Chapter 62. Two Months

The other girl closed her exercise book and walked out of the class. It was disappointing that array classes now had only three students in the third class. The teacher walked to Aurora and sat next to her. There was silence for a few seconds and the teacher spoke first.

"Do you know what my name is?" The teacher asked and Aurora realized that she never introduced herself to them during their first classes. She shook her head and the teacher smiled.

"If I tell you my name, you must promise to keep it a secret, you can do that right?" She said calmly and Aurora just nodded.

Since the event, she was only speaking with Rey and her friends. She was also avoiding them for they were always trying to console her and telling her that he was going to be fine. She knew that already and it was no longer the main reason she was bothered.

"My name is Joan," she said with a sweet smile. Aurora felt some warmth from the smile. The name really suited her. She then placed her hand on her shoulder and patted her. "I know that something has been bothering you and it has nothing to do with that guy, right?"

Aurora felt her chest heavy. She looked at the teacher and her constitution told her everything she wanted. Joan had a pure look in her eyes and her face was truthfully concerned about her. She did not want to think about it but the eyes she met brought her tears.

She felt like she had met her older sister who she did not have and always wished for. She could not hide her pain anymore as she burried her face in her chest and let her tears drench Joan. Joan understood her situation and did not stop her. Joan patted her back and hugged her back.

" Do you mind talking about it?" Joan asked and Aurora lifted her head and their eyes met once again.

" I have been having nightmares of my past which I cannot talk about to anyone. They bring me pain everytime I wake up. They have been frequenting me for the past few days since an incident took place," she said wiping her tears.

Joan nodded in understanding and did not ask any more questions. She was glad that Aurora had at least opened up and spoken up.

"Is there something I can do to help you?" She asked. Aurora shook her head. She knew there was no one who could help her. She was the only one who knew what had actually transpired that night.

Even her father had tried to ask her to open up but it was like she always lost all her words when she remembered what happened. Maybe it was because she knew that it was her fault that the events happened. She stood up and closed her book but Joan stopped her.

"Take this," Joan gave her a black coin. Aurora wanted to refuse it but Joan continued.

"This was given to me by my mom. She said that it helped get rid of bad dreams. It is also enchanted with magic that helps it block attack of the mind. I usually did not believe it but it actually worked."

Aurora was hesitant but she picked the coin in the end.

" Why would you give me such an item? It must be very important to you. Its from your mother after all?" She asked before taking it.

" It hurts me that my most dedicated student has been having a hard time lately. I would do anything I could in order to help any of my students," Joan replied with a charming smile.

Aurora nodded and put the coin between the book. She left and headed to the library. She was not willing to speak to anyone else so she could just isolate herself in the library. She also had not learnt a single thing in the past two classes. She was going to try to catch up.

Also she was the secretary of the Hydra Faction and she had missed two meetings which occurred once every week. She was supposed to give an explanation to the chairman about the reason of her absence. As a secretary, she was supposed to make sure to have 100% attendance.

Joan watched as Aurora left the room and when she could no longer hear her footsteps, she spoke into her palm which was carrying a long distance communication device. It was about a centimeter wide black coin similar to the one she had given to Aurora. It glowed with a goldish glow when she spoke.

"First step done. She is now under our radar," she spoke with a whole new look in her eyes. She appeared like a villainess after igniting an evil scheme. The coin glowed and she nodded. The other side must have been replying. "Okay I understand," she said and the coin disappeared in her fingers.

Communication devices had just been recently invented and very few could possess one. The reason Joan had one was because she was part of those who had invented it. Communication devices exploited array knowledge which she was well versed in. She was among the top array masters and had been hiding her skills when she became a teacher in the academy. Even the headmaster did not know about her level.

She stood up and disappeared. She did not use the space element but a teleportation array. Teleportation using arrays had been known for a while now but very few could manage to create one. Also, they were run using essence stones so their users were limited.

Aurora finished her errands and headed back to her room later in the evening. She found her friends had been waiting for her. She had to put on a bright smile on her face when she saw them.

"You came?" she started. "I have told you not to worry too much about me. I am more than fine," she smiled even wider to prove her words.

