Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How are you all doing?

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Heylo there peeps and peepettes, I'm back home.

As in my birth town.

Sadly, my headache-inducing illness followed me here, but I should be alright.

Given time... that is.

Anyways, here comes the next chapter of Destiny: Infernal! I hope that you enjoy, let us begin!

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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

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Two weeks later... - Road To Sorciere - Alice's Point Of View...

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"Oryaah!" The coachman made a strange sound as he lightly tapped the horse pulling my carriage, apparently the roads were free of other people so he could speed up.

Which was strange in itself."We should be careful, my daughter... these roads have never been quite so... empty."

My father, whom I had bound to myself as a familiar, by his own choice as he would not be able to leave the area around the catacombs where he was resurrected otherwise, spoke in a rather worried tone."Well... not like we can do much about it. I mean, if I let you out of the carriage before Sorciere, its just going to cause more trouble for us."

He turned to look downwards, his skeletal frame appearing somewhat sundered as the third person inside of the carriage gave out a rather merry laugh, her newly sewn maid outfit swaying as she did."Come now mistress, there's no need to be so mean to your father."

Faervel, an apparently ancient but scorned elven priestess, or former priestess, sold into slavery for whatever unknown shame she brought upon herself and her family decades ago. She was one of the five slaves the fat merchant stole and I stole from him... While I originally wanted to kill the slaves to find out what Luctus' life raking abilities felt like, father stopped me from doing so.

He has, in fact, quickly established himself as a walking code of morality for me... I don't know why, but apparently he hates to love Chaos so much that he wants me to defy its will as much as possible.

However, despite forcing me to free the elves, he did nothing to soothe the pain of the beastkin warrior who devoured men for revenge. Little bit of a hypocrite, ain't he? Perhaps he simply believed the slaves to be unworthy of such a cruel end.

He didn't do anything to stop me from slowly draining the life out of the warrior though. And the process was very, very slow. Some of the older guards eventually came to watch the event for kicks, saying how this reminded them of so-called old times.

Apparently, father used to interrogate people like this quite a lot. Hmmm..."I'm not being mean, I'm being reasonable."

Was my eventual, yet clearly delayed reply towards Faervel, who merely chuckled at my antics. The supposedly ancient elven woman dressed in a maid outfit had long, green hair which shined in the sunlight almost as if it was golden. For a slave, she had no clear markings upon her skin, no wounds and no scars.

Not even a single scratch.

A perfect creature in every sense of the word. You can hardly even call her mortal... my instincts screamed at me to say no when she asked me to let her become my maid.

When I asked father about it though, he just shrugged and said that if she was some kind of evil demon in disguise, she would probably have large breasts. However, she did not.

In contrast to her rather... ahem, large lower body, she was flat as a board."Mistress? Did you say something bad about me just now?"

I blinked and tilted my head in confusion."What? I've been quiet for the last two minutes."

"Truly now? Hmm, I suppose it must've been my imagination, then." She turned away, carrying a somewhat angered tone still.

I blinked again and snorted."And there you go again.. what are you thinking about, mistress?"

"Nothing that should concern you, Faervel." Was my deadpan, cold reply. Something which caused her angry aura to immediately shatter as she bowed towards me."A-ah, to think that I used such a tone when speaking to you, please forgive me!"

"Its fine. I was just comparing you to the elves of the ancient tales." She blinked and bit her lip at my lie, though seemingly not because she realized it was a lie... it looked more like she remembered something important.

Or something she forgot to do."Ah, I see... thank you, your highness. That is... flattering." She went quiet after that, an air of uncertainty flowing around her like a festering cloud of disease and poison.

Something is definitely wrong with this woman."O-HOY!" The coachman stopped the carriage suddenly, causing me to grab onto one of the wooden handles and squash it by sheer physical might alone, yet managing to stop myself from falling either way. Hmm, I'm gonna have to be careful with such panicked reactions in the future.

If I could crush a wooden door handle, I might break someones fingers by accident. Children my age aren't blessed by Chaos, they do not have my given fortitude. Something father also stated as a so-called pro of being infected by the living flame is that after a while, I won't have any weak spots in my body.

No organ damage would be lethal, no amount of broken bones would kill me, no kind of poison or disease would be able to either. This also meant that I would have to suffer through all the otherwise lethal wounds...

