Astra surrounded his hands with wind and sliced apart the ropes. He got up and left the infirmary room. Astra took out his map and navigated his way out of the school. When he looked up at the sky, the sun was already setting. Astra didn’t know what to do right now. He wasn’t sure if he should go back to the dorm or not. With the incident that he had caused, wouldn’t it be weird if Astra didn’t get into any trouble at all?

Astra thought about the things that had happened today and sighed. What even happened during his blackout? Wasn’t there someone reliable that he could ask? Someone that he trusted…?

Astra decided to go back to the dorm.

When he got back to the room, no one was there. Everyone’s belongings were gone.

“Guys? Anyone here?” Astra shouted.

No response.

There was a sheet of paper on Astra’s desk. Astra walked over to his desk and picked it up.

“Hey, Astra. This is Watson. Due to some circumstances, probably due to the commotion that you caused today in the classroom, this room has been cleared out, and you are now the sole resident of the room. I was adamant to leave, but the principal himself came and told us to leave it all up to him...We will meet again, Astra. Take care and be safe.”

Astra smiled. Even after the troubles, he caused in class today, Watson was still willing to be friends with Astra.

Astra noticed that there were two more sheets of paper on his desk.

“Slow and steady wins the race! -Diddle”

“Farewell -Jayce.”

Astra chuckled. What was Diddle even talking about? Using a single word to say goodbye, quite Jayce-like.

Astra decided to take a nap before eating. His mind and body were both exhausted from everything that had happened today.

…

..

.

Knock. Knock.

Who was it? Astra got up from the bed and walked towards the door. It shouldn’t be any of the guys...but if it weren’t them, who would it be? The principal?

Astra opened the door.

“Hello, Astra.”

It was Isabella Phoenixvale. Her soft gaze seemed to make Astra forget everything that had happened today. Her tight, blue robe accentuated her beautiful figure and emitted a pleasant aura.

Astra stared at her for a moment before replying, “What are you doing here?”

Why would Isabella of all people come to visit Astra? This whole situation was weird.

“Have you eaten yet?” Isabella asked.

Astra’s stomach grumbled. He had planned to eat after his nap.

“No, I haven’t,” Astra said.

“Great! Come have dinner with me,” Isabella walked down the hallway.

Astra had only now noticed that another person was standing behind Isabella the whole time. The person was wearing a fox mask and a black cloak.

Astra was curious what Isabella wanted to do with him, so he quickly followed behind her.

Isabella led the way to the cafeteria, but instead of the first floor, she went up to the second floor. She threw a medallion at the clerk.

“He’s with me for today.”

The clerk smiled before handing back the medallion a moment later.

Astra and Isabella sat at a dining table with two seats facing each other.

Isabella rested her chin on her hands.

“So, Astra Gale huh? Fifth place on the mana test. Pretty impressive.”

Astra raised his eyebrow, “…Thanks?”

Astra wasn’t a talkative guy to begin with and had no idea how to continue the conversation.

“I heard about what you did in enchantment class today. Quite an ordeal. I’m surprised that you haven’t been imprisoned yet,” Isabella said smugly.

“Me too,” said Astra. “So, what do you want with me?”

Isabella chuckled coquettishly, “Can you guess?”

“I don’t know. Stop playing games with me,” said Astra sternly.

“Fine, fine.” Isabella lifted her chin off her hands. “Are you interested in an expedition? One of our members had some matters to attend to, and we require one more person.”

Astra crossed his arms, “Why me? There are probably tons of other people better than me.”

“I’m looking for strong and suitable people. Coincidentally, who better than a person who has a lot of free time and was ranked fifth on the mana test?” Isabella smiled.

Isabella did have a point. Astra didn’t have anything planned for the moment since he was suspended from all his classes.

“Tell me more about it,” Astra said.

A waiter came with plates full of food.

“Sure, you can listen while you eat,” Isabella pushed the plates in front of Astra.

In front of Astra were slabs of marbled meat, crispy fried chicken, and a side of salad topped with glazing white mayonnaise.

Astra had never seen anything like this. The amount of food here could feed his family back at the village for three days.

Astra took a bite of the meat.

It melted in his mouth and left him hungry for more.

Astra devoured the slabs of meat and started on the chicken.

The crunchiness of the chicken stimulated every single inch of his mouth. The juices from the chicken oozed out and made his tongue dance with joy.

Astra gobbled up the rest of the chicken and looked at the salad. The white sauce on top was unknown to Astra, and he didn’t know why leaves and grass would be an item on the menu.

Astra took a big spoonful of the salad and plopped it into his mouth.

The lettuce was surprisingly crunchy along with the crumbles of cheese. The creamy dressing complemented the sweet cherry tomatoes and crusty croutons.

Astra finished up the lettuce and sat there in satisfaction.

“So?” Isabella asked.

“The food was delicious,” Astra chirped.

“...Did you even hear anything that I just said?” Isabella laughed.

“Oh...Could you repeat what you said?” Astra was astonished at how good the food was. His entire being had only focused on his sense of taste and disregarded anything else.

“Forget it, I have matters to attend to. I will leave a letter for you. If you agree to the expedition, burn the letter.” Isabella snapped her fingers, and the person with a fox mask appeared beside Isabella. She whispered to the fox mask, and the fox mask immediately ran off.

“See you soon, hopefully.” Isabella walked off.

Astra stared at the table. Isabella had left her portion untouched. Astra quickly finished off her food and left. He didn’t understand why anyone would leave such good food uneaten.

When Astra returned to the room, there was a letter slipped under the door. It contained the information about the expedition.

“Palace of Sloveus: A legacy left behind by the master enchanter Sloveus, a Blue ranked mage.

Portal to Sloveus’ dimension opens in three days near the Dense Southern forests outside the outskirts of Ascelyn City.

Dimension will close in seventy hours after it has opened.

Isabella’s party will meet in the plaza in three days at dawn.”

Astra looked at the back of the paper; there was an inscription on the back of the letter. This must be why Isabella told him to burn the paper if he agreed, it would activate some signal because of the inscription and alert Isabella. Astra conjured up a small flame and burnt the letter to ashes.