When Snow woke up earlier only a few hours remained till sunrise, and what happened didn't let her fall asleep at all. She felt conflicted, she knew she needed do something, but she did not know what. There were only two choices in front of her, do as told and go through something similar to what she did ten years ago, or disobey him and submit herself to Alan, for protection and for her heart.
The two moon cycles passed without much happening, or her knowing that anything happened if it did. There were some fights between the groups that formed, but Alan and Crystal didn't get into any, having kept their distance from other groups. She made them promise they won't get into any fights till she is all healed up. The two also found a great number of artifacts in that time.
On the last day of the two moon cycles, before the day she would be going to start classes again, Alan sent her quite a few gifts through Crystal, and a few were from Crystal. The gifts were artifact accessories, which she did like the look of. A pair of icy teardrop shaped earrings, a tiara with wintery ice patterns, a snowflake necklace picked by Crystal, a pair of icy looking bracelets, and three hair clips, two of which were picked by Crystal. She decided to put these on and check herself in the mirror, and they looked good on her. From what her senses could tell, the accessories increased her powers, which felt obvious just from the icy theme.
She also noticed Crystal wearing some hair clips in her very long hair which increased physical abilities, bracelets which enhanced vision (weirdly), and a phoenix necklace which Snow couldn't tell the function, probably just an accessory, not an artifact she assumed.
She went to bed quite excited for tomorrow that night. Crystal had also permanently moved to Snow's room before Snow woke up. Alan, for some reason concerned of their safety, decided that both of them being together would be the safest choice. Crystal didn't take much place, neither did she have any belongings of her own. She seemed more like a plush than an actual living being, or a dog, just there to be mentally healing, nothing else.
In the morning, as usual Snow got ready before Crystal even woke up. She shook Crystal awake before going to grab some breakfast. The students were given the option to eat their food in the cafeteria or their dorms. They still needed to go to the cafeteria to get their food however. When she opened the door to leave she found Alan standing there.
"Good grief, I was wondering how I will open it with these in my hands," he sighed. She stepped aside and let him in. He carried trays, which meant he brought their breakfast, like the rest of the two months.
"What is it..." she started the phrase with excitement, then it faded into a low sigh. It seemed to be just some cooked meat, with vegetables. She didn't really like vegetables much, though she didn't mind the meat as much. There were only two trays as well.
"Where's the third one?" Snow inquired.
"I figured in the two months you didn't like vegetables, and Crystal, Blood wolves in general, are herbivores, ironically. So, you can have the meat and Crystal can eat the vegetables." He figured it out pretty quick, granted Snow almost threw a tantrum over having to eat vegetables nearly every time he brought them.
After Crystal got ready, the three proceeded to the class. Snow did not have any idea of what happened in the classes, not having gone to a single class thus far. She didn't know what they were taught there, or if they were even were. There were supposed to be six lectures everyday as Alan told her, five of which were usually free. They were taught about human tactics, spells, strategies, and other types of monsters in the one class that happened, and sometimes if something important ever needed to be discussed, they took two classes.
In today's class Rosalyne taught them a bit about monsters of the wolf category. Common behavior, skills, and how to handle them. Alan told her they have done every type of monster in the class when they weren't present.
"They did Dark Wyverns the day I chose to skip, Black Dragons the day Obsidian skipped. Seems like they don't care even if Crystal is here," He scoffed. The storm wolf did not seem to be in the class, further solidifying his statement.
"Most wolf monsters will usually be with a group, without a group they are comparatively powerless, lonely wolf monsters are usually as good as a scared dog, unless they are tamed." On saying this Rosalyne received a glare from Snow, which she didn't notice and continued. "They will usually try to surround you and attack from behind, the first attack behind you will just be a feint to make you turn and startle you, then the main attack will come from where you were looking before, and weren't looking anymore because the feint got your attention."
She stopped for a moment, making sure everyone understood what she said before continuing. "The other thing wolf monsters will do is tire you out. Remember one thing when fighting against them, only react or attack when necessary. The only thing by reacting and attacking for no reason you will accomplish is your death as their stamina is far greater than most other creatures."
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That concluded her segment for common behavior and how to handle them.
"As for their skills, some of them have skills to create illusions, there is another skill which many have, very similar to the dragons, it is called intimidation. The function is just as the name tells. If the user of the skill is strong enough they can render the victim immobile for a long while, paralyzing then with fear. They also usually attack with their jaws and claws instead of weapons, even in humanoid form. Wolf monsters are smarter than they look and will usually be more loyal to their first master than anyone else." Rosalyne scoffed, giving the trio a side glance.
