Chapter 8: Recon, huh?

  Roselle and Risebelle moved stealthily down the corridor. Despite their stealthy moves, there was no avoiding the two female students coming their way. One of them was a girl with long flowing pink hair and a curious gaze. She nudged her friend and whispered something, causing the other girl who had greyish hair to glance in their direction as well.

  The two approached Roselle and Risebelle. The girl with long hair spoke first. “Hey, I have never seen you two around before. You seem kind of young.”

  Risebelle nodded. "Yes, we're from uh... “

  Roselle interjected. “ Kindergarden! We don’t know our way around…”

  The other girl chimed in with a plain look. "That's understandable. This Academy can be a bit overwhelming at first. By the way, I'm Arlanda, and this is my friend Risa. What are your names?"

  Roselle and Risebelle exchanged a brief glance before Risebelle said, "I'm Risebelle, and this is Roselle. Nice to meet you both."

  Arlanda raised an eyebrow. “So…Kindergarten, huh?” she said with a light chuckle. “You look a bit too old for that.” She glanced at her friend Risa who gave a slight nod of agreement, before turning back to the sisters. “You probably mean the Primary class, right? They start you off training young around here, but not that young.”

  Roselle instinctively bumped her forehead with her palm. “Oops! I got it confused.”

  Risebelle stepped in with an air of practiced annoyance. “Please, pardon my dumb sister. She gets flustered and blurts out nonsense sometimes.”

  Roselle puffed her cheeks in indignation but bit her tongue. She knew that arguing would only make things worse. “I’m not dumb,” she muttered under her breath just loud enough for Risebelle to hear.

  Risa finally spoke. Her tone was light but with a note of curiosity. “Uh, you two know you’re heading in the wrong direction, right? That wing is for intermediate training.”

  Risebelle’s mind raced for an excuse. “Ah, thanks for letting us know. We were just exploring to get a better feel for the Academy.”

  Arlanda’s gaze shifted briefly to Roselle’s ill-fitting robe. “Exploring in the wrong-sized robes? Did you lose yours?”

  Roselle perked up and opened her mouth to respond, but Risebelle cut in smoothly. “They gave her the wrong size at distribution. For some reason, they thought she was a boy.”

  Roselle’s face shifted to an incredulous ‘Are you serious?’ look.

  Arlanda and Risa’s reactions were immediate. Arlanda’s gray eyes narrowed in frustration. “They what?”

  Risa’s pink-haired head tilted, her lips curling into a scowl. “With a cute name like Roselle? Those bastards! Have they lost their minds?!”

  Arlanda crossed her arms with an annoyed look. “Honestly, the Academy staff can be so careless sometimes. Don’t worry—we’ll make sure they fix that mistake if you haven’t already reported it.”

  Risebelle smiled faintly,. “That’s kind of you, but we’ll handle it. No need to trouble yours—“

  Risa cut her off with flames practically dancing in her eyes. “Oh, we’re coming with you, and we’re gonna raise some hell!”

  She marched forward, placing a firm yet surprisingly gentle hand on Roselle’s head. “I’m so sorry a cute little thing like you had to deal with this,” she said with unexpected tenderness while patting Roselle’s head.

  Roselle felt a warmth in Risa’s gesture, and a small smile began to creep onto her face.

  Risebelle, however, said, “Really, it’s not necessary—”

  “It’s no use,” Arlanda interrupted while shaking her head with a resigned sigh. “She’s in Risa mode now.”

  “Risa mode?” Roselle repeated while glancing up at the pink-haired girl who now looked as if she were about to storm the heavens on her behalf.

  “It means no one’s stopping her,” Arlanda explained dryly, though a faint smirk tugged at her lips.

  Risebelle facepalmed and muttered under her breath, “This is going to be a disaster, one way or the other…”

  Risa didn’t even hear her. “Come on!” she declared while grabbing Roselle’s hand with surprising enthusiasm. “Let’s go find those incompetent fools and show them what’s what!”

  Roselle shot Risebelle a helpless look while being practically dragged along while Arlanda trailed behind with a small shrug.

  Risebelle followed reluctantly.

  As they walked through the long corridors of the Academy, Risa suddenly came to a halt. Her sharp eyes darted toward Risebelle and Roselle with an intensity that could cut through steel.

  Arlanda stopped a step behind her friend and tilted her head. “What’s up, Risa?”

  Risa folded her arms and frowned. “Arly, don’t you think something’s like… super weird here?”

