After a few minutes of walking, they reached the crossroads. Inna was to take the left path while Raghnall goes to the right.
But before they left, Raghnall screamed at her.
"Bye Ninny!"
Inna was about to just keep walking and ignore him. But then, she recalled that ever since she met the guy, she's been nothing but hostile. She felt kinda bad about it.
"Bye Ragdoll."
She mumbled it quietly, but it seems that he was able to hear it because he beamed at her before he turned and left.
When Inna arrived at her dorm, she immediately ran towards her room and locked herself inside. She quickly changed back to her robes while keeping an eye open for any creatures that might make themselves known.
Then, she started to remember the stories Ulima had said to her about the other rooms. So, to get her mind off of things, she decided to practice the spell for checking the time.
She held out her hand towards the floor and felt the warmth of the magical energy in her hand
"Timre. Cloccus."
She saw a small spark and slowly, small bright particles began to form on thin air. But after a few seconds, like a fart, it let out a small 'pffsss' before it disappeared.
Inna tried it again and again until she heard the hourly bell ring. She still didn't know the time so, she figured to find Ulima in the first floor to tell her what hour it was.
She went down the stairs and searched the first floor for his room. She was actually quite shocked that the rooms in the first floor weren't as dirty and messy as she thought. Save from the few scattered books here and there, everything was neat and tidy. But there was a small layer of dust on it, although barely noticeable.
She walked around the first floor and was about to give up when she stumbled upon a long hallway that had a door at its end. It looked eerie, like a forbidden room in a mansion kind of vibe. But since Ulima never said anything about forbidden rooms, it must be harmless.
She knocked on the door but her hand wasn't able to touch it as she knocked.
Strange. It looks like it has a protective layer around it.
She kicked it and punched it but it simply bounced off her attacks.
She placed her ear on it, and although it was a bit of distance away, she heard some shuffling inside.
"Hey! Ulima! I know you're in there! I need to ask you something!"
Inna screamed.
After a few moments, the transparent protective barrier began to have ripples in the middle. And when Inna stepped back, Ulima slowly emerged from the ripples.
Inna can't help but gasp with awe. It was like a scene out of a movie. Like CGI effects became reality.
"What do you want? I'm busy at the moment so I would appreciate it if you would be quick."
Inna snapped out of her amazement.
"What time is it?"
Ulima looked at her strangely.
"11th hour. Why? Do you need me to feed you lunch?"
He answered sarcastically.
"Not feed. I need you to give me something."
He didn't expect Inna to make a request out of the blue like that.
"And why should I give you anything? You gave me nothing but a black eye and a bump in the head."
He raised an eyebrow to show his irritation.
He wasn't proficient with Priestly magic so he doesn't know how to heal his wounds. He can only wait for his body to heal his injuries naturally. So he's extra grumpy because of the added hindrances in his work.
"I can have the unlinked speakers in this dorm linked back to the academy."
Inna offered but Ulima's face immediately became dark.
"Why'd you think they cut it off in the first place?! Besides, I don't even need those speakers. I'm a teacher. Any announcement the academy makes, I am aware of it beforehand."
Ulima looked at her like she was stupid.
"The one who gets to use it is you. So no."
Inna looked at his eyes to plead him for it but she noticed the bruising in his eyes were more evident than before. In fact, the swelling made his eye look a bit bigger than the other. Staring at his eyes would be a bad move for her now. It might make him more agitated and might even remind him about her punching him. So, she looked away.
Staring at the ground, she realized that the first hours she was in the academy, she already broke Solomon's rules for her.
No fighting, and no telling of her name.
She actually beat up her teacher, and threw a rock at a fellow student.
Well, at least Raghnall's injury was healed immediately.
Wait. Healed?
Like a flash, Inna immediately stared at Ulima with great confusion.
"Why do you still have that?"
Inna asked as she stared at his swollen eye.
Ulima was startled of the sudden change in Inna so he was confused.
"W-what do you mean by 'that'?"
Inna drew closer as she tried to see if the eye really was still swollen.
"Why'd you still have those bruises? Can't you just heal them right away?"
Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Hey, how about this. I get someone to heal you, and you give me something in return?"
Ulima narrowed his eyes at her.
"What is this something you speak of?"
Although he'd very much wanted his injuries to disappear like a dream, he wasn't someone who'd easily trust offers.
"I need something that can tell the time."
Ulima looked at Inna in confusion.
"Just that?"
It's simply a low grade spell for Mages! Is this kid insulting him? He can do a million of those spells in his sleep!
"Oh? Not enough? Then, I'd like to link back the speaker in this dorm."
Ulima raised his eyebrows. Just that? It's quite hard for a near Veteran rank mage to owe someone a favor. And she just want those small things? This deal is too much on his favor!
Well, not that he's complaining.
"Okay, deal."
He said quickly before Inna can add more conditions.
"Wait here."
Ulima entered his study again and after a few seconds, similar ripples appeared and Ulima came out with a small necklace in his hand. The necklace was quite simple but still pretty. The only design it had was the teardrop shape of the black stone.
"It's a black diamond shaped into looking like a tear. It's not as durable as regular diamonds so it can only be permanently enhanced by 4 spells at most before it disintegrates."
He tossed the necklace at Inna.
"I've already placed the spell there."
He turned around and went back inside his room.
Inna looked at the glistening black stone on her hand with pure delight.
She never saw a black diamond before but now, she's in love with it. In fact, she actually loves anything that's black!
So, quickly, she went up her room and wore it with a smile. After another session of admiring the stone, she tried the spell again and again to see if it works.
When she tested it for the last time, she saw that the time was 11:30, or in this world's way of reading it, thirty moments past the eleventh hour.
Since she needed to walk from the dorms towards the main academy, she decided to leave thirty minutes early.
She grabbed the map she got from Raghnall and was about to leave when she noticed that the glass shards from the broken window was cleaned. In fact, the window glass was repaired back to how it was.
Strange.
She knew for sure that both Raghnall and her left the window broken when they left.
Hmmm, Ulima probably fixed it…..
Right?