Heroes

Chapter 14: Enter Mutasatir Thueban, the Depraved Provost

"Welcome to the Mufakir Region University," Sagira beamed, prideful yet quiet.

The campus was lively with students and faculty members alike as they wandered to their classes. A giant water fountain made of pearly white and sapphire blue tiles rested and glistened in the middle of the campus. The buildings were built from everything from brick and stone to steel and tiles. Looking around and examining the buildings on the campus, Briar commented, "You know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen one wooden building or structure in this whole village."

"There is a reason for that," Sagira explained as we kept walking, "It's too hazardous. In the ancient past, many wooden structures and buildings caught fire and caused collateral damage to the regions all across the country of Muhabab including the Mufakir Region. Therefore, it was soon forbidden to use wood to build any buildings or structures. This was because of the extreme heat that caused those fires."

"Muhabab? I thought this land was called the Mufakir Region," Hinata piped in.

Taking a right, Sagira told us, "During the Great War between the Bacons and Guests, many countries took the names of their most prosperous or populated regions to protect documents and Guests' real addresses from being found. While it's true we lost a lot of Guests during that war, it still helped tremendously."

We arrived at a building. In metal, golden letters, the building read, "Fursa Hall".

A door and a 4-story elevator ride later and we were at Sagira's dorm room. It was a small room with a closet, a bed, a nightstand, two bookshelves, and a bathroom attached to it. Sagira crouched to a lower level of one of the bookshelves and looked through it until she stopped and grabbed a book. It was a maroon color with dark blue letters saying, "Artifacts of Today and Yesteryear".

Sagira flipped through some pages before stopping. "This is it," she said, "The mineral stone. Hm, says here that it was in fact buried beneath the ground where the Tazdhair Temple is. It's somewhere in the center. I'll go with you to lend a hand-,"

Suddenly, Sagira got cut off by a knock on her door. Sagira walked over to the door and opened it. On the other side of the doorway, a tall, honey man stood facing Sagira. His skin was a fair brown and he had light brown eyes, thinning, short, grey hair, and a matching, wispy beard. He wore a gold and pale blue jibbah, which is a traditional long coat, a white shirt underneath it, beige pants, brown, leather boots, and a pale blue turban. The man had a friendly look in his eye. "Headmaster Qawiun. It's a pleasure to see you. Is there anything you need?" Sagira asked.

Headmaster Qawiun nodded and told Sagira, "You are needed by Provost Thueban. He wants you to bring your new friends too."

"Provost Thueban?" Sagira repeated, attempting to clarify Headmaster Qawiun's words, "What does he want with me? Also, what would he want from people who just arrived in the village?"

"I do not know. He didn't tell me anything else," Headmaster Qawiun spoke in honesty.

I was confused as to why a provost of a university we did not attend in a village we did not live in. Of course, I can be very respectful to a fault so I stepped forward and said, "We have a few minutes to spare. We'll stop by."

Even though I agreed to meet with the provost, I knew we had to hurry, so I knew we couldn't stay for a long time. Headmaster Qawiun smiled and nodded before signaling for Sagira, my friends and family, and I to follow him to Provost Thueban's office. Sagira clutched her book and we followed Headmaster Qawiun. What we didn't know was that we would never comprehend what was about to come next.