《Estilon》


 Prologue

    Everything was black. Not black like the sky at night, which is filled with thousands of small stars lighting it up, but truly pitchblack. It was a darkness that could consume anything. It seemed like it even swallowed the sound. At least that would be an explanation for this quietness. All this nothingness felt lonely and eternal. Truly, the combination sight of this space, which resembled the bottom of an ocean, seemed like it had always been this quiet. As if things could never change, as if this somehow terrifying, yet beautiful darkness would never fade away. It had something consistent, something safe to it.


    Suddenly, a ray of light cut through the room, revealing a stone floor along its way. A door creaking filled the entire room. It wasn''t that loud, but the contrast to the silence before made it sound like thunder. As the door opened, the Ray of light became bigger and bigger, casting the darkness away. At the other side of the door, three heads appeared. But something was wrong- none of them moved even the slightest bit. All three breathlessly stared at what had revealed itself in front of them. After a few moments, the first one finally started to say something. ¡®This¡­ This can''t be true. How is this possible?¡¯ It was a male voice, belonging to the head closest to the door. ¡®So the reports were true. We have to report this to the headmaster!¡¯ This time, the voice belonged to a woman, just steps behind the first one. Unlike the male one, whose words were filled with astonishment and shock, she sounded a lot calmer. And still, it was clear that she was just as surprised by their discovery as her partner was. As the first one started to nod in agreement, the third head, who had stayed in the shadows until now stepped into the light. ¡®Report what exactly? We came here because worrisome rumors had reached us, our task was to find their cause. Who would still look up to this academy, if even its professors ran away at the slightest sign of unfamiliarity? What would the headmaster think? I suggest we only message him and continue our investigation.¡¯ The faces of the other two changed for a moment. They clearly didn''t want to stay at this place for much longer, but it was tight what the third man had said. After a few seconds of consideration the woman nodded. The first one, again, just agreed. And so they stepped into the new discovered territory. With their guard up, one after another entered the room. It was still too dark to see anything outside of a five Meter radius. Before anyone could say anything, the woman started whispering something. It wasn''t loud enough for anyone to hear, but it sounded like some kind of chant. The moment she finished her text, eight little flames appeared in the room. A flame had also been the source of light until now, but as one wasn''t enough, the woman summoned another eight, seemingly brighter ones. Every last bit of the black of before had vanished now, leaving space for brightness of the fire. ¡®Thank you Melissa.¡¯ said the voice of the third one. Only now that everything was filled with light, his rather big statue appeared. His hair was as black as the darkness of just a few moments ago. ¡®Don¡¯t mention it.¡¯ Although her voice sounded genuine, one could clearly hear that her response was like a reflex, and that she didn''t really pay any attention to either of her companions. She had long red hair, which shared the color of her eyes. It was those very eyes that scanned their surroundings for any dangers. Both she and the taller man wore robes that perfectly covered their whole body. They were dark blue and had a small emblem on them. Now the first man looked at the woman. He too wore a robe. All three of them appeared to be in their mid twenties. ¡®I have contacted the headmaster miss Velona. He will be here shortly.¡¯ ¡®I am glad. But until then, we should at least find some clues about this room.¡¯ ¡®I agree.¡¯


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    The room was filled with bookshelves. Anyone could see that this collection of books was something impressive by itself, but only very few understood the true value of this small library. ¡®Magic books¡­ And so many of them. Who in the world could afford so many hidden treasures?¡¯ It was the first man who said this. Although he was rather tiny for his age, his long blonde hair made him appear older than he actually was. He took one of the books to inspect it. ¡®This¡­ Mister Vonstadt! Could you take a look at this please?¡¯ Seemingly surprised by that, the taller man stepped in his direction. ¡®What is it mister Velinvo?¡¯ As he saw the book his blond junior was holding, his face changed. ¡®I am unfamiliar with these runes.¡¯ He referred to the cover of the book. ¡®You know many of the old languages. Is this one of them?¡¯ He gave the book to mister Vonstadt. ¡®This is indeed one of the languages I have studied¡­ We have a problem.¡¯ Vonstadt was pale enough to be confused with an undead. ¡®What is it mister Vonstadt?¡¯ asked Velvino. ¡®This¡­ This text is about black magic.¡¯ Both of the other mages immediately broke out in cold sweat. ¡®What? That can''t be true! Not at a place like this!¡¯ screamed miss Velona. ¡®This Academy teaches nobility. Our security is tighter than that of most armies. Are you absolutely sure that this book contains teachings of black magic?¡¯ asked mister Velvino. ¡®Not just this book I fear.¡¯ He looked at the bookshelves. ¡®Whoever built this room must be one of the greatest dark mages of the century. I suggest we wait for the headmaster before we continue our search. Who knows what kind of traps are laid around here.¡¯ Both nodded. If any of this was related to black magic, then the headmaster would be the only one who could deal with this.

 Chapter 1: Melissa Velona

    Bells rang throughout the hallways and rooms of the dormitories. However thick some walls were, these sounds passed through them like they were made of paper. This phenomenon was thanks to the enchantments of the morning bells. Enchantments were rare and very expensive. Even an enchanted sword could sell for a fortune. But the bigger the object, the more complex the enchantment, the higher the price of course. To be able to enchant something of the size of bells showed just how prestigious this academy was. These bells were ancient to that. No one knew if a headmaster of a few generations ago bought them, or if a few overly enthusiastic professors made them themselves. Only one thing was for sure, and that was that every single bell was a masterpiece. Most sound related enchantments were complex, but one that could manipulate sound at such a large area¡­ if these bells were in the hands of royalty, they would have been declared national treasures for sure. As the bells continued to ring, one door after another opened, letting out students who were seemingly in a hurry. But that was only natural. Besides the quick visit at the canteen, there were still a lot of things to do for most students. Rereading their notes before each lecture was a given, and there were quite a few who also spared some time at the library before going to the lecture building. Depending on how well they did on the exams, on how much they learned during their time here, it wasn''t out of the question to secure a high position at the royal army. Even rising in ranks of nobility was a common sight among successful mages. While those were the goals of most starting students, the mindsets of most of their seniors, especially those close to graduation, were focused on magic itself. Studying those powers had something addicting to it, that was for sure. But that addiction surely wasn''t limited to the students. The professors were much worse when it came to losing themselves in subjects. Due to that, it wasn''t uncommon to see the professors taking a bit longer to get up. Many of them had either studied and translated ancient texts until long past midnight or lost track of time while experimenting on their own projects. Either way, there wasn''t a single one among the academy''s staff who still had a normal sleep rhythm. But today, late night studies weren''t the cause for tiredness of the academy''s elite. As the bell tangs slowly became quieter, one last person from the southern dormitory slowly got up. Still half asleep, she walked towards the great mirror in her room. It was big enough to display the image of an average fully grown man. While looking at her reflection, she realized just how tired she was. It hadn''t even been an hour since she last laid down.¡¯Damn dark mage. All this extra work because of this sick bastard.¡¯ she mumbled to herself. Was she displeased because she had to stay up that long or because she couldn''t spend her time at her study? She probably didn''t know the answer to that question herself. ¡®Ugh, where did I put it?¡¯ Without moving, she looked around her, as if expecting her room to actually answer. After a few seconds of silence, she finally found the item of her desire standing on a shelf. She took three steps in the direction of her discovery, nearly stumbling, and reached her hand out to the shelf. Between several books, there was a small, light blue potion. She grabbed it carefully so as to not break it. The potion was long and thin, resembling a test tube. It looked simple and had no decorations at all, something which was rare for potions. She tilted her head back and took a big sip. The taste was as bad as always, but she had grown accustomed to it. She felt how her body was filled with energy. She fully regained control over her body and felt how her senses got sharper. ¡®Now I am awake! And right on time-¡¯ she noticed that she still hadn''t dressed herself. She tossed the rest of the potion on her bed. She was late, very late. As a professor, she couldn''t afford to be late for her lectures. What would the headmaster think? She grabbed her clothes as that thought ran through her head. Luckily there wasn''t a uniform for teachers, and so no one would care if she just wore something simple. She slammed open her door and sprinted through the hallway of the dormitory. It didn''t take her long to reach the staircase. It was a good thing that no students were around anymore. If anyone saw her running down the stairs like that, her image would be ruined. The staircase, like the rest of the building, looked luxurious. Artful decorations adorned the stone walls. Especially the railing looked more like that of a palace. Finally she reached the lowest floor. She knew she could still make it in time. The door of the southern dormitory, which looked more like a giant wooden gate, was still open. Good. Since the gate was heavy it would have cost her too much time to open it. Every second was previous. As she ran outside, it felt like she could fly for a moment. But that moment was short. Gravity took over again, and she nearly fell down the stairs which were right behind the gate. She managed to get back her balance at the last moment, preventing herself from tripping over. But now she did it. The southern dormitory was several hundred meters away from the main building, but now that she was outside, she could use magic without having to worry about her surroundings. She mumbled something again, far too quiet for anyone to understand. Out of nowhere, circles appeared around her. They differed in size, but all of them had some kind of symbols printed on them. It took her exactly three seconds to finish her spell. Suddenly, two great wings appeared behind her. Neither were they attached to her back, nor did they belong to any other being. It was as if they didn''t need a main body to function. Melissa smiled. As her feet left the ground, her speed I creased as well. Her field of vision became smaller. While traveling with that kind of speed, she had to concentrate on what was right before her and couldn''t bother about the rest of her surroundings. This spell she used was created to fly in the sky, not so close to the ground. But who cared about that now? If the world hadn''t wanted her to use the spell like this, it shouldn''t have given her such talent! At least that was her opinion. As she rushed towards her destination, she passed a great garden and several smaller buildings. The front gate of this academy was in the south, right beside her dormitory. So of course, all the pretty parks and gardens were also in the south of the school grounds, so that they could be seen by outsiders. ¡®This golden street is the face of our academy. It is our duty to show off what we have!¡¯ were the words of the headmaster. With golden street, he referred to the path from the main gate to the main building. He was always interested in increasing the prestige of this academy, and this was one of the ways he could think of. She never dared to mention how senseless all of that was. After all, they were already the most famous academy in the east of the kingdom of Karvoc. But who would actually speak up to him when it came to school matters? No one was that dumb. And so this road was decorated by all the academy had to offer. She passed the ¡®Dame¡¯. This country''s ace and this academy''s pride. Named after its father, Duke von Dame, this building was one of the greatest potion factories of the continent. For the split of a second, she could feel the great aura this place gave of. Hundreds of genius alchemists had studied here, tens of great potions had been produced. She had always asked herself why this building was built like it was. Unlike most other buildings around here, it was round. But that didn''t matter right now. She left the Dame behind her and arrived at the main building. She slowed down and came to a stop, just ten Meters before the entrance. As she looked around her for a moment, she could still see a few students that were just as late as her. They had probably misjudged the time and spent too much time at the library. As she came closer, her suspicions proved to be correct- first years. It was common among the youngest students to be late. But no one made that mistake twice. It was seen as greatly disrespectful towards the professors to be late. Another reason she had to hurry¡­ How often had she punished students after being late? It would damage her pride to make the same mistake. She entered the hallway. Many doors presented themselves in front of her, with many lecture rooms behind them. But which one was the right one? Her running came to a standstill. After a moment of thinking, she remembered. ¡®Room 1-1-D!¡¯ Luckily, it was pretty near. Although the names sounded pretty random, they were named after a system. The first number showed the floor, I''m this case floor one. The second one showed the section, in this case elemental foundations - 1. The letter at the end was just like a number for the room. She arrived at the door. She could hear the students on the other side. This was perfect, she made it in time. As she opened the door, the room immediately became quiet. She walked toward her pult. After she arrived, she took a good look at her course. These first years would see her on a daily basis for the next two semesters, at least if they didn''t quit half way. Unlike some other lecture topics, basic elemental foundations wasn''t a volunteering section. Everyone had to take it for their first two semesters. Why did she have to teach this? Every professor focused on a certain subject. For her, that was fire attribute attack magic. But since the basics also had to be reached to the younger ones, there were teachers who were unlucky enough to be chosen for this task. This time, she was one of them. But she didn''t have time for any of this. Not now that a black mage had appeared on school grounds. She may was young, but her attack power was exceptional. She was sure to be chosen for the investigation force! The headmaster had called every professor in for a meeting after the morning lectures. But first, she had to finish this. As she stood before the students, she made up her mind as to how to start this semester. She was confident, even though she hated this task, she would complete it to perfection. The room was filled with enthusiasm as she spoke the words ¡®Have you finished the assessment about elemental magic circles I gave you last week?¡¯


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 Chapter 2: The meeting

    He was the fourth one to arrive. There was tension in the air as he sat down on a free chair. The room, which had solely been prepared for this meeting, was on the sixth floor of the main building of the academy of Prestillon. The ceiling was around three Meters high, the floor was made of precious ebony. Big windows opposite to the door allowed a view of the schoolyard in front of the main entrance. In the middle of the room was a long table with enough seats for every professor of the academy. As Anton took a look around, he was once again impressed by how fast the headmaster had managed to prepare all of this. Normally, this room was used as a storage for books and unused magical equipment. Now that he thought about it, he started to wonder just where exactly they put all this stuff. If something went missing because of this the consequences would be very bad. As he tried to think of where they could have stored the gears, he noticed something unusual, or more exactly someone unusual. The three people who were already here before him were the headmaster, the vice headmaster and one of the professors of the detection magic section. Of course, the first two would be faster than him, they prepared the room and led the meeting after all, but why was Mr Cloffing already here? Anton knew that the only reason he was here before most others was that he had no lectures this morning, but he was pretty sure that that wasn''t the case for him. He wasn''t close to Mr Cloffing, he didn''t even know his first name, but he knew that every professor of the detection magic section always had full lecture schedules. It was a very popular choice amongst the students, and there weren''t many who teached this topic. Who could he already be here? The lectures would only end after another five minutes. Cloffing was a big but slim man. Like Anton, he was in his late forties, probably a bit younger than him. Opposite to him sat Victor Stroff, the vice headmaster. Victor was one of the very few mages who focused on several elements. Whether it was the earth, fire, water or air element, he was considered a master at all of them. He was the oldest in the room. His white hair had already started to thin a long time ago. He was 62 and the professor with the longest history at this academy, but all that didn''t make him soft in the least. If anything, he was known for his stubbornness. The only person who could persuade him into anything was the man right beside him. His name was Elliox von Harms. Unlike the expectations of most, he, the headmaster of the biggest academy of the east was not even in his forties, not even his late thirties. Nonetheless, he had proven to be more than just worthy of his position. The attribute he controlled was one of the most feared ones, but also one of the hardest to control - light magic, also referred to as holy magic sometimes. Even in kingdoms that didn''t share a border with Karvoc, his name was known and feared. Feared only by those spreading injustice of course. As a light magic grand master, at such a young age to that, he had become a symbol of the church. As such, his reputation was the creme dela creme. Knowing him for around ten years now, Anton had seen what was behind this facade, and he didn''t want to see that again. He was competent, yes a genius without a question but¡­ the word that described him best was still cruel. But none of that could be seen right now. As always, he had a plain and distante smile on his face. That in combination with his brown curly hair made him look much younger than he actually was.


    The silence slowly began to feel even more uncomfortable. The tension in this room was already a lot to take on, but the silence made it a lot worse. As Anton tried to think of a way to break this silence, the door was suddenly slammed open. The loud sound immediately changed the atmosphere. Now the bright face of a young mg woman with red hair stared at the four of them. ¡®You didn''t start without me, right?¡¯ Anton tried his best to hide his displeasure about this situation. Of all the people, why did she have to arrive first? Or well, fifth. She had a bright smile upon seeing the headmaster. ¡®Miss Velona, please take a seat.¡¯ The headmaster pointed at one of the seats. ¡®Yes of course!¡¯ It didn''t take much longer before the rest of the professors arrived. First those who had their lectures nearby, then those who hadn''t. ¡®Who did Miss Velona arrive here so fast?¡¯ was the question that was running through Anton''s head. The lecture room for elemental foundations should be pretty far away from this one. As it was no use thinking about it, he decided to just not question it. ¡®Now that everyone is here, I would like to start this meeting. May I assume you all know what this is about?¡¯ The very moment Elliox began to speak, every last person in the room immediately focused on him. He didn''t use magic to increase his presence, it was simply the aura he gave off that made people respect him. That was especially true for those who had worked alongside or under him for some time. ¡®Yes, that is true. Rumors of a dark mage have already spread among the students, it would be impossible not to guess what this meeting is about.¡¯ The woman this voice belonged to was Vilvette Minecast, the leading alchemist of the Dame. Her long black hair which nearly reached to her waist looked as messy as always. She was the kind to get obsessed with her experiments and forget about her disciples. That was one of the reasons she held a special role at the academy. Unlike all the other professors who teached through lectures, she was the only one who was allowed to only teach a few chosen ones directly. For someone like her to be present at a meeting like this¡­ So the rumors were true. ¡®So information about this has already leaked to the students? How did that happen?¡¯ The expression of the vice headmaster was very dark. Although he didn''t say it, it was clear he suspected one of the professors to have leaked information. ¡®Now now Victor, let us not jump into conclusions yet.¡¯ Harms smiled as if he had known his vice would react like that. ¡®Do we have any leads?¡¯ asked one of the younger professors. His name was Velinvo and he was a professor who used wind as his main element. The young man, who was known for his politeness and respect, was always accompanied by Velona and Vonstadt. Today was no exception, as he sat right beside the two of them. Anton had taken a liking to him and Vonstadt, but his despise for Velona didn''t change in the slightest. She was known to be short tempered and rash, two of the characteristics he hated. But that wasn''t the point right now. ¡®Sadly not. I have asked Mr Cloffing here to investigate the room and the books, but sadly he couldn''t find anything of use to track the culprit down.¡¯ Suddenly, it made sense that Cloffing was allowed to skip a lecture. The school rules didn''t seem to apply in a state of emergency. ¡®Whoever it is that collected these books and created that room, they shouldn''t be taken lightly. It takes a lot of talent to not leave any mana at all.¡¯ Which sounded like a sorry excuse for his failure was actually totally right. Leaving traces of mana everywhere you go was an accepted fate among most mages, and only few managed to change that. But without any traces of mana, detection and location through magic became impossible. But to think that the enemy was actually that powerful¡­¡¯Wouldn''t that mean that the dark mages aren''t students, but teachers of this academy?¡¯ This question of one of the professors changed the mood in the room. Up until now, most had thought of the mysterious book collector as a few students who were simply curious about the forbidden magic. But that seemed impossible now. But if they weren''t a student, that would mean there was a mole among the professors. A wave of suspicion and paranoia hit the room. ¡®We don''t know that for sure yet. They could have disguised themselves as a student. They don''t necessarily have to be a professor.¡¯ It was the words of the headmaster himself that calmed down the crowd. Even if he was frightening sometimes, in the end, it was good to have him as headmaster. Especially the fact that this grand master was still here to hunt the dark mage was relieving for most of them. He continued. ¡®It does not matter whether they disguise themselves as students or teachers. The collection of books concerning dark magic is forbidden in this kingdom. We will find and bring down all culprits!¡¯ This kind of speech increased the motivation of the mages once again, and Anton was no exception here. ¡® We have worked out first plans to tighten up our security and guarantee the safety of our students. If you may, Victor.¡¯ The old man stood up. At the same moment, a small book started to flow in front of him. It probably contained the notes of their discussion. Although he was quite old, he surely didn''t need a reminder of what they had decided. This spell was merely a way for him to show off. ¡®This old geezer¡­¡¯ was the first thought Anton had upon seeing this. Victor cleared his throat. ¡®One of the measures includes an increase of mages in the night guard. We will also impose a curfew for after midnight.¡¯ It was obvious that many didn''t like that. The night was the time they used for studying after all. But it couldn''t be helped, since this decision had already been approved by the headmaster. ¡®Further, we will¡­¡¯ The meeting should continue until the lunch break was over. It didn''t even take half a day after the discovery of the hidden room, but the higher ups had already worked out a complete counter plan. As Anton left the room, he couldn''t help but worry though. Yes, the headmaster had stepped in to help with this himself, but it was also this very headmaster who didn''t notice the room in the first place. They probably still wouldn''t have found anything if it hadn''t been for that too from one of the students who saw a suspicious person entering a totally unknown room. To hide that long just be discovered by a mere student¡­ ¡®Those black mages sure don''t have it easy either.¡¯ Was his thought as he was once again on his way to his next lecture.


