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Today is the second day Robin spend in the unknown world.
He tried to move his neck slowly only to find it hurts. He should blame the old, rusty sofa that he used as his bed last night.
Then he reached his phone that's inside his pants' pocket and looked at the time. It's a weird discovery he found last night before he went to bed: his phone is still usable in this unknown world. He can even access the internet since he still has signal. Though the 50% displayed on his screen alarmed him a bit. He could probably borrow someone else's charger, maybe it'll work.
"6," he mumbled after looking at the hour on the screen. Right. He needs to go to school. He sat up slowly then grabbed the blazer Mr. Crowley gave to him yesterday. He looked at his reflection from the phone's camera. Adjusting the hairpin on his right side of bangs, he sorted out things he should do today.
Trying to gain more information about this place, study, borrow someone's charger, and search for sour candies. Yeah. Sounds like a good plan. He gave his hair a quick swipe before putting his phone into the pocket and walked towards the door.
The air is quite chilly considering it's spring, good thing he put his hoodie on. Carefully closing the old creaking door, he then walked to the school while enjoying the scenery. He remembers the way, he thinks. And that was later proven correct when he saw seven statues lined perfectly.
The villains' statues look a bit rusty, but they're still shiny nonetheless. Someone must be taking care of it carefully. It even captured their emotions and the flow of their outfit perfectly. He's not an art nerd but he knows it needs a high level of skill to make these kind of statues. Must be a very good magic or crafter to make them.
"I know the statues are good, but it's not that breathtaking, you know."
Robin heard someone talked behind him. And that voice, that sounds familiar... where did he have heard that voice? He turned his face and greeted by the one who helped him yesterday. But one thing that's different from him is the heart on his face is painted with red paint instead of black. It suits him more, though. With overall every part of his body has red on it. And yes, he's also talking about those red sneakers as well.
"Wait, aren't you from yesterday?" He asked, finger pointing into him. Robin nodded hesitantly, and he swore he could see his eyes lightened up. He walked quickly to his side with a big grin.
"Whoa, you're still alive! So, did you find your dorm?" Robin knows he's curious, but he couldn't help himself from noticing the slight teasing tone on his voice. Well, he couldn't blame him. He must've been look so weird yesterday. Claiming he's uninvited in a school that's located nowhere and knows nothing about the world's system to someone who just entered the school... a very freaky behaviour.
"Yeah, now I'm a student here. Thanks to you I could meet the headmaster." He lets out a proudful "hmm!" in response to Robin's answer. He must be so damn proud of himself, look at that wide grin on his face.
"Why, of course! I know the headmaster won't be that much of an asshole that would kick you from here." He extended his hand in front of Robin, grin doesn't leave his face. "I'm Ace Trappola, by the way. Hope we can get along, buddy!"
Oh, he's hoping Robin would grab his hand. It's just a handshake, not something big. It won't hurt his hand. He already wrapped them nicely with bandages, after all. Just a small handshake. No need to grab it firm, and make it quick.
"I'm Robin Urton." With full of hesitation, Robin grabbed Ace's hand. Ace's hand was warm, it made Robin relaxed a bit. But maybe Ace is not feeling the same from his movement. Judging from Ace's hand jolting for a quick moment, his hand must be really cold. Heh, blame him for forgetting to cover his body with anything last night. Ace looked down at his hand that's wrapped with bandages. His eyebrows furrowed and the smile dropped.
"What the hell happened to your hand?" He asked curiously as he tried to take a better look on Robin's hand. It was Robin's turn to jolt in surprise. By instinct Ace tighten his grip on Robin's hand so he can't take his hand away, and it made the other boy hiss. The reaction made Ace loosen the grip he has on Robin's hand while voicing his confusion.
"Just a minor injury, nothing big," the brown haired boy answered in a heartbeat. He quickly take back his hand, already feeling uncomfortable with the physical contact despite he's enjoying Ace's warmth. The frown didn't leave the auburn haired boy, but he didn't press the topic any longer and just muttered, "whatta weirdo...," under his breath.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry for that. But how long are we going to be here? Do you want to be late on your first day studying? Let's go." Ace patted his back like it's a signal for him to move. Robin took a glance on his hand to make sure his hand is okay and Ace noticed his action.
