Richard Emblaze strutted nervously towards the three tied boys. He held himself back from immediately jumping onto them, but he couldn't hold on for much longer. He screamed out loud as he punched a tree in an attempt to get rid of his rage and was able to calm himself down enough.
He walked closer to the boys, getting angrier as he thought of what they had done to Wolfe and Nova. He checked for their pulses and after confirming that they were alive, dragged them away to the Academic Building.
The fourth floor of the academic building housed two rooms. First was the large library with a vast range of books, and the other was the conference room. The conference room was used by the teachers and heads of the Academy for meetings regarding changes in the syllabus and any important issues that threatened Zychs.
A large oval table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by 13 cushioned chairs - the largest one facing the doors and 12 others lining the sides of the table. Many smaller, wooden chairs lined the edges of the room for those who were permitted to observe the meetings. The largest of the 13 inner chairs was reserved for Xenos Vilio and any future principals of the Academy.
One of the boys groaned as Richard dragged their limp bodies up the stairs and towards the conference room. On his way there, Richard grabbed some ropes from the janitor's cupboard and individually tied the boys up such that their hands and legs would be immobile.
Richard hit a button inside the room after setting the three boys on the smaller peripheral chairs. A microphone next to the button was connected to the speakers located throughout the campus. The announcement for the first years to go to the Arena was made through this system.
The system was created by an inventor from the 5th Galilian century using his own magic. No one really understood how he had done it, but the man had infused his own magic into the metals within the microphone and speakers.
When Richard gave the button a little bit of his magic, it triggered the remnants of the inventor's magic that allowed him to transmit his voice through the speakers.
Many believed the creator to be related to the Vilio's since the system was created and used within Zychs, but Richard had a feeling that sound magic was involved here rather than the Vilios's light magic.
"All heads of departments and senior teachers are to arrive at the conference hall within 5 minutes." Richard said into the microphone, his voice echoing throughout the campus and attracting many curious ears.
Richard sat at one of the 12 inner chairs, holding his head in frustration and fear. He had first felt this fear when he saw the boys tied up and unconscious, but his rage had clouded the emotion with ease.
The continuous tapping of his feet against the plywood floor echoed throughout the room as his nervousness grew. If his hunch was right, then the future of Zychs looked grim. But it was only a hunch. He could be completely wrong, and he desperately wanted to believe that he was.
But his hunches were almost always right.
"What's the matter, Richard?" A squeaky voice sounded as the doors of the conference hall swung open and 6 people walked in. The voice belonged to the shortest in the room, a pale, wrinkly, old man by the name of Roland Zephyr.
Respectfully referred to as Sir Roland, the man was exceptionally talented at his craft. He had fought many battles in order to get his sector, Zerphim, onto the map and was the first royal to be elected in place of another.
The Zephyrs were the only ones amongst the 12 royal families who had the right to say that they deserved their position.
"Sir Roland!" Richard exclaimed as he bowed down to greet all those who had arrived. Behind Roland were 5, mostly taller, people, 3 of whom were women.
"Greetings, everyone." Richard began as all the six had taken their seats. It was obvious that they were curious as to why the 3 boys were tied up.
"The three you see there attacked 3 other students during dinner time, gravely injuring two of them. I called you here-"
"You called us urgently for a matter that could be resolved easily by you alone?" Sir Roland interrupted angrily.
"No sir." Richard replied gently. "As I was saying earlier, I called you all here to discuss the grimmer details of the incident. And by the look on your faces I'm assuming you've already noticed it."
All six of the guests except Sir Roland nodded their heads. His old age was getting to his observation skills, slowly deteriorating them along with the rest of his body.
"What are you talking about, Richard?" Roland said curiously.
Richard sighed before picking up the lanky boy and placing him on the table for everyone to see. He lifted the boy's sleeve to reveal a brand scorched onto the inside of his elbow.
Roland Zephyr's face darkened as he realised the gravity of the situation. "Continue, Richard." He said softly, not daring to act callously towards him any further.
Richard pushed the boy's long sleeve back down, covering his mark of identification, before taking him back to his seat.
"As you can all tell, they've begun moving again. We've loosened security over the years due to our overconfidence in this matter. But if the stories surrounding them are true, then we should act carefully from now on for the safety of our students and for Zodia."
Everyone in the room unanimously agreed, everyone including the harsh Roland whose eyes were struck with fear. He had first hand experience with the people in question, and his battles against them had scarred him for the rest of his long life. After facing multiple near-death experiences, Roland Zephyr had finally retired from the forces and joined Zychs.
He gripped his chest as his breathing intensified and fear began taking control. "Those aren't stories, child." He replied to Richard's comment. "We can't deny their existence any longer. The fact that they were able to infiltrate Zychs is enough to tell us that they've grown much stronger. I can't begin to imagine how much stronger they must have gotten over the years."
A piercing silence fell over the room as Roland quivered in terror. If the callous, unmoving Sir Roland was so shaken by a single tattoo, then one could only imagine how horrified the others were.
"Send out Currtors to every branch of the Academy and the King immediately. We need to be ready before they decide to use their main forces."
"No." Richard said. "We can't rely on Currtors now since they could be ambushed. We have no way of gauging their true strength and no way of knowing who they could have employed. I suggest we send 5 groups of three out to each branch and the Royal house in order to deliver the message. We will assign one teacher to each group in case of trouble."
"Wait a minute, Richard." one of the women shouted. "Are you planning to send the students out? That would endanger their lives even if they have teachers on their side. We can't leave such an important action in the hands of mere students."
The other teachers around the table agreed with the woman and scorned Richard for suggesting something so ridiculous. "Miss Sanavita, I understand where you're coming from, but we have to have faith in our students' strength right now. Us teachers need to stay behind in case a large-scale attack is released onto Zychs. And no matter how hard you think about this, the students will eventually be the ones fighting them. Once we're all done for, the future will remain in their hands.
"I too would like to keep our students from harm's way, but we need to realise that some of them are exceptionally strong and are ready to handle the real world. I'm not suggesting that we send the first years. But the fourth year students, though lacking in numbers, can easily take on one of us if acting in groups.
"Please consider what I'm saying for a moment before coming to your decisions."
Richard leaned back in his seat as the rest of the teachers thought hard on the topic. Yes, his idea was ridiculously dangerous. But it was also the safest way to secure the campus with the teachers' presence and simultaneously make sure that the messages were delivered.
After a moment all the 6 teachers reluctantly agreed to the plan.
"Let's take a 2 minute break before we decide what to do with these boys and who to send." Richard said, smiling lightly to express his gratitude towards them for trusting his crazy plan.