Taking a deep breath, Severine knocked on the door gently. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing the Chosen One. “What did the Head Mage say?” He asked, “Did he approve?”

“He did.” She replied and paused. Hesitantly, she continued, “However, he has enquired how you intend to deal with this. Do you wish to kill the criminals in a peaceful manner? Or would you prefer it to be brutal, to send a message?”

“What would he prefer?” Alastor questioned back.

He’d prefer you not kill at all.

Sighing shallowly, she replied, “He would prefer – or well, logically choose – the latter. It would be much more effective in curbing crimes.”

“Let’s go with that, then.”

Is he doing this to indicate that he will still give us some level of control? Severine pondered. Or is he just playing along with us? But why would he do so? How is the First Hero related to this Chosen One? Or is he not related to him at all, and this is just a freak coincidence?

“Alright.” Severine replied. She made sure to maintain her face perfectly stoic, hiding the countless thoughts stampeding within her mind.

—

Severine cupped her face in her hands as she thought through what she was going to do – she was not scared of her plan itself, as much as she was scared of who she was going to do it with. Who she might empower. Then again, it was inevitable – that Chosen One would not just sit around if she refused to help him find some souls, after all.

A series of knocks on her door broke her out of her thoughts. She took on a more dignified posture as the door opened and her two disciples walked in. They both seemed rather confused and anxious that she’d summoned them out of their usual tutoring times – she never did so, not unless there was either an emergency or they’d messed up grandly.

“I have…” She paused as she let out a breath. “I have an opportunity for you two. To… experience something that will change your worldview. Maybe even traumatize you.” They’d only heard of the spells in her arsenal theoretically, after all. They’d never seen her perform it, let alone use it to kill. That too on the scale she would most likely do today.

“I understand if either of you refuses.” She continued, “I will not begrudge you for it, nor will it make me see either of you any differently. I would go as far as to say I would recommend you two do not join me for this experience. But I did not want to deny you the chance to agree or disagree, and thus I have put this choice in front of you.”

“What…” Her male disciple spoke up, “What even is this experience, mentor?”

“To witness a massacre. Nay, a cleanse.”

—

“Chosen One, the Vice Head has told you to come to her room.” Raven said.

She’s ready this fast? Is she perhaps going to eliminate all the miscreants by herself? I mean, obviously, I guess, especially since as far as I remember she was a bit of a justice seeking freak. She’s probably going to enjoy it – or will she? Can’t tell, with her. Either way, time to grind some soul points!

Alastor nodded, his expression as solemn as usual. “Please teleport me there, Raven.” Noticing her hesitation, he continued, “Ah. Has your mana perhaps been depleted? It’s fine. We can go to the Vice Head by foot, if needed.” He usually didn’t prefer that option since it would expose him to being tracked, not to mention it was uncool, like come on, walking? That was so old school, but it was fine – he was an adjustable man. He could adapt when the situation demanded it.

The black haired girl shook her head. “No, I can still teleport you a few more times, especially since the Vice Head’s room isn’t all that far away from here. I just…” She paused, hesitating to continue.

“Go on.” Alastor nudged her softly. Don’t hesitate! How will I impress you and get more ranking points if you don’t speak!! I love speaking now! Speak to me! Speaaaak!

Raven sighed deeply but shook her head.

Not ready yet, huh? Well. Pressing her for an answer won’t yield any results right now. She can be very stubborn when needed. And when unneeded.

Alastor nodded, “Do not forget that I will be here if you ever want to complete that dialogue. I’ll always be willing to listen to you, whenever you’re ready.”

Getting a curt nod from her as reply, Alastor summoned the magical parchment paper, his gaze immediately sticking onto his current points.

26

He had gotten two points after his first conversation with Severine. He wasn’t sure who exactly had given him those. Severine had never given him points in his past resets, but then again, a lot of things had changed in this reset. Maybe she was impressed I was able to erase mana traces? Or impressed by the way I talked to her? I mean, my dialogue skills are amazing, if I say so myself.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Shall we teleport, Chosen One?” Raven asked. Alastor nodded, making the magical parchment paper disappear.

He was ready for the cleanse.

It’s time to grind!

—

Two more people joined them along with Severine. They donned black robes – probably in preparation of this task – just like him, Severine and Raven. Magic was quite an amazing thing, he had to admit – he didn’t remember the last time he actually changed his clothes manually.

Both of the newcomers were quite young, no more than a few years older than himself. One was female, her short hair dyed a dark blue that complemented her light blue eyes quite well. Her skin was a healthy brown, and she looked like someone cheerful and bright.

The male one, meanwhile, had his long hair tied up in a ponytail. His hair was blazing red, fitting his eye color – is that a trend? That’s totally a trend in this world, isn’t it? How did I not notice that before? Or maybe its a lowkey trend for the ‘youngins’? – and his skin was a much whiter shade than his contemporary.

