Cal retired to 'bed' early and watched as the sun dipped behind the horizon. He waited longer until the sounds of campus had died down to a faint murmur. He checked the scarf secured around his face one more time and then opened the window and leaped into the night sky.

He wore the standard uniform with all unique features covered. Precautions were important, even when he didn't expect to need them.

Cal was fast. Very fast. Critically, he was efficient. Strengthened with this much Augmentation, only the barest amount of excess magic leaked out of him. Someone had once commented he'd make a fine assassin, he couldn't disagree. A light touch of sound magic, the more advanced cousin of wind magic, to dampen his step didn't hurt either.

He traveled from building top to building top and it wasn't long before he landed on the black steps. He double-checked his shell, straightened his back, and walked in.

The inside was pitch black. It might have been unnerving if he hadn't experienced much worse. He counted fifty steps until the surroundings lit up with torches and the raspy voice sounded behind him.

"What a shame." The same emaciated being greeted him. This time standing, the only structures in sight being the columns. "Here we were fine-tuning the wards, ready to play a nice game of cat and mouse and then you just scampered straight into our den. Not very fun of you."

His hand had been a little forced here. He could admit that he didn't need much convincing but there was a legitimate reason for forcing a frontal confrontation so soon. The effects of the wards themselves were negligible to him; between absorbing the ambient magic and his natural regeneration, he easily covered the ticket back.

The real threat was getting outed. Wards, the good ones, provided feedback. Cal had no way of knowing what type of information these were giving back but felt there was a fair bet they'd report if they'd offed someone connected with a covenant. If that was the case, it was a matter of time before an investigation was started and his identity was put under scrutiny. Between waiting around for that to happen and confronting the force of nature that'd overseen the covenant's creation?

Easy choice.

"Now" the figure addressed him again. "Any last words little mouse?"

"I'm not here to fight" He tried to replicate the authority he'd seen the first seat speak with. "Spirit."

He may be prepared to fight, however he'd rather not. The power of Spirits varied quite a bit, whether that was due to differences in strength or bad records Cal didn't know. Fitting that he'd confidently declare the covenant wouldn't hold and then run into something literally out of legend.

"Spirit?" The figure gave a grating laugh that ended in a snarl "That's a gross simplification. However, you're right about one thing. You are not here to fight. You are here to die."

At the decree, Cal locked his muscles. A switch was flipped and he found himself back in the void. He was alive a moment later, taking a small step forward to stop his body's downward trajectory.

"That's not going to work." He spoke in a relaxed manner, attempting to give the illusion nothing had happened.

"Huh, we could have sworn..." Cal died again, missing part of what it said.

"Are you going to make me go over there?" Cal said after taking another step. It'd be very embarrassing his corpse face-planted in his absence.

"To think you'd be able to not only resist that but also send a false positive." The figure scratched its chin. "We should have them cut you open after, who knows what we'll find"

A wave of pure magic crashed against him. It was trying to use the raw pressure to pop him like a balloon. His shell was hastily remade, having been dissipated on his death. At first contact, it strained under the pressure. As time ticked by and more of his magic was fed to it, the pressure waned.

"I'm not your enemy" Cal kept his temper in check as he raised his voice. "I was sent by the royal family on a covert mission involving the well-being of the academy."

He left out his actual affiliation, unsure how the Spirit would react.

"Got a royal order?" The figure didn't wait for him to respond as more magic assaulted him. "Trick question, if you did we'd sense it."

He was better prepared this time, the wave washing over him to no effect.

"It's covert, they believe members of-" His voice died as he did. He rushed back, barely making it in time to regain control of his shell before it collapsed completely. "the Academy might be involved. They don't want to risk tipping anyone off." He finished, hoping it came off as casual.

If the other party thought him as such, he didn't have to actually be invincible.

The figure frowned, the traces of curiosity it held fading. The magic permeating the temple spiked at once.

"It's pointless." Cal matched the frown, feeling the strain once more. This thing didn't seem to be interested in listening to reason.

The magic beset him on all sides. There was no avoiding it and he became acutely aware that he wasn't fighting the figure in front of him. That was only a puppet, he was fighting the building itself.

Fuck it. He tried being diplomatic. Now it was time to be diplomatic.

He loosened the faucet and magic flooded through him, shoring up his shell to face the incoming tide.

It must have sensed his increased defense as the attack was bolstered at the final second before contact.

He widened the connection. Feeding all the magic to his shell, making it overflow and form a shroud that got denser by the second. Its rate of growth outstripped whatever was bled off as he fended off the ongoing assault.

The pressure subsided. Did it want to talk now? Too bad. He wasn't interested in anything else besides growing the shroud surrounding himself. At its core, this had gone beyond a defensive move, it was a statement.

A threat. Because at any moment he could use the magic in his shell to fuel some form of counterattack. A tingle went up his spine, it was reminiscent of the sensation he encountered right before the wards killed him. Had he blocked the proverbial back door somehow? Questions for later.

