Our discussion continued with Master Vivian conveying her sentiment on appropriately dealing with Asmodeus.
"As much as I hate to admit it, the Lunaria brat is right. Simply acting without a concise plan is going to brew some unnecessary trouble no doubt. If we are to find Asmodeus, then a delicate touch is the preferable method. While there's also the option of declaring yourself as the Magus of Infinity in the open and rally every mage under your banner, Asmodeus may simply not reveal himself and turn you into a fool in the eyes of the people, thus losing your credibility as a result. The shitty demon can be quite deceptive if he wants to and we should be extremely cautious at how we are to proceed from this point forward."
Well, fan-fucking-tastic. It looked like that our options are quite limited and the confidence that I once had in beating the shit out of the former Demon Emperor was wavering at this very moment.
As such, I clenched my fist tightly and expressed my sorrow to her.
"I'm sorry Master. It seems that you'll be stuck here inside my mind for a very long time."
Vivian smiled sweetly in response and gave her assurance.
"Nah, it's fine, I presume. Being here inside you is not so bad compared to a fucking lake of all things. I'm sure things won't get boring with you around. I'm nothing if I'm not patient after all, hahaha. What's another year or two, or three, maybe?"
"Haha, then I'll just have to do my best to provide you some entertainment, Master."
"I'm counting on that, my dear student, tehee."
After our mental talk with another, I returned my senses once more to the world of the living.
And also... ignoring that tehee is really such a fucking chore!!
The Headmaster sighed and leaned himself at his desk, clearly stressed out by all of this.
"For the time being, I'll send my most trusted agents to spy on every corner of the land and find out where Asmodeus is currently hiding. I'll also consult this matter with his majesty, the King, and arrange a private meeting with the Demon Emperor and other nation leaders to discuss how to deal with him. While it's certainly irritating at how very little we can do in this situation directly, we don't have any choice on the matter."
I sighed deeply in response and shared his notions.
"I guess it's better than not doing anything at all. If I am to do practically nothing, then what am I supposed to do then?"
This time, the Headmaster smiled and gave me his suggestion.
"Simple, train your body and mind. Conduct yourself accordingly like a Mage by acquiring knowledge and power as much as you can. Bide your time and prepare yourself for the moment when you finally confront Asmodeus. The best place for you to do this is right here at my academy, where an abundance of knowledge is at your very disposal. Not to mention, the students here can be your valuable allies, and some of them are noteworthy individuals with who you can obtain connections, like the Dragonheart siblings beside you. But most importantly, don't forget to enjoy yourself for the pleasures of youth comes only once in a lifetime. In the end, you are still young, so don't pressure yourself with the burdens of an adult. For regret is only until the very last moment."
In short, life goes on and I become a normal student as per my initial intentions?
I'm not exactly sure if I should be relaxing when a shitty demon is out there doing who knows what?
"Sheesh, brat, loosen yourself up for crying out loud. The Headmaster is right, there's no point in stressing yourself out when there's not much we can do yet. Furthermore, the only thing that you can do now is to train, ready yourself for our momentous encounter with the shitty demon in the future."
I... I suppose I can do that. If Master was okay with it, then as her student, then who am I to argue? She also sounds rather convincing and I'm certain that Asmodeus might be doing the same thing, preparing himself as well.
As such, time was still on my side and I supposed I can afford to relax a bit. After all, I only recently acquired this magic, so I should learn it as much as I could.
Thus, with my conviction renewed, I grinned wildly and stated my intents at the Headmaster.
"Alright, if that's what you want, then I'll be the best damn student that Moonlight is going to offer. You can count on that!!"
"Now that's the spirit!!! I truly look forward to your performance here, Magus of Infinity."
With everything said and done, it's time that we move on to the next agenda of this meeting.
Well, the Dragon siblings' agenda to be more accurate since it rather involved Ana directly.
Alex bore a grim look and initiated the topic.
"How goes your investigation regarding my sister's unwilling possession during her Magicka?"
Yikes, I almost forgot about that. Thank God that Alex brought up that particular nasty issue.
"Oh yeah... I still needed whoever took control over me to pay dearly for trampling my pride as a Dragon!! And also... Why the hell did you not help me instead and allow the mongrel in bearing the toll of fighting me at my full strength?!
Ana expressed her vicious hatred at this unpleasant dilemma that she found herself in days ago.
And once more, the Headmaster was the personification of tranquility despite being criticized loudly by her.
Now that I think about that, this chibi bastard actually committed a lot of crimes at us.
Attempted breaking and entering inside my mind.
Being a crazed obsessed maniac to Master.
Gaining the resentment of the Dragon siblings by the notion of debate.
And most of all... his idleness during my fight to the death with a fucking Dragon of all things!!!
Thus, I decided to join the fray once more and assert my gripes at him.
"You chibi bastard!!! I almost died out there for crying out loud!!! I can't believe you would allow a student... no... a freaking Mage candidate no less to go toe to toe with a Dragon in her full transformation!! Care to explain why?!"
A snobbish look was all we received as the Headmaster was merely amused by our rants.
That damn chibi, I want nothing more than to wipe that smug out of his little face!!!
"Calm down, you two. While I hold more than the capabilities to intervene in your fight, I simply chose not to."
Both of us just gave him a "What the fuck?" look while Alex merely twitched his face in annoyance at how easygoing the Headmaster was.
"As an educator putting my student's interest and growth above all, I believe that experience is the best teacher of all. Moreover, I had full confidence that Mr. Bruce, for your information, who's the Magus of Infinity, shall come out of the match on top. While I can't deny that there are unfortunate casualties on your part, it is simply part of the learning process, all for the sake of your development as a bonafide Mage."
Alex was still in disagreement and eyed him with contempt.
"But you put both of them at a disastrous risk as a result of your "Education". I'm not sure if such methods are acceptable."
"They were never at risk in the first place, Mr. Dragonheart. Not on my watch, I assure you. Don't you remember what I told you all before the commencement of the Magicka? I have the finest healers on standby and I can always intervene when I deem the situation to be in unacceptable conditions."
He then turned his attention back at Ana and me again as he elaborated his case.
"And here you are, standing right here in my office. If you're alive and kicking, I'm fairly sure that my judgment was never wrong. Besides, the Magicka was certainly enlightening and gave you some combat experience and tricks for you to learn, so I see nothing but good in all of this."
When the chibi made such a persuasive argument, we have no choice but to concede. All of his points were spot on. While the method was dubious, to say the least, it was for the benefit of his students in the long run.
And it's not in my nature to fault someone when their intentions are still good in the end.
Even when Ana was possessed, the intensity of the battle and her pushing her limits as a Dragon serve to strengthen her progress as a Mage. After all, when one comes out from the brink of their lives, there's always a lesson for them to learn.
The Headmaster then diverted the topic back to the matter about the Warlock. In this case, he shook his head, disappointment apparent on his face, much to our dismay as well.
"I'm afraid that our Warlock in question is quite the cunning foe. They have left no traces of their magic and it would be an arduous task to investigate among the whole student body here. Luckily, I was able to narrow down my search with a list of students who are known for their expertise in Dark Magic and I have my suspicions as well. As such, it'll only be a matter of time before we can find our culprit. Of course, there's also the possibility that they are not a student in the first place, being an outside unknown factor who's a lot more dangerous than we can imagine."
Ana clicked her tongue in pure frustration at this.
"Tsk, how troublesome. That's one slippery bastard we got on our hands. Anyways, thank you for your help, chib... Headmaster."
Gray plainly did not mind the disrespectful word, like he always does now that I noticed it, and simply smiled in appreciation.
"My pleasure, Ms. Dragonheart. As I said, the interests of my students are always my number one priority. I sincerely hope that all of you could keep that in mind."
With everything said and done, the three of us stood up and ask our permission to leave the office. The Headmaster promptly stop us though and told his final words.
"And by the way..."
With a snap of his fingers, he summoned two signature blue robes of the Academy and tossed them right at me and Ana.
"Welcome to Moonlight."