Snow didn't understand if she meant something by the glance or not, but she chose not to pay it much mind.
"Not all of this applies to Blood wolves however, nearly none of it. It is truly surprising they are even considered wolves," Rosalyne added. Snow seemed to be the only one who didn't know about this. "Blood wolves, unlike most other wolf monsters, are peaceful and won't attack even when provoked. They are terrible at fighting and are only good for their senses which can warn you of danger or help you find something you lost." As Rosalyne continued Snow felt angrier, she couldn't stand someone insulting her friend, more so when those insults seemed to be accurate.
"Blood wolves are much more like tamed dogs, which is true to some extent. Humans farm Blood wolves for their fur, which is the softest known substance, they can basically be considered sheep-dogs."
That remark really made Snow want to throw an icicle right at her teacher's face. She didn't like what she said, but on thinking about it, she didn't seem wrong. Crystal did seem more like a dog than a wolf, never having attacked anything thus far.
"There is one more thing." Rosalyne called out, a bit louder to get everyone's attention. "They should still not be underestimated, not in the slightest. There are two such cases, one in which a Blood wolf destroyed an entire kingdom by itself, and one which which killed a hero, a hero that killed a previous demon king." That statement made everyone stare directly at Crystal, who fell asleep at some point. On seeing it everyone found it hard to believe that something like this is capable of destroying an entire kingdom, or kill someone capable of killing the demon king.
"How the Blood wolf did it, or why, is unknown." Rosalyne added when she saw everyone getting wary or suspicious of the little girl.
"Is it certain that a Blood Wolf did it?" The Fire Wyvern questioned, whose name Snow remembered to be Blaze.
"Yes, it is certain that both times a Blood wolf that went berserk did it. Both times the Blood wolf calmed a while after destroying its target, and got killed. Not much is known of them in terms of power, there is also the rumor that they can sense emotions and are connected to them somehow." Rosalyne explained while leaving.
As soon as she left the room, Alan picked Crystal as he prepared to leave, ordering Snow to follow.
Alan brought the two to the edge of the snowy area North of the academy, Crystal still asleep. "You know, I never expected something like that, for her to say a rumor at the least, and confirm it to be true." From his expression Snow could tell, he seemed worried, thrilled, and mad. "Is it that all Blood wolves can go berserk like that, or are just specific Blood wolves which are all powerful capable of doing it." He wondered with a sigh.
"What are you planning on doing?" Snow inquired, getting worried that he might try looking for a stronger Blood wolf and abandon Crystal.
"I know what you are worried about, and let me tell you that I am not going to abandon her. The pact I made with her states that she follows my orders and I protect her. We are already too far in this to change it." He sighed, sitting down on a boulder in deep thought. After a few minutes he stood back up. "It might actually be worth training her as well."
Snow seemed glad on hearing all that, though she didn't know what waited for her in her training, or the near future.
Alan first decided to evaluate both of their current level of skill. He asked them to run as fast as they could from there to a hill around a kilometer away. Crystal's feet were shorter than Snow, which made Snow doubt she would be able to run all that fast.
Her estimations were off, extremely off, Crystal reached the hill by the time Snow got half way there, and Snow felt tired when she got there too, whereas, Crystal barely broke a sweat. Alan wore a mildly disappointed look on the results.
"It seems like I have been wrong, and right," he mumbled.
"About what?" Snow inquired.
"You are good for magical support, your stamina and speed are even worse than Crystal, not strength and endurance, but they are still quite bad as well. Your magic however, is stronger than anyone else's here, excluding Obsidian and his phoenix friend, Ember. Though the caster spirit has a wider range of spells, they are still weaker than your ice spells," Alan informed.
Snow was delighted to be praised like that. Probably the first time she ever received praise for anything in her life. "What about Crystal?" She couldn't help but ask what he planned about her.
"Nothing," He answered without any hesitation.
"Nothing?" Snow echoed in a questioning voice.
"She is far too weak to be relied on to fight, no offence." He turned to Crystal, making sure she didn't feel sad. "What I will be doing is teaching her some healing magic, she has quite a large amount of mana for someone who doesn't knows how to use magic."
Snow didn't question any further. She had also realized by now how very calculated his actions were, and that he won't let anything go wrong.
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As the date of the final exam neared, someone seemed to be getting too excited.
"Yes, this will be fun, a proper show for my return. I do hope you won't turn back now, after I helped you so much by spying on the others. I will suggest you to be wary of the excalius dragon though, they are not to be underestimated, this one even more so, he has a purpose, and there is no telling how far he would go for it." The voice cheerfully waited for the final exam, and her return to the world.