The two men sat by the desk. They were facing each other in an uneasy silence. It was odd for Headmaster Avshino. The boy who he saw by the alley as a respectable, young person had shifted into a sort of being. Like a cold hearted killer. That is different. A warm-hearted killer? That's an odd way of explaining it.
Staring at him more, his body resembled a monster. It was as if he came out of a war that he fought alone, with a scimitar in his hands and the tenacity of an elder dragon. Yet his eyes sang a different tale. Of a young yet mature man who worries for the safety of everything.
"I didn't expect you to find it easily..." the headmaster spoke.
"I wasn't the one who had it previously. It was a red hand member." Sultan answered.
The headmaster stood up, "They found it?!"
"But it's not in their possession any longer. This was the only one, out of three they had found. I took it off their corpse. After I interrogated them." Sultan said, "It was outside the school, on the outskirts of the town."
"But It's hidden in a vault..."
"Then it has been breached."
Another silence echoed through the room as the headmaster began to overthink, "I'm sure you had been given the info that there may be some red-hand members in the first, second and third years, am I correct?"
"Yes..."
"Then they must be sleeper agents. Hanlerk taught me all about them. It's part of the red hand's tactics." Sultan placed the key on the table, "But I was never informed that there was a gate to Urkum's coil in this area."
"It's Dalsinor. I should've expected you to find it eventually. Not so fast though..."
Sultan slammed the table, "Excuse my manners please, but you don't understand. Even if my friends are slacking off, I'm not. You hired Soldiers of Hanlerk. And we will deliver. But in order for the most efficient results, we need full information about your goal. So it's detrimental for you to hide this information from us."
The headmaster sat in silence for half a minute. Going over hundreds of thoughts during that time. Before eventually releasing a deep sigh, "No wonder I was recommended an urban legend instead of the real group."
"With all due respect, don't compare us to the arrogant and barely-functioning I.T.A" Sultan sat down again, "Trust me, don't rely on them. Speaking off experience."
"Turning eighteen and you already have shelves of tales to tell..." The headmaster commented, "But I understand. And I hope you have acknowledged part of the red hand's goal now."
"But why though? What benefit do they get from it?" Sultan pondered.
"Even I don't know. Why do they never invade the one in Wadi Musa? Your home country?" The headmaster asked, "Do excuse my lack of knowledge. I haven't left this country for hundreds of years."
"Going into the entrance in Wadi Musa is impossible. Even if they get past security a thousand times tighter than a max-security prison, they would have no way to get past the barrier separating earth and its entrance. Or so I have been told."
"So they rely on the only other known location. Dalsinor." The headmaster took out a book, "Before my great-Grandpa handed me the position of headmaster, he warned me of an entrance to Urkum's coil here. Seeing as its impossible to move the school, him, and the previous headmasters of the school decided to work together to cover up the entrance. And make it difficult to open it. Even for myself.
"Each of them hid the key in a location only they know which they took to their grave. Except for this one, and the only clue we have is that it's all located in Dalsinor. The one you have was from the first headmaster. Which I found it myself first. Guess the vault was not good enough...But the other two, I have no clue."
Sultan formed a question after that, "If the previous three had hid the keys, what did you do? To protect the entrance?"
The headmaster stared at him for a tense minute before smiling eerily, "You'll have to kill me to attain that information." He stood up before patting Sultan's shoulder, "The current knowledge that your friends have is that they are taking artifacts from all over the school and storing it somewhere. Maybe you can go off with that while I deal with the key."
Before Sultan can react, the headmaster swiped the key off the desk, "Mind if I ask something?'
"Go ahead..."
"You're bloody as all hell. What did you do with the bodies? And how did you get here without...well alerting any of the guards?"
Sultan stood up from his chair, "I stole as much info from their bodies as I can and then destroyed the evidence. And for the guards and early-birds...I was just fast."
"And where did you come from?" The headmaster swiped his hand in the air, revealing a long board of numerous footage of the area.
"The southern entrance."
