Out of the Rain; A Nice Little Chat

"Thank you, but no," Krikor said, sitting in the chair that Tear had indicated while taking in the sight of his office, clearly impressed by the office itself as well as how it was somehow disconnected from the rest of the Academy, despite seemingly being attached to it like a normal room. "I feel like it would be best to get down to business straight away. First, a question, Mr. Lacrimoso -- have you ever heard of a form of magic called sanguimancy?"

Krikor nodded. "Indeed. Sanguimancy is, quite simply, blood magic. As far as I'm aware, I'm the last practitioner -- at least, I'm the only one I know of in my travels across the multiverse -- which would explain why you haven't heard of it before."

"At any rate, when sanguimancers first undergo their training, we flush all of the blood and bone marrow out of our bodies and replace it with that of another being. When we do, we save a portion of our original blood and, later on, use magic to turn it into metal called blood ore. We then forge this ore into a piece of armor or a weapon, and that object then takes on a consciousness of its own that mirrors that of the creator."

"When I went to the homeworld -- or rather, former homeworld -- of the sanguimancers, I found a cache of such weapons and armor. As such, I outfitted myself with them," Krikor continued, motioning to his sword and armor. "Originally, even when I travelled from world to world, I was able to communicate with their consciousnesses with my mind. They added their power to mine and made me strong. However, ever since I came here, I have only been able to contact one, that is, my right gauntlet, Ashcroft. I was hoping you might be able to give me some inkling as to what's going on."

"I believe it's in my best interest to accept," Krikor replied after pondering for a moment. "I have no other recourse. What must I do?" he asked, folding his hands in his lap, seeming eager to hear more.

"I'm surprised you'd accept someone my age as a student," Krikor chuckled. "I do have a question, though. Is there a tuition fee for this school? If so, what sort of currency do you use on this world?"

Krikor listened intently to Tear's responses to his questions, thinking about how the point system this world used was unlike any other world that he'd been to. "I have no further questions, Mr. Lacrimoso," he said once Tear was finished speaking, taking up the pen that had been handed to him. He signed his name at the bottom of the form, then handed both the form and the pen back to him.

Tear's mentioning of a combat assessment piqued Krikor's interest. "I do have a few questions, Mr. Lacrimoso," he said once Tear had finished speaking. "First, when will this assessment test be? Second, outside of learning the ways of Instruments and combat, what other sorts of classes are offered here?"

"The assessment may be at any given time before you actually complete any courses," Tear said promptly, "So this means you are free to look around and even fit yourself in a Dorm, or even go out and explore the city. The only protocol about that is that you must take the placement test BEFORE you are eligible for any classes." He cleared his throat, straightening up. "Now, about the actual classes themselves... Each of the classes tie into each other in some form or another, be it the general principles of the class; Art, Music, Writing and the like, to the actual area that such things focus on, such as getting in tune with your Soul, understanding your Soul, synchronizing with the Souls of others, synchronizing with the souls of your Instruments, learning about the Souls of your Instruments and learning about how to use your own Soul and/or your Instrument's Soul as a weapon through the projection of its Spiritual Energy into forms of Wavelengths and frequencies and the like. Hence, because of this, it is an Art school, since Color (Light), Imagination, Sound and such all focus heavily on cultivating one's own Soul through the methods of these Wavelengths. We intent to also add more classes in the future based on the needs of the students and staff." Before Tear went on too much with a long and intricate explanation that was to be saved for the classroom, he would stop there and look to Krikor with his signature deadly nonchalant smile, asking in conclusion, "Does that answer your question, Mr. Hosvepian?"

"It does indeed, Mr. Lacrimoso," Krikor replied.  "Thank you again for entertaining my undoubtedly silly questions."

Krikor stood and bowed as well. "Thank you again, Mr. Lacrimoso. You have been most kind," he said. "If it's all the same to you," he continued, "I'd like to take my assessment test as soon as possible. No sense in delaying it, in my opinion," Krikor said, folding his hands behind his back.

(Topics that aren't sealed off/locked are still eligible to be posted in, regardless of how long they've been up. This helps to save time as well as to increase the intricacy of the story. However, it's always important to show that time has passed when you've posted in accordance to the story itself.)

---- Several hour Timeskip ----

Yumiy and Krikor made their way down to Tear's office in the Death Chambers from the Dorms. Yumiya knocked on the door, waiting to see if Tear was available, hopefully Krikor being nearby and having not gotten lost during their walk back to the office.

Krikor had stuck close to Yumiya the entire time (though he was fascinated by a lot of the school and was tempted several times to stop and look at things) and was with him when he knocked on the door to Tear's office. "I hope we're not interrupting him," he said. "He seems like the kind of guy whose bad side you don't want to be on."

"Oh!" Yumiya shouted, a bit surprised at how quickly and accurately timed he just so happened to appear. Tear did that a lot, which was kinda weird. "Um, y-yeah..." Being thrown off, he started walking down the stairs behind him, gathering his words as he did. "... I'm... Well, we're here to try to unlock our souls, Mr. Lacrimoso. I feel like I'm ready this time!" He would stop in front of Tear's desk, this time with a face of slight determination. "I don't know what was wrong last time, but something feels really different this time! Like I know I can do it right!"

Krikor followed behind Tear and Yumiya, not saying anything while Yumiya spoke. He hoped that Tear would give Yumiya a try, since he seemed so passionate about it. He knew he would give it his all if Tear gave him another chance -- that's just the kind of person Yumiya was (or so he'd gathered) -- but would it be enough?

Krikor put a hand reassuringly on Yumiya's shoulder. "You can do this, Yumiya," he said, "I know you can."

Yumiya lowered his head after hearing the thorough explanation from Tear about why he couldn't unlock his soul before. He had no idea that it was actually he, himself that was holding his own soul back... Well, how could he when he didn't even know it was possible? But, now with the explanation, it all made sense. He was the one avoiding people. Being reserved. Closing himself off... And thus, that meant that he was also closing off his soul and couldn't have it awakened because he wasn't allowing it to be opened of his own free will. These things were clicking in his head, but it still made him a bit upset to know that it was all his doing and not anything else...

... But Krikor's words of assurance quickly uplifted him, as did his presence in general. Just like Tear said. Suddenly, the weight on his chest had gone away, and he lifted his head with a smile toward Krikor. "Thank you, Krikor. Somehow, that makes me feel like I can, too." He turned to Tear and nodded his head, eyes now filled with determination and fervor. "I'm ready," he said decisively.