Triple Orb Academy V1 – Ch 10, Wraith, Aftermath

When he saw that mist, Cadeus’s face grew pale. For some reason, that mist resembled ‘that’. It was the same black mist he possessed. “What the… what is happening?” Miss Allis was at the edge of the engraved ritual circle when it happened. When she saw that mist, her expression changed into one that was stone cold. “Oh dear… crap. EVERYONE! GET IN THE CLEAR!” She yelled. “Shit… if it takes Miss Allis to say something like that…” Enforcer Kutsurov exclaimed. Since the four of them were already at a distance, Enforcer Kutsurov used his green barrier anyway. Everyone soon ran for the platform edge and activated their barriers. Those who were watching the struggling Fremin grabbed him at the elbows and pulled him to the side. Whatever this mist was about to unfold, the Enforcers kept their guard up for any possibility. It was as if the black mist was trying to give birth to something. Whatever it was, it’s giving Cadeus the creeps. “Cadeus… Cadeus…” Cadeus turned to see Sing pressing her hands against the side of her head. She appears to be in great pain. The fairy was on the ground and appeared to be in the same state. “Sing? What’s wrong?!” Sing was not the only one experiencing such difficulty. Nadav was expressing the same symptoms. In addition, the Grey Enforcers and all the other existing Grey Mages on site were expressing difficulty just standing up. “Enforcer Kutsurov! What’s wrong with – ” “The corruption energy in the air is affecting them. The reason why we are unaffected is because we are Dark Mages.” “Is there anything we can do?” “Put their bodies down into a supine position. That would help them feel more comfortable.” Cadeus wasted no time helping Sing lie down onto the floor before helping Nadav do the same. As he did so, Cadeus caught Fremin still struggling to free himself of his bonds. If he still had energy to thrash around like that, it just confirmed that Fremin was indeed a Dark. The whole perception of him being a Grey was a total façade. Ignoring him at the moment, Cadeus turned his attention back to his friends. “Enforcer Kutsurov. Is there really nothing we could do for them?” “Picture a fish on dry land with its gills getting dry and dysfunctional. That’s what your friends are experiencing right now. There’s nothing we could do because they are not Dark Mages. Just leave them be. More importantly…” Redirecting their attentions to the black mist, there was a new development. Althought he could not see it, Cadeus could feel that something materialized within the black mist. The air suddenly grew colder, and the corruption energy within the air boiled in response. The energies of Dark Magic boiled in the air, and the black mist started giving out an extreme eerie feeling. Then without warning, a black ghostly figure of a rather large armoured knight materialized out of the mist. It was in a kneeling position before it stood up straight. Black armour and a black tattered cape, whatever it was, Cadeus was definitely sure it was not something made out of flesh. “…What the heck is this? Dark Souls?” Cadeus uttered. Enforcer Kutsurov however, had a much more sensible answer. “A wraith. A highly dangerous one at that.” “That thing is a wraith?” Although he had heard the term a couple of times in various rumours associated with Tenebris Vacuum, this was the first time Cadeus encountered the real thing. From the knowledge he had gathered, wraiths were the highest level of specters a mage could come across. They may not be intelligent, but they were extremely dangerous and powerful, to the point where normal exorcism methods would not work on them. In fact, it’ll take the help of a specialized Master to repel the threat of wraiths. “…What are our options?” “Hm… we could isolate it and seal it. That might be our only option. In fact…” Enforcer Kutsurov went into deep thought. “Could it be… that the wraith was already sealed before, but the attempted corruption ritual destabilized the seal?” “I’m not an expert, but that definitely sounded logical.” The wraith took a moment to study its surroundings. After it registered a number of the living, it reached for its side and drew out what looks to be a phantom sword. When Cadeus identified the weapon in its hand, the psychological impact was bad enough that he had to gulped saliva painfully down his dry throat. The Enforcers however, remained composed. Well… given that they were mages of high caliber they must be familiar with the weapon in its hand. In a split second, up to seven Enforcers shouted something with a ‘Barrier!’ and isolated the wraith in some sort of white cuboid blockade. Since there were seven people casting the same spell, the wraith was isolated by multiple layers of the same barrier. But that was not enough. Even with multiple barriers, it only took the wraith around five to six swings to shatter its prison. Swinging its sword to the side, the armoured wraith before chose its first victim. In a flash, the wraith warped itself to the side and impaled its sword into one of the Enforcers. Before the others could react, it flung the impaled man away with a swing of its arm and sliced a female Enforcer into two from the top of her left shoulder to the edge of her right waist. Even with the sudden deaths, the Enforcers remained unfazed. Everyone soon sprinted into action. Those who were near the wraith tried to create some distance, while those who were already far from it dragged their disoriented Grey colleagues away from the danger. In another attempt to isolate it, six Enforcers ran forward. They each surrounded the wraith in formation before casting a spell. ““““““[Baras Hexagon]!””””””” Clasping their hands together, the six Enforcers created a hexagon barrier. The wraith, knowing that it was caught again in a barrier, took a moment to analyze the barrier before making another slash at the layer. This time, the blade was repelled. Curious, the wraith made another hack. The blade was repelled again. Good. Whatever that baras thing was, it worked. Those six Enforcers sure bought some valuable time. Unsure of what he should do, Cadeus turned to Enforcer Kutsurov. “Enforcer Kutsurov, what should we do?” “You stay away from that thing. I’m going to take these two back up first. If they continue to stay here, their minds will be severely affected.” Enforcer Kutsurov moved to his lying friends. “Stay out of trouble and don’t do anything until I’m back.” Easy for you to say… Enforcer Kutsurov reached for his belt. A magic circle soon glowed on the leather strip and a larger magic circle soon materialized around him and his friends. With a flash, they disappeared, fairy included. When they did, Cadeus saw a teleportation end circle imprinted on the ground. Enforcer Kutsurov should be coming back later. Now then… Turning his attention to the wraith, Cadeus saw that it had ceased hacking against the barrier. It’s now staring at its own blade in curiosity, as if it was figuring a way out of this predicament. “Let’s hope this thing does not have any brains…” Of course, Cadeus knew that’s not possible. If the rumours were true, strong wraiths had high intelligence. Looking to the side, Cadeus saw Miss Allis at a distance with Enforcer Gazeth along with Acriscius. Even though he did not like that Greater Noble, Cadeus still went to them to find out what the Enforcers had in mind. “Miss Allis.” “Hey! There you are! Where’s Kutsurov?” “He went back to the surface with my friends.” “What? He took back the healer?” Enforcer Gazeth exclaimed. “…Even if she’s here I doubt she could be of use given the environmental interferences.” Cadeus followed. “Sigh… after my persuasion to get her to stay… oh well.” “So… Is there anything I ought to know about that phantom blade?” “You don’t want to get cut by that thing boy.” “…Will I become a wraith if I do?” “Ha…hahahaha… nice, but no. A single cut or stab will damage not only the physical, but also the immaterial.” “Meaning?” “That blade can cut magic circuits. If the damage was permanent enough, it could leave a mage incapable of casting magic spells for life.” “Ouch…” “So don’t get hit. After all, phantom blades are ranked amongst the most deadly amongst all magical armaments. There are a couple of us present who could make their own phantom blades. It’s useful against specters, but I doubt it could really help us against a wraith of that cabliber.” The wraith soon clenched its free hand into a fist and started hammering against the barrier with no new development. after further thinking, it soon turned hits attention on one of the six Enforcers. “Uh oh…” The wraith started moving towards the Enforcer. “Ah… Shit… it looks like it figured out the barrier’s weakness.” “What? You mean it’s the ‘one caster falls, the whole barrier will fall’ kind of weakness?” Cadeus added. “Yes… unfortunately.” “…” “Oh come on, every barrier has a weakness.” “…You sound awfully calm for such a deteriorating situation.” “Don’t worry. We’ve been through a lot. We know what to do, look.” Following Enforcer Gazeth’s eye. Cadeus saw that the other divisions soon moved to help the targeted Enforcer. As the wraith used its phantom blade to hack against the barrier, the surrounding Enforcers reinforced that part of the barrier with their magic. Before Cadeus could ask Enforcer Gazeth on the next course of action, he caught Acriscius coming at the corner of his eye. Needless to say, the two Pure Bloods regarded each other with extreme distaste. “Your friends are not around. Why the heck are you still here?” Cadeus chose not to reply. Instead, he gave Acriscius an astonished gaze. “I just noticed, you not charging in.” “You idiot. That’s a freaking wraith. There’s no way ordinary methods will work.” “Shame that you have to be so smart now. You could have done me a huge favour.” “You asshole. Is that an insult?” “Boys! No fighting~!” Miss Allis stepped in and placed each hand on their shoulders before they could get into a brawl. The two Pure Bloods gave each other blood shot eyes before turning their faces away from each other. Enforcer Gazeth could only sigh at such a poor spectacle. Acriscius did not come alone. There were the other division leaders Enforcer Cliffrai, Enforcer Navia and Enforcer Lagrez. Ignoring the two Pure Bloods, they turned their attention to Enforcer Gazeth. “Where’s Kutsurov?” “Teleported the other kids to the surface. He’ll be back.” “So… what now?” “We clearly do not have the means to exorcize the wraith. It’s too powerful for the conventional methods, and we can't contact the specialists” “Then let’s seal it. We have the methods and the means.” The Enforcers stared at Enforcer Gazeth. “What? It’s clearly all we could do. Given the unexpected turn of events… right? Look, we can do the [Karmien’s Seal], the [Ritropref Seal] or even the [Berokgma Seal]. In fact, in this case I highly encourage the [Berokgma Seal]. Plus, we got two Pure Bloods. Are we lacking in anything?” The what, what and what? Listening to their conversation, Cadeus turned to Miss Allis. “I’m lost.” “You’ll learn all about seals in due time boy. Of course, you won’t learn specialized seals of this detail unless you join the Enforcers.” “Spare me the recruitment attempt.” “Aha! I’ve been seen through. Shame.” “They mentioned something about the specialists. What’s with the specialists?” “Well… you see, even in our profession, a wraith that powerful is a rare encounter. In times like this, we got a few wraith specialists within the force we that can rely on. But the thing is, they are currently unreachable.” “I see…” Since there was no better alternative, the division leaders agreed on the plan. They soon spent a few seconds on a quick contemplation on their strategy. “So… what’s this seal that they are going to use?” Cadeus asked Miss Allis again. “The [Berokgma Seal]? I don’t know much about seals, but I do know that in this situation it’s the most effective of the three.” “You just repeated what Enforcer Gazeth said Miss Allis…” “Wouldn't you agree Lord Acriscius?” Miss Allis chose to ignore him. On the other hand, Acriscius nodded. “[Berokgma Seal] is a unadorned Class 4 seal involving eighteen smaller seals and four regenerative spiral edges, am I correct?” “Definitely. Even a wraith like that would experience difficulty breaking out.” “But I heard that it takes the guidance of a proper Seal Specialist to pull something like that off.” “Oh don’t worry! Gazeth is a full fledge Sealing Specialist.” “Is that so?” Cadeus decided to flush out all the unfamiliar terms before he starts developing a serious headache. He decided to raise another issue. “Enforcer Gazeth also mentioned something about Pure Bloods. How do we fit in all of this?” “Yes. I want to know that as well.” Acriscius interrupted. “Eh? Eh? I’m not good with plans… If you are talking about strategies, I think you are asking the wrong person here?!” Omg… why did I even bother asking her then? Cadeus really wanted to give himself a face palm. “Perhaps I could answer that question.” Enforcer Gazeth interfered. As they all turned to him, the other division leaders had already left to start laying the