Chương 37: Chapter 37 : Bad News
The whole way back to the academy was eventful. The three didn't find any other creatures waiting for them in the dark. They walked faster and faster, ensuring they would arrive at the academy as fast as they could.
Finally, they saw the tops of the stone statues from afar. The women stood in a dancing pose, welcoming all three of them inside. Vega was sure that when he passed by the gate, the statues blinked at him. Shaking his head, he went in, showing his medal.
The situation inside was even weirder. All the apprentices in the academy stood without moving. Even their eyes were not blinking. He passed two apprentices laughing at each other, but something paused them midway. One bowing and the other looking at the sky. They all stood in an awkward position, being held by a mysterious force that stopped them from moving.
Nora pointed at the sky, making them look up at the silhouette approaching them fast.
"Come, fast."
Three elders hoisted their own apprentices to their own magical items and flew straight, leaving the academy behind them. The buildings in the academy became small. Passing the huge reefs poking through the water, I surrounded the island and arrived in the endless ocean.
Nora sat with her mentor on a magical flying carpet. The carpet looked really intricate, with some swirly lines intersecting each other. Her mentor was a dark-skinned woman with a slim, long neck who stood proudly looking at the sky. She wore a dark yellow robe with several gold accessories.
Philip's mentor was a dwarf. He looked big with his muscles bulging out from the dirty white cloth. They stood together on a simple wooden boat. But even though the boat was too simple for an elder, it shot fast into the sky.
Professor Addilyn herself brought Vega on her intricate magical boat floating around the sky, still with the Vega she saw on the first day of competition. She looked really tired and quieter than usual.
Not long after, she turned left, choosing a different path, leaving Nora and Philip behind.
The flight was quite long. Occasionally, Vega saw some tentacles shoot up from the water, followed by a school of fish trying to escape becoming prey. He remembered the fish as humunaels, the first food he ever tasted after arriving at the academy. Another stream of water sprouted from the back of a huge, dark silhouette from under the surface of the ocean.
Vega got bored looking at the same views over and over again and proceeded to meditate. He was really tired from his excursion in the forest and hadn't gotten the chance to restore his mana. Instead of doing regular meditation, he fell asleep instead.
The boat flew away, separating the cloud surrounding an island. The island stood alone amidst the dark blue ocean. It was only the same size as the rocky cave, which stared at him ominously. Sometimes the wave crashed on the surface of the cave, making a thundering sound in the area.
"Vega, please accept whatever you'll see there with an open mind. The practitioners started their coup earlier than us, and they are winning. Most nascent formation elders had their chance to escape, but there are some who perished in the fight."
Vega swallowed his saliva when the dread suddenly crept up on him. Only one name came to his mind. Dion. The nobles were strong, but even some elders died during the coup. He shook his head and nodded.
"Okay, we're coming in then." Professor Addilyn stood before the mouth of the cave, paying attention to the formation surrounding it. The formation had several of Yichen's signatures on it. She hoped that her younger brother was fine.
She got the news after the first round of competition had finished. The news didn't come from her gold medal but from a slight tug in her mind. It had been really long since she received the older method of communication. But the nature of the old method of communication didn't show her exactly what happened—just the name of her brother and the coordinates of an island.
After thinking for a long time, she finally figured out the key to the practitioner's formation. Even with her little knowledge of formation, she knew her brother well enough to figure out the key simply by humming their favorite song when they were younger.
A mysterious melody shook the formation with a slow yet powerful vibration. Vega closed his ears when a sound of several glasses breaking apart got louder every time his mentor increased her singing frequency.
He didn't care about any result from his previous competition and hoped that his mentor would open the door quickly to see what really happened with Dion. The memories of his past that he had tried long and hard to forget came rushing back to him.
Scratching his face, he focused on the heart of stone his mentor taught him. By the last crack of the formation being broken through, that was when his heart of stone also took its shape.
The cave grew really ominous when the first sight he saw was the silhouette of three people sitting behind a glowing, bright red fire. At least three people were still alive and well, waiting for Professor Addilyn to crack the formation.
She stretched her arm, stopping Vega from going further, and with her enhanced vision, she looked at the aftermath of the coup. Shaking her head, she was really hoping that her apprentice wouldn't be emotional enough after seeing Yichen's disciple. She took out her zither just in case she was going to need it to calm whatever emotion escaped from Vega.
Vega looked at his mentor, who looked inside the cave and exhaled loudly. "It's okay, master. I think I can handle whatever's inside."
His mentor nodded and showed him the way.
The glowing ember flickered as the air inside the cave shifted.Looking around, the cave was too smooth to form with natural means. The cave must have been a result of a talisman or a spell created just to keep the elder and his disciples safe.
