The sound of shoes click-clacking outside Gertrude's quarters resonated. She could hear people talking outside her door but she couldn't make out what they were exactly talking about.
"Madame! There are people wanting to speak to you." Her guard shouted from the other side of the door.
"Names?" Gertrude's voice was huskier and softer than normal but it was still loud enough for people outside the door to hear.
"Hanz, Barbara and Carlo." Hanz responded.
"You are late..." She sighed. "But regardless... let them in!"
The guard opened the door but the three just stood there struggling to decide who was going in first.
"Oh... for the love of the Tree, just come inside..." Gertrude seemed to be washing a cloth in the sink but she put the cloth aside and dried her hands with her robe when the three stepped inside.
Barbara walked in first then the two boys followed suit.
"We're all here... Just like you've asked," he muttered with his hands behind him.
Gertrude clicked her tongue. "Not particularly, my boy." She approached them. The top of her head barely missed the ceiling. "You've just missed the orientation. What part of 'first thing in the morning' did you not understand?"
"Sorry, it was my fault. I had asked them to come with me to the ringsmith first." Carlo pouted his lips.
Gertrude looked at Carlo and slightly shook her head. "Even if it mattered, the orientation was over. However, they are still gathered in the arena–Wilda and Minister Xaia's niece, Aira, are having a brawl."
"A brawl? Wait, Aira?" Barbara was confused. "I didn't know the Minister had a niece."
"Too many questions. I am tired and Maurice here was beaten up pretty badly." She opened the curtain and revealed a sleeping Maurice with a swollen eye and a cast on his left arm.
The three gasped and stood close to the foot of Maurice's bed.
"I didn't know you had a son," Carlo said. "Why did you keep him a secret?"
Her eyes rolled. "Even though I treat him as such, he is not." She denied. "80 years ago, I found him outside. I thought he was dead because he didn't cry at all. But when I carried him in my arms, he urinated." Gertrude added as she almost smiled. "I gave him to a couple who has a shop in the market area that offers babaylan services."
"Aww... that's heartbreaking. And what babaylan services are you talking about?" Barbara pried.
Carlo leaned in, "What's his race?"
Gertrude stared at Maurice. "He's a hybrid." She put the wet towel on his head. "All I know is he's part babaylan. I've been trying to find out what his other half is but I couldn't get an answer. Babaylan, as we all know, have the power to control nature but they also know how to manipulate that power to create a protective aura or barrier around a person. Let's just say that albularyo are very good healers while babaylan prevent their patients from getting hurt. And they sell their incantations for people who need them."
"Wow, so they literally sell buffs for a living? That's interesting." She raised her fist to eye level and opened it–revealing a bug. "Maybe I can sell my babies for money."
The tiny ladybug squeaked.
"Aww... I'm just kidding." She dabbed the ladybug with her index finger as if trying to comfort it.
The tall woman sighed and reached for her legs. "I've been standing all morning. I'm tired." She massaged her left leg. "You can go back to the human realm. I don't think you're serious enough to enroll in the academy."
"Please, Gertrude. We were supposed to be here much earlier if it weren't for that big, fat rooster just outside the tree." Barbara insisted.
Gertrude looked shocked. "That large, ugly tandang is still alive and walking about?"
"It almost killed Carlo as a matter of fact. Willow can testify, she actually cured him." Barbara replied.
"Oh, you poor thing... As a kapre myself, I understand it must've destroyed your eardrums."
"I think it did but I'm all fixed up now."
Gertrude took a moment to look at Carlo's hairy hands. "How's Fidget?"
"They're all so busy there at the shop," Carlo responded.
"Fidget is right then... First, the leaves turned brown and now the rings are acting strange." Her eyes were lost in thought.
"What's happening?" Hanz butted in.
She cleared her throat. "The Tree is running low on fuel. It is dying, my dear."
"I never thought that the Tree could die," Carlo mumbled to himself.
"It won't. We just need to have a steady supply of fear that we can only gather from humans."
"I thought we had fear farmers to solve that problem?" Hanz asked with grooves in between his eyebrows.
"We only have 4 people left who farm fear as their profession. They're getting old, and sadly, the Tree is consuming more than they can provide."
"That's weird. Why is the Tree suddenly eating fear at a much faster rate? Is this another one of those anomalies?" Barbara shot another question at Gertrude.
