Chapter 42

If the Sophic Species are the peoples capable of complex thought and civil organization, then the Bellicose Species are their dark twins. Firbolgs, Arachnytes, Lizard Folk, and many more. These are the sapient species capable of complex thought, and as a whole, their cultures commonly revolve around raw power, trickery, suffering, and the hunting of the Sophic Species for sport or food.

Day 381 Quenchenday

Dr. Brooksheen entered the examination room as I sat atop the table. Her motions weren’t exactly hurried, but she seemed to move with more purpose than usual. Mystagogue Navor sat in a chair against the back wall beside the holo-display, cycling through anatomy displays from a variety of species.

“Well, it’s nice to see you again, young man. I only wished it were under different circumstances.” the doctor mused as she operated her therra-node, no doubt looking over the notes on me. “But I must admit, I’m shocked that I haven’t seen you more frequently.” She teased with an amused smile. “Have you been putting lady Kaysim through the rings?”

“Lady Kaysim? Oh! You mean Tessa.” my expression fell when Tessa’s state came to mind. “She’s been a big help, but everything kinda fell apart today, and she got hurt, badly.” My tone was somber as guilt set it. If she hadn’t stepped up to heal me, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt. I pulled the necklace I had made for her from my pocket. I examined it in the palm of my hand and noticed the storage crystal at its core was cracked. I must’ve drawn the myst from it too quickly.

“I saw her name on the patient list. Could to tell me what happened?”

I guiltily glanced up at the elder Wood Elf, meeting her eye for only the barest moment before throwing my gaze to the floor. I didn’t want to see the accusation in her eyes when I told her what happened. “Thallos wasn’t who he acted to be and tried to… separate me from my mortal coil. Tessa stepped in to heal me, and he put a dagger in her back.”

I heard her shocked intake of breath, and I tightened up on reflex, curling in on myself by the smallest bit. I hurried to explain, the words pouring from my mouth. “Thrasher said that she wasn’t in immediate danger, but her spine was severed.”

“That’s just terrible to hear. But you can’t blame yourself for this accident.” The doctor’s tone was gentle.

I felt tears welling up as my vision blurred. A weight was lifted from my shoulders, but I still couldn’t help but blame myself despite the doctor’s words. I voiced as much. “How can I not blame myself?” I snapped with vitriol towards myself.

Mystagogue Navor sharply stood and walked the two paces to reach me before she slapped me with an open palm across the back of my head. “You need to grow up, kid. The girl knew the danger she was getting into when she helped you.”

I massaged the back of my head with one hand. “I just hope that whoever heals her is good enough to get her walking again.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Dr. Brooksheen cooed in sympathy, the weight of bad news left unspoken.

I raised my head to look at the doctor with pleading eyes. “What? What is it?”

“Gnomes can’t have Life Myst used on them for healing.” Navor stated.

I looked at the Mystagogue in horror. “But what about cybernetics? They can still bind the spinal cord back together. Right?” I could hear the desperation in my own voice, and I hated myself for it all the more.

Both the doctor and the instructor slowly shook their heads in the negative. My heart shuddered with the blow of their silent answer. Tessa would be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. How was I supposed to not feel responsible?

“Kid,” the Mystagogue started, “I can feel the self-loathing rolling off you like stink rolls off a troll.”

The doctor cleared her throat before I could deny the lady’s statement. “There’s nothing you can do for her at the moment, so let me tend to your wounds.”

I reluctantly agreed, and she went to work examining me and mending each injury as she found them. For the entire hour and a half that Dr. Brooksheen patched me back up, she tried to start up small talk about school and my plans for the future, but I was as receptive as a dormant golem. She never gave up trying to pull me out of my self-imposed isolation. The only time my distant stare was brought back to Anogwin was when she moved to heal the cut over my eye. She moved her hands in to mend the slash and I caught one in a strict grip. She gave me a quizzical look but didn’t force the issue as I thought about this.

That cut over my eye was the last time Thallos drew my blood. Should I keep it? Let it heal and scar naturally? A mark. A reminder of the hell Thallos put me through. Then I thought better of it. I had plenty of reminders under the collar. More than enough reminders. I didn’t need to bear a brand that I couldn’t hide from the world. Everyone already made assumptions just because of my species and odd skin. I didn’t need to look like some budding supervillain or thuggish felon. 

