Unwelcome Interference

As dawn broke the next morning, Aayla dozed next to the warm fire. The air felt much warmer now that the sun was shining. Aayla checked her face, hands and feet for frostbite. She sighed with relief since none of them turned blue and the numbness had long faded away.

She held back a yawn as she stiffly stood up to check her loses. Aayla had gotten little sleep that night. Fire imbued with fire element mana consumes wood at a much faster pace. Constantly maintaining the flames to battle the extreme cold gave her little time to rest. This was not the kind of practice that she had in mind when Ramona told her about this trip.

Snow and freezing rain had stopped falling, but the dark grey clouds still lingered overhead. Her tent and everything outside were completely trashed and thrown throughout the forest. The pieces of wood were nearby at least. However, the shredded tent had been completely blown away.

Fortunately, most of her things were in the snow cave. Aayla didn't carry that much but didn't know exactly what she had since Ramona packed most of it. After setting up the tent, she brought some unopened bags inside the snow cave to see what was inside.

After checking what she lost, Aayla was relieved to realize that she only lost the tent, firewood and some rope. The lamp was broken, but she could make do. She inhaled a quick breakfast then changed into fresh clothes. This time, she put on extra layers and tied a piece of fabric around her face. She made sure to place a flare in one of her inner pockets.

Now that she didn't look like a snow monster, it was time to investigate the Nafriton main camp. With rope in hand, Aayla walked towards the edge of the hilltop. The entire area beneath the two hills was buried underneath tens of feet of slush and snow. The tips of the trees were barely visible. Even part of the river was buried.

Aayla could feel the cold radiating off of the snow below even while wrapping her body in mana. She tied the rope to a nearby tree and carefully descended to the ground below. Her foot easily stepped through the slush as soon as she tried to step on the ground.

She quickly pulled herself back up. The bottom half of her leg felt numb and was covered in ice. Aayla's eyes narrowed. The slush was really weak. It hadn't settled enough to provide some resistance. Even if she had snowshoes, they might not even help. Darn it.

Could the defensive formations withstand the combined force of an avalanche with the extreme cold of ice element mana? She looked across the snowy terrain. It's not going to melt anytime soon, and snow skis probably won't work either. There's no way that she could investigate further.

Unable to walk across the slush without falling through, Aayla climbed back up to the top of the hill. Frustrated, she broke the ice forming on her pants. A little bit of fire element mana and time removed the ice element mana from her pants.

Why hadn't one of the professors arrived yet? They were supposed to drop by three times a day. Aayla felt the flare in her pocket. Ramona told her many times that things worked differently on Tellus. With magic, people could do extraordinary feats.

Earlier, the weather stopped her from launching a rescue and lighting the flare. She was supposed to stay as uninvolved as possible with the Nafriton team. Was this a situation that they could handle? Aayla didn't know what happened to them for sure.

They could be trapped in their bubble underneath the snow. A professor could have already saved them and just not bothered to tell Aayla. What if she called for a professor yet the team was just fine? What if they were already dead?

Aayla gritted her teeth and decided to search as much as she could. If someone didn't show up by lunch time, then she would use the flare. She started to walk back and forth along the hilltop. Occasionally she would climb down to touch the snow drifts below. They stayed as frigid and slushy as ever.

Oddly enough, she found nothing else. No birds chirping, no little furry critters running around, no bears or aquatic creatures. Even the horses didn't leave a trace. Hopefully they were still alive. Getting back to the village would be difficult without them.

As the sun rose further into the sky, the clouds slowly blew away. The temperatures started to rise again. Aayla began another descent down the side of the hill. This section has completely vertical with few hand holds. Aayla had to bring her own knife to chisel hand holds into the soil and rock.

She steadily made her way down the cliffside. Dangling in the middle of her climb, Aayla heard a whinny in the distance. A group of four on what looked like a sleigh travelled quickly through the trees. They worked their way through the snow along the river.

Suddenly, one of the people pointed in her direction. Aayla stayed put and watched as the sleigh changed directions towards her. She squinted to get a better look. It was hard to tell who they were from a distance with their heavy coats.

When they got closer, she finally recognized them. Each was a professor of a participating university. She had seen them all during the final briefing. Technically, she remembered the school crests and the horses pulling the sleigh.

Knowing that the visitors were friendly, Aayla continued her climb down the cliff. When Aayla looked down again, the sleigh had arrived. She was barely three quarters finished with the descent. How did they arrive so quickly?

Well, whatever. They would just need to wait for her to finish. She had to get these hand holds in or climbing back up would be impossible. When Aayla finally arrived on the ground, one of the professors impatiently snorted.

"That took you long enough."

Aayla glanced at the man. The seal of Chinebar National University was emblazoned on his coat. She internally sighed. Of course, the one with the attitude problem would be from CNU. Still, she put a polite smile on her face and lowered her impromptu face mask.

"Hello professors. I'm Aayla Glowery. Are you here for the first daily check in?"

Before the CNU professor could speak, the one from Nafriton interrupted.

"We are. Could you show us where the camp is?"

An awkward expression flashed across her face.

"Yes, but there's a bit of a problem with that."

**********

In an isolated village, no one walked the streets. The villagers seemed to have just vanished overnight. All except for some mysterious strangers wearing badges with a footed cross, the symbol of the True Order. All of them had gathered in the center of the village.

"So, how did our friends like our little greeting? Did their students learn a lot?" (Boss)

"Hahaha! Those arrogant guys from Tigurum are hopping mad. They destroyed that entire hillside where I placed my pet to give their students some practice. Tch. The students didn't get to practice before they cruelly sent off my beloved companion to the afterlife." (Stranger A)

"Stop laughing! Because of your stupid prank the Olafssey students avoided that area as well. They chose a completely different campsite than expected. So, my excellent scheme missed its target. The professors found 'that thing' early this morning." (Stranger B)

"Hmm. And what of the Chinebarian teams? The higher ups don't want to risk exposing our internal allies' plans." (Boss)

"We've made sure to leave them alone, boss. CNU is a bit disappointing. They've overestimated themselves again. There is an unexpected surprise on Nafriton's side." (Stranger C)

"Ramona Heston brought that rumored goddaughter with her this time. The one that even the higher ups didn't know about." (Stranger D)

"What? That first-year with medical problems? This type of training is far too dangerous for an excellent first-year, let alone one like her." (Stranger B)

"That's what our spies in the starting village reported." (Stranger D)

"She's here as Ramona's assistant, not as a part of the Nafriton team." (Stranger C)

The boss rubbed his chin in thought. The higher ups had suddenly placed a lot more emphasis on that girl after the incident with Lysander Foryl rocked the university. He had heard some rumors about her beating that arrogant brat in a magic duel.

"Very good. Keep up the minor testing for now, but don't let it go too far. In particular, keep an eye on Heston's goddaughter. Make sure that our original 'pop quizzes' aren't as demanding as planned. The higher ups don't want to attract any more international attention to the Chinebar Republic for now." (Boss)

The underlings all nodded in understanding then left the village. They had plenty of work to do and their opponents had already caught on to their trail.