An owl was perched upon the branch of a tall dark tree.
A rabbit ran from bush to bush, quickly hiding from sight.
A herd of deer cautiously walked through the woods.
As well as something different that stayed just out of sight. It might've had a humanoid shape, or it might've been the shade of a tree that had fallen wrongly.
No matter which, the feeling of being alone never struck Cyril as he walked through the mystical forest.
Is this forest completely made up? Or is there a similar one out there?
"Hopefully the latter. It would be very exciting to explore!"
Rhamn walked at his side, her red eyes moving around with half suspense and half wonder.
The butterfly cautiously hovered near them, also affected by the solemn atmosphere.
Maybe... I can ask Myra when I see her, she should know.
Cyril nodded to himself, somewhat interested.
Suddenly he slowed down, catching the sound of footsteps just ahead.
Finally! It took a while to find someone...
He cautiously approached the source of the sound, staying near trees and in the shadows.
The disc was safely in his hand.
Morpho stayed on his shoulder, huddling closer than usual to avoid detection.
Soon a new view opened up.
It was a group of six students with tense faces.
They mostly stayed silent, all following a single student whose face lacked any of their fears.
"Stay calm, everyone. We'll find Cedric and grab all we can on the way."
The blond-haired and green-eyed young man motioned for the others with a smile on his face.
Edmund?
Cyril halted mid-move.
"Morpho, hold on," he whispered to rein in the red menace.
He observed the group for a few seconds more, hiding in the shadows of trees.
Edmund appeared to be a leader figure, with others meekly following him.
"Are you really sure it will be fine?" One student asked him with a flattering face.
"Of course. I have an advantage others lack." Edmund nodded with a sunny, reliable smile on his face.
The other students brightened up, following him a bit more confidently.
"Ugh." Rhamn flinched in disgust. "Was he always like this?"
Cyril silently observed Edmund's polite, reliable smile.
He knew it was fake.
...Edmund could always say the right things at the right times. He is like a fish in the water when it comes to social events.
"So a liar and a manipulator?"
Pretty much.
Ignoring her chuckle, Cyril walked to the front of the group and stepped out of the shadows.
His sudden emergence made the students flinch, however, Edmund didn't look surprised.
He put on a brave smile and motioned one of his followers to stop before they managed to send a signal in the air.
"Hold on. Let's not complicate things" He patted his chest and walked forward.
The students behind observed with tense faces as he calmly walked right in front of Cyril.
"Cyril, we are enemies today!" Edmund loudly exclaimed with a brave smile.
But soon he leaned a little closer, his face losing its smile, and whispered.
"I need a good grade, help me out. Hold back a little and let us escape in the midst of things."
"...You can take out some stragglers. Just leave me and a few others alone."
Edmund stood tall, pulled out his rapier and assumed a combat stance, no longer whispering.
"Let's get to it!"
The students behind shakily pulled out their weapons.
"..."
Cyril silently observed his friend's brave actions, feeling somewhat perplexed.
"Look at him acting like a competent noble! His father would be proud!" Rhamn clapped with a mocking expression.
Edmund's smile turned a little more awkward as the silence continued.
Eventually, Cyril crossed his arms and looked at his shoulder.
"Morpho, you go."
The red butterfly flinched her antennae as pure battle intent erupted from her.
Edmund flinched and quietly gulped.
He shot Cyril a look full of complaint before clutching the rapier tighter.
Cyril shrugged, his face uncaring. "I will not move."
A red blur shot from his shoulder like a cannonball.
Edmund desperately rolled to the side, dodging the attack at the last possible moment.
Morpho continued forward, striking the students standing further.
She hit one panicked human, used him as a springboard, and bounced towards the next one.
Chaos and screams erupted as the students began running away.
At least Edmund did, disappearing into the forest with two followers under Cyril's helpless gaze.
I let him go, he shouldn't complain, right?
The rest struggled with all their might but couldn't rival a butterfly's agility.
Morpho only needed a single touch to break their barrier, sending them to a world of hurt.
The result was a few bodies twisting on the grass in front of Cyril.
Soon they disappeared bit by bit, leaving nothing behind.
Cyril held the disc and stared at the sky for a few moments.
Let's continue.
At least they didn't send the signal.
"Hopefully we'll find someone strong next time."
Yeah.
...
Through the woods was walking a crowd of people.
