Cadeus awoke to find the light shining at his face, he always forgets to close the curtains.

Whenever night came, he would usually leave them open to admire the numerous stars in the night sky. Since stars were an extreme rarity from the region he used to live on Earth, Cadeus always find himself explicitly drawn to Zeffernon's night sky. Often at nights he would stare out of the window for several hours, before his eyes close due to tiredness.

Shifting sluggishly, he reached for the top of the bedside cabinet on his right, and grabbed his pocket watch.

The time was 6:24 am.

Cadeus lay back onto the bed. What follows was a battle within himself to get up.

Maybe five more minutes… maybe not.

It usually times like this that it’s hard to get moving.

Cadeus kept his eyes opened and stayed in that state for several seconds.

In finding the sun's glare piercing, Cadeus reached out for an object at the top of his bedside wardrobe. The object was shaped in an ellipsoid. It;s grey in colour with numerous carving patterns on it's surface. It was divided into four quadrants, where each quadrant has it's own carved pattern.

Pressing his entire palm onto the object, Cadeus applied the magic within his blood, and the curtains start to close.

The device was an artifact, a magical enhancement device that creates supernatural phenomena to aid people during their daily needs. Cadeus can never understand how such artifacts can be manufactured, but by following the instructions he roughly knows how to activate one.

All he need to do was to apply magic. He did not need to spend the trouble of imaginating any function, because the artifact was set to cast a specific phenomena upon the empowerment of magic. It's very convenient, actually. There's no need to think about spell forms, or spend more effort to sustain the casting process.

It was difficult at first, applying magic but not casting any spells, but the more he practice such application, the more he came to understand how to differentiate using magic for application and using magic for casting spells.

Once the curtain finished closing halfway, Cadeus released his hand from the artifact.

Ah damn it… might as well get up.

Forcing his body to sit upright. Cadeus leaned back and rested his back against the wall. Currently, he’s in the room the Academy had given him. It’s small, but relatively cozy. There’s only his bed, a bedside wardrobe, a large wardrobe and his window.

As he remained sitting on his bed, he took a good look outside the half closed window. The sun is as bright as usual, but the outside courtyard seems to be empty.

Soon it’s time for breakfast, and Cadeus would start once again, the usual routine that the Academy calls Periods.

Well… 6:24 am does seem to be rather early. The academy does not start its lessons until 7:30 am.

Cadeus

It had been three months since he got here ever since his talents was discovered by the Magic Awareness Society (An underground magic organization on Earth that seeks to find people born with the talent to use magic). How they found out about his talents… was due to an unfortunate accident.

Cadeus did not want to think about it. After what happened, the Magic Awareness Society told him of two outcomes. Either Cadeus went to Zeffernon to study in Triple Orb Academy, or the Magic Awareness Society will arrest him and lock him up in case his talents proved to be a danger to those around him.

Obviously the getting locked up option was an uncalled one, and there was no way Cadeus would ever allow that. Besides, he's here now, with his two friends.

Getting off his bed, he opened his only wardrobe, got his toiletries and went out. From the moment he stepped out of his room, he can see the other students getting up as well. The others were also leaving their rooms to wash up with their toiletries.

So Cadeus did the usual morning routine, use the public toilet for bathing and brushing. Once he is finished, he got back to his room. After changing into a new set of robes, he grabbed his belongings and went out.

Cadeus then walked down to the other section of the boy's dormitory and knocked on another door. It did not take long for the door to open to reveal Nadav in his similar sluggish state. Like Cadeus, he’s already dressed in his Grey robes, all ready to go.

"Thanks for waking me…"

"Mm. let's go."

Walking out of the dormitory, they went to one of the bigger halls situated at the near center of the Academy, Coral hall. It was the eatery hall where all mages working and studying in Triple Orb Academy go for their meals during breakfast, lunch and dinner.

By the way, it’s a free eatery hall, the only one in the whole city of Infinitas, and that was what makes it so popular amongst the students and Academy staff.

There were other eateries in the Academy, but those weren't free. You could spend a little money there for a change of taste, but paying to eat in Academy grounds was expensive.

A single meal there can cost up to 28 Duches. It's not really worth it if you think about the usual 3 - 6 Duches the urban districts charge in Infinitas. No… eating in Coral hall is a lot more worth it. Because of its high popularity, Cadeus and his friends had to arrive early all the time, if not they would have the trouble of finding a seat especially when it gets really crowded.

As Cadeus and Nadav entered the hall, breakfast was already commencing as expected.

Breakfast was served in the form of a buffet. There were numerous servings and choices available, but the menu was pretty much the same everyday, so the taste could get quite straightforward and boring sometimes.

Sing was already there. It looks like she arrived a couple of minutes earlier.

Like all mornings, she sat the usual spot, two extra plates at the ready opposite her. She already knew what the two would choose for breakfast having seen them take the same choice of dishes for the past three months. This just shows how close the three of them are.

Well, at least the two of them would not have to worry about seats anymore.

"Hi guys, late, as always."

"We are on time Sing, it's not even 7:00." Nadav said.

As the two sat down opposite her Sing shook her index finger.

"If you are early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late. If you are late, you are very late."

"Where did you hear that from?" Cadeus said.

"It was a rather popular saying of my dad's."

"How nice. To be so punctual I can see that he is really onto the task, whatever he was doing."

Sing gave a smile, but that smile had a heavy weight to it, and Cadeus immediately regreted bringing up Sing's father.

Prior to her enrollment with Cadeus and Nadav, Sing's father went missing. He left behind no note, nor did he tell anyone where he was going, or what exactly he was seeking. He was Sing's only family, and he just left her like that.

Cadeus never met the man, but from Sing's memorial accounts, he appears to be a good father. When Sing came to Triple Orb Academy, she promised herself that she would do her best to study hard, to become a daughter her father would be proud of, and if possible, be strong enough to one day go looking for him.

It’s a great goal, and a very inspirational one even for someone like Cadeus. Thanks to that, she’s now one of the top students of Cadeus's year.

On the outside she always appear to be a very strong willed lady, confident and spirited. But at the very mention of her father, she reverts to being someone reserved, and you could see a very lonely expression on her eyes.

"Well don't worry Sing! Like we promised, one day, the three of us will go and look for him." Nadav said.

"Yes, we promised." Cadeus followed.

Cadeus was not entirely sure if that promise would be fulfilled or not, but it was one of their many attempts to cheer her up whenever someone mentions her father.

Whenever there’s the mention of her father, Cadeus and Nadav made the promise that the three of them will study hard and help her search for her father one day. It's a very enduring promise, a heavy one at that, but it had a very good effect. Sing will appreciate the thoughts and efforts, and she will usually start smiling brightly again.

Just like how she’s smiling now.

"Well, putting that aside, my mind is still quite rusty. What's our lesson schedule for today?" Cadeus asked.

"Well…" Sing started.

In Triple Orb Academy, there are numerous subjects a mage has to learn in order to fully qualify and graduate as a legitimate Mage.

As a student, you start out with the basics. There are only 4 subjects to learn, History, Magical Thinking, Colours, and Arcane Warfare, while the rest of the day was given to students to do board quests to get personal experiences.

Sing reached for her sling bag right next to her and took out a file. The daily schedule is fixed on the cover, and she slowly check today's subjects.

"Today it's four periods of Colours, then the afternoon's off again. We can resume our search for Procona Powder."

"Ge… Procona again. Aaaahhhhh…" Nadav immediately rested his head down flat on the table.

"Hmm? What's wrong Nadav?"

"Leave him. He's just depressed."

"What? Over Procona?"

"Hmm? You mean you don't know?"

"Know what? Did something happen yesterday?"

"Oh… so you don't know."

"Umm… boys, what happened after you two left me last night?"

"Well… we saw a huge crowd at the quest board when we went back to the boy's dorm."

"And?"

"It appears that there are more Alchemists who are in need of Procona Powder."

"So that means there are more Board Quests for Procona Powder."

"Yes, and their rewards are around two to three times more than ours, around 500 – 700 Duches."

"500 – 700? For how many grams?"

"Not entire sure… we never bothered finding out."

"Oh… shame. We could really see if our current sum is really worth it or not."

"We would have done the math already. Besides…"

"Besides what?"

Cadeus scratched the back of his head giving an irritated expression.

"Well, this is more bad news for me."

"Hmm?"

"Well… you see… the ones who took up the quests so far are all Dark Mages."

"… That really sounds like trouble."

"Yes… with the value of Procona going sky high, they must have thought that this is a good opportunity to make lots of money."

"Damn it…" Nadav raised his head a little and pointed at Cadeus.

"I asked this guy if he could get some Procona for us –"

"No."

"True to say that you have some issues with them, but you could still –"

"No."

"You see what I mean?"

"For the last time Nadav, I don't like to own people favours. Especially when it comes to the other Dark Mages."

"Oh come one, admit it, you're just being stingy."

"Stingy?"

Cadeus rubbed off Nadav's joke.

"If I approach them for the powder, they are more likely to start a fight or make a shady deal rather than co-operate with me. Do you know how much they dislike me?"

"Except for your Dark Mage girfriend~."

"…"

"OK, OK, I'M JUST JOKING DON'T PULL THE LIGHTNING TRIGGER ON ME!"

Nadav crossed his arms out as if he's expecting some heavy punishment, but that was the very least that's on Cadeus's mind.

Ignoring him, Cadeus turned to Sing.

"Sing, I need something that I think you have."

"Hm? What do you need?"

"Do you have some sort of flask to contain a fluid? I need it for Colours."

"You want to contain a fluid? Let me see… I think I do have one. It's a round flask made of glass, pretty useful, but it can get very fragile."

"Yes, that will do, I need something like that."

"Sure, but what kind of fluid are you getting?"

"I forgot the name, but it's some greenish fluid that I will get to harvest from swamp plants."

"Swamp plants?" Sing raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… like I said, it's for Colours."

"I see… I'll go get it for you after breakfast then."

"Thanks a lot."

Sing looked at their plates.

"Are you guys done? We got to go soon."

"Huh? What's the time?"

Cadeus checked his pocket watch, it's 7:22 am.

"7:22 am. We better finish up."

"Ah colours. That means splitting up again." Nadav said.

He gave Cadeus a jab with his elbow.

Yes, thank you so much for bringing up the obvious Nadav. Cadeus thought.

"Well never mind Cadeus, we'll see each other again during lunch."

"Just survive the morning without us. Since you managed to make it back to us in one piece so far, there should not be any issue."

"Yes, yes I know."

Cadeus could not help but sigh inwardly as he finished the last remnants of his breakfast.

Colour classes, as the name suggests, was the period where students will delve into the arts of the magic in their blood. During these classes, the students will explore everything related to the colour of magic in their blood.

You learn from Educators and Masters who share your own colour of magic, and you answer to them as well.

The Academy has prepared three distinctive sectors throughout the campus, each for a specific kind of student.

There are all kinds of mages out there, but everyone is categorized into five main groups, all based on the colour of magic exist in their blood.

As the second rule states, there are only three colours of magic.

And from the fourth rule, a person can only have up to two colours of magic in his blood.

TOA

"So this is where we split up." Sing said.

"Yeah..." Cadeus said.

"Come now Cadeus, don't be so gloomy." Nadav smiled.

"There's Arcane Warfare later, so just take this as a stepping stone."

"Sigh... I miss you two already." Cadeus said.

The scene shifts to the Converse Hall, the only hall in the Academy that had access to all three colour sectors. It's designed in a unique manner, a central hall connected to three different hallways spreading out away with a consecutive angle of 45 degrees. It's nothing much really, the Converse Hall was just a huge gathering lobby for students to meet up once Colour class was over, and for students to proceed to their respective sectors for their Colour classes.

This is where Cadeus, Sing and Nadav will break up to learn more about the different colours of magic in their blood.

"Well, I got to go. See you guys for Lunch later. If we have some time, we can discuss about our board quest before we head off to Infinitas."

"Do we have to? Why not we discuss after lunch?" Nadav put a sore expression.

Sing just gave him a smile, she turned to Cadeus.

"Try to keep out of trouble."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just a friendly advice. I know you are more than capable in keeping out of trouble, but no harm showing concern"

"Oh really? I can't seem to see how that can help me. In most cases the trouble comes to me."

Sing laughed his sarcasm off.

And with that, she turned and left for her hallway.

"Ah... Now back to my frustration in determining how much White Magic I will be able to use." Nadav said.

"What happened?"

Nadav gave Cadeus the look.

"Isn't it obvious? Getting knocked out."

"Ah… penalties. How many times were you knocked out?"

"What? Seven."

"Seven times? Physical or mental?"

"Mental penalty, I got massive headaches when I recovered."

"… What have you been casting?"

Nadav rubbed the back of his head.

"I attempted to cast healing."

"..."

"Yes I know, not very smart, I learned this the hard way. Guess I could not match up to Sing's level."

"Well obviously. Sing's majority White, you're majority Grey, and healing spells demand a high percentage of White magic in a person's blood."

"Yes, yes I know damn it! ... It's so pathetic, look I can't even heal a simple scratch."

"But look on the bright side Nadav, it sure must be nice to cast spells that belong to a second colour of Magic."

