– How do you know who she is? – I asked Kayu.
– Yes, yes. I managed to ask around a little while you were busy. Do you want me to tell you a little about everyone? – Kayu began to share with us what he managed to find out about the adepts.
– Which one do you think is the one? – Jed asked.
– Nobody. I pointedly pulled up the sleeves of my shirt.
– AND? – the fireman frowned.
Malachite was the first to decipher my hint.
– How so? But… But then… – He quickly looked around and fell silent, not wanting to discuss this in front of possible witnesses.
The spirits brought our order and I began to eat. I ate without rushing. Then I thought about it and ordered more. It turns out that he was quite hungry. We arrived late, and the dining room was quickly emptying. Soon, except for our company, there was no one left here.
“I sympathize, but I was sincerely happy for you,” Aiz suddenly said.
– Everyone is so mysterious! Maybe explain what you're talking about? – Jed couldn’t stand it. – They speak in riddles here. Dragons suck!
Aiz shoved Freckled in the shoulder.
–Watch your language, idiot!
And Kayu smiled contentedly and began to explain:
– When Focus finds the true one, a special mark appears on her hand, right? “He looked at Aiz and me, and we nodded in unison. “I believe that Ethan should have the same mark or something similar on his hand.”
– But there is no sign! – Jed stated the obvious.
– That's it, stupid! That's it!
Fireman was not offended by the dumbass. Instead he asked:
– So what should we do now? So, the Focus is gone?
“It seems so,” I admitted with a sigh. “Someone must have intercepted it, and that’s a problem.” Didn't you hear, no one found him?
My friends shook their heads negatively, and I realized that the artifact would not be found so easily.
– This is a serious problem, Derberg! – Ezeroth sympathized with me. “I wouldn’t want to be in your place, friend.”
And as soon as he finished speaking, something completely incredible happened.
Chapter 8
Mirre Blackrock, elemental mage, adept at the Academy of Wind and Storms. Border of Onyx Rocks and the Steppe of the Seventeen Winds.
The girls were waiting for me at the end of the corridor at the exit to the hall. I hurried towards them, putting on my coat as I went. At the same time, she tapped her pocket to check if the artifact was in place. For a second I was even afraid that I had dropped it, but the precious ball still remained with me.
– Chiari, is everything okay? – Ada asked quietly when I joined my group.
My confused state did not escape the attentive eyes of the northern woman.
“Yes, yes,” I waved it off, hiding my eyes.
– Ah, it seems to me…
– Everything is fine, Ada! The situation was just awkward, but it’s all over now. Nonsense! – I reassured my friend.
– Right?
– Exactly! “I nodded and turned to the others: “Girls, what are our plans?”
“We’ll go to the library to get textbooks, then to our room to clean up,” Volde answered for everyone.
– Maybe we’ll look at the schedule first and get the form? Just when the flow of visitors will subside,” Lisel suggested.
– Of course, let's go look at the schedule. It's right here!
Khvoyana pointed to a large stand in the center of the hall, to which a line of first-year adepts lined up. They approached one at a time and placed their palm on the large round stone at the bottom right, after which writing appeared on the surface of the stand, giving information about the group, class time and list of items. The stand quickly went out, so some did not have time to rewrite everything and applied their palm again to the displeasure of those waiting.
We walked up and also stood in line. The guys looked sideways at us, but were silent. Some actually blushed, and some looked with interest. I thought that they, like us, were embarrassed. That is OK. We will still study together, we will get to know each other in class and maybe even make friends with some of them.
The line was barely halfway through when a group of older adherents approached the stand, led by the same curly-haired guy who had provoked Zikki with his attention in the cafeteria. They watched us pointedly for a while, and then one asked:
–What are they doing, Harvey?
– What hole did these idiots come out of? – The other one grimaced.
– Disperse, young bastards! “They pushed the freshmen out of the way.
Curly slowly approached the stand and pathetically declared:
– Watch and learn!
He activated the stand, and the others simply came up one by one and applied sheets of paper or notepads to its surface – whoever had what. Harvey himself applied the sheet last, and then turned it over and, holding the top corners with two fingers, showed it to the newcomers.
– Nobody told you, right? “With feigned sympathy, he looked around at the new arrivals.
Next to me, Wolde’s paper rustled out of nowhere. It seems that she was the only one who thought of taking a notebook with her to the dining room.
– Be there! – Kudryaviy’s comrade waved his hand.
And he turned and said:
– Ashers, where are your manners? They could have let the girls go first, after all, they are the weaker sex.
He blew a kiss to Zikkaera, who almost lost her composure.
– Quiet, Zikki. Calm down! – Ada held her by the shoulder.
“I didn’t understand why then they didn’t let us through if those were the rules?” – Volde asked, clutching a notebook to her chest.
“Because they made fun of them and us,” her sister muttered.
