Two weeks have elapsed since Arcadia first opened its gates, and things have been surprisingly quiet on the death front. Students were gradually getting the hang of the academy's barbaric system.

To the east of the Academy, beyond the castle, stretched a vast field of dead grass next to a giant round boulder. Amidst it stood Dariu, facing Naylu who had a conjured Dhoshyl on the left hand.

"Ready?" Asked Dariu.

"Ready," he responded, his right palm facing Dariu, and the Dhoshyl covering his own left side.

"Moro," Dariu started the incantation, slowly and carefully going through the sequence of hand movements, "Tarlus," he continued.

"Nara," he concluded with the famous fingergun of Kudaishi.

Eyes shut, Dariu's mind immersed in vivid images of fires devouring a mountain and all that dwelled upon it—trees, bushes, and even creatures. From the blazing flames emerged a great beast, its eyes glowed red, and his growls echoed far and wide.

At the tip of Dariu's finger started to gather Lojia particles in the form of a tiny orb. It soon began to distabilize and vibrate violently.

In Naylu's face grew a concerned expression, as he appeared to ready himself to take action.

The orb started to leak, causing some trails of energy to strike the ground like lightning bolts, one of them even collided with Naylu's Dhoshyl.

Fearing of the orb growing even more instable, Naylu decided to intervene.

"Dhormu!" He shouted, his palm facing Dariu's chest, pushing both of them away from the orb, which then exploded in an instant.

Collapsed on the ground, Dariu started heavily coughing, his hand pressed against his chest. Naylu soon ran to him.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm good," he reassured him before he continued coughing, "this is impossible, no matter what I picture, it's all the same."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

In Lojia, every spell demands a specific mental image for its casting. The images required however, differ from Lojius to another. The most challenging part in casting spells is to find the correct image, and doing so can prove to be a long and difficult process of trial and error.

"Rolan did tell us it takes a couple months to master a Daishi spell," said Naylu.

"I'm afraid time is a luxury we can't afford, remember the third rule?"

"The tests?"

"Yes, Rinus said each subject involves one single test, and it can be administered at any point during the year."

"And failing will get us expelled."

"Killed, you mean. When did you start using their language?"

"It just feels less scary."

"I suppose it does," said Dariu as he sat cross-legged, "nevermind that, there is something I need to tell you, privately."

Naylu nodded yes, then closed his eyes and uttered, "Greyush."

One of the four basic spells, Greyush, serves to amplify the Arsha up to fourfold, primarily employed for enemy detection. Despite its formidable impact, this spell bears deadly drawbacks—it depletes up to half the energy reservoir of a Lojius with an average Lacus. Moreover, upon activation, it induces a brief moment of vulnerability as the Arsha momentarily vanishes.

"Anything?" Asked Dariu.

"It's clear, I think," he responded as he sat down facing Dariu.

"Good, there is an update regarding the library."

"What is it?"

"I think the creatures roaming outside at night are controlled by someone."

"You mean, just like the spying crows in daylight?"

"Yes, I believe both the day and night creatures are being puppeteered."

"What makes you say that?"

"Think about it. On the first night, when the nightmare creatures chased after us, they completely ignored the headmaster."

"Now that you say it... Do you think it's him?"

"I would if it wasn't for Rinus. After he had his talk with us, he left the dormitories without a care in the world."

"Then, whoever tamed the beasts must have them attacking only the students."

"Exactly, and because beast taming is really difficult to maintain for mere minutes, I believe it's one person with an exceptional talent that's holding them in their grip for the whole night."

"That seems far-fetched."

"It does, but our knowledge of Lojia is still limited, there may be some exceptions we don't know about."

"Let's say your theory is correct, and we do identify this person, in what way would that benifit us?"

"If I want to reach the library in one piece, I need to do it when there's nothing out there that wants to devour me. I believe that no matter how talented that person may be, there got to be limit to their talent, a time at which the spell's effect runs off, and needs be recasted. If we identify the caster, we can maybe identify that time too."

"What if they cast it during the day?"

"That's not possible, someone told me before about these creatures, he said that they can only roam around at night. At day they fall into deep sleep, and according to Radbuck, a beast taming spell cannot be cast on a sleeping target."

Although I'm not sure Arsel was referring to these exact creatures in his stories, Dariu thought, they do fit the description, so I will just risk it.

"Just what is there in the library that makes it worth all this?"

"I told you, it's just curiosity."

"You expect me to believe tha—"

Mid-sentence, Naylu's eyes widened.

"I feel something."

Just as his Arsha appeared after the effect of Greyush wore off, Naylu detected the presence of Lojia in his range.

"Where is it?"

Naylu slowly turned his head to the right, prompting Dariu to do the same.

Not too far away from the pair, on their right, and amidst the yellow dried grass, glowed small eyes. It was a rat hidden among the tall blades of grass.

After some moments of silence and exchanges of quick glances, Dariu spoke: "if we don't catch that critter, all goes to dust," in a low, shaky voice.

The pair immediately took off running in the direction of the rat, which in response quickly escaped.