Saintess Summons Skeletons

Sofia told Lola to settle down in her room, leaving her with Pareth, while she quickly ran up the stairs back to Astelias room while continuing to channel an unlife rune she had started working on when she had gone to wake up Lola. The entire group was quite animated, talking about the competition and the information they had just learned.

Alith was the one who had opened the door, Sof, youre back, what were you-

Ill explain later; Astelia, can you lend me the earrings right now? Sofia called out from the entrance.

Huh? Sure, Astelia answered without even asking why, she floated up to Sofia while taking out the earrings of Lies, she handed them out to Sofia, Just be careful, when youre wearing them. I got hit by their curse once, and it was not a good time

Of course. Thank you, Asty! Ill bring them back as soon as Im done.

Sofia left, running back down the stairs again.

And just like that, shes gone, Cardinal commented.

Well, yeah. Thats Sofia, Saria added with a shrug, She looked a bit worried.

She is your sister, are you not going to go help her with whatever urgent thing she is doing? Cardinal asked in a curious tone.

Shes got Pareth with her. If she needed more help she would have asked us. Notice how she asked for Astelias earrings instead of asking for her to come directly with her. She probably doesnt want to endanger us with whatever crazy stunt she is trying to pull. But were still in the academy anyway, so how bad could things really go?

Cardinal sipped on his tea without further comments.

Sofia ran down the stairs, swapping her earrings with the ones she had just borrowed. She counted on their ability to see through lies and trickery to make sure that nobody was manipulating Lola from the shadows. The unlife rune was just there because she had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

That the warning came from a creature of the Deep in the first place wasnt exactly reassuring.

Sofia entered her room and closed the shield back behind her. Lola was sitting opposite Pareth around Sofias bone table.

Sorry to make you wait after waking you up like that, Lola. Are you feeling alright?

Yes? This whole situation is a bit stressful

It doesnt have to be, as I said, youre not in any trouble; but I have a few questions to ask and I need you to answer truthfully. But, first, want something to drink?

I could use some fresh water

There you go, Sofia said as she handed Lola a glass of water straight out of her storage ring while also taking one for herself.

Lola took a few sips in an awkward silence before she needed to say something, Is- Is it about my rank in the competition?

Not at all, no. Im quite proud of your performance, honestly. You really improved by leaps and bounds in these few months. Its clear that youre working very hard and taking my and other teachers advice to heart. This isnt the issue.

Lola looked slightly appeased by the praises, but she still couldnt understand why she was to be questioned, Then what? she asked.

Well, first thing first, remember that bell? Sofia asked, dangling Ormoncleths bauble from the tip of her staff.

The scribe bell?

Yes, this one. I lied, though, this isnt a scribe bell. Its a gift from Anyway, can you still hear it?

Yes?

Sofia knew from Astelia that the earrings of Lies would let her instinctively know when someone proclaimed falsehoods, but right now she felt nothing, which lifted a weight from her chest.

Nice, thats a good start. Now, about the real reason for this little interview, do you remember telling me about your familys ancestor and craftsmanship?

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Did I Oh! I did mention that in the bleeding plant dungeon. Is this about the statues? Im sure my family would still buy them, I could get father to offer you a good price, Lola offered.

Thank you for the offer, but this isnt it, in truth, I urgently need to learn more about this old ancestor of yours, for reasons Im afraid I cannot explain to you right now

You want to know about great ancestor Hugo? Well Ive never met him, so I only know from my parents I think father said he left the household something like six hundred years ago. Father said hes supposed to be as strong as the Emperor, Im not sure I believe him, but at the very least he should be strong enough to still be alive.

As strong as the Emperor, uh. Disappeared a few hundred years before Delivia became the new empress After killing the old Empress, perhaps? It really looks like Ive found out about that big fish everyone is trying to catch. So it was Lolas ancestor all along.

How convenient it must be for him that Lola is talented enough to be able to compete for first place, then, if the sword is his objective.

Unless he helped her a bit

Lets dig a bit more So hes been gone for centuries without news?

That is right But, teacher Sofia Why Why do you need to know about my ancestor?

Lets make up some crap excuse

Well, you said your ancestor was a very high-level smith and sculptor, right? Im looking for such a craftsman for a personnel project. Im trying to craft a divine relic.

And it’s not even really a lie. Oh how good would it feel to stab Scripture with a knife made with his own essence? And with how strong those earrings of Lies are, and how much trouble Ihuarah is going through to get back one of Sorrows items, I definitely could use a Godly item myself! Though I guess I already have the items from the Lords, which is better.

But Im greedy.

A divine item The words gave Lola pause for a moment. This Ancestor Hugo would definitely be up to the task! But, uh Yeah, nobody in the family has any idea about his whereabouts Sometimes I even wonder if hes not a lie made up by my father to give our family some kind of undue prestige If not for the statue

The statue?

Lola nodded, Yes, Ive never seen Ancestor Hugo in person but Lola looked around before she spoke in a hushed tone, Its supposed to be a family secret, but there is an old dusty lifesize statue of him hidden i-

Suddenly, Lolas words froze.

Lola?!

Sofia only had the time to see the mithril sword that Lolas spirit guardian usually used come out of Lolas storage item by itself before she was assaulted by some kind of mental shockwave. Like nail rapping against her brain. It reminded her of the Sirens calls.

Pareth teleported to her but the mild pain suddenly stopped.

And with a duo of yet-never-seen system notifications came an otherworldly scream. The sword was screaming.

[You were subjected to a Soul-altering attack; but it was dismissed]

[The Mark of Aphenoreth punishes the attacker]

The screaming sword stabbed Sofias face faster than she could even read the notifications. She barely had time to see the headmaster and Saint Tartaros appear in her room, both grabbing the sword, that her vision changed to something else entirely.

Sofia found herself in a dark room, the gaping wound in her face the only source of light, illuminating a giant-sized corridor topped with sculpted arches and paintings adorning the room, and sculptures of inordinately tall muscular men acting as the stone pillars on both sides, holding the ceiling and preventing the massive place from collapsing.

What?

Pareth appeared to her side.

I think the sword tried to escape while it was in my face but because the other two had the sword in hand, I was the only one who got teleported.

Sofia quickly checked her least used hidden feature of the system, the last bed compass. Points to the academy being to the northeast No distance measure, though, so this doesnt help much.

Is this Ancestor Hugos secret cave or something?

Sofia cautiously extended her mana senses, which revealed that this corridor she was in was encased within a mana shield, and under closer investigation, every part of every wall, every statue and every tile on the floor, were all covered in delicate inscriptions coursing with mana.

Literally, everything here is enchanted in one way or another

She was in the middle of the corridor, on a larger round enchanted tile, which was probably the target for the teleportation.

Now

Do I try to rob what is very likely the secret safe place of a level 500, or do I get the fuck out of here as fast as possible?

Thus far, for the few seconds she had been here, Sofia had been careful not to move, for fear of triggering some kind of alarm or defense mechanism. Pareth was similarly only looking around, not taking a single step.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

But this also sounds like a death trap. Worst case, if the headmaster and friends manage to kill the guy, Ill be the only one to know of the location of this place, will I not? So I can always come back with Grandma and safely clean the place.

If they dont kill him, then wont he come after me to get his shit back?

So in both cases, its better to just fuck off.

Alright, Pareth, were out. Graveyard boys, your turn to shine!

The graveyard skeletons failed to even appear, their summoning canceled by the rituals embedded everywhere.

Ahah