Jobba was flabbergasted. His whole body unable to move for a couple of seconds. Even though Malachi said that he had massacred an entire village before, he did not believe him at first since some children liked to brag and exaggerate their stories.

But the scene in front of him proved that everything he said before was real.

What Malachi showed him earlier wasn't a trick. It was pure strength and power. The other children didn't even have time to realize that they were being massacred. It happened so quickly. So quick, in fact, the children didn't even scream or shout in pain.

Jobba's thoughts raced. Malachi knew that he was much more powerful than the other children and waited for them all to come before killing them. He didn't do anything until the last second and became the sole winner of this test. He didn't even let a single one survive despite knowing that the academy was accepting 5 students.

Ruthless, intelligent, talented. His legs shivered at the thought of how a child with these characteristics would grow later in the future.

"You... you passed."

...

Aldric stood by the balcony. He raised one arm, stroking upon his neatly trimmed beard as his warm, compassionate eyes gazed toward the forest. He stood at an average height, frame lean and wiry. His attire consisted of a flowing, ivory-colored vest adorned with intricate religious symbols. The calluses on his hand revealed that he was a hard-working man that achieved his current position through rigorous work.

Although he long had learned that hard work wasn't enough to attain this position. He put on a disguise of a compassionate Devotee of the church and charmed the masses with his charisma alone. He was weak and wasn't blessed with talents, so he had to use tricks and deception to achieve greatness.

His plan should be complete if he could kill Malachi and own this mansion as his true possession. Now, Malachi was wanted as a criminal. A necromancer at that! A criminal where anyone would be allowed to kill on sight in this empire. This mansion and the wealth were rightfully his. Malachi wouldn't be able to take it away from him.

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Aldric should be satisfied. But he wasn't. Now that he learned that the boy had an A-grade talent, a talent capable of reaching the peak of magic power and also had control and mastery over the dark art, his heart went uneasy every time he went to sleep at night.

He would check below his bed, open his closet, and lock the windows out of fear that Malachi would come for him. Malachi's figure the day he killed Aldric's daughter haunted him. Every night, he would imagine Malachi came into his room, with a blade in his hand, under the veil of darkness.

"I cannot live in fear. I must rise to power and kill him." Aldric did not believe that Thaddeus' students would be competent enough to hunt Malachi down.

"If I can become an Elder of the Council, I would receive so much more resources and my power will go beyond this small town. But, to do that, I will have to risk my entire wealth again."

The image of Malachi staring at him flashed in his mind.

Aldric gritted his teeth. "It's all or nothing. I cannot rest easy as long as that boy lives." He turned around and told his guard. "Prepare the guards. We're going."

"Where to, Father Aldric?"

Aldric was in deep thought. If he wanted power, he had to go to a place where all the most influential figures reside. "To the capital."

...

Alyssa was enraged. "You lost the god damn thing! The Arcane Prism! You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

"I can't help it. The boy stole it from me."

"Why would it be in his hands in the first place?!"

"I was with my students exploring the far-flung corner of the empire's territory. We were doing a study to determine the education quality and the level of human resources in the region. As we were doing our work, a local Devotee approached us and asked for his son to be admitted to a magic academy. I didn't want to be rude even though he's just a low-level member of the church, because our relationship with the church is on a very thin string right now."

Thaddeus then explained what happened.

"A grade talent... Are you sure about this?"

"The Arcane Prism never lies. I already consider that boy to be the candidate for the future headmaster of this academy, so I trusted him with the Arcane Prism. Who would have thought that the boy actually learned necromancy instead."

"And he killed his sister as well," Alyssa added.

Thaddeus added. "That priest was almost killed as well if not for the holy pendant that was given to him."

"We have to find him. Who knew what he will do to the Arcane Prism. Send more students for this task."