The students awoke at the same time as their first day. They had all gotten prepared for another day like the first, and went into the hallway. Though, greeting them there was Zen.
"Whoops. So sorry to have to correct you all, but you won't be doing Miss Grula's or my class today." Zen shrugged his shoulders.
"Huh? What gives? Are we in trouble?" Lylas cringed thinking that the previous altercation might have gotten them in serious trouble after all.
"No no. Not at all. But, Wednesdays are real school days… At least for first year students. So, you'll all be getting dressed in your uniforms and going to "Classroom 3-C". If you look in your Academy Book, it'll tell you where you need to go." Zen gave a large thumbs up with a big smile. All six of them groaned.
"So, why didn't you tell us this yesterday?" Olicia ‘s voice seemed outright downtrodden.
"Well. Miss Grula and I both forgot. Sorry." Zen said with a slight grin as he shrugged his shoulders again. "So, I made it a priority to let you all know as soon as possible. See you all tomorrow."
Zen walked away and the students all went back to their rooms to change clothes again. They reemerged and made their way to the classroom. There was a silent air of agreement that everyone would follow Avures as it seemed he was the only one who knew where the room was. This was mostly due to Avures having read the Academy Book much more than the other students already.
Eventually they made it in. It was a simple room. Some shelves with books, lots of desks, some hung up paintings and maps, and a chalkboard at the front. For whatever reason, everybody sat at different locations in the classroom on their own accord. Avures and Rael both sat together in the second row of the desks in the middle. Ventrix sat in the first row in the left corner. Olicia sat in the dead center of the room behind Avures and Rael. And Lylas and Bif sat at opposite ends of the room in the last row. Eventually, their professor, an old man, came in and began class. And with a new class, came new things to carry around. The professor gave them a bag to carry their new things in. But the list of new things were three notebooks, pens and inkwells, and three new books (one for each subject).
The truth was... It was an absolute bore for all of them. Though, who could blame them? Sure, they were all fifteen, but they were still kids. All of them sat there with the most boredom they had ever felt in their lives as they did math, language, and history courses. Avures was the only one of them who looked to even slightly enjoy it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Bif was having more than a rough time as he clearly couldn't write or read properly. Breakfast, lunch, and eight hours later… They were finally let go.
It was roughly two in the afternoon at this point. Sitting through that class was awful for all six of them. They all stood outside the classroom and watched as other students filled the halls. "3-C" as in the third floor, and "Hallway C". The way Avures figured it, the third floor was for all classrooms. Most of the people they saw walk around were definitely older than them or dressed up like all staff had been at that point.
"Why do ya figure it is all the teachers and them have that white hair?" Lylas leaned against the wall as everyone else stood around.
"Couldn't tell you." Olicia shrugged, not really caring in the slightest.
"Apparently, it's the distinction between actual teachers and masters versus people who have graduated from here, but stuck around." Avures kept his attention held towards everyone else in the hall. It was an odd mix of those with white hair, and people who looked young enough to be students like them without the same outfits.
"How do you know that, nerd?" Bif scoffed at Avures’s instant answer, to which he received a sudden shot of pain in his foot.
"Hey!" Rael stomped on Bif's toes without any hesitation, leading to him attempting to yank his foot back as he winced. But, it was to no avail.
"It's in the Academy Book." Avures held up that piece of literature every one of them had received.
"Oh come on! He is a nerd." Bif held his hands out towards the book. Rael put more pressure down, her foot crushing Bif's toes. Bif began to clench his fist and get jumpy as his face got hot. Avures started to walk away from the group which caught their attention.
"Where are ya going, pal?" Lylas placed his hand on Avures’s shoulder, stopping him in place.
"To the library. I wanted to do some reading." Avures shrugged off Lylas’s hand as he gave a lifeless answer. Bif's mouth was agape as he gestured at Rael with even more exaggeration and pointed at Avures. She gave up and took her foot off of his, leading to Bif sighing in relief.
"Oh really? I actually wanted to take a trip there myself. Allow me to accompany you." Ventrix requested. Avures shrugged, and the two of them walked off together. None of the rest of them felt like going to read, so instead they would go back to their rooms.
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Back in the hall from where their rooms are, the four of them, that being Rael, Lylas, Bif, and Olicia, stood around their doors.
"So… Any big plans?" Rael looked around at the three of them.
"I dunno. Might go hit a tree or somethin'." Bif shrugged his shoulders, looking extremely bored and a tad tired as he gave a yawn following that.
"Probably just a bit of relaxing for me." Lylas’s eyes were fixated on the ceiling as he found himself feeling the same.
"Hmm. Personally, I was going to grab my-... On second thought, I shouldn't say." Olicia stopped talking.
