Chapter 15. Second Section Briefing.

All members of the class are back from their respective missions. Everyone seems to be exhausted. They must have worked hard to finish their missions. Some students even have a few bandages around their limbs. Despite having the assistance of the Fiaran manipulators, the body itself still decides how fast it heals.

My section mates seem to be very silent, but it must just be their exhaustion taking effect. We are all waiting for Haila to come in the classroom with news. It seems that there is nothing special today, but as our maestro, she still needs to check up on us. I cannot help but notice the tense energy in the room.

A few moments pass in silence. It doesn't bother me, but it seems that Mia, who is sitting next to Mimi again, is losing her patience.

"Hey, why is everyone so tense?," Mia finally breaks the silence. It seems that everyone noticed her voice. Although, no one really seems to care.

"I do not know myself. Maybe something unexpected happened?" Mimi proposed.

"Maybe, maybe. Or maybe the mission made them hungry," Jayde replied.

Finally, Haila enters the room at a more subdued pace than the enthusiastic pace she normally has. She doesn't really have anything in her hands, either. Maybe this briefing will only last a few moments before she sends us on our way again. It is the last day of the week tomorrow, so I think she is also looking forward to that. I am also looking forward to it, because I will try to get in touch with May. It's been almost a week since I last talked to her. I can't help but feel the need to talk to her about all that happened: my achievements in my latest mission, as well as how my new division mates are. It might even surprise her to know that, because of me, we finished the first mission really fast.

"Hi, section." Haila greeted. No response from the class. It startled me for things to happen like this. I want to know why. What happened? "I will keep this briefing short. The next briefing will be after this week. After that, we will continue the current missions." Haila added. What? Continue? Didn't we finish our mission? Or maybe the other divisions did not finish their mission?

Haila turns her head towards our division, "Since the Yttrancian finished their mission, they will be joining you after we have our next briefing." Immediately after she spoke those words, I could feel their eyes gazing upon us. Eyes filled with admiration, and some eyes filled with jealousy. I do not understand fully why, but it seems that we do not have the approval of everyone. I hope this does not escalate. I cannot afford to have rivalries. Not after I actually made up with Mimi.

"That's it for today, I do not want to keep you all for long. Have a good rest and prepare yourselves for the next briefing," she finally ended. Students started to go out of the section room. Haila seems to stay, probably waiting for some students who might ask some questions. I have something to ask, actually.

As expected, it seems that the rest of my division is equally perplexed. They seem to have the same question as I do: What the hell happened? My division mates and I look at each other in disbelief over what just had happened. The tense aura was unbearable, despite our success. Everyone appears to take the missions very seriously.

Jayde and the rest of us pace towards Haila, as we want to know about the whole situation. Haila is now sitting on her desk, seemingly trying to think of something. As she catches a glimpse of us, she repositions herself straight.

"Hello! Do you have a question?," she asks. Although her question was voiced in a light way, there seems to be a dark aura emitting from her eyes.

"Uhm, yes. Maestro, what the hell happened?," Jayde blurts out, as if reading the minds of his mates.

The bluntness of his question took Haila aback, but after a brief moment she regains her calm posture. "Well, you see. Not everyone succeeded in their mission," she seems to look at the other students who are still packing their stuff. "You are the only ones who actually finished your mission."

"I mean, that happens. But why is it that everyone seems to have such a dark response to it?," Mimi asked.

"Well, to be honest, it turned out that the mission was more dangerous than expected. We have lost some lives, though fortunately, none of those casualties were from this school. The casualties are some of the merchants who shielded the children," Haila answers with her head bowed. Casualties? Merchants? These all seem so familiar to me. It is the same thing that Olen tried to do for me. He would sacrifice his life for a child. I cannot help but feel hurt. This mission is starting to get personal. "I will tell you more about what you are going to do during our next briefing. For now, take a rest and enjoy the free days."

After realizing that no one else is left in the section room, she also stands up from her desk and leads us to the exit. After saying our farewells, I realized my plans to go to the library.

Haila seems to have left now. "Uhm, can you go ahead. I have to stop by the library to get a book," I inform them.

"Sure!," Mia nods, the others seeming to agree as well.

As I make my way to the library through the winding halls of the school, I can't help but think about the mission. The mission seems to be very difficult. Unlike the mission we had, this one involves actual fighting. I do not have that much fighting experience. Well, unless you count my wrestling with some kids in Orma. I am so nervous about actually going out there. Last time, I almost lost my life. I can't help but imagine myself dying. This time, I am sure May won't be there for me. No one would be able to save me like she could. I hope everything will be alright. I know I am not physically strong, but I can rely on my mind, as well as my friends.

I finally arrive at the library. It is not my first time in this place, I have been here multiple times this week. The architecture of the place continues to amaze me, though. The tall shelves full of books are spread all over in the tower-like structure. From the inside, it seems like the library reaches as high as the heavens. However, it is not as tall as the clocktower. To go up and down the five levels of the library, one can use the winding staircase on the edge of the structure.

