Em breathed hard. Only after she had killed it had the adrenaline aftershocks got to her. She stood there, stunned. The staff came to fight the monster but all they saw was a girl standing alone, holding a sword. Em collapsed quickly after that, when she woke up, she was lying on a bed in the infirmary. She saw that Ri was sitting next to her. Seeing that Em was awake, Ri flung her arms around her.
"Gods, I was so worried. What were you thinking Em? Killing the pard. Do you know how dangerous that was? I might have lost the only friend I have."
Em was surprised by Ri's reaction. "Calm down Ri, I'm fine. Besides, I couldn't be a sitting toad while the school was in danger." Em smiled and hugged her friend tighter.
"Okay, but promise me you will not go around killing monsters, got it?" The fierce look Ri was giving her gave Em the feeling that she shouldn't disagree.
"Look, I hate to ruin the mood but the headmaster requires Emily to be in his office," spoke a voice.
Em looked over Ri's shoulder to see James leaning on the door frame. "I seriously want to kill this guy," Em whispered in Ri's ear before turning to James and saying "Sure, I'll be there in a minute."
Em gave Ri one last hug before climbing out of the infirmary bed. She walked along the hall for a few minutes before she noticed that someone was following her.
"What do you want?" she asked James irritably.
"To ask a question of course. How did you manage to kill the pard."
"Beginner luck I guess," Em said. Then she added "Not that it's any of your business."
Em reached the principal's office and before she went in, she gave James a scathing farewell prior to disappearing inside the door.
The headmaster's office was spacious. The walls were creamed-colored, the furniture was made of a deep chocolate colored mahogany that was intricately carved. The headmaster sat at his table. He had wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose and a kind but worried smile.
"Ah, Miss Emily. I'm so glad you could come. Here, come sit and have a cup of tea," The principal held a cup filled with a pale gold liquid. "We have much to discuss."
Em sipped the tea–which was jasmine scented–and answered the headmaster's questions about the 'incident'. After she finished answering his questions the headmaster looked extremely concerned.
"Miss Emily, what I'm about to share is confidential and should not be revealed to anyone since it could cause an uproar in the school."
Em nodded, confused about what could be so important that the headmaster was so cautious.
"There is currently a great manifestation of monsters. So great is this manifestation that it is nearly impossible for it to be natural. Someone is behind this. More importantly, this manifestation is under the sea and since you have shown remarkable talent in fighting monsters, I think we will issue a mission for a team of five people, one of those members has to be Mister James."
"I'm not accepting the mission if I'm going with him," Em calmly replied.
"I know that the two of you are not on the best of terms but he is an extraordinarily good swordsman and is also pursuing the path of being a Sea Guardian. We hope you can submit a paper detailing your chosen companions."