"Nope. Nope nope nope. That's not how this works. Tell us." Lylas shook his head and encroached on Olicia’s personal space.
"Wha-I can't-..." Olicia slowly backed up, putting her hands up.
"Yeah! Tell us!" Bif pumped his arms and fists, springing to life at the drop of a needle.
"You don't have to share, no matter how much these two idiots try to pressure you." Rael waltzed over to Olicia and put her arm over the girl’s shoulder. "But… We are supposed to "get along", and I'm curious too… He-heh…"
"Eh… Okay. Here, let me grab it." Olicia gave into the pressure with a sigh and red face as she rushed inside her room. The three of them could hear frantic movement and footsteps from within until she exited. In Olicia's hands was a battered looking book. There was no title or any defining words or illustrations on the cover, but Olicia held it to her chest dearly.
"A book? That's what the fuss was about?" Bif dropped his arms and posture in defeat as fast as he had resurrected. “What is it with today and books?”
"It's not just "a book". It's a research diary where I've written about a lot of stuff I've seen. Think like an encyclopedia, except for bugs and weird plants or animals." Olicia’s face was beet red explaining the item she held.
"Bugs? Creepy crawlies?" Lylas raised his eyebrows, awaiting clarification.
"The swamp I lived in with my family had a ton of different bugs. So, I wrote stuff about them." Olicia presented the book by holding it by the cover and flipping through some of the pages as she held it outward. One page had several enlarged drawings of the bug from different angles, and the page beside it had a ton of scribblings detailing things it did or ate. After a few seconds, she flipped through the entirety of the book, showing off numerous entries.
"Whoa… How long have you been writing in this?" Rael was awestruck looking closer at the pages as Olicia flipped through them.
"Uh… Since I was a little kid. Like, since I was six years old." Olicia’s redness began to fade, but a smile remained. "I used to keep the bugs in jars to draw them and study them before I wrote anything down. My mom made me do it out of sight cause it was "icky" and "not womanly"."
"I'm not the biggest fan of crawlies myself, but that's a lot of work ya have in that. It's pretty cool." Lylas nodded his head as he observed it.
"So, what was your plan with the book then?" Rael asked, looking back at Olicia.
"Well. Mudstow is some ways away… And I figured there would be different kinds of bugs here… So, I kinda wanted to study them… You guys don't think I'm gross… Right?" Olicia’s posture grew tight. She was very self-conscious about herself and her book.
"Oh it is gross." Bif nodded his head and crossed his arms. Immediately, Rael stomped on his foot again, crushing his toes. Along with that, Lylas punched Bif in the arm. "Ow! Ah! Okay! Stop!"
"What he means is yeah it's gross, but that's cool. Like it's awesome… And okay with all of us." Lylas shrugged his shoulders, wording as best as he could. After another solid punch in the arm, Lylas pulled away from Bif. Bif scowled at his roommate as he rubbed his arm.
"And it's okay if it's not "womanly", I've been called that too." Rael rolled her eyes with a grin on her face. "Can we come with you to help?"
"Help?" Olicia went wide-eyed. She hadn’t expected anyone to offer to help with something like that. “Are you serious?”
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"Yeah! We'll help you find bugs to study. It could be fun." Rael hopped back over to Olicia’s side as her smile grew wider. Olicia closed her book and held it close to her chest again. She avoided eye contact and looked around. No one had ever asked to join in on that sort of thing. Usually, people just outright mocked her for liking to do it. Bif and Lylas even nodded their heads to this idea. Her face practically turned a beet red as her purple eyes lit up with glee.
"Yes! Let's do it!" Olicia lit up in a manner similar to Rael’s usual vigor.
And so, the four of them would spend the rest of the day looking around for strange looking bugs. The ones that they would find were cataloged after some "research" and drawings were made. Olicia couldn't have asked for a better way to spend her day…
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Meanwhile, during all of this, Avures and Ventrix had made their way to the library. On the fourth floor where most of the other rooms like offices were located, the library resided. Stepping inside, Avures and Ventrix were greeted to the sight of a huge room. Between this and the arena rooms, Avures was convinced there had to be some sort of non-euclidean magic afoot. That aside, there was the main floor which had a dark blue carpet on it. Bookshelves lined nearly every inch of the visible walls within the room. They piled up higher as well with nearly seven rows of bookshelves. There were also many round tables on the main floor along with ladders that led up to the higher bookshelves. But before all of that stood a desk with a sleepy looking man behind it. The two walked up to his desk.
"Huh? Oh? You two must be new. Welcome to the Academy Library. You'll find no better place in or near Palmenae with a better collection." The man’s voice kept a monotone level.
