Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC

Thursday passes just as quickly with another lesson on Artifacts and Space Magic in the afternoon. As the first year is nearing its conclusion, Instructor Renner starts teaching us about even more advanced spells for Space Magic. I'm talking about freezing space around us, displacing things, and interestingly, portals, just like how Conor Valterion bypassed the shields of utopian starships all those years ago.

Unfortunately, those spells are very complex. Instructor Renner estimates we won't be ready to use them until we're well into our second year of Advanced Space Magic – If we take the course again, which I'm absolutely planning to do. But this also means that I won't have them ready for the Earth adventure, as my second year starts after that. But who knows, maybe if I learn them fast enough…

Anyway, now it's Friday and I'm on my way to meet with Dave, Fabio, Toby, Lena, and Kylie. My remaining taxi duties are now one after the other. I barely have time to visit my classes anymore. I should have thought about that when I accepted that many… But at least it's not causing any problems so far. I managed to catch up on everything.

When I'm about to enter the building where the Archeology lecture takes place, I'm shaken out of my thoughts by an incoming message. A tap in the air opens it up. Huh, it's from Dave, asking me to meet in his dorm room. What's that about? I decide to give him a call and spin up a Communication spell. He's quick to accept.

"Hi Sara, how are you? Did you get my message?"

"Yeah, hi Dave. I'm fine, thank you. Your message is actually why I'm calling right now. You see, I'm about to enter building 15 for the lecture and now you ask me to meet at your dorm. What's wrong?"

I basically hear him wince. "Sorry about that. We forgot to inform you earlier, so I hope you're not angry that you went there for nothing… There's been a change of plans concerning our Archeology assignment. Can you come over, please? It's better if we explain in person."

"Hey, don't worry, Dave. A bit of walking has never hurt anyone. I'll be right over. Should I bring something to eat?"

"Oh yes, that be great! One moment, I'm asking the others…"

He's silent for a few seconds, then comes back to me.

"Alright, you can bring something for everyone if you don't mind."

"Sure, no problem. How does Thai sound?"

"That's perfect, thank you."

"Sweet, then I'll be there in about thirty minutes, depending on how long it takes. See you!"

He says goodbye as well, then I disconnect the spell. A change of plans, huh? I wonder what's that about. From the sound of it, the assignment was canceled. But why? I guess I'll find out soon.

Half an hour later, I knock on Dave's door with a bag of food floating right next to me. Toby is the one to open up and let me in. After a quick round of greetings, we sit down at the table in the common room of the dorm and dig in. It's quite spicy, especially when I accidentally bite down on a whole chili pepper. My eyes are watering and my whole mouth burns like the flames of hell. Gasping, I ask for a glass of milk. Lena is a lifesaver and brings me one. I immediately gulp it down and sigh in relief. "Thanks, Lena!"

The others barely hold down their laughs until Fabio cracks and starts shaking in silent laughter. That causes the others to join in and I lean back, cross my arms, and glare at them. That's not funny!

Dave finds his composure and gives me an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, but your face… It looked like you were about to spit fire all over the table."

"Damn, straight I was! Those things should be illegal, they are way too hot. Try one if you dare."

He shakes his head. "No, I think I have to pass."

Kylie on the other hand tilts her head and eyes the sole chili pepper remaining in her box of food. She shrugs and pops it into her mouth. We all stare at her in horror and her twin sister rushes off to grab a glass of milk.

We continue to look at her and wait for a reaction. Nothing happens. She swallows and smiles. "Not bad could be stronger though."

"Monster," I whisper while shaking my head.

Her nonchalant reaction causes the others to eye their own chili peppers. Toby is the first one to pop it into his mouth as well. He is quickly followed by Fabio and Dave. Only Lena doesn't take hers, so Kylie snatches it for herself. This time I get the expected reactions as the boys' heads all turn crimson and they gasp for air. They basically fight for the sole glass of milk until Lena quickly gets another two. Now I get why they found my reaction so amusing and I can't hold back a few giggles.

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Finally, the heat dies down and the three boys stare at Kylie with wide eyes. "Sara's right," Dave says. "You are a monster!"

Kylie puts on a haughty expression and somehow manages to look down on Dave, Toby, and Fabio. "You guys are just weak."

Then she starts cackling and everyone joins in. The whole situation was just too absurd.

After that, we put away the trash and move over to the big sofa on the other side of the room. Once we're sat, I look at Dave and ask the question that's been in my head since his first message today. "So why did you call me here instead of going to the preparatory lesson for the assignment?"

He takes a deep breath. "Well, as I've said, there's been a change of plans… The thing is, we won't be doing an assignment at all."

"What?!" I blurt out and stare at him. That can't be right. I mean They were literally the first ones to hire me as a taxi and we even became friends afterward. Why aren't we doing the assignment?

"Yeah," he sighs before continuing. "We basically had the same reaction at first but when our professor explained his reasoning, it started to make sense. So please hear me out. Actually, the assignment isn't really canceled… It's delayed instead. The reason for that is simple." He stops and points at me.

