The next day, Belinda went to the cafeteria to eat her lunch. It was the best place if she wanted to know the newest gossips.

After 10 minutes, she already heard everything. Everyone paid a lot of attention to that herb because its existence could cause another war.

But Belinda couldn’t understand it. Who spread the rumor that said the principal wanted to help the Gifest sect? Didn’t this make the whole academy into the 5 big sects’ enemy? Who would benefit from it?

Belinda sighed. She didn’t have enough brain cells to understand what those lords thought.

„I heard the rumors. Are you okay?”

Belinda suddenly looked up. She didn’t realize when Gregori sat down to the opposite side of the table.

„Ah, I’m okay... I just can’t understand where did all these gossips come from?”

Gregori froze. „What do you mean?”

„You know, is there anyone who ever saw that herb?!” she hit the table with her fist. „What if it’s just a place with a strong poison and there’s nothing else?!”

Gregori was speechless. In his past life, he got some news about a precious treasure. He went there to get it, but it was a trap! And he ended up dying there...

He looked into the distance while remembering. „... You are right.”

„You understand it?!” Belinda was shocked.

„... Why can’t I?”

„You can! I mean, just look around! Everyone blindly believes it!”

Gregori narrowed his eyes. „It isn’t that they believe it, but the more they speak about it, the more real it becomes. Someone wants to be sure there won’t be even one percent chance for Horác or to anyone else to get it.”

„... So without knowing it’s true or false, they’ll do anything to stop the others? If someone goes, then they intend to hunt them down?! Aren’t they unnecessary sacrifices?”

Gregori shook his head. „The herb is real. They just don’t know which one it is. But it doesn’t matter, it has a big value. Anyone who gets it will have a big profit.”

  So it’s about money. Then could it be? The 5 big sects spread the rumors about the Gifest sect to stop others to get it...? Just how far do they intend to go?

Belinda’s eyes widened. She hoped, she just thought too much.

„Wait! It isn’t right! Aren’t Horác the only one, who can survive after touching that poison?!”

„... You know those herbs were used to make pills even before Horác was born! There are different secret skills to handle poisons. They just need time to find the right one.”

Belinda sighed. She knew it couldn’t be changed, but she still felt bad. She couldn’t calm down.

They finished their lunch in silence. None of them wanted to speak about those rumors anymore. In the end, everyone had their own suspicion and belief. They weren’t interested to start to quarrel about who was right and not.

They left the cafeteria and walked back to the practicing field.

„When will we train together again?” Gregori asked before leaving.

„Uh, this week, the usual time.”

„Okay, see you next time!” Gregori waved and ran away.

„See you...”

Belinda waved powerlessly. She felt guilty. Originally, she wanted to tell him about her leave, but she couldn’t do it after those rumors. Even if they were friends, the lesser people know about it the better.

Belinda didn’t know how long they would be away. Maybe she missed one or two training or even the exam. So the next time, she would work hard to make up for it!

She cheered herself up and went back to practice her newest spell.

The days passed and nothing happened. There were some new gossips about sects, who sent out some teams to look for the herb. As it’s ended up, no one knew where it was!

When Belinda heard about it, she was completely speechless. She couldn’t understand those immortals anymore. How could they be sure it existed if they didn’t even know where it was?!

One night, when Belinda meditated on her bed, her consciousness was pulled into a dream. She was in the water as before. She looked at the shining soul and sighed. Yesterday she summoned Lucia and played with her. After 5 minutes the cat disappeared and today Belinda somehow felt that she didn’t want to summon her.

She swam over to the light. This time there wasn’t any resistance and she finally saw its appearance. It was a white egg. She touched it and suddenly she woke up.

The room was brightened by the sunlight. It was early in the morning.

Belinda took out a talisman and wrote a message on it. She waved with her right hand and the window opened. Then she inserted some energy into the talisman and it turned into a bird. It slowly flew out and Belinda followed it with her eyes until it disappeared.

She had a class in the morning, so she just let Horác knew the time came and he could do the preparations.

During the class, the bird came back with the answer. They would leave after 2 days.

Belinda destroyed the talisman and felt wetness in her palm. When she looked at it, she saw some drops of purple liquid. It was poison. Horác wanted to punish those who dared to grab the bird without permission...

Belinda’s face darkened and she poured the poison into a little glass. She couldn’t throw it on the ground carelessly...

....

In the middle of a grey empty room stood a stone statue. It had a graceful and strong presence. But it didn’t have a face and the armor on its body made it impossible to see if it was a man or a woman.

A man deeply bowed in front of it. „The news was sent out.”

There wasn’t any answer. Only the wind blow in the room.

The man bowed again and went out of the room. He carefully closed the door and left without making any noise.

A childish laugher echoed in the empty room.

„Fate, oh fate! You can’t be changed!”

Then a fanatic laugher followed it.

„Then let me play with you!”