Many had initially set eye at the mission regarding the Petrifying Monster. Mainly because of the handsome reward it promised. Yet only a handful decided to pursue it after finding out that the underlying task it required was too troublesome to complete.
Most of the students abandoned the idea right at their first try simply because they did not have the luxury of time to take on burdensome mission when all they were after were to earn a few merits.
They reckoned that with the Annual Assessment closing in, it was better to take simpler missions so they could focus more on their studies afterward.
Moreover, upon doing further research, Audrey and Steve found out that there were rarely any written record about the said monster.
In fact, the only text that mentioned it was the same folklore Allan was talking about and it goes without saying that this lack of information was not playing well on their adv
Just as when they were losing hope and was starting to think that they were lacking out of luck, someone useful arrived and came handy."Look who we have here?"The man said with a drawl before he leaned his shoulder at the edge of a shelf nearest to him."I wonder what brings the two of my favorites students in the library this late at night and on a weekend at that."He insinuated further and almost immediately, the two youngsters were brought to their feet to greet the other party back."Good evening, Professor Morgan."Audrey and Steve said almost in sync with one another; low and behold it was no other than their teacher who coincidentally specialized in Beasticology!"Oh come on, kiddos! No need to be so formal. There is just the three of us here."Professor Morgan insinuated with a big bright smile; a dent on h
After leaving the library, Audrey and Steve walked back to their dorm in silence. Initially, Audrey thought that part of the reason why the other party volunteered to go with her was that he wanted to talk to her in private.So she was totally unnerved on their first few hours at the library. Thinking that Steve would question her for her secret. However, to her surprise, Steve acted like he did not discover something about her!Only after realizing that her friend has no intention at all of asking further question regarding her secret and that they were there purely for research, did she felt relieved."I am glad you are taking my secret too well."Audrey started to strike a conversation. They were still a long way home so she believed air would soon turn awkward if they continue the silent treatment."Well, whether you are Audrey or Andrew, you are still the same you and it doe
"Our respectable school guardian, forgive us if our presence have offend you in any way. But we humbly ask for your help. We came here because we need------"Before Steve could even finish saying his piece, the oak tree already interrupted him mid sentence."Okay, just say the password. Let us just get this over, real quick."Clearly, the tree wanted to dismiss the group as soon as he could as such he no longer entertained their pleasantries and cut them straight to the point."No. You don't understand. We're not here for the exit."Allan retorted followed by Jace"We wanted you to tell us everything we need to know about the Land of Dawn. We were told you are from that place and the insight you could provide us can be useful in our next mission."Seeing that the school guardian had no desire to listen to them while they were beatin
One thing among the many commendable aspects of Iridos was that it was very transparent when it came to its school records. Anyone who has the time to spare in learning where, when, and how things were acquired by the school could visit the library anytime they wanted and check it for themselves. It was no exaggeration to say that every bit of information was made readily available for those who would seek it. As long as one was diligent enough, they were bound to find the answer they were looking for. Of course, Audrey's group searched thoroughly even dividing their member into smaller groups so that they could work efficiently as well as make sure that by the end of the day, no book was left unturned Thus, with the group's combined effort, it did not take that long before they finished going through every inventory record that stretched back to the founding of the school. "Found it!" Steve announced after a short while, waving a folder that contained the details regarding the b
"I must say, it was quite an impressive feat how Mr. Hefetus was able to start his own workshop at such a young age." Audrey could not help but commend after reading a book detailing the other party's achievement and Niccoli seconded her afterward by stating his own praise. "Not only that, he also managed to make himself a household name in the field of weapon making on top of it. His business was booming and it was evident by how Steelfire Emporium was always overflowing with customers." It was no secret that Niccoli and his brother, Nike, were both sword enthusiasts. After all, it was their go-to weapon during practice combat. Their mastery of sword art granted them a fascination with fine steel. As such, it only made sense that they had already heard about the said shop. However, it was only a pity though that despite hailing as a prince from their own respective kingdom, they still could not afford to buy a weapon from Hefetus since wielding a sword forged from his shop was a
