"You mean, beast tamers have become so rare nowadays?!" The alpha wolf looked to her in disbelief as he heard this, "It's only been a mere century and the beast tamers are already dying out?!"
Lotus raised a brow, "Do you mean there were more beast tamers in the past?"
"Of course!" The alpha wolves scowled, "They were the real reasons why Night Raven College had been ranked the top school in the world before Royal Sword Academy came along. There weren't many of them before either, but there were enough to keep the school above the others. Don't tell me that the reason the school became second was that they were already disappearing from the world?! Now, you said that one came to this school from the outer realms?"
Lotus nodded, "Do you think that this is the world's response to the lack of beast tamers now? They went out and took a mortal with the innate talent for beast taming. Then, they brought them into this world..."
"That's quite possibly the case..." The Alpha nodded his head and sighed as he sat down, "The rules of this world is not like those from ours. It has its chaos and order."
"Without beast tamers in this world, the order was very likely thrown off balance. So, they brought one in from another world brimming with people of talent but no magic." Lotus concluded, "If that is true, then this world would start to fall apart with its next changes..."
"There's more?"
Lotus nodded, "The world is dying."
It all started after not long after she had been adopted by her family. She had been journeying through the Valley of Thorns when they came upon a garden of black Pansies. She remembered how Maisy was hesitant around the black flowers as they toured around the garden. However, a large commotion began the next day when the entire garden of pansies quickly died. Not long after, she met up with the old general and the lawyer whom she recounted the event with out of curiosity. However, she quickly overheard of the situation occurring around the world. Flowers have been dying around the world for the last six years. She was six when she first came into this world. Between her age and the year the problem began, she could already tell that there was a good chance her existence was the cause of the problem from that time. It took a couple more years when she realized that the problem had begun to grow bigger and bigger slowly.
Hearing the situation of the world from her, the alpha nodded his head, "It's a good thing that we don't leave the school dorms, then. Hmph..."
Lotus raised a brow and frowned, "You're not worried that the student might not get enough nutrients? That's a surprise..."
"Hmph!" The alpha snorted as he dismissed the other wolves to back down, "Survival of the fittest is a universal rule in all worlds. Why must I care for the conditions of the students that can't survive in this world? My only job is to keep them safe and unharmed. Keeping stray pups fed is not a part of the deal! Besides, the leader of their pack is doing rather well sending his puppet to do his bidding and bringing food to him."
Hearing this, Lotus couldn't help but laugh, "I see. You speak of the vending machines! Haha! Looks like I may need to pay him another visit in the near future."
Hearing what the Alpha said, she naturally understood that he and his people have witnessed Idia sending Ortho back and forth between his room and the vending machine. She had once been to his room before and witnessed the massive amount of sweets and junk food that had been left lying about in his room. As it would turn out, Idia enjoys consuming junk food on a daily basis and prefers that over a more balance diet. As a result, he lacked the nutrients to build more muscles and the integrity of the bones. To make up for this, he looks to have been taking direct supplements and vitamins to make up for the lack of it all. However, these things won't last forever. Perhaps it was about time that he brought him something to consume. He could try to get Azul to give him a hand in delivering it to him, but, knowing Azul's reputation and Idia's character, she has a harder time believing that Idia was feel free in taking the offer of food.
She thought in disappointment, "If nothing is done, he could become my next patient... Ugh... More work..."
"It can't be helped..." Xiao Li responded with a heavy sigh, "It would seem that he was spoiled fairly well by his parents and he does very well in all of his classes aside from Athletics. Won't his parents at least ask that he does well in his athletics class?"
"It's won't work since he comes from a country of advanced technology. As long as you have the brains, that's usually what matters the most." Lotus responded mentally before turning to the wolf and responding a loud, "That man will return again. Since he can't leave the Hall of Mirrors this time, he will wait for my return. After the end of this week, I will begin to finish him off. I don't plan to let him have the upper hand forever. A week's time is more than enough for me to get stronger. Can you keep him contained for a week?"
Hearing this, the wolf scoffed, "Do what you want. However, do not expect us to step in the next time. We will only protect the students of this dorm. Since they followed you onto these lands, they are your responsibilities. If we do not see them gone by the end of this month, we will take matters into our own hands and you are not allowed onto these lands again!"
"Then, it's a deal." Lotus nodded, "I'll return in a week's time and begin my plan. He will be gone from the dorms by the end of this month!"
.....
It was only upon leaving the Hall of Mirrors when she came upon the empty halls. The students must've gone to clean up from today's events. Quietly, she made her way to the school building and walked up the flights of stairs before entering the large double doors quietly. Lotus stepped into the building before she finally leaned back against the large Mirror. The Dark Mirror's facial image appeared on the screen as he muttered, "Thou hast been hurt once more..."
From this, Lotus couldn't fold it back as she gave a small cough and was surprised to find black blood all over her gloves, which had only been mended with Malleus's magic. She stuffed a different pill into her mouth and allowed it to mend her internal injuries as she leaned back and said with a sigh and a smirk on her face, "These guys sure are trouble... Mister Mirror, do you know where the Headmaster of Royal Sword Academy is?"
"This I know..."
"Is he in this room or out the door?"
"He is not."
She chuckled and responded, "I don't need to know of his whereabouts. It's enough if you know. Just warn me before they do attempt to head in this direction. Can you do that for me?"
There was a moment of silence before he responded, "Very well... Hast thou been enjoying himself?"
Closing her eyes with her head against the fame of the Dark Mirror, Lotus wore a dry smile, "Ah... The life as a student has been fun as of late. the trivial worries and troubles of mortal life is very curious and kept one's life vibrant of emotions. I much enjoyed it while it lasted."
Another empty silence flowed into the room as she let the trouble free atmosphere soak into her body for a little before opening her eyes staring up at the dark ceiling, "Mother and everyone will be arriving soon... I'll talk with her for a bit... Mister Mirror... Till then, I ask that you don't mobilize the school."
The Dark mirror stared at her with the familiar blank look on his face before asking, "Thou are certain?"
Lotus nodded softly, "Even if the teachers and you can mobilize them, we must remember that they are still children in the eyes of the world. They are still reckless and are not familiar with life on the frontlines. Not familiar with life, not expecting death... You have lived your life as an artifacts for countless numbers of years to the changes of the world. Surely, even you understand the outcome of mobilizing children? There will be severe consequences on the world and their lives, including ours."
Hearing this, the Dark Mirror hesitated in deep silence as he quietly lamented the truth. Lotus wore a dry smile and continued, "Mister Mirror, now that I've gathered all of these powers in my hands, I can only imagine that I've amassed enough good karma to receive the bad one now. In this case, there is nothing that we can do but power our way through the events that are to come. In these following events, I can only imagine that you will be unable to step in anymore for me. So, I have one more request to make from you..."
"Depending on the contents and my abilities, we shall see if it can be accomplished."
Lotus huffed as she got up and brought out a tiny round object of flame from her pockets. She inserted it into the Dark Mirror who took it in with an authentic look of surprise as the power of mana coursed through him. Seeing this, Lotus laughed pleasantly upon the look on his face, "Ah! You've finally put on a new change of expression! Hahaha! I was wondering if you were having a hard time expressing emotions or was just too shy to! You should lighten up more often like this. It's not a bad look on you at all!"
"Lotus Xue... What arst thou wish?" The Dark Mirror resumed his solemn expression and ignoring the proud look on her smug face.
"My wish?" Lotus nodded her head with a soft smile as she responded after pondering with her head resting softly on her knuckles, "I have a request... In exchange for the mana that I gave you, I want you to utilize it..."
"And help protect the student, Yuu and his friends."