In hindsight, I should have paid attention to the skill description and not listened to Bureaucracy. When a skill says it may be dangerous to your health, there is a reason for that.
When Bureaucracy indicated I would be safe, it was full of crap. I should know by now that skills are not infallible, and there are always more powerful skills or just situations that are not predictable.
The signs were all there. Sammy was sweating like mad, his gaze darting around, and he was nervous. I put that down to him, having been in the presence of the Grand Master. We left the main hall, went through to the back rooms, and came out of the entire Administration building. It was a short walk to the foyer of the School of Destruction.
I had not been here since I grabbed their enrolment information. We went past all the beautiful statues and fountains and up some stairs, and eventually, he led me to a door, knocked and mouthed "Sorry" as it opened.
I was so caught up in the fact that I had pulled one over him, which, while cool, was very childish. I made Sammy, a grown Mage, feel slighted, belittled and embarrassed in public using a skill that I should have been a master of. I had forgotten some fundamental human nature. People are people, and if you make them look like fools, even decent people, they will turn a blind eye when it is payback time.
I entered the room.
SYSTEM: Administrative Mana Restrictions in place. See Section Three of the charter. All non-Guild officers' mana expenses increase by 90%. All spells below Tier 3 are locked.
Local System: Warning: Your skills and powers are unaffected due to your transcendent nature. The Guild Charter and Oath still bind you. Discretion is advised.
Solace: Danger.
No Shit. Sherlock.
Pause by Nulore.
30 seconds of thought.
There were three people inside the room. I quickly fired off Identity, one of the few skills that worked under Pause.
Jasper Tomas East. Tier 4. Level 73 Pyromancer.??
Brady Wilbert Crayford. Tier 3. Level 50 Pyromancer.??
Nikole Courtney Maddock. Tier 3 Level 35 Guardian.??
Shit.
It had taken precious seconds to manage the identification of the three of them. Nikole had a skill or item that grabbed my perception and skill in a puzzle, taking a few extra seconds to pierce as the skills contested.
Jasper and Brady were in traditional Magus getups, robes with their badges of office sewn into the hems and hoods. Nikole was dressed in more urban utility law enforcement clothing. She was the equivalent of Academy security, although she looked a lot deadlier.
Besides the people, the room was small and had no other exits or windows. The walls and flooring were reinforced, like most of the buildings around the campus, and had runes carved and glowing. I knew these were to protect the buildings, and now, as I had just found out, they also included protection wards.
That was obvious and a no-brainer in hindsight. There was a small round table in the centre of the room where Jasper was seated. Brady was sitting to his right, and Nikole stood on my side facing them. There were two other empty seats.
Solace: This room is being scried, and if you notice the distortion behind Brady.
Thanks. I missed that.
Now that I knew the fourth person in the room, Solace could provide an outline around them, essentially negating their invisibility. Anywhere else, and it would have been stealth. Invisibility seemed more likely here in a place full of magic.
With nothing else to see, I dismissed the Pause and continued into the room with a big smile.
Jasper squinted at me. "Miss Sarah Owens, take a seat," he indicated, pointing to a seat opposite him.
System: You have been identified.
Sara Owns. Junior Mage – Provisional 1st Year. Tier 2. Level 12.
I sat opposite him.
Nikole said, "Don't want to be involved here if it is Guild business. "She looked at me as she walked out, closing the door behind her.
Solace: Brady just activated a passive fire aura. The temperature will rise, and you should be OK for quite some time. I will monitor and advise.
"Do you know why you are here?" Jasper asked me.
"Well, I know I am not here to talk to you about my Mage Pathway since Jed, out the front of admissions, never passed a message on to anyone in authority directly violating Section Three and Section Eight of the Charter." I looked at him, and he scowled slightly, so I continued, "However, I would more say that it is because I called Sammy out on his, or possibly someone else's, scam of getting students seeking help to pay for the privilege."
He looked at me. "You really going to play like that, are you? Do you know who we are?"
I nearly laughed. I had heard this line before. People who ask that question always seem to be insecure. I had no idea what he had to be insecure about. He had almost cracked the three-quarters of a century level and was head of a school here.
Damn, I was in deep shit.
Damn, Claudia and that stupid title.
Damn, Dance for that too.
"I have no idea. Sammy said you were Mr. East, and I have never met or seen the other gentleman in the room before."
He smiled. All mouth, no eyes. Cold. Calculating.
Bradly said with a fake laugh, "Oh, so sorry, Miss Owens. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Brady Crayford, Master Mage of the Destruction School, and as you guessed, Mr. East, there is Jasper East, Grandmaster Mage of the Destruction School."
Jasper smiled again. "He is head of Training at the Academy for the Destruction School, and I am Head of the Destruction School. Do you see any problems here?"
"No. I am glad that you are taking my complaints seriously. It would be terrible if news of this scam spread."
Jasper slammed his hands on the table, "Are you threatening me?"
