After being teleported outside, Lia happily greeted the others, grinning while rubbing the top of her head.

"Nice one!" Raufon laughed, hugging her while Sion came up, patting her shoulders.

"You too!" Lia laughed, flashing a thumbs up at Sion, "You were fast!"

"Thanks~! It was a team effort!"

"Yeah!" Raufon agreed, "Damn, it was scary, but… it was a good lesson; the Headmaster spoke to us afterward; I think I have a new respect for him. Anyway, you should have seen Louise when she was sent out; I never saw someone cry so hard! It was awkward!"

"Khm!" Came a cough from afar, as Louise, with puffy, red cheeks and eyes, looked sulky at them, surrounded by laughing friends from the Misfits.

"How's the rest?" Simbad asked as he also appeared, applying some kind of ointment onto his arm that previously was pretty mangled.

Just after asking, another group appeared, belonging to Keily, who was happily laughing, holding a golden egg in his hands.

"Pretty well, I see!" Aurora wrote, turning up from nowhere and rubbing Lia's head with a big smile.

She wasn't wrong. By the time it was late afternoon, the last group also appeared, belonging to Koadriana, holding another egg. When in the night, the announcement was made that in this year's Egg Hunt, the House of Misfits swept everything, obtaining all the Golden Eggs, it sent the Academy into an uproar. Nobody was interested if they did it by working with others, as the fact that all eggs ended up in their hands was unprecedented. None of the organizations by the students ever managed to do something like this.

The Misfits were having a party back at their tower. The front garden was filled with tables, and a big fire was roaring in the middle as everyone was barbecuing and having a great time. What they did not understand why was that sometimes, the food was gone from the end of their rotisserie until they noticed that Stumpy was in flames, burrowed under the logs and ash, eating the done food straight from their rotisserie, enjoying the party the most out of everyone.

Those who were 4th-year students, like Sion, were the other party who enjoyed it at least the same as it was the best sendoff to their four years and a good relaxation before their final exam. Lia tried to keep up and flutter between all her groups, speaking with everyone and congratulating all of them. Still, in the end, she settled into Koadriana's lap, falling asleep with a pleasant and satisfied smile. Which was gone the following day after reading the message sent out by Lucian to all teachers and students in the Academy.

"After deep consideration and in agreement with the Student Council, the student-led organization, known as 'Misfits,' are now forbidden from attending ANY Institute hosted competition with more than one group. Effective immediately."

"..." Lia was reading it with an incredulous expression, the muffin in her left hand stopping halfway to her mouth, dripping from the coffee she was dunking it in. "What in the Undead?!" She shouted, shaking up everyone at the table on the bottom floor.

"What now…?" Raufon moaned, looking worse for wear than after appearing out of the competition yesterday. "My head hurts…"

"Did you read it?!" Lia groaned, huffing and puffing like a miniature dragon while Stumpy was sneaking behind her, slurping up the muffin she had just dropped, pointing at the others. "Did any of you read… THIS?!"

"Read what?" Sion asked, also moaning, fighting with a similar hangover as Raufon.

"We are being regulated." Aurora wrote, leisurely spreading jam on her toast.

"Good, at least we don't need to work so hard next year." Koadriana yawned.

"Boss! Did you read it?!" Arrived Keily, rushing down from upstairs, who was just as outraged as Lia. "Oh… you did." He stopped, looking at her fuming face.

"What did you expect?" Ceiline asked, coming in from the outside, wearing gardening clothes, wiping her sweaty forehead, and looking like the epitome of an innocent farmer girl. "I was expecting it."

"Why didn't you say so?" Lia asked, groaning again, turning towards her, biting into thin air as she did not notice the muffin dropping from her hands. Stumpy was already at the other end of the table, standing on his hind legs, looking at the others' plates, and trying to steal more food.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"And you would have listened. Sure." She answered, rolling her eyes. The past year made her fully settle with the group, and by now, all of her previous reservations were gone, completely opening up before them, even starting to act as the group's nanny, especially after Stumpy was taken in. It awoke some kind of… maternal side in her, it seemed. "It was best to let you do it, and then you can face the consequences. Rejoice! You all earned big fame for our group!"

“But… but…” Lia tried to come up with something without much success.