Asking around within Brujeria for the direction of how to get to their current destination, the group managed to pick up useful intel from other shop owners along the way. "He and his automatons monopolized the production of many if not all the magical items available in the market inside their Steelfire Emporium." Said one of the older folk they interrogated and judging from the way he sounded as well as his expression, it was not hard to infer that he was quite bitter about it. "Believe me when I say that guy was an oddball. Could you believe how stupid he was? I heard that the guy was once recruited to teach at Iridos but he declined the schoolmaster because he claimed that he preferred doing business to teaching." Another one interjected when she heard who they were talking about and before Audrey could even know it, more and more shop owners around the square expressed their own opinion. It was clear for all eyes to see how unhappy these people were about Hefetus. They sure h
Audrey's group took a great deal of time, before they were even granted entry to the said shop. Apparently, people have to wait in long line just to get inside. That was how highly demanding and thriving the business was. They were never short of customers considering that Steelfire Emporium was known for its fine metal works. As a matter of fact, by the time their group were finally able to enter the shop, it was already sunset. The shop also happened to stop accepting customer around that time. This goes to say that their group would serve as the last customer of the shop. "Goodness gracious! Thank the heaven we got in before closing hours." Niccoli exclaimed while others also heaved a sigh out of relief when they realized how they almost not made it in time to the cut off. On the flip side, those other unfortunate customers who fell behind the line could only swallow their discontent and hope to get better luck tomorrow. Meanwhile, wandering their eyes around the shop the stu
Audrey, on the other hand could only slapped her forehead afterward while Nike used his very own hand to cover his brother's mouth before it could even utter another nonsense. Jace and Allan could only avert their gaze in an attempt to pretend like they heard nothing. While Steve quickly reached out to his pocket and while clearing his throat, he surreptitiously passed something to Lancelot. "We do apologize for everything, we really do. I hope you could be the bigger person here. Albeit looking normal, that friend of ours was a little unwell." He whispered softly so that only Lancelot could hear and not Niccoli. Allan, on the other hand, who was closest to them at the moment heard everything so he seconded his friend's claim. "We had long suspected that he has a few loose screw over here..." He insinuated while gesturing something in his head before adding, "So please understand his situation." "Indeed. Just look how innocent he looked after saying those things. Clearly, he mea
[Distract them for me.]“Was it not only right for Steffi to get to use to eye whenever she feels like it?? I mean, she is older than the two of you so naturally, she was supposed to have more authority above both of you, no?.”“Ehhh… She’ll be fine. I’m the youngest so they should let me wear it more.” (Meredith)“The kid is right. The eldest should have the eyeball. She is a genius” (Steffi)Steve, on the other hand, seemed to get what Audrey was trying to do, so he said something that would surely add fuel to the fire.“But what about the middle child? I am sure, Ariel wants to have her turn too.&rdqu
“Now, where are we? Right, cooking.”Steffi changed the topic on purpose, before turning to her sisters.“I need the eye to check if it's ready, who has it?”“It’s around here, somewhere,”Meredith replied as she started to rummage through a pile of disorganized drawers. She felt obliged to respond since she was the last one to use the Magus Eye. Unfortunately, she forgot where she left it.“The last time I saw it, you put it in the utensils compartment, Meredith” Steffi insinuated using a lazy tone so the other party rebutted,“Don’t use that tone with my name.”Ariel on the other hand joined in this time to inform them that the eye was nowhere to be seen.“It’s not there this time.”After a while of contemplation, Meredith’s face lit up as she recalled something.“Aha! Steffi always put it in the dish cabinet:”And just like that, she found where her sister was hiding it.Consequently, the group found it interesting to watch how the three sisters could be talkative without having t
“I agree with Ariel. Why don’t we invite them over? This way, we could continue our chat there whilst they take their much-needed rest.” This time, it was Meredith who spoke and she deliberately told her sisters this. Nonetheless, she has spoken the words loud enough to be heard by others. The students, on the other hand, were beyond ecstatic when they overhear the ongoing conversation. But decided that it would be best not to allow their emotion to show on their faces. At this point, Meredith turned to the group and greeted them with a bow. “Let me apologize on my sister’s behalf. The thing is, it has been a while since we had visitors. As such, we are no longer accustomed to receiving guests.” She insinuated before she slowly approached the bunch of bewildered youngsters; careful not to bump her toe as she felt her way through the darkness. Her blindness was made obvious by her action and it made her appear pitiful to any onlooker. Truth be told, the Grae’s current act of displ