"You sound absolutely thrilled to be here." Ventrix shook his head and smiled as he and Avures reached the desk.
"Ha-ha, very funny. Keep making fun of the way I talk. It's not by choice you know." The man didn’t falter vocally. Ventrix cringed internally, realizing his poor choice of words.
"Er, sorry." Ventrix rubbed the back of his head. He then pulled out a small piece of paper and unfolded it. "I'm looking for..."The Architect"? Can you help me out?"
"Oh God… How do I put this in a way you'll understand?...The Architect isn't someone I just call over to the desk here. Also, how do you know about him? What's your names?" The man pointed between the two of them.
"I'm Avures..." Avures had no idea who "The Architect" was supposed to be.
"I'm Ventrix Felsta." Ventrix’s lips tightened at one corner as he was sure to get some sort of denial to his answer.
"Oh. That explains it. Felsta… I feel the headaches returning already. Because of the rules and laws set in place here, I must oblige and tell you how and where to find him, but that does not mean I approve of you searching for him. We do not want another incident like the Ascension. If I find out you are preparing another event like the Ascension, I will have Headmaster Xilvas quickly put an end to it. Are we clear?" The man remained as monotone and cryptic as ever. Both Avures and Ventrix nodded their heads slowly, not really having any clue as to what "Ascension" is.
"Okay. So. If you want to find The Architect, you have to find his puzzle box, solve it, and bring it back. Simplicity itself." The man turned his gaze back down to his desk and jotted some notes down on a piece of paper.
"Hold on, hold on. Where do I find this puzzle box? And solve it? How?" Ventrix pushed. The man sighed as he dropped his face to the floor.
"It's located in one of the books here. There will be one that doesn't look right. Open it up. Puzzle box. How to solve it?... It's hard to describe, but from what I understand... The puzzle box likes moments of extreme tension and harvests energy from it. There. I've told you all I have to by contract. Now please, be normal students… Go check out a book or something… And stop looking for beings who became personable abstracts." The man sighed as he pleaded with his still monotone voice.
"Will do. Thank you for your help." Ventrix said, beckoning for Avures to follow him. He did so and they entered the large open room. There were very few other students in this area. It was eerily quiet, even with the general nature of a library and a few people about. The two of them practically tip-toed in with their eyes wide looking at the sheer volume of books.
"So, Avures. What was it you were looking for?" Ventrix gazed over at his classmate with curiosity as he found an empty table and gently sat his bag on it.
"I guess… I'm looking for books on magic. What Mister Zen said the other day stuck out to me." Avures followed in suit, sitting his bag on the table as well. Before he completely sat it down, he noticed something strange. Putting his bag on the floor, and lightly moving Ventrix's to the side, he curiously laid his eyes upon a piece of parchment paper on the table.
"What's that there?" Ventrix focused on the paper as well.
"Oh. An index… Sort of? Magic books..."One dash thirty-two comma forty"... Is that like-..." Avures stopped to ponder. With his hand under his chin, he scanned around the library, looking at the bookshelves in particular. He nodded, finding his theory correct. "The first number is the row of bookshelves, bottom to top. The second number is the column of bookshelves, left to right."
"You figured that out fairly quick." Ventrix was impressed. "I think I understand you now… At least a little bit. You're a “smarts” type of gentleman."
"..." Avures felt his heart stop. Was he being complimented? "You… You think so?"
"Well. Yes. Knowledge seems to be your forte… At least so far. Which is why it's my job to teach you the blade." Ventrix put himself into a sort of dueling stance to emphasize his point. Avures felt… Proud? There was joy, but it was a strange kind. The only other person who had ever complimented him was Rael… And Misses Greene once.
"I don't think… I'm the type of person who deserves things. I think I've been selfish in suddenly deciding that I want to be here… But thank you for helping me thus far. I want to feel like I've earned your help. Whatever it is you wanted me to help you with… Tell me what it is." Avures poured out what he was thinking in the moment, much to the surprise of Ventrix.
"Did you… Open up to me there?" Ventrix raised an eyebrow.
"I'll take it back." Avures nearly went cold.
"Hold on now… It's humorous that you ask. I guess I'm looking for the puzzle box..." Ventrix scratched the back of his head.
"I'm still not entirely sure what that was all about." Avures tilted his head. "But I can help you find it."
"Actually, you have books you want to look for and get. You do that. I'll find the puzzle box on my own. Your part comes in later when I have it. I'll want your help in solving it." Ventrix looked into Avures's eyes and smiled.
"If that's how you'll have it, then I accept that." Avures nodded his head.