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 Chapter 3: the students

    The sun stood up in the sky, burning down on anyone who was bold enough to be outside right now. It was rare for the schoolyard in front of the main entrance to be that empty during lunch time, but it was just as rare to be this hot.only few poor souls were outside of the main building right now. Most of them were staff of the academy, taking care of the gardens and parks, but one small group of students was among them. All of them aged between 17 to 18. Those five children looked like they were in a hurry. Or at least some of them.


    ¡®Why are we doing this again?¡¯ asked the one who was carrying several stone plates with the so commonly seen runes on them. ¡®Because if this experiment succeeds, it will be a great breakthrough! And we can''t possibly test something like this in the building, can we? So stop complaining Maxwell!¡¯ The woman sounded annoyed that she even had to answer such a question. She carried a wodden wand, bigger than herself. The other three carried books, scrolls and more templates. ¡®Seriously Lydia, I understand that you want to find out if your theory works, but can''t that wait until the next break? We are missing out lunch because of this.¡¯ said the boy next to Maxwell, who had also been assigned to the stones. ¡®If you can talk, then walk. The faster we begin, the faster we will finish. Or are you perhaps already at you limits Fin?¡¯ As if he wanted to prove himself, the boy called Fin suddenly started going faster. ¡®You are as easy as always Fin.¡¯ He ignored that comment. As the sun continued to heat them up, Maxwell started wondering if it really was the right choice to help Lydia. This wasn''t the first time she had demanded them to help her with experiments, but never once had one of them succeeded. Maybe this behaviour was due to her professor. Mr. Stellox, the teacher who motivated her, was known for his rather modern teaching style, and there wasn''t one lab in this school which he hadn''t accidentally destroyed while experimenting at least once. Truly, this man way infamous¡­ and his behaviour seemed to have inspired Lydia now. He continued quietly following his friends as Finn suddenly decided to start a new topic. ¡®Have you heard about the rumours?¡¯ Lydia, totally focused on her new experiment, ignored him. After a few seconds of silence, another boy took the opportunity to join the conversation. It was Alex, who had carried the books without saying a word until now. ¡®Do you mean those about a dark mage?¡¯ Maxwell stopped for a moment. He had also heard about them, but he had hoped they were just the talk of a few younger students in need for attention. ¡®Yes, I mean those. They apparently found a secret room with some forbidden books or something.¡¯ Seemingly unpleased by the thought of a dark mage having infiltrated the academy, even the last girl opened her mouth. ¡®But aren''t those just some rumours?¡¯ Nearly tripping over her own two feet, the girl named Lucy looked at Maxwell, hoping he would agree with her. ¡®I think so too. This is the academy of Prestillon after all! What would such a guy even want here?¡¯ Nodding in agreement, Lucy seemed relieved. ¡®I wouldn''t be so sure about that. Isn''t it suspicious that all the professors were summoned at once to a meeting? In all the time we''ve been here, that happened not even once!¡¯ Unimpressed by that, Maxwell continued. ¡®That could mean anything. Besides, we haven''t really been here for long. Me and Lydia for around 4 years, you and the rest for only 3.¡¯ Like most magic schools, this academy started taking students from the age of 14. While there wasn''t a set age for graduation, it was common to leave this academy at around 24. Considering how young some of the professors were, they really must be geniuses, was what he thought. Before Fin could speak again, Lydia suddenly stopped. ¡®This spot is good! Let''s do it here!¡¯ Lucy gave her one of the scrolls. She then showed that scroll to the rest. ¡®Please put the stone tablets in a formation like this.¡¯ On the scroll, there was a sketch of of a circle like formation. The 12 stone tablets had to be put in a certain order in order, and since it was hard to form a perfect circle, it took them some time to put everything in place. After around 15 minutes, Lydia said ¡®Stop. It''s perfect like that! Thank you!¡¯ She took one of the books and scanned through a few texts. ¡®You aren''t planning on reading all of them here, are you?¡¯ Maxwell knew Lydia, and he knew he could never be sure enough. ¡®No no, I just have to find the part with the right spell.¡¯ He didn''t understand why she didn''t just remembered the page the spell was on, but he didn''t feel like pointing that out. Luckily, it only took her a few minutes to find the spell. ¡®Okay, let''s begin. I''ll cast the spell real quick. Just you wait, this will be amazing!¡¯ The looks she got from her four helpers weren''t exactly full of expectations, but she was far too excited to notice that. While watching her get ready to cast, Maxwell wondered if they could still make it for a small portion in the cafeteria.


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    She was calm. As calm as she could be. Her stance was like she had practiced so often. This spell wasn''t complicated, but the slightest mistake could result in wrong test results. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath¡­ She could feel the mana around her. Slowly, she concentrated on forming that mana. Her mana manipulation wasn''t exceptional, but it was more than enough for someone on this level. The mana formed circles, these circles got clearer and clearer, until small runes formed around them. Without even realising, she had started to silently chant the spell. While opening her eyes, she witnessed how these circles she had only imagined up until now had become reality. They had barely any colour, but they definitely were there. The air started circulating around them, and wind was created. Firstly she could feel a light breeze on her skin, but just a moment later this breeze had evolved into a wind with such force that it would have been hard to walk against it. The chant was nearly done. As she spoke the last words, she pulled a great amount of mana into the circles. Not the mana around her which she had used to form them, but her own, which she used to power the spell and stabalize it. It was done. As she shot the spell, the centre of the wind moved away from her. Like a mini Tornado, it moved all the plants on its way. As it passed the first stone, the runes on the tablet began to glow. This phenomenon repeated itself every time the spell passed one of the placed stones. ¡®It¡¯s working!¡¯ Another thing that happened was that every time these runes started glowing, the direction of the spell adjusted itself as to stay on the circle formed path. Since this spell would normally go straight until it has no energy left, this was an unusual sight. It had already passed half of the circle, when suddenly¡­ the stone tablet it passed bursted into hundreds of pieces. The same happened with the one before and after that one, then the next and next until every tablet was destroyed. The spell now continued going straight, passing a few trees, reaching a lake before finally bursting in its middle. This sudden outburst of energy caused several small waves. It took a few moments for the water to call down.


    While all of that happened, Lydia had not moved a single step. Her face had frozen the moment the first template had broken. Alex, who had stood just behind her, laid his hand on her shoulder. ¡®You were really close. It wasn''t a total downfall.¡¯ His words, which were meant to motivate her, had the opposite effect. ¡®I wasn''t close. This is the same result as last time. I''ve achieved nothing..¡¯ One could clearly hear from her voice just how depressed she was. Her face had gone back to normal, but now she looked even more shocked. Shocked wasn''t the right word¡­ it was more desillusioned. This extreme reaction may had seem like overreacting for most normal people, but every single one of her fellow mage disciples could relate to that feeling. She had poored her all into these preparations for months, constantly thinking about the problems that occured at this project. And it wasn''t just one template that broke¡­ Maxwell wasn''t sure, since he wasn''t familiar with derivation of magic, but it was never a good sign when a chain reaction resulted in several elements of an experiment bursting. Although he hadn''t believed in it, he had genuinely hoped for her success. But it seems like that was just another dream¡­ It couldn''t be helped, they had to move on. Lucy approached Lydia. ¡®It is okay. And it wasn''t for nothing! Now we know how it doesn''t work. I am sure it will be better the next time!¡¯ No reaction. ¡®The break will be over soon, so we have to go back, but we can easily experiment a bit more this evening. I am more focused on the topic of mana connection between objects. If you want to, I can help you a bit. Don''t give up just yet!¡¯ Alex said this, but he had no idea where to start. But that didn''t matter right now. Cheering her up was important, if needed with some false promises. He felt bad for her. Magic was a wonderful thing, every student could agree with that. But once someone lost his motivation, it wasn''t rare that their marks drastically dropped until.tgere was no recover. He couldn''t let this happen to Lydia. She stood there for a few seconds, expressionless. Just as he had made up his mind to add something, she suddenly smiled again. ¡®You are right. It was a lot of work, but it wasn''t for nothing! I can do this!¡¯ Her smile was forced, that much was obvious. But at least it was a start. They all collected as much of the remaining pieces of their templates as they could, before going back to the main building. The break was almost over, and they still had to go to their assigned lecture rooms. Even after they departed, the whole experiment was still on his mind. Maybe he could ask a professor for help later. As he walked through the hallway, one though suddenly struck his mind. He stopped at once. ¡®If we only needed one book and one scroll, then why the hell did she make Alex and Lucy carry so much unnecessary stuff?¡¯

 Chapter 4: shadows

    A cool evening breeze blew through the school yard. The air had finally cooled down a bit, and the last remnants of the midday heat were slowly disappearing into refreshing winds. The sun had already been half swallowed by the horizon, and a moon was getting more and more visible at the sky. Velvino looked at his pocket watch. It was a small magical devise, working similar to regular pocket watches. The only difference was that this one was a lot more precise and more robust. ¡®We can close the doors now.¡¯ He looked at miss Velona and Mr Vonstadt. ¡®Time for the patrol then.¡¯ Vonstadt reached into a pocket inside his robe. As his hand came out again, it revealed some shining keys. Some of them were silver, some of them were golden, but all of them looked very expensive. ¡®If they have enough money to show off like this, maybe they should just increase our pay!¡¯ Miss Velona had said it, but all three shared that opinion. Nonetheless, Velvino forced himself to oppose of that statement. ¡®We already get paid quite well for professors. Wasn''t the wage one of the reasons to come to this academy?¡¯ He was right there. Compared to most other institutions, the amount of money this academy invested into their staff was enormous. And still, seeing mere keys made of such precious materials awoke the greed in them. But Velvinos statement was enough to remind them of how good they actually had it, and they abandoned the topics. Right as Vonstadt reached to lock the doors, they heard something. It didn''t sound like any fighting, but since it came from outside the building, it could very well be a culprit. The three mages had immediately assumed a defensive formation, ready to fight anything if needed. The sounds were coming from one of the paths that connected the school yard to the many smaller gardens. Velona got ready to cast an attack spell if needed. It was that very moment they saw some silhouettes appearing from behind one of the trees. At least one of them seemed familiar¡­ ¡®Am I hallucinating, or is that one in the front Mr. Stellox?¡¯ All of them watched silently as the running silhouettes slowly came closer. ¡®Yes¡­ I think you are right¡­¡¯ It didn''t really matter which professor or student has appeared from behind the tree, they would all have had to go through a severe questioning. Until the moment they proved to be harmless, none of the three professors would have let their guard down. But Stellox¡­ neither of them could imagine him having anything to do with the dark mages. Now that they had gotten closer, Velvino could even recognise some of the students'' faces. ¡®I think they are safe.¡¯ he said while changing his position back to normal. ¡®I am sorry-¡¯ Stellox was breathing heavily. ¡®What are you doing at this time?¡¯ asked Vonstadt. Before Stellox had the chance to gather his breath, one of the female students answered the question. ¡®We were experimenting and forgot about the time. We didn''t mean to be late for the lockdown¡­¡¯ Velona took a closer look at her. ¡®And why was Mr Stellox with you?¡¯ This time it was him who answered. ¡®They needed help with some of the details. And as a professor, it is my duty to help them with their thirst for knowledge!¡¯ Vonstadt looked disappointed. ¡®It is one thing for the students to forget about this sudden new rule, but you are a professor! You should have reminded them. You even were at the meeting! How could you forget?¡¯ Stellox looked a bit embarrassed. The same went for his students. Velvino took that opportunity to say something. ¡®Now now, no need to go so hard on them. It is the first day after all¡­ And I am pretty sure we weren''t that different when we were that young.¡¯ Velona looked at him. ¡®You do know that Mr Stellox is older than us, right?¡¯ ¡®I meant when we were as young as the students of course!¡¯ He only now realized how dumb his statement has sounded. Vonstadt took a deep breath. ¡®Anyways. Since you are here now, why don''t you go inside?¡¯ He smiled. ¡®Mr Stellox?¡¯ ¡®Ah, yes, of course Mr. Vonstadt! We will be right inside. Thank you.¡¯ Stellox with the students in a line behind him entering the building reminded Velvino a bit of ducklings following their mother. Judging by Velonas face, she had something similar in mind. After the door closet behind them, Vonstadt locked it. This time without any interruption. ¡®Now then.¡¯ Velvino looked at his two companions. ¡®Ready for the patrol?¡¯ Vonstadt nodded. ¡®You are right. Let us go. We''ve had enough delay for now.¡¯ They started their tour around the academy. First, they checked the nearby parks. Since the southern dormitory was very close to the main gate, intruders would most likely take a path through these parks. If they tried that, the professors would either see them, or sense their trails of dark mana. At least that was the theory. Since there weren''t any traces in the secret room, they couldn''t be sure they would leave some here. When one of the teachers had commended on that during the meeting, Cloffing had explained that the room had most likely been cleared from them, and that such things took a lot of time. Time intruders wouldn''t have. But since they still didn''t know for sure that that''s how it was, they didn''t know for sure if the dark mages would really leave traces. It was all just a theory. Velvino wondered if this patrol was just a big waste of time. The chances were unbelievably slim that they actually found an intruder. And even if these mages really could be tracked down, what if they hid among the students? That was the most likely case, considering they had already slipped in enough times to build a room. Without anyone noticing that. And there think that they had collected this amount of books¡­ It was pretty obvious that all this patrol activity was just for show and to give the students a feeling of security. That was the reason no one objected to this plan. If panic broke out, the academy would be done for. It would take decades to recover the lost trust in this institution. No, this story couldn''t get out of the school. ¡®Hey, are you done over there?¡¯ Only now Velvino realized just how deep in thoughts he had been. ¡®Yes. No traces of any irregular mana over here.¡¯ Although none of them were mana experts, they were still at the level of professors. And that meant something at this academy. It wasn''t easy to get a job as teacher here, they had proven themselves countless times. If there was anything abnormal with the mana flows around here, they would notice. ¡®Good. In that case let us check at the main path next. We are progressing pretty well. We may get it done by midnight!¡¯ The excitement in Velonas was was loud and clear. Vonstadt softly smiled at the two of them. ¡®Indeed let us do that.¡¯ The three of them had known each other for a few years by now, and although they had spent most time together, Velvino still didn''t understand everything about his two colleagues and friends. Especially Velona could be very rash and unpredictable at times. Of course, she was still a great person, but it made him question just how good he knew her sometimes. It was totally different from Vonstadt. Although he seemed distant to new people, he was actually quite caring and nice. Velvino looked at the sky. It was beautiful. There wasn''t a single cloud up there, just the moon, thousands of stars and this unfillable emptiness. Somehow, it reminded him of old times.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Around midnight, they were finally done. They had checked every single spit there was on their given territory, had turned every stone and every stick. Now they were just tired. ¡®Oh how glad I am that this is finally over!¡¯ Velona seemed really tired. She was used to stay up with research until the sun got up again, there had been countless times when she appeared in lectures without having slept at all, but this time she was actually exhausted before even two O''clock. Well, that could be said about all of them. As Vonstadt unlocked the front door so that they could enter, Velvino himself couldn''t help but yawn. When they stepped inside and locked the door again, all of them were more than eager to just fall down at their beds. ¡®Ugh, why do all of the professors rooms have to be on the highest floor?¡¯ Velona asked annoyed while climbing the stairs. ¡®I don''t know. Maybe the old staff wanted to show their superiority?¡¯ It wasn''t very logical, but it was all Velvino could think of at the moment. ¡®Whatever it was, I am sure they had their reasons.¡¯ Vonstadts comment was as passive as the most of his statements. When they finally reached the top floor, the fifth one, they were too tired to even say good night to each other. It was unusually quiet up here. Well, since the professors weren''t allowed outside either, most of them probably decided to just go to sleep earlier. Velvinos room was in a different direction than that of the other two, so they splitted ways. It had been a long time since he was so happy to finally reach his doorstep. As he opened his door, a scream suddenly cut through his thoughts. He turned on the spot. It was Velonas voice. It didn''t take a second for him to be fully awake again. He ran towards the direction the voice had come from. While running as fast as his body would allow, he cursed himself for not accompanying her to her door. Every second felt like minutes as he came closer to Velonas room. He finally reached the scene.


