The earth all around the a.s.sa.s.sin turned into mud while spears of ice as big as a man randomly fell from above. Without s.p.a.ce to move around, his footwork was nothing but a silly dance. Strength had become the deciding factor.

- "At least he has already used up all his rings. If he attempts to cast, I can kill him in a split second. As long we are lined up, his friends cannot aim at me properly."–

The a.s.sa.s.sin was right, except for one detail. Lith had only used one ring in the opening act, the other spells were silent cast with true magic. True magic was silent, but still required time for casting, so he saved the rings for later, just in case.

All he had to do was to spread his fingers, releasing the remaining nine at once. Cursing at his bad luck for meeting such a monster disguised as a rugrat, the a.s.sa.s.sin crushed the medallion he wore at his neck, activating his last stand item.

Multiple barriers enveloped him, negating most of the damage. The sheer force of the impacts, though, was another matter entirely. The a.s.sa.s.sin was knocked back right to the point where the battle had started.

Yurial activated his Earth Vines array, entangling the a.s.sa.s.sin's body with tendrils conjured from the hardest minerals in the soil, devised to be powerful enough to keep even magical beasts in check.

Four bolts of darkness magic hit him from the front, above, and the sides. The moment the array was activated, Lith had crouched down, clearing his teammates' line of fire.

Seeing how st.u.r.dy and resourceful their opponent was, they knew that restricting him wasn't enough, but it created an opening. They all decided to use darkness magic because, despite being slow and mana expensive, it was the most difficult element to defend against.

It directly attacked the enemy's life force, so a hardened skin or a magically enhanced chain mail didn't offer much protection from it. The dark energy sapped the a.s.sa.s.sin's strength and vitality, turning the scratches he had suffered during his clashes with Lith into open wounds and the bruises into internal bleedings.

"You suck!" The a.s.sa.s.sin cursed at Lith, spitting a mouthful of blood from the many broken ribs that were now piercing his lungs due to the darkness ravaging his body.

"You are barely an amateur. Technique, experience, footwork, you are below me in every aspect. Why am I the one that ended up losing? This is not fair!"

Another four bolts of darkness struck the a.s.sa.s.sin, putting him out of his misery.

"Yeah, and if my grandpa had three b.a.l.l.s instead of two, he could have been a pinball." Lith replied only after confirming that the a.s.sa.s.sin's life force was fading away.

- "What p.i.s.ses me off the most is that he is right. I really need to join the army and receive some proper training. Most of my knowledge about martial arts is only about unarmed combat. Aside from our sparring, Solus, I have no real practice.

"I'd need a master to polish my skills, since neither of us has the talent necessary to derive new notions from what I already know. Not to mention how I keep suffering from not having a decent weapon nor training in the way of the sword.

"The practice I had with Phloria during the first trimester barely taught me to hold a real weapon. After that, between the exams, the plague, and dimensional magic I hardly touched a sword.

"Awakened ones and Monsters can use true magic just like me. When magical skills are on the same level, combat technique and equipment make the difference between life and death." Lith thought.

"Once we learn more about Forgemastering, we will be able to make our own equipment." Solus mind-nodded.

"For the training, though, there is not much we can do for the time being. The academy takes too much time. Even if it didn't, mastering magic and combat skills at the same time is unheard of in all the books we read. Progress, not perfection. Remember?"–

"Lith, are you all right?" His companions asked in unison.

"Yeah, only flesh wounds." He extended his arms, revealing that aside from small cuts in the uniform, only shallow injuries remained. Lith studied their reactions carefully.

He had shared with them part of his secret, but only now could they realize the scope of his revelation. They were still shaken up by the ambush, so Lith could see right through them.

- "Surprise aside, Yurial seems to be really impressed. Friya is conflicted between fear and admiration instead. She probably longs for this kind of power, but at the same time she is afraid I could turn it against her. Quylla is beyond me though."

Lith could see something resembling pain in her expression, but she wasn't hurt. Her eyes were a little watery, but there was no trace of fear, making her a mystery.

"What you see is compa.s.sion." Solus answered the riddle for him. –

"How did you do that? I mean moving so fast and taking so little damage?" Yurial asked.

"I told you I'm faster and stronger than a normal person. Also while you were s.p.a.cing out I consumed enhancing potions." He lied.

"As for the damage, I must thank the Forgemasters that enchanted the uniform and Professor Trasque's lessons about using first magic in combat. I used a lot of earth magic to deflect most of the sword strikes."

"Did it hurt?" Quylla asked while tending to Lith's wounds.

"Of course it did." Lith gave his first honest answer.

"I might be a little different from you guys, but I feel pain like anyone else."

"I'm so sorry you suffered so many injuries just to protect us. I wish there was more I can do." Quylla gently wiped off the blood from his skin before stepping away.

Yurial grabbed Lith by the shoulders, his breath was still ragged because of the physical and mental exertion, but his voice was calm.

"Thank you for saving my life." He then looked at Friya and Quylla too.

"Thanks to you all for sticking with me, instead of running away like the a.s.sociates of this poor b*stard." Yurial kicked the corpse with more anger than pity. It seemed no one was going to be traumatized this time.

