“Excuse me, Miss Elisa. The principal has requested you to come to the office.”

Both Ellaina and Maria were surprised.

“What for?”

Maria asked while feeling a bit uneasy.

However, Odius only shook his head and signaled Maria to follow him.

“That question, you will have to ask the principal herself.”

…

Maria nodded silently and together with Ellaina, they followed Odius out of the Battle Ground. While on the way to principal office, Odius spoke.

“Miss Elisa, I must admit that I was fascinated by your tenacity.”

Bewildered by Odius sudden statement, Maria looked at Odius with a questioning glance.

“Oh yes, it is a secret to you, isn’t it?” Odius laughed.

Odius’s gentle laughter was like thunder in Maria’s ears. Maria has a lot of secrets. Some would lead to unpleasant outcome if other learned about it. The question is which one? Which one did Odius know? Maria thought hard but she couldn’t find a single instance where she exposed herself. Before Maria tried to form a reply, Odius handed her a card.

“I heard that you have been trying to get a hand on this?”

Maria took the card. She recognized it. This is a ticket to meet with the strongest Wizard of the continent. Something that Elisa has been trying to get her hand on before she met her unfortunate end. Maria felt a bit of relief as this is a secret belonging to Elisa and would not affect Maria although it would cause a bit of inconvenience if it got out.

Ellaina on the other hand, was still in a state of confusion, why on earth would her lady want to meet such a person? And what secret?

Odius continued

“I will give it to you if you can answer a few questions for me.”

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“Sure, please ask away.” Maria calmly put the card in her pocket, but her mind was recalling Tir’s warning before she woke up from her long sleep.

“I heard that you were in a coma after your first visit at the Palace of Knowledge.”

Maria nodded “Yes, it was an unfortunate event for me. What about it?”

Odius turned his head around and looked at Maria. His expression was gentle but Maria knew that his eyes are probing for her reaction “Were you not aware of what happens during your coma?”

“My apologies, immediately after I got up, some urgent matter came up and required my immediate attention. So, I have not had the time to find out. Was there something I should know during my absence?” Maria calmly replied as indeed she has not had the slightest idea.

Now, Odius is the one to surprised “Ey? It’s… nothing. Do you know what the cause of your coma is?”

“Oh, now that’s you are talking about it. I do although I am not sure if it is the main reason. You see, during my test, someone or something attacked me from behind. The only thing I can remember is the rough pain in my neck before I passed out.” Maria answered while omitted half of what actually happens from her statement.

Odius pressed on “And that how you got put to sleep for 3 days?”

“Unbelievable, right? I could not believe it myself when I heard I have been sleeping for 3 days.” Maria did not lie. She was surprised at how much time has passed when she was in that weird place inside herself.

Odius couldn’t believe it himself but does not press it further “Right… right… One last question. I have seen your barrier armor on stage. It’s a pretty impressive work of art. Who made it?”

“Oh, it was made by someone named Amy.” This one is easy. Maria gave a straight answer.

[Hmmm, never heard of that name before] Odius thought. He could tell that Maria was telling the truth. Yet, for someone that is able to construct such an impressive detached barrier without being well known is unbelievable. Odius has lived for a long time. He had seen many kinds of barriers. Most of them are big, clunky, and would run out of fuel as soon as the caster left the vicinity. He had not seen a barrier that can self-sustain and self-heal like this while being respectable at protecting from most attacks. If such a person exists, the majority of well-known armor and runesmith would be out of jobs. [non-existence weight, reliable, invisible, self-repair for top-notch performance to endure the entire fight and the opponent won’t know about it until they strike… Truly remarkable.]

Odius was lost in thought until Maria’s voice bought him back to reality “Mr. Odius? Mr. Odius?”

“Yes? Yes. What is it, Miss Elisa?” Odius quickly recollect himself before he noticed that they were standing in front of the principal office.

Maria smiled “Thank you for escorting us here.”

“Cough, yes, you welcome, miss Elisa.” Odius embarrassingly replied while knocking on the door “Principal, Miss Elisa is here.”

“Come on in.” A bell-like voice rang from inside.

Slightly adjust her attire, Maria stepped inside. For what it was worth, The moment Maria stepped into the principal room, her respect for the principal was shattered forever.