outlines for the seal. “You see… in order to activate a powerful seal, we need a strong medium of magic. But if we are talking about a wraith that’s this powerful, we may need something that’s stronger than our regular ‘strong medium of magic’. Just so it happens, we got the perfect medium with us right now.” Enforcer Gazeth continued. While Cadeus was still unsure of what he meant, Acriscius understood the underlying motive. “…You want my blood.” “Definitely. After all, the blood of a Pure Blood is a medium of magic that had gained legendary status.” Cadeus was marveled at this revelation, but he managed to keep his poker face. Acriscius folded his arms and gave a thought. “Hm… fine. I’ll contribute my blood to your cause. But I’ll expect the normal compensation.” “Money?” “If I remember… the discounted charges for the Enforcers would be 500,000 Duches.” Half a million?! Plus it’s discounted?! Cadeus just discovered he saw a fraction of the reason why Pure Bloods were valuable in magi society. “Hm… understood. I’m not the one who needs to go through all the paper work anyway. Transaction will be complete once we submit our investigation report. Feel free to lodge a complain if you did not get your payment. Not that I care about the department in charge of the paperwork anyways.” Oi, oi, oi… are you sure you’re supposed to say something like that? Acriscius reached for his sling bag and took out the usual needs for a self blood draw; Velcro strap, alcohol swap, and a syringe pack. Oh? His syringe pack is customized with an attached blood vial. I could use something like that. Cadeus thought. While Acriscius was focusing on his blood, the wraith broke through the barrier with one final stab. Unfortunately, the targeted Enforcer did not have time to move. The broad phantom blade stabbed him right through the gut. Just as half of the phantom blade was visible behind his back, the wraith lifted him up and threw him to the other side of the platform. That’s another dead man. Even though the wraith broke through, the Enforcers remain unshaken. Nearby divisions soon dedicated themselves into buying time for their colleagues who were preparing the sealing circle. As Cadeus watched, two Enforcers rushed to the wraith drawing phantom blades of their own. Their blades had a slightly different colour, and they come in different forms. Cadeus saw a sword and an axe. Once they got the wraith’s attention, the wraith warped a few feet before them and gave a low swing. Bringing their blades together, the two Enforcers parried the blade perfectly. But the wraith responded quickly by moving a leg forward and grabbed the nearest Enforcers by his throat. Ignoring the following stabs and slashes made by his partner, the wraith lifted the man up and started to drain him of his magical reserves. As Cadeus watched the flow of magic leaving the man’s body, his life force and biological warmth went with it. Even as his partner sliced his own phantom blade against the wraith’s wrist, the wraith’s hand remained connected to its arm. From this, it was rather obvious that a phantom blade would not work against this particular wraith. The entire process lasted about ten seconds. By the end of it, the Enforcer’s appearance changed to that of a mummified husk. All life left his eyes and the wraith merely allowed him to drop onto the floor like a lump of dough. “…What the shit?” What kind of broken ability was that? Just as the wraith turned his attention to the other Enforcers, another group of four Enforcers came rushed towards it. Surrounding the wraith, they casted a flashy spell imprisoning the wraith in some sort of warp sphere. In response, the wraith gathered Dark Magic into a swelling mass within its torso before letting out a massive corruptive discharge. The corruptive discharge tempered with the sphere and caused it to dysfunction. But without waiting for the barrier to completely break, the wraith gathered fire in its free hand, and it used its burning fingers to draw an oddly shaped fire rune in the air. Once the barrier broke, the fire rune was beaming with heat and the wraith activated its magic. While waiting in anticipation, the Enforcers created some distance by warping themselves backwards. Those who had Grey Magic in their blood started enchanting the group with Grey Magic. Before long, each Enforcer had three strong Water Elemental barriers in preparation against what might come. However, that was not enough to protect them. The wraith’s corruptive discharge tore beyond the barrier and covered enough distance to interfere with their Water Elemental barriers. Once their barrier was infected, Grey Magic was thrown into disorder and the Water Elemental barriers could not maintain their form. But before the Enforcers could react to the sudden change, the wraith’s fire rune replicated and shot themselves towards the four Enforcers. The fire runes burned though the disorientated Grey Magic and imprinted themselves onto the Enforcers. Needless to say, the Enforcers were all burned instantly into a crisp. By the end of everything, the four Enforcers were reduced into four fresh ash pits. That’s four more deaths, but that was still not enough to damper the Enforcers. Another group soon moved up to stall the wraith with their own strategies. Turning his eyes to the other Enforcers at work, Cadeus saw that they had used the remnants of the corruption ritual circle as a base outline for their own seal. Using magical tools and utility artifacts, the Enforcers continue to imprint various inscriptions and patterns with the help of basic alchemical materials such as salt, white chalk, wax and lead. From the circumference, they outlined jagged lines that protrude towards the center, making it look as if the circumference was eating the circle from the inside. Once the outer circle was done, the Enforcers split in accordance to their divisions and started marking extensive smaller circles along with other symbols and patterns. Everything was done quickly such that after four to five minutes, the outlay was done and the Enforcers began engraving magic into the hard earth in accordance to the markings they had made. While they were all busy doing this, Acriscius was done with his blood withdrawal. Once Enforcer Gazeth got the blood he needed, he and Miss Allis soon moved to the various segments, dropping Acriscius’s blood at different key points of the sealing circle. Good. In just a few more minutes, they will be ready to seal the wraith. Just as Cadeus was thinking that, the wraith materialized into his view. It warped straight in front of him directly. Just as the other Enforcers soon noted of it’s breakout, the wraith impaled its phantom blade into the nearest Enforcer who was about to finish his side of the engraving. With his sudden death, the segment he was working on failed to connect to the rest of the sealing circle. Out of reflex, Cadeus and Acriscius moved back, but that proved to be a mistake. Their reaction caught the wraith’s attention, prompting it to turn its head towards them. At that moment, Cadeus froze. He froze out of the possibility that he might be next. He forsook everything around him and focused on himself. Could this be the end of him? Would his next few seconds be his last being alive? Cadeus soon thought of his mother. He did not know why but he thought of his mother. As the wraith spent a moment to observe them, the Enforcers who had a bit of Grey Magic in their blood utilized the element Earth to hurl chunks of rocks over as a missile projection. Distracted, the wraith soon turned its attention to the other side as several more Enforcers moved in. Seizing this chance, Cadeus and Acriscius moved away from the wraith. Since direct engagement could not work, the same group of Enforcers changed their strategy and focused their efforts into stalling the wraith until the seal was ready. In an attempt to create a deterrent, the Enforcers gathered the larger debris around the platform and molded them into walls of stone before trapping the wraith in a five-sided cube. The Enforcers then used incantations, runic inscriptions and other forms of enchantments to secure the cube. In addition to that, they also set up three alignment circles of unknown properties around the cube above all of it. But even with all that additional enhancements, it was still not enough. With a couple of slashes, the wraith weakened the wall before casting an explosive spell. The area around the wraith was soon bombarded with chunks of large debris. When he saw one of the large chunks of debris flew towards him, Cadeus threw a [Lighting Caste] to demolish it in order to avoid getting squashed. When the other landed right next to him, he used it as a cover to avoid getting hit by the other debris. Taking a moment to study his surroundings, Cadeus saw one of the larger debris landing on a cart of alchemical ingredients. “Ouch… those Alchemists won’t like that.” Turning to the side, he saw Acriscius doing the same; using the other as a hiding spot. “Tch… I was hoping that he would get squashed… but whatever.” Cadeus turned again to the platform center and watched as the wraith activated a new spell. Reaching down, the wraith pressed its hand onto the floor before releasing a miasma of pale grey ash from its body. Five Enforcers who got too close to the wraith immediately threw up a defensive barrier, but the miasma’s purpose was not to cause damage. Instead, once the Enforcers came into contact with the mist, black circles with skull emblems manifested around their waists. “Oh shit… that’s definitely not good.” Without giving the Enforcers time to respond, the wraith stood up and charged. As it did, the black circles drained the five Enforcers of their magical reserves, repeating what had happened earlier with the previous Enforcer. “So basically, if we leave it alone, it’ll come for you and if we engage it, it’ll drain our magical reserves and life force to make itself stronger. Wow… I’m so gloomy today.” In response to the wraith’s sudden aggression, the nearest Enforcer instantly imprinted an orange runic circle that immediately disappeared on the wraith’s path. From the moment the wraith stepped into the circle, a huge explosion occurred leaving a huge discharge of smoke and ash. But the wraith soon moved out of the smoke and impaled its blade into that Enforcer. “What is this? For all they did the Enforcers barely scratched it. Are high-level wraiths this broken? Just what exactly could make this thing so powerful? “ With their dropping numbers, those who were working on the sealing circle sped up their movements. From the looks of it, the sealing circle was almost complete. But the wraith’s high intelligence allowed it to register the threat the seal provided. Its constant interference prevented them from finishing the job, and the Enforcers were starting to be low on numbers. In the midst of everything, Cadeus noticed something odd. Why did the wraith previously not kill them on the spot? When that wraith turned its attention to them earlier, it did not rush to kill them, nor did it express any hostility. It merely stared at them, as if it was accessing their threat level first. Did the wraith not attack them because they did not show it any hostility? “Tch!” Acriscius clicked his tongue. “There’s no point in sitting here and doing nothing.” …Eh? Acriscius stepped out of his cover. What? Seriously? He’s going to charge out? Before he could anything rash, Cadeus called out towards him. “Oi! Even if you are a Pure Blood, that thing is too dangerous.” “Shut up imposter. Of course I know that.” “And what? Charge in anyway and assume that you can make a difference? Are you an idiot? Did you see what that thing could do? Even if you have your Blood Gift, that thing could probably finish you at a distance before you could close in for a strike!” “Shut up! It’s definitely far better than hiding here and doing nothing!” “Are you serious?!” Fully intent to enter the fray, Acriscius’s hands began burning with his red mist. Cadeus acted quickly before Acriscius could cast his protective orange sphere. “[Enwrap Bind]!” In a flash, Acriscius was bounded with a magical binding spell that restricted movement from his upper arm, forearm and knees. “What the…” Manipulating his fingers, Cadeus tightened the bind and manipulated its form to force Acriscius down. Without the freedom of movement, Acriscius lost his sense of balance and fell. It did not take him long to figure out who’s responsible. “You! You bloody imposter!” As he struggled to move, Cadeus grabbed him by his collar before dragging him back to cover. “You’ll thank me later once we are out of this. That wraith is no joke even for a Pure Blood like yourself.” Acriscius snapped the binding easily with his Blood Gift. “Damn you! I have always endured your disgusting presence, but this time I’m definitely going to kill you – ” “Quit being such an impulsive muscle head and listen to what I have to say! You are the only son of your house am I correct? If you die here, what’s to become of your house? Aren’t you being irresponsible here?!” “…!!” Before Acriscius could do so