Avilien

After school with the pet snake

Nebs licked his fur back down and preceded with giving himself a bath on the sofa. "That went better than I would have expected," he said. Luke smiled at him as he watched the penned-on moustache twitch.

"For you, it may have gone well. This isn't so good for Brit and I, who were relying on Nagori and Cissy's help to tackle Nate." Luke sat down next to Nebs and unzipped his backpack.

"So? You don't have to help her; you're just the idiot who vowed to help her."

"Because she is a friend, Nebs, and saved our lives. I think I have a clue as to who the level-seventeen dark mage is, but my hunch lies with those odd-coloured GTs." Luke pulled out his notebook and a pen and rested it on the table in front of him.

"Good for you, but I'm not helping that reckless woman."

"I'll give you lots of potatoes, so keep your opinion to yourself."

"A done deal, master," said Nebs as he rubbed his furry tummy. "I am rather hungry and I have the strangest of desires to stroke my face. You better feed me up good." Nebs hopped back into Luke's phone and sank within the screen. Luke turned on vibrate so he could communicate a little if need be without resorting to Nebs catapulting out...so long as he didn't make it vibrate every time Brit said a single word.

Luke wondered how Brit had gotten into his school without effort and even grew curious as to how she'd managed to get herself placed in his classroom. Was it just because of her family? What exactly did Mr. Mock want from her? And what was with those lies he'd told the other teachers? Brit and her carefree attitude brushed it off, but Luke couldn't do that. Something terrible could be about to happen to her—besides the involvement of Nate—and she was too scatter-brained to care. That was one of the main reasons she'd been robbed so much in Forest of Winter and that her guild got assaulted from inside jobs.

Scribbling down every weird incident that had happened since Saturday, Luke tried to make something out of the mess he had written down. Strange events had happened to him, too, that were separate from Brit, but could be involved with her. Discarding his meeting with Nebs in the alley and the appearance of the corrupter and Anna, the first key point in his notes was Sharon's reveal. Luke obviously wasn't supposed to know she was a secret agent, but he had found out and in doing so, met the man named Chris with the strange shades. After that came the appearance of a world-famous game vlogger and pro Forest of Winter player, Nate.

Brit revealed who Nate was to her, and why she hated him and what he had planned for the town...this in turn making Luke vow to offer her aid. There was a clear connection between Sharon and the headmaster—the bald man with the same coloured GTs as Mr. Mock—and the connection between the headmaster and Nate was that Nate had attended Islington, and Mr. Mock back then was just a teacher and taught him. If all of them were in cahoots, Brit could be in more trouble than she realised. Secret agents and some darker plan could be at work, and her chasing after Nate—thinking he was alone—might not go so well if he had definite backup.

"This makes some sense...if I join this to here and this to here. I still feel as though we are missing the bigger picture." Luke sighed as he put down his pen and looked over his scribbles. Brit wanted to defeat Nate before Avilien went live, which looked like it wasn't going to happen, not now and not without further aid. That put the entire town in jeopardy; Luke had to ask himself if Nate would really make all the people vanish. So far, all had been quiet.

Lunchtime ended with the ringing of the school bell, and students flooded back into the school. Luke set off down the stairs and towards his classroom. Hungrier than ever, as his stomach tightened like a vice, he opened up his classroom door. As the first student back, Tucker looked at him and then resumed messing around with his teacher's tablet. Next to him on the desk was a black plastic container with a fork sticking out of it.