THE FIFTH PROVINCE
In the academy, Alan and Gunther sat on the last bench and listened to the lecture of Miss Calliope on 'The Development of The Spiritual Core'.
"History has shown us as the eminent men who transgressed all their limits and reached the level of God. We should be grateful that there are still people among us of that level," Miss Calliope said.
When she lectured, a student raised his hand and asked a question. "Is our emperor on The God level?"
"He is." She nodded.
"What level are you, miss?" Alan asked. He suddenly piqued the curiosity of the whole classroom. All of them stared at her, hoping to get the answer.
"I am currently on Demon level. Why are you so curious, boy?" She remarked.
"I am a student, so it is natural that I am curious," Alan answered casually. Miss Calliope didn't bother to argue further as she understood he would talk his way out.
"I am curious as well. Tell me, what level are you?" She asked with a smirk.
"She played well this time," Alan thought.
Suddenly, Kowig spoke. "He is as useless a pig's feces." Everyone laughed at this derogatory remark but Miss Calliope didn't like it. She glared at Kowig which resulted in shortening the width of his smile.
When she was about to continue her lecture, someone arrived at the door. "Umm…" It was none other than the new young helper of the headmaster.
She turned her face and looked at him before the man said, "The headmaster has remembered you. He is waiting in his chamber."
"Okay, I am coming," She said and turned to the students. "Okay, I will continue it later," She mentioned and turned to walk away.
Alan had an idea why the headmaster had called her. He guessed it must be because of the incident last night and he must have wanted the accounts of it from her. If Alan had not interfered in the woods, Marya and Calliope must have had captured his man.
"Time is near for the big surprise," He thought.
Miss Calliope walked out of the classroom and followed the young attendant. She noticed the man had difficulty walking. He limped and winced whenever he took a step.
"Are you alright?" She asked with a doubtful face.
He stopped, turned, and answered, "I am okay. I just hurt my leg yesterday while cleaning my house. I will be fine in a day or two."
She nodded with still the doubtful expression stuck on her face and the man noticed it.
"Let's not waste time," He said and hurried ahead while limping.
Inside the chamber, the principal scribbled with a paintbrush on a scroll that was placed in front of him on the table. He got reminded of the incident that took place earlier in the chamber.
The visuals of his attendant Tartar's decapitated head roamed around his eyes. His face muscles slowly got tensed and his breathing intensified. He pressed the paintbrush hard on the scroll which resulted in a lump of ink to cover a part of the calligraphy and destroy its beauty.
"May we come in, master?" The young attendant asked after he arrived at the entrance with Miss Calliope.
The headmaster calmed himself and put the brush aside. "Yes," He said.
They both entered the chamber before the headmaster signaled Calliope to sit parallel to him. He then looked at his young attendant and said, "I have something private to discuss with Miss Calliope."
The young attendant looked at both their faces with doubtful eyes and left the chamber. They both observed his limping while he walked out. The young attendant wore a long robe which is why it was difficult to see what was inside, including more than half of his legs.
When he exited, the headmaster said, "Marya told me everything. I want to hear it from you now."
Miss Calliope knew what he was talking about. She inhaled to speak. "We took a walk at night around the woods. When we reached outside the accommodation building, I saw a suspicious silhouette of a person on the roof. I had an encounter with him but he escaped."
The headmaster caressed his long beard while staring down at his messed-up calligraphy. "Marya told me of a second presence besides the strange man you encountered. He attacked her in the woods when she had almost got the first man."
"I think so too, master. I sensed the second presence too, but it vanished before I could do something."
"I had sent some soldiers to search for some leads in the woods but they found nothing. Someone erased the traces," The headmaster mentioned which sent Miss Calliope in thoughts.
"Whoever it is, he wanted something from the accommodation. Maybe…" Miss Calliope paused in the middle of the sentence, but the headmaster completed it.
"Maybe something from a student."
Miss Calliope asked with a quizzical expression, "What would someone want from our students?"
"We have many students who come from a noble background. There are always people who have to do something from them." The issue about Argus's son was supposed to be kept a secret, which is why the headmaster did not mention it. At the back of his mind, he knew Alan had something to do with this.
