The overworlders have fared far worse than I. Though they have retained or rediscovered much of their capacity for magic, their knowledge of manatomic theory is practically nonexistant. Take the mana crystal, for example. They do not know it is simply a diamond with manons in its carbon atoms. Yet, they know enough to combine it with iron to make manasteel, or skysteel as they have taken to calling it. If only they would use the corresponding manatope of iron!

  The return to camp was mostly uneventful. With several teams of students scouring the island, most of the aggressive monsters had already met their demise. Evran’s team wisely chose to avoid revisiting the dark hollow on the trip back. The decision added a good amount of time to their journey, though none of them complained. When they finally arrived back at camp, Lerrum’s party was waiting at the gate to greet them.

  “I’m surprised we beat you back here. Get lost?” said Narro.

  “Our original route took us by a lake filled with massive crocodile monsters,” said Evran, tossing the single fang he’d harvested at Narro. “We took a more scenic route on the return trip.”

  Narro held up the fang for his team to admire. “Damn, looks like your team had all the fun!”

  “He’s just mad because we didn’t let him enter the false labyrinth we found,” said Depri.

  False labyrinths were the lesser cousins of the real thing. The prevailing theory was that when two potential labyrinths grew too close to one another, the larger one would dominate the smaller, preventing it from growing any further. Any monsters within were often just as deadly, and its crystal still had a powerful guardian protecting it.

  The Wright family estate had been constructed adjacent to the only false labyrinth on Haskelon. Unlike the real thing, their interiors can be made safe by properly venting the miasma within. His parents had done precisely that. In all his years, Evran had only been inside twice, both times in the company of his father. He’d been using it as a mundane old warehouse, for some odd reason.

  Thinking about it, Evran had never seen a large crystal within. Perhaps they cut it up and built a few ships with it? Though, that practice was usually only ever done with false labyrinth crystals from uninhabited islands. People were far more cautions when it came to the stability of the islands on which they lived.

  “It didn’t seem all that big,” Lerrum mused. “I bet we could have taken it on, no problem! Did you guys find anything cool besides that tooth?”

  Kaila elbowed Evran in the ribs as he was about to speak. “No, nothing worth mentioning!” she said. “I see the adventurers are still in camp. Have they not found the true entrance yet?”

  Lerrum could be trusted to keep the ruins they’d found a secret, but Narro might let it slip. There was also Depri to consider. He didn’t feel right withholding their discovery from his best friend, but it wouldn’t be for long. He’d probably get a chance to tell him later, without those two around.

  “No, they found it,” said Narro. “It’s not too far from camp, actually. Word is they’ll be delving into it first thing tomorrow morning.”

  They continued to chat for a while before finally passing back through the gate and into the camp. After tagging themselves in and returning their equipment packs, the two teams dispersed back to their dwellings with a promise to reunite for dinner, praying it would be better than the school’s previous two attempts at meals had been.

  ***

  After dinner, Evran and Lerrum remained at a large, well-lit table in the food pavilion, as had many other students. They were all at work compiling the daily report for their teams. Evran and Lerrum’s exhausted teammates had left by then, having already completed their sections of the report. The soil portion turned out to be the most tedious, leaving Evran as the last on his team to finish. Not wanting to leave Lerrum all by himself, he decided to stick around and keep his friend company.

  Lerrum was busy desperately redrawing the half-remembered monsters they’d encountered, insisting that Narro’s original attempts were too hideous to associate his name with. They were quite terrible, Evran was forced to agree. The replacements were much better, though Lerrum was a far cry from the talented beastkin in his party.

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  “Indon is quite the artist, unlike someone,” said Lerrum, admiring the picture of the Mystic Fox and the Cryodile from team Evran’s report.

  Only with the earlier help of Professor Tyrin were they finally able to identify the crocodile monster that attacked Evran’s team in the dark hollow. The creature’s native habitat was mostly down in the eighth band, and sightings this far north were exceptionally rare. The friendly professor had a good laugh when Evran explained how they’d tried to freeze the austral monster. To add insult to injury, the lone fang Evran had extracted turned out to be quite worthless. That’s not to say there wouldn’t have been anything else worth harvesting from the monster. Its skin was sought after for armor, and its eyes as an alchemical reagent.

