They turned around and made a dash for the exit with hopes of making it there before the monster could free himself and come back. They hurried out and saw the monster still barely struggling off the cauldron when they made a mad dash past it.
"Are you kiddin' me?! It's still coming! It pushed off all that weight!" Ace warned them as they hurriedly ran for their lives!
"Ooooooooogh...! Giiive it baaaaack...!"
Deuce looked back hearing that his cauldron was pushed off and saw it charging after them! He screamed, "It's too fast! It's about to catch us!"
"But we've weakened it! If we strike now..." Hoshi calculated.
"Then it's kill or be killed!" Grim shouted and turned around standing his ground.
"Aw, fine! Let's just smash the thing. Try not to wet yourself, Deucey!" Ace sneered.
"Same to you, Ace!" Deuce smirked confidently.
"I'm gonna show ya why they call me Grim the Great!" Grim laughed.
"Take this! Hah!" Ace launched a large gale of wind at it so powerful that it blinded him where Deuce used this chance to throw a few cauldrons at him with his magic! However, the monster easily swatted them aside and swung his pick axe at them!
"Deuce! Grim!" Hoshi shouted and propelled herself forward as she could feel the same energy easily come forward from within.
In a blink of an eye, she appeared behind the two and snatched them away before ramming herself against a tree with a heavy thud.
"Hoshi?!" Grim hurried over to her in shock, "Hey, kid! You okay?!"
"Y-Yeah..." Hoshi grimaced as she winced in pain with a hiss.
That's when Deuce noticed a familiar hint of red from her fingers! She was bleeding from somewhere!
"Hell, you're all right!" Deuce cursed angrily, "We need to get you to an infirmary quickly!"
"What did you say?! Guh-!" Ace barely dodged a blow from the monster as it had noticed his lack of attention to it.
"Don't worry about me!" Hoshi responded firmly, "We absolutely cannot get distracted in a fight! Deuce, hurry and back Ace up. Wind magic alone won't push it back."
"R-Right!"
Deuce hurried back to the front as Grim turned to her, "Don't push yourself."
Reassured, Hoshi nodded, "I know. Grim, I need you to help me. Remember back at Ramshackle dorm with the ghosts?"
Hearing this, Grim nodded confidently, "Hah! You got it!"
Grim rushed into the fray as Hoshi watched them avoid the blows of the monster. She grits her teeth in frustration as she watches the others fight while she cowers in hiding and only giving orders. Suddenly, the monsters raised his lamp and swung it towards Ace!
"Ace! Duck!"
This time, Ace duck his head narrowly missing the lamp in time. Hoshi shouted again, "Deuce! Get its attention for a bit!"
"Right!" Deuce nodded and summoned a cauldron which knocked it in the head.
She turned to Ace, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Ace shook his head with sweat pouring over his brow. Hoshi sighed in relief and said, "Then, I need your help with Grim again."
Hearing this, Ace smirked and shouted, "Hey, furball! You tired all ready?"
"Hah?" Grim scowled admist catching his breath, "As if! You look as though you're ready to pass out! Hah! Watch this!"
Grim shot a large fireball at the monster as Ace sneered, "Looks like you still ain't got enough power!"
He shot another powerful wind magic which swept the fire in and created a giant fire tornado! As the fire and wind caught the monster into the air and flung it back down into a blazing mess. Hoshi watched as the monster's scream dies away into dust as though it had never existed. Worried, she appeared as Ace gasped tiredly, "Is it... over?"
"I think..." Grim looked around nervously before his eyes glitter excitedly, "we won? I think we did it!"
"All right!" Deuce cheered as he shouted to the sky with a bright smile across his face.
"Woohoo!" Ace jumped up with a laugh.
"Gimme a victory high-five!" Grim shouted.
"Yeeeah!"
The three cheered and leapt for a high five as Hoshi felt a sense of relief and wore a warm yet tired smile appeared across her face, "We're all really good friends. Shared adversity sure brings people together, huh?"
Stunned, the three looked away in embarrassment as Deuce awkwardly explained, "Uh... I don't think that had anything to do with it."
"Yeah! Spare us the clichés, Hoshi!" Ace pouted with a slight blush.
"There's no "together" here! We won 'cause of me!" Grim boasted proudly in an effort of denial, "This is all from me bein' a magical genius!"
"Yes, yes." Hoshi chuckled as she heard all their complaints.
After some hesitation, Ace finally stammered nervously, "Y'know... I hate to admit it, but... We mostly won because of your plan."
