Both Hyro and Enris knew that Hurly would not be on board with their idea, so they were left with a few options. They could try to lose Hurly on the walk back, they would wait until they returned and then go back out for another independent study, or they could find another reason to head that was now and accidentally be forced to deal with the hogtork’s and barbarians. Enris thought that going back out would be easiest, but Hyro wanted to get going as quickly as possible. Mostly because he wanted to see his parents and they were close enough to the Ira forest that they would be able to stop and see them. Hyro had one idea to get Hurly to go with them to that direction, and it would involve both Hyro and Enris making a request. Enris figured there was not much to lose so he followed Hyro’s lead as they went to talk with Hurly before heading back to the academy.

  “Hurly, Enris and I were wondering, do we have to go right back to the academy from here?” As Hyro asked his question Hurly seemed to give it some thought for a moment before responding. “Aye, that is the plan lads, what did ye have in mind?” Enris spoke up first in reply, “I would like to travel to see that area where they found my father,” Enris let his voice trail off as Hyro picked up the conversation from there, “And with it being so close to Aquarine, I was hoping that we could stop by and I could see my parents on the way there.” Hurly appeared to think it over before nodding with his reply, “I that will be okay, but we will be quick, and ye two need to stay close and listen as we get closer to the Ira Forest. It has been changing a lot over the past few weeks.” With that, Hurly led the group out of Faras. Enris and the others already said their goodbyes early in the morning, now they were ready for the next part of their adventure.

  Most of the walk was uneventful, much like the journey to Faras, Hurly would point out the occasional plant or creature tracks, but the woods between Faras and Terraqua academy were as safe as ever. Hurly made it clear while they were walking, that the plan was to go south through the woods to Aquarine, then take the north trail out of Aquarine and then head west as they reach the forest clearing, close to where Enris’s father was found. Hyro and Enris kept nodding along with the plan, but knew they would need to find a way deeper into the forest if they were to find the Hogtork lair or the barbarians. While they were walking Hyro responded to Cynthia’s messages as she has sent him small messages here and there that he has not gotten around to replying to. The two did not talk about anything that important, just catching up on how their day’s were going. Cynthia made it to level five the morning that Hyro and his team left Faras, but she mentioned that Independent studies were temporarily suspended. Hyro thought about asking Hurly about that but decided not to in case he was not aware of the ban yet. Hyro wanted to find a way to tell Enris about the ban without Hurly overhearing, but could not get far enough away in their travels as Hurly did his best to make every moment a teaching moment. Hyro decided to ask the one person that he knew could send messages discreetly.

  Well that doesn’t help me now, but it will be nice to have the option in the future. Also, why does SID seem more robotic now, did he change or did I just not notice it before? Oh well, back to the matter at hand. Hyro was in deep thought while walking, not realizing that they were reaching the edge of the woods and he was close to home. Hyro started to run ahead of the group, passing by the gates that led into the main city and rushed right towards the outer city where his family lives.

  “Mom! Dad!” Hyro rushed into the home to find that no one was there. After looking around quickly it looked as though no one had lived there for a very long time. “Wha…what happened?” Was all that Hyro could let out before he frantically started searching though everything to find any sign of his parents. Hyro found some things that he remembered, the bowl he used to mix his chemical reaction, the little campsite was still out back where it always was, but things were missing. There was only one cot, not the two that were there before. All of his parents' extra clothes and things were gone, not a trace of anyone living here recently could be seen at all. Hurly and Enris kept back but watched as Hyro ran around and let him look for a moment. After it appeared Hyro was giving up his search Enris came up beside him, “We will figure out what is going on, Maybe someone in town knows more.” Hyro nodded along, unable to speak while still in shock.

