Chapter 199: The labelled

It was thirteen hours after the invasion before the noise reduced. All the bodies were gathered and accounted for. Only a couple of people were missing. Rowen and little Authur.

"You don’t think those people got to Rowen first right?" Lady Hinger asked. She kept pacing and glancing around.

"You underestimate him." Lord Tell spoke, hands folded over his broad chest.

Lady Anny glanced at him. "Shouldn’t you check on your son? I heard he had a convulsion."

Lord Tell’s expression faltered. "A convulsion? He still does that?"

He shook his head and strolled away.

"I guess it’s a constant thing." Lady Anny mused.

Lord Joe was standing, and staring in the distance. "Rowen is here."

The ladies turned. "You see him?! Where?!"

"At the edge," the man muttered. He squinted his eyes and observed a bit more closely. "He’s injured."

"Injured?" Lady Hinger narrowed her eyes. "We all fought just now, I’m pretty sure—"

"Two broken ribs, one broken arm and a sprained ankle."

"What?!" The ladies gasped.

Lord Joe’s eyes returned back to normal. Then he looked at the ladies. "The baby is perfectly fine though."

Lady Hinger moved first. "Where is he headed?"

***

They met Rowen in the treatment wing. He had already given the child back to the child’s mother, and was having his injuries healed by a young lady.

They approached him.

"Rowen!" The ladies immediately threw their hands around him and hugged him.

Lord Joe stood behind, hands tucked away behind him.

"Are you alright?"

"No." Rowen replied.

"But it shouldn’t be a problem for you right?" Lady Hinger pulled back and asked.

"It wasn’t." Rowen groaned. "Some random person jumped me right after that ridiculous hole thing happened. What was that?"

"Not sure." Lady Anny shook her head. "I only heard that Elias’ child opened it."

"Elias did that?!"

The ladies nodded.

"You mentioned that you got jumped?" Lord Joe returned to the most probing topic.

"Yeah. She came straight for the child."

"What’s she like?"

Rowen tilted his head, cracking through his brain. "She wore a mask, so I’m not sure." He snapped his finger slightly. "but her ability felt like strength."

"Strength?" They chorused.

"Yeah. A kick of hers, broke my arm."

"Yikes." Lady Anny muttered. "The legendary Lord Rowen had his hand broken by a lady."

"Yeah." He nodded, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was trying to taunt him. "She wanted to kick the child."

"I smell broken bones." Lord Tell’s voice sounded. He appeared from a distance, tilting his head to observe Rowen’s condition. "You look like shit."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"I think we should return as soon as possible," lady Anny raised awareness on a topic. "The marked ones could very much be in our world or even our empire. I fear we might have had an invasion too."

They seem to agree with her words. No one knows the fate of Salvador with all the powerhouse leaders hiking in black empire.

"I’ll gather the remaining students." Lady Hinger offered and walked away before anyone else could object.

***

They all got treated back to perfection with higher level healers and were able to return to the fortress that night. All except Kael and Elias who were still unconscious.

While Rowen stayed behind, the rest of the leading family leaders made a quick trip back to the Salvador empire. Lady Hinger was the only one who remembered Ume, and took her along.

Night soon fell.

The fortress, unlike its noisy atmosphere, was silent today. They all choose to stay in a large room, rather than spitting up. So they all grabbed thick sheets and slept on the ground.

"..."

Carlel spoke first. "I’m sorry I couldn’t help."

No reply.

"I should learn the act of combat right?" She chuckled softly.

"Then why didn’t you?" Coco asked.

"In Qud, a certain number of people are treated sacred. The marked and the labelled. Only the labelled learn combat. The marked learns history."

Claude sat up. "Labelled?!"

"Another headache." Fayera groaned.

"They are the descendants or family of the disciples that were hand picked by the disciples themselves."

"To do what?" Tiana sat up.

"Protect the marked ones? The labelled are quite rare though. Something it’s one or none in a hundred years."

"And..." Tyler spoke. "How do you know the labelled ones?"

Carlel scratched her head. "They usually bear the disciple’s mark."

Coco turned her gaze. "The disciples mark?"

They all went silent for a moment.

The silence broke with the sound of voices outside. They were muffled at first, then clearer, then clearly confused.

"Is anyone here?"

"The lights are off. Why is the whole fortress dark?"

Tyler was the first to stand. One by one, the others pulled off their sheets and followed him out of the large room, down the empty corridor, and through the main doors.

A group of professors stood in the courtyard, lanterns in hand, looking around like people who had come home to find their house rearranged.

"There you are!" A professor spotted them and hurried over. "Where is everyone? Why is the fortress empty? We went to look for the... for the..." He trailed off and cleared his throat. "Did something happen?"

Nobody answered.

The students just stared at them. Fayera’s eyes twitched. Tiana tilted her head slowly, like she was trying to remember where she had seen these people before.

"Something ’happened’?" Coco finally asked, her voice flat.

"We heard there was some commotion," a female professor added carefully. "Some of the students were saying..."

"Commotion," Tyler repeated.

Carlel opened her mouth, then closed it again. She looked at Claude.

Claude stared at the professors for a long moment. "Oh," he said. "I forgot we came here with them."

A beat of silence.

"...Right," Tiana murmured.

Then, without another word, they turned around and walked back inside.

"Wait!" Professor Maren called. "Where are you going? We still have questions! Hello? Students? Students!"

The heavy doors swung shut behind them.

The professors stood in the lantern light, alone in the courtyard.

"Did they just..." the female professor began.

"Ignore us?" A professor finished weakly. "Yes. I believe they did."

Then one of them turned back. His breath hitched.

He tapped the second one. That one also turned.

Aarrgh!"

They all turned around and went battle ready. The bravo instantly drained from their eyes.

Rowen was standing.

They released nervous chuckles, each of them waiting for another to talk.

Rowen slowly smiled.

"Where ...are you all coming from?"