"Uh... sorry for my hard gripping. It's still fine, I think," says Ace while scratching his nape with eyes that didn't meet Robin's. Robin said nothing and just walked after giving Ace a quick glance. Ace took a deep breath then followed the taller man.
They walked to the school hall and met the headmaster there. Mr. Crowley waved his hand to the both of them as if he's signalling them to come to his place. Robin walked to Mr. Crowley's direction without thinking twice, meanwhile Ace is following him with doubt.
"Good morning, Urton," greeted Mr. Crowley. Robin bowed his head as a response. The headmaster looked at Ace and asked, "is he your friend? Good morning to you, too."
"I just met him," answered Robin while Ace bowed at the headmaster. Mr. Crowley smiled at Ace then clapped his hands as if he remembers something.
"Right, Urton. You now have a dorm mate! Say hello to...," he lifts both of his hands to reveal the black cat that caused yesterday's chaos. Both of them stepped backwards in unison and it made the headmaster chuckled in amusement.
"Don't worry, he'll behave. Well technically, he's not officially your dorm mate. Just going to keep him in custody since we don't know where did he come from. Can you take care of him?" Robin scratched his temple as he sighs. Based from Ace's judgement, it seems like the other boy doesn't want to bear that cat. But then Robin stretched his arms and grabbed the cat that started squirming on his arms.
"Let me go! I'm a student here, too!" Yelled the cat angrily at the young man that's holding him. Robin didn't say anything, his face remained flat, but everyone can sense the rage from his poker face. Yikes, it seems like Robin really dislikes this cat.
"Oh, and Urton, for your class, you're on 1-A, okay? Now, off you go!" The headmaster gave Robin a little push, signalling for him to go. "Don't make Mr. Crewel wait!"
The Heartslabyul boy gave the Ramshackle one a quick glance, bowed to the headmaster, and walked with the other boy.
"You're in 1-A? Hell yeah, bro, you're in the same class as me! Hope we can be a good classmate!" Robin nodded, looking at Ace while releasing the squirming cat on his arms. He extended a hand to Ace, expecting another handshake. It made Ace stopped walking and stare at Robin's extended hand with a confused look.
"Good luck for the both of us," Robin spoke. "I thought this may fit the situation," he adds. Ace furrowed his eyebrows listening to Robin.
"You're fucking weird," commented Ace. The other boy thought Ace doesn't want to grab his hand, but when he wanted to pull back a hand with glove grabs his hand and he saw a grin flashed to him. Though Ace's grip wasn't as strong as before, maybe he's trying to be more careful with Robin's bandaged hand. "I didn't say I hate your freakiness, though."
"C'mon, let's go! Don't wanna make a bad impression on the first day!" Ace pulled his hand and gave Robin a smack on his back then he started running. Robin gave the black cat a look, signalling for him to move too. The cat huffed at Robin, but followed him nonetheless.
The first day wasn't very difficult for Robin. Sure he has to study from zero since he's not from here, but the materials aren't that hard for him. Though Ace probably thinks otherwise, judging how quickly he zoned out in class— or maybe he's just uninterested. Meanwhile the cat seems a bit too enthusiastic to be in NRC to pay attention to the class.
It's already lunchtime. Before Robin could examine the class or their classmates, Ace dragged both of them to the cafeteria as he yawned and ruffling his own hair.
"That was so boring! I'm glad it's finally break time. Let's see what the cafeteria has!" He stretched his arms then walked slower while taking bigger steps. Robin who walked behind him tried to match his tempo even though he fails and accidentally hit Ace. The cat saw them and let out an identical laugh he made yesterday, seems like he's so amused with it.
"Dude, you can just walk beside me, you know," comments Ace. Robin didn't answer. Instead he avoided his gaze. Ace frowned–probablh for the third time today, he's not taking Robin's reaction as an answer. So he draped an arm over Robin's shoulder and says, "you're not a chick who needs to follow its mother."
Soon they arrived at the cafeteria. It was crowded, and it made Robin even lazier to eat even though he didn't eat since yesterday. Well, he still has two candies left, it's enough for his meal today.