They were of different classes, normally completely fine with ignoring each other, only hearing of another from some random gossip.
But today they chose to stay together, closer than ever.
"When will this lesson be over already...?"
"Finding Cedric is too hard... not to mention Thorne is lurking somewhere..."
"At least we have these spells she taught us."
"Maybe we can fight Myra?"
"Are you crazy!? At least she is staying put, no need to kill ourselves like this!"
"Damn it... I wish I was as talented as them."
Among them walked a young man with brown hair and brown eyes, on his back a two-handed sword.
As he listened to the whining around him, his face became more and more twisted.
"Stop it already, will you!" He screamed, his loud voice scaring some crows off the tall trees around.
The students all went silent, sending him different looks filled with confusion, complaint, and anger.
"Albert, what's wrong with you?"
Albert patted his chest and stood tall, his teeth clenched tightly together.
"...I am just tired of this nonsense!"
"We can't stay weak like this forever! Are you satisfied with that stuck-up Thorne having his way all the time!?"
The students all went even more silent, their gazes losing their sharpness as some stared at the ground.
"Just because he was born talented, we have to cower in fear in this stupid forest. Well, I will not suffer this! Look at how many there are of us, why should we be afraid of one person!?"
"She was right! Let's use the other signals to fight back, we have the chance!"
Albert motioned with his hands in front of him, his voice becoming even louder as he spoke.
The eyes of the students watching him shook, but they remained silent.
"Come on! Start resisting, we are in Ailanthus to grow strong! The Thorne family already does whatever it wants outside, don't let the same happen here!"
The students looked over each other, finding a familiar spark appearing in their eyes, spreading like a plague.
"Yeah! My father's district expansion was ruined because of them!"
"Our business is going poor because of them! This year we even had to cancel our mansion renovations!"
As more people spoke, the spark turned into a fire, raising their collective spirits.
"We can do it!"
"It's worth the try!"
"We are nobles too!"
The crowd walked as one with a hurried pace, all following Albert at the helm.
"Follow me! Let's find him!"
"Yeah!"
He motioned to the small army behind him and marched forward.
Albert's face gained an angry but excited smile.
Though soon he tsked quietly, mumbling to himself in complaint.
"Your father has a district, and you complain? Your damn mansion is not up to the modern standards?"
"...It's fine I can do this." A smile returned, growing more and more, becoming almost fanatical.
...
In a dark stone room without any natural light sat a group of professors.
They all had their own tables, writing something down as everyone stared at the wide screen at the end of the room.
On it were multiple windows of varying sizes showing different parts of the forest.
Albert's march and the angry students were clearly depicted on a few of them.
"What is wrong with them?" Richard stared at the screen with confusion.
"This generation is really something, I don't remember us being like this back then..." A comparatively beautiful professor of demonology sat near him, replying while shaking her head.
"No, no. It's youth in its purest form! Just like how it should be!" Professor Rendel leaned closer to them and laughed heartily.
Even though he tried to be quiet, his voice still resounded clearly in the whole room.
"Is it really so..." Richard quietly mumbled to himself.
"Of course! I can't wait to see how it plays out."
Suddenly a bell-like, almost intoxicating voice echoed in the room.
"Indeed, I agree, Professor Rendel."
The three professors flinched.
Rendel straightened his back, returning to his paperwork.
"Of course, ha-haha!" His voice was somehow less booming than before.
The demonology professor silently kept her head low.
Richard helplessly observed their actions and glanced towards the middle of the room, from where the voice came.
Comfortably sitting in a soft cushioned chair was a pale woman.
She wore a classical black robe, unfit for today's times, complete with a large witch hat that obscured her face and revealed only her thin, smiling lips. Long lavender hair dropped down behind her, almost reaching the floor.
On her knees lay a white tiger cub. It observed the screen with an almost human-like excitement.
When Richard noticed the woman's smile getting wider, he quickly averted his gaze, a few beads of sweat rolling down his head.
"How can she be this carefree when we found a spy..." He whispered to himself in complaint.
The woman in a witch hat only calmly patted the tiger on her knees, completely glued to the screen.
She was staring at the window at the very middle, clearly bigger than the rest.
It depicted a young man with sharp features, blond hair, and blue eyes walking through a forest, a red butterfly on his shoulder.
Sometimes he would stare into the air, briefly observing nothing in particular.
The woman in a large witch hat silently observed his actions, only a wide, thin smile on her lips.