„Who is this club head you mentioned anyway…?"
Binding his stack of unused paper with a thin rope, Midas carried the sheets under his arm while walking towards the stairs that led out of the floor the library sat on. Avalons formed a proud grin on his face at his question; Skye was the only one remaining to wait for them to arrive at the exit—her selection of clubs mirroring what Midas chose.
Her glance met Midas's eyes briefly before Avalon caught her attention; the youth already knew what he currently said without the need for understanding any of the words he pronounced—they were both tasked to wait at the arena's entrance across the plaza for the head to pick them up.
„…Just watch out for a girl with blonde hair, I think you'll recognise her instantly once she actually arrived at the spot. You are free to head off now; I already informed her."
Silently exchanging glances with her, Midas eventually took the lead, stepping down the first of the few stairs - shortly turning to see if the pink haired girl would follow him, before continuing to descend. The two of them didn't speak until they arrived in front of the arena entrance, its old walls and pillars a bleak tone.
The fact she seemed to be able to understand Avalon's fluid and somewhat fast way to speak was enough to confirm Javelin's theory—clearly having no problems with understanding any of his words. As he turned away from the tall arena front to look at his company, he recognized an alarmed glare on her face—a distant shout eventually led his glance to rest on a group of three that walked the empty plaza.
„You're still with that filth from the south, I see…"
Infront of them stood a boy with combed back, brown hair - seemingly every strand of hair sat perfectly on his scalp. Stepping out of the trio of older students to face the pink-haired girl next to Midas. His presence in front of them visibly stressed Skye—on further thought, this was the boy that followed her during the exams.
„You have no right to disobey me!"
Quickening the pace of his steps, he eventually reached out to grasp her wrist, tugging at her arm as Skye began to pull back. His teeth began to clench at her resistance as he forced her feet to walk with him.
Midas was frozen in place, his eyes set on Skye as she looked at him while tearing up slightly. She definitely didn't want to come with him, so why would Midas remain set on his position like this?
Before he raised his hand to grasp the handle on his back, the two other students had already made their way towards him to stop Midas from freeing her. Her troubled cries eventually echoed through the seemingly empty plaza, trying desperately to reach someone with her foreign words.
Midas continued his motion; he was now forced to act against the two of them. Seeing no necklace or bracelet on them, he unsheathed his blade—his bandaged arm quickly reaching out as a stone wall shot up from the ground, lifting up the stone tiles that spanned the floor.
Blocking off one of their sightlines, he dashed into the other, narrowly avoiding a palm to the face, while his slash nearly missed the opponents torsos. Making him retreat slightly with a more alarmed expression, while the other found his way around the large stone slab, Midas expanded to dash towards him.
Bearing the pain of a punch into his stomach, Midas dropped his rusty sickle to grasp the wrist that belonged to his fist, securing him in place as he raised his bandaged hand—moving it to the left, as a tiny stone slab shot up from the ground to hit the student's head.
His body fell onto the floor with the crumbs of stone; the brick fractured into on impact with his head, knocking him out cold as Midas held onto his stomach—his breathing thin, slightly crouching.
Seeing his weakness as a sign to act, the other student eventually caught up to him, closing the distance between him and the youth in an instant. Midas met the sight of his approaching knuckles, moving his right once more while activating the stone—a dull stone pillar expanded out of the ground in time.
Watching as his clenching teeth parted in pain as the expanded stone pushed into his gut, Midas's face was barely missed by the quickly loosened arm that fell on the ground, making the student curl up as he fell to the side.
He underestimated the blow of the older student, surprised that a difference of maybe only two or three great sun cycles would make such a grave difference in strength. Numbly setting one foot after another, Midas was forced to watch as Skye was dragged through the back entrance of the main building, eventually stopping as breathing became harder with every step—making him fall onto the floor.
„Is she your girlfriend…? She doesn't look like someone from the South."
A mocking female tone sounded from his side; whoever talked to him stood behind him. Midas's eyes remained set on the doors, holding onto his stomach as he regulated his breathing in quiet. Taking his time before eventually looking up at who stood behind him.
