"So. Where are our horses?", Zephyrus asked as they stood at the place where the two of them had tied their mechanical horses before entering the mountain.
Now it is just a pile of boulders and there is no sign of the mechanical beasts.
Seventeen, with his mask on, rubbed his head sheepishly, "Oops."
Zephyrus sighed, "My secretary is going to kill me. You know how expensive those horses are?"
Seventeen sighed behind his mask, 'Sounds like another pay cut.'
(Well. No one told you to slice the mountain in half.)
'Not you too.', he groaned internally.
"Don't worry Headmaster. We will take you to Corvis Town.", Jade Aria said offered. "Sorry to make you do this Jade.", Zephyrus said as he turned to face her.
Jade shook her head, "Why are you apologizing Headmaster? You're my boss after all."
"I told you to call me Cardinal. You are no longer a student.", Zephyrrus reminded her with a sigh. "Old habits die hard and besides, you are still the Headmaster for me.", Jade replied with a grin.
As they were walking to the stronghold, Jade looked at Seventeen, "Are you okay Virgil? You were really wounded when I saw you."
Seventeen shook his head, "I am fine. I heal pretty fast.", he had used a red dye to make the liquid magia look like blood. Jade was clearly more than worried as she patched the hole on his side properly. Maybe it was because of the new armor he got, but the wound on his side is healing at a faster rate.
But he needs more time to fix his magia system. 'I need to train harder so that I can use Singularity without suffering like this.', he thought.
Jade was still looking at him, "I can't believe you were this strong. I had my suspicions but now know that your power is on the same level as a Cardinal."
Seventeen was surprised, "I thought I did a good job at hiding my true power."
Jade just smiled, "Don't underestimate a Family Head. We have an eye for talent."
"Jade, don't tell anyone about Virgil's true power.", Zephyrus told her. The Sword Princess nodded, "I understand Headma- I mean Cardinal. Virgil's existence can shake the power system of Arken. But he can't remain hidden forever. The Council of Seventy will find out.", she warned.
Zephyrus nodded in agreement, "I know. That's why I have a plan. And it starts right now."
"Oh? Now that sounds interesting.", Jade turned to Seventeen, "I will keep my silence about you for as long as I can but I also have my duty as a Family Head, so you better approach the Council before they approach you, Virgil.", she advised him.
Seventeen nodded. He wondered about the plan Zephyrus came up with. Soon they were on the way to Corvis Town on new horses with Jade escorting them and Selene flying above.
Seventeen suddenly had an uneasy feeling as they got closer to the Warp Gate. He can't shake it off. 'Weird.', he thought.
He whistled and Selene landed on his shoulder, "Time to go back to the academy. It is either the Warp Gate or flying the whole way.", he told the falcon.
Selene just looked at him, spread her wings, and flew in the direction of the academy. "Flying the whole way it is.", Seventeen sighed.
It was evening by the time they reached Corvis Town. They were greeted by Albert and he escorted them to the Warp Gate.
"Don't forget Zephyrus. We'll have drinks the next time you come.", he said with a hearty smile as the gate activated and the Lost Woods appeared on the other side. Zephyrus nodded with a smile, "Sure thing, Albert. I will look forward to that."
He turned to Jade, "Come visit the academy after your shift to give me a report on Lazarus. And be careful.", he said. The young Aria nodded, "No need to worry about me, Headmaster. I will be fine. Please look after my sister."
"Of course. Also, I told you to call me-, you know what? Forget it.", Zephyrus sighed as he gave up trying to correct the Captain.
Jade laughed and then turned to Seventeen, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Virgil. Let's meet again another time, preferably somewhere more casual. I want to know more about you.", she held out her hand.
"Likewise.", Seventeen said as he shook hands with her. Zephyrus was looking at them with a smug smile.
"You know, a girl would like to know more about you when she is interested in you.", he remarked.
"Do you prefer to be a target for archery practice?", Seventeen asked in a calm voice.
"Or a dummy for sword practice?", Jade added with a scary smile.
Zephyrus gulped, "It's a joke! Jeez. You both are scary."
They said farewell to Jade and Albert and entered the Warp Gate. They trotted under the shadows of the trees in the Lost Woods.
"So what are your plans after reaching the dorm?", Zephyrus asked Seventeen. "Take some rest and replenish my magia. I should also see if I can fix my core and paths at a faster rate.", Seventeen replied.
Zephyrus remembered something. "Hey Seventeen, you use the environmental magia for codes so I believe you can use them even with a damaged magia system.", he said.
Seventeen shook his head, "That could be the case for others who can use magia from the environment. But I need a minimum amount of magia from my Reserve to be circulating in my paths to use environmental magia. You can say it is something like resonating with the outside magia in order to control it."
"Ah. That makes sense.", Zephyrus said with a nod.
Seventeen glanced at Zephyrus, "Will you be writing a report about our little adventure?"
