Ramona was among the last to exit the office. Aayla quickly said goodbye to Daren and Chris then followed along behind her.
"Did you need me for something, Ramona? I thought that our lesson was later in the day."
"I just have a couple pieces of official business to discuss with you. Don't worry, they're good things this time. Let's discuss this in my office."
Ramona chuckled when she saw worry form on Aayla's face. Official business was not necessarily good for Aayla. The ladies soon found themselves in Ramona's office. Aayla flopped down on the couch while Ramona set up a barrier around the room. The walls, ceiling and floor were covered in a strange glimmer again.
"What's up, Ramona? You must need to talk about something serious if you're setting up the barrier."
"The sky. Other than that, your magic seems to be progressing. Not by much, but that's still forward movement."
"Mmhmm. My body only feels a dull ache during and after practice now."
"That's good. That slowness and pain is to be expected. You missed the best time of awakening your potential by over a decade. Anyways, we can talk about magic during your lesson later. Right now, we have official business to discuss. The headmaster has a plan to implement."
Aayla sat up straight on the couch. Whatever the headmaster wants is usually annoying.
"First, your compensation is ready. You can go pick it up at the financial office."
"Compensation? I thought that I wasn't getting paid for working."
"It's part of your restitution for the maze incident. In total, you get 4.5 million tiur in a single lump sum payment. Your tuition, room and board are already covered, so there's not much else that can be a proper reward for you right now with your lacking mana."
"Oh yeah. I had forgotten about that. How much is 4.5 million tiur worth?"
"A little over half the annual income of an average, middle class family. You could get some decent magical clothing, materials, equipment, or potions. Depending on the type and quality, you could even get a couple of high-end pieces if you were lucky."
"The university certainly wasn't stingy then. I didn't almost die for nothing."
Ramona wryly smiled.
"Don't forget that your main expenses are basically zero. Forest Waypoint is fairly expensive, and magic is a rich man's field. Lots of wizards in a remote region tends to drive the prices up. Honestly, the Chinebar Republic as a whole leans towards the more expensive side."
"Well, I don't really have a place to spend it out here, anyways."
"Not exactly. That leads us to what our dear headmaster is planning. He's going to allow students to take supervised trips to Forest Waypoint."
"What? Why? I thought that was strictly banned for safety reasons. Terrorists attacked not that long ago."
With a grim look on her face, Ramona pulled out a few newspapers from a drawer and passed it over to Aayla. She quickly skimmed through the articles.
Forest Waypoint wasn't the only place hit by the True Order, but it was one of the earliest. Those True Order rats even managed to stir up trouble in the capital. The waterways in the southern provinces were hit too. That caused some major supply chain issues that will last a couple of months.
However, the recent articles were cheerful, upbeat and triumphant.
SARRASAK RETURNS TO PEACE
ARMY VICTORIOUS! TRUE ORDER DOGS PURGED FROM SAINTLENEE
TRUE ORDER EXTERMINATED IN SOUTHERN PROVINCES
Each article extoled high praises for the military and national government. These newspapers are from all of the major news outlets. If a reader truly believed everything that they said, then the Chinebar Republic would be at the start of a new age of peace.
Aayla frowned as she remembered terrorist and other malevolent organizations on Terra. Could the ones on Tellus be so easily extinguished? There may be magic, but human nature seems to be the same.
She looked through the articles again, but couldn't find anything new that was substantial. These articles were filled with fluffy, flowery language. After folding them up, Aayla looked at Ramona.
"Is it really over?"
Ramona shook her head.
"The True Order has been around for hundreds of years. For a group of wizards to run rampant for so long and harm the republic is a disgrace for many. Those lunatics won't be taken down so simply. The national government simply wants this problem swept under the rug as soon as possible.
True Order has been strangely quiet lately. Many small fish were caught, but the large fish escaped the net. There's been pressure from above, high above, to relax emergency regulations to restore a sense of normalcy."
"So, what does this have to do with the trip to Forest Waypoint? A simple trip isn't relaxing regulations."
"Headmaster Marin wants to play it safe, but he can't just ignore orders from the national government. He's keeping the rules in place for the rest of the year with the excuse that students are studying more. These trips are to satisfy the government and the public."
"So, when do we go?"
"Within the month. The headmaster, other deputies and I want to try a couple of outings with smaller groups first to test the security procedures first. Most likely after the mid semester exams."
The godmother-goddaughter duo quickly began to discuss the arrangements necessary for a trip to Forest Waypoint. With arrogant and picky residents, the sooner that preparations could be finalized the better.
**********
Overall, Aayla's life didn't change all that much. Whenever there was a meeting with the Student Council, she politely voluntold Theo to represent them every time. After all, a third year was a more appropriate representative than a first year and Aayla had a trip to Forest Waypoint to prepare for.
The second round of exams started late the next week. They were delayed for a few days due the fall tournaments. Students still whined and complained that they didn't have enough time to study. Students never have enough to study. So, the faculty just ignored them.
Aayla often crammed for her magic theory test in the main office. She had plenty of down time while the students didn't need anything. Chris would still drop by to chat every so often. And laugh. He just loved snickering at Aayla cramming for the 'easy' magic theory test.
Some days she just wanted to throw him the window. Now Dormi was tempted a couple of times, but Chris stayed firmly on the ground. Much to the gremlins' bitter disappointment.
With her handy dandy medical exemption, the practical tests were a breeze for Aayla. All that she had to do was chat with the medical personnel while the others took their exams. This time, she stayed very close to the medical staff. Aayla was keen to prevent another incident like what happened last time.
The written exams weren't that big of an issue for Aayla, either. Those subjects were fascinating for the Aayla's nerdy side, and the beginning classes were straight forward. She had absolutely no problems with those exams. Whenever Chris started grumbling about Ancient Celes, Aayla would snicker and generously remind him about how 'easy' it was.
All was well with Aayla's world. Except for magic theory. She easily got an 'A' in Ancient Celes and world history, but she got a solid 'B' in magic theory. Sure, it was a decent grade and she did better than last time. Most would be proud to get a 'B'.
Aayla was not one of them. All that a 'B' got her was extra homework from the professor and extra lessons from Ramona. Were they working together to bully her?! Aayla was absolutely sure that they were. No one could convince her otherwise.
The professor was never displeased with her scores, but always insisted that she could do better. Ramona just wanted for Aayla to catch up with the rest of the students as soon as possible. Shouldn't Aayla qualify for a break?
She just learned the basics of magic in several weeks that the other students learned for several years, ok?! Her tutors were a pack of sugar loving furballs, a sentient magic house and an incredibly busy deputy headmaster. Actually, that might say more about the students who failed their exams than about Aayla. They couldn't even learn in several years what someone else learned in several weeks.
Anyways, the second round of exams was complete and everyone could relax again. The students cheered with the announcement of a day trip to Forest Waypoint. They've been trapped on campus with almost nothing but studying for ages.
There wasn't a student on campus that wasn't excited for the trip. Meanwhile, unease spread throughout the faculty and staff. They smiled and did their best to hide their concerns from the students. However, they couldn't help but worry about whether or not the True Order was really brought back under control.
How could the True Order have sprung such a large sneak attack on Forest Waypoint without the university of the military discovering it first? The faculty knew better than anyone about the infighting in the capital. There was no way that those idiots could have completely suppressed the True Order so fast.
The day trip for Nafriton Residence Hall was announced for the 21st of Dese, a little under a week away. As much as Aayla wanted to stay away from the spotlight, she would be dragged into it kicking and screaming.