"Before I tell you what shards are...Let me ask you, do you know what shards are?"
Walking across the stage he stopped, and pointed at a white haired boy. "You. Can you tell me what shards are?"
Avrin, looking at the finger being pointed at him was caught off guard. He felt a bit nervous. He knew he had been heard a moment ago, but the last thing he expected was being called out. With half of his thumb pointed towards himself, he gave a small nod as if asking in confirmation.
"Yes, go ahead."
Avrin knew well about the shards, but right now, all his mind could picture was a blank sky. Focusing on his breath, he tried to calm himself down a little and spoke. "Objects of power."
"And do you know what these objects are?"
"S-shards?" small chuckles echoed in the room.
"But what are shards?" Ren asked staring at Avrin.
Avrin's mind went blank. He knew what shards were, but it just wasn't coming to him.
"No need to be nervous, if you know what shards are, speak freely." Ren said, and started to leisurely stroll across the stage.
"They can be a-anything. I m-mean, any object could be a shard, it's not easy to tell." said Avrin, experiencing a faint tremble in his legs.
Ren stopped strolling, glanced at his students and nodded. "Just as he said- shards can be anything."
He gave an approving nod to Avrin and motioned for him to sit down.
Zeill had watched the faint tremble in Avrin's leg. Afraid of speaking in a crowd...wasn't I the same? and let a small smile cross his face.
He patted the shoulders of now seated Avrin and gave him a smiling nod.
Meanwhile, Ren had already begun explaining about Shards.
"For you to understand what a shard truly entails, let me explain it to you like this...Suppose you became a luminer and an awakened at the same time." Taking his hand out of the pocket, he continued "Let's say you awakened with an ability related to fire."
He paused for a bit, scanned his students faces and asked, "Is fire alright? Or would you like some other ability as example?"
Receiving their approving nods, he continued, "Alright. So, let's assume you awakened with an ability to create fire...How much fire do you think you will be able to create for the first time?"
Hoping to receive some answers, he glanced around.
"Not much."
Hearing this he continued, "Yes, not much...embers probably, it will be the extent of your ability, at least initially. Now let's assume you awaken with a bloodline, and it had a lineage tied to fire...How much better grasp would you have at your fire?"
"Better than awakener's?" a student from the front row replied.
"Not necessarily" Ren replied. "Let me give you a small overview...Awakeners...all are not the same." Taking a small pause to assemble his words he continued.
"It is possible that you gain an ability related to fire, while someone else might also awaken an ability that produces fire- but of much higher concentration. Are you understanding what I am trying to entail?" He asked the class.
There was a silence in the class. Looking at their confused expressions, he sighed and started again.
"Let's just say, you awaken an ability related to fire and your friend also awakens with a similar ability, both of you can create embers, right?" He asked, and without waiting for an answer spoke again.
"Two years down the line, you are able to wrap your body in flames, but your friend can wrap an area of two meters around him in flames...Both of you trained with equal efforts...so why is his fire more powerful?"
He let the question hang in the air, awaiting a response.
"Bloodlines."
"It's a possibility, any more guesses?"
"Shard?"
"could be, any more?" He waited a few seconds..."no-"
"Difference in abilities." a voice replied.
Ren looked at the black haired boy and nodded, "Yes, its the intrinsic difference in abilities." He started to pace slowly across the stage.
"No two abilities are exactly alike. There will always be a difference, but, the initial point of every ability is fairly low. On a scale of ten, the awakeners abilities initial power ranges from one to three, on the lower ends. As for bloodlines, depending upon their rarity, they can take up to six, some even seven."
Letting the information sink in for a while he continued.
"Now let's come back to shards. Someone possessing a shard... can start with seven to ten times the initial power of an awakened."
The gasps of amazement Ren was hoping to hear felt underwhelming. So, he raised his brows and asked "Not impressive enough?"
The sounds of murmur filled the hall.
After a moment, Galen spoke "Is it really worth to give it such a mythical treatment?"
"Of course... you don't think so?" Ren questioned Galen with a small chuckle.
"I-I mean, if it's just the starting point...then, won't their edge weaken over time?" Galen inquired in a hesitant tone.
The smile on Ren's face didn't waver. "No." He said.
Taking his sweet time, he asked."Tell me, What is a shard?"
Caught off guard by the question, Galen replied uncertainly "an object of power?"
"It is, but what exactly are the shards?" He asked the entire class.
The room fell into dead silence.
He sighed. "There is far too much about shards to be understood in just half an hour."
He resumed walking across the stage, "You all know about aether right?"
Hearing a collective "yes" he continued.
"There are many theories that go around. Some say it was aether that condensed and solidified to form shards. Others believe it was shards from which aether came into existence. And then, there are some who argue, that shards are the very sentience of aether."
He moved towards the board and started to scribble.
"Doesn't that mean shards are alive?" Matt spoke to the other three.
"I have no idea." Galen admitted.
Zeill still staring at the board, said, "No need to think too hard, it's just the first day."
On the board Ren drew four shapes. An uneven splinter of rock, some sort of stick?, a ring, and...a fruit?
Finishing the not so accurate images, Ren walked to the front and said "What do you see?"
Hearing different responses fill up the air, "These," Ren said, cutting through the noise, "are all shards."
Without waiting for this information to settle in he said, "A shard can be anything, maybe it's something in this room, you won't be able to know."
He waited for a moment as if reminiscing, and added in a quieter tone "I have only firsthand witnessed the power of shard once."
A distant look crossed his face.
"Have you heard of Umbra?"
A collective "yes" echoed the room.
"He has the shard which gives him an ability called 'Ethereal physique'."
He let the curiosity build for a while and said, "What are it's exact powers or limitations? I have no idea...but...when I fought him-"he paused, his expressions started to darken as if he had recalled something unpleasant.
"I found it very troubling to land a hit"
His brows furrowed, reminiscing the memory, "His body...it distorted- as if it wasn't bound with the same rules as rest of us."
A hush had fallen over the class.
Not giving the class any chance to dig deeper into the topic, Ren continued "Anyway, what i meant to say was...It's not just about the initial edge. It's the quality of abilities- and the fact that a shard doesn't just add power. It merges with your own."
His glance shifted towards Galen and he said in a quieter tone. "That is why, shards are mythical."