Arcanum - Chapter 162

“Me?.. I was back at Atlantis making sure nothing happens here while all three of our top students were deployed. You guys really should take more care….. You guys are still first years, next time you all might not get out unscathed.” He warned.

A loud thud of a staff hitting the ground echoed throughout the hall above the sound of everyone talking causing everyone to go quiet turning to look at Headmaster Bran Standing at the centre roof the faculty table. “I know a few of you will be upset with the upcoming news….. But I will be postponing the duels today to next week…” Headmaster Bran announced causing a few students to start chatting amongst themselves. “I am also to announce that today we have special guests arriving in the new few hours.. We have invited High Admiral Yurika Misaru and High Admiral Ruri Hoshi of Aspa to Atlantis for their help and support in the conflict yesterday.” Bran announced causing almost all the students to erupt in chatter. “Settle down if any of you are worried about the safety of Atlantis having two High Admirals of Aspa here.. Paul has reassured me that they are very good friends of Atlantis.” Bran carried on announcing. “I would like to please ask everyone to be on your best behaviour Aspa still remain good allies and friends of Atlantis graciously helping us in our hour of need.” Bran announced.

“Are they really good friends?..” I questioned Ashley curiously.

“Yah he’s on very good terms with two high Admiral and sort of friends with another, but like is said before Hanna is the daughter of Bran so all should be fine.” He answered in a hushed voice.

“Anyone interested in seeing the arrival of their air ships they will be arriving on the north side of Atlantis in approximately two hours.” Bran notified everyone.

“You guys defiantly don’t want to miss this.” Ashley smiled to us.

“Whys that?..” I asked.

“Well it would normally take them at least a month or two to get here assuming they can run at max speed. So I’m sure they will be using their-…. Jump Engines.” Ashley smiled in excitement.

“What’s a jump engine?” We all questioned Ashley not knowing what on earth that could be.

“Similar to our way points they need a small ship normally a fast one to deploy a signal allowing their Titan Class ship to jump to that location along with other ships in its fleet.” Ashley explained.

“A Titan?..” I thought they were extinct..” Helen asked.

“Titan Class.. Not a real titan, it’s what they call the largest ship in their fleet.” Ashley answered.

“So how many ranks and sizes of ships do they have?..” Jay asked looking absolutely fascinated.

“In all they have four sizes of Sky ships….. They have Frigates which are piloted by two students, Cruisers normally consisting of a crew from ten to fifteen, battle ships they are slightly larger than your everyday air ships normally requiring a crew of around thirty to fifty. Then lastly you have the Titan class needing a crew of over a hundred individuals to keep it running.” Ashley explained to us making us all stare at him in awe. “Yeah titan class ships are no joke.. They have the population of a small town.” He smiled.

“So the weaponry they used.. The different coloured beams and the large stakes, were all from the Titan?” Helen inquired.

“Hmm the beams could have been either the Titan or Battleship but the large stakes are defiantly from the Titans.” Ashley smiled.

“What on earth were they?” I questioned.

“Ohhh that’s a good question….. The beams are created by several casters channelling their spells into an amplifier crystal.. And the large stakes are made with an extremely heavy metal relying on its weight to do devastating physical damage.” He answered with an even greater smile.

“How do you know so much?” Grace asked Ashley, “I’d expect their weaponry to be a close guarded secret.” She questioned.

“Ahhh now that is a great question… You’re looking at one of the founding members of the weaponry.” Ashely smiled brimming with pride.

“Wait you used to be a student of Aspa?” Daisy asked.

“Ohhh no no.. Always been a student of Atlantis.. But I have on occasions helped Aspa in certain areas some of their top minds couldn’t crack.” Ashley answered leaning back in complete confidence.

“So what exactly happened?..” Morgana asked entering the conversation.

“There was an Dark Elf invasion planned we managed to thwart it.. Paul spent a lot of energy shielding refugees then the city from moon beams.. Then opened portals for Aspa sky fleet to decimate the Dark Elf army.” Ashley summarised the whole ordeal.

“Wow mother was right to respect him.” Morgana smiled

“What happened to you?” I asked Morgana.

“Nothing as exciting as what happened to you guys, we just went to a boring old city.. but I did manage to get some supplies at least.” Morgana smiled. “I would l loved to have got a hold of some Dark Elf poisons..” She announced causing us all to look at her weirdly.

“Wait how comes we didn’t get any sort of mention or thanks….. it was essentially us that discovered everything.” Daisy said realising the impact we had on that day.

“Ohhhh also along those line…. here’s your gold for the week.” He said passing a sack of coins to us.

“Ohh no no.. we did nothing that asked for.” I rejected his money.

“Don’t worry about it.. Besides a little extra gold means you guys won’t need to rely on work or missions and focus on learning.” He smiled pushing the bag to me.

Suddenly all the golems that normally served food began to spring to life brining out food and drink for everyone. “Ohh damn we missed the rest of the speech.” I said looking at Head master Bran sit down.

“It’s alright nothing special was announced.” He smiled.

“Umm Ashley.” Daisy hesitantly questioned.

“Yes Daisy?” He replied.

“What happens if students break the rules or something bad happens between the schools, there’s bound to be some rivalry and stuff?” Daisy asked looking worried.

“Students found breaking the rules or causing a commotion would be heavily punished by the respective institute..” Jay answered. “But don’t worry this has happened before we will have a solid set of students that will patrol the Atlantis grounds to keep the peace.” He smiled.

“So.. If something was to happen.. What does Atlantis have to defend themselves? Having two Titans parked outside can’t be a good idea.” I questioned still a little worried.

“Ahh that’s a trade secret…. but don’t worry!!! Atlantis has the world’s best Artificer, we’ll be safe.” He smiled pointing at himself like it wasn’t clear he was implying himself.

“So we’re completely safe??” Grace questioned.

“I know you guys are a little worried…but like I said many times have faith in me and my department, we may be the most quiet of all but we’ve got great minds here.” He smiled.

“Would there be any chance for us to board there ship and take a tour? I would love to see how it operates.” Jay asked looking extremely hopeful

“I highly doubt it. It’s one of their main ships, I doubt they will let random students on board.” Ashley answered.

“Ashley? Do you know much about Dark Elves?” Grace inquired.

“I’ve had meetings with some. Why do you ask?” He replied.

“We suspect there’s bigger things going on.” We explained to him.

“Hmmm.. we’ll investigate further, I’m sure it would have been brought up in the debriefing, besides it’s not exactly an Atlantis problem.” Ashley answered.

“What do you mean by that?!” I asked in shock at his response.

“We’re here to keep the peace between the institutes everything else is Arcadia’s responsibility.” Ashley answered.

“What sort of horse crap is that?!” I immediately objected his point of view.

“Look.. it’s out of our hands.. Atlantis will no doubt forward our finding to Arcadia… but it’s up to them to deal with the threat on their lands that is the Royal Families decree. Like it or hate it we’re stuck.” He shrugged and went back to eating.