Kapitel 126: 125
Chapter 125
Lamberton Dormitory Building, Cornell Academy, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2036, Planet: Grimoire
Five months passed, and it was almost time for the first session of the winter courses to end. He sat with the Alphas in a warehouse. It was hot and muggy, and they wore loose clothing, still sticking to their skin. All of them were determined to complete their projects with time to spare.
"How's your portion?" Troy looked over at Grifton, who sat cross-legged on the floor.
He was just completing the last of the spell that would allow mana infusion. Grifton grunted. "Want to test it out?" He indicated the item.
"Nah," Troy shook his head. "I'd rather test the prototypes than mess with the finished products."
Grifton stretched and yawned. "Go ahead." He leaned against a pillar. It was cool against his back.
All of them were sweating heavily. Even the young women were stripped down nearly to indecent levels. All that kept them from doing so were clever little wind spirits who were having fun spinning around all of them.
A faint smile creased Grifton's face when he watched the wind elementals.
"I didn't even think that type of thing was possible." Firenze was fascinated by the wind elementals. "How long have you been able to do that?"
"Hmm? Oh, you mean to communicate with the elementals?" Grifton eyed Firenze. "Before I could even speak, as I was an infant." He added when Firenze mock-swatted at him.
"Yeah, no one else that I know of can gain their cooperation as you've done." Firenze folded his arms. "I know you didn't form contracts with them either."
Grifton shook his head. "Nah, I have no reason to form contracts with the elementals." He was uncomfortable with doing such a thing. "I would be restricted to one element if I did that."
Grifton preferred being a jack of all trades, which allowed him to dabble in all the elements. It also kept him from being pestered too much by those damn elitists that tried trapping him in their snares. "I'll admit, I was suspicious of your motives at first."
A grin creased all their faces. "I won the bet." Molly crowed. "Pay up." There were grumbles, but everyone slapped coins and bills into her palm.
"Really, you bet on that?" Grifton chuckled despite himself.
"Well, we knew there was a fifty percent chance you'd tell us to jump into the shark-filled lake in the center of Three-Pronged Fork," Troy admitted with a laugh.
"Besides, we haven't always been so nice." Gladys shrugged.
"Not only that, but we came from other institutes that tried killing you a few times." Lilac shook her head.
"You had every reason to distrust us." Kyle glanced at Grifton wryly.
"There's also the fact that we were the last to agree to the unofficial neutral spars." Firenze shrugged.
When Grifton regarded him in silence. Firenze held up a hand. "You didn't have any reason to believe us." He restated. "Except for that time when we, as a group, did our best to stop that one Alpha from taking you all captive."
Too true. "There were other reasons." Grifton reminded them calmly. "Such as when you went against the other institutes after discovering their schemes."
That was the reason Grifton wound up working on collaborations with the group of Alphas. Not only since they were completely innocent of potential conflict with other institutes. In fact, they'd turned in evidence against other institutes of criminal intent.
"Not to mention you've been keeping your ears to the grounds when it comes to nasty plots whether I'm involved or not." With their efforts, Grifton eluded traps of other Alphas who weren't so lovely. "I was also trying to beat the odds and not wind up in a bad situation." He shook his head. "So, thank you for helping me in that regard." He smiled faintly. "Here are the prototypes you requested." Grifton nudged a box toward them with one foot. "I finished them last night." He yawned again.
"Don't tell me you pulled more all-nighters for this." Kyle frowned at him.
"Nope," Grifton shook his head. "No, that was for something else." He opened an eye and saw them scowling at him and sighed. "Three professors pulled last minute exams that included essays written in archaic script."
When they blanched, Grifton shrugged. "I recall you having fits about some professors doing the same to you in your earlier years at the other places." He rolled his eyes. "So, I simply studied those scripts and learned them by heart while taking night classes."
All of the group shook their heads. "So that's how you did it." Firenze showed admiration. "I wondered what you were doing during the nights." He laughed. "Hah, there'll be some rumor-mongers who'll get shamed if that ever gets out."
Not that it mattered to Grifton. "Go ahead and spread the word. I don't care what they think of me, to be honest." It was better than them believing he'd been a whore, which was a favorite rumor that still circulated around him.
The others shook their heads. "Nah, we don't deal in rumors, but facts," Troy told him calmly. "Besides, there're others who can do that shit." He made a sour face. "We're not interested in getting involved with dirty stuff."
Grifton's eyebrows rose when he heard that. "Okay." He shrugged. "Anyway, I'll be heading home early tonight. I have more review studies to complete before the exam period ends." A student's work was still ongoing. However, he didn't mind. It did occur to Grifton to inquire. "Oh, what's the word on the border conflicts?" He'd better give them a heads-up on it again.
They frowned at him. "You've heard something again, eh?" When Grifton nodded.
Firenze sighed. "Nothing good," He divulged. "I'm beginning to think we're going to war soon." He shook his head with a scowl. "Not only that but this time, we could very well end up becoming a vassal territory to one of those damn Empires."
Troy nodded. "Word on the street is that we're no longer able to repel the Bellonia Empire's forces." He shivered. "I guess this is going to really make a difference if we're able to win the competition."
Yes, their very peaceful lives were at stake now. Grifton grunted. "Not only that but the various empires and kingdoms launched attacks on those neutral zones out west."
The others frowned. "Huh, isn't that where your siblings live with their children?" Firenze frowned at Grifton.
