The class were busy practising reshaping their light orbs from the Lumus Rex spell. With only Gunter having succeeded in the first big step of flattening the orb into a disc. The rest of the class struggled to maintain the image in their heads.

They had the problem of having a well-ingrained image of how it should look. So it was an effort to overcome that disparity between what their minds expected and what they wanted.

The Bell rang to indicate the start of the sixth period and the end of the day for most of the school. The class all looked intently at Alex, who was still seemingly in a foul mood. Rising from his seat, he clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

“Ok, class, we are going to the middle plateau today,” Alex explained.

“To the tavern again?” Kline asked, his tone seeming rather eager.

“No, not today; it’s golem night there. We are going to a building right next to the gatehouse square to the lower plateau,” Alex explained.

“What building would that be, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“And spoil the surprise? Pish posh, get your clothes sorted. You will also need gear but not to the degree of last week. So no crazy rapiers,” Alex said, glancing at Daisy.

“I shall meet you at the school gate when you are ready,” with a salute, Alex set off out the door.

The class took their time packing away their books and notes. They knew he would wait for them, and whatever he had planned would need them not to rush. With everything packed away, they set off for the dorms as one.

“Hey, can you convince Professor Alex to let me join your lessons?” a student said, walking up to them.

“No, don’t bother with him. Ask for me!!” another shouted, pushing the first student aside.

“Listen, we don’t control the student roster. Go pester Professor Alex for it. He is at the front gate right now!” Bea snapped at them. Immediately she covered her mouth, realising what she had done.

“Thanks, we will spread the word,” the second student said, running back to his group of friends, who all made their way toward the front gate.

“Wow, he is already in a bad mood today; they don’t know the landmine they are stepping on going over there,” Kline muttered as the class saw more and more students head towards the front gate.

“Don’t worry, Bea, I will keep you safe,” Gunter said as he lifted Bea up onto his shoulders.

“Thanks, bud,” Bea replied, patting Gunter's head from her perch. Arriving in the dorm, there was a fresh crowd of students eager to get into Alex’s lessons, already waiting to ambush them.

“Listen, we don’t control who can attend Professor Alex’s lessons. Stop asking. The more you ask, the more I will make sure to get you blacklisted. Am I clear?!” Maxwell barked at the crowd.

“But..”

“I ASKED, AM I CLEAR?!!” the crowd just nodded, retreating a step.

“And don’t get any ideas about accosting my classmates. I will be sure to tell Professor Alex you are bullying his students. I’m sure you heard what happened when Professor Yuu administered a beatdown on Tasha here.” The crowd all nodded and retreated further away, clearing a path for the class.

“What did you mean?” Daisy asked, looking at Maxwell confused.

“That sheer bloodlust he released when Yuu used Tasha as a punching bag. You may not realise it, but I heard from a few Professors that he does a lot of leg work behind the scenes to ensure his kindergarten class is safe. I’m sure they imagine him dealing with them in a similar fashion” Daisy now had a look of realisation on her face as she nodded.

“Ok, grab the basic combat stuff and meet back here in ten,” Maxwell declared to which the entire class of six nodded.

Daisy made her way back to her dorm room and, as with last week, opened her chest and equipped her gear. Leaving only the rapier in the chest as she had been told to do. Making her way back to the entrance area, she found Gunter and Bea already there.

“Armour still broken?” Daisy asked, looking at Gunter, who was only wearing a chainmail shirt this time.

“Yeah, Professor Yuu said it is high time I forged my own gear, so I’m currently working on that.”

“You still not got anything, Bea?” Daisy asked, turning to their small companion, who didn’t have anything but her rings on.

“No. Cash is tight for my family, so I can’t ask for anything they can’t spare,” Bea looked rather down at this admission. She had been very proud that she could use her rings to put defenders between her and her opponent, only for one person to smash that idea both figuratively and literally to pieces.

“We all set? I bet Elissa will be with us again,” Tasha said as she arrived near bouncing at the very idea.

“I sincerely doubt she will show up two lessons in a row,” Maxwell said as he arrived with Kline in tow. This time Maxwell was only wearing his form-altering armour. None of his fancy weapons or tools were equipped this time.

“Shall we go?” Maxwell asked.

“Maybe give it ten more minutes?” Bea suggested. “You know, enough time for the students bothering him to go away,” Bea seemed rather eager for this suggestion.

“No, I want to see Lady Elissa now, not later,” Tasha declared, marching off before anyone could get a word in.

“Are all elves like her?” Daisy asked. “It’s just Elissa seemed a bit… you know… All the stories I’ve read about elves say they are noble and elegant. But those two are…”

“Ironwood elves are just weird,” Maxwell explained. “Think of them like the country hicks of the elf world. They are weird as anything. My family has met them a few times, and Elissa is typical of the royals I’ve met, at least.”

“Oh, gods above, so the entire ruling family are like her?” Bea muttered from her perch back on Gunter’s shoulders.

“Yes, though, her strength is magnitudes beyond what they can do. From what I understand, Elissa is an exception in that regard.” Weaving their way through the paths, they finally arrived at the school gate and found only Alex and a dejected-looking Tasha standing there.

“Where are the other students? I swear there was a massive crowd heading this way,” Kline asked, looking around them for any trace.

“Hey, kiddos…” Alex waved at the class as they arrived. “An especially friendly hello to you, Beezlebub Blackgate,” Alex said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Eeep,” Bea squealed, retreating as best as she could behind Gunter’s head.

“Your name is Beezlebub?” Maxwell asked, barely restraining a laugh.

“My family has a tradition of taking demon names. It’s not like I picked it, dammit. Why do you think I go by Bea?!” Bea protested, shooting a glare at a snickering Maxwell.

“Sir, where are the students that were coming this way?” Daisy asked, looking for any traces, whether battle or unconscious bodies.

“I asked very nicely for them to go away and not interrupt my lesson,” Alex said, putting emphasis on the word ‘very’. The class knew enough to realise he had probably done something untoward.

“Ok, class, let's go before the explosions begin,” Alex said, spinning on his heel and heading through the gate.

“Explosions?” Daisy repeated, confused.

“Doesn’t matter so long as we are out of the crime scene. Now off we go one-two, one-two!!” Alex, like he had the first time goose-marched. Only this time, Kline actually joined him. Both ignored the mocking stares focused their way. Meanwhile, the rest of the class kept their preferred distance from Alex.

“Any idea why Alex is in a bit of a bad mood today?” Daisy asked the rest.

“No idea. He’s definitely been a bit more bitey today,” Bea observed.