"Then you aren't lying when you mention you are fast. The camera's I had implemented had a frame rate of six hundred. Going through the footage right now...the camera's did not detect you."
Sultan took a tissue on the table and wiped his face, "That's a shock...I'm exhausted right now...I thought that it'd need to be purged."
"And the only trail you left was the blood on my doorsteps...Incredible."
***
"You know that y'all can stop acting cautious right?"
They had hoped that it was discreet, but all of the newcomers had been on slight edge with Gary around. While he's stuffing his face with the food, somehow barely making a mess next to Aurora, Donovan had caught on to their slight demeanor change.
"He's not going to attack you. He's as calm as a bear. See?" Donovan may have pointed at Gary with horrible timing. As Gary was in the middle of finishing Aurora's plate after she had her fill. And accidentally biting off a chunk of the fork and swallowing it.
"Gary, please, calm yourself with the food. You bit off a huge chunk of the fork..." Aurora tried her best to speak to Gary in the midst of his rampage.
"Listen my fresh newbies, if we're allies with this chunky boy. We're basically out of his harm's reach. Watch." Donovan gripped his fist tight and slammed it against Gary's solar plexus.
Back timing struck Donovan again as Gary was still in the middle of eating. He managed to keep the food in his mouth and swallow before it spilled out, "Excuse me please..." Gary muttered before standing up.
"Now watch...he's gonna-"
Before Donovan could finish his sentence. Gary yanked him using the back of his collar and threw him to the ground. Before dragging him towards the training hall.
"Motherfucker-! Y-You! Akh!"
"Never. Do that. While. I'm eating. I told you that once." Gary kicked the door open, "I'm warning you one last time."
"Fucking-! Aikh! NOOO-"
Gary slammed the door behind them. The rest sat there in silence from what they just saw. Karasu leaned towards Samuel and whispered to him, "How is it...Y'know."
Through the blindfold, Samuel activated his eyes and focused on using see-through vision to witness the beatdown in action, and he was not surprised, as Samuel shook his head, "He's getting his ass whooped."
"Figures."
"Well...Let them be for now." Elyssia cleared her throat, "Moving on...We have some matters to discuss."
Elyssia signaled to Madhav to activate it. He nodded before shortly pressing a button under the table, "We haven't had a proper greeting. Or introduction. But let's do it now. I'm in a bit of a hurry." A projection of past footage from the tournament were shown.
"It's been a while since the tournament event. And people all over the place had been questioning our school's safety and validation. The students' strength and prowess had been questioned as well." Elyssia continued, "Maybe some of you knew, but there were more members a few months ago. But no more. There were four people afterwards."
Zhu and Enzo were listening in to Elyssia's intro attentively. Before Enzo leaned towards Zhu, "I feel bad Zhu...I can see how tired she is in her eyes..."
"Yeah...I know."
"But then came this guy." Elyssia placed her hand on Samuel's shoulder, "And the two in the training room. They arrived and increased our numbers. With that, they re-established what it means to be part of the security force. Then Aziroth came. And then Aurora and Karasu over here. And then all of you. The room accepted you all for a purpose. To protect this school from danger. And serve as a pinnacle of strength for the students. So that they can feel safe here.
"As of now, we all have a long way to go. Some of you may not feel like you can live up to this. And to that I say, why even join in the first place? Yet you still tried. And managed to get in. That's saying something. You may be weak now, but that leaves you a lot of room to grow. Understand my point?"
The members looked at each other. Their friends, their new colleagues. And nodded together, "Good. Sooner or later, you must get used to everyone in this table. And be friends, or not. Your choice, but don't let that get in the way of growing as a student, and working together to ensure the safety of this school. Let's get into one thing first."
Elyssia sipped some hot chocolate before asking a question, "Raise your hand if you have a weapon. Or more importantly, one that you favour."
Zhu raised her hand. Alongside Enzo, Carmilo, and Yuri. Marlen raised her hands and held Aziroth's up as well. And then Aurora and Karasu did the same. Leaving Arthur, Matthew Prince, Mary, Anna, Nicola, Rovanne, and Madhav left.
