The sun arose on the campus of the academy; the stands that were built to advertise the various professions that the establishment offered to teach still stood on their original spot. The spun fabric soaked in the morning rain as mist crept over the walls - the students that sat underneath it now gone. A few faint blue lights lit up the paved walkways that led around the main building and towards the ones surrounding it; the halls were somewhat crowded for this time, commotion brewing at the left behind rubble of yesterday.
Midas snapped his eyes open, his breathing fastened as he hastily looked around - waking up in the underground layer Qayid and the others resided in. His back sore from sleeping on an aged wooden stool, he got to his feet, his palm on the table as he rubbed his lids. The underground was completely silent - eerie but strangely secure, most likely providing him even more safety than his own dorm. Whoever the child of the commander employed to attack him - Midas was sure that the info about his dorm, name, and most likely also classroom was in the hands of him.
Looking at the left-behind papers, half-mindedly scanning the left-behind scribbles and texts written on them, the youth couldn't help but theorize that the academy's head was somehow involved. Was Avalon tricked? He seemed to trust him quite a lot - and he also was cooperative about allowing Midas to skip the theoretical exam; however, he was sure that information like this must have been stored inside his office.
Then again, the head commander of the Water Kingdom knights and the Troi'Facon most likely had a good connection to each other, giving his son the leverage to force the academy head to give out this information - perhaps using his father to encourage the Troi'Facon to cut their funding of the academy if he resisted. Hearing a distant wooden crate creak from the distance, he was eventually able to hear its lid falling to the cobble floor. Grasping the handle of his sickle, he saw Qayid slowly emerge from it, stretching his broad frame with a groan.
"Oh... it's you."
Yawning, Qayid scratched his stomach as he wandered sleepily to the table, sighing as he sat down, eventually grasping the two-handed hammer he wore onto his lap and inspecting it with tired eyes. Midas's hand on his sickle slowly let go of its handle, glancing at him before inspecting the papers that were scattered atop the table.
"Montcanal sits on top of endlessly deep ruins; some of the water canals it uses today were already used in the old world. Rumor says that the height of every ring the city is made out of fits into the underground ruins beneath it."
"Must be profitable to go explore there... even though the Crascender ruins were unpleasant enough - who knows what might linger at that depth..."
Qayid laughed slightly, his head falling back as he leaned into his seat, eventually returning to polishing the head of his hammer he kept on his lap. He stayed silent for a while as his smile dimmed, examining a pile of scribbled maps of long-forgotten rooms. His eyes eventually looked at Midas, examining him as he stared down onto the table.
"Oh, now I know... you were there with Patriq, our newest member in the guild... or whatever Ivyda called you."
"We barely managed to take out this stone being. We could've lost someone if it weren't for your help. I still owe you for helping us..."
"Yeah, now I remember. Haya got his burn marks from then... Don't worry though, you don't owe me anything. These ruins I mentioned underneath Montcanal, guilds, and knight troops of all kinds enter them - only a few coming back. I only briefly went in there once, and from what I heard... Cascrender was only a warm-up to that. I see everything I do for me or others as preparation for the day I go down there..."
"Now that you're here... Jakal told me about what happened to your dorm. Why did you let them run...? These people won't stop trying to suppress us, no matter if you treat them with kindness."
"They had to have been sent out by someone - I'm sure of it."
"We could've interrogated them... then we would've already known the person behind it... You know what - go find them. We need every bit of info we can get... that might also give us a chance to reach the brat of the head commander."
Seeing his stern brows directed onto him, Midas eventually got himself to walk up the stairs; if Gilt had pummeled a knight instead of them in that moment, he most likely wouldn't be so reluctant to use them for information. His goal at the end was Skye after all - the image of her smile as she stood beside the commander's son not leaving his head once he thought of her. As if their effort to reach her was all in vain since she already accepted her fate of simply being a possession of nobility.
Something that bothered Midas about the exchange with the masked enemy was the fact that all they did was to either keep him at a distance or allow them to hide - nearly drowning him inside the tower was their only try to end his life. Midas was unsure, but they seemed stressed - as if they were told to drench his room and then flee as fast as they could instead of ending his life as soon as he got there.
In theory, the hallway that led to his and Utelis's room was enclosed enough for them to use the same technique they applied to the tower, killing the three of them as soon as they realized something was off. Groaning silently, Midas walked the path between the first and second compartments the main academy building was made of, heading to the destroyed wall Gilt left behind. Students gathered around the hole in the wall, surprised whispers exchanging through the crowd as they stood behind wooden blockades.
"My family is tasked with paying for the construction, you know..."
Midas's back stiffened, clutching the handle of his sickle as soon as he saw the same blue scarf from yesterday wrapped around the neck of who stood behind him - making the blonde boy raise his hands with an uneasy grin.
"Relax... They have my water stone now. I... I failed, so they left me."