The trio sat on the wooden bench by Gertrude's table as Gertrude closed the curtain to give Maurice some privacy.
"Great question, dear." Gertrude sat on the biggest chair in the room. "That is what Minister Xaia and the Council are trying to figure out. There are speculations, however, I'm unable to reveal them just yet as we lack valid evidence to support them."
After Gertrude's answer, there was a brief moment of silence.
"By the way, Gertrude... Fidget told us that the diwata are responsible for rebuilding this place. What happened?" Barbara asked.
"The Minister accepted the truce that the diwata offered, dear." She answered.
"Why would he accept a peace agreement from the people who sought to destroy us?" Hanz questioned in a raised voice.
"Kuhaw!" A screeching noise reverberated in the room.
"It's alright, Mathilda. These young children are here to help us, not to gossip about your family." Gertrude made a stern look at Hanz.
"I apologize, good Madame... I was not aware that you'd be so graceful to please us with your presence." Hanz immediately bowed his head.
The kuhaw was perched on a bookshelf. It was so dimly lit in the room that the trio did not see it sitting there. Mathilda was the biggest kuhaw Hanz, Carlo, and Barbara had ever seen.
"You heard that, my friend? These children are pleased to have you. Nevertheless, I think the Minister needs you in his room, I'll be there with you in a moment."
The bird hopped and glided to Hanz's shoulder. Gertrude looked concerned.
Carlo flinched and had his fists clenched while Barbara gulped and barely made eye contact with the bird. Hanz didn't even bat an eyelid. The kuhaw turned its head to look at each of their faces one after the other as if checking if they showed any respect.
"Kuhaw!" the bird screeched one more time before it zoomed its way out of the open window.
Hanz let out a big sigh of relief.
"Had you not spoken, she could very well have swallowed you whole," Gertrude told them as if they weren't scared enough.
"I don't doubt you on that." Hanz smoothed down his shirt.
Barbara seemed to be in a trance. "There were two Mathildas in the line of past Ministers, right?"
"Correct. That one was the 8th Minister."
"So if that big kuhaw is Mathilda the Second, then, there's a bigger kuhaw resting in the Tree?" Carlo looked scared.
"It's wise to assume so. Mathilda the First was a kapre." Gertrude affirmed him.
The trio eyed each other.
"Let's go back to your question, shall we?" Gertrude scratched the mole on her nose. "The Council did not like the idea of making peace with the enemies, but the Minister pushed through his plans, and here we are now. Turns out, the Minister was right all along."
"I hope his decision to make friends with the people who killed our parents doesn't turn out to be a mistake. I hope the diwata hold their end of the bargain." Hanz took a deep breath in. "Or else, I will go to their Cave myself and kill them all."
Barbara leaned her head on Hanz's shoulder. "And I will come with you." She whispered.
"I was gonna 'say me too' but I remembered that we couldn't even kill the tandang outside the Doortal." Carlo tried to lighten up the gloomy atmosphere.
"Nonsense. The diwata are now a friend to the Tree so we shall not utter such words." She stood up. "In fact, they will be sending a representative that will join the Council to help us make better decisions for the good of Balete City."
"Wow! A diwata in Balete City?" Barbara asked.
Gertrude nodded in response to her question. "I trust you don't have any more questions?"
Barbara and Carlo looked at Hanz.
"I'm good." He responded.
"Then you better go now and head to the arena."
Barbara stood up and the boys followed.
"Oh wait, dears." She patted herself as if she was looking for something. "Krum? Did I, by any chance, hand you keys earlier this morning?"
Krum, the guard, opened the door and stepped in with keys in his hand. "Here, Madame."
"Thank you, my boy." She took the keys from Krum and dangled them in front of her face, seemingly reading something. "H-Hanz, this is your key."
"And this opens what?" Hanz took a closer look at the key with his name etched on it.
"Your room. You need a place to stay while you're training here in the city."
Hanz took his key from Gertrude.
"And this is... for you, B-Barbara. And of course, this is yours, Carlo." She handed out the keys to their owners.
"Thank you!" Barbara and Carlo said in unison.
She rubbed her big hands together and waved at Krum as he stood by the door frame, gesturing for him to come to her.
"Go ahead. Run along, dears"
And so did the trio.
"Krum, find someone who can catch that tandang outside the tree, and bring it to me in secret. Make sure no one hurts it." Gertrude said as she walked back inside.
"Consider it done, Madame." He bowed with his fist on his chest then closed the door.