"No. That would imply that I had incriminating evidence against you. So far, I have been fleeced five times by five different mages, all asking for over 1000 Cr. I have paid out 5720 Cr, although I could not prove that as I was never issued a receipt. It is not a huge fee, but I estimate it would easily be 20-30000 Cr a day, given the size of the line. I am sure whoever is behind this would be very upset at me."
Brady chimed in, "You have no idea, Miss Owens. You are not the first to notice and kick up a stink. There are usually one or two a year. Luckily, all the families know how things work, and it usually involves wilders or unknown nobodies."
The hidden figure moved from behind Brady, around the table, and behind me. I tried hard not to give away the fact that I knew they were there.
"Oh, I have some idea." I smiled, prominent confidant, fake. My heart was racing as the adrenalin kicked in.
Thanks a fucking lot Claudia. I was so far out of my depth here. I wish she had given me some warning. This was so not good.
Solace: You have the Staff of Battlemagus in your inventory. Fire Shield. Also, if you cast a full-powered Mana Bolt, which should ignore armour and resistances, you would do quite a bit of damage. Unaspected Mana is good against aspected. Remember your training.
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Crap. I hope it does not come to that. These are serious players.
Solace: Do not attack until you are attacked. Someone is watching, and you do not want to give yourself away. You might be collecting on your deal with Claudia sooner than you expected. Don't worry about the temperature. You can also survive extreme temperatures without discomfort with your Tier and the staff.
Brady continued, "So Miss Owens, who seems to be independently wealthy. Since you have or are in the process of shutting down the small payments that students pay for help, maybe you should make up the difference with a suitable donation. We can overlook this, and you can continue your studies."
"Or?"
He looked a bit put out. "Or? There is no or. You pay up or are kicked out and will be lucky if people recognise you when they find you. Understand?"
"Sure. Not happy. You replace one bribe with another." I sighed. How much?"
"10 Million Credits per year."
"Ok"
"Forever. Not just while you are here, we are shutting down our operation, and you are just replacing our income."
"Ok"
Solace: What?
Don't worry. I'm not that stupid. This situation might indicate otherwise, and this might be stupid. I guarantee he will get furious in a second, but I am not paying these assholes.
"Good,… "he started.
I used a skill.
Bureaucracy: Weight The Wheel
I supplied the intent, and the skill just filled in the blanks. It was a weird dichotomy of my thoughts and my mouth working. I could remember what I was saying, but it was a peculiar feeling, like someone else using my mouth.
"But you will have to accept payment over time. I am good at it. I'll give you an IOU, and if you keep a tally of how much I pay off, I'll be good for the rest. I can do just over 1000 today, and I am sure I could swing another 1000 by the end of the week. That means I'll get the other Nine Hundred and Ninety-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty Cr by the end of the year. Cool. We will know when I am square if you ensure I get a receipt." I smiled again.
Crap, I was in so much trouble.
Solace: You are in so much trouble. Remember, low profile.
Except Claudia. Except for my Title. Except for my loudmouth. Shit, Solace, we are done.
I could see the anger rising. It was scary and beautiful to behold. The veins popping, the flush on his face.
Jasper yelled, spittle flying from his mouth, "You dare. You are nothing. May take care of her. Brady, we have been meeting in your office for the last hour. Make sure your people know. Your people may need to take care of her friends. They can disappear, and no one will notice; mind wipes, I don't care if we lose a few minor first and second years. You need to clean the front of the house too, mindwipe anyone she was in contact with today." He stood and smiled at me.
Body Transfiguration (Nalios): You resist poison.
The last person in the room appeared behind me and puffed some powder or gas into my face as I turned.
Identify: Mayibongwinkosi Mbulazi. Tier 4. Level 61 Assassin. Sacred Rose Ascendant.
Pause by Nulore (Reuse check OK).
Warning: 5.2% chance of severe brain injury
Hey Solace, do you know how you can use some of my skills and stuff? You have done it before, right? Do you want to try casting some spells? Three-on-one is not a fair fight.
Solace: I can try. What did you have in mind? I am happy to try whatever. I can access your skills and spells. I am unsure how this will work, as I don't have a mana pool or anything.
Just spam full-power Mage Bolt. The quick math is 3100 – 3600 in health. You should be able to spam one every 1-2 seconds. I want to try something a bit nastier. Take Brady, then May. I'm on Jasper.
I only had one action while under the effect of Pause, but I could make it count. I took the Staff of the Battlemagus out of my inventory. Straight away, I felt the fire shield kick in, and the Fire Aura lessened. I cast Mage Armour, which was stacked with the fire shield from the staff.
Solace: Here goes: Mage Bolt Target Brady.
A swirling coalescence of Mana appeared in front of me.
It hovered and swirled in space, suspended in the paused time. We still had 13 seconds of the Pause left.
Well, that answers that. You can cast my spells. That's handy. And it looks like some interaction with the Pause by Nulore, possibly because you operate at these speeds naturally.
Solace: Mage Bolt Target Brady.
The mana ball before me intensified as another formed in the same space.