Yet, Ace looked at him while saying, "I'm jumping in to that mass. You're getting your own food, or do you want me to grab yours as well? You'll have to pay extra madols, though!"
"I'll go grab my own stuffs, don't worry," he answered as he snuggled free from Ace's hand. Ace flashed him a grin. "Save me a seat if you found one!" Then he went to the crowd. Robin turned and looking for empty seats, but just then he remembered there's a cat tailing both of them. He seems like he wants to eat, too.
"Don't cause a mess, find yourself something to eat." Robin threw the cat several madols which he quickly grabs. "Don't get lost, I'll find a table for us." After that he walked away from there, while the cat joined the crowd as well.
He found a table for them. It was in the middle of the room, near the chandelier. A pretty good place actually. He's going to clean it up a bit since the former people who sat here didn't clean their mess. Once he thinks it's enough, the boy sat down and popped a candy into his mouth. After a while, his friend came with his own food.
"They ran out of spaghetti so I brought toast. Tsk, I guess we were too late to come here," commented Ace as he took a seat in front of Robin. Before Ace ate his lunch, he realised the cat wasn't with Robin.
"Oy, where's the cat?" Robin looked up to him, then he eyed the crowd. Ace followed his gaze, and chuckled a bit. "I doubt someone will notice him since he's that small. Well, goodluck." Robin didn't comment anything afterwards while Ace took a bite of his food.
"Sorry, is the seat beside you empty?"
Both the freshmen looks up to find a dark haired boy with spade paint on his right eye looking at them. He was holding a tray with omurice, probably his lunch. Robin squints, he thinks he saw this person's face on the class. The other boy avoided Robin's gaze and looked at the empty seat beside Ace. "I want to seat but I didn't find any empty seats, so...."
"Oh, you're a freshman too, aren't you? Seat here," Ace answered in-between his munches. The other boy muttered thanks as he sat beside Ace. Ace swallowed his food then asked another question. "I think I saw your face before, you're from Heartslabyul?"
"You should've remembered the face of your dorm mate, you know...," murmured the black haired Heartslabyul boy. Ace lifted an eyebrow and stopped eating his sandwich. "Did you say something?"
"Nothing. Deuce Spade, nice to meet you guys," said the boy–Deuce. Ace quickly offered him a handshake, which he accepts quickly.
"Ace Trappola, and that one is Robin Urton. He's a little freak, though." Ace could feel Robin looks at him in disagreement, but since he doesn't voice any complaint it's not a big deal, right?
"Nice to meet you, Urton." Deuce nodded a bit to Robin and the other boy nodded back. Just then, the little cat came to their table with a big bread on its mouth.
"Whoa, big bread you have there, little one! Isn't that the expensive double beef sub?" Ace asked after whistling in amusement. The cat growled at him while he took a big bite from the bread.
"I have a name, idiot! It's The Mighty Grim!" Hearing that made Robin remember that they, in fact, never asked for the cat's name. They keep on addressing him as a cat.
"Hi, Grim. I'm Deuce Spade," Deuce introduced himself to Grim who flashed him a grin before busy consuming his food. "How much does that cost? From what I heard from the upperclassmen it's quite high."
"35 madols!" To which the cat answered that made two out of three people opened their mouth in unison.
"35?! That's a lot... even my weekly expenses is lower than that...," mumbled Deuce, his voice sounds sad.
"I know! That's why I stole it!"
....
The group went silent.
"What?" The Heartslabyul boys asked in sync. Grim hummed as he's enjoying his food. Ace looked at Deuce who looks at him back.
"I must've misheard that, right?" Deuce nodded groggily. "There's no way this microscopic creature could done that."
"I heard you two, y'know! I really did steal it! I didn't spend any money on it!"
The group went silent, again.
But not long after that Ace bursted out laughing. Deuce was still left speechless, his jaw still opens wide. Robin didn't say anything, but his skeptical face tells what he's thinking about.