With that, their proposal was completely sealed. A verbal agreement that both would honor. After that, Avures made it his mission to collect and gather all the books he would need. Scanning through the section of magic books, Avures struggled to locate the ones tailored to him. That is, magic books with techniques for Dark Element Casters. Books for Wind… Water… Lightning… Light-... A smacking noise made its origin point known as Avures hitting himself. Avures almost shamefully slow-walked down to the end of the magic book section. And of course, casting books for Dark Element Casters. They were ordered in reverse alphabetical order for Elements, much to Avures’s confusion and dismay.
There was something peculiar about it. Avures daintily pulled and opened the beginner book. The books had been named as "Vol. 1", "Vol. 2", etc, but when he peeked inside, the handwriting varied from technique to technique. These books must have been put together by the Academy from a hodgepodge of different individual books. This was also confirmed by there being multiple copies of these volumed books. Though, truthfully, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Avures made a mental note of it before collecting a single copy of each of these books.
Meanwhile, Ventrix balanced himself carefully several feet in the air atop of the ladder. Starting from the absolute beginning of the collection, he made it his priority to inspect each book to look for this "puzzle box". By the time Avures had finished his affair here, Ventrix had finished looking through a single bookcase.
"Hey. Ventrix. I'm going to… Go." Avures tapped the ladder and spoke with varying levels of volume, trying not to be too loud.
"Huh? Go ahead, Avures. I think I shall do this until I get kicked out or fall asleep. I'll see you… Tomorrow? Yes. Tomorrow." Ventrix waved his hand towards Avures, still using his other to peruse books. Avures shrugged and carried his stack of books to the front desk.
"Someone is really digging in for some studying, huh? The man back at the desk joke-asked in the most plain voice possible. Avures nodded his head up and down. "I have track of your name and books. Have a nice day."
Avures carefully watched his footing as he stepped off the carpet of the library and onto the wood of the fourth floor. Carrying a stack of books like this down the stairs was not something he was looking forward to. Watching only his feet, Avures tiptoed forward until he suddenly stopped. Realizing he bumped into something or someone, he apologized and looked past the books only to see a humongous red eye staring at him. Avures practically yelped as he jumped backwards, throwing all the books to the side.
"What's going on out h-Oh hello." A door to the side opened up and out popped a familiar face to Avures. Meius, the Deputy Headmaster.
"Wha-what is that?!" Avures pointed his trembling finger towards the eye. The thing was huge, at least six feet tall and wide. It had a red colored iris, sharp red veins all over the sclera, and no eyelids at all. It stared. Unmoving. Unflinching.
"Oh, eesh. Sorry about that, student-from-the-other-day. We're having a super secret conversation in here and I didn't want people snooping around. So… I have my Shade patrolling." Meius cheerfully helped pick Avures's books off the floor.
"That's… Your Shade?" Avures was practically frozen in place on the floor.
"Yes. It's so I can… Keep an eye on things… Huh?" Meius giggled at his own joke as Avures slowly pushed himself off the ground. Handing his books back to him, Meius patted him on the back. "Oh?...Well scurry off now."
"Yes sir!" Avures moved as quickly as he could with all of the books without dropping them. All the way back to his room.
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With that taken care of, Meius dusted his hands off and entered the room he exited from once more. That is, the Headmaster's office. Plopping himself into a chair, Meius lay sideways and kicked his feet up into another chair. His back also propped up against the wall, Meius was relaxed. Xilvas Numidis, sitting at his desk, didn't look so pleased.
"So, how does it look?" Xilvas out his hands up on the desk and bunched his fingers up.
"From what I could tell of Tobias's compound… He's got people coming in and out. Not Lancers, but skilled mercenaries from what I could tell. Five in total, and then his own son along with them. One of those five I recognize…" Meius closed his eyes as he recalled the information.
"What about the progress on his ritual?" Xilvas started fumbling around with items in a drawer when he pulled out a map and opened it up on his desk.
"Before they destroyed my eye, it looked like they had everything. A working ritualistic outline, the gems… Only missing appropriately enchanted chalk I suppose."
"You can't be serious! Damn that Tobias and his Runic Magic! What about the site?"
"From what it seems… He doesn't quite know the location of the obelisk. That most likely explains the attempt on your life. Our advantage is knowing where Ozix was slain… I don't like that being our only advantage. If they gather the last of the materials, they might spring everything into action with an even more aggressive assassination attempt."
"Meius… It's time to put an end to this. You know what you have to do." Xilvas put away the map and stared at him.
"If I leave here, that puts you at risk. I can't-"
"Who do you take me for, Meius? A weakling? I might be an old man… But, I'm still Xilvas Numidis, the strongest Wind Mage to ever live. You have your mission. Cut off the head of their operation before it's too late."
"It will be done..." Meius bowed and smiled...