The villagers of Mudbree run out of their homes and across the bridges to see what kind of commotion has caused Kiastu to use his magic.
As they all approach, Veyne screams out.
"Stay back! The village is under attack! More of the Gildom external guard had arrived and attacked up out of nowhere!"
"We're under attack?!"
Some of the cautious villagers question Veyne.
"Well where are they then?! And where is monk Kiastu?!"
Veyne slightly gritted his teeth in annoyance at them questioning him, but it's to be expected when you lie to people you don't know.
While getting ready to reply, he feigns an injury on his arm and grabs his shoulder like he's hurt, when in reality, all he is doing is waiting for all of Kiastu's blood to absorb into the rune on his arm, both to make it stronger and to get rid of any evidence.
"Th-they killed him."
Veyne points down toward the mud.
"I tried to stop them but it took both of our power just to push back the guardsmen. Kiastu sacrificed himself to save me and the village. That last blast managed to make them flee but it took the last of his strength!"
The villagers gasp and some start looking for Kiastu in the mud. Mika speaks up from behind the pack of frantic villagers.
"It's true! Just this morning this man saved me from Dylan who was attacking me!"
Another lady speaks up.
"But how do we know he's telling the whole truth? I mean we haven't seen any other attacks until just now. We don't even know who this man is!"
"You all might not know me, but I have been fighting these men for weeks now. Besides, there is one among you who knows me very well. In fact she's been fighting alongside me to protect your very lives."
"You mean, you're the reason that mischief maker hasn't been around?"
"Indeed, Nifily has been helping me protect you all this whole time. Now if you don't mind, I need to find her and regroup so we can make sure they don't come back and keep you all safe."
Using the confusion to blot out of the village towards where he last saw Nifily, completely ignoring their other questions and the people frantically looking for Kiastu.
…
Meanwhile in the marshlands, Nifily has been working her way through the mud for hours. She's found all kinds of animal bodies, everything from boars to horses and even odd goblin skeleton, but nothing yet of the Basilisk.
She takes a break to recoup some of her mana before starting again. As Nifily sits back and stares into the mud while thinking that she's still surprised that all of this was caused by a magic beast from one hundred years ago.
"Wait a minute, how did the basilisk cause all this mud to gather in one place and not just have it spread throughout the forest?"
She studies the mud closer, noticing that it's all slightly moving in one direction, almost like it's flowing. She has an epiphany.
"Flow! That's the key to finding it."
She notes the direction of the flow and how fast it's going, and she enthusiastically runs in the opposite direction. Her search takes her a whole kilometre upstream from where she was looking before.
"The mud looks to be flowing just a bit faster from here. Alright, here goes nothing!"
Nifily takes a deep breath in and summons all the strength she has left. Ripples form along the surface of the bog, rippling away from where she's standing.
"Hyaaa!"
Pushing away a large quantity of mud out of the bog, even spilling some into the surrounding woods, Nifily creates a twelve meter wide hole and her eyes immediately lock onto something below.
"No flipping way! That's gotta be it!"
Just as she suspected, the basilisk's body had been laying here just upstream from the marsh this whole time.
Its massive skull spans an area even bigger than she is. Its long snake body is wedged into the hard clay beneath the mud, trailing further and further up stream.
"It looks like it's in great condition. I've got to go find mister Venyne an-"
The muddy hole sumps back together as Nifily once again falls unconscious from overexertion.
…
Some time has passed and Nifily wakes up, still a bit groggy and dazed, she looks around to see that she has been moved.
"I-I'm back at the lab?"
"Hey you're awake! What did I tell you about pushing yourself too hard, especially when I'm not around."
"Mister Veyne… ar- are you alright?"
She could sense in an instant, that despite his polite demeanour, Veyne was somehow different.
"What happened in Mudbree and why does your hair have that black streak?"
Veyne stops smiling and slowly turns to face her with a somber look on his face.
"You could tell straight away huh. You really are an astute apprentice. I can't tell you much, but I can tell you that I'll be fine for now as long as I stay with you."
"Wait I'm confused, you don't seem right and what do you mean you'll only be fine if you're with me? I need an answer now!"
Veyne strides over and lifts arm over Nifily, she flinches and closes her eyes in fear, just for him to slowly lower his hand onto her head.
"Trust me, it's still me in here. This was just the price I had to pay to gain a fraction of power and to learn my affinity."
She opens her eyes and looks up at him with hope. Nif thinks back on their time together and becomes determined to help her teacher to the best of her abilities no matter what he's going through. She wants him to rely on her so he doesn't have to sacrifice himself just to gain power.
Nifily kicks her feet out and jumps off the bench.
"Well whatever happened, I'm just glad the villagers didn't give you too much trouble and let you talk to Kiastu. How is he by the way?"
Without skipping a beat, Veyne stretches out and says.
"Yeah he's doing good! He helped me out and did the aptitude ritual on me. Turns out my magic affinity is Beast Wake!"
"Oh awesome! Although I remember monk Kiastu telling me all about the different kinds of schools and elements of magic, and to be honest, I didn't think beast wake was that useful. It would probably have just been better if you had gotten the superior version which is necromancy magic or something."
"Haha trust me the feeling is mutual. But nevertheless, learning your own affinity is the first step on the long journey that is magic academia. Some say you never stop learning hahaha."
They both catch up on the events of the day as Veyne listens to how Nifily discovered the basilisk by studying the flow of mud and following her intuition all the way upstream. Veyne talks about the fight with Dylan and Mika, as well as his interactions with monk Kiastu leading up to the ritual. He leaves out the details post ritual and makes up a quick story about leaving in a hurry to find her again.
"Looks like it was a big day for both of us huh. I'll have to stop by the village and thank Kiastu for helping you out."
Another fake smile comes across his face.
"I hope you do. But for now we have a lot of prep work to do. Let's go!"
They both set out to retrieve the basilisk.