Kleo was knocking on the door of Lonan’s dorm. Shuffling occurred from within the room, then footsteps followed. The door swung open.

  “Ms. Kleo? What’re you doing here?” Lonan yawned.

  “First of all, it’s barely five o’clock. Why are you sleeping?” She said.

  “Because I’ve got remedial classes in a couple of hours from now. They’re really tiring, and a lot of the work is hard,” he said.

  “Remedial classes? Interesting.” Kleo said.

  “I’ve been putting in extra hours to catch up with everyone. This is actually my last week of them, and I’ll be in advanced classes from now on,” Lonan grinned.

  “Congratulations, that’s stellar improvement, Lonan,” she said.

  “Thank you, glad to hear it from someone. All everyone’s been telling me is that I shouldn’t be struggling, and this stuff is the bare minimum. I’ve been working nonstop trying to catch up,” Lonan scratches the back of his head.

  Kleo took a deep breath, then let out a faint smile.

  “Keep up the good work, Lonan. But I’m looking for Neo. I was told that he stops here frequently after classes. By any chance is he here?”

  “Oh, he’s not here. These days, I only see him during class. He’s barely at his dorm, either. He did mention to me today that if things don’t work out for him here, he’s leaving the institute in Bloomsgarde,” he said.

  “Do you know the reason for that?” Kleo said.

  “Well, he said Leviara’s got nothing for him. Not sure what that’s all about, but hey, I owe him a ton. He stopped me from getting my face punched in,” Lonan said.

  “I heard. The students who attacked you were recently expelled for the same antics. May I ask you for a favor?” She said.

  “A favor? What is it?” He said.

  “When you see Neo, I would like you to give him this bag. Inside are vials of medicine and a note. Can I trust that you won’t read the note?” She handed it to him.

  “You can trust me. Is Neo sick?” Lonan said.

  “I have no clue yet. He left the infirmary before I could dig deeper into his condition. When you see him, please tell him to find me. I’ll always be in the infirmary until the end of the day,” she said.

  “Is he gonna be all right?” Lonan said.

  “As long as he takes the medicine every day starting today, I’m sure whatever he’s feeling will halt until I can figure out a solution. My hands are becoming tied as of late, so I can’t afford to hunt him down myself, because trust me, I would,” she said.

  “I wanted to ask… What’s going on with Professor Gildan? You’re the one in charge of his treatments, aren’t you?” He said.

  “All of the students are worried about him. And I feel as if everyone should know, but the headmasters are urging me to keep quiet. Have a good day, Lonan.” Kleo turned on her heel, walking down the hall.

  “No, wait! I want to know. Don’t we deserve to know?” He said as she was walking away.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “I can’t share information about that at this time, Lonan.” She stopped and turned.

  “But come on, that’s not fair! What if that dragon’s still out there and attacks one of us? What then?” Lonan said.

  Kleo walked back to him.

  “Lonan, official orders were given to me. I’m doing everything in my power to keep him alive. If I decide to run my mouth, and the masters find out, I will face punishment. In this case, I would’ve broken a vow, meaning I’d also lose my position here. I’m the only one who knows how to keep him alive, Lonan. If I’m gone, there won’t be a medicine they can give him that will keep him breathing. He’ll pass away in unbearable agony. Is that what you think he deserves?” Kleo’s unblinking stare was piercing.

  Lonan looked away, shaking his head.

  “Professor Gildan is in the best hands in all of Augus. Trust me like I’m trusting you to help your friend, got it?” She put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Got it…” He clutched the bag.

  Kleo pulled her hand back and walked away, vanishing around the corner.

  Zeta and Morris were walking through the Silent Expanse. All seemed common until they caught a pungent whiff of iron.

  “Smells like something died,” Morris said.

  Both of them headed toward the smell, and it only grew stronger. Not only was there a rancid smell floating through the air, but there was also the overwhelming presence of mana residue.

  “What creature could leave behind such potent residue? I can sense that it’s shade-aligned mana, as well.” Zeta said.

  Morris saw a faint streak of rusting blood on the leaves. He pushed apart the bushes and found a rotting corpse in armor with a sword lying next to it. Zeta coughed from the smell. He could see maggots crawling through the body, tearing into the rotten flesh.

  “There isn’t a sword in the world that would claw a heart out like that,” Morris said.

  “Forget the body. This mana… It’s incredible. Shade-aligned, full, potent,” Zeta said.

  “I noticed that too, but these bodies are a result of what we’re sensing. That other body, those are great council garbs, aren’t they? Something happened here,” Morris said.

  Zeta briefly looked at the corpse in Vislinian garbs, then back to the trails of purple mana.

  “As I said, that is of little importance to us. We need to locate wherever this beast is and gut it. That level of mana potency, despite this happening a long time ago, is mesmerizing,” Zeta said.

  “You want to hunt a beast? Don’t waste time—there are other things we need to be doing, like fulfilling your deal with Elowen. I don’t know how far you two go back, but what she’s offering is something we’d have to take by force from someone else. All she wants is blood from that boy, and you get an army of willing subjects. We can get this done if we stay focused.” Morris said.

  “... Yes, I suppose that’s true. One beast wouldn’t tip the scale, especially with that sickening elf around.” He started walking away from the corpses, getting back onto the main trail with Morris.

  “Is it too early to use the runes?” Morris said.

  “That plan is ineffective without more of my creations,” Zeta said.

  “Then what will we do? He’s no amateur. If we don’t catch him off guard, there’s no world where we get that blood,” Morris said.

  “I’ll think of something. Everything we do in Leviara has an excessive amount of risk with that elf around. So everything we plan must have as few imperfections as possible.” Zeta said.

  “Is he that powerful?” Morris said.

  “It’s time you do your research, Morris,” Zeta said.