I am searching for a particular book that would help me in the following years. I have quite taken a liking to the topic, but it seems to be very difficult.

I make my way to the Yttrancian section of the library. It's a generous corner on the first floor of the library. It is full of books from figures such as Loumia Grania and Liornami Milafred. As I make my way to the area, a certain voice interrupts my pace.

"Aura! Isn't that you?," a familiar voice says. A voice from a person in my section.

This voice belongs to someone called Andri Laurelia. A Fiaran manipulator. His family owns a renowned pharmacy and helps the hospital. Andri is the same age as everyone else. His face somewhat resembles a mixture of an eastern person and that of a northern person. From his eastern side of the family, he got black hair, as well as his eyes. His nose is pointed, though. Some people even recognize him as some sort of a celebrity, for he is somewhat a good-looking guy.

"Andri! What is it?" I reply. He seems to be needing assistance.

"Aura! I have a favor to ask of you. I heard about your skillful deduction during your mission. It has become quite the talk of the town." he replies. It seems that I have become quite famous. I wasn’t aware of this until he said so. I do not want to think about it too deeply, though.

"Thank you for your compliment. What is the favor can I do for you, though?" I ask humbly. I haven't talked to Andri before. But he seems to be a good person. Good connections could be good for me in the future. No reason for me to deny his favor, right?

"Well, truth be told, I am in the middle of experimenting with a new medicine. It needs blood of Yttrancian origin, as it needs to connect to the Yttrancian flow of the body. The medicine is intended to strengthen the mind. Can you go to my place tomorrow?," he also asks humbly.

"I have plans tomorrow," suddenly remembering that I have to go the address where May lives. "But on the day after tomorrow, I am free. So why not? Sure, I can come," I reply. His eyes delighted after I end my sentence.

"The day after tomorrow works for me as well!"

"ACH!" a sudden loud thump disturbs the serene silence of the library.

"What's that?," Andri asks. I shrug. It sounded as if someone fell, but I do not know for sure. People start to wonder where the sound came from; looking everywhere for its origins . This also includes Andri and me, as we start to wander around the first floor. Where did the sound come from? Amidst this emergency, we keep our silence and focus on what we could do.

We finally see a man who is trying to hold back his moans of pain. The man seems to have fallen from a ladder, as the ladder next to him is slightly broken by the impact. He is curled up in a fetal position, holding his leg, which seems to be broken, as it appears to be at an awkward angle. He seems to be close crying and can only stutter a simple, "Help me, please," his face contorted in pain.

Andri and I start to walk in between the shelves of books where he fell. "We'll be right there, sir," Andri reassures.

We are finally on our knees, trying to help the man. I do not know for sure how to help someone with a broken leg, but apparently Andri knows first aid. He starts to inspect the body of the man for any open wounds without actually touching. Andri is very focused on what he is doing, he shows no signs of uncertainty. He seems to have found the area near the hip that seems to have caused the agonizing pain. Andri's mouth clicks with the discovery, "his hip is broken."

The man groans in pain, "is there something we can do?," I ask.

"Not much, but we can try to ease his pain a little bit," Andri replies. He takes out a small vial from one of the holsters on his belt ーhe seems to carry it around, as he is a pharmacist, I’m guessing.

The man groans again as I watch Andri administer a vial filled with an unknown liquid, a medicine perhaps. After a while, the man relaxes his posture; the medicine seems to be working. I sit in awe of the skillful approach of Andri. A capable young man. The unknown man, now very relaxed stutters again in a soft voice, "thank you," towards the two of us. Not that I did very much.

"There will be help here soon, please do not worry anymore," Andri reassures again.

Help came soon after and the man was taken to the infirmary of the school. It turns out that he was in the library to search for a Kraekan book. The book he was searching for was on the top shelf and he could barely reach it, and when he was finally able to get his hands on the book, his balance gave up on him and caused him to fall.

Andri and I continue our friendly chatter, with me complimenting him on his professional approach to the man earlier. "Oh, where do you live, by the way?," I ask.

"I live in the southern part of town, near the clocktower. You could ask around if you are at the clocktower," he informs me. Evidently their pharmacy is popular, or the people just know it by heart. "Thank you so much! I owe you one!"

We say our farewells. I now continue searching for the book I was looking for.

After finding my way to the Yttrancian shelves. I see a few familiar books, "Pada Muli Ignali"; the book Mia was reading a few days ago, and a few more books about Yttrancian defensive incantations. After a few moments of reading through the vast collection of the library, I finally find it.

A book of a recent age. The book is called, "Extor Morgia Erguo" a book about Magic circuitry. I guess this would be the perfect book for my plan, "Exterior Magic Circuitry".