The next morning, a group of sleepy-eyed young people gathered together.
"It seems that none of you slept well at night, so you say you all had nightmares during the night and couldn't sleep well?"
"That's right vice chancellor,I slept very well at first but then i had a strange nightmare that woke me up in the middle of the night."
"I had a nightmare too and couldn't sleep."
"Me too."
The vice chancellor arched an eyebrow and asked doubtfully, "That's strange, can either of you describe to me what you saw in the nightmare?"
Artaud massaged his temples and said with a groan: "Ugh, my head hurts and I can't remember very well."
The others also shook their heads in confusion.
The vice chancellor got angry at this, thinking he was being tricked and making excuses: "Hmp, you all think I'm stupid? That's just a hangover? That's from drinking too much before going back to the academy and sleeping late."
"Excuse me vice chancellor but i think something is wrong with this situation. "It was Viltz who spoke up.
"I had a nightmare too and i don't remember the details of it either. "Viltz frowned, remembering yesterday's events, after everyone left he fell asleep and had a nightmare, but the problem was that he didn't remember anything about it, he only remembered what he did after he woke up.
After thinking about everything that happened over and over again, he finally remembered one detail.
"That's right!My diary!Yesterday,after waking up abruptly, i vaguely remember recording something in it, if you'll allow me to go down to my bedroom for a moment to pick it up, i think it will give us a clue to the problem of the nightmare."
"All right, you can go, but if there's nothing important written down and i find out it's just a hoax of yours to loaf around, severe punishment will come to all of you."
Viltz nodded and ran out of the classroom to get his diary.
When he returned with the diary, he opened the last page on which he had written, finding a realistic drawing of the severed head of a unicorn.
Looking at the realistic drawing in front of him, Viltz felt his head begin to throb.
Leaving the paper on the table, Viltz grabbed his aching head and sat down to meditate to try to calm his headache.
The others, seeing the picture in Viltz's diary, also began to clutch their heads while moaning in pain.
The vice chancellor frowned as he noticed this.
Snapping his fingers, he sent a blast of energy which passed through everyone's body, easing their pain.
"Now i remember, in the nightmare, that thing Vilgefortz drew attacked me and when it was about to murder me i suddenly woke up."
"How strange i had the same nightmare."
"Ugh, i had the same nightmare too, but why didn't i remember anything until i saw the drawing?"
Viltz stood up from his meditation with a frown as he looked again at the picture he drew himself.
At first he didn't remember anything related to the nightmare, it wasn't until he saw the drawing in his journal that he remembered everything that happened last night again, he remembered how he had visions of other worlds, how these visions swirled into an epicenter until they formed the scene of the unicorn's head.
He originally assumed it was a vision caused by his left eye but now realized it could be for another reason.
"Hmmm, could it be that one of you did something strange yesterday or saw something out of the ordinary? Or did any of you buy any strange objects? Remember what each of you did yesterday afternoon."
Viltz, who was attentive to the behavior of his companions, immediately noticed how Igor's hands began to tremble, apparently nervous about something.
Looking away, Viltz started to think.
"Looks like this kid knows something, i'll have to keep an eye on him later."
While the others were thinking, the vice chancellor spoke to them again, "Well, let's start the class, if you have the same nightmare again tomorrow then we'll have to call in a mind magic expert to analyze you."
The others could only sigh and sit back in their seats to continue with the class.
When noon arrived, everyone dispersed to take their break.
Viltz, noticing that Igor was heading out of the palace, decided to follow him on the sly.
As he left the academy gate, Igor began to stroll around the garden for about five minutes before heading for an inconspicuous tree in the corner.
Viltz, who was watching him from afar, could only watch as he crouched under the tree, doing something he couldn't see because Igor's back was blocking his view.
After a few moments, Igor stood up and started patting his hands, taking a last look at the place where he was crouching a moment ago, turned around and went back inside the academy.
Viltz,who until now was hiding behind a bush, came out of hiding and headed for the tree, only to notice that the ground underneath was disturbed.
"Let's see what you're hiding."
Crouching down, Viltz began digging in the ground, and a few moments later, unearthed a small black leather pouch.
Slipping it into his pocket, he quickly shook the ground again with his foot and went to his room.
Entering his room, he carefully closed the door and then took out the small leather bag.
When he opened it, he found inside a small horn in the shape of a spiral.
Curious, Viltz wanted to pour his mana into it but quickly put that dangerous idea out of his head.
"If my assumption is correct then this small horn is the cause of our collective nightmare, given that yesterday was the first day we were leaving the academy after six months and that the nightmare manifested yesterday, it's not hard to assume that Igor got this broken horn yesterday from somewhere.
And judging from the content of the nightmare and the shape of the horn, it is possible that it is the missing piece of horn from the unicorn head that came out in the nightmare.
If i remember correctly, unicorn horns are universal antidotes to poison.
Igor is poisoned? But it seems that there is something wrong with the horn that was sold to him, something evil, it could be cursed, or else he could not influence his environment to a level where he could cause nightmares to all the people around him.
But now the question arises. Who or who are lucky and strong enough to find a unicorn and manage to kill it, those creatures are incredibly shy,they do not approach just anyone, as magical creatures, they can sense if a person is pure hearted or not, that is why they usually avoid evil people and instead approach young virgin maidens as soon as they notice them due to the fact that these are purer in general.
Although there are exceptions like the unicorn who had sex with Geralt and Yeneffer, in that case they harbored no malice towards the unicorn.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to retain a creature that can travel the multiverse at will."
Sighing, he decided to think no more about the origin of the horn.
Pulling a bottle out of his cabinet, he put the horn inside.
"Although there seems to be something wrong with this horn, for the time being I will keep it and investigate it in the future, when I have graduated i can study it and try to purify it."
Tucking the bottle under his tunic, he went back out into the garden.
After wandering for a while without finding anyone following him, he sat down, leaning against a small tree.
With his hands behind his back, he dug a hole discreetly.
After a few minutes of digging, he took the bottle out of his tunic and put it in the hole, covering it again.
Pulling out a handkerchief, he wiped his hands on it and put it back in his pocket.
When he finished his actions, he did not move from his spot, instead remaining seated on the spot for over ten minutes before getting up.
Seeing the obvious signs of the soil having been removed, Viltz conjured a spell that caused the plants to grow back into place.
Noticing that no one was watching him, he let out a sigh of relief and reentered the academy.