All Velvino could do was sigh. The five students in front of him didn't seem to fully understand the situation they were in. ‘Just let me get this straight… You tried to sneak out last night even though you knew of the lockdown?’ An energetic nodding followed. ‘Why would you do that?’ The one to reply was Maxwell, one of the oldest ones. Velvino knew him from his own lectures, he had always been a good student. ‘We want to help find the culprits Mr. Velvino!’ He had repeated this several times by now, but Velvino still wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a joke or not. ‘The lockdown exists for a reason! We can't have students risk their lives outside at night!’ He tried to be angry at them for ignoring the rules, but he just couldn't get himself to be. Not after Mr. Stellox died… They had known him and so it was natural for them to help. If he was honest, Velvino was angry at himself for not finding the culprits by now. But putting his own feelings aside, it was an absolute taboo for the students to get outside. ‘How did you even get outside? Every door and window gets sealed in the evening.’ The children looked at Maxwell, who was in desperate search for words. But it was Lydia who answered in his stead. Since Lydia also focused on the wind attribute, she had also visited Velvinos lectures often. ‘That was what we wanted to talk about. As we said, we tried, but… We couldn't get out.’ Now it was Alex who spoke. Velvino had never seen him in one of his lectures, but he had spotted him in this group in the past. ‘We wanted to ask you if we could accompany you on your next patrol. That is why we are telling you this.’ Velvino didn't like this. On the one hand, he understood the students and wanted to help them, on the other hand he couldn't put them at risk like that. There was nothing to think about. ‘You can't come out with me on a patrol. They are dangerous, even we professors are supposed to always keep our guard up. We can't use any extra luggage!’ The five of them looked pretty sad after hearing that. Once again, they reminded him of ducklings. Most people reminded him somehow of animals. He sighed again. He would feel bad leaving them like that. He took a look at the big and old clock that hung in the hallway. It had been there since he was still a student. Never would he have imagined that this academy would be the place of a murder like this, especially not with dark mages involved. But here he was, always sleeping with one eye open. Luckily he noticed that there was still one hour left before the lockdown… he decided that that was enough time. He knew what would work best to distract a magical student. He looked all five of them deep in the eyes, one after another. ‘I may not be able to take you with me on my patrol, but…’ Their eyes were filled with anticipation faster than those of a dog when the smell of meat filled the air. ‘Maybe I could show you a way to still help us teachers.’ As promising as his words sounded, he could still detect some suspicion in Lydia. She was smart, he respected that. ‘What do you mean with that Mr. Velvino?’ He smiled. ‘Follow me.’ He didn't wait for any sort of reply and immediately turned around. He hurried up and was glad to hear some footsteps following him. ‘Where are we going Mr. Velvino?’ asked Maxwell. But he just kept quiet and continued on his way. It didn't take long for them to arrive at his destination. A big wooden door blocked their way. Velvino had stood here so often when he was still a student himself, always wanting to enter in the evening. When he had gotten the keys after becoming a professor, he had had a hard time not showing his excitement. ‘Isn't this…’ it was Lucy who failed to form a full sentence. If he remembered correctly, she was the ice mage of the group. ‘Yes Lucy, this is the special library of the southern dormitory.’ The term special was very fitting. In here, a few of the most expensive books were stored. It was only opened to students in the presence of a teacher. Since most of the teachers were invested in their own studies after the lectures ended, that was a rather rare occasion. If a student got the honor of entering this room, it was mostly because a teacher was here to look something up for themselves. And so the next question was to be expected. ‘Are you here to read one of the books?’ He turned around and smiled. ‘No, not today. I told you, I would show you how you could help to find the culprit.’ He was a bit excited. It had been a while since he had personally teached a student something outside of his courses. As he looked at the confused faces of his followers, he started to give a small explanation. ‘Do you know how we found the room the dark mages had hidden?’ They seemed rather clueless. But then Finn raised his hand. ‘Didn’t one of the students report it?’ That was exactly the answer he was waiting for. ‘That is right! Without the information of that student, we still wouldn't know that they are among us. That student has helped us a lot.’ Lydia seemed a bit dissatisfied. ‘I don't want to question your teaching methods Mr. Velvino, but did you really bring us here just to tell us that?’ Velvino found this quite funny. Right now they seemed so unsatisfied, but he knew how fast that would change. He gently looked at them. ‘No, not that. Telling us teachers helps a lot, but sometimes it is hard to reach anyone. And this is why I was planning… to teach you something useful…’ Now he had their interest and attention. He knew it. He got out a single key. He had stored this one separated from the others, around his neck. Was it a symbolic gesture or a preparation so he didn't have to look for the key once he decided to visit this place again? He couldn't tell himself. As he turned the key in the keyhole, the door made an ominous sound. The defensive enchantments for this room were even stronger than those for the main doors. This was clearly made for something precious, even an amateur mage could tell that. Had he tried to break the door with force, then he would have risked getting cursed. He swallowed. That was the first thing the former headmaster had told him when he was still a child. He pressed down the handle and used his complete body weight to open the heavy door. An enchantment was normally meant to help with the weight of the door, but it had gotten weaker over the years. The headmaster had spent so much money on useless things in this academy, but the door was still in need of repair… It wasn't too bad though. Opening this door made him feel like a great mage every time, over and over again. As he slowly opened the door, a shining ray of light was released from the inside of the room. Velvino could only smile, because he knew what was coming. He was sure that at least two of them hadn't seen the inside yet. With one last push, he completely opened the double door. What got revealed was a middle sized room, filled to the brim with books. Maybe middle sized was a bit of an understatement, there was enough space to open a cafe inside. The ceiling was three meters above the ground, but the bookshelves barely fit inside. As Velvino turned around, he could see five utterly amazed faces. It was only natural to be speechless upon seeing this. In the room, there were several flying lights. The light they emitted was very warm and homely. Even though there were no windows, every last spot of this room was thoroughly filled with light. The many books had sometimes very extravagant covers. Some were dyed in rare and exotic colors, others had golden symbols attached to them. A few of the books even gave off some shiny light themselves… truly, this was a treasury for every mage. The contents of most of these books were far too difficult for the students, and even some teachers, to understand, but Velvino knew one that was perfect for them. He stepped inside. ‘I am sure you have heard of telepathy magic already, right?’ The students, who had followed him into the room, just silently nodded. Velvino walked towards one certain book, he knew where it was. His hand reached towards a noon of the lower shelves. It had a dark purple color and a small magical circle decorated its front. If one looked closely, they would see that it wasn't a real magical circle but merely the image of one. Velvino grabbed it and showed it to his followers. ‘This book was written by one of my former professors.’ Lucy rear the signature at the bottom of the cover. It was small, but she had good eyes. ‘S. Messli? I don't think I have heard that name…’ Velvino nearly got a bit nostalgic. ‘He left this academy some years ago. Shortly before I graduated. You wouldn't know him.’ Now Lydia seemed to inspect the book closer. ‘The art of total Isolation it says… What is this about?’ Velvino had a hard time not to laugh. He had the same reaction when his former teacher had shown this to him. ‘The book is about isolation spells. As it goes on about how to block telepathy from escaping the isolation, it also mentions some techniques that let your own telepathy escape. It is perfect for information exchange.’ He was proud of himself that he still remembered this book. These students of his were too impatient to wait for the professors to catch the culprit. Maybe one day they would slip through the safety enchantments and get outside. If they really did, it would be better if they could call for help. And even if not, it was always good to know at least one technique like this. Techniques aren't spells. A spell is the combination of a magic circle, aka the shape of the mana, and the amount of mana, while the technique focused on how to get the mana as accurately in the wished form as possible. In other words the spell is the action, the technique is the method. This book contained a few very good explanations. The five students, every single one, were fascinated by the chance to read parts of the book. Velvino quickly took it and opened a page in the first half of the book. He then proceeded to an empty wall. He focused a bit of mana in his fingertips and… as he drew on the wall with his fingers, they left tracks like white chalk on a blackboard. He was ready. ‘You better listen now. I will only explain this once…’

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He had nearly missed the lockdown. As he had explained the theory of the book, he had felt as alive as he hadn't in a long time. He let out a heavy breath as he locked the door behind him - he had sent the students to their rooms a few minutes ago. If his judgment wasn't wrong, they had gotten the gist of it. Of course they hadn't mastered it in this short amount of time, it would take far longer than just an hour, but if they continued their practice and remembered the advice he had given them on their way out, then maybe they would learn it in a week or so. If they did, they would be distracted for a week, and be unable to do anything stupid. That time had to be enough to find and capture the culprits. He looked out of a window as he continued to walk through the hallway. He wouldn't let Me. Stellox’ students get hurt, no matter what. Not the rest of them either. Maybe Mr. Stellox really had been a dark mage as the rumors say, but that didn't change his passion about his students. He finally arrived at his room. As a professor he would still be allowed to walk through the dormitory at night and use the studies here, but he felt tired today. Yes, he was tired, exhausted even, but he was also happy. He felt like he had fulfilled his role as an educator to his best today. That was why he became a professor. The thoughts about what his students could become always excited him. Maybe he had left an impression on them that would positively influence them in the future, who knows? Probably not, but he still liked the idea. He laughed to himself. ‘Today was a good day my friend. You would have loved it.’ Only he knew that it was addressed to Mr. Stellox.