    What he saw there wasn''t expected. He looked left. Vonstadt just stood. He leaned his back against the wall, his head looking up. His face was¡­ expressionless. Velvinos had never seen him like that. On the right, Velonas sat on the ground, holding back tears. She was unharmed, but she seemed traumatized. As his mind tried to figure out what happened, he noticed the strong smell of blood in the air. Just where did it come from? As he panickely looked around him, he finally saw him. A few Meters in the back, someone sat, leaning against one of the doors. His limbs just lifelessly laid there, his legs stretched from his body, his tight hand holding a small wand. But he wasn''t holding it correctly. It was broken, as if he had accidentally used too much force on it. The clothes around his torso were drenched in blood. There was way too much¡­ a small pool surrounded him. The blood was everywhere. Blood was running down his chin. It came from his nose, his eyes, his ears¡­ It looked horrible. The door and the wall behind him were also covered in blood. It was slowly dripping down at some places. The worst part was probably his¡­ the worst part was what had been his left shoulder. It was turned, twisted, broken, shattered, cut¡­ It resembled minced meat. Some bones were looking out, but he didn''t know which ones. The whole upper left had been twisted to a point of no recognition. Velvino closed his eyes¡­ he couldn''t see it. He desperately looked at the ground when he opened them again. It was then that he noticed some shining glasses on the ground. The blood on them made the gold look red golden. Although they were broken¡­ Velvinos recognised them. ¡®No¡­¡¯ He forced himself to look at the corpses face. ¡®No no no¡­ nonono!¡¯


    .


    .


    .


    Velvino felt like throwing up. He couldn''t believe his eyes. Who laid before him, was no one else but Stellox.

 Chapter 5: Damage accounting

    The room was quiet. No one dared to break this silence. There had been sad times before. Times, when sad news had reached the academy, times when long trusted colleagues left the academy, times when even the vice headmaster couldn''t find the courage to speak, like when the news of the passing of the former headmaster had reached the staff. But never once had these times been like this¡­ A professor had been murdered at school grounds. Velonas looked at the floor, at the dark wooden planks and the carpet. Only one room here had such a carpet- she was at the headmasters office. Her head felt heavy. She sat slumped on a chair in the background, as she tried to forget everything for a moment - without success. Thoughts ran through her head, so many of them she couldn''t count them. Her whole body felt cold. Just what had she witnessed a few moments ago? She could never forget that answer. Every time she closed her eyes, she could clearly see the picture in front of her. This wasn''t the first time she had seen a corpse, but¡­ none of the past times could compare to this one. She knew- She had known Stellox, she had been pretty close with him. He had been a professor when she was still a student, and it was him who transformed her interest in money into an interest for magic. And that even though he didn''t even hold lectures for her. He hadn''t focused on magic of the fire attribute, but of the wind attribute. But although he had a different type of magic than her, or maybe just because of that, she knew how strong had been. The way in which he had been killed was gruesome¡­ He didn''t deserve that. As she thought about his death, she had to hold back her tears. Right besides her stood Velvino. With his back leaned against the wall, he looked up and stared at the ceiling. He didn''t look much better than her. He was dead pale. Unlike Velona, who had to try her best not to burst out in tears and cry, Velvinos looked Bast of any emotion. He too had known Stellox from when the two of them were still students, but since he went to his lectures on a daily basis for several years, he was probably even more shaken. She looked around the room. Near the door were two other professors who, woken by her scream, had rushed out to help and then saw him. She only knew those two from a few meetings, but judging by the looks on their faces they also seemed to have been pretty close to Stellox. No wonder. He had been a pretty famous face around the academy. Most teachers did their best to motivate students, but Stellox had dedicated his life to it. Whether people liked that enthusiastic side of him or thought of it as annoying, they all had to acknowledge that he helped countless students with that attitude. And he wasn''t unpopular among the teachers either. He had often spent his nights helping others with their experiments. In the middle of the room, the headmaster and vice headmaster both stood leaned over the headmasters desk. They had been like this for quite some time now. She was a bit surprised when she saw the depressed face of Stroff. Because of his stubbornness and arrogance, she hadn''t thought that he would actually mourn over a dead college, but now he looked just as sad as the rest of them. Velona stood up. She walked straight up to the desk and looked at the headmaster. ¡®Who did this?¡¯ she asked. Harms looked back at her. His dark green eyes which had given her comfort so many times nearly pierced her. Was he suspecting her to be the culprit? He sighted. ¡®We don''t know that yet. Most likely the dark mage. Maybe Mr Stellox saw him and had to die because of that.¡¯ To hear what she already knew didn''t calm her down at all. ¡®What will happen now?¡¯ It was her asking the question, but this was the thought of everyone else in the room, including Stroff. Harms though for a moment. ¡® We will hunt the culprit down. He killed one of our professors. We cannot let that slide.¡¯ Velona was seemingly dissatisfied with this vague answer. ¡®How are we going to do that? With more of these useless patrols? What will we do from now on?¡¯ She was serious. This was probably the first she- no, anyone had ever spoken up to him like that since becoming the headmaster. He went back into his thoughts. But he wasn''t only thinking of an answer this time. He considered if he could trust her. He closed his eyes. A few moments passed like that without anything happening. Velona didn''t wait for him to finish his thoughts. ¡®Stellox, although he didn''t look like it, was strong. But he wasn''t just defeated¡­ You saw the body. He didn''t even have the time to defend himself. That wasn''t a fight but an execution. Whoever did this is a monster¡­ ¡® She looked at Stroff. ¡®Could you have killed him that fast Mr. Stroff? Without highly skilled professors sleeping next door even noticing?¡¯ Stroff evaded eye contact. Just as she was getting ready to say more, things which she would probably have regretted afterwards, Harms opened his eyes again. He looked at the two professors near the door. ''Would you two please go to Mr Cloffing? We don''t want our living mana detector to be the next target, do we?¡¯ They jumped up. ¡®Yes Mr Harms.¡¯ After they closed the door behind them, he looked back at Velona and Velvino. ¡®It is pretty obvious that we have a mole by now.¡¯ Stroff looked at him, surprised that he shared this information with them. ¡®After we announced the patrol routes, the culprit still managed to slip through our net. Or he didn''t¡­ The locks on the doors are enchanted. If anyone would have tried to get inside or outside, I would have noticed. But no one did. The culprit is still inside the southern dormitory. The students aren''t skilled enough, no one from outside interfered. This is without a doubt the deed of a professor.¡¯ Both Velona and Velvino were shocked. Velona had expected this to some degree, but having it told by the headmaster was something totally different. ¡®Th-¡¯ she tried to get something out, but couldn''t. Harms looked a lot more confident now. ¡®Our list of suspects has drastically been reduced to mere 12. Considering how you three were on patrol when it happened, you certainly couldn''t have done it either. Only nine left.¡¯ The thoughts were running in Velonas head. If what he said was true, then she had been sleeping under the same roof as the dark mage for months. ¡®Stellox wasn''t killed because he saw anything¡­ He was one of the few who are familiar with older languages and dark runes. The dark mage saw a chance and used it¡­ but that was a mistake. Now we are much closer to finding him than we were before.¡¯ A bad thought suddenly crossed her mind. Old languages¡­ She knew someone else who was an expert. ¡®Where is Vonstadt?¡¯ Velvino looked just as worried. Harms just smiled as distant as so often. ¡®He wanted to take a step outside. He seemed rather shocked about the sudden death of Me Stellox.¡¯ He was the only one of the three who hadn''t graduated from this academy. Nonetheless, he also seemed pretty close to Stellox. ¡®Relax. He is the last one who can function as a translator for us. I won''t endanger him.¡¯ However distant the headmaster seemed sometimes, he was a calculating person and wouldn''t risk losing an important pawn.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    This time, it was Velvino taking the opportunity to talk. ¡®What are we going to do now? Even if it''s just nine suspects left, if one of them is the dark mage, it will be hard to find them. They didn''t leave any traces in the hidden room, I doubt we will find any now.¡¯ Harms'' smile widened by a bit. ¡®Let that be my worry.¡¯ Now he looked as confident as he had at the meeting this noon. His face changed back to a serious one. ¡®For now, I want you to keep an eye on the students of the dormitory. We cannot let there be any more victims.¡¯ He looked at a door in the back. It was behind this door that the lifeless body of Stellox rested. Velonas expression got a bit darker. ¡®He won''t have died for nothing.¡¯ Velona wasn''t sure if Velvino had said that to better up her mood or because he actually believed it. Either way, she swore herself she would keep the children out of that. ¡®I understand that you don''t want any information to leak, but it should be okay to tell at least Mr. Vonstadt.¡¯ ¡®Oh, he will be informed. I fear he will be busy translating the books we found now. Maybe we will find some leads on the culprit.¡¯ He toned down his voice. ¡®I am burning to know how they built a whole room without anyone noticing¡­ Without me noticing.¡¯ He looked dead serious. The creaking of a door interrupted them. As the door opened, the face of Cloffing appeared. His expression showed that he didn''t find any clues.¡¯As expected¡­ Please inspect the body Mr. Cloffing. I am sorry to give this work to you, but you have by far the best feeling for this.¡¯ Cloffing sighted. He looked tired, but that could be said about all of them. While Velona and Velvinos left the room, the test would be working until sunset.


    ¡®Mr. Vonstadt?¡¯ The room was totally dark. The only light was emitted by an open window. A man looked at the nightly sky outside. He turned around. ¡®Sorry, I just needed some fresh air. And since we can''t go outside right now¡­¡¯ He looked a bit distant. ¡®It is okay, I know what you mean.¡¯ Velona stepped inside the room. She stood beside him, also looking outside. ¡®He is really gone..¡¯ Her voice was trembling. ¡®I saw it but¡­ I still can''t believe it.¡¯ He looked at her. ¡®Whoever it was, they will suffer.¡¯ She didn''t know if she had ever seen him this serious.¡¯ The headmaster will take care of it.¡¯ She put her hand on his shoulders. ¡®I hope he does. I really hope he does¡­¡¯

 Chapter 6: New tactics

    Elliox looked at the stack of documents on his desk. The yellow paper stood in contrast to the table, which was made of ebony. How long had he studied the information of his staff members by now? It must have been hours. As he reached for a cup of coffee, which had cooled down to room temperature, the sounds of the well known school bells rang through his office. He looked outside the window. ¡®So it''s already afternoon¡­¡¯ The sun was up in the sky again, like any other day. Truly, nature did not care for the moods of mere humans. A swarm of birds passed his view. As he took a closer view, he noticed their unusual strong color - blue. ¡®Guides of souls.¡¯ Stroff mumbled. Elliox twitched. He had already forgotten that his vice was also in the room. The reason he referred to the birds as guides was a fairytale like myth. Blue birds were said to be help the souls of great people find their place in the sky. This belief wasn''t shared among the holy mages and the church, but tolerated. In the last year''s, in which the church had become more powerful and gained the people''s trust, most of these old sayings and myths had become less and less popular, slowly being forgotten by the people. Of course, the oldest professor of this academy hadn''t forgotten a single one, although it was questionable if he actually believed in them. He looked at Stroff. ¡®Have you found anything?¡¯ The old man''s expression said enough. Elliox let out a sight. He took one last look at the outside. He could see masses of students, leaving the main building and heading towards the countless parks and gardens. As he turned around, getting ready to continue his search for any flaw that could expose a professor to be a possible traitor, the door suddenly opened. Who stepped inside, was Mr. Cloffing, carrying long awaited news. ''The examination of the body is done. The mana traces aren''t enough to find the caster.¡¯ This wasn''t surprising. Not after all the previous times the culprits had managed to get rid of any traces in mana form. But Cloffing wasn''t down yet. ¡®After I couldn''t find any clues myself, I decided to ask Mrs. Cursen for her opinion. Although she didn''t seem too sure, she said the wounds would most likely have been caused by Impact magic.¡¯ He carried the smell or iron with him. The professor he mentioned, Mrs Cursen, was a mage who focused on healing magic. Her expertise wasn''t holy magic, which was known for its healing spells, but a combination of wind and water based healing. She was one of the older professors and had a lot of experience from her time before the academy. ¡®Impact magic? I don''t question Mrs. Cursens skill, but impact magic is very rare. Is she sure about it?¡¯ Elliox was skeptical. Dark magic and impact magic? It sounded too unrealistic¡­ and frightening. Impact magic was a very specialised form of wind magic. If he remembered correctly, it worked with shock waves and air pressure. Dark mages often only studied dark arts and had terrible knowledge on other elements. Was this really an exception? ¡®She said that, although it was a long time ago, she saw similar wounds once in the past. But as I already said, she couldn''t say it for sure.¡¯ A small smile appeared on Elloix¡¯ face. If a dark mage really managed to control dark and wind magic to such an extent, it would mean that controlling a third element would be impossible for them. Dark magic was a very intensive subject and consumed a lot of time. Wind magic in itself wasn''t known to be that hard to master, a specialization like impact magic was another story. A human lifetime wasn''t enough to learn even more than that, since those two were already very impressive. The knowledge of this one fact had refused the suspect to older wind magic users. Even if it was just by a bit, his smile widened. ¡®Don¡¯t get excited too soon.¡¯ Stroffs words were calm, but could clearly be understood as a warning. ¡®Get unfocused and it will lead to your downfall.¡¯ Truly, he was the only one who could say something like that to the headmaster himself. Elloix smirked. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, I am not planning to.¡¯ What could have been a normal conversation between colleges looked more like the infighting between monsters. Cloffing could hardly breath, as the two mages stared at each other. It took a moment until he caught enough breath to continue his report. ¡®There is one more thing, although it may be nothing¡­ We found something while searching through Mr. Stellox¡¯ room. A notebook of his¡­ I noticed that its cover was written in one of the old languages. I couldn''t confirm it''s contests yet, since it has strong magic seals on it, but it didn''t give off a good vibe¡­¡¯ Stroffs twitched as he heard those words. ¡®Are you suspecting he was one of them?¡¯ His tone was seemingly unfriendly. ¡®Now now, no need to get your guard up. Let us at least hear out what Mr. Cloffing has to say, shall we?¡¯ He sounded a bit amused by the situation. It seemed like the death of Mr. Stellox'' hadn''t touched him that much. Cloffing just nodded at Elliox words. He knew that what he said would have an aftermath if he didn''t word it correctly. ¡®I wouldn''t dare to assume he was one of them¡­ Since he focused on the old languages and ruins, of course it would only be natural for him to have such a book. But if we are lucky, maybe he already had a few suspicions and noted them down. I think it would be worth a try.¡¯ Cloffing was unsatisfied by his own answer. Even if Stellox studied these languages, there was no need to write in them. Also, why would he place seals on the book? He wasn''t the type to make a secret out of his studies, so there would be no reason for him to keep anything secret. Except for¡­ he tried to stop thinking about that. Stellox had a great reputation. Talking bad about the dead wouldn''t do anything good. He could still feel Stroffs gaze. Stroff sighted. ¡®You should have said so from the start.¡¯ Elliox seemed to consider Cloffings suggestions. He looked at the other two. It was true that this book could contain useful information. Cloffing was competent. If he didn''t manage to break the seal, then it really was something. As he thought about it, Stellox'' hadn''t been incompetent either. He may have seemed a bit clumsy, but when it came to magic, he had been an expert. The high quality magic seal was only one of the proofs for that. That made whoever killed him even more powerful. He had made his decision. ¡®Take the notebook to Mrs. Fotto. If she can break the seal, let Mr. Vonstadt translate it. Understand?¡¯ Cloffing nodded. Mrs Fotto was the academy''s only professor who specialized in magic seals and how to break them. If she couldn''t do it, then no one at the school could. The only problem was her personality¡­ The years in lonely studies hadn''t done anything good for her sociability. It was a wonder how she could keep her position as teacher when she had problems even talking to her students. Well, until now, even though several students had complained about her, all of them had managed to learn a lot with her help. Results were all that mattered at this school. As the door closed behind Mr. Cloffing, Elloix turned towards Mr. Stroff. ¡®What is it Mr. Harms?¡¯ He hesitated for a moment. ¡®Has something like this ever happened in the history of this school?¡¯ Stroff looked down. He had been at this school the longest, which he was very proud of. He had survived several headmasters, even the king of Karvoc had changed several times while he was professor. In his many years, he had witnessed this academy go through many hardships. ¡®A dark mage incident? A professor getting murdered in our own halls? Another one killing them?¡¯ Stroff didn''t wait for his questions to be answered. ¡®I have witnessed many critical moments of this academy, but none of them were like this.¡¯ Elliox had feared such an answer. He had read the chronicles of this academy enough times to know that this was the first time anything like this happened, but he still had felt the urge to ask this. The most reassuring answer would have been that worse had already happened in the last and that it was covered up. But that was just wishful thinking. Even if only shortly, he had known the previous headmaster. He was a righteous man, not someone who would cover up his mistakes. He looked to his right. A portrait of the academy when it was first built decorated the wall. It had been a gift to celebrate his promotion to the headmaster of this academy. Who would have thought that he would end up here, when he first started as mage for the church? And who would have thought that he would get to hunt a dark mage once more¡­ Unlike the staff, which had never experienced a similar situation, he was too familiar with it. He smirked once again. He would end the dark mage, like he had done it so many times before. If only it was as easy to find them as it was to fight them¡­ He turned his attention back to the stack of files in front of him. For now, this was all he could do.