“Seriously, when will they stop obsessing over Cercei?”Tsking in annoyance, Steffi stealthily moved her slender fingers next to the Magnus Eye with the full intention of taking it back from her younger sister’s possession.“These people were getting on my nerves!”She purposely added this to appeal to her sisters’ sentiment so that their minds could focus somewhere else and they would not notice it once she started hogging the magic eye all for herself again. Meanwhile, her plan worked, as it always did. Ariel readily agreed to her and with a voice full of despondency, she said,“That’s how the mage community works. They fear what they could not understand and so they are set on destroying anything that they cannot control.”Ariel finished with an exasperated sigh. Meredith, on the other hand, could not help but clenched her fist as she was reminded of their good friend’s plight. Then with her brows knitted together, she roared,“The gal did not deserve all this hatred.”Meanwhile, t
On the flip side, rewinding the clock a tad, just a few minutes before Audrey’s group discovered that they unknowingly fall under a spell, the Graes were already watching them. “The eye! Who has the eye?” Meredith, the youngest, shouted at the top of her lungs. Steffi, on the other hand, stepped away from the giant cauldron before answering. “Over here. I had it with me.” She purposely put a safe distance between her and her two sisters before taking the eye out from her pocket. Afterward, she put the eyeball inside her empty socket. Meanwhile, Ariel, the middle child among the three sisters complained, “You again? You are always snagging our eyes by yourself.” “I know right? Give us a chance as well.” Meredith seconded. But Steffi only rolled her removable eye and mumbled, “Oh, shut up! Stop whining, it's because I have more use of this than the two of you combined.” Ariel no longer argued. But Meredith was different. “Give me that, it is my turn today.” She insinuated and
“But this was done in consideration of what was the lesser evil. News about how the petrifying monster has been terrorizing the Black Forest had already reached the ears of the masses and as a result, was causing mayhem among the people; both non-magic and magic practitioners alike. If it was not for that, the mage community would not make a move.” “Terrorizing, you say.” The Grae mockingly repeated Niccoli’s word that struck her noggin the most. Then with a contemptuous scoff, she added, “What an interesting choice of words considering that it was you, students, who made the first move against her. If you were to ask me, I think it is more accurate to say that it was the other way around. You all are the ones doing the terrorizing. You brought the melee with you and now that she retaliated, you turned her into a villain?” Everyone fell silent afterward but it was not because they were trying to come up with better arguments to refute the other party’s words. Rather, it was due to
Audrey was on her dormitory bed when all that happened, and she was absolutely oblivious to the problem that was headed her way. Meanwhile, the results of the examination were announced on the third day. The students gathered around the square early in the morning and crammed in front of the announcement board to check their results. They also wanted to find out which class they had been allocated to. Niccoli dragged Audrey into the heavily obstructed crowd and finally came before the Herbalist Division’s announcement board. Niccoli immediately found their names, and as expected, both of them had obtained the highest marks for the test. They were also allocated to the Herbalist Division’s violet class for that autumn enrollment. Niccoli was also excited to see the name ‘Andrew’ written on the top of the list. Everyone envied her marks. “Andrew! You are the first! You are the first!” Niccoli was extremely surprised and held onto Audrey’s shoulder. He was very excited, and it was as i
[Alright, I must admit it’s my fault this time. My bad.] “As you should!” Ultimately, Nero acknowledged the part he played in inciting the agitated hut to action. But he also did not forget to let Audrey know that he did not appreciate her tone. [Needless to say, raising your voice is completely unnecessary. Besides, getting mad at me won’t change anything, will it? You’re kind of embarrassing me, just you know.] The cat tried to reason out but with her and her friends’ lives at stake and almost put in danger, Audrey did not back away easily this time. “Oh yeah? Then swear to me that from now on, you will be mindful of your choice of words. We have to be careful with every word we are saying because it was not every time that we got a chance to take it back.” Meanwhile, Nero’s response came shortly. However, it was so brief. Moreover, it did not sound sincere either. [Okay. I promised] So Audrey prompted the cat to state the matter precisely because she did not want him to circ
“What if the Graes already took notice of us as soon as we entered their perimeter and right now, we are under a spell; making our eyes play a trick on us? What if what we are seeing right now is not real?”“Well, if that is the case, then I guess there is only one way to check it.”Audrey insinuated and without wasting another breath, she said the passphrase."Turn your back to the forest, your front to me."Slowly, it dawned on the others as well what was possibly happening and so without waiting to be told what to do, they recited the same thing too."Turn your back to the forest, your front to me."They whispered into the air one after another and almost immediately, the landscape changed into something else, right before their naked eyes.Everyone watched with an awestruck face as the trees turned into fences. At the same time, just a few feet away from where they were standing, they noticed how an empty lot from moments ago started to morph into what seemed to be an inconspicuou