"AHAHAHA WHAT THE FUCK??? That's ridiculous! It's your first day, and you already STEAL! You're not even an official student!" The redhead started hitting the table, showing how amused he is with this. He was the only one laughing yet his laughter was as loud as four people laughing. Robin could even see tears prickling in the corner of his eyes. Damn, he's really enjoying this.
"That's bad! You should go back and pay!" complaints Deuce. He stood up and tried to grab the cat, but the cat was faster to escape. Grim sticks out his tongue at Deuce after he swallowed the whole thing.
"Don't wanna! I already ate all of it! Few students even do the same!" Deuce tried to grab for the cat again but failed. "That doesn't mean you have to do the same!"
"Catch me if you can!" shouted the black cat. Deuce pulled out his magic pen but didn't cast any spell. It seems like he couldn't find any suitable spell to cast in this crowded place without attracting their attention.
"What? You can't do magic?" asked Ace, his voice is thick with mocking. "How you could get here if you can't do that?"
"S–shut up! I just don't know what to cast!" Deuce talked back at his fellow dorm mate. Ace leaned to the table with one hand on his cheek and a shit eating grin on his face.
"Dude, it's just a cat. It's not that difficult. There are many ways to capture it with easy magic yet you can't pick one?" mocked Ace. Robin straightened up his seating position. This seems like it will end ugly, he might escape slowly out of this.
"Then, why don't YOU get thrown?!" Deuce snapped. He pointed his pen at Ace. Before Ace could proceed anything, he was starting to float. While the Heartslabyul boys are fighting, Robin pushed his chair away from them. He doesn't want to get involved on whatever happens next.
"Are you dumb?!" shouted Ace as he is in the air. Deuce yelled, "shut up!" before throwing him to the cat who's luckily away from the crowd. One problem: he's under the chandelier.
And Ace's left arm hits the chandelier. Though he successfully landed on top of the loud black cat, the chaos they made was loud enough to make several students look at them. Not to mention they just hit the school's famous chandelier. And it's their first day as a student in this school. How problematic can they be?
"Fuck, that hurts! Think first before you do something, idiot!" Ace tried to stood up and was so ready to jump at Deuce but when he stood up he found the headmaster glaring at him. The crowd that was busy with their own suddenly stopped. Ace could physically feels his heart fell to his knees.
"Just what were you doing?!" That was probably the first time Robin heard Mr. Crowley mad. Completely different from the image he made yesterday.
"I–I'm so sorry...!" Deuce said, he was shaking and started bowing frantically at the headmaster. Mr. Crowley dragged both Ace and Deuce out of the cafeteria. The masked man looked at Robin and motioned him to pick up Grim and go outside as well. Robin grabbed the cat and followed him.
"I'm so sorry, headmaster! I didn't mean to do that!" Deuce apologized again once they were outside. "Please, forgive us!"
"Just how much did you know that thing cost? And for causing chaos... I can kick all of you from this school, you know!" Mr. Crowley crossed his arms. Both Ace and Deuce let out a shocked gasp before apologising again.
"Please anything but that, sir! I'll do anything to fix my mistake! Please! I can't tell my mom about this!" Deuce bowed even further, hoping the headmaster would lighten his punishment.
"We are so sorry!" Wow, that was the first time Ace sounded so panicked. His voice was trembling, too. Robin probably would do the same if he's in their shoes.
"And you...," Mr. Crowley looked at him. "You could've prevent all of this and be a better supervisor for the cat." Robin bowed and said sorry.
"How much does it cost for us to fix the chandelier? We'll pay," said Ace. Mr. Crowley tsked at them. "No matter how much money you have, it is not guaranteed for it to be the same again."
"The chandelier uses magic crystal so it would be lit no matter how long. Even if you have the money, it will meant nothing if you don't change the crystal."
Deuce looked up at Mr. Crowley, his face was so scared. "Please, where can we find this magic crystal? We'll search for it!" Mr. Crowley looked at him skeptically.
"It's found in the Dwarf's Mine, though I'm not sure if there's any magic crystal left there, since it's been abandoned."
"Then, we'll go there right away!" Deuce looked at Ace who nodded back at him, then at Robin, begging for him to come as well. Robin sighed but he walked to his side while still grabbing Grim. Mr. Crowley chuckled looking at the group.
