A beast arose.

Throwing back its head, it reared, letting out a roar. The stones at its feet shattered, the smaller pebbles thrust aside.

Taken by its newfound power, it approached the man to whom this new strength was attributed to. Even with its gifted power, it was a mere infant, crawling beneath this man’s shadow. It could never hope to combat this unnamed benefactor. Whatever order that the beast received, it would be unable to disobey it.

It bowed before the man, a dog before their master.

And the man looked on.

…………………………………

Nemo woke up in a cold sweat. 

He glanced around his Stonehall bedroom, wary, almost expecting a monstrous beast to appear. It was just as empty as before, and, though it wasn’t visible, he knew his only possessions were still folded in a suitcase tucked neatly into the dresser.

The remnants of a lost dream swam around in his mind.

His mind told him it was nothing.

His intuition screamed to him otherwise.

So he went back to sleep and told himself he could sort it out in the morning. When he awoke once more, all memory of that dream and the reaction that followed had long since faded.

To add mystery on to mystery, let it be known that neither in this forgotten dream, nor in any dream past, has Nemo thought up a beast of any sort.

…………………………………

“...then Sael brought up the trough, which I had completely forgotten.”

Tilo’s classroom had slowly turned into the only place that Tilo and Nemo could speak comfortably. Maybe it was the stage with its steps that made it seem so perfect, or maybe it was the fact that everywhere else was either busy, noisy, or taken. Especially so during breakfast.

Nemo raised a brow. “Who’s Sael again?”

“I never mentioned them, did I?”

“No. Why’s Sael in so many of your stories anyways?” 

Tilo stuffed another bite of breakfast into his mouth. “They live at the mansion and, in exchange, they act as groundskeeper - they’re the same person feeding the animals while we’re out - and they live with me, so it’s only natural they’re in most of my anecdotes.” 

“Are you friends?”

Tilo waved the fork, making relaxed circular gestures in the air. “It’s more of a tolerance than a friendship. The reason we aren’t friends doesn’t have anything to do with our actual interaction, Sael just isn’t looking for friendship. They’re the begrudging third member of my company, what more can I say? ”

“You can keep going with the story now.”

“No, the flow’s gone. I’ve forgotten what I was talking about.” Tilo went limp, sighing loudly. “It would probably be wise to head to the exhibition stadium. As small as Stonehall’s campus is, it’s still a trek from here.” 

He seemed drained. 

“Are you sure you’re ready for this? You look exhausted,” Nemo commented.

“I don’t feel tired. That’s not it. However, I don’t have an apt description for this feeling.”

“Would ‘out of it’ work?”

“That’s exactly it. ‘Out of it.’ I’m not worried, though. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I can perform the demonstration.”

“Even if that weren’t true, I doubt I’d be able to stop you.”

Tilo snickered. “Probably.”

“I feel like I’ve just been insulted,” Nemo laughed. “Alright, I think that’s enough of this. Northern Stonehall, right? Let’s get moving.” 

The door opened, a small face peering into the classroom.

“Professor, um, Tilo? Have you seen Professor Krylin?

“Oh, Chisi! My apologies, but I haven’t seen her all day. She might be in her office. We were just about to head down to the exhibition field, but if you need assistance-”

“I think I’m fine. You’re probably busy, so I’ll just go.”

“No, I’m-” Tilo started.

Chisi slammed the door quickly behind her.

“-not. That was odd.”

Nemo shrugged. “She might have just felt rushed. Which is why we should head on out. The artifacts for the demonstration are still in the archives, so that’s another detour to account for.”

“I almost forgot. That could have been bad.” Tilo swiped up the remnants of breakfast from the floor on which they sat, sliding across the teaching platform to a nearby trash bin and stuffing it in.

“After all of this, you know what would be funny?”

“What?”

“If we were late! Could you imagine?”

Nemo shuddered. “Unfortunately, I most definitely can.” 

............................................. 

“Aaaaand we’re late.” Nemo remarked.

“I severely underestimated the time it would take to borrow an artifact,” Tilo called back. Despite his size in comparison, he was considerably faster than Nemo. “My fault.”

They dashed through the training fields littered around the school, dodging and weaving through students casting spells and testing personally developed artifacts.

Eventually they reached a point in which there were no more training fields to be seen, only the small forest that acted as a barrier between the school and its exhibition stadium.

“Why did you have to pick one so far away?” Nemo yelled after Tilo.

“It wasn’t my choice. The demonstration from the second day was deemed ‘too destructive’ and Krylin told me that if I wanted to showcase anything else, I had to use the exhibition stadium.”

“That showcase was deemed ‘too destructive?’”

“That’s what I said. It wasn’t just that, though.”

“It’s never ‘just that’ with you, is it?”

They stopped just after the final tree line. The exhibition stadium was a building with an excessive amount of magic circles applied to its interior and exterior, all for the purpose of protection. From the outside, it appeared to be a cylindrical building whose wavy roof was held aloft by six pillars at even intervals. Though nothing could be seen from where Tilo and Nemo stood, inside lay layers of bleachers, all surrounding the field where they were supposed to be instructing the students.

Tilo’s eyes widened.

“I guess not.”

“Then what-” Before Nemo could finish, a scream ripped through the air, travelling through the gap between the room and the exhibition stadium’s walls.

What followed was a rippling roar 

The sound was concussive, a shockwave that tore through the area around the exhibition stadium.

Nemo struggled to keep on his feet, the resulting wind strong enough to whip whatever was in its path to the ground.

Tilo remained where he stood, unfazed. For all it was worth, the winds might as well have been nonexistent.

He wore a determined look on his face.

“An Overbeast,” he muttered to himself.

His brow furrowed. For it to be in Stonehall, this wasn’t a coincidence.

“The Isolate Order.”