much as to make a rebuttal, a flash of light happened. Staring at the source, they both saw that the light came from a teleportation circle. Or to be more exact, a teleportation circle manifested at the imprinted end circle Enforcer Kutsurov placed earlier. With another flash of light, Enforcer Kutsurov came back. When he found himself staring at ongoing slaughter of his colleagues, surprise appeared on his eyes. “Enforcer Kutsurov! Here!” Turning his head, Enforcer Kutsurov soon came over. “Good to see that you are still alive. You to Lord Acriscius.” “Perhaps you can help me talk some sense into this useless lord from charging blind into action.” “WHO ARE YOU CALLING A USELSESS LORD?!!” Enforcer Kutsurov grabbed Acriscius’s arm before he could do something to Cadeus. “I don’t know what history exist between the two of you but… can you two please not do this while we are in the middle of a crisis?!” It took another explosion to stop them from doing something stupid. Once the explosion had died down, the disruption was more than enough for Acriscius to realize how silly this seems. He shoved Enforcer Kutsurov’s grip off, but did not do anything further. Breathing a sigh of relief, Enforcer Kutsurov turned to Acriscius. “Now that you have calm down, I just want to say that your companions are safe. Vanderburg wants me to tell you that everything is ok. I have personally seen to that.” “Is… is that so?” Well… that did calm Acriscius down considerably. Cadeus turned to Enforcer Kutsurov. “What about my friends?” “You don’t have to worry. The Apothecaries are tending to them. They should be fine. So… what happened?” Cadeus explained everything from top to bottom. “I see… I expected things to get bad, but not this quickly…” Enforcer Kutsurov turned his attention to the incomplete sealing circle. “I agree with Gazeth that sealing it would be the best option. But if this circle is still not finished in five minutes we will have an unsolvable problem.” Cadeus decided to raise the possibility of the wraith not attacking them. “Enforcer Kutsurov, what are the chances that the wraith would not attack us.” “…I’m sorry I don’t follow.” “I mean to say, what if the wraith only attacks hostile people? Earlier, when Acriscius and I got its attention, it did not seek to kill us outright. Instead it just studied us, as if it was deciding we are a threat.” “…I’m a little skeptical about this possibility Cadeus. Although I welcome all sorts of possibilities at this stage, didn’t you say that the wraith start killing the Enforcers the moment it materialized?” “Ah… ok… you see… actually, when the wraith manifested, your colleagues acted first by imprisoning it in some sort of barrier. So technically, your colleagues acted with hostility first.” “…I see.” Enforcer Kutsurov brought a hand to his chin. “Well, even if what you say could be true, we do not have the time to confirm it. At the moment, it’s too risky to act based on that assumption. Besides, regardless of whether it attacks hostile enemies or not, we still need to seal it. If we do not seal this wraith, the Academy could be at risk.” Enforcer Kutsurov turned his attention to the two Pure Ploods. “The sealing circle, which is crucial to our current strategy, is still incomplete. The wraith is also constantly deterring my colleagues from finishing it. At this rate, all my colleagues will be forced to spend their efforts to contain the wraith and the sealing circle will never be complete. I would like to ask the two of your prioritize the circle and help us complete it while we focus on stalling the wraith. Don’t worry. You are not expected to know the seal works. All you need to do is to engrave your magic on the platform floor in accordance to the prepared outline.” ““…”” “Prioritize the circle. If the wraith comes for you, drop everything and get away. Do not engage the wraith.” With what’s at stake, there’s no time for any debate. The two Pure Bloods could only nod their heads. TOA In the next couple of minutes, Cadeus was on his knees engraving his own magic into the seal outline. Acriscius was somewhere at the other side, engraving the sealing circle in a separate segment. Engraving magic was the act of inserting magic onto a specific platform (e.g. paper, stone). Unlike incantation, it enables the inscription to have a much stronger foundation. Unique to its purpose, seals can only function once magic was completely engraved into a physical platform. This specific characteristic allows seals to be five times more durable compared to their enchantment counterparts. But their singular purpose made them a rather inflexible tool. According to Enforcer Kutsurov, the seal was roughly 93% finished. The remaining 7% would be to finish engraving the magic in order to fully connect all the segments of the sealing circle. This must be done so that the seal could be firmly segregated onto the platform floor. While Cadeus and Acriscius busy themselves, Enforcer Kutsurov met up with the other division leaders and drafted a new strategy. Now that the two Pure Bloods were working on the circle, the Enforcers could fully dedicate themselves to deal with the wraith. Since their current methods did not work, they had to improvise. Going for their belts, the Enforcers reached for an attached runic stone and activated flight magic. The remaining ten to twenty Enforcers took to the air leaving Cadeus and Acriscius to work on the last few sections of the circle. Circling around the wraith, some of the Enforcers began shooting basic offensive spells at the wraith to get its attention. Annoyed, the wraith looked up at them before it elevated itself into the air. Uh oh… better focus on my job… Cadeus thought. Cadeus finished his segment before moving to another. The wraith was not as fast as the Enforcers, but that did not mean that it had a handicap. Thinking that they had the advantage of speed, some of the Enforcers unleashed a series of barriers between them. But the wraith anticipated their moves and warped itself away before it could get caught. By warping, the wraith managed to avoid getting caught, and on top of everything it also help decrease its distance between the nearest Enforcers. By repeating this method, the wraith soon managed to reduce its distance to some Enforcers. When it was close enough to a group, it gathered magic within its free hand and unleashed a light wave of corruption energy. When that light wave of corruption energy hit the nearby enforcers, it interfered with their flight capacity and infected their enchantments, removing the various benefits the Enforcers prepared before hand. Vulnerable and exposed to paranormal factors, the wraith pointed two fingers and hexed six of the Enforcers within its line of sight. Despite having prepared an anti-hex enchantment, the corrupted enchantment could no longer protect them as the hex mark managed to imprint itself upon the four Enforcers. The hex mark injected the wraith’s corruptive magic into their bodies. Clenching its fist, the wraith tainted their magic circuits, which momentarily removed their capability to use magic to maintain their flight. As they fell, the wraith soon picked them off one by one. Some Enforcers were saved by their colleagues, others were not as fortunate. Meanwhile, Cadeus and Acriscius were almost done with the final touch ups. They finished engraving four minor circles and three spiral runic inscriptions. The only thing left would be to finish the most important piece, the center circle. When they both approached the circle, Cadeus and Acriscius gave each other a look of hostility, but they soon broke off and pressed their hands on the circle outline. As they focused, the circle glowed as their magic were imprinted onto the level floor in accordance to the circle outline. Once the circle was complete, the entire sealing circle glowed with a dim colour. “Enforcer Kutsurov!” Realizing that their work was over, Enforcer Kutsurov gave hand signals to the other division leaders. Soon, every surviving Enforcers dived down to the sealing circle. Moving next to Enforcer Gazeth, Enforcer Gazeth nodded to Enforcer Kutsurov before taking out Acriscius’s blood vial. From the moment they landed, Enforcer Kutsurov motioned for Cadeus and Acriscius to move away with him while Enforcer Gazeth moved for the center circle. “So… what now?” “What’s left would be to lure the wraith somewhere within the sealing circle’s range. If it hovers over the seal or step anywhere on this platform, the seal will automatically activate.” “…Won’t we get caught into the seal?” “Don’t worry. The runic inscription on the seal gave it specific instructions not to affect any humans. We should be just fine.” The wraith soon followed. Noticing the seal’s completion, it stopped short before landing and hovered at the platform’s edge. Realizing the change in its current stance, Cadeus turned to Enforcer Kutsurov. “It must have noticed the seal’s activation conditions.” “Hm… if that’s the case, the wraith would do all it could to prevent itself from stepping a foot on this platform. We might have to drag it in.” “Drag it in? Do you intent to bind it somehow?” “If we can, using whatever we can.” The wraith used its free hand again to apply some unknown runes upon itself. Without the need for words, the Enforcers intervened before it could finish. They threw a few [Enwarp Binds] and other binding spells to pull the wraith over. The wraith resisted by using its phantom blade to cut though some bindings. But even if it could cut through some binds, the Enforcers would recast their spells and bind the wraith again. Facing against numerous binding spells, the wraith struggled to fend against the bindings but it was eventually pulled closer to the platform. When it was hovering above the inner part of the platform edge, the Enforcers gradually manipulated their binds to bring the wraith lower until it eventually touched the platform floor. The sealing circle glowed brightly and activated its magic. Gathering a huge swirl of energy, a huge paranormal force soon surged from the epicenter and seized the wraith while it’s in mid air. Now that the seal was in effect, the Enforcers released their hold and watched as the wraith was pulled towards the seal’s epicenter. While it was being dragged towards the center, the wraith severed the last binding trends and finished self-imprinting its runes. But even with the additional buffs, the wraith could not withstand the seal. In a last attempt to thwart the seal, the wraith raised its phantom blade and pierced the tip down onto the seal’s structural outline to disrupt the seal’s functions. As the phantom blade cut through the seal’s workings, the sealing circle flashed on and off. Registering the new threat, the Enforcer resumed bombarding the wraith with various offensive spells. As it got hit, the various impacts misplaced the wraith’s hold on its phantom blade. Although it did not entirely loose its grip, the wraith was forced to pull the blade out of the ground. The seal resumed its effects and the wraith was pulled closer to the center. Once it’s hovering above the seal’s inner segments, the wraith turned it’s gaze up one final time before it saw Enforcer Gazeth standing at the epicenter with Acriscius’s blood vial in his hand. Popping open the vial cock, Enforcer Gazeth emptied the vial. The seal swirled with Dark Magic once more before enveloping the wraith in a mass of energy. The sudden influx of magic disoriented the wraith and threw it out of balance. With a burst of magic, Enforcer Gazeth ran away from the center. As he looked back, the wraith was engulfed in a small vortex of energy similar to the corruption ritual earlier. The epicenter soon materialized a circular portal to the seal’s isolated dimension. As the wraith’s body was sucked into the seal’s epicenter, its phantom blade dispersed and the wraith struggled to reach out to the air. But even if it could cast another spell, it did not have the time. The seal dragged it fully into the epicenter and ended it all with a flash. Eyes on the epicenter, the Enforcers spent the next few minutes panting softly. Even though things may be over, they still needed to be sure that the thing wouldn’t come out again. When they were assured of their success, the Enforcers turned their attention to registering their wounded and making sure that Fremin was still in his bounds. Now that the worst was over, Cadeus breathed a small sigh of relief. However, his blissful moment was soon interrupted when Miss Allis came to check on him. “Cadeus! My little brother!” “For the last time, I’m not your little brother.” Dismissing the two of them, Enforcer Kutsurov turned his attention to Acriscius. “The Enforcers will take over from here. Is this turnout satisfactory to you? Or would you prefer to oversee the clean up?” “No. It’s fine. I see no problem with the actions the Enforcers undertook.” “That’s great. Give me a moment. I’ll get you guys to the surface.” Just when Enforcer Kutsurov was about to activate the teleportation circle on his belt, the entire platform shook. All eyes returned to the sealing circle when the wraith’s arm