I dropped my grip on the doctor’s wrist and offered my eye. She gave me a kind, understanding smile as she pressed one hand above the wound and the other below, fingers on either side of the gash. I hadn’t needed to have a wound on my face healed before, and it was definitely worse than I expected. Ants writhed under my skin, biting. The itch was more of a burning pins and needles sensation. I gritted my teeth and bore it till the gentle doctor finished.

She gave me one last once over, then she gave me some encouraging words that I barely even noticed before she left. Navor gently jostled my shoulder to bring me back to reality. I gave my head a quick shake before I focused on the instructor. “Listen, kid. I know you’re in shock. Your life just got spontaneously reshaped by force. If you don’t want to talk about the truth and all its ghosts, we can talk tomorrow.”

“What? No, no. But I want to have this talk with some other people present.”

“Who do you want to hear all this?”

“My friends. My real friends. Nennel, Ferris, and Tessa. I’ve been telling them tales for long enough. They deserve the truth.”

The Mystagogue gave me a warning look. “Are you sure? This is not something to be shared lightly. If they hear this, they can’t turn back. They could be in danger if things get dirty later. Or they could get seriously upset with you. Are you willing to take that chance?”

I couldn’t hide that I was scared, terrified that what little good I had managed to put together in my life could fall apart. My so-called uncle was a sadist and the girl of my dreams was a traitor. Nennel, Ferris, and Tess were all I had left. If they walked away, I didn’t know what I would do. I didn’t want to be alone again. I didn’t think I could go back to being alone.

But Nel and the others needed to know. I would want them to tell me if they had been doing something dangerous behind my back. I couldn’t make this about me. Just because my life took a maul to the glass door didn’t give me an excuse to keep things from them. I needed to grow up and man up.

“Y-yeah.” I muttered.

The instructor rubbed her cheek and lips in thought. The motion drew my notice a notch missing from her upper lip. “Alright, I know you’re probably not hungry, but your Gnomish friend will be in surgery for a bit. Gather you're cohorts, and tell them what’s about what happened. But tell them you’re waiting for me to gather you all when Tess can have visitors. Have a light snack while you wait. Trust me, you won’t think about eating for a while. But you still need food for body, mind, and soul.” She walked to the door and waved us through the open passage as she held it. “Now move your scrawny ass, kid.”

I gave a dejected sigh before dragging myself from the table to follow orders.

I did not know how, but it was evening. On the last day of the school year, at six in the afternoon. I should have been celebrating passing my Slate year at the academy. That is, if I actually had, given the situation. Instead, I was sitting in the back corner of the DFAC, half-heartedly picking at a plate of what might have been some kind of stroganoff. Nel and Ferris sat across the table from me, each with gray sandwiches untouched before them. We sat alone in the cavernous room. The only thing cutting through the pregnant silence was the buzzing of the fluorescent lights.

The two looked at me in shock after I had explained what I could. Ferris let out a slow huff of air as he ran a hand through his wild hair. “I don’t know, Ive’. This is a lot to take in. It’s all a bit… Dacker.”

“Dacker? You’re kidding.” Nel was trying to stay calm, but there was a pressure to her words. “Iver, this is full-blown insane. The flavor insane that brought about gene chimeras. The rumors about a secret sect being true.”

“And they follow a bloodthirsty fragment that was kept even more secret than the sect.” came Ferris.

“That Thallos was actually working for another organization.” Said Nel.

“And that he’s spying on the hidden sect.” Said Ferris.

“Or how about that you talked Thallos into letting Rose join your secret spy club?”

Ferris turned to her with a pointed finger. “Secret assassin spy club.” He corrected. “Or that Rose was stealing MyCast from the Master Mystagogue of Blackened Crown to trick you and Thallos into thinking she was a Mage.” 

“And that she almost died from myst poisoning and was upset with you for saving her.” 

“And this thing about stab training. Iver, do you have any idea how all this sounds?” Nennel said in clear skepticism. 

“I don’t know, Nel. Look at him. His shirt is scraps, and I’m pretty sure that I’m not hallucinating all those scars under.” Ferris pointed out.

She raised her hands in surrender. “Alright, the training bit might be near the truth. But Thallos nearly killing him and stabbing Tess. And Rose fleeing into a portal with him to evade three Mystagogues. This has to be some elaborate story.”

“Nnneelll.” Ferris teased knowingly. He pointed to me with a jabbing finger while mock-whispering behind his other hand. “Tatters.”

As they took turns questioning every point of my story, I chewed my cheek and bounced my knee faster and faster. When I had taken enough, I jabbed an accusatory finger between them. “Fine! You two want proof.” I waved both hands at my decimated shirt. “Exhibit A.” I thrust a finger at the entryway. “If you still need more, you are welcome to ask Tessa, Mystagogue Thrasher, Mystagogue Navor, and the Mysteriarch. You can even do so separately. They will all corroborate.”

