As the door closed Calepe slid a metal bar over locking the door. “I really can’t stay long,” Hyro started to get up as he spoke, “I only stopped by for a short visit.” Calepe walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder, “Why don’t you sit back down Hyro, we need to have a chat.” Calepe sat in the chair behind his desk after he assisted Hyro in sitting back down. “How did you do it Hyro.” That was all he said, Hyro had no idea what he could be talking about and responded as such, “Do what?” Calepe slammed his hand down on his desk, a cloud of dust forming into the air, “Do NOT play dumb with me, I have tried being nice to you, tried being indifferent, but the fact that you are here isn’t right and you know it!” Calepe stared down Hyro with a angered and knowing look. Hyro fidgeted with his hands, knowing what his was talking about now, just not sure how he knew. Hyro didn’t respond, he was not sure what to say. Calepe pulled one of the papers on the top of a nearby pile and placed it in front of Hyro. It was his character sheet, or the version of it from when he first came to terraqua, this must be the copy that Tracey took, or a copy of that copy… oh no NAIL get help! At first Hyro was simply thinking to himself, but then directed his thoughts to Nail, hoping that he was listening. Not getting a reply, Hyro also opened a quick message tab, or he tried to.

  Oh no, that means Nail probably can not hear me either since our bond and abilities are from the system. Abyss! Hyro attempted to chuckle when talking next, but it came out more like a croak, “Oh, th-that. Heh, that was a joke that I tried to play on the teachers here, they saw right threw it.” Hyro was lying through his teeth, but didn’t have any better ideas. Calepe shook his head as he swiftly got back up and grabbed Hyro’s hands, ripping off the cloths that were covering them. Hyro still put them on every day as a precaution, but he had grown careless and they were not wrapped that securely and they fell right off as Calepe grabbed for them. This was the first time Hyro really looked at his hands for a while, the burns were mostly healed, there were some scars but they would probably always be there without magical intervention, Hyro kind of liked the scarred look, some of the creases almost resembled palm lines. Calepe grabbed Hyro’s hands and examined them, “I knew it! You are an ineptus. How did someone like YOU make it into Terraqua?!?”

  Hyro pondered what Calepe just said, Ineptus? I haven’t heard that term before, I didn’t think there was a name for people like me, I thought I was the only one. “I am not sure what you mean.” Hyro replied, he started to feel like he was having trouble breathing. “You know exactly what I mean!” Calepe spat, “How did a powerless worm like you make it into an adventuring academy?” That word hung in the air ‘Powerless’. Am I powerless? I was, and now I am again. If places like this can cut off access to the system, what if I can lose access completely? I am powerless again. Hyro’s thoughts started to spiral out of control, he had never felt this weak. I have never felt this weak… that is because I am not weak! I have started to rely too much on the system and stopped using my brain to help me! “I don’t know what you are talking about Calepe, as I have shown in my entrance exam and many times since, I have power and have developed as one of the top of my class so far.” Hyro started to feel more in control, a smile came across his face. Calepe shook his head again, “Liar!” Pushing all of the items off of the desk between them he leaned in a little closer to Hyro, “Why don’t you prove me wrong?” Calepe let a smile of his own come across his face, just one of a more sinister nature. Hyro was at a loss, the only spells and abilities that he had were from the System, and his Chaos Magic was unreliable at best. Think! Think! Hyro thought to himself, trying to find a way out of this situation. That is when he saw it, out of the corner of his eye, a plant, moving and slowly cracking a nearby window to slip in. James you beautiful soul! Hyro started to pretend to trace a line that was never there. Now with a bit of distraction to keep Calepe’s attention away from the window.