"Trust me, for a guy like you who has only been using one colour of magic, to start on a colour that you are totally unfamiliar will result in nothing but frustration and dilemma."

Cadeus could not argue against that.

As what Nadav said, Cadeus only had been using one colour of magic. Since he had not used a second colour, he wouldn't have any experience in regards to the dilemma Sing and Nadav had while casting spells.

According to Zeffernon's fourth absolute rule, a person can have up to two colour types of magic in his blood.

In Otium, a mage can have either one or two of the three colour types of magic. So in total, there are only five types of Mages in existence, and these five types are further split into two groups, Pure Blood Mages, and Mixed Blood Mages.

Regardless of what colour of magic you have in your blood, you’re either a Pure Blood, or a Mixed Blood. Both types had their own unique characteristics, as well as their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Being a Pure Blood should be quite obvious, you only had one of the three colours of magic in your blood. The spells you can cast were forever restricted to that singular colour of magic, and any attempts to cast a spell from another colour of magic will only result in failure.

Mixed Bloods on the other hand, were slightly more flexible. They had two colours of magic in their blood which allows them to cast spells from both colours of magic.

However, each Mixed Blood was different for they each have different concentrations of the two colours of magic in their blood. A person could have more Grey magic in his blood than his White, or more Dark magic than his grey. The concentration of both colours of magic could never be acute so a mage had to estimate how concentrated his blood was in regards to a colour of magic.

But this flexibility of having two colours in your blood comes with a price, and that's related to the next absolute rule of magic: over usage of magic always come with a price.

A spell cost, no matter how simple or complex, was always dependent on how concentrated the color type of magic was in a person's blood. Spells demand a certain percentage of a respective color type in a person's blood in order to be cast.

If a person lacks the right percentage, they would face a penalty if they cast someting that demanded more than what they have in their blood, and penalties came in various forms. But they had the tendency to fall in either the mental or physical category.

This was the Achilles heel for the Mixed bloods, as their flexibility was always restricted to how concentrated the colours of magic are in their blood.

Should they use a spell that falls beyond their respective concentration of their colour type of magic, a penalty was pretty much common.

Another thing to note was that although the concentration of the two colour types of magic are not always acute, a mage can still gauge how concentratred a colour of magic is in his blood. However, no one was able to provide an accurate analysis on how concentrated the two colours of magic were in their blood.

As such, Mixed Bloods were often prone to facing penalties if they cast multiple spells without thinking straight. So in order for them to cast a spell successfully and continuously, a Mixed Blood must be aware of the boundaries of the spell, whether the nature of the spell was within or beyond the concentration of that particular colour of magic in their blood, least they risk their own lives in the process.

Mixed Bloods could only have two combinations of the colours of magic, Mixed White-Grey, and Mixed Dark-Grey.

Sing was a Mixed Blood, she's majority white, while Nadav was a mixed majority Grey.

But for Cadeus… now Cadeus was a different issue altogether.

"You know Cadeus, sometimes I really envy you for the fact that you have only one colour of magic in your blood." Nadav said.

"Why? You have two colours, that means that you get to cast more spells."

"You know better than I do that casting spells have a risk. But as a Pure Blood you face little to no penalty. It's sure nice to have little to no penalty."

Yes, Cadeus is a Pure Blood, in the most mysterious of circumstances.

"Sigh... you please take care, I'd hate it if you drop dead on us especially when we have to find that Procona Powder. We have two days left, please don't pull a reckless one on us now."

"Don't worry! It'll take a lot to bring down the mighty Nadav!" Nadav threw up a thumb.

Sigh… as usual, he is so carefree.

"Just don't be so reckless. I got to go now."

"Yeah same thing, see you later. Don't get into any trouble."

"Sigh... not you too."

Nadav gave him a friendly jab, and he was off.

Looking around Cadeus could see the rest of the students heading down their respective hallway. With no one left to talk too, Cadeus turned and walked down to his own hallway.

As Cadeus walked down the hallway, he did not find it surprising to see that it was close to being deserted. By now, most of the Dark mages would have reported to his respective sector, and are already making their way to their respective Educators.

Towards the end of the hallway, he can already see several students wearing Dark Mage robes, spread among pockets of groups numbering no more than three.

Though they were the fellows of his kind, none of them are that friendly.

There's always a level of mistrust and reservation amongst Dark Mages, and they were all with good reason. All Dark Mages were taught to be cautious, and rightly so, all because of the very nature of Dark Magic.

The strength of Dark Magic was its ability to affect a large area around the caster. It’s so volatile that the magnitude of consequences could be immense should a Dark Spell spire out of control, to both the caster and his surroundings.

If there’s something pretty straightforward about Dark Magic, it’s either you tame the magic, or you unleash the magic. There’s no such thing as controlling Dark Magic, as you can't really control something that defies the laws of the natural order.

This dangerous attribute of Dark Magic had marked every Dark Mage before, as there will always be a time where a spell goes wrong only to result in creating an unwanted outcome. The damage of the outcome could be controlled, but the consequences were sometimes overly severe, which could sometimes mark and even affect a person's way of life.

These profound episodes occur rather frequently in a Dark Mage's life, eventually causing most Dark Mages to cautious and partly secretive, and they all kept a distance from the people around them.

Like all Dark Mages, Cadeus was no exception. He had his own scars, scars that even he would not like Sing and Nadav to find out.

In avoiding the other mages, Cadeus proceeded to the end of the Hallway.

At the very end of the hallway's corner there is a large magic circle being carved out of black marble, placed on the central floor. The circle linings have been embedded with glowing purple tracings with gold, stating the obvious that the magic circle was still ready for any use.

The purpose of the circle is straightforward, teleportation.

This circle will teleport Cadeus to Tenebris Vacuum, the sector of the Dark Mages.

Cadeus stepped into the circle, he saw nothing but purple light and felt his body being lifted.

Here we go again…

TOA

After the bright purple light faded, Cadeus felt himself on solid ground again.

He looked around.

He’s standing on a levelled platform made of brown stone, surrounded on all four sides by a forest. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Cadeus stepped out of the teleportation portal, walked down the stairs and started walking on the dirt road.

Looking all around him, the scenario around him was so familiar he instantly recognised where he currently was.

As there are only thee colours of Magic, there are three main isolated colour sectors in Triple Orb Academy, where each sector was dedicated in cultivating the talents of students born with said respective colour of Magic. For the White Mages, their colour sector is named Beato Caeli. For the Grey Mages, their colour sector was called Rigor-atque Cinereo. As for the Dark Mages, their colour sector was called Tenebris Vacuum, which was where Cadeus is right now.

Tenebris Vacuum was composed of three main areas, the forest, the catacombs, and the Academia, which was the academic building where all Dark Mages usually gather for their studies. Here, the Academy will teach Dark Mages how to hone their gifts and guide the students how to use their own colour of magic. Since Dark Magic was the most dangerous colour out of the three, safety practice here was emphasized much stronger compared the other areas in the Academy. With proper procedures and conducts, Dark Mage students were expected to avoid overdoing their efforts to cast Dark Magic.

Now, Colour lessons did not entirely mean sitting in a classroom with a chair and desk, flipping through textbooks, scribbling down notes from the board and struggling to stay awake from boring lectures.

There were tons of physical activities and small quests, usually provided by the Educators. The best lessons were learned through personal experience, there is no point in forcing a person to sit down and go through lecture notes.

This was the Academy's philosophy.

Cadeus rather enjoyed this form of curriculum. It's a lot better compared to Earth's countless textbooks. He really enjoyed all the small quests, they are doable, and you even get small rewards, tomes, shared notes of researches and even artifacts. They may be small things, but once you get a number, they can be very helpful in all sorts of situations, especially when you are outside the Academy.

Looking in front Cadeus can already see the Academia building of Tenebris Vacuum. As Cadeus approached the Academia, he was greeted with quite the sight. It's always the same, whenever he comes to the Academia, the building gives off a sense of awe. The building was constructed out of black Neptunite, making it look sophisticated and reserved, as if harboring its own dark secrets.

But amidst all of all its grand architect, Cadeus could only think of one thing.

Sigh… back into the abyss of Dark Magic.

When he first came into this place during the early days of his enrollment, Cadeus had once wondered what his life would be like if he wasn't a Dark Mage. It’s not like he really wanted to become one in the first place.

If he was a Grey Mage, or even a White Mage, how different would his life be? He would be with either Sing or Nadav right now, learning the same lessons and working with the friends he want to be with. But no, he had Dark magic in his blood. Cadeus had to go walk a different path.

Cadeus frowned, closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and sighed. There was no point in thinking about the 'what if'. He’s a Dark Mage, he had dark Magic in his blood. It's not like he could change any of it.

From the third rule of Magic, what colour of magic you get was dependent on your blood.

This basically means, you don't get to choose your colour of magic. What colour of magic you gained in your blood was decided on default based on your own parents blood.

Cadeus did not fully understand the reasoning, but it has something to do with the concept of DNA back on Earth where an offspring will receive specific traits only from the parents. If your parents were both a White Mage and Grey Mage, you will either be a White Mage or Grey Mage because you have the two different colours of magic in your blood. If your parents were both Dark Mages, it's obvious you will be born with Dark Magic in your blood.

If you were unsure of the colour of magic in your blood, there were ways to figure it out. And of course, the Academy had a rather shrewd way of analyzing a person’s alignment to the three colours of magic. Whenever a badge of new students first enters the Academy, the Masters had to confirm the colour of magic residing in all the new students. They tested every new student for the colour of magic in their blood, and this was usually done by using a stone basin that contains some sort of special water.

Cadeus did not know what are the origins of the water, but it's superstitious enough for it's purpose.

All the new student has to do was to put his hand into the water, and then the water will change colour in accordance to the colour of magic in his blood. That's when the masters decide your curriculum, and then off you go, separated into categorization and differences in regards to the three colours of magic.

Sigh… how nice to know that mom has Dark Magic in her veins… Cadeus thought.

Cadeus only had a mother, he did not have a father. Well… even if he had a father, he would not be someone Cadeus would want to meet.

Taking a deep breath, Cadeus entered the Academia building and went for Educator Garth's office. The most he can do now was to try and make the best out of today's period. If Educator Garth did not have anything, which he usually did not, Cadeus would just self-study by himself, help Claire with whatever she needs him for, or he could just find Susan for some company.

About fifteen to thirty other Dark Mages were already present by the time he entered the room. When it appears that the bulk of his class was fully accounted for. Cadeus could not help but smile, he was the last one to show up again.

In seeing that everyone is in their small groups, Cadeus moved to the side towards the back. There are no seats. Everyone is just standing around. Well, of course there are no seats, this is an Educator's office. Normally they would meet up in their lecture room for homeroom, so why are they here? The reason was simple, Cadeus and the others were gathered here because they were simply told to do so.

Looking to the far right, Cadeus could see Susan. She got his eye contact and happily waved back. Cadeus responded similarly, when a familiar voice entered the room.

"Ah… everyone is here already right?"

From the moment that phrase was said, everyone ceased their mutterings and turned their attention.

The man who said that was the one responsible for their meet up in this irregular place. He was dressed in a standard teacher's suit but with additional Educator black robes. He looks young, probably in his mid twenties. His black h1air was unusually tied to a high ponytail, and his looks were so enchanting it would not be an understatement to say that he looks like a pretty boy. Plus with his oval glasses, you get the general impression that he's someone who was quite an intelligent achiever.

That said person was none other than Educator Garth, who was in fact the mage in charge of overseeing the education of Cadeus's group. There are a total of five student groups in Tenerbis Vacuum, each overseen by one Educator. Educator Garth is merely one of them.

"Ok, since everyone is here, let's start homeroom. Let's see... five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty and thirty-two. Good, everyone's here."

So far throughout the past three months, Cadeus did get the impression that his Educator may seem to be quite a good teacher. He had a double specialization of being an Educator and a Conjurer, which was surely no easy feat. He’s strict but also kind, and he really looks out for his students in times of need. Plus his lessons were very easy to follow even for a beginner like Cadeus. All in all he seems… fine, as a teacher.

However, if you were looking for a downside for his character, Cadeus could only provide one. This was because, amongst his students, there was an unspoken truth that Educator Garth had a certain lack of commitment towards his own duty as an Educator.

There are periods of time where Educator Garth would often give his own students breaks and free time to do their own self-study while he would work on his conjuration thesis. It seems all right on the surface since he had to struggle with two different specializations, but Cadeus and the rest sometimes really felt that he could have done a better job as an Educator these past three months.

"Right, as I told you all before last time, today is free time again, but it will be the last for the week. So if you have not finish any of your smaller quests, please make sure that they are done by tomorrow."

Everyone just gave vague responses of approvals.

"When I say finish them, make sure you all finish them. Tomorrow we will be going through [Distance Spells] for the first time, so I want all of you to be focused."

Oh? Tomorrow is [Distance Spells]? That’s indeed something new. So far in these past three months it had always been about basic [Point Spells]. Well, at least now Cadeus had something to look forward to tomorrow.

Educator Garth then clapped his hands.

"And with that, I got nothing else for you all, you are all dismissed. Now then… Ah yes wait. I forgot something. Before all of you go, there is a particular issue I would like to raise."

Oh really?