tore through the paranormal dimension and materialized out of the ground. “What the…” “Oi, oi, oi ,OI! You have got to be kidding!!” “The Pure Blood’s blood did not work?” The various key points of the sealing circle that had Acriscius’s blood were continuously blinking on and off while the wraith’s fingers dug a strong grip on the ground. It then attempted to pull itself out. “I don’t understand. What is the meaning of this?” Acriscius said. The nearest Enforcers moved in to cast barriers and anti-hex enchantments in preparation. While they busy themselves, the other division leaders soon moved to Enforcer Gazeth and Kutsurov. “Hey. What’s the meaning of this? Gazeth, you are the sealing Specialist. Did the seal not work?” Enforcer Lagrez asked. Enforcer Cliffrai and Enforcer Navia held similar grim expressions. Enforcer Gazeth placed a few fingers on his chin. “There’s nothing wrong with the seal. In fact, I would say that the seal is in perfect working condition” Enforcer Kutsurov opened his mouth. “Could the wraith’s earlier disruption cause any disruption to the seal?” “Yes. The wraith did cut into the seal’s structural outline earlier. Could there been any tampered effects?” Enforcer Navia followed. Enforcer Gazeth waved their concerns away. “No it shouldn’t be. The circle is too large for such a small cut to cause any major effect. Plus, as long as the key points were still untouched, there should not be a problem with the seal. The only explanation would be…” The surrounding Enforcers waited in anticipation. “…I can only think of one explanation. The blood we used was not strong enough to completely seal the wraith.” Acriscius frowned. “Are you saying that my Blood Strength is not enough?” Of course, for a Greater Noble Pure Blood to be told that his Blood Strength was weak, it was definitely quite an insult. “Take no offense Lord Acriscius. This just means that this wraith must be a very strong being. In fact, it’s too strong to be something that came out of Fremin’s attempted corruption ritual. No… I have a feeling that this wraith must be much more ancient.” “Meaning to say that it’s made a very long time ago.” “It’s highly possible. Whoever made this wraith must be an ancient Pure Blood who had a much stronger Blood Strength than Lord Acriscius here.” “…” Acriscius could not make a rebuttal to that analysis. Since Acriscius was not going to open his mouth, Enforcer Gazeth continued his analysis. “Perhaps the ancients intended for this wraith to be some sort of guardian.” “Guardian for what?” “Who knows… maybe the last two levels?” Enforcer Cliffrai cut in at this stage. “So what do we do? The lord’s blood did not work, and I doubt that we have a stronger medium to reseal this wraith.” Cadeus soon had a brainwave. “Then how about using my blood for another attempt?” Everyone turned their surprise faces to him. “The imposter thinks he has a higher Blood Strength than me?” Acriscius exclaimed. The Enforcers had a different opinion. “It could work.” “Anything.” “As long as we have a chance to get rid of that thing.” Enforcer Kutsurov took out a syringe and a blood vial. “Here, use these and be quick. Miss Allis, from now on Cadeus is your responsibility. Gazeth, you stay here with him. Once he gives you his blood, redo what you have to do. The rest of us will move to the seal’s epicenter. If we hit it hard enough, we might be able to push it back into the seal for good.” The plan sounds good. The other division leaders nodded. When the seal shook again, everyone turned to see that the wraith had successfully dragged its head and upper torso out. Soon, both of its hands were free. But even with both hands out, the seal was still active in sucking the wraith back in. The wraith was forced to place both hands on the platform to help pull it out. “Shit!” While the Enforcers went back to the sealing circle, Cadeus quickly took out his Velcro and put it on. Flexing his muscles, Cadeus selected a vein before piercing the tip of the syringe into his skin. Meanwhile, the Enforcers started another barrage of offensive spells. But when the wraith noticed their presence, it quickly ceased pulling itself out and casted a spherical barrier around it for protection. Although this action caused it to sink back in, the wraith was quick to grip the floor and resume pulling itself out. Passing the blood vial to Enforcer Gazeth, Cadeus watched as he ran to the key points of the sealing circle again. Dropped the blood onto the same key points, Enforcer Gazeth was dripping in cold sweat. He must work quickly, for the wraith could pull itself out at any moment. Once he’s done, Enforcer Gazeth reached down for the sealing outline and activated a separate sequence. In order to secure the wraith at it’s current position, Enforcer Gazeth quickly finished dropping Cadeus’s blood onto the last key point before activating a separate sequence. The various key points of the sealing circle flared up in a different colour before shooting out paranormal chains towards the epicenter. The wraith became restrained in its movements. Although it was still hanging by the edge, it still stubbornly held itself at that same spot. But that was all Enforcer Gazeth needed. Noticing this change, the division leaders gave signals to the other Enforcers to cease-fire while Enforcer Gazeth ran for the epicenter. Reaching the epicenter, Enforcer Gazeth was this close to the wraith, but the wraith could only do as much as look at him. “Get sealed and stay sealed you beast.” Without wasting anymore time, Enforcer Gazeth emptied the blood vial. The seal glowed brightly once more before sucking the wraith strongly back into the seal. The wraith struggled to keep its grip, but even though its fingers were strong, the platform floor was not. Part of the floor gave way and it’s griping fingers soon slide back down. Before the wraith could grasp another hold, it was completely sucked in. The seal closed the paranormal gap between dimensions, and the wraith was gone with a flash and boom. After waiting for an additional five minutes, someone broke the silence. “Is it over?” The Enforcers remained vigilant for a couple of minutes until they were more certain. “It’s over. The wraith is not coming out.” Breathing a huge sigh of relief, the Enforcers relaxed. Following safety protocol, the Division leaders soon recalled their own team to check on their conditions. Once everyone’s safety was accounted for, Enforcer Gazeth and Kutsurov met again with Allis before addressing Acriscius. “So for the sake of accountability let me ask you again. Is this turnout satisfactory?” Enforcer Kutsurov said. “Hmph. Everything was fine. But what vexed me was that the Imposter’s blood worked.” “My lord! Would you rather it failed?” Enforcer Gazeth exclaimed. Not caring about the history between the two Pure Bloods, Enforcer Kutsurov looked around for the ‘imposter’ in question. “Miss Allis, where’s the lad?” As the three Enforcers turned to look, Cadeus was nowhere to be found. “Um… Cadeus?” Miss Allis called. “Damn it Miss Allis. I thought I said that the boy’s your responsibility?” While the three started to search frantically for their Pure Blooded friend, Enforcer Navia came towards them. “This is bad. Fremin’s gone.” ““““…What?”””” “How?” Enforcer Kutsurov demanded. “He left behind a body double and casted an illusion on it.” “Damn these Alchemists. They always love to use all sorts of things.” TOA Fermin limped as quickly as he can. When the Enforcers apprehended him earlier, the bindings sprained one of his ankles. He could not run, but he still could walk. After he managed to free his limbs, Fremin reached for one of his many pockets and took out a small object that serves as a mini double of himself. Using magic to expand the item, Fremin also spent whatever remains of his Cast Limit to cast an illusion. Now, his body double looked like the real him. Fremin had expected some of the Enforcers to notice his escape. But since no one bothered to look at his way, Fremin quickly seized the opportunity and left the platform. Five mintues later, and he’s on the ninth level. It was rather surprising that no one noticed his absence. Well of course they wouldn’t. They were too preoccupied with that wraith anyway. Pausing to take a breath, Fremin spent a moment to recollect on his situation. At the moment, he could not cast any more magic. Fremin was already suffering from the drawbacks of over using magic. Physical penalties were on the toll, but Fremin was barely able to keep his fatigue in check. But all was not lost. Before the ritual started, Fremin had instructed his Apprentice to place runic lights around specific pathways to serve as a backup escape route should teleportation fail to work. The runic lights would only react to you if you have a special mark. As such, the Enforcers should have a hard time figuring out which passage way he took. By now, the entrance would be swarming with Enforcers, and his mansion should be under raid and inspection. But that did not matter. Fremin had prepared safe houses throughout all of Otium. Even if he’s a wanted man in Central, there were various means to escape the law. All Fremin had to do was to wait at a safe distance before he had recovered enough magic to teleport to a safer place. But still, Fremin was surprised at how things went crazily wrong. Things had developed way beyond what he could comprehend, and there were two major reasons for it. Firstly, the Enforcers intervened too fast. Fremin was aware that the Enforcers were Mages of the highest caliber. But then, there should have been enough obstacles prepared to buy them the necessary time. The closest estimation Fremin could make was that the Enforcers to show up at most five minutes after he managed to discharge the ritual and escape the area with the cart via teleportation. “Come to think of it, Viper said that he would help me distract the Enforcers for a little longer. Did something happen to him?” Viper did not mention anything about meeting him again. He had done his part in bringing Fremin the cart, and that was all there was to be. He did not seem to be interested in the ritual’s success or failure, but shouldn’t he at least stay through to the end to report the outcome to his boss? Secondly, his friends all died in the ritual attempt. Even though the white protective circles Viper’s team set up were supposed to help them, they ended up dying anyway. How was it possible? Viper assured Fremin that the white circles were strong enough to withstand the corruption ritual. “Wait… hold on.” As he recalled the last few moments of the ritual, rather than protect them, Fremin was sure that the white protective circles were somehow trapping his friends more rather than protecting them. They were trying to break out, but the white barriers prevented them from leaving. Was it a protective measure? The more Fremin pondered about this, the more Fremin got the feeling that Viper did not deliver what he promised. First he promised protection against the corruption ritual, and then he promised distracting the Enforcers. Both were not delivered, and instead it felt like they were abandoned. It did not take Fremin that long to figure out a conclusion. “Damn it Viper! You freaking back stabber!” Viper must have long expected that things won’t go as planned, and chose to leave them behind anyway. “Come to think of it, did he also sabotage the barrier defenses so that the Enforcers could reach us faster? Damn him! Wait till I get out of here! Once I’m free from the Enforcers… wait… perhaps I could turn myself into the Enforcers. I could make up a story about how I was tricked into making that corruption ritual! The Enforcers might not buy it entirely, but if there’s a lead to another suspect, they’ll be sure to let me have some degree of freedom!” With such a twisted plan in mind, Fremin nodded his head with absolute certainty. That’s right, he was going to make Viper regret ever crossing him. “Just wait Viper. If your boss gets hold of the information that the Enforcers had a lead to you, you’ll definitely not get away with it. GYA HA HA HA HA!” BBBZZZZZZZZZ! In that very instance, something struck Fremin hard. He was thrown up in the air for a short moment, before collapsing to the side. “Eh… eh?” It felt like a bang. Aside from feeling a short glimpse of pain, Fremin smelled something that was burnt and part of his body felt strangely numb. With the glittering remnants of blue electric sparks all over his body, it did not take Fremin that long to realize that he had been hit by a lightning spell. “This stunning sensation… [Lightning Caste]?” While marveling at the fact that he got hit by such a simple spell, Fermin tried to get up. ... ... No good. His limbs are completely in pain, and he could not move. The most he could do was to move his neck. Taking a look at his own body, Fremin saw that part of his robes had burned. The exposed skin was scorched red and black. Since he was not feeling any pain, it should be a third degree burn. This was an attack, but who did it? If it were an imprinted rune for booby traps, Fermin would have seen remnants of the