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    Cloffing wandered through the hallway. It had been a long time since he had last been to this department. A department made up of a single person¡­ ¡®Ugh, where is it?¡¯ Since he was unfamiliar with the lowest floor, it took him a while to find his destination. He knocked at the door¡­ Nothing happened. He knocked again. This time, something at the other side of the door started moving. It still took a moment before the door finally started to open. It stopped after a few cm. A pale face looked through the gap. ¡®W- Who are you? What d- do you want?¡¯ The voice was really quiet. ''It''s just me, Cloffing. Could you please open the door for me? I''ve got something interesting. Want to take a look?¡¯ A few seconds of silence followed. One could feel how she was considering the offer. ''The headmaster sent me.¡¯ Cloffing had a gentle smile on his face. ¡®R-Really? I-I guess it can''t b-be helped then.¡¯ She sounded even quieter this time. As the door slowly continued to open, the small figure of a thin woman came to light. The room behind her was totally dark. Cloffing stepped inside. As if she knew that his eyes weren''t as used to the darkness as hers, she lit up a magic lantern. ¡®Thank you.¡¯ If there was one thing he had learned in the past, then that was that she couldn''t be treated like most other professors. ¡®W-What did you want to show me?¡¯ He took something out of his pocket. ¡®This book..¡¯ he laid it down on a table in the middle of the room ¡®has placed some very strong seals on it.¡¯ She took a look at it. The look at her face immediately got serious. ¡®This l-looks interesting¡­¡¯ ¡®Do you think you can break it?¡¯ She took a few seconds to think. ¡®Mhmm. I-I think s-so.¡¯ Cloffing smiled, now widely and happy. ¡®How long do you think it will take?¡¯ A few seconds of silence followed. Suddenly she said, now in a much louder voice ¡®Ah y-yes! I can f-finish it in a-around a D-day!¡¯ Surprised by the sudden outcry, he took a step back. Her aura had completely changed. Instead of tired and quiet, she now seemed loud and energetic. ¡®T-This is it! It is g-great! G-Genius!¡¯

 Chapter 7: A students view

    Maxwell sighted as he looked at the line of students before him. He just never could get used to waiting in line in the cafeteria. Especially in the summer, when the heat was already enough of a hindrance, wasting time like this seemed horrible to him. Because the academy was so big, there were several cafeterias, and this one usually was one of the less popular ones. Unfortunately, it seemed like one of the halls in the northern part of the building was closed. None of the students really knew why, but rumors said that it was related to the dark mage incident. After the hall in question was closed, its regular visitors went to those close by. The students from those places again went to the next halls, not wanting to eat in a cafeteria overfilled with the students from the first hall. This movement went on and on, and, like a wave, reached even the opposite parts of the school. Even Maxwell had thought about going to another cafeteria, but he didn''t really expect to find one with less students waiting. At least there was one positive aspect about the current situation. Since the students from the closed hall had spread out to so many other halls, the actual number of new students at this one wasn''t really that big. As he continued to think about it, he noticed why only few students had come to this hall. The temperature¡­ The sun was, again, burning down on the academy, and this hall had many glass windows. What looked beautiful in the other seasons evolved into an oven in summer. He had only recently started coming to this cafeteria, and as such hadn''t known about this. The waiting was already bothersome by itself, but the heat was unbearable¡­ he thought about cooling himself down with magic, as he suddenly felt something cold running down his back. Surprised, he turned around. What he saw behind him were a few familiar faces, one certainly amused by his reaction. ¡®Lucy, you¡­!¡¯ He tried to get the ice out of his clothes. This was the downside of having an ice mage as a friend. At the sight of him struggling with the sudden cold, even the others could help but giggle a bit. Finally he got a grasp at what had fallen into his clothes. A chunk of ice fell to the ground. ¡®Are you crazy?! Surprising me like this¡­¡¯ Lucy didn''t seem to regret it one bit. ¡®You looked like you were in need of something cold.¡¯ she tried to hold back her laughter. ¡®What kind of friend would I have been if I had not helped you with the heat?¡¯ Maxwell wasn''t convinced. He looked at the others. Lucy, Finn, Alex and Lydia. ¡®You shouldn''t make fun of your seniors.¡¯ he mumbled. ¡®Anyways. What took you so long?¡¯ He felt bad as he noticed they had shamelessly cut in the line, skipping all those standing behind him. He would have been pretty dissatisfied if that many people had skipped line to stand before him. But of course, he wouldn''t say that now¡­ ¡®We saw Lydia on our way here, and thought accompanying her wouldn''t be a bad idea.¡¯ Fin didn''t look that happy. ¡®I wouldn''t have, if I had known that it would take that long! Seriously¡­¡¯ Maxwell couldn''t really follow. ¡®What were you doing?¡¯ This time Lydia answered. ¡®I was looking for Mr. Stellox''. I wanted to talk to him about yesterday''s experiment. Sadly I couldn''t find him. It seems like he didn''t attend his lectures today either.¡¯ She seemed a bit worried. Fin tried to brighten the mood a bit. ¡®Ha! So even the famous Stellox can get sick! Or maybe he is just tired after helping us yesterday?¡¯ Lydia gave him a sharp look. ¡®It¡¯s Mr. Stellox. And he wouldn''t be tired after something like that¡­¡¯ ¡®Yes, yes, whatever.¡¯ Alex also joined the conversation now. ¡®I also think it is a bit weird¡­ have you noticed how the professors are constantly on edge today? Some even seem¡­ scared.¡¯ A chill ran down Maxwell''s spine. He had also noticed it, but had genuinely hoped that it was just his imagination. Now Lucy seemed down. ¡®Do you think that¡­ something happened again? Like, a second room or something?¡¯ She looked uncomfortable. ¡®I don''t think it''s something like that. This is Prestillon! It''s already a miracle that they managed to build even one room with the professors noticing. A second one would have been totally impossible. Especially with the headmaster being present!¡¯ Fin was known to be a fan of the Mr. Harms. Only natural, considering his family had several holy mages. If Fin only had a talent for holy magic, he would have had a good position in the church waiting for him. ¡®Even you have to agree that something is fishy here.¡¯ Alex had a serious look on his face. But so had Fin. ¡®There is nothing ¡®fishy¡¯ here. You are just paranoid. That''s exactly what the dark mages want! They can''t harm us, so they want to scare us.¡¯ He wasn''t usually this naive, but when the church was the topic, he became naturally biased. Maxwell looked at the people standing before him in line. He was slowly getting closer to the food¡­ ¡®What are you getting to eat?¡¯ The others were seemingly surprised by that question. ¡®Talk about changing the topic¡­¡¯ This may seemed out of context, but it was enough to distract them. ¡®What is the free one today?¡¯ The academy offered one free meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That option was mostly monotone and sometimes a bit lacking in taste, but a great alternative for those with tight pockets. A grin began to form on Fin¡¯s face. ¡®Oh, you are going with the free option today? What an unusual sight¡­¡¯ He didn''t usually brag about his background, but every meal, he would make at least one comment about him (his family) having more money than the rest. ¡®You rich snob! Not everyone can get money shoved up his-¡¯ Alex interrupted Lucy at this point. ¡®Well, what will our majesty Lord Fin eat today?¡¯ Of course, Fin wasn''t really royal or noble, but one can fight sarcasm best with sarcasm. Alex had learned that in the many years of having Fun as a friend. ¡®Oh, what a hard choice¡­ I think I will take the -¡¯ ¡®5 basic options for me and my friends please.¡¯ Maxwell smiled like a sadistic torturer. ¡®Oh, did I interrupt you, my friend?¡¯ Fin''s face was like frozen. ¡®You¡­¡¯ ¡®Now now, let''s eat!¡¯ Lydia took a plate and went in the direction of one of the free seats. ¡®Are you coming?¡¯ The others had tagged along, and now only Fin stood at the food distribution. A bit embarrassed, he quietly followed his friends, who were eagerly trying not to laugh. As they sat down, they didn''t really talk much. Time was scarce, and so none of them would waste their time at lunch. It didn''t even take ten minutes until all of them were done. Maxwell stood up. ¡®As always, it was a pleasure. But I''ll have to go now. I haven''t really finished my assignment yet, so¡­¡¯ He took his plate. ¡®Where do you think you are going?¡¯ Maxwell didn''t understand. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me you already forgot about this.¡¯ Even Fin looked disappointed. That surely was a new time low. Lucy seemed a bit impressed by his terrible memory. ¡®We have a bis assembly in a few minutes. At the grand park near the Dame. Don''t you remember?¡¯ Now he understood what they were talking about. ¡®Ah yes, the assembly¡­¡¯ He remembered. ¡®Don¡¯t you think it is weird that they announced that on such short notice? And without telling us what this is about¡­¡¯ he looked at Alex. Alex just nodded slightly. ¡®As I said. It''s fishy.¡¯ Before Fin could even say anything about this, Lydia interfered. ¡®Don¡¯t start with this again. They will tell us what it is about when we are there, won''t they? It won''t get us anything to speculate.¡¯ Maxwell noticed why she was so desperate to change the topic. Lucy didn''t seem too well, she was clearly taken by the current situation. ¡®Yes, you are right. In that case, let''s go now. Even those that came in after us already started to clear their tables. It should be any minute now.¡¯ As if they had only now realized what time it was, the others abruptly stood up. As they left the cafeteria, Maxwell just couldn''t shake off this ominous feeling. The behavior of the professors, Mr. Stellox''s absence, the closed lunch hall at the northern part¡­ This all happened way too fast. He indeed had a bad feeling, but never would he have expected what was to come.


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    The seats at the park were continuously filled by more and more students. Maxwell was breathless. He had always known that the academy had way above a thousand students, but seeing all of them at one place was another story¡­ the many rows of chairs with the students fully concealed the floor. This view resembled that of an ocean, slowly flooding the beach. He grasped as he saw another wave of students reach the place. ¡®Do you want to take a seat or just stand here?¡¯ The Voice was too familiar. ¡®Lydia¡­ even you have to admit that this view is amazing.¡¯ They hadn''t taken a seat themselves yet, and were only witnessing the situation from a small hill a few Meters away. ¡®What does that mean, ¡®even I¡¯? But I have to agree. You don''t get to see this many mages at once often¡­ especially not this organized.¡¯ Fin grinned. ¡®Of course this is perfectly organized! This assembly was announced by the headmaster himself after all!¡¯ Maxwell couldn''t tell if he really thought that or just made statements like this as a joke by now. He really hoped it was second.


    Because they arrived so late, they could only secure seats in the far back of the assembly. ¡®Do you have any idea how many students are here?¡¯ Although he had kept quiet until now, Alex seemed just as amazed as Maxwell. ¡®To be honest, I have no idea. There are far more than we could count.¡¯ Lucy''s reply was that overly calm that it was obvious she tried to hide her excitement. Maxwell looked at the stage that was set up in front of the chairs. A total of ten professors were already up there. All of them were dressed in black. It nearly seemed a bit creepy. As the last students had sat down, the headmaster stepped on the stage, followed by the vice headmaster and Mr. Cloffing. The crowd of students immediately went quiet. Those three, again, wore black. Mr. Harms looked at the mass of students. Although he didn''t look at anyone in particular, everyone could feel his gaze. He started speaking. ¡®Dear students, I am here to inform you about terrible news.¡¯ A wave of uneasiness came through the students. A few started talking, but stopped a few seconds later, as they didn''t want to interrupt the headmaster. He continued with his speech. A few minutes went on like that. He talked about how dangerous these times were, and still appalled the students to stay calm, without even revealing the information this all was about. Then, he stopped for a moment. His following words would have a greater impact on the students than they could have imagined. ¡®I am to inform you that yesterday evening, Professor Stellox was found dead.¡¯


    It was quiet. There was no whispering, no coughing or even breathing. Even the nature around them kept quiet. It was as if all of them were waiting for the headmaster to reveal that this was some kind of joke, that he and the other teachers laughed out and that Mr. Stellox would teleport on the stage. But none of that happened. The silence continued for a few minutes.

 Chapter 8: A promise

    Mr. Velinvo stood expressionless as one of the professors behind the headmaster. As he watched the students he had reached the last few years, never swing them sad because of anything besides their test results, fall into despair so quickly, another wave of grief came up within him. The pain of his colleagues death ran deep, deeper than he wanted to admit. But it was not only grief that filled him. Of course there was also hate, hate for whoever had dared to take the life from Mr. Stellox, and regret. Regret for being unable to save him, regret for letting him die on his duty, on his watch, in the dormitory he was supposed to protect, all while he was carefree enjoying an evening stroll. Of course, that was not really how it had been. Even while he was on patrol, the other professors and staff should have kept up their guard, especially in their dormitory. And it had not been an evening stroll he had been on either, but a patrol to keep the very intruder away that had killed Mr. Stellox. Deep within him, he knew that it had not been his fault. Nonetheless, he felt like it was his duty to think and feel like this. The black mage surely wouldn''t feel any regret for killing him, and the other professors did not seem to think of it as their fault either. How sad would a death be if no one regretted it? Mr. Stellox deserved better. Even if it was just him, as long as he would remember him and regret¡­ At the sight of the many grieving students, he felt a bit ashamed of himself. He would surely not be the only one remembering him. The many students he had teached were right here. They wouldn''t forget him. They would carry on his will- the exploration of magic. But for now they were in pain, having lost their mentor.


    ¡®Stop it.¡¯ Velvino turned around, being surprised by the sudden hand on his shoulder. Behind him stood no one else then Mr. Vonstadt. ¡®The face you are making. Stop it.¡¯ It were those simple words that made him realize the situation he was in. ¡®We are all grieving for our college. But in the first place, we are professors of this academy. The students are already in pain. Don''t scare them by making such a dark expression.¡¯ Velvino now noticed a few of his students, who had watched him since the headmaster announced the news. A bit flustered, he once again regained control over his face. Seeing that, it felt like the children, mostly the you get ones, acted a bit relieved. Velvinos turned back to Vonstadt. ¡®Thank you. I lost myself there for a moment.¡¯ He just nodded. Both of them now looked at the masses of students, slowly beginning to leave their seats. The afternoon lectures for today had been canceled. What looked like a thoughtful action with only good intentions was actually a plan to use up more professors to hunt the culprits. Without much of a notice, the school had been locked down. Especially the gates and the fences were focused with defenses. The previous plan, which still accepted the black mage escaping as long as they got away from this academy, had been abandoned. What was to follow was the search and extermination of everyone involved in the murder. Did the headmaster order that to get revenge, to prevent further victims, or to save the face of the academy? Velvinos wasn''t sure of that himself. What was clear was that the headmaster himself had decided to end the black mage. There was no escape for him now¡­ The lines of chairs were still only slowly getting emptied of students. To assemble all of the students in one place had cost a lot of time. It would take just as much to get them to leave. After announcing the news of Mr. Stellox death, the headmaster and the vice headmaster had held a speech for a few minutes, but the whole event added together still only lasted less than half an hour. It hadn''t been necessary to assemble them either. If the headmaster had wanted to, he could have just transmitted his voice through magic to all the students, similar to how the bells worked. This assembly wasn''t solely to tell the students about the current situation. It was also meant as a symbol. To show the students that the teachers were still ready to protect them. Looking back on it, Mr. Stroffs suggestion to use magic would probably have caused a great panic among the students. While Vonstadt and Velvino watched how the students were still leaving the place, the headmaster, accompanied by the vice headmaster, approached the two of them. ¡®It is over now. I thank you for your presence.¡¯ Vonstadt nodded. ¡®It was the very least.¡¯ Now Mr. Stroff turned directly towards Mr. Vonstadt. ¡®We¡¯ve put the books in question in a study in the Dame¡¯s basement. Please take a look at them after this.¡¯ Vonstadt looked a bit confused. ¡®In the Dame? Why is that? Isn''t the Dame part of the alchemy department?¡¯ Stroff nodded. ¡®Indeed. But it is also the place with the most barriers in the whole academy. We have already talked to Miss Minecast about this. You won''t be interrupted.¡¯ Mr. Vonstadts silently nodded. ¡®In that case, I will be on my way now.¡¯ Since Mr. Vonstadts was the last person in this academy who was familiar with several ancient languages, he had been tasked with finding out the contests off the books which were found in the hidden room. He would have a lot of work in the next few days. The majority of students had left the place by now, and even the teachers stepped down from the podium. Velvino took a last view of the many empty lines of chairs in front of him. It wouldn''t take long until all of them were put away, leaving the park in the usual way. If magic was involved, it would be an easy task to clean this up. The supporting staff of the academy, which included everyone who wasn''t a professor, was not at the level of a regular mage, but most of them still knew the basics. That fact alone was already impressive. However small it may be, knowledge about magic, or the ability to use it greatly increased the worth of a person''s workforce, making it incredibly hard to hire them. But this academy did everything they could to ensure what they thought of as a perfect environment for the students. Velvino stepped down from the podium. He was already the last professor there, and after he had left the podium, he noticed that he had been the only one keeping the support staff from dismantling it. It was rare to see that many of them at one place, and that although they managed basically everything at the academy. From cleaning duties, over cooking, to keeping the gardens in check, those people had a long list of tasks. Well, of course they didn''t do everything themselves. There were several sections among them, distributing the responsibilities among themselves. As he watched them work, one particular worker caught his attention. It was a young man, with short white hair. He used wind magic to collect the chairs. Velvino did not know why, but this man reminded him of Stellox. The enthusiasm he put into his work resembled that of the college Velvino had lost that night. It made him feel a bit nostalgic.


