Before Alex could even react, tendrils of dark smoke swirled around him. A hand clamped over his mouth before he could scream. His stomach dropped. This was it. The assassin had found him. The monster was here to finish what he had started. He closed his eyes and braced for a blade, the pain, anything, just hoping it would be over quickly.

  Nothing happened. The hand was still over his mouth, but he was still alive. What was going on? By the time the door to Professor Reel's office opened, the smoke around him had disappeared again. Out of the office came a short woman with black curly hair. From her stature, Alex knew she was a Hearthkin, like Professor Ghestalt had been. She scanned the hallway left and right, looking for anyone who might have overheard her conversation. Alex's eyes grew wide as she looked straight at him.

  He feared the worst. There was nothing he could do. The assassin still held on to him. There was nowhere he could hide. Did the assassin work for her? Had he caught him so he couldn't escape? Except, nothing happened. Professor Reel glanced over him. Not past him, through him, like he wasn't there at all. She glanced down the hallway one last time before heading back inside.

  "Hmm, nothing there. Where were we?" she asked, returning to her conversation with the gruff voice.

  The hand stayed on Alex's mouth for another minute before finally releasing him. He wanted to scream, but knew that if he did that, Professor Reel would come straight back out of her office. Instead, he got away from the assassin as quickly as he could while making sure he made little noise. Alex turned around to look at whoever held the hand over his mouth. It had to be the assassin. They used the exact same power.

  He backed away, his heart pounding in his chest. The man in front of him had to be the assassin. They were the same height, the same posture, the same coldness in their eyes, except his clothes were more casual. They were still all black, but instead of the sleek, form-fitted outfit the assassin had worn earlier, was now a set of baggy clothes, almost mundane. The bandana that had covered the lower part of his face was also gone now. In its place he now held a finger in front of his mouth, signaling that Alex should stay quiet.

  Alex didn't know what to do. The assassin trapped him on one side of the hallway, and the professor he had been listening in on trapped him on the other. If he turned to her office, there was no way she wouldn't know it was him she had heard earlier. Maybe he could make a run for it and try to slip past the assassin? That had to be his only choice. Even if he died that way, he had done something. He wouldn't have died helplessly.

  With a determined look on his face, Alex started sprinting towards the stairs. He darted past the assassin. He didn't think, just ran, hoping he was fast enough to escape the assassin's clutches. But again, nothing happened. No hand grazed towards him, no tendrils of smoke surrounded him. It was like the assassin didn't even try to catch him.

  He kept sprinting towards the stairs at the end of the hallway, turning his head around to look at the assassin. He was gone. The only things confirming he hadn't imagined it all were a few black tendrils of smoke slowly dissipating in the air.

  Why? Why did he let him go? Alex's legs didn't slow. He didn't care. Not at that moment. All he wanted right now was to get as far away from that place as he could, as fast as he could. He kept sprinting down the stairs and out of the main building. Occasionally he glanced back, making sure the assassin wasn't following, but there was no sign that he was. Once outside, he kept running for a bit longer, towards the infirmary, the one place on campus he knew he would be safe.

  With still no sign of the assassin behind him, Alex slowed down. By now he was far enough away from Professor Reel's office that he was sure she wouldn't be a problem. At least not right now. There was still the entire conversation he had overheard. It was clear she was working for someone other than the board. And they wanted him. He sat down on the nearest bench he could find and tried to process everything that had just happened.

  The assassin was here. He was on campus, close enough to catch him. But he let him go. Again. Even back when he first arrived in this world, the assassin had killed the ones that summoned him without remorse, but him, the assassin had just knocked out. He could have easily killed Alex while he was unconscious; instead, he woke up at the academy infirmary. Had the assassin just left him there? Or maybe he had dropped Alex off to be found by an academy professor. Fillonia did say Henry's brother had brought him in. Did the assassin want him at the academy? Was he using Alex as some kind of pawn?

  Thinking everything over had calmed Alex. His heart was no longer beating in his chest like a ticking bomb. He would definitely need to discuss everything that happened with Henry, Fillonia and Miss Philaxter during his morning check-up tomorrow. For now, he had a job to finish. He looked at the scroll he somehow still held in his hand. How he hadn't dropped it during his panicked escape was beyond Alex. He shook his head and put it back in the cotton bag, grabbing a different one instead. The delivery to Professor Reel would have to wait. There was no way he was going back there right away.

  The next delivery was thankfully uneventful. To Alex's relief, the next scroll belonged to Professor Ghestalt. He stopped by the small supply shop to check back with Mister Klynth on where to find the professor. According to the shopkeeper's directions, the Hearthkin Professor spent most of his either off campus or at the forge, and that he didn't think he was off campus today, and if he was Alex just needed to drop it by his office at the forge anyway.

  Alex also asked the shopkeeper about the last scroll. He didn't remember who or where he was supposed to deliver that one, and since he was at the supply store, he might as well ask the shopkeeper for a refresher. As soon as the shopkeeper saw the scroll, he started laughing again. He shook his head as if he couldn't believe Alex was serious.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "You really don't remember?" Mister Klynth asked as he calmed down from his burst of laughter. "That one was supposed to be given to our Headmaster, Varyn Whylk. He was supposed to be training students at the training yard. I really thought you would have given it to him when you dropped off the large crate."

  Alex felt embarrassed. Why hadn't he given the scroll back then? Had he already forgotten about that one by the time he had arrived at the training yard? Or was he too stunned by the display Aro had put on and just forgot about it?

  Whatever it was, he felt stupid. Now he had to go back to the training yard for a second time today. The other destination on his list was that way as well, at least. The enormous building near the training yard, where he had seen a cloud of smoke coming out of a chimney, had to be the forge.