runic circle somewhere. But the lightning spell was shot from a vertical angle, as if someone deliberately aimed for him. "W-Who’s there?" Fermin saw a hooded shadow. It's getting closer to him. But as it got closer, the silhouette is more like a child's. A student? The figure walked to him until he's right in front of him. From the light of the runic marking reflected his face. It was that Pure Blood who threw him out of the ritual circle, the same Pure Blood he had kidnapped yesterday. “You? How did you… I see, you noticed me setting up that double and followed me… So, you got me. What now? Turn me in over to the Enforcers? Actually, I would appreciate it if you do, this is a whole set up!" Cadeus did not reply. Instead, he gave Fremin another shocking barrage as multiple Lightning arcs flew from his fingertips. Watching Fremin scream in pain, Cadeus had never felt so relaxing. Giving him space to recover, Cadeus stood looking down him Cadeus held the lightning for several more seconds, and then he released his concentration. "I have questions, you're going to answer them." Fremin panted before looking up at him again. "You brat, are you crazy?” With a worn out old man in front of him, Cadeus seized this opportunity to use one of Claire’s investments. Focusing the magic within his forearm, he reached out and activated the hex she gave him. When Fremin recognized the hex mark on his body, he began dripping on cold sweat. “Ok! Ok! Ok! You’ve made your point! What do you want?” “First, the ritual’s purpose and why.” “Well… you see, the ritual is not our idea. It’s a collaborative project that was initiated by a rather wealthy client. In exchange for our demands for Alchemical ingredients, we agreed to help them.” “What’s in it for you?” “The client got our interests with the promises of rare Alchemical ingredients… promises that he actually fulfilled! If you are thinking of comparing them to the usual backstabbing dealers.” Of course, it always had something to do with the ingredients… "Go on." "They promised the ingredients, those that I want, those that are even banned by the High Council but who cares? All I have to do is help them do some ritual, and so we did the job.” “By planting the corruption ritual directly below the Academy?” “Listen up boy. There are risks involving corruption ritual, but we are too far deep for the ritual to have any effect on the surface. Did no one teach you about – oh… I forgot you are still a student. Listen kid, Class 5 rituals may be known for their wide range effect. We may not be able to manipulate the distance, but once we make a few tweaks to the ritual inscriptions, we can manipulate how high the ritual effects would reach.” “Is that so?” “Boy! Do you think we Alchemists are such terrible villains? If we put the Academy at risk, we might wipe out a future generation of Alchemists!” You knew that it’s dangerous for your ‘future generation of Alchemists’, and yet you chose to plant the ritual anyway… Cadeus thought.   If he was truly trying to be sincere, Cadeus found it hard to believe him. “Why the Academy? Why here?” “Client request. Something related to the rumoured last two levels. The corruption ritual is meant to destabilize the seal leading to it.” “So there’s a seal to the lower levels…” “Yes there is. We can't even find it or see it. But we were told that the corruption ritual would destabilize it and reveal the doorway to us.” “And instead you unleashed a powerful wraith.” “We didn’t know about the wraith! No one told us about it! We were only interested in the ingredients that were promised. We did not know a single thing about that wraith I swear it!” “Perhaps your client didn’t even know about it.” “Perhaps they didn’t, perhaps they did. At this point in time, I have a feeling that they actually do!” Consolidating what he had gathered, Cadeus moved on with his interrogation. “This ritual… is beyond you. Even if you are a Master, even if you have the wealth and connections, you could not have pulled this off. This is a collaboration.” “Smart lad. I want you as my Apprentice.” Cadeus ignored him. “As for your client… From the way you were speaking, rather than dealing with a certain individual, you dealt with an organization. You were part of something larger. Larger than what the Enforcers initially hoped.” “Well… pulling off this grand ritual is definitely beyond us. We already pointed it out to the client.” “And in doing so, your client, whoever he was, offered support.” “Quick thinking! You have the brains for Alchemy. Say are you interested in – ” Cadeus silenced him with a new barrage of electricity. He’s really starting to get tired of these egoistic Alchemical maniacs. Giving Fremin some space and time to gather himself, Cadeus soon got to the heart of the matter. “Who is your client?” “A member of a very dangerous organization.” “Which is?” Fremin smiled. “Are you sure you want to know boy? This organization is beyond you.” Not in the mood for more jokes, Cadeus flickered intensifying volts of lightning on his right fingertips once again. Shutting his mouth, Fremin quickly gave Cadeus the answer he sought. “Trebunus Legacy. The organization is called Trebunus Legacy.” Cadeus allowed the lightning to die off from his fingers. Trebunus Legacy. Trebunus… Trebunus, Trebunus, Trebunus… Why did that word sound so familiar? “What are the organization's motives?” “They want to destroy the High Council, and all the laws they are using to govern the society.” So basically they were an anti High Council organization… Cadeus did not find that new, surprisingly. He always knew that there are people out there who detested the High Council, more so when they form groups to express their various governmental frustrations. It’s all the same on Earth anyway. No government system was perfect. There were bound to be some minority who hates their government for their policies. Wanting to destroy the High Council was something that’s pretty extreme, but good luck with that. Going up against the High Council is like a child going up against a strongly build man of his prime. Cadeus was sure that in the past there are numerous such organizations that challenged the High Council only to be eliminated in the process. Really, how old could this get? "Can you identify those people who approached you?" Fremin shook his head. “I can only identify one by the face. The name he gave me was a false alibi. As for the others, they were wearing masks.” Smart… they are smart. Cadeus thought. “I saw no men in masks.” “That’s because they weren’t there. They've fulfilled their end of the bargain by the time we started that ritual. I saw them place the ingredients I wanted in a cart that was driven by one of my acolytes. The same cart that was lost apparently, when that wraith threw that stone barrage… damn wraith.” "And they did not stay to watch the ritual?" "They did not, they said they are confident in my abilities. Besides, they left to distract the Enforcers. Since you never met them it only confirms that Viper backstabbed me.” So the guy’s name was Viper… Cadeus saved that alibi name as a mental note. In conclusion, whoever set these alchemists up obviously knew the result. The wraith unleashed would kill them all. They used the Alchemists' ego and their enthusiasm of getting rare ingredients against them. Whoever they were, they were smart, and extremely dangerous. Trebunus Legacy, Cadeus had the feeling that they were one dangerous organization. "So what now? You got your answers, why don't you just let me go?" Cadeus snapped back to reality. Fremin was still on the ground, unmoving. The numbness would wear off in a matter of hours. Right now, Cadeus saw two paths ahead of him. The first ideal path would be to turn Fremin in to the Enforcers to help them with their investigation. By doing so, the Enforcers could surely catch this Viper character one day along with the various people associated with this Trebunus Legacy. The other path that was less sensible, would be for Cadeus to take matter in his own hands. In other words, kill Fremin. Why kill Fremin? Egoistic alchemists were not the type to forget being insulted easily. If Cadeus let him off the hook, Fremin would come back and haunt them. Plus it was evident that Fremin held no moral conscious to go for the extremes just to obtain rare alchemical ingredients. Perhaps that was the reason why he was even kidnapped. Miss Allis did mention that the Blood of Pure Bloods were the purest mediums of magic. From that previous syringe hole on his elbow, Fremin must had extracted a little of his blood when he was unconscious. When Cadeus thought about it, was his blood was somehow used for the failed corruption ritual earlier? If a man like Fremin were to walk free again, who’s to say that he won’t kidnap Cadeus again? Or worse, other Pure Bloods? Cadeus closed his eyelids and squeezed his eyeballs. After making a decision, he opened his eyes with cold-hearted resolve. Deep down, Cadeus felt to a huge degree, letting Fremin live would be dangerous for him and his friends in the future. Cadeus knew that he should not be thinking of all these for his age, but there was only one answer. With his right hand at his side, Cadeus spread his right fingers. A pure black hazy mist began to form around his hand. Sensing the odd atmosphere, Fremin soon felt uncomfortable when he saw that black mist in Cadeus’s hand. “What… what are you doing?” Cadeus took two steps back as a safety precaution. He did not want his own flesh to get in the way. Fremin looked at that black mist with great effort, until he barely recognizes it. "You… That spell… That deathly sensation… That is no normal spell. There's only one family of Pure Bloods who can do that." "Really? Then perhaps I'm the first person outside this family to know this spell." “Impossible, that spell is a Blood Gift! You can only use that spell if you are born within that family.” Cadeus brought his right hand up. “Wait! Wait! Is this about the kidnapping? Say, which family are you from anyway? If it’s money you want, I can pay you any amount to help you overlook this unfortunate history between us!” With a single thought, the black mist departed from his hand and shot itself towards the unfortunate victim. As the black mist engulfed Fremin, he wanted to scream. However, this particular spell could not inflict any pain. Fremin could only watch Cadeus watching him, as his conscious slowly withers away. After several seconds, all that remained of Fremin, are his left over clothes and skeleton. Flesh, blood and tissue were all disintegrated, and his bones left behind a brown-yellowish colour. Now that he had dealt with Fremin, Cadeus felt a lingering vibration in one of his pockets. Taking out the caller, he soon saw the face of Miss Allis screaming at him. “Cadeus! Where are you?!” “Hi Miss Allis. I seem to have lost Fremin.” “You… what? Eh?” “Sorry I took off. I noticed Fremin escaping by setting up a body double. You seemed pretty occupied at the wraith, so I took the liberty of following him.” “That’s dangerous! Bad! Bad Cadeus! What if you got his attention?!” “No worries. I’m sure Fremin hit his Cast Limit after setting up that double. He seemed to be limping severely while holding his side. I think he might have some intense physical penalties.” “That’s still no excuse! Oh never mind! Stay where you are! I’m coming over to your side soon!” Miss Allis soon cut the call. Staring down at Fremin’s corpse, Cadeus turned and walked away without any additional thoughts. This was not the first time he had killed a person, and Cadeus surprisingly did not feel any regret. People often say that a human's state of mind was split in a constant battle between logic and feelings. But Cadeus seriously did not feel anything wrong in taking a person's life. If another person of his age were to step in his shoes, he would have probably feel guilt and regret in killing a person. But not Cadeus. He just felt… nothing. All he knew, was that he had to do it, and it surprisingly satisfied his sub-conscious. Perhaps that was what made him so different from the rest people around him. Whatever his mind said, his subconscious would be satisfied 90% of the time. That did scared Cadeus at times. Certain thoughts were just beyond a simple teenager’s mind. And yet, here he was, taking a person's life and feeling nothing wrong about it. TOA Miss Allis was a terrible lecturer. It was rather easy to switch off and act sorry when she reprimanded him. Once the teleportation finished its work, Cadeus found himself back at the surface. The entrance was swarming with Enforcers. After a few more seconds, Cadeus found himself sitting at an Apothecary tentage booth with a towel over his shoulders and a mug of hot chocolate. Miss Allis had to sort out some painful paper works, so Cadeus was eventually left alone. Whilst savouring the sweet taste of chocolate, Cadeus saw Enforcer Kutsurov coming to check on him. “Before you start lecturing me about how stupid I am to chase after Fremin, I already got my full steam from Miss Allis.” “Oh it’s definitely stupid, stupid and dangerous. But we also work along the