Grifton nodded. "Yes," He'd heard more disturbing information from Lamberton when he'd gone on three more journeys to different areas along the borders of Shantu.
"I haven't heard anything from them again." Even his siblings had gone quiet, which worried Grifton more than anything else. "I'm having nightmares of what happened before," he admitted with rising agitation as he rose to his feet and began pacing.
The entire warehouse shook. Billows of dust whirled around the buildings. "Ease up," Firenze warned. "Your real figure is showing." He crouched on a box high enough to meet Grifton's eyes directly. "You need to calm down." One of his hands pressed against Grifton's forehead. "There's more going on with you. So, out with it once you've calmed down." He transmitted pheromones designed to soothe him.
Gradually, Grifton's agitation died down, and he shivered as a cool breeze drifted around his body. "Thanks, Firenze." Damn, Grifton sighed. "It means my agitation is again draining the magic from the artifacts." He shook his head. "One of these days, I'm not going to be able to hide the fact that I'm a dragon." When that happened, there was no telling who'd come after Grifton. He'd been lucky to last so anonymously this long, and Grifton knew it. "I may have to leave the Academy earlier than planned."
The group grimaced when they heard that. "I think you're worried for good reason," Firenze acknowledged. "However, you must take some time off from working and your studies here." He smiled. "There'll be an unofficial spar. There, you can cut loose and have fun as one of the participants, not a referee."
Grifton stared at him in surprise. "You serious?"
"Yep," Firenze grimaced.
"We're being nagged brainless to bring you back there." Troy laughed.
"That's putting it lightly." Molly was amused.
"We've all been chomping for a while to tell you to come with us and unwind," Kyle said.
Gladys yawned. "I think it'll be fun to see you cut loose."
Err, now, what were they up to this time. Grifton eyed them suspiciously. "Just who is it that you want me to tear into?" He was amused when they flushed and averted their gazes. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
They blushed and grumbled before Lilac sighed. "You've heard of some Charros punks, right?" She frowned at Grifton. "They come from the Naxos Kingdom."
Why did they come up after all this time? Grifton was uneasy. "Yes, I ran into them once while visiting my siblings for the first time." He'd celebrated his birthday then, too. Grifton hadn't felt like doing it again ever since that time. He saw no point when he wasn't with his brother and sisters.
Lilac hesitated before she revealed uncomfortably. "Well, they're bragging that the Naxos Kingdom will take over the entire west coast and kill anyone who refuses to become part of their nation."
Grifton stiffened. "Just when did that begin?"
Gladys eyed him cautiously. "About two to three months ago." She confirmed a slight suspicion about why his siblings had gone quiet.
That was about the proper timing of when contact was cut off. Grifton sighed. "So, you're telling me they were saying all that crap this entire time." No wonder they wanted him to join them. "You're in luck. I'll go there with you to discover what's happening with them." His teeth gnashed as he spoke.
"Hey, easy does it. Now your mouth is bleeding." Firenze objected. "You can't go there, wounded idiot." He made a derisive noise as he added in disgust. "They'll believe that you'll be easy pickings, having gone soft now that you're with the Lamberton merchant caravan."
"Hah, well, that'll be even more fun to ruin their fantasies, won't it?" Grifton immediately healed the inner part of his bled mouth. "You're right, I need to relax. I've been too focused on certain goals. I'm too obsessed, and that isn't a good thing."
When they looked relieved, Grifton shook his head. "That doesn't mean I'll actually fight unless they accept me as a participant." He made a face. I refuse to be a referee any longer."
Firenze laughed. "No need to worry about being a referee. We have plenty of those now." He just looked pleased that Grifton was more curious about something other than work and studies.
Grifton hesitated because he wasn't used to feeling anticipatory like this. On the other hand, it beat being depressed because of how worried he was over his siblings. Yeah, for once, he would cut loose.
That reminded Grifton, "I'll have to let the dormitory know that I'll be late coming back." he would have to seek shelter in a hostel. "It is protocol to let them know if I stay out overnight." Grifton caught their dubious stares. "I'll have to find another place to stay for the night." Damned if he'd sleep on the streets. No more of that garbage.
"Oh please, do you really think we haven't thought about something like that?" Troy laughed and shook his head.
Gladys smiled. "Oh, don't worry, we've already arranged alternate lodging." She shrugged. "We thought you were reaching your limit of what you'd tolerate from the instructors and work."
Hmm, they were right. "Yeah, I am." This was unusual for Grifton. No one other than his brother and sisters seemed to recognize when he was reaching his limits of what he could handle before exploding.
"Shall we clean up and then head out?" Grifton watched as the prototypes were infused with magic.
"I just want to see what happens first," Troy told him.
They all observed as the items began glowing. Stats regarding each of them appeared in neat glowing scripts. Troy whistled, "We'll all get some tidy profits off these." He withdrew the mana, and the items returned to their normal state as if nothing had ever happened. "Does someone have a way of hiding these?"
The others shook their heads.
"I can do it." Grifton signaled for them to go outside ahead of him. He put all the finished items away in one of his limitless boxes. Soon, he should create something similar for them. That would wait until after this first session ended.
Once he was done, he called, "I'll join you now." None of them asked what he'd done. Instead, the warehouse was tidied up, and all the materials were carefully boxed away.
Then they went out to have some fun.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein