6th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

"Newstar," Obsidian ran over to Newt just as his training session ended and Lord Flameax disappeared.

"Call me Newt," Newt said, then noticed a tinge of panic in Obsidian's eyes. "What happened?"

"We got an official letter from the order, all of us in five-o-three. Mine looks pretty generic and says we have to take a new mission in a week or we will get demoted to outer students." Obsidian gulped. "We have six weeks starting today to return successfully."

Newt froze. He was supposed to have a three moon grace period. He spent a month training without straining himself and another week since he disembarked from the sub. By his account, they should have had at least a week or two more for their mission. And he thought the deadline was to depart on a mission, not to complete it.

He bit his lip.

"I have to go and read my letter."

Obsidian helpfully presented the letter and placed it into Newt's hands. The envelope said 'Newstar Salamandra', and Newt opened it. He read it, then reread it. Just like Obsidian said, they had six weeks to complete a mission or face demotion.

"What do we do?" Newt folded his letter and replaced it in the envelope before looking at Obsidian.

"We go to the Chamber of Instruction and pick the easiest mission we can find. Then, we proceed according to plan. We tell Jas and Rose that we're heading out and hope for the best."

Newt didn't know how to feel about the plan. On one hand, he was the one that made it; on the other, it was as flimsy as could be.

After trying to think of a better alternative, he shrugged. If there was a better way forward, he didn't see it.

"Let's go."

They headed towards the Chamber Street and walked in silence for a while before Obsidian spoke.

"You can call me Obi. That's what my friends call me." The big man flashed a bright, nervous smile, and Newt smiled back.

"Sure thing, Obi."

Newt was sure he could have said something else to keep the conversation going, but he kept drawing blanks, and even as they entered the Chamber of Instruction he still had no idea what else to say.

"Good day, Sirs," the desk clerk greeted them. "How may I help you?"

"We're here to take a mission for our team," Obi said, walking down the hallway.

"Second door to the right," the clerk said, but Newt and Obi were already heading for the door.

Obsidian opened it, and inside they found a spacious room, big enough to fit thirty-odd people comfortably. The first thing Newt noticed was how empty the room was. Then, as he scanned it, he noted three attendants sitting behind desks on the far left side of the room. The walls were white, made of what looked like polished marble. Black writing filled the white wall ahead of them, and the far right wall was just as infested with letters.

Obsidian stepped forward, heading towards the wall, and Newt followed, with no clue how things worked. Obsidian touched, 'Gather two hundred raptor eggs,' before shaking his head and touching, 'Gather fifty emerald fangs.'

Newt approached and touched, 'Gather fifty pounds of whiteleaf.' Information flooded into his brain. The expedition was scheduled to leave in two weeks, and return in three moons. They were heading for Autumnsweald by airship, and the danger level was appropriate for middle through high layer third realm students, reward being three third realm manarium crystals.

Newt also saw several images of whiteleaf, along with the warning about a potent neurotoxin coating its thorns.

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Newt let go, his head spinning, and the information faded from his memory. He completely forgot what whiteleaf looked like, and the only thing he recalled clearly was the warning about the neurotoxin. The rest was blurry, like something he had heard in passing a week ago.

What would happen if a knight or, worse, a non-awakened, used this wall? Newt pushed the distracting thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on what was ahead.

"What are we looking for?" Newt asked after understanding what Obsidian was doing.

"We're searching for a mission for early layers of the third realm. It would be best if it said initial layers, since that's for those who have completed their first layer and below. We need to be able to return in five weeks at the latest, but keep an eye out for those that say we can return in six weeks, too. Just in case we can't find anything better."

Newt nodded, then continued his search. There were hundreds of missions on the wall, and Newt wasn't sure how the students were supposed to keep up with the demand.

"Do many of these go unaddressed?"

"I honestly don't know. I think most missions get completed one way or another. The easier ones are shared with outer students trying to squeeze their way into the inner circle; elites might snatch the more difficult ones for training; as for the time sensitive, things aren't what they seem."

He pointed at the one Newt had just checked. "The deadlines for the expeditions heading into the wealds are there because of the airship timetables. The order sends students in bulk to each region. So if nobody handles a mission, it doesn't go to waste, but just sits there until the next group goes or the one after."

Newt nodded. "Still, a lot of missions here to choose from."

"Yup, I'm certain we'll find something we can handle just the two of us." With that, Obi and Newt continued reading through the missions.

Newt had just finished his nineteenth when he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He glanced left and saw letters appearing and disappearing several times before they settled into place.

Curious, Newt read them, 'Rampaging spiketail near Glowing Vale.' He touched the letters, and information once more flowed straight into his consciousness.

A third realm spiketail had escaped a wildlife preserve within order territory. The beast was dangerously close to the town of Glowing Vale, and a team was required to handle the incident as soon as possible. The mission was appropriate for initial third realm students and higher. Basically, it was just what Newt and Obsidian were looking for. The reward wasn't fixed, to be determined based on performance, but other than that everything seemed just right.

Newt let go of the wall and gathered himself before calling for Obsidian.

"Hey, Obi, check this one." Newt pointed, and his frowning roommate approached before touching the mission to see its details.

The frown first deepened, then disappeared to be replaced by a smile. He let go of the wall, seemingly with a lot less dizziness than Newt felt.

"This looks perfect. Let's check if we're eligible for it." Obsidian led the way towards the three sitting attendants. All of them were reading something, but when Newt and Obi approached, they set aside their books and looked at their customers with full attention.

Obi chose one of the two women, and Newt couldn't help but notice she had a bigger chest than the other one.

"Good day, Sir. Have you found a mission to your liking?" the woman said with a professional demeanor, and Obi nodded.

"Yes, we would like to take 'Rampaging spiketail near Glowing Vale'. We're from room five-o-three."

"One moment, please." The woman started touching runes on her desk following some pattern Newt failed to grasp before she finally nodded.

"Obsidian and Jasmine Deeproot, Roselilly Farend, and Newstar Salamandra." The woman then glanced at Newt. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks." Newt blushed and lowered his gaze.

"It's your birthday?" Obsidian asked with shock, as if Newt wasn't entitled to a birthday.

"It was two days ago, but it's close enough."

Obsidian wanted to say something, but the attendant cleared her throat, and they focused back on the mission.

"The mission you have selected is marked as urgent. Should you take it, you're expected to be at the docks in less than two hours to catch a supply ship heading for the Barren Rock. Is that all right with you?"

Less than two hours? Newt scratched his head, but said nothing, letting Obsidian do all the talking. What would have happened if we hadn't noticed the mission in time? We could've stayed here for more than two hours just reading the mission descriptions.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine."

Newt kept quiet, just listening as Obsidian hashed out all the details, and five minutes later, they left the Chamber of Instruction, heading for the student dormitory.

They didn't say a word until they reached the building itself, but once at the entrance, there was no more delaying, and Newt had to broach the subject.

"What do we tell them?"

"The truth. We have to take a mission soon or we'll get demoted. We don't want that, and we hope that they will come with us. I think Jas will come with us."

"And Roselilly?"

"I don't know. We'll see." With that, Obi entered the dormitory and headed up the stairs.

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