Nel leaned against the table and gave me a look of challenge. “Well, Mystagogue Thrasher is a silent wall of meat. I doubt I could get a word out of him. The Mysteriarch would never even agree to meet with a Slate even if I passed the Mastlok exam. The only one that could give me a straight answer is Tess, because I’ve never heard of Mystagogue Navor.”

Ferris leaned in to interject. “Actually, I have heard of her.”

She turned to look at the Elf. “What?”

He gave a vigorous nod. “Oh yeah! She’s kinda hard to miss. Angry, scarred up, old Human lady in all leather, with one bad eye.” He melodramatically pulled open one eye. “They call her the Beast Eater.”

“Beast Eater?”

“Oh yeah! They say that she makes a sport of hunting dangerous monsters. They also say that she cooks up what she kills, regardless of what it is.” Ferris spoke like he was telling a ghost story, climaxing his tale with a crazy look in his eye as he looked between Nel and me while he said, “She’d even eat other sapients, including the Bellicose Species.”

Nell rolled her eyes at the guy. “Okay, now I know you’re making this stuff up.”

Right on cue, the doors swung open with a clatter, and a female figure strolled in, clad in studded leather from head to toe. I shifted from gawking at the Mystagogue to giving Nel a triumphant grin. Navor stalked up to the table like a predator. “Alright, kids, your horned hero here. “ She gave a wide gesture to me. " Wants to share some very dangerous information with you.”

“Beast Eater.” squeaked Nennel, her eyes bulging as she choked on her comments.

The instructor shot a glance at the girl with a raised brow. “I don’t see what my pastimes and culinary tastes have to do with me disclosing confidential information.” The comment raised brows all around the table.

“Wait. Dangerous information. Dangerous how?” Ferris asked.

The Mystagogue cocked a hip, posted a hand against it, and glanced from me to the other two at the table. “You told them, right?” 

“Yeah.” I said with a weighted sigh.

“Everything?” she pressed.

“Everything from my end of things.” I confirmed.

She turned to Nennel and, without skipping a beat and stated, “Everything he’s told you is true.”

“Everything?!” exclaimed Nel.

“Well, I didn’t witness everything, but both Thrasher and K have confirmed a good bit of it.”

“Who’s K?” Ferris asked.

Navor looked at the boy as if he was stupid before something clicked in her head. “You would know her as Mysteriarch Meckra Kaydammin.”

“The secret sixth sect?” pressed Nel.

“Yeah. I’m a Dark Hunter, in fact, and an instructor in the Sect of the Dark Hunters. But I will say that while Horn Head here told you what he thought was true, he’s been spoonfed… altered information by a terrible man.” She gestured with her head towards the doors. “I’ll explain everything when we get into the Gnome girl’s room.”

“She can have guests?” I asked, perking up.

“Why else would I be taking you three to her room?”

I shot to my feet, ready to go. Without another word, we were on our way. I was eager to get there until I passed the front doors of the DFAC. Hope turned to dread as I thought about Tess never being able to walk again. Would she blame me? I found myself trailing the group until Navor threatened to string me up by my toes if I kept falling behind. After Thallos, I was not willing to take that gamble.

We passed through the front doors of the Med Center, and Navor led us straight past the check-in desk. We moved through the halls until the Mystagogue stopped before a door to an infirmary room. She turned to us, one hand on the handle. “If you follow me through this door, there is no turning back. The information you are about to be given is dangerous. If you take this information, your future moving forward, in the academy and in the Order, will be completely changed. Are you still willing?”

We all wordlessly nodded in unison. One by one, we each stepped into the room, myself entering last. Tess’s room was larger than any room I’d had. Her bed was centered against the back wall. Tess herself lay slouched under a mound of itchy-looking blankets. She had a lazy, drugged smile, her eyes half-lidded. Two chairs stood against each wall to the left and right. The back right chair was twice the size of the other three and filled with a certain monolithic Orc who waited patiently. 

Navor gestured to the chairs in a wordless command. I took the seat beside Thrasher to spare the other two the awkward intimidation of taking the position. “Hey, Tess.” I said tentatively, trying to get her attention. She turned her half-lidded gaze to me.

“Oh. Hey there, Iver.”

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Well, I can’t feel my legs, but I feel kinda… foamy. Like a bucket full of butterflies having a bubble bath.” She gave a light giggle at her own comment.