“Maybe something in secret?” Gunter suggested

“Don’t know. Maybe it’s to do with a military inspection that started this week. Someone like Alex, no doubt, has to deal with a lot of scrutiny from military types. Especially after it is now common knowledge he’s teaching kids military-grade spells,” Maxwell suggested, to which the majority of the class nodded.

“I know what you mean by him being mean. Like he told me to shut up because if he can’t see Elissa, then I couldn’t either,” Tasha added. The class just stared at Tasha like she was an empty-headed idiot, which was a very accurate assessment.

“So he is just a lovesick puppy without Elissa?” Daisy asked.

“Seems likely. Elissa is likely dealing with the visiting military as the Ironwoods are a military clan,” Maxwell added.

“Oooh, do you think that is where we are going? Do I get to see Lady Elissa again?!” Tasha asked, starting to skip ahead of the class and joining Alex and Kline, who were now skipping their way through the market streets.

What was most interesting was several young kids had joined the trio. There was now Alex, Kline and Tasha, accompanied by a swarm of kids all skipping through the market like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Maybe this is how he does it,” Daisy muttered as she watched this unfold.

“Pardon?” Maxwell asked, turning to Daisy.

“It’s just Alex is one of the few people to do well with the kindergarten class. My baby brother adores him. I’m starting to think that is why,” Daisy gestured to Alex, who was now conjuring colourful sparks from his fingertips.

“He can wow and entertain kids. So rather than resist him, they want to join him in his fun.”

“I have to agree. My little sister was in his kindergarten class back when Alex was a student. Apparently, she could not get over how fun he is to have as a teacher,” Bea nodded.

“You have a little sister, chief?” Gunter asked, glancing up at his brow to try and see Bea.

“Yeah, she's in primary school now. But she had Alex as a kindergarten teacher and would brag about him. It’s her stories that got my uncle to reveal stories about Alex’s adventurer life.”

“You all caught up?” Alex asked as they just now realised they had reached the gate to the middle plateau.

“Sorry, kids, but I got to go. We can have fun some other time,” Alex said to a sad-looking crowd of kids.

“But as one final treat,” Alex held his hands aloft and scattered some colourful dust. Spinning his now glowing hands around, a warm breeze began to swirl and from the dust began to form whisps of fabric-like material. Moving his hands closer, the whisps started to form a pinkish cloud.

“There you go, enjoy,” Alex said to the crowd of excited children.

“This is the sugar cloud!!” one of them cheered as they began tearing into the sweet treat, all while the class made their way through the gate.

“What was that, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“Cotton candy. I know a lot of the parents around the upper plateau, so don’t worry, I have their permission.”

“You can conjure cotton candy out of air?” Gunter asked curiously.

“Nah, got a reagent packet of cotton candy dust. Then I light ring cast using circles the size of my palms to recreate how a real machine works, and boom, magic candy.

“Sir, were you a street performer when you were younger?” Daisy asked.

“No… well, kinda. I did a lot of random jobs for the guild. Not every job is a go-there-and-smash crap. Most were just doing this errand, help with this job during a busy period.”

“So, sir, where is Elissa?” Tasha asked. Alex’s mood, which had begun to improve, dropped like a lead balloon.

“She is busy seeing military people,” Alex answered, confirming their earlier hypothesis.

“You got separation anxiety, then?” Daisy asked.

“Huh? No, my sister’s in town with the military contingent. Apparently, she has an early wedding gift for me and Elissa that couldn’t wait. They’re having a girl's weekend.”

“So why the foul mood? If I may ask, sir,” Maxwell asked.

“You know Elissa. Now imagine that but as boisterous as a nordic raider and twice as violent,” the class began to imagine such a terrifying creature.

“That is my sister Mimi. I would’ve been fine settling down and doing simple magic after we fled our home. But she is someone with a hunger for battle, and I being too young to be left to my own devices, got dragged along.”

“Much like Yuu and I did when dealing with Elissa. I created a lot of my techniques just to survive her. By the time the military scooped her up, I was already a go-to for combat missions.” The class had no idea how to respond. Gunter was the first who did by resting a comforting hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“When she’s in town, I often end up suffering in some way or another. I love her to bits, but still, she’s the sort best kept at a distance. Ah, here we are,” Alex said, gesturing to a building nestled in a square opposite the main gate to the lower plateau.

The building itself looked more like a fortress than anything else. It had a large square citadel as its core with a wing off either side. Crenelations surrounded the top of the walls. Capping the three distinct sections were three large domes atop which flew a flag the class all recognised. The symbol on the flag was the same one carved in the doorway above the entrance. A Sword, an arrow and a staff all crossed over a shield.

“The Adventurers guild?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, you are going to register. For extracurricular credit, I want you to do guild work. It can be monster slaying or, like I said, simple chores. Expand your horizons,” Alex announced, spreading his arms wide.

“But, sir, what could we learn from them?” Maxwell asked, unconvinced.

“Many things. I’m sure I mentioned a few of my tricks came from learning a variety of things during my jobs. Well, where better to do that than to find random inspiration than this place itself? Come on, gang, let's go in, get you registered and complete a quest.” Not even waiting for a reply, Alex strode confidently into the guild.

“Come on then, guys, has he ever steered us wrong?” Tasha asked, seemingly eager by this new prospect.

“No, but we haven’t been his students long. We have a minimal data set to base our opinions on,” Daisy said hesitatingly.

“Don’t be such a goody-two-shoes, Daisy,” Bea said as Gunter, with her on his shoulders, made their way in shortly, followed by Tasha.

“Well… this is extracurricular. May as well give it a try at least once,” Maxwell said with a sigh as he followed. Daisy stood there fumbling her fingers nervously.

“Miss Daisy, we can do as Maxwell said. Give it a try at least once. Worst case, it’s not for us, and we just gain some memories,” Kline said as he offered his hand to Daisy. Realising even Kline seemed willing, she couldn’t in good conscience not go. Hand in hand, the pair stepped into the guild.

Stepping into the adventurers guild, Daisy couldn’t help but gawk as it was so much more than she could imagine. In the stories she had read, there were always gruff-looking brutes who would try to scare off the young hero the moment they stepped in.

But looking around, the majority of the people there seemed relatively normal. They had armour and weapons. But no big burly guys with missing teeth and covered in scars.

Ahead of them were a pair of gently curving staircases leading to the next floor. Nestled between them was a desk with a bored woman who looked like sleep was not in her playbook. On the wall to their immediate left were several boards covered in pages. The words Copper, Tin, Bronze, Iron and Steel, were marked at the top of each board.

“Must be the request boards,” Kline whispered to Daisy. Boards for requests that are given to the guild ranked and assigned to their corresponding rank.

