Chapter 17 : Professor Smiley

In a random underground room in the Smiley Mansion located in the middle of the Forsaken Land, surrounded by death as no weeds dared to even grow there, an evil scheme was falling into place as planned. A scheme to wipe out an entire species was unfolding as Lyte was trying to figure out what to make out of the difficult situation he was in with the two ladies accompanying him in terrible conflict.

There, standing in the dark where the only light source was from a glowing statue in the middle of the room, was Professor Smiley. Professor Smiley was an old man with short and messy grey hair. He wore glasses that could make Harry Potter jealous as it was almost as huge as his face. Professor Smiley was – of course – wearing a white lab coat with a yellow button up underneath and a pair of black slacks. His black tie was pulled down halfway while his shirt was only buttoned up to the third button, showing part of the black shirt underneath it all. Oddly enough, he was also shamelessly wearing pink fluffy bunny slippers with no socks on. He had the stereotypical mad scientist look which was complemented by a cigarette held between the middle finger and the index finger of his left hand. His right hand was placed on the item looming tall in the dark in front of him.

The huge object in front of Professor Smiley was none other than the cursed Wind Goddess Statue that Lyte sought which was illuminating the pitch black room with a soft grass green glow. The statue looked as it was named. The unique stone was carved into a female sylph wearing a delicate ancient Greek robe. Her left hand was slightly outstretched towards the sky as if it was preparing to catch a fallen leaf. On her right hand, she held a staff carved with amazing details of different types of leaves.

Professor Smiley looked hungrily at the statue with his green eyes that resembled a wolf's eyes as he caressed the statue using his right hand. The look he gave the statue was creepy, as if it was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on. It was as if the statue was his lover that had been turned to stone, but that was not a possibility. His wife, Melissa, died two decades ago from childbirth.

Melissa was a beautiful lady with long silver hair that would shine like the surface of a still lake when the sun shone on it and wine red eyes that could make any men weak in their knees. It was unfortunate that she had to pass at a young age of 35. She lost too much blood and she passed as soon as she gave birth to her daughter. She did not even get a chance to see her daughter's face.

It was not easy, not at all, to get the statue in his possession. He had to gain the trust of one of the sylph guards by acting and disguising as a travelling mage named Ben who was on a hunt for more knowledge to become an elite mage. He had achieved his goal when opportunity stoke as one of the clan leader's cousin was deathly sick. Professor Smiley cured the poor boy using a healing elixir created by his daughter and thus began the friendship between 'Ben' and the Sylph Clan. They showed him all that was not meant for outsiders, such as the cursed Wind Goddess Statue.

After 'Ben' laid his eyes on said statue, he immediately returned to his lair and hand carved a replica with the help of his carving skills from his parents and his photographic memory. He finished it in only a week. When he was done, he sprayed sleeping gas in a three kilometres radius of the cursed Wind Goddess Statue's location at night to ensure even the light sleepers would not wake to the sound of his crime. Then, he waited until all the sylphs close by were asleep and he sneaked into the chapel where the statue was situated. The security was not great because it was well hidden from sight in a secret room and anyone who might do anything bad with the statue were not welcomed near the chapel, except 'Ben'. No one could have thought there was the slightest chance that the statue would be stolen.

The statue was swapped swiftly with the decoy and nobody noticed that it was a fake until a week later. It was only when one of the seven sylphs in charge of cleaning the statue noticed that the carvings on the staff was slightly different. It was hard to notice but it was there – one missing leaf. That was all it took to expose the fake double. The sylph luckily had a habit of counting the leaves on the staff while he cleaned the staff held by the statue and he was certain it was a fraud. A revealing spell confirmed it as the rock in the chapel did not have the special quality the original had.

By then, the cursed Wind Goddess Statue was long gone along with 'Ben'. A search was organised to retrieve the sacred item, but the efforts did not fruit success. They eventually gave up the search and hoped that it would be returned to them someday. They decided to keep this shameful defeat to themselves. However, these sorts of secrets were not kept well and eventually, some mages found out. But they were kind enough to keep it a secret among themselves and not tell anyone who did not need to know about it. They even decided to help the sylphs in one day returning the cursed Wind Goddess Statue back to the Sylph Clan.

Professor Smiley grinned happily as he could finally achieve his life goal of wiping the Sylph Clan out of existence. All he needed to do was to wait for a special delivery that his daughter was bringing to him to complete his dream – a Keeper.