"Very well! Then bring me a magic crystal tomorrow. Waste no time, go to the chamber of mirrors now. And Urton, I hope you can supervise the three of them." Robin nodded at the headmaster, and soon the four of them started running to the chamber of mirrors.
"Tsk, why do I get dragged here?! I didn't even do anything wrong!" complained Grim once they arrived at the forest.
"You stole a bread, so that's definitely something," answered Robin as he looks at his surroundings. The forest looks empty, there's no information he could get. "We should get out from here I don't think we can get any clue about the mine here."
"Then, let's go! We need to go back as fast as we can!" Deuce sprinted in a heartbeat leaving his friends behind. Ace mumbled something along, "don't just leave us here god damn," then he followed Deuce.
They saw a house in the distance and decided to go there. Maybe there's someone that would help them.
Deuce swallowed his saliva and stepped forward, knocking on the door three times. But there was no answer from inside, so he knocked again. Realising the lack of response from inside, Ace stepped forward as well.
"I doubt there's someone here, let's just go inside," cuts Ace with his left arm extended reaching the doorknob then he pushed the door. And just like what Ace said, it's empty. They were greeted with a dining table with seven small chairs around it. The room was filled with spiderwebs and dust, it seems like it's been empty for years.
"Where's everyone? This place is so empty!" said Grim, his tail is waving around with curiousity. "The mine has been abandoned for a while, so I think the people leave here left too," answered Robin while he's looking at the cabinets. Empty, as he expected.
"Why the chairs are so small? Are there childrens here?" Deuce asked as they walked around the house. Robin looked at the fireplace, thinking hard. He thinks he have seen this place before... in a movie?
"Well, they're dwarves, duh. Of course it'll be small. Let's get going, there's nothing to see here. We haven't checked where the path will leads us," Ace said as he stood up from the seat.
They walked following the path outside of the house and soon enough, they saw the cave. But there was a bar covering the entrance. And the aura from inside of the mine doesn't make them feel better.
"I feel like there's something bad inside here...," said Grim, he's hiding behind Robin's leg. "Don't you think we should go b– ARGH what is he doing?!"
Just before Grim finished his sentence, Deuce jumped over the bar. "There's no way I chicken up now! I don't want to disappoint my mom!" He said after jumping the bar. "If you want to get kicked out, then just stay there!"
"What does that even mean? I'm joining you!" Ace jumped as well, which made Robin and Grim left outside. Grim looked up at Robin, hoping he wouldn't go inside as well. But the boy moved his leg.
"Y–you're going as well?!" Robin looked at him like it's a matter of fact. "I wanna know what's inside as well," answered Robin. Grim whose left alone immediately jumped as well. It's better to go down together than to be left alone.
The inside of the cave was super dark they needed extra light. Robin saw his phone who still has 15 percent left, and sighed. If it dies here, then so be it. He turned on the flashlight and it actually helped them a lot since they could see better.
"Thank, how much battery left?" asked Ace. Robin shrugged his shoulders. "Fifteen, can I borrow your charger later?"
"Silence! I heard something from there!" shushed Deuce. He quickly hides himself and tried to peek to the source of the noise.
And there was something moving in the distance. It was something big, with a threatening aura that sent chills to all of them. Slowly the creature moved to them. Both Ace and Deuce took out their magic pens, ready to attack.
Turns out it was just ghost. It wasn't even a strong one, but why the aura is still there, surrounding the cave?
"Look what we have here~ It's been a while since we have a guest, let alone four!" A ghost exclaimed happily while its other companion floated closer to them.
"Please make yourself at home, since you'll stay here forever!" The other one said as it jumped to Ace. "Like the hell I would!" Ace moved his pen in one swift move and casted wind spell to blow the ghost away.
Soon other ghosts came and tried to attack them one by one. It wasn't a tough fight, but it's tiring since they keep on coming.
"It's getting tiring, we should get away from them!" Deuce said in between him casting spell. Ace yelled back, "then, do something to make all of them stop! I don't know, drop something big and heavy!"
"Big and heavy?! Uh... come, kettle!" And soon enough, a big kettle appeared in the sky and fell to the ghosts. Ace who saw that had his mouth opened.
