CHAPTER 6 : A BRIEF TOUR

Once class had finished, Lucius and Morgana made their way towards the cafeteria where Jaiga had been waiting for them. This much like before was done out of a sense of duty, only this time she no longer felt the need to carefully inspect Lucius and in particular his hands (which she feared would have been used to commit carnal acts of lust), as she had already confirmed that he held some degree of discipline.

Additionally, a certain elf would be joining them, one who looked around the cafeteria before shooting a swift hand gesture to the trio. As the three newcomers gathered around her, Jaiga could not help but smile at the group. Despite her aversion to the male sex in general, she still wished the best for them, and wanted the band of new students to become companions.

Eyebrows raised and head tilted, Lucius’s face was full of distaste at the elvish interloper. “Oh, so you’re here Harux.” he greeted. His eyes cold as ice as he scanned the elf from head to toe, it seemed that their road to friendship would be a long one indeed.

“Lucius!” Morgana whispered in protest, elbowing him lightly as if to scold him.

Her disapproving expression changed into one of earnest welcome, her head angled towards Harux in friendliness.

“Sorry we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Morgana Wittford, this is Lucius Mortius, and this is Jaiga al Heilwis.”

Spoken in an affectionate tone, Morgana hoped to establish the advantage of amicable relations.

“Indeed, I extend my salutations to you, Harux.” Jaiga addressed, offering a handshake which Harux accepted eagerly.

“Nice to meet you!”

Though she may have seemed like a lady, he could tell that her hands were that of a warrior, strong and firm.

Still, Harux wasn’t satisfied. Wishing to see more from his potential rival, he strengthened his grip.

Their hands caught in a deadlock as both refused to yield in what was now becoming a contest of strength, Harux extended a single offer to a fellow fighter.

“Hey Jaiga, How about a duel?”

“Oh?” Amazed at his straightforwardness, Jaiga meditated over it for a second. “Perhaps another time, there are other people that I must attend to after all.”

“Fine then,” Harux agreed, somewhat disappointed.

She would have taken the offer up any other time, but seeing that there were people of whom she had the responsibility to guide and show around the school, Jaiga figured that it would have been disrespectful to keep them waiting.

Reluctantly, Lucius also offered Harux his hand, afterall, he had a reputation to uphold as the CEO of Mortius Industries.

“Greetings Harux, I am Lucius Mortius.”

“Oh, I’ve seen you before on TV!” Harux replied enthusiastically, having heard of his existence before. “Are you strong? How about we have a duel!”

“N-no thank you,” Lucius answered, slightly taken aback.

Although more than capable of posing a competent opponent, the sheer notion that they would turn to brawling for no apparent reason than the pleasure of it unnerved him.

Was there anyone normal in this school? Anyone with even a smidgen of common sense?

“Well then, let us part, shall we?'' Jaiga commented. With a nod coming from each of the students, she led the trio out of the canteen, beginning the school tour.

At a modest pace, she took Lucius, Morgana and Harux for a walk about the place, as they visited a variety of different rooms throughout the large building complex. Comprised of two buildings, the first toured remained to be quite standard. There was an auditorium the size of the movie theatre, the teachers department, and facilities for the more mundane arts, of music, painting and combat.

Although not entirely banal or dreary as one accustomed to the atypical might assume, it nonetheless paled in engrossment to what was to come. Treading upon a path of decomposed granite, their fascinations were realized as explored its perimeters. Embodying a mixture of the arcane and contemporary, Jaiga took great pride in showcasing the giant wooden library that spanned several floors, the summoning room filled with tools to conduct rituals for monsters, a large workshop littered with gadgets and tools (which caught Morgana’s attention), and several more until finally they reached their destination, one intentionally saved for last as a result of not only proxemics, but also because it was simply her favorite.

A small black gate situated in the entrance of a nearby forest. They had spent only a couple of minutes to get there and once they had arrived, they could see what appeared to be a small house set not far behind it.

Whatever reason this place had for being quite a while away, they would soon find out.