Usually when Educator Garth had something to raise, it’s usually something that’s either related to class, or a matter that is actually very serious. That being said, Educator Garth crossed his fingers and rested his elbows onto the desk. He suddenly turned into serious mode. When he opened his mouth, you can tell that the issue he was going to bring up is no laughing matter at all.

When he does this, everyone knows that he is in his strict mode. So best not try anything funny, or else you'll get a nasty punishment.

"I am sure you are all aware of the recent sharp increase in the board requests for Procona powder."

…

…

All of a sudden, the room became quiet. It was as if Educator Garth brought up an extremely sensitive issue that hit the very heart of a crime scene.

Oh, so this is what it's going to be about… Cadeus thought.

"I also heard just recently that a lot of Dark Mages signed up for these Board Quests. As you all know by now, Procona Powder is something that is extremely lacking in markets these days, to the point where the powder sources themselves would really be an instigator to many… issues."

The whole class just kept quiet.

"I will make this clear, I will not question where or how any of you will come by the powder. However, if I hear that violence is involved, don't expect any one to walk away unpunished. That being said, nobles are not exempted. Whether you are a noble or not, violence is not tolerated. All Educators will inflict disciplinary action if necessary, am I understood?"

Everyone nodded, but Educator Garth did not leave it as it is. He gave one last quick scan around the room making sure everyone was looking at him in the eye. Once he was satisfied, he lifted the mood by bringing up a smile again.

"All right then, today is the last day you all get free time, so make sure you finish everything. Now… Where is my conjuration thesis?"

From the instance he said that, everyone dispersed into their small cliques and started walking out of the office. Cadeus just waited for the rest to depart first. While he waited, a familiar face entered his vision.

"Hi again Cadeus!"

"Hi Susuan."

"I was just looking at the book you got me yesterday last night."

"Oh right… the one called 'Ferral Reaches' correct?"

"Yes!"

"So did it help?"

"More than that! I managed to narrow down the options I have, now I just need to focus on the type of species I need for the experiment."

"That's good, so how many specimen do you need?"

"Um… I am not too sure on that yet, but I got a couple of ideas. Maybe… two or three different kinds of animals at most."

"… Sounds like a lot of research. Won't you need to leave the Capital then?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well… you know the book, 'Ferral Reaches'."

"Yes what about it?"

"Ferral, and Reaches. I assumed you need to get to the outskirts in order to get the animals you needed."

"…"

"…"

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! You are quite funny you know that?"

"Hm?"

"Ah ha ha ha ha!"

"Did I misunderstand something?"

"Anyways Cadeus, here."

"Hm?"

Susan passed him a wooden box.

"This is for the help yesterday."

"You mean the book?"

"Yup~."

"Oh, thanks. What's inside?"

"He he~. Lunch."

"Lunch?"

Cadeus checked his pocket watch.

"Susan, it is only 8:05."

"Nah just kidding, it's a snack. It is not something heavy I promise."

"Ah ha… I see."

Cadeus made an attempt to pry off the lid.

"Ah wait!"

Susan grabbed his wrist before he can reveal whatever food is inside.

"What?"

"What are you doing?"

"… Opening it?"

"Why?"

"I'm curious."

"Open it only when you are hungry. Won't you spoil the food faster if you open it?"

"I am not sure whether that is true or not, but I guess I'll follow."

Cadeus then stuffed the box into his sling bag. When he looked back, he can see Susan smiling happily.

"What exactly are you up to?"

"He he~ That's a secret."

"Secret… sigh, you girls always love to keep secrets."

"That's our luxury. You guys don't get to know it~."

Cadeus suddenly caught something at the corner of his eye. Looking at the source he exchanged eye contact with Claire. It appears she was looking at their conversation. When his eyes met hers, she gave him the look that said 'you better not forget about later'.

Before Cadeus could give a reply of any sort, she left the room. It seems that she had other matters at hand.

“Oh right… come to think of it, she did mention yesterday that I should meet her once I’m done with my other jobs.”

Might as well meet her at the forest entrance later then…

“Cadeus, why are you looking at Claire?”

“Hm? Oh nothing.”

“Really?”

Susan gave him a suspicious look.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. In any case, I need to go to the forest entrance. There’s a small quest I need to turn in. What about you?”

“I also have some requests to clear, so I guess I’ll follow you.”

“All right.”

He led Susan out of the office.

"So… we got the whole morning to ourselves… after you turn in your request what are you going to do?" Susan asked.

“Work.”

"What kind of work? Another Board Quest?”

“Sort of.”

“Ah! Does it have something to do with that Procona Powder you are looking for?"

"Yeah.”

Exiting the Academia building, they walked down the steps and proceeded to the left towards the forest entrance of Tenebris Vacuum's forest. The forest entrance consists of a small camping area where the Academy staff set up booths. This was where the Educators will provide students with small quests with different kinds of rewards, where specific booths will only provide a certain type of quest and rewards.

For example, there’s the booth labeled [Gatherer's Requests] where students could take up small quests to help working Mages find specific alchemical ingredients that could only be harvested in this particular forest. There’s also another booth called [Animistic Studies] where students were allowed to hunt on specific animals, dead or alive, to gather organic samples for the Dark Mutators, and so on.

This was one of the few areas in Tenebris Vacuum that’s beaming with life. There are really a lot of mages wandering about, trading resources, handling over quests, sharing new information in regards to the dangers commonly seen in the forested areas.

The small quests given here mostly offer up extra pocket money as a reward, but sometimes there would be rare requests that provide special kinds of rewards.

Regardless of the reward attractions, all requests had a common tendency to have specific requirements or shady details that did not require the student’s understanding. In order to avoid all sorts of complications and unwanted attractions, all that needs to be done was to simply get the job done, no questions asked.

Following Susan, Cadeus watched as she submitted her own requests. As Susan was aspiring to be a Dark Mutator, most of the requests she had taken up was related to Dark Mutation. She submitted beast skins, horns, claws and other biological parts.

While she’s clearing her items, Cadeus approached the [Animistic Studies] booth. He approached the mage he got the small quest from. The same, hooded Dark Mage, who was usually seen sitting looking through a large pile of quest notes accumulating on his working desk within the booth.

"Excuse me."

The mage turned around. When he saw Cadeus, he got up and brought himself closer to the booth's main table. He kept his hood up so Cadeus could not see his face clearly. Quite the obscure fellow eh?

"Hm? Oh, you are the one who took up the 'Repachore's Hermage' quest. Did you manage to get the item?" The mage asked.

Cadeus reached for one of his smaller sling bags reserved for quest items only. He reached inside and took out a black leather bag that resembled a coin purse. But from the looks of it, coins seemed to be the last thing that’s inside that bag. When Susan came back to him and looked at what he’s giving out, the bag was moving. There’s something inside the bag, and it looks like there’s more than one singular organism inside. The bag was also dripping droplets of water, so whatever the creatures were inside, Cadeus must have got them from a wet habitat.

Cadeus simply passed the bag to the mage. The mage took it, loosen the rope at the tip slightly and peered inside. Satisfied, the mage tugged the bag away in one of his desks, he then took out a smaller coin purse.

"Well done. You got the right amount. The commissioner sends his regards."

The mage passed Cadeus the coin pouch and went back to his own business of sorting out the quest notes accumulating on his working desk.

Cadeus looked at the coin purse on his right hand. He then used his left to loosen the rope, flipped the coin purse upside down and let the coins drop to his right hand.

"One… two… three… five… seven… nine… fifteen… twenty… twenty-five, that the lot."

Cadeus tied back the coin purse and let it drop back into his sling bag.

When they moved away from the booth, Susan opened her mouth in curiosity.

"… 'Repachore's Hermage' quest? What is in that purse?"

"Repachore's Hermage, it's a kind of small guppy."

"A fish?"

"Yes. A breed of fish, apparently some Dark Mutator needed it for some research so, for this small quest I just need to get a number of the breed."

"Another Dark mutator?"

And there she goes again. Cadeus could see the familiar sparkling pupils in Susan eyes. Whenever he brings up a quest related to Dark Mutation she tends to have this tendency of getting rather high.

"What is he researching on?"

"I don't know the details. But it has something to do with the gills.”

“Gills?”

“Yes. If I were to make a guess, the fish’s gills had a special trait that allows it to preserve it’s moisture by sucking the humidity out of the air. Perhaps this Dark Mutator wanted to implement this special features on one of this aquatic breeds.”

"Is that so? How did you catch it?”

Cadeus took out a coin.

“Apparently bright objects serve as a very good bait. What I did was to just leave the coins in the provided bag and leave it in the stream. When there’s enough, I’ll simple drag the bag out.”

“So you left that fish in the bag … how is it possible for water to not escape the bag so easily? Is it not made of leather?"

"I don't know. Those were the instructions given. Trap the fishes inside the given bag. Maybe that bag had some special enchantments… or something of the like."

"Oh… should I come up with something like that in the future?"

"Relax Susan, you'll learn a lot more once you become an apprentice."

"True, but becoming an apprentice is still a long way…"

Opening his pocket watch, the time now is 8:27 am.

Now that he had finally cleared the last of his small quests, he could focus on helping Claire. The faster he clears this assignment for her, the better.

But then… where could she be?

Although Claire did mention that they would meet here at the forest entrance, she never really specified when. Assuming that she had other things to clear first, she should have at least informed him when he should expect her to arrive.

"Cadeus?" Susan interrupted his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"If you are free later, could you come with me to do a little hunting? There is an animal of a specific breed I need to look for."

"Hm…"

Cadeus considered. He did have some free time after all.

"Well, it's not like I will force you or anything. It's just that there is no one I can look for at the moment."

Just when Cadeus was about to give Susan his ok, a flash of purple entered his eye line.

Looking at the source, Cadeus instantly saw Claire

It’s rather easy to remember that customized outfit, and it’s much easier to identify her dress code since it stood out greatly in their current environment.

She was leaning on a tree, arms crossed, eyes gazed at him. The demand for his attention was obvious in her cold eyes.

"Found you."

"Hm?"

"Oh no nothing. Sorry Susan, but I have something important to do now so… I’ll see you later."

"See me later? Who are you meeting? Wait… isn't that Claire? Cadeus, what kind of business do you have with Claire?"

Cadeus just waved her goodbye and left her just like that.

Once he’s much closer, Claire straightened herself and gave him a very disapproving look.

"You're late." She said.

Cadeus did not bother to apologize. He merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Got held up."

Claire raised an eyebrow.

“Got held up? You were clearly flirting with that Lesser girl.”

“I was not.”

"Apologize."

"What?"

"I said, apologize."

"Why do I need to apologize?"

"You kept a lady waiting. A gentleman should not do that."

"Hey. Don't enforce your noble etiquettes onto me. I am not a noble."

"Even if you are not, you could not even turn up on time?"

"I'm quite surprised you did."

"Just what did you take me for?"

"A noble lady whom I cannot get along with, due to unforeseen circumstances."

Claire gave him the stare, but Cadeus ignored her. She had been treating him like this far too often to the point where he could afford to brush off her glares.

First, Claire had the social status to back her up. If Cadeus were to complain or make an issue about her to the Educators, chances were that he would be utterly ignored. Even if the Educators did raise the issue, their warnings of punishment might be in vain because Claire was least likely to obey them, and the Educators themselves might not want to pursue the issue upon risking the ire of one of the five Greater Noble Families.

Second, Cadeus felt that sometimes he would save time and energy just doing what Claire wants. True, he disliked the fact that she’s extorting him. However, just bearing with her for the moment was definitely better than having to waste energy fighting her.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Cadeus went straight to the point.

"So, you need my help, what beast am I going to face?"

Claire gave a good look around her first. She then shook her head.

"Not here."

She turned and started walking into the thick maze of green.

"Let's go into the forest first."

TOA

To step into the forests of Tenebris Vacuum without proper reason it could only mean two things, either you were an insane maniac, or a complete idiot.

As dangerous as it is, the forest was home to some of Zeffernon's deadly species. The creatures found here were said to be 'under the care' of the Academy, but everyone knows that the Academy placed the creatures there to simulate what will happen when you wander into a more dangerous forest outside the capital.

There were all kinds of creatures Cadeus had seen, both big and small. Some appeared carnivorous, others more harmless, but most were fiercely territorial. There were often cases where a student got lost and wandered off into a marked territory only to be forced to fight their way out. If you were wandering alone, there’s a high chance you would die. The creatures placed in the forests were mostly large, and even the smallest of them were reputed to be vicious carnivores. Once a herd of them was on your tail, you’d better run, and pray that you are able to out run them.

That’s why the Educators back in the Academia strictly instructed students to travel at least in groups of two, which was what Cadeus and Claire were doing right now.

So far, the two of them had been walking along the main dirt road, which would take them to the main entrance of the forest. Once they entered the maze of forested trees, Cadeus could begin to hear the animalistic noises echoing throughout the entire forest.

So far, Claire had been taking the lead. It seems like she knows where she’s going. She lead him past the camping entrance, into the main forest road, and deeper into the maze of green.

So far, the route she had been taking was familiar since Cadeus recognized his surrounding bearings. All the places she had been leading him were all marked in his memory. However, things were starting to get a little different.