"Seriously, a fucking kettle?! That's stupid! Let's get going!" Ace let out a single laugh before started going further inside the cave. Just when Deuce about to snaps at Ace, something stands in front of them.
It was a big creature, with a cracked head of glass. Something black oozes out of the crack on the glass, God knows what liquid is that.
"N–no one told us we'll see a real monster here!" yelped Grim as he ran to hide behind Robin's legs again. The fire on him grew dim, probably a sign he's getting scared.
"Don't you think this thing is too threatening? I doubt we'll get out alive if we attack it," whispered Ace to Deuce who stands next to him. Deuce's grip on his pen tightened. It seems like he won't go without a fight.
"Ee... ive...," muttered the monster as it walks towards them. Ace who already grew uncomfortable, took a step backwards, ready to sprint anytime.
"What did it say?" asked Robin curiously. Deuce shrugged his shoulders, didn't know but probably curious on it as well. Grim tightened his grip on Robin's pants. "Why does it matter?! I really want to go away right now!"
"Never... give...," the words starting to get clearer as it getting closer to them. At that point all of them gulped their own salivas in a sync they never thought they would achieve.
"The crystals... are MINE!" the voice vibrated in the cave until several rocks fell. Grim was so scared until he lets out a scream and tried to escape but got held back by Robin's foot. Ace blinked several times, trying to proceed what it said, then looked at his friends.
"Wait... did it say something about crystals?!" Ace asked, he didn't run away like he intended to. Replaying what it said inside his head, Robin nodded. "I think it did."
"So there are CRYSTALS here after all," said Deuce. He spinned his pen and aimed it at the monster. "Well then, ya better give me that thing!"
"Are you insane?! That thing's out of our league!" yelled Grim. Ace sighed and steadied himself beside Deuce. "This guy is out of his mind, and just for your information: I'm not going to drag your dead body back to the dorm!"
The monster leaped forward, and both boys avoided it although Ace hits himself to the rocks. Ace shot a wind magic to the monster that makes it fell backwards. Just when they were about to celebrate, the monster stood again and caught Ace who's caught off guard. Ace tried to shoot some magics to it yet none of it hits his target.
"Get away from Ace!" Deuce shouted, he casted some spells though it did nothing to the monster. "Shit, what do we have to do?!"
Robin tried to distract the monster by throwing several rocks but seems like it failed as well. He took a bigger rock and tried to use more force to throw it. Luckily it hits the monster's head and it stopped for a second. Looking at it, an idea popped in Robin's head.
"Spade, summon your kettle, now."
Deuce looked at him confused. "Won't it gonna hit Ace–"
"It will not, just do it." Even though his voice is flat, Deuce could feel the urgency behind it. Deuce nodded and shouts, "come, kettle!"
Not even a minute afterwards a kettle appeared in the air. Ace quickly rolled himself away while the monster is still stunted. And it hits the monster's head successfully. The sound it made when it hits the monster was so loud until it vibrates in the whole cave. Using the chance, Ace stands after making sure the monster is really stunted.
"What are you doing?! Let's go!" Ace yelled as he ran away from the monster. Soon the others followed Ace who already ran far away. They kept running to the old house they found before. They closed the door and hid, away from the windows where the monster may find them. Though it didn't chase them.
"Shit, it was so fucking scary! I thought I won't make it out alive!" Ace lets out a loud sigh as he slid himself on the wall. "Let's just go back, I don't feel like doing this anymore."
"And getting ourselves expelled? Hell no," Deuce scoffs. "I'm going back to that cave and getting that crystal."
Ace burrowed his eyebrows in disagreement. "You're fucking insane, didn't you see how scary that monster is?! You think you can pull up another sneaky attack like that again?!! You're kidding."
"Then ya just gonna let yourself getting expelled for somethin' as fucking idiot like this?! Fuck off ya fucking chicken!" Deuce snapped back while hitting the table. The loud slam didn't help to ease the tension, especially when there are two people looking at each other with so many hatred. Grim quickly hid himself behind Robin who's at this point didn't even try to shove Grim away from him since he's too tired from running all the time.