"You should take a bath," her friends said in unison.

She smiled and removed her dress. She then piccked a blue towel and wrapped it on top her breasts as she headed to the bathroom. It was until one hour later that she came out. Anyone else would have rounded lips when they realized how long she took but her friends even took longer. They even ridiculed her for taking less time to bath today.

Aurora usually took that long only when her friends were waiting. When alone, she usually took twenty minutes at most which was was also a long time to her. She just smiled and put on a yellow plain dress which reached he knees and accentuated outwards from her waist.

"You are not coming with us?" They both asked her in unison.

"Where to?" She asked.

The two looked at her like a fool. How could she forget? One of her friends slapped her playfully on her shoulder and replied.

"We are going shopping early for end of year party," the other one said. Aurora almost face palmed. She had promised to take them and she had forgotten.

She had lost interest in the party with Alaric's present condition being unpredictable and she was not sure that she was going to attend with her friends. She also had dressed like this to go and see him. The whole of today she had not.

"I was planning on... But I think I will have to postpone it for later today," she said and her friends shook their heads with understanding.

They actually had ruined her schedule.

"We will wait for another day. It is still seven weeks away. We should even go next month. What if we grow tall or fat before the time. We should buy them two weeks before," the two were discussing and agreed.

Aurora appreciated their understanding and they walked out of the room. They went to the infirmary and they sat two beds away while Aurora sat sat on Alarics bed. She took his hands and clasped his hands in hers and watched him. His breathing was normal and his chest moved inwards and outwards.

***

And just like that the end of year party was two days away.Two months had already passed and they had been eagerly waiting for his awaking but he had not. Aurora had refused to go to buy clothes with her friends for she was now sure that she was not attending. They were seated on the same bed to the right of the one Alaric lay on.

Rey had aready bought his and was at the moment sitting next to Aurora trying to convince her to go buy. He failed miserably and Aurora just laughed at him. For the past two months, she had not left the academy compound. She had stopped hanging out with her friends too much and now spent most of her time seated on this bed.

He also missed his exams but she did not worry too much because she knew that he would possibly have passed and taken her first position like he always did. Rey was the joker in the group but he was usually ranked top 50.

"Exams are nothing and will never help you in the future. You can always be proud of your top position but will you also be outstanding during physical combat? That is what will really help you in the future and your ranking will help decide your future," he usually said with a proud and confident smile.

They had actually not taken part in the tournaments for there was usually no competitions for anyone without cultivation. They were going to have their first tournament after the next six months. They were lucky enough to participate in the academy tournaments and also the inter academy tournaments.

Rey was promising to show them dust and get picked to fight for the academy.

"You sure you are not going to see the dust you are planning on showing others?" Aurora asked and Rey had felt his pride hurt.

" You know how strong I am I can actually fight to par with Alaric now," Rey said.

He had been advancing fast and was already in the third stage. Aurora had been distracted and was planning on filling the last meridian the next day so that she would get to the third stage. Rey was in the process of filling his first meridian of the third stage.

From their approximations, they would be in the sixth stage during the inter academy tournaments. What they were not sure was whether Alaric was ever going to wake up. The physician had said it would take two months in the least meaning he could take even years.

They may have been looking forward to the tournament but Alaric was the most ecstatic about it. He would not agree to be asleep for such a long time and miss it. They all wanted to know how they were ranked among their peers. They also wanted to confirm if Alaric was among the bestblike they thought.

He had managed to fight a beast two stages ahead of him. They had also realized that he was a strategic person. Even after his first strategy failed, he had still managed to pull out a feat that led to victory. Even risking his life for success. Very few would have decided to save others than themselves.

They would have probably run away and come later to land the finishing blow on the opponent. This was another reason Aurora was promising to follow him forever. Even she could not promise that she could have done the same. She also had realized that there was a technique in her that she could not use.

The technique though had helped her cultivate faster and she was suppesed to have reached Alaric's level by then if she had been diligent with her cultivation. She had been researching about what that technique was but she had realized that it was a dual cultivation technique.

She wondered when but she just closed her thoughts when she remembered what she had done to him. She was going to ask him where he got it after he woke up.