"It is what it is!" Koadriana said, munching on a toast with egg and ham on it. "It isn't that bad! We could have been obstructed from all competitions! Now we just need to selectively send our members and make them win. That is all!"

"Hauh… I wanted to win everything next year… all the competitions…." Lia murmured, her head resting on the table, looking like she was about to burst into tears while Keily stood beside her, trying to console his leader.

"You know no limits, do you?" Sion chuckled, "Tsk… I'll miss the school."

With that, everyone fell silent, looking at him, while he just smiled, saying nothing more, knowing only a few weeks were remaining before he should graduate and step out into the big world… to start his new life as a stud…

…

….

……

"It is good to be out!" Razael stretched, enjoying the summer sun, standing in his mother's garden.

"You all are clean, and I need your help." Reyra stood next to her son, looking at him apologetically.

"Ahaha, sure!" He grinned, leaning forward, picking up his mother, letting her sit on his broad shoulders like a little parrot. "I wouldn't blame you! Heh, I am now part of the exclusive club of Three Ri mages! Of course, I will help!"

"It will be dangerous…" She whispered, hugging her son's head, stroking it lovingly.

"And? Nothing new there, Mother!"

"Haaah… I know! You will go with Parthorn and meet up with the Marduks' delegation. You will be briefed by them there."

"Oh? What is the secrecy for?"

"It is not for secrecy; we just don't know much yet. Lakhmu sent word that he found a new realm, and there were Undead in there. We are going to go deep and explore it. You will fight alongside him so you can get used to your new powers and learn a little!"

"Learning never ends, huh?" He laughed, unafraid of the challenges waiting for him and for his group.

"Nope!" Reyra giggled, "Did you hear what your sister did at the Academy?"

"Yeah! Lauron sent word! Ahahaha! That is our little Lia! Good for her!"

"Hehehe~!" Reyra laughed with her son, also proud of Lia's achievement of making her Misfits almost banned from competitions. "Her real test will not be the exams but going with Solren to the Berisons' territory."

"Are we expecting trouble? They are kinda provocative towards us. It is not the best time for kicking into each other's shins, Mother."

"Nope. Relax! There won't be any trouble! I met with Rinzen multiple times. She is cold only on the outside. She has trouble expressing her feelings because of the element she practices, but I have a feeling… she will be a good influence on Lia."

"Or Lia on her… Anyway, with Solren and Aurora accompanying them, there shouldn't be any trouble! Those two can keep Lia in check."

"And that Sion boy looks sensible enough." Reyra nodded.

"Are we going to let Lia wander the continent after she is done with school?"

"..." Reyra did not answer him for a very long minute, only watching the clear blue sky and the many peaks and mountain ridges around their castle. "She will go with Solren into the 4th Branch. They will have to spend at least a year with them. I want Solren to prepare them to the best of his abilities. Then… If the world is still not in flames… yeah. She can travel a bit." She murmured, biting her lips.

"Did you find something?" Razael asked, his voice turning more serious. In the past months, Reyra had been scouring the family library, reading the oldest books and codexes they had, some from before the Dark Ages.

"I… Don't know… not for sure… Yet." She answered, trying to form her thoughts into words. "But I think we overlooked or just did not understand something. Yet the Forefather was very clear about it…."

"Wait… you say we misinterpreted something?" He asked incredulously.

"It is more like we thought of a hidden meaning where there was none."

"Now you are making me curious… Before leaving, I should read some more, eh?" Razael laughed heartily.

"You were never like Lauron! You especially hated being cooped up and reading!" Reyre giggled teasingly, remembering how he was when Razael was nothing but a little kid.

"I grew up! Kinda!" He answered proudly, "So… what was the thing we may have overthought?"

"A body is a puppet for the soul to manipulate."

"Sounds deep," Razael answered, remaining silent for a minute, thinking about it. "I would think it is a philosophical statement than anything. Are you sure he meant this literally?"

"No." Reyra said with a sigh, rubbing her forehead, "But I started playing with the idea of taking it at face value. Look at it as he wrote it down… With that look, many of his writings seem… weird, but… not. It… I can't put it into words! I'll tell you if I managed to filter out the important parts!"

“Ahahaha, okay, okay! No worries, Mother! You do that~ Don't rush; the world is not burning down yet!"

“Yeah… not yet…” She repeated, receiving a big hug from her son, easing her worries, and plastered her face with a happy and content smile.