"Oy, Deuce, you sound like you're another person. You're ok?" Robin asked, he slowly moves his own body from Grim when he's too busy shaking in fear. Deuce blinked several times then lowered his gaze. "Oh, damn... s–sorry for that...."
"What the fuck, bro? This is getting ridiculous, I'm going back." Ace stood up and went to the door. Deuce looked at him like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.
"Wait, Trappola."
It was Robin who said something. Ace looked at him, eyes already looking uninterested.
"What is it? It's already nighttime. I'm tired. We can't defeat that goddamn creepy thing. We're defeated for real."
"I don't think so. Let me think." Robin touched his hairpin–his lucky charm– several times as he thinks. There must be a way to defeat that monster.
The magics that Ace, Deuce, and Grim showed him before weren't a low level type of magic. In fact, they are decent. Not too mention their physical abilities. Ace could sprint real fast and Grim is good at dodging attack, while Deuce could throw heavy objects if he really puts his mind into it. Both Ace and Grim are annoyingly good at taunting, he's sure he'll need their skill later.
The monster isn't completely invisible as well. It would froze for a while after a hard hit on the head. From what he saw too, it also gets tired after running for a while.
Think, Robin. What do they need to do to get past through the monster?
If they could make another surprise attack like that again, but bigger, then....
"Deuce, can you summon a bigger and heavier kettle?" Robin asked, his eyes looking at Deuce who's still sitting on the dwarf's stool. Deuce nodded. "I think I can, why?"
"Great. I know how to defeat it." Robin straightened his seat, eyes full of determination. "Listen closely if you want to stay alive and get the crystal."
"Are you sure this is a good plan, Ace?" Grim asked, his tail is shaking in fear. Ace, standing beside him, gulped real hard.
"Who knows? I don't completely believe that weirdo. But it sounds convincing. So I think I may give it a try." He accidentally kicked a pebble, the sound echoed in the whole mine. Not too long after that, the ominous aura they were feeling returned.
"Oy, are you sure it's ok to summon it this early?!" Grim asked in panic. Ace pulled out his magic pen, wishing the best for himself and Grim.
"I think so! The distance is ideal! Let's get going!" Ace turned and started running once he saw the monster from before. "Oy, liquid head! You sure run very slow, huh?!" He joked while accelerating his speed.
What he didn't expect was, the monster started running faster too.
"Fuck! I hope Deuce's ready hitting it earlier than the schedule!" Ace wished from the bottom of his heart so he won't slip during the chase. It would be very silly to trip and fall here. He doesn't want to end his youth real quick.
"I'm getting tired! Where is it!?" Grim voiced out a complaint while keep on running and dodging attacks from the monster. Ace saw the flashlight reflected on the cave's wall. It's near.
"On the count of three!" Said Ace. Both Grim and himself is preparing on what's going to happen.
"1...," they're getting closer to the source of the light.
"2...," Ace couldn't feel his legs anymore and it feels like the monster is getting closer even though it didn't run as fast as before.
"3...!"
As they pass went Robin's flashlight, they could see Deuce hiding behind the rocks. He sways his pen while shouting, "come, the biggest kettle ever!"
And just like that, a kettle that was so big that they could never imagine appeared from the air and hit the monster. They could hear glass cracking and something oozes out from the kettle.
It was silent afterwards.
"Are you sure this thing's dead?" Ace asked. Robin came out from his hiding spot with a big rock. he puts in inside the kettle. The other three looks at him with a big question mark on top of their head.
"Oy," Ace called out. Robin looked back at him, face doesn't get what Ace trying to say.
"Are you sure it's...," Deuce made a dead expression on his face. Robin glanced back at the crushed monster then looked back at his clasmates.
"I think so," Robin checked his phone who already lost 96 percent of its battery to check the time, "shit, it's already 3. Don't you think you need to bring something before the sun rises?"
"Oh, yeah, the crystal! Let's go check!" Deuce dashed really quick while the other stayed behind.
Ace fell to his knees, breath still unsteady. It seems like he's still super tired from the chase. "I can't fucking move anymore. Bring it here once you find it, Deuce!"
