Chapter 85

After making the last deduction, I continued sitting, listening as Titania finished her explanation. Just as I predicted, I felt the tendrils of headmistress' mana probing my soul space once again after Titania explained the final fate of the Death Knights, though it was smoother than her previous attempt. Less wary, for a lack of better term. Maybe the perceived ease of success she had experienced the last time made her more confident.

Considering her age that spanned centuries and her implied power, her flight of confidence was understandable. I could certainly empathize with it, as I had suffered my own share of those bouts, the most recent one being daring to probe her simultaneously. Of course, it was possible that it was a giant double-bluff on her part, but I didn't want to focus on that probability. Not because of the relative unlikeness, but because if she was aware of my tricks and playing me, there wasn't a lot I could do against it. There was no chance I could stand against it, certainly not in her seat of power.

So, rather than going into a complicated assessment of possibilities, I tried to focus on what I could do, and analyzed her probe to the best of my ability. The bright nature of her mana was not a surprise at this point, but I still made sure to give a detailed examination, making sure it wasn't a trick to mislead me. Luckily, she was making it very easy by pushing her mana inside my soul space —a fake one, but still, firmly under my control.

However, the more I examined, the more shocked I felt. The Light was the true nature of her mana, which, despite its unassuming status, was actually a very critical finding. Because, a mage's mana took the flavor of their strongest abilities, ultimately, it was just that, a flavor, something that happened only on the surface, with only flakes of transformation affecting the core unless it was an actively-cast spell.

The headmistress' mana was not like that. It was almost pure Light magic even in its resting state —with hints of darkness that felt like contamination, possible to detect only because I had felt the weird pulsating darkness in its core, allowing me to assess with a more discerning eye.

She pulled her probe before I could delve deeper into the mystery of her mana. I didn't feel disappointed, because I was sure that having a couple of extra minutes wouldn't help me solve that particular mystery. I simply lacked far too many variables. Maybe it was about bringing one's skills to absolute perfection —if such a thing even existed in the first place— or maybe it was related to the Acolyte ability of Titania that had been suppressing her emotion, but only stronger.

Maybe was something completely different...

So, when the headmistress finally spoke once more, after a minute of silence following Titania's story, I didn't have any trouble abandoning that particular line of thought for a later date. "You were lucky," she said in her cracking, raspy voice that screamed old. "You managed to survive Zokras the Eternal's rage."

I didn't have a reaction to her statement, which was okay, as Titania reacted for both of us with a loud gasp. I was so lucky that her emotional state was also a side effect of mana exhaustion, as otherwise, the headmistress might have got suspicious enough to check her. "Impossible," Titania gasped. "Is he still alive?" I chuckled at her description of a lich, and she slapped my shoulder immediately. "Shut up," she murmured shyly. "You know what I mean."

"Sorry," I said unapologetically, while I could feel the headmistress's attention sharpening further from a slight shift in her posture. In such a secretive person, that was the equivalent of a dramatic gasp. At this point, a little flirting was the best chance to distract her from the really important secrets. It wasn't like Titania was able to hide her emotions during her explanation. "So, who is this Zokras?"

"He's one of the oldest liches known, and a major reason the undead are still a major threat rather than a pest that slammed down where it occurred," Titania explained. "Almost two hundred years ago, the Empire led a crusade against a coalition of dark, and according to the stories, a deadly ambush from Zokras was one of the major reasons for failure. Though I don't know how accurate the story was, as according to the stories, he was supposed to be destroyed completed. "

I turned to the headmistress, and she just nodded. "No, he escaped," she said, and for the first time, I felt a tinge of emotion in her tone. Fury. Pure, unadulterated fury. Then a flicker of aura accompanied it, one that burned as bright as the sun, threatening to eradicate the darkness that filled the room. It lasted barely a fraction of a second, and even I would have missed its nature if I wasn't deliberately looking for light magic, but the intensity and purity of her ability were shocking.

However, her momentary flare of anger didn't come without a cost. She started coughing, followed by a flare of darkness, which also came from her. Whatever the darkness she had in, it broke the containment for a while, and her painful coughs were the result. Titania stood up, ready to help, but the headmistress stopped her. "Sit down, child," she murmured. "I'm not old enough to be taken down by an old wound..."

