He was the fourth one to arrive. There was tension in the air as he sat down on a free chair. The room, which had solely been prepared for this meeting, was on the sixth floor of the main building of the academy of Prestillon. The ceiling was around three Meters high, the floor was made of precious ebony. Big windows opposite to the door allowed a view of the schoolyard in front of the main entrance. In the middle of the room was a long table with enough seats for every professor of the academy. As Anton took a look around, he was once again impressed by how fast the headmaster had managed to prepare all of this. Normally, this room was used as a storage for books and unused magical equipment. Now that he thought about it, he started to wonder just where exactly they put all this stuff. If something went missing because of this the consequences would be very bad. As he tried to think of where they could have stored the gears, he noticed something unusual, or more exactly someone unusual. The three people who were already here before him were the headmaster, the vice headmaster and one of the professors of the detection magic section. Of course, the first two would be faster than him, they prepared the room and led the meeting after all, but why was Mr Cloffing already here? Anton knew that the only reason he was here before most others was that he had no lectures this morning, but he was pretty sure that that wasn't the case for him. He wasn't close to Mr Cloffing, he didn't even know his first name, but he knew that every professor of the detection magic section always had full lecture schedules. It was a very popular choice amongst the students, and there weren't many who teached this topic. Who could he already be here? The lectures would only end after another five minutes. Cloffing was a big but slim man. Like Anton, he was in his late forties, probably a bit younger than him. Opposite to him sat Victor Stroff, the vice headmaster. Victor was one of the very few mages who focused on several elements. Whether it was the earth, fire, water or air element, he was considered a master at all of them. He was the oldest in the room. His white hair had already started to thin a long time ago. He was 62 and the professor with the longest history at this academy, but all that didn't make him soft in the least. If anything, he was known for his stubbornness. The only person who could persuade him into anything was the man right beside him. His name was Elliox von Harms. Unlike the expectations of most, he, the headmaster of the biggest academy of the east was not even in his forties, not even his late thirties. Nonetheless, he had proven to be more than just worthy of his position. The attribute he controlled was one of the most feared ones, but also one of the hardest to control - light magic, also referred to as holy magic sometimes. Even in kingdoms that didn't share a border with Karvoc, his name was known and feared. Feared only by those spreading injustice of course. As a light magic grand master, at such a young age to that, he had become a symbol of the church. As such, his reputation was the creme dela creme. Knowing him for around ten years now, Anton had seen what was behind this facade, and he didn't want to see that again. He was competent, yes a genius without a question but… the word that described him best was still cruel. But none of that could be seen right now. As always, he had a plain and distante smile on his face. That in combination with his brown curly hair made him look much younger than he actually was.

The silence slowly began to feel even more uncomfortable. The tension in this room was already a lot to take on, but the silence made it a lot worse. As Anton tried to think of a way to break this silence, the door was suddenly slammed open. The loud sound immediately changed the atmosphere. Now the bright face of a young mg woman with red hair stared at the four of them. ‘You didn't start without me, right?’ Anton tried his best to hide his displeasure about this situation. Of all the people, why did she have to arrive first? Or well, fifth. She had a bright smile upon seeing the headmaster. ‘Miss Velona, please take a seat.’ The headmaster pointed at one of the seats. ‘Yes of course!’ It didn't take much longer before the rest of the professors arrived. First those who had their lectures nearby, then those who hadn't. ‘Who did Miss Velona arrive here so fast?’ was the question that was running through Anton's head. The lecture room for elemental foundations should be pretty far away from this one. As it was no use thinking about it, he decided to just not question it. ‘Now that everyone is here, I would like to start this meeting. May I assume you all know what this is about?’ The very moment Elliox began to speak, every last person in the room immediately focused on him. He didn't use magic to increase his presence, it was simply the aura he gave off that made people respect him. That was especially true for those who had worked alongside or under him for some time. ‘Yes, that is true. Rumors of a dark mage have already spread among the students, it would be impossible not to guess what this meeting is about.’ The woman this voice belonged to was Vilvette Minecast, the leading alchemist of the Dame. Her long black hair which nearly reached to her waist looked as messy as always. She was the kind to get obsessed with her experiments and forget about her disciples. That was one of the reasons she held a special role at the academy. Unlike all the other professors who teached through lectures, she was the only one who was allowed to only teach a few chosen ones directly. For someone like her to be present at a meeting like this… So the rumors were true. ‘So information about this has already leaked to the students? How did that happen?’ The expression of the vice headmaster was very dark. Although he didn't say it, it was clear he suspected one of the professors to have leaked information. ‘Now now Victor, let us not jump into conclusions yet.’ Harms smiled as if he had known his vice would react like that. ‘Do we have any leads?’ asked one of the younger professors. His name was Velinvo and he was a professor who used wind as his main element. The young man, who was known for his politeness and respect, was always accompanied by Velona and Vonstadt. Today was no exception, as he sat right beside the two of them. Anton had taken a liking to him and Vonstadt, but his despise for Velona didn't change in the slightest. She was known to be short tempered and rash, two of the characteristics he hated. But that wasn't the point right now. ‘Sadly not. I have asked Mr Cloffing here to investigate the room and the books, but sadly he couldn't find anything of use to track the culprit down.’ Suddenly, it made sense that Cloffing was allowed to skip a lecture. The school rules didn't seem to apply in a state of emergency. ‘Whoever it is that collected these books and created that room, they shouldn't be taken lightly. It takes a lot of talent to not leave any mana at all.’ Which sounded like a sorry excuse for his failure was actually totally right. Leaving traces of mana everywhere you go was an accepted fate among most mages, and only few managed to change that. But without any traces of mana, detection and location through magic became impossible. But to think that the enemy was actually that powerful…’Wouldn't that mean that the dark mages aren't students, but teachers of this academy?’ This question of one of the professors changed the mood in the room. Up until now, most had thought of the mysterious book collector as a few students who were simply curious about the forbidden magic. But that seemed impossible now. But if they weren't a student, that would mean there was a mole among the professors. A wave of suspicion and paranoia hit the room. ‘We don't know that for sure yet. They could have disguised themselves as a student. They don't necessarily have to be a professor.’ It was the words of the headmaster himself that calmed down the crowd. Even if he was frightening sometimes, in the end, it was good to have him as headmaster. Especially the fact that this grand master was still here to hunt the dark mage was relieving for most of them. He continued. ‘It does not matter whether they disguise themselves as students or teachers. The collection of books concerning dark magic is forbidden in this kingdom. We will find and bring down all culprits!’ This kind of speech increased the motivation of the mages once again, and Anton was no exception here. ‘ We have worked out first plans to tighten up our security and guarantee the safety of our students. If you may, Victor.’ The old man stood up. At the same moment, a small book started to flow in front of him. It probably contained the notes of their discussion. Although he was quite old, he surely didn't need a reminder of what they had decided. This spell was merely a way for him to show off. ‘This old geezer…’ was the first thought Anton had upon seeing this. Victor cleared his throat. ‘One of the measures includes an increase of mages in the night guard. We will also impose a curfew for after midnight.’ It was obvious that many didn't like that. The night was the time they used for studying after all. But it couldn't be helped, since this decision had already been approved by the headmaster. ‘Further, we will…’ The meeting should continue until the lunch break was over. It didn't even take half a day after the discovery of the hidden room, but the higher ups had already worked out a complete counter plan. As Anton left the room, he couldn't help but worry though. Yes, the headmaster had stepped in to help with this himself, but it was also this very headmaster who didn't notice the room in the first place. They probably still wouldn't have found anything if it hadn't been for that too from one of the students who saw a suspicious person entering a totally unknown room. To hide that long just be discovered by a mere student… ‘Those black mages sure don't have it easy either.’ Was his thought as he was once again on his way to his next lecture.

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