"How is Marya now, master?" Miss Calliope asked.
"She is alright. She must be training with her mates right now."
Meanwhile, in the training grounds, Marya trained with a combat doll as she felt weak and terrible after the incident last night. She had passed out in a hit and it made her feel irritated at her weakness.
She received some damage on her nose, which is why she had put some bandages there.
"Damn it." She punched and punched continuously with an angry face. She had a strange feeling about last night.
The hit she received felt too familiar than it should be.
"Are you going to break the doll?" Someone said, upon arriving. It was Convex Baulding with a single arm. He wore a white knitted shirt, leather pants, and boots. He had his classic war-hammer in his hand.
"Piss off!" Marya groaned and punched fiercely to the doll.
"Hey, hey, are you mocking me again?" Convex raised a brow. "You know my father and your father are working together to solve the security issues. You don't want to affect it. You should treat me with respect for us to get along, you kiddo."
Marya stood straight, took a deep breath, and turned to look at him. "You are just a sassy child who always runs to his father for trivial issues. Are you really a man?" She mocked him.
"What did you say?" Convex scowled.
That hit right on the spot. Marya wanted to teach this worthless man a lesson, and she might have got the chance.
The veins on Convex's shiny head appeared as the fiery blood flowed through them. His face became red with anger. "Apologize right now," He hissed before his orange aura flowed to the war-hammer in his hand.
"I mentioned nothing wrong. You surely are a crybaby."
"How dare you!?" He swung the war hammer vertically from above his head. Marya jumped aside and dodged it. The war-hammer hit the ground, and it generated sonic waves because of the impact.
The headmaster and Miss Calliope were having a discussion when they heard a loud sound similar to an explosion.
"What was this sound?" Miss Calliope mentioned.
"Someone is training too hard in the training grounds," The headmaster said. "No need to worry." Miss Calliope nodded before the headmaster's young attendant arrived.
"Master… Master…" He said and gasped.
"What is it?" The headmaster asked.
"Convex Baulding and Marya are having a fight."
"Spars are common here, why are you so tensed about it?"
Suddenly, someone entered flying into the chamber while crashing through the wall. The young attendant covered his head as he got scared. The headmaster and Miss Calliope went stunned when they saw that the person who came flying in was no one other than Convex.
He bled from his head and had several scratch marks on his body. He took the support of his war-hammer and somehow stood up while struggling.
"What is happening!?" Miss Calliope reacted.
"Damn you…" Convex was about to run out of the broken wall, but the headmaster stopped him.
"Convex, stop!"
His legs froze wherever they were. The headmaster stood up and asked, "What is happening here?"
"Pardon me, master. But Marya mocked and said some insulting things to me," Convex said.
The headmaster walked to the broken wall and looked outside. He could see Marya standing down on the ground with an alluring whitish aura hovering around his body. He swiftly gave a nod while glaring at her and she understood what he meant.
She sighed and muttered, "Here we go."
THE FIRST PROVINCE
Commander Adrian patrolled the streets with his soldiers to look for any suspicious activities happening around there. He had got the intelligence from the Governor's spies that they spotted some shady people in the market.
One of them sold a battle-helmet to a merchant, but the merchant understood these men were shady as they wore a hood and covered half their faces. Also, the battle-helmet they sold seemed to be like a Commander's. It also had the snail mark on the inside.
The merchant reported it to the governor's spies and gave them the battle-helmet. Now the Commander marched to have a cup of tea with those shady people as the battle-helmet belonged to his friend Gore who had died earlier.
When he marched on the street, people stared at him as he looked scary and seemed like he was about to murder someone.
"May you have a good day, Commander," Someone said.
"F*CK OFF!" He marched ahead.
When he reached his destination, he saw a shady man in the hood from the back.
"Hey, you!" He placed his hand on his shoulder. "Turn around and take your hood off."
The man turned around after taking his hood off. The Commander saw that shady man was a good-looking young man with curly hair on the head and no facial hair.
"Yes?" The man said.