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    As he turned around, the Dame fell into his eyes. Mr. Vonstadts was probably already inside, working on deciphering the old books. He remembered how surprised Vonstadt was when he heard he would work inside the Dame. The tight security of the Dame was common knowledge among most of the staff and even the students, so Velvino was surprised that Vonstadts had not known about this. Actually, the academy did not build the Dame, but rather got built around it. The labs of the Dame were much older than any other building one could find around these parts. It was built as a research lab in a war which had happened a long time ago. Velvino didn''t know when exactly it had been, or who the kingdom of Karvoc had fought against, but he knew that the many magic barriers were the attempt to keep out any unwanted guests such as spies. The war had ended in a far ego era, but the Dame still functioned perfectly. Velvino would have never thought that its barriers would come in handy like that¡­ A voice pulled him out of his thoughts. ¡®Professor Velvino¡­ can we talk for a moment?¡¯ He turned around. The voice belonged to one of his students - Lydia Sancten. He hadn''t given her lectures for long, but he knew that she was one of Mr. Stellox trusted pupils. ¡®What can I do for you Lydia?¡¯ She was not alone. Behind her were the five students who usually accompanied her. One of them, Velvino thought his name was Alex, had a worried look on his face. ¡®About that with Mr. Stellox¡­ is it true?¡¯ Velvino tried to keep a straight face in front of the students. ¡®I am sorry, but yes. I was one of the professors who found him.¡¯ An uncomfortable silence followed. After a few moments, Lydia begann to talk again. ¡®He was outside pretty late because of us¡­ because of my experiment. It is my fault that..¡¯ Velvino intervened. ¡®It was not your fault. I cannot give you any details, but it seems like he was targeted by the culprit.¡¯ The five students were seemingly shocked. They clearly didn''t know how to react to this. ¡®Mr. Stelle was one of the few people who-¡¯ Velvino interrupted himself. ¡®I am sorry, as I said, I can''t give you any details.¡¯ He had to prevent any information leaks at all cost. If the students realized that the academy did not manage to protect Mr. Stellox although it could have been foreseen that he would get attacked, it would result in panic among them. Whatever happened, the school had te seem like the hunter, not the prey. Although maybe those positions had already shifted¡­ He had to get himself together in front of those children. ¡®Don¡¯t worry. Whoever did this won''t get away. And there won''t be any more casualties either. ¡® He stopped for a moment. ¡®I give you my word on that.¡¯ It seemed like the students had calmed down, even if just a bit. Lydia looked at him. ¡®Thank you for those words Mr. Velvino. I really appreciate them.¡¯ Velvino tried to smile a bit. ¡®Mr. Stellox was a wonderful teacher. Even I learner much from him. He may have died, but his legacy lives on in his many students. Remember what he teached you, remember his ideals. Even if you don''t share them, as long as you remember them, he will live on in all of you.¡¯ Lydia seemed a bit less down. ¡®That is a nice way to see things. You are right, I can''t let him be forgotten!¡¯ They continued to talk for a few minutes. Velvino wasn''t sure about his own opinion of the whole situation, but talking to those students who came to him gave him courage. He felt pathetic for needing them in order to gather his thoughts. As they parted ways, Velvino had only one thought on his mind. ¡®Now that he is gone, I have to protect his students.¡¯ He looked at the sky. Velvino had heard about a myth once. It said that the souls of dead mages would live on in the sky. He smiled a bit. ¡®Are you up there? Don''t worry, I will protect them for you.¡¯

 Chapter 9: The seal

    The room was mostly dark. Only a single candle gave off a brim light. It would not take long for it to die off like those before it. The great shine it had emitted once had already been reduced to a mere glow. Most people would find it hard to even see in the room as it was now. It was a big room. So big that the light did not reach a single wall. The atmosphere was like most would imagine a shady workshop of dark mages. Surprisingly, this was the very opposite. If someone had told Cloffing that this room was part of the academy before he had become a teacher here, he wouldn''t have believed it. But it was true. By now, he had been here for more than an hour, but his eyes still had not adapted to the darkness. ¡®How could she work like that?¡¯ was the thought that had crossed his mind several times by now. He looked at the table right in front of him. A closed book laid at the side of the table. Numerous shady looking gadgets had been placed around it. Above all of them was a tiny figure. She had leaned over the table like that since Cloffing arrived here. She had also been like that when he left before¡­ Did she move at all while he was gone? If he hadn''t seen the new tools on the table, he wouldn''t have been sure about that. She was so focused on the object before her that she hadn''t even noticed him entering the room. To be fair, she hadn''t noticed him leaving either. Mrs. Fotto was amazed by what she had been given. The book, or more correctly the seal, was incredibly complex. In all her years as professor, she didn''t remember seeing anything that could be compared to this. How many hours had passed since her first try to break the seal? Had it been days? She didn''t know, and neither did she care. The technique that had been used to seal this book was breathtaking. At least in her opinion. If she could recreate it- no. That was completely out of question. She could not even grasp the knowledge that was needed for something like this. Recreating this was just impossible for her. Although she hated to admit it, the dark mage had to be a genius. A greater genius than she was¡­ She mumbled to herself. ¡®If only we could hire that guy¡­¡¯ Cloffing was shocked by such a suggestion. ¡®We can''t possibly hire a dark mage! Especially after they killed Mr. Stellox!¡¯ Mrs. Fotto Twitched. She looked at him astonished. ¡®Oh, Mr. Cloffing. You were also here, right¡­ What are you doing here again?¡¯ She was seemingly tired. Not because of her work or the lack of sleep she had gotten, but because she was forced into this social interaction. She didn''t even try to hide her lack of enthusiasm around him. ¡®I am here to get the book. You said you would be finished by now. I saw you working, so I didn''t want to interrupt you. How is it going?¡¯ She shifted her main focus back to the book. ¡®Oh yes, I forgot. The progress is¡­ not progressing.¡¯ Cloffing sighted. He knew that the seal was beyond anything he had ever seen, but he had hoped that Mrs. Fotto would find a way to open it anyway. As he looked at the book again, the room fell into silence. It stayed like that for a few minutes. Cloffing didn''t know what to say, and Fotto had already forgotten about him again. Suddenly she took a few steps backwards. ¡®I think I know it!¡¯ All this time, she had analyzed the mana of the seal. It couldn''t be seen by the normal eye, but every seal had several layers of mana circles, circulating the mana and keeping up the spell. If a mage understood those layers and knew how the mana flooded, they could insert their own mana in opposing directions and break the seal. The average seal had three layers. More expensive ones would have four layers, the seales of the academy had five layers, and a royal seal would have six. This one was different- it had seven. With every added layer, the difficulty to break the seal multiplied. Fotto had worked several days on this and only figured out the first six layers. That alone was already impressive. Royal seals were meant to last for several generations. If word got out that someone could break them in a mere few days¡­ that didn''t matter right now. The reason for her excitement was that she finally managed to sense the start of the last layer. Normally, that wouldn''t get her anything, since she needed to figure out the whole layer. But this case was different. Among all the tools she had placed on the table, one stood out the most. It was a metal ball with several stones and runes on it. This magical tool, which was called a mana disturber, was so incredibly expensive that Cloffing nearly got a heart attack upon seeing it placed so close to the table''s edge. Such a mana disturber could, as the name suggests, disturb the flow of mana. Seals were built to resist devices like this one, so it couldn''t break seals by itself. It needed direction. Now that Fotto had figured out the start of the last layer, she could direct the force of this tool while breaking the other layers herself. She wasn''t sure that this would work, but it was worth a try. She grabbed the mana disturber and placed it on the book. Both of her hands touched the book, when she began her work. Unlike most magic, spell breaking didn''t necessarily need any incarnations. That was because the seal breaking itself was not a clear spell, but consisted of the practiser themselves controlling and inserting their mana. Of course there also were exceptions, some spells which would result in similar effects, but Mrs. Fotto always did it herself. The book started to twitch. Mr. Cloffing broke out in sweat. He had often seen the process of breaking magic seals, but just couldn''t get used to this feeling¡­ seal experts had such a great control of their own mana¡­ it was frightening. What would happen if an attack mage would gain such control? He didn''t want to think about it. As he continued to watch her, a sound suddenly filled the room. It was the sound of breaking glass. He knew what that meant. The book emitted some light. When normally invisible mana circles were shattered, their mana left them and often transformed into light. It was one of the most natural forms for mana after all. Fotto had a big smile on her face. ¡®I did it! I did it! The seal is broken! Who said I couldn''t do it? I could! And I did! I am great! The kingdoms greatest expert when it comes to seals!¡¯ She talked faster and faster. This was the first time Cloffing heard her talk with such enthusiasm. She took another look at the book. ¡®Well¡­ I guess now I am only the second biggest expert on this topic. Whoever did this, they are a genius!¡¯ Cloffing suddenly felt a bit unwell. He had known Stellox. Stellox hadn''t been knowledgeable about this topic at all! How did he get this book? And its cover was written in the old language to that¡­ Just what was the meaning of this? He talked to himself. ¡®Could this be? What if¡­¡¯ It took him a while to notice that Fotto was staring at him. Losing his composure like this made him feel a bit embarrassed. He cleared his throat. ¡®Thank you for your help. I will get this book to Mr. Vonstadt now, if you don''t mind.¡¯ She looked a bit sad. ¡®Sure¡­ it''s not like I could study the seal after breaking it anyways¡­¡¯ She seemed pretty down for someone who had just achieved something of this level. Cloffing looked back at her while opening the door with the book in his hand. ¡®I am sure there will be another opportunity like this. If they can really create seals like this, we may need you to break another one soon.¡¯ Her expression cleared up. She had never been stuck like she had been for the past few days. The feeling of struggle and achievement was nearly addictive to her.¡¯Yes, I am sure of that.¡¯ Her excitement had calmed down and she was back to talking slowly and quiet. As he closed the door behind him, he wondered if all geniuses were as weird as she was. Looking at Harms, who had an incredibly corrupted and twisted personality, this theory seemed quite plausible to Cloffing. He increased his walking speed as he left the main building. Breaking this seal had taken them longer than expected. Luckily, the dark mages hadn''t made any big moves in the last few days, but that was only a question of time. With every day they needed to find the culprits, the reputation of this academy continued to suffer. Cloffing walked through a few parks. It was clear where he was headed- the Dame. Mr. Stroff had told him that Mr. Vonstadt was the only one who could encipher this book. He had been assigned to a room in the basement of the Dame to increase his security. In the last few days, he had continued to look through the books they had found in the hidden room. Most of them were written in the old languages, so the contents were currently unclear. ¡®Even the slightest hint in these books could tell us more about the culprits.¡¯ Was what Mr. Harms had said. As Cloffing continued to walk, he passed a few members of the support staff. Judging by their uniforms, it was reasonable to assume they were part of the gardener section. They waved their hands at him. It was a common gesture among them. He didn''t know every one of them. The support staff had far too many members for that. Of the four people, he knew the biggest one. He always gave off the impression of a friendly giant. His blonde hair always reminded Cloffing of one of his former students. They had talked a few times, but besides that they were strangers. Most teachers had close to no contact with the support staff. That was not due to arrogance or any of the sort, but due to how invested most were in their private studies. Cloffing had to laugh. It took an emergency like this to make him even notice them¡­ Acknowledging this made him almost feel bad. He took a look at the other three workers. One of them was small and muscular, another one had noticeable white hair, and the last one was a plain looking woman. He tried to at least remember their faces as he continued to walk. It didn''t take long for him to reach the Dame. A professor had been placed as guard at the front door. Right now that was one of the earth professors. Cloffing didn''t quite know his name, but he thought to remember it started on an R. He went inside. The sound of the heavy door closing behind him gave him an ominous feeling. It was like the door sealed off all possible ways to get in or out. ¡®As expected of the Dame.'' he quietly said to himself. He knew the way to the basement since he had been here before. The many corridors and doors gave off the atmosphere of a prison or something similar. He finally arrived at the right door. He knocked three times and waited. What was important was not the number of times one knocked, but the time one waited before knocking again. After around 30 seconds, he repeated. This time, the door got unlocked. It wasn''t a person who unlocked the door, but the door itself. Once again, the work of a magical enchantment. The room behind this door has a similar layout to the one of Mr. Fotto. The most noticeable difference was that this one had enough light. The room was filled with overfilled bookshelves. Each and every book was written in one of the old languages. In the middle of the room was one big table. At least a hundred books were stored on this one. Most of them were brought here from the secret room they found. Mr. Vonstadts sat on a chair in the back. He held one of the books and was most likely scanning through it. Mr. Vonstadts stood up when he noticed his visitor. ¡®Ah, Mr. Cloffing. What brings you here today?¡¯ Cloffing pointed at the book he carried. ¡®Mr. Fotto managed to break the seal of the one we found in Mr. Stellox'' room. Could you take a look at it?¡¯ He gave him the book in question. Vonstadt opened it on the table, where most of the light was pointed at. This room had neither candles nor torches, but only a few flying crystals that emitted bright, blue light. Vonstadt read a few pages. Then he stopped, pointing his finger at one part of the text. ¡®Did you say you found this book in Mr. Stellox'' room?¡¯ he was pale. ¡®Yes. What did you find?¡¯ Vonstadts read it again and again, trying to find a different interpretation for this part. But he couldn''t. ¡®This book- This book contains information about the hidden room¡­¡¯ Cloffing didn''t understand. ¡®So this isn''t a book of Stellox but one of the dark mages? How did it get in his room?¡¯ Vonstadts hesitated. ¡®I am not sure but¡­ I think¡­ I think this might be Stellox'' writing.¡¯ Now Cloffing was also dead pale. ¡®But¡­ why didn''t he tell us about the hidden room if he knew about it?¡¯ Vonstadt thought for a moment, carefully deciding how to word what he was about to say. Finally he had made up his mind. ¡®Maybe¡­ he was one of them.¡¯ Cloffing got worked up. ¡®He, a dark mage? How can you insult him like that? He was killed by them! Do you think this is a joke?¡¯ Vonstadt tried to calm him down. ¡®Please think about it. He was familiar with the old languages, he was someone no one would suspect¡­ he could have easily built the hidden room.¡¯ ¡®Then why would he be killed by them?¡¯ Vonstadt hesitated again. ¡®What if they had a dispute for power? Or they panicked after we found the room¡­¡¯ Cloffing didn''t believe it. He didn''t want to believe it. After a few moments of silence, Vonstadt continued. ¡®Whatever the case, we should tell the headmaster about this. ¡® Cloffing nodded in agreement. ¡®I¡¯ll contact him from outside the building


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

 Chapter 10: New Forces

    A loud sound sounded as the front gate of the academy opened for the first time in days. The big iron gate seemed like it was screaming, attempting to expel those who dared to open it. The magic seals that had been placed to protect the fence and gate slowly deactivated one after another. The man this gate was opened for was a tall, black haired man in his thirties. He wore a white and blue uniform with many medals. On the left side of his chest was an embedded crest. The crest was made up of three parts. A silver edge, a blue background and the silver figure or what was supposedly a mage. The illustrated man was a great mage of the past who had helped the kingdom of Karvoc in its early years. The man smiled upon seeing the now fully opened gate. As he took a step towards the inside of the academy, ten people in similar uniforms followed him. The most notable difference between their uniforms would be the lack of medals his followers had. After all of them had stepped inside the school grounds, the gate slowly closed again. ¡®So this is the famous academy of Prestillon¡­ It is even bigger than what I have heard. A little bit too big if you ask me.¡¯ He turned to his men. ¡®Hiss, you studied here once, correct?¡¯ One of the men took a step forward. ¡®Yes sir. Before my time at the ministry of magic control, I studied at this academy.¡¯ The ministry of magic control was an organization with a high reputation in the kingdom of Karvoc. It had been established half a century ago and had since hunted down a lot of illegal magic associations. They served directly under the minister of magic affairs. Every single of the men here were spotted geniuses. The fact that even one of them came from Prestillon was an achievement by itself. The man in lead continued. ¡®In that case show me the way to the main building.¡¯ The man who had been called ¡®Hiss¡¯ immediately started to lead the way. It wasn''t a complicated way. Since they had entered through the main gate, all they had to do was follow the main road and they would arrive. That being said, it took them some time to do so. Since it was afternoon period, they encountered close to no students. The few ones they met quickly made space after recognising their uniforms. After several minutes of walking and passing many smaller parks, they finally arrived at the entrance to the main building. The man, who was supposedly the leader of the group, smiled. ¡®This building looks even bigger from up close. They really did their best to create an impressive view for their visitors. If all that money had been invested in a more thoroughly dark mage hunt¡­¡¯ His dissatisfaction was more than just visible. ¡®I had hoped things would change when the new headmaster was elected as someone from the church, but it seems that guy also lost track of what''s really important.¡¯ His dissatisfaction had turned into obvious disgust. It was then when Hiss stepped up again. ¡®Sir, this academy represents our country. A great optic is very important.¡¯ Especially as someone who had studied here, he felt like it was his duty to protect this place. ¡®Aesthetics, how nice. And where did that lead? They are calling us for help because they can''t handle a few dark mages by themselves.¡¯ His tone got darker. ¡®This wouldn''t have happened if we had more financial support from his highness.¡¯ Hiss tried to say something again, but before he could even start, the door in front of them opened. ¡®Huh, it seems they finally noticed us.¡¯ He turned to Hiss again. ¡®No one here to welcome us either. Lead the way to the headmasters office.¡¯


