Arriving at an enclosed lobby area deep within the academy library surrounded by shelves of books Nariko could spot Varen and Mana in the distance sitting across from one another chatting to one another. At first, she was surprised to see the two of them even conversing with one another as she originally thought Mana had an issue with the boy.
Following Etsudo who was clearly walking over to where Mana and Varen were sitting. Nariko wondered what on earth they were all meeting up for especially in the library of all places.
Varen spotted the two of them approaching he lifted his hand to wave towards them. Rather amazingly Nariko and Etsudo chose to answer in kind, the two of them greeting the boy.
The two girls didn't waste any time getting themselves comfortable Nariko obviously sat next to Mana, and as for Etsudo, she took the free space on the sofa next to Varen.
"Why are we all meeting in the library anyway?" Nariko couldn't help but throw that question out into the air.
"Good question..." the smug look on Varen's face sent a slight chill down Nariko's back "...have you heard about the Chalice of Choosing that's going to be happening soon?"
Just the mention of the Chalice of Choosing confused Nariko, she looked to both Mana and then Etsudo seeing that the two of them knew of the test, but either of them didn't seem to be well versed on what it entailed.
"Never heard of it, so what is this Chalice of Choosing for anyway?" the subject of the matter piqued Nariko's interest.
"No one really knows exactly, those that partake in the test are sworn to secrecy unless they wish to be executed" Varen responded rather bluntly.
"I heard it's something that everyone attending the academies within Demon Realm have to do without objections" Mana mentioned.
"Rumour has it that very few of the Princes and Princesses of Hell themselves know what happens behind closed doors involving this many believe that it's just an urban legend passed down just to keep the students in check" Etsudo interjected.
Just hearing about it made Nariko's skin crawl it almost reminded her of the urban legends that she would hear about in her old life, the stories that were told to make you behave yourself unless you wanted something bad to happen to you. This whole thing about the Chalice of Choosing seemed like one of those secrets that if found out they wouldn't hesitate to permanently shut you up in order to keep it under wraps.
"Well, moving on from the superstitious it's nearing that time of year where all the students in the academy will be doing the Chalice of Choosing" Varen stated wanting to keep the conversation moving. Nariko failed to see why they had to meet in the library to talk about such a trivial thing.
"I still don't get why we had to meet in the library just to talk about an urban legend," Nariko asked.
Varen gave her a look that Nariko had never seen on him before now, in fact, it almost made her wonder what made the Chalice of Choosing such a serious thing cause so far to Nariko it didn't sound like anything out of the ordinary.
"Damn, I know you've lived out in the Wilds for some time, but surely you were told about such things?"
Hearing Varen say that made Nariko want to throw a sly jab at him, but she knew better than to antagonize him learning from previous experiences. "Well, I don't" she bluntly responded.
Sighing Varen continued where he left off, "The whole Chalice of Choosing has become well known first and foremost for recorded number of students that are critically injured when undertaking the test." Hearing that made Nariko's stomach turn slightly the sensation similar to when she wasn't had human blood for a while.
"There haven't been any cases of fatalities throughout history, however, there have been reports of mental scarring on some people" Varen concluded.
"This is the first I've heard of such things" Mana seemed somewhat troubled by what Varen had just told them. It was pretty clear to Nariko that her friend didn't want to believe in such things then again who could blame her for knowing such things before taking a mandatory test would give any normal person second thought.
"Like I said most of it is shrouded in mystery so very few truly know what happens, and when you ask people that have undergone the test they can't recall a single thing from it as if whatever they do in there those memories get erased from them..." Varen sat there for a moment thinking to himself "...the Chalice of Choosing will be taking place in about two weeks time"
"So, why are we talking about this now?" Etsudo asked showing little to no emotion.
Varen looked around at the girls one by one, "The fact that a Forsaken beast was let loose within Hellscape is troubling enough, who's to say that whoever was behind that won't try something again..." he paused for a moment "...let's say something like the Chalice of Choosing"
Now that he mentioned it the girls could see where he was coming from whoever released that Forsaken beast was still on the loose, and with that fact as clear as day, that still meant they were out there planning their next move. Regardless, Nariko knew that dwelling on such things now wouldn't help, after all, it wasn't like Lord Lucifer would accept their assistance in the matter.
What was more pressing to Nariko was the nature of the Chalice of Choosing particularly in how many students were left injured after partaking in the test. Usually, that would seem highly strange to the likes of Nariko and Mana, however, the former noticed that both Varen and Etsudo wasn't swayed by such matters. It made her wonder whether the whole was just accepted without hesitation or if it was simply a difference in culture and morals to what she knew in her previous life.
"I get what you're saying Varen, but there's no point in dwelling on such things" Mana spoke up saying exactly what was running through Nariko's head at that moment it almost surprised the latter. Varen surprisingly didn't respond with some cocky comment or remark instead he just nodded in agreement.
"What I, and I think Nariko too, want to know is more about this Chalice of Choosing especially as to why people are so willing to do something so dangerous?" Mana continued.
Varen just looked at Mana and then Nariko confused before answering, "It's simple, the Chalice of Choosing is the first step in beginning your Passage of Rite."
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