Ramona shook her head. Aayla was one thousand years too early if she thought that she could use petty little tricks and reverse psychology in front of the headmaster. The argument between nurse and headmaster grew fiercer.
"Absolutely no exams! She nearly died! We still need to expel that cold mana out from her body and give her time to mentally recuperate."
"Of course. Ms. Glowery is still well enough to take the written exams, though. Didn't she mention that just now?"
"No. Absolutely not. The finals are days away. It's not her fault that those military screw ups or those police idiots caused this disaster!"
"Indeed. However, she's already missed the practical exams all semester. Ms. Glowery has never taken an entrance exam. We need some sort of official baseline for her magical abilities. No one has ever passed the basic magic theory course without taking the practical final exam before."
"There is no precedent, but Ms. Glowery has an actual reason far outside of her abilities to handle. There's too little time for her to recover."
"There's little over a week left until the final exams begin. She has more than a few days to prepare."
As their squabble continued, Ramona dragged Aayla into one of the private wards. She carefully looked over Aayla. Ramona nodded. The medics from Forest Waypoint weren't careless with their rushed work. Only a few bruises and some remnant cold mana remained.
"What is with you and Forest Waypoint? Something bad always seems to happen when you visit. The first time was the bear incident, the second was that snake boutique incident and the third was the most dangerous magical beast up north. I'm not letting you go back to that city ever," Ramona joked.
Aayla pulled a blanket further around herself. "Ugh. I'm not leaving the residence hall ever. That stupid horse left me to die. I even fed it a bit of mana and it still left me!"
She recounted what happened in detail for Ramona. Honestly, her throat was already sore from repeating that story so many times in Forest Waypoint. Ramona nearly burst out in laughter after Aayla finished. She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"Just what is so funny about nearly dying?! That boar was twice as tall as I was and it nearly mauled me to death."
Ramona patted her hand. "No dear. Nothing is funny about that. It's just that we were worried about your progress manipulating mana then this happened. In the words of the First, 'trials and tribulations make true wizards'. You made an enormous breakthrough this time. Funneling mana like you did is not easy when escaping for your life. I'll test you after you get some rest."
There was a knock on the door. It cracked open and a small face popped inside.
"Hello! I'm looking for Ms. Aayla Glowery. Is she in here?"
"Jacki? What are you doing here? Don't you have classes?"
"Technically, yes we do but I'm sure that our professors won't mind us visiting a friend in the medical ward."
Led by Jacki, several Halcyon students including Daren and Chris piled into the small room. They each politely greeted Ramona. Jacki placed a small basket on the side table.
"Dang Aayla. You look horrendous. What happened?"
Jacki sharply elbowed him. Chris doubled over while the other students snickered.
"It's nice to see you too Chris. Oh, joy. I love being told that I look horrendous."
"We came over after the gremlins told Daren that you were back. All the professors are going crazy on campus about some sort of accident. What happened?"
Aayla glanced questioningly at Ramona, who gently nodded her head.
"It's fine. The incident will probably be all over the newspapers for the next week."
"Well, I was out on a small job around Forest Waypoint. The military took over the investigation of the creature incidents due to-," Ramona shook her head at Aayla. "Certain reasons that I'm sure will come to light eventually. The police were still capturing the mana resistant creatures in town, so the military requested to bring me out of the city on one of their own missions.
"Long story short, we found a mana resistant creature, but it wasn't what we were expecting. What did they call it again? Oh, right! A northern glacial boar or something."
The group of students stared at her in shock. No wonder the professors were freaking out. A student almost died after being taken on a mission that military had requested to be a bit more dangerous. Northern glacial boars were vicious and fierce. A bit of respect appeared on their faces. She actually survived an encounter with one as a first year.
"What?"
"How are you not dead? That northern glacial boar should've – ACK!"
Jacki elbowed Chris again. This time, another student stomped on his foot too. Many of them glared at Chris. Of course, they were curious too. They already got plenty of information to talk about, though. There was no need to anger Nurse Rouse.
Nurse Rouse happily let them through when they asked to check on Aayla. That girl needs some friends in her professional opinion. Since Aayla went to the fall festival with them, then she should like them, right? However, Nurse Rouse would still have their heads if they disturbed Aayla by digging into a traumatic event.
The door quietly opened again. Nurse Rouse stuck her head in.
"Are you all done yet? Ms. Glowery can only have a few visitors for a short time."
Daren nodded. "We're almost done Nurse Rouse."
"Good. Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going headmaster?! We are NOT done talking yet!"
Nurse Rouse quickly shut the door to run after the headmaster. The Halcyon students and Ramona quickly said goodbye. They had their own classes and job to get to. Theo snuck in a few hours later to fill in Aayla on what happened while she was away.
Students, teachers and staff alike were curious about her sudden disappearance. Aayla nearly holed herself up in the residence hall 24/7. Some of the more jealous classmates, mostly nobility, began to spread rumors that she was expelled for scandalous behavior.
Normally, the faculty would keep information about missions confidential, but they let a few details leak. The rumors only grew worse as some became even more jealous that a nobody was allowed to join the Nafriton delegation. They refused to believe that FWPD actually requested Aayla by name. Their faces were slapped hard when students returned with highly embellished stories of her work at Forest Waypoint.
The teachers were extremely happy about one of their students doing well with FWPD. The school gained a lot of face and a favor from FWPD. Professor Hartaris was particularly happy. He was the most vocal professor in spreading her accomplishments.
Some had secretly accused him of favoritism and having an improper relationship. Aayla was passing his class without participating in practical exams and exercises. The professor had to obey the medical exemption, but was still getting strange stares.
The afternoon following the students' trip, the professors went wild. Professor Hartaris cancelled all of his afternoon classes. A few professors nearly ran off to Forest Waypoint. They were furious that a student nearly died.
The students kept their heads down. All that they knew was that an accident occurred. No one dared to question the furious professors. That was when Aayla had returned.
Suddenly, everything clicked in Aayla's mind. That's why so many people wanted to visit her. They wanted to figure out what happened. Aayla kicked Theo out when he started to tease her about the exaggerated stories going around campus.
The next week passed by in a flash.
**********
The office was silent. Marc and Corrine sat stiffly in front of him. They had no idea why they were summoned, but the man in front of them was furious. Professor Foryl read over the papers in his hands. He angrily clicked his tongue.
Those idiots really screwed up this time. The military was tipped off about their plans. The discovery of the changing magical beast movements was expected. Naturally, the military wasn't so stupid that they would miss more magical beasts near the city.
Choosing an independent research group to hide their tracks had backfired. Unexpectedly, one of the group's experiments had escaped wearing a control collar. The entire city was on edge now. The next phase couldn't proceed as planned.
Now, the group wanted Professor Foryl, or rather his faction, to fix their mess. The group threatened to go to the police if Professor Foryl didn't pay them a large sum and protect them. The papers were crushed in his hands. Fine. Professor Foryl had long desired to expand his own power beyond Nafriton University. It was time to clean house.
After a few deep breaths, Professor Foryl calmed down. He straightened the crushed papers and tossed them in front of Marc and Corrine. At least those two could do something right.
"Read these. Those fools in Forest Waypoint screwed up big time."
Marc sneered as he read over the ridiculous demands.
"As to be expected from such trash, sir. I don't know why you've tolerated them for so long."
"They had their uses, Mr. Lupton. I'll just toss one last pot their way so they make up for their mistakes. They won't be tolerated for much longer."