Students
Entheo merely leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes as his head rested against the wall. A man with wild hair, an unkempt beard and heavy set figure stood up and raised his hand. "Should we be worried about another attack? I mean, there is no assurance that if that happens again we will be safe."
There was a mutter that floated through the crowd. "I thought this was a high grade institution. Why don't we have better security?"
Its unfortunate not everyone can be strong or cleaver. Maybe then they wouldn't have to worry about their own safety.
Its not that Entheo. Your not the strongest in the city, even with me and Custard together. You have an intimate understanding of mortality and its consequences. These people are feeling death's gentle hand touch their backs for the first time in a while, and its a cold feeling.
Another hand was raised. "Professor. Aren't you scared?"
LawrenceHe looked, at each and every one of them, and finally closed his eyes. His tone, his heart, he was laying it all bare in the most honest of ways. Maybe that is why it was possible to trust him. He didn't sweeten his words with false anondynes.
"There is no way to tell anymore. Those born here might not know the feeling, but many of us were all stripped from our worlds and thrown into an illogical situation. If this world has a will, it probably doesn't follow natural conventions... that includes the law of the fittest. It doesn't matter how strong you are, there will always be something ready to take you down and try to devour you."
Hey...It was hard to tell... unless you had the eye to see even the subtlest movements. But there was only one person here who had that ability. That's why he could see that ashen man, shaking and clutching at the desk. Why was he trembling?
"I am scared. To be honest, I can't stop shaking. The trauma of losing something precious, the shame of having one's dignity stripped away... I know that feeling too well. I am a coward. Sometimes, even the mightiest of lions falls prey to terror. But to live... to thrive... is to overcome that fear."
His words echoed through the auditorium. There was a conviction to them, a resolve that simply couldn't be denied. And yet, even a man like this will admit that his heart will waver. But even so, that shaking... was it truly fear?
What changes the nature of a man?
"The fact that innocent people had to face that trauma is unforgivable... I can promise nothing of an uncertain future.
But I swear on my life, on every drop of blood in my marrow, that the ones responsible for this will not touch a hair of my pupils again."