Anyways, a nod towards my father and my supposedly elven servant was enough to make them stay inside of the carriage for now."Mistress, bandits on the road!" The coachman exclaimed surprisingly calmly for his age.

A weathered, war-scarred old man with pure white hair, much like mine... though his was white mostly due to stress and not just because Chaos likes it that way.

I closed my eyes for a moment, making myself appear tired as I walked out of the carriage."Oh look 'ere boys and girls! Looks like we caught ourselves a big gurl!" The bandits boss, a rugged, two meter tall man exclaimed loudly, the stench of alcohol clear in the air around him.

Nearly barfing, yet managing to stop myself from doing so, I promptly dragged my giant Halberd out of the carriage, making the twelve bandits do a double take."I-is that... wait.."

"A black halberd worn by a white haired monster..." One of the bandits began as the others started to shiver... Oh yeah, father was rather famous for killing thousands of their filthy kind.

None could question his zeal in upholding the law by executing a whole bunch of criminals... though, in reality that was most likely just a coverup for collecting free essence. Which is exactly what I'm gonna do here."Ooooh, that's a nice look for you mistress!"

The still nameless coachman yelled out in ecstasy as I turned to look at him, an insane expression etched upon his frame. Hmm, maybe the man does indeed have a taste for Chaos? After all, there must be a good reason that father picked him out of the crowd.

Wordlessly, I positioned myself and leaped towards the bandit chief who, still shell shocked by my dreadful appearance, was cleaved cleanly in half. I nearly moaned out as I felt his life-force flowing into me, his skin and meat turning to dust and ashes as my halberds blade passed through his abdomen.

The other bandits tried their best to run, but my Chaosborne body was far too much for them. One by one, my halberd cleaved through the men and women alike, their screams dying in their own throats as their life essence was devoured, leaving only a pile of skeletons to litter the road.

By the end of it, if one was to inspect the area, they would most likely think that a necromancer apprentice had tried to practice his art here on some bandits and failed miserably. After killing all of them, I promptly looted all of their bodies of valuables, finding several nice rings and other jewelry. Granted, most of it was just well-cut garnet with steel or iron, but there was one pendant seemingly made out of pure gold. Rather than a gem, there was the distinct banner of a noble house imprinted on it... a strange sky-reaching tree of green. I didn't know which dynasty this belonged to or what noble lost it... or it was looted from, but I decided to keep this for the time being.

There was also several pouches of coin on the bandits. They seemed to have had several good hauls for the week, not to mention a whole bunch of magic tomes and other such books. Ah, I see... they knew that this week was the last one before the beginning of the Academy school year, so they diligently raided the place.

These books were a true prize indeed, for each one was worth five times its weight in gold on any form of black or peasant market. Hell, even pawn shops would buy them for more than a reasonably raised price. Some of these appeared to even be from higher years... these may be worth keeping for myself.

In no way am I going to return them to the Academy, however. I am rather short on gold nowadays, despite the potion selling working out and finding a buyer for some of mothers old crap...

Out of all the fucking artifacts we found... mothers old underwear was the first thing we sold.

I... I can't say I'm surprised honestly, mother was a rather beautiful woman and the dregs of society are referred to as such for a reason but fifty fucking gold for a pair of panties?

I might start stealing underwear from my fellow students at this rate... Hell, I might even sell some of my own sometime.

Not too sure father would approve though... the fact we sold mothers underwear was already a matter handled without him knowing about it. In any case, it was time to move on."Coachman, once we reach the city, I want you to pilfer through these books and the other loot I just got. Sell what you can and store away the rest. Keep some to pay for your trip back home and see to it that the carriage is repaired."

"Your will, be done." He bowed, still staring at the dry, lifeless skeletons which now littered the roads, as he helped me hide the loot away in a secret backside compartment of the carriage. With that done, I re-entered the carriage and we were on our merry way without any further interruptions.

"You should count your coin, darling. One can never be too sure of their own purse!" Fathers deathly voice echoed through the carriage as I nodded, accepting his wisdom without any form of rebuttal. I took out several pouches of gold and threw the ragged sacks away as mothers strange purse made of some kind of gold and purple daemon leather, pulsed somewhat sadly as I took around two hundred gold out of it.

It was a kind of magic infinite storage... but for some reason this particular pouch could only hold money. I guess this might be because it was made from the skin of some kind of Greed Daemon?

Must be...

In any case, my counting of the coins showed that I currently had two hundred and five gold, one hundred and thirty six silver as well as fourty two copper. Heh, I should've guessed that the bandits purses would not be filled to the brim with gold.

The very notion is kind of stupid, now that I think about it.

Still, the fact that they don't have a whole bunch of gold, yet they do have that huge stack of around fifty books...

They must've been saying something along the lines of; Your books or yer lyfe!

That's stupid.

Its should always be this; All you've got or your dead.

It is most important to not give any notion of survival to the person you are trying to rob, because this will give them courage, often causing them to stall for time and potentially costing you in the long run.

Heh, amateurs.

... don't look at me like that you nonexistent people. STOP JUDGING ME WITH THOSE UNSEEN EYES!

The reason I know so much about robbing people is.. well, as I've said before, I been kidnapped so many times that its as ironic as its stupid.

Bandits taking me away from some road only to find out how my parents aren't anywhere nearby and that I was too dangerous to sell into slavery becuase they feared fathers deadly retribution. Eventually, as sad as it is, I got used to the situation and started talking to the more chatty of my captors, gaining valuable insights into what it means to be a bandit.

Or a highwayman.

Or a thief.

... the titles change, but its all the same criminal profession in the end..

Well, there's that thing called a thief's honor which prevents them from killing people but everyone knows that assassins are the best thieves around.

In fact; one of fathers many words of wisdom was this; you want someone killed? Hire an assassin! You want something stolen? Hire an assassin! Hell, you want someone slandered, still hire an assassin!

As you might be thinking right now, father did like his assassins. In his defense, he did have a shit ton of enemies.

People who disapproved of his marriage, his status, jealous of his skills, his wealth and so forth.

A noble of any kind has a lot of enemies simply by existing... those can range from disgruntled peasantry, church officials or even the nobility of other kingdoms... Hell, the last ones can even like you, but they'll still kill you on principle.

As a royal High Almoner, father was in charge of distributing excess gold to the poor, to the less fortunate members of our society. Even being granted with this task was a dream of many nobles, as it allowed you nearly unfettered access to the kings own treasury. Many would abuse this position to the ends of this earth, but father did not.

And that made him the kings best friend, especially since successful outings brought the both of them a whole bunch of fame, prestige and approval from both the peasantry and virtuous nobility alike.

Not many nobles are virtuous, however. This is why father had to deal with a whole bunch of assassins from a whole bunch of different orders. Eventually, he got sick of it, caught an assassin and hired him to kill the one who wanted father dead. The assassin, being a man of gold, did so when presented with an appropriate sum.

This allowed father an entrance into the underworld of our kingdom, eventually becoming friends with many guild leaders and transforming himself into a refused target for many assassins as he offered generous donations to their guilds. Hmm, I wonder if I can start using his connections as my own.

I'm sure he'd be more than happy to teach me all about intrigue.

Other than that, fathers position as High Lord made him a contender for the throne. Should the kings lineage die out, we would be one of those candidates to become the next royal family. This is something I have to be especially careful about, especially since the king wants me to marry one of his sons.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Vengeful or greedy bastards are going to be plotting my demise very soon. I have to be careful and keep an ever-present paranoid outlook on my surroundings. A single sip of the wrong drink can still kill me.

Sigh, if only my supposed immunity to poison could arrive sooner. As the last and only member of my line, for now, life will be increasingly difficult for me.

Hell, even if I manage to refuse the kings desire to marry me off to one of his ... spawns, this will result in his advisors telling him that killing me would rid the kingdom of a useless noble lineage, thus freeing up a position of power which they could offer to someone more loyal to their cause.

Though I am sure that uncle Rudolf would not do this himself, a refuted advisor may just act on his own accord out of sheer spite.

Murmurs from the outside woke me from my trance."T-that s-s-symbol..."

"Is it really her?" A womans voice echoed with a worried, almost horrified tome,

Another voice sighed out somewhat distressed."To think she'd come here... just what we needed, another traumatized student."

Ahh, the proffesors are talking about me. They think I'm traumatized.

