"Yeah, the same Arken from our class. Don't worry, they won't find out it's us, trust me." Myra said with confidence.
She appeared to have the situation under control, so Cyril didn't pry further.
After thoroughly searching the place and taking all the valuables they could find, they finally left the warehouse.
Cyril carried the box with necklaces himself.
Since it was already dark outside, Myra proposed to spend the night on the second floor of the house she owns; no one objected to the idea.
On the road under the moonlight, Cyril remembered that he initially saw only seven bandits, but there was an additional body where Rose and Edmund were, so he decided to ask about that.
"Oh yeah, that was dangerous. I was so focused on the thug Ed was fighting that I didn't notice someone came in from the outside." Rose responded with some lingering fears.
"I would have been gone if not for Ed—it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. Even while fighting, he noticed the danger and warned me just in time." She made a slight pause and pointed to her chest area.
"I activated the bracelet and cast a lightning shock spell behind me." Rose said with a nod.
"You say it so easily; when did you even learn that spell? It was damn powerful." Edmund said with a bit of jealousy.
Next he described his fight with the bandit in detail.
During this talk the tension within the group started to disappear.
After reaching the house and climbing to the second floor, everyone was more relaxed, and fatigue started catching up to everyone.
This place was cleaner than the one downstairs; there were enough bare necessities inside for a night, but there was only one bed.
"I'll go bring some sleeping bags." Upon noticing this, Myra decided to go to the storage.
"I'll go with you," said Cyril.
Thinking about how calmly he felt in the face of murder made him worry.
Something was clearly wrong, and he wanted to ask her if she knew anything about his situation—about Rhamn.
Leaving their two tired friends, they descended downstairs and quickly found what they were looking for.
"There is something I need to tell you..." Cyril cautiously began speaking.
He was afraid that he would change even more in the future; maybe she could help him figure out what's happening.
"Please take a moment to consider what I'm about to say. Don't you think Myra is acting slightly suspicious?" Rhamn appeared in front of him, interrupting his next words.
"She says that she only saw vague visions of how the world will end, yet she can pinpoint exactly when and where a random shady deal will happen. She also knows more spells than her intellect or age would suggest." She was standing face to face with him; he could even see his reflection in her bright red eyes.
"Her words just don't add up. She is not honest with you. My gut is screaming we can't share too much with her. " She was looking at him with a deep, trusting stare.
"Please, I'm not trying to hide. You told that healer about me, remember? I just want us to be careful. Let's not mention anything to her—not until she tells the truth." Rhamn pleaded in a sweet voice.
"Uhm... Cyril? What did you want to say?" From Myra's perspective, he called her, only to stay silent for some time.
"Right, sorry, it's just you've said before that I might encounter something special." Cyril shook his head and continued.
Rhamn stood aside, but her gaze never left him.
"...My body seemed to have changed a lot lately. I am stronger, can hear better, and even the wounds I get during training heal faster. Could it be related?" said Cyril.
In the end he didn't tell her the whole story,
"Thank you."
"It's nothing too outside the realm of possibility" Myra said, putting a hand to her chin in thought.
To his surprise, she knew something.
"When people come of age at 18 and their body is fully ready to start learning magic, some get a... how to put it... an enhanced growth spurt. Aided by mana, your body can become stronger and faster. It's very rare, and few people know about this." She explained.
Cyril wasn't sure this was his situation.
"I've heard it's related to bloodlines or something; I was never too interested in this. Anyways, this is probably not what we are looking for." She sounded confident in that.
"Can it affect your mind in some way?" Cyril decided to find out, just in case.
"Not at all... Are you worried about the bandit leader? If it helps in any way, I don't think you are heartless. The fact you are worried about it is proof enough; don't let it get to you." Myra made a fist pump and continued.
"Let's go; any longer and the others will start thinking something weird." She began moving with the sleeping bag in hand.
Cyril didn't have anything else to ask, so he simply followed her back upstairs.
"Finally they are here; those were some heavy sleeping bags, huh?" said Edmund immediately upon seeing them.
Taking a look at his friend's faces, Cyril could tell that they felt much better.
There was no longer any remnant of that sickly pale colour on their faces.
Thinking about it, an ordinary student might have been traumatised by seeing someone killed.
Maybe they were just different, or maybe this was not as big of a deal as Cyril thought initially.
Through the window the moonlight was illuminating the old furniture.
They were huddled closely together, an unexpectedly cosy finish to their day.
Rhamn was, of course, lying next to Cyril.
"Well, it really was a good way to get stronger; I feel more confident in the coming class competition already." Edmund was already back to his old self.
"Tell me about it. I wonder how many of our classmates were in a real fight before." Rose's tone was getting more drowsy.
"Cedric definitely was. Remember how the academy was buzzing with how he stopped 'Lapis'?" Myra's words reminded everyone about that incident.
At the beginning, even Cyril wanted to have a duel with the famous guy, but he got distracted.
"Indeed, I've never dueled him before; I am starting to look forward to it a little." He was always occupied fighting Myra.
Aside from a challenge by the prince, he hadn't fought any of his classmates yet.
They talked to each other for some time before slowly falling asleep.
"Good night, Cyril."
...
A few days have passed.
During this time, their combat instructor properly introduced the competition rules to them.
Everyone in the academy was excited to participate in something like this; some were even betting on who the winner will be.
The competition will last 3 days in total.
Opponents will be chosen at random during the first 2 days.
Cyril didn't quite like this setting, but thankfully, that wasn't all.
On the third day, there is an option to initiate a challenge by yourself.
If the difference in points between the opponents is less than 3, you'll have a chance at an official duel once.
A single victory will give you one point.
Lately Cyril's been hearing more and more whispers from the students.
To his surprise everyone was discussing how they would tackle fighting him.
This was a novel feeling for Cyril, and he quite liked it.
Of course, similar discussions could be heard about other students in class I, Myra especially.
Over this short period, she already garnered the reputation of the strongest of this generation.
A lot of people even joke that to gain the qualification to fight her, one must first pass through Cyril, the current second strongest.
Overall, everyone wasn't too optimistic about getting the first three places, but different friend groups still gathered together to discuss the possibility of attaining a spot to enter the Tower, a place of dreams for every mage.
One such group was in the cafeteria at their usual spot.
They talked about strategies one can use and notable players to be wary of.
"How are you all feeling? The competition is tomorrow." Myra acted as a coach for today, figuring out a way for her friends to win.
"I am aware, thank you. Well, I've trained to the best of my abilities, but... let's just pray luck will be on my side." Despite saying this, Edmund looked quite confident.
Cyril at first wanted to convince Rose and Edmund to take it easy and not strive to enter the top 10, going to the tower would endanger their lives after all.
However, Edmund insisted on participating no matter the cost.
They have heard that based on the results of this tourney, one could advance to a different class.
Apparently, this was more important to Edmund than Cyril first thought.
In addition, Myra insisted that even if they went, no harm would come to them, so he decided to trust her on this.
"In that case, good luck everyone, even though some of us don't need it. I hope we can all visit the Tower together." Rose said with a smile.
After they disbanded, Cyril decided to go home and rest for the day.
"This will be easy."