George was deep in thought on how to use this to this advantage. He didn’t have the power to confront them and didn’t want to get into any more trouble. So he had to think of a way to get some information without getting himself into too much trouble. After thinking for a couple of minutes he got an idea and started to think if it was possible to execute.

“Grandpa Wilton, what happens the next session day when someone is injured?”

Grandpa Wilton still working in the garden didn’t react and just kept working, George didn’t know why grandpa Wilton was not answering but knew that it had to have a reason. Maybe he knew about the principal's involvement and didn’t want to get involved.

George went inside and decided to look for Tyler, he didn’t want to ask anyone he didn’t trust and out of everyone in the academy he trusted Tyler the most. When he didn’t find him in his room he decided to look for him at the training grounds. Tyler, like Martin, was a hard worker and didn’t like to slack off, he would spend most of his day working on his bow skills or study martial arts in his room. When he reached the training ground he found Tyler working on his bow skills, with a master advising him. Knowing that this kind of sessions cost credit he waited for them to finish.

Tyler was concentrating on the target and listening to the instructor, after a while, he closed his eyes and let go of the arrow. The arrow went straight and for a second appeared to hit a tree in the distance, but when it was about to hit it changed direction and hit the target that was on the right of the tree. The teacher had a smile on his face and was nodding in approval, the students were also watching with amazement and George could see the jealousy in their eyes. George wondered how it would feel to have people look at him like that, but let the thought pass feeling uncomfortable thinking about it.

“I can’t believe he mastered the first three stands in just one month, there is no way master Percy is going to keep ignoring him after this. It’s a shame the annual tournament is only two session months away, he could have entered the top ten with ease if he had another six months.”

Tyler said his goodbyes to the teacher and started to pack to go home. Tyler, unlike George, was a really social person and was on good terms with almost everybody. George had experienced this first hard and knew how comfortable everyone felt in Tyler’s presence. But George also knew that the relationship Tyler had with everyone was really superficial, he didn’t like to talk about personal matters and didn’t have any real friends except George. You could say that they were two very different people who enjoyed each other’s company, George liked how comfortable he was around Tyler, and Tyler liked the intelligent conversations.

When Tyler saw George standing there he got surprised, this was the first time George had visited him on the first day of a session day. But the surprise quickly changed into amusement.

“If it isn’t the party boy, taking drugs and fighting nobles, what a good life we have.”

George had an annoyed look on his face and didn’t know how the rumors had spread so fast. He could imagine the principal sitting behind his desk laughing his ass off.

Tyler seeing George’s reaction started to laugh and pat him on the back. He didn’t believe the rumors and just wanted to tease George. Most newcomers would go wild the first couple of months experiencing freedom for the first time, even Tyler was caught a couple of time drinking, but George and Martin were the only two with no bad habits and their image was squeaky clean. But the real reason the rumors had spread so fast was because of Martin and his background, there were even rumors going around that his father had sent assassins to kill him before he would bring more shame to the family name.

George said his greetings and told Tyler about the incident, but let the part about the principal out. Tyler like him was a newcomer and he didn’t want him to get noticed by the principals.

Tyler was a little jealous of George because of the middle-grade spirit stage refining technique, but he was also happy that George had used it before it was stolen.

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George didn’t want to involve Tyler in his plan and only wanted to ask the question about injuries. He would have asked Martin but he knew that there was no way a commoner could recover from the beating he got in just one session day.

“You really need to follow more classes, don’t tell me you haven’t even gone on a daily hunt?”

Tyler gave a quick sigh seeing George shake his head, he didn’t know why George was wasting his time and not training. He had heard George talk about how martial arts were not his dream and that he didn’t know what he wanted to do yet but he didn’t want to leave George behind when it was time to leave Wine village. So he came up with an idea to make George realize how important martial arts training really is.

“I will tell you what you want to know, but in return I want you to visit the geography class with me tomorrow night.”

Tyler wanted George to know how Nash works and that he needs to work hard if he wants to get stronger and leave Wine town. George didn’t expect Tyler to make such a request but didn’t see the harm of following class, so agreed.

“When you get injured in Nash you not only feel the pain but also get damaged like the real world. The injuries only heal over time and some people are not able to move for months because of injuries. That’s why some people find it easier to die than to let themselves get poisoned or severely injured. But most physical injuries are easy to heal and can be done with pills and cultivation and off course time. Wine village has a building next to the barracks that gives basic treatment for free, it’s run by the Gully clan, they give free medicine to the poor and help the weak when they get Injured in the daily hunt. The Gully clan is truly more generous than the other families.”

George smiled for the first time today and was thinking of how smart the Gully clan was. Not only were they building a good reputation for themselves, they were also making a huge amount of money.

“They don’t do it for the people, they do it to make money. By letting newcomers get free healthcare they are cornering the market, it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. Companies in the old times would give students free tools to let them get accustomed to their product, which meant that when they were done they would buy tools from them for a lifetime, but if they can do a good deed and make some profit, who am I to judge them.”

Tyler found it amusing at how smart George was in everything except martial arts. Not long after that, they reached the infirmary and George asked Tyler to go to the barrack and see if he could find any information about Clara. It was the perfect way to keep Tyler out of the incident with the principal and also ask around about Clara’s whereabouts. Tyler not thinking much about it agreed and told him to meet him here in fifteen minutes.

George entered the Infirmary and to his surprise found a simple building with a couple of rooms. There were around twenty sick people and only four workers, George went to the woman in the first room and was trying to calm himself down.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for a friend of mine, I think Roy brought him in this morning, do you know where I can find him.”

George didn’t expect to find much, there was only a small chance that the boy would be here. The boy had angered the leader and there was a chance he got a good beating after the boys went away empty handed. But there was no downside to trying, best scenario he would find the boy, worst scenario he would go back empty handed.

“Alf is in room nine, the poor fellow got beaten by a magical beast this morning and is heavily injured. The medicine that is healing his bones is working right now and it's best to not disturb him for too long, so please make it quick.”

Hearing the woman confirm his idea George got surprised and a little scared. He just wanted to try something, he didn’t expect to succeed on the first try, but what if it was another person? How was he going to find out if it was the same boy, it wasn’t like he was going to tell him.

George walked to room nine and peeked inside and was shocked by how stupid these people were. He had still the same clothes on from yesterday and George could easily tell that it was the same person. But wat was he going to do now, was he really going to confront him, Should he go back and get Martin? But George remembered the promise he made to himself and didn’t want to be dependent on other people for the rest of his life.

‘calm down, you can do this.’

George took a deep breath and walked into the room and sat on the stool next to the bed, the boy had taken medicine and was clearly in pain. When Alf saw George he got a good scare and it was only the pain that stopped him from standing up.

“Who.. who are you?”

George had a smile on his face but was freaking out on the inside, he had come too far to go back and had to find a way to get the information he wanted without the others finding out he was here. Alf had already got what he deserved and it was only the leader and the other boy he was after.

“Well, I thought I return the favor and visit you like you visited us last night, but it doesn’t look like you’re doing too well right now.”