Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series - Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Hourglass
Back in their dorm room, Aiden, Adrian, and Sevan collapsed onto their respective beds, exhausted. The secret training with Professor Anwar had drained them completely.

Every muscle ached, and their clothes were still damp with sweat.

Adrian groaned, draping an arm over his eyes. “Remind me again why we agreed to this?”

Sevan, lying on his stomach, muffled his response into his pillow. “Because we don’t want to get humiliated in front of the entire school.”

Aiden sat on the edge of his bed, stretching out his arms with a wince. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this sore before. Professor Anwar doesn’t hold back at all.”

Adrian scoffed. “You’re telling me? I think he actually enjoyed seeing us suffer.”

Sevan turned his head. “At least we got useful advice. He basically laid out Shiloh, Lochan, and Ambrose’s weaknesses for us.”

Aiden sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. “Even so, it’s not like they’ll just let us take advantage of that. They’re going to try to catch us off guard.”

Silence settled between them as they all let the exhaustion sink in. The room was warm and quiet, the late morning light streaming in through the window.

Adrian eventually sat up and looked at Aiden. “So, what’s the plan, Chase?”

Aiden raised an eyebrow. “Plan?”

“Yeah.” Adrian stretched, wincing as he rolled his shoulder. “I doubt you’re just going to go into this duel without a strategy. You always overthink things.”

Sevan snorted. “He has a point.”

Aiden crossed his arms. “I don’t overthink-”

“Yes, you do,” both Sevan and Adrian said at the same time.

Aiden huffed. “Fine. I’ll figure something out later. Right now, I just want to rest before we have to go to class.”

Adrian flopped back onto his bed. “Agreed. Wake me up if I die in my sleep.”

Sevan shook his head, standing up despite the weight in his body. He went to his cabinet and took out a fresh set of uniform neatly pressed for the day. “You’ll be fine, drama queen.”

As the exhaustion settled in, the room remained quiet except for their slowed breathing.

There were no classes today, just training and preparation for the upcoming duels and the Solstice Trials.

Adrian sat up first, rubbing his face with both hands before groaning. “I need food.”

Aiden barely lifted his head from the pillow. “Go get some, then.”

“I would, but I might collapse halfway there.”

“You’d survive. Barely.”

Adrian dramatically flopped back down. “We should’ve just slept after Anwar’s training instead of coming back here. Now I don’t want to move.”

Aiden rolled onto his side, looking at Sevan. “So… are you ready for your duel with Shiloh?”

Sevan exhaled through his nose. “I don’t think it matters if I’m ready or not. Shiloh’s the type to make a mess out of things, regardless of how prepared I am.” He turned his head slightly. “What about you? Lochan can predict movements. That’s not an easy thing to counter.”

Aiden sighed. “Yeah. But Professor Anwar said that just because someone can predict movements doesn’t mean they can react to them fast enough.”

“Unless he’s already thought of that and trained accordingly,” Adrian muttered.

“Thanks for the encouragement,” Aiden said dryly.

“Anytime.”

A comfortable silence fell between them again before Sevan suddenly said, “Alright, I’ve decided. We’re getting food.”

Adrian groaned.

“Nooo-”

Sevan kicked Adrian’s bed lightly. “Come on. If we don’t eat, we’re going to pass out before the day even starts.”

Aiden stretched, wincing at the soreness in his arms. “He’s right. Let’s go before we regret it.”

Adrian groaned dramatically again but eventually stood up, running a hand through his hair. “Fine. But if I collapse, you two are carrying me.”

“No promises,” Sevan said as he headed for the door.

Aiden stood up and got his towel, which was hung haphazardly in his chair, and took out just a normal collared shirt and some trousers before getting out of the room to take a bath.

Adrian meanwhile, in Sevan’s disbelief, did a sniff test to his other shirts that lay on his cabinet that weren’t even folded. When a band shirt passed the sniff test, he took off his other shirt and wore the other one.

Sevan sat on his bed, wearing his socks as he absentmindedly glanced toward his bedside. His eyebrows furrowed when he noticed something that wasn’t there before- an hourglass. It stood on the small table beside him, identical to the one given by the Sentinels of Light, but…

How did it get there?

“What the-” Sevan muttered, picking it up and examining it closely.

Aiden, who had just gotten inside the room after a shower, asked. “Is that-?”

“Yeah,” Sevan replied, turning it over in his hands. “But I don’t remember a Sentinel giving it to me.”

Adrian groaned before blindly reaching for his own hourglass. “You’re making me paranoid. I better check mine too.”

With a sigh, Aiden grabbed his as well. The three of them sat in silence, staring at the small objects in their hands.

Adrian stared at his hourglass, watching as the last few grains of sand slowly trickled down. It wasn’t empty yet, but it was close- too close.

“Almost there,” he muttered, turning it over in his hands. “I swear this thing wasn’t moving this fast before.”

