Back to Earth: How Did You Guys Survive?

When the six of them exited the portal, they spawned in the middle of a Weapons class.

"Hey look! Isn't those the students that were messing around with the mana crystals and got sucked into a portal?"

"Yeah! I think it's them!"

"How did they get back?"

"What day is it?" Daphne said, shaking herself out of her daze.

"It has been 2 months since you guys disappeared," a second-year answered.

"2 months?" Nishan exclaimed. When he got some weird looks, he quickly lied, "It has only been a day for us!"

"So," they turned around to see Mr. Joshua forcing a smile on his face. "It was foolish of you to play with mana crystals, but I'm... glad that you made it back alive and in one piece. Please, follow me. The teachers would like to know how you got back from Romania, the world where nobody has made it back alive from."

The six of them exchanged glances before trailing after Mr. Joshua, ignoring the stares and whispers around them.

Mr. Joshua led them to the teacher's lounge, where Mr. Bradford, Mr. Simon, Mr. Smith and Ada were already waiting.

"So," Mr. Bradford didn't wait for them to sit. "How exactly did you get back on Earth?"

"We happened to appear near a cave that had mana crystals in it. It's only been a day in Romania," Saltavore said.

"Really?" Mr. Smith looked at Loki. "You, boy. Tell me why are you wearing different clothes from what you wore when you went into the portal."

'Don't slip up or they'll bring in someone with the Ability to detect lies,' Daphne quickly told him mentally.

"We fell into a nearby river," Loki thought hurriedly. "Luckily, Terrence and Seraphine had lots of extra clothes, so we changed into that. We left behind our old clothes in Romania."

"Hmm." It was obvious that the teachers weren't convinced, but they didn't question them any further as Ada addressed Daphne, "I hope that you've changed your mind about the situation. I'm certain that the Powell brothers have filled you in on everything."

Daphne's eyes narrowed. "They have, and I have no intention of doing anything of that sort."

"Doing what thing?" Terrence asked, playing dumb. It seemed that it worked, because Mr. Simon didn't look surprised at his inquisitiveness.

"It's an Original thing," Ada sneered. "Not that you low-levels would understand."

Loki clenched his fists, wondering what would happen if he revealed that he was a Laufeyson and an Original.

'Don't.' Loki turned to see Daphne subtly shaking her head.

"May we leave and go back to our dorms, teachers?" Seraphine asked.

"Very well, you may," Mr. Smith said. "I hope you keep quiet about this whole incident for your own sakes."

Loki gritted his teeth as Daphne gave a curt nod and all but dragged them back to their dorm.

"What do we do now?" Saltavore whispered as they quickly walked back to the dorm.

"We continue investigating The Snakes," Loki said quietly. "We're still Daphne's bodyguards, so we can still stay around her. Saltavore and Nishan have to 'convince' her as well, so they can hang around too. We'll come up with something. Eventually."

"Well, tomorrow is a Saturday, right?" Seraphine said. "We might as well get Loki to level up as fast as possible through the VR combat system."

"Okay, but you guys need to be clean and dressed by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow," Daphne sighed. "My parents wants to meet us at the cafe downtown."

Nishan grimaced. "Well, good luck to you guys for surviving my uncle and aunt."

"Wow. thank. You're so encouraging."

The six of them shook of the tension, washing up and slipping into their beds. As Loki fell asleep, he hoped that that Daphne's parents wouldn't be too upset at seeing their daughter alive and healthy.