She was clearly in the stratosphere on pain meds. I highly doubted that she would remember a thing of what was going to be discussed in the coming moments. I started second-guessing this idea but knew that it was too late.

Mystagogue Navor locked the door to the room before she propped her back against it with her arms crossed. “Alright, before we get neck-deep in facts, let me start with a question for you, Iver. I’m guessing that Thallos told you his side was the good guys, and the Order was the bad guys.”

“Yeah.” I confirmed

“And what did he say that his organization was?”

“He said that he was a Blood Arbiter of a group called The Company.”

The instructor gave a roll of her eye so heavy that her head rolled with it. “I’ve heard of those jack-mule twits.” She pulled herself from the door and began a lax circular pacing. “Let’s get one thing straight from the beginning. Everyone is a hero in their own story. Every organization thinks its goals are what’s best. In actuality, nothing in this world is truly all good or all evil. The whole of creation is painted in shades of gray.” Navor stopped, pressed a hand against her neck, and rolled her head as she continued.“ That being said,” A series of pops emitted from her neck.  “I will admit that our order is no exception. While we do try to make the world a better place, we still operate from the shadows. When the ends justify the means, we do dirty work for what we consider the greater good.”

“You mean why we have assassins.” Nel stated.

Navor gave a deep nod. “That is just a shadow at the surface, but yes. We will not bargain or barter with those who refuse to think of the good of the people at large.”

Ferris leaned forward in his seat. “The greater good bit. Is what the Order teaches us, our mission and duty, really what’s best for everyone?”

This time, Thrasher spoke, one ankle propped atop the opposite knee, and he sat back. “There is seldom something that is best for everyone. Most of the time, someone ends up on the losing end when we do our work.”

“And The Company?” I asked. “Is what they want truly for the greater good?”

Navor blew out a deep breath through tight lips. “Their goal is global unification.” 

“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” said Ferris

“It is when their process to go about achieving that goal starts with inhumane experimentation and training,” she gestured to me, “which Iver here is an example of. Or when their process of ‘global unification’,” she said this with air quote and a tone a heavy skepticism. “Is based around destroying or controlling any other form of civil order and ends with the goal of total world domination.”

Ferris pointed at her as he looked at me. “Now, that does not sound nearly as warm and fuzzy as I thought it was going to.”

“And that is why we have labeled them an extremist faction. They do have people who agree with their methods and ideas and even have entire nations that they are friendly with. So they are no minor player on the global board.”

“But what about the Dark Fragment of the goddess and the Dark Hunder Sect?” I pressed.

Navor turned to me. “That’s where things get on the darker end of morality. But even at our worst, you won’t find Dark Hunters stealing away innocents on mass for blood sacrifice. The Dark Hunters are the Sect that is trained to fill any role. We specialize in being the most versatile tools with the sharpest skills in the Order’s back pocket. We are the Order’s multi-tool for when things get messy.”

“And the Fragment?” I was getting annoyed with her edging around the topic I wanted.

Navor waved me away like a pesky insect. “I’m getting there, hornhead. Now, put down the torch and pitchfork. The goddess fragment of the Dark Hunters is known as Her Fragment of the Blighted Heart. Starting next year, you all are going to learn just how involved the Fragments are in their sects, and Her Fragment of the Blighted Heart is no different. She was the part of the Nameless Goddess that came in contact with the darkness she fought against. Originally, the Order thought that she was the shadow of the Goddess, the dark side of who she once was, if you will. When we learned the truth, we tried to communicate with the warped entity. It turned out that she could easily be the strongest of the fragments, but she has no love for life without a heart to call hers.”

“She has no heart?” Nel asked. She seemed completely enraptured by the story.

Thrasher stepped in to answer this. “No, she craves one. When we thought her just a dark shard of a deity, she would take hearts from members within the Order.” 

Navor took the reins of the discussion again. Their trade-off almost seemed seamlessly planned as she picked up from his comment without dropping a beat. “Records from around those times say that the entity was a nightmare to behold and that she could appear anywhere within the Order’s walls or grounds. She’d just slide into existence, rip the heart from someone’s chest, and vanish. We tried to put an end to the bloodshed, but it was pointless. Slaying her, trapping her, banishing her. Nothing worked. When the Order realized that she wasn’t some monster you could put down but an actual deity, that’s when the research started.”

Thrasher stepped in again here. “What was found was that she was after a particular type of heart.”

“Particular, like blood type or species?” I asked, looking at both Mystagogues for an answer.

