Ethan felt something poking the side of his face, forcing him to open his eyes slowly.
His entire body felt heavy, which was a sensation that he had already experienced in the past.
"You must really like sleeping on the floor of the common room, Ethan," George said in a teasing tone. "It makes me want to try it as well."
It took Ethan a few seconds to process what his senior was talking about. However, after seeing his Manor Mates looking at him with amused expressions on their faces, he finally understood what happened to him.
"George, can you please pick me up and place me on the sofa," Ethan said. "Although there's carpet here, the floor is still hard."
The Third Year chuckled after hearing Ethan's request and tried to pick the young man up, but to his surprise, Ethan's body was as heavy as lead.
"Noah, a bit of help," George stated. "Ethan is so heavy. I can't lift him alone."
Noah nodded. He thought that George was just messing around, but he still agreed to help. Seeing his friend lying on the hard floor felt really uncomfortable.
But to his surprise, he was unable to lift Ethan up because his body was truly heavy.
"I told you so." George smirked.
"On the count of three," Noah said.
"One, two… three!"
The two teenagers managed to lift Ethan a bit, but they were unable to lift him all the way. Just as they were about to lose their strength, Henry grabbed hold of the young man's body and lifted him up easily.
"Yeah, you're much heavier now, Ethan." Henry had an amused look on his face as he laid the young man on the couch. "What have you been eating as of late?"
"Minotaurs," Ethan replied with sarcasm. "Dragons, too."
"Nice," Henry smirked. "Sounds delicious. Call me next time, okay?"
"Sure."
"Great!"
After making sure that Ethan was fine, Henry left the Dorm to have breakfast in the Dining Hall of the academy.
Since this wasn't the first time this had happened, his Manor Mates thought that he would be fine this time as well.
Also, Luna and Lilian were with him, so they were confident that the young man was in good hands.
Once they were sure that everyone in the Manor had left, Luna held Ethan's hand and looked at him with worry.
"Is this why you told us not to sleep beside you last night?" Luna asked. "What happened?"
Lilian, who was also worried about Ethan, gently raised his head and placed it on her lap, giving him a lap pillow.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about it," Ethan replied. "It's one of those secrets where I am bound to keep my silence by things outside of my control."
"I see…" Luna sighed.
However, the young lady noticed something in Ethan's right hand, which piqued her curiosity.
"You seem to be holding something," Luna commented. "Is that an egg?"
Ethan's right hand was half open, revealing the thing in his hand.
Just like Luna had guessed, it was indeed the Golden Egg that Fortis Dud had given him before his world shattered and descended into darkness.
"Is this one of those secrets that you're not supposed to tell us?" Lilian asked.
"No," Ethan replied. "It should be safe for you girls to touch it… I think."
"Are you sure?" Luna inquired just to be certain.
Ethan nodded. "Try it."
Luna cautiously poked the Golden Egg at first, but after seeing that she wasn't experiencing any backlash, she decided to be a bit bold and reached out to hold it.
The egg was smooth and slightly warm in her hand. It was the size of a chicken egg, and if it wasn't for its golden color, Luna would definitely think that it was indeed a chicken egg.
"Will this egg hatch?" Luna asked.
"It will," Ethan replied.
"What is inside it?"
"I don't know."
Ethan felt many times better after the egg was taken from his hand.
It was as if the egg was the thing that was weighing him down. Now that it was in Luna's hand, he was starting to feel a lot better as if a great burden had been removed from his shoulders.
'I see, that egg is a greedy one,' Ethan's Other Half commented. 'As long as you are the one holding it, your magical reserves would be drained constantly, making you suffer symptoms of Magic Deprivation.'
'It's best to store it inside Morgan's Ring, and only take it out when you don't plan on taking Missions or going out of the academy,' Sebastian stated. 'I don't know what is inside that thing, but I can feel that it is very powerful. I wonder how much Magic Power it has consumed during its lifetime.'
Ethan frowned after hearing Sebastian's words. According to Fortis Dud, the Golden Egg was given to the Order of the Ouroboros by the Morrigan.
Since that time, no one had been able to hatch it.
This also meant that countless Wizards and Witches had taken custody of the Golden Egg, and allowed it to take their magic powers as its nourishment.
After realizing this fact, Ethan wondered if the egg would hatch in his lifetime. Sёarch* The NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Can I also take a look?" Lilian asked out of curiosity.
"Okay," Ethan replied.
Luna then handed the egg to Lilian, allowing the young lady to give it a better look.
"It really does look like a chicken egg, doesn't it?" Lilian muttered as she looked at the egg in the palms of her hands. "Maybe a golden chick will hatch from it?"
"Are there any golden birds in the Wizarding World?" Ethan asked out of curiosity.
Luna shook her head. "I haven't heard about any golden birds before."
"Me neither," Lilian commented. "Phoenixes are more crimson in color and not gold. Also, I have already seen a Phoenix Egg. I can confirm that this doesn't look like one."
While the three were having a casual talk, the Door of the Manor opened, and three people, whom they didn't expect to come visit them at this time of the day, appeared.
Professor Rinehart, Professor Barret, and Edmond all looked at the Golden Egg in Lilian's hand with solemn expressions on their faces.
"That Chesmire Cat was right," Edmond said. "A troublesome Era is upon us."
"I think it will be best if you go and see the King as soon as possible," Professor Barret stated. "We will also need to make countermeasures, right, Rinehart?"
"Yes," Professor Rinehart stated. "We should do it now, while we still have time."
After saying those words, the three men left as soon as they came, leaving the three teenagers behind.
The moment Luna had taken the Golden Egg from Ethan's hand, a subtle magical ripple spread throughout the academy.
Only Wizards and Witches who had reached a certain level would be able to sense this fluctuation, and it alarmed them.
Koko, the Unicorn, and Broodmother, also sensed the fluctuations from where they were deep within the Great Eagle Forest.
This made the three Magical Creatures immediately arrange an emergency meeting. For a brief moment, they felt the power of a Fomorian, which was located inside Brynhildr Academy.
The place they thought to be the safest place in all of Eastshire.
"Will that ripple affect the Artifact that is currently in Chloe's possession?" Koko asked.
Broodmother chirped two times before shaking her head.
"It won't influence the artifact in any way," the Unicorn stated. "But it is a variable that might throw our plans down the drain. I'll go and talk to Professor Njal. We need to hold a meeting with the Headmaster of the academy. This is something that we cannot delay."
Koko and Broodmother nodded their heads in agreement.
This was indeed something that mustn't be delayed, or else, it might cause the destruction of Brynhildr Academy from the inside out.
—————————
(A/N: The exhaustion of traveling has finally caught up with me. I might come down with a fever. I will only be posting one chapter tonight. I will make it up to you guys with a mass release once I feel better).