Key in hand, Jaiga opened the gate, offering bits of insight and the like before leading them to the house. The finer details now more intrinsically evident, the four took time to take it in. If one were to attach a description to the house, it would have been perceived as being the self-embodiment of the agrarian idyll. Cozy, yet large enough to house a merry bunch of adventurers and romantics, it seemed as if it was transported straight out of some high fantasy movie.

In fact, it was the type of house Lucius would invest in for post-retirement purposes, which given his high expectations, should have served as some indication of its brilliance.

Only for the illusion to be wholly shattered with the utterance of a single line.

“Oy, who da hael aies it?” a disgruntled old voice rang out, a tone filled with what could be assumed to be either annoyance or curiosity.

Ah, more free spirited individuals, Lucius thought with mild displeasure.

Stiffening up, Jaiga held her hands to her mouth to form the shape of a cone.

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“It’s me Jaiga, I have come to collect my equipment with a few new companions of mine.”

“Aight, gimae a few seconds ye?” The sound of heavy footsteps on wood flooring approaching closer and closer, the man behind the door was closing the distance.

It may have been a school of weirdos, but Lucius secretly clung on to the hope that he would be able to locate at least some like-minded individuals.

How unfortunate for him that he would not find it here, as this door, like the others before it, flew open with a kick. What was with kicking doors open in this school? Some kind of exotic tradition he wasn’t aware of?

Rather than scrutinize their antics further, he instead cast his gaze upon who the person was.

The form the anomalous entity took here was that of a large hill dwarf. Most likely in his late forties, his upper body was distinctly removed of fabric, revealing his simultaneous possession of a mild gut and thick muscles, along with a jolly beard any man would be jealous of, one scraggly yet trimmed, yet unkempt in the fact that it was liberated from any societal norm and ran far longer than usual. This with his beaming smile, gave an overall impression of friendliness.

Though admittedly, his distinct lack of clothing did catch Morgana and Lucius off guard, with Harux supposing that it might have some tactical utility in terms of aerodynamics.

“Meet Koben, he’s the school’s master blacksmith,” she declared with confidence and enthusiasm.

A laugh erupted in response, the dwarf’s arm wrapped around the knight, as they shared a hearty chuckle together before making way for the others to come in. Off put by this unexpected shift in attitude, Lucius gave himself a few seconds of repose before he entered inside

It’s hot here…

The first thing they all noticed was the distinct shift in temperature, enough to secrete immediate discomfort, the lot took a moment to acclimate. Unfortunately for them, temperature wasn’t the only factor in their discomfiture, as the distinct smell of coal dust and molten iron promptly began to fill their nostrils.

Beginning to perspire, Morgana touched the front of her forehead, only to be met with a glaze of sweat covering her hand. If two things were certain, it was that this place was hot, and dry at that too, as if the whole living space was a sauna.

The others disappearing from sight, she quickly picked up the pace and saw what the others had for herself.

Impressed, her heart had been won over by the moment's notice.

Thanks to a conveniently placed wooden sign that hung above the doorway, Morgana recognized the place to be dubbed as ‘THE Forgery’ with an emphasis on the ‘THE’ given its full capitalization and golden engraving.

It was a large open room of metal and more metal, housing several forges and equipment of types she had never seen before. Those weapons that had been hung around the room, included but were not limited to, spears, swords, whips, and even guns of all things!

Now inside the forge room, Koben seemed to be foraging about, his calloused hands digging through heaps of precious loot. While she was about to offer some form of assistance, the triumphant expression he now held dissuaded her from such. A large wooden box lifted up by its leather handle, it jangled with each step being taken. Leading Morgana to be unable to help but wonder what was inside it.

With a smile, Morgana had found herself oddly immersed in what was around her, specific details becoming apparent to her. She saw in one place a Shaksha, a distinctly Crilandese guardless backsword, and in another a peculiar Mk-III incendiary grenade, a modification of the latest model by UBORA Corp. If she could, she would have spent much more of her time ogling at what was there, but duties held her from doing so, and it seemed that things would progress soon enough.

