain it already!
Why does he have to be cryptic now, of all times?
Cutting the palm of his hand, the pain shortly scrunched up his face, yet as he knew, it was merely the beginning; he could not let relief wash over him. Facing the cage in front, he hesitated to put his hand inside, simply holding it in front of the small slit that could barely accommodate the entire size of his hand, and glancing at Anderson for reassurance.
"Dont hesitate, the longer you do, the harder it will get." He simply said his words were tinged with a certain profoundness.
Hearing this, Noctis sighed one last time and put his hand in the cage, with a bit of force overcoming his previous hesitations.
The moment Noctis's hand entered the cage, the small, cowering gremlin lifted its head and slowly began sniffing the air intently, catching his scent. It unfurled from its hunched position, carefully reached for his hand, and turned it over, scrutinizing the bleeding palm.
With a sudden movement, it lounged at Noctis's hand with a wide open mouth, biting down on the middle finger with force, its sharp teeth cutting through flesh like butter.
Shocked by the sudden, intense pain, Noctis tried to pull his hand back in a frantic struggle, yet was met with intense resistance. Suddenly, he heard flesh ripping and a clear cracking sound before successfully forcing the hand out.
Still trembling, he shakily lifted his hand, staring at it as if in a daze—at the five-fingered freed hand or, to be more precise, the four-fingered freed hand. Now, where his middle finger used to be, there was only a bloody stump with blood still pulsing out.
A few thin, nearly invisible strings stretched from his exposed bone into the cage, where the imp was now chewing on his severed finger. Feeling the sharp pain rise up his arm, he fell to one knee.
"Ahh Hngh"
Suppressing a scream, Noctis fell to the ground, grabbing at the wound, applying pressure, trying to stop the bleeding.
So much blood.
Please stop flowing.
Why won't you stop flowing?!
Nausia crept in at the sight.
As his hand was moving further away from the severed finger, the threads started straightening, as if trying to pull the finger back, yet they were weak and feeble, not having the strength to rip it out of the fiend's grasp, coming down to a mere tugging motion.
From behind, gasps were heard as Anderson quickly approached with a troubled expression, putting his hand into the cage, and ripping the finger out of the imp's tight grasp, its eyes following its snack with longing.
Walking up to Noctis, who was still desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
Anderson quickly took Noctis's hand and reattached it to its original position, blood still running wildly. Helping adjust the fingers' position, he took something out of his pocket. It was a sort of pen, if one would compare it to something, an epipen would come closest.
Stabbing the pen into Noctis's arm, a cool liquid flowed in.
"This will stop the bleeding and help your body's natural recovery. Simply make sure that your finger is in its right place and hold it there. That will ensure that it reconnects with your hand."
Still in terrible pain, Noctis only managed to give an affirmative nod as he was sent back towards his seat, still delicately holding his finger in place.
Taking his seat, his neighbors shot him some weird glances. He could not care less at the moment as he stared at the wound, the clear cut at the base of his finger. Surprisingly, two threads began extending from the base and slowly stitched it together, holding the chomped, disfigured finger in place.
While watching this in wonder, a certain fascination sparkling in his eyes, Noctis found it strange that his reaction to the pain was so mild.
It was not that it was weak or anything—no, it was excruciating, yet there was some kind of difference between when he had that headache and when he was hurling the searing metal debris. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, not the least because it was not functional at the moment, yet there was definitely a difference.
Maybe a pain-numbing effect of the medication?
Pondering some more, distracting himself, Noctis didn't really get anywhere and placed the matter at the back of his mind.
Looking back at the threads that had already tightly stitched themselves around his finger. Is this my so-called symbolism? What does this symbolism… symbolize?
He said that it's a mix of myself and the origin of my Authority.
So... is the origin of my Concept a giant spider? Shivering at the thought, he sighed inwardly.
It wasn't that he hated spiders, but… after reading many books and watching many movies, he had developed a certain aversion to them, as animals like spiders and snakes... were most often portrayed as evil beings to be exterminated or as omens that something bad was about to happen.
Of course, Noctis knew that these were mere stories, yet everything had to have an origin, right? And after repeatedly hearing bad things, he obviously developed a slight aversion to them, which was further reinforced by the fact that people in his surroundings had always shown hatred or disgust towards such animals.
"Truly, this was an abnormality, you dont need to worry about it..."
Wondering about his future, Noctis' eyes drifted towards Riven, who was now standing where he had stood before. There, Anderson repeatedly reassured him that what had just happened was a very rare occurrence and that he need not worry.
"You won't lose a finger, hell, probably won't even wound you."
"Probably?"
Seeing Noctis watch from the side, his purple-lipped neighbor whispered in an amused tone.
"You're quite an unlucky one, hm hm hm. Hello there, Mister Fingerless. Name is Trisha."
Looking over, Noctis didn't know how to react to that. She was smiling playfully at him while playing with something in her hand. It was a small, round, shriveled-up fruit, running between her fingers, fiddling with it to pass the time.
Watching this, Noctis couldn't help but lampoon her lack of respect for the food that was so scarce on the outskirts of the city. Not wanting to start on bad terms, Noctis chose to overlook this, simply answering.