That was another mystery revealed, I realized. However, unlike Titania's accidental slips, I had no doubt that the headmistress had revealed that fact intentionally, though it was more of leveraging her earlier failure of containment rather than a planned ploy, because, despite her best efforts, I could see her arms trembling under her imposing robe. Her intention wasn't hard to guess either. With the appearance of her old enemy Zokras, she clearly needed some more allies, and despite my lack of background, I was a good ally, after proving myself without a doubt by destroying five Death Knights of Zokras, proving both my abilities and my side on the upcoming battle, without a doubt.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I offered despite knowing she wouldn't accept. "I have a fair hand in healing spells."

"No need," she whispered. "Unfortunately, curing it is a bit more difficult than a fresh cut." I nodded at her kind dismissal, but said nothing else while she examined me carefully. "You're a surprising variable," she finally muttered. "What exactly do you seek that made you hide in my school for several years under a fake identity?" she finally asked.

"Oh, this and that," I murmured, doing my best to keep my expression calm. The fact that she assumed my presence was a carefully-arranged fake posting was very reasonable. Based on the facts in hand, that was the only reasonable conclusion. After all, who would assume that until less than a month, I was nothing more than a simpering fool, walking around like a hypnotized ape, stupid and weak? Her assumption about my roots was a bit curious though, as it was rather difficult to make sure I hadn't killed the previous Mule and took his identity weeks ago. Maybe she had a mysterious method to validate that, or maybe she was just relying on the information Titania provided.

Though regardless of her method, her attempts of the investigation were doomed to fail, simply because her initial assumption was faulty. My sudden increase of power was impossible to be factored in.

"This and that," the headmistress murmured, her croaky voice gaining a threatening edge, accompanied by her magical pressure.

Despite her naked intimidation, I looked at her coolly, without flinching. She might be stronger than me, but after killing those Death Knights, and with her obvious attempts to recruit me to her inner circle, I held all the cards. Combine that with the fact that it was impossible to unearth about the 'mysterious organization' that supported me, the headmistress had a hand too weak to even threaten a dire rabbit... "Yes," I murmured in the same tone. "This and that."

Funnily enough, it was Titania that broke our standoff, by rudely kicking me in the shin. "Don't be an asshole," she chided me. "You're doing that intentionally."

"Sorry," I said to Titania with a chuckle, before turning toward the headmistress once more. "Well, actually I was doing less than you might expect. I'm mostly here to do some confidential research, searching for some ancient secrets that need to stay unmentioned for the moment. It's more like an extended holiday after my latest mission rather than a true mission, actually. A bit of reading, some sightseeing, and maybe some recruitment of sharper candidates, but those are all bonuses." Still, even as I said those words, I had to suppress my heartbeat to a more normal level. I was confident in my position, but it still didn't change the fact that I was giving lip to one of the most dangerous people I had ever encountered —which is a toss-up between her and Zokras.

"Yet you're in the middle of my fight with the biggest undead coalition that had seen since two centuries," the headmistress countered. "Wouldn't that make your bosses unhappy?"

"Eeh," I murmured as I shook my hand dismissively. "We're not that strict when it comes to following orders. And we can't exactly talk about bosses. We're more like a loose collection of individuals, concerned about the inevitable decline of the world, doing our best to limit the damages. It wouldn't be the first time I destroyed an army full of undead, or assassinated a few pesky necromancers with more ambition than sense without any confirmation from the rest of the group."

"How interesting," the headmistress murmured while I was impressed by the bullshit I was able to spew, though her tone maintained its usual croaky quality. "Is there any chance for your group to send more assistance, and in return, we might discuss what Silver Spires could do to support them once the current crisis has passed. Maybe I could help you search your ancient texts."

"Let's not go into a discussion of reward immediately," I quickly cut her off, not wanting to reveal what I was searching for. I didn't want to reveal anything about my power, because not only I didn't trust her for anything above this crisis, but also revealing it would unravel my nice blanket of lies, leaving me unprotected against outside ploys. "However, I'm going to mention the possibility to the rest of the group, and then we'll see if there's any spare manpower they could afford to share. But don't expect anything in the short term, as one of the disadvantages of the decentralized organization is a slow response time."

The headmistress nodded, no doubt confused by the plethora of possibilities that our talk had implied. The silence stretched, a minute at first, then two, elongating further and further. I wondered whether she was trying to come to a decision, or using another intimidation tactic, though I had a feeling that it was both.

