Lin catches my drift and she manages to blush and smile at the same time. The kids have no idea what is going on, but they can tell that I am in a good mood. As such, they are much more playful than usual and I play with them until I wear them out.

Even Nala and Albion take a nap with Mulan and Mushu when we are done playing. While the four of them are napping I go back to recovering my mana. After all, I can't exactly raid the capital of the Magic Kingdom without mana.

Lin says "Do you want help recovering your mana?"

"You can do that?"

Lin says "Of course!"

Then she leans over and kisses me, at the same time I feel a flow of pure mana entering my mouth. Since it is already pure mana, it is very easy for me to absorb it, but the kiss is distracting. Both feel really good, but I have to focus on absorbing the mana instead of the kiss.

"Stop, stop!"

Lin says "What? Don't you like it?"

"Of course I like it! My mana is full."

Lin says "Really? Already? I thought for sure you would have more mana than that. I didn't even use a quarter of my mana yet."

"What? I knew you had more mana than me, but I didn't think it was to that extent. Just what level are you, Lin?"

Lin says "I am currently level thirty-two. I am a twentieth level mage and a twelfth level high-mage."

"No wonder you have so much mana! Wait, you aren't that old, how did you gain so much experience?!"

Lin says "Mages can gain experience from study and experimentation. Since I was constantly harassed anytime I went out, I didn't go out unless I had to. That gave me nothing to do but study and train my magic."

"I'm sorry, that can't have been easy. If you don't mind me asking, what about your parents?"

Lin says "I don't mind. My mother died giving birth to me. My father died in a mage duel when I was around four. My grandmother raised me until I was ten before she died. After that I was pretty much on my own."

"That must have been really hard on you. Did you end up in an orphanage?"

Lin says "No. I was already a mage and counted as an adult. I became the head of my house. I wasn't completely alone, I had servants and guards."

"What? When I went to your house there was no one?"

Lin says "That happened later. Things changed when I reached puberty."

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"Oh. That probably wasn't pleasant."

Lin says "No, it wasn't. Once my body matured I had to get rid of all the men in the house. Even the women sold me out to rich men over time until I was left completely alone. I couldn't trust anyone at that point."

"That sounds like it was really rough. No wonder you wanted out of that city so badly."

Lin says "Well, that and finally meeting a guy who didn't immediately want to possess or control me."

"Are you sure you don't want me to just destroy the entire city?"

Lin says "Yes, I am sure. Although, there are a few mansions that I wouldn't mind watching be destroyed."

"I can do that. Just create a map of the city and show me which ones you want me to obliterate."

Lin says "I was just kidding!"

"I am not. Show me which ones offended you."

Lin takes a deep breath, but after a minute creates an illusionary map of the city. About a dozen mansions light up red, all of them are in the same area of the city as the academy. Once I memorize their locations I start crafting a spell based on the rain of fire spell.

The spell will have two phases, one to dispel all magic, and the second to cause destruction. The second phase is only going to target the selected mansions, not the academy. After all, there won't be much left to loot if I end up destroying the academy.

The other thing that the spell needs to do is disable the enchantments on the city. Otherwise, they will block my spell and maybe even allow the mages to learn from it. Luckily, when I was getting ready for the auction, I studied the city's enchantments extensively.

My knowledge of magic has increased a lot since then, mainly thanks to Lin. So, countering the city's enchantments isn't too difficult, but this spell is going to take all of my mana. That means it is going to be up to Lin to gate us there and back, as well as deal with anything unexpected.

Once the spell is done, I explain to Lin everything that she is going to need to do. Then, to make it easier on her, I adjust the gate platform so that it will recognize her. That will make it easier for her to find the ship and make her use less mana when opening a gate back.

Lin says "I know a place outside the city, but why not just gate directly into the city?"

"Because there is an enchantment on the city that will capture and record the casting of a major spell."

Lin says "There is?! How does no one know about it?"

"It is an old enchantment. The rulers probably use it to make sure they keep up with spell knowledge."

Lin says "That makes sense. No wonder the ruler's family has been in power for so long. In that case, is a mile away from the city good enough?"

"Yeah, that should be fine."

Lin says "Alright. Are we ready to go?"

"Wait, here take these."

Lin says "Backpacks of holding? Where did you get these? What do I need them for?"

"I made them. You will need them to help me loot the library. Otherwise we will be in there forever."

Lin says "Oh, alright. Normally I would be against stealing, but for books I will help."

"Okay, let's go."

Lin walks up to the platform and opens a gate, once again it is human sized. However, I don't say anything and just walk through the gate in human form. On the other side I find myself in a small forest glade that looks like no one has ever touched it.

Lin follows me through, closes the gate, and then looks around with a smile on her face. She looks to be lost in her memories, so I give her a minute before I drop shapeshift. When she climbs onto my back, I take off and fly towards the capital.

Since it is still daytime, I fly high enough that I won't be easily spotted by the guards. The enchantments make a dome above the city, but as long as I stay above that I won't set off any alarms. I plan to unleash my spell from here, that way there is no warning before the enchantments fail.

"Lin, are you ready?"

Lin says "Yeah, I am ready."