"Noctis Raveth, the fingerless, as you have observed, it's my pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Turning back towards Riven, who had already started to put his hand inside the box. After a few seconds of silence, a loud groan could be heard, coming from Riven. Slowly taking out his hand, Noctis was too far away to clearly see anything.
Yet for some reason, his perception seemed to blur whenever he looked directly at his wounded hand. Curious, he asked in passing.
"Is your perception blurring every time you look at his hand as well?"
Smiling mistshevisly, once more, his purple-lipped neighbor jocked.
"Oh, already trying to figure out the secrets of others?"
Hearing this, Noctis got a bit flustered quickly, trying to play off his question as harmless curiosity.
Was there some kind of unofficial rule not to do such things?
"Oh dont worry, everyone is trying that in some way. Sadly, I couldn't see much of your symbolism, and looking at that, it should have something to do with a change of perception or some kind of mental attack."
Hearing the words mental attack, Noctis was reminded of the man in robes and what kind of headache-inducing trickery he used in their interaction.
Seeing him quietly, retreating into his thought, Trisha asked.
"Wanna take a bet?"
Bet? Looking over once more, Noctis didn't quite know where this was going. He had always liked gambling quite a bit, as it was one of his favorite ways to pass the time.
It wasn't that he had an addiction or something! He simply liked the thrill so much that half of his hardly earned savings was spent on this very productive activity. I dont have a problem, he thought as he asked, trying to hide his interest.
"What kind of bet?"
Chukeling slightly, revealing her feminine charm, she lazily pointed in the direction of someone. Tracing the direction Noctis' eyes land on Siana.
"How about betting on the reaction of the girl when putting in her hand to that little imp? Or we could also guess what her symbolism is, if that's too vile."
Not liking the first idea, as he had been in her position not too long ago, and if he started betting on such things, how could he justify taking revenge against all of his classmates, in some shape, way, or form? Noctis asked, hiding his discomfort.
"And what would be the wager?"
"Well, money, information, or... special favors." She answered in a suggestive tone, adding a playful wink.
Turning a shade red at the remark, Noctis was flabbergasted. Seeing his reaction, Trisha did not back down, going all in, delighted at the reaction.
Slowly pulling forward the front of her shirt, revealing a glimpse of her beautifully alabaster-colored... Shaking his head, he reprimanded himself for falling for such fleshly desires. Get your head out of the gutter.
This is bad. She has full control of this conversation. If I'm not careful, I'll get played like a little kid. But would that be sooo bad... as his eyes drifted along the subtle curves of Trisha's..., he shook his head and reprimanded himself once more.
Remember what dad used to say: never let emotions cloud your judgment, and always take the initiative in the conversation. He might have meant it in a different context, but this should work fine as well.
"H-how about we play for money, but first, how can one guess the symbolism of another? That doesn't seem plausible, especially when the symbolism has differences from person to person."
Nodding slightly, a bit disappointed that her teasing had stopped working, she fiddled with her fingers a bit, sorting out her words.
"Well, when I'm talking about guessing her symbolism, I mean the origin of it, as it's virtually impossible to do the first. And you are aware of the realms' names, right?"
Surprised by the description of the origin of symbolism, Noctis thought back to when Darron had told him ominously that he should always keep the origin of his Authority secret.
"Yes, I have heard of them, but what do they have to do with the source of one's Authority?"
He was quite rusty on the topic, but he was aware that there were eight realms, with seven of them being named after concepts. The one they were in was the space realm, a place not particularly friendly or ideal for human civilization, but comparatively better than most others.
With little surprise, in her tone, she answered, "Ohh, are you not aware of what the Call is? It should have been explained to you. Well, that can't be helped then. Go to the Teacher after class and ask him about that, it's quite important.
Just know the origin of most Authoritys, with a few exceptions, is of the realms or whatever governs them.
So, keeping it simple, well, just bet on a realm, ok?"
Turning back his attention towards the class, Noctis saw Siana having already put her hand inside the box, mumbling out loud. "Well, guess we took too much time."
Trisha, with her focus on Siana, who then suddenly shrank back as Screetch came from her direction.
What was peculiar was that it did not seem to come from her… and didn't seem quite humane….
Taking out her hand tremblingly, Siana looked at it. A chunk of her flesh was missing, most likely torn off by the imp, yet for some reason, blood wasn't flowing. From a distance, Noctis couldn't see much. The only thing he discovered was that the hand had a bluish tint, as if it had been exposed to the cold for a while.
Getting treated similarly to Noctis, she received a stim and returned to her seat, still wearing a relatively flat expression, but for some reason, disgust seemed to flash through her eyes whenever they ran past her, most likely, painful wound.
That's quite a weird reaction, Noctis noted in his mind as his attention fell back towards Anderson.
His eyes drifting throughout the class, Anderson spoke slowly. "As I have to take some time to discuss some Information with the new arrivals, I'll dismiss all of you early today. If there is anything of importance, inform me after class is over."
Clapping twice, he stopped speaking, waiting for his command to be fulfilled.