Me? Why would I be the reason for a delayed assignment? Everything worked out so far and delaying something for my sake wouldn't make sense because Sara Green isn't important. So why…?

OHH!

Dave grins. "I see that it clicked. Yeah, our assignment is delayed so that we can do archeology on Earth. Professor Oldana thinks it would be a waste of time if we're going out to do archaeology at a staged site if we have the opportunity to do the real thing just a few months later."

"That's… Unexpected, but also not wrong," I reply. "So now we have another reason to bring our A-game when we're on Earth. So how will this work? I don't know how the actual competition will be structured. Are you going to drop off and do your own thing once we're there or will you stay with the main group?"

Dave shrugs. "That depends. We don't know much either. I'd prefer to stay with the group. Who knows what hidden dangers the planet hides? And it's not that there aren't a lot of sites where we can dig out stuff. The whole planet has been left alone for thousands of years after all. But like I said, if you're doing other things, we might have to head out on our own."

I nod, the answer was expected. There's still so much unknown about the Earth competition after all. But that doesn't stop me from planning for all eventualities.

"Alright, so we'll wait and see how things play out… That's fine with me. Actually, do you guys need any specialized equipment? Also, you can have one of the lab rooms on my ship… Most of them are empty anyway."

The other's jaws drop open. "You have what for us?" Toby blurts out. "Just how big is your ship?"

"Uhh, haven't I already shown it to you?"

Dave shakes his head. "Nope, we only know that it's called Stargazer."

Huh, I really haven't… In all those months, we've never been to my ship. "Well, no time like the present, right? Come on, I'll take us up there."

"Wait, you mean right now?" Kylie asks.

"Sure, I mean we're all together right now and none of us has any lessons… So why not?"

She shrugs. "Well, if you say it that way. Fuck it, yeah, why not. Let's go see that ship of yours!"

The others nod too, and I spin up a Teleportation spell. A second later, we arrive in the living room aboard the Stargazer and I give them a tour. As with all the others, they are completely amazed, especially once Toby recognizes the starship as a Valterion-built ship. That causes another round of discussion and I tell them the same lie that my parents found it at a scrapyard and got it for cheap.

I end my tour with the lab rooms and once we reach an empty one, I turn to address them again. "So that's where you guys can set up your equipment. It's all yours if you want. Down the hallway is direct access to the hangar bay and well, it's empty now, but you have your imagination."

Dave spins in a slow circle with an open mouth. "That's too much, Sara. We can't accept that."

I look at him in confusion. "Why not? Hell, how do you expect to get to Earth?"

That stops him dead in his tracks. "Well, I guess we get a ship from the college?"

I shake my head and fix him with a slight glare. "No, you don't! Or even if you would, I'm not allowing it. The logistics alone would be catastrophic not to mention that Maja would need to protect even more ships. You're going to stay here on the Stargazer. End of discussion."

He gulps and looks at his other friends for support. Lena shakes her head though. "You know she's right, Dave. Just accept her offer. We've known her long enough to know that she won't fool around with us. And I mean look at the ship. Why would we take a boring academy ship if we can have this? Also, Sara's no Noble if that's your fear. You have to get over the Junbuns… They are done for! And who's responsible for that? Right, Sara is! So get it together man!"

Everyone takes in a deep breath, myself included. I've never seen Lena rip someone a new one like this. She can be rather frightening! I also have to suppress a wince at the mention of me not being a Noble. Oh, and I should probably mention Lisa.

Finally, Dave nods and looks at me a bit sheepishly. "Uhh, I guess we accept your offer then…"

"Good," I reply. "Let's get somewhere more comfortable because I have to tell you a few more things.

They nod and we walk back to the living room where we sit down on the sofas and armchairs. Then I start explaining. "So first of all let's talk about who's going to Earth with us. Obviously, it's going to be my team which you already know. Next are you guys which will probably fill up most of the cabins we have here on the Stargazer. At least if no one shares their room.

"Additionally, there's our Peacekeeper escort which comes with their own starship. It's captained by Maja, one of my best friends. I'm sure you'll like her. Then we have one more ship but it probably won't be there all the time. It belongs to a trade company and will take care of our supplies during the expedition. So if you guys need anything, I can give you their contact information. The company actually belongs to other friends of mine, so it's no problem if you bother them with requests. Also, don't worry about money. If it's relevant for the Earth Adventure like equipment you'll need or something, then The Empire will take care of the costs as far as I know."

Even if not, then I will do so… I stop for a second and take a deep breath. Now comes the harder part.

"And finally, there's one recent addition to our big group. I hope this doesn't bother you guys too much, but Lisa Song will also be part of our team and take over the coordination in the background."

I look at them and wait for their reactions. They are not what I expected as Dave's jaw literally drops to the floor and he blushes deeply. Before he finds his voice though, Fabio lets out a loud bellow. "Lisa fucking Song?!" He leans over to punch Dave's shoulder. "Yo Dave, your celebrity crush is part of our team!"

Dave blushes even deeper and finally manages a groan. "Don't remind me…"

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