“Wonder where the higher rank ones are… probably upstairs,” Kline muttered as he looked around.

Looking to their right, they could see a small collection of tables and chairs with a small bar against the wall serving drinks to returning adventurers.

“Excuse me,” a man behind them said as he moved between them while carrying a giant boar. This man made his way to the far right of the room to a counter tucked just behind the twin stairs, where he handed over a page and the boar.

“Where are they? They were only ahead of us by a little bit. I doubt they would’ve vanished in the minute we were behind them,” Daisy whispered back to Kline as she searched for their classmates.

“Oi, you lost, missy?!” a deep voice that sounded like its owner gargled gravel each morning asked. Turning around, Daisy and Kline’s eyes went wide as saucers as they both failed to contain a yelp of fear.

“Eeep.” There stood before them was what must’ve been an adult titan. An eight-foot-tall giant of muscles who was covered in scars and had gold teeth dotted around his mouth. With an especially deep scar diagonally down his chest. He looked like every stereotype Daisy had read about rolled into one.

“I asked, is you lost?” the man repeated.

“I’ll have you know I have as much right to be here as anyone else!” Daisy said, puffing her chest and putting on as brave an act as possible.

“I know that. This is a public place, after all. I was wonderin if you are lost. If you’re here just to gawk, that’s ok. We get students doing looky-loos every so often,” the man answered, arching a brow at Daisy's defiant attitude.

“W-w-w-we were with a group they came in ahead of us a few moments ago,” Kline stammered out.

“Ah, you sum of dat loonies kids? ‘Ees over dere,” the man gestured to a desk tucked behind the left staircase that was just out of sight.

“Dey’s at the registerin counter. Have a good one,” the man gave a friendly salute and made his way to the tavern area. Heading to where he pointed them, they found the rest of their classmates standing in front of a counter while Alex talked to the clerk.

“Ah, here are the last of them. Sorry to keep you waiting, Nayble,” Alex said, gesturing to Daisy and Kline.

“Can we get the registration sorted now?” the Clerk, however, just sighed at Alex’s request.

“This many kids will need the Guildmaster’s approval,” the Clerk explained as he rose from his seat.

“Wait here while I inform him,” the Clerk left the desk, and the class stood there.

“Well crap,” Alex muttered as he watched the Clerk go off.

“Something wrong, sir?” Maxwell asked.

“The Guildmaster… he… well, he doesn’t like me,” Alex explained.

“Why?” Bea asked.

“Well, when I was younger, I was what would be affectionately referred to as a little shit.”

“So not much has changed then, chief?” Gunter asked.

“Cheeky brat,” Alex said with a smirk. “Nah, he kinda got stuck with me when my sister went off to the army. I was technically an underage orphan, so some legal stuff happened, and it kinda made him my guardian for a spell.”

“So he was like you, dad?” Tasha exclaimed in shock.

“Gods no. More a grouchy uncle.”

“The Guildmaster will see you now,” the Clerk said as he returned.

“Come on, gang, let's go; his office is on the top floor,” Alex said as he led the way up the stairs.

On the landing of the first floor, the class could see a smaller but more well-equipped group of adventurers. On the walls behind the tables they were sitting at, they could see boards for Orichalcum, Mithril and

Adamantine ranks.

“Where’s the Titan Steel and Divinium ranks?” Kline asked as they turned to climb up a flight of stairs above the main desk on the ground floor.

“Guild master assigns those quests. Not open for anyone to pick,” Alex answered.

“What rank did you reach when you were an adventurer chief?” Gunter asked.

“Steel,” Alex’s answer surprised the class. “I was often banded with other groups who needed an addition to their firepower. But mostly, I did whatever jobs they threw my way,”

“Surely you should be a higher rank?” Daisy asked.

“Power isn’t everything. Elissa, for instance, is only an iron rank because she can’t really think tactically. While Yuu is orichalcum because she can do a wider variety of things and be tactical.” Reaching the door at the top of the staircase, Alex knocked at the door.

“Enter,” a voice tinged with exhaustion said.

Opening the door, Alex walked in, followed by the class. There sat behind a desk stacked with papers was a skinny man. His left eye was milky white, with three scars resembling a claw mark stopping just at his cheek over it. While in contrast, his other eye was a vibrant emerald green.

“Alex…” just saying his name caused Alex to wither visibly.

“You corrupting more kids?” the Guildmaster asked, turning his gaze onto the rest of the class.

“Not corrupting, sir, educating,” Alex answered.

“When it’s you doing the educating, it is corrupting. Now sit!” Alex obeyed the Guildmaster without hesitation.

“Kids, are you doing this of your own free will?” the Guildmaster focused his gaze on each class member, who nodded in response.

“Can you cast basic combat spells?” again, they all nodded.

“Then you will start out at Bronze rank,” the Guildmaster reached into his desk and took out six guild ID tags, each made out of bronze. He then threw them to each student.

“Take that back to Nayble, and he’ll get it imprinted with your details,” the Guildmaster explained before turning his gaze back to Alex.

“That sister of yours is in town.” The Guildmaster said it less as an observation and more as a fact. Alex just nodded.

“You going to see her at all?”

“I honestly couldn’t say, sir… our schedules-”

“Our schedules?!!” the Guildmaster repeated, anger peppering his voice. “Boy, if you ever learnt a thing from me, it should be to value family above all else!!!”

“Is that so,” Alex looked like he finally had fight back in him.

“Tell the kids how you got those scars.” the Guildmaster looked annoyed at Alex’s provocation.

“Y-you don’t have to, sir,” Kline said. The Guildmaster just exhaled an exhausted sigh.

“It must’ve been a fight with a fearsome beast,” Tasha said, leaning forwards eagerly.

“It was lass. Though it wasn’t one creature but three…” the Guildmaster paused as the entire class now looked intrigued.

“This one,” he pointed to the scar closest to the edge of his eyebrow. “I got this from my wife when she found out I had a mistress.”

“This one,” he then pointed to the one closest to his nose. “Is from my mistress when she found out I was married.”

“Finally, this one,” he pointed to the one in the middle. “This one is from his sister after she found out I beat him black and blue for telling my wife and mistress about each other.”

“See, family isn’t really a thing he-” Alex’s snide remark was cut off as a book collided with his face.

“That mouth of yours will get you killed one of these days, boy; now, get out of my office. I have some private questions for these kids, and you being around will alter their answers.” Reluctantly Alex rose from his seat and left, glancing back only once to ensure his students were ok.

“Was that really necessary, sir?” Daisy asked, not hiding her anger.