Her next words carried a surprise, more to Titania than me, though my shock was considerably strong as well. "Would you be interested in a personal trade, the power of light magic, in exchange for a tighter coordination between us during the crisis," she offered.

"You can't," Titania gasped in shock. "With your injury that might-" she tried to continue, only for the headmistress to silence her with a gesture.

"Enough, I know my health more than you," she warned Titania before turning toward me. "What do you think?"

"I didn't know it was possible to just acquire abilities, especially when it came to rare abilities like light magic, but it sounds like a good deal," I said, acting like I had no idea about what she had in mind. Still, even those words alone were a sufficient treasure from this meeting. Just by a sentence, I learned that Titania's Acolyte status was either directly from the headmistress, or she was somehow a conduit to it —considering the pure light nature of her mana, I was more inclined to think it was the first.

Which made my decision not to reveal my secrets even better, considering the implied rivalry —as implied by my achievements, with a mysterious intensity which might range from friendly competition to outright hatred— between the source of my power and the light magic.

"There are many secrets buried in the history of the System, and many ways to go above its natural development," the headmistress whispered theatrically, but in her tone, I could sense a hint of elation. Of course, why she felt so was a mystery, maybe she was happy that she discovered a strong hook, the information about the System, to bargain with my group, or maybe, she was happy with my interest in her power, hoping that its emotional-suppression abilities —and possible brainwashing capabilities— would help her to control me, or at least influence me.

"Sounds interesting," I murmured. "May I have a day or two to think?" I asked, which earned a nod. "Excellent," I murmured. "What should we do about the princess?"

For that, the headmistress shrugged. "Feel free to handle however you feel appropriate," she said. "It fits better under your organization's remit of preventing the decline."

"As you wish," I answered. I was impressed with her answer, as she suddenly turned a dangerous aspect of the crisis she was facing into a huge test for me, and my imaginary organization. Which meant I needed to pay more attention to the incoming visit of the princess. "Do you mind if I introduce myself as a hidden protector of the library, just to make discussion with the princess smoother?" The headmistress nodded.

I would have cursed my big mouth if I hadn't been looking forward to getting acquainted with the princess in the first place. At least, in this way, I could take more overt actions, without a need to stay under notice all the time.

After another lengthy pause, the headmistress pointed at the door, which was opened magically, signaling the end of the meeting. It was a bit unnecessary as a power move in my opinion. Still, I wasn't surprised, as the more I learned about her, the more I realized just how much of her dangerous dark witch persona was constructed rather than natural.

"You can't accept, she can't handle another transfer," Titania gasped in shock the moment we left the tower, her hands clasping around my arm desperately.

"Calm down," I whispered, caressing her cheek gently. "You're stressed and exhausted. Why don't you go back to your room and try to sleep for a few hours while I go talk with my organization. Then, after you feel less frazzled, we can talk about it. But I promise I won't make a decision without talking to you," I whispered. It was rather easy to make promises when one didn't care about the reward in question in the first place. For me, Titania herself was leagues more important than an extra skill, especially one that might hurt me as likely as it might help me.

"Thanks," Titania murmured, and then with a surprising gesture, raised to her toes before stealing a gentle kiss, and dashed away shyly.

[+50 Experience]

"What a cute development," I murmured in fascination as I turned my back, chuckling as I walked toward the Hall of Craft.

I wanted to test my newest skill and talk about the princess some more. Getting another taste of the caramel skin of Oeyne was just a bonus.

A very nice bonus...

[Level: 30 Experience: 441500 / 465000

Strength: 36 Charisma: 51

Precision: 33 Perception: 35

Agility: 33 Manipulation: 38

Speed: 32 Intelligence: 42

Endurance: 30 Wisdom: 44

HP: 4920 / 4920 Mana: 6300 / 6300 ]

SKILLS

Master Melee [100/100]

Master Tantric [100/100]

Master Biomancy [100/100]

Master Elemental [100/100]

Master Subterfuge [97/100]

Master Arcana [90/100]

Expert Speech [66/75]

Advanced Craft [31/50]

PERKS

Mana Regeneration

Skill Share

Empowerment (1/1)

Teleportation

COMPANIONS

[Cornelia - Level 17/25]

[Helga - Level 13/17]