Professor Lupin kept staring at the door, he wondered how a child had been able to peer through his spell. he had made sure to cast it while out of sight, still he could only sense a small amount of Arcana from the small pair.
"They're not even at the level of initiate yet," he mused, clad in a moss green hood bearing the embel of a golden owl on the chest. "There is little chance they would know anything."
Hesitant, he looked at the door one last time and left. He doubted that the kid that looked no more than six or seven would know anything.
He returned to the village and entered a tavern. The air inside reeked of old ale and sweat. Dim light bled across the sticky tables reflecting off the spilled liquids. He slid onto a stool, where he was welcomed by Lawrence with a pint of ale.
"Did you find anything professor?" Lawrence asked.
Lupin accepted the tankard and shook his head. "Nothing. Whoever killed Willard was highly trained... not even the spirits are talking." He took a small sip of the icy drink, ignoring the rowdy locals.
" I didn't know the Arcana could be used like that," said Lawrence.
Lupin managed a small smile, "Neither did I. The dean once said that the limit to the Arcanes is one's imagination." he traced the rim of his tankard with his thumb. "I suspect some unknown group did it: An assassin maybe, but I can't say for sure..." his voice trailed off, as he tried to remember Willard's face. He had never lost a student before. And the shock of it all had led him all the way here, in the village of concaves. He had successfully thwarted commander Clinton's attempts to throw them out. Now, He just hoped he could find the killers.
"I'm sorry," he said, finishing his crisp apple ale. "Had I know-"
"It's not your fault, professor." Lawrence assured, setting his tankard on the wooden counter. "Willard set out on his own in the dead of night, we've rules and he-"
"Was barely an eighteen year old," Lupin cut in, sighing. He felt dejected. "The dean will not be pleased. We'll be leaving in a few days, I've already sent you, Caleb, Logan and Ken your rewards. I tripled it for all you've endured."
"Thank you sir."
"... you needn't thank me Lawrence ...not for this." He sighed, as he slid off his stool and headed to his room. Inside, he sighed looking out in the direction which the lightning fell. The hole in the skies had sealed shut, but no grass or trees remained in the area. It was as if the earth still remembered the horrid power that had descended that day.
"... it was all for nothing." He said, trembling.
***
"Come on!" shouted Ira, waving at the twelve soldiers hauling three large chests through the forest. So heavy were the chests, that they needed four large men to carry each of them. She herded them forward to the small cottage where a young boy and girl ate from a bowl of green grapes they'd picked from their hedge.
"Hey boy!" Shouted Ira. "I brought your money! eight million Krels. How's that sound?"
Veythar, who had virtually zero understanding of this world's currency, nodded indifferently. "..just set it down there. I'll tend to it at another time." He said as he continued to enjoy his grapes. They explodes in a sour taste that turned into a sweet and savory taste on his tongue.
"Oh come onn, atleast show some excitement. With that kind of money, you could have me!" she drawled, hurrying over to the boy on a chair he had carved with his sword.
Eosira offered her a few grapes, to which she accepted and smiled. She handed Veythar a quill and a stack of parchment. "Now give us the formula."
Veythar never reached for the quill, and instead tapped his finger on the stack of parchment. Suddenly, words, followed by numbers and glyphs appeared on the papers.
"Transmutation!" Ira exclaimed, shocked. She hadn't even sensed him pull Arcana from the void. Dazed by skill, she glanced down, staring at all thirty piece of parchment filled out with the simple tap of a finger. "...amazing."
"The Arcanes aren't nessesarily all about destroying things. If you focus too much in one aspect, you'll lose out on a great many things." He said, recalling the words his mother had once instilled in him. "...well, nice doing business with you."
"... So what are you going to do, ...with all this money?"
Veythar leaned into his chair, eying the soldiers that looked at the chest with hungry eyes. " I'm gonna buy a castle or estate in the nearest major town, ...assuming they don't rob me."
As if caught stealing, Dane and his buddies recoiled before glancing at each other guiltily.
Eosira laughed, but Ira didn't. Her eyes were smoldering coal as She tore them a new one, using every curse word in the book. Veythar and Eosira learned a great many that day.
By the time she was done, the soldiers could not meet her gaze.
"Alright, I'll see you next week!" She huffed, before departing with her party.
"How long do you think they'll be in Concaves for?" Eosira asked,watching as their figures faded into the distance.
"Who knows, it's not our problem though. First and foremost, we should focus on creating our cores." He told her, "Your practice with Impede really aided your understanding of spirit control. Maybe next, I'll teach you abou-"
"See! I told you they would be here." A small boy shouted in the distance, rummaging through the foliage until he was just outside Veythar's courtyard. "Eosira and the white-haired douche."
Veythar didn't recognize him, but Eosira did. "Xylos!" Eosira hissed, as she stood. "Leave! you are not welcome here!"
"You're just a girl! As if I'd ever listen to you." The boy, laughed as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world. More and more devices to show their faces until a small litter was infront of them. One particularly tall boy, Veythar faintly recognized. He was the one one he met when he first entered Concaves.
"We were wondering where you'd ran off to." Xylose said, scurrying behind Aster like his little lackey when he spotted the three chests. "Hey Aster! What's that."
Eosira snapped to her side, grabbing hold of her wooden sword, "Stay away from that!" She shouted as she ran infront of the crates.
"The girl's got a wooden sword!" Mocked Xylose, "Father said girls should stay in the kitchen."
Veythar stated, bored.
"I'm not scared of you." Xylos said, condescendingly.
"This is big brothers'! Stay! Away!" She warned, her fingers curling tightly on the grip of the sword.
Assured in his sense of security, the boy stepped forward, when he saw the vissage of Eosira's sword impact his chin, shattering the bone, his teeth whipped into the air, followed by a spray of mist that branded the air, turning the grass underfoot a bright crimson red. Xylos staggered back, delicately, he reached for his jaw as it dangled like a loose noodle. The sound that came from his throat did not sound human, it came as a gruttal piercing screech that tore at his vocals, rupturing his throat and causing his exposed tongue to wiggle disgustingly. Birds from all over suddenly took flight, bolting out the sky in dark writhing shadows.
"Oh! No!" Aster shouted.
"Xylos!"
"Brother!"
They ran to him. Unsettled by the overwhelming amount of blood that didn't seem to stop. It was too much; Aster didn't know what to do, he watched as it streamed down his chin, soaking into his tunic. He did not want to touch him, unsure and frightful that his touch would hurt him. Mortified, he turned to the aggressor, holding her wooden sword, which Veythar had carved for her.
"Monster!"
And it was then that her second blow came, the blow of mercy, Veythar called it. Squarely on the temple, she struck so hard that the sword broke, hurtling splinters into the air like shrapnel from a bomb.
This time, Xylos didn't cry or lash out, he just stared at the girl, still holding the broken half of her blade as blood trickled down the side of his head, and then dropped like a bag of bricks foaming red at the mouth.
Veythar whistled, "Nice." Popping a grape into his mouth.
Horrified, the remaining children scooped Xylos's unconscious form and ran back from where they came.
Eosira turned back. "They used to make fun of Eosira, they threw mud at me and dunked my head into dirty water." She said as if trying to explain herself.
Veythar rose, he didn't care. "Bring those chests inside. I'll cast Zephyr's grace on them to make it easier."
"Yo-you're not mad?"
"Mad? No. You can do whatever you want. I don't care." "Now let's go, it's time for swordsmanship training."