Chapter 21: Chapter 20 – Choices, Choices, Choices…

When the group came back, they brought a completely new door with them, quickly repairing the entrance to Opparu's workshop. He said nothing, just handing them a white, unassuming crystal the size of a walnut. He told them to fill it with their mana and then recollected them without speaking much.

"Now go. Come back tomorrow, and the bags will be ready!" Opparu said, turning his back towards them, pointing at his new, shiny oak wood door.

"Already?" Sion asked, surprised.

"I made a deal with the pipsqueak here, and I honor my words. I am the best craftsman on this floating island, so yes, only a day!" He scoffed, his voice laced with pride. "I played with spatial formations already when you were nothing but an afterthought in your great-grandparents' dreams!"

"Okay, okay, noted!" Sion raised his hands, having enough things thrown at his face this hectic morning. "Let's go!"

"Can't I watch?" Lia hopped next to Opparu, but he immediately shot her down.

"No! I hate when people watch me work! Also, my craft is my secret; if you are not my disciple, you won't be able to observe how it is done!"

"I'll be your disciple! Hey!" Lia cried out as Koa and Aurora each grabbed one of her twin-tails, pulling her away like a doll while she was protesting and flailing with her hands, dragging her heels.

"I'm not accepting disciples! Now, out!" He waved his hands, and as soon as everyone was on the streets, he slammed the door behind them. They saw it lit up in a silver light, sealing away the whole building, including the second floor, so Lia would be unable to sneak back in.

"Eh… but it surely is interesting!" She sighed, moaning softly. "I never saw how people do it, yet Headmaster said we may make our owns by the end of school!"

"There is a difference between making your own and watching others, masters of their craft, creating tools," Sion said, watching the group, nodding with his head to follow him.

"In what way?" Keily asked, curious as everything was new to him.

"Your personal artifact used to cast spells is attuned to you completely and formed by your mind. Yes, you will learn by year three basic formations that are needed to craft one. But it is still heavily influenced by you and your element! They are nothing but low-level focusing devices. Things like true artifacts? Things that can be used by anyone, like these bracelets? They are made by master artificers. You can't compare the two!"

"Did you already make your own?" Koadriana asked.

"Not yet. But I already know what I want. I'm already collecting the materials. The test at the end of the 3rd year has extra points if you present your own artifact."

"That sounds interesting... But in the end, those who have theirs leave it here…" Raufon added, a bit confused, remembering the image shown by Lucian, the Headmaster of the Academy, on their first day.

"Those are different," Ceiline interjected. She always had a curious mind, so before coming to the Academy, she had already learned a lot about artifacts and the steps behind crafting them. They were essential for her experiments, and she had to make her own devices every time, tailored to her research. "When a mage reaches higher levels, they are already much more proficient and can create way more powerful artifacts! The best of them could modify their original one, improving it step by step! Now that is something scarce and valuable! An artifact that a mage in the Realm of Three Ri made, modified, and carried until the point where his or her power long exceeded the need of one... They are invaluable."

"I bet the Academy's collection is worth a ton of money!" Koadriana chuckled, remembering how many were there in Lucian's demonstration, collected throughout the long centuries.

"You bet. But it is also a repository." Ceiline continued, "If one day, a horde of Undead rises again, the Institute of Eight Elements is responsible for arming the Realm's top mages. Their collection is not just for show… it is to safeguard and maintain the best armory in the entirety of the Realm!"

"Undeads are… scary." Keily murmured, "But I saw them being destroyed by simple magic and not by artifacts!"

"Depends on their level." Aurora wrote, "I killed basic Undead creatures too. But I never fought sentient ones, only those that acted on instinct."

"Mom said that before the Adepti level, it is suicide to face them!" Lia said, walking in the middle of the group, "They are the same as fighting against someone who is well-trained and smart!"

"Do they remember their life?" Keily asked, playing with the end of his ears, remembering how his father's walking corpse looked empty inside when he looked into his eyes one last time.