lines of stupid risks and dangers at times, so I’m not going to lecture you.” “You Enforcers sure have it tough.” “Tell me about it.” Enforcer Kutsurov sat next to Cadeus. “So how’s the tenth level?” “You blood worked and nothing funny happened. We left the seal alone and started fixing up the rest.” “Anything interesting I ought to know?” Enforcer Kutsurov took out a small zip lock plastic bag. Apparently, the piece of crime scene evidence inside was a broken used blood vial. “This is not one of ours, and this is not what Lord Acriscius used either. There’s a high chance that this belonged to Fremin.” “I think it’s my blood.” “…Care to elaborate?” “When Fremin kidnapped me in that mansion yesterday, I awoke with a syringe hole at my elbow.” Cadeus pulled up his sleeve and pointed at the wound site that definitely seem less fresh than the latest blood withdrawal. “I see… well, we still got a few drops of your blood with Enforcer Gazeth, we’ll do a blood comparison just in case.” “…Is there a chance of you arresting me for being a suspect?” “We have every cause to suspect anyone that might be involved. But don’t worry. I have seen your history and past records. You do not have enough motives and evidences to make me suspect you of anything related to this case.” “That’s… refreshing.” Cadeus brought the mug to his lips. “…Enforcer Kutsurov, how are my friends” “They’re fine. Nothing serious happened. Their physical and mental conditions are sound, and I just checked that they had just finished their respective debriefings. They were long out of Tenebris Vacuum.” “Debriefing? Oh right… just like normal cops.” Miss Allis soon returned and dropped opposite Cadeus with a stack of paper with a pen in front of her. “What is this” Cadeus asked. “Your debriefing.” Enforcer Kutsurov answered. He soon stood up to leave. “Take your time with that mug. Go slow on him Miss Allis.” “Gotcha!” Watching Enforcer Kutsurov leave, Cadeus soon returned his attention to Miss Allis. “Now then, time for paper work.” “I thought you hated paper work.” “I do and I still do. You can imagine the current pain I am enduring to work on this first handed report.” “Right.” Miss Allis sat across Cadeus and fumbled through the various pages. “So… taking out the eighteen Untouched who surrendered, eleven mages are already in binds, two will be isolated in a hospital, and a coupe of individuals missing.” Miss Allis filled him in. “Missing? Which ones?” “Aside from Fremin, a few unaccounted Mages.” “Of course.” “So let’s just start again, from the very top after you left us.” “Fremin set up a body double and casted illusion to make it behave like him. He soon left limping with a hand at his side. He’s suspected to have severe physical penalties due to over usage of magic.” “Go on.” “It turns out there were some runic markings placed on the catacomb pillars beforehand indicating some sort of trail. I think it was one of their escape routes.” “We did come across those. There was more than one route. What else?” “Fremin engaged me again. He noticed I was chasing him, then he casted a few offensive [Point Spells] forcing me to seek cover.” “Strange… that highly intensive ritual should have taken plenty of his Cast Limit. I guess Masters have quite a high count of Cast Limit. Thankfully he only had to resort to [Point Spells].” “Ah… true.” “And then after that?” Cadeus shook his head. “I’m afraid I lost him.” “I see… pity… well, the most important thing is that you are safe.” “Any chances he would come back for us?” That question was unnecessary since Cadeus knew Fremin’s true fate, but he still need to ask for the sake of feigning ignorance, as well as for the sake of diverting any future suspicions. Miss Allis smiled, it looks like she took the story. “Don’t worry. I doubt Fremin had you and your friends at the back of his mind. Now that he’s on the run, he has more important things to worry about. Besides, we will catch him one day. If Fremin dare shows himself up, we’ll catch him before he can do something.” “That’s… good to know.” “Well, aside from all these details, we might need to have a few follow up appointments with you and your friends to verify some information. As such, we might have to call on you tomorrow again. “Right. I understand.” At this moment, a rather unexpected voice intruded upon their conversation. “My, my, my. With all that you’ve been through, you’re lucky to still be alive boy.” “It can't be… Mr. Morrison?” Cadeus turned to see a shady looking man in his thirties dressed in a heavy trench coat with a pair of sunglasses and a hat. “Miss Allis, if you would please?” “Off course.” Miss Allis quickly got up and left the two of them to continue her investigation. Now that the two of them were alone, Mr. Morrison pulled out a chair and sat down. “I see you met my subordinate.” “And I see that you are still keeping tabs on me, as usual.” “Of course I have to. You are the most interesting case I had in seven years. Obviously I have to keep tabs on you to check your progress.” “And how is your assessment on my progress.” “Pretty damn good. Only, one thing.” “Hit me.” “Please stop getting into trouble.” “There are all kinds of troubles out there Mr. Morrison. You’ll have to be a lot more specific than that.” “Don’t get me wrong. Helping the Enforcers is a good thing. Just don’t get dragged into any more of their works. It really saves me from having to worry about you all the time.” “You? Worry about me?” “Obviously? I was the one who convinced your mother into letting you come here. I’m not a good person to handle sad mothers should any tragedy befall on their sons.” It was hard for Cadeus to tell if he was really being serious, or he was joking sarcastically. “Well… you can't blame me for the simple Board Quests that I have chosen.” “Simple? What have you done so far? Gordon’s mirror? Veydra’s Concuction? The Mystical box? Now this?” “… It just so happens that the quests my team chooses just turns out to be more than what the surface seems.” “It would really help if you could do more of the simple ones.” “The simple ones don’t pay much.” “I can tell. These jobs you have taken so far have at least 250 Duches for a reward. But you are still a student. Even if the reward was split between the three of you, why do you need so much money anyway?” Cadeus did not want to tell him about his plans after graduation. Cadeus planned to stick to his promise to Sing to help her look for her father, but searching for her father after graduation would take up a lot of resources. In order to be thoroughly prepared for their journey, they need money, a lot of it, for both lodging and information. Besides, he also considered staying on Zeffernon to pursue a Specialization. Cadeus doubt that the Academy would cover him financially once he graduates. Getting as many Duches as he could would allow him to survive in Zeffernon for a couple of months before he would get a legitimate job. But Cadeus did not say that out loud either. Sensing the continuous silence between them, Mr. Morrison chose not to purse this irrelevant matter. Instead, he decided to bring up another matter. “I have spoken to your mother recently.” “Ensuring her I am not playing lazy and telling her I am apparently having a good time.” “Ha! Is that how she sees our appointments?” “Who knows? My mother can be… quite eccentric if the moment calls for it.” “You don’t have to tell me about that.” “So… any new leads?” “About your lineage? Still cold.” “…Ouch.” “But don’t worry, we’ll find the right dots one day.” “What does the High Council have to say in regards to this?” Mr. Morrison gave a painful face. “Ah… Well… let’s just say that the High Council does not really know about my investigation yet.” What? Now that was a surprise. “You did not report to them about me?” “I’m planning to do so only after I confirm your actual lineage. I would not want to bring up any misleading hopes of a restoration.” “True, that makes sense… but wait. Shouldn't the Archmage know about my case?” “Explicitly. I had to go through some trouble to ask for his cooperation to keep quiet about your case. But fret not, the Archmage and I are acquainted well enough for me to exert some of my own influence.” “I see…” “But still, you are quite the nutcase. Why is it that you are always getting into fights in Tenebris Vacuum?” “Shouldn't the answer be obvious? Please hurry up and confirm if my lineage is legit or not. If it is, those idiots can finally shut up. If it’s not, I’ll just have to register under an alternate family name. Either way, those idiots would finally leave me alone.” “HA HA HA HA! I see that you are as cynical as always.” Mr. Morrison brought his hands together. “But please, really, do not get yourself into any more troubles. It’ll make my working days ten times more enjoyable.” “Good to know that you still intent to keep close tabs on me.” “Well of course! If my investigation turns out to be positive, I’ll be greatly rewarded. In the best scenario, I might even be promoted to the nobility.” “Please don’t. I think you might regret it.” “Ha ha ha ha. You say that because you are ignorant of the adult world. If you become a noble you’ll get lots of perks. But that’s strange. You sound like you do not want to be a noble.” Cadeus could only shake his head and drink from his mug of hot chocolate. Having dealt with nobles up close, Cadeus found them to be overall disgusting, especially when it came to dealing with a certain haughty individual. “Come on. Look at the bright side. You are a Pure Blood. That already speaks a lot for Dark Mages. Even if you are not a noble, finding a job in Otium is not a problem, marrying into the nobility is also not a problem. Whatever it is, your life would be comfortable. If you are indeed descended from that family, your life will change immensely. You might even find yourself an extremely influential girl to be your girlfriend. Like that girl from the Rrogust ve Chroma family.” “PPPFFFFF!!!” Cadeus was barely able to make of that thought when he choked on his hot chocolate. “Claire?! Are you nuts?!” “Oh! Is that a shred of intimacy I sense in your voice?” Unwillingly to hear any more of this nonsense, Cadeus immediately stood up and went to the apothecary booth for a final checkup. With nothing left to converse, Mr. Morrison smiled and left to resume his investigations. TOA “All right. No bone fractures, no lacerations, nothing serious whatsoever.” The Apothecary confirmed. “Can I go now?” “Well, Miss Allis told me that she’s done with you so I guess you can go. But before you do, be mindful of your body for the next couple of days. Should you feel anything abnormal per say chest pain, nausea, headaches, any lack of sleep, please report to the Academy’s Infirmary.” Taking the towel off his shoulders, Cadeus left the apothecary booth. After teleporting back to Converse Hall, Cadeus was walking down the corridor when he saw a familiar person leaning against the wall arms folded. “You survived.” “Yes. Kind of you to notice.” Claire pulled herself straight and stretched her back before leaning back against the wall. She’s still wearing the same clothes. “Why are you still here?” “I wanted to see if my investment paid off. Clearly it did.” “Meaning I’m still alive.” “That’s right. Be grateful.” “Well… your enchantments are a huge boon in a way, but dealing with that muscle head later was definitely a worse headache.” Claire gave him the glare when he mentioned ‘in a way’, but she soon showed a hint of sympathy when he said ‘dealing with that muscle head’. “Ah… of course.” Cadeus looked at her excessively from top to bottom. “Your clothes, I thought you said that you were going to shower? Oh wait, let me guess. The Enforcers stationed on the surface caught you sneaking out and forced you to stay till the end.” Claire ignored the tone of mockery in his voice. “Wrong. Since I ‘got lost’, the Enforcers stationed on the surface made me stay in case things got out of hand. Once things got resolved, they merely debriefed me before letting me go.” Cadeus raised an eyebrow. “You ‘got lost’? What an awfully convenient story.” “It wasn’t a story. We did get lost.” “I seriously wonder. How is getting lost ever a possibility with your crystal abilities?” Claire rolled her eyes and ignored him. “So, I heard there was a wraith. Tell me. How did it end?” “If you are that interested perhaps you shouldn’t have left.” “Don’t make me repeat myself.” “Well, if you want to know so bad… It was very ghastly, dozens dead, and we were all sweating our pants.” Claire rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Save me the drama imposter. If I wanted to hear your pathetic attempts, I would have made sure that many people will be there to witness your embarrassing act.” “Right, assuming if you ever cared.” Claire gave him the glare. “Sigh… wraith showed up, started killing people. The Enforcers used a class 4 seal since normal exorcism methods will not work. Acriscius offered his blood as a medium, but the first sealing attempt failed.” “The first? And it failed? With Acriscius’s blood?” “Yup, total failure.” “And then?” “They used my blood instead. Strange