    A few minutes later, they arrived in front of a big wooden door. The name ¡®Harms¡¯ was written on it in golden letters. Hiss knocked. Instead of the door opening by itself like the last times, this time a ¡®You can come in¡¯ sounded from inside. Two of the men stepped in front in order to open the door for their leader. ¡®Hiss, you come with me.¡¯ The other nine men stood in a formation that blocked anyone from getting too close to the door. What was spoken inside the room shouldn''t be heard by anyone else. The door closed again after the two of them had entered. Inside the rather big office with one window and perfect view of the schoolyard were three mages. One woman with long, red hair, one old man with completely white hair and one young man who sat behind the big headmasters desk. The latter one had a sly smile on his face. ¡®And you are Mr. Hunt may I assume?¡¯ The man with the many medals nodded silently. Hiss had to swallow. The presence of someone of Harms¡¯ caliber was something new to him. Not even Mr. Hunt could compare to that. ¡®Who is the man beside you?¡¯ asked the older man - Stroff. ¡®This is Hiss. My right hand and former student of this academy.¡¯ The face of the female mage suddenly became brighter. She wasn''t much older than Hiss, so Hunt assumed they probably knew each other from their time as students. Hiss also seemed a bit more comfortable after seeing her. Harms continued. ¡®I thank you for traveling here. Were you already filled in with the details?¡¯ This time Hiss spoke. ¡®No. All we know is that a dark mage was sighted around here.¡¯ Harms¡¯ smile brightened upon hearing that. ¡®Good. We made sure that no information leaked outside, but I am glad to see it worked.¡¯ He turned towards Stroff. ¡®May you be so nice?¡¯ Stroff just nodded. ¡®A few days ago, we discovered a hidden room, supposedly created by dark mages.¡¯ ¡®What makes you say that?¡¯ Hunt didn''t seem convinced. If anything, he seemed angry at the staff for not noticing any sooner. ¡®The room was filled with books of the old languages.¡¯ The expression of the two men suddenly got more serious. Not all old languages had something to do with the dark arts, but in combination with a hidden room¡­ and even worse, if the room was really filled with those books, that would make the dark mages accordingly powerful. It was very hard to get these books after all. But Stroff continued. ¡®We checked the room several times, but we couldn''t find any traces of mana.¡¯ Hiss grasped. He had to do with dark mages before, but this was different. ¡®To that¡­ They managed to sneak through our lockdown and killed a professor.¡¯ Silence filled the room. Hunt didn''t know what to say. He didn''t like the way the academy wasted money, but he had always accepted the strength of its teachers. To think one of them was killed during a lockdown¡­ The headmaster started to talk again. ¡®You didn''t think we would request support over anything smaller than this, did you?¡¯ His arrogant grin burnt itself into Hunts eyes. ¡®We will immediately start the hunt..¡¯ Hunt said that, but it was obvious that he had no confidence in achieving anything. It was then that Harms looked at him. ¡®Don¡¯t misunderstand. We did not call you to hunt these people. We called you to guard the fence and keep them inside.¡¯ Both Hunt and Hiss were seemingly surprised - and relieved. Although they tried to hide that. ¡®Are you thinking about hunting them down by yourself? You don''t even know where to start!¡¯ Harms'' expression didn''t change a bit. ¡®We will know.¡¯ That answer didn''t satisfy Hunt. ¡®If anything bad happens, it will be your responsibility!¡¯ ¡®Oh, I am well aware of that.¡¯ Hunt took a step back. He thought for a moment. In the end, his fear won over his sense of duty. He turned towards the door. ¡®Do what you want.¡¯ At that moment, the headmaster twitched. Hunt turned around, to see that Harms probably received a message right now. There were many different kinds of communication spells, but the most famous ones focused on telepathy. Harms¡¯ expression changed from sly to self confident. He stood up. ¡®Mr. Cloffing just contacted me - Vonstadt found something in the book from Stellox'' room.¡¯ The woman with the red hair - Velona, turned to him. ¡®What did he say?¡¯ Harms was seemingly satisfied. ¡®The book contained information about the hidden room. Since Stellox'' didn''t give these information to us, it is safe to assume that he is one of the culprits.¡¯ The air in the room was frozen. No one dared to say anything, or even breath loudly. It was Velona who broke that silence. ¡®But why would he¡­¡¯ She couldn''t finish that sentence. Hunt took that opportunity. ¡®Where is that Stellox right now?¡¯ Stroff explained the situation. ¡®He was the professor that was killed.¡¯ Hiss was seemingly confused. But that didn''t count for Hunt. He had too much experience with these kinds of people, he had seen such a scene too often. ¡®They probably had a struggle for power. Or they got scared after you found their room and wanted to get rid of any witnesses.¡¯ Harms got to speak again. ¡®I suspect something similar. But this information is great!¡¯ Hiss was even more confused now, and even Hunt seemed like he didn''t quite understand the headmaster. ¡®Let me explain what he thinks.¡¯ Stroff suddenly stood up. ''Up until now, we only knew that the dark mage was in the same building as Stellox, since he managed to kill him although it was lockdown.¡¯ The headmaster continued Stroffs explanation. ¡®But now we knew that the other culprit most likely also had a lot of contact with Mr. Stellox.¡¯ Hunt seemed unsatisfied. ¡®If they really knew each other, I suspect they avoided open contact as much as possible.¡¯ Harms just smiled, and this time even Stroff couldn''t keep a serious expression. They were too amused by the fact that the trap they had laid beforehand profed to be that useful right now. ¡®That, dear Mr. Hunt, is impossible.¡¯ He looked at Ms. Velona, who was just as confused as the other two. Harms reached for a map from one of the nearby shelves. ¡®This is a mana detector. It is able to pinpoint the location of anyone with a lot mana. I had taken notes about who was often together with who in the past. Sadly I didn''t look at it when the murder happened¡­¡¯ Velona was amazed. ¡®As expected Mr. Harms! To think you planned that far ahead!¡¯ Only Hunt seemed to understand the true meaning behind this. ¡®So you¡­ monitored your professors even before the news of the dark mages reached you?¡¯ Harms didn''t plan on answering that. ¡®What matters right now is that there were three people who often visited Mr. Stellox. Those were Mr. Velvino, who was with you when it all happened, Mr. Braf and Ms. Lendrar.¡¯ His expression changed into a bit less confident. ¡®We originally suspected someone from the wind department to be the culprit. The wounds¡­¡¯ ¡®Which elements do those two control?¡¯ It was Hunt who asked that question. ¡®Mr. Braf is a water mage, and I think Ms. Lendrar was a fire mage.¡¯ it was Velona who said that. ¡®I see¡­¡¯ Hunt though for a moment. ¡®Maybe they can control two elements? It is not rare for dark mages to control different attributes while they use Dark magic.¡¯ Hiss nodded in agreement. Harms sighted. ¡®Maybe. Whatever it is, we need to start supervising both of them.¡¯ Hunt agreed. He waved at Hiss. ¡®Tell the men that we will keep an eye on those two.¡¯ He hesitated for a moment. He then looked at Harms. ¡®I would like one of our experts to take a look at the books you found. The headmaster nodded. ¡®Mr. Vonstadt is still looking through them, so you will have to share.¡¯ His sly smile was back. Hunt was relieved to see the headmaster confident again, but was just as annoyed by the smile already again. He sighted. ¡®I will give further instructions to my men. Get someone who can give us more information about those two.¡¯ He left the room. Stroff was as stubborn as before the incident. ¡®Weren¡¯t they supposed to keep watch on the gates?¡¯ Harms just smiled. ¡®Let them do the risky work.¡¯ His expression got a bit darker. ¡®I would hate to hold a second speech about a lost college.¡¯ Stroff couldn''t say anything against that. Now Velona opened her mouth again. ¡®Mr. Harms¡­ I would never doubt you, but¡­ Why did you monitore us before any of this happened?¡¯ He couldn''t dodge the question this time. Luckily, a bad excuse would be enough to appease her. ¡®I was merely cautious. And you never know when you may need information like these¡­¡¯


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

 Chapter 11: Culprit?

    Ms. Lendrar hurried as she made her way through the hallways. She had finished her afternoon lectures not long ago, but the rumors had already reached her. ¡®The ministry of magic control¡­¡¯ she mumbled. What did they want here? Were they here for the murder or for them? She couldn''t tell. It was lucky that her students were as talkative as always. What could have happened if she had noticed these new guests too late and had been caught doing something that involved Dark magic? She didn''t even want to imagine¡­ but that was why she had to hurry. She had to tell Mr. Brad about this before something bad happened. Where was he? She thought for a moment¡­ he had a lecture about regenerative water spells today. She knew where that room was. Her speed as she took a turn. This had gotten way out of hand. She didn''t intend this! But then again it was partly her fault¡­ How much time did she have left? The students said they had seen them going towards the headmasters office. ¡®Just as we were on our way here!¡¯ they had said. If they saw them on the way to her lecture, which she ended early today, then she could still make it! She took another turn. As she made her best to hurry, it wasn''t clear whether she was still walking or running. As she was on the final hallway towards her destination, she passed a large painting that decorated the left wall. The painting showed a light blue bird flying towards the sky. It was probably inspired by the folklore of these birds being the ¡®guides of souls¡¯. The sunlight had damaged the paint over time, and the difference between the bird and the sky in the background became smaller and smaller. Who had the idea to hang a painting like this in one of the hallways that had so many windows anyways? If she had painted it, it would hurt her to see her creation damaged like this. But she didn''t paint it. She had abandoned the path of an artist when she was still a child. And so she continued on her way without paying too much of a mind to the painting.


    Her timing was perfect, for exactly at the moment she arrived in front of the door, the bells began to ring. The students, unlike she expected, didn''t run outside, but slowly walked. But of course. After all those weren''t the younger ones she had just reached, but the older and calmer ones of Mr. Braf. Calmer¡­ She missed the times when she herself could still give lectures to the older students. Maybe she would get some again next year? If she survived that long¡­ After even the last student had left the room, she went inside. She took a look around the big lecture room to make sure there was no student she had missed. ¡®We are alone.¡¯ said Braf. His voice was very deep. It didn''t fit his look at all. While Lendrar herself had black, short hair that didn''t even reach her shoulders, he had longer, curly light brown hair. Many mistook that for a dark blond, but not her. She was good with colors. She closed the big door behind her. No one could hear what they were talking about now. She stopped her fake smile. ¡®A few of my students saw officers of the ministry of magic control visit the headmaster.¡¯ Her expression was dark. In her forty years, she had always managed to avoid these people. Braf was more familiar with them. ¡®I see¡­ so the headmaster really asked for help.¡¯ He was calm. Too calm, as Lendrar thought to herself ¡®Isn¡¯t this a problem? They will keep an eye on us!¡¯ Braf knew these people good enough to keep his cool now. They had never caught him until now. They just couldn''t afford to make any more mistakes now. ¡®These people are all talk. Amateurs. If we survived Harms, they won''t pose a threat to us.¡¯ He looked down. ¡®And we already have a much bigger problem¡­¡¯ Lendrar broke out in cold sweat. ¡®You mean Stellox?¡¯ Braf just nodded. ¡®He was strong¡­ but he didn''t even have enough to call for help. And now they probably think we killed him.¡¯ He managed to keep his calm image up, but even he was scared of what had happened. Stella had been their Allie, their senior in some sense. But he was gone now, and they had no idea who did it. ¡®Do you think it could have been Harms himself?¡¯ Lendrar asked. ¡®Or maybe Stroff?¡¯ She was visibly nervous. If she stayed like this, she would make mistakes. He had to calm her down. ¡®No, I don''t think so.¡¯ Braf started. ¡®It was probably just a coincidence. Maybe he fought with another teacher. Maybe got suspicious of him and it escalated. We don''t know anything for sure.¡¯ He knew that what he was saying was complete nonsense. Stellox wouldn''t have died by any random teacher. And surely no one was suspicious of him either. Out of the three, Stellox was the one who blended in the best. But he had to lie to Lendrar. She couldn''t be catched being nervous with the ministry around. This was for her best. She seemed at least a bit calmer now, it was great she didn''t see the holes in his story. But he couldn''t blame her for that. She, just like him, had big backs under her eyes. They all had sleepless nights since¡­ since when? Was it when they noticed Mr. Vonstadt, the last expert of the old languages being guarded in the Dame? Was it when they saw the headmaster''s speech? When Stellox was killed? No¡­ when they found this damn room. That was the moment despair had cliched on to them. How did they manage that? The headmaster had said that a student had become suspicious. Did he lie? Did Harms notice it? That couldn''t have been, it was totally secure. It didn''t leave any mana leaks. It was as isolated as a void. But then how? Another thing was that they had found no mana traces. Of course, the three of them had always tried to leave as few as possible, but someone like Cloffing should have surely found them? Did he lie to keep them safe? That couldn''t be it either¡­ but then why? The more Braf thought about this, the more it felt like they were all just pieces on a board. Like someone used them¡­ He had to stop thinking. He would go insane otherwise. Or worse, he would get nervous to a degree where he couldn''t hide it anymore..that would mean certain death. He had to get his head clear. ¡®If the ministry is here, that means Harms doesn''t feel like he can catch us by himself. That is good.¡¯ Braf said. His view wandered to the big board that was still full of magic circle illustrations. ¡®How much does he know?¡¯ he mumbled. Lendrar spoke again. ¡®I saw Cloffing carry a book from Mrs. Fotto to Mr. Vonstadt. I fear they may have broken the seal of Stellox'' book.¡¯ Braf looked at her in shock. He didn''t know what to say anymore. The book with the seal had been given to them by an anonymous donor. The seal on it had been so advanced¡­ Of course Braf had been very suspicious of the book in the beginning - all of them had been. But it wasn''t cursed and had no spy magic applied on it (they had checked several times). In the end they had accepted that it was a benefactor of the dark arts. But now that seal was broken¡­ He had underestimated Fotto. At least it had bought them time¡­ he logically sorted the information he had been given. ¡®In that case they know that he was one of us. Now they will check who was around him often.¡¯ Braf smiled. ¡®We always paid attention to not being seen with him. We are the last people they will suspect.¡¯ Lendrar seemed less confident. ¡®We though that about the secret room too.¡¯ Brafs expression shifted to something darker for a moment. But he chose to to think about this room anymore. ¡®It will be okay this time. We just can''t afford to make any mistakes from now on.¡¯ Lendrar looked at the floor. ¡®There is also something else¡­ I couldn''t get in contact with Roesch this morning.¡¯ Braf got nervous again. This time he had a hard time hiding it. Epesch was the capital of Karvoc. A few of the nobles living in Epesch were especially interested in not letting the Dark magic users die out. They had supported this cell and stayed in contact with them. If they cut the contact¡­ Braf turned to Lendrar. ¡®You don''t really think they dropped us, do you?¡¯ It had been Stellox who created this connection, but after that Lendrar had kept contact. If she couldn''t reach them¡­ No. That wasn''t it. They would definitely abandon them if it was close, but the academy had no idea about them being dark mages yet. It didn''t seem reasonable¡­ Maybe something had happened on the other side? They weren''t the only ones who received support from Epesch, so maybe something went wrong with the others. Could that backfire on them? Definitely not. ¡®Could you contact anyone else? Maybe they just sealed off communication.¡¯ Lendrar nodded. She had checked that already. ¡®I can still contact other locations.¡¯ Braf suddenly got nervous at the thought of another possibility¡­ ¡®We lost a tremendous amount of books when we lost the room. Do you think they blame us for it?¡¯ This was the first time Lendrar had good news. ¡®They don''t, I know that. We spoke shortly after it happened.¡¯ Braf was relieved. His thoughts were running about the endless possibilities. He decided that that would take too much time for now. He looked back at Lendrar. She had aged a lot in the past days. But so had he. If he had known that his life would become like this, he wouldn''t have accepted the offer that the friend of his father had made him at his funeral. But now it was too late. He was hunted because of his knowledge. Dark mages were the enemy of the public, he knew that when he joined. He himself had hated these people before he became one of them. But why? Because they were different? Because they were stronger? Or was it because he was told to hate them? He wasn''t sure of that anymore. The only thing he knew was that he hadn''t been able to change anything. That was why he couldn''t die now. Not yet. He turned back to Lendrar. ¡®We will have to pause our weekly meetings. Our research will suffer, but it isn''t worth the risk.¡¯ She nodded in agreement. They would soon get monitored, so they had to play teacher for the near future. That''s how they survived. Having regained her composure, she turned towards the door. ¡®It will be suspicious if we stay here for too long. As anyone asks, we talked about the students. As she opened the door, it was as if all the thoughts about dark magic were washed away. Now they were the honorable teachers again, the good spirits who had never killed anyone for their research.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

