"Davina" Argus called from the outside of the door of the small building on the east wing of the school.
The building was as big as two rooms put together, just like the other buildings around the school there were colorful flowers lined up in front of the building spreading to the left and the right of the entrance.
The marbled walls on the building sides gave off a sparkling glow against the partial sunlight.
The door opened to reveal a mid-aged woman, she was a slightly stout woman with a short black hair folded in neat curve just above her shoulder and her discerning eyes made her seem like she could spot a mole a mile away.
"Argus?" she greeted casually, then her eyes fell on the makeshift stretcher.
"Oh, bring him in at once". Percy and Tony took the lead as they carried Levi on a stretcher into the room.
The interior of the room was quite cozy, it had a few cupboards to the left and right near the entrance and also a few chairs here and there, there was a curtain at the far end of the room.
Behind the curtain were a couple of beds lined up beside each other. At the end of the last bed, there was a door.
The nurse motioned to Tony and Percy, they carried Levi over to the beds and dropped him on the bed in the middle after bringing him out of the stretcher.
Davina moved in and put her palm on his temple. Jake flopped into an empty chair in the room.
"How long has he been like this?" Davina asked.
"A day" Kayla answered. Davina took Levi's jaw in her wrist and twisted it to each side in a slow fashion. Inspecting his eyes and the corners of his mouth.
"Root of the paple?" she asked
"Yes" Kayla answered
"You did…" Davina nodded towards Levi while gesticulating at her
"I did, though only a little, he was irresponsive"
"Hmmm, that's nice" Davina complimented "though flair leaves would have worked better"
"Yes, but there was no flair leaves available at the moment".
Davina nodded 'This girl really knows her stuff' she thought "You did alright, root of the paple will help his injuries heal faster and also eliminate most of the pain. He is in partial coma due to severe injuries both internally and externally.
He should be up in a few days, he was quite lucky you took care of his internal bleeding"
"How exactly did a first year student get beat up this badly?" Davina asked. Suddenly everyone was quiet, she turned from eyes to eyes noticing for the first time the faces that stared at her, as her eyes got to Jake's she stopped "You come here".
Jake slowly stood up and walked as smoothly as he could to conceal his limp.
"Sit" she pointed at the bed. When Jake had sat, she put a finger to his forehead and then his two shoulders, then bending down, she held his foot in one hand and gave it a squeeze.
Jake clamped his hands tightly over his mouth to keep from screaming. He panted heavily as her hand slid from his legs.
"You'll stay here too". Ja
ke didn't opt to argue. "So back to my question, what happened?" Davina asked again. Percy seemed to be searching the floor for something important, while Kayla seemed to have developed a newly found interest in her fingers.
"They fought a gargoyle" everyone except Anna looked back in shock, they had forgotten Argus came with them to the clinic, but how could he have known.
The unspoken question was obvious on their faces, 'probably the news had gotten to school before they even did' Jake thought, but how.
"And they are still alive" Davina returned in a grim voice
"Tough bunch they are" said Argus trying to lift the edgy air from the room
"who sent kids to battle a gargoyle?" Davina glared at Argus.
***
"You sent first year kids to fight a gargoyle!!! Headmaster Giller" Phil almost screamed
"I sent the to get rid of level five demons and they encountered a gargoyle"
"Why exactly would you send first years out in the first place?"
"They-"
"Have they begun combat training?" Phil asked, cutting him off mid-sentence
"They have archery and sword lessons"
"Archery and sword fighting" Phil face palmed himself
"Have they begun spell cultivation?"
"No" Giller replied
"This is the dumbest thing you have ever done Giller"
"It was a mission, and recon said it was only level five demons"
It didn't matter, the council always had to find someone to take the blame and Giller was the unlucky scapegoat.
"The council considered firing you, but couldn't find someone else to fit the position. That is the only reason why you are retaining your position. Let's just say you're on probation"
"I get it" Giller turned to leave having heard all Phil had to say
"Make sure the school is secured at all times.
The emperor's pawns are making a move and we don't know what their plans are just yet"
Giller froze at the mention of the emperor. 'What they could be planning this time' he thought but knew he shouldn't expect less, with the recent sighting of demons near the school, a very rare occurrence.
***
More than three months had passed since Emerald's first years returned from their first mission. Davina had first released Jake after making sure he could walk without a limp. They had made sure to visit the clinic almost everyday.
On a Saturday evening, while they were chatting in the boys room, Levi suddenly appeared at the door post, Davina had released him immediately after, as he was completely healed and fit to carry out training activities.
The incident had triggered a whole new different Levi.
He made sure they trained regularly, almost every evening after class. No one objected the need to get stronger, the memory of the thought of death while fighting the gargoyle still lingered in their mind.