thing is, it worked.” Claire bit her lower lip and looked down in self-absorbed silence for the next couple of seconds. “Acriscius will not like it.” “Oh he definitely hates me more for it.” Claire looked at him again. “If your blood works instead of Acriscius’s, it just means that you have a higher Blood Strength than him. Do you know the implications of this?” “Definitely, which is why I’m going to keep quiet. You don’t need to tell me to be discrete about this… uncertain phenomena.” Claire gave him a nod of approval. “Good. This piece of information must never get out.” “Yes, yes. I know.” Claire was not done with him. Cadeus did not know how he knew, but he knew. “Anything else? I’m exhausted. If you want to redeem one of my owed favours, now is not the time. Whatever it is, please keep it simple.” Claire let her arms down and stood up straight. “Back in the Arthropod queen’s chamber, you saved me from being squashed. I’ll grant you one reward, as long as it is within reason.” Oh? An unexpected reward? Could this be what they call a noble’s reward? “Can you strike off all the favours I owe you?” “I said within reason.” “…Then can you not sue my friend Nadav for sexual harassment?” “…” Claire gave a thought. “Fine. I’ll accept that request. But the next time your vulgar friend talks to me like that – ” “Court, fine and jail for sexually harassing a Greater Noble. You don’t have to tell me.” Claire smiled. “Good.” TOA “Sorry… say what?” “Fremin is dead. Viper.” “He’s dead? Ah…” Crossing his legs, Viper scratched his head out of frustration for he did not know what make of this. “I went through the trouble of staying back and sneaking around, only to find out that there is no need to clean up?” The mini projections of two masked men looked up to Viper for instructions. “What should we do now?” “Hm…” While staring down at the image projected by the Caller, Viper crossed his arms and pondered himself into deep thought. “What should we do? The boss assigned us all with a fail-safe plan, and that was to tie up any loose ends. Well… if you say he’s dead, then all that is left for us would be to verify his death before the Enforcers arrive. Are you currently at where he died?” “Yes.” “Ah! Good!” Viper soon stood up. “Teleport me over there.” It only took them five seconds to do as Viper commanded. When Viper saw the skeletal remains of Fremin, his eyes widened in amazement. “Ho! Unbelievable! Oi, oi oi! Are you two looking at this?” ““Um… yes.”” “No really, this is Fremin?” “Yes, sir. It is. We aleady checked the clothes and the remaining magical traces on the items he had on possession.” “Isn’t this strange? Isn’t this amazing? How on Zeffernon could Fremin end up in such a sad state? Hey! Were you two here when this happened?” ““Um… no.”” “Do you know who is responsible?” ““No.”” “Ha? Then how exactly am I going to report this to the boss? Eh?” “…Maybe he triggered one of the Catacomb defences?” “Hm… I’m not sure if the boss would take that story. Sigh… the heart of the problem is that we never see him die.” Viper reached down and took a femur. “Hm… the bones seems legit, but the fact that I was not there to see it happen would discredit the claim that this guy is dead for real. Even if we were to ship the bones back for testing, it will take a while to get the results. If this thing turned out to be a body double, I would be in serious trouble.” Viper spent a moment to think. “Hm… oh well, I might as well bring back what I can. If this ain’t the right guy, I’ll just kill him if he shows up again. But still…” Viper spent a few moments to inspect the rotted femur. “But, at least this magic feels real.” Viper shoved the femur towards his two surbordinates. “Feel it. Feel the bone. You can even smell it.” The two masked men turned to each other with a ‘?’ as they utterly fail to comprehend what their superior was thinking. But once they paid close attention, Viper could see the frown behind their masks. “…This kind of magic feels different. Compared to what we are usually exposed to, this particular spell can’t be cast by a weak Mixed like Fremin.” One of them said. “I know right? I bet even we can’t cast something as Dark as this. Whoever casted this spell is no ordinary guy.” Viper passed the femur to one of his subordinates. “Gather the bones, all of it, especially the skull. I think the boss might be interested in this. Interested enough to let us off the hook for not killing Fremin personally.” TOA “Then, in conclusion for this case, cheers.” “CHEERS!” Four Enforcers grabbed their glasses of red wine and gave a long, appreciative gulp. “Wow… savouring the expensive wine straight away… this must have been a very big case.” Felkor uttered while wiping a glass. “That goes without saying Felkor. Our target this time is a sneaking Master who gave us no end to trouble when it comes to gathering evidence.” Miss Allis complained. “Heh? A Master? Is it that rare? Aren’t you the one who always complain that people provide all sorts of trouble regardless of their rank?” “Felkor! I’ll take this Midnight Meat Lovers set.” Enforcer Gazeth declared. “Yes, one Midnight Meat Lovers set.” Fremin noted down. “I’ll take the lamb chop.” Enforcer Kutsurov said. “Ok. One lamb chop.” “I’ll take the pork ribs.” Miss Allis said. “One pork ribs.” “I’ll take the salad.” Mr. Morrison said. The three Enforcers all instantly cast gazes at their last colleague. “Huh? What are you all looking at? It just so happens that I do not have the appetite for meat.” Once Felkor had secured all of the orders and laid out the food, Enforcer Gazeth soon found himself in extreme ecstasy. “MMMMmmmmm… The best thing in life, is meat after work.” Enforcer Gazerth gladly added. “Hey Gezath, you order that every single time we get here. Shouldn’t you really cut down on the meat?” “Shut up Allis, leave me alone. A man’s got to enjoy his hard earned meat. Do you know how much Cast Limit did I used today?” “You are in no position to say that. I also almost hit my limit covering for those children.” ““As if.”” Enforcer Gazeth and Kutsurov interjected. “All right, all right, stop arguing. The case is already closed and we already submitted that agonizing report.” Mr. Morrison said. The current time was 11:45 pm. After finalizing their case, the four colleagues under the employment of the High Council were currently enjoing their usual round of supper. After Felkor placed their orders before them, he began refilling their wine glasses. “So, what’s the issue this time? What crime did this Master of yours committed?” he asked. “He planted a Class 5 corruption ritual within Tenebris Vacuum’s catacombs.” Felkor almost dropped the expensive forty year old wine bottle. “When you say Class 5… you are referring to a ritual that will trigger a wide scale radius effect of at least 20 kilometers?” Felkor confirmed. “That’s right, not to mention, it was a corruption ritual.” “And when you say Corruption, as in the forbidden research regarding the primal nature of Dark Magic?” Felkor confirmed again. “That’s right.” “This Master of yours planned to blow up the Academy?!” Felkore exclaimed. “Nasty fellow right? I am so glad we pulled it off.” Miss Allis said. “We did not pull it off. Fremin’s current whereabouts are still at large.” Enforcer Kutsurov interjected. “Tch! Pesky!” Miss Allis retorted. “Well does it matter? If he dares to show himself again, we won’t be the only ones on the look out. By now, every other division would be on the look out. Plus, he would be on the top wanted list of every Noble house whose children are studying at the Academy. If we are lucky, it may not be necessary for us to continue pursuing him relentlessly. But regardless, we’ll deal with him when the time comes. For now, let’s enjoy.” Enforcer Gazeth added. “Hear! Hear!” Miss Allis happily raised her wine glass. Mr. Morrison stood up. “You guys continue. I need a smoke.” “Me too.” Enforcer Kutsurov followed. Exiting the café, the two moved to the side of the paved road. Before Mr. Morrison could take out his smoke pack, Enforcer Kutsurov offered him one of his cigarettes. “Here.” Mr. Morrison stared at the stick before taking it. Lighting their sticks, the two spent the next few minutes in silence. Rain soon followed, and the sudden change in humidity made the night even more enjoyable. “Mr. Morrison. That Pure Blooded boy is from Earth right? Where did you pick him up from?” Enforcer Kutsurov questioned. “You seem to be very interested in him.” “You’re keeping tabs on him yourself. Besides, why shouldn’t anyone? A white haired Pure Blood who is not tied to any noble family. That’s a huge abnormity.” Enforcer Kutsurov brought the cigarette to his lips and soon blew out a huge puff of smoke. “So, what’s his story?” “I thought you have seen his history?” “Only for the recent Board Quests.” Mr. Morrison took in another puff. “Unproven lineage. That’s all I can reveal.” “Is that so?” Enforcer Kutsurov soon took another puff. “Well, he’s a Pure Blood after all. If it turns out that he’s one of them…” “Let’s stop the conversation right there.” “…” Enforcer Kutsurov complied. This could be a highly sensitive case. “Is the High Council at least aware of this case?” “That’s highly confidential.” “Of course.” With nothing left to pry, Enforcer Kutsurov finished his cigarette and threw it out to the rain. “I’ve read the final report. Thank you for editing out the last bid.” Mr. Morrison added. “It’s nothing. I’m well aware that it’ll cause an uproar amongst the nobility when it is revealed that Cadeus’s blood succeeded where Lord Acriscius’s failed.” “And the other division leaders?” “Saw nothing wrong with the political implications. They all agreed to keep quiet and pass off the second attempt as a retry.” “That’s good.” “Is Cadeus aware of this?” “About the report? No. About keeping quiet? He should be. I already told him to be very quiet about his name and circumstances ever since he enrolled. But I’ll approach him about this when I see him again for the follow up appointments. Please continue to help me look after him when the time comes for it.” “Of course.” Mr. Morrison took another puff of smoke. “What about the broken blood vial you recovered from the crime scene?” “As you requested, the physical evidence has been disposed. As for the forensic report, the blood within was indeed Cadeus’s, but I fabricated it as Fremin’s.” “Excellent.” All loose ends on the Enforcer’s part were tied. With the confidence that things related to Cadeus would be fine, Mr. Morrison finished his cigarette. TOA In the next morning, the rumours had already spread. Students were already divulging themselves with the recent gossips of what happened in the catacombs. News of the Enforcers’ involvements spread like wild fire. By now, the Academy should know what had happened. With this event, the Academy faced serious questions about the gap in its security measures. Although it was argued that five skilled Masters was involved in such a wide scaled plan, the Academy still had an Archmage and three similarly skilled Masters. There should be no excuse. But that was not a thought for Cadeus to divulge, as such matters are for the adults to handle. Even if he could make all the statements he want, it’s not like he would be in any position to do anything about it. More importantly, due to their own contributions, Cadeus, Sing and Nadav were summoned. By ‘summoned’, it means that it was a calling the trio could not ignore. Why was it so? The answer was because of the authority behind the summons. It would seem, that the three of them were called in by the Student Council, and Cadeus could already guess why. With the ongoing investigations, the Educators found themselves busy co-operating with the Enforcers to aid their investigations. Since none of the adults were available at the moment, the Student Council was probably tasked in questioning them instead. In order to grasp the full story, it would definitely be better to question them individually, just as how the Enforcers did. At 8:00 am, the trio found themselves waiting outside the Student Council Office. Five seats were piled nicely at the side of the corridor. Since there was no one to bring them in yet, the three of them sat facing the window against the morning sun. In the midst of the waiting, Nadav asked a very simple question. “Hey… if the Student Council wants to hear what had happened, why did they summon us only? I mean… we are not the only ones who were involved.” Cadeus sighed. “Maybe the Student Council booked different appointments with the different parties. I doubt Claire or Acriscius could come right now.” “But that noble chick is in your colour class right? So why is she not here if she shared the same schedule as you do?” “Who knows? She’s a noble. You forget that the normal school rules don’t apply to her.” The door to the Student Council Office opened. The person who came out was a tall blonde female with short hair along with a considerably large bust size. Her white uniform designates her as a White Mage, and her robe slash marks her as an Acolyte. From her build, Cadeus guess that she might be a second year student, but what