“No, it wasn’t really. That boy is too clever for his own good. He needs to learn there will always be a bigger fish. He lets his attitude blind him sometimes. It’s why I’m always so antagonistic towards him.”

“But he is a powerful mage,” Daisy argued.

“And a knife through his heart will end that. If he pisses off the wrong person, he will get killed.”

“So you don’t hate him?” Bea asked.

“It’s more I feel responsible for the brat. Little shit just gets under my skin, is all.”

“So you had questions for us?” Maxwell asked, clearly wanting to be done with the Guildmaster.

“Yes, I have a request for you.”

“What would that be, chief?” Gunter asked.

“Watch out for him. He is literally self-destructive if not restrained. Now get out of my office and look either scared or on the verge of tears. I got a reputation to uphold!”

Following his command, the class shuffled out of his office, each trying their best to look worried. The only exception being Daisy, who refused not to show her anger towards the Guildmaster.

“You kids ok?” Alex asked from the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah, it wasn’t anything that bad. Shall we get registered?” Bea said as she indicated to Gunter to put her on his shoulders.

“Ok, back to Nayble the Noble,” Alex said as he led the way.

“Nayble the noble?” Maxwell repeated.

“Yeah, his parents were…uncreative with naming their kids.” Arriving back on the ground floor, the class made their way back to the registration desk.

“You got your tags then?” Nayble asked. The class all nodded, holding up their tags.

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

“Ok, put your tag in the slot and your hand on the orb next to it,” Nayble said, putting a device on the counter. Obeying him, Kline went up first, as was fast becoming tradition.

“Please next channel mana through the orb,” Kline once again obeyed. As he channelled mana, the orb began to glow, and a light began shining out of the slot the tag was sitting in.

“What’s happening?” Tasha asked.

“It’s reading your soul and inscribing identification details onto the tag. You can use these in place of ID papers anywhere there's a guild. Even when you go through a city's main gates,” Alex explained.

“What will be on there?” Gunter asked.

“Simple stuff, name, age and race.”

“Can they be stolen?” Tasha asked.

“No, they’re coded to your mana signature and soul wavelength. Gates have devices similar to this; when they ID you, you have to channel mana to activate the ID itself. No match, detailed info won’t show, and it’ll get flagged up.”

As Alex finished his explanation, Kline’s tag finished engraving. He took it out of the device and held it up for the others to see. There, in a simple easy-to-read script, was ‘Name: Kline Bellsprout, Age: fifteen, Race: werebeast’.

“Wow,” the class gazed at it in wonder.

“You lose it; it’ll cost a silver to replace. Higher ranked tags obviously cost more,” Nayble explained. “Also, if you should die, it can be used to identify your corpses in case they are mangled.”

“Next, please,” Nayble’s dispassionate tone killed the class's excited vibe. Following his orders, each class member went up and got their tag engraved.

“What next, chief?” Gunter asked, looking at Alex.

“Simple, we take a quest from the board. You can only take from your rank or below. To rank up, you need to complete enough quests and do a test to prove your ability.” Alex explained as they walked over to the boards.

“Now, pick whatever quest you want. Ideally, a local monster slaying one, as we can finish that within the day.” At Alex’s prompting, the class went to the boards and looked over all the quest sheets.

“There’s a eliminate a drug dealing gang here,” Tasha said, pointing to one of the quests.

“Not that one. You’ll have to coordinate with the city guard. It’s likely a whole weekend job.” Alex said, shaking his head.

“W-what about this one? Collect five bombshell flowers,” Kline said, pointing to a quest sheet on the copper board.

“Bombshell flowers only grow outside the Apophatic walls, Kline. We are not leaving Sloth’s territory for a quick job,” Alex said, shaking his head again.

“What about this one, chief? A clean-up job,” Gunter said, pointing to a page. Walking up to examine it, Alex read the details.

“Seems perfect. A mage had an escape of experimental hybrid monsters and needs them eliminated.” Alex gave an approving nod.

“Ok, take the page off the board and take it to the desk between the stairs with that energetic young lady,” Alex pointed to the woman who looked like she used pervotin to stay awake.

The class followed behind Gunter as he walked up to the desk. Standing there, he waited to be acknowledged by the girl who was staring unblinkingly directly at them.

“Ahem,” Maxwell cleared his throat to get her attention. Suddenly blinking, the girl shook her head.

“Sorry dozed off there for a moment.”

“With your eyes open?” Daisy questioned.

“Sure do, never can be too sure when an attack may come. Sleep with your eyes open is what they teach you,” she replied with a cheery smile.

“Hey, Cookie,” Alex said with a little wave.

“Wowzers, been a while, Alex. You convicted of any more heresy magic?”

“That was a mistaken charge, Cookie. Anyways I got my students here, and they want to pop their quest cherry.”

“Sure thing, hand over the quest sheet,” Cookie said, holding out her hand. Gunter handed her the page.

“Ok, seems to be the right level for them, and with you keeping watch, they won’t be in too much danger,” with a stamp of her stamp, she handed the sheet back.

“Ok, off to the sewers with you,” Cookie said with a grin.

“Sewers?” Daisy repeated as they were already on their way out.

Walking out of the guild building, Alex led the way away from the gatehouse ahead of them in the general direction of the Biting Remark.

“Should be an entrance somewhere around here,” Alex muttered as he started peaking down alleyways.

“Sir, what did she mean about sewers?” Daisy asked, not letting the matter drop.

“Well, it’s on the quest sheet. Hybrid monsters and such,” Alex answered as he found what he was looking for.

“Monsters escaped a mage's lab into the sewers. Ok, down the steps, kids; there's a gate at the bottom,” Alex said, gesturing for them to go down the steps.

“What about the smell?” Maxwell asked.

“Not a problem here.”

“Not a problem?” Maxwell repeated, confused.

“Seriously, go on in. You’ll see what I’m talking about. Tasha take this,” Alex said, handing Tasha the folded-up quest sheet.

“Is the door unlocked, chief?” Gunter asked from the bottom of the steps.

“Yeah, turn the handle and go on through,” Alex said as he brought up the rear of the class.

Opening the gate to the sewers, Gunter stepped in and to the side to allow the others to pass. Slowly but surely, every one of the class made it into the sewers below the middle plateau.

“So, sir, where do we go then?” Maxwell asked, turning to see Alex at the door with a grin.

“You got a map inside the quest sheet. I’ll meet you at the drainage pipe at the lower plateau. Look for a pub named the Aquafer.”

“Sir, why are you speaking like you ar-” Before Daisy could even finish her question, Alex slammed the gate behind them.