Vega stepped slowly until he finally saw the figure of Dion staring at him with his signature smile. He ran toward his friend and hugged him tightly.
Dion made a sound but held his pain inside.
After hugging his friends for a long time, he finally released his arms and saw the other people in the cave. After apologizing and greeting the elder and the senior disciple, he finally took a clear look at the noble.
At first glance, nothing seemed out of place. Beside the hanfu, the robe worn by the practitioners, that looked dirtier than usual, nothing else looked different.
"Are you okay?"
Dion nodded. "Apart from the pain, I'm sure I'm still alive and well."
Yichen finally said something, looking at his sister. "You are the one who's better than me at doing a diagnostic. Please help my disciple." He wore an exhausted look on his face. He sat hunched, laying his head on his hands, with his eyes almost closed.
Addilyn used her fingers to touch Dion's wrist while Vega's arm was still around his shoulder. She found the closeness comfortable. He could feel the situation in the cave getting worse and worse every time his mentor bit her lips when touching his friend's wrist.
Lian even looked at him, showing a guilty look without saying anything.
His mentor finally finished and took a flask containing a purple liquid. "Here. Try this."
Elder Yichen's eyes widened looking at the flask.
Dion took it gratefully and opened the stopper. A bitter smell of burnt plants spread around the cave. Dion shuddered after gulping the liquid and scrunching his face.
"I know. It will take some time for the potion to work. While at it here. You all need to rest." Professor Addilyn put her ziter on her laps and plucked the strings slowly.
A relaxing melody filled the cave. Even before she arrived at the chorus, Vega already saw Elder Yichen and Senior Lian dropped on the ground sleeping soundly. His shoulder felt heavy, and Dion lay sleeping with his eyes closed.
The melody grew softer and softer. With the last string vibrating, the darkness consumed Vega.
Vega blinked, listening to several sniffles and sobs. His robe felt wet and damp, and finally his eyes adjusted to the view before him.
Senior Lian cried, kowtowing several times toward Dion, who couldn't stop his shoulder from shaking. Elder Yichen seemed to scratch his head too much until his normally neat hair looked really messy. His mentor even apologized, letting her voice break and crack.
"I'm sorry I can't do more." She said she was touching Dion's shoulder tentatively.
Vega ran toward his friend and felt his shoulders still shaking. His face was red and wet, stained with tears. "What happened?"
He asked. But no one answered him. Dion even distanced himself from him, trying to explain but failing.
Vega waited patiently until anyone could finally tell him what was going on. Lian finally shook his head and offered his junior some help.
His mentor looked at him oddly and shook her head. "I think we better move fast. One of my formations broke. Someone was trying to get inside the cave.
Vega nodded and softly tapped Dion's shoulder. But the noble shook his head, not moving. He was confused and tried to lift his friend up but felt huge resistance. Dion still sat on the ground with his legs crossed. "Come on. Please. I don't understand. Let's go."
Lian approached him and, still with a sniffle, said one sentence, "Let me."
Vega stood, and Lian whispered some apologies before lifting and carrying Dion.
Elder Yichen said, "Let's go. We can't dawdle here. We're going to figure it out, kid. Now we must go."
Vega nodded and followed his mentor out.
Outside the cave, a group of people did their best to break the formation in the cave. But it stayed strong. Several layers of melody laid together made them keep attacking the formation even though he was already sitting comfortably on the boat with his mentor.
Dion flopped helplessly, tied behind Yichen. Lian stole glances several times while looking at his junior.
They flew further from the island without being noticed by the apprentices. Professor Addilyn took the lead and flew first, telling him where they were going.
"You have to help Dion. This is not a time for you to also cry. He didn't need your pity. Just help him when we arrive."
"But, what happened?" "I promise I won't take everything personally."
"Some disciples struck his spine, making him unable to walk. Normally, the injury was curable if he got the treatment right away, but the practitioners didn't have anyone curing him. We are too late. He won't be able to move his arms like normal; at worst, he won't be able to walk again."
His heart thumped. It normally wouldn't have any effect on apprentices because they can still cast spells even without moving any body parts, but for Dion, it was different. A practitioner prides themselves on their body and spirit. Without the ability to move their limbs, they were as good as crippled. Vega stole a glance behind her, where Dion now slept soundly on Elder Yichen's back.
After getting the news, no one talked on their way home. Vega didn't have enough energy to enjoy the endless sea. He closed his eyes, but his past memories of losing all of his friends resurfaced. Shaking his head, he watched his mentor's back, which now stood with a little hunch, losing her usual confidence.
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