I woke up to the sound of what sounded like church bells outside. That is probably the school signaling that classes are starting soon and the new school year beginning. But before that, they'll be holding the 'House Dedication' ceremony. I still don't understand what all of it is about since Yasmin never gave me an explanation and Silvia's explanation was rather short.

I get up out of bed, still wishing I could have slept for longer though. The bed here is so much more comfortable than at home.

I got out of it after five more minutes, then I changed into my uniform and got ready for my first day ever at this school.

When I exited my room, I noticed that it was quite busy. A lot of people were walking around, there was somebody that was standing there overlooking everyone. Must be one of the people working here. Since I didn't attend the introduction day, I didn't know where the dedication ritual would take place, so I went and asked the woman standing there overlooking things.

"Excuse me? Could you tell me where we all need to be?"

"Oh, did you already forget where the dedication ritual takes place? You need to be in the large hall that is on the ground floor, right in front of the main entrance of this building."

I thanked her for telling me where to be and went on my way.

I noticed that most people seem to be quite young, around my age, but no one from the senior years. I'm guessing you get assigned a specific House and you'll stick with it for the entirety of the time you'll be attending the academy. I hope I get assigned to one with people that I'll get along with, otherwise, those will be long years.

I arrived at the main hall of the main building. There are a ton of students here and also quite a few teachers standing to the side. If I had to make an estimation, there would be about a hundred students at least. Good thing the hall seems to be very spacious, if not, then it would be cramped.

I look around and notice Silvia standing there talking with a guy. I walked up to her and greeted her.

"Good morning, Silvia!"

"Oh hey, good morning, Naoki. How are you doing? Feeling better after yesterday? You told me you were exhausted yesterday."

"Oh, yeah, I was, but now I'm feeling all energetic again. By the way, could you introduce me to your friend over here?"

The guy standing next to Silvia then smiled friendly and said, "Hi, I'm Fynch."

"Fynch here is a childhood friend of mine, he lived very close to where I lived. We played together a lot when we were still small. Fynch, this is the guy I told you about, he saved me yesterday from the bullies." Silvia says.

"Is that so? Thank you for what you did yesterday."

"It's no big deal. As I said to Silvia, it's only natural to stand up to bullies."

"Yes, you're totally right. I can't believe those kinds of people would enroll here."

We all then heard the voice of the headmaster standing at the end of the hall in front of a large door.

I see the same old man with his white beard, but this time he's wearing what seemed like some ceremonial robes. It is blue and it has all sorts of decoration on it. It makes him kind of look like royalty.

"Welcome students! We will soon begin the 'House Dedication' ceremony! As I've explained already, here you will be assigned to one House until the end of your studies. You'll need to work together with the people of your House to obtain points throughout the year. You will be competing with other Houses in various activities. Whichever house obtains the most points at the end of each year wins an artifact from the academy vault. Each year will feature different artifacts, they all have their own abilities or uses that can assist you in future contests between houses. Of course, the point of this is to teach you the importance of cooperation and teamwork. Do not let that slip out of your minds during contests, as that's what you'll be graded on primarily during those."

After hearing this, I get intrigued by what these artifacts could be. We then all followed the headmaster after the teachers into the room behind the large doors that just opened. When walking in, I see a very long room with a high ceiling. Next to the walls are stone pillars going all the way up to the ceiling and bending towards the middle, creating a large arc supporting the ceiling. At the end of the room is a table with a cloth covering what looks like a large box.

"Before we reveal this year's artifact later, after the senior students arrive, we'll first perform the ritual that will assign each and every one of you to your own House."

After the headmaster finishes, he removes a large cloth that has been covering the large object. It is then revealed to be a cage with an ordinary owl in it.

The headmaster opens the door of the cage and the owl sits on his arm.

He signaled one of teachers to bring something. A large hat, it looks like a cone placed on a large plate. I've never seen such a hat before. It looks weird, who would wear something like that?

When the teacher put the hat on the owl, the owl began talking. This surprised the students.

"Finally! I've been stuck in that damn cage for an eternity. Oh, is it that time of the year again, old geezer? Why do you keep up with this stupid tradition?" The owl said out loud.

The way the owl talked to the headmaster made him visibly annoyed, which made the students all laugh.

"Please don't mind the owl. He's just in a bad mood." The headmaster announced to the students.

"Me? Bad mood? I've been stuck in that cage for weeks, I couldn't get out even once! Do you know how boring it gets in there? Bad mood would be an understatement for the way I feel right now!" The owl kept complaining about the way he was treated, until the headmaster removed the hat again. Then the owl couldn't talk anymore.

"So, as you just saw from… that demonstration, this owl can talk when I put this hat on him. He will decide what house you belong to."

Then somebody raised their hands to ask a question. It was one of the students.

"Excuse me for asking, but how would that owl be able to decide what House we will be assigned to? This seems rather silly if you ask me."

The headmaster nodded in acknowledgement and then said, "You're right that this may seem like an out of the ordinary method to assign you, but this owl is actually not just a normal owl. This owl can sense your personality, motives and abilities from just a touch. You'll be assigned to houses based on those traits. Do not worry, the owl will not announce all of that to your classmates. I can assure you of that."

The students at first seemed a bit doubtful of that and so am I. Judging from the short time we've heard him speak, he doesn't like the type to keep secrets to themselves.

"Secondly, this hat was actually the hat of the great archmage Zahn Halvad himself, the founder of this academy."

After that announcement, everybody looked surprised and excited, I could hear everybody whisper various things about Zahn Halvad.

"This hat has been imbued by his magic over the decades of his life. By putting this on the owl, the owl will absorb the imbued magic and partially take on the personality and memories of Zahn Halvad. This way, the owl will be able to judge you, like Zahn Halvad would."

Wait, does that mean the way the owl talked, was supposed to mimic Zahn Halvad's personality? Well that instantly diminished the respect I have for him by a bit.

The first student was asked to put their hands on the owl after the hat was put on again.

After a few seconds of thinking the owl exclaimed the following: "Hmmm... yes… I see… ah, well, you belong in the House of Lions!"

We've been told then that after we've been assigned a House, we'll need to go to each corner of the room, so we'll know who all our Housemates will be. One House in each corner and then the fifth one stands near the entrance.

The ritual went on smoothly, students were slowly being assigned to their respective Houses. The next person to go forward was a student with red hair and a confident face. I hear quite a few people whispering what House he would be assigned to.

I then asked Silvia who was standing next to me the entire time, why it seems like a big deal where he gets assigned towards.

"That's Marcus Siliphius. He is the son of a diplomat from a neighboring country. Mathardia to be exact."

"I see and he must be popular, because of it?"

"Yes, as the son of a foreign diplomat, he holds a lot of sway, since anything bad happening to him could lead to an international incident between the two countries. This academy isn't exactly free from politics either."

"Really? That sounds bothersome." I add.

"I know."

Back to the guy walking towards the owl. He put his hands on the owl. The owl ponders for a while. Much longer than most other students, we could clearly see the owl struggling to think, until he eventually said: "House of Wolves!"

He then said angrily, "Really? Not House of Dragons or House of Lions?"

"Nope. I've made my decision."

"The owl's decision is Zahn Halvad's decision and it cannot be changed." The headmaster says.

"But that can't be right." Marcus asks the headmaster.

"The owl doesn't randomly choose. He decides it based on your traits. If he decided you belong to House of Wolves, then so will it be. No further questions asked. Now please go to your assigned location, so we can move along."

With that, he went to his assigned location not looking amused.

After that whole fuss he created, it was my turn next.

"Next is Naoki Rhein."

I stepped forwards towards the front, then approached the owl with the hat. I slowly put my hand on him, hesitantly.

"Don't be shy, go ahead." The owl said.

I put my hand on the belly of the owl. Then I suddenly felt a surge of magic inside me, which then quickly dissipated. I could see the colors again, I now know that they represent the flow of magic. The colors were flowing out of my arm and towards the owl. This is probably the process of the owl gathering information about my traits, after which he will decide what house I belong to.

"Hmmm… interesting… very interesting… I've never seen something like this before…" The owl mumbles to himself.

Everybody around me was looking curious, except for the headmaster.

"After thinking for a bit, I've decided that you will go to the House of Lions."

I then walked away and towards the corner of this large place, where others from House of Lions stood.

Then the last few remaining students went and performed the ritual. I see one of the bullies from yesterday approaching. He was the one that tried to hit me and almost kicked me as well. He got assigned to House of Wolves.

Finally, Silvia Midori was the last to perform the ritual. She put her hand on the owl as well. She seemed quite comfortable approaching the owl. The owl almost immediately answered, not having to think for too long.

"Oh, this is an easy one! House of Lions!"

She then returned and started walking towards me.

"Hey, looks like we're in the same House."

"Yeah, I look forward to working together with you." I said.

"Same!" She said smiling brightly.

"Though it is a shame Fynch is in a different house. He got assigned to House of Owls."

"We still have normal classes, so you'll be able to work together enough times." I added.

"You're right. I'm just too attached to him."

And with that, the House Dedication ceremony came to a close.

The headmaster then signaled something again to a teacher standing at the exit of this place. He then opened the door and in came all the senior students.

"Welcome senior students. We're all gathered here today, so you can all get acquainted with the new members of your Houses." The headmaster exclaimed.

A few of the senior students from House of Lions came to us and greeted us, "Welcome freshmen to the House of Lions. My name is Chris Riverius and I'm the assigned president of this House. I hope to be able to have fun years ahead working together with you."

We all exchanged greetings with each other, then the headmaster announced the next thing for today.

"We will now showcase this year's artifact that can be won by your House."

Then in came two guards with one pushing a cart with another cloth on it. This place really has something with hiding things under cloth.

The headmaster removed it and revealed a bronze chalice. It looked rather dull and didn't seem like it would be capable of doing something.

"This year's artifact is a chalice that has the capabilities of boosting the magical capabilities of others. The way you use it is by imbuing it with your magic and depending on the amount of magic that the user puts into it, the exact same amount will be sent to others. It can empower up to nine people at a time. This requires the user to provide a constant flow of mana. This leaves the user in a vulnerable position, so you have to use it wisely."

Honestly, I expected something more spectacular from the way they built up my expectations.

"That may actually be one of the more powerful artifacts I've seen so far." The president said. This made me question why he thought that. So, I asked him about it.

"Why though? It doesn't seem like it provides that big of a benefit. As the headmaster said, it leaves one person vulnerable." I inquired about it.

"That may be true, but you can empower nine others in the process. Those nine others will be on par with the user's mana output and also be supplied by it. The way mana is utilized, is that it acts like a source of energy, which you tap from to create physical manifestations. Like spells. If you give the artifact to a user with great mana reserves, it can put your team at a huge advantage in battles of attrition, which are not that uncommon."

He explained what artifacts of past years have done and from the way he explained it, it does seem like this one is more powerful than previous ones. Previous ones were primarily weapons that could be used by one person or were items that provided defensive advantages to the user, but rarely something that provided benefits to an entire group.

"So, it is important that we win this artifact. It could provide us a large advantage for the next year." The president then adds afterwards.

Out of curiosity, I asked who won last year. He then said, "Last year, House of Wolves won. The artifact that they obtained is a large sword that has been enchanted with fire magic. It is an offensive weapon, so they'll probably use it this year, during one of the contests focused on combat."

After showing the chalice, they put it away again and the guards moved it out of the ceremony hall, to store it somewhere secure.

"That was it for the ceremony! Now please follow the teachers to the main hall, we'll be giving books for the courses of this year to all of you and give you a calendar with the planning of this year's events."

We then all left the hall and saw a huge row of tables in the main hall. They had to have placed it here during the ceremony. We went to the table of our respective year and picked up our books. It was quite a large stack of books, so it wasn't easy to carry all of them to our rooms.

I arrived at my room and set them all on the ground. I looked through my suitcase and found what I needed. A backpack. One that my parents gave me. I found this in my suitcase after I arrived at the academy, they probably put it in there while I was packing up other stuff at home.

I then looked at each of the books to see what they were all about. I saw a history book, a book about alchemy… a botany book… this one is about zoology? Hmmm… and this one is about the fundamentals of magic… by Sildok… The Wise?

Is 'The Wise' really his last name? Or is that just a nickname? Either way, he'll be teaching that course to me, as Yasmin has already explained yesterday. I don't see any books of hers though. I'm guessing she really meant it, when she said that we're not going to be taking notes.

After looking at the roster, it seems that I have two courses in the afternoon today. The first one is zoology, the second one is alchemy. Not the most exciting courses, I know. But tomorrow it's history class first, in the afternoon it'll be professor Yasmin teaching 'Applied magic' and then after her it's 'Curse repelling and protection against dark arts'. I wonder who teaches that course again.

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Then I remembered again who taught it. It is Robin Cilhood. I'm suddenly hit with a wave of dread. I'm totally not looking forward to him. He acted very strange when we first met. Even Yasmin thought the same thing. I just hope it was a one-time thing and that he'll be nicer during the courses.

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A few days prior, we'd been tasked with transporting the artifact here to the vault of the academy. The vault is located deep underground, with only one way in and one way out. This ensures that nobody can sneak in without being seen. This artifact is none other than the legendary Eschaton. This was originally in the national treasure vault, but the government has decided to give it to the academy to study it further, to find out what its use is and what it is capable of. This artifact is a large red gem with what looks like a silver claw holding it. It was originally in possession of the former Saxonia kingdom. From what I've learned, this what found in an ancient ruin somewhere to the east of Saxonia. They hid it away safely in what is now Silgardia. After the civil war, it ended up in the hands of the Silgardian government. No one knew what its use is. Not the people of Saxonia, who found it and not even us. That's why it's sent here, to the academy.

We arrived at a door somewhere deep inside the academy, that is being guarded. I then approached the guards with the others behind me holding the box with the artifact.

"I'm Lance of the transport division, we're here to bring the artifact sent by the government in safety inside the vault." I said to the security guards, standing in front of the entrance towards the underground vault.

One of them went and got something, or rather got someone. That person who didn't look like a guard greeted us and told us to walk with him. He was wearing black robes and glasses.

We entered the door and walked down a very long set of stairs that goes in a spiral. We kept walking until we reached another closed metal door. One of the guards walked forward and opened the door using a key. We entered the room behind it and saw large rows of tables and closets full of expensive and important looking items and documents. I thought that we had arrived at the vault, but then the man walked towards the back wall of the room, which was empty.

He put out his hands to the wall and poured magic into the wall. How do I know? Because the entire wall lit up. It lit up in a specific pattern. Afterwards we hear a loud clicking noise. The light dissipated and the man pulled away his hands. The wall then started to move back and opened up another passage into a dark cave.

"This is the real vault." He said.

I got to say, kind of smart to hide the real vault in a fake vault.

We walked inside it and all the way to the end, we entered a new room. This time it was the real vault.

The man signaled for us to put the box at a specific spot. We did so and opened the box to double check if the artifact was still in good shape. Then we all exited the vault and it was closed again.

"Thank you for bringing it here safely." He said.

"It almost did go wrong though."

"How come?"

"The plan was for there to be two convoys, a decoy taking a much more obvious route, with it having more guards, to bait bandits. Another one, which was the convoy that's transporting the actual artifact, was supposed to take a less conspicuous route, but with supposedly less bandits. This way, the bandits would focus on the decoy convoy. The plan went smoothly, we only had one day's worth of travel left. But we suddenly got ambushed by a group of bandits in the middle of the night, at a location, that the adventurer's guild assured us of that it was free of bandits. We did luckily get rescued by a boy that night."

"That's good, but it is strange though. Perhaps it could be that information about the decoy got leaked?"

"That is highly unlikely. Only the highest officials involved with this were informed. Not even the guards of the decoy knew that they were transporting a fake. The headmaster and a few of his trusted teachers were also informed."

"I'll ask the headmaster to inform the government about it, so they can start an investigation."

"Thank you very much."

I then walked back up the stairs again, whilst I was thinking back to that boy, who rescued us that night. I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't appeared.

I then shook my head, thinking to myself, "What happened has happened, no need to dwell on the past right now."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It's the afternoon now and our class is currently sitting in one of the large auditoriums listening to professor Acasia right now, the zoology teacher. Well, pretending to be listening to be exact. Halfway through the course, it got really boring. This isn't the most interesting if I have to be honest.

She was talking about some animals and their habitats, what their position is in the food chain and other facts about them.

Then the teacher suddenly said, "To see if you have paid attention to what I've said so far, I want to perform a little test. Let me ask you a question first. Who is afraid of spiders?"

This piqued my interest as to what this test will be. I didn't raise my hand as I am not afraid of spiders. A few others did raise their hands though.

Professor Acasia then pointed towards one of the students, who clearly wasn't paying attention earlier and also raised their hands. She asked the student to go to the front of the class to be a volunteer for her test.

The teacher pulled out a transparent glass box, in it was an arachnoid creature. It looked to be about as big as somebody's head, when including its legs. This frightened the student currently standing in front of the classroom.

"This is one of the animals I talked about earlier. It is an Aranea. I've discussed all characteristics of this fellow here earlier, including what scares them off. Since you've all listened perfectly to my lesson so far, you should know what to do."

She then opened the box and let the Aranea out. The student standing in front was panicking, it looked like she was about to fire off a spell to kill it.

"Don't kill the Aranea. If you do, I'll have to give you detention, as it's school property."

The student then hesitated. She's in a dilemma of killing the Aranea and getting detention or having to tell the teacher she doesn't know, showing she didn't pay attention.

"Well? What are you waiting for?"

The Aranea approached her, she initially wanted to run away from it, but it cornered her. She then had no choice but do something.

"Ok! I admit I wasn't listening earlier! Get it away from me!" She suddenly screamed out.

The teacher then put her two fingers to her mouth and started to whistle loudly. This caused the spider to suddenly stop moving and it then coiled up into a ball. The teacher put the Aranea back into its confinement afterwards.

"All you have to do is whistle loudly and the Aranea will get paralyzed temporarily. I hope you will listen to my courses from now on, as they are important. Especially when we're discussing dangerous beasts that also appear frequently here in Silgardia. It could one day save your life."

After that demonstration, we all started to listen carefully to the teacher's lesson. Not wanting to be her next victim in one of her little 'tests'.

The next course after zoology is Alchemy taught by Professor Nolan Nivrem. I've met him yesterday during the private tour by Yasmin. I remember a brewing stand falling, completely breaking in the process. Luckily, Yasmin fixed it quickly with her 'reality altering' magic as she described it. Not sure what it exactly entails, she never explained it to me. Professor Nivrem quickly ran back, but I think he didn't notice us breaking anything.

Today's lesson about alchemy isn't being taught in the lab though. It is taught in another classroom. We all sat down and waited for the professor to appear. He then finally appeared after waiting a few minutes. He did a quick introduction and started teaching immediately. Talk about efficiency.