Fire erupted around him, trying to swallow him whole. It seems the Spirit had decided to try a new avenue of approach. It made no difference. None of the flames reached him. Nor did the wind, water, or ice that came after. Element after element was manifested to no apparent effect.

It wasn't without cost. Each attack chipped away at him and his heart ached at the losses he was accruing. Strangely, it was draining less than expected. He didn't dwell on it. Couldn't afford to right now. The magic demanded his full attention.

"Foolish mortal." The figure dissolved into smoke. Shedding his fake material form. "You struggle before forces you cannot comprehend" The voice came from all around and caused the surroundings to shudder.

Cal didn't need any special senses to see how much magic the Spirit had begun to stockpile, it was a visceral feeling. One that promised certain doom.

So this was a Spirit? A primordial force of nature, some of them crafted by the gods themselves.

There'd be no corner-cutting here.

He fully opened the connection. Seizing every ounce of power that came through, making it his own.

Commanding it.

It was such a liberating feeling. Rare were the times he'd let himself revel in his ability to this extent.

"Last I checked" His own voice reverberated, making the previous seem like a whimper. "All your lot died"

The exchange of words ceased as both sides competed in a race to gather enough power for the next blow.

It never came to pass.

The ground fractured first, unable to withstand the burden. The columns started to follow, as cracks spread on their forms.

"ENOUGH" The voice cried out columns fully splintered, collapsing.

His magic continued to grow, bucking at his control. It brushed against the Spirits'. At their meeting, reality itself seemed to struggle to prevent being torn asunder.

"What?" Call laughed, his arms spread wide. "We're just getting started! You wanted a fight, right? Well, let's see who's still standing at the end of it!"

He would be. There was no doubt in his mind. This thing was a relic. It didn't belong in this age. He'd allow it to join its brethren in the analogs of history and level the damn building. And why stop there? Next, he'd go ahead and tear down those eye sores they call walls. No one would stop him, no one could. If any got in his way he'd jus-

"ENOUGH"

Cal staggered back and for a split second, he felt his secrets bare to the world, some unknown force knocking into him. His brow was sleek with sweat, hands shaking slightly. With great urgency, he reined in the poison he'd coated himself with and shunted it back to where it came.

He steadied himself as the magic disappeared. Flexing his hands, he then stretched his arms behind his back. Loosening up while noting he'd not received any injuries.

Damn it. He swore, frustrated. He'd let the magic wield him and not the other way around. It didn't make sense to him, he'd used more before.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

However, 'Washed' or not that amount wasn't anything to play with. Perhaps he'd let himself get carried away.

There would be time to chastise himself later. For now, he needed to salvage what was left of this situation. He mentally shook himself off.

"So" He announced to the shattered room "ready to talk?"

Cal was. Not wanting to risk an accident.

Smoke crawled across the ground coalescing into the figure.

"Have you the faintest idea how long it's going to take to fix all of this?" It swept its arm across the room, dust and debris still settling. "We have some of you mortals scheduled first thing in the morning!"

"That's on you." Cal had no guilt, he hadn't been the one to start it. "Next time don't try to get in a pissing contest with me."

The figure gave a low growl and Cal prepared for round 2 until a disgusting smile broke out on its face. It slowly raised a skeletal arm and snapped its bony figures.

Movement kicked up all around him. None of it was aimed at him so he held back his response. He watched the room repair itself at speed, like time itself was reversing.

Once again, his instincts were spot on. This thing was dangerous. After that whole show, it casually threw around power. Looking no worse for wear.

Even so, Cal hadn't been the one to blink. The advantage was with him.

"Neat trick" He commented, placing his hands in his pockets. "First things first, do we need to worry about anyone interrupting us?"

He didn't think the Spirit would have called for help. Their kind were famously arrogant. But the magic thrown around was enough to wake up a neighborhood or two.

"What do you take us for?" It dismissed his worry, sounding offended. "Nothing leaked out, they're all sleeping like babies they are."

"Good" He'd have to take what it said at face value for now "Where do we stand then?"

A table and pair of chairs materialized. The figure taking one before pointing at the other. Cal took the seat without laughing at the joke.

"Eh" It stuck out both hands palms up. It mimed weighing something. One hand was raised above the other. "We believe you"

"That easy?" Cal asked skeptically, it was a fairly stark shift.

"If someone like you wanted to harm the school you wouldn't need to sneak around."

That was exactly the point Cal had meant to make. He slumped a little in his seat, feeling like some of the wind had been taken from his sails but also relieved he'd not have to actually kill this thing.

"What's with the long face? You know We've been alive longer than most countries? How could you not expect us to pick up on that?" Said like that, it did seem rather obvious. "So now that we're on the same side and all, what's the mission you're on?"

"It's sensitive." Cal might be banking too much on his spotty knowledge of Spirits, but they were said to be tied to physical locations, and vigorously defended them. It may have been the biggest factor contributing to their demise. "For clarification, you're tied to this temple and the wards are under your discretion?"