  After finishing the final sketch, Lerrum proudly showed it to Evran. It was of a somewhat adorable rabbit monster with a horn on its forehead. “Any idea what this thing is?”

  Evran shook his head, then dove into the reference material to find out. He found an entry about two very similar-looking monsters that both fit the description of the one Lerrum’s team fought. The only difference lay in the shape of their horns.

  “Ah, well that shouldn’t be a problem,” said Lerrum. “Its horn should be around here somewhere.”

  He dug through his and Narro’s packs in search of the clue that would allow him to finish the monster section of his report. Then he could finally move on to the last bit of the soil report he’d been saving for the end.

  “Damn, Narro must have it on him,” said Lerrum, empty-handed. The stress was really beginning to show on his face.

  “Want me to go get him?”

  “I’d appreciate it, but… well, he’s probably not in our hut right now. He and Ari are most likely fooling around on the ship somewhere.”

  Evran laughed, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll find him. Good luck with the rest of the soil portion. It’s as monotonous as one of Professor Rhummond’s lectures.”

  ***

  Several students passed Evran as he boarded the moored colony ship, their hair still wet from the showers. The pleasant scent of their soap lingered in the air. He remained covered in sweat and mud from his arduous trip around the island and would have to take a shower of his own before going to bed. Not much time remained before lights out, so he would have to find Narro quickly unless he wanted to sleep in the filth of the day.

  Evran quickly realized the difficulty of the task before him. The ship was enormous, and the academy had staff patrolling the halls, ensuring their students weren’t up to exactly what Narro and Ari were up to. Evran felt the obvious place to start his search was in their old cabin, though the chance of finding them there was low.

  The room was empty when he arrived, much to Evran’s disappointment. That meant he’d have to search the girl’s section of the ship. To make matters worse, Evran had no idea which room Arietta had been staying in. He’d have to visit them all.

  Most of the doors in the girl’s section were open, allowing Evran to peer inside if he wanted to. Of course, their being open probably meant Narro wasn’t inside, so he simply skipped past them. For the rest, he hovered by the door and listened for any sign of life within. He thought about knocking, but didn’t want to disturb any of the girls who might have retired early after an exhausting day on the island. Students were still expected to sleep in their makeshift shelters, but exceptions had been made for a few.

  After searching the rest of the corridor, Evran stealthily approached the door of the final cabin, reflecting on how creepy he must look. His reputation with the girls of the academy was already on thin ice, and he dreaded what might happen if someone were to find him like this. Before he could reconsider his life choices, he heard the odious voice of Professor Grist from within.

  “Do not worry about the school, my dear girl. I won’t mention the ruins until you’ve excavated them to your heart’s content. I’m more interested in your new boyfriend’s father. Have you made any progress in your investigation?”

  Evran froze, not wanting to alert Professor Grist of all people to his skulking. A softer feminine voice answered, one he recognized. He was talking to Kaila.

  “Please don’t call him that!” she demanded, thoroughly annoyed with Grist’s antics. “His parents were adventurers in a party called ‘Skyright’. Weird name, I know. They retired after having his brother, then Evran thinks he became a merchant, but isn’t sure.”

  “A merchant? That is certainly interesting. Do what you can to find out more about his parent’s party members. I need names, girl.”

  Evran did not know how to process what he was hearing. Kaila was relaying private details of their recent conversations to Grist. She was spying on me! His stomach curled. How could she do something like that? And why, though? To learn more about his father?

  Grist continued. “If he truly was an avatar, it is highly likely he made his former party members into saints, as most do. Though, I must say I find it strange he did not make his wife one, seeing as the woman is dead.”

  The words struck him like an ice shard. The idea was preposterous. His father… an avatar? There was no way that something like that could be true. Sure, Evran thought his father was amazing, but every child must think that of their parents. Still, maybe?

  No, he’d still be alive if he were. Evran’s head was swarming with half-formed thoughts and forgotten memories. His breathing quickened to a panic. Not knowing what to do or where to go, Evran took off down the corridor, desperately fleeing from a conversation he wish he’d never heard.