This course is slightly more interesting, he's currently teaching about all the elements that are currently known. A few I do recognize, like adamantite and mithril. Those are well known for their use in making armor. They are very rare metals, so not everyone could afford armor made out of them.

Professor Nivrem explained how making alloys from combining elemental metals, you can create new metals with enhanced or completely different properties.

"… combining metals is used a lot in practice. You all probably know that mithril is used in armor, but it isn't done a lot, since it is a rare metal. However, there is a more efficient way to go about things here. If you make an alloy using a small portion mithril and the rest from iron, you can enhance the protective properties of armor by a huge margin. This allows you to create many more pieces of armor that are better than ordinary ones, instead of one extremely durable piece of armor."

This blew our minds, as we've always believed you could only use one metal for creating armor.

"So, continuing on with alloys, combining metals doesn't always create more powerful alloys. Sometimes it can have a detrimental effect and cause it to be much weaker."

He then continued on with his lesson about alloys until the end of classes for the day was signaled by the large bell of the academy.

"Thank you all for listening today. Next time we'll see each other is for Potion brewing. That course will also involve practical exercises throughout the year."

Everybody was leaving, I was talking with Silvia while we were also getting ready to leave the classroom before professor Nivrem asked me to stay here for a minute.

"Naoki Rhein, can you stay here for a moment, there is something I need to discuss with you."

"Uh, sure." I answered.

"You go ahead, Silvia. I'll see you at the cafeteria for dinner."

"See you later, hopefully you don't get into any trouble." After which she quickly leaves the room.

Now it's just the two of us in the room.

"Naoki, so yesterday when you were with Ms. Yasmin, you two went into my lab."

Oh no. He's on to us, isn't he? He knows I broke one of the brewing stands.

"After I checked in with you two in my lab and then went back, I realized…"

"I'm very sorry for breaking the brewing stand, professor! I'm sorry for not having told you the truth sooner!" I quickly interrupted him.

"What? What are you talking about?" He quizily asked me.

We then looked at each other confused. I then realized he didn't actually find out about the broken stand. After a few second, he then seemed like he realized something and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So, I wasn't just imagining things after all."

Ah, shit. I shouldn't have said anything so soon. Now he knows.

"Again, I'm sorry professor Nivrem for breaking it. I'll accept my punishment."

"There is no need for apologizing and covering for Ms. Yasmin."

"But I'm not covering for-"

But before I could finish my sentence, he already seemed like he understood the situation. He clearly doesn't though, and this might end up in a misunderstanding.

"Ms. Yasmin has the ability to repair that broken stand, I should have known sooner when I heard glass shattering and not seeing anything broken upon returning. I just wish she would just be honest and have told me on the spot. I wouldn't have minded it as long as everything was back in its original place. I will have to give her a piece of my mind."

I still tried to tell him it wasn't her fault and that it was mine, but he still thought I was covering for her. I eventually just gave up on it and settled with this. Sorry Yasmin, but you will have an angry professor Nivrem to deal with later.

"If it wasn't about me breaking something, then what did you want to ask me about?"

"The first thing I wanted to say was that I realized I should have given you a tour of the classroom and the lab personally, so I could give you a more detailed explanation. There is also a question I want to ask you, which is the main reason I asked you to stay here longer."

I nodded and then looked at him for a second, while he was thinking.

"It is about the night of the ambush when you suddenly gained the ability to control magic."

I was surprised at first, but then I remembered that the headmaster told me a few teachers also wanted to investigate my situation.

"Did the headmaster tell you everything about the ambush and what happened?" I first asked.

"Yes, he did share all details with me, that he's aware of. So, my question for you is simple, can you share everything that happened that night, everything that you saw and that you experienced as detailed as possible."

I started recollecting what I was doing, how I stumbled upon it and how I almost got killed in the process. I then explained how time seemed to have stopped all of a sudden and I started hearing a whisper from all around. I couldn't pinpoint where it came from.