  Arlanda cast a fleeting glance at Risebelle and Roselle. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

  Roselle, caught off guard by the sudden shift in mood, blinked. “What’s wrong?”

  Risa’s frown deepened. “How can you two even be students here?”

  Risebelle ‘s eyes narrowed just enough to catch Arlanda’s sharp gaze, though she kept her gaze calm. “What do you mean by that?”

  Risa leaned in slightly. “I mean, it doesn’t make sense. I can’t sense even the faintest magical presence from either of you, yet you two are primary mages.”

  Roselle swallowed hard and forced a nervous laugh. “Oh, well, uh, about that—”

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  Risa cut her off with suspicion sparking in her eyes. “Unless…”

  Arlanda continued for Risa. “Unless they’ve already mastered advanced magic, like the ability to suppress their magical aura.”

  The air between them grew tense. Risa leaned closer with a scrutinizing gaze. “So? Have you?”

  Roselle tried to come up with something to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Risebelle took a step forward and placed herself between Risa and Roselle with a glare.

  “What exactly are you insinuating?” Risebelle asked.

  Risa straightened up and crossed her arms. “I’m not saying anything yet. But if you’re suppressing your magic, just say so. Otherwise, this whole thing is starting to feel way too shady.”

  Arlanda’s gaze flickered with wariness. “Risa does have a point. Most students here can’t even manage basic suppression techniques, let alone advanced ones. If you can, it’d be… impressive to say the least.”

  Risebelle’s gaze hardened. Then, with a forced sigh, she threw her hands up. “Fine. You got us. We’ve been suppressing our magic, but…” She paused for a moment and then added, “It’s, uh… stuck.”

  Risa blinked. “Stuck?”

  “Yeah,” Roselle chimed in. She spoke shaky. “We’ve been trying to fix it, but it’s… really hard. We didn’t want to make a fuss.”

  Risa’s face softened almost immediately. She turned to Arlanda. “See, Arly? These two are in distress!” She jabbed a thumb with a pout. “They’re struggling, and we’re just standing here interrogating them. Now I feel bad. We need to do something!”

  Arlanda raised one hand to the side of her face. “Hmm. If it’s that serious, we might need to inform the headmaster. She’d know how to handle a case like this.”

  “That’s a great idea!” Risa exclaimed while snapping her fingers. “She’ll sort this out in no time. Let’s go.”

  Without waiting for a response, the pair turned on their heels and began walking briskly ahead.

  Roselle’s heart raced. The headmaster’s office was the last place they could afford to go.

  Risebelle clenched her jaw. Her hand shot out, summoning he medium-sized cannon with a silencer. Before either Risa or Arlanda could notice, Risebelle pulled the trigger.

  Two sharp pulses of energy shot from the cannon. The blasts struck the two girls squarely in their backs, creating a hole through their body. The crumpled to the ground in unison with faces frozen in startled confusion.

  Roselle gasped and tooka step back. “You… you killed them?”

  “Yes,” Risebelle replied curtly, already crouching to check their pulses just to be sure. “They’re dead.”

  “But they were—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Risebelle snapped. She stood upright and glared at her younger sister. “If they had reached the headmaster with that story we were running with, we would’ve been executed on the spot. Do you understand that?”

  Roselle swallowed hard. “They… they didn’t even seem like they wanted to hurt us.”

  “Intentions don’t matter here. Survival does. The moment they decided to march us to the headmaster, they became a threat.”

  Roselle’s gaze darted between the bodies and Risebelle. A flicker of defiance sparked in her eyes but quickly faded under the weight of the cold reality Risebelle had laid out.

  Risebelle spoke in a commanding tone. "Roselle, take one of their robes. It might be a better fit for you. And remember, we can't afford to show mercy or hesitation here in our decisions.”

  Roselle nodded. She approached one of the fallen students and began to change into the robe with a small frown. Risebelle observed silently. When Roselle finished, they continued down the hall, eventually stepping into a small room. Risebelle quietly closed the door behind them and froze as hushed voices from the adjacent room reached their ears.

  "The Forest energy extractors are nearly operational," one voice said with a sense of urgency.

  "Yes," another replied, "The Headmaster has ordered us to drain the Mystic forest completely. It's the only way to ensure the project's success."

  Risebelle leaned against the wall and motioned for Roselle to guard the door.

