The presence vanished suddenly, as if it had never been there.
Except Lin knew that sensation. Her crane partially manifested its wings and slightly elongated her legs while following the trail, her beast’s enhanced perception tracking the faintest disturbances in the air.
A flash of movement to her right, someone appeared for an instant before vanishing again.
“Interesting,” Lin murmured. The jumps were becoming more abrupt now, almost clumsy in their haste. Whoever it was, they were more concerned with speed than subtlety.
Another flash, this time to her left. Lin adjusted her course, her crane helping her maintain the pace while analyzing the pattern of movements.
“Why the rush?” she whispered while following the flashes of movement, her experienced eyes noting how each jump seemed to cost the fleeing figure more effort than the last.
The chase led them toward a more densely wooded section.
“Clever,” Lin had to admit it. “But not enough.”
♢♢♢♢
The girl staggered upon appearing on the last branch before the administrative building.
Her jumps had become clumsy, each transportation consuming more energy than the previous one.
‘One last jump,’ she thought while focusing on the director’s window. Her beast protested, too many jumps in too little time, especially after the strain in the depths.
“Your jumps are terrible today, I didn’t teach you to…” The director began, having perceived her long before she arrived.
When she appeared inside the office, her legs gave way beneath her. She held onto the edge of the desk to avoid falling.
The director rose alarmed. “What happened?”
“I saw…”
“Sit,” the director quickly moved a chair toward her, his concern evident. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head while dropping into the chair. “Just… tired. Too many jumps.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes… I was following the mushroom boy as you asked,” she began, her breathing still agitated. “He entered the caves this morning.”
“The caves?” the director frowned, but then remembered. “Ah, Wei is out today,” his expression becoming understanding, “economic troubles. Wouldn’t be the first student trying to recover their investment working extra in the mines… But I don’t see how that’s reason to…”
“It’s not that,” the girl shook her head. “They carried him out unconscious. Mana poisoning.”
“What? How far did he go…”
“But that’s not the important part either,” she interrupted. “Yino,” she managed between heavy breaths. “An agent… in the caves. About 300 meters deep.”
The director straightened immediately.
“WHAT?! The boy went down to three hundred meters,” the director almost shouted, then visibly controlled himself. “And you followed him there?”
The girl nodded. “Partly yes, I don’t know how far down he fell… They carried him out unconscious, it must have been coincidence. Then ending in mana poisoning. But that’s not the important thing.”
“Of course it’s important,” the director began pacing the office. “You were supposed to just watch a normal boy from a safe distance. If something had happened to you, your father would have…”
“The Yino agent had two beasts, a gold rank hippogriff and an abyssal scorpion.”
The director stopped dead. “Explain.”
“Two beasts, a double tamer. And the scorpion mutation was unmistakable, only Yino has perfected that technique.”
“Did you discover what he was doing so close to the academy?”
“He was fighting a hydra. With two heads.”
The director visibly paled. “A gold rank hydra? At 300 meters depth? Now you will tell me you engaged in combat?”
“No,” she quickly denied. “I stayed hidden. The agent… cut off one of the hydra’s heads. He was furious, looking for something. Mentioned an egg.”
The director approached his territory map, his mind working rapidly. “Did he see you?”
“Almost. At the end… I think he sensed my presence.”
“By all the Dragons, how could you not…!” the director stopped himself, remembering who he was talking to. “This goes beyond watching a suspicious student. I shouldn’t have allowed…”
“With all respect,” she straightened in her chair, “this is what I’m training for.”
“Your father asked me to give you opportunities to improve your espionage skills,” the director looked at her seriously. “Not to put you in the line of fire of a territorial conflict… You can be a noble house spy or in the kingdom of Yino when your father gives your hand, not in the deep caves at 10 years old… You put yourself in great danger and…”
“And I’ve improved. Nothing is 100% safe… I managed to follow the boy, discovered the agent, and escaped without being detected. Well, almost.”
The director sighed. She was kind of right, but the idea that something might have happened to her… the repercussions would have been catastrophic.
“Go to professor Yang,” he finally said. “Tell him to start safeguarding the students of all years and alert the teachers, defense protocol.”
She stood up, her legs firmer now. “Will you go alone first?”
“If Yino is moving pieces of that rank so close to the academy, they must have a bigger plan. Go with Yang, then rest. You’ve done enough for today.”
The girl nodded and headed for the door.
“And…” the director stopped her, his tone softer, “good work. Though I’d prefer if next time you didn’t risk so much.”
A small smile appeared on her lips as she left.
She knew she would keep taking some risks… It was part of her training and after all, she loved being a spy.
The director waited for the door to close before taking out his special communicator.
A Yino agent, a two-headed hydra, and always in the middle of everything…
The mushroom boy had bad luck to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Outside, Lin observed from her tree, remaining perfectly still while processing what she had heard.
‘A student trained by the director just as I train Ren… So it wasn’t just my student doing foolishness,’ she thought while watching the director make his calls. ‘An enemy agent in our territory… The question is… What did you really find down there, Ren?’
♢♢♢♢
“Here you go!” Taro pulled out the crystal wrapped in black cloth and the tentacle from a bag. “And the other things you asked for.”
Ren took only the tentacle and crystal with trembling hands. “And the… Did you find them too?”
“Yes,” Taro nodded, nervously watching the infirmary door. “But I still think this is a terrible idea… If she arrives before you are done…”
“Just don’t let them interrupt me for a few minutes, I’m faster at the process now and quieter.”
Ren turned to look at the busy nurse, unwrapped the crystal and positioned the tentacle over his stomach. He breathed deeply before beginning the absorption.