  “Vocare Planta!” As Hyro shouted the word he outstretched his hand and the plant jumped from the window ledge to his hand, completing the plant summoning. “See, a simple but effective summoning spell.” Hyro couldn’t help but grin at his success. Calepe had a sour look on his face, the smile nowhere to be seen. “That is not possible!” Before he could say another word there was a knock at the door and a voice could be heard from the other side, “Mr. Ignati, we are being requested to help with restoration of a burned section of the garden.” Hyro was almost certain it was James. Calepe looked to Hyro, speaking one last time, quietly, “This is not over, and if I hear word of our discussion getting out more people may hear of your exploration of the staff cafeteria, or worse.” With that Calepe stood up and swiftly left, leaving Hyro alone in his office. In the doorway James stood, eyes glued to Hyro, “Is what he said true? Are you really powerless?” James’s words were a whisper but Hyro had no problem making out what was said and he replied with a new found conviction. “No, I may not have had the same advantages as everyone else, but I was NEVER powerless.” James turned to leave in the direction that Calepe went, before rushing out he spoke one last time, “I can’t distract Calepe every time that your pet comes for help, be careful around him.”

  Shortly after James left, Hyro got up and left the shed as well. As he exited the building it was like a surge of power rushed through his veins, returning to its proper place. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Nail scurry to his side, Hyro barely noticed this as his vision was assaulted with multiple notifications, and due to him just regaining the system, they could not be minimized.

  Hyro quickly read each notification as they came across, fixing the capitalization right away. After reading the message from Sid, Hyro’s head started to hurt, so much so that Nail finally entered his thoughts. ‘I did not like that feeling, being torn away from you, let’s not do that again.’ As he thought he rubbed his head into the side of Hyro’s legs. ‘I got help as soon as I could. We will make Calepe pay for this, and we will handle everything else together.’ Now I have another problem, I have to find an excuse for us to go to Hazen, apparently I was born there. As Hyro thought the last part he and Nail started walking towards his room, messaging Enris and Cynthia to meet him there as he walked. Once everyone was together in Hyro’s room Hyro explained everything that happened with Calepe, telling them everything from the time he saw him storm out of Tracey’s office to James coming to his rescue.

  “That is insane Hyro, we have to tell Buck or somebody.” Cynthia responded in concern, Hyro quickly shook his head and replied, “I can’t, at least not yet. Calepe caught me in the staff cafeteria the other day and threatened to tell the other staff about that ‘or worse’ in his words.” Cynthia tried to argue that that was not a reason Hyro should keep this from the staff, but Hyro dropped the subject by telling them about the notifications he received after leaving the system free zone. It was odd, when he tried to share the message from Sid, or Ethos Mathorns, it was no longer there. Enris spoke first this time, “Hazen? I thought you were from Aquarine?” Hyro shrugged, “I thought so too. Now I have the problem of getting an independent study to Hazen approved, and I was hoping you two would join me as well, but I do not know what to expect, it could be dangerous.” Cynthia and Enris spoke in unison, “Of course we will go with you!”

  The three spend a few moments brainstorming ways to get to Hazen, with it being close to Ryze and the Sagitta Mountains it would be hard to convince the staff here to let them go. All three were in agreement that their best chance was to find something near the Wahe lake, a fairly large body of water between Aquarine and Hazen, though it was closer to Hazen than Aquarine. How do we get there? Hyro thought as they were talking through different options, none of them good options, the best one so far just being to leave and hope they don't get in too much trouble. Then Nail had an idea that he thought to Hyro, ‘The System and the Order seem to give things to help their goals, what if you thought about meeting the Order guy and needing to be at the Wahe lake, then use your contribution to get a quest.’ Hyro was stunned in silence, he keeps forgetting that Nail knows almost everything that he knows, finding and helping this Pine Marten was one of the best decisions he has made. Without even bringing the idea up to the others, Hyro did what Nail suggested, focused on Ethos, the Order, the Wahe lake, and Hazen. Once those four thoughts were the main ones in the forefront of his mind he opened the contribution store.

  CONTRIBUTION STORE: TOTAL CONTRIBUTION: 1,500

  While looking over the store, Hyro realized that he was putting off purchasing a few things that Hurly and the others recommended. He quickly thought, Cooldown in display and Health Bar in display, adding those two to his display, and dropping his contribution to 1,300. He changed the display as the staff recommended, minimizing them until there is a change in either. Next he thought, New beginner quest! Hyro couldn’t help a grin coming across his face as he read over the notification.