I’ve never seen these two. Then again, I don’t remember the random NPC’s I kill. Only the ones who can influence the story at least a tiny bit. He took a few more seconds to look them up and down – he didn’t even bother scanning them with chaos. He could tell that these two were sheltered to an extent. They had never seen death, let alone a massacre.

They’re definitely not suitable for today. Not in the slightest.

"Why them?" Alastor asked bluntly, gesturing towards the two other teenagers. "I thought you'd go for someone with more experience, someone more like you. Not…" He tried to come up with the least offensive yet also suitable term he could think of, “these flowerpots.”

"I alone will be sufficient to handle this, Chosen One." The Vice Head replied. "These two are my pupils, and I trust them deeply.” She paused, “I have brought them along so that they can learn from this experience. I hope it will not be a problem – they will make sure they won’t get in the way, and even help, if they can."

Well, I guess I can see her rationale. Alastor nodded curtly. "Will Raven be accompanying us?" He pointed behind him at Raven, who stood like a stone statue.

"She will be." Severine replied. "Do you have any specific areas you want to strike first?"

Ah. Is she testing me to see just how far the 'information privilege' I have goes? Or is she just genuinely asking for my opinion?

"No. Let's follow your plan."

Severine's students stared at him with a complex mix of emotions – solemn and focused, curious yet afraid – as if he was a monster that could kill them at a moment’s notice. I mean, it's definitely reasonable to be afraid of me, a person who needs sacrifices to advance. That’s part of the reason why dark mages are abhorred, after all.

"Where do we start?" Alastor asked curiously. He had taken down a lot of stuff in Primus – everything from a slaving organization to a group of dark mages to a kingdom to the fundamental structure of the entire world in the past, but this was the first time he was ever going to be dealing with ordinary gangsters and hooligans. Well, directly. Then again, he was assuming they'd be ordinary gangsters and hooligans, but it could be the case that Severine was actually going to target something bigger.

"I was planning to first target the ragtag gangs that are present in the slums. Naturally, since those in the slums do not have much choice except for resorting to crime, we will be killing only the members who've gone too far." Severine explained. "Then, we could move on to the slave traders present in the capital."

Alastor's eyes widened slightly. They knew about the slave traders? Then again, it wasn't like they could just take it down without incurring the wrath of the nobles' behind it, so I guess their hands are tied. "And then?"

"Those are the two main issues in the capital." The Vice Head waved a hand and covered them all with hooded cowls. "How many people do you need... killed, to advance to an elementary mage?" She then took a cursory glance at all of their robes one by one, seemingly trying to find any imperfections or flaws.

Alastor pondered about it. A hundred souls would be enough for the Chaos System to advance him to an elementary mage, but he'd also need around thirty to fifty souls to wipe the Vice Head's mana traces.

"I'd estimate around one fifty to two hundred." Alastor replied. Only the Vice Head seemed unaffected by the estimate; Raven's eyes widened while the Vice Head's disciples gasped.

“It’d be better if we strike the slave traders first, then. Since we’ll be killing every single one involved, it’d be easier for you to… do what you need, and I assume easier to erase the mana traces too.” Severine used her mana to make white masquerade masks, placing it on each of their faces perfectly. Of course, doing so with mana, too. Although he personally preferred wearing masks with his hands – it just looked cooler, man.

Severine’s lips tilted upwards ever so slightly as she scanned all of their outfits. She waved her hand for what felt like the umpteenth time, masking any of the remaining distinguishing features such as their heights or body structures.

“Let’s get going, then.” She declared, clicking her fingers for some variety.

White mana spread on the floor beneath them as soon as she did so, seamlessly, changing the surroundings around them to a well maintained alleyway. Well maintained meaning well maintained – there was not a trace of dust or grime in sight.

Two youthful women already resided in the alley, the golden shield insignias on their chests indicating their employment at Savva, one of the most famous restaurants of the capital. Of course, also one of the most famous slave trading establishments amongst the nobles. The Savva employees ignored their arrival, like they regularly witnessed groups of robed people suddenly appearing.

Which, to be fair, they did. How else could people who bought slaves arrive besides teleporting? They couldn’t exactly come in a fancy horse cart with their noble house’s insignia to a slave trading auction. Well, they could come in a fancy horse cart for a nice meal in Savva, which, to be fair, the smaller nobles who didn’t want to waste teleportation scrolls and didn’t know about the underground slave trading auction ring did.

Come on. Severine ordered with mage speech and walked out of the alleyway with her head held high. Alastor followed her immediately, while the other three only lagging behind by a second before they trailed after them closely too.

Alastor couldn’t help but feel excited – this was very new, after all. Being assisted to level up into an elementary mage….? Ohohohoho. Chaos is going to have a feast today. Well, not really, he did conduct massacres much, much larger in scale than a mere hundred or few hundred, but still – he was definitely going to have fun with this.