“Ay, ere ye go lassie,” Koben said, handing the large box to Jaiga. Taken in her hand she said a quick thank you before she headed out.

With a sigh, and a dismayed sway of her body, Morgana made way to follow Jaiga.

“Oh ye, I fergot,” the man called out. “Ye three ar takin the practical classes aight?”

“Indeed, you are correct,” Lucius replied.

“Well then, eye ave a little mission for ye,” Koben stated, his arms crossed.

“Back in the forest I get a few grapevines setup, and I think I saw a few movin’ vines”.

Hallucinations from being stuck in this hot hellhole? Lucius supposed.

“These moving vines ye, well, they were snatching me grapes!” Koben continued, shaking his head with much dismay at the notion that an organism would even conceive of robbing him of his beloved grapes. Morgana, in this saw an opportunity, not only could she aid the poor fellow in the protection of his purple pebbles, but she may have been able to kindle a future relationship!

“Anyway, am gunna be real busy the next few days so I wuld preciate it if you would get raed of it”.

“A grape eating monster!” Harux exclaimed. “Let’s kill it immediately!” Unable to control himself when it came to the idea of fighting a strong being, Harux’s excited voice made Lucius raise an eyebrow. Slightly concerned with the first proposal being murder and the vitality that came along with it, he hoped that the premonition he had would not inevitably apply to him and the rest when Harux became disinterested by primitive life forms.

“Okay Mr. Blacksmith! We’ll try to get it done,” Morgana declared with equally high amounts of energy, much to the surprise of the people around her.

“I like ye spirit yer two! Eenyways don’t worry bout it too much, ef it’s too troublesome for you lot I’ll just take me shotgun and kill it meself.” With that he had finished. Now all that was left was to follow Jaiga.

A few steps in her egress, Morgana’s head turned. Interest in this place having gotten the better of her, she could not help but take one final look at the forgery, thereby also seeing the blacksmith himself.

Huh? She thought she had sensed something odd earlier, but she was only now beginning to realize what that was, inspecting him, the man held no trace of any sweat on his body. Introspective, she did recall that the man seemed rather unperturbed by it all, his breath steady, and his body clear of any redness despite presumably having spent hours in there, the whole ordeal seemed a bit odd. Keeping a mental note, she quickly followed the others outside.

In view of the encroaching end of their tour, Lucius would conduct formal protocol.

“Thank you for the tour, Jaiga, it was extremely interesting,” Lucius said, the tone of a businessman apparent. “Should we head for dinner?”

“Yes, t-thanks Jaiga,” Morgana stuttered in an attempt to convey her genuine enjoyment.

Jaiga, aware of her pleasure, saw no great issue. Content with the way Lucius treated her, and their overall nature, she retracted her initial impressions.

“Thank you for the offer, but I have other matters to attend to. But before that, you should take these.”

And thus, she handed each student a key to their room before walking away, happy to have collected her weapon from the blacksmith and fulfilling her duty. The remaining three would then make their way towards the cafeteria, the setting sun an attestation to the desire of a filled stomach.

On a path through the well placed road, a tint of excitement was exhibited in Harux’s eyes.

“Why don’t we go kill the demon creature now!” he proposed, as if that was clearly the logical thing to do. His tone was not unlike the one used by a young child demanding for a new toy.

Concerning, he views killing as a child would a game. Now aware of his peculiar inducements, Lucius would keep a mental note to verify the existence of mental support facilities in this academy. If worse came to be, he would give them a ring and propose a series of incisions on Harux’s brain.

“Maybe tomorrow, we shall see,” Lucius answered.

The individual’s whose hearts were set on nourishment and sustenance, now had ample time to process the day they had undergone. Odd as it were, none of the facilities in the school held any scanners or similarly natured commodities. Protected by nothing, save for remoteness and trees, the natural deduction was that magic had been the security at play, ah magic, the end all solution to every minor peripheral problem...

Had it not been for the scent of food at hand, they would have contemplated it more.