Claire began to lead him to different parts of the forest that Cadeus was unaware of. Usually Cadeus would venture to the western part of the forest, but Claire was now bringing him to the eastern part.

There were often times where Cadeus had to resist strolling off to observe something unknown. If he strays and loses Claire, he might be lost and be stuck in this forest. If he’s lost and stuck, there’s a very high chance that he would not survive on his own. Well, even if he turns out lost and alone, there might be a chance that he would make it out alive, as long as they stayed on the main road… or so he thought. Cadeus stopped in his tracks when he saw Claire starting to walk off the main road. From the looks of it, she’s leading him into a deeply forested area through an extremely narrow dirt pathway.

"Hey, wait."

Claire stopped and looked back.

"So we're going to walk off the main road."

"Yup."

Cadeus took a good look at what is in front of him. All he can see is an extremely narrow dirt pathway leading into a thick wall of green. The trees are so tightly congested that Cadeus can feel that the air inside is extremely dense and humid.

"Are you sure you know where you are going? You know the risks of walking off the road."

"Of course I do. I have been doing this for quite some time."

"Alone, by yourself?"

"Yes."

"Just what have you been up to of late?"

"I'll tell you when we get closer."

"Aren't we far enough from the Academia?"

Claire rolled her eyes in response. She ignored him and started off on her own. Looking at her back, Cadeus can only sigh. He followed her, wanting to be done with this matter as soon as possible.

TOA

They stayed silent for the next couple of minutes, Claire in the lead, Cadeus behind to follow. They continued to trudge into the narrow dirt pathway, passing through small streams, stepping on damp pebbles and soil. When Cadeus felt that they had traveled deep enough, he opened his mouth again.

"So… can you tell me your specifics now?"

Claire looked back at him. She then scanned the surroundings, probably wanting to make sure that there’s no one near who can overhear them.

Why the secrecy?

Cadeus felt that there’s no point in doing such a thing. They were alone. No one would be bothered to venture this far off the road, especially this deep in the forest.

Claire continued to survey their surroundings

"Ever heard of the Criftoae?"

"Criftoae?"

Cadeus frowned in deep thought.

"If I remember my classes, it's a herbivore. Bull like, Four-legged, grey skin, large hard scaled head with horns protruding from the back of its head."

"That's the one."

"What do you want from it?"

"I need its horns."

Horns? Cadeus thought.

"What do you need the horns for? Collection?"

"You idiot, I'm not one of those disgusting Poachers. I need it for my research."

I see…

Research seems to be one valid reason enough, or so Cadeus thought.

"What good are the horns anyway?"

"Well, the bone marrow within the horn is said to contain a special toxin, and if you boil the horn's cartridge, the stew can cure you of any lung disease."

"So what exactly do you need it for, other than brewing this stew?"

"Private research."

"On what?"

"Didn't I just say private?"

Cadeus dropped the issue. Since she’s so insistent on being secretive, Cadeus felt that it would be best if he did not probe further.

"So… let's say we come across one of the Criftoae, but how exactly are we going to beat one? Those things are as big as 2.3 meters tall. Not to mention, they are also fiercely territorial."

"Like all other animals in this forest. We'll just target one of the more isolated ones. What can you do?"

"Mostly elemental spells."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"No? No other combat accessories?"

"No."

"Then what have you been doing all this time during Arcane Warfare?"

"Mastering [Point Spells]."

Claire stopped in her tracks and turned. She looked shocked, as if Cadeus spilled a surprising secret of himself.

"You… have not even mastered [Point Spells]?"

"Yes."

The look progressed from shock to despise.

"[Point Spells] are the most basic of all basic spells, you have not even mastered them at all?"

"Hey, I do not have the luxury of being exposed to Magic from a very young age. I only casted my first spell three months ago."

"You only touched on Magic three months ago?"

"Yes."

"Just what have you been doing before you enrolled into Triple Orb Academy?"

"Living an ordinary life."

"Ordinary? What do you mean?"

"A life without Magic."

"A life without Magic?"

"You heard me, a life without Magic."

"…"

"…"

Claire gave him the look that totally told him that she saw him in a new light.

"How… do you live?"

"Oi! Don't demote my life just like that!"

"Well… I should have expected such a thing, for an imposter like yourself who don't know much about magic, this should be something of the ordinary."

“What’s with that sudden change in attitude? How could you dismiss other people’s lifestyles just like that? Is not knowing magic something so bad to begin with?"

"Maybe I should have asked someone else to accompany me. Someone like you… might actually die within the first ten seconds…"

"Hey. I am much more capable than you think.”

In considering the time and place, this was not the right time to argue.

If they continued their traditional stance to throw insult at each other, they’ll be bound to attract a dangerous carnivore way before they even accomplished what they were supposed to get, whatever that was.

Shaking his head, Cadeus dismissed the current conversation and opened up a new one.

“Enough about this. Since you are more familiar with these beasts, how do we go on about killing the damn beast?"

Claire gave him a glare of disapproval but

"You'll act as decoy. I'll support you and then you'll do the killing blow."

Cadeus feel depressed already. He can see how things are going to progress.

"So in the end, you are just going to use me to get the horn while you stand behind and watch."

"You idiot. Do you think a lady like me would do something like that?"

"… That sounds reassuring."

"I only expect you to do a clean job. But if you ever damage the horn, I will make sure you compensate me for it."

"… Is the horn that vital to your research?"

"Of course! Why do you think I am going through the trouble of asking you to help me?"

"…"

"What?"

"Nothing… I just seem to have the feeling that you girls are always up to something."

TOA

"There they are."

Claire pointed down. As Cadeus moved next to her, he could see the herd now. What they were looking at was not the entire herd itself. The actual herd would be much larger than this. This current group seems to be more like a small part of it grazing in a more isolated area. There were currently about five of them in total all spread out around.

In order to avoid getting attention, the two of them crouched behind a wide spread bush on an elevated cliff. The Criftoae were fiercely territorial. If they encounter any stranger that was unfortunate enough to stumble into their territory, they would respond immediately with hostility and violence.

"Since they are all spread around, it would be best to act quickly and decisively. We only need to take one down, if we linger too long, the rest of the herd will notice." Claire said.

"How about that one?" Cadeus pointed.

Apparently there was one Criftoae who grazed off too far from the other four. It had begun drinking from the nearby stream, which was rather conveniently close to where Cadeus and Claire currently were. From the looks of it, the others were grazing by themselves at a distance. The lone Criftoae would be the ideal target for the two of them.

"That's good. We can take that one down, but we have to do it fast. Criftoae are weak against lightning especially if we hit it at the head. But the problem is doing it without getting the others to notice."

"Lightning spells sure can create a lot of noise. If we really need to use lightning, why don't we just hit and run? We can always come back for the horn when the others leave."

"That's not really ideal. The Criftoae tend to stay around their dead for quite some time, and this is the last day we get to have free time. I need the horn by lunch."

"Sigh…"

Cadeus sat down.

"Any bright ideas?"

"We could lure it to a even further isolated area using sound. When it is far enough, we can kill it from the back of it's neck. What have you got?"

"I got a knife."

Well… it is more accurate to call it a Swiss knife, but Cadeus doubted Swiss knifes are common in this world so he did not give her the full name.

"Not good enough. What other accessories do you have?"

"Hm? Let's see…"

Cadeus took out his sling bag and look at the contents within. When he opened the lid, Claire also decided to take a peek to kill some time.

"All I have are several books, my writing accessories, my maps and a key…"

"…"

"…"

Claire gave Cadeus a disgusted look.

"You… don't even have a weapon?"

"I thought I said I got a knife?"

"A knife only counts as an accessory. It can't be considered a proper weapon. Don't you even have a short sword?"

"Isn't that a little extreme? I am not such a violent person."

"Hmph! So rude, having a proper weapon does not mean that you are a violent person. It states that you have a means to protect yourself. I can't imagine, how exactly did you managed to save Susan from the Armugorus without a single weapon?"

There we go, two parallel worlds, two different views on carrying a weapon in broad daylight.

"Well then, since you are all on about having a weapon, what about you?"

"Of course I have a short sword. Do you ever think that a lady would go out without carrying one? We still need something to defend ourselves you know."

Scary…

Cadeus reached out his hand.

"Lend me the short sword then."

"Why?"

"Based on your previous statements, you obviously need me to do the killing blow right?"

"Of course, are you going let a lady dirty her hands just like that?"

"Um… no."

"Finally, a fitting answer coming from an imposter like yourself."

I am going to ignore that… Cadeus thought.

"So… are you going to lend me that short sword?"

"Of course not. Do you think that I am going to let the likes of you touch my short sword?"

I don't get her… I don't get her at all. Does she want me to do the killing blow or not?

The confusion grows.

With such contradictory exchanges, Cadeus began to feel (unsurprisingly so) that it’s really starting to be a hassle just listening to her.

Perhaps it was immature of him to think of this, but he felt that it would be better if he proceed on this alone. From the looks of it, Claire was definitely not going to ‘dirty her hands’.

Before Claire could finish, Cadeus got up and started walking off on his own.

"What are you doing? Are you seriously intending to approach them alone?"

"Yes. I will be more than enough."

"Are you serious? Are you really a much bigger idiot than I initially thought?"

"Aren't you the one who wants to keep her own hands clean? Just stay there and watch, I'll have your horn in no time."

"You are one big idiot."

Cadeus ignored her.

“If you have nothing better to say, just sit back and watch. Even someone like me will feel bad if you get hurt in the process of fighting."

“Oh ho?”

Claire caught the tone of mockery in his voice, but she decided to let him off.

"Fine, do as you wish, but remember this."

"What?"

"Don't expect me to help you or come rescuing you."

"Understood. Understood."

Cadeus moved out of their position and started to move closer to the stream. Slowly, he took his time to stalk the lone Criftoae, making sure he stayed out of its sight. The Criftoae was a huge bull-like creature with strong muscular legs. Even from a distance Cadeus could see it's signature characteristic of a scaled head with a huge horn protruding from its back. However, its eyes were small so its field of vision was very poor. Plus, the beast was always looking downwards so it is rather easy for Cadeus to avoid its attention.

But in order not to arouse it's suspicions, Cadeus made sure he hid himself out of its view. He kept himself hidden behind huge rocks and bushes. As he got closer, he had to tip toe his way towards the ideal location to launch his surprise attack, which is at the creature's southwest.

As he got closer, Cadeus prepared a spell in his head. Taking in deep breaths, he walked slowly forwards and closed his eyes.

Whilst moving, Cadeus prepared a spell aligned with the element of lightning. Criftoae were weak against lightning, so a high voltage spell would be perfect since Cadeus needs to get the job done quickly

Since they only need the horn, Cadeus opt for the option to knock out the beast instead. He could render the beast unconscious with a stun spell and get the horn.

Yes, a stun spell.

That would do.

It did not have to be strong enough to kill it.

As he concentrated, Cadeus soon felt the familiar sensations of raw magic cracking flowing from all around his body.

The energy was redirect through the various magic circuits within his body and it soon ended up at the tip of his right fingers.

The basics of spell casting consist of three things, the raw energizes of magic itself, spell image and a common point to cast the spell.

From the very first rule of magic, Magic begins from the blood. In other words, in order to use magic, you must focus and draw the magic energizes from the closest source, which was obviously your own blood.

However, just focusing on gathering the magic in your blood was not enough. There were all sorts of spells out there that were differentiated by their various types and. One only had to narrow down the type of spell he wants to cast in order to bridge superstition with reality.

So how could one bridge the superstitious energizes with reality? The answer was actually quite simple. You just have to imagine it. By imagination, you have the desired spell in your head and it gives the spell its casting form. Without imagination, you could not give the spell its shape and the casting process will fail.

What comes next would be to focus the raw energizes of magic into one focus point before unleashing the spell. In Cadeus's case, he was doing it from the hands either from the palm or the fingertips, depending on the nature of your spell. By drawing the magic and casting the spell directly from your hands, this is the first and foremost basic form of spell casting, other wise known as [Point Spells].

After several seconds, Cadeus knew he was ready. The spell was ready for casting, and all he needed to do was just to unleash it. In taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, Cadeus exploded out into the open.

He rushed, palm at the ready.

When he was just a few inches away from the Criftoae, the Criftoae sensed his presence since it moved its ear upwards and turned its head.

Too late.

Cadeus landed his feet deep in front of it and dug his fingers into its flesh. The familiar zapping sound of bluish-white electricity reverberated throughout the air.

It felt like a bang. But the moment the spell was being cast, Cadeus could feel the effects of magic running through his veins. His body felt lighter and his mind felt clearer, as if he entered some kind of transcended state. The Criftoae began to dance to the vibration. It simply froze at that spot and never stopped shaking. Cadeus held the spell for several more seconds, before he finally let it drop.

The Criftoae simply landed on its hooves and stayed still for several seconds.

…

…

Did Cadeus succeed?

Cadeus simply used his right index finger and pressed it against the bull's flesh. The bull simply tilted forward before landing its head into the water stream.

Deep down, Cadeus felt greatly relieved. He just knocked out a beast that was about twice his size. Slowly, the transcended feeling disappeared from his body. Aside from a slight dizziness in the head, he soon felt like normal again.