raised his attention was the mark on her robe slash. Her robe slash had a special insignia, which marked her as a member of the nobility. “Excuse me… Sirena Delnarius?” “Here. Lady Katherine.” Sing raised a hand. “Ok good. You are here. Please come in alone.” Lady Katherine? Cadeus raised an eyebrow. Oh… Sing’s a White. It’s obvious that she would know some nobles of her own colour alignment. Cadeus thought. Sing went in first. After an extensive thirty minutes, she came out with the same girl. “All right…” Said noble girl’s gaze went down the list of names written on the paper she was holding. “Next, Nadav After watching the noble close the door, Cadeus turned his attention to Sing. “So… what do they want?” “It’s as you predicted. They want our perspectives on what happened during the catacombs.” “I see… so they do want to tally our accounts separately… Tch… so troublesome.” “Before you start thinking that it’s just the Student Council and that they have no authority, they do have the authority. It just that…” “Just what?” “…No Dark Mage currently ever listens to the Student Council don’t they?” “They don’t. They could not be bothered.” “Wow… what a bunch of scumbags.” “You better not let that thought develop into a stereotypical alignment.” “But not all of your peers are like that right? I saw a Dark Mage in there.” “Ah… right, Davian. Yes. He’s the only one Dark Mage in the Student Council. “Isn’t he a Greater Noble?” “He is. But he does not command that kind of authority you are thinking.” “And why not?” “Because the problem is, the other two Greater Nobles of my colour sector failed to acknowledge Davian’s position. And may I add, they also do not bother themselves with Student Council activities. So if Claire and Acriscius set up such a negative example, what makes you think that others would give a damn?” “…So your other Greater Nobles set up a poor example for the masses to follow, and that resulted in the lack of respect in the Student Council?” “There’s that, and the fact that no one’s interested in the Student Council because the typical Dark Mage attitude towards such an office equates to extra trouble and a bloody waste of time. And since no one bothers listening to Davian, none could care about any edict that was issued by the Student Council.” “…You don’t have to call it an edict. ‘Edict’ sounds a little overboard.” “If it’s not an edict than what is it?” “Hm… Community change for the better.” “You’ll make a good politician.” Cadeus soon found himself staring at Sing in thought. “What?” “You seem the type for it. Did they ever tried to recruit you into the Student Council?” “Me?” Sing shook her head. “Impossible. There are already quite a number of White Mage Nobles in the Student Council. Our Progenitor is also in there.” “Oh… of course.” Well… noble or not, let’s just hope that those White Mages inside there are not total scumbags… Cadeus thought. After fifteen more minutes, the door opened and Nadav came out with that same noble girl. Ah… it’s such a pain since I don’t know her full name. Let’s just dub her ‘That Katherine girl’. Cadeus thought. That Katherine girl went through her list again before calling out the last member of their group. “All right… Um…” That Katherine girl’s face expressed difficulty in regards to the next name she had to call out. “Next, Cadeus Pr – ” “Don’t say it. Don’t bloody say that family name.” That Katherine girl widened her eyes with shock with his tone. “Oh… ok.” Sing turned to Cadeus. “Well… good luck.” She said. “Don’t need it. It’s not like they are going to do anything to me.” TOA That Katherine girl led Cadeus into the Student Council office. Beyond the door, the room was arranged like any typical staff office. Various desks and seats were aligned to their own respective space, and each space had a nametag issued. If it weren’t for the presence of magical artifacts, this room could be easily mistaken for any ordinary working office back on Earth. As that Katherine girl led him further in, Cadeus caught a glance of Davian’s name on one of the desks that was overburdened with numerous stacks of forms and papers. “…So he has to deal with that ton of shit everyday? No wonder no one from Tenebris Vacuum wants to join the Student Council.” That Katherine girl opened another door and the two of them moved into what looks like a staff meeting room. Three luxurious wooden desks were aligned to each other into an inverted U with numerous chairs of elegant designs arranged neatly behind them. With such extravagant sets of teacups and teapots neatly arranged on the tables, this room had a feel of something that’s reserved for some VIP board of directors. Wait… let’s correct that. This room was meant for special VIPs. After all, those that were seating behind those luxurious wooden desks were all Nobles. Everyone in the room was wearing customized uniform robes. Including that Katherine girl, there were a total of nine members within this room. Cadeus saw a familiar face, Davian, along with various other Whites and Greys. But what got the most of his attention were the three people at the center desk. Make no mistake. The only reason why Cadeus bothered to remember those three Grey Mages was because to their reputation. After all that he had heard, it was impossible to not recognize their identities. Standing arms folded at the extreme left was the notorious head of the Discipline Committee, Viegra Aras ve Murma. Sitting at the right was the former Student Council President and currently in his third and final year within the elementary curriculum, Stronis Varok ve Neixecrus. Last but not least, sitting at the very center with her chin resting on her intertwined fingers was the current Student Council President, Cordelia Quake ve Douvalmni of the Grey Progenitor family. These triple Greys were the most powerful figures amongst all Grey Mages within the Academy. As Cadeus stood at the center of the room, he felt a slight moment of pressure being surrounded by all these nobles but he soon got rid of it. If the purpose of calling him here was to intimidate him, he’ll make sure that they’ll be disappointed. In the midst of the awkward quietness, Cordelia opened her mouth. “So. You are the last one. Cadeus Pride ve Lu.” Twitch. Cadeus felt his left eyebrow twitching when she said that name. He always hated it when someone of this world says his name together with that name. But since the one who said that name was the Student Council President, Cadeus bit in his dislike and continued standing straight. Cordelia smiled at his reaction. Cadeus thought that she believed she had touched a raw nerve. If that’s the case, she should have at least heard of his story from Davian… or perhaps she already knew about his unusual case for some time. “Good morning. You can just call me Cadeus for I am aware of the various discrepancies in regards to my family name. It’s nothing but coincidence. Please feel free to ignore it.” “Ho? He’s surprisingly polite. For a second there I thought he was one of those stereotypical ruffians. But he’s something different eh?” One of the Whites his mouth in surprise. “Zaigen. Slience.” Vierga intercepted. “Sorry boss.” Zaigen and boss… This Zaigen guy must be from the Discipline Committee. Cordelia waited for silence before returning her attention to Cadeus. “Don’t worry about the others. I’ll be doing most of the questioning. Now, we would like to hear your account about what had happened in regards to the recent case regarding the Catacombs, Fremin, and the Enforcers.” She continued. “Right.” Cadeus then spent the next ten to twenty minutes telling his version of the events. Whenever he mentioned Claire and Acriscius, Cadeus could see Davian sighing and bringing his hand to his face at the mere mention of their names. Knowing that he was moaning silently in regards to the actions of his uncontrollable peers, Cadeus inwardly gave him his sympathies. Once he had finished, the nobles had a mixed reaction amongst themselves. While some seemed indifferent to what Cadeus had said, others had questioning looks. Perhaps they were busy trying to collate a final impression of the incident through three different perspectives. Cordelia shifted her position to that of a more comfortable one. Leaning back against her chair, she addressed the others. “Does anyone has any questions?” “I have.” The man who raised his hand was a White Mage sitting at the center of the right desk. “I see… go ahead Cenyr.” “Thank you.” The one called Cenyr directed his attention to Cadeus. “After the Enforcers teleported you back to the Academy, why didn’t you report the situation to the Student Council when it’s such a serious case?” Was there even a need to? Cadeus thought. “The Enforcers had everything under control, and regardless of whether the Student Council is involved or not, the three of us would eventually be called back to help with the investigations since we are important witness. At that point of time, the three of us believed it to be a private issue since we were not specifically warned or told that something bizarre would happen to us. Since the Enforcers never specified the need for silence or to notify the Student Council, we got the overall impression that silence would probably be the better option.” “Is this an opinion that the three of you agreed upon?” “The three of us didn’t confirm it, but we knew that we would all remain silent about the matter.” “I see… do you believe that any difference could be made if you had informed us about this issue?” “No.” Several of them were soon taken back by the quick reply, Cordelia included. “Why do you think so?” “True to their capabilities, the Enforcers already managed to track Fremin and move in to arrest him in just half a day after we returned to the Academy. Given the swiftness of the professionals, I doubt the Student Council would be in an ideal situation to do anything even thought you are all aware of it.” Even though His statement made sense, about half of the nobles in the room frowned. Perhaps they took his meaning the wrong way since it’s possible for them to interpret him saying that their involvement was unnecessary. It’s as equal to him telling them that they were rather powerless to do anything about the situation. Cordelia soon break the uncomfortable silence. “Well… I guess I don’t have anything else to say.” Cordelia turned to Cenyr. “Do you have anything else to add?” “No… I’m good.” “Anyone else?” No one responded. “Well, I guess that’s it. Katherine?” That Katherine girl got up and escorted Cadeus out of the room. TOA “Then in conclusion, Miyako and Cenyr will coordinate with the Enforcers should the need arise. Since this case is more or less covered completely, the rest of us will resume our normal duties.” Once everything else was settled, everyone got up and started leaving for their coming classes. Just as Davian was placing the stack of papers under his elbow, Cordelia called him before he could leave. “Davian, wait.” “Hm? You need something boss?” “I need your opinion on something.” Stronis and Viegra turned to wait for Cordelia, but one look from her made them leave the room. Once everyone left the room, Daivan turned his attention to Cordelia. “So what do you need from me boss.” “I have a mind, to recruit this Cadeus into the Student Council.” Davian instantly dropped the stack of papers. “YOU WHAT?!” “I’ll say it again, I have a mind to recruit Cadeus into the Student Council.” “Oh ho… ho ho ho… you’re joking, you are really joking.” “Davian, you know I don’t joke.” Davian took in a deep breath. He soon got to his knees, picked up all the papers. Once he placed the papers at the side on the desk, he turned to Cordelia with a serious look in his eyes. “Why?” “Because I think he’s a very capable individual who could really help you out.” “Boss, I’m going to be very frank with you. If you let Cadeus into the Student Council, you’ll get a riot from me, and essentially the entity of the Dark Mage community in Tenebris Vacuum. I’m not saying that Cadeus is a bad person, but if you include him into the Student Council, expect more trouble to pop up. It’ll only reduce whatever remaining respectful opinions the Dark Mages have for the Student Council.” “But can you work with him?” “Ah… Huh? You are not listening to my point!” “No, I am aware of your concerns, but what I’m more interested in is if you could work with him. Tell me, is Cadeus someone you can work well with?” “…Before I say anything I still object to this idea.” “Meaning to say that you can work with him?” “He… I…” Davian was at a lost at what to say. “Cadeus… is a very wild card. He’s easy to communicate that’s for sure. Unlike the usual idiots I had to put up with, he’s surprisingly cooperative.” “So you can work with him. Excellent.” “With all due respect, didn’t I just say that I still object to this idea?” “Don’t worry. I’m fully aware of it. but then, the Initiate Tournament is coming up. Cadeus is a Pure Blood isn’t he? If he gets a high result, we’ll reopen this idea again.” “You… I… Sigh…” Knowing that nothing could currently change the President’s mind, Davian could only sigh in frustration.