Sevan, whose hourglass was already almost depleted, leaned back against his bedframe, arms crossed. “Maybe it speeds up the closer you are to the duel.”

Aiden, still holding his own hourglass, studied Adrian’s closely. His was still moving at a steady pace, but compared to Adrian’s, it was practically crawling.

“Strange,” Aiden said. “You were challenged last, but yours is finishing before mine.”

Adrian groaned, flopping back onto his bed. “Great. That means I have less time to relax before Ambrose tries to punch my face in.”

Sevan snorted. “Ambrose? I thought you’d be more worried about Lochan. At least Ambrose is straightforward. Lochan, though…” He trailed off, tapping his fingers on his arm.

“That guy sees things before they happen.”

Aiden nodded. “He’ll be tough to deal with.”

Adrian waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah, but I’ll take regeneration over future sight any day.” He glanced back at his hourglass and frowned as another grain fell. “Still, I don’t like this. Feels like a countdown to my execution.”

Sevan smirked. “Maybe it is.”

Adrian shot him a glare, but Sevan just grinned.

Aiden, meanwhile, was still staring at his own hourglass. Unlike Adrian’s, which was nearing depletion, or Sevan’s, his still had plenty of sand left. It didn’t make sense.

He had been challenged before Sevan. By all logic, his duel should be before Sevan’s, yet his hourglass was moving the slowest.

Adrian let out a long sigh and sat up again, rolling his shoulders. “Well, no point stressing over it. When it happens, it happens.” He glanced at Sevan. “So, how are you feeling about your fight with Shiloh?”

Sevan shrugged. “Same as always.” He didn’t elaborate, but both Aiden and Adrian knew what that meant: he didn’t want to talk about it.

Aiden finally set his hourglass down beside him and looked between them. “We should get some rest while we can.”

Adrian groaned. “Ugh, fine. But if I get nightmares about Ambrose punching me, I’m blaming both of you.”

Sevan rolled his eyes, and Aiden just shook his head.

On their way to the Great Hall, Aiden, Adrian, and Sevan immediately noticed the unusual commotion near the entrance. A large crowd of students had gathered around a big bulletin board, their voices overlapping in murmurs and exclamations.

Adrian raised an eyebrow. “What’s all this about?”

Sevan, hands in his pockets, sighed. “I swear, if this is another prank from Lopt, I’m turning around.”

Aiden simply moved forward, maneuvering through the crowd to get a better look. “It’s… the official duel schedule,” he said after a brief pause.

That got Adrian and Sevan’s attention. They both pushed their way through the gathered students until they could see the board clearly.

Pinned to the center was a massive parchment detailing every scheduled duel, sorted by year and ranking. Beside each duel was a location and time. Some names had already been crossed out, indicating fights that had already taken place.

Adrian scanned the list quickly. “There I am. Adrian Caleena vs. Ambrose Bessmertny. Training Hall C, tomorrow afternoon.” He clicked his tongue. “Could’ve given me more time to prepare.”

Sevan found his name next. “Sevan Wasterfall vs. Shiloh Spadille. Duel Arena B, tomorrow evening.”

Aiden’s eyes followed down the list, and sure enough- there was his. “Aiden Chase vs. Lochan Beatific. Training Hall A, the day after tomorrow.”

Adrian frowned. “Wait, that means yours is the last one.”

Sevan side-eyed Aiden. “Even though you got challenged before me.”

Aiden’s brows furrowed. “Yeah. That’s strange.”

With that, they turned away from the board and continued into the Great Hall, but the weight of their upcoming battles hung in the air between them.

As they moved away from the bulletin board, Adrian frowned. “Huh. No first-year duels today except for the upper years.”

Sevan scanned the list again to double-check. “Yeah, it’s all second-years and up. I guess they want us to watch and learn before throwing us in.”

Aiden nodded. “Makes sense. The Solstice Trials are no joke. They probably want us to see how the top duelists fight before we embarrass ourselves.”

Adrian snorted. “Too late for that. Some people have already embarrassed themselves just by opening their mouths.”

Sevan chuckled. “You mean Shiloh?”

Adrian smirked. “You know I mean Shiloh.”

Sevan shook his head with an amused sigh before glancing back at the board.

“Well, at least we get a free day before the chaos begins.”

Aiden stretched his arms. “Might as well use it to rest or watch the other duels. I want to see how the Top 10 in the higher years are.”

Adrian looked skeptical. “Rest? You really think anyone’s gonna sit still knowing their first official duel is coming up?”

Sevan grinned. “Exactly. If anything, people are gonna train harder.”

Aiden sighed. “Guess that means we’re training too, huh?”

Adrian slung an arm over Aiden’s shoulder with a grin. “Oh, absolutely. You didn’t think we’d let you slack off, did you?”

Aiden just shook his head as they headed toward the Great Hall for breakfast.