"Yeah..." Deuce nodded as he folded his arms, "If you hadn't managed to keep your cool and tell us all what to do, we never would have got this magestone. Now I won't get expelled. And wow, is THAT a relief!"
Hoshi shook her head calmly as she smiled, "We won because we all worked together. I'm just glad no one got hurt…"
"Yeah, yeah, lessons were learned, et cetera. Can we just go home already? I'm wiped." Ace grumbled with annoyance.
"Usin' all that magic made me hungry!" Grim complained before he accidentally stepped on something, "Huh? What's this?"
"Is that a part of the monster we just beat?" Deuce noted curiously as he saw a black crystal in Grim's paws, "It looks like... a magestone? But it's black as coal! I've never seen one like that before."
Sniffing it, grim drooled uncontrollably as he exclaimed in awe, "What IS this? It smells amazing!"
Ace exclaimed in horror, "Are you insane?"
"Must be some kinda fancy monster candy that it was hidin' from us! If this tastes half as good as it smells..." Grim drooled and swallowed the entire thing without a moment hesitation!
"Did you seriously just eat that?!" Deuce exclaimed in horror, "Spit it out! Out! Bad cat!"
"MYAAAH!" Grim jumped in surprise much to their worry.
"Are you okay?!" Deuce questioned him worriedly.
"That's what you get for eating trash!" Ace grumbled in disappointment.
"Oooooogh... Urrrgggh... That... was AMAZING!" Grim's eyes sparkled much to their disbelief.
"What?!" The two looked to him in shock.
"Rich in flavor and full-bodied... Like sweet, fragrant flowers burstin' into bloom on my tongue." Grim savored it in awe with colorful words, "A whole field of 'em! Right in my mouth!"
Ace gawked in disgust, "Gross. Monsters must have real weird tastes."
"You might be onto something there... Most humans don't take random stuff they find on the ground and just pop it into their mouths. Are you sure you're okay?" Deuce said hesitantly with deep worry, "Monsters really will eat anything, I guess."
"Myah ha ha ha! Man, was that great! Don't worry about me. I don't got a weak stomach like you humans do." Grim sneered.
"Hmph. We'll see if you're so smug when you're sick later tonight." Ace scowled in annoyance.
"Okay, let's pull ourselves together. We need to get this magestone to the headmage!" Deuce announced and turned to Hoshi, "Hey, Hoshi! You…"
He turned to her but was shocked upon finding nobody there. Taking a step forward in confusion, he accidentally kicked something and looked down only to hear a small groan. His eyes widen in disbelief as he could see a familiar figure curled up on the ground, "HOSHI!!!"
…..
"Is it confirmed he will be all right, Mister Isma?"
"Again, just call me Uku! Uku! UKU! Is it so hard to call me that? Anyway, I've already bandaged the wound. It's not as bad as we thought. He will recover." A person spoke in a fast tone with seemingly pent up emotions.
"Your blood sugar is low again."
"Thanks..." He drank his coffee as though having not heard Crowley's warning and grumbled irritably, "Like I said, she will be fine. She just need to keep that arm bandaged up for a while and watch out for signs of anemia. On another note, let's talk about something else..."
The noises made her grimace as she slowly came to.
"Ah! Hoshi! She's awake!"
"Hoshi!"
Hoshi groggily opened her eyes and could see the faces of Grim, Ace, and Deuce. All of whom looked rather worried as she slowly got up.
"Woah! Woah! Hold on there." A feminine voice spoke up, "Let's lie back down, shall we?"
With a strong push, she was forced to lie back down as she looked up again to find an middle age woman with frizzy head full of black hair and a brilliant smile shone across her face expressing calm and patient manner. Coming to, she slowly opened her mouth, "Ugh... What happened? I remember talking with Ace and Deuce... The monster was beaten and..."
"Shh. Shh. It's okay. We can listen to the details later. Are you still dizzy?" The elderly woman's voice soothed her as the lady sat down across her bed and held a walking stick calmly in her hand.
"Not really." Hoshi shook her head.
The woman smiled in relief as she turned to them, "We should let the kids rest a little longer before doing anything else."
Looking up to her, she noticed it. Small furry ears and a long furry tail sticking out from behind the elderly lady. She wore a matt blue blouse and a modest purple skirt. Over her shoulders was an illustrious gold coat with a small friendly sticker over one side that said "Abi Pepikran".
"Very well." Crowley spoke up as Hoshi recognized him as the first voice she heard. He turned to a man with lilac siamese purple ears and cat tail sticking out from his white lab coat as the man ruffled his blank bangs, "The nurse and I have something to discuss. We will be back."
"Yes, sir." The two students responded in confusion.