Thrasher shook his massive head. “Something more ephemeral. She needs the heart of someone who has loved and lost. A wife whose husband died in war. A father who lost his child to sickness. We think the reason for this is for the emotional pain of losing a loved one. It reminds the Fragment of what she once was and what her duty is.”

Navor picked it back up. “The key component is that the owner of the heart has to have felt trust and honest love for someone and the pain of having that person lost in tragedy. If Her Fragment of the Blighted Heart consumes a heart with these conditions, she changes. For the next seven years, she will be a kind and powerful matron goddess. She watches over the whole of the whole world even if her acts go unnoticed.”

“Okay.” Ferris verbally tried to piece it all together. “So crazy, powerful, heart-eating secret goddess turns to nice, but still powerful, goddess that… acts like a mother?”

Both of the instructors gave a snort before Thrasher answered. “You can think of it that way if it helps.”

I leaned forward, hands interlaced, elbows propped on my knees. “And where do these hearts we need to appease the dark lady come from? I doubt that is something that we can readily farm or cultivate.”

Navor pointed a finger at me in confirmation. “And that’s where things get dirty. Every seven years, a member is chosen from among the Dark Hunters to venture out, and find a heart that meets our standards and take it. It’s not pretty, and we never enjoy the task, but the choices are either kill someone to keep the goddess sane or let her tare through our people night after night. This is why the Sect of the Dark Hunters is kept hidden from the rest of the order members while they are in the academy, aside from a select few. Between that and keeping the sect’s knowledge out of unfriendly hands, we merely call the Dark Hunter members Type-three Mastloks.” 

Sitting back, I chewed on this new knowledge, brooding over it as I tried to decide what I felt about it. I could see the reason for hiding the sect. I could even understand the logic of a world of shades of gray. Even though I tried my best, I knew not even I was all good. If I wasn’t all good and no one was pure in mortals, then a Priest or Monk likely wasn’t all good. I’d seen members of faith covet money or power. I’d seen them turn away people who needed their service. But if that were true, then wouldn’t the opposite? I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I guessed even warlords had families they loved. Thieves had their reasons for what they did. Maybe even serial killers could have some shadow of goodness. This was a flawed world filled with flawed people. Following that thought chain, then even organizations weren’t intended to be evil even if they had selfish motives. Everyone had their reasons for their choices, good or ill. I couldn’t just jump to conclusions about someone I’d need to dig deeper. That’s why the Silent Heart training had so much on profiling and working with given data.

Damn it! That would mean that Mallrimor had his reason for being a total scumbag to me. Well, I couldn’t pick and choose who I looked into. But I still didn’t feel comfortable about the heart thing. Even if it was for the greater good, carving out someone’s heart was just downright disturbing.

“How would this be dangerous for Ferris and me?” Nell asked. “I mean, I can see why it’s secret and why you do what you do, but what’s the danger of just knowing the facts?”

Navor cocked her head at the cyborg girl. “Think about it, Tin Cheeks. If you know something secret and you let slip that you know something you shouldn’t, then you become a prime target for enemy agents and worse.”

I turned to Nel and Ferris. “So you guys don’t hate me for all this?”

“What?” came Nel.

“Dude, of course not.” Ferris said. “I mean, I thought my Slate year was bad with my lack of talent. But you, Ive’. You take the cake. Attempted murder, secrets, theft, lies, brainwashing, intrigue, AND STAB TRAINING! Dude, it’s a divine force of will that you survived all this madness. And how you had to do it all while training for all five sects.”

I looked down at my feet, too shy from what Ferris had said. I shrugged. “It’s not that big a deal, guys. They told me to do something, and I trained until I could. You two did the same.”

A shadow loomed over me. I looked up to find Nennel glaring down at me just as she flicked me between the eyes like Navor had. “Aw!” I hissed as I reeled back. She crouched down to my level and looked me in the eye, her crystal blue eyes bright with intensity. 

“Now you listen here, you horned goofball. I have already been very clear about how I have claimed you as my brother. It’s gonna take more than pulling a school year of a trainee action hero to get me to hate you.” She stood and affectionately rapped her knuckles on one of my horns.

“I don’t hate you either, Ivey.” Tess said in the warbling tones of someone under the influence. 

I gave her a kind smile. “Let’s wait till you're sober to decide if you want anything to do with me.”

She opened her mouth to reply when the shadows in the corner beside me darkened and expanded to coalesce into the shape of a tall and slender High Elven woman swathed in voluminous black robes.