Solace: Oh. There is a flaw in the Mage Bold pathways. This could go wrong.
Don't care. We are dead anyway.
10 seconds
Solace: Shieldbreaker Mage Bolt, Target Brady: Head.
Solace: Empowered Mage Bolt, Target Brady: Head.
Solace: Empowered Mage Bolt, Target Brady: Head.
And again, the swirling storm of Mana grew.
7 seconds.
Solace: Empowered Mage Bolt Target Mayibongwinkosi.
Solace: Empowered Mage Bolt Target Mayibongwinkosi.
5 seconds.
Solace: Empowered Mage Bolt Target Mayibongwinkosi.
3 seconds.
Solace: Empowered Mage Bolt Target Mayibongwinkosi.
As the timer expired, I cast QuickStep to appear behind Jasper.
At the same time, 7 Mage Bolts smashed out from the massive swirl of Mana, hitting Brady and May.
My knees buckled as my mana pool dropped to just over 10%.
I got the notifications as I stepped back into reality.
DEFEATED: Mayibongwinkosi Mbulazi Sacred Rose Ascendent Assassin Tier 4.
Experience Awarded: 120000 x 50% contribution bonus: 60000 experience.
System Credits Awarded: 10000 credits x 50% contribution bonus. 5000 Cr.
Karma was Awarded for defeating a registered Assassin.
Autolooted to Inventory: 12 items: See log for details.
DEFEATED: Brady Wilbert Crayford Tier 3.
Experience Awarded: 70000 x 50% contribution bonus: 35000 experience.
System Credits Awarded: 5000 credits x 50% contribution bonus. 2500 Cr.
Autolooted to Inventory: 9 items: See log for details.
Solace: OMG, I got experience, and I got credits, and I have inventory! OMG OMG OMG.
Settle, still, got Jasper to deal with. Then clean up. Higher tiers are so OP, as Luke keeps telling me.
Jasper was not called the Blind Igniter for nothing. As soon as I got close to him, I could feel the effects of his aura. It was an intense heat, and I could see and feel how it interacted with my Mage Armour and Fire Shield. My staff also let me ignore hot and cold. It was uncomfortable and warm, but it was not an issue yet.
He was also not a high-level pyromancer or the Grandmaster of the School of Destruction for nothing.
My shields cracked against some of his, and I could feel the backlash as sparks and smoke billowed at the contact. An ozone-like smell was building up. In the seconds that his companions had dropped and I had vanished and appeared behind him, he was not idle.
Solace: Shieldbreaker Mage Bolt Target Jasper
The Mage Bolt hit his shield, darkening it with no visible impact.
Whatever he cast, my shields fizzled. A small orb of pea-sized plasma smashed into me, ripping a hole straight through my right shoulder, instantly cauterising as it honed around and came at me again. I felt no pain yet. I knew that it was going to hit me soon. My whole arm felt numb, though.
I swung the staff at the back of his head. He was busy casting spell after spell. I hoped his shield was keyed to magical damage, and the staff hit him, cracking through a weak physical shield. A strength of 200+ was obviously enough to negate enough of it. It snapped his head back, interrupting his spellcasting and dazing him.
Solace: OMG, Heal Me, it Hurts.
Thanks. Remind me to invest in physical. He has a crap defence in close.
This was crap. He was a Grand Master, and I was a Junior Mage. I guess he was used to overwhelming magical force, not fighting physically.
I smashed his head again and again. No shield this time. I drew blood. I hit him again. He fell forward. Talk about glass cannons. Again, in the head with the staff. He was not moving. I hit him again. And again. Fuck him and his bribes and his Bureaucracy, and damn Claudia. I kept hitting him several more times, plus a few extra ones. I had not realised how pent up, scared and frustrated I had been.
I hoped she could get me out of this mess. Fuck. I was in so much trouble.
DEFEATED: Jasper Tomas East Tier 4. Grand Master Mages Guild. Karass Agent.
Experience Awarded: 160000 x 80% contribution bonus: 128000 experience.
System Credits Awarded: 12000 credits x 80% contribution bonus. 9600 Cr.
Karma was Awarded for defeating Karass agent
Autolooted to Inventory: 11 items: See log for details.
Crap. Things are bad. I am not sure if this was a good idea. Claudia was right. I just hope that this was what she was expecting.
Solace: We must hide the evidence, then leave. You can put corpses into your inventory. Luke did it when he was training. Maybe it is an Earth Human thing.
There is not enough time to point out the irony, Sol.
It was a bit sickening, but I did it. I spent a few minutes reviewing the room, ensuring there was little evidence of the battle. I then took the table and chairs into my inventory and used my Fire Control spell to char the room. After removing all traces of biological material and hopefully all other evidence, I was ever here. Once I was relatively happy with my efforts, I left the room, exited the wards, and teleported to my room.
Crap, Solace, things are really bad.
Solace: Yep. But on a bright note, I am an 8th Level Mage now!
Claudia: What have you done?