The Report cards are out which means...Hiatus is over! Yay~! I'm sorry for being gone for so long!

I was trying to finish this chapter up over the weekend, but something weird happened, and I ended up sleeping a lot of the time. Perhaps it was because of the release of tensions...I dunno.

But, I worked hard on this today to make it, so that you wouldn't think I abandoned this story.

So, the frantic, panic-ridden two weeks is finally over, and I can go back to writing the story. Yay~!

The schedule will be a bit different, though. Since I'm still in a very busy phase of the year, I'll only be able to turn out one chapter every two or three days. I've decided this so that I can better focus on both my work, and this story to do both things well.

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Truly, the items which artifacts leave behind are never ordinary. Thera decided to try experimenting on the stone a bit, by feeding her mana to it.

But, no matter how much she added to it, the stone simply continued to absorb it, regardless. Even after meditating to recover her mana several times, the stone did not seem to have any sort of limits.

How long would it take to fill it? Weeks? Months? Years? But, by the time it was filled with mana, she was sure that its true functions would surface. What kind of thing would need so much mana?

Thera made up her mind. Let’s try and see where its limit will be… She thought, a small smile playing on her lips.

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Returning to camp, Laura dropped her fool façade and frowned.

Even after going through the list she memorized of the things that came from the artifacts, none of them ever looked like a white stone.

But, even so, there was no way that white stone was ordinary. As Thera was the most powerful person in the area at the time, it only makes sense for her to hold onto it.

After all, maybe with her large amount of book-reading, Thera would have already figured out by now what it was.

Try though she might, Laura could do nothing with a stone whose function was unknown, effectively making it worthless to someone like Laura. Although, she had no doubt that it was incredibly valuable.

Feh! What is an artifact compared to friendship? Thera was the one who found the box, so it is only right that Thera should keep it.

She clapped her hands together, as if brushing away some imagined dirt. Speaking of dirt, it was time to clean up!

Staring expressionlessly at the huge cauldron that weighed at least 200lbs, Laura lifted it up and carried it to the nearby stream for cleaning.

Dark though it was, as twilight fell, the area inside the barrier was a bit brighter, as if a full moon was beaming down upon their surroundings all the time.

Even with the light, though, it was slow going. Laura grumbled as she tried to use her sense of touch to tell if the area she was scrubbing was dirty or not. Leaves rustled behind her as Thera once more appeared.

“Done admiring it already?” Laura teased. “I thought you’d be a bit longer, what with it being such an important, awe-inspiring, mind-blowing…-ly ordinary stone, after all.”

Thera beamed a friendly smile at Laura. “Yep! All done! But you look as though you could use a bit of light, here.” She snapped her finger, and a light ball popped into existence behind Laura, illuminating the insides of the cauldron that was larger than the two girls.

After Thera had poured all of her mana into the stone ten times, she had realized that it wasn’t going to get filled anytime soon, so instead, she had eventually decided to head back to camp.

“You have my sincere thanks, o wielder of the sacred flame~” Laura quipped.

Thera snorted. “Sacred flame, my foot! This just so happens to be a [Light Sphere], my dear ignorant friend. There’s not a tongue of flame to be found within it!” Thera mimicked the typical narcissistic, elitist magicians that could be found everywhere in the Capital.

Laura, trying not to laugh, failed in her attempts, giggling helplessly.

“I’m glad you two are enjoying yourselves.” A voice grumbled from behind the two girls, who both jumped in surprise before turning around to see Master Thales.

“I see what you mean about entrances, Laura.” Thera said slowly. “It does do to give a bit of a warning first.”

“Hah! You wouldn’t have even heard it, what with Laura chortling over there.” Master Thales sighed, and glanced away with a know-it-all look.

“What’s up with you! You just arrive and already you’ve decided that I’m in the wrong!” Laura voiced her complaint.

“There’s nothing wrong about children laughing to themselves.” Master Thales replied, straight-faced.

“I’m not a child!” Laura exclaimed. But, her pouting face made it hard to believe otherwise.

“Why, did I ever say you were?” Master Thales asked innocently.

“That’s right. Laura isn’t a child!” Thera spoke up.

Laura turned to Thera, looking at her as if she were her savior. But the next words dashed her newfound hope.

“She’s the comic relief.” Thera replied with a teasing grin.

“YOU TOO!!!???” She exclaimed, the very appearance of Julius Caesar’s assassination scene when he said, “Et tu, Brute?” Pulling herself together, she waved her arms at them, like an injured beast.

“Feh! You two are meanies! MEANIES!!! See if I ever depend on you again!” She said, frowning and pouting at the same time.

“Oh, so you don’t want the light anymore?” Thera asked, raising her hand to end the spell.

“I NEVER SAID THAT! JUST GO AWAY!” Laura replied angrily, all in one breath.

Laura couldn’t see it, but, behind her back, Master Thales’ shoulder shook as he laughed silently at their antics. Thera saw it, though.

But, as he turned his head to look at her, She looked away, pretending she hadn’t seen anything.

“Hmm?” Master Thales sounded surprised. “Thera, let me see your arm!”

“This one?” She lifted up her left arm, puzzled, and held it out to him. Did she perhaps come into contact with a poisonous plant along the way?

“Yes, that’s the one.” He replied.

