[after a few hours]
After a while of searching in the mountains of gold, Lania found what seems like an old jewelry box with a cold aura surrounding it.
Lania: Hey! I think I found it.
Thorn: how do we know it's the spell?
John: there's only one way to find out.
John reaches his hand and opens the box, instantly a white mist comes out of the box and covers the floor.
Inside the box, a paper glows with a blue icy Aura, Thorn reaches out his hand and tries to touch it, but suddenly.
Elesa: Meow!!!
John looked at Elesa and quickly understood what she meant, he then grabbed Thorn's shoulder and pulled him back.
Thorn: w-what is it?!
John doesn't answer, he takes a nearby spear and touches the spell with its edge, instantly, the spear starts getting trapped in ice, without thinking twice, John throws the spear away, all of them watch as the spear gets covered in a thick layer of ice.
Thorn: W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!
John: from the look of it, someone must've put some kind of protection on the spell.
Lania: wait, I think I can see some words on the spell.
All of them take a closer look, they find big written words.
"THE GREAT WINTER"
Thorn: "the great winter"? What is that?
John: "the great winter" huh? I assume that's the spell name.
Lania: do you recognize this spell Mr shon?
John: unfortunately no, but from what I see, putting this kind of protection on a spell only means it's dangerous, no wonder the spear got frozen, I can feel my body temperature getting colder just by looking at it; heh, now conquering the Academy and making ASTREVAL an enemy to them seems reasonable enough.
Thorn seems terrified as he hears John's words.
Thorn: w-what do we do now?
John closes the box and takes it as he explains their next step.
John: I'll take the spell with me and I'll try to disable the protection from it, Lania, return to your room and get some rest, We have to go somewhere tomorrow.
Lania: huh? But we already found the spell, isn't helping the other students the important thing to do?
John: you're not wrong for saying that, but just because we found the spell doesn't mean our part of the plan is done, we still have more preparation to do, and our little trip tomorrow is a part of it so make sure to be ready.
Even though she didn't understand the purpose of tomorrow's Trip she nodded.
As they start leaving, John suddenly stops and looks behind, his gaze lands on two swords with golden handles and fancy blades, a little smirk appears on his face, and without even looking at his old man slave, he order, him to get the swords.
John: you know Thorn? These swords look like they can be useful, get them and keep them in your office, I'll come over and take them when our visitors decide to show up.
Thorn: y-yes.
As they get out, they noticed it's already dark outside, so Lania and John return to their rooms while Thorn stayed in his office.
[Later, in John's room]
In his room, John can finally talk freely with Elesa, especially about the spell.
While the open box that contains the spell is sitting on his desk, Elesa starts sniffing it while John asks her about it.
John: so? Can you take off the protection magic?
After a little while of sniffing the box, Elesa finally answers him, but it's not the answer John is looking for.
Elesa: heh, sorry master, but there's no way I'm going to do anything to this spell.
John looked confused as he hears that.
John: I beg your pardon?
Elesa: well, we did our best, now let's go to sleep.
As she jumps from the desk, John grabs her mid-air from the back of her neck demanding to know what she meant.
John: hold on there, we're not finished yet, explain to me why you refuse taking off the magic protecting the spell.
Elesa: *sigh* maybe because you're still weak so you don't see it but, master, this spell is a WITCH item.
John looks confused as heard that, but then he brings a very valid point.
John: a WITCH item?! But wait, aren't you the demon queen? Surely taking down a witch won't be that hard for you right?
Elesa: of course it's not going to be that hard, but there's one thing that makes them dangerous.
He looks at her with an annoyed expression, expecting to hear a line from a novel she reads.
John: oh really? And what might that be?
Elesa: it's their understanding of magic and mana Veins.
John looked even more confused this time, he knows about the witches existing, and also knows how powerful witches are, but after thinking about it in his head, he realized he never actually knew why witches are strong.
John: hmm . . .
Elesa: it seems like you've never heard that information before, I can tell by the look on your face.
John: is that why you don't wanna mess with a WITCH?
Elesa: Hmmm, let me give you an example, imagine if someone comes to you and puts gum in your hair, taking the gum out of your hair will be annoying and will take some time and effort, now look at it from a different perspective, your hair is your mana veins, and the person who placed the gum in your hair is a witch, and the gum would be a curse or a counter spell, even though this example is from a personal experience, I think you got the idea.
John: that's a strange way to explain it, but I see the image, so basically you refused taking off the protection magic because it might block some of your abilities for some time, is that right?
Elesa: I knew you'll understand what I mean, so? What do you want me to do now?
John's eyes drift between the box and Elesa, after a few seconds of silence, he took the most logical choice.
John: the spell can wait for a better opportunity to be opened and discovered, as for you Elesa, you're playing a very important role in my plan and I can't take this risk.
Elesa: wise words master.
John throws Elesa onto the bed and starts closing the spell box while explaining to her their plan for tomorrow.
John: try to get some sleep, we have a long road trip tomorrow, and I want you to be awake.
Elesa immediately looks at him with an annoyed and confused expression.
Elesa: huh?! In this weather? You're not serious, are you?
As he places the box on the shelf above his desk, he looks at her with a small smirk from behind his shoulder.
John: well, you know what they say, "preparing for the unexpected is good, but knowing what you're preparing for is better".
To Be Continued . . . .