Well, in a way, I suppose I am."We're here... milady." The nameless coachman said and, taking that as my cue, I promptly tied the demon pouch to my waist and walked outside, taking a moment to ensure that there was no blood on my clothing.

I look horrifying anyways, no need to add on to the image."Oh my gods..."

A woman said in a tone of horror as she witnessed my pure white hair and golden eyes."She looks like her father started to after the infection took him..."

A voice followed after, yet I could not find its origin. Still, it reminded me of father, thus making me unsummon him as to not cause any more trouble."Look at that pale, inhuman skin... oh that poor, poor child."

My spite and anger reeled off my body and yet somehow the people around me were not affected. Well, they were mages, ones which did not see any kind of real combat before so its safe to assume that they can't feel any kind of killing intent. Too bad.

I would have reveled in their shock and fear.

Ignoring them, I turned towards the coachman."Take Faervel to my new home. You are free to go after that."

"As you wish, milady!" He tipped his hat towards me in a gentlemanly way as the elf nodded, somewhat saddened that she could not be seen alongside me right now."Oh, and coach?"

He turned around for the last time."Yes, milady?"

"Whats your name?" I asked him, causing the man to offer a maddened grin."Please mistress, call me Alex."

A nod was his answer as I pushed my bag of books over my shoulder and promptly made my way through the stunted crowd of pitying glances and long, shocked stares...

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A few moments later... - The Academy (Headmasters Office) - Alice's Point Of View...

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A large door with strange, glowing magic runes etched into the rich, ebony wood appeared before me as I waited in the hallway in front of the headmasters office.

The man known as Orrian Adhana was a high elf, roughly over five hundred years old. He has been here since the establishment of the city all the way till now.

Since the kingdoms could not afford to make a human from any country the Academy headmaster as they were afraid of indoctrination, they called for a low-ranked elven noble to take the job. He accepted without pause, greedily indulging himself in the human thirst for power and knowledge as he built the magnificent city around us from the ground up.

All of it from the coffers of human kings, nobles and churchmen alike."Miss Pendragon, please come inside." A stone gargoyle, a sentient pet created out of stone and magic alone, spoke suddenly from one of the doors sides, creeping me the hell out as it did.

The gargoyle did not even react to my stupefied face."Miss Pendragon, please come inside." It repeated without any emotion as I got out of my stupor and coughed into my fist as I walked through the door and into the other room.

A massive library of rising pillars, all full of magical tomes, lay before me.

A single desk made of the same runic wood was in the back of the room, behind it was a single window which also glowed with arcane power, most likely because of the enchanted glass it was made off.

Neatly placed in rows to my right were large iron chests, each enchanted with magical locks of varying levels, only to be opened once the appropriate unlocking spell was cast on them.

To my right, several smaller pillars were erected, upon each was a magical floating grimoire glowing with a different form of magic. I knew these kinds of grimoires were used to check the potential of a students magic... they were something mass produced, really.

Yet they still managed to look menacing in the light less, seemingly colorless room. In fact, the only thing here that had color were things of magical nature and the headmaster himself was nowhere to be seen.

AN ILLUSION!

"Spell Shatter!" I exclaimed as I slammed my palms together, sending out a wave of mana to my surroundings and thus, shattering the intricate spell-work which kept the illusion together, returning color to the world before my eyes."Hmm... passed."

An old voice echoed as an elderly man in a wizard robe, but without the hat, approached me. His wizened form was only made further picturesque by his giant grey beard."This was a test of some sort?"

The old man nodded as he teleported back into his chair, already in sitting position, with the merest flick of a finger."Indeed, Miss Pendragon... your previous teachers said that no matter what form of illusion they cast upon you, you always managed to notice it and break the spell. The illusion you just broke is often called the *Lifeless World*, as it drains the afflicted of color and makes them unable to react to physical interaction as their brains no longer recognize it for the duration of the spell. However, you broke this rather medium-high level illusion before I could even come close to you... granted, I was walking rather slowly, but I am an old man, after all."

A nod was his answer."I ... see? That's good, I guess.. anyways.." I state as I pull out my pouch only to be stopped by the teleporting old man."That will not be necessary, my dear. Your years here will be free of charge... I owe your parents that much, at least."

