Chapter 31

Serene's POV

I was excused from today's classes. Ayrden filled me in with all the details and also brought me lunch. Although she was curious about why I went alone with Artins Sensei to the wall. But she didn't ask me. Artins Sensei must have told her for some reason. I just told her I had a bad headache.

"Are you feeling any better?" She asked while handing ne my lunch.

"I am," I tried to reassure her. She filled me in with all the details, especially about Tanzil and we couldn't help but laugh.

"Mariela seems like a tough Sensei," I told her.

" Yes, she absolutely accepts no nonsense from anyone. We all thought she was really gonna make her drink that." Ayrden replied.

It was time for the Combat class, so she left and I tried to finish my pending assignments. The eventful day finally dawned into the night and before I knew I was fast asleep.

The next day, I felt rather fresh. No nightmares and the incident was already behind me. I was ready to face the day. First, we had "Distinctive Historical Eras" where we submitted the assignment about the history of the Dark Realm to Shumal Sensei. We checked out the tree as well. While most of us had 5-10 points, Tanzil on the other hand was at -10. She was the only student with negative markings. Things were just not going her way.

Next, we had "Mythology and Beasts" with Lavaria Sensei. This class has not yet taken place and I was looking forward to attending it. As I was leaving the Eras class I came face to face with Arlo.

" How are you feeling, now?" He asked, in a quiet voice, avoiding eye contact.

"I am much better now," I replied.

" Can I walk with you to the class?" He tentatively questioned.

"Sure." Well that was strange considering he hardly spoke to anyone.

Ayrden was giving me side looks and a nasty smile was playing on her lips. I glared at her but she didn't stop.

Our "Mythology and Beasts" class was in the library, which was huge with millions of books stacked on the shelves. Round structures emitting light were floating all over the place. Spiral staircases were going up and down inside the library to make access easier to books. Comfy-looking sofas, armchairs, couches, and silver table chairs were strewn all over for sitting.

There was a separate room inside the library which served the purpose of the lecture hall. Lavaria Sensei was already there and a huge smile was playing on his lips. He welcomed us to the lecture hall and asked us to get comfortable. Ayrden went and sat with Frela, another witch from her Realm leaving me alone with Arlo. Damn it, she was doing this on purpose. Arlo sat down with me.

"Am I making you nervous?" He asked me out of the blue.

"Umm, no not really," I lied and averted my gaze.

"Your heart rate elevated when I sat with you. Are you sure? I don't want you to feel discomfort." He replied, trying to carry on the conversation.

Dang, I forgot he was a vampire and had heightened senses.

"I am just excited about this class, creatures fascinate me and I wanna learn about new ones." I tried to reassure him. He just nodded and didn't press me any further.

"Welcome to the best course ever, where we will be learning about all kinds of creatures; existing and mythical. We will also cover creatures of the Dark Realm." Lavaria Sensei told us excitedly, his eyes twinkling.

Ralph raised his hand. "Yes! Ralph," Lavaria Sensei asked.

"Can you tell us something about the creature we faced in our qualifying test? That was a nasty one." Ralph said.

"Oh! Khidal. Sadly, it's our genetically mutated monster created by the brilliance of Mariela. Khidal doesn't exist in the normal world but we made it for the qualifying test. And, you guys were the first ones to kill it. Shumal told me all about it. Well done, no one has been able to do it." He smiled at him with encouragement.

"Well it was more of Zeph's achievement, he was the one who took its head off." Ralph slapped Zeph on the shoulder who in return gave him a deadly stare.

"Woah!"

"Really!"

"Amazing!"

Everyone began to praise him in the class. While Zeph looked like he would rather disappear than receive praise. "Exceptional work, Zeph. Once you people receive more training, you will have team battles like that. So, be prepared." Lavaria Sensei addressed us all.

"Today, we will be learning about Schlangtos." Lavaria Sensei opened up a huge poster and hung it in front of us. It was the same damn creature we saw in Dark Realm, which seemed to be calling me. My heartbeat instantly elevated and I felt a cold chill and began to shiver unconsciously. Arlo shot me a glance but didn't say anything. I tried to focus on what Lavaria Sensei was telling.

"Schlangtos are ancient creatures that dwell underground in Dark Realm. They hardly come to the surface. Their colours range from grey to green and can reach a height of 20-30 meters. Not much is known about their reproduction but it's possible that they are bisexual and lay up to 5 eggs at a time. Their food varies including small creatures but there have been ancient incidents where they used to eat humans as well by pulling them inside the soil. They rate very high on the IM index, which means they are super smart." Lavaria Sensei explained.

"How do we know that they still exist? It's not like we can go and check in the dark dimension." Xin Li asked.

"One of them was sighted not long ago so they are alive. But, we don't know everything about them. Your task is now to conduct thorough research taking help from the library and write a comprehensive essay about them. After one week you people will be fighting head-on with one." He chuckled with excitement at the last sentence.

"What? But how? Where will it come from?" Everyone began to talk instantly. There was so much commotion and confusion.

"Calm down all of you and listen to me carefully. We divided you into teams when you people arrived, so you will fight it with the same team. One week is enough time to formulate a strategy to defeat it. In real life, you people only get a few seconds, not a whole week. Since you all are novices, I am giving you ample time. Although it will be a team effort, everyone will be judged individually as well. Whichever team will be successful in defeating it will be awarded 100 points and might be the winner of this month. Now, the question remains, where will it come from? Leave that to us." Lavaria Sensei explained everything in detail and chuckled at our expressions.

"But Sensei what if someone gets fatally injured while fighting it?" Ayrden inquired.

"I can understand the fear you people are facing but in the real world, no victories can be obtained without genuine effort and some injuries. We will be standing by, we won't let anyone die. So, don't worry too much." He reassured us. Not everyone agreed though as few of them had long faces.

"Can we use our powers against it? " Tanzil asked.

"You can use whatever you want against it. Everything is allowed, so form your teams and start your project. Your essay contains 20 marks while your battle against Schlangto will be awarded from 80 marks. I am looking forward to seeing some mind-blowing efforts from all of you." He smiled before dismissing the class and sending us to the library.