Esoterico: A Hidden Land

Chapter Fourteen: Out On A Mission

The self-proclaimed 'Sick Seven', which means the group of seven beginners set out on their quest as they set foot upon the escalator one by one. 

"You've got to try," Ryan said, "to make sure nobody notices us." 

"Nobody?" Sally said, "Are you sure?"

They wanted nobody to see them, but as they set foot on the third floor and headed for the second, they realized that it's not possible to go completely unnoticed. They were face-to-face with a senior boy, and the boy was none other than Li Huan, the Chinese shark humanoid. 

"Where are you going, all teamed up?" Li Huan asked, eyes zeroed. 

Sally tried to say, "We're actually—" 

"On a secret mission!" Rex proclaimed. 

Ryan wished to smack that idiot shortie down; Li Huan must get the better of them now. The quest was done before it even started. 

Li Huan didn't question them; instead, he laughed and said, "Oh, I see. You're planning a school escape right now! In your first year! Good!" 

"Mmm—" Rex went on to contradict, but Ryan pressed his mouth shut with his hand and said, "Yes, good catch! We're off for that mission." 

"Yeah, it's a good time for that, as the Seven Sorcerers are out of campus." Li Huan grinned, "We haven't tried that yet, but it's interesting. I wish to do that soon. Don't forget to tell me once you've completed the mission. And yes, don't forget the main gate password—'Creepy-crawly crocodile climbs up the cave.' I reckon you don’t know it. All right then, go on. Be careful of the werewolf, though. Good luck," saying this, Li Huan went his way again. 

"Phew," Sally said, "That was close."

On the other hand, Ryan struck a blow on Rex's neck with his fist, saying, "Damn fool, you almost got us caught!" 

"Oh sorry bro, I didn't understand the seriousness," Rex said, rubbing his neck.

They used the escalators to get to the second floor. Then the first one. Nobody met them or asked them anything in the meantime. So they stepped onto the first floor. 

They hurried up and got into the snowy practice yard through one of the doors, which opened the moment they approached it. They hurried off and crossed the practicing yard. As they approached the main gate, Ryan bellowed, "Creepy-crawly crocodile climbs up the cave." 

The gate slowly opened. As they entered the Magicademia main ground, the gate was closed by itself once again. 

The ground was covered in snow, which was still falling as usual. The glorious Magicademia Soccer Stadium was still standing. 

"We gotta hurry up," Ryan said, "let's race to the tree-surrounded area; It will make us go faster."

They raced until they reached the end of the main ground and the tree-surrounded passage. And Rex won the race. 

"Phew, finally we're out of sight." Sally said, panting. 

"You didn't want to even come at first," Jean reminded her. 

"Well, at least I'm in right now!" Sally remarked. Somebody spoke suddenly: "Another escape group, huh? Except only this one's full of total youngsters!"

Ryan turned back to see that the words were spoken by the big, old birch tree. He was surprised that everybody was thinking they were a school-escaping group. That was, though, a privilege. 

"Shhh, please don't tell anybody, Mr. Tree," Smith said. 

"Tell anybody? Bah!" the tree said, "We never told anyone, rather we helped a lot of escapers when they escaped. We even lied to caretakers about them."