I laughed at him and smirked as I showed him the pile of gold inside of the pouch."Are you sure about that, mister Adhana?"

He blinked at me in confusion and appeared shocked at the amount of gold inside of the pouch... yet seemed to remain unmoved."I am. Now come, we have much to discuss... your previous teachers told me that you never had your magic evaluated. Why is this?"

"I uh.. I didn't think I'd actually be here right now, sir... most nobles don't continue studying magic but I... I just needed to get the hell away from that castle for some time." A somber nod was my answer as the man realized that I was telling the truth.

It really is true, by the way. I didn't want to be made to judge people day in, day out... plus, I'm safer here. The security of Sorciere is one of its main attractions. A student was assassinated some hundred years ago and since then, the headmaster has made numerous changes to the city, taking the event as a very personal insult.

Of course, the nobility of the kingdoms were forced to grudgingly accept his work, as refusing to donate coin to the development of the cities security would mark them as murderers."I understand, but we cannot allow you to enter this Academy without knowing what you are good at. Honestly, making you pick schools of magic which you have no talent for would be a waste of both our times, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir... I suppose that's why the grimoires are here?" Turning my head around to look towards the still-very-menacing magic tomes, I received a surprised nod of acknowledgement from the man... elf."Clever girl... Please, put your hand on each of the runes on each first page of every grimoire."

Blinking at the somewhat confusing sentence, I turn my head back just in time to see the books open themselves and pages flying, as if seeking the correct page, all eventually returning to the first page whereas upon each glowed a magic rune of different origin. Swallowing and walking over to the books as the headmaster continued staring right into my soul, I found out that the pillars did not magically lower themselves to my height.

Thus, making me too short to actually do anything to the books above. Figuring out that this was yet another test, I racked my brain for answers. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I summoned up a small amount of mana and focused onto my feet."Winds of the World, carry me upon your graceful hands so that I may know the glory of flight!"

My chant was successful as I rose from the ground, somehow managing to control my flight spell to the point that it didn't cause any damage to the room, that it didn't send any books or arcane items flying. The headmaster quirked a curious eyebrow at me."There were two spells you could have used there; one being a spell of levitation and the other being one which causes yourself to grow larger... yet, this is the first time in my long life that I have met a student as young as yourself with enough control over their own magic to be able to use Flight without causing a miniature windstorm. You are not the first to try this, but you are the first to successfully do it. Congratulations, young lady."

"Ehehehe... thank you, headmaster." I bowed respectfully towards the elf, a bashful appearance etching itself upon me as I turned back towards the books. The first tome was one which glowed a pinkish sheen... Arcane.

I felt an unnatural amount of disgust reeling off myself as I stared at the book. An implausible urge to burn it gnawed at me with each and every second...

The toneless voice of Chaos ruptured inside of my mind, yet there was no headache this time. It screamed CORRUPTION!

I bit back any form of retort as I put my hand onto the grimoire, only to have it knock me onto my ass."Hmm... Not quite talent-less at the Arcane... perhaps a better way to say it would be that the magic itself despises you. Hmm.. your father was the same, how interesting. Must be something in your blood. A true shame, Arcane is the heart of all mortal magic. Without it, one could never know the efficiency of teleportation."

A shaken nod was his answer as I continue onward.

The next tome seemed to be made entirely out of wood, the knowledge it contained written on rich, living leaves. On its front was the still-beating heart of a dryad and the rune on the first page pulsed a rich, bright green. Life, was the magic of this tome. I placed my hand onto the rune, causing it to offer an immense, cheerful glow.

The book seemed to become... happy, at my presence.

Yet the voice of Chaos thundered inside of my mind once again. TRAITOROUS AND FILTHY!... BUT USABLE.

How... interesting."Hmm.. a great affinity for Life Magic. You may have a future as a druid, shaman or a healer."

Saying nothing, I walked over to the next tome.

This one did not have a normal rune, just a strange symbol etched into its first page which caused an elemental anomaly to appear floating above the symbol. A collective made up of water, air, earth and fire... all of which eagerly extended themselves towards me and gently grasped my hands...

The ring on my finger reacted somewhat strangely to the presence of the elements as they pulled back from my left hand, seemingly terrified of something... could it be the same cruel, yet implausibly perfect light, the presence I felt before?

