Originally uploaded Jan 20, 2023

Art Pov

"Come in." Cynthia spoke loudly enough to be heard from the outside.

The elaborately decorated twin doors swung open and two figures marched in. Both wearing snow-white military uniforms with gold ascents. The uniform of a Lance.

Cynthia quickly rose from her seat as she approached the two lances.

"Lance Bairon, Lance Alea, to whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting you generals." She greeted them both in a respectful manner, slightly lowering her head. While I just continually sat on my couch.

"We have come to discuss the matter at hand." Bairon firmly spoke, staring at my direction. Probably wonder why such a young boy was so casually sitting in the presence of the academy director and two Lances.

Bairon Wykes, he would be the Lance that would undergo the most amount of change during and after the initial war. The betrayal of this family would only strengthen his resolve to defending Dicathen. It was admirable. He was a strong general and solider under my command, but no. Now wasn't the time.

I stood up from my seat stretching my arms and legs.

"Well if you guys have something important to chat about I'll take my leave." I announce as I picked up Sylvie and began walking to the door.

"And who are you?" Bairon finally asked with his brow raised. He probably thinks I don't know who he was.

Before I could open my mouth to respond Cynthia hastily replied for me.

"He is Arthur Leywin, assistant director."

"He seems young to be an director of any sort." Alea spoke up, her tone was friendly and non-threatening, unlike the human Lance's.

"He may seem young but I assure you he is one of the finest in our establishment." Cynthia boosted.

'Old hag, I'm not a trophy for you to parade around. I don't doubt you used my name in order to convince Gideon to teach at this school.'

"Anyway, since you seem to only need to Director's attention, I'll take my leave." I quickly left before any of them could say otherwise.

Bairon was probably glad I was gone, while I could sense Alea eyeing me curiously. Without a doubt she monitored my during my time at the kingdom of Elenoir, but talking with her will only complicate things.

Though, I did wonder. If Bairon could go through such a development I pondered if his younger brother could do the same. Maybe I won't need to kill him when the time comes, it would put a strain on my relationship Bairon afterwards.

I continued thinking as I walked aimlessly towards the Disciplinary Committee's office. I had continued to spend most of my free time their. Not only did it contain the people and friends I was most familiar with I wanted to monitor Kai's movements. Also working with them beat doing all the academy related paperwork and teaching I had to do.

Opening the doors the their office I was met with a strike of red and black crossing at high speeds right in front of my face.

Following the streak I was met with Curtis, practically buried into the walls.

"I said hit me! Not try to break every bone in my body!" He viscously yelled at Doradrea.

The rest of the committee only laughed at him.

"You didn't exactly specify." Claire said as she helped him up to his feet.

They only then seemed to notice me as they all waved hello.

"Assistant Director Leywin! What brings you here?" Claire asked with a bright smile on her face.

"Claire, I thought I told you to just call me Arthur." to this Claire only chuckled in response.

"Anyway, I just came to check up on things." I said as I looked around the room. The entire room was in training mode. With all the furniture removed and the mana channeled to form a barrier around the walls and floor.

Kai walked up to the small podium with the controls and after fiddling around with the buttons a bit the mana barriers receeded.

"Well can't say everything has been the best." Claire finally said after a moment of awkward silence while rubbing the back of her neck.

I raised my eyebrows, trying to feign a surprised expression.

"The truth is there has been more and more cases of student on student violence. Claire continued. "Some of the aggressors have been found having strange symbols on their backs which seemed to cause some kind of mana leakage."

"Mana leakage? That wouldn't cause the students to lash out." I added, trying to get them to think.

"Well the thing is that most of the students with these symbols all attacked students of races that were different from them." Curtis said, with his eyes downcast.

"They also had a track record of previous discriminate behavior." Claire finished as she clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Have you run any tests or analysis on these students, or more so their symbols?" I continued to try to probe them.

"No, if they did find any information they aren't disclosing it with us." Kathyln said flatly.

'Seems like they are making their move. It also seems like they have planted some more agents at this school to restrict any leaks.'

Stolen story; please report.

It would be a devastating blow, to burn this academy to the ground. Not only did it contain future mages that would be instrumental in Dicathen's future but just the thought of your enemy who is a ocean away attacking a highly prestigious and secure academy in the heart of their city would do a number on our moral.

"Very well, I try to do what I can do." I announce, which seemed to lighten their mood a bit.

"Oh, have you guys been practicing what I thought you?" I asked, I had introduced the idea of mana rotation to most of the students. While almost all of them scoffed at my idea, some of the more promising ones took me by my word and were attempting it.

And the Disciplinary Committee seemed like the best option to focus my effort.

"We've tried but..." Curtis trailed off

"It just doesn't seem possible Arthur. And although in theory, absorbing mana while using seems useful our ventures so far have been fruitless." Claire said dejectedly.

"No, it's not your guy's fault. Mana beasts naturally learn mana rotation when their born. But for us, since we develop a mana core so late into our life it's only natural. It's like asking a newborn baby to walk right away. Just cause your unfamiliar with it doesn't mean it is impossible." I reassured them.

"If I may ask Art." Kathyln spoke up. Her black eyes and white face making her look like a pretty doll. "When did you learn about this technique?"

"Hmmm" I thought for a moment, considering what would be the best way to answer them. In the end I choose to be honest.

"When I was around five." I simply said. It wasn't a lie, well, my physical body at the time was that of a 5 year old but for my mental age...

"Oh great, that just makes me feel even better." I could practically feel the sarcasm ooze from Curtis' words.

"Well better work on it students, it is homework after all." I cheekily said before slipping out the door.

As I stepped into the hallway again Sylvie trotted alongside me.

'Papa, are you alright?' she worriedly cooed in my head.

'I'm fine Sylv, just... a lot of things to sort out.'

I couldn't just let Agrona have his way this time. But I can't interfere so much so that his future actions become unpredictable. My knowledge of future events is probably my strongest card right now.

And for Kezess... I lack the resources and manpower to deal with him right now. And I'll have to retreat into the shadows to above suspicion from Windsom and Aldir when they arrive. I'll just have to wait for Kezess' to mess up the assassination attempt to fully act in the open. While I'm working undercover I'll have to assist Gideon as well as the people close to me to get stronger.

My train of thought was derailed when a feminine voice rang out to me.

"Art!"

Turning around to see I see Tess and Caera, walking side by side towards me. I simply waved my hand to greet them. Sylvie gladly jumped into Tess' arms as she snuggled her black fur.

"How has your training been coming along." I directed my question towards the princess.

"Oh, Director Goodsky has been taking good care of me. Despite her not being an elf she understands our culture and magic a lot better than I would have assumed."

'Well, she is good friends with that old geezer.'

Turning to Caera she give me a polite nod. "Thank you for taking care of my childhood friend, I know she can be a handful at times." I say to the red-eyed girl with a slight smile.

"Hey! Is that really appropriate to say in front of me?"

"Not at all Arthur. She is very capable. Though she seems to think about you a lot, sometimes being in some sort of daydream." She chuckled.

Tess only shot her a sharp glare and the Vritra-blooded girl stopped.

"Anyway, I have some work to do, but Tess you can go catch up with your buddy here." And with that she left. Her long dark navy hair flowing the wind as she did.

'I'm so glad Regis isn't awake yet.'

"Very well, why don't you step into my office. I doubt talking in the hallway would so considerate of the other students."

Alea Pov

Bairon and I sat in our respective chair. A luxurious chair made of the finest wood with comfy red velvet cushions. The room we were in was a large octagon with white marble pillars. It felt more like a loyal banquet hall rather than a simply meeting room.

I turned to face the human Lance seated directly in front of me. He had his lard arms crossed with his eyes closed facing down.

Lance Bairon Wykes, the Wykes household was famous for producing exceptional mages, especially during the war. I've heard Bairon ascended to the rank of Lance rather recent for Lance standards. With higher stage mages being able to extend her lifespan, it was natural for Lances to hold onto their position for a long time.

Despite being a rookie compared to us he had hard discipline. No doubt from the rigorous training he would have received from childhood. He was grown for war.

Looking around the room again to try to quench my boredom I ask him.

"I thought my next mission would be to assist Lance Aya in Elenoir. Why do you think Lance Varay called us here?"

Bairon opened his pale green eyes, a color that reminded me of my homeland.

"It has to do something with what I found i a dungeon on the outskirts of the Beast Glades."

'So he notified Varay before the rest of us. Seems like this council and alliance between the three races is still tense.'

"Something you found?" I try asking to get him to spill some information. When the tapping of footsteps drew both of our attention.

Lance Varay walked down the stair with elegance and confidence. She was no doubt the strongest of us and assumed a leader position. I have sparred against her once and let's just say I'm glad we were all on one side now.

She sat down in her chair. Her platinum white hair that reached down under her shoulders which seemed to perfectly match our clean white uniforms.

Her black, stone-cold eyes stared at the both of us before she spoke. Sometimes I wondered if she even felt emotions. It was no wonder she specialized in ice magic, her personality was just like ice as well.

"With just the three of us, I believe formalities can be skipped?" It was more a statement rather than a question both I just nodded.

"The reason why the council and I have withdrawn you from Elenoir was because we have recently discovered signs in the deepest levels of some dungeons. Traces of foreign mages."

"What?!" I couldn't help to yell as I shot up from my seat.

We have known that there was another continent far before the general public but for them to have already stepped onto our land. And without us noticing, what were they?

"Just because we have recently discovered a new continent, it doesn't mean that it's the same the other way around." Bairon spoke up with his arms still crossed.

"A piece of cloth Lance Bairon had discovered was composed of a fiber that hasn't been discovered. Or isn't indigenous to Dicathen."

"And the spellform woven into the cloth bears striking resemblance to ones recently found." Bairon added.

Varay then turned to me. "Alea, we have brought you here for another matter." From her dimension ring she withdrew a large scroll of paper. Rolling it out onto the table to form a large map of the Beast Glades.

"There has been unusual sightings of Titanic Bloodworms by adventurers in different parts of the Beast Glades. While Bloodworms themselves aren't rare, piecing together the sightings and checking with mana beast behaviorists, they seem to be deviating from their usual tunneling paths. While it may be a large stretch, it isn't impossible that recent sighting of rabid mana beast are tied to Alacryans."

I was disappointed at first, having to deal with mere Bloodworms. But the possibilities of them being connected to Alacryans somehow peaked my interest.

Bairon seemed to doubt Varary's own words as he opened his mouth to speak, unsure himself.

"I have been leading the investigations in the Beast Glades but-"

No, I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.

"With my sensory magic I'll be able to cover a much larger range." I confidently stated. While I may lack raw strength as a Lance, my sensory magic was the best out of all of us.

"You'd be working alone so that your speed won't be impeded. But it could be dangerous." Varay said back to me.

"I'll focus more on the deeper areas. But I'm afraid that the Titanic Bloodworms may tunnel into the lower levels of dungeons close to Sapin."

Varay stood up from her chair as she directly faced me.

"We could wait for all the other Lances to further discuss this-"

"No, the dangers are too high if we start too late. I'll begin my investigations immediately."