Bruce was confused by the statement, he looked around to see if anyone was laughing but they were all smiling now.
"It's not a prank?" He mumbled.
"We considered your preposition and decided not to shut down Alphite Industries, though they will have to put it a lot of hard work to gain back the people's trust" Mr Freddie announced.
"Seeing how you stood up for us, we decided that the least we could do to appreciate you is offer you a job here, so you can fulfill your dream of being the first mage to work at Alphite Industries" Mr Eliot said.
Bruce could not believe his ears, he did it, he solved the mystery and saved the industry from being shut down, as an added bonus, he was being offered a job.
"But, I'm still a student, I'm not even of legal age yet" Bruce said.
"Yet you saved this industry twice in the last 24 hrs, we have given you the role of virtual consultant on intelligence gathering so you can still focus on school and as for your salary, we have created an account in your name with your details which you won't be able to access till you reach legal age but the balance would still be sent to your watch for confirmation" Mr Eliot explained.
Bruce was speechless, he felt they were doing too much for me but he knew better than to reject it.
"Thank you, i will do my best"! Bruce said.
A bunch of souvenirs and rewards were shared amongst the students in appreciation of their selflessness and the items they lost in the chaos would be compensated.
The atmosphere had gone from tense and nerving to relief and jubilation, the students were taken to a teleportation port to be returned to their respective schools.
At the port, they were to leave in descending alphabetical order meaning Blue River Academy would leave last, when it was lakeside's turn, they looked towards Bruce and the others.
"Thanks for everything" Nolan said as there disappeared through the portal.
And soon, it was Blue River Academy's turn, as the portal was powered up again, Bruce took one last look around before finally stepping through the portal.
They found themselves back within the familiar metallic walls of their TR, due to the impromptu state of their return, there was no one to welcome them. They returned to their dorms making sure to pick up lunch from the cafeteria, they weren't expected to have returned so no one really took note of them.
Dom and Bruce had just finished sorting out thier things at Bruce's dorm when Brandon, Alec and Angelo walked in.
"Ouch , why the sudden halt?" Alec asked, he had crashed into Brandon who seemed to have suddenly froze on the spot before suddenly bolting ahead.
"Easy, easy" Bruce chuckled as he pulled them into a hug.
"You guys are back" Alec exclaimed.
"Looks like the process was a success" Angelo said.
"We were really worried when, those messages popped up in our heads" Alec said.
"Let's go get something to eat from the Cafeteria" Brandon suggested.
"Way ahead of you" Dom replied pointing at the table where they had placed what they got from the cafeteria.
"Let's meet up with the girls at the Oasis" Alec said.
They packed the food and left for their regular hangout point to meet up with the others.
"It's nice to have you back" Isabella said.
"The both of them or just Bruce?" Natalie teased.
Isabella's cheeks reddened a bit as Natalie had once again began her teasing spree.
"So spill it, what happened there?" Brandon asked.
_________A few moments later_________
"Woah, are you for real?" Alec asked.
"I guess that explains the medals, Bruce's new smartwatch and the stuff in the room" Brandon said.
"This is an Alphite Industries staff Smartwatch, since we are not allowed to use phones here, It will help me stay in touch with them" Bruce explained.
"Athena huh? it's a good thing the medals are awarded based on traits not gender" Angelo said.
"Though I am surprised the school didn't announce your return even though it was impromptu" Maya said.
"Personally, I didn't see the need for that, by the way, shouldn't we stop by to see Miss Silver?" Dom replied.
"She won't be in her office now, she's probably with Sgt Raid somewhere" Isabella said.
"I see" Dom replied.
"They have been spending a lot of time together since Brandon almost died" Angelo said.
"I didn't almost die, I just fought one ogre" Brandon stated.
"So I assume, they are still thinking of a way to catch the imposter Sir Briam and Luke?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah, but they haven't been giving us much information" Brandon replied.
"I should drop by Nicholas's dorm, his gift really came in handy over there" Bruce said.
"Yeah, by the way, the 3rd years are back so our shadow mission might most likely take place next week" Brandon said.
"Really?? looks like there's another adventure ahead of us" Bruce said.
"Not to mention the inter school sports competition" Angelo added.
"And the supposed spar tournament at the end of the year to re-evaluate us ahead of next year" Maya added.
"Woah, I can't believe we are almost halfway through the school year" Brandon said.
"Technically, we are past halfway, the inter school sports competition would take approximately two weeks which normally I don't count as part of the school year" Angelo explained.
"Then the exams and re-evaluation" Natalie noted.
"Looks like , we wouldn't even have time to help with the investigation if we wanted to, there are a lot of things to prepare for" Dom said.
"Yeah, well how about we have a spar right now?" Alec asked.
" Not interested" Natalie said.
"Okay, who do you want to fight?", Bruce asked.
"Me vs Dom, you vs Brandon, Isabella vs Maya" Alec said.
"Alright everyone, take your places everyone Alec said excitedly.
They took their places a few paces away from each other so that each spar could have it's privacy.
"Start" Alec yelled.
From the spar, Brandon noticed that Bruce was on parr with him in terms of ability strength and Dom overpowered Alec, meanwhile Maya and Isabella seemed to be going toe to toe.
The spar ended and the students took a few minutes of rest before going back to their dorms.
"It's nice to have you back Bruce" Brandon said.
"It's nice to be back" Bruce replied.
"So what happened while we were gone?" Bruce asked.
_______________________________
After Bruce and Dom left the rest went about their daily routines, Miss Silver had dropped by Brandon's dorm to check on them.
"Meet me at the news register tomorrow during lunch" She said.
The next day, during lunch Brandon was seated in the news register waiting for Miss Silver.
"She's never late, what's going on?" He asked himself.
He was about to go look for her when she walked in with a broad smile on her lips.
