The Flaming Geologists

"I took a picture of the map, let's go, Ais," Marydhel smiled and faced the direction of the cell tower. I don't know why, but I felt something. I looked at the way she's holding my hand and said to myself, "Don't assume, Aisthesis..."

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One hour and 52 minutes remain, and none found a single ribbon. Although, this wouldn't deter the will of the students to find all of the ribbons.

The better your performance is, the higher the chance that you'll be included in a decent section. Having a decent group of people can positively affect an individual's growth. By this, everyone is determined not to fail the school's expectation.

"Pair 143 has been eliminated. Pair 143, you may now return to the auditorium," an announcement sent from the auditorium was heard around the school.

"It's starting, Mr. Augustus," a teacher inside the auditorium told the old man who's looking at the monitor.

This old man is one of the high-ranking officials inside the school. His name is Rundol Revenant. Along with his assistant, Terros Agvaris, they monitored every location where the ribbons are placed.

Many teachers and school officials are divided into different sectors to monitor, although, these two are separated from them.

Rundol Revenant, the individual who rewrote the way how reality was today. Terros Agvaris, the man known for extreme precision and perfection. These two may sound extraordinary, but people who knew them know that they're more than that.

"It seems like out of the 1050 new students that we have, only eight individuals found the hidden clues," Rundol stated in response to Terros' statement.

Terros looked at one of the monitors and saw a girl along with a boy. The two are heading to the orange ribbon. "This duo seems interesting...", he said. Rundol nodded in response and looked at the school's system. "That is Jhudiel Encantress and Acheron Certanias. This may just be a hunch, but these two may not be friends," Rundol jokingly stated. Terros laughed and replied, "You can see it in their faces.".

As Jhudiel was walking along with Acheron, they saw a weird-looking object surrounded by a flower field. The field was filled with small flowers that merged with small grass. "Tyrant, I think that's it. It may be th---," Acheron was gonna say something but Jhudiel interrupted him. "Who're you calling Tyrant?", Jhudiel said while emitting a very dark aura and a grin. Acheron froze but then responded with, "No one." Jhudiel maintained her cold demeanor and started walking to the object.

"Jeez, what a drag...", Acheron pouted. With no delay, Jhudiel looked at him with murderous intent. "Again. Say it again," she threatens Acheron. Acheron, however, just kept walking to the object. He acted as if he didn't care about Jhudiel's anger, but deep inside, he's screaming, "What raised this girl?! She's probably from the prehistoric era!!! She has a bloodline of a dinosaur!"

As Acheron was getting closer, Jhudiel pulled him from behind. "Do you feel something odd?", Jhudiel asked Acheron with a serious yet worried face. "I thought she's gonna kill me," Acheron said inside his mind. After gathering his thoughts together, he felt a surge of slight heat run through his feet. With no hesitation, he stepped back and dragged Jhudiel with him. He immediately let go, though, after making sure his partner is safe.

"I guess taking all of these ribbons isn't as easy as well," Acheron said, but this time, his pose and demeanor were serious that even her pair was intimidated.

"From the looks of it, the field has a square shape and has orange small flowers. If we were to determine what caused the heat to emit, then we might be able to reach that object," Jhudiel stated. Her partner suddenly had an idea and took a rock from the ground. "This may just be a guess, but it's worth a try," Acheron said and placed the rock on one of the flower beds. After a while, the rock's color changed.

"Tektite rocks, right?", Jhudiel figured out Acheron's plan. "Yes! Tektites can be black, green, brown, or grey naturally. When heated, they change color to something different from their original shade. The new color can vary depending on the tektite, ranging from a similar shade to a completely different color. I figured, this may be a puzzle considering that the field is emitting intense heat. Tektites don't also just randomly grow from the ground. They're from meteors, so I'm guessing, maybe these rocks are the way to find a path that is not emitting heat," Acheron stated with a serious tone.

Jhudiel nodded and picked up some specific rocks. Acheron also started gathering.

After a while of collecting, they got quite a few. "Is this enough, Certanias?", Jhudiel asked Acheron. Her partner nodded and said, "Jhudiel, place those tektites evenly on each side. I want you to place 10 on each. You handle two sides, while I handle the rest. Don't make any other move just yet after that." Jhudiel nodded in response to Acheron's plan.

Jhudiel and Acheron started placing and after they are done, they noticed two rocks did not change color. A sense of accomplishment rushed through them as they looked at the rocks.

"Let's go!", Jhudiel was about to step on one of the rocks, but then Acheron pulled her away. The pull was so smooth, although Jhudiel lost her balance. Her fall was too sudden and the weight was unbalanced, causing Acheron to fall along with her.

