VICTOR KALLIS:

Geron. He was just a bookworm novice when we first met. To think that now I’m entrusting my daughter’s safety to one of his crazy ideas.

I watched as he weaved the magic contract necessary to form the Blood Bond out of thin air, and if everything worked out as intended, Penelope would’ve gained a powerful ally. However, even under the bindings of the Blood Bond, I wasn’t going to take my eyes off Rose. Trust is earned, not a right.

“Penny,” Geron said, handing her a needle. “I need a drop of blood right. . . here.”

She took the needle and pricked her thumb before pressing it against the sand-colored paper where Geron pointed.

“What now?” Penelope asked, returning the needle.

“Rose,” he turned to her, passing it to her. “I’ll need the same on the line under it.”

Rose moved her hand back, staring anxiously at the needle.

“You okay?” Penelope asked, soft-spoken. “Did you change your mind?”

Rose shook her head and bit her finger using her fang before pressing it against the parchment.

“Okay?” Geron looked confused.

“I hate needles. . .” Rose mumbled, taking a step back.

“Oh. . .” Geron snapped his fingers, making it disappear. “Sorry about that.”

“No need. You didn’t know,” Rose reassured him. “Can we continue?”

“Twinned Magic: Lesser Heal.” Glimmering green mana engulfed the girls as Geron cast his spell. “There.”

“Thanks,” said the girls simultaneously.

Geron turned to the contract, rolling it up and placing it on an arcane-drawn purple transmutation circle surrounded by three lit candles. He pressed his palms together and started to chant. A sixth-circle mage would become part of our family in just a few moments, an unexpected turn of events.

Geron finished chanting, and the contract burst into flames, causing the mana that once empowered the circle to fly toward the girls and bind them together. Both instinctively placed a hand on their chest as the mana suddenly disappeared.

“Is that. . . it?” Penelope awkwardly turned to Geron. “I don’t feel anything different.”

“Neither do I,” Rose said, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry. It was a success,” Geron proudly declared, wiping his hands against his shoulders. “The only thing left is to remove the seal placed on you.”

“How do we do that?” Penelope asked, rubbing her neck.

“You leave it to me,” he said, turning to Rose with his hand pointing at her. “Bound by darkness, cursed by Chaos. Purify that which is impure.” An immense amount of mana filled the room under Geron’s command, snuffing the candles and slamming the shutters closed. “Empowered Magic: Greater Purification!”

The sound of shattered glass echoed, and the mana dispersed.

“I. . .” Rose mumbled, looking at her hands. “I feel it again. Mana. I can control it.”

“Give it a try,” Geron said to which I sighed, annoyed he didn’t ask for my permission first.

“Is that alright?” Rose looked at me, taking me by surprise.

“Y–yeah. . .” I chuckled, leaning on the desk. “Remember, you won’t be able to cast fourth circle spells and above.”

Rose nodded, snapping her fingers, causing the candles to light up again.

“Was that. . . voiceless casting?” Penelope was awed.

“Interesting,” Geron whispered with a coy smirk.

“Only cantrips,” Rose pointed out. “I was able to do it once I broke into fifth circle.”

“Still an impressive feat. I know some who reached much higher and never developed a talent for it,” I said, glancing at Geron.

“It’s a useful talent to have but not nearly as important as comprehension,” Geron said, clearly on the defense. “What’s important is that you’ll likely be able to use voiceless casting on higher circle magic in the future. And if you’re lucky, you might even reach third circle voiceless casting.”

“Rose, you’re amazing,” Penelope praised her, making her blush.

“Now that that’s over, I expect you two to watch out for each other, especially during your stay at the Academy,” I said, opening the shutters to let the sun back in the room. “You’re free to go.”

“Before that,” Rose spoke up, closing her eyes. We watched as her form shifted, causing her horns to disappear. Except for the crimson eyes, she looked no different than a teenage girl. “There’s more I wished to say.”

“Yes?”