"Miss Silver, I almost thought something happened" Brandon stated.
"Oh don't mind my lateness, I wasn't sure if you were ready to learn what I am about to teach you but let's give it a try, I am going to teach you how to draw runes" Miss Silver said.
"Runes, but only formation mages can draw runes" Brandon said.
"You seem to forget that you are not the average mage" Miss Silver laughed.
"Besides, the runes I am talking about aren't formation runes" Miss Silver added.
"Oh I see, what type of runes are they?" Brandon asked.
"There are Genesis runes, the formation runes are intensely modified Genesis runes made to serve a particular purpose therefore causing it to lose it's original function" Miss Silver explained.
"Wow, how many are there?" Brandon asked.
"There are quite a lot but I will start with the basic ones, the Genesis runes of elements, it will come in handy if you find yourself in a situation where you can't use your spiritual energy" Miss Silver explained.
"So it's not powered by spiritual energy?" Brandon asked.
"No it's not, it's powered by soul energy which is abundant everywhere just that normal people can't access it but since you are supernatural, you should be able to" Miss Silver explained.
"Wait, you are no-, I mean your are supernatural?" Brandon asked confused.
"I thought you would have figured it out by now" Miss Silver chuckled.
-
Name : Silverado Lorencio
Race : Druid
Description: Servants of nature, knowledge seekers, houses of wisdom, keepers of balance
-
"Wow, it honestly never came to mind" Brandon said.
"Well, you know now" Miss Silver said.
"Alright let's get to it, I am ready to learn" Brandon stated.
"Alright, first you need to master how to access the soul energy in the environment, for some they draw special absorption runes on thier skin but It's best to learn to do so naturally" Miss Silver explained.
She wrote some instructions on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
"Go through that and you should be good to go, tomorrow I will give you runes to practice" Miss Silver said.
Brandon looked at the time which signalled that lunch would soon be over, he thanked her before hurrying back to class.
Once the school day was over, Brandon practiced the instructions given to him and he was able to access the soul force in the area, unlike spiritual energy that's violent and volatile, soul force was cool and comforting, it felt like Brandon was moving the energy without actually moving it.
A few hours later, there was a knock on the door.
"Maybe it's Angelo" Alec said but, on opening the door he found Levi with a bandage all over his arm.
"Brandon, it's for you" Alec said.
"oh, I will be right there" Brandon replied.
Walking outside the dorm, Brandon couldn't help but stare at Levi's arm.
"It's infected, the negative energy is what's making you feel on edge" Ian said in his head.
"What happened to your arm?" Brandon asked.
"Here I thought you were admiring my biceps" Levi chuckled.
"So what happened?" Brandon asked again.
"You know I can't tell you kid" Levi replied.
The next moment, Brandon had Levi pinned to the ground and with swift movements, he removed the bandage, it was long and deep scratch wound with bluish black liquid oozing out of it.
-
Hybrid scratch (Demon & werewolf)
State : Infected
End point: Death
Time range: 18 hours
-
>Leader : Maya meet me at the Oasis, please it's very urgent<
"Hey, get off me" Levi groaned as he pushed Brandon off.
"What were you thinking?" Levi yelled.
"That wound is infected" Brandon said.
"The healers said it would be okay" Levi replied.
"Does it look okay?" Brandon asked, sarcasm eminent in his tone.
"Just come with me" Brandon said.
He led Levi to the Oasis to wait for Maya.
"Maya will be able to heal it, she has the power of mother nature herself" Ian assured the worried Brandon, Levi began sweating profusely while seemingly struggling to breathe.
Maya soon arrived, on sighting Levi's wounds, she let out a gasp, she hurriedly came to him, her hands glowed as she placed it over the wound.
"It's been over twelve hours since he got infected, the poison has gone deep but I can heal him" Maya said 
A surge of energy pulsated through her body as the light from her hands got brighter, Levi's breathe stabilized but he was unconscious.
"There, he should be alright after a good night's rest" Maya said.
"Cool, I will take him to his dorm" Brandon said.
"Could I walk you guys there?" Maya asked shyly.
"Sure, I don't see why not" Brandon replied.
As they walked Brandon could feel Maya's nervous gaze.
"Is there something on your mind?" Brandon asked.
"Yeah, actually, I just can't stop thinking about how my future has changed now that I met you" Maya said.
"Before now, I just planned on finishing military academy then working at an infirmary due to the limited use of my ability but now I can actually do more than that, my father would no longer have to worry how his little girl will survive after school or if war broke out and we got separated" Maya explained.
"I didn't change your future, you did, it was well within your power to stay away from me but, you decided to give me a chance to prove I'm not after you or your friends money or protection, you saw me as an equal unlike some of the others, so whatever changes occur in your life, it's because of you and only you" Brandon explained.
"Hmm, I never thought home away from home would feel this nice, you, Bruce and the others are like family to me, I mean, we have survived so much together, we almost even died but because we stuck together, we made it out" Maya said.
"I didn't even expect to have a family, I always assumed it would be just Bruce and I but, I don't regret meeting the rest of you" Brandon said.
"I guess meeting one another marked the start of something new in our lives" Maya said.
"Though it's a shame, the rest of our expeditions 
got cancelled because of what happened, I was really looking forward to more adventures" Maya chuckled.
"Well, there's always next year, I'm sure we will have everything figured out by then" Brandon replied.
They had gotten to the entrance of the senior dorms, Maya had to wait outside as it was the boys dorm and also night time.
"Let's go, I handed him over to Nicholas, luckily he was the only one that got bitten" Brandon said.
"Really, that's odd" Maya said.
"Not really, he was covering their retreat from the enemy and was attacked last minute" Brandon replied.
"I see that explains it" Maya.
They bade each other goodnight and returned to their respective dorms.