Biology is boring. Whenever I thought the professor would touch an important issue, he would simply change the topic at once. Some female was so fed up with it that she threw a small piece of paper that fell down on my table. I opened it and passed it to my roommate and Gastone.

“Dammit! He surely hates the human body, and there’s a good reason behind that hatred! It’s because of all those women that’d cheated on him, leaving him with a broken heart that can never be healed.”

Mister Jäger seemed to have noticed that both of my classmates were just playing around. I quickly snatched the note and burned it with a disposable magic staff under my desk.

The bell was ringing. How great! My class has finally ended and I was relieved indeed.

You know, I could not stand it anymore. It was dead boring because we had to take a lot of notes, just too many for a lazy guy like my roommate. Jäger certainly loves to fill the blackboard with all kinds of stuff, only to erase it right after that. It was a never ending loop and I was running out of sharpened pencils.

“Man, he kept filling the board with thousands of crazy explanations, convoluted diagrams and some weird drawings I could barely understand”, I complained without hesitation, falling flat upon my table.

“You bet! My wrist gotta be swollen by now!”, (insert first name) disclosed.

Other students were just leaving the room. I thought that I should take my leave as well but something was missing. Actually I realized my money had disappeared from my leather backpack all of sudden!

“Come on, Erik!”, (insert surname) yelled. “Let’s go to pay a visit to our beloved foreign language teacher!”

Wait a second! This is quite weird… Every single time I mention my roommate’s first name or surname, it gets replaced by some (insert name) label automatically. Can pencils do that, guys? Let me know if you ever find the answer to this strange question of mine. Please do it!

“Err, I’ll catch up later!”, I told him.

I was busy thinking on where I might have placed that money. Besides I also had to come up with a brilliant plan soon because I still needed to recover the lost artifact, hidden in that infernal forest. I had too many foes and very few allies on my side. Something made me suspect I should not involve Alice in this crazy quest of mine. And yeah, my mind was about to blow up at any second.

As far as I could see, most of the students had left the classroom already. Some people were heading to the northern fountain only to chill there, while others preferred to look for an empty room for unknown reasons. Meanwhile I was standing right there, in the middle of the hall, opening all of my pockets. I was desperate to find my darn coin purse!

At last I had found my beloved money in the last remaining pocket of my backpack. For a brief moment I had surely thought that I would not be getting any lunch later that day. You see, I forgot to recall I had not brought along my coin purse because it takes too much space and people start glaring at it. Instead I just threw all of my coins in that darn pocket.

Then I took a few more steps towards the stone hallway. Huh? Someone had placed his hand as heavy as a mountain on my left shoulder without warning.

“May I have a word with you, Mister Seidel?”, the professor queried out of the blue.

Too late! My spine got frozen. I had failed to secure my escape route. What an unlucky guy I was!

Believe me, there was no way I could flee from Professor Jäger. If the other rumors spreading across the campus were correct, he knew everything about tracking down his prey like a real professional. Even so I could not help it but try to ignore his request for good, taking a few more steps forward.

“Oh I see now. Perhaps I was wrong about you fiddling with the idea of visiting the mysterious Foresta Daghe any time soon”, he declared.

Was if he throwing me a bait? Specifically one that I could not resist for more than a few seconds. Yeah, I know what you are thinking, guys. I am lame. Period.

“What makes you think I’m interested in such a dangerous place, professor?”, I questioned him while not turning around.

“Oh nothing special”, Mister Jäger uttered. “It is just that it is exactly what morons like you or even Elvio and Nestor would do during the holidays.”

Mentioning Nestor made me look at the exit at once, as if I had spotted him standing there just a few moments ago. Did he accuse me of having a stupid plan to run away from school and enter the forest any time soon?

“You are correct, Mister Seidel!”, my professor informed me. “Nestor came by to alert me of your stupid intentions. It seemed quite obvious to me that his gang of fools are now headed to Foresta Daghe as we speak.”

Darn Nestor! Not only had he betrayed me but was also making sure I would not be able to tailgate them, giving them the opportunity to be the first team to ever find the treasures hidden there. I felt the urge to go kill him if I ever got the chance.

“Your facial expression gave you away in no time, Mister Seidel”, he realized. “I could not care any less if they ever get lost in that natural maze, yet, I do not think you can ignore the suffering of your three siblings after learning that you have passed away in the woods…”

I got startled for sure because I did not see it coming. Let us say he gave me the creeps. One hundred percent guaranteed!

“How do you know about my siblings, sir?”, I had to find out after recovering from that huge impact.

“Last time I had checked, your mother was expecting a baby”, he asserted. “I believed she was Kirstin because I do recall having seen three children there including you, Mister Seidel.”

