The afternoon drew to a close as dusk settled in. As soon as their classes ended Satay and Andy went into the mana rings with Elise.
At the moment Satay has faced Andy's fireballs in rapid succession, punching them one by one.
Andy charged up a growing fireball.
"FIRESHOT!" he shouted as it grew to double the size of the previous fireballs.
He blasted it towards Satay and in response, Satay reared back a foot and gave a devastating kick brushing the flames above their heads.
They both landed on the ground and both still looked fresh to continue.
"Still doing good on mana?" Satay asked.
"Of course!" Andy replied, igniting his hands with another fire.
The two resumed their spar. Elise watched with awed eyes seeing Satay buffet any magic Andy threw at him with physical strength.
Even some students in the middle of sparring were looking at their exchange.
Peaking near the entrance Mit Roach watched solemnly. Shifting his gaze below his frown deepened holding the two cards in his hand.
3 hours ago
The Prince held his arm over Mit, as the portly boy scowled uncomfortably.
"I know you've got a bad rep from them too, but if you just follow my lead and you'll set for school life. I'll keep you covered under my wing. Use these cards exactly as I say, and it'll get payback for both of us. Understand?" Matane said, with a slick grin.
Mit would've loved to escape, but Matane's two goons were right behind them.
Sensing his hesitation Matane gripped his shoulders tightly.
"Now there's no need to fear, I help you, you help me, and you're in with the big kids. You won't reject that offer will you?" Matane said, with a forcing smile.
Mit sighed in defeat
Current time
Mitchell sighed in defeat and left the gym.
After the boys had finished their training session they bid ado to their new friend and headed to their rooms to handle homework.
Satay would breeze through going slow to enjoy himself. While Andy would ask for help every minute struggling on every subject. During this time two slips of cardstock slid under their door.
Then footsteps ever so light dimmed as the cardstocks vanished.
It didn't seem the two noticed, and went about their night. Satay casually went through the material 3 times over only stopping to aid Andy in his own endeavors.
"I won't be able to memorize this now, maybe never..." Andy said grimly.
"We've got plenty of time, we should sleep soon." Satay suggested placing a bookmark in his text.
Andy was all too happy to comply as he sunk his head into his desk. The two traded off their uniforms for their pajamas and bid each other good night.
Next Morning
Satay and Andy woke up in a similar fashion to parent to a child. Satay was the eager energetic child. Andy was the unwilling parent.
As the two left their room. A puff of smoke erupted where the cardstock disappeared. In its place were 2 stacks of papers each bearing one word on the cover.
Plague.
Not 10 minutes after did the door open and footsteps erupted in the dorm halls.
Meanwhile, in Pandesals Classroom, Mitchell Roach held his face on his desk as Pandesal went on with his lecture about Mana in the human body vs the Lynceans.
"(This better be worth it...)" Mit thought, taking a peek down at Satay and Andy. Andy was half-asleep as Satay studiously wrote down almost every word from Pandesals mouth.
"So you see even if you put mana into the Lynceans body by some other means, like say an injection. It would relatively do nothing. We still couldn't use magic, it would disappear almost instantly if anything.
Once attempted by trial and error by my own grandfather. He halted the research and moved on with his studies of injecting mana into OTHER things. But that's another story, I hope you all have a good day!" Pandesal said, relieving the students who didn't give up trying to follow him the whole time.
Mit watched as Satay gathered his notes and bid Pandesal adieu, dragging Andy with him. Mit frowned knowing what was to come and with a heavy sigh removed himself from his seat.
HALT! I DEMAND TO KNOW THE MEANING OF THIS!
Mit cringed at hearing the yell echo across the hall.
"(Idiot couldn't have waited till at least noon!?)" he thought with disdain following the shout.
Along the way he noticed, each student stopped to see the cause of the commotion. Amidst the crowding students, Satay and Andy stood across Matane who held up sheets of paper for all to see.
The swaying students stopped cold at the word Plague, and now these "revelations" filled them with terror in earnest.
"Do my eyes deceive me!? Are these writings that of the 'Plague'!?" Matane shouted, his face full of anger.
"The plague?" Satay asked.
"What are you talking about!?" Andy asked now wide awake.
On the outside, Matane maintained his guise of the Just Upperclassman, but on the Inside, Matane snickered with glee.
"Don't deny it! The proof is in my hands! It was found in YOUR room! Writings theorizing of how to re-produce the plague!" Matane said so loud making sure everyone heard it, even in classrooms.
Mit watched the student bodys' reactions taking in all the hostility and fear the prince had caused. He could only scoff at the handiwork he aided in and wandered off in silence.
Satay reacted indifferently as he scanned the pages. As Andy noticed all the eyes on the pair he grits his teeth and started fuming.
"Look whatever that is, you had no right barging in our rooms!" Andy retorted.
"I"ll have you have you know, I heard you were late on your first day so I came to see if my underclassmen needed a wake-up call. To my surprise, I didn't find you, but these unholy documents!" Matane responded in kind flinging the paper on the floor for the whole student body to see.
Andy glimpsed down stumbling on the cover page, Unsure of how to respond, he could only continue to glare at the prince.
"You should know of the unspoke rule! What do you have to say for yourselves!?" Matane shouted.
"Yeah, say something!" one of his goons barked.
"This is serious trouble, what kind of monster would do such a thing!?" the other goon said with feigned hostility.
All the other students wanted answers as well. They whispered of suspicions and doubt. Accusing the pair of heinous things. Poor Elise standing by her friend, couldn't muster the strength to say anything for or against her new friends.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?
"(Perfect timing.)" Matane thought happily, for a mere moment he broke his act to smirk.
Ella Taragon came marching through the mob, flaring at a boiling point. The students began to shuffle away towards their classrooms, hoping to avoid her gaze.
"Why are all you students not in your classrooms, ESPECIALLY MINE!? Whoever is responsible for this ruckus will get sent to the castle dungeons if I have anything to say about it!" Ella fumed looking back and forth for the culprit.
Once she placed her eyes on Matane she however immediately seized up.
"Y-Your Highness!" Ella squawked and bowed her head. The predatory aura of the Dragon Lady was diminished instantly.
"Of course..." Andy said, drearily.
"Ms.Taragon I'm glad you're here. I have evidence of student misconduct too unbearable to put into words, it's heresy!" Matane claimed, pointing to the scraps he tossed to the floor.
"Satay I think we're trapped..." Andy muttered. But his warning fell on deaf ears.
Satay only continued to scan the pages on the floor.