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"Wooh!" A random audience with brown hair shouted in excitement when Aira revealed her weapon.
Wilda jumped into the air and shot Aira with a dart using her blowgun. Swoosh! The dart flew quickly toward Aira's head, but with her balisong, which was as tall as her, she managed to deflect it.
Akari, with the other teachers beside him, had his face painted with both worry and excitement. "I can't believe that both of them haven't taken off their rings yet. Maybe Aira wants to show off the result of her speed training."
"It just shows how confident they are in their human forms." A teacher with light-blue hair on Akari's left answered.
Aira panted after rolling to dodge another one of Wilda's darts. "You really are..." she hit the ground with the blunt end of her giant balisong, "...very good at blowing."
"Heh." Wilda scoffed and landed on the ground.
"Looks like Aira is going for an offensive this time!" That blue-haired teacher, with her mouth slightly gaped, nudged Akari.
Aira started sprinting as she threw her weapon vertically into the air.
For the first time, Wilda looked worried. "What is this?" She whispered to herself.
"What move is this, Ysabel?" Akari asked the blue-haired teacher, now known as Ysabel.
"This is..." Ysabel paused.
"Death from above!" Aira shouted and then she seemingly vanished. "Don't look so worried, sweetheart."
The crowd cheered as they frantically looked for Aira.
"This is bad. Aira is distracting Wilda with her speed while her balisong gains momentum from above." Ysabel looked up in the air and saw the balisong still going up with a now-decreasing speed.
"That means, if she focuses on Aira's ground attacks, the balisong might hit her from above?" Akari asked for clarification.
"Exactly. And if she focuses on the falling balisong, she won't be able to dodge Aira's assaults." Ysabel with her arms crossed, added.
"This is bad..." Akari's hands clenched into fists. "What will the hero of Balete City do?"
Meanwhile, Hanz, Barbara, and Carlo finally arrived at the arena. They hurriedly climbed to the highest concrete seat.
"That's Wilda, right?" Barbara pointed at the woman with a blowgun. "I thought she was having a brawl with Aira? Where is she?"
Hanz squinted his eyes and a few seconds later, he pointed at Aira's shadowy figure. "There!"
"She's in human form?" Barbara inquired.
"Both of them are in their human forms."
"Then why is Aira vanishing like that?" Barbara wasn't convinced hence she pried.
Hanz's eyes got bigger and focused on Aira's movements. "She's not invisible... she's just so fast that we can't see her."
"How could that be possible?" Carlo rapidly shook his head.
Aira surprised Wilda with an elbow to her back. Wilda was pushed forward then groaned. "Wilda..." Aira mocked her. "I'm here!" She punched Wilda in the face then vanished again.
With her hand on her cheek, Wilda went for a defensive stance–her blowgun positioned in front of her. "You can't beat me with just speed."
"The only way for Wilda to survive this move is if she takes off her ring and transforms into a batibat." Ysabel uttered.
"Don't underestimate the hero of Balete, Ysabel." Yanu suddenly sat beside her.
"Headmaster!" Akari and Ysabel said in unison.
Wilda took something from her pocket, then she revealed three balls as small as pebbles.
"Are those smoke bombs?" Ysabel asked Yanu.
"Yes, but not your ordinary smoke bombs," he snickered, "if Aira breathes in the smoke, she will be put into a deep sleep."
Using her blowgun as a bat, she hit all three smoke bombs into the air. Boom! Boom! Boom! Three consecutive explosions reverberated in the arena. A huge cloud of pink smoke formed in the center.
"Uh oh... Headmaster, the smoke could spread and everyone will be in trouble!" Allan, the albularyo, worriedly announced to Yanu.
"Wait..." Yanu gestured at Allan.
Aira was forced to stop running at high speed due to the smoke.
"Check mate!" Wilda smirked.
Aira coughed and then covered her face with her palm. "Not quite." She denounced as her other hand pointed at the falling balisong that was directly above Wilda.
Wilda quickly jumped back and with her blowgun, she deflected Aira's heavy weapon back at her.
Aira's eyes widened as she stared at her own balisong coming straight at her skull. She hurriedly swayed her head to the side in an attempt to dodge it. Swoosh! It turned out to be too late as the blade sliced through her hair which cut off a few strands.
With the center of the arena covered by the thick, pink smoke, the crowd couldn't see clearly. They all gasped when the balisong crashed into the wall behind Aira.