"Then we better find out what suits you." Elyssia said.
Samuel looked around, he's quiet. Too quiet. He's gotta say something, anything, he raised his hand, "I have...a suggestion."
"A suggestion? Yes?"
"I'm..." Samuel thought over revealing it for a second. This is bound to raise questions, but he can't back off now. Can he? Argh! Talking to people is hard! He should have left that for Donovan to do, "Good with weapons. I can pick them up easily. I suggest everyone try a weapon they have an interest in. And I can help find what fits and help teach it."
"Are you THAT good with weapons Sammy?" Rovanne leaned on her arm, peeking through them, "Come to think of it, you use sickles no?"
"Yeah...? I mean...They're cool. But I feel bored" Samuel mentioned, "I would like to use a spear. Or a glaive."
"I can teach you!" Aurora spoke up.
Everyone turned to Aurora. The girl sat straight with a smile constantly etched on her face willingly that seemed to unnerve some. But other than that, she exudes a kind atmosphere. So for her to say that felt off.
"You know how to use a spear?" Prince asked.
"Yes, I do! I can teach anyone who is interested in using it!" Aurora gleefully gave them a thumbs up.
"Well the only problem is..." Prince nodded his head towards the training room door.
"Oh Gary? Oh no worries! I'll make sure he behaves." Aurora assured them.
That may have calmed some of them down, but there are still those who worry about him. And his unpredictable nature. But times passed on anyways. And everyone slowly began conversing with their new colleagues and other members. Most of them got to know each other better. But Samuel, Karasu, and Aurora tried their best at holding off potential clues that will make people question them.
"Alright then everyone!" Elyssia raised her voice, gathering everyone's attention, "If we want to test out every weapon we can, we must get in touch with the smithers group in the S-rank. If we get a healthy relationship with them, we'll get our array of weapons very easily. Any suggestions on how we approach this?"
Carmilo raised his hand, And Elyssia acknowledged him, "Yes, Carmilo isn't it?"
"Yes. That's me. The problem is that the smithers are a bit of a nut case. All of them. It was a hassle for me, and even Enzo here to get our weapons made by them." Carmilo pointed out, "So if we want a good relationship with them, we need a smooth talker to come with me and Enzo."
The training door burst open as Donovan came lumbering out, "That's where I come in!"
Most of them were startled at his sudden appearance, except for his crew, "Oh! Donovan. Thought you were getting your ass beat by Gary." Karasu spoke.
Speaking of the devil, The mentioned Gary came out behind Donovan, "He ain't hitting me in the solar plexus while I'm eating ever again."
"Yeah yeah. Anyways, If you need a smooth talker, I'm right here!" Donovan pointed to himself.
"Well then. That's settled, when will you leave for them?" Madhav asked Carmilo.
"Oh. Um..."
"After we clean the plates? You three can go over there and do what you need." Elyssia carried her authority well.
"Sounds like a plan." Enzo shrugged.
A hand was raised on the table. Everyone turned to the person, who was revealed as Mary Sachiel, "I have uh...a request."
"Go ahead." Elyssia nodded.
"Is it possible if the room can like...form a separate place to brew potions? What kind of security force are we if we don't have easy access to potions?" She said.
"Who'll manage them?"
"Me." Mary confirmed almost immediately, "I love brewing potions. So I don't see why not."
"But what about the ingredients?" Matthew mentioned a crucial point, "Where can we get them? Without relying on the botany or gardening group. Worst case scenario, we can't receive supplies from them."
"Make our own Garden then!" Zhu spoke up, "I mean, you have a little garden on the wall with plants growing and stuff. We can just expand on that pretty easily."
Elyssia was genuinely surprised at how much the new members wanted to participate in strengthening the force and expanding the room itself. Which was a pleasant gift to her in her own way. Especially after her brother's disappearance, "Well then. The food is all gone. Let's clean up and hop to it!"