"In my darkest hour you remained by my side, you are the best friends a man could wish for. I…"

"Queen's corps, n.o.body moves!" A voice suddenly roared.

The five members of the unit landed in the middle of the alley, finding it difficult to hide their surprise. The place looked like a warzone. There were several burn marks on the house walls, spears of ice scattered everywhere and a small crater where the spells contained in Lith's rings had crashed into the barrier.

Five dead bodies lay on the ground, yet the students were without a scratch.

"What the f*ck?" A member of the unit blurted out, drawing on himself reproving looks from his colleagues. Normally the Captain would have scolded him for his lack of professionalism, but he couldn't do it in front of the students.

Not to mention he had expressed the feelings of the whole unit, so the Captain decided to let it slide.

"Have the soldiers secure the perimeter, then search for survivors. Maybe one of them is still alive for interrogation." The Captain opened a Warp Steps leading back to the Mage a.s.sociation right in front of the group.

"Get in, kids. First, I need to get you to safety. Then you have to tell me exactly what happened here."

"There is not much to explain, sir. It's all thanks to teamwork." Yurial replied.

***

White Griffon academy, Headmaster Linjos' office

As soon as Linjos was informed about the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"It's worse than I thought." He explained to the Queen.

"Either I have traitors in every department, or it's someone really deep in my inner circle. The leaked information is too precise to be the work of a single clerk or of a Professor of the old guard.

Even though it's hard to say how far the reach of people like Vastor or Rudd goes. Even if I keep them in the dark, nothing I do ever seems to surprise them."

Linjos pensively scratched his goatee.

"I doubt the traitor is one of them." Queen Sylpha shook her head.

"Vastor has no faction outside his own. If the Kingdom plunges into chaos, he would lose at least half of his connections. He'd rather die than put to waste so many years of efforts.

As for Rudd, deep under that obnoxious 'old goat' att.i.tude of his, there is a true loyal servant of the kingdom. Beware though. If you go even deeper, you'll find another old goat."

"What really puzzles me is how someone that has managed to infiltrate the academy to such a level can be dumb enough to send amateurs to kill fourth year students. Even if young, a dragon is still a dragon."

"Maybe he is not dumb. Or do you know something that I don't?" The Queen appeared to be quite amused.

"No, the investigation is still ongoing, but how hard can killing four students possibly be? Especially considering that two out of four remained scarred after killing a single person?"

***

White Griffon academy, somewhere else

"How hard can killing four f*cking students possibly be?" The traitor yelled while tras.h.i.+ng their own apartment.

"Especially considering that I gave those idiots a complete background check on every single one of them?" A punch hit a luxurious desk, causing it to crack almost in half.

"The battle experience of three of them amounts to fighting acne! The last one is a deranged psychopath that only preys on the weak and magical beasts to make a quick buck." A bookshelf was ripped from the wall and crushed to bits, while the precious books were stomped mercilessly.

"Who would have thought that the reputation of the Ravagers was just a blatant lie?" They panted.

"They were supposed to hit and run, leaving no traces behind. This is a disaster! If I were superst.i.tious, I'd think that Lukart's incompetence jinxed me. Luckily, it doesn't matter." It took a few deep breaths to calm down

"Worst case scenario, I can give Lukart part of my funds to keep him quiet. I just need a bit more time to put the last pieces in place, before I'm able to destroy this place to its very foundations."

***

Back at the academy, Yurial managed to doctor the story, explaining how they survived the ambush with little damage. To achieve his goal, he had to significantly reduce Lith's contribution to the battle, making a hero out of Friya instead.

Having a Mage Knight capable of Blinking proficiently before the end of the fourth year was something so rare, it even impressed the members of the Queen's corps. Many of them had undergone special training in the military to achieve the same result.

Less than half the students from even the six great academies were able to learn dimensional magic and even less would usually master the Blink spell. It perfectly explained why the initial a.s.sault had failed and how the Ravagers died where they stood.

In Yurial's version of the story, the three of them had provided cover fire while Friya Blinked through the battlefield using her rings to mow down the enemies.

"Your nerve and combat awareness are worthy of the Ernas' name." The Captain of their detail shook Friya's hand with eyes full of respect and admiration.

"If you ever decide to serve the Crown, I'll make sure there will be a spot reserved for you in the Queen's corps."

"Your words are too kind, it wasn't much." Friya was red from embarra.s.sment, not because of the lie, but because she was actually able to do everything Yurial had said, if only she didn't panic.

- "This is the most humiliating moment of my life." She thought. "Being treated as a hero while all I could do was listen to Yurial's orders like a puppet and cover behind Lith's back. After what I went through, I'm still all bark and no bite.

I must master dimensional magic at all costs, until I'm able to turn this shameful lie into reality. I don't want to feel so helpless ever again!"–

"I'm deeply sorry for what happened." Once the corps' men left the office, Linjos gave his students a small bow.

"From now on, Professor Trasque will accompany you during your rounds. Along with the detail, of course. He is the best Battle Mage of the White Griffon. With the corps watching you from a distance and him at your side, it would take a natural disaster to harm you.