“BASTARD!!!” Bea roared as she hopped off Gunter's shoulders and rushed towards the gate. Trying the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Gunter gonna need your strength,” Bea said, turning with a pleading look at him. Seeing no reason not to, Gunter walked up the gate and took one look at it.

“Can’t open it,” was his simple answer.

“Y-you didn’t even touch it!” Kline cried out.

“No need. It is a one-way lock door. Can only be opened from the outside.” Gunter explained. “I did wonder why we walked past a few sewer entrances. He probably picked a remote one where people wouldn’t hear us rattling the gate.”

“Why can it only open one way?!!”

“Well, some monsters can work door handles. This stops them from going out into the streets while also letting adventurers, workers and so on in. I think the maintenance workers get a key to exit through the gates, though,” Gunter explained, gesturing to a keyhole on the gate.

“He said something about a map?” Daisy said, looking at her classmates hopefully.

“Yeah, he said it was in the… CRAP, PUT IT OUT!!!” Maxwell shouted as he took the burning bundle of papers Tasha was holding for a torch.

“Tasha, you can cast the light spell. Why are you using our map for a flame torch?!!” Maxwell asked, glaring at Tasha.

“More of an adventure with a flame-lit torch. I didn’t know there was a map in it,” Tasha answered defensively.

“Knowing Alex, he probably handed it to you, knowing you’d ruin it.”

“What can we do then?” Kline asked, on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Simple, guys. We go through the sewers, complete the quest and punch Alex in the face,” Gunter suggested.

“Can we do it?” Daisy asked.

“This feels like when I was learning to swim,” Tasha added.

“How is this anything like learning to swim?” Maxwell asked, turning a bewildered stare at Tasha.

“Well, I was a bit scared of swimming when I was little. My mum would always be there to help keep me afloat. But one day, my dad had enough of it, took me out fishing, chucked me in the middle of the lake, and rowed away.”

“The monster!” Daisy said with a shocked gasp.

“Nah, he did it so I could learn to swim without help. He was never too far away that he couldn’t rescue me. But I had to learn.”

“So, Alex has chucked us in the deep end?” Bea asked to which Tasha nodded.

“Maybe he wants to see how we handle ourselves. Maybe he just wants to laugh as we flail uselessly. But he is known to ensure his students stay safe, so I doubt we are in danger.” Daisy added.

“So come on guys, we got some abominations to kill,” Tasha declared as she began to run off down the tunnel.

“The map is safe; only the edges are singed,” Maxwell said with a relieved sigh as he unfurled the map.

Looking at the map, it showed a vast network of tunnels that were interconnected with chambers every so often. But what stood out most was a big red cross with ‘You start here’ written in bold letters. Then from the cross, a thin red line weaved through the tunnels towards something labelled out-pipe seven.

“I’m guessing we follow this path?”

“Ok, guys, guess we are doing this. Let's complete this quest and shove how well we did in Alex’s face. Maybe use your hammer on his face as well,” Maxwell said, clenching his fist in determination. Moving down the tunnel, they came to their first obstacle, a crossroads.

“What does the map say?” Bea asked, looking at Maxwell.

“Turn left.”

“Now the real question is the map a trick or the real deal,” Bea said. As the class began to ponder this question, they began to hear skittering approaching from the shadows.

“LUMUS REX!!” Gunter squealed, creating a light orb for them to see clearly. Heading towards them was a massive swarm of insects. Not abominations, but terrifying nonetheless.

“Ok, Gunter, use your hammer to smash as many of them as-” Maxwell’s words stopped as he watched Gunter visibly panic.

“EEEEEEEE!!!” Gunter cried out as he dropped his hammer and used its handle to put his feet off the ground. “I hate bugs!!!”

“Goddammit, Daisy, do you know any AOE spells?” Maxwell asked, turning to Daisy.

“I know a few, but they are all fire,” Daisy answered.

“Can’t you use them?” Bea asked, her head tilted as it was pressed near the ceiling from Gunter's shoulders.

“I could, but it would suck all the oxygen out of this confined space, and we would asphyxiate,” Daisy explained.

“I am more a close combatant, so I don’t have wide-area attacks,” Maxwell groaned as he began retreating a few steps. As he did, a small packet flew over his shoulder and landed in front of the swarm. At the sight of the herbs that tumbled out of the packet, the swarm all screeched and halted their advance. Turning to the packet's source, everyone was surprised to see Kline was the one who threw it.

“These are sewer flickers. They hate rosemary, sage and thyme. Herbs that are often used as reagents in healing spells,” Kline explained.

“How do you know that?” Daisy asked, looking amazed at what everyone assumed was their most cowardly member.

“I love bugs. I use their materials for my medical research. The best ones are day caterpillars. The life cycle lasts an entire day, so you can study generations over a few weeks.”

“As much as I love the lesson in bugs, how do we kill them?” Gunter asked from his perch atop his warhammer’s handle.

“Oh, you don’t. They just look scary; they will just skitter past us,” Kline explained as he approached the swarm and shuffled amongst them.

“See, they’re ignoring me.”

“Why did you use the packet, then?” Bea asked.

“Why? You guys were scared. I know better than anyone how it feels to be afraid. But fear is just a reaction to the unknown. I thought it would give me a chance to calm you guys down.” No one among the assembled classmates could reproach Kline for his earnest answer.

“J-just make sure they move quickly!” Gunter cried. Leaning down, Kline picked up the thrown packet, and the bugs restarted the skittering. The class all stood stock still like statues, and just as Kline had said, they left them mostly unaccosted. With only the sensation of hundred of bugs as a passing gift.

“Shall we?” Kline asked as he indicated the path the map said they should go down.

“I personally don’t think Alex would let us get lost down here; who would he have to teach if we did?” Daisy joked as they reluctantly continued down the tunnel.

Continuing down the tunnel, the group came to a large open area lit up by glow moss. A plant that gave off its own light and was often introduced to underground structures to save on lighting costs. A massive slime monster was in the middle of the chamber. Every so often, it would jiggle as smaller slimes brought it bones of all shapes and sizes.

“Are those wrym bones?” Maxwell asked as the group watched the procession of slimes.

“Looks like it… probably best not to think too much about it.”

“The map here says it's a slime matriarch,” Maxwell explained, showing everyone the map. “It also says not to kill it in big letters?”

“Well yeah,” Gunter said. “Part of my family's speciality is civics works. Academy City uses slimes in the sewers. They keep them clean and get rid of monster bodies.”

“Can’t a murderer just chuck a corpse in the sewers and dispose of the evidence?” Bea asked from her perch.

“Bit of a macabre question but no. From what I read, Sloth bred them to be averse to sapient bodies. Darling things are neat freaks, so they will even move the bodies out of the sewer.”