“Come in, eshsheri,” the guys, embarrassed and ashamed of the senior student, suggested in disarray.
Kudryaviy’s group settled down in the recreation area. They chatted, looking in our direction every now and then. This seemed suspicious to me, and I decided to watch them too.
“Mirre,” Volde called me and handed me a sheet torn from the notebook. – Hold it.
– Thank you! – I thanked my prudent cousin.
Wolde sacrificed a notebook for us and provided everyone with paper, and Lisel went to the stand.
– Ready? – for some reason she asked and put her palm to the activator stone.
For a long moment we looked at the board in fascination:
“The theory of elemental magic, the history of magical science, the basics of everyday life, the basics of artifacts…” Zikki began to read aloud the list of items, and with each name she read, her eyes widened more and more.
However, the list turned out to be short and was completely different from what we had seen from first-year adherents before.
Something about it also confused me, and then I saw the name of the group: “Byt-0,” while the guys had something like “Sth-0” and “Sth-1” written on them. Meanwhile, the firewoman was pushed aside by Lisel and put her hand in, getting the same result. Then they tried Ada and Vilde. No difference. We were in a separate group for girls.
– The only thing missing is something like meditations to pacify the gift! – Adalbjorg grumbled, reading the schedule. – Was it worth trudging so far for this?
– What does all of this mean? – Zikki turned to us and her face turned red with rage. -Where are the elemental arts? Physical training? Combat meditation?
“Baby, this means that you are not yet trusted with such serious things,” Curly said knowingly, whose company came closer again.
– What do you mean by this, essher? – asked Zikki.
“I want to say that they opaquely hinted to you that your place… is not here,” Harvey smiled.
– And where? – the firewoman asked insinuatingly, unexpectedly gracefully stepping towards him.
I wanted to stop her, but Ada held me back.
– Don't interfere. Let her figure it out herself,” the northern woman whispered.
Having looked around picturesquely, Harvey, in turn, came closer and, putting his arm around Zikki’s shoulders in a familiar manner, said in an intimate tone:
– Your place is somewhere between the bedroom and the kitchen, eshsheri. It suits you best.
I didn’t even understand how it all happened. Here they are standing in an embrace, and to be honest, I’m perplexed why Zikki, with her character, allows this? And the next moment again! And I understood everything!
I don’t know if Curly understood anything, but, lying on the floor with his hand behind his back, he alternately yelled and swore, demanding to be let go immediately. Zikki sat on top and said something quietly. I suspect that she promised to tear off this very hand and insert it into some indecent place. Ognevichka did not study in boarding schools, and freedom of expression of thoughts in her had not yet been brought into the system of decency.
Having come to their senses, Curly’s comrades rushed to help, but a wall of fire that flared up right in front of their noses cooled the ardor. But for some reason I didn’t like the expression on their faces. It was somehow suspiciously pleased. As if something like this was expected.
– Zikki, no! – Lisel screamed, but it was too late.
The alarm sounded. Zikkaera, her defeated opponent, as well as two guys rushing to his aid, froze in the positions in which they were caught. Their figures were shrouded in a shimmering veil, and all they could do was breathe and blink.
– What's going on here? – Dean Krieger’s voice came from the stairs.
“Eshsheri dean, this crazy woman attacked me!” – Harvey blurted out. “I think she even broke my arm!”
– And she also used combat magic in the wrong place! – one of his friends complained.
– What a bat! – Ada hissed.
The word was unfamiliar, but definitely dirty.
– Is that so? – Estella Krieger came closer and carefully examined the scene. – Adepts, it seems to me that you have not yet realized where you are? The Academy is not a boarding school or a nursery; no one here will coddle with you. We have strict rules and you will follow them or we will say goodbye. And so you understand better, as an exception, everyone gets a minus point!
– For what? – Yumi squeaked, and her eyes filled with tears.
– This is unfair! – Khvoyana was indignant.
– Yes, I actually had nothing to do with it this time! – Vilde leaned forward, but her sister grabbed her by the elbow.
Ada and I looked at each other gloomily, but remained silent. It is clear that there is no point in objecting. This bitch hates us by default.
– I disagree! We haven’t had time to study the code yet, so we simply couldn’t know about the rules,” Lisel objected.
“Zikkaera was just defending herself,” I added, unable to remain on the sidelines any longer.
But Harvey did not want to admit the obvious, or was it something else?
– Not true! She was the first to attack. I just came up to talk, and she immediately used force!
– Yes, yes, that’s how it happened! – His comrades nodded.
“You let your hands go, and then the three of you attacked!” – I was indignant.
“We just wanted to help Harvey.”
“Nobody was going to touch your crazy girlfriend.” They would have pulled her aside and that was it!
– Unlike you, we know the rules!
The provocateurs vying with each other pretended to be innocent, and I realized that this was their plan. They set us up in the most trivial way!
