In the academy training facility...
Edward Sinclair swung his sword inside the training facility of the academy.
On the surface it looked like he was religiously practicing the Sinclair Sword technique, but on the inside, his mind wandered around the same moment when William had looked at him in the cafeteria hall.
The memory shifted and another scene flashed when William had stood before him in the training hall and had left after patting his shoulder lightly.
The whole scene replayed again and again, and he kept losing focus from his training.
Suddenly a strange, sharp headache started erupting around his forehead. Edward clenched his temples and tried to massage them, but the ache didn’t stop.
Edward had to eventually decide to return to his dorm room and get some sleep.
As he walked towards the dorm building, a group of third-year boys approached him from a distance.
"Hey Edward!! Have you seen Arwen?"
"No!! "What happened to him?? Wasn’t he in the infirmary?" Edward asked cluelessly.
The boy who had been called out replied, "Some people were saying that he saw Arwen rushing towards the dorm building in rage." The medics have been searching for him.
"We knocked on his door but received no reply, so we think he might not be there. He is suspected to be under a demonic curse. Who knows what he may end up doing under its influence?"
Edwards’s brows furrowed; he nodded and proceeded to follow them out of curiosity to search for Arwen. The headache had turned mild for now, so he didn’t bother going back right now.
The group searched for Arwen everywhere on campus, but they couldn’t find him.
At last they gave up and returned to their dorms, telling themselves that he must have returned to his room and was sleeping.
Edward returned to his own dorm and walked towards the kitchen to grab a glass of fresh water.
The headache he felt had amplified in a matter of a few minutes, his eyes burned like anything, and he was forced to lie down on his bed immediately.
Edward massaged his temples slowly and tried to sleep, but he struggled for hours.
Eventually, he drifted to sleep.
Unknown to him, a faint energy swirled around Edward’s head; it was Omniscient Eye’s mental curse.
Edward, during his sleep, witnessed a vivid dream.
A dream where William turned into a demon and killed him brutally.
As he witnessed his own death, Edward woke up sweating and breathing heavily; he looked around only to realize that he had been experiencing a nightmare.
Edward shook his head and dismissed the nightmare, reasoning that it might be due to him overthinking about William today.
He stood up from his bed and walked out of the bedroom into the balcony to take in fresh air before returning to sleep after a few minutes.
This time the nightmare didn’t bother him, and he slept till the next day.
***
Meanwhile, in another corner of the same building, Arwen sat in the corner of his room.
His body shivered from time to time as he pieced back every event that had happened from the start.
Everything had started when he had fainted mysteriously in front of William; he had witnessed clouds and a bit of pain before losing consciousness.
When he had woken up, he had found him inside a hellish pit where he had spent a few weeks in isolation; his mindset had broken completely during that time, and he had just wished to get out somehow.
At that time Edward had appeared out of nowhere mysteriously, but only now did he realize that it was not Edward in reality; it was a shapeshifting demon who had taken Edward’s form.
Arwen ran a hand through his messy hair; a shiver passed through his spine as he realized this.
The demon, as Edward had informed him, said that William was responsible for him being trapped inside the pit, but only now did Arwen realize that there was no reason for a first-year student to be capable enough to kidnap a third-year student in the academy where so many surveillance measures were active.
The belief that the demon was behind all this slowly solidified itself in Arwen’s mind.
He took a few deep breaths.
William seemed to be the target of this demon; he himself was thankfully not the demon’s primary target.
Although Arwen feared that when the demon would realize that he had escaped, he would be hunted relentlessly.
Arwen couldn’t understand what he should do; he had a demonic seed and demonic ice in his possession, which he could use to expose the demon right now.
The question was when should he do it; should he report to the professors right now or should he wait for the moment when William has been hunted by the demon?
A forbidden idea was slowly taking shape in Arwen’s mind; his hate for William was apparent. He was the biggest obstacle in his way, and if he wanted to make Seraphine his, he had to take William out.
Now he had a choice to take out two targets with one shot.
If he waited for the demon’s scheme to work, William would be affected and maybe even killed, leaving everyone shocked.
If at that time Arwen stands up and exposes the demon, he would become the hero in everyone’s eyes; Seraphine would soften up to him and would surely ditch William for him if he by chance manages to survive; he would be the hero in everyone’s eyes.
The only problem was how he would convince the demon so that he wouldn’t kill him outright.
Just then, he heard a click sound from the entrance.
Arwen flinched as he looked toward the direction, his heart beat wildly, and he stood up in alarm.
The door opened up, and someone stepped in, someone that made his face pale, paler than the white floor.
The figure looked just like Arwen, standing in front of him with a grin on his face, a nasty grin.
Arwen’s legs trembled with fear; he took a step back when he saw the duplicate Arwen walking towards him.
His footing crumbled, he fell down on the floor, and the furniture clattered behind him.
Arwen realized that the one standing before him was the shapeshifter demon that Edward had told him about before dying.
The demon was standing right in front of him, smiling, licking his lips as if a meal had presented itself in front of him.
"No!! Don’t!!" Arwen felt hot tears streaming down his face out of fear and desperation.
He dragged himself back, while the demon took a step forward and laughed in Arwen’s own voice.
Then the demon (William) proceeded to mirror Arwen’s own expression, "No!! Don’t!!" and tears appeared on the demon’s face, mocking Arwen.
Arwen’s blood turned cold as he realized how accurately he was mimicking his voice and expressions.
He quickly kneeled on the floor. "O!! Great demon, please spare me!! I will help you with your motive!! I will help you kill William Kaiser; he is my enemy too. I will help you achieve your goals."
The demon’s (William’s) brows raised. "So, this is what you choose?" he spoke, both on the inside and the outside.
"YES!! YES!!" Arwen bowed and cried in front of him.
[What a pity.]