 Chapter 12: Shadows

    Anton Berfil was a good teacher. The times he had helped his students were uncountable, even before he had taken the position of a professor. He could still remember the times when he himself was a student at this academy. The lectures that filled most of his days, the crowded cafeteria he used to visit so often and even the many long nights he had spent in studying groups. He could never forget the latter. He didn''t use them to study his topics, but to help his juniors. He and his senior, which had only been one year above him, had put great effort into teaching them. It hadn''t been Anton''s idea, not his senior¡¯s either. Back in his days, these study groups had still been a tradition at Prestillon. Sadly, that had died out a few years ago. Not because the students didn''t like helping each other anymore, but because a few of the professors had started helping the students themselves. Mr. Stellox had been one of them. None of the professors organized the help among themselves. There were no scheduled evening lessons or long study nights. No, the professors just helped when there was the need for it. Sometimes that meant they were busy for several months in a row, and sometimes not. Stellox had been one of the busiest ones. Nearly every evening, he went into the gardens and park of the academy to experiment with his students. He had been known for motivating them to test out their limits and go beyond. This kind of motivation was the same Anton had had once. But over the course of all his years that motivation had slowly gone dull. All that stayed was the memory. But even that was slowly fading. Who once had been Anton''s best friend and senior, who had motivated him to join the study rounds was now just a nameless person. Yes, Anton had forgotten his name a long time ago. When exactly had that been? Was it when he was so obsessed about his studies that he went a whole week without sleep? When he had been so busy finishing his book which was published 5 years ago? He was so proud back then. The libraries were filled with works of long forgotten mages, their names engraved in the cover of their books. Now he too had etched his name into this academy. Probably not only this one, since most of the books were copied and brought to other academies. But that wasn''t what mattered right now. He looked up when the wooden door finally opened. Who stepped outside was none other than his former student Malow Hiss. It had been a long time since the two had seen each other. A bright smile could be seen on Hiss¡¯ face. ¡®How long has it been Mr. Berfil?¡¯ Anton smiled back. ¡®The last time I saw you was at your graduation.¡¯ It made Anton happy to see Malow. He reminded him of his better past self. ¡®I can see, you made it quite far at the ministry?¡¯ He was referring to the ministry of magic control. ¡®Yes¡¯ Malow replied. ¡®Although I still have a long way to go. Your teachings have helped me a lot out there.¡¯ He looked out of a window, in the direction of the school gates. From here, the big gates seemed so small. His expression suddenly seemed a bit sad. ¡®Back then, I didn''t imagine the magic world to be so¡­ cruel.¡¯ With magic world, he referred to the magic institutions outside of the academy. Anton knew that feeling. He himself had gone out there after his graduation. The disappointment had brought him back here. ¡®That¡¯s just how this world works.¡¯ He quietly said. ¡®The strong consume the weak.¡¯ Malow looked back at him. ¡®Too good that I am one of the strong ones.¡¯ What gave him the confidence to speak like that wasn''t arrogance but experience. It was hard to get into Prestillon, but if you graduated here you were guaranteed to be at the top. Anton suddenly changed the topic. ¡®What brings you here?¡¯ He calmly asked. He had heard that Malow was among the men who had entered from one of the other teachers, but he didn''t know why anyone entered in the first place. Malow hesitated for a moment. If his former teacher hadn''t already been informed about this, then it was probably wanted like that. Nonetheless, he decided to share at least parts of his knowledge. ¡®The headmaster called us for help.¡¯ Anton was shocked. The headmaster himself did? He couldn''t believe his ears. Was the situation really that bad? Malow, who saw how frightening his statement must have sounded, immigrantly corrected his little mistake. ¡®Not to hunt the dark mages, but to help keeping an eye on a few of the teachers here!¡¯ Anton seemed a bit better. It was only now that Malow realized that he had told his trusted mentor a bit more than he had intended. He cursed himself for that. It was exactly this loose tongue that had kept him from getting promoted so often. He wasn''t much weaker than his captain, and so it would have been easy for him to secure a good position as a team captain himself by now. And all that at his age¡­ His family at home would have praised him as a genius. But his ¡®easy going behavior ¡® as his superiors and even juniors called it, had always been a hindrance. He looked at Anton with distrust. What if he had just doomed the whole operation? Then he remembered his time as a student. He had focused on the water and earth element, and most of his earth based lectures had been given by Mr. Berfil. He knew him, and he knew he couldn''t be one of the dark mages. Now he also remembered that he wasn''t on the list he was supposed to keep an eye on. The list! He still hadn''t found Mr. Braf, the professor he had been assigned to. ¡®It was pleasant to meet you again¡­¡¯ ¡®But you are busy. I know. Thank you for your time.¡¯ Malow politely excused himself before finally continuing his search for Mr. Braf. As he disappeared in the staircase, Anton let out a long sight. He knew he wasn''t supposed to hear what his former student had told him, but it was too late to unhear this information. He turned around, in the direction of his new destination - the cafeteria. It was already early evening and he started to feel hungry. It was unusual for him to eat that early, but he just felt like it. He was looking forward to today''s menu. He was friends with one of the chefs, he had got him a job at this academy, and so he already knew that this dinner would have the rare honor to present the meat of gigantic blue crabs to the students and professors. Gigantic blue crab could only be found in the far eastern cliffs of this continent. Estillion was a very large contingent, and because the kingdom of Karvoc was located in the northern middle, it was very rare to see so foreign goods. That being said, it wasn''t the first time this academy had gotten its hands on it. But the last time Anton had eaten this delicious rarity had already been over ten years ago. He wouldn''t risk missing out on this opportunity. As he hurried through the hallways of the main building, he nearly bumped into Ms. Lendrar. She looked a bit pale, this couldn''t have been from the shock of him nearly bumping into her, could it? She wasn''t that faint hearted, he knew that. ¡®Good evening Ms. Lendrar. Are you ok?¡¯ She looked over her shoulder, as if she hadn''t heard him. After she was done looking around, she finally focused on him. ¡®Yes, thank you for your concern.¡¯ ¡®You don''t look too good. You aren''t getting sick at a time like this, are you?¡¯ She forcibly tried to smile. ¡®No no, I just wasn''t used to lunch today.¡¯ she said, hoping he would go on his way. The chefs had prepared southern food for this lunch, so her explanation sounded logical. To have two such exotic dishes on one day was also a rarity¡­ Anton focused his attention back on her nervosity. ¡®Are you really alright? I get that you are worried after what happened to Mr. Stellox. We all are. But that won''t happen again.¡¯ Lendrar bit on her tongue. She didn''t have time for this. She put on a smile again. ¡®Yes, I am sure of that. I will excuse myself now, I have somewhere to go.¡¯ Anton just nodded. The whole staff, especially the professors, were skilled mages, but even they could get nervous. Even they could freak out. That was only natural. As he continued on his way, he got lost in his thoughts again. Not about the gigantic blue crabs this time, although they really were gigantic. What was on his mind this time was something entirely else. The dark mages had taken presence again. When this all started, he expected them to be caught within days. Or maybe even faster¡­ The secret room had been exposed by one of the students, as the headmaster had said. They had told the professors and those had investigated the area. But if the dark mages made such a grave mistake as letting themselves get exposed by a student, then how could they have taken down Mr. Stellox? What was even worse was that he had heard rumors about Stellox himself having been involved with the culprits. How did all of that fit together? He had a bad feeling about this, but he didn''t feel like he had the power to investigate further, especially with the headmaster handling things already. As he finally opened the door of one of the cafeterias, he had the thought that maybe he would regret this ignorance one day. But that feeling was gone as fast as it came. Anton was an easy man. The crab was enough to make him forget about his worries.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Ms. Lendrar closed the door behind her. Finally she was back at her study. The enchanted walls were thick enough to keep any unwanted guest out. She sighed loudly as she fell down on her chair. What was all this? The meeting with Mr. Braf had already been dangerous enough, especially with the ministry officers around. Braf had said that these people were too incompetent to expose them, but Braf was always calm so his opinion wasn''t worth much in this case. If only Stellox was still here¡­ he was good at handling situations like these. She had feared the headmaster extremely since the murder had taken place. But that had changed now. Harms wasn''t her biggest worry anymore. Someone¡­ or maybe something had been watching her the whole day. Ever since she had the meeting with Braf. This sensation¡­ She was frightened. She had felt the depths of darkness when she had met higher ranking dark mages, and the presence she had felt today was in no way weaker than the ones of the cold blooded people she knew. She felt the urge to speak about this with Braf, but they had agreed to keep their distance and stay low for some time. What was she supposed to do? She checked if she had truly locked the door again. The presence was gone. She was lucky. But even so she wanted to be sure, so she decided to skip dinner and stay inside her room for today. From here she would try to contact the capital again. The darkness of the night had already conquered these lands, turning them into a black nothingness as she finally gave up on her tries and went to sleep. She couldn''t see the moon from her window, which was right beside her bed. There were so many clouds that not a single ray of light could fight its way to the academy tonight. No moon, no stars. Just darkness. She took one look around her room. She had managed to keep it quite organized and clean, something which was very uncommon among the professors. One of her shelves was the last thing she saw before she finally closed her eyes. Besides various potions which had been stored on it, there was one particular book. Its contents were troublesome, but at the same time they could save her. But should she risk it? She had to, before the mysterious presence would end her. Damn the agreement to not meet again. Tomorrow she would go to Brag and present her idea. That''s what she made her mind up to, shortly before she finally fell asleep.

 Chapter 13: A new threat

    Chapter 13: A new threat


    The wall of clouds from the night before had disappeared. Only a few small leftovers reminded of how not even the moon had been able to fight its way to the ground. Lendrar looked at the clear sky. The blue color reminded her of a folktale she had often heard since coming here. A certain kind of blue bird was said to guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife. The first time she had heard that story, she had thought of it as a reference to Sumil Bhuiya, a famous magician from the far east. He had been known for his great talent in the water attribute. In his last and most famous fight, he was said to have summoned birds made of water - a spell that would dodge any kind of counter magic. A fearsome technique. Even though he had been a prodigy of magic, his name was unknown in these parts, and of course the folktale about the blue birds was unrelated as well. Her gaze wandered to the dome, which she could clearly see from here. All the books she and Braf had lost were stored there¡­ And Mr. Vonstadt was most likely translating them at this very moment. How much would he understand? Would he burn the books afterwards, as ordered, or would he try to keep a few for himself? As far as she knew, that was how Braf became a dark mage. He was always a man of ambitions, and so he had not let his chance to get stronger slip. As for herself¡­ she had genuinely been fascinated by the research. And maybe that was why she lost her way. A gust of wind interrupted her thoughts. Even though it was still late summer, it was a bit cold up here. Had she known she would have to wait this long, she would have taken a warmer jacket. Or would that perhaps have seemed too suspicious? It didn''t matter anymore. A look at her pocket watch told her what she already knew - Braf was late. Was he caught sneaking up here? Or did he just ignore her letter? He wouldn''t do something like that. He knew that if she was caught, he would follow not long after. She sighed in relief as the door behind her finally opened. Who stepped through was a seemingly annoyed Mr. Braf. ¡®Why are we here?¡¯ Maybe he was less annoyed and more angry? His tone surely suggested that. She looked at him. ¡®Because we don''t have time to wait.¡¯ She focused to let her voice sound as serious as possible. She had to agree, this meeting really was risky, but that''s why she chose this location. ¡®Not even the minister''s have their eyes on the clock tower. We are safe here. For now.¡¯ It was obvious that this statement wouldn''t put him at ease, but she had to say it either way. He sighted. ¡®So, what made you think meeting up here would be a sane idea?¡¯ He leaned against the handrails as he scanned the schoolyard and rooftop of the main building for possible persuaders. After he made sure there were none, he began mumbling. As he finished the incarnation, the ground in a three meter radius around them started emitting a weak light. He had created a sound barrier. Now one outside the field could understand what they spoke about now. He turned towards her, expecting an answer for his question. He seemed paranoid to her. But maybe that''s why he made it that far¡­ ¡®I already created a barrier beforehand. No need to¡­¡¯ He interrupted her. ¡®We can''t be sure enough. And stop dodging my question. Why are we here?¡¯ She sighted. Of course she had to tell him about her plans after even calling him here, but she still feared his reaction. Now even more than beforehand - he seemed a lot more nervous. She held tightly onto the dark, wooden handrails. ¡®I have an idea how we could get out of this.¡¯ He seemed surprised. ¡®Our plan is to keep a low profile, there is no need to get out of here.¡¯ While he may sounded like he preferred staying, both of them knew the real reason for his hesitation. ¡®Even if we managed to get out of here, the ministry would hunt us forever! That is no life.¡¯ They still had the advantage of anonymity. If they escaped now, it would be clear that the culprits were them. It was suicide¡­ She knew what he was thinking, she had thought the same before she got this idea. To use her tools like this¡­ she respected herself for that. ¡®It doesn''t necessarily have to be like that. What if I knew a way without them looking for us?¡¯ Mr. Braf looked indifferent. With that poker face, it was a wonder how he never focused on a gambling career. She had no idea what he was thinking anymore. Did he believe her? Did he think she was crazy? He averted his eyes from her, focussing his gaze on the main building. He could see the headmasters office from here, and it was that moment he decided that whatever she had in mind wouldn''t work on him anyways. She continued. ¡®What if I even knew a way to retrieve a few of the books we lost?¡¯ He immediately turned around. She had caught his interest. The secret room they used had many books of the dark arts stored inside it, most of them were just documentaries of research, some were ancient textbooks, but a few were even more important. They contained descriptions of rituals and spells that would lend the users immense powers. It had been hard to get their hands on it, even with the help of the capital. Abounding them while fleeing was a thought that seemed foolish. But Mr. Braf was still not convinced. ¡®How in the world¡­¡¯ Lendrar didn''t have to hear his question to answer it. ¡®Remember, all the books were transported from the main building to the Dame.'' He knew that, but that didn''t make stealing them any easier. Or at least he thought that. ¡®I don''t get how that is supposed to help us.¡¯ She just smiled. He was superior to her in every magic aspect, was way better than her at hiding his live as dark magician and was even respected more by the students, but this time it was her genius that opened this possibility. ¡®The Dame had a tight security, that is true. There are always several professors guarding it, no chance of slipping through.¡¯ Braf nodded in agreement. He still couldn''t see how this would help them. Lendrar had to suppress the urge to laugh. Not even his indifferent face could hide his confusion and increasing curiosity. ¡®The guards change every day. Even we are signed up for duty in a few days¡­¡¯ She could hear the metaphorical coin fall. He finally got her hint. ¡®You don''t mean¡­¡¯ Her grin widened. Adrenalin was released in her blood by even thinking about it. ¡®I do. While the back entrance is completely sealed off, the main entrance is guarded by only two professors. One of them will be me soon¡­¡¯ He grasped. But his excitement didn''t last more than a few seconds. ¡®Even assuming I assist you and we take out your fellow guard, there will be even more inside.¡¯ He had been just as excited as she was, but he wouldn''t allow that to influence his judgment. But Lendrar continued to grin. ¡®That is very true. The entrance to the basement is guarded by two other professors¡­¡¯ She paused. ¡®But!¡¯ She unfolded a paper she had held in her hand the whole time. She revealed that there was some kind of map drawn on it. When Braf took a closer look, he recognised it. It was the Dame¡­ but there was one small difference. One path that he was sure he had never seen before. Lendrar had to laugh upon seeing the change in his expression. It was the exact same look she had when she found this. ¡®Mr. Stellox seems to have discovered this shortly before his death. I could save this before they found it.¡¯ Her smile widened even further. She looked hardly like she did before. Like she was a different person¡­ ¡®It seems like the secret room was not the only thing our lovely seniors have left us.¡¯ She sounded overjoyed. Braf hadn''t heard this voice in a long time. Not since the semester break a few years ago, when they experimented in a nearby city. She was mostly calm, sometimes a bit clumsy, and that wasn''t even a mask she put on. It was how she really was. But the real her changed from time to time¡­ Mostly when experimenting on living subjects, and not the animal kind. To think she would get that excited over this. It was clear that she wasn''t done yet. ¡®So you suggest we take this hidden passage?¡¯ He followed it on the map. Luckily it led right to the room the books were stored in. ¡®What about Mr. Vonstadt?¡¯ Her expression shifted to something even crazier looking. ¡®We are two, he is alone. We kill him of course <3¡¯ She said that as if she was talking about her favorite book or food or something like that. It was frightening. Mr. Braf sighted. He had seen many maniacs in his life, and she was definitely one of them. ¡®In other word we will be able to get inside without many problems. But do you think that is of any meaning? Harms and his vice are sure to notice that. We won''t be able to escape, it''s suicide.¡¯ He regained his composure, he kind of felt relieved after finding the obvious flaw in her plan. It was at that moment that she stuck her hand into a bag she had brought along. It was filled to the brim with the kind of magical scrolls that were used for practical magic practice with the older students. When her hand appeared again, she held an old and thick book. It had numerous pages and its cover was made of a strange leather, probably made of lesser dragons. The only reason such an expensive material would be used as a book cover was¡­ ¡®Is that a magic summoning book?!¡¯ Magic scrolls were scrolls that could store mana and a magic circle. If the user activated them, they could cast a certain spell without any help of a caster. That meant anyone could use it, even without the slightest knowledge of how magic works. These scrolls had two problems. The first was that their size didn''t allow them to store much mana, the second that their size didn''t allow any big circles. Both led to only weak spells being stored in these scrolls. Magic books were of a whole other caliber. Their many connected pages allowed for not just many mana circles, which would have equal power to a single big one, but even a mana collection circle. In other words the book didn''t use the mana that was stored in it but could even collect some from its surroundings. Sadly these books were one use items, and incredibly expensive of course. Mr. Braf stuttert. ¡®H-How in the world¡­¡¯ Did it really matter how she got that? She decided to answer his question. ¡®Our friends in the capital sent this to us before the connection was cut off. If we use this right¡­¡¯ Her smile widened once again. It didn''t look human anymore. ¡®Which spell is stored inside?¡¯ He quickly asked. He had high hopes, but wouldn''t have dared to imagine her answer to be that shocking. She opened her mouth and slowly spoke ¡®Smaller In-fer-no¡¯. There was nothing left of his once so indifferent expression. Many spells had different versions of them. In the case of inferno, there was smaller inferno, inferno and greater inferno. Even the smallest one was enough to summon a fire that would melt through stone. The Dame was, unlike the other buildings of the academy, solely made of stone. Most of it was underground to that. No regular fire could break out, but even if it did, the lack of fresh air and oxygen would end it before it could do any serious damage. But magic fire¡­ it would be more than just devastating. ¡®The Dame is done for¡­¡¯ Now even Mr. Braf seemed optimistic. ¡®We can use that as a distraction while we escape. They will have to focus all their forces if they don''t want the fire to spread! And if they believe we died in the fire they won''t hunt us down either¡­¡¯ He saw the possibility that had just been created before them. He was an opportunist, it was clear what he would do. His calm and indifferent expression slowly came back. ¡®I see¡­ this is a great opportunity. We have to use that.¡¯ He stopped for a moment. Then he looked her in the eyes. ¡®If this fails, death will be a mercy we won''t get. I will prepare a few things. Stay alerted.¡¯ As he opened the door to the staircase again, a single gesture with his hand immediately canceled out the sound barrier he had created. Now even Landrar came back to her calm and normal self, as if she had never brought that other part of her to light. She also canceled out her barrier. But she stayed on the tower for a few more minutes after Braf left. It would be bad if the two of them were seen together. As she looked down at the numerous parks and finally the Dame, she imagined how the scenery would look once they excited their plan. A slight and soft smile came on her lips. Nothing like her crazy self a few minutes ago, this looked too innocent to be from a dark mage. She finally decided to also leave, she still had to give a lecture after all. Although she tried to focus on the coming lesson, her mind just couldn''t let these thoughts stay on the tower. Her mind would be focused on this for the rest of the day.