“It’s about the organization you’ve been hunting down, the one behind the auction.” Rose took a deep breath, holding her hands together. “It’s not much, but I might have some information that would prove valuable in your investigation. After all, I used to work with them.”

“You worked for them?” Geron asked, furrowing his brows. “If that’s true, why would they sell you when you have information about them?”

“Because they lied to me my entire life and what little I knew of the truth, they believed to have altered using Alter Memory spell. However, I pretended it worked and fooled them, but take everything I say with a grain of salt in case I was the fool all along.”

Rose wasn’t lying.

Before they entered, Geron made sure to detect any magic affecting her, including spells that would be able to manipulate the effect of the circle on which they stood; however, at no point had she lied.

“We’re all ears.” I was intrigued by what she had to say.

She raised her hand slightly and started counting.

“Reapers, ambushes, jobs, supporters, and the base I was in,” she mumbled before looking back at us. “There are five things I can tell you that I think would be useful.”

“Start wherever you feel is best.”

Penelope and Geron stayed quiet, leaving the talking to us.

“I’ll start with the ambush since I think that’s what Penelope mentioned left everyone puzzled.”

“Do you know how they did it?”

“I do. . .” She averted her gaze. “Since I was the one they used at times to do something similar.”

“Rosaline,” I called her name. “Were you the one behind the ambush that led to my son’s capture?”

“No.” She looked back at me. “I was imprisoned months before that happened.”

“Then why did you avert your gaze?” I asked, wondering why she looked guilty.

“Because it was my magic circle that they used to perform such attacks.”

“They’re teleporting in?” Geron asked, crossing his arms with a look all too familiar to me. He was worried about something. “But you’re a sixth circle mage. How could someone like you cast Gate?”

“What’s Gate?” Penelope asked.

“The most powerful teleportation spell that we know, creating a portal between two places of your choice. It can even cross into other planes of existence. Theoretically, even a large army could pass through it, which no other spell could do.”

“It’s not Gate that I cast. It was a teleportation circle.”

“Huh? Then how?” Geron took the lead, being an archmage came in useful. “Did you make them a permanent circle?”

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“Yes. It took three years to complete.”

“Still. . . A teleportation circle links two points with the same sigil combination. You can’t teleport wherever you want.”

“Which is why they always send out a caster to the point where they want to teleport to who will cast Teleportation Circle.”

“Casting Teleportation Circle creates a portal that lasts only a few seconds, enough for a few people to cross. It’s not a one-way portal, but timing it perfectly for the other side to cross takes some advanced planning.”

“Metamagic,” Rose interrupted. “There’s a fifth circle mage who possesses a unique metamagic that allows the circle to last as long as he has mana to burn.”

“That’s indeed a useful metamagic. Extending the duration of a spell is far from unheard of, but maintaining a spell for as long as you have mana is quite– Hmm.”

“Wouldn’t recasting the spell achieve the same effect?” Penelope asked.

“Yes, but it would create a delay that would make transferring so many a much harder job,” Geron explained. “I’m assuming they had people standing on the circle beforehand, and as soon as the first group that occupied the permanent circle disappeared, they would all swarm in.”

“That’s right.” Rose’s gaze darted to me. “He goes by the name Silver. He must be the one who snuck into the Kingdom and prepared the ambush.”

“That solves the mystery of how they managed to sneak into the Kingdom without being noticed,” I said and sighed frustratingly.

“Doesn’t that make any city vulnerable to attacks from within?” Penelope asked with worry in her eyes.

“Larger cities have wards against long distance teleportation, so it’s unlikely they would be able to do so unless they overpowered the barriers,” Geron reassured her.

“Phew. . .” She sighed in relief.

“There’s also the risk of the caster being caught,” Rose mentioned. “Mages are extremely vulnerable when traveling alone. Not everyone is as strong as your father.”

“I feel excluded. . .” Geron sighed. “But she’s right. If I were to face off against someone like my grumpy friend over there, I’d likely end up severely injured before managing to escape despite being a higher-circle mage. Swordsmen are scary.”

