254 Growth

Phel had just joined the rest of his class when Endra's message arrived. He flew next to Arza and explained the contents of the message.

"So we'll need to hurry if we don't want to lose our Helm-bearer," Arza said and peeked beyond the fortified walls Bella had just created. 

He would be looking at a giant black cube standing where the Helm-bearer of the Arcvallen class should be. But he immediately ducked down, and a pitch-black beam flew past his head. The beam hit a tree behind Arza, turned into a goo of some sorts and wrapped around it.

Nearby, two of Phel's classmates were lying down, their body covered in the same black goo. The rest of the classmates were trying to remove them but were finding it troublesome.

"It's frustrating that we're being underestimated," Arza sighed. "Surely she has stronger methods than this."

"I don't think we wanna see two of our classmates dead, instead of just stuck," Phel replied.

"But still…"