It took Cadeus to shake his head twice before his conscience returned with stability. He then reached to the side of his robe for his Swiss knife.

"Success! Now all that's left is to…"

Just when Cadeus was about to start retrieving the horn, he felt a dangerous vibe coming from the other side. When he turned, he saw the worst-case scenario expected. The nearby Crftoae all had their attention fixated onto him. As Cadeus stared back, they started reacting by forming up a defensive formation. That was not all. When he and Claire were up on that cliff, there were only five Criftoae including the one he just shocked. But now… it's as if the number of Criftoae around him multiplied.

There's four… five… seven?

Seven Criftoae in total.

"This… is so not good."

If anyone had seen Cadeus being successful with the first Criftoae and expect it to be something that could be easily done upon a whim, be prepared to be very disappointed. Spell casting was not so conveniently easy. There’s a limit to every Mage's capability to cast spells. Some could cast fifteen spells maximum before losing their conscious, while others could cast up to twenty.

This limit to cast spells did not have a definite value, so each mage must self-estimate the value of the limit that they have. Should a mage push himself beyond this limit, he would suffer a penalty, and this penalty was the exact same penalty we see from the Fifth Absolute Rule of Magic: Over usage of magic always comes with a price.

So how could one self-estimate this limit? How could we give a number to something that does not even have a proper value? This was a question that remained unanswered for countless centuries. Countless scholars had debated about this, but still no one could provide a substantiated thesis. This just proves how lacking we humans are when it comes to the unknown.

But so far, the scholars of Otium managed to come up with an acceptable solution. Each mage could self-estimate his own limit if he used spells as a medium value. Since some spells require more effort to cast then others, a mage could still estimate how much he could push himself based on the effort used to cast the spells.

To further illustrate, if mage knows that he could continue casting spells, he should be aware of how many more such spells he could cast, or if he should switch to a different spell type that requires less effort to cast. If a mage knows for sure that he could not cast any more spells, he should stop, unless he’s willing to risk casting beyond the estimated limit.

The proper magus terminology to identify this method of gauging one's own limit, was called Cast Limit.

That stun spell took a small portion of Cadeus's Cast Limit, but it was more than enough to make Cadeus feel slightly dizzy after the spell was cast. Plus, the stun spell was only successful because Cadeus caught the beast off guard. If that Criftoae was on guard against Cadeus, it would take a lot more to bring it down.

Now, Cadeus was facing a group of seven Criftoae, five of which was still at least larger than him. In considering the chances, the odds were definitely against him.

This could be bad.

Cadeus did not have enough of what it takes to bring down every beast. His Cast Limit was… well average. But it’s obviously not enough for seven huge beasts.

Cadeus frowned slightly and strained his mind in deep thought. It’s impossible to fight them all head on. Not only was it nonsensical, it's also incredibly suicidal. His Cast Limit did not have enough for all of them.

There was an option to run, but Cadeus immediately dismissed that thought. If he runs, it would do nothing more than instigate and encourage the Criftoae to charge spearheaded towards him. And if they do, Cadeus would be trampled under a stampede in a matter of seconds.

Cadeus squeezed his eyes for a couple of seconds more, until he finally opened them.

… No, it does not have to be that way. He thought.

There is another way to deal with these beasts other than just going out in brute force casting aggressive spells. It might not work, but there is no other favourable option. Cadeus started walking towards the Criftoaes hurdling together at the other side.

As Cadeus approached the small herd, the Criftoae begun to act aggressive.

The larger ones began to form a wall in the center, while the smaller scuttled to the sides.

Once Cadeus was within a few feet away from the nearest Criftoae, the larger beings began stomping the ground, and soon they begun to growl towards him. It was a rather classic behaviour coming from any herbivore herd. Once they felt the threat, they will always band together in groups and show signs of intimidation.

Cadeus knew that if he made the wrong move, the Criftoae would run him down in a stampede.

Cadeus spread his hands out to his sides. He prepared another image in his head. Soon, numerous webs of lightning exploded out of his fingertips.

The Criftoae continued acting aggressively. Their growling increased in volume and they began stomping at a faster rate. But Cadeus did not retreat. He simply raised his arms higher, until they stood parallel with his shoulders. Then Cadeus continued to sustain the lightning.

The key thing right now was to sustain the image. What Cadeus was doing now is simply putting up some sort of morphological defense mechanism. The Ciftoae were cautious of lightning, so if Cadeus put up lightning as a defense mechanism, the Criftoae would think twice about attacking him.

Of course, such an action was a gamble. If one Criftoae surpassed its fear of lightning and decide to charge down towards him, the rest of them would follow and he would be in deep trouble. But it seemed that it won't be the case.

After several seconds, the smaller Criftoae decided to retreat. They turned and made the run for it, and slowly, the bigger ones started to react differently. They begun by slowing down their stomping, and their growls lost volume. Soon, they also turned and made the run for it. Relieved, Cadeus stopped sustaining the spell and rested his arms.

It seems that it is already over.

Or so he thought.

While the rest of the Criftoae retreated, one of them turned around. It looked at Cadeus and started stomping the ground again.

Uh oh… it’s one of the more resilient ones.

Cadeus looked at the others behind it, they had already disappeared behind the trees.

That’s good.

 

Cadeus would just have to deal with one for now, but the bad news was the question of how long before the others would return.

Oh might as well, one Criftoae was good enough. Now that the others were gone, Cadeus had a renewed level of confidence. He did not have to worry about his Cast Limit now.

The Criftoae had an extremely tough hide, and their scaled head was not a laughing matter. Plus with their big size and muscular build, it really made the species a potent obstacle when threatened. Even a physically macho person would not be a match for it. However, with magic, things would be different. Criftoae were weak against lightning, and fearful of fire. Thankfully, Cadeus had access to these two elements thanks to the colour of magic in his blood.

The Criftoae brought its head low, and from its stance Cadeus could tell that it’s getting ready for a charge. From the looks of it, the ideal strategy was to let the Criftoae charge straight ahead, dodge it at the very last minute and cast an offensive spell while its back was turned. The Criftoae's hide may be tough, but it’s a lot more effective attacking it from the back rather than having to go through the scaled head.

Without turning his head from the Criftoae, Cadeus reached for his sling bag and took out his Swiss knife. With the flick of his thumb, he flashed out the sharp knife. Even if he managed to hit the Criftoae with a spell, the hide was extremely tough. If Cadeus need a more effective means to harm the beast, he would also need some physical aid.

The Criftoae ceased stomping its hoof. It instantly began charging towards Cadeus.

Cadeus simply crouched himself into a combat stance and waited.

At the very last minute, Cadeus dodged to the side. Using his Swiss knife, he sliced the surface layer of the Criftoae's hide.

RAM!

The Criftoae rammed it's head on the tree trunk behind Cadeus. It then simply took a step back and shook its head, but Cadeus was not going to wait to let it recover.

Cadeus focused his eyes around the Criftoae's body. He did not know where exactly he managed to cut the animal, but it took him a moment before he found it. He saw a long thin line at the side of the Criftoae's abdomen. It’s not leaking blood, but Cadeus managed to graze an opening on its tough hide. If he could just focus one lighting spell onto that sliced wound, the damage input will be more than enough to discourage the Criftoae to make any further hostile attempts.

Almost instantly, Cadeus cooked up a lightning spell, one of his personal favourite [Point Spells]. He felt the massive build-up of magic within him. This spell had to be big, and it had to be powerful. Once the build-up was finished, he thrust his right fingers forward.

"[Lightning Caste]!"

About five forks of highly intensified white-blue lightning arced out of his fingertips and launched themselves towards the Criftoae. By focusing on the spell image, Cadeus managed to guide the forefront ends of the five forks into one streamlined arc. The rest was just aiming, and Cadeus made sure he did not miss. The lightning arc stabbed itself into the dented hide and penetrated through skin, muscle tissue and eventually the bone marrow.

The Criftoe’s side began tearing itself into shreds and it begun to look as if the insides of the Criftoae were roasting about.

The Criftoae shrieked, it begun to twist and twitch to the high voltaged electricity. After a few more seconds, it dropped onto the ground.

Thinking that the ordeal was over, the Criftoae immediately proved to be more durable by forcing itself up.

It stood on all fours again, howled angrily towards Cadeus and immediately charged, this time in a more beserk manner.

This time, the beast's instant speed caught Cadeus off guard. He had no time to respond. By the time Cadeus realized how grave his current situation was, the Criftoae was raining down on him with its scaled head.

Cadeus's mind suddenly went blank. That reinfornced [Lightning Caste] took a slight toll on his mental state so he could not really think straight. With this sudden shock in the change of events, it rendered his sate of mind with ineffectiveness and Cadeus felt as if he was really going to meet his end.

Refusing to let this burden him, Cadeus rocked his brains for ideas. With that last spell, he had utilized about half of his Cast Limit. If he did not want to hit beyond the Cast Limit, he had to think of a much better idea.

An option was to use another [Point Spell], but one of a lower grade that [Lightning Caste]. He could use another lightning spell, but that would be ineffective against the tough scaled head.

The other option was to use 'that', but Cadeus can't use 'that', not here, not while he knew that Claire somewhere watching him from behind.

The Cliftoae was bearing down on him. Its large hard scaled head was moving so fast that the force of the impact would be disastrous.

That's it! Fire!

Cadeus finally found his answer!

Just cast a fireball! Give that beast one explosive burn!

The Criftoae's head was only a few inches away from his face!

“Damn it!”

It's too late, Cadeus could not cast the spell on time!

Cadeus shut his eyes and expected the worst.

Slice!

…

…

…

Eh?

The Criftoae did not hit him?

Opening his eyes slightly, Cadeus could see the Cliftoae directly in front of him. But for some reason, the Cliftoae was not moving at all. As if challenging the flow of time and reality, Cadeus dared himself to think again. was he dreaming? Shouldn't he be smashed by now?

The Criftoae made a small moan, causing Cadues to instinctively back off immediately. But instead of charging at him again, the beast tilted to the side and collapsed.

…

…

As Cadeus looked, there’s a deep red line forming up at the Criftoae's side. It looks as if something had stabbed through the Criftoae. Whatever it was, it stabbed in pretty deep. Cadeus could already see a lot of blood leaking out. The near perfect straight line seen from the stab wound indicates that a straight streamlined weapon has been used. However, when Cadeus looked around, he could not find any weapon of such description.

What in the world just happened?

While he as thinking about all this, a bright flash caught the corner of Cadeus's eye. Looking upwards, Cadeus saw a small bright flying around. It's translucent, but for some reason it is giving off a bright level of shininess. Cadeus strained his eyes, trying to figure out just what is that thing.

…

…

It's… a crystal bird?

It’s a bird all right, but instead of flesh, it is made up of multiple tiny crystallized gems. As it flew, some sort of light bluish aura envelops the bird's body, giving off a mystic air of superstition.

As Cadeus watched calmly, it continued to swirl around in the air. Slowly, the crystal bird decreased its speed and it landed its claws on its owner's right shoulder. As to the identity of the crystal bird's owner…

"Claire?"

"Humph! In the end you are still all nothing but talk."

There stood Claire Chroma ve Rrogust, arms crossed, looking down on him with contempt. From where she was standing, Cadeus could see that she moved up from their initial hiding spot.

"You were up close all along?"

"What about it?"

"If you were watching up so close you could have…"

Cadeus immediately stopped his mouth.

"Could, have, what?" she stated.

"Nothing…"

Cadeus forgot, she said that she would not help him.

Cadeus looked at the dead Criftoae before him. There is no other human being in this area other than the two of them. This means…

He then looked back at Claire.

"Why did you help me?"

"Isn't that a silly question?"

"You said that you would not help me."

"Would you rather I'd not?"

"…"

Cadeus could not bring himself to say anything against her any more. She just saved his life. He could not do anything against her now.

"You owe me another one, Cadeus."

Cadeus sighed, he then looked up to the bird resting on her right shoulder.

"What is that thing anyway?"

"That's my familiar."

"Familiar?"

Cadeus frowned.

"… I thought you can only get a familiar only when Educator Garth says so."

"You forget Cadeus, I am a noble. Getting a familiar from a very young age is no issue."

"Really?"

Cadeus looked at the crystal bird again. No matter how he registered it, that crystal bird did not seem to be normal. All familiars were living beings, naturally born or artificially created. However, even for an artificially created familiar, that thing did not look alive.

Its eyes are made out of pure crystal, emotionless and cold. Its crystallized body is so perfectly still that Cadeus did not think that the creature had a pulse. Rather, it looks like it’s being made and controlled, like some sort of robot.

"Just what is that thing?"

"Are you blind? It's a crystallized bird."

"Yes I know that it is crystallized, but how can such a thing exist? I mean, it's not even alive."

"Yes? So what about it?"

"… Are you secretly a Dark Mutator?"

"Where do you get that idea you idiot?"

"Well, we are looking for a horn for your secret research, and you control a familiar that is artificially created through unknown means… doesn't that best describe what Dark Mutators are?"

Claire rolled her eyes.

Ah… that's definitely a no. Cadeus closed his eyes and think, since that bird is not alive, how can that be a familiar?

Unless…

"Oh! I got it, you are aspiring to be an Artifact Crafter. That bird is one of your masterpieces right?"

