Hashim waited as long as he felt he could before he had to get to class, and to his surprise, many of the other students stayed with him as well, though they quickly got up and began to go once he did, probably realizing as he did that they needed to get to class quickly or they might not be on time.
As he was walking towards his first class, the people around him once again began to part, but they still didn't speak to him. It was actually rather nice, both the silence and the lack of stress from other people trying to have a conversation with him. He had originally planned to play the mysterious and quietly powerful outsider, because he wanted people to stay away from him, but if this worked as well, then perhaps it was worth his vote after all.
Hashim's deepest desires was to be left alone by other people, and he was for whichever plan pointed towards that the most.
What if it contradicts your morals? Gensa wondered.
Welcome to being part of us, Hashim thought grimly. Morals don't factor into the equation.
Living with multiple people, it was impossible to keep a strict moral code, so they didn't. Even when Corpse killed someone, they didn't think it was wrong. They just preferred to keep it away from other people who would, which generally meant at least attempting to make sure that it didn't happen.
The Academy was a strange place, when looked at with that mentality. As long as he could kill someone, or do anything else, for that matter, everyone would look the other way, because they didn't want to be the next target.
Jake was finally roused by this line of thought, and he immediately picked it up.
The strangest part of society is the moral code. It only comes about because everyone agrees on what it is. If there isn't an outside source, I don't know where it could come from. In the end, though, it's only enforced because everyone collectively agrees to allow it to be. Any government, any system, anything can be overthrown if only enough people band together and agree that it must happen. Even the Academy might be overthrown if everyone outside tries at once. Similarly, the rule of power at the Academy states that if you have the power, you can do whatever you want. Everyone is too afraid to challenge that, because if anyone does, they'll be forced into submission by whoever has the power. This is completely ignoring the fact that if they all banded together, they would easily be able to overthrow this hierarchy.
Jake was thrust into control as Hashim faded through his philosophical wondering, and he blinked, taken aback by the light. The sun shone down on him, nearly blinding him, so he quickly stepped forward through the door in front of him. As his eyes, weary from the disuse, adjusted slowly, a sudden noise startled him, and he jerked.
It took him a moment to realize that this sound was the clocktower, whose massive bell rang every hour. He was late, already. On the first class, on the first day of official classes.
Jake hurried through the halls, navigating the maze on memory, but he was only able to get there once Toon was pulled up and guided him.
In all, he was only about ten minutes late, which wasn't a massive portion of class.
But it was enough.
When he pushed open the door, all eyes were on him.
Jake let his eyes wander around the room, suppressing Hashim's panicked grasp for control to activate his ability. It was different from last time. Instead of desks and a single table in the front center, there were tables all throughout the room, one set up in front and the others in place of the desks, with two chairs at each.
He found an empty chair, next to a girl with dark purple hair, the shade of color barely distinguishable from black, and made his way there.
"Care to explain your absence?" the man at the front of the class asked. He was wearing a white coat with numerous marks of different colors, may of which seemed like incorrectly colored burn marks, as though something forgot that they were supposed to be black, and sporting his signature dark blue forearms that easily identified him. He also looked disgruntled at how casual Jake was about being late. Professor Inteugo.
"Not particularly," Jake said, taking a gamble. Inteugo looked at him sharply for a few moments longer, then turned back to the table in front of him, where he had a precarious setup of crystals, wires, and metal.
Wires were an interesting subject. Metal was heated to an extremely high temperature, until it melted into a liquid state, which was the same method used for casting and creating sword, axes, hammers, and all sorts of metal tools and weapons, but instead of being formed by hammer blows and tongs or a mold, it was stretched out, thin enough that it could be bent easily with one's bare hands. It was interesting, to say the least.
Toon arose as the inner monologue went on, and he focused on the assortment of different colored wires, some silvery and some more orange, as well as a few golden wires.
The thing about wires was that when bent, it was difficult to get them back into a straight shape, because of how thin they were. It took a great deal of precision.
Toon picked up one of the wires and slowly bent it, bumping the hand of the girl beside him as he did, then he carefully ran his fingers along it, trying to get it straight again. When he set it back down, he could still see the slight kink where he had bent it. He reached a finger forward and pressed down slowly on it, pushing it down flat against the table.
"Hashim, would you care to tell me what happens when you place a metal plate against a charged crystal?"
Toon's mind barely registered the question, and he didn't pay attention as he answered it.
"The metal's conductive properties stifle the energy inside the crystal by forcing it away from the metal, causing it to glow, or be channeled into whatever escape route it can find. This can be used to push other objects with force if channeled through a specific open area by covering the rest of the crystal in glass, or to light an area with the glow if no other metal touches the crystal, and can serve to empower an individual with an ability, or invoke the color of their ability in their skin's pigment for a short time by overloading their system. If the individual has enough capacity, then the power will be absorbed completely, causing no visual effect except for the draining of the power from the crystal. The ability used to power the crystal seems not to matter, and none of my tests have revealed positive results as to whether or not the original ability can be used through the crystal even with specific channels."
Toon cut himself up, raising the wire admiringly. He had successfully straightened it.
Then he looked around.
Mistake.
Everyone was staring at him, and Hashim receded even more.
Ah, well. Not that it really mattered. Toon looked up at Professor Inteugo. He nodded, turning his head back down and continuing.
"You all have a partner and an assortment of wires. In the time we have, each group will make something out of this. Impress me," he said simply, then went silent.
Toon looked down at the materials in front of him. Twenty wires, two gold, five iron, and thirteen copper, as well as two metal plates and one small crystal, barely powered. Toon thought for a second, then touched the crystal and pushed the rest of his power into it. He didn't need it, after all.
He felt disdain, shock, annoyance, and anger from the others. Useless emotions. Distractions.
He pushed them all back with a pulse of thought and focused back on the pieces in front of him.
Toon picked up one for the sheets of metal and looked at it. It was thin enough to bend. The other one wasn't, at least not easily.
He placed the crystal atop the thick, rigid metal sheet, and it lit up slightly. Then he grabbed one of the copper wires and twisted it around into a spiral, placing that on top of the crystal. Immediately, an upper section of the crystal dulled slightly, and the sides glowed brighter. With enough restriction, it would near the critical point, especially with the extra energy he had pumped into it, and eventually explode its energy outwards along whatever path it could.
The funny thing about metal was that gold would pull power along it while other metals pushed it away. That was why gold was both incredibly valuable, and also almost commonplace in technology because of its necessity.
Toon placed three iron wires on one side of a gold one, then wrapped the bottom of the gold wire around the iron ones to keep them together. Iron was more restrictive than copper, almost completely impossible to bypass, though with enough energy it was possible. Even in the form of a wire, it would be enough to stop this small amount of energy from squeezing out that way.
If he attached this now, it would glow like a lantern that had all the sides but one shuttered.
But he wasn't done. Lighting wasn't quite destructive enough for him.