Chapter 32

"Serene, wait!" Lavaria Sensei called me as I was about to leave. I stopped and waited for everyone to leave. "We will wait for you before starting the group discussion," Ayrden whispered before leaving.

After everyone was gone Lavaria Sensei looked at me with a serious expression: "We had a meeting and I wanted to fill you in on a few details. The rest will be covered by Artins as soon as he will have more answers. But, for now, we believe that if the spell sealing off the Dark Realm is broken in the future, you might be the key to it."

A sudden wave of fear ran through me. My hands and feet went numb and for a second I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Ummm, but why me?" I stammered. "We don't know anything with certainty but for now we would like you to stay away from the wall and train hard with others. If the worst-case scenario occurs, we all need to be ready for it. That's exactly the reason I chose Schlangto to be your next assignment." He replied.

I just lowered my head and stood there. I wanted to cry but I knew I had to be strong, crying is not gonna fix anything.

"Serene, don't ever think you are alone or abandoned. We are all with you and whatever happens, we will always stand with you. Nothing is your fault. So, heads up and be prepared for what's to come." He smiled reassuringly at me.

His words gave me a lot of courage, at least they didn't see me as something evil.

"You can head back to your team but remember not to disclose any information to any other novice. We need to be certain before making any assumptions."

"Yes, Sensei," I replied and headed out.

Ayrden, Zeph, Arlo, and Mikasim were sitting together at a table. Ayrden waved at me and I headed towards them and slipped into a seat beside her. Zeph had already taken a book and was reading it. Arlo was doodling in his notebook. Mikasim was trying to look at what others were doing.

"So we need to figure out our strategy on how we are going to fight a 25-30 meter monster," Ayrden spoke up.

"Firstly, we should try to gather as much information about it as possible, find out its weaknesses, anything particular we can use against it. Then, we should write our essay and from there we should lay out our battle plan against it." Zeph declared.

"We should be aware of each other's powers as well. So, today after we get free we should have a small training session to get familiarised with one another." Mikasim added.

Everyone was on the same page regarding all the points for now. So, we decided to start by reading about it. Mikasim and Arlo grabbed another book called: "Creatures of The Dark Realm" while I brought "All we need to know about Monsters" and began to read it. Ayrden was ready with a pen to take notes.

Zeph discovered they had a weak spot near the neck and I came to know that they paralyze their victims by excreting a special toxin from their claws. We began to gather all the points we could find.

Soon it was time for "Combat class" then we had lunch which was followed by "Concoctions and Elixirs". Mariela asked me to prepare "The Strengthing Concoction" as I had missed the previous class. It wasn't very difficult to make and I was done in twenty minutes. She looked impressed with the results and gave me a vial to save it.

We also learnt to make "Sleeping powder", it took us some time to get the hang of it. Ralph was the first one to make it and looked smug about it. Mariela told us about a special poison which can no longer be made. The reason is the basic ingredient used comes from Schlangto's toxin. Since the sealing of the Dark Realm, it became a rare commodity. This special poison was called "Haridos" and was known to cause hallucinations and insomnia. If left untreated, it could lead to death.

After the class, we decided to head towards the practising ground to familiarise ourselves with each other's powers because Zeph and Mikasim were still unaware of ours. We had already taken permission from Artins Sensei to use our powers on training grounds.

As I was leaving the class Ralph called me: "Heya! Serene. How are you? You weren't in the class yesterday. Are you alright?" He asked me in his cheerful voice.

He was the second person to ask me after Arlo and it made my heart swell with happiness that someone cared.

"Heya! Ralph. I had a bad headache yesterday but I am quite better now. How are you?"

"Well, I am glad you are feeling better and I am awesome as always." He winked at me while I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"If you two are done about the petty headache, can we head to the ground now?" Zeph who was standing nearby waiting for Ralph suddenly spoke in a poignant tone.

"You are such a mood dampener Zeph, don't be so rude now." Ralph tried to cheer up his friend.

"I don't have time for making pleasantries. We have a lot to do. So, Miss Princess will you hurry up?" He glared at me.

What was his problem? I still couldn't figure it out.

"I am coming, no need to be rude." I glared at him. "Whatever," he shrugged and left.

"Don't mind him, please. He is all bark, he doesn't mean most of the stuff he says." Ralph tried to cheer me up.

"It's alright, Ralph. I should get going. See you around." I waved at him and left for the training ground.

As I reached the ground everyone was already there. Zeph was staring at me with those charcoal eyes of his and a bitter expression on his face. I ignored him and stood with Ayrden.

Mikasim began: "So you all know I can transform into a werewolf and I have super strength. My claws are pretty sharp and I am sure I can pierce its hard shell."

"And if it touches you with that toxin. You can be paralyzed in seconds. We have to avoid close contact, we need far-range attacks for it. Arlo, what are your powers?" Zeph asked.

"I will show you but I don't think they will come much in handy," Arlo replied.

He showed his power of eternal darkness as he had done with us. But, as Schlangto was a creature of darkness and dwelled underground, we were sure it was well-equipped to see in the dark.

" Ayrden, how about you? " Zeph asked. "My basic power is healing, I can heal all kinds of wounds during a battle. Other than that I can control birds of every kind. They bring me information and can also assist me during combat." She added.

"So basically you are also kind of useless against a Schlangto." Zeph's remark was rather resentful. Ayrden blushed with embarrassment.

"That's not very nice of you," I spoke up. "Well, we don't have time to play nice. With this group and the powers you guys have. We are looking pretty disappointing as a team. Unless you have something useful to add."

I pulled out my bow from my backpack and pointed it towards him and without a warning shouted: "Arrow of sadness," an icy blue arrow formed and hit him straight in the chest.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he began to cry. Everyone jumped at my sudden movement while Zeph was looking at the sky. "The sky is so beautiful today, I wish it would rain. Why doesn't it rain you guys?" He asked us and then began to sob loudly.

"Serene, what have you done? " Mikasim stared at me in shock. "Nothing, just gave him a real reason to cry, since he was dying for it. Don't worry he will be back to normal real soon. This is my power, I can conjure arrows based on feelings, emotions and abstract things." I told him.

"Ohh! I see." He was astonished. Arlo seemed to be enjoying himself while Ayrden was double-minded.

"You didn't have to do that," Ayrden told me. "Well, he wanted to see if my powers were useful and someone had to teach him a lesson for being a jerk." I shrugged my shoulders and all three laughed while Zeph was pouting with tears in his eyes.

It took him about 10 minutes to return to normal. He was so furious with me that his eyes and cheeks looked red. "How dare you do that to me?" He shouted at me. "Well, you wanted to know if I have something useful, now you can decide." I smiled at him rather sarcastically.

"Guys, we shouldn't be fighting with each other. We are a team and we need to work together." Ayrden pipped in with a meek voice.

"Yes, let's put our differences aside and come up with a strategy so we all can face the enemy together," Mikasim added.

Zeph gave us all an angry stare but didn't say anything which meant he was on board. We all sat down and began to strategize. We were determined to defeat it.