"Zero points, you failure. I already said that is my familiar."

"It… can be an Artifact familiar?"

"You can't even get the basic terminological definitions correct, wow. I think I can see you in a different light now."

"Shut up! Then tell me the answer Miss know-it-all!"

Claire ignored him.

"Just how long are you going to sit down there and do nothing?"

"Huh?"

Now that she mentioned it, Cadeus noticed that he’s still on his butt.

"Oh… sorry."

He immediately got up and hit the dust off his robes. Cadeus looked at the Criftoae in front of him again. The beast was dead all right. Whatever that bird did, it gave the beast quite the clean kill. Cadeus doubt that he would be able to survive that. Taking a quick look at the bird, Cadeus swore to himself never to make Claire an extremely hostile enemy.

"Good, now."

"Hm?"

Claire reached within her cloak and pulled out a short sword. She passed it to Cadeus by the hilt.

"Get the horn for me."

"…"

"What is with that expression?"

"… I thought you said you would not let me use your short sword."

"And what? Watch and wait as you pathetically use your miserable knife to scrap the horn? The short sword is a lot faster."

"Why don't you do it then?"

"Are you going to let a lady stain her hands?"

"…"

Cadeus just took the short sword by the hilt.

"What? Not even a thank you?"

"Huh?"

"I just saved your life. Be grateful, I even re-considered lending you this short sword."

"… Thank you?"

"You are one pathetic gentleman."

Cadeus closed his eyes and ignored her. He knelt in front of the Cirftoae's head and started sawing away at the horn. It took a couple of seconds. Cadeus could feel himself sawing at muscles, bone cartridges and bone marrow. When he had finished, he passed it to Claire by the horn tip, and when he looked at her Cadeus could have sworn he'd saw a different side of her today.

Claire, was smiling.

She was smiling, and it is not one of those ordinary smiles. It is the appreciative kind of smile, soft and warm. She took the horn, wrapped the bloodied side with a cloth and started to admire the horn for several seconds. Throughout this long pause, Cadeus could not help but be drawn to her face. With that smile, Cadeus found her face captivating.

Well… it's not like it is that impactful. Cadeus always knew that Claire is an attractive noble, but he did not have a good impression of the nobles because of their arrogance and their high-and-mighty attitudes. But with this smile, Cadeus felt as if he was being blown to one side. He had seen a flash of how beautiful Claire can be.

Gosh… she really does look like a real princess if she smiles like that.

Once Claire is done she tug the horn away inside one of her sling bags. That was when she noticed Cadeus staring at her.

"What?"

"… I didn't know you could smile like that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Are you done? There's still the first Criftoae you killed. What are you waiting for?"

The princess image Cadeus just had was shattered into a million pieces.

"… I got it."

TOA

Cadeus breathed his seventh sigh when he finally got out of that narrow strip of a dirt road, he really felt relieved when he stepped back onto the main road. Once you return to the main road, you were counted as half safe. When you get out of the forest in one piece, only then would you be truly safe.

With this, he had cleared one favour for Claire, one favour left to go.

…

…

Come to think of it, he still had to find that Procona plant, Drabog or something like that.

What time is it now?

Cadeus reached for his pocket watch again.

The time now is 09:46 am.

Lunch starts at 12 pm, he had less than three hours to find the Procona plant. Three hours should be enough, well… more or less.

"Hey Claire."

"What?"

"With this, I am free from you for the time being right?"

"Just what is with that phrasing? You are making me sound like some sort of slave driver here."

Aren't you one yourself? Cadeus thought.

"Before I dismiss you from my service, I have to give you this warning."

"What?" Cadeus said, half interested.

Claire never said anything until Cadeus looked at her again. She seems quite intend to get this warning message through, whatever it is.

"Never mention about what happen today to anyone. Anyone, got it?"

"Got it."

"This research is top secret. Even for a dumb guy like yourself, you should understand what top secret is right?"

"Of course? What do you take me for?"

"Good to hear that you have a decent level of vocabulary. If you ever tell anyone about what happened today, I will end your pathetic existence."

"Got it, I am not interested in what you are up to anyway."

"What? So rude, every experiment has its purposes. It is through all these experiments that we are able to know more of the unknown. Haven't you learn all that in basics?"

"The more I hear of this, the more I am thinking of you as a Dark Mutator."

"Do you want me to beat you?"

Cadeus ignored that last comment. Does she know something called verbal abuse?

"What I just said regarding experimentation is universal. If we cannot make one step and explore, how can we progress and know more of the unknown?"

"Hmm…"

Though he showed signs that he was listening, over half of Cadeus's attention is solely on his map and discerning the route to the swamps. In seeing that he is paying little attention to her, Claire's level of tolerance is clearly getting thinner by the second.

"Not bothered and interested. As usual, you'll miss out a lot."

Cadeus just ignored her.

"Are we done?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Now let's see…

Cadeus started to take out his hand-made map for the forests of Tenebris Vacuum. He had to pinpoint his current location. Once he knows where he was, all that's left is figuring out which direction the swamp is. Now that he's finally done with Claire, he can afford to make one more trip to the swamp. It is highly discouraged by the Educators to travel alone, but everyone knows that the swamp is not inhabited by any dangerous creatures. Cadeus should be fine traveling making a short trip there.

From his current position, the swamp should be around…

Turning around to a specific direction, he walked off on his own.

"Hey, where do you think you are going"

"Huh?"

Cadeus looked back towards Claire. She still had her arms crossed, and from the looks of it, it seems that she's still expecting something from him.

"What do you want? I got you your horn right?"

"Yes, but where are you going?"

"Going somewhere?"

"That's where the swamp is you know?"

"I know, just checking something."

"Checking what?"

"None of your concern."

Cadeus did not need to look back to know that she is angry, why is she always so angry with him?

"You can go back first you know, I already got you your horn."

"And what? Leave a girl alone in the forest to go back by herself?"

Cadeus looked at her with something akin to a 'dumb look'. They had reached the main road, and the forest entrance is not far off. Going back alone should not be of any issue.

"What's wrong with going back alone? A Pure Blood like yourself should have no issues right?"

Uh oh... from the moment he said that Cadeus realised that it might actually be the wrong answer.

Claire gave him a look full of bitterness.

"You are one terrible gentleman. You can't even escort a lady to the end?"

What the... she is still demanding him to escort?

"Who says I'm escorting you? I'm only helping you to begin with because I don't want to own you any favours."

"What? To escort a lady is a gentleman's duty. Aren't you a guy?"

"I am a guy. It's just that I don't want to escort you."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Nobles… they always have such high expectancy. Cadeus felt that the more they spent time arguing about this, the less time will be available to look for that Draborg plant or whatever it is called. A quick solution would be to just ignore her and walk off on his own, but that might result in an unwanted outcome. Cadeus was sure that she would react violently if he did not correspond to her noble demands. It looks like the only solution currently available is to simply let her follow him.

Thinking about this now, Cadeus was getting reluctant about that option. He did not want Claire finding out about the fluid. But it seems that he did not have a choice in the matter. A quick visit and back to the Academia. It might actually be worthwhile just letting Claire come along... or not.

"All right then, my 'lady'."

Claire frowned on his emphasize on the 'lady', but Cadeus ignored her.

"Supposed I escort you to the end, you still would have no issue is getting out of this forest on your own right?"

Claire placed her hands on her hips.

"It's true that I have no problems, but even someone like me have a Cast Limit, Cadeus."

"Ah… now I understand."

"Understand what?"

"I guess the Nobles aren't that strong after all, since they can state how limited is their Cast Limit."

"I'm going to kill you."

Cadeus can feel Claire building up the magic within her. Gosh, his sense of feeling other magical presences is really improving.

"Well, if you do kill me, then I wish you good luck in getting back by yourself."

Claire stopped gathering the magic within her. If she had continued, she would have cast a deadly spell. But she hesitated right there, it seems like she really need the company.

Cadeus gave another sigh and rubbed his head in slight annoyance.

In the end, he could not just leave her alone like that. Even though a noble is a lot stronger than your usual lot of mages, they still have a Cast Limit of their own. They, like any ordinary person, had a chance that they might not make it out of the forest alive.

The more he thought of this now, the more he would feel bad if he just leave her as it is. No matter how much he hated her, he still could not shove her to one side and just carry on, on his own.

"Look, if you are that concerned about the escort part, you can just follow me. I just need to get something from the swamps. After that, I'll escort you back properly. I'll promise that. Satisfied?"

Claire looked to the side. She gave a look that tells Cadeus she's considering his words. In the end, she just nodded.

Cadeus just focused on his hand made map and took the lead.

"When we get back, you're going to wish you're never born."

Cadeus rolled his eyes. As usual, the empty threats.

"I'd really like to see you try, 'my lady'."

"NOW YOU'RE DEAD!"

Cadeus turned just in time to deflect a lightning spell with another lightning spell of his own.

Current Cast Limit estimation – about four more [Point Spells] left to go

TOA

After walking for several more minutes, the swamp was finally in sight.

At first glance, the swamp could be one of the purest representations of the corruptive nature of Dark Magic.

The air smells of mild decay and corruption. Blocks of buzzing black flies swarm around certain parts of the swamp. Rotted fungi could be seen spread all around a thick layer of green mulch covering the forest floor. The water in the swamp was also in a sad state. The liquid is opaque black, with green marshes of decaying mosses overlaying most of the water surface. The edges of the swamps are also all baked with huge clogs of mud, making the swamp look impossible to be a natural habitat.

However, underneath the entire façade, the swamp was a large ecosystem home to all sorts of life. It’s a commonplace known to house alchemical ingredients, some of which you will not find even in the most diverse alchemical shop in the whole capital of Infinitas.

However, the stench and eeriness of the swamp discouraged many mages from coming. People don't usually come down here unless they need to, which was why there’s currently no one but Cadeus and Claire.

"Well, so what is it that you are looking for?" Claire asked.

Cadeus did not answer her. He opened his sling bag and took out the book he got yesterday.

"Hm? 'The Swamp comes alive'? You are thinking of that Procona Powder?"

"Yes."

"What? You think you can find the ingredients in a swamp? The ingredients used to make Procona are all either harvested from animals, volcanic areas and valley plants. What can the swamp provide?"

"Everything."

"I don't see how."

"You'll see."

Flipping to the page that he marked, he looked around for the plant Draborg as described in the book.

It did not take that long until he found it, a plant with a swelling head sitting at the very edge of the swamp pond along the rock lines. Cadeus can see three of them, they should have plenty of the fluid. But the problem now was that they are all at the opposite side of the swamp, and there is no clear path to the other side.

In seeing Cadeus staring at the same spot across, Claire can gauge what he is thinking.

She bent forward and looked up to him.

"So what are you going to do now?" Claire asked.

Cadeus still ignored her. He took another good look at the swamp pond in front of him. Currently, they were up on a short cliff. Looking down he could see the opaque surface of the swamp lake. Looking forward again, Cadeus thought that he could make a round around the swamp to get to the other side, but the rock edge will still be out of his reach. He still have to descend into the water in order to get to it.

…

…

In comparing both options, making a huge round to get the other side sounds more tedious. No… it will be more worth it if he wades through to the other side. No choice then.

Cadeus kept his book. He took out the glass bottle and his short knife and passed his sling bag to Claire.

"Hold this for me would you?"

Claire gave a look of annoyance but she took it anyway.

"What are you up to exactly?"

Cadeus took a deep breath, and then he took a leap.

As he landed on the swamp pond, Cadeus felt his legs getting wet as swamp water splashed all around him. Gosh, this stench was going to last for days.

"Eww… that stinks and it's just so gross."

"Tell me about it."

Cadeus started wading through to the other side. As he dragged his feet, he could feel the smaller life forms underneath the water surface swimming away from his legs. When he reached the other side, he took his time to observe the Draborg. The plant's stem was clinging on the rocky surface while the roots were visible only until it reached the water surface. It had a swelling head all right, but whatever it was, the liquid contents inside the membrane head appeared to be grey in colour.

Cadeus's eyes went to the glass container on his left hand. He placed the very tip of the glass container at the membrane edge. Slowly, he placed his Swiss knife at the very surface and thinly sliced the membrane head. After two thin slices, Cadeus can see a thick grayish fluid leaking out of the membrane head. Cadeus pressed the flask tip against the membrane, causing the thick fluid to drip into the flask itself. As more of the fluid began to leak out, Cadeus added more pressure. By the time the membrane head is drained into a soft lob of membrane skin, the flask is almost filled to the brim.

When he is done, Cadeus brought the flask close up, causing the drained membrane head to drop dangling downwards.

Satisfied with the outcome, Cadeus corked the flask tip and kept his Swiss knife.

He then turned and slowly made his way back.

When he reached the exact same spot he landed a moment ago, he placed the flask on the elevated cliff first. After making sure it won't fall, he used his arms to lift him up. Once he finally got out of the swamp, he frowned at the stench of the dripping water droplets. He'd better make a change of clothes before he meets Sing and Nadav later.

Holding his breath, he took a moment to squeeze dry whatever parts of his robes he can. The stench remained, but at least he won't feel so wet on the journey back. Plus, the weight of drenched robes will not be around to hamper his running, if the situation calls for it.