“Ok, so we can just walk past it?” Daisy asked to which Gunter nodded.

“Let’s go then,” Maxwell said as he worked out which of the multiple pathways they needed to go to continue their trek.

As they reached an incline going down to what they hoped was the lower plateau, they began to hear it. A bizarre mix of a frog’s croak and a sheep’s baa. Moving the light orb further into the tunnel, they finally caught sight of their target. It was an insane fusion of a sheep and a frog. Somehow they had gotten the wool to become slimy, all while its horns shot out periodically like a frog's tongue.

“Gods above… what lunatic made that?” Daisy asked, covering her nose for the first time as the creature stank beyond belief.

“Don’t tell me the chief made these so that we’d have a quest?” Gunter asked. The class were unsure as it was a possibility.

“Oh wow, a demon chimaera,” Bea said as she looked closer at the creatures from her perch.

“Explain?” Maxwell demanded.

“Demon stuff. But demonologists use chimaeras like that for sacrifices to demons. Chimaeras are a mix of many animals, so we cover a lot of bases for the demons we summon.”

The creature now turned its bug eyes and gazed in their direction, releasing a roar that was entirely unholy and unnatural. It then charged towards the group. The tunnel was too narrow for Gunter to swing his hammer effectively. Seeing no other option, Maxwell stepped to the front of the group.

“Raghhhhhh!!!” Maxwell darted forwards, his hands transforming into silver-furred claws. “YOU WILL NOT HURT THOSE I CARE FOR!!” Maxwell’s warcry was accompanied by his claws slashing the monster to ribbons with a flurry of blows.

“You care for us that much?” Daisy asked, which immediately made Maxwell redden up as he tried to cover his face with the collar of his cloak.

“I’m touched, Maxy,” Bea added teasingly.

“So we going to collect the mana stone? We need it as proof for the guild,” Kline said, pointing to the heap of flesh.

“I don’t know how to do it,” Maxwell admitted lowering his head.

“I got this,” Daisy said as she rolled up her sleeves.

“You know how chief?”

“No, but how hard can it be?”

Daisy very quickly came to regret her words as she, in the end, ended up elbow-deep digging around the corpse, trying to find the stone. But her effort was rewarded with paydirt as she freed her arm and held a green stone aloft.

“Woo, I did it!!” Daisy cheered, which the rest of the class joined in on. With this stone obtained, they continued on their way.

“You know, I’ve kinda noticed something…” Daisy said before trailing off.

“What’s that?”

“Well, we have been following Professor Alex’s route, right?” the group nodded.

“And with each challenge so far, one of us has had some skill or knowledge for the situation. Almost as if Alex planned it that way…”

The group stopped in their step as the realisation began to dawn on them. The quest sheet had said the monstrosities were swarming the sewers, but they had only encountered one so far.

“It matters little if this is all going to his plan; we will continue.” Maxwell declared, continuing to take the lead down the tunnels.

Eventually, they came upon the remnants of what must’ve been an epic battle. One wall had several spears deeply embedded in it. What was extra clear was this had happened recently as the blood on the spears was still wet.

“Your werewolf nose picking up anything?” Bea asked Maxwell.

“Just blood and death. Whatever rolled through here was dangerous; we should keep our wits about us,” they all collectively nodded.

Continuing down the indicated path, they came to another large chamber with a slime matriarch in the centre. Only this chamber had one wall completely collapsed with no signs of what had caused it.

“Infrastructure crumbling?” Gunter suggested. The class decided it was best to assume this was the case, as whatever could do that to a wall would not be something they wanted to encounter.

Further into the tunnel, they began to hear the bleat-croak noises again. But this time, it was far more than the lone subject they had previously encountered. Taking a peek around the corner to the connecting tunnel where the noise was coming from, Daisy spotted six chimaeras.

“Guys, there’s six of them. Ideas?”

“I-I-i’m not a battle plan guy. I can try to shoot a spell from back here,” Kline offered.

“Me and Gunter can be the front line. Bea, you summon your demons for backup, and Daisy and Kline can be backline and shoot out single-target spells. If all goes well, we can clear the room quickly.” Maxwell suggested before moving to enact the plan.

“Wait,” Daisy hissed.

“What?” Maxwell hissed right back.

“I got a better idea. You see what they’re standing in?” Daisy asked as she gestured around the corner. Taking a quick peek before retreating, Maxwell had his answer.

“Like half an inch of water, so what?” Maxwell didn’t understand what Daisy was going on about.

“Ok, here’s my plan. Bea, you can use lightning magic, right?” the group now seemed to understand her plan.

“Why don’t we open with that? If it doesn’t kill them, it will stun them. Then we can easily pick them off.”

“Good plan, Daisy,” Bea said, giving Daisy a fistbump.

“Ok, on Bea’s bolt,” Maxwell said, surrendering the lead to Daisy’s plan.

A loud crack echoed throughout the tunnels as a bolt of magically conjured lightning struck the pool of water the chimaeras were standing in. Half of them collapsed on the floor in less than a second, smouldering, while the other half were twitching in place.

“GO!!” Daisy shouted, slapping Gunter and Maxwell’s back.

Charging into the tunnel, both bounded towards their chosen target and took them down with relative ease. Leaving a lone survivor who, having regained its movement, started to scramble away.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Daisy shouted after the creature, concentrating on creating the clearest image she could imagine. “LUMUS REX!!” Her shout summoned a light magic circle for magic missile. With a quick infusion of mana, the bolts of pure mana shot out and struck the fleeing creature in the back. The cracking sounds of its spine breaking could be heard even from where Kline was standing.

“Wooo, go finish it off, Daisy!!”

“I will finish it off,” Daisy muttered as she approached the creature that was still trying to claw itself away with its arms—standing over the creature, Daisy's shaking hand held her knife at the ready.

“I’m sorry… I know you didn’t choose this life. But I shall try to make this as quick and painless as possible,” the creature's gaze met Daisy’s and the moment they met, it stopped struggling. Almost as if it understood her words.

With as much respect as she could, she plunged the knife into the base of the creature's skull, killing it quickly and painlessly as she promised.

“What was that about?” Maxwell asked, looking excited as the battle high still rushed through his veins.

“Professor Alex’s lesson earlier… Value and respect the lives you end… We shouldn’t be enjoying this guys,” Daisy’s voice was shaky as she looked up at her classmates with teary-eyed.

“Gods…” Maxwell looked down at his blood-drenched claws as his expression began to drop in realisation.

“Daisy is right. It is ok to take joy in victory. But we should not do so to be disrespectful to those we end,” Kline said as he approached Daisy and embraced her in a hug.