The Cardinal nodded, "Yeah. This is also a part of my plan. The Council already knows that you are out there somewhere. I am going to remove their suspicions by telling them that I did encounter a powerful warlock in the Silent Mountain."
"What about Vicaris?"
Zephyrus pondered about it for a moment, "That is where I should be careful. No one has seen or heard of a Dragon Knight in millennia. So it is going to involve some smooth wordplay regarding Vicaris. But I'll cross the bridge when it comes."
The back gate of the academy came into view and they saw the guards talking to each other in serious tones. Seventeen frowned. His ears had picked up words like 'attack', 'burned', 'students'. He has a bad feeling about this
"Something happened, Headmaster.", he said as he took off his mask and put it in his storage ring, and reverted his hair color to black.
"Yeah. I can sense something is off.", Zephyrus turned serious as they approached the gate.
The guards stood in attention as they came to the gate. "It's good to see you again, Cardinal!", one of them greeted.
Zephyrus went straight to the point, "What happened?", he asked in a serious voice tinged with concern.
The two guards looked at each other and nodded. "The dorms of Class E and Special Class A were attacked by students of Class B and D.", one of them reported.
Zephyrus was shocked, "They did WHAT?"
The guard nodded, "There was a huge fight as the students defended their dorms, unfortunately, the dorm of Special Class A was highly damaged.
"Are there any injuries?", Zephyrus asked. "Two students of Special class A and a few students from Class E are in the infirmary but apart from them, there are only minor injuries. The perpetrators scattered as soon as Jason Kain, Aaron Cadis, instructors Marcus and Ruth, and a few guards rushed to the scene."
'This is bad.', Zephyrus thought, 'Those students have no idea who they have attacked. There will be repercussions. I should've removed the rule deeming family names unnecessary.'
He never understood that rule and had considered removing it before this incident.
The guards were not finished, "Also, there is a rumor that the students were instigated by instructor Ravis.", one of them said.
"Ravis? Not him again.", Zephyrus sighed. Marvin Ravis is the instructor of Class B and is also the second strongest instructor in the academy after Marcus.
Perhaps it's due to this or the fact that he's from the Ravis Arken Family that he has an ego and looks down on the lower classes, especially Special Class A, for which he has a lot of prejudice. He always confronted Zephyrus to disband the class, saying it is a waste of the academy's resources.
The only reason Zephyrus tolerated him was because of his power as a warlock and influence in the Ravis Family. He's going to have to talk about Marvin's behavior with the Family Head.
Zephyrus suddenly felt a paralyzing fear as the air got cold and a powerful pressure fell on them. His hands shook and he immediately glanced beside him. His eyes widened as he saw what he never hoped to see.
Seventeen looked emotionless but the Cardinal can feel an indescribable rage inside the android's eyes. His hands were clenched so tightly that he started to bleed liquid magia. However, before the guards could notice it they were knocked out by the powerful Bloodlust coming from Seventeen.
The android was trembling in anger and liquid magia started leaking from his eyes as he strained his magia system. "That Marvin. He had a big mouth about my class. I usually ignored him but he has taken things too far this time.", he said in a calm and dangerous voice.
"Seventeen, calm down. You are heavily injured and you cannot use codes. It will disadvantageous if you confront Marvin as you are now.", Zephyrus said, trying to fight the intense Bloodlust.
"Then what do you suggest I do?", Seventeen gave Zephyrus a look that would've terrified any normal person in fear but not the Cardinal.
"Just wait. There will be a time. Let me handle this situation.", Zephyrus said, trying to calm him down. They stared at each other for a minute.
Seventeen released a powerful magia pulse, resulting in liquid magia leaking from his eyes and mouth. He spits it out and gazed ahead. Zephyrus offered him a handkerchief to wipe away the liquid magia.
A few guards were rushing to their location. Both of them got off the horses. Seventeen stumbled and was supported by the guards. "You need to rest Seventeen.", Zephyrus said.
"I am fine. I need to see what happened.", Seventeen insisted. Zephyrus sighed and relented. With the support of a guard, Seventeen followed Zephyrus into Cardinal Town.
"Sorry for the outburst earlier.", Seventeen said quietly as they reached the central square. A large crowd of students had gathered in the direction of the dorm.
"It's fine. I would've felt the same if I was in your shoes. I will have a serious talk with Marvin but I promise you. I will give you a chance to confront and teach him a lesson.", Zephyrus assured him as the crowd parted away for him and Seventeen.
There were whispers as students looked at Seventeen who wasn't exactly in top shape. His long coat was tattered and bandages could be seen from the tear in his shoulder and he was supported by a guard. Even Zephyrus looked drained.
They reached the dorm of Special class A, or what used to be the dorm. It is now a charred and broken shell of the once beautiful building.
'This is a lot of damage.', Seventeen thought as he bent down and picked a piece from the rubble.
"We will do a thorough investigation of this and the perpetrators will be seriously dealt with.", Zephyrus announced, and with the help of guards and instructors dismissed the crowd.