Verlin Merlin
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Chapter 38- The Dean is up to something again.
🕑 Added 2022-06-08 14:16:20 +0000 UTCMatilda
“I need your help, Matilda.” Antasia said, taking a seat before her.
“The missing Satyrs?” Matilda asked. A few Satyr children had snuck into the city, and had gone missing. The Satyrs were beside themselves, an Elder had taken residence in the city and was insisting on sending Antasia's people to the surface. At the same time the Xnarthan were pouring into the city.
“Yes, what do you know?” Antasia asked.
“Not much, sadly. The children teleported into the Merchants district, they were seen wearing extremely baggy clothes. A few hours later, they disappeared from everyone’s eyes. I can confirm that the Xnarthan weren’t involved, so you can rest assured there.
The entire contingent was away welcoming the Emperor’s disciple. Oh, and congratulations on finally connecting with an Elder.” she said.
“Yes, yes. I know it's a good thing, but it will only last if the children are found. At least the Xnarthan thing is good. But I do need your help on this, Matilda.” Antasia said.
“The kids’ warehouse lab needs protection, and I am sure you could use their help. I could have Ray ask them to keep an eye out for them.” Matilda offered. “I would also not rule out the Xnarthan, the Emperor’s disciple arriving is too big a coincidence. An ambitious member could be outsourcing. The Order is getting money from somewhere, and the Xnarthan have a big budget.
I suspect some kind of underground slave ring.” Matilda suggested. “Ray just became the College Dean’s disciple, I could ask him to get some information on new materials.” Matilda said.
“The passage of information is rather fast isn’t it? Anita found out about the attack within minutes. And here you are knowing information before me. Tell me, what have you been up to?” Antasia said.
“Oh, nothing much. The information thing was all Ariana, she is good with some things you know.” Matilda said.
“Ah, so she knows about you now.” Antasia said.
“Yes, she figured it out, and so did Ray. Not a very hard thing to do if you know me. The Xnarthan thankfully don’t. The Scholar is a mysterious powerful woman, I am a weak Tier 3.” Matilda answered.
“I see that your deception skills have improved with time.” Antasia noted, leaning towards her.
“What high praise from the cripple daughter of a Duchess that was thrown out at the age of five but is secretly the Tier 29 Rebel Queen. Tell me, do you still have a doppelganger fool your mother?” the Scholar asked.
The Rebel Queen’s face hardened as she said. “Yes, and no, I will not forgive her. Just because she comes to see me does not mean that I care about her. And she has never approached me either.”
“Well, I am not going to debate keeping contact with one’s parents. I don’t exactly have a foot to stand on. But I do want taht security. Do you suppose that you could assign a few Tier 10s?” Matilda replied.
“As long as you can ensure that in addition to you helping out they will also contribute to the search.” Antasia said.
“I can’t ensure that, they are Ray’s people.” Matilda said.
“I can’t offer protection then. I have better things for them to do now. Perhaps tomorrow.” Antasia said.
Matilda assigned, she should have expected this. The Satyrs were breathing down Antasia’s neck, she needed all the help she could get.
“Can I confirm with you later after talking with Ray?” Matilda asked.
“Perhaps, I will be busy for a while.” Antasia said as she got up and left. Matilda clutched a yellow communication stone in her hand. Well, here was to hoping Ariana had a solution.
Ray
“So, what does this mean, the entire disciple thing?” RAy asked.
“Well, for starters, it means you get to choose a new wand. Though I think we should wait a bit for that, this one is still working. The next is a long list of banned books and artifacts that will help you do Alchemy. The Empire may hate certain things, but Alchemy does not follow the Emperor's instructions.
Here, these should help you level up your Alchemy skill a bit.” the Armorer handed Ray a list of things. “And the Learning skill. I know you have both. Oh, and Master wants to see you so that you can raise your Mana manipulation and Magic bases. A lot of learning to do.” the Armorer said, as Ray was teleported into a chair.. Ray was still trying to quieten the headache.
“Have a bit of tea, it helps with headaches.” the Dean’s voice said. Ray obeyed, the headache had to go.
“So, what do you know about the general situation of the Empire at large?” the Dean asked, his voice calm.
“Not much, Ray answered, his headache fading quickly.
“Well, then I shall explain. The Commoners as you know, usually cap out at Tier 3. A few progress further, reaching as high as Tier 10. The Empire caps them at that level. The nobility average at Tier 13, the useless ones making up the majority. The mana from directly eating monsters is considered harmful to one’s future progress, it's why Alchemists are needed. The process costs a lot, and cuts off a third of the monster’s mana.”
“Wait, how come I didn’t see one of these potions in teh library books?” Ray asked, now puzzled.
“The potions are usually taught in the fifth year onwards. Now, back to the topic.So these fools take monster parts directly, like your friend Corriss. I doubt he would have progressed past Tier 13,Tier 14 maybe. The Academy is around to encourage more Tier 15s. The Army is the one that produces Tier 13s en masse. At Tier 15, things change.” the Dean leaned forward as Ray listened with rapt attention.
“The quality of mana gets a significant boost for one.Elements mutate, change into something else. The new ones are often more powerful. And sometimes more restrictive. I can teleport, only teleport. But I can teleport far. A Tier 6 Space Mage could do a lot more, but they would fail at certain distances. I would not.
Ariana is a mystery, her fire seems to be too powerful, too unrestricted for me to make statements about. The Academy Dean, my brother, is another mystery. A Tier 24, but he hasn’t publicly made a move since he reached Tier 15. The only thing he did was pass through the path of greats.
Oh, did you know your sister did that? An inspiration that one. I do find it admirable that she went so far to protect you. And I find it even more admirable that she made sure to scam my brother for every enny she could after ward. A pity she is my brother's heir now, I would have taken her as a disciple otherwise.”
“ Now onto more important matters,”- the Dean conjured a sheet of paper, the fancy kind of paper that Ray had only seen on certificates and the like. “As of right now, you have officially graduated from the College, and are a full Mage.”
The Dean said, handing Ray the piece of paper, or rather putting it on a table, Ray was still eating.
“Why?” Ray asked, puzzled.
“Well, you don't exactly have much to learn there. The professors are still going to be rude, and you have me to teach you now. Not to mention the books here. So you can go and take up a position as a teacher instead.”
“A fifteen year of=ld teacher?’” Ray asked
“Yes, so that you can teach commoners, you have a skill for that don’t you? Well you will get one if you don’t . I am sure of it. Oh , and do keep track of your titles, the System does not always tell you when you have one, and it can be very irritating if you get one and don’t maximize its benefits”
Ray just stared at the dean for a few seconds, processing what had happened. A lot of things had changed in the space of a few minutes. ‘System, titles please.’ Ray thought.
Titles:
[The hope], [The Dean’s disciple], [College teacher]
“What do these even mean?” Ray asked.
“Well, you can ask the System that, the title’s effects vary from person to person.” the Dean answered, still eerily calm.
‘System, what do these titles mean?’ Ray asked the System.
[The Dean’s disciple]: The title gives you greater prestige in some forums, access to restricted areas and a lot of information. Not to mention the guidance of one very sly old man.
[College teacher]: As the youngest of College teachers, you get the most special of benefits, the ability to teach as you wish, since barely anyone will be coming to your class at all.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,”Ray said.
Well, that depends on what your expectations were.” the dean said. “I do think these are fine titles, and I can’t really offer better ones. The way you reacted makes me think that you have a better one. Now that’s curious.”