Trying to grin despite his situation, the boy forced himself to laugh dimly - unable to not make it sound more like a sigh, self-pity staining his tone. Midas kept his eyes on him, then back at the destruction - wooden scaffolding was built from the second floor, reaching one window to the other of the second compartment. From it a cloth was hung to cover the hole - secured by rope.
"They...?"
Midas eventually stopped tensing further, sighing as he turned to look at the construction in front of the crowd surrounding them - hopefully emerging deep enough for no one to notice their exchange. Laughing nervously under his breath, the boy stepped beside him, scratching his head as his fingers fiddled with the hem of his tie.
"Well, the funny thing is I never actually got to see him. I only get to report to someone who lives in the upper dorms that are on the roof - we exchange through his door... I only hear his voice from there."
"And he was the one who encouraged you to help them in the first place?"
"No... his voice was different. He walked up to me during one of my classes - long before you arrived. With him were two other people, but they wore hoods and waited at the entrance of my classroom, so I wasn't able to see them. He told me he could pay me to work for him, that doing so would greatly improve my reputation since he is the son of the head commander... so naturally I accepted."
Trying to not give away how scared he was, he awkwardly smiled at Midas - his stern eyes never blinking as he stared at him in silence. Swallowing hard as he heard about what he did to his opponent during the practical exams, the blonde boy laughed again before grasping his shoulders to desperately turn his body towards him, shaking him pleadingly.
"You have to understand... I needed the money, okay...? My parents completely gave up on me when I failed my first Trestempo at the academy - now they don't even look at me. And after... what you did, no - whatever was inside of you. I'm even more of a failure to them if they see how much the construction will cost..."
Shushing him as he pressed his palm against his mouth, Midas was able to see some nearby students facing them - carrying him away with his arm wrapped tightly around his neck. Gilts' existence and the fact it was behind the destruction should stay between them at all costs - he had to ensure that this loudmouth kept quiet about that. Having made some distance from the crowd, the youth let go of the blonde boy, leaning against the outside wall of the academy building.
"Listen. You'll keep your mouth closed about what happened to me during our fight... plus, you'll also tell me everything you know about the guy that lives on the roof dorms."
"What...? But I only lose then..."
Hearing his pleading tone again as he sat down on a wooden bench with a dimly annoyed face, Midas's expression grimmed - grasping his sickle again. Grinning quickly again, he raised his arms at him, trying to calm him down.
"Relax... I will give you what you want, okay...? I was just messing around; who knows what could've happened to me if you didn't regain control... My poor face would be ruined."
"Speak already..."
Midas groaned tiredly, letting go of the old metal again as the sun slowly emerged between parting clouds and dissolving mist - the sound of the two dining halls on the other end of the middle compartment's hulling through the pathway they sat down in. Now that he looked up at the roof of the building, the five floors of it seemed much taller than he expected.
"There isn't that much I know of... on the highest floor of the second compartment is a hallway only leading to dorms that are solely used by nobility - the first room to the left was the room I spoke with him in... I was tasked to watch who entered and left the academy gate, then I had to report back to him. But I never actually hurt anyone...! I only sabotage or destroy things if they order me to..."
"Listen, about your dorm, I'll take care of it - "
"No, don't. I will take care of it... Thank you for your help anyway."
The blonde boy silently watched as Midas walked away, silently surprised he was let go so easily - the feeling of being on his own again, however, began to creep up his back as he watched Midas leave him. Clutching his teeth, he hurried to stop him, holding onto his shoulder.
"Wait a moment - people like you won't be able to go any further past the third floor... every set of stairs is guarded on the higher floors to make sure the nobles are secure. You'll need my help if you want to reach that room..."
"I'll dispose of some guards..."
"No, you won't - especially after what happened yesterday. The fact that this kind of destruction can happen so close to the sleeping quarters will most likely spread around and eventually lead those in charge to increase security further than that...! Even with a sun shard, you will be easily beaten by them - nearly every one of them has a water stone slotted into their blade."
Midas turned to the blonde boy again, his expression more thoughtful than stern, eventually looking at the ground to think. If a fight between him and a guard would break out, it would most likely be heard from the higher floors through the walls - especially if his opponent warns another guard nearby; if it was true that each of them had a water stone, fighting two or more would get too risky. Weighing out his options, his eyes landed on the boy again - forcing himself to comply.
"Yes, you are probably right..."
"If you want, I will help you with disposing them quietly and keeping your back clear... I only know the basics of handling a sword,disposing of but it might be enough to make a difference."
"I will have to find someone who might be willing to help us regarding that. I'm sure that if they know that getting to this guy you mentioned will help us reach the commander's son, I can find at least one who is in on it. I'm sure you can join us then if it goes well enough..."
Midas watched as the eyes of the blonde boy widened, grinning at what he told him - he could tell that he was excited to show off; this was not the type of person who would do harm if they weren't forced to do so.
"You'd let me be your actual friend...?"
"Yeah, just don't mess it up..."