Rudolf's face was red with anger as he walked into the destruction caused by the platinum knights. The guards rushed past him, activating the ruins around the library, that exhausted the remaining fires in an instant.
"What... what have you done?! Explain yourselves." Darius groaned, "I'd rather not."
"Keal, you too; I expected Darius to do something reckless like this, but not you." Keal, who still had her chain-linked dagger in her hand, sheathed it.
Grey stood off the rubble, smoke sizzling everywhere.
"Do you know how much knowledge you destroyed?"
"Sir, it wasn't our fault; we were combating an outsider." Arthur walked forward.
"Outsider! Where are they?" Rudolf looked around in sarcasm.
"That's the thing... he escaped..." Arthur scratched the back of his head.
Isolde just sat on a chair, silent, and Valen just wanted to disappear into the shadows.
Grey and Arthur seemed to be the only ones trying to convince the professor that there really was an outsider.
But no evidence pointed to that, except the large hole in the ceiling, which Rudolf discredited, saying that they were all capable of doing that.
Arthur became frustrated. "I don't want to hear any more babbling from you; you all are facing judgment tomorrow." Rudolf stormed out; Gale walked in, surprised at Rudolf's anger.
"What? Really?" Gale just looked around.
"Sit, Gale; it's not what it—" Gale cut them off with a wave.
"I don't care... whatever Rudolf says." And walked away.
"Well, there's one thing we know about him; he's a shifter." Valen looked up.
"I can't believe we didn't even bring him down; that would've lessened our punishment." Arthur sighed.
"I think he did it on purpose." Grey spoke.
"I was thinking that too." Isolde held her chin. "It's kind of odd if you think about it. When 'Maj' was battling both Seraphina and Darius, he left that battle to engage with the rest of us." She spoke.
"And when Rudolf burst through the door, he ran off so fast, making sure that the professor doesn't see him." Grey implied.
"Yeah, that probably means he never intended to win the fight, just to put us in trouble, but what benefits does he get from doing that?" Orion, who hadn't spoken, finally uttered.
"Arrrhhhh... thinking too much pisses me off." Darius stood up and headed towards the massive doors.
"Where are you going?" Arthur glared at him.
"Where do you think?" Darius looked back lazily.
"And who do you expect to clean this mess?" Grey chimed in.
Darius chuckled dryly. "Oh, don't worry; just send a bunch of bronze-rank knights to do it; no problem." The rest of the team looked at each other.
"That's not actually a bad idea."
*****
"Argh, my back hurts."
Morning came, and the bronze-ranked students were ordered by a group of gold knights to help return the grand library to its original state, even if they were not the ones who caused the damage in the first place.
The sun peeked through the broken ceiling; its golden light spilled over the mess like it was trying to ignore the destruction.
Dust rose in the air, above heads of shelves and shattered glass.
Bronze-ranked knights shuffled around with long faces, grunting and groaning like as if every brick they lifted was their sworn enemy.
"Argh, my back hurts already." Richard muttered, dropping a chunk of stone with a thud.
"Your back? My arms feel like they've been cursed..." Zach shot back, clutching the broom as though it was a sword.
Every few steps, someone would trip over a pile of rubble or send a puff of ash flying into another's face, earning grumbles and muffled laughter.
"It seems like some idiot actually enjoys this laughter." Richard looked with a tied expression.
Zach just swept a shard of glass, yawning.
Yesterday, when he had escaped, the guards swept around the area, searching for him; Zach's essence had run out by then, so he had to use his feet to navigate through the shadows.
It was hard; it was exhausting, but alas, Zach finally made it to his dorm, where he just changed into the clothes underneath his bed.
The platinum knights wouldn't even suspect that the culprit was a bronze knight; well, at least that's what Zach feels.
The air carried the smell of scorched parchment, faintly mixed with sweat and the stubborn scent of morning dew that drifted through the gaping hole in the ceiling.
"Careful with those manuscripts... they're worth more than you!" A gold-rank knight barked.
The burnt books were sent through a gold knight with the ability to reverse damage done, but it couldn't be done on a large scale because the skill was still in its ignorant stages.
So, every piece of paper could once be a book.
In the middle of the room, a trio of bronzes struggled to lift a large, barely intact shelf; the thing was too heavy, so they spiraled in circles, almost awkwardly colliding into another group.
Despite the grumbling and clumsy efforts, the library was slowly beginning to resemble its former self again.
Emphasis on the word slowly.
For the bronze ranks, this feels less like "restoration" and more like "punishment" disguised as morning exercise.
A knight with a gold badge folded his arms, watching the bronze-ranked knights trip over each other with brooms.
"You hear what happened to the platinum knights?" Zach wasn't too far away, able to pick the conversation up, mainly because of his heightened senses.
The other gold-ranked knight near him raised a brow. "You mean besides nearly burning down the grand library in a brawl?"
"Yeah... Rudolf's punishment; they're being sent off to the Oasis for a month..." He replied.
The other knight blinked, then snorted. "Ha! That's less of a punishment... more like character development."
The other knight leaned in, like he was about to share a vital secret.
"Character building? Please. The Oasis is where the academy dumps teams that can't function together. They'll be knee-deep in desert drills, food rationing, monster patrols… all while sharing the same tent."
The other laughed. "Ha ha... Oh, that'll kill them faster than any monster. I mean—Darius and Arthur in one tent? Imagine the arguments."
The knights chuckled away, while Zach just listened.
"Not arguments... explosions would be more accurate." They both laughed, though quietly, careful not to let the supervising instructor overhear, which was Ragnar.
The friend tilted his head, a little more thoughtful now.
"Still… I suppose it's better than suspension. They're Platinums, after all. Too valuable to bench."
The other shrugged. "True. But after a month of sand, sweat, and each other's tempers… they might wish they'd been suspended."
The two shared a knowing grin before turning their attention back to the bronzes, one of whom had just dropped a stack of books with a crash.
"Hey, careful with that, dummy." They both laughed.
Zach thought about this for a while. If all of the platinum knights had been sent there for a month, then they'll be present during the Thyxar invasion, along with Ingrid.
They were well equipped to handle the chaos now.
Zach grinned as Richard tripped over him, both crashing into a group that was carefully lifting a shelf, sending the whole thing toppling down.