Heirs of Magic

Chapter Nine - Hunting.

(a bit before)

"Great, you're all here," Ashiok said with satisfaction.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," said Geva, quite irritated.

"What's wrong? If it works you become a hero" he said "I'm sure you could make a poem out of it."

Geva sighed dissatisfied, the first time besides being inspiring it was fun, but now she was taking too many risks, as an artist she should shine in front of an audience, not die like the others.

"I'm the one who's surprised to be here" said a girl with her arms crossed "if the dean finds out he'll expel me for sure!

"Don't complain, Brian paid you handsomely to let Geva out of the dorm and help us" he said "same for the guy who paved our way.

The girl was a 4th year student, Ashiok looked for her because he needed a specific spell for that plan, he couldn't turn to the teachers, so he looked for someone who was within his reach.

"I would have called someone from the 5th year, but they are all away on training" he justified "you are the only one I know who can help us, did you bring what I asked for?"

The girl named Nira took a necklace from her pocket and handed it to Geva, she was a mind mage specialized in long-distance communication, and the necklace was one of her creations.

"Put on the necklace and we will be able to see and hear everything you see and hear" she explained "we will also be able to communicate with you.

"Amazing, are 4 year olds that good?" said Geva in surprise.

"Don't make fun of me, I'm a genius" she replied irritably.

"So why did you fail a year?" asked Ashiok to tease her" you failed the final test of 5th year didn't you?

"It wasn't my fault, I was studying two courses at the same time!" she argued" and these are very difficult things, you know? You shouldn't underestimate the 5th year!

"Okay, so let's leave it at that" he said "did you memorize your Geva part?

"Are you sure this will work?" asked one of his colleagues" Derek won't believe her, he hates her!

"Exactly, the Derek is alert for anything, but what if we use that to our advantage?" said Ashiok with a haughty air "we sent Geva who already betrayed him once, by logic she would need to be crazy to try to deceive again someone she already killed for that reason, right?

"Certainly, that's how I feel right now" said Geva "a complete madwoman.

"I already said that everything will be fine, if Derek threatens you, Nira will notify the dean immediately" he said calmly "he's a dimensional mage, he can reach you in an instant, and then we'll catch Derek hands-on .

"I hope it's before he kills me" she said "very well, if we're going to do this let's do it at once.

She put the necklace on and her eyes sparkled for a moment, then Nira drew a magic circle in the air, as if it were a screen it started to show everything that Geva saw, it was a very useful magic for espionage.

"That's cool, I'm going to give one of these to that kitten from the combat magic course" said Michel interested "they always change in the locker room before classes.

"It doesn't work without a mind mage using his perverted idiot," warned Nira irritably.

"It's up to you now Geva, good luck" said Ashiok "don't be afraid, we'll protect you.

"It's really good, otherwise I swear I'll turn into a ghost to get revenge" she said going to fulfill her part.

She left irritated, but on the way she was mentally reviewing what she should say to Derek, assuming an artistic posture she relaxed and embodied the role of the redeemed traitor, in the end if that worked she would become a heroine, and might have ideas for a new poem to the gods.

************************************

(not now)

"Okay, let's talk inside," said Derek, motioning for her to follow him.

"In there? You mean in the forbidden area?" Geva said getting nervous.

"Yes, if we stay out here the cleaners can see us" he explained "after what happened to Tafai they don't even want to see me here.

Geva was going to say something but Derek took her hand and guided her, without much choice she followed him, in her head she heard Ashiok's voice saying that everything was going to be fine, that they were recording the images in a crystal.

When Geva saw the iron door, it started to shake, Derek holding her hand, trying not to laugh, the corridor had recently received extra lighting, but the interior of the dungeon was still as dark as ever, and the open door was even more frightening.

"What about the demon that's here? Everyone said that...

"That time it was the guard dog, my master won't arrive until later" said Derek "if you're with me the dog won't do anything, and you can leave before the master arrives.

He took her to the dungeon, but Geva didn't take a step inside, she stayed as far as the light from the hallway inside went, she leaned against a table beside the entrance and Derek pulled out a chair to sit beside her. .

"What the hell is this darkness? I can't see anything in there" complained one of the guys looking at the image on the screen.

"We can only see what she sees, it's no use in the dark" warned Nira "damn it, it was the chance to see the forbidden dungeon!

"So you wanted to warn me of what Ashiok was planning, didn't you?" Derek said "You can tell me now.

Derek looked into the darkness of the dungeon, he could see two pairs of eyes glowing in the dark, as he had predicted Onyx and Napilla heard him talking near the door, and sure enough Onyx would keep quiet to see what he would do, she I was certainly curious to see how this played out.

"Ashiok plans to gather several students to attack him" Geva said "as an excuse he said that they were going to beat me a little, and I would accuse you, then the crowd would save me.

Derek found this plan terrible, even if the dean didn't believe he would have to take effective measures, if the crowd didn't kill him, but the truth was that everything would be right to kill him.

"I didn't like it at all, I don't want to be hit even lightly" said Geva "and also if something goes wrong I can get screwed in the end.

"So you're warning me to protect yourself aren't you?" he asked," at least that's more realistic than saying he had a guilty conscience.

"Ashiok is obsessed with ending you, even if this plan doesn't work he'll try something else" she insisted holding Derek's hand "if he continues he'll involve us even if we don't do anything, I don't want to be expelled!

"So what do you suggest?" asked Derek" because I'm sure you've thought of something.

"If he's going to cause me trouble I'd rather be on his side" she said "I can lure him into a trap, and when he's alone we'll both finish him off."

"As much as I like the idea, if we kill him we will sign our death warrant here" said Derek "besides I don't trust you, you could accuse me if something went wrong.

"Let's bring him here then, the demon that lives here will kill him" she suggested "it would be just another student who violated the rule not to enter here.

Derek stopped to think a little, her plan made sense, if a student enters the dungeon and is killed by Onyx it will be solely her fault, after all she does this all the time with students and even teachers.

"When do you want this for?" he asked.

"Ashiok plans to put his plan into practice in three days" she replied "we can settle the details tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we act.

"Very well, then I'll meet you tomorrow when your classes are over" said Derek "you can come back alone can't you?

Geva thanked her for everything, Derek reassured her that this is just something of common interest, she also reaffirmed that she's just protecting herself, after that she left and that's when Onyx came out of the darkness.

"What do you think?" Derek asked.

"An obvious trap, she wants to make you attack the guy so everyone can see you doing it" said Onyx shaking her head in disappointment "who was the idiot who planned this?

"Surely it's Ashiok's idea, he thinks he's a genius" sneered Derek "he thinks I'd go blind if I stayed one step ahead of him, that I'd confidently go after him to fall into a trap.

"You don't have to do anything, the killer will take care of it" said Onyx.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" asked Derek blankly.

"That girl is going to die, maybