I finally figured it out. My flaw in using magic. The same flaw I'd noticed many times over this magical lifetime. A flaw I just found a workaround for.
I saw it all before. Every time Scarlett used her magic I caught a glimpse of it. But I never took the bait until now.
Magic was about realizing imagination. Up until now, my magic had been based on reality. I imagined it doing things it was already capable of doing because I lacked form. A lacked a style of my own. A theme on which to base my magic. My lightning didn't have to strike like lightning. It could be a beam. Or a dragon-shaped beam. Or a hundred beams shaped like dragons.
I could shape the energies into whatever I wanted them to be. And with my sorcery, I could give them life.
It took a night of experimentation in the training room, but eventually, I found it. Or rather, them.
But that still left more to do before my encounter later today.
Three things in particular.
"Ooh! Is this a date?"
I couldn't help but smile as I turned to Zakira. My period of solitude was welcome, but so too was her company at any hour. It was safe to say that I liked her a lot. Not in the sense of lovers. We were far too lived for such things just yet, but she was certainly the closest thing to a best friend I had in this life. Not a vassal and not a sibling either, but something more than a friend and less than a lover.
"If you want to think of it that way." I shrugged, turned to fully face her, and stepped forward. "I want to show you something. Something special. And I want to give you something too."
I couldn't help but chuckle as she looked down coyly, her eyes wide in embarrassment. Meanwhile, I dipped into my Shadow Pocket to retrieve a large vial filled with a thick, reddish-silvery fluid.
"For you." I smiled.
She took it at once. With both hands, she held it against the lights and squinted in pain while asking. "What is it?"
"Unicorn blood," I said. "I know you're strong. But, I can't help but want to protect you. I care about you, Kira. You're my first best friend. I want you beside me while I travel the realms. As my closest partner."
She said nothing. She only looked up with tear-filled eyes and stepped in for a hug that lasted a bit longer than it should've. But I held both her embrace and a smile until she pulled away regardless.
"Thank you." She wiped away her tears.
"Now then." I stepped back. "Tell me if this hurts."
***
Doyle.
***
"Rare to see Epethian Royalty taking up the guise of a fighter."
"Hopefully he gives us a better display than those from his Empire."
"Now now, Galliard was quite promising! Surely Winston will be no different."
The constant babbling had been going on since the moment I entered and had yet to relent. I knew exactly what it was, mindless drivel meant to distract their minds from playing one of the half-dozen outcomes of today's end.
Today was the day it would happen and everyone was eager or anxious to see it. The Cap, vast as it had seemed over the last few days, was cramped with every Guildmaster, subordinate, or Instructor in attendance. All of them were cramped around their tables, focused on either the archway in one ambiguous courtyard or a doorway within a potentially different courtyard.
Today was the day Amun would face a young red dragon and either kill it or capture it or chose not to harm it. Today, and perhaps the next few days was when Polaris would judge Amun as an ally or an enemy to humanity. And worst of all, today was quite possibly the day Eiriol was so eagerly awaiting.
The day of change.
They weren't even hiding it anymore. All seven of the Polaris tables had the training annex Amun and Zakira were occupying in full view while they openly pondered and speculated over the events transpiring inside.
And of course, Eiriol was enjoying every bit of it.
"I think I'm going to throw up."
"I think you're overreacting." Zeff snorted. "All of you. If he fails, there are those of use here to handle it. If he doesn't, no harm no foul! Neither his undead nor his shadow beast has ever attacked without his permission. They're under his utter control! This beast will be no different, should he raise it."
"I hope you're right.'
"I AM RIGHT!" Zeff spat. "He's no mass murderer or sociopath! He's a scholar. An explorer! An Artificer! I, for one, am disappointed that you see your students so lowly!"
The words were like a blow to the spine. Sharp and numbing. Persistent. A pain that would last for years and intensify during periods of long rest. All because it was true. I was a different teacher compared to just six months ago. I used to pride myself on remaining impartial to my students. No matter if they were seen as good or evil, no matter if they grew to become great Magus' or feared tyrants, I supported them both during and after their studies.
It seemed I forgot that.
It seemed I listened to the whispers of a snake and became manic as a result. But even upon making that realization, I couldn't help but believe the whispers to be true.
"You're right." I sighed and felt a great weight remove itself from my shoulders. Not all of the burden I was carrying, but most of it. "Whatever happens, I'll support him. That's my duty as his teacher, after all."
"Good on ya!" Zeff gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Olga gave a softly mocking snort. "Good to see your mind's right, but I'm still nervous. I mean." She pointed to her screen and snorted again. "We may not even be able to see what happens. If he shrouds the place in darkness, it'll be a repeat of his duel with Zohnos."
"That may be the best outcome of all." I shrugged with unbridled complacence. "He's a great liar. And he won't be pressured into telling the truth by anyone."
They gave affirmative grunts just before the voices erupted from Polaris.
Turning, I saw Amun walking out of the training room with a wide grin on his face and Zakira by his side, wide-eyed and stricken.
They passed by Winston and exchanged words, though most of them could only guess what they were, I knew Amun and Winston's relationship had evolved into a strange type of friendship. They weren't exactly like brothers. It was more like Amun was Winston's older cousin that taught him things sometimes. Winston respected him, but he wasn't exactly close to Amun.
That was why they drifted apart smiling. Not because they were taunting each other as the Regni thought.
Amun went off to step onto the outer wall of the dorm and lay down above the window to smoke while Winston continued on to the crystal to gather his gear and read his objective.
"Is there a reason for his smokeleaf habit or does he just like to chain-smoke?" Some ambiguous voice asked.
"He dislikes being drunk so he doesn't drink ale." I shrugged and left it at that.
And they did too. They remained silent and focused on him and continued conjecturing while I instead focused on the one next to him. Zakira. She seemed… shocked. Awed as she turned her gaze to and away from the half-elf as if she were eyeing a crush from across the room, which wasn't entirely wrong, but she also seemed utterly surprised as if she'd just seen something remarkable.
And then I felt it. Rising from the depths of my mind to consume me once again.
Fear.
Something was coming.
But that I already knew, so I subdued it under the reaffirmations of my duty to support my student, Amun. In doing so, I had no other choice but to support my other students as well. So I turned my attention to Winston, standing proud and tall before a blundering cyclops.
With a belated roar, the Cyclops announced itself and bounded forward with a downward smash of its great club.
Winston formed a small barrier between himself and the ogre and didn't even wait for it to break his arm against the edge. He sidestepped to swipe at his ankle just as it reeled back in pain. Then he jumped away, spawning another barrier on the ground for the cyclops to topple onto.
It fell, screaming all the while until it landed on its nape and was suddenly silenced and stunned long enough for Jaimess to skate forward to skewer it through the eye.
Everyone was astounded at his lack of hesitation and praised me for it, but I knew I wasn't the one who deserved the credit.
Amun trained Cooke Party more than I did. Over the last six months, he taught them how to bend the elements and mold mana. He taught them how to use their affinities properly and he taught them how to kill.
I'd been so absorbed with Amun that I forgot the hundreds of times I saw his peers approaching him, asking if not begging him to spawn their umbral clones so they could kill them. Over and over and over again.
Now I realized, Amun wasn't going to bring change by himself. He was going to create an army of individuals capable of bringing change with their might alone.
Class 999 was only the beginning.