The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 158

Chapter 158

Chapter 158: Covert

Nico, Cecilia, and I remained silent, staring at the words printed on the fabric-like sheet of paper in our hands as we sat around the shoddy patio table.

“W-We got in,” I muttered, not taking my eyes off of my acceptance letter. “I can’t believe we got in.”

“Speak for yourself. The only one Cecilia and I were worried about was you, Grey,” Nico chortled, but even he couldn’t hide his excitement as his lips spread into a wide grin.

“I can’t believe it either,” Cecilia whispered, her voice trembling.

“Woah! Are you crying, Cecilia?”

“N-No. I just have something in my eye—that’s all.”

I finally pried my eyes from the acceptance letter in my hand to see Cecilia hurriedly wiping her eyes with the ends of her sleeves, her usual creamy cheeks flushed bright red.

“Congratulations, you three,” Headmaster Wilbeck’s clear voice sounded from the entrance to the backyard. _{fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com}

“Headmaster!” Nico exclaimed, proudly holding up his letter for her to see like a trophy.

“I’ll need to find some spare frames to hang those letters up,” she smiled as she walked toward us, giving each one of us a hug.

Looking at the gentle smile on her face, a pang of guilt struck my chest. She was the woman who raised me like a son since I could remember, yet I was selfishly going away to a distant city. “Headmaster... are you sure it’s okay for us to go? I can stay and help out at the orphanage! It’s no big deal. I’m no good at studying anyway like Nico and Cecilia; plus, it’s expensive and you’re getting old so—ouch!” I yelped, rubbing my stinging forehead.

“I’ll take you to the academy if I have to drag you in your underwear myself,” she scolded, her finger curled up, ready to flick me again. “All these years of raising a troublemaker like you has paid off and you want to what—stay here? Not on my watch.”

“Nico is the troublemaker. I just get dragged along!” I protested, raising my hands to protect my forehead from the assault.

“Then I guess Mr. Sever deserves one of these as well,” the headmaster declared, flicking my best friend’s forehead with the speed and accuracy of a trained soldier.

“Ow! Grey! What gives!” Nico cried, vigorously rubbing his forehead in pain.

I smirked victoriously, when I heard a soft giggle beside me. Nico and I both snapped our heads to see Cecilia smiling for the first time.

The two of us stared, wide-eyed and jaws agape, while even the headmaster was surprised.

“Did she finally break?” Nico whispered, leaning close to my ears.

I stabbed my friend in his side with my elbow, my eyes strangely glued to the sight of Cecilia laughing. My chest tightened and I felt my face getting hot, but it was only when Cecilia realized that we were all staring that I realized I was blushing, just like she was.

I quickly turned around and stood up to avoid her gaze, stretching for no reason other than to draw attention away from my face.

Headmaster Wilbeck must’ve seen through me because she gave me that devious grin that made her look ten years younger.

“I’d better head back inside, kids. School doesn’t start for a few weeks but make a list of things you’ll need so that you won’t forget anything when one of the volunteers takes you all to town.” The headmaster made her way back to the sliding door she’d come from, turning around once more before stepping inside. “And congratulations again, you three.”

ARTHUR LEYWIN

‘We’re drawing near the border,’ Sylvie’s voice rang in my head, pulling me out of my slumber. The white clouds, still blurry from my unaccustomed eyes, slowly came back into focus as I blinked. I peered down below and noticed that we’d just passed the Sehz Canal that flowed through Carn and Maybur City and into the western coast.

How are you feeling? I asked, stretching my sore neck and back as my legs dangled off the side of the base of my bond’s neck.

‘I should ask you the same. I admit using my powers drained me more than I had expected but you definitely overexerted yourself,’ Sylvie chided, extending her large wings to slow our descent.

I let out a sigh that got swept away by the rushing wind. I know. It seems I have a ways to go if I want to actually go head to head with a scythe.

‘We’re both young; time is a luxury that we are fortunate to have. We just need to remain careful and not doing anything rash... like trying to go against a retainer alone.’

I promise not to let that happen again, and besides, you saved the day there at the end, I comforted, patting her scaled neck.

My bond didn’t reply, instead responding with a wave of frustration and helplessness that I could only chuckle at.

 

We landed on the unsettled land just above the border leading into the Kingdom of Darv. The once damp soil of the forest turned dry and hard with cracks lining every inch. The trade route that the dwarves and humans used to exchange goods was near the eastern corner of Darv, by the Grand Mountains, so there were no visible roads this far out toward the coast.

“It’s still cold,” I grumbled as my cloak billowed in the wind.

‘You should grow scales like me,’ Sylvie joked as she lowered her body to let me down.

“I’m just glad I’m still able to muster up enough mana to keep from freezing.” I slowly raised my leg and brought it around my bond’s neck, but as soon as my legs touched the ground a sharp pain coursing up my entire lower body sent me crumbling to the ground.

‘The injuries in your legs aren’t getting better.’ Sylvie’s voice was wrapped in concern and guilt, as if she was the one responsible for the pain. ‘Maybe it’d be best if you keep riding me.’

‘Very well.’ Sylvie’s large body began glowing as she shifted back into her fox-like form. Rather than ride on top of me like usual, she trotted beside me.

‘Grandmother’s control and knowledge of aether in the vivum path is much greater than mine. Maybe if she was here...’ Another wave of guilt washed over me from my bond as her pointed ears drooped.

Stop with the sulking, I chided, picking up the pace as we ventured into the dwarven territory. Your grandmother’s warning was rather vague but I think with some rest and the help of my assimilated body, I should be fine.

‘Maybe we should come back next time. With my lineage, I’m almost positive that I’ll inherit Realmheart once my powers fully develop. We can come back then and both of us can search—’

I shook my head. It doesn’t work that way. By then, the mana fluctuations in the atmosphere caused by the soldiers and the retainer will have equilibrated. The search has to be done now.

‘Equilibrated?’

The mana in the atmosphere will return to its original state, I explained, turning my attention back to the particles of mana in the vicinity for any signs of abnormalities.