For a second the kid was silent Everyone was silent Because rather than the kidÆs name everyone in the surrounding area was thinking of the name of the man crouching down and smiling in front of them They stood transfixed held captive by the force contained in that simple question Someone everyone knew that it wasnÆt their place to speak when they were not the subject of that manÆs attention
But finally something in the childÆs chest stirred him to move This time he had been chosen My name is Paine
Nice to meet you Paine Randidly Ghosthound said softly But even if his voice was pitched low the surrounding children all heard him Even Gertrude could barely pull her eyes away from him as he crouched there in front of young Paine There was something about him that seized attention He offered a hand to Pane And it doesnÆt matter who you are or where you come from You are here now And therefore a citizen of Kharon And that means that you get to decide who and what you are and who your family is
Kharon is the place for bold choices ThatÆs why I made it so the city could move DonÆt let anyone tell you what you are or arenÆt
Then the Ghosthound stood He was taller taller than Gertrude had been expecting and covered with wiry muscle His metallic left arm moved as naturally as though it was flesh as he turned to regard the surrounding children His black hair was unruly across his head a testament to his wild nature His eyes were a bright emerald color that was captivating yet somehow chilling as his gaze swept the surrounding area Toward your fellow citizens you should always have respect for their choices Have I made myself clear
The children all nodded as one Gertrude even heard someone gulp audibly
Then the Ghosthound spread his hands wide Above his two palms different images flickered to life There was a brief scene of light filtering through heavy emerald leaves then there was an image of light turning milky and swirling around a dark marble Then there was a chilling dawn rising over a wasteland its rays both a relief and a curse to the creatures that had been struggling to hide in the darkness
GertrudeÆs skin tingled as the image seeped into her body The image was so powerful that she even felt like she could smell the dust of that wasteland It left her in awe True she had exhausted herself for weeks to improve her images to the point where she could just barely pass the Order DucisÆ tests but that was nothing compared to this Her skin was warmed by those rays of light This was Randidly Ghosthound This was why he was the most powerful man in the world
Then the Ghosthound lowered his arms and the image disappeared He grinned around at the surrounding children Light is indeed powerful but anything can be powerful if you work at it for long enough ThatÆs the beauty of images you can share whatever truth in your heart that you possess so long as you focus
His eyes flashed again So make sure you donÆt give up on your convictions
All at once the GhosthoundÆs charismatic gravity vanished The heaviness that he released was abruptly gone The change was so sudden that it was slightly alarming to Gertrude The children around him began to stir as the Ghosthound straightened Then he put his hands on his hips and announced Now if thatÆs all IÆd like the chance to talk with Miss Collins Alone please
The children began furiously whispering to each other Gertrude cursed her own pale face as she felt herself begin to blush furiously ah Is there a problem I believe I didnÆt break any rules in coming here
Randidly Ghosthound chuckled IÆm not here because of rules just to ask you a few questions I need your help
Randidly quickly opened a portal and brought himself and Gertrude Collins away from the whispering children Once they were safely on his island he turned to face the teacher I just wanted to ask you your opinions on KharonÆs current education situation And I think to start IÆd like to know why you didnÆt volunteer when the Order Ducis called for teacher volunteers
ThatÆs why you wanted to talk to me Gertrude Collins seemed shocked Her hands came up and toyed with her silver necklace After a few twists she sighed ItÆs not that I donÆt know I just didnÆt think it would be a good fit for me Working with all this
Randidly raised his eyebrow ItÆs hard to totally believe you when I just watched you use your free time to interact with children Please donÆt feel like you canÆt Randidly abruptly realized that he had quickly brought Gertrude Collins to a floating private island covered in silver mist Honestly she was behaving rather calmly considering the fact that she didnÆt know where she currently was If he wanted honest answers from her perhaps he should adjust the context a bit
Ahem Randidly cleared his throat Follow me
This time Randidly used the PhilosopherÆs Key to open a portal to the outskirts of the Orchard below Due to the rapid slew of construction for the duos competition a constant night fair had emerged on the Southern edge of the Orchard Bright lights flashed from lightbulbs around various carnival games mixed with food stands Scents of oil salt and sugar filled the air Due to the general increase in proficiency for humanity the difficulty of the games had increased sharply Shouts and good natured cursing was a constant companion in that area
Randidly casually walked with Gertrude for a bit She trailed after him casting strange glances his way as they wove their way through the crowd It had started as a way to make the talk more informal but Randidly quite enjoyed this break from work Plus no one here seemed to recognize him despite his bare feet
As his mood improved he allowed himself to grin around and sniff the air Still with Gertrude taking surreptitious looks at him when she thought he wasnÆt looking Randidly followed his nose to purchase a funnel cake covered with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup Then he sat down at one of the many wooden tables in the area and gave Gertrude a long look He held a piece of the funnel cake poised in front of his mouth Let me ask again why didnÆt you volunteer IÆd like an honest answer IÆm asking precisely because I want to improve KharonÆs education system
Really Gertrude seemed stunned Then she smiled bitterly Then I feel somewhat stupid I I didnÆt volunteer because I had seen KharonÆs schoolingÆ and thought it meant that the city didnÆt value its youth I didnÆt just want to be another body that was thrown at the problem the whole system needs to be redesigned IÆm tired of being part of administrations that donÆt care about their students
You really refused just because of a misunderstanding More than bodies what we wanted was people with ideas Randidly thought to himself But he didnÆt vocalize those thoughts Instead he carefully chewed on another piece of warm and sugary fried dough before saying Well in our defense I donÆt think any of us expected to have such a large population of children Considering the survival rate of that age group through the SystemÆs arrival having one fourth of our population needing an education took us by surprise
That makes sense Gertrude took another peek at Randidly and then blushed I IÆm sorry I was just I donÆt know disappointed Kharon Kharon is doing so many things well I donÆt like how much violence is emphasized but its clear you arenÆt trying to turn people into an army You are just trying to give them the tools to defend themselves I was just disappointed to see that education had become the equivalent of independent study
ThatÆs why I wanted to talk to you We only have about ten people with actual teaching experience employed by KharonÆs government considering the number of students Randidly shook his head We DO need bodies But we need more than that I would love your help to refine our teaching philosophy But I want you to know that we arenÆt just going to let students engage in independent study forever Actually IÆve recently been working on a very special project Kharon Academy
Then while Gertrude Collins listened closely Randidly explained the details of Kharon Academy He went through the design and then the purpose before turning to the details Then Gertrude began asking questions questions that were very pointed and relevant Questions that made Randidly realize exactly how far out of his league he was by designing an educational institution