Could be... The voice of Chaos followed soon after, screaming into my mind as tonelessly and soundlessly as it always did. AH! THERE! LOYALTY AND POWER! THEY ARE WORTHY.

On the other hand, literally now, the elemental powers seemed to rejoice when they came into contact with my skin, offering the full extent of their power nearly without cost."Hmm... strange reaction. Your father had no such connection to the elements and your mother only received an answer from fire. You, on the other hand, seem to be fully capable of using all of the elements, though I cannot say weather they are terrified of you or if they love you? This will require further experimentation, should you agree to it. You will of course be compensated for your time."

"Despite what I showed you earlier, I'm still short on coin so... whenever you feel like experimenting, please do call for me, headmaster." Was my rather quick reply, causing the man to quirk an eyebrow at me but offer no other reply than a nod. I continued onto the next tome.

A golden book with rich blue silks covering it. It was a holy tome.

A book of divine magic, which pulsed with light. I did not even need to touch it for the book to react to my presence. A pillar of golden light burst forth out of the book, covering me in divine power... cleansing me of any kind of darkness.

It felt.. amazing... yet beneath the light, deep within its core, I felt the same cruelty, the same perfection that I had come to know from the ring. Chaos however, did not respond to this...

Strange.

Most strange.

Scary, terrifying even."Aha! An immense talent for Holy Magic.. again, something neither of your parents had, but considering your devotion to Vytar, this is not surprising. Archbishop Delathar will be delighted... students talented in calling upon the divines are rare and also curious objects of study... if, you allow it."

Another nod was the mans answer as I neared the final two tomes... Void and Madness.

Shadow and Horror.

My mind twisted itself as the angered tone of Chaos tore away at my consciousness, this time causing me to fall onto my knees as I could no longer channel the magic into my Flight spell."ARGH!"

ENEMY! HATED FOE! KEEEEEEP AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!... BUT THE EMPTY ONE MAY BE USEFUL...

A clear, if somewhat twisted message as the old man quickly teleported next to me."Your talent for the divine has, albeit somewhat predictably, caused you to be sickened by the... darker powers. I wonder if your inability to use the Arcane comes from the same reason?"

"I... I think its just the Madness book though..." I muttered out as the old man blinked."Madness? The tomes that remain are filled with Pure Mana and Dark Magic... which one is this Madness, that you speak off, young lady?"

I blinked at him and wordlessly pointed towards the tome of Dark Magic. He hummed in thought."Dark Magic is what you call Madness, eh?... How fitting. Yes, items such as those are dangerous enough, even without a user they can corrupt those around them."

He walked over to the tome and promptly closed it, causing my headache to disperse instantly."A-aaah..." A wave of relief washed over me as the old man nodded."I would recommend buying some form of cursed artifact, young lady. As one who is talented in divine magic, you may wish to grow a resistance to the effect of dark powers as to keep your future as open as possible. After all, what kind of church would accept a paladin or a healer into their army who could not stand being close to their enemy?"

A nod was his answer as I bit back the revulsion gnawing at my soul and walked over to the last book. I placed my hand onto the last rune and closed my mind, felt it emptied as the voice of Chaos... did not scream this time.

A power born for creation, used solely for destruction... our opposite. Our hated enemy... yet, should you subjugate it, great power may become yours to wield.

Hah, its voice is a lot easier to comprehend when its not angry. How ironic. The magic contained within the book seemed to be reluctant to come into contact with me, appearing somewhat uncertain of my presence.

I was an enemy of the very magic contained within it, yet I was also offering to be one of its hosts.

Its only logical that the magic would do a double-take.

In the end, it offered only the tiniest sliver of itself as a form of handshake, yet appeared not to make any further progress... it was inviting me, as if making a contract.

After all, it takes two hands for a proper handshake.

Taking a deep breath, I promptly gently grasped the tendril of pure darkness and shook it, causing the magic to retreat back into the book immidiately afterwards."That was... awkward." I muttered out in embarrassment as I turned around to find the old elf furiously scribbling something onto the paper."Oh, you are done. Forgive me, young lady but your interaction with the pure mana was most interesting... Tell you what, there are several things about your magic that I would like to study. You will be excused from classes whenever I have time and should you even have a class at the time, so that we may continue experimenting with your great powers. I offer a salary of two gold per hour. How does that sound?"