"I then experienced an agonizing headache, but it quickly stopped, after which I could suddenly control the colors around me. It wasn't long after that I was able to create fire by imagining fire."

After my explanation, the professor was thinking deeply.

"The final part makes sense to me, spells are partially reliant on the mana from the user's environment and partially from their own imagination. The part that strikes me as odd is everything before. As far as I'm aware, there doesn't exist a spell to stop time. You suddenly seeing the flow of mana after a headache also doesn't ring a bell. I might have to consult Sildok for this, as his expertise on magic could provide more insight on this. Thank you for your time, I'll let you go now."

I left the classroom and continued with the rest of my day.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I just finished all my work for today. I'm currently sitting in the teachers room, I look outside the window and notice that the sun is slowly starting to set. I think back to my conversation with Naoki Rhein earlier after my class, which reminded me to visit the headmaster.

I needed to report my findings surrounding the mystery of Naoki to him and also ask him if it's possible to ask the government to start an investigation regarding the ambush that happened a few days ago. I spoke with Lance earlier, the one in charge of the convoy that took the conspicuous path. He told me that it's unlikely to be the work of a spy, who then hired bandits, but we can't rule out the possibility.

I clean up my desk and proceed on my way towards the headmaster's office. After walking the long set of stairs, I get to the door and knock on it.

"Headmaster, it is me, professor Nivrem. I'd like to speak with you regarding the student Naoki Rhein and also regarding the ambush he was involved in."

"You can come in." he responded.

I turned the doorknob and entered his office. His office is a rather small one for someone in his position. I see the various magic tools scattered around the room that he always keeps around. On the ceiling hangs a few orbs, that represent planets. Behind his desk hangs the insignia of the academy. His office has looked the same for the entire time I've worked here so far.

The headmaster was standing in front of one of the windows of his office, looking at the sky.

"What can I do for you professor?"

"I've spoken with the student Naoki Rhein today. The one that you recommended personally. He's shared with me more details regarding what he saw and experienced the day of the ambush."

"I'm listening." The headmaster says still looking into the sky.

I then recounted every detail and new information that I've learned. After a few minutes of talking, the headmaster then turned around.

"That is most unusual."

"Indeed, it is, sir. I'm still uncertain of what the cause could be, he could have awakened to his new power due to his dire situation, but that wouldn't explain time having stopped. From what I know, there also isn't any way to stop time, but I'll ask professor Sildok about it to confirm. There is also the possibility of an outside force having intervened, but that would mean somebody who has the power to grant people the ability to use magic."

"Good work professor collecting this information for now. It'll help us move forward in our research. You also said you had something to report on regarding the ambush itself as well?"

"Yes, I spoke with the person in charge of the convoy that day. He told me that the adventurer's guild has assured him that the route they took would not have many bandits. Soldiers from the national guard have interrogated the few bandits that they captured and they learned that the ambush was planned. This indicates that somebody must have learned of it, meaning this is a case of a spy among the ranks. Lance told me that only a select few people knew about the plan of the decoy convoy. This leaves two possibilities. Either somebody from the adventurer's guild leaked the information, which is the most probable scenario, or somebody from the high ranks here or at the government has leaked the information. In any case, could you request for the government to start an investigation on this matter?"

"I can. But this is a precarious situation that we're in. If it's somebody in the government itself that leaked the plan, they must have an ulterior motive for stealing the artifact. Like selling it on the black market or even worse, to a foreign government. It is highly unlikely it could be somebody among the teachers since I've only told you and Sildok about it beforehand. I even made sure nobody was listening in on us by scanning the environment for magic signals. Whatever it is, we need to keep an open-mind and take in account every possibility."

"I will. I'll also go tell Sildok about what we've discussed today. Of course, I'll make sure nobody is listening in on our conversation. I will take my leave now." I said before leaving the office.

"Have a good evening, professor."