Grim was also tired as well, but he sniffed something and he quickly stand on four. "Did you smell that?"
"Smell what?" asked both Robin and Ace. Grim looked at them like they're saying something ridiculous.
"There's something with a really delicious scent here! I wonder what that is!" Grim started sniffing around, trying to find the cause of the smell.
Ace scrunched his face in disagreement. "I only smell faint smoke here. You sure your nose is ok?"
Grim stopped, his eyes opened wide and a wide grin appeared on his face. "There it is!" He digs under the monster's squashed body and pulled out a black crystal. It looks horrible and radiates the bad aura they felt. Before any of the human there could say anything, Grim swallowed the crystal without any hesitation.
"Are you crazy? You don't even know what's inside that thing is!" Ace complained when he already catched his breath.
"It's soooo delicious! Better than the sandwich I had this noon! I could eat this forever!" Grim licked his lips in satisfaction, ignoring Ace's warning. Looking at it, Ace looked at Robin.
"Are you sure he's gonna be ok? I don't want to handle an unstable cat later on," asked Ace. Robin touched his pin again, then exhaled sharply as a sign of defeat.
Luckily not so long after that, Deuce came back with a crystal and a face as bright as the object he's holding.
"I think this is it! Let's go back and give it to the headmaster!" Deuce looked at the weird face Ace's making and his smile dropped, then he asked, "why your face is like that?"
"Grim just ate something freaky. Since our business here is done, don't you think we need to go back?" said Robin as he pulls Ace a bit to bring him back to the earth. Ace gave Grim one last disapproving look then followed Robin.
The walk way back from the mine to the forest seems so faraway now. Maybe because they're tired and they didn't run. Robin could feel his limbs getting stiff and it's getting harder to walk or to keep his posture straight. Never once in his life he would imagine an old rusty sofa as a good bed to sleep on. Even on the cold dusty floor is fine as well. This is how tired he is.
They finally arrived back to their school at half six. Luckily the headmaster was standing on the chamber of mirrors so his face was the very first thing they saw when they got back to the building. Deuce showed the crystal to Mr. Crowley.
"We got the crystal, sir. I hope this is enough." The headmaster took the crystal and started examining it. Then he gave the first years an approving nod.
"Yes, this is good enough! You guys are not getting expelled, congrats." Deuce looked at Ace in enthusiasm and both of them started cheering. Deuce shouted his victory. Ace shoved his fist to the air with a proud smug on his face. Grim exhaled loudly and started lying on the ground. And Robin is just trying to not pass out.
"We couldn't get this if you didn't make that plan, Robin! You're such a genius! Thank you!" Deuce gave Robin's shoulder a light squeeze. Mr. Crowley walked to Robin, so Deuce stepped backwards meanwhile Robin tried to stand straight.
"Mr. Urton," called Mr. Crowley. Robin nodded but his eyes are unfocused. "It seems like you have a talent. Not on magic, but on something else. I hope you could use this talent while doing the job I gave to you," he whispered, loud enough only for both of them. Robin nodded again.
"Yeah, you're welcome. Can we go to our dorm, now? I'm so tired," asked Robin while he's trying his best to stand still. Crowley chuckled and let the group to rest. Ace walked to his side and showed Robin his fist, signal asking for a fistbump.
"That was AWESOME. See you later, Robin!" Robin blinked several times. Looking at Ace when he's bathing in sunlight looks so ethereal. He could feel himself melting. Despite all of the soreness on his body, he could feel himself relaxes when his fist touched Ace's.
There's just something about Ace that piqued Robin's interest. He doesn't know whether it's about his personality or his appearance or something else. He just knows that they'll get along well.
He's definitely NOT comparing him to her, though.
Ace smiled at him then waved him goodbye before he and Deuce went back into the mirror. Robin looked at his fist that touched Ace's, inhales slowly, then go back to his own dorm.
"I'm coming with you!" said Grim as he followed Robin back to Ramshackle. Robin rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.
At least he can get the rest he needed.
Just when he was about to go to the mirror, he checked his phone and realised it's dead.
"Shit, I forgot to borrow Ace's charger."