“Well… guess we need to harvest these stones then. Fair is fair; let's harvest from the ones we killed,” Bea said as she grimaced, approaching the three corpses that stank worse now they had been cooked by lightning.

“I’ll help you, Bea; it is only fair all six of us get our hands dirty,” Kline said, kneeling and making an incision in one of Bea’s targets. It took a moment for them all to realise.

“CRAP, WHERE’S TASHA?!!!” Bea shouted before anyone else could exclaim the question.

“That daft elf ran off before she even saw the map,” Maxwell recalled.

“What do we do then?” Daisy asked, grimacing as she plunged her arm into the chimaera.

“Make our way out and get Alex to help find her,” Gunter answered.

“It is times like this that a teacher should be needed.”

After a few nauseating minutes of digging around, they had a grand total of seven mana stones of various colours. Taking the map back out, Maxwell looked to check where they were.

“Ok, a few more turns, and we should come to the out pipe Alex marked,” Maxwell said, holding up the map for all to see.

Following the route prescribed, they finally came to a large tunnel, the end of which they could see the telltale lights of civilisation. This sight alone was enough for them to begin running. All at once, they were all in a full-on sprint and all burst out the pipe to a crowd of bewildered onlookers.

“Ah, Kids!!” Alex shouted, waving from a table with a tankard on it. Rising from his seat, he approached the class.

“Have fun?” Alex’s smirk was more than they could take, and Daisy was the first to walk up and slap him across the face.

“What was that for?” Alex asked, holding his cheek.

“You abandoned us in the sewer!!!” Daisy shouted.

“You set up tests of our knowledge along the route you planned,” Bea added as Gunter crouched down so she could slap Alex across the face herself.

“I did? I just gave you a map with the quickest route out,” Alex seemed genuinely bewildered by their knowledge theory.

“So you didn’t plan a route that we each would have the knowledge to deal with?” Maxwell asked.

“No. How much free time do you think I have? I just planned a quick route for you,” Alex explained as he rubbed his cheek. “By the way, where is Tasha?”

At this prompt, the class all panicked, realising they had gotten so caught up in hitting Alex that Tasha still needed rescuing.

“Crap, chief, she needs help, she ran off without us, and we don’t know where she…” Gunter’s voice trailed off as he saw Alex’s smirk spread, so it was nearly an ear-to-ear grin. At that moment, a blood-soaked Tasha stepped out of the Aquafer with a pair of tankards was a blood-soaked Tasha.

“Oh hey, guys, I was worried you got lost!” She beamed, waving at her classmates, causing her to spill the drinks entirely.

“How is she here before us?!” Maxwell demanded, pointing at Tasha.

“Well… I warn you. It is so stupid I decided to actually drink alcohol while I waited for you kids to numb my brain to handle it.” The class just nodded, which caused Alex to exhale a deep sigh.

“Tasha, would you explain how you got here first?”

“Well, you guys got annoyed because I wanted a real adventure. While you were talking, I smelt something.”

“I’m sure I will regret asking this to you, Tasha… But what did you smell?”

“I smelled Elissa. She was in the sewers, most likely recently. So I followed the scent thinking you guys were behind me. Dodged a whole swarm of bugs, said hello to a couple of slime matriarchs and got these,” Tasha took out half a dozen mana stones from her pouch.

“I kept following the scent, and it eventually led out that pipe, and it’s there I saw professor Alex looking at me surprised.”

“You…” Daisy began before rubbing her temples. “You ran through an unknown tunnel system because you thought you smelled Elissa?”

“I did smell her!!” Tasha protested. “I would recognise her scent anywhere.”

“Did you smell her scent, Maxwell?” Kline asked.

“No, just blood, guts and slimes,” Maxwell replied, shaking his head.

With the whole class assembled and finally free of the sewer's danger, exhaustion hit them all at once.

“Ok, class, no time to rest just yet. We got to turn in your quest sheet,” Alex said as he began ushering the gore-splattered teenagers towards the path up to the middle plateau gatehouse.

“Do we need to hand it in tonight?” Daisy asked with a groan.

“No, not necessarily. You can hand them in tomorrow. I just thought you’d want to bask in your spoils sooner rather than later.”

“Spoils?” Bea repeated perking up at the prospect of rewards.

“I thought this was a school thing?” Maxwell asked.

“No, all extracurricular.”

“I suppose you want a cut, chief?”

“Why? I didn’t do anything, really. The reward is yours to divide as you see fit.”

“By the way, sir, how much is the reward?” Kline asked curiously.

“Hmm, the sheet should have it listed, but you kids got some good quality stones. So I’d say a small gold per stone.” The class stopped walking and gaped at Alex, who had just quoted an exorbitant price.

“Come on, kids, let's get you back to the dorm,” Alex said as he walked back behind them and began pushing them again.

“You know what, let’s stop at the guild. It’s our first quest, after all,” Gunter said, looking at his classmates.

“Yeah, we can split the pot evenly,” Tasha added, jingling her pouch of stones.

“You sure, Tasha? It’s just you got as many as we have on your own,” Daisy said, jingling their own night's spoils.

“Sure, we are a team after all,” Tasha said with a beaming smile as she handed her pouch to Daisy.

“By the way, Tasha. How did you kill six of those chimaeras?” Maxwell asked, looking at the blood-splattered Elf.

“Well, as I was running through the tunnels, I came across seven of the nasty things,” the class nodded along. “Then, as I retreated looking for a way to deal with them, I came to a spot in the wall that had a bunch of spears in it.” The group all nodded; they had seen the spot.

“Well, I used a boom arrow and sent six of them flying into the spears, impaling them. The seventh ran off back the way I came through. Probably towards you guys”

“Wonder how those spears got in the wall?” Kline muttered.

“Yeah, they weren’t there when I planned the route for you kids,” Alex said, looking at the map where they pointed out its location.

“After that, I took out my hook knife and harvested the stones,” Tasha finished.

“Hook knife?” Daisy repeated.

“Yeah, need it to get the stone and stay clean. Otherwise, you gotta get all intimate with a monster corpse,” Alex explained.

“Wait, if you have one of those, why are you caked in more gore than we are?!” Maxwell asked.

“Well, I shot two boom arrows. Only one blew up before I killed them. The second went boom when I had just finished harvesting”

“The second blew up and splattered you in gore… pfft” Maxwell couldn’t contain his laughter as he doubled over, clutching his stomach. The laughter quickly spread till the entire class were laughing at Tasha.

“Alright, that's enough; we are here,” Alex said, gesturing to the guild building.

Walking in the whole main hall went quiet as countless adventurers stared at the gore-caked class as they walked in proudly. Before they could get further, the helpful Titan from earlier approached and stood in their way.