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I left the headmaster's office and quickly went to find professor Sildok. I went to his research lab, as that's where he usually spends his time, when he isn't teaching the students. Surprisingly he isn't there, probably because it's already evening. The next place he could be in, is in his own room. He went to the teacher's dorms and went to Sildok's room. I knocked on the door, hoping he would be there.

"Come in." I heard from inside. So, he is in his room.

"Sorry for disturbing you."

"It's alright."

"I see you're busy on your research even during your free time. You're still as studious as since I've met you for the first time."

"Oh, this isn't anything serious, I'm just reading through some articles. So, anyways, what brings you here at this hour?"

"I wanted to discuss something with you regarding the student Naoki Rhein."

"I see, come sit down, we'll discuss over a cup of tea. Would you like some?" Sildok asked me.

I politely rejected his offer. We both sat down on the two sofas across from each other with a table in the middle.

"After my class, I asked him to stay for a bit longer. I then asked him if he could share with me all details he had about what he saw during the ambush on the convoy that transported the artifact."

"The one the headmaster told us about way before right?"

"Yes, that one. He went ahead and shared all the details with me. He told me that when he got pinned down by one of the bandits, time seemed to have stopped. Afterwards he heard whispering voices. When the voices stopped, he had an intense headache, after which he could suddenly use magic." I explained to him.

"Doesn't also ring any bells for me." He said while shaking his head slowly.

"You also don't know anything about magic that can stop time?"

"I'm not aware of such a thing and if it did exist, it would be a spell of such caliber, only somebody on the level of Zahn Halvad could have been able to use it."

For a second, I thought we had hit a dead end and that this might be a much more difficult case to solve, but the next thing he said gave me hope.

"You mentioned whispering voices, right? Perhaps you could ask Yasmin about it? She might know more about it."

This made me curious, as she isn't the type of person that spends a lot of time researching strange phenomena.

"I know what you're thinking Nolan, I can see it on the expression on your face. This hasn't anything to do with research, but rather that she has possibly encountered the same whispers in her past life."

"Are you sure she isn't just hearing things?" I ask jokingly, but also half serious, as I sometimes wonder if she has any screws loose.

"No, that is not the case. I'm not certain if these phenomena are linked or not, but it is worth trying."

"Okay, I will."

There was a short moment of silence before I continued the conversation again.

"I also went to the headmaster earlier to discuss it with him what Naoki told me and we also discussed the ambush itself."

"What did he say about it?"

"He said that nothing about the strange phenomenon rang any bells for him. About the ambush, we've learned that it was planned ahead of time, meaning somebody who had access to the information, had to have leaked it. The only people are a few high ranking personnel in the government, us two including the headmaster and the adventurer's guild."

"Why would the adventurer's guild know?" Sildok asks me with a surprised look.

"They were the ones tasked with planning out a route free of bandits, they weren't told about the details of the transported goods. Even though the guild master himself was tasked with it, it doesn't fully rule out the possibility of one of them being the culprit."

"What will the government do about it? You mentioned the possibility of government officials being involved."

"I asked the headmaster to send a request to the government to start an investigation on the case. He obliged."

"At least that will be worked on then. We can focus on our research on Naoki Rhein then. Thank you for sharing this with me. It was highly informative."

"Well, I'll be taking my leave now as it is getting late already." I said after standing up and getting ready to leave.

"Take care my friend."

"Take care."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The headmaster was still standing in front of his office window after professor Nivrem had already left for a while. This time he wasn't looking up at the sky, but instead looking at the campus. He was thinking to himself about what professor Nivrem told him.

As he was pondering, he saw somebody walk inside the campus again. It was professor Robin Cilhood, who had left the day before. He had returned again for his classes tomorrow.

"Looks like things will get exciting again at the academy." He said while still looking outside the window.

He then finally stepped away from the window and sat down at his desk again. He grabbed a quill and paper and started writing a letter to the government to request an investigation on the matter of the ambush.