"Honey, Jonathan's back," Elara jumped up on a brown haired man, and a brown moustache framed his lips. His green eyes shot a discerning glance at Jack.
"So, what is it, Jonathan, are you finally going to take care of the estate?" the brown haired man asked.
"I'm quite busy, as I have become a professor," Jack placed his hand on his chest, proudly presenting himself before the other man.
"Hm, grown quite arrogant, haven't we?" he chuckled, his voice echoing through the grounds. "So, what do you need me for?"
Jack points at Thomas, "My friend here—"
Elara cuts him off, "Boyfriend."
Jack looks away, flustered, "My friend here needs some in understanding his flaws, I know you're the best person for it."
"Hm?" he slightly leans into Jack's ear, "who is he?"
"The General Thomas Radagar, in flesh," Jack opened his palms, showing him before the two.
"The General!?" the man took a step back, before bowing down in respect. "I'm sorry for my discourteous behaviour."
"Hey, Jonathan, I told you, I'm no longer the General," Thomas switched his view to the man, "please stand straight, I'm not worthy of your admiration."
"Please stop," Jack said in a lazy voice, "not worthy of that, not worthy of this." He faced back at the man, "Hey, Philip, best some sense into him."
"What? How can you be so disrespectful towards him?"
"Disrespectful? I'm only helping a friend, besides he's the one who asked me for a spar," Jack tapped on his shoulder, smirking.
Thomas noticed the unfamiliar expression in his face, but rather than that, he could feel the man before him was stronger than he seemed.
"General, my Master has requested me to take care of this, shall we?"
...
"You're going to lose your estate if these two are to battle here," Elara looked up at Jack beside her.
"You have a Six-Star architect here, you think I'll let that happen," he brought his palms together, the mana around him gathering around him.
He levitated up to the air for a moment, a few feet up in the air. His eyes open, shining deep grey as the grey energy around his body spreads out all around.
Thomas watched him cast the spell, while the brown haired man stood in front of him, holding a long black spear with a single spearhead.
"The space around me is profound, this free space I see before me, I claim this for myself, but fret not, I shall relinquish it once I have completed my purpose," Jack chanted as a large amount of grey mana spread out of his body, covering everything on a mile radius.
"Your mana is so beautiful," Elara told Jack who slowly descended back to the ground.
"You guys are the only ones who say my mana is beautiful, humans say grey mana is impure."
"They're a bunch of idiots," she got closer to him, picking up a strand of his red hair. "How long has it been since you fed, your hair is losing its crimson touch."
"Almost three years," he stammered slightly.
"Too busy chasing after the General that you forgot to drink blood,"
"This is the third time you're saying that, whats up with that!?"
"Well, I've never seen you care for someone like that, so maybe I just assumed that," she winked at him.
"Are you sure about that?" Jack made a quick glance at her. "How's the estate?"
"The trade is going well, and the two of us can handle it, although there has been an increase in Eonborn recently," she watched the two men walk in circles holding up their weapons.
"Hm, about Eonborns, they've been on an increase all over the continent, not as much as back then."
BOOM
The sword and the spear clashed, sending a shockwave through the ground. Jack's and Elara's hair got up, floating back at the force.
"Oh, I almost forgot, how's the academy life, Professor Jonathan?"
"It's something I didn't ask for, but it's good, my student is quite cute, you should see her," he wore an unfamiliar expression, a feeling of pride swelling up his chest.
"If the great Jonathan Thorne is praising her, she must be quite the big shot."
"Ahem, I also lost my last name."
"What?! Those bastards made a fuss?"
"They did ask me to change it. The principal picked one for me, Raosa."
"That's a cool name," her eyes gleaming. "I wish I had a cool name like that."
BOOM
"There goes the main house," Jack watched the main house burn up and the two clashed out there.
"Since you closed off the space, it doesn't really matter, still the General is strong, to be able to keep up with Philip."
"Very, he was very powerful, I lost to him, that's why I thought I wouldn't be able to help him."
"How's your class?"
"Although I only have a single student, she makes the class worth it."
"When do I get to meet this disciple of yours, will I get to see her if I come with you to the academy?"
"Right now she's in the midst of her first mission, also the academy doesn't permit outsiders in there, it's sort of a strict rule."
"Even with your authority?"
"I'm not quite the hotshot at the academy, besides everyone knows me for my bad reputation, remember?"
BEEP BEEP
"Speak of the devil, it's her, but she isn't supposed to contact me during a mission," Jack slightly pressed on his Vördr, a holographic message popping up.
...
"I need to thank you for all your guidance, Professor.
Information you've shared has always been invaluable.
Please know how much I admire and respect you.
Help has been a constant from you, and I deeply appreciate it."
...
"What a lovely message, is that your student?" she smiled, her red eyes gleaming.