Claire simply watched in silence while she simply observed his actions, there is nothing for her to comment at the moment. The air eventually grew quiet around them, so much that it made Cadeus feel slightly uncomfortable. Once he was done squeeze drying what he can, he took the glass flask and held it up above eye level, using whatever few rays of sunlight he can find to take a closer look.

All in all, it is still what he first saw when he cut that membrane skin. Thick, grey, grayish, with a sickening hew to it.

Can this thick grey liquid give us Procona Powder? It's not quite what I had in mind. Cadeus thought.

"Are you done?" Claire finally opened her mouth.

"Yes."

"Here you go."

"Huh?"

Claire held out his sling bag.

"…"

"What is with that look of surprise?"

"Nothing…"

Cadeus simply took back his sling bag from her.

"You really held it to the end didn't you?"

"Of course I did. What were you expecting?"

"I don't know, maybe you'll just fling it to the other side or something?"

Claire frowned again.

"Just what do you take me for?"

He did not answer. He placed the flask in and secured it in a way that the flask will not crack if the bag was accidentally dropped.

"So what on earth is that thing?" Claire finally opened her mouth.

"What do you think?"

"One unusual ingredient needed to make Procona powder I assume, but what exactly is that thing?"

Cadeus looked at her and pondered about the possible implications. He wondered what would happen if he told her that this fluid is the direct powder in liquid form. Initially he did not want to let her know anything, at least until he resolves his own board quest. But the more he thought of this, the more he deduced that people are going to eventually find out he had attained a direct source to making Procona powder, sooner or later.

Clashes are bound to happen, this he can be absolutely sure. Given the fact that most Dark Mages had taken up the extensive board quests for Procona Powder, it is going to be very difficult securing the powder source. Violence was commonly used amongst Dark Mages as a means to an end. There were often stories where groups of Dark Mages would fight each other just to secure one alchemical ingredient. Well… given how dangerous the forests of Tenebris Vacuum was, it’s actually not a bad idea to just take what you need by force, instead of risking your life to step into the forest with a chance that you might never make it out.

Of course the Educators placed disciplinary margins to ensure that the students do not get out of control. However that only works within the Academia Building. Once you are out in the forest edges, there won't be any Educator to watch out for you, and the usual deaths that occurred near or within the forests are always recorded as 'unfortunate accidents'.

This was not to say that all Dark Mages were the scheming treacherous lot. There were those who would bother going out of their way to get what they need and not bother clashing with the others. Cadeus and Susan were great examples of those kinds of Dark Mages, and Cadeus was sure that there are many such others out there as well.

… Even Claire would not go that far to attack other students to get what she wants, Cadeus was quite sure of that.

"So? What ingredient is it? How can it be used to make Procona?" She asked again.

Then again, it is sometimes better to play safe and not tell her anything until he finally gets his hands on the powder.

"I'll tell you once I'm done with my board quest."

Slice

"Ngh?!"

The pain came like a sting, and then it went on continuously. It all happened in a blink of an eye. One second Cadeus was standing normally looking at Claire, the next second he's bending down slightly, hands on his bleeding right cheek. Looking back upwards, Cadeus could see that crystal bird flapping before landing on Claire's shoulder again.

The culprit was so obvious.

"What the hell is that for?"

"I'm asking you a question, a gentleman should not avoid a lady's question."

"Couldn't you have told me that in a nice manner?"

"I am being nice. If a normal person dare talk back to me with that kind of tone I would have electrocuted him."

"What kind of reaction is that? You nobles should know how to exercise your authority properly."

"I am exercising my authority properly. If I were some other immature noble, I would have just went on a rampage and start destroying everything that pissed me off, including you."

"Slicing a cheek just because you are not answered, just how mature are you?"

"What did you say?"

"… Nothing."

Gosh, Cadeus really did not know how to deal with her. Cadeus used his thumb to swap the cut on his cheek. Looking down, he caouldstill see fresh blood on his thumb.

"So? Are you going to tell me or not?"

Cadeus looked at her again. That crystal bird of hers was still standing emotionless on her shoulder. If he still avoids her question, who knows what could she do with it. That previous slice was clearly a warning. Cadeus did not want to go through another experience again.

"If I give you the answer, how will I make it in such a way that you won't tell the others?"

"Ah I see… you are concerned about the more violent characters."

"Obviously? I am in a pinch right now. This Procona issue is really getting off the charts. I don't know which Dark Mage signed up for the other resquests for Procona Powder, but in considering the situation, won't I be in a difficult situation if everyone found out I managed to get the powder in such a short amount of time?"

Claire just gave him a disinterested look in response. Clearly, she knew about Cadeus's current situation from the very beginning. Her tone is pure sarcastic, and it is clearly not making Cadeus happy.

Cadeus really felt like slapping her. If she had known about this, why go through the trouble of cutting his cheek?

"But going from your concerns, won't I be a liability since I saw you get that fluid? Even if I did not know what that is, I can always assume it is related to Procona. Shouldn't you be worried about the possibility that I would slip a note to the others in regards to today's episode?"

"As if. You went through the trouble of making me swear to secrecy what had happened today. If you slip your tongue, others will question how the heck you knew about this information, and then they will find out about our unusual pairing today."

"Ah, that's true…"

"If that happens I might even become your liability as I can account for what happened today. That being said, it obviously does you no good at all since you need that horn for whatever secret project you have in mind."

"Is that so?"

"So since you need me to keep your horn secret, you will definitely need to keep your mouth shut when it comes to this fluid."

"Or, I could just kill you here and now, sell this information to the rest and then I won't need to worry about you being a liability. I can make up the story after all."

Suspense followed. The two of them stared at each other at the face.

For some reason, Cadeus heard the threat, but he did not feel the intention coming from Claire. His first thought is to attack her immediately to repel this threat, but it is enough for his mind to control this instinct.

No, it is not that she intends to kill him now. Cadeus knew that she is too smart for that. It feels… as if she was testing him, trying to gauge his thinking processes. She just wants to hear his answer.

So the question now is this, what is it that she wants to hear? It took a while before Cadeus opened his mouth.

"No, I don't think so."

"You must have a lot of courage to say that, or you are just an idiot. What makes you so sure that I won't kill you to keep your mouth shut."

"Look where we are right now, if you kill me, your chances of making out of this forest alive will drop. Even if you think you have a chance, I still owe you a favour for saving my life back there. If I know you right, you will definitely make full use of the fact that I owe you. Also, as a noble you will at least practice a decent level of delicacy regardless of your intentions. So if you want to kill me, you will at least do it when you have no more use of me, am I right?"

Claire gave him a sinister smile in response, but it was more than enough for Cadeus to know that she approved of his comments. Cadeus is not that concerned about her death threats. He knew her long enough to know that she did not have the right intentions for it. Claire is not the type to get menacing just because of one small issue, her upbringing is too proper and prim for that kind of thing.

"It seems that today is a day for us to keep secrets. Since we are… 'helping' each other keep secrets, why don't you just tell me what that fluid is?"

"…"

"You said so yourself, I won't reveal what happened today since you are already helping me keep my horn secret. So, what is that liquid? How is it connected to Procona Powder?"

Not point in hiding it now… Cadeus took out the flask.

"Before I start talking, there is no one besides us here right?"

Claire gave a look around. She snapped her fingers, summoning two more crystal birds out of nowhere. With another gesture, the three birds split and began moving around a certain invisible perimeter around them.

"If there is anyone, they will let me know. Now then, time to drop the sensitivity."

"All right then." Cadeus waved the flask in front of her.

"This, is Procona Powder in fluid form."

"…"

"…"

"Are you joking?"

Cadeus reach for his bag and too out 'The Swamp comes alive'.

"See it for yourself."

He tossed the book towards her. Claire caught it with minimum effort, she saw the bookmarks Cadeus made and flipped through each bookmark until she found it.

She scanned through the pages, widening her eyes when she read the correct paragraph. Once she was done she closed the book and tossed it back to Cadeus. She then gestured him to pass the flask over.

Cadeus hesitated at first, but eventually he sighed and relented. Claire took the flask and held it at eye level.

"So this grayish fluid is Procona Powder in liquid form…"

"Yes."

"Hmm…"

Cadeus braced himself for whatever might come to pass. If she breaks the flask…

"Well, now that you mention it, it makes sense, Procona Powder had that grey grayish colour."

"Are you done?"

Claire gave him another stare to show her displeasure. Thankfully, she passed it back and Cadeus proceeded to secure it in his bag.

"So, are we done here?" Claire asked.

"Yup."

He then gestured to the main road towards the edge of the swamp entrance.

"Ladies first."

TOA

Cadeus could see her tapping on her elbow the first thing he stepped out of the forest. Why was she waiting for him?

With a glare filled with 100% disapproval, Susan was clearly not happy. Cadeus did not know what could cause her mood to turn badly. When he left her she was just fine. But now, he could clearly see how her mood changed in just a couple of hours.

For some reason Cadeus felt something was off. The cause of her mood change does not seem to be due to an external event or some downhill engagement with other Dark Mages.

However, the more he thinks of this, the more he feels that her glare of 100% disapproval is mostly directed at him.

Why? Did he do something wrong?

Cadeus rewind the time in his head, accumulating all the memories where he had spend time with Susan until he strode off with Claire. So far, Cadeus did not see any reason for him to have given her cause to make her mad.

So if he did not did anything to have angered Susan, why is she staring at him with glares of 100% disapproval?

"It looks like you got trouble." Claire said.

Cadeus did not have to turn around to see that she is smiling.

There is no further point in speculating what had happened, so Cadeus just strode ahead.

"What happened Susan?"

"What happened? Is that all you can say?"

"… Ok, let me guess, something went wrong."

"Of course something went wrong! Why do you think I'm angry?"

"Ok, calm down, what is the issue?"

"You are the issue!"

Cadeus backed a little, he did not expect to get such a response.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Today is the last day we get to have free time! Haven't you heard Educator Garth? We are even starting on [Distance Spells] tomorrow! Since you were free, I asked you if you could accompany me to do some hunting, and you walked away just like that?"

"You asked me?"

Cadeus racked his head. He did not remember Susan asking him to do some hunting.

In response, Susan just gave him an improved disapproval glare, she totally saw through how dumbfounded he is.

Uh Oh…

"Sorry I had no recollection, when did this happen?"

"After you submitted your fish!"

"Fish?" Claire asked.

Cadeus just ignored her.

"Look Susan, I'm sorry about what happened. How about this? The next time Educator Garth gives us free time, the first thing I will do is to help you with your beast hunt. Is that ok?"

"... Fine, if you say so."

Phew… safe.

Now that he was up close, Susan caught a certain scent emitting from Cadeus's robes. She covered her nose.

"Cadeus, you stink."

"Yes I know. Don't state the obvious."

"You smell of the swamp."

"Yes, I have been there."

"What are you doing there?"

"Getting something."

"Getting what then?"

"…"

Cadeus can only look away.

Susan placed her hands on her hips, bent down slightly and gave him the interrogating stare.

"… Very suspicious."

"Will you give me a break?"

"Cadeus." Claire called.

Cadeus turned around to face her. It seems that she had grown bored of their current conversation. Well, it’s not like she has any relationship with Susan anyway.

"With this we are done. I'll let you know if there is anything again in future."

"Got it."

Claire gave him a smirk.

"Good luck Cadeus."

"With what?"

"With what is about to come."

"Huh?"

Claire just gave him a mischievous grin. She then walked away, totally not acknowledging Susan's presence as she passed her.

Susan just gave her the distrustful look. Once she caught a wind of a certain scent off Claire, she immediately turned her head back to Cadeus.

"Cadeus."

"Hm?"

"She smells of the swamp too, but not as bad as you. What have the two of you been doing?"

"I'm just escorting her."

"Escort? You of all people, escort Claire?"

"I owe her."

"I thought you hated owing people favours."

"I did."

"Then why?"

"I needed her help at one point of time. This is to compensate for it."

"This gets even more suspicious. If you hated Claire, why do you need her help?"

"It was a small favour for another. Nothing else."

"Are you aware of the fact that she might be exploiting you?"

"Obviously?"

"Ok then, how many more favours you owe her now?"

"Just one."

Actually, the correct answer was two. Cadeus still owe Claire one during the events of his first day of enrolment, but that is a story for another time. Anyways, why lie to Susan? Cadeus felt that if he were to tell her the truth, it might result in an unfavourable session of Susan interrogating him for the details. In considering that Claire is a highly prestigious Pure Blooded Noble, it should be unfavourable in Susan's eyes for people to approach Claire without proper incentives and code of conducts. Especially when that person has quite a reputation of being called an 'imposter' or 'impersonator' by nobles who are highly sensitive about family names.

Susan just gave Cadeus the look that totally tells that she has more to say, but for some reason, she eventually decided to let the matter drop.

"… You better not go owing her more favours."

"Hopefully not."

"…" Susan just continued staring at him.

Sigh…

Cadeus brushed off her stare. Time to move on.

Cadeus took out his pocket watch to check the time again.

11:35 am

It is coming to lunchtime. Since Educator Garth gave them free time, it is safe to call it a day. Cadeus is quite certain the other Educators would not make any issue if he chose to leave Tenebris Vacuum now. The faster he leaves this hell, the better. As he took a deep breath, he could not help but smell the stench coming from his clothing.