“You kids hurt?” he seemed genuinely concerned. They all shook their heads to indicate they were fine.

“Has this master of mischief done this to you?” The Titan asked, shooting a glare at Alex.

“Kinda; he got us to do a job and closed the gate behind us,” Tasha happily answered.

“Gods dammit, Alex!!! You told me you weren’t corrupting them!!!” the guildmaster roared as he rose from his own table, leaving his dinner and drink behind.

“You kids really ok?” the guildmaster asked with a tone that all present could read between the lines. ‘If you want, Alex will be gone’.

“Really, we are fine. We didn’t have hook knives, and Tasha had a misfire of a boom arrow around some monster corpses,” Daisy hastily explained.

“Very well, congratulations, I guess,” the Guildmaster clearly had decided it was too exhausting to deal with Alex and returned to his table.

“So, little miss, which quest did you first-timers pop your quest-cherry on?” the Titan asked.

“The escaped chimaeras one,” Bea answered.

“What?!!! But that should be an iron ranked…” the Titan slowly turned his gaze towards Alex.

“Hey, don’t blame me if it got misfiled. I let them pick a quest that they could handle” The Titan just gave a derisive snort in Alex’s direction.

“You kids ever want any pointers from someone who isn’t crazy look for me. Names Seigfried.” With those parting words, he returned to his table and continued his drinking.

“Wow, they really don’t like you,” Bea whispered to Alex.

“Oh yeah, I was nicknamed Loki because I caused and solved so many problems when I was here.” With the concerned looks of the adventurers still on them, the class made their way to the drop-off counter.

“We’re here to turn in parts for a quest reward,” Alex said as he leaned on the counter.

“Quest sheet, please,” the clerk said, holding out his hand. Maxwell patted his pockets before retrieving the bloodstained and lightly burnt document and holding it out for the clerk to take. Looking at the document, the clerk pinched the cleanest corner with his fingertips and placed it down.

“Ok, you got chimaera stones?”

“Yes, we have thirteen,” Daisy answered. This number caused a stir through the guildhall.

“So your instructor showed you the ropes?” the clerk asked, glancing at Alex.

“Oh no, I threw the kiddies in the deep and went to the pub,” Alex corrected, which only caused more glares to be sent his way.

“All rewards and marks to the kiddos, please.” The clerk just nodded and went into the back before returning with a pouch that clinked.

“Twenty-six small gold coins,” the clerk said, dropping the pouch on the counter.

“TWENTY-SIX?!!” Bea repeated, even more, excited than previously.

“Yes, an artificer has been buying up a lot of the chimaera stones, so demand has gone up, as has the price. Add that to a bonus from the guards; now they have the culprit behind bars”

“Thank you, Mike,” Alex said as he retrieved the pouch, which he gave a heft.

“Yep, all there. Ok, kiddos, let's go get some treats and celebrate,” Alex said as he led the way out of the guild.

“Why are you carrying the cash?” Maxwell asked in a sharp tone.

“Well, if you want to carry double-digit small golds around an area with pickpockets, be my guest,” Alex replied, holding out the pouch for Maxwell, who just shook his head.

“You can carry it. It’s probably heavy, and we are all tired.”

“Uh-huh,” Alex arched a brow, clearly amused at the weak excuse.

“Sir… I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now. But how can you endure all those glares… hell, all those funny looks you get when you walk around the upper plateau. Any normal person would have withered by now,” Bea asked as she scrambled back to her perch on Gunter's shoulders.

“I, too, would like to know. I marched with you, and my stomach was doing loops with all those stares.”

“Simple, really, I run at an F-Deficit.”

“F-Deficit?” Daisy repeated. “I’m not familiar with the term.”

“Oh, you sweet innocent child,” Alex said, looking at Daisy.

“Daisy, you ever heard of someone say they have no fucks to give?” Bea asked.

“Yes…” Daisy replied hesitantly, not comfortable with the swearing.

“Well, Professor Alex here is saying he has a deficit of those. He has even less than none to give.”

“Exactly, Bea,” Alex said, clapping his hands in approval.

“By the way, Daisy, why don’t you tell him what you did in the sewers?” Bea asked conspiratorially as she leant down as much as she could from Gunter’s shoulders.

“What did you do?” Alex asked, curious now Bea had hinted at something.

“Nothing, really,” Daisy answered sheepishly.

“Come now, Daisy, you should be proud. You successfully used that technique we have been practising,” Kline said, blushing when she shot a glare his way.

“Wait, did you really?” Alex looked beyond proud at this prospect while Daisy just meekly nodded.

“WOW!! I knew you were great, Daisy, but to think you’d succeed this quickly.” Daisy couldn’t help but try to hide her blush at the unrestrained praise Alex was giving her.

“Ok, here we are. This guy has the best ice cream in the city,” Alex explained as they approached a stall.

“Pick anything you want, kids. It’s on me. Even a super deluxe bucket blend of flavours.”

“Oh, hello, sir; good to see you again,” the stall vendor said, looking into the distance like his mind was elsewhere.

“You ok?” Alex asked.

“Oh yeah…err… ice creams are all free today. Just serve yourselves however much you want.”

“What? Are you serious? I don’t mind paying,” Alex seemed more confused now.

“Yeah, I made more money earlier tonight than I would’ve in several lifetimes. I… I think I will sit down.”

While the class busily began scooping as much ice cream into buckets as they could, Gunter even taking an entire container directly out of the stall. Alex went over and chatted with the stall vendor. After a few words exchanged, Alex quickly returned to his students.

“Ok, we have to eat on the go; no time, let's go!” Alex hastily said as he ushered the class towards the upper plateau gatehouse.

“Why the rush?” Maxwell asked, his lips already coated in raspberry surprise.

“No time, just move it!!” Alex’s tone was becoming more and more frantic. Just as they neared the last block before the ramp up to the upper plateau, a building in front of them exploded with a golem flying backwards into the building across the street.

“VICTORY OR VALHALLA!!!!” Out of the rubble burst a screaming figure who then charged through the building on the opposite side of the street, bringing the heavily dented golem with her.

“Was that woman wearing a dragon skull on her head?” Gunter asked.

“JUST KEEP GOING…. CRAP-CRAP-CRAP!!” the class now hastened their pace as they could see the genuine terror in Alex’s eyes. He had only been uncomfortable in the presence of the guildmaster, so this must be someone far more dangerous.

As they made it to the top of the ramp, Daisy hazarded a glance back down and could’ve sworn she saw two figures, one short and the other tall and skinny, chasing the wild woman in dragon bones.