He found it a tad ironic, that if it had been a human at the helm of the wards he would have run to Olivia asking what the hells to do. Maybe he should have done that anyway.

They said it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. 'They' failed to consider the superior option of never reporting it to begin with.

It started a laugh that ended in a coughing fit. It slammed its chest a few times.

"Heart is not as good as it used to be, don't get old kiddo." Cal doubted it had a heart so he took that as more shenanigans. "We're not 'tied' to anything. We ARE the Academy. Officially, members of the faculty monitor the wards. Unofficially, they see whatever we want. We kept the past day's results to ourselves hoping for some entertainment."

There were some implications to that statement Cal might have failed to grasp.

"Do you have any obligation to share any information with the faculty?"

"Psh" It waved off his concern "We mostly get free rein to do as I please. So get on with it already."

Cal drummed his fingers on the table in thought. It might be because of its nature as a Spirit or how its attitude reminded him of Mask, but he decided to trust it. Stuck in a foreign land, he needed allies. The tour had highlighted this, there was too much ground to cover by his lonesome. It didn't hurt that the school itself probably had a vested interest in staying demon-free.

"I don't have as clear a picture as I'd like." Cal began "What I do know is that there are rumors of a Grand Demon summoning swirling about and they were credible enough for them to dispatch me. It's on a strict need-to-know basis because students and or faculty members might be involved"

"Impossible" It stated in a tone that brokered no argument. "You think they keep us around for our personality? The entire campus is covered in wards. Wards we crafted ourselves. Some of which specifically target contamination from that realm."

"That's a relief." wild goose chase or not, he'd rather the brass be messing with him than there be a credible threat. "You're certain though, right?" He asked for his piece of mind.

The figure raised a finger and opened his mouth. No sound came out and it frowned as it lowered the hand. "We'll be honest, if you asked us earlier today then we'd be 100% sure. Recent events" It waved a hand in his direction "make us want to say no. Your lot can be clever when you want to be...tell you what. It's been a while so we'll re-write some of them. We don't get overtime, but it beats cleaning all the corpses we'd have to deal with afterward."

"That's a good start" Cal pulled out a crude map he'd drawn of campus, several locations circled "How much influence do you have on the Academy itself, can you monitor certain locations."

"We told you we ARE the Academy. And sorta" he waved a hand back and forth. "We're not omnipotent but we can pay some places special attention." It looked at the contents of the map. "That's doable...though we hope you're not looking to become a cartographer."

It rotated its shoulder, a loud crack resounding.

"We should warn you. We are limited in proactive measures. We can change those wards but if they still find a way past them we can't directly interfere with current faculty or students."

Such a restriction was problematic. It did mean there would be a reason for Cal's continued involvement, he'd started to feel irrelevant with the reveal of the Spirit's capabilities. Capabilities that seemed pretty broad, Cal wondered why the Royal Family had not informed it of the potential threat. Did they not trust its personality and possible status as senile, was this another mark in the 'there's no demon summoning theory', or was there another angle he wasn't seeing? He could be making a massive blunder here.

He sighed, his gut had led him to this path. He'd follow it for now.

Something else still nagged at him. "I'm a student. Didn't you just try to kill me?"

"You violated the covenant...somehow." It scratched its bald scalp. "You really should be dead."

"On that, can you fuck off with that? It's not a pleasant experience."

"Hmm? So it did do something?"

Cal gave it an unimpressive stare and the area was silent before it spoke again.

"Remember how we said mostly? The covenant is not one of the things we can play around with. That includes removing it prematurely." Cal made to argue. "We can see what you're about to say, but fiddling around with that stuff is a bad idea. Besides, we can put it to use. We can't touch it directly, nor can we deactivate the ward it's attached to. However, we can activate it whenever we want, seems to be a good enough way to tell you something is wrong."

"Fine" He begrudgingly agreed, it wasn't a horrible idea. The cost was negligible and the only real damage was his pride. "What about the city?"

"What about it? They can handle themselves" It snapped back. "What's the new saying? Give a human an inch and they'll take a mile?"

"We're talking about millions of people here" Cal stressed

"And?" The cavalier response was another reminder that he wasn't dealing with a human. "You all die quick anyways."

"Like it or not the city and Academy are linked, whatever happens in one will spill over."

"We know that" It grumbled. "It's a pain, the city is a lot bigger than it used to be. We can't cover the entirety of the ungrateful thing."

Cal stared hard at the Spirit's milky eyes "You're going to do your best"

Several beats passed.

"We're not giving any guarantees" the Spirit relented. "But we'll try"

That would have to be enough.

"I think we're all set then" Cal got up. "I should head back unless there's anything else."

"Shoo shoo." The table and chair disappeared. "Before you give us any more work"

Cal nodded and exited the building.

Things had gotten rocky at some points but overall he achieved the best outcome out of that. As he finally made it back to his room one thought stuck with him.

Did this make him a school bully?