A relaxed glance met his sight eventually, her blonde hair stuck out from a beige silk scarf that loosely lay around her neck, hiding her ears behind slightly lighter patterns that were woven into the light cloth. Tucking at her hood slightly, she met his tired gaze with a dim grin.
„You won't have to tell me... I know that guy, and if I want to, I will make him bring my only female applicant back, the only one in… oh my… I don't even know how long."
Her light voice irritated Midas in a way, and he sighed to himself as he sunk his head slightly. If his right hand had healed up, he could've blocked the strike with his palm instead—not having to risk getting punched directly into his gut. Easily able to catch up to the boy with combed-back hair.
„I've seen you bend just right now… I must say, your skills are quite promising. Haha… hey, are you even listening to me?"
Bowing down slightly, Midas's eyes glanced at the light color of her leather pants, her upper body covered by a simple, old-looking, unbuttoned brown blazer, stained with dust and slightly too big for her size. Even though she bowed down to him to look at his face, Midas was able to tell she was at least as tall as Skye, perhaps even taller.
„You… know him…? Hold on, is he in your class…?"
Midas's somewhat serious expression made her soften her brows, watching her as she narrowed her eyes to stare at him.
„What if he was…?"
„Are you Avalon's student?"
„Ye—Yeah, I am… Wait, how do you know…?"
„I used to travel with him; we met in the southern mountains and walked to the university together. He is partly the reason I'm able to bend like this…"
Getting up onto his feet, as he regulated his breathing, Midas glanced up at her as she stood straight again; it didn't take long before Midas noticed her necklace that sat on top of her white shirt she wore beneath the rugged blazer—the golden color of the metal stuck out from the plain white. A blue stone was fit into its middle, its shape similar to the one he used.
„Whatever. I really don't have much time on my hands, you see… So let's make this fast."
Her relaxed expression turned slightly stern as she looked at his face, straightening her back slightly as she formed a position. Her hands are both resting on the handles of her slotted daggers.
„I welcome you to the guild of ruin plundering, guild work, and beast slaying… We, as the members of this club represent the great deeds of the golden knight Iven, we - like he once did as he started the first ever Trestempo - will ensure safety for all our peers in our area and swear to protect them with our lifes."
His serious expression didn't leave Midas as he quietly watched her pronounce, unable to say anything at the sudden shift in demeanour. Watching her as she sighed to herself, her shoulder and spine easing up again.
„Who's Iven… He was given the first letter in the counting system, right…? What is a golden knight?"
Annoyingly looking down at the curious boy in front of her, she scratched behind her ear with stern brows.
„You know… the one that fought against the great calamity that caused the fracturing of the land… everyone knows it."
Halting the boy from asking too many questions by sticking her pointed index finger out at him, the club head continued. Raising their brows to continue her intro.
„I'm sure you're Midas… Well, there were only two applications, so it has to be whatever. My name is Ivyda, and I'm the leader of this club. If you have any questions, just tell me right away…"
Seeing Midas nod with a slightly concerned expression on him, she continued, holding onto her hips.
„Well then. I will spare you the introduction of the others because you will see them nonetheless once we arrive at our destination… You have the great opportunity to help me out on a fresh quest that was given to us by the university itself."
„A quest…?"
Ivyda couldn't help but form a proud grin at his question, holding onto her grin as she continued to explain.
„Oh yes... Some of the earth on the outskirts of the Cascrender Plateau collapsed, and a report of people being stuck there just went through to us this morning… The knighthood that is stationed here isn't equipped well enough to handle a ruin exploration, so they gave us the task of exploring it… Isn't that exciting?"
Her finger swirled around as she explained, people being stuck in a ruin made him think about Graf and the others, his expression quickly frowning at her excitement. Heading off to grasp his sickle from the ground, before turning to her again.
„Well then. We shouldn't waste any more time…"
„Huh, you really made up your mind fast."