"Mmm…" The rest stopped, looking at each other and then toward Ceiline.

"Hm?" She flinched after all the eyes were focused on her, "I don't know, I never studied them! I'm not an Undead expert!"

"I only know the basics!" Lia added, opening her arms, "I was more interested in fire and ice magic!"

"Also, don't look at me. I'm into living boys and girls, not dead ones!" Koadriana waved away their gazes after they moved on her.

"I kill them. That is all." Aurora wrote before they opened their mouth to ask.

"Anyway!" Sion clapped, "If you're really curious little bunny-boy, check out the library or go to your homeroom teacher! There are courses here on them, but usually, they only hold mandatory seminars in your last year. They even pit you against some when the time comes!"

"Ugh…" Keily flinched, turning noticeably whiter.

"Really?" Lia asked, her eyes lighting up, "Ehehe~ Cool! Worry not!" She slapped the back of Keily, "By then, you are going to be strong enough to kill them!"

"I hope so…" He replied, licking his parched lips.

"Did you fight against them already?" Raufon asked, also curious, and his blood was already pumping, hearing him say what awaited him in school. When they were forced to face that tied-down Undead a week ago, he was so scared he was left shaking for an hour… he wanted to shed that humiliation, even if everyone else was the same.

"Only one." Sion nodded, his gaze turning more somber. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand," Raufon said, picking up on his heavier mood, not pushing it, and even Lia remained silent.

"Now that this is done," Sion shook his head, stopping as they arrived at a busy market square. "I'll go and deal with my own stuff!"

"Eh? Already?" Lia complained, pouting. "I wanted you to come with us! I told you, we are going to look for a place that can be our base of operation!"

"I have my own things to do!" Sion laughed, "Do what you want; just send me a message when you finally find your place!"

"Our place!" Lia grinned before they parted. "How much we have left?" She asked, turning towards Ceiline.

"The door wasn't that expensive! Only 200 CP!" She replied, sending over the receipts to Lia. "We skipped out on hiring people to carry and install it as Raufon here could do it!"

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"That is good! Now, we should get ourselves our own headquarters! Somewhere we can put our stuff, relax and meet up!"

"Do you have any in mind?" Aurora asked, writing in the air. The way Lia had been acting since morning, she was sure that she had already planned out everything.

"I was looking through the map and found three good options!" She replied with a big nod. "Let's sit somewhere, have lunch, and I'll tell you about it!"

"That is a fantastic idea!" Raufon stretched, rubbing his stomach, letting it growl in response, "I'm starving!"

"Yeah, finally, something that I can agree with!" Koa also laughed, and nobody was against the idea.

Half an hour later, the group was sitting in the corner of a restaurant, grabbing at a colossal pizza, pulling away a slice for themselves filled with various meaty toppings and stretchy, golden cheese melted onto the top of it.

"This is awesome!" Keily said after a few bites while Raufon looked at him, sitting at the opposite end of the table.

"I thought you would be vegetarian." He said with half of his mouth full of pizza.

"I'm not a bunny! I told you already!" He replied, scrunching his brows.

"Your ears say otherwise!" Koa teased, giggling, seeing his face getting a bit redder.

"How do you look when you transform?" Lia asked, sitting next to him, measuring his body that was near her height.

"..." Keily did not have an answer for that, drawing an understanding grin onto the others' faces. Except for Aurora and Ceiline, who were simply exploiting the fact they were talking and not eating, already pulling away a second slice, understandingly looking at each other.

"What about the place you scouted?" Koadriana asked, not teasing the young boy anymore.

"Here!" Lia flicked her wrist, and three holographic images appeared above the pizza in the middle of the table. "The first one is an old alehouse, closed down for decades by now. It is pretty rundown and cheap, situated at the docks where ships come and go, supplying the city and the Academy!"

"So it is at the noisiest place on the whole Island," Ceiline spoke up, wiping her mouth before speaking. "If you go there to meditate, it wouldn't be the best choice. You could be easily disturbed if you don't implement preventive measures! Not to mention, the buildings there deteriorate the quickest because of how frequently they switch hands and then are being used for different things!"

