Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Milo kept on his way, after traversing another inner garden within the royal palace, he arrived on a private road that would have been normally beautiful to travel, vegetation was lush and beautiful, flowers were colourfully blooming and the scent of nature was overwhelmingly sweet, now swimming through darkness, only the smell was left, although subdued as the darkness elemental mana threatened to seep into the environment.

It was an untold problem few were aware of, the eternal night was not only eternal, but it was influencing the fauna and flora as well, changing the naturally floating mana into its own, as Lunate had put it, it was as though he world had been ensnared into a gigantic zone, it was slow and countermeasures were being put in place, but it served as a reminder that they were not untouchable.

Milo thought back to Alizé as he was struck in the face by thin branches, scraping against his arms, spiderwebs sticking onto his body as he tried to manoeuvre this little road, since then, the group had gone completely silent, taking every signs of their presence with them, Milo had failed to catch any trail despite his best efforts.

He was worried about attacks from within, and he had shared his worries, but even with great help, nothing was accomplished, now however, he had something else to do, stepping out of the hidden road, he arrived at familiar building, covered in mana-blue lights, he stepped through the gate, many soldiers and warriors were training even when they could barely see the end of their own arms.

One advantage of constant darkness was that it favoured the learning of certain aspects of combat, just as always knowing where every and each of your limbs and weapon was without needing to look, it was pretty much mandatory now as light was scarce and weakened by the dark sun.

Stepping inside of the bustling academy of Toordefer, Milo knew the way by heart, having spent much time just walking around with Helena, the wood creaked beneath his feet, ascending familiar steps, the air inside of the academy was filled with memories, it was within here that his relationship with Helena had been made, official, one might say.
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But the mana here was not quite as abundant with darkness, the remnants of Rosemary's mana remnants and of other great mages had formed a protective layer, not to mention that the academy was under the watchful guard of the very person Milo was here to see.

Arriving before a door, he knocked once, immediately hearing the wizened old tone of the headmaster welcoming him in, the door unlocking and opening on its own, the office was well lit with mana crystal, the elder mage was sitting behind his desk, back arched as usual, excessively beard reaching the ground with length to spare, his exquisite staff propped at his side.

He took off small round glasses perched on his nose and welcomed Milo, a slight chuckle escaping his lips, the old man was in an awfully good mood today, and the farmboy felt like he knew why, affixing a hat on her head, a tall blonde woman dressed in a long coat walked past him, waving at the headmaster as he stepped away, lighting a lantern.

"Aherm… Good to see that you are in good health Sir" Milo awkwardly greeted, not having expected for it to be revealed that this elder still had that sort of stamina in stock when coming here.

"Why thank you young Milo, I too am happy to see that I have not lost my edge" he laughed, rising from his seat to walk over to his visitor, using his staff as a cane, one hand firmly behind his back.

He rubbed his beard, appearing full of vitality.

"So what are you here for? You youths don't have much time these days, how is your mana control going?"

"It's progressing along swiftly, no need to worry… Miss Rosemary wanted to know how you were doing on the enchantments and runes for the trebuchets" the old man shook his head.

"Oh, that is nice but it is not me at all that is working on that, I am simply overlooking everything, but yes, they seemed to be progressing along swiftly-"

"She is a bit worried because she noticed that some of the runes and enchantments seemed to have been customised with some rather strong conditions and vows, she would like for them to show how they were working, so she'll make some time and pass by in a few days" Milo relayed, not noticing as the old man's eyes seemed to lose their lustre for a brief moment.

"Ah… They took some liberties is what you are saying? Well then, Rosemary is always welcome here, the academy is like her… Home… Home…" he seemed saddened for a brief instant before reverting to normal.

Milo looked to the side, now extremely awkward.

The headmaster coughed.

"As I am saying, there is no problem, but she knows that she is always free to show up whenever there is something else, right?"

"Hum… Don't take it the wrong way sir, but some of the soldiers in training here have reported movements of strange groups as far back as a few days before the night fell, I suppose that if you didn't report anything that it is nothing to worry about, but we would like confirmations" it was pretty much saying that, at beast, the headmaster, who was nearly all-knowing about the happenings on the academy grounds, could have missed something, or at worse, that he was covering for something.

The elder didn't seem fazed by Milo's words, rubbing his beard quizzically, as if trying to recount what the youth could be talking about.

"Well, I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary, they must have just mistaken rowdy youths learning here for something else, I don't forbid a bit of tomfoolery in such a dreadful climate, they need to have some semblance of fun, wouldn't you agree?" the headmaster dispelled any thoughts of something odd happening within his academy.

"Ah, well I guess that makes sense… If I may ask, that lady from before, she is…?"

"A good friend with a preference for weary old books"

"I see… I'll take my leave then" Milo slightly bowed his head and walked out of the office, feeling like the headmaster was a bit odd, but it might be a bit rude to call someone weird because they seemed genuinely happy for once, although there was also that one moment that made Milo want to investigate on his own…

Fearing that the old headmaster was being caught up by his age at last, something might have slipped from his attention.

But no can do, Milo was still due to some harsh training sessions, he could not stop now as he had finally seen some dire progress, he felt like he might soon be capable of challenging that swordswoman with the green blade on equal footing, that was tremendous.

And so, with some doubts concerning the mental health of the headmaster, but still a trust toward the elder, Milo came back from where he had come from, scrutinised as he went by four pairs of eyes.