"That..."
The most eye-catching Artifact was in the middle of the hall. It was a majestic staff that was floating in mid-air. The staff was pitch black in color and had a beautiful gem attached to it that seemed to be filled with the infinite power of darkness.
The staff was also surrounded by shields of glass from all sides that not only protected the staff from being touched by someone but it also made sure that no one could be affected by the dark aura of the staff. The staff's dark aura was restricted inside the glass chamber.
It was the Ancestral Staff of Darkness! The Staff that Lira was after. Gabriel was extremely close to the staff, but he couldn't take it. It wasn't the time. If he tried now, he knew he was going to be caught.
"I'm sure you're all interested in this staff the most. This is also one of the most precious holdings of the Academy! It's the Staff that was used by the Head of the Church of Darkness! It is the strongest staff that contains the Element of Darkness in existence."
"Using this staff, the Lord of Darkness destroyed many mages of the Alliance that fought him in the great war before he was ultimately defeated by the Elemental Lords of the Holy Alliance."
"There's a great story associated with the Staff actually..."
Noel went closer to the staff and lost himself in the amazing history of these Artifacts. All the students followed behind. Gabriel also followed him, but as he moved closer to the Staff of Darkness, he became even more sure that the Staff wasn't attracting his ring. It was something else here.
Even though he walked closer to the Staff of Darkness, his ring only became less excited, as if it wanted him to go in another direction.
Gabriel stopped in his place, observing the items around him. There were so many items, but what was the one that was attracting his ring? He wanted to rush to all of them, but he knew he couldn't. He had to stay with the group for now.
He kept the ring in control, waiting for a little longer.
Unlike him, it appeared as if Lelin knew exactly what was making him uneasy. He looked to his left. A frown formed on his forehead, but he also stayed with the group for now.
Through the way, he hadn't opened his fists that were firmly clenched.
Gabriel and Lelin had never been this uncomfortable as they were now. They wanted to get to something, but they had to stay with the group.
"It is said that after the Lord of Darkness was killed, his body turned into smoke. His Grimoire also disappeared. However, one thing was left behind. This staff..."
"The war was over, but it was the beginning of another conflict. The negotiations for the Staff of Darkness. All the Alliance Church Lords knew that the Staff of Darkness was dangerous and couldn't be allowed to fall into the hands of a Dark Mage. That all agreed on, but what they didn't agree on was who should keep it."
Noel kept his eyes on the beautiful staff as he talked about the story.
"All of them believed that they should keep it in their Churches, but none of them wanted the others to have it. Even though the Holy Church of Light was the strongest at that time, even it wasn't allowed to keep it."
"So in the end, it was decided that none of them will keep it and that it will be kept at a neutral place, which would be just as secure as the Holy Church of Light!"
"Hahaha, I'm sure you can imagine what place they selected." Noel turned to look at the expressions of the youngsters. "Ever since the destruction of the Church of Darkness, this Staff is with us, gracing our internal Museum. This is also our most precious artifact and the reason there is so much security in the Museum."
"As you can imagine, this is the Holy Staff of Dark Mages, and they have been after it for decades. So we just have to be more careful."
After finishing with his explanations, Noel felt really amused to see the amazed expression of the youngsters. However, his pleased smile disappeared as he noticed that the two students were still not looking as interested as he had hoped.
His face twitched unintentionally. "You two, what are your names?"
Gabriel looked back, wondering who he was talking to.
"I'm talking to you. What's your name?" Noel especially focused on Gabriel this time.
"Karyk," Gabriel answered.
"And yours?"
"Lelin."
"Do you two have a better place you need to be?" Noel asked, supporting a slightly condescending tone. "If you two are not interested in the class, you're welcome to leave at any time. You don't have to force yourself to be here if you don't want to. I've noticed it since the start. You two haven't been paying attention to what I'm saying at all!"
"Who says we aren't?" Lelin fired back. "Does one need to stare at your face to listen to your words? It might come as a surprise to you, but we don't hear through our eyes. We listen through our ears."
Lelin was the calmest person in the first year. Even when someone was killed, he was calm, but currently, he was showing an entirely different side at being scolded.
He was already uneasy because of being in this hall, and on top of that, he was being scolded. He didn't mince his words at the moment.
It was fortunate that he spoke before Gabriel could, attracting all the attention to him. It was unclear how Gabriel was about to react since he was going through the same thing.
"Y-you!" Noel's face turned red. For the first time, a student had talked to him like that. And not only did he talk back, but he also insulted him.
Noel felt as if all the students were judging him at the moment. Everyone was looking at him. He couldn't do anything stupid. Lelin was still a student, after all. He couldn't just attack a child. He also couldn't kick him out of here for talking back since his words weren't wrong either. No one hears through their eyes.
"Is that so?" he asked, trying to control his rage. "Would you mind repeating what I said then?"
Even though Lelin claimed that he was listening, Noel was sure that he wasn't. He actually was distracted. There was no way he heard his words.
Through this question, he believed he had an advantage again. If Lelin couldn't answer how, he could kick him out!
Lelin let out a tired sigh before he started speaking. He repeated exactly what he had spoken about the staff. In fact, somehow, he was able to replicate the exact words that Noel had used! There was not even a single word missing! It was as if not only Lelin heard what was being spoken, but he memorized it as well.
Noel was even more taken aback. Lelin was actually focusing on his words. But how was that possible? Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it now. Lelin had proven. Maybe it was him who was mistaken.
Despite realizing that he was wrong, he didn't apologize.
"Good. Focus on what I'm saying." He turned around, looking aloof. "Moving on..."
"I've shown you the most important Artifact we have; now it's time to show you the most bizarre one." He walked left, hiding his red face, not even glancing back.
This time, Gabriel's ring actually started reacting more intensely. The closer he walked to the next artifact, the most excited his ring became! He was sure! This was it! This was what his ring was calling for! The artifact was right before his eyes!