Wilda didn't seem fazed by her own smoke that covered the battleground's core as batibat are known for their immunity to substances that induce sleep. She waited for the smoke to dissipate then she saw Aira's right hand in the air.
"I y-yield!" She shouted and passed out on the ground.
"Wooh!" The crowd roared and clapped as the battle concluded.
"Allan, go ahead and check on Aira," Yanu commanded, then he levitated quickly to the center of the arena.
"Even in aswang form, it will be hard for her to avoid inhaling that smoke," Hanz mumbled. "This fight is boring. Let's go to the dorm."
As Hanz and his friends walked toward the exit, Yanu's voice, through the speakers, was heard in the background.
"Wilda wins!"
The crowd's thunderous cheers echoed.
"You may now head to your respective dormitories. See you in your classrooms the day after tomorrow." He announced.
"Wow! Looks like I'm gonna be sleeping the whole day tomorrow, then!" Carlo said with a smile.
As they walked, a boy with rather spiky, blonde hair came up to them. His contagious smile lit up the area.
"You guys look strong." He waved at the three.
Hanz stopped walking and crossed his arms.
"S-sorry but who are you?" Carlo moved in front of Hanz which slightly covered him from the boy's view.
"Heh. The name's Sam." He raised his hand, offering a handshake.
Carlo and Barbara went up and shook his hand.
"I'm Barb... short for Barbara." She said.
"Carlo..." he croaked, then pointed at Hanz. "That one isn't important." Carlo chuckled as he joked.
Sam scratched his head and leaned his body to the left so that he could get a better view of Hanz who was behind Carlo. "I beg to differ." His eyes smiled. "I sense a strong energy coming from him."
Hanz stepped up from behind Carlo and uncrossed his arms. "What are you on about?" He spoke.
"Well," Sam took out a piece of paper that was neatly folded from the front pocket of his orange jacket, "I just took this quest from the bounty board and I need someone strong enough to capture the raging manananggal who is terrorizing Pesca Village."
"And what is the reward?" Carlo was curious.
He unfolded the paper and revealed the reward that was written on it. "80 gold coins," he stated.
Hanz almost laughed.
Barbara's eyes gleamed with her palms together. "Wow! That's a lot of gold!"
"I can even give all of it for the three of you to share," Sam added.
"Count us in!" Barbara raised her hand.
Hanz scoffed. "Take it to someone else. We pass." He started walking away.
Carlo almost joined him but Barbara shouted.
"Are you really that stupid, Hanz?"
"I swear I'll give all the gold to you." Sam insisted.
"Then why? Doesn't it sound too good to be true?" Hanz stopped walking and faced Sam.
"I'm in it for the fame. This is a three-star quest-"
"Three stars?" Hanz interrupted him.
Sam's smile gradually faded away.
"There are 5 different quest rarities that you can get from the bounty board and they are ranked by the Council according to difficulty. The more stars on the quest, the higher the reward. If you accumulate 30 quests which are not lower than 3 stars, you will be awarded the Heroic Excellence medal by the Minister himself." Sam panted as he finished explaining.
"That's a lot to take in," Carlo muttered.
Hanz yawned.
"Tree Dwellers who have been awarded this medal will be given a moment to talk with the Minister."
"A chit-chat with the Minister doesn't sound too exciting." He turned around. "As I said, we pass." Hanz waved at Sam then his friends slowly walked with him.
Sam folded the paper and slid it back into his pocket. He ran past Hanz then he stopped in front of him with his hands spread to each side. "You don't understand. The Minister has a special telemirror that can talk to the dead. I am the only santelmo left in this world. I-I just want to be able to talk to my parents." Tears started to crawl down his cheeks. "Please..."
Hanz came to a full stop with his head bowed.
"Hanz..." Barbara whispered. "Don't be a d-"
"Let's meet up tomorrow at 8 AM, outside the dormitories." Hanz with a blank face said then winked at Sam.
Sam's face lit up with joy. "Really?" Both of
his hands were on his head. "Th-thank you!"
Hanz offered his hand to Sam. "I'm Hanz by the way."
Sam, with no hesitation, shook Hanz's hand and waved goodbye as the three continued walking.
"Darn it! There goes my time to relax." Carlo exhaled.
"Are you stupid? We can buy a lot of food with that gold." Barbara drooled.
End of Chapter 4