  "If we succeed," the first voice continued, "the power we gain from the Mystic forest will allow us to propel not only ourselves but also the Headmaster's project to reach the city. It's the final step in our escape plan."

  Risebelle's eyes narrowed. This Headmaster seemed to have a grand scheme in motion, one that involved using the Mystic forest's magic for their escape.

  "They say Kintovar's creations are somewhere on this island," a rough-sounding female declared. "I won't rest until I've crushed every one of them, especially that one who defeated Thalindra!"

  "Easy there, Sylra," one person cautioned. “We have a mission to complete, and that involves draining the Mystic forest of its magic. Going after Kintovar's creations will only distract us from our goal."

  Another person chimed in, "Besides, we don't know how strong they are yet but if they can beat Thalindra…well…. It's not worth risking our lives over a personal vendetta."

  Risebelle took note of the differing opinions within the group while continuing to listen in.

  "The Mystic forest's magic is potent, but we need to be careful with the extraction process," one male cautioned. "Draining it too quickly could have dire consequences for the island's balance."

  A hotheaded student made his presence known with a brash tone. "Who the fuck cares about the forest or the island's balance? Our main objective is to harness that power for the Headmaster's project. If a few trees wither away, so be it. Kintovar’s creations are nothing but fodder for my flames."

  Risebelle’s hands trembled. She felt a dark seethe building in her chest. Fodder for his flames? The arrogance, the utter disregard for life.

  “Bastards,” she muttered under her breath. “Humanity never ceases to disgust me. They underestimate us, even now. Don’t they realize who they’re messing with?”

  Roselle took a tentative step forward and spoke quietly. “Risebelle, what do we do now?”

  Risebelle’s rage flared up and for a moment, she thought about storming into that room and shooting down every single one of them. But just as quickly, she reined herself in and forced herself to breathe.

  She exhaled slowly. “We’ve heard enough. We have the information we need. Let’s get the hell out of here before we get caught.”

  "You two aren't going anywhere," a voice declared through the room. The door behind Risebelle and Roselle clicked and locked, sealing them inside. Soon, the figure of a mage emerged from the shadows. Her fiery red hair seemed to dance with embers in the low lighting that occurred from the lights dimming upon her arrival.

  The mage wore vibrant red and gold and her eyes blazed with fiery intensity. She spoke quickly with a rough edge. "You two thought you could sneak around and eavesdrop, huh?" she said. Her lips curled into a smirk. "Well, you've got another thing coming. I don't take kindly to intruders."

  Roselle attempted to speak while trembling, "W-We're just primary students here and we got lost…."

  Risebelle shook her head “Save it, Roselle. Our cover's been compromised."

  Elysia's fiery eyes locked onto Risebelle with a smirk. "Oh, you finally decided to drop the act? Smart move. I could tell just by looking who you two are. Now, prepare to face the consequences of your intrusion. Now you'll face Elysia, the Pyro Queen! Remember that name in your graves, Creations of Kintovar!"

  Risebelle didn’t bother responding to Elysia’s taunts with words. Instead, she raised her finger and pointed dramatically behind Elysia.

  “Really?” Elysia scoffed but her curiosity betrayed her and she turned her head to look. The room was as empty as her patience.

  Realizing she’d been duped, Elysia’s fiery confidence fizzled into awkward irritation. “You little—don’t think you can distract me with cheap tricks! What am I, a toddler?”

  Risebelle smirked, using the opening to summon her cannon while Roselle followed suit. “Toddler? Oh no, no, no. That would be an insult… to toddlers.”

  Elysia’s face flushed hotter than her flames. “Say that again, you smug brat!”

  Risebelle shrugged. “Shows how ‘brilliant’ you really are, Pyro Queen. Guess you are the ‘hothead’ they say you are!”

  Elysia's temper flared. Flames flickered around her. "You're going to regret underestimating me, Creation. I'll show you the power of my fire magic!"

  With a swift motion, Elysia raised her hand and conjured a blazing fireball. She hurled it toward Risebelle and Roselle.

  Roselle swiftly fired a single shot that collided with the incoming fireball, extinguishing it in a burst of sparks and dissipating flames.

  Risebelle then fired off a barrage of shots towards Elysia but the woman grinned and said, "Inferno Waltz"

  Elysia surrounded herself with a swirling vortex of flames. The fiery tempest danced around her like spirals. She controlled the flames and directed them in a mesmerizing and deadly dance of destruction.

  Risebelle and Roselle braced themselves for the fiery onslaught that was about to come.