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Sophie was sitting in her seat, waiting anxiously for the adventuring lesson to begin.

The other students seemed excited as well. It was finally time for the adventuring lesson with Nimum, who Sophie had heard so much about. Hundreds of questions kept swarming around in her head.

How long had Nimum known her parents? Did she still see them sometimes? How would an adventuring lesson even work? Had Nimum ever been to the human world? Questions kept piling up in her mind.

"Ooooh, I'm so excited!" Fiff exclaimed loudly, bursting with energy and flying around all over the classroom. "Where do you think we'll go today?"

"Beats me," Trom said uninterestedly. "It's not like we ever go to the same place twice."

"It u-usually depends on wh-who we need to he-help," Vix said.

"Beto, have you heard anything?" Fiff asked.

Beto thought for a moment. He seemed happy to have been asked. "Let's see. I've heard some rumors..."

The other students turned towards him with interest.

"It's said that there's a dragon somewhere that's causing a volcano to erupt, but no one knows where it is. There are also a lot of animals that have gone missing in the area around the school. Oh, and there's a whole system of underground tunnels right beneath the school that have just been discovered."

"If it's any of those," Fiff said pensively, "it's probably that we have to help find the missing animals [https://img.wattpad.com/95f75c593c5d1ef51bc070dc0e1ec718cdd8678f/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4f494a30697675754f477a6676773d3d2d313235363530313130382e313730633235393832316330636262333638303030393534333734382e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"If it's any of those," Fiff said pensively, "it's probably that we have to help find the missing animals."

"What makes you say that?" Sophie asked.

Elva sighed condescendingly. "Because Nimum loves all living creatures, so she always wants to help them."

Sophie glared at Elva but didn't say anything.

"The mysterious tunnels sound kinda interesting... But then again, it'd probably mean we'd have to walk a lot, so I hope it's not that one," Trom said.

"As-as long as it's not too d-dangerous, it's fine with m-me," Vix said.

The whole class was now caught up in a discussion of what kind of adventure they would prefer. Sophie didn't know WHAT kind of adventure she wanted. She just hoped that Nimum would hurry up and get there soon.

She wondered if she had met Nimum before. After all, the principal had said that Nimum and Sophie's parents had been classmates, so maybe she had visited when Sophie was very small? She looked up at the clock on the wall. The lesson was supposed to have started five minutes ago. Why hadn't Nimum showed up yet?

Suddenly something appeared outside the window, casting a large shadow into the classroom. The kids all looked up in surprise, running over to the window to see where the shadow was coming from. Then they saw it: A griffin was flying at full speed toward the classroom.

"Everyone away from the window!!" Mek yelled.

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Before Sophie had time to react, Fiff grabbed her and pulled her to the other side of the room. The head and front legs of the griffin came bursting in through the window, pulling chunks of the wall with it. The classroom filled up with dust, shards of glass and broken bricks.

The students all stood very still. They didn't dare to move. The griffin shook the dust out of its fur and feathers. Its eyes scanned around the room, as if it were looking for someone or something. When it spotted the students through the dust, its eyes locked onto them. It tried to pull itself further in through the hole in the wall that it had created, but it was too big.

It tried to pull itself further in through the hole in the wall that it had created, but it was too big [https://img.wattpad.com/b295d7e62d69d87bdbcfd6a69d4cf85690b68735/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4c6e764a7156734e536b505549773d3d2d313235363530313130382e3137306332356137333033613366396637393831393730393839312e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"Isn't that Nimum's bag?" a puzzled Fiff asked.

The entire class turned their eyes towards the neck of the griffin, where there indeed hung a bag. There was a piece of paper attached to it.

"Yup, that's her bag all right" Mek concluded.

All at once, all the other students seemed to calm down completely, as if any possible danger was now forgotten. Sophie, on the other hand, could still feel her heart pounding in double-time. Was it just everyday stuff for a griffin to come crashing through the wall with Nimum's belongings?

Mek walked calmly over to the griffin. It immediately lowered its head so that she could take the bag from around its neck. She showed her appreciation by patting it on the head, which made the griffin happily wag its tail. Mek then took a couple of steps backwards, and the griffin pushed itself back out of the hole in the wall and flew off.

"Um... Does that usually happen?" Sophie asked, still a bit startled.

"It's happened a few times, unfortunately," Mek answered. "Last time I think it was an iron worm that delivered the bag."

She looked at the piece of paper.

"What does it say? Is it a message from Nimum?" Fiff asked.

Mek cleared her throat and started to read the note out loud.

"Hey-oh, class 3-7-9! Sorry, guys, but there's this really important task that I need to deal with, so I can't make it to the start of your lesson. It's a real bummer, I know!"

Trom's face immediately lit up. "Does that mean we get the day off!?"

"Just let me read the rest," Mek said.

"Yes, Trom, let Mek read the rest," Beto chimed in.

Mek just shook her head and continued.

"But that doesn't mean you guys should lose out on an adventure!"

"Oh man..." Trom said, deflating down into his seat.

"I'd like you all to start without me, so buckle up, because this is where it gets serious! Check it out: There's this big lightning bird that was attacked and fell from the sky. THEN, when it hit the ground, it fell straight into a crevice and tumbled all the way down into the underground!"

The students all looked at each other as Mek kept reading. Could that have been the same lightning bird that they'd heard earlier that day?

"Your job will be to reach the lightning bird and help it get back on its feet – or its wings, I suppose! Meanwhile, I'll be doing my darndest to track down whoever's responsible for the attack. I've filled my bag with a whole load of medical goodies that you'll need when you reach the lightning bird. The fastest way to get to it will be to go through the underground tunnels beneath the school. I want Elva to lead the way, since she can communicate with rocks and plants and all that good stuff. But watch out! The underground isn't exactly safe, so in my bag you'll also find some amulets of protection. They'll keep you from getting too hurt, in case you run into anything real nasty. There's one for each of you, including our brand-new student, who I'm super stoked to welcome to the class! I'll join you as soon as I've dealt with my own task. Peace and love, Nimum."

"An ad-adventure WITHOUT N-nimum!?" Vix gasped.

"It's pretty rare for her to send us anywhere without her," Trom said, sounding puzzled. "Mek, Beto, Varis, didn't you go to see her at recess to get all those thorns out of Varis?"

Mek shook her head.

"Actually, we never made it to her office. We ran into principal Marro on the way, and he sorted Varis out."

"Does it matter? Nimum has tasked us with helping a lightning bird, so that's what we'll do," Elva said, stepping up to the front of the class. "And as you all heard, I'M the one she put in charge. So come on!"

With confident steps, Elva started marching towards the door. And with a lot of sighing, the rest of the class followed after her.

Sophie was lying in her bed with the duvet pulled up over her head [https://img.wattpad.com/8c8906bfb2eff326a3f9cd52b86ce8ec6d8acc52/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f767862706948304a73664a7570673d3d2d313235333934313835302e313733663230616534623765333861363936343636313337343032322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]