  After bidding farewell and thanking the shopkeeper again, Alex headed out of the supply shop and made his way back to the training yard. It seemed his luck was finally turning around. As soon as he exited the main building and headed towards the path leading to both the training yard and the forge, two figures approached him from the opposite direction. Professor Ghestalt and Headmaster Whylk were talking to each other as they made their way back to the main building.

  "Ah, Mister Vansteen," the large Drake Headmaster greeted Alex as he saw him approach, "glad to see you're back on your feet. How are you feeling?"

  "Better, sir. Thank you for bringing me to the infirmary." Alex thanked the green-scaled Drake.

  "Don't mention it. It was mostly your Kahrn friend anyway. As soon as you fell to the ground, he came running. He picked you up and brought you to the infirmary himself," the Headmaster explained.

  "He did?"

  "Yes, he did. Miss Fireblood did follow him, so she might have helped."

  "Miss Fireblood?" Alex asked, not recognizing the name.

  "Yes, Cynthia Fireblood. From the way she reacted to your fall, I assumed you knew her."

  "Oh, yeah, I do. I just didn't know that was her surname."

  "So, what is it we can do for you, lad?" Professor Ghestalt asked. For a moment, Alex was surprised by his seemingly Irish accent, then he remembered the Hearthkin had spoken that way from the very moment they had met. It was strange to hear a dialect so similar to one on Earth in this strange world.

  "Right, these are for you," Alex said, pulling the two scrolls out of the cotton bag, handing them over to the board members. Now only the scroll meant for Professor Reel remained. He didn't look forward to delivering it, but it had to be done.

  "Thank you, Mister Vansteen," Headmaster Whylk thanked Alex. Like with Professor Moor, his face immediately turned serious as soon as he saw the wax seal on the scrolls. "Marcus," he said, showing the seal to the Hearthkin professor.

  "Shit," Professor Ghestalt exclaimed. That was the first time Alex had heard anyone in this world curse. It shocked him.

  "Thank you, lad, but we should really get going now," the Hearthkin added.

  With that, both board members bid farewell to him and continued their walk towards the main building. Their pace noticeably faster, and their conversation more heated. What was it about these scrolls that put them on edge like that? First Professor Moor and now these two. Alex grabbed the last remaining scroll out of the cotton bag. The one that belonged to Professor Reel.

  There was no other choice. He had to go back to her office. With a deep sigh, he made his way back over to the main building of the campus. The trek up the stairs to the fifth floor felt like a slog. He knew there was almost no chance she would suspect him of being by her office earlier and listening in, but still. What if that assassin was just waiting for him there?

  At the top of the stairs, Alex peeked around the corner. Nobody there, good. During his journey up the stairs, he had come up with a plan. He would just put the scroll on the floor in front of her office, knock on the door and sprint back towards the stairs. Even if she spotted him, she would likely think he was just in a hurry to complete more deliveries.

  "Alright, here we go," he whispered to himself.

  He grabbed the scroll out of the cotton bag, ready to drop it as soon as he reached the door. One deep breath in, and he started running. He dropped the scroll on the ground and knocked on the door with the other hand. Even before the scroll had hit the ground, he was already back on his way to the stairs. He could hear the door to her office open as he took the first step down the stairs.

  That was it. His deliveries were done. He made a quick stop at the supply store to get his Merit Credit from Mister Klynth. The four extra credits in his pouch felt good, but Alex doubted it was worth it. He just wanted this day to be over.

  By the time he got back to the dorm, Tildia's golems were already reorganizing the courtyard around the large fire pit for dinnertime. The cook herself was already in the kitchen cooking up meals for the early diners, which he promptly joined. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, so he picked a spot at a completely empty table and ate his meal in peace.

  As soon as his plate was empty, he headed straight towards his room. On the way there he spotted Henry, Aro and Cynthia eating at a table outside. The three were in a heated conversation, but when they spotted Alex, they waved to him. He quickly waved back and headed to his room in a hurry. All he wanted to do was get into his bed and close his eyes. Which was exactly what he did.

  The next morning, Alex didn't want to get out of bed. He dreaded going to the check-in with Fillonia and Miss Philaxter. There was just so much he needed to tell them, but he didn't know how to even start. He slowly made his way downstairs and towards the courtyard. At the bottom of the stairs, Henry was waiting for him. From the look on the Fairy's face, Alex could see he was excited for the check-in. He wished he could share the upperclassman's joy.

  "You seemed in a hurry to get to your room last night," Henry said as they made their way to the kitchen. "Exhausted from the two jobs?"

  "Uhm... yeah." Alex answered, not wanting to get into it right now. He would rather explain everything all at once when they were with Fillonia and Miss Philaxter.

  The rest of the morning was quiet. Henry tried to spark up a conversation a few times during their breakfast, but after the fifth time he realized Alex didn't seem to be in the talking mood. The whole time, Alex was mentally rehearsing how to bring everything up during the check-in. Even when they made their way to the library, he still hadn't found a way to tell them without sounding insane. How could he? One of the board members was working with some kind of shadow organization. And on top of that, an assassin was both hunting and letting him go.

  This time Miss Philaxter wasn't waiting for them outside of the library, so Alex and Henry made their way to her quarters on their own. Henry knocked on her door, checking if she was in.

  "Come in," Miss Philaxter said in a serious tone.

  When Henry opened the door, Alex's eyes grew wide in fear. He was here. The assassin was standing next to Miss Philaxter. Alex's gaze shifted to Henry when the boy spoke up.

  "Brother?"