Before she realized it, the mana shackle was once more clamped around her wrist. An identical shackle appeared on her right wrist as well.

“AH!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!!!” She exclaimed, upset. She had just found a new toy (coughthewhitestonecough), after all, and now she had to wear this thing again!

“Training.” Was the only reply.

Temeeee![1]She screamed in her heart. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing it.

“Now, where’s my dinner?” He asked expectantly.

Two pairs of eyes glared murderously at him that night.

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The next morning, before even the twilight glow from the rising sun had yet made its appearance, Thera and Laura both woke to the sound of thunder.

A flash of light illuminated the tent wall, briefly. The ground trembled from a nearby impact.

“What is it! What’s happening!” Laura yelled, throwing her blanket off, and scrambling to her feet, disoriented from the sudden awakening.

Thera grabbed her arm, raising a finger to her lips. With that, Laura seemed to calm down and recollect herself.

Thera and Laura both quickly exited the tent, swiftly and silently melting into the shadows. They did not need to wait long before another beam of light attacked the barrier from inside the forest.

“Enemy.” Thera breathed to Laura, who nodded. The two took off towards where the light had originated.

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In the middle of a clearing of recently broken trees, stood a great stone Golem, which was only a bit shorter than the tops of the trees nearby.

There was also no need to question whether this was the cause of the beam, or not, since as soon as they arrived, the Golem opened its mouth and let forth another white-hot beam of energy towards the barrier up above.

Where is Master Thales? Thera wondered as she stared at the giant in front of her. Judging strictly from the power it was radiating, the stone Golem would be a difficult enemy to defeat.

She had read a bit about Golems.

About as old -or perhaps even older than the artifacts- one may still find scattered here and there the remnants of the Hero Magician’s Great Golem Army. Where all the rest disappeared to no one really knew.

They were made out of a thick stone-like material that was incredibly hard to break, as it was covered with a mixture of Mithril and Adamantine and infused with mana. In fact, many Mithril and Adamantine weapons were made from the metals extracted from broken golem parts, which can still be found in several ancient ruins throughout the land.

Magic spells made it so that it could move, and gave it a basic [Program] to follow. Strictly speaking, they were like some kind of magical armored robot. Unless you were recognized as its superior, it would identify you as an enemy.

Thera clearly remembered reading that fighting one of these beings was highly discouraged unless one was a Brown Class. Once engaged, it would be extremely troublesome to finish off without gaining serious injuries.

But, the golem would not recognize a person as its superior unless it was defeated in battle. Which was the reason why it was so troublesome.

“Heh heh heh…what good timing!” Master Thales voice came from behind them.

Although his tone was relaxed, the hairs on the back of Thera’s neck rose in dread anticipation of what she predicted he would say next. Beside her, Laura shivered.

“Go defeat it, you two. This is your last test.”

““EeeehhhHHH!?””

It came! The dreaded order! And furthermore, it was even linked to their qualifications for being Master Thales’ students!

What kind of monsters does he think we are? Lamented Laura.

Meanwhile, Thera was thinking, Weren’t there supposed to be about five more tests!? What happened to the other four!!?OI! Aren’t you being far too lazy here! Both girls glared at Master Thales for completely different reasons.

Thera sighed. Still…this is not going to be an easy battle. I can’t even go all out with my mana sealed. Darn. And I was enjoying things so very much. She then paused, and struck her fist upon her open palm as she realized something. That's right! I could just use that!

She smiled and bowed her head.“As you wish, Master Thales.”

Then she turned to Laura on her left. “Laura, do you know what that is?”

“Erm, is it perhaps one of those things…you know, it’s the…what is it called again?” Laura wracked her brain for the term.“Ah! I remember now! It’s a Gol-a Gol..em, right?”

“Yes. Now, do you know what the weak spot on a Golem is?” Thera asked.

“As I recall, there was only one weak spot, but I can’t recall what it was.” Laura replied. “Could you tell me—”

“It spotted us!” Thera yelled, pulling Laura out of an energy beam that blasted sideways through the forest, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

Thera had already noticed that the Golem halted for about a minute after each blast, before it began to move again.

Thera grabbed the rather dazed Laura by her shoulders. “Listen, Laura, the only weakness is the mana core inside it. If we can somehow reach that, then it will shut down for a while!”

“B-but, isn’t that inside the golem behind the unbreakable rock? How are we going to reach it! This is an impossible task!” Laura was scared. That thing was impregnable and could kill them from a distance with its death ray.

“I’ve got a plan, but I can’t do it without your help, Laura!” Thera said, and pulled out her secret weapon. “If you can do this for me, I’ll call you ‘older sister’ for the whole day tomorrow!”

Twitch.

Laura leapt to her feet. “Ha ha ha! Really!? In that case, I have no choice but to go all out! What do you have in mind?”

“Get down!” Thera growled grabbing her foot and tugging so that she fell on her butt just as another energy blast whizzed by overhead.

In moments they had switched to a new hiding spot.

“I need you to keep it distracted so that I can get close enough to look for a large enough opening.” Thera said.

“Large enough for what?” Laura asked.

Thera winked, slyly.

“The secret weapon, of course.”

[1]Japanese for the ‘you’ in the line, ‘you b*****d”