"Please, quiet. I have an important announcement!" The headmaster started.

°Doesn´t he sound kind of shaky?° The human asked.

°Be quiet, he will tell us, what's up. So pay attention.° Mor answered.

"We got confirmation, that the Andesite city of the stone-kin was destroyed, we don´t know what could do such a thing, but it seems there is now raised activity from the monstrosities, therefore an attack of those would be the most likely reason.

I would ask you to stay calm, the soul-kin cities are all safe, and the royal Diamond family is acting to keep it that way. Still, the higher rate of monstrosity-related incidents and the destruction of Andesite city have invoked ancient law." The headmaster explained and a nervous murmoring started among the students.

°Could this really have been monstrosities?° The human asked.

°I don´t know for sure, but if there were enough, and all the stories are not overly overblown. Then it is at least possible.° Mor answered.

°And what´s this ancient law, the headmaster is spouting about?° The human continued asking.

°I don´t know, but he will probably tell us now.° Mor answered.

"Quiet, please! There is no reason, for any chatter. I´m not done. As I said, the ancient law of kin-ship was invoked, meaning an observer of the ice-kin will be joining us, to according to their traditions see how we have changed?" The headmaster continued.

°Cool, someone else. Weren´t the Ice people, not the barbarian ones?° The human excitedly exclaimed.

°Yes, but why here to this school?° Mor far less excited asked.

"Now a lot of you will be confused, about why we would get this observer, and the reason is a simple one. Our island is the closest to the main Ice-settlement. Miss Amethyne is already gone, to get our guest and bring him here. Now please be advised, that they have different traditions and laws as our self. They are very honor-bound, so please do not provoke them, if you still refuse to heed my warning, I won´t be able to intervene at all." The headmaster explained further.

°I can think of someone who will do exactly that." The human snickered and Mor had to suppress a burst of laughter.

°Maybe he will get his nose broken this time.° Mor added and if on cue they heard the voice of Ranbor huffing close by.

As the students filed out of the gathering, chattering amongst themselves, Mor was stopped by a familiar face.

"Hey, peasant!" Ranbor shouted, some nosy students slyly looking in their direction.

°What does he want?° The human sighed.

°Let´s ask him.° Mor answered.

"What do you want?" he asked the other boy.

"How could you dare, to get Zaletha transferred to another school?! It is beneath her to learn with all those commoners." He raged.

"That´s her fault then, she broke the school rules. All I did, was get some advice and report it to a figure of authority. If that is her punishment, fine by me. Also, why do you care, didn´t you kick her out of your super special flunky circle?" Mor countered.

"Yeah, because she is weak, but that doesn´t mean you are allowed to get her punished!" Ranbor raged and Mor sighed.

"Go have that talk with the headmaster, leave me alone," Mor said Ranbor getting even angrier at his nonchalant defiance.

"You heard, that Amethyne is not here, right now. So better mind your manners!" Ranbor went on as another voice suddenly cut in.

"Ranbor, what are you doing?!" Orth asked, walking up and standing next to Mor, with another student in tow.

"He´s being an idiot Orth, nothing new. Leave him, if he wants to get kicked out too, his loss." Saphine added in a dismissive tone.

"You´re right Saphine, no sense starting a fight with that idiot. Come on Mor, let´s go. I wanted to talk with you and Saphine a bit." Orth said, pushing his way past Ranbor, who in turn glared at the little group.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

As Mor, following Orth, passed the furious boy, Ranbor whispered "Watch your, back. I will get you."

°How can a single person be so resentful?° What did you do to him?° The human asked.

°I don´t know, I beat him in the entrance exams, and you punched him on the nose, and now getting Zaletha kicked out of this school. But that´s it, I don´t understand, why my presence is such a big problem for him.° Mor answered.

°We might never know.° The human said as they left Ranbor behind.

As Orth, Saphine, and Mor walked a bit looking for a good spot to talk, they got themselves a place in the mess hall. They got some light snacks and Orth finally revealed why he wanted to talk to them.

"My brother sent me a letter, this attack on Andasite City, was not done by monstrosities, he also doesn´t know what did it, but the monstrosities are never able to level the whole mountain, this City was built into, and leave no survivors. As they tried to search for clues they excavated parts of the ruined city, with other stone-kin to help, and what they found was concerning." Orth explained whispering.

"What was the problem?" Sahpine asked, while Mor just looked concerned.

°That sounds even worse than, what the headmaster told us.° The human said, and Mor agreed.

"The concerning thing was that there was no sign that anyone tried to flee, so either they were surprised and instantly eliminated or bound by some kind of magic so that they didn´t even notice they were killed. Both of these will eliminate monstrosities as the culprits, but also other kin because bringing that mountain down is way above anything the kin can do." Orth went on.

"What could it be then?" Mor asked.

"We don´t know," Orth said and Saphine nodded.

"I get the conundrum, and I understand why you would tell me, but why this boy?" She asked.

"Mor has a good head, on his shoulders, and might get us some different insight in all of this. Also, he might be able to cook up a good plan if we get him more pieces of information." Orth explained, to a doubtful Saphine.

°Didn´t we hear in history about something called a "First"?° The human asked.

°Yeah, but this is more of a legend, to explain the rapid evolution of the monstrosities.° Mor answered.

°But what if not? What if this thing really exists?° Went on and Mor shuddered.

"Are you alright commoner? You are shivering, are you scared." Sahpine asked in a haughty voice.

"Yes, I´m alright. I just got a random thought. What if, this was no simple monstrosity attack, but instead the return of the "First"? History taught us, that it was only sealed and never killed, and it would be the most powerful monstrosity, maybe it would be able to do something like that?" Mor offered and Saphine laughed at that.

"Oh, I get now why you like this commoner, Orth, he has a good imagination and is funny." She wheezed. "Let me explain to you. There is no such thing as the "First", this is a fiction to scare little kids."

She looked at Orth, who instead of laughing with her, stayed completely serious.

"But what if," Orth said. "I need to tell my brother this, if this is really what is happening, all of kin are in deep shit. Regardless of whether it exists or not, the fact is something powerful did this, might as well believe in the worst case."

Saphine threw Orth an incredulous look. "Really? You think the commoner could be right?" she asked him.

°Tell her this, "When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." It´s a famous quote from Earth.° The human told Mor who nodded and repeated the quote for the two others.

"This is pretty convincing and sounds smart," Orth said and nodded. "I will include that in my letter to my brother. Sahpine would you please do the same with your family?"

"If you want, to but I still don´t believe you." She shrugged.