"Jhudiel! Are you okay?", Acheron said in distress. Jhudiel flustered as she noticed that Acheron was towering above her. She remained silent, feeling embarrassed. Acheron got confused, not realizing he was in a suspicious position. He sighed and said, "That was close."

Jhudiel, who was supposed to be embarrassed, returned to her senses and asked, "What do you mean?" Acheron gently pulled Jhudiel's nose and said, "The other one that you placed wasn't a tektite. It's just a normal rock that won't change color."

Jhudiel felt relief as she realized that Acheron's intentions were for her safety and not perverted. "Thanks, but... Can you stand up now?...", she said, still feeling slightly embarrassed.

Acheron realized his mistake and hammered his head on the tree. Jhudiel looked at him and laughed, "It's fine, I lost balance. It wasn't your fault." Acheron smiled awkwardly, still not moving on with the recent situation.

Jhudiel just smiled and looked at the rock. She grabbed it and threw the normal rock away. Acheron, finally coming back to the real world, walked to the real safe path. "Jhudiel, let's go," he said. Jhudiel smiled while concealing her embarrassed side.

The path was indeed safe, but Acheron placed tektites in front for every step they took. They traversed on a straight path and finally, they reached the center where there's only grass and flower that could hurt them.

"That was approximately 50 small steps," Jhudiel stated. Acheron laughed gently and asked, "You were counting as well?" Jhudiel nodded and replied, "Everything is a clue." Acheron nodded feeling proud of his pair.

As they finished talking, they saw a podium, lying in the very middle. They slowly approached it with pure caution. As they got closer, an orange ribbon appeared.

"Pair 097 has found an orange ribbon!" A loud announcement by the system resonated around the school.

"That's us," Acheron said and took the orange ribbon.

They were about to leave when suddenly, Acheron and Jhudiel got a notification on the provided phones, "Your popularity points had increased. 'Orange ribbon's perk: Flaming Geologist' has been acquired.

"I'll look at this later, the clock is ticking. How about you?", Acheron asked Jhudiel. His partner shook its head and returned the phone to her pocket.

After talking, they stepped out of the square flowee field. Jhudiel looked at the rocks that they placed and asked Acheron, "Should we remove the Tektites? We can't have other players hog our hard work, right?" Acheron just grinned and responded silently, "Jhudiel, let me ask you. Out of all the 1050 students, what are the odds of some being here?" Jhudiel understood Acheron's point and decided to go with the flow.

"What do you mean I'm too weak to carry them again?!", Jhudiel pretended to be mad. Acheron adapted and replied, "Let's just leave, Tyrant."

As they slowly walked away, a few students emerged from the surrounding areas. They were hiding, observing Jhudiel and Acheron's move on the field. Now that they're gone, they can finally get a ribbon for them.

Far from the flower field, Acheron and Jhudiel started talking again. "Since when do you think they arrived?", Jhudiel shyly asked Acheron. "That field was far from the auditorium. That was also isolated from other buildings, so it's not something anyone would head first. Also, I only picked up their presence when I stood in front of the safe tektite," Archeron gave a clear answer.

"So, they didn't see it?", Jhudiel flustered. Acheron tilted his head slightly, not getting what she meant. "You know, the 'fake tektite'...", Jhudiel added. Acheron finally understood and responded, "I assure you, they didn't."

After a while, a barrage of announcements resonated around the school.

"Pair 069 has found an orange ribbon."

"Pair 510 has found an orange ribbon."

"Pair 525 has found an orange ribbon."

"Pair 112 has found an orange ribbon."

"Pair 003 has found an orange ribbon."

The simultaneous announcement overwhelmed every student.

Acheron laughed while walking alongside Jhudiel, "There were 12 of them. Meaning there are six pairs to be exact. Only 5 pairs got the ribbon. I wonder what the 6th pair was planning..." Jhudiel looked at him and grinned, "I feel bad for them." "Why?", Acheron asked. Jhudiel walked faster and replied, "I swapped the real tektite with the heated one." "That means all of it will be hued..." Acheron quietly stated. Jhudiel laughed gently and said, "It won't hurt too much, so no need to be too emphatic."

Acheron smiled and nodded with satisfaction. "She's indeed a Tyrant, but with grace," Acheron jokingly stated inside his mind as they continued walking.

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As Marydhel and I walked closer to the cell tower, we noticed something. "Ais, is that... blood?", Marydhel asked me and started trembling with fear, but she concealed it as much as she could.