“How come?” Penelope was full of questions.

“Magical talent and combat talent are not the same. The headmaster of the Academy is the highest circle mage in the world right now that we know. However, Professor Tessa Berandel would beat him nine out of ten times. She’s known as the world’s best duelist.”

“Is she a swordsman like Father?”

“She certainly uses a sword, but that’s not her primary weapon. The Notish Emperor gifted her with an artifact similar to his daughter’s, an arcane rifle.”

“What’s that?”

“You love asking questions, don’t you?” He chuckled.

“Sorry. . .” Penelope awkwardly smiled. “You don’t have to answer. I’ll stop now.”

“No, no. . . That’s not what I meant,” Geron reassured her, pulling up a chair to sit down. “You’ll do well at the Academy. It’s always better to ask than to be left wondering. Anyway, even I’m not sure how it works, but it connects your core to the mana crystal within the artifact, firing raw mana projectiles. All attempts at recreating it have failed, but as it turned out, it wasn’t worth it either.”

“Huh?”

I noticed that even Rose was fascinated by what Geron had to say.

“To wield it, you need to possess a core, while the power it projects depends heavily on your circle. Simply put, it doesn’t outmatch spells that achieve the same effect.”

“Then why does she use it?”

“Well–”

“I think we’re getting sidetracked,” I interrupted, seeing as the conversation could go on forever.

“Sorry, Penelope. Guess you’ll have to ask her yourself once you go to the Academy. The point I tried to make was not all mages are fit for combat despite their circle.”

“Where is this teleportation circle?” I asked, wishing to get back on track. They could always discuss such topics in their free time. “If you’re the one that made the permanent circle, then that means we could use it to infiltrate their base.”

“They alter the combination every month to keep the location a secret. Even I don’t know where the base was since teleporting in was the only way inside.”

“Could it be Tartarus?”

“How did you know?” Rose looked surprised. “No, wait. . . If Alex escaped, he must’ve told you.”

“Actually, he never gave us much information in his letter, only the name Shadow Syndicate.” I looked at Penelope and then back at Rose, refraining from explaining further. “We did our own investigation and came across the name.”

“Impressive,” Rose praised us, but her awed look was misplaced. “Regardless of how you found out, that’s indeed the headquarters of the Shadow Syndicate, an impenetrable fortress. Sometimes I wondered if it was in a pocket dimension, considering it had no windows or doors leading outside. However, that wouldn’t work because of the limitations of a teleportation circle.”

“Which is?” I asked, never knowing that there was a limit.

“Teleportation circles can’t be used between planes. That would require a greater portal similar to Gate.”

“She’s right,” Geron confirmed.

“That’s not the only reason, though. . .” Rose said, shifting her weight from one leg to another, resting from fatigue caused by standing still for so long. “They were only rumors among some of the drunks, but they mentioned a tunnel they used before I joined them, which led outside. However, countless terrifying monsters now roam them, making it a miracle for anyone to pass through alive.”

“Then Alex. . .” Penelope spoke up, grabbing her forearm.

“Yes.” Rose looked at her. “He must’ve escaped through the tunnel since the portals are guarded by two Reapers at all times.”

“That confirms it. Tartarus is within the vast mountain range of the Beast Lands, just as we expected,” Geron said, exhaling in frustration. “Well, at least that means it’s not impenetrable, but it is a nightmare to find.”

“Even if you get in, you’ll need a lot of manpower to overwhelm the place,” Rose reminded us. “There are over twenty Reapers who are fourth or fifth circle, and I’ve never met the leader, but he is said to be the strongest.”

“We’ll have to ask for outside help,” Geron said, looking back at me. “Maybe even get the Academy involved.”

“You think they’d help?” I asked, knowing that the Academy refused to get involved in any worldly affairs, thriving on their neutrality.

“If we mention that there might be talented mages and or students that are imprisoned, we’ll likely gain some support. Even one of the teachers will be of great help.”