  Hurly stayed quiet for the most part, until they approached the main gates to Aquarine, when greeted by the guards there Hurly spoke up, “I am an adventurer, these are my students that are accompanying me on this trip. We need to speak with the town’s lead administrator please.” Hurly flashed a card while speaking and one of the guards wasted no time in allowing them through and pointing out the direction to the town hall. As they walked through this town was a lot larger and busier than Faras was. Fighting through the crowds they eventually made their way to one of the larger buildings labeled as ‘Town Hall’. “Aye lads, as the only full adventurer let me do the talking, Hyro, we will figure this out.” Hurly spoke with the two boys before entering the hall. When entering there was a lady who looked human behind a front desk who looked up and then motioned for them to have a seat before she continued writing something that she was working on when they entered. Hyro and Enris followed her instruction to have a seat, Hurly walked right up to the desk, slapping his Adventurer’s ID right on the desk in front of her.

  “Excuse me sir, I will be with you in a moment.” Her voice was soft and sweet but her tone was strong and demanding. Hurly seemed taken aback and muttered out, “Yes, ma’am, sorry ma’am.” Following that he took a seat with the others. Hyro and Enris both gave Hurly a side glance to which Hurly just shook his head and waited. After a short wait the lady called Hurly back up, “Now how may I help you Mr. Adventurer.” Hurly cleared his throat, “I was taking these boys to see a few things and while passing through we noticed Hyro’s old home looked abandoned. We were looking for the last known whereabouts of the Selks.” Hurly looked over to Hyro and questioned, “Bertrude and Sylvin right?” Hyro simply nodded in return and the lady went to look through some papers. After manually searching for a short while she traced a line on her hand and said, “Reperire, Selk.” Another moment passed and… nothing. She tried again, “Reperire, Bertrude Selk; Reperire Sylvin Selk.” Again, nothing happened. She spoke up after waiting a few seconds, “I am sorry, it appears as though we have no record of and Selk’s, Bertrude or Sylvin. Is there anything else that I can help you with?” Hurly thanked her and led Hyro and Enris out of the building. Hyro’s face was pale and he looked like he was about to get sick.

  “Hyro, are you okay?” Enris looked over to him, “I do not know what is happening but maybe we can ask your neighbors or any family friends. Hyro shook his head, “It won’t help, we had no family friends and the neighbors in our part of town did not really look out for each other.” Hyro then focused his attention to Hurly, “Hurly.” Hyro started but Hurly just nodded, “No need to worry lad. Ye stay here and take the time you need, I will return to the academy and inform them of what is going on here. Enris would you stay with Hyro? I know you are still going through a lot but I think you two will need each other. Enris nodded, “Of course.” Was all he needed to say in reply. The three of them discussed a few things about when they needed to return to campus, two days at the most. Enris and Hyro were also told they would need to stay in the Sea-port inn, an inn that the adventurers used frequently and could send messages to swiftly if needed. Hurly paid for two nights at the inn and paid for meals for the two that would be staying. Hurly did buy a room for himself as well but mentioned that he had to head back very early and the boys would probably not see him before they woke. Once Hyro and Enris were a lone Hyro decided it was time to tell Enris everything.

  “Enris, we need to talk.” Hyro went on to tell his story, from the time he was born in the village of Hazen without magic, to growing up in Aquarine, to preparing for the entrance exam, the Order of Chaos and their intervention with his Chaos magic that led Hyro to Enris with the Notitia spell. Hyro even told him about the wheel of chaos and what came from that, including SID and how he was able to pass the message screen on to Cynthia. Hyro ended with telling Enris about the quest that SID gave him around defeating the Hogtork lair. Enris let Hyro talk and when he was done he spoke up, “So we need to clear the Lair, figure out what happened to your parents and avoid or kill any barbarians along the way? This is exactly what I signed up for.” Hyro spoke up again, “There is one more thing. I have no idea how much time we have.”

  “What do you mean? Hurly said two days, didn't he?” Enris asked in confusion, to which Hyro replied, “Yes, but I do not think he is aware that all independent studies are currently on hold, Cynthia just told me this morning through chat.” Enris let out a deep sigh and responded, “Well it wouldn’t be fun without a tight deadline. Let’s rest for a few hours and go find us some hogtorks.”