Suddenly, Blaze smiled, easing the tension in the air.
"Congratulations! You met the right guy."
His words made Robin exhale in relief. Anytime Blaze locks his gaze with him, an invisible pressure always surrounds him.
"However, I won't partner with a rookie on a risky operation without a plan. You have to give me a layout of your plan. If it's feasible, I will participate in the raid," Blaze's cold voice doused Robin's enthusiasm.
"You… I… you see… I've…" Robin stuttered incoherently without making an actual sentence.
"Fantastic! You don't have a plan, and you want me to partner with you?" Blaze mocked with a smirk.
"Hey! Since they are just liquid core Awakened mages, I planned to sneak in and steal some mana stones. If we get caught, we just fight our way out. Since you could take on Liam, you can fight the person," Robin rushed to explain his plan before Blaze lost interest.
"What do you know about life or death battle? Although I haven't been a mage for a long time, I've heard about nemesis. Every element and weapon has its nemesis and counter. If we happen to run into our nemesis, our dead body won't even make it back. Moreover, there will be no newbie that will perform the escort operation," Blaze said with a stern expression.
Robin tried to argue, "But they are just—" but Blaze cut him.
Blaze's voice was sharp as he interrupted Robin. "Shut up! Do you think performing a raid is a game? You must have an impressive background for mocking Liam without fear and getting this type of classified information. I wouldn't question you on your background. Maybe you read too many stories of successful raiding, but you should remember – death is just an arm-length from you during raiding."
Blaze's tone grew more serious as he continued. "Secondly, the person who has the mana stones is no kid. For precious mana stones to be smuggled, I'm sure the owner had a strong connection with the underworld, if there's one in the Dragon Empire. He might have a way of tracking you. You need to prepare for the consequences if you're stealing from a devil. Are you still interested?"
Robin opened his mouth to speak several times but closed it when he couldn't utter any word. Blaze's words just made him see his actions from another perspective. The thrill of participating in a raid made him forget the consequences. Robin had to inhale to calm himself.
After a moment of deep thinking, Robin raised his head and replied with gritted teeth, "I'm interested."
Blaze suddenly smiled, his expression relaxing.
"Good. Tell me all you know. I will make the plans." Blaze's confident tone and unsettling grin made Robin uneasy as he spoke.
Robin suspected that Blaze had already anticipated his next move.
"I know a secret path that lead outside the academy. It's a flawed area of the array. If we used that path, the array wouldn't detect us," Robin said.
"Wait… what array? We can just find a path with the least security guard and jump over the fence," Blaze said as he stared at Robin.
Aphrodite giggled from behind him, but he ignored her.
With a sense of dread, Robin shouted, "We can't leave through that way! The array will detect us!"
"What's an array?" Blaze had to inhale deeply before questioning. His information about magic was lacking.
"Arrays are a collection of runes that work together to achieve a single goal, which can be either a single complex task or a series of simpler ones. These tasks can require a significant amount of mana for a long time and may put a strain on the core of mages. One example of an array is a protective barrier over the academy that can be activated during an invasion. Although It has one major disadvantage: it cannot be moved at will," Robin summarized when he saw Blaze had zero idea about arrays.
"So there's an array detector around the perimeter of the academy?" Blaze asked with a straight face, but his lower eyelids kept twitching occasionally: It was a big mistake as an agent not to know about his surroundings.
"Yeah, but I know a flawed passage," Robin replied instantly.
"Where is it? I need to know if the path is safe," Blaze said calmly. Even though he might not join the raiding operation, knowing an escape path is crucial.
"You won't see it even if you go. The runes are hidden. They can't be seen physically," Robin quickly dissuaded him.
"Are you telling me the location or not?" Blaze questioned coldly.
Robin let out a weary sigh before responding, "Fine. It is in the southernmost region of the school. You won't find it even if you go, except I lead the way."
After a moment of staring at Robin, Blaze turned around and walked away.
"It's dumb to trust a stranger with dangerous information. The next person might not be as nice as me, and expose your plan," Blaze said to Robin as he walked away without looking back. His statement dazed Robin.
Unbeknownst to Robin, Blaze was having another thought running through his mind.
As they approached the boundary of the tree's canopy, Blaze stopped and turned to Aphrodite. "Did you have any idea about this?" he whispered, making sure Robin couldn't hear. The leaves surrounding them prevented him from seeing outside the tree, but he didn't pay it much attention.
"Knew what?" Aphrodite asked with wide eyes as she feigned ignorance and surprise.
With a scowl, Blaze retorted, "Don't try to fool me with your acting. It might work on someone naive, but not on me. I'm talking about the arrays!"
The previous day, Blaze sent Aphrodite to follow Zara and eavesdrop on her conversations. As an agent in his first life, he couldn't leave his life in the hands of others. Being defensive is not his thing. He actively scoured for information, and he happened to have the perfect candidate for the job – Aphrodite.
Aphrodite was an invisible participant in the secret meeting between the four people last night. She listened to their conversation and informed Blaze of her plan. That was why he confidently stayed behind and waited for Zara instead of escaping.
However, he had already designated the route he would use to flee if the final decision was to kill him. The route was a random path towards the fence, where there were few people. Now, he just discovered that he would have walked into an open trap due to lack of information. Worst of all, he discussed it with Aphrodite and she didn't warn him. From their brief interaction, he knew she had vast knowledge of magic.
"Oh! The array!" Aphrodite exclaimed as she pushed her long, white hair backward. She continued, "Well, I thought it wasn't necessary, since they already halted their assassination plan."
"I hate hidden cards," Blake grunted through his gritted teeth before walking out of the tree.
Throughout this entire time, Robin had been looking at Blaze with a confused expression on his face. He had no idea why Blaze stopped.
"So that's it." A smooth, feminine, but cold voice jolted Blaze as he walked out of the tree. He turned to the side and saw Cherry standing just outside the tree.
Blaze cursed under his breath. 'Damn it! She must have overheard Robin and me talking. Do I have to kill a Princess now? But if I do, what about Robin? Should I kill them both to keep things quiet? And we're in the academy that is full of mages and array, of all places. I need to stay here to learn more about magic.' He gritted his teeth as he weighed his options.