“And how’s that possible, professor?”, I kept asking him, finally turning around.

Jäger explained himself, “Is it not obvious by now? We both lived in the same region some time ago. Actually we were neighbors for a couple of years while I was working for your grandfather, Mister Heinrich Seidel.”

“Right, and now you’re gonna tell me something awkward like Miss Morrigan being my nanny or something like that”, I mocked him.

“Indeed. She worked for the Seidel family as your nanny and I have also heard that you dared to pinch her… buttocks yesterday afternoon”, he plainly admitted.

“Yes, I’m afraid I did it by mistake but now I do regret it!”, I had to feign repentance.

“He, he. I do believe you. Only a desperate teenager with his hormones getting out of control would ever dare to get involved with a cursed woman like Miss Morrigan”, Jäger confessed.

Seriously, I did not know about her alleged curse, guys. Otherwise I would not have get closed to her. Or was it his way to persuade me from doing it ever again? Yeah, it got to be a lame trick, right?

“Well, since you are immature enough as to even go further with your strange obsession, it would be fair for you to know what would happen next”, he said as to entice me even further.

“Huh? What would happen then?”, I simply asked only as a distraction.

“If she ever gives birth to a baby, it will mysteriously disappear at night”, the professor elaborated. “Make sure she never catches your sweetheart Alice or else she will endure the same curse as hers for the next seven years at least.”

Fine. Is there anything this guy does not know about me and my family? It is as if he were my tutor or even my very own bodyguard. How creepy!

“I can tell for sure that Miss Sienna Balducci already knows about that because she keeps her distance from Miss Morrigan no matter what”, he added, making me feel extremely nervous.

“Oh I see. It’s crystal clear that Miss Morrigan hates us!”, I exclaimed.

“What? No, that is not true. In fact, she only hates you, Mister Seidel, but it appears that you have forgotten everything that had happened the day she left your house”, the professor divulged.

“Gotcha. I’m staying away from Miss Morrigan and the forest to stay safe”, I lied to him.

“Sadly, I know very well that you are as stubborn as to ignore my advice once you step out of this classroom”, he hit the jackpot.

“You see, professor, it’s not as if I ever loved the idea”, I tried to explain myself. “It just happens that I’m forced to get there this very same week.”

“How unlucky! Oh well, at least let me give you some final advice, youngster” Jäger informed me. “Look for Mario Niente, he is a herbalist of sorts but he knows a few things that could help you in that crazy quest of yours. And keep in mind that you should trust nobody once you enter Foresta Daghe. Ignore me and you will die for sure.”

After all that chitchat, I left that room. I began walking down the hallway, not paying attention to my surroundings. I was afraid that I would not make it back. Time was running out and I could not afford to waste it in some foreign language that monsters or rogues would never speak in the dark woods.

“Hey Erik! Did you know that?”, Gastone shouted suddenly.

“Huh? Know what?”, I inquired of him.

“Well, Chiara’s left the campus already! She didn’t tell anybody about it, not even her close friends!”, he commented.

That was a major setback for sure! My eyes got squared in no time. There was no way I could reach her to ask her about her uncle the tour guide. I lost the bet indeed.

Only then I learned that I was at the northern fountain, and I have been holding a deep grudge against that darn place ever since. Do you want to know why? Nope, it has nothing to do with its ugly shape or her being a fat chick. Actually, it was right there where I had found a magic note that very few people could see.

“How dare you, Erik the Faint-Hearted! I know I was taking a long time to answer you, to tell you for certain if I truly loved you or not. Even so you had no right to break my heart the way you did it! What bastard! That’s it! I’m leaving this stupid place for good!”

I was not mad at her, mainly because I did not even remember her face. What really made me hate the fountain was that someone had told her about my nickname in the future world.

Walking away from the fountain was not enough. There were other issues that I had to deal with as well. One of them was my beloved crow.

“Not so fast, Erik!”, she cried. “Where are ya headed, my dear?”

“What? Nowhere! Now that I’ve lost my only lead, there’s nothing I can do to complete my stupid mission”, I growled.

“Good! Now ya can focus on my needs before we leave the campus, my love”, Raven stated.

“Oh wait a sec!”, I yelled out. “Have you convinced Chiara of leaving the academy a while ago, Alice?”, I enquired.

“I dunno whatcha talking ‘bout, darling”, she refused to talk.

“Fine. Why should I ever care about her or my darn quest, right?”, I let her know. “Well, my dear witch Alice, I guess this is the perfect moment to break up. Right here and right now.”

“Say what!?”, my former girlfriend cried out loud.

“Bye Miss Raven!”, I replied back, leaving for the nearest town for good.