247 Slana

Tabbris and his father Razor visited the Magic Academy and requested an audience with the headmaster.

The question of the mysterious objects found in the Orcs' necks was still not completely solved. Although they suspected they were used for somehow controlling the beasts, nobody was 100% sure.

And so, after being unable to figure out how they worked, they decided to visit one of the best places for Rune study. The Magic Academy!

"Fascinating!" Elder Balin uttered in awe as he held the artifact in his hands. "So many intricate Runes! And look at this, I have never seen one like that before! Amazing!"

He was using a magnifying glass to closely examine the intricate designs on the Slana. Why did they decide to call it Slana? Because it was a Slavery Nail-looking thing, and it was easier to say!

Anyway, as he examined Slana from all sides, the door opened and a few more people came in.

"Bishop Argoch!" Razor greeted and went to shake the man's hand. "Welcome, here is the thing we wrote you about."

"Ah! Yes, excellent! Hello!" Bishop Argoch gripped his hand in return and shook it. Behind him were his apprentices who were curiously looking around the room.

"Bishop, you are finally here!" Elder Balin paused his research and went to greet the newcomer. They were both Runemasters that liked to tinker with new Runes.

The last time they had the option to study some old symbols was at the door in the Phoenix Temple. Although they didn't manage to open them it was still a great opportunity to learn.

And by chance, Bishop Argoch was in the capital so the news of a new unknown artifact reached his ears. Of course, he had to come and take a look.

"Let me see this thingy, you have aroused my interest with the letter!" Bishop Argoch took one Slana and examined it.

"Ohoho! This is nice! You said it goes in the neck? Ingenious!" He manipulated a tiny bit of Mana and sent it in. Slana reacted and the Runes shined briefly before returning to their dormant state.

Elder Balin saw him do that and comforted him, "Don't worry, that's normal. I have tried many things already, but I can't seem to get it to work." He thought for a moment and then said, "Maybe we need a live target to test it on? We should perform some experiments…"

"Great minds think alike!" Bishop Argoch exclaimed, and it seemed he became twenty years younger in seconds. His demeanor completely changed into one of an excited young man. "Let's capture some Orcs and other beasts and test this thing! Maybe we can make use of it!"

"Yes, let's do it!" Elder Balin became similarly excited.

Suddenly the door opened again, and an angry shout was heard. "Not a chance!"

They all turned around to see who was the lunatic screaming in the Academy.

"Oh, it's Bishop Quinn! Welcome," Razor stepped forward to greet the man.

"Ah, yes, hello…" Bishop Quinn said while sparing him only a glance. Immediately after, Razor and his hand were disregarded as he pointed his finger at the other Bishop.

"What is the meaning of this?! I heard of the origin of that cursed object, and you are trying to use it?! The Circle of Water will never allow such diabolical artifacts to remain in our Kingdom!"

He stretched his hand trying to snatch the Slana from Argoch's hand.

Slap!

Bishop Argoch slapped his hand away and hollered, "Keep your filthy fingers away from my stuff! You are lucky I respect you since you are also a Bishop of the Church of Innos, but that doesn't mean you can walk all over us just because you belong to the Ring of Water!"

"The Ring's purpose is to keep the Kingdom clean of the Demonic influence, and your actions are polluting our sacred land!" Bishop Quinn retorted with his sharp tongue. "Trying to use the beasts as your weapons and their tools to strengthen yourself, have you no shame?!"

"Bah! If our enemies use it, why shouldn't we? Your stupid Ring's rules are just delaying the development of our Kingdom! If I didn't know any better I would think you are working for the Empire!"

"How dare you!"

The two Bishops nearly entered into a fistfight. Each of them held opposing beliefs to the other, and they never saw eye to eye since decades ago. Every opportunity to bicker was to be exploited in full.

"How about we go somewhere more open?" Tabbris suggested to the other three youngsters that came with Bishop Argoch.

"Good idea," Rayner, Trevor, and Rena nodded and followed him to the Academy courtyard outside.

"Let the old men bicker, while they go out and have fun, huh?" Razor sighed and grabbed a chair to sit down. Despite being a General and a Guardian of the Kingdom, his job sure seemed like a simple babysitter at times. He had to make sure these two didn't kill each other and then report to His Majesty after learning something concrete.

Meanwhile, the four young people chatted under the clear sky. They knew each other since their social standing was quite high and they could almost be considered friends.

"Nice weather we are having, don't you think?" Trevor initiated the conversation. From all the things he could randomly say it just had obe be this one.

The other three looked at him and then at the sky. It was the middle of the day, but it was already becoming dark despite being early summer. Dark clouds were rolling in from the west and threatened to completely block out the sun any time now.

A storm was coming.

"Erm… Sure, it's nice…" Tabbris answered. He didn't know what else to say. Was this guy for 'cereal'?

"What is that?" Rean suddenly spotted something flying through the sky and pointed at it. "Is that a bird?"

Rayner used a hand to shade his eyes and squinted, "It looks like a man!"

"It's…" Tabbris also looked, but then his eyes opened wide. "It's Gerald! He already recovered?! That's impossible!"

The other three immediately focused their attention on him. "Did you just say, Gerald?! You know him too?"

Trevor was of course the one that asked. After all, he spent the most time with Gerald at the Black Iron Fort and could be considered his acquaintance.

"Also, he can fly?!"

"It's a long story," Tabbris replied and sighed, watching the figure in the sky quickly become smaller on the horizon. "Let's go got a drink and we can talk about it then," he invited.

"Oh, thank you!" Trevor accepted before the other two could express their opinion and dragged them after Tabbris. It seemed they had a lot to talk about.