“We can leave such discussions for once we find Tartarus. Anyway, what else can you tell us?”

“Hmm. . . Let’s see. I told you about the ambush method, about the Reaper’s general strength, Tartarus,” she kept mumbling to herself. “Ah! Jobs and supporters. Though, it’s not much.”

“Any bit helps,” I reassured her.

“Thanks, Rose,” Penelope spoke up for the first time in a while. “Your help is invaluable.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled shyly, looking briefly at the ground.

“So, jobs and supporters?” I asked, noticing she zoned out.

“Ah, right. Sorry.” Rose shook her head. “The jobs varied depending on the goal at hand. I wasn’t told anything other than what I needed to do, but we mostly operated within Nuia. My missions were infiltrations, information gathering, and occasionally manipulation using my succubus charm on key figures.”

“Could it be that the Lord of Krina was under such a spell?” Penelope asked.

“No, he was unaffected by any spells that could do that,” Geron answered.

“Did you ever charm Eleron Nobles?” I followed up.

“No.” She shook her head. “The risk of nobles breaking the charm and messing up Syndicate’s plans was too high for them to take.”

“What about their supporters? Know any?”

“Again, no. . . But I do know there are some in Eleron as well. Well, I guess that’s not new information, considering that the Lord of Krina was one of them.”

“Hmm. . . Is there anything else?”

“Sorry, that’s all I know,” she said quietly.

Both looked tired after spending so much time with the kids.

“Thank you for the information, Rosaline. If you remember anything else, you need but knock,” I said, walking back to my chair. “You girls go and have fun. I have things I need to discuss with Geron alone.”

“Glad I could be of help.” Rose bowed.

“Come on,” Penelope grabbed her hand. “Let’s go show you to your new room.”

“I get a room?” She looked surprised, making Geron chuckle in disbelief.

We watched as they left the office, making it just the two of us.

Silence filled the room for a while before I finally cleared my throat.

“So. . . What do you think?” I asked, intrigued by what he had to say.

“You’ve gained a powerful ally,” was the first thing he said, leaning back into the chair. “To think you could add a sixth circle mage to your family just like that. . .”

“You know I didn’t do it for her powers.”

“I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that you did.” He paused for a second, turning his head toward me, slightly tilted. “Why didn’t you tell them how you knew about Tartarus?”

“It’s hard to earn my trust, and mentioning that I had been talking to the Royal Family of Thysa isn’t a small matter.”

“Have they responded to your last letter?”

“No. The Queen insisted we let Alexander rest before asking further questions. I still have no idea what he’s doing over there so long, which makes me worry that he was badly injured and that they’re working on fixing him up.”

“He’s a strong kid. The fact that he had the Royal Family host him means he left quite the impression, so I’m sure he’s fine.”

“I know.” I sighed. “He mentioned he’d have a surprise for me when he gets back. Do you think he attained magic and is asking them for training?”

“Victor. . .” Geron looked at me with a sympathetic smile. “I’m glad your son’s okay, but let’s be real. Even I, the master of sealing magic and curses, haven’t figured out a way to break the anti-magic curse afflicting him. It’s unlikely they figured it out, considering I’m the one the Academy calls when they’re desperate.”

It hurt to hear, but he was likely right.

“Thank you for helping with Rosaline. I know you wanted her for yourself.”

“Blah. . . I can’t wait to see how things turn out.” He looked out the window. “But what will you do about Tartarus?”

“I’ll inform the King of our discoveries once we meet and discuss further actions.”

“Can’t hide it anymore after executing a Lord and his wife while imprisoning over a hundred key figures, huh?” He chuckled.

“Slavery sickens me,” I said, tapping the table. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“You’re lucky I have nothing better to do.” He smirked, crossing his arms while acting smug.

“Thank you, my friend.”

Geron, a bookworm turned archmage and my roommate back at the Academy. I couldn’t’ve asked for a better friend.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.