"You are finally back huh? Took you long enough.
Just what in the hell were you two doing in there?"
Octavius questioned with an annoyed look on his face as he glanced at the couple who had just been pushed out of the Portal.
Now normally, as the headmaster of the prestigious Agresia Academy, Octavious shouldn't act so informal even if the one he was talking to was his own Grandson, especially considering there were so many other people around.
And to note how big of a deal it was, one could observe the look on some of the students' faces, mind you, none of these students were new, they had all been in the Academy for years and never in their life had they seen Octavius talk like this.
The grand image of Octavius that they had in their mind seemed to be crumbling.
Of course, not that this was the main focus of the day,
The main focus was on the couple who had returned from the Past Era after 18 whole days.
"Hello? Are you two back yet? This is the year 5039. Do you understand our language, hello?" Seeing that the couple still had dazed looks on their faces and were looking around with confused looks on their faces, Octavius questioned as he waved his hands hysterically.
Others couldn't help but laugh out loud as they saw the Headmaster acting like that.
In truth, they couldn't blame the Headmaster either.
Because of the Sheer importance of the Ancient Ruins, once the students entered, the Headmaster of the Academy was required to watch over the Ruins to make sure that no problems occurred.
Therefore, because Vaan and Elara didn't come out for 18 days, Octavius stayed in this place for 18 whole days, this was also the reason why he seemed so frustrated, Vaan, who didn't know that, just glanced at his grandfather with a slightly annoyed look on his face and,
"Greetings, Headmaster.
"
His tone seemed sarcastic. Octavius didn't mind.
He just glanced at Vaan and,
"Are you okay now?"
Vaan looked around again then realizing that he had finally returned to his own Era, he nodded,
"I am."
Octavius nodded as he turned towards Elara,
"What about you?"
"I am good as well, Headmaster," Elara replied as she greeted politely.
Octavius nodded again, then, he started at the two and narrowed his eyes,
"So? What the hell were you doing in there? How did you manage to hide in for such a long time?" Octavius questioned but suddenly, a solemn look appeared on his face as he noticed something,
"Why are you injured?"
"Hmm?" Vaan frowned as he glanced at his body, his clothes had scratches all over the place because of how he and Elara rolled over the ground. Since their Instant Spells were all burnt away, they were unable to heal themselves, so Vaan's entire body was filled with scratches and wounds from rolling and dragging on the ground.
Of course, since a considerable time had passed, the pain he was feeling was still a lot less than before.
Elara wasn't in her best condition either, while her injuries seemed tamed compared to Vaan who was bleeding all over the place even though most of his wounds had dried up, the skin on Elara's right hand had also burnt up, plus, even though Vaan had held her as protectively as he could, she still got in contact with the ground while the two rolled around and received some injuries.
Part of her clothes were burnt by the Flames and noticing that and the burnt marks on her body,
Once again, Vaan couldn't help but think about how only he was unhurt by the flames while Elara wasn't.
Even if the voice that took away Flamey saved him, why didn't it save his Elara?
Vaan couldn't understand.
However, Flamey, as if she knew what her Master was thinking, decided to answer,
"Protect Vaan… Vaan Protect Elara…"
"Well, that is true."
Vaan nodded with a proud look on his face as he glanced at his Elara.
Even if others didn't, he was always there to protect his Elara.
Elara, who heard Flamey's words smiled as well as she looked into Vaan's eyes, the two held each other's hands, and Octavius, who was looking at the entire thing play out stared at them with a deadpan look on his face,
"The two of you still didn't answer my question.
"
His voice interrupted the moment formed between the couple.
Then suddenly, a question popped in Elara's mind,
"Why are they not reacting to Spirits?"
She questioned in a low voice.
"Can't see us…"
Flamey, who heard her answered.
"Why is that?"
Vaan questioned.
"What? You don't know why you are injured?" Octavius's frown became deeper.
"Don't know…" Flamey who knew the question was directed at her shook her head.
She only knew that others couldn't see them, Vaan and now Elara were the exception and if she wanted, then even Elara wouldn't be able to see them but since the girls liked Elara, they had no plans to do it.
"Vaan, the moment your presence is revealed to the people of that Era, you will be sent back here.
No matter how strong your opponent was, there was no way he could injure you, then how…?"
Seeing that the couple didn't seem to be focusing on him, Octavius walked towards the two and then placed his hands onto Vaan's shoulders as he questioned.
"We were caught in a fight between two sides, our presence wasn't revealed but since the scales of their attack were so large, we couldn't dodge.
"
"Scales were big? How big are we talking about here?"
Octavius questioned.
Anything related to the Ancient Ruins and the Past Era was extremely important, so even though the Students had earned the right to enter the Ruins on their own and had no reason to answer Octavius's questions, the Headmaster still wanted to know.
"A 7th Circle Mage died in the battle."
Vaan didn't hide things either.
Even if the man was a little strange, he was still his grandfather, revealing a few things wasn't a problem.
"What!?"
Octavius's expressions changed, by now, Lirael, Isabel, Declan, and Cedric who had long been eliminated and were currently in their rooms received the news about the couple's return and had walked in.
"A 7th Circle Mage died!?" Octavius was shocked.
But more than shock, it was the greed that overtook his eyes,
"Then you must have found something precious, no!?" He questioned, his eyes shining in greed.
Vaan however, sighed as he then pointed at Elara's bag, or… what's left of it since most of it was burnt.
"We barely made out with our own lives, how could we possibly find anything in such a situation?"
"You didn't get anything?"
Octavius was shocked.
Vaan however just shook his head.
"Wait.
"
Suddenly, Declan called out.
When the room turned towards him, he glanced at Vaan and,
"You are telling me, that you stayed inside there for more than 2 weeks, and you came back empty-handed?"
Declan raised his eyebrow, Vaan however, didn't fail to notice the slight smirk on his face.
In an instant, Vaan understood what he was trying to do and couldn't help but chuckle,
"Hmm? With how you are reacting, it seems that you found something extremely valuable, eh?"
"We were teleported in the middle of the forest, how was I supposed to find something valuable, I was unable to find anything, but at the very least, I didn't come back empty-
handed, nor did I waste too much time in there.
Actually, it wasn't just me, all your other team members who separated the instant we got in and returned with at least something, the results weren't exactly rewarding but all of us were actually looking forward to what you would show us, considering you were inside for such a long time, that is.
Though I guess you turned out to be our biggest disappointment."
Declan sighed as he shook his head, showing his disappointment.
"I can't believe your standards are so low, Senior Declan." Suddenly, Vaan sighed as well.
"18 days look a lot to someone like you? I thought someone of your skill level would be able to persist for months."
"I do not specialize in cowardly acts like these and seeing what you got out of it, I am not interested in it either.
"
"It is just how you see things, I guess. Even though we didn't find anything big, as Mages, we got to explore the Past Era when Magic was thriving, it was a heaven for us.
Not to mention we also got to see a 7th Circle Mage going all out, how many people in their lives had seen something like that? I saw a 7 Star Swordsman, people who prayed to the God of Light and even the God of Magic, not only that, we also got to see humans who were abandoned by their Gods. Humans who were backed up by Demons,
I say that the experience we experienced was one of the biggest rewards one could hope for but of course, if others are satisfied by just knowing what sort of plants grew 5000 years ago and by bringing those plants here, then by all means, suit yourself.
"
