Liu was worried about losing friends again due to the sll that would linger in his mouth...
"Ah!" Liu snapped his fingers. "The dried herbs! There are so boxes in the back, next to the oil barrels. They're not tasty at all, but they're perfect for killing slls if you chew them."
Liu began walking toward the back of the storage, directly toward the old barrel furniture that no one had moved in months.
'He's just looking for herbs to...' thought the cousin.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed sothing strange in the shadows near the barrels. Was it her imagination, or had sothing moved?
Liu kept approaching, cheerfully chewing his slly preserve while his bat rested lazily on his head. Completely oblivious that he was heading directly toward...
The cousin narrowed her eyes, trying to better distinguish what she had seen. For a mont, she could have sworn she saw the gleam of eyes in the darkness.
♢♢♢♢
In Luna's room...
The absence of Wei's class had made the morning unusually peaceful.
Mayo humd softly while brushing Luna's hair with expert movents, taking her ti to create Luna's perfect favorite hairstyle that she normally had to rush.
Matilda moved around the room with silent efficiency, folding yesterday's pajamas and organizing the training uniform for later classes.
Luna's shadow wolf dozed lazily in a corner, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere.
"We should thank Ren... I have a feeling we'll have several mornings like this after Wei's humiliation," Mayo comnted while braiding a section of hair. "I could send him a bouquet of roses... with a note saying sothing like, 'Thanks for an unhurried morning, with love: Luna'."
Luna rolled her eyes and was about to respond when three firm knocks resonated on the door.
The girls exchanged glances and following protocol...
Matilda opened the door to find two of the new "students". The usual formality in their faces had been replaced by a sense of urgency.
Luna noticed the change imdiately. "Matilda, close the door."
The newcors didn't even wait for the door to close completely.
"Two energy anomalies underground," the first reported without preamble. "Our companions with perception beasts detected them 1 minute ago. Sothing's happening under the school."
"And that's not all," the second added. "The four caretakers assigned to your cousins sent a ssage. They believe they might be in danger again from their 'spy gas' shenanigans."
Luna's wolf entered her shadow, responding to her concern. "Which ga?"
"They went out monitoring again, escaping early and unwatched, it seed safe as always so our team followed from afar, but apparently one decided to follow the mushroom boy," responded the first agent.
"...But the boy went to the caves again today. The energy anomalies... they're enormous. The kind that shouldn't exist under the academy."
"We need to act together," the second agent looked aningfully at Luna.
As agents infiltrated in a children's class, Julius couldn't form too strong a team since age greatly affected the rank children could reach through cultivation ti. Individually they barely reached bronze rank 1 and 2.
Luna vividly rembered the incident with the gold rank 1 agent.
If sothing similar was happening...
"The six of us together can protect them even then, our beasts are specialized in protection and recovery," continued the first. "But if there are serious problems, we'll need total team coordination."
"First we want you to get to safety," added the second agent. "But we need soone to inform the director. If there are intruders of the level of the last incident..."
"Excuse ?" Luna arched an eyebrow.
"You're our primary protection target," the other agent added. "We can't risk anything happening to you while we're all investigating the anomalies."
Luna clenched her fists, her shadow wolf manifesting with more intensity. "My cousin could be in danger."
"And we'll handle it," the first agent insisted. "Please, stay where we can guarantee your safety when we return."
"My lady," Mayo intervened, her usual playful tone completely absent. "What are your orders?"
Luna held her gaze for a long mont before sighing. "Fine. I'll stay... I'll go to the director," Luna decided. "You gather with the others."
The agents nodded, apparently satisfied, and headed for the door, but Luna stopped them.
"And girls," her voice turned icy, "if you find my cousin... make sure she returns safely."
The "students" exchanged a look before nodding. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire
When they left, Mayo and Matilda were already ready, their beasts partially manifested.
"Do you think it's another Yino intruder?" Matilda asked as they followed Luna down the hallway.
"I don't know," Luna clenched her fists. "But if soone hurts my cousin, they'll discover there are things worse than a gold rank 1 beast."
Mayo and Matilda knew that expression on Luna's face too well.
"My lady..." Matilda began.
"Mayo," Luna interrupted while her wolf began rging with the shadows. "Go to the director. Inform him of the situation."
"And you?" Mayo asked, though she already knew the answer.
Luna smiled while the shadows enveloped her. "I'm going to find my cousin. And let no one tell who I can protect."
Before they could protest, Luna had disappeared into the darkness, leaving only the echo of her last words.
♢♢♢♢
"Stop," Ren raised a hand when the tunnel ended abruptly against a crystalline wall that glowed with strange energy. "It's here."
Taro's Living Tunnel stopped, its segnts pulsing while evaluating the new barrier. Ren's hydra sniffed the surface, its crystalline scales resonating slightly with the material.
"Is this...?" Min approached to better examine the wall. "The mana cristal barrier?"
"Yes," Ren ran his fingers over the surface. "But look at this."
His mushrooms pulsed while pointing to an irregularity in the crystal. What appeared to be a solid, impenetrable wall had a crack, barely visible under the living crystal light that coated their tunnel.
They used their beasts and began digging around it until they finally had an entrance...
"It's small," Taro observed, studying the opening. "Very small."
"We'll have to return the beasts," Ren began vanishing his hydra into his body. "It's the only way to get them through."
Ren was the first to try. Used to moving in the small secret tunnels he'd made, it wasn't difficult for him.
Min followed, though he had to contort a bit to pass. His snake remained manifested, being long but not thick managed to slide through the crack with relative ease.
Taro stayed looking at the opening with apprehension.
"I'm not going to fit," he declared after studying it. "I'm more... robust."
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