"That would take care of my daily expenses and then some considering I keep myself to eating normal food and don't hire too many servants... yes, I accept your offer, headmaster." Was my rather eloquent reply.

Even if I gained an immense sum of gold from selling mothers... underwear, I wished to use that money to invest into my county. It is currently riddled with bandits and the orcs to the north inside of the Edge Lands will most likely start their annual raiding soon... I must prepare my lands for their coming.

"Ah please, call me Orrian." The old elf replied with a chuckle as he started doing whatever paperwork was necessary for my acceptance into the Academy as we began choosing the classes which I would attend this year.

You see, the Academy had two weeks of classes per round.

As such, a single round consisted of two weeks.

One week, we would attend classes from six in the morning to the thirteenth hour and the other we would attend from the fourteenth hour to the nineteenth hour.

This was made in such a way so that the higher years can be separated from the lesser years. First and second year students would start the weeks with a morning one while the higher ones, aka the third and fourth years would start with the evening one.

A single year is made up of thirty-six weeks, or eighteen rounds. Holidays and other such events notwithstanding, with the same standard long summer break which lasts three or so months... or so it would have, had I not experienced what I did.

My morning weeks would consist of; Mana Manipulation, World History, Divine Literacy, Combat Enchanting and Royal Etiquette.

Mana Manipulation classes are really self explanatory. A Monday class which will teach me even better control over my mana, an eternal staple in any mage's repertoire.

World History was a choice which I myself did not make... yet father told me that it was much more interesting that it would seem at first. This is because our world, whose human name is Encore by the way, apparently has some serious connection to Chaos which people thankfully do not remember but will be apparent to me once I hear about it.

Divine Literacy is a normal choice considering that I have an apparent talent in the divine magics of this world. If I ever really got into it, knowing how to read divine runes and understand holy symbols will be something I will not be able to live without.

Combat Enchanting was something which the headmaster told me to take because of my talent for Elemental Magic. Their most basic use is temporarily enchanting weaponry or other items to create numerous elemental effects.. though why combat enchanting specially is probably because of Luctus, as the sentient Halberd seemed to become giddy at the aspect of being infused with elemental powers... can't say I don't share its excitement.

Royal Etiquette is something I picked for myself as I will need every trick in the book in order to get myself out of that stupid betrothal. Plus, a little normalcy couldn't hurt, right?

My evening weeks would consist of; Basic Life Magic, Blood Magic, Divine Blessings, Holy Magic, Basic Elemental Magic and Basic Summoning.

Life Magic seems to be a key element here, despite Chaos calling it a traitor for some reason. Though I have no desire to become a tree hugger/hippie of any kind, knowing a thing or two about calming wild animals might come in handy some day. Not to mention the healing capabilities of natural magics, while much less valued than holy magics, are nothing to scoff at.

Blood Magic... I don't know how to say this, but as soon as I saw the option, I knew I had to take it. Chaos urged me to do so... The headmaster could only quirk an eyebrow at me when I pointed it out, yet said nothing nonetheless.

Divine Blessings and Holy Magic are really self explanatory. After all, what kind of fool would deny aid from the Gods themselves?... though the cruel perfection I felt before is still quite vivid inside of my memory. I wonder what does it all mean?... And why did Chaos exempt it from its reactions?

Elemental Magic is a subject which actually includes a lot of things. Fire, Air, Earth and Water all have their own classes, but all students must go through this first basic class if they ever want to become elementalists of any kind.

Basic Summoning was chosen due to the subject also covering the bare-boned basics of Void Magic, but also because of fathers current status as my familiar, something which the headmaster does not know about yet, but will soon realize... or Pure Mana, as the people of this world like to call it. I seem to be always thinking of it as the first name though and I don't know why. Chaos, probably.

Anyways, that's about it... tomorrow, I start my very first week at the academy.

However, the day is still somewhat young. Maybe I should ask father about his connections to the world of assassins? Maybe I should talk to Faervel about her inhuman stature... argh, so many things to do and so little time.

Perhaps I should keep it all for a later date?...

Might be a bit lazy, but it sure would help me keep whatever remains of my sanity...

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Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

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That's it for now boys and girls.

I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM, AAAH!

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Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!