Aric gazed at the devastation that had befallen the warehouse around him and then looked at the dumbfounded expression on Laince's face ,he then asked with a stiff smile.
"Well, Guess that wasn't supposed to happen , was it?"
Laince's eyes twitched, and she couldn't find the words to respond to Aric.
It's not like it was unheard of for these cube's to explode, they were at the end of the day a man-made arcane tool, and the simplest of tools in fact,they were just a block of multiple essence conductive materials put together and then covered in the lowest tier of arcane symbols and runes, it was the easiest of arcane mechanisms to learn, a beginner's first choice and also a mass produced utility used by all kinds of guilds and organizations in their requirements, it was quite common for mistakes to be made in their production.
That's exactly why the assessment was done under the supervision of an expert standing nearby, so that he could Intervene whenever things went wrong.
The cube blowing up wasn't that hard to believe. Yes, it was bisare for the cube to take so long to react and explode, but within the domain of inscriptions and runes, wrong spelling and structure usually lead to all kinds of weird effects, it was a vast and profound science with deep rules and unlimited possibilities.
But even if the explosion can be explained this way, as a malfunction or a mistake. the feeling Laince had when she laid her hand on Aric can't be faked.
Paladins will grow more sensitive to essence the stronger they become, and an expert of Laince's standing would never mistake the feeling of all their essence going wild, even if it's for a split second. essence for experts is the eyes by which they see and the source of their intuition and instinct, they would never pass such a feeling for the work of imagination.
Laince is a false immortal expert, even if she had her guard down , for a mortal to give her that kind of blow and feeling, the kind only the Laince housemaster and people of his standing ever gave her, it wasn't something she could fathom.
Having Aric in her arms, Laince was certain he didn't have the aura an expert has, in fact, not even a trace of essence could be found within him, proving that he's in the truest sense a mortal.
" What kind of demonic drug was this boy fed !? " It was both her speculation and Leonard's that Aric was saved by a heavenly expert who fed him some type of heavenly medicine, thus bringing him from the brink of death.
Factionless rough experts are rare, extremely so since the higher one goes the tougher it is to provide oneself with the resources needed, but they ain't unheard of, they tend to be travelers with weird personalities and impulses, and for one such to be the saviour of Aric from the certain demise was the only explanation the both of them could think of.
She then asked " is everything alright? Are you hurt anywhere? "
" I... don't believe so" Aric was shocked, confused, and felt a Terrible headache, the art he glimpsed at when in contact with the crimson crystal was pulsing in his head, is if trying to imprint itself into the deepest part of his soul, he felt like he needed to study the art at once or else it'll keep pulsing In his mind till it implodes.
Laince saw Aric's discomfort appearing in his voice and was about to ask him more questions when two of the school's instructors barged into the warehouse, and one shouted right after seeing the destruction in the room.
" What the hell happened here ?..." The instructor felt his words stuck in his throat the moment he saw the person standing in the middle of the room, the headmaster gave him an annoyed stare and Humphed.
Both instructors paled the moment they saw the headmaster, and they cupped their hands in a salute.
"Headmaster. "
Headmaster Laince didn't even bother looking at them, replying flatly " the test malfunctioned and the cube exploded "
The instructors looked around the room, and found several crystal shards scattered about ,proving the headmaster's words to be true, and even though the situation appeared weird and skatchy , the instructors didn't dare question the headmaster no more.
" I'll get a couple of workers to clean the place up, is the boy alright ? " The Instructor saw Aric lying in the headmaster's arms unmoving and he couldn't help but ask.
Laince glanced over Aric again, she checked if he was injured anywhere by the explosion and it didn't seem so.
She sighed then said to Aric " it's been hell for you lately, you might as well go to the dorm and have a rest for now, the jade bracelet I gave you indicates your room, follow the signs scattered around and you'll find yourself there in no time "
Aric felt his headache lessen a bit, he nodded his head to the headmaster and escaped from her arms and then made his way out of the building and started walking down the tiles and paths.
Watching Aric's silhouette disappear down the roads , the headmaster couldn't help sigh and look at one of the instructor's that had barged into the room.
She handed him Aric's test results and said " give this to the archives house, and tell them to send a white pavilion token to the new recruit at the dorms"
" Shouldn't we redo the test, it malfunctioned right? " The instructor felt like it was wrong to accept the results of a test that had gone wrong since the tester wouldn't have had enough time to put all he had into it.
The headmaster felt annoyed to the extreme, this week had been hellish already with the new recruits' trials and the preparations that must be done, and then the whole Aric thing that came by out of nowhere and now this, she was already a breath away from Punching somebody in the face.
She looked the instructor in the eyes and said " I don't think I asked for your professional point of view, I said take the report to the archives, so just do it and shut up , would you? "
Laince had quite the hot temper, she was explosive and got angered very easily, a trait uncommon in the Laince house who were masters of wind arts and were known for a light temper and an easygoing character.
The instructor heard this voice and was lost for words , he then heredly nodded his head, turned around and left the room with his companion the same way they entered.
Seeing the instructor running for their lives from fear of the headstrong Laince's retaliation, Laince couldn't help but sigh and utter.
" Will this week ever end? Who would've thought it's such a hardship being surrounded by idiots !"
She then turned around and left , making her way toward the clinic to speak with the only barely intellectual man in this land filled with idiots.