The ornate tea set organised itself and poured Kareem a fresh cup of tea with a ball of sugar. The tea carried the scent of fresh meadows as the high wizard brought it to his ruby lips. Licking his lips in satisfaction, he put down his cup and sank back into his couch. After all, nothing eased a dragon's stress like a good, restful nap.
The slave mark burned for a millisecond, and the dragon's brows furrowed.
"Cori! Cori!" he touched his slave-mark underneath the scarf and attempted to contact the golden slime.
There was no reply.
He tried again; the signal seemed to go through, but it exhausted him immensely. His platinum hair frazzled with stress. After dealing with the aftermath of the murder, he now has to worry about a student - one who is homesick.
"Cori, you better not waste my research in getting you home!" he tried to send the message again, but nothing happened except for a whisper of his spirit accidentally getting through.
Unsettled and in a fit of anger, he drafted a notice for his trainees to attend self-revision class tonight. With a snap of his fingers, the magical parchment appeared in front of his trainees, and a loud groan echoed throughout the entire campus.
"At least it is Déardaoin, just one more day until the weekend." Gate comforted Shanson as they made their way to the remedial class.
Shanson's stomach groaned, "Why can't they do it after dinner? Now dinner is delayed, and we have to starve through it!"
"This seems like a rare moment, our dear angel without food prepared in advance!" Gate teased.
Seeing Sky from a distance, Shanson bounced in excitement toward him, "Sky! My dear brother! Do you have any food?"
"Uf!" Sky stumbled under Shanson's weight. "Um... is this enough?" he said, handing Shanson a pouch of sweet mochi.
"I guess this will do!" he said excitedly. "Look! Gate! Food!" Shanson swung the pouch proudly.
A bunch of fellow slimes looked in annoyance while Gate stood there slightly embarrassed.
"Look, it is Cori!" said a bunch of slimes, giggling. "Who is that with him? She's glowing like the moon!" Another bunch of slimes stared at Meimei, captivated.
"She is Meimei," Cori re-introduced Meimei to the group with a proud smile. As Meimei greeted the group, everyone else in the background seemed to slow down. Gate, too, was captivated by her, as was Shanson. Sky felt his heart skip a beat and wondered if he had some heart condition.
"When I saw Meimei after class, I thought she swallowed a lightbulb. She was glowing like a lamp! Haha!" chuckled Cori as the group erupted with laughter.
Shanson, "How did you end up like this?"
Meimei, "Somehow, my family curse was lifted... and sealed into this key." She showed the black key around her neck.
"If you know what this key is for, you will be mind-blown!" Cori added.
Gate, "Is that hair?" Sky touched Cori with his gelantanious blob.
Sky, "Ohhh... golden hair... or fur?" Gate touched the top of Cori's head.
"Is it nice to touch? How does it feel? Oooo furry!" Shanson then added, "Good boy! Haha!"
Meimei chuckled.
"Ok, ok, enough touching. Let's get to class; there's a lot to discuss," Cori said in his attempt to get the rest to stop touching him. How could one resist the touch of fluffy, soft fur? An annoyed voice interrupted the gang: "I see you quite enjoying the attention yourself, Cori."
The group immediately recognised the owner of the voice, Kareem, and froze. "You better recount what happened to me; the mark is driving me crazy whenever you are in distress," said Kareem to Cori telepathically. "What are you all standing around for? Go to your seats at the back now! I shall check how far you memorised the history, and you'd better be prepared! Especially Cori." Kareem bellowed. "And who are you?" he asked Meimei.
"Meimei..."
"You have changed quite a bit; please try not to attract too much attention. You never know what will happen nowadays," he warned.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she whispered as they headed to their spot.
Gate, "There was an attack."
Shanson, "Yes! We saw a direwolf attack Marvyn!"
"Is he okay?!" Meimei asked.
"Dead, the principal announced that he is dead," Sky said. "21 stab wounds."
"The seniors and we chased the direwolf," Shanson said, "but somehow it disappeared without a trace!"
"There was a dark patch of grass, but Shanson reckoned it was a burn mark. It probably was just some random patch of grass." Gate added.
"You guys could have gotten yourselves killed, especially when even our trainer could not fight against him!" Cori replied with a slight hint of anger and annoyance.
A piece of paper reached their table.
"Did the group at the back hear my instruction?" Kareem asked, his voice agitated. "Seems like they are in their own world again. Let me repeat: for this remedial lesson, every table will have a crystal ball. You are to scry and note what you saw happen in the past on the piece of paper. Once completed, give me the report to check. If all the facts are correct, you are free to leave the class."
"We can use the crystal ball to show you what happened!" Shanson said.
"I have something to share with all of you too," said Cori. "My salamander mark is gone and I suspect, each of us have a corrupted core."