When the time came, everyone carefully followed the professors. They went through some abandoned unused corridors before arriving at a certain wall. At this point, professor Crumb used a spell that caused an inconspicuous door to appear on this wall.
When the group went through they went through the sensation of teleportation and they suddenly found themselves in the snow above ground. A few of the students weren’t used to the sensation of teleportation yet and couldn’t help but puke in the snow, luckily, Villin wasn’t too troubled by this anymore.
The sun was shining brightly blinding everyone in the group for a few moments before they could properly look around.
“Alright, everyone wearing pieces of equipment come closer.” one of the unknown teachers said gesturing at those who were wearing pieces of distinctive equipment.
When Villin got closer, this teacher cast a spell on him making the Blue-Mythril equipment invisible. It also properly revealed the green robe he was currently wearing to fit in when he entered the school. Villin was quite interested in the spell since it could allow him to wear his armor anywhere without suspicion and decided to ask the teacher about it once all of this was over.
Once everyone that was wearing distinct equipment had this spell cast on them it was finally time to keep moving.
“Alright, this is the closest outpost we have leading to our target. It will only take around one hour for us to fly there with you all. When you feel the flight spell take a hold of you do not resist, instead, try to assist the spell and supply it further with your own magical energy, this way it will further stabilize and your flight will be more pleasant,” one of the teachers said.
Once this was said, everyone was placed into their respective groups. Professor Crumb approached Villin and his group and began preparing the spell he had to cast. It was essentially a derivatory version of the basic flight spell and it had only been invented a dozen years ago, The Academy was the only group that was confirmed to be able to use this spell currently.
After a few minutes passed, professor Crumb finished his spell and Villin could feel foreign magical energy being controlled around him, attempting to lift him up. He didn’t resist in any way and instead fed the spell with more energy, stabilizing it. And as expected, a few moments later he found himself to be floating a few feet above the snow.
The flight went pretty much exactly how Villin expected it would go. A few of his teammates puked mid-flight and they were all a bit dizzy. This was to be expected since they didn’t have control over how they moved, professor Crumb was the one controlling their flight path.
After fifty minutes they floated back to the snow, they were then given a few moments to recuperate.
A few hundred meters before them was a large mountain peak, one they recognized from the briefing earlier, it was the location of Decorus’s first grade.
Once they were back in decent shape, professor Crumb cast another spell on them, Villin could feel something changed but couldn’t quite understand what felt different.
“This will be able to hide you from the vast majority of the perceptive wards and arrays Decorus uses. The ones it can’t hide you from will be interrupted by professor Gratts, in five minutes we will move the rest of the way. Make sure you all are prepared to fight. We won’t be able to see what’s going on inside until we actually enter. We will try to enter through a more desolated area but I can’t guarantee there won’t be enemies as soon as we enter.” the way professor Crumb spoke was serious and professional, he wanted to make sure everyone was ready for what was to come.
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“Now before we move, Villin, could we have a word?” the professor asked.
Villin obviously agreed and they stepped away from the group to speak. When they were far enough so that they wouldn’t have anyone listening in, the professor looked at Villin and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Boy, I ask you not to underestimate our enemies. Decorus isn’t like us. The students in your team... the students involved in this operation all have a reason that makes them hate Decorus. Yet, even though this is the case, I believe many of them will hesitate when they will need to strike a killing blow, or maybe they will become weak-willed when they see corpses rot, or when one of their friends dies.” With a troubled face, the professor looked at the mountain peak.
“You remind me of someone I followed long ago. You, my boy, may just be the next monarch. No matter what, you need to live. If this means you need to escape while your teammates get killed then so be it. If you need to defect and work for Decorus then that is simply how it is.” even though these words shocked Villin as the professor was supposed to be one of those most loyal to The Academy, he kept listening. Still, he clearly saw the expression on the professor’s face, he clearly didn’t want him to defect or anything of the like, he just wanted him to live.
“This isn’t going to be a pretty sight, my boy. Your teammates may die and so could I. But no matter what you will need to keep fighting, find a way to live.” After saying this the professor stayed quiet for a moment as he hesitated whether to tell Villin something or not, looking the sincere boy in the eyes he chose to speak.
“When we get back to The Academy I will need to show you something. Within the white tower lays a secret, one that is only known to a few. Before the death of the Monarch, she hid this legacy within the tower, and then she left the key to me, she told me that after her death, I would be responsible for finding someone capable of becoming the next Monarch and guide them.” The professor paused for a moment before continuing.
“Boy, even though we didn’t meet all that long ago, I know it is you she wanted me to find. So live, win and then I’ll give you what is rightfully yours.” After finishing his words the professor immediately went back to the group leaving behind a very confused Villin.
He had never heard of this ‘Monarch’ before. Even though he had read dozens upon dozens of history books it had never been mentioned. That said, it was very possible certain events had been hidden. He realized this after the competition with the talented youths. At that time, the ‘Third Central War’ had been mentioned, an event he had never heard or read of. That being said he had never heard of the first or second central war either.
After this fight, he was sure the professor would explain everything to him. He just had to make sure he survived. As for the professor talking about betraying The Academy, he decided to ignore it. Above anything, he didn’t want to be separated from his companions and mentor, there was no way he would betray The Academy at this point in time and he also didn’t think the professor wanted him to, he simply wanted him to focus on his own survival first, something Villin very much was going to do.
In the last nine days, he had made sure not to get close to any of his teammates, he simply talked tactics and nothing else, not even bothering to remember most of their names. He did this because he knew some were going to die for sure and he didn’t want emotions to cause him to falter in his convictions.
It was now that professor Crumb seemed to have gotten some sort of signal, he approached the group and said it was time to move. Luckily they would only have to walk to the bottom of the mountain, despite the snow it would only take them around ten minutes, the only annoyance was that they couldn’t use any magic until they entered the school.
Ten minutes later they found themselves at the bottom of the mountain, everyone took out their wands and became visibly nervous. Professor Crumb walked up to a flat stone that was nearby and touched it with his hand, the stone moved revealing an empty black abyss, an obvious illusion hiding the inside. It was clearly a secret entrance that should only be known by the most trusted people in Decorus, Villin felt a bit more at ease knowing they had a high-up spy.
After revealing the entrance professor Crumb spoke with a steady voice “It’s an illusion. As soon as we jump in we will find ourselves inside of the school, there could be students just below this right now. So be careful”