"I need to change."

"Yes please do, you stink."

"You said that once already, and stop covering your nose to illustrate. I squeezed dry most of the water so it should not smell so bad."

"You still smell bad."

Cadeus ignored her. He started walking up the dirt road that will take him to the teleportation circle. Susan obviously started following him.

"Cadeus, what are you going to do later? The whole afternoon is off."

"The usual, meeting up with my friends."

"Friends?"

Susan stopped in her tracks.

"Hm?"

Cadeus turned around in response.

"What's wrong?"

"By friends… you are going to meet up with that White girl again?"

White girl… she definitely means Sing, what a label…

"Susan, Sirena's fine. She's a childhood friend."

"She's White."

"There's nothing wrong with her."

"Being White is the problem with her."

"Could you please stop it? She's not as bad as you think."

"I think you are the one who should stop it."

Susan thrust an accusing index finger towards him.

"You are the one who is mingling with the wrong people Cadeus. Dark and White don't mix."

There we go again, discrimination amongst those who had different colours of Magic in their blood. Since both sides have conflicting practices and ethics, it is only natural for the majority of each side to be wary of one another.

"In general, yes I understand. Most White Mages I am exposed to are really a pain, but Sirena's a special case."

"Oh really? How is she a special case?"

"She's not discriminative, and she accepts who I am. Above all, she does not jump the gun whenever I bring up something related to Dark Magic."

"But that does not mean that she is immune to negative thoughts about Dark Mages right?"

"…"

Susan folded her arms and gave Cadeus the 'I told you so' face.

…

…

Even Cadeus got to admit that Susan is right. There are times where Sing will show signs of concern whenever Cadeus brought something Dark Magic related. But Sing did it on a very minimum level, something you don't see in every White Mage. Cadeus really hoped that Susan wouldn't keep being discriminative towards White Mages. What happens if you really need to work with one in the future?

"Um… Cadeus?"

"Hm?"

Susan pointed to his side, Cadeus turned to look.

Cadeus found himself staring at three guys. Going by their faces, they were total strangers. But from their robe slash, Cadeus can tell that they are students like himself. This means, they could be from another class.

From their faces Cadeus can instantly tell that they were not friends. The three are totally emitting facial expressions of hostility.

"What are you going to do Cadeus?"

"Let's just ignore them."

Cadeus resumed walking, avoiding eye contact with the three. Things did not get threatening until they started to block his path.

Looking at them now, Cadeus could not help but sigh inwardly.

"… It looks like it is going to be a rough one."

Getting into fights has recently become an everyday occurrence for Cadeus. Ever since his 'imposter' label had been the talk of the Academia term, Cadeus never had a lack of enemies. Many mages, particularly the nobles, all hated him. They will always look for an opportunity to make a move on Cadeus. So far, Cadeus managed to escape the worse of the situations, but that does not mean that he would be safe forever.

Such issues had become an everyday occurrence to the point where a good day for Colour Class, would be a day where Cadeus would not need to fight anyone.

"Hey imposter."

Cadeus gave them a good look. Now that he is closer, he can see their robe slash. They are all simple students like him. The one on his right is obese while the other two are lean and decent. They should only able to cast basic [Point Spells]. But that does not mean he should let his guard down. Who knows when will they make their move?

"Which class are you three from?"

"Does it matter?"

"What are you here for?"

"We are just passing a message."

A message?

"From whom?"

"You don't need to know."

"Passing a message but not letting the receiver know the sender. You might as well don't pass the message at all."

"Listen you arrogant twit, you are insulting a noble. Just accept the message and shut up."

"Ah, so the sender is a noble, thanks for the tip."

The lean student who got rebutted gave Cadeus a glare so hard he could fell him building up his magic reserves. It looks like a physical conflict is not avoidable.

"My schedule is tight. What is the message?"

"Here's the message. Give up on your board quest."

Ah… so that's how things were going about.

Things were now getting clearer for Cadeus to understand, and it looks like his current situation was getting worse by the minute. If a noble tells him to stop his board quest, it could only be one thing. That same noble was one of the many Dark Mages who took up the latest board requests for Procona Powder. At this point, it would be safe to assume that most of the Dark Mages that took up the new powder requests are either the nobles or their lackeys.

Anyways, Cadeus could see two paths in front of him. The first would be to accept the message, drop everything and avoid the ire of the nobles. The second would be to defy, possibly get into a fight with the three in front of him right now and get targeted by the nobles involved in future.

But no, Cadeus was not going to comply. He had his board quest first. He was the one who first received the request for Procona Powder. He was not going to let some noble waste away yesterday's worth of work.

"Here's my reply, tell that noble to get lost. I got my quest first. I have the rights to get the quest reward, 300 Duches or not."

The three in front of him changed faces for the worst. They soon started to get into their casting stances, but Cadeus is not going to let them take any initiative.

Current Cast Limit estimation – about four… no, five more [Point Spells] left

This was the first thing that went into Cadeus's head. Of the three in front of him, the one that seems to be the slowest is the fat blobbed one on his right. He'll take on the other two first.

At that very instance, Cadeus spread out his fingers and rushed the magic energizes to his fingertips.

[Lightning Pulse]

The high voltage of lightning hit the two students square at their solar plexus, sending them flying backwards off to the side and cocooning their entire body with electricity.

But it does not end there.

Unlike [Lightning Caste] that utilized five forks of lightning arcs per hand, [Lightning pulse] only has three. But the motive behind three lighting arcs is not to hit the opponent directly, but to ensnare them. Once they got hit, the lightning spell covered them in some sort of lightning web. The spell then lifted the two students off the ground and started rotating them in numerous directions, maximizing the voltage currents and the damage it brings.

As Cadeus turned from the two who are currently immobilized, he could see how the obese student was caught off guard. The obese student must have assumed that things would have been easy since he had additional backup. But when he saw his two companions flying backwards his lost his composure. Cadeus could see him sweating, and he could feel how distorted the magic was within that fat student. Whatever offensive spell that obese student had, he lost his imagination. He won't be able to cast any spell effectively, for the moment.

Like the first two, Cadeus was not going to give that fat blob any chance. He rushed forward the magic within his blood for another [Point Spell]. This time, he focused the magic energizes onto his palm and imagined something sizzling hot. Stepping just a few feet in front of the last opponent, he cast the next spell, [Thermal Crest].

The spell basically allows Cadeus to shoot out a small blast of flame out from his palm. The purpose of this spell was mainly for the caster to use fire to scorch a surface to leave behind a message. However, it could also be used as a fast casting spell to surprise the opponent, especially at such close range.

The obese student panicked upon the sight of the fire spell. He flashed out his own palms in front of it and casted another fire spell, but his casting process is too hasty. He did not have proper preparation. The spell shape disintegrated the instance it left his palm, but it was enough to place an obstacle in front of Cadeus's own fire spell. Both spells collided causing a clash, a clash that probably saved that fat blob's life. But it did not end there. As the clash created a kind of blast, Cadeus closed himself up by a hair's breath. Ignoring the obese student's sense of surprise, Cadeus stabbed his fingers into his torso and casted the same stun spell he used on the Criftoae just moments ago.

The obese student jerked and danced to the lightning effects. It did not take that long before he collapsed onto the floor, unmoving.

Once he was certain the obese student would not be getting up, Cadeus turned to check on the first two students he targeted. They were still currently in mid air cocooned with electricity, but the spell's duration was finishing. After three more seconds, the lighting faded and the two collapsed without moving.

Guess they would not be getting up again.

Cadeus clenched his fists. The exhilarated feeling began kicking into his mind again. It was the same after effect whenever he used the Dark Magic within his blood. Whatever it is, Cadeus struggled to control it. He cannot let this feeling overcome him.

In feeling some kind of gaze being directed over towards him, Cadeus turned over only to see Susan looking at him with concern.

"Cadeus… you did not have to go that far."

"They started emitting hostile intentions in the first place. If I let them do as they pleased I would have been under their mercy. Taking the initiative was the right choice."

"…"

Using the tip of his boot, he kicked the obese student to the side, exposing his face and torso.

"Now, let's find out who sent these lackeys. Susan, search the others."

"… Ok."

Cadeus searched the obese student's sling bag first. He found nothing except books, a long knife and some rolled up scrolls too well written to be messages. He then flipped the obese student's cloak to the side searched his pockets and pouches.

"Um… Cadeus."

"What?"

"I found the message. It's not good."

"Huh?"

Cadeus turned to look. Susan held up what seemed to be a crumpled up paper. The message was hand written.

Walking over, Cadeus took the slip from her fingers. Glancing through, it seems more like a set of instructions telling the three to inform Cadeus to drop his board quest. It’s an indirect message, which definitely means that a noble is behind one of the latest board quests for the powder.

But that was not the main focus. Cadeus needs to know who was behind this assault. Looking further down, he found his answer. There was an insignia at the very bottom right corner of the note. It’s an insignia of the flame stamped in red wax, and there was only one noble family who had that flame insignia.

Acriscius Incendium ve Ustrina

He was the very first noble to brand him with the title of 'imposter', and he was also the reason why Cadeus is on bad terms with almost everyone in Tenebris Vacuum. So far, Cadeus had managed to avoid a confrontation with that person. However, with this note, Cadeus is getting a bad feeling. He has a feeling he will clash with Acriscius soon, very soon.

…

…

…

Not wanting to think anymore about this matter at the moment, Cadeus ripped the note into very tiny pieces before scattering them into the wind. Now there will be no passersby who will find out about this note.

"Let's go Susan. The less people know about this the better."

"What about them?"

Susan gestured towards the three fallen students. It looks like she feels concerned enough for their well being. Cadeus gave a quick look around, there is no one else besides the two of them, good.

"Leave them. If we bring this up to the Educators, they will question our involvement. When they find out what I did, they might even punish us."

"But they are hurt."

Ignoring that last comment, Cadeus just started walking with an unconcerned look. Susan can only follow with haste. While she followed, she stole a few glances back towards the three fallen bodies, obviously still concerned.

…

In the end, Cadeus could not understand why Susan would care so much for such small matters. Those three were clearly just used by Acriscius to pass a message. They already served their purpose, but attacking him was not part of their instructions. Plus, it is only natural for Cadeus to deal a decent amount of damage in return as self-defense. Why do they need additional pity when they clearly failed?

Cadeus sighed. He turned his head towards Susan.

"Relax, they will not die. The level of electricity I put into is not enough to kill anyone."

"… I just hope you are right. But even so… won't those three put the blame onto you when they wake up?"

"Where is their proof? Look at where we are. Any other mage could have done this, and the Educators are not that stupid to place the blame quickly. The fact that they will blame it on me is even more absurd. No one will believe that I have the capability to take down three students of the same year."

"But you are a Pure Blood Cadeus."

"I just started learning magic three months ago. How can I produce such a result?"

"You just did."

"Who would believe it?"

"…"

"Just don't mention anything about this, we will be fine."

"… If you say so."

TOA

Susan was not the only one who knew Cadeus fought three students and defeated them singlehandedly. Once he and Susan stepped onto the teleportation circle and teleported to Converse Hall, Claire turned her attention and said only one thing.

"He's good."

"Hm…"

"He managed to defeat three students with just three spells. That's already quite a feat for a student at his level."

"Three students of the weakest caliber. That still does not mean anything."

"You mean you expected that outcome?"

"I only expect those three to pass the message, that's all there is to be."

"What do you think then?"

"Hm?"

"Don't give me that look. You sacrificed three pawns to see how he's doing. What do you think of Cadeus."

"He's nothing. Like every imposter."

"That's not what I think."

"What do you think then?"

"His growth is unusually fast. Even though he is only been exposed to [Point Spells], he has been using them to their outmost benefit. He managed to knock out one Criftoae and scare six others by just using two lightning spells."

"When did this happen? I did not hear of this."

"Does it matter? What I am saying is that he's learning at a very fast pace. You saw how he casted his spells. Take [Lightning Pulse] for an instance. It took me six months to get [Lightning Pulse] just right. He got it perfectly in a manner of three. If you think about how late he is introduced to magic, getting [Lightning Pulse] that perfect in such a short time is definitely something not normal."

"What are you trying to say then?"

"I think we'd better not underestimate the fact that he is a Pure Blood like us."

Giving her the look that tells her he is not that concerned, Acriscius Incendium ve Ustrina placed his right hand on the tree right next to him.

"It does not matter whether he is a Pure Blood or not. An imposter is an imposter."

He pressed his fingertips against the tree trunk, at that very next second, the entire tree got incinerated into ash and thin air.

"We will not allow him to brand that family name out so openly. It is an insult to us nobles and the nobles of that family. When the situation calls for it. I will gladly end his pathetic existence."

Claire looked at the three students lying on the ground. She is not as convinced as her noble counterpart.

"But what do you think Acriscius? What if… he is really a survivor of that family?"

"Impossible. There can be no one. That family died out during the Trebunus Crisis."

"All save one."

Acriscius gave her the warning look.

"Be careful. We are not allowed to speak of that matter, didn't your parents warned you before enrollment?"

"Yes."

"That is rumour, not truth. The Immortal is a myth. That is how it should be."