Tessa threw up her hands and exclaimed, “Mistyarss lady!”

The Mysteriarch stepped over to the bedside in three smooth strides, which was impressive given the combat boot high-heel contraptions on her legs. But if I thought back to when I saw her going toe to toe with Thallos I was pretty sure she wore them then too.

She gently patted Tessa on the head. “Yes, young one. I’ve come to check up on you and the others. Tell me how you're feeling.”

Tess comically waved her in closer, and the woman leaned over to oblige. The mint-skinned girl cupped her hands around her mouth as she whispered into the headmaster’s ear. The woman nodded gravely, with light grunts of confirmation as she dutifully listened to the girl. After around three minutes of muttered whispers, the Mysteriarch straightened. She looked at me with a critically arched brow that, after a few heartbeats, was paired with a smirk of pure mischief and looked totally alien on the wise woman’s face. All she said was, “I see.” before turning to both Navor and Thrasher. “Am I late?”

“No, ma’am.” Reported the Human instructor, “Just wrapped up that talk about the dark fragment. How’d it go? Any issue?”

Mysteriarch K rubbed at the scarred edge of her missing cheek with fingers tipped razor nails. The nails shined silver beside her gold wolf’s fangs, exposed by her wound. “No issue that I’ve found as of yet. I’ve triggered all pertaining protocols and spoken with the other Mysteriarchs. I’m shocked that we could even have a sleeper agent as deep in the order as Dark Hunters and a teacher no less.”

Navor nodded to me. “The kid says he was part of The Company.”

“That explains his training and skill at worming in.” K commented as she bit at a knuckle in thought. 

“We should call in all of his previous students.” Navor stated. “It’s a safe bet that some, if not all of them are double agents as well.”

K gave a single grave nod. “Agreed, but we need to do so quietly. If we can catch them for data extraction, it will go a long way toward knowing how much The Company has dug up.”

“I’ll jump on it.” Navor said, “But what are we going to do with the kid?” The two veteran women turned to look at me in thought.

Navor eyed me as she said, “He’s going to need some conditioning reversal and a rigorous reeducation, so we can’t just send him home.”

“He doesn’t have a home.” The Mysteriarch stated.

Navor turned to the Elf. “Parents?”

“None. He had a father, but from what he said, Thallos killed him and took in the kid off the street.”

Navor’s lip curled in a sneer of disgust. “That man is sick in the head.”

Nennel piped up with a raised hand. “If Iver doesn’t have a home, he can spend the holiday break with me and my mother.”

The Mysteriarch shook her head. “I’m sorry, child, but the mental reconditioning he needs to make sure his uncle can’t get a hold of him means he will need constant supervision from an instructor.”

“I’ll take him in.” The entire room turned as one to look at the source of the deep, sonorous voice. Thrasher gave a shrug that could have shifted mountains. “I have a summer manor that’s a short AV trip from here. It’s still in the Titan’s Fall range, so it’s secluded and free from distractions.”

I gaped at the Orc. “Don’t get me wrong, Mystagogue, I am beyond thankful for you giving me even a temporary home, but can I ask… Why?”

He gave a look of deep understanding and wisdom. “Let’s just say that I can relate to your situation with your father and uncle. I’ve worked with you before. You’re a precocious boy who’s done nothing wrong and needs time to heal. Let’s say that I will extend you an open invitation to join me at the manor at any time, but for this break, it will need to be mandatory.”

I let out a rush of air in shock. This was all a bit much to take in today. I felt like my brain was overloaded from the day. But then, a thought came to mind. I turned to the Mysteriarch. “But what about next year? I won’t have a mentor?”

The noble Elf showed a glimpse of a mischievous side with the merest hint of a sly smirk. “Terra…”

Navor looked at the Elf in confusion. “What?” Then it set in what the headmaster was hinting at. “Oh. Oh, no. Oh no, NO, NO!” She took a retreating step toward the door as she waved her hands back and forth in a vigorous sign of denial. “Maidra, you know I don’t teach greenhorns.”

“But you’re between pupils…” the Elf teased.

“I’m taking a break. Besides, next year, I need to head into the hive-city capital. There’s no way he’ll make it there.”

“I have the utmost faith in the boy. Now I’m setting this in place as of now. Dark Striker Terra Navor, you are hereby paired with the newly graduated Tier One Trainee Iver Maverick. You best get lesson plans drawn up before the next school year starts.”

Navor looked from me to the Mysteriarch in shock and horror. “Oh, you have got to be-!!!”