"It is, do you see it?" Jack let a small smile take over.
"Of course, I guess it's time for me to leave, I presume?"
"Can you help me?"
"I'm your servant, you're my master, say the magic words," she bowed down dramatically.
"Fine, she has brown hair and green eyes, and about yea big," Jack brought his hand below his shoulder, keeping it flat.
"She's pretty short, guess I'll find her, where is she?"
"Caelum city."
"See you later, also make sure to update me on the current battle," she walked off, her white hair catching the wind.
A strong wind blew from a strong impact a few hundred meters away, both Thomas and Philip still going on at it.
"She's pretty smart," Jack continued looking at the message. "I need information please help, huh?"
_________________________
Xióng complained, "That's strange, how come I couldn't find anything?"
"Not just you, neither could the two of us, why isn't there a single sign of what happened, it's strange, if this keeps up we might fail," Nichole replied.
Ren, the optimist, came in, "It's only been one day, we still have time."
"We barely have any clues, what are we supposed to do?" Nichole replied.
"I know something, maybe going to an information guild?" Xióng suggested.
Ren and Nichole looked at him, "That's genius," they said in unison.
"Don't tell me you guys haven't thought of that yet?"
"Maybe," Ren awkwardly chuckled turning away.
"What are you doing?" Xióng peeped in to look at what she was swiping through on her Vördr.
"Don't you guys need information?"
"You know anyone? Just to be clear, we're not supposed to contact our teachers, or anyone for that matter."
"Huh, what were you saying?" Nichole looked up, not hearing anything Xióng just said.
"What are you doing?" Xióng looked at her with suspicious eyes.
"Nothing, see, I'm just reading a letter from my professor," she tapped on her Vördr and a holographic letter popped up.
...
"Nichole, no words can explain the gratitude I owe you
I sent you all my blessings
A Source code never wavers as long you focus
Remember the White-Haired woman you saw back then?
Well she got into some trouble
I'm here helping her
You need anything?
I've prepared some Red wine for you
I also got a new artifact, Eye of the sword
If you need anything please do call me, remember, I'm the Jack of all trades."
...
"What? Are you two father and daughter or something, he's got a whole ass letter of love and stuff there for you," Xióng went back uninterested.
"Your Professor seems like a joy, quite a boomer though," Ren commented at the long message before her.
"What can I say, I've got his heart on my clutches," Nichole responded. What's with this letter, it seems like utter gibberish, he's hid the message too well, even I can't find it.
I think it says, I've sent a source, she has white hair and red eyes, and some Jack of all trades? Nichole dismissed the message. Father and daughter, huh.
_________________________
Finn sat on the floor, looking at the system in front of him.
TALK TO VICTOR AMBRON
ACCEPTED
'Damn, I couldn't even complete the mission this odd thing has me, but still what happens if I do this?'
...
'Hey,' Daniela called out in her thoughts as she looked at the sleeping boy. 'Can you help me?'
A wisp of cloud manifested above her shoulder. "What is it?"
"Hey, won't others see you if you come out like this?" she whispered to the cloud.
"Not really, I'm here in your mind, this is just a result of tricking your brain into seeing me, also I can hear your thoughts."
Fine, that makes it easier, so what's up with the kid? Daniela went back to examining the boy.
"Well, it's just as the long-haired boy said, the boy had th—"
No, no, not that, I'm asking why the boy can't walk, he said he can't feel anything below his leg, and although I examined him, I couldn't find anything.
"For starters, you fail as a Herbalist."
Daniela felt something shoot through her.
"Second of all, if you looked closer you would have noticed how the boy has clogged pathways near his spine."
How are you sure?
"Check it out yourself."
Daniela takes her hand and places it on the boy's stomach, letting a small amount of her mana flow into him.
Hm, my mana is flowing through hi— oh, there, I see, he has blockage, doesn't he? she looked at the wisp.
"Now try to remove the energy, you should be able to do it, and if you succeed you'll be able to breakthrough," the wisp spoke before disappearing.
Hey, where are you going? she looked around in slight panic.
"Nowhere, I'm still inside you."
"Please don't say it like that."
"What was that, Princess?" Finn who had heard her mutter spoke up.
"Oh its nothing, but I found a way to heal the kid, it's a minor blockage, there is mana below his spine, blocking it's functions."
"Oh, you found it, that's amazing, so can you remove it," Finn got, yawning slightly before stretching.
"That's the problem, I don't know how to remove the energy from within without causing any nerve damage, if I'm too rash, he might receive permanent damage."
"It's not hard, I'll help you."
"You?"
_________________________
"Hey there little girl," a white haired woman bowed down, her eyes meeting Nichole's, "can you help me out here?"
"Jack of all... trades?"
"So, what is it you need?"
_________________________