"But it is cheap," Raufon said, pointing at the displayed price of 450 CP per month.

"Because you need to repair a lot of things." Aurora wrote, flipping through the images, showing its rundown interior with broken boxes, floorboards, and boarded windows.

"True, but that can be done by us for free." Raufon countered, as he was familiar with hard work.

"What is the second option?" Koa asked, turning her eyes towards the other image while Lia enlarged it for everyone.

"It is on the western side of the city. An hour's walk from the Academy's main building." Lia explained, showing a round, tower-like building with an amateur observatory at the top. It was in much better shape, and the pictures of its inside showed it had some furniture, even if they were old and dusty.

"Oh, it has a place for a library?" Ceiline asked, a bit surprised. She had been living in her own tower for years by now, but she did not have something like that at all. It was modified only by her request after arriving at the Academy.

"And it is expensive… very expensive!" Keily pointed it out, munching on his slice, watching the 1000 CP per month price tag.

"It is." Lia nodded. "But it is still only at a medium price range compared to most of the properties! I made the calculations already! We would be good. If we take this option, we will have a tighter budget for everything else, which can be compensated for later on! But it is at a quiet place, albeit… pretty far away."

"And the third?" Koa asked again, making her cousin switch the enlarged image.

It was in the middle of the city, right in the heart of it, situated on the top floor of a large apartment house. By the images, it was around 400 square meters big and an empty penthouse without any pieces of furniture or utilities. A blank canvas.

"Pft…" Koa almost splurted her drink from her nose. "2000 CP?! Per month?!"

"Yes." Lia nodded, "It is close to everything. Also, it has built-in noise canceling. You won't hear the streets! All of the living spaces here are built like that." She explained, "If we can build up ourselves good enough, we can afford it. It is not that expensive."

"N-not?" Keily gulped, looking at the others, "We started 100 CP… and that looked a lot to me… paying out 2000 CP for a place where we won't even live! That is… too much! That is a LOT of books and private classes from others!"

"That is true." Many of them nodded, including Lia, before she continued, "But I also checked the private courtyards that some of the already established groups have. They go up to 7 000 or even 10 000 CP per month!"

"Fucking hell!" Raufon said, slapping the table, "Who earns that many points? How?!"

"Pooling resources," Ceiline said, somewhat familiar with how they worked as she was approached and not even once being offered a mouth-watering amount of CP, but she always refused. Yet now here she was, dragged into it completely free, making her sigh and laugh at the same time. "Every member pays a monthly fee. They are not charitable organizations but businesses operated by capable students. They can easily fork that out if they have dozens, if not hundreds, of members! The Headmaster always encourages them and happily sits back, watching their competition and struggles. In his words, they are the perfect training grounds for people before they enter the world for real."

"So, we are going to pay too?" Raufon asked, turning towards Lia, who just shook her head.

"No worries, I'll pay for it! Or Ceiline, as she is going to handle our expenses! I'll forward a portion of my profit from my work with Alchemy Haven to her every month!"

"Why me?" Ceiline asked, a bit unhappy with the sudden pressure and responsibility.

"Because you are going to be named our Overseer!" She giggled, "You will have a say to overrule my decision as a Leader if the others also support your idea over mine in something!"

"Why?" She asked, completely surprised, as the rest were listening, turning their heads back and forth between the two.

"Because you are from House Nerifit! That is why!" Lia laughed, "Plus, every scale needs its balance, or it will tip over! My Dad taught me that!"

"That is why your parents are that different, huh?" Koa giggled softly. "Did you even sleep that you came up with this in one night?"

"I did not!" Lia replied honestly, showing a V sign, "I was up all night! I'll send all of you the details, look it through and send me back your choice! The most popular will be the one I'll rent out for us!" She laughed, happily biting onto her slice of pizza, watching the rest of her almost official group.