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 Chapter 14: Today was a good day

    All Velvino could do was sigh. The five students in front of him didn''t seem to fully understand the situation they were in. ¡®Just let me get this straight¡­ You tried to sneak out last night even though you knew of the lockdown?¡¯ An energetic nodding followed. ¡®Why would you do that?¡¯ The one to reply was Maxwell, one of the oldest ones. Velvino knew him from his own lectures, he had always been a good student. ¡®We want to help find the culprits Mr. Velvino!¡¯ He had repeated this several times by now, but Velvino still wasn''t sure if this was supposed to be a joke or not. ¡®The lockdown exists for a reason! We can''t have students risk their lives outside at night!¡¯ He tried to be angry at them for ignoring the rules, but he just couldn''t get himself to be. Not after Mr. Stellox died¡­ They had known him and so it was natural for them to help. If he was honest, Velvino was angry at himself for not finding the culprits by now. But putting his own feelings aside, it was an absolute taboo for the students to get outside. ¡®How did you even get outside? Every door and window gets sealed in the evening.¡¯ The children looked at Maxwell, who was in desperate search for words. But it was Lydia who answered in his stead. Since Lydia also focused on the wind attribute, she had also visited Velvinos lectures often. ¡®That was what we wanted to talk about. As we said, we tried, but¡­ We couldn''t get out.¡¯ Now it was Alex who spoke. Velvino had never seen him in one of his lectures, but he had spotted him in this group in the past. ¡®We wanted to ask you if we could accompany you on your next patrol. That is why we are telling you this.¡¯ Velvino didn''t like this. On the one hand, he understood the students and wanted to help them, on the other hand he couldn''t put them at risk like that. There was nothing to think about. ¡®You can''t come out with me on a patrol. They are dangerous, even we professors are supposed to always keep our guard up. We can''t use any extra luggage!¡¯ The five of them looked pretty sad after hearing that. Once again, they reminded him of ducklings. Most people reminded him somehow of animals. He sighed again. He would feel bad leaving them like that. He took a look at the big and old clock that hung in the hallway. It had been there since he was still a student. Never would he have imagined that this academy would be the place of a murder like this, especially not with dark mages involved. But here he was, always sleeping with one eye open. Luckily he noticed that there was still one hour left before the lockdown¡­ he decided that that was enough time. He knew what would work best to distract a magical student. He looked all five of them deep in the eyes, one after another. ¡®I may not be able to take you with me on my patrol, but¡­¡¯ Their eyes were filled with anticipation faster than those of a dog when the smell of meat filled the air. ¡®Maybe I could show you a way to still help us teachers.¡¯ As promising as his words sounded, he could still detect some suspicion in Lydia. She was smart, he respected that. ¡®What do you mean with that Mr. Velvino?¡¯ He smiled. ¡®Follow me.¡¯ He didn''t wait for any sort of reply and immediately turned around. He hurried up and was glad to hear some footsteps following him. ¡®Where are we going Mr. Velvino?¡¯ asked Maxwell. But he just kept quiet and continued on his way. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at his destination. A big wooden door blocked their way. Velvino had stood here so often when he was still a student himself, always wanting to enter in the evening. When he had gotten the keys after becoming a professor, he had had a hard time not showing his excitement. ¡®Isn''t this¡­¡¯ it was Lucy who failed to form a full sentence. If he remembered correctly, she was the ice mage of the group. ¡®Yes Lucy, this is the special library of the southern dormitory.¡¯ The term special was very fitting. In here, a few of the most expensive books were stored. It was only opened to students in the presence of a teacher. Since most of the teachers were invested in their own studies after the lectures ended, that was a rather rare occasion. If a student got the honor of entering this room, it was mostly because a teacher was here to look something up for themselves. And so the next question was to be expected. ¡®Are you here to read one of the books?¡¯ He turned around and smiled. ¡®No, not today. I told you, I would show you how you could help to find the culprit.¡¯ He was a bit excited. It had been a while since he had personally teached a student something outside of his courses. As he looked at the confused faces of his followers, he started to give a small explanation. ¡®Do you know how we found the room the dark mages had hidden?¡¯ They seemed rather clueless. But then Finn raised his hand. ¡®Didn¡¯t one of the students report it?¡¯ That was exactly the answer he was waiting for. ¡®That is right! Without the information of that student, we still wouldn''t know that they are among us. That student has helped us a lot.¡¯ Lydia seemed a bit dissatisfied. ¡®I don''t want to question your teaching methods Mr. Velvino, but did you really bring us here just to tell us that?¡¯ Velvino found this quite funny. Right now they seemed so unsatisfied, but he knew how fast that would change. He gently looked at them. ¡®No, not that. Telling us teachers helps a lot, but sometimes it is hard to reach anyone. And this is why I was planning¡­ to teach you something useful¡­¡¯ Now he had their interest and attention. He knew it. He got out a single key. He had stored this one separated from the others, around his neck. Was it a symbolic gesture or a preparation so he didn''t have to look for the key once he decided to visit this place again? He couldn''t tell himself. As he turned the key in the keyhole, the door made an ominous sound. The defensive enchantments for this room were even stronger than those for the main doors. This was clearly made for something precious, even an amateur mage could tell that. Had he tried to break the door with force, then he would have risked getting cursed. He swallowed. That was the first thing the former headmaster had told him when he was still a child. He pressed down the handle and used his complete body weight to open the heavy door. An enchantment was normally meant to help with the weight of the door, but it had gotten weaker over the years. The headmaster had spent so much money on useless things in this academy, but the door was still in need of repair¡­ It wasn''t too bad though. Opening this door made him feel like a great mage every time, over and over again. As he slowly opened the door, a shining ray of light was released from the inside of the room. Velvino could only smile, because he knew what was coming. He was sure that at least two of them hadn''t seen the inside yet. With one last push, he completely opened the double door. What got revealed was a middle sized room, filled to the brim with books. Maybe middle sized was a bit of an understatement, there was enough space to open a cafe inside. The ceiling was three meters above the ground, but the bookshelves barely fit inside. As Velvino turned around, he could see five utterly amazed faces. It was only natural to be speechless upon seeing this. In the room, there were several flying lights. The light they emitted was very warm and homely. Even though there were no windows, every last spot of this room was thoroughly filled with light. The many books had sometimes very extravagant covers. Some were dyed in rare and exotic colors, others had golden symbols attached to them. A few of the books even gave off some shiny light themselves¡­ truly, this was a treasury for every mage. The contents of most of these books were far too difficult for the students, and even some teachers, to understand, but Velvino knew one that was perfect for them. He stepped inside. ¡®I am sure you have heard of telepathy magic already, right?¡¯ The students, who had followed him into the room, just silently nodded. Velvino walked towards one certain book, he knew where it was. His hand reached towards a noon of the lower shelves. It had a dark purple color and a small magical circle decorated its front. If one looked closely, they would see that it wasn''t a real magical circle but merely the image of one. Velvino grabbed it and showed it to his followers. ¡®This book was written by one of my former professors.¡¯ Lucy rear the signature at the bottom of the cover. It was small, but she had good eyes. ¡®S. Messli? I don''t think I have heard that name¡­¡¯ Velvino nearly got a bit nostalgic. ¡®He left this academy some years ago. Shortly before I graduated. You wouldn''t know him.¡¯ Now Lydia seemed to inspect the book closer. ¡®The art of total Isolation it says¡­ What is this about?¡¯ Velvino had a hard time not to laugh. He had the same reaction when his former teacher had shown this to him. ¡®The book is about isolation spells. As it goes on about how to block telepathy from escaping the isolation, it also mentions some techniques that let your own telepathy escape. It is perfect for information exchange.¡¯ He was proud of himself that he still remembered this book. These students of his were too impatient to wait for the professors to catch the culprit. Maybe one day they would slip through the safety enchantments and get outside. If they really did, it would be better if they could call for help. And even if not, it was always good to know at least one technique like this. Techniques aren''t spells. A spell is the combination of a magic circle, aka the shape of the mana, and the amount of mana, while the technique focused on how to get the mana as accurately in the wished form as possible. In other words the spell is the action, the technique is the method. This book contained a few very good explanations. The five students, every single one, were fascinated by the chance to read parts of the book. Velvino quickly took it and opened a page in the first half of the book. He then proceeded to an empty wall. He focused a bit of mana in his fingertips and¡­ as he drew on the wall with his fingers, they left tracks like white chalk on a blackboard. He was ready. ¡®You better listen now. I will only explain this once¡­¡¯


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    He had nearly missed the lockdown. As he had explained the theory of the book, he had felt as alive as he hadn''t in a long time. He let out a heavy breath as he locked the door behind him - he had sent the students to their rooms a few minutes ago. If his judgment wasn''t wrong, they had gotten the gist of it. Of course they hadn''t mastered it in this short amount of time, it would take far longer than just an hour, but if they continued their practice and remembered the advice he had given them on their way out, then maybe they would learn it in a week or so. If they did, they would be distracted for a week, and be unable to do anything stupid. That time had to be enough to find and capture the culprits. He looked out of a window as he continued to walk through the hallway. He wouldn''t let Me. Stellox¡¯ students get hurt, no matter what. Not the rest of them either. Maybe Mr. Stellox really had been a dark mage as the rumors say, but that didn''t change his passion about his students. He finally arrived at his room. As a professor he would still be allowed to walk through the dormitory at night and use the studies here, but he felt tired today. Yes, he was tired, exhausted even, but he was also happy. He felt like he had fulfilled his role as an educator to his best today. That was why he became a professor. The thoughts about what his students could become always excited him. Maybe he had left an impression on them that would positively influence them in the future, who knows? Probably not, but he still liked the idea. He laughed to himself. ¡®Today was a good day my friend. You would have loved it.¡¯ Only he knew that it was addressed to Mr. Stellox.

 Chapter 15: Antoni Mazur

    He had learned to love the smell of acid like mixtures and potions that still somehow reminded him of the time as an adventurer. Or maybe it was more fitting to say he had learned to love the person who made all of them. Antoni Mazuri looked around the office that resembled more of a laboratory than most outsiders would expect. It was filled to the brim with chemicals and devices he had never seen outside of here. Research papers piled up to mountains on the desk while a few books were scattered on the floor. They hadn''t been here the last time he visited. He bent over, trying to read the labels of these books, and even though he managed to interpret the terrible handwriting on their covers into a half functional language, he had no idea what the words could mean. He had never been good with alchemy, and besides consuming a few potions here and there, he had close to no contact with it either. Of course he wouldn''t understand topics that Ms. Minecast, the academy''s leading alchemist, was working on. He looked back at the potions, still not sure what he was looking for. Those actually weren''t supposed to be here. The previous headmaster probably would have never allowed this room to get into the current state, and Mr. Stroff had voiced his concerns more than just one time. Although Mr. Stroff definitely could have been friendlier while doing that, he did have a point. This was supposed to be the officer of the head alchemist of Prestillion. It had been established after the unification of magic and alchemy based teachings around a hundred years ago. Unbelievable how strict these arts were separated before that, even though they were so similar. Alchemy was impossible without a basic magic knowledge to that! Looking at this room, it was once again obvious to him just how different the mindsets of most alchemists and magic casters were though. Even though the studies of most teachers here were a mess similar to this one, their offices were all clean enough to be confused with that of a soldier. And it wasn''t like there were no laboratories here either. It seemed like Ms. Minecast had decided on using both the rooms given to her for her research, and Mr. Harms had seen no harm in allowing her to do so. The pleasure of having talent¡­ he himself would never be allowed a stunt like that, and he could already be counted among the more prestigious professors here. As he was still deep in his thoughts, the door suddenly opened, and the unnatural and probably unhealthy smells of ¡®her¡¯ creations were set free. A breeze went through the room, and the voice he had been longing to hear finally filled the room. ¡®My my, don''t tell me you went all the way just to visit little old me?¡¯ She laughed, he hadn''t heard that in a while. He turned around, looking her deep in the eyes. He then kneeled down, taking her hand and saying the kitchy phrase he had read in a novel the other day. ¡®My lady, no journey would be too far if I got to see your face afterwards.¡¯ He had put all the sarcasm he had into his voice, but it came out more serious than he had intended. His serious expression changed into an awkward smile. ¡®I just wanted to see you after this long day.¡¯ he admitted. Relationships between professors were very uncommon, but in no way forbidden. She smiled back. ¡®I am glad you came. It''s been a long day for me too.¡¯ Her smile got a bit less wide, less enjoyable. Her expression looked distant, like she normally did. He took a step closer to her and embraced her in her arms. It was a gentle and genuine moment. For a few seconds, neither of them moved so much as a muscle. They looked almost like they were from one of the paintings in the hallway for a second. Her long black hair stood in contrast to his white hair. As usual, he himself wore it in a ponytail. White hair was very unusual among humans. He had heard that there had been an elf in his family tree several generations ago, so maybe that was the reason. Except for the hair colour, he shared nothing with his almost forgotten ancestor though. They slowly went apart. Normally, they often met like this, but nothing was normal anymore. After the murder of Mr. Stellox, the academy had fundamentally changed. They all did their very best to keep up appearances to the students and their families, but the whole staff had been on edge for quite some time now. The culprits still weren''t found, and so the professors were expected to work overtime to keep up the right security. They didn''t even know the number of enemies yet, only that they were strong enough to defeat someone of Mr. Stellox¡¯ caliber. Would Antoni have been strong enough to survive the attack? That question had been present in his head ever since he first heard about it. And even though he could not answer it for sure, there was one thing he definitely knew. Vilvette, the woman he had sworn to give his life for, wouldn''t have come out of it alive. She was focused on alchemy, and while she may be above the average when it comes to some basic magic spells, her true strength were potions. He knew that she was almost defenseless against a dark magic user, and he feared her death more than his own. Maybe that mentality was also a leftover of his elvish ancestor, maybe not. Either way, he was questioning whether he could actually protect her. Another reason he had felt the urge to visit her again. He took her hand. ¡®Did you talk to Mr. Harms? He should really allow you to use your main laboratory in the Dame again! It''s much safer there.¡¯ She just smiled. She had never been scared for her own live, and that wouldn''t change today. ¡®You know how things are. Mr. Vonstadt is currently using one of the rooms, and they don''t want anyone else near him. His translation work is important and could finally give us a clue about the culprits. You know we can''t risk that.¡¯ Antoni obviously wasn''t satisfied with that answer. Seeing that, Vilvette tried to lighten up the mood a bit. ¡®And who knows, maybe I am one of the culprits myself?¡¯ He had to laugh. ¡®As if dark magic users could possibly be that weak!¡¯ he teased her. ¡®Just you wait!¡¯ she giggled. She grabbed one of the malicious looking brewings close to her and acted as if she was preparing to throw it at him. ¡®Just you try.¡¯ Antoni extended his hand and small magic circles immediately began to form. He was in his element. The white-blue colour told anyone about the pride of his skill set, his ice magic. It had been a long tradition in his family to excell at this, and he definitely wasn''t an exception. As the potion left her hand with his face as destination, he mumbled a few quiet words. Suddenly, the air around the potion cooled down very fast. Before the bottle had traveled even half its way, an ice crust had built around it. It only took a split of a second until the whole thing was seemingly ¡®swallowed¡¯ by a mass of ice, stopping it mid air. A smile began to form on his face. It wasn''t a daily occurrence that he had questionable brewings thrown at him, but he couldn''t say it would have been the first time either. Just as he was about to give a cheeky comment, he felt something pressing against his stomach. Maybe pressing wasn''t the right word¡­ it felt like he was just hit by a blacksmith''s hammer. His eyes traced down his body, noticing a transparent something. A magic missile, and in the starter form to that. Before magic casters adapted to an element like earth, ice or fire, they used so-called starter forms of magic. Those spells were creations of pure mana, and were basically a very easy level of mana control Magic. Magic missile was one of these spells. Various elements could be applied to it later on in order to strengthen it, but the one he was hit by was just a plain one. He went down on one knee. ¡®Ugh¡­ When did you¡­¡¯ Vilvette just smiled. ¡®Who did you call weak again? To think that a basic magic missile could hurt the strong and mighty Mr. Mazur¡­¡¯ She giggled, and once he managed to catch his breath, he did too. ¡®That wasn''t a normal magic missile¡­ how in the world did you get it that strong?¡¯ Antoni remembered how his father used to tell him to always train the basics when he was still young. He had never seen them mastered to that degree though. ''That''s a secret-¡¯ She replied. ''Surprised that the leading alchemist has some aces up her sleeve?¡¯ He got up again, or at least he tried. He still had to heavily rely on the hand she reached out to him. ¡®You always manage to amaze me again.¡¯ ¡®Expect the unexpected!¡¯ she laughed. They had played like this in their youth often, but that was a thing of the past now. His expression got more serious again. ¡®I am not too sure that this would work in an actual fight though.¡¯ Vilvette looked him deeply in the eyes. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but ultimately decided not to. She sighed ¡®Yes, maybe not. But don''t think that was all the almighty queen of alchemy has to offer!¡¯ Antoni hadn''t heard that name in a while. Queen of alchemy¡­ When he had started as a professor, shortly after his time as an adventurer, many students and even some professors had called her that. As time went by, the name started to disappear. ¡®Oh I am sure, not a single dark mage would dare to touch the queen of alchemy.¡¯ he joked. But it was probably true for most mages. The name Vilvette Minecast was known even in other countries, she had received tons of job offerings in the past. He took a step towards her. His hands softly touched her face. ¡®Maybe we should take a day or two off again.¡¯ She looked surprised. ¡®Now? When the whole academy is in hectic?¡¯ He smiled gently. ¡®Yes, especially now. They won''t let you use your laboratory anyways, will they? And up here, your research is just slowed down. We haven''t taken a single day off in the last three years, I think it is time.¡¯ His face looked nostalgic. ¡®You never know when it''s too late¡­¡¯ Vilvette¡¯s eyes got smaller. She often looked like that when she was deep in thought. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded. ¡®Very well, let us do just that.¡¯ Her eyes looked at her calendar. ¡®The lockdown shouldn''t count for us if we have good enough reasons¡­ It will be hard, but I think we can convince Mr. Harms to let us go for a few days¡­ I have an experiment I will need to supervise until tomorrow. I can clear my calender after that.¡¯ Antoni was a bit perplex. He didn''t expect her to agree so easily. Something he had said must have been more convincing than he would have thought. Well, there was no use complaining about the good things. ¡®That perfectly fits my schedule. I have to stand guard at the Dame tomorrow evening, my lectures after that can be held by a temporary replacement.¡¯ He once again looked at her. ¡®I-¡¯ before he could finish his sentence, an alarm went off. He had heard this too often to be surprised by it. Vilvette turned around in a hurry. ¡®The experiment I was talking about¡­¡¯ He just smiled. ¡®It¡¯s okay. Go. I will see you tomorrow evening after my turn to guard the Dame?¡¯ She nodded. Without a second word, she grabbed a sheet of paper that was laying around and left the room. Hearing her footsteps, he could tell that she was running in the corridor. Because she couldn''t always be present at her experiments, she had requested and received a device that would notify her the moment anything about her experiments changed. He smiled as he tried to reach the door without stepping on anything. Soon they would finally get some time off again. Where would they go? The north or the east? Or maybe they would try the south this time¡­ since his magic was mainly based on the ice element and it was very warm in the south, he was never a big fan of the idea of going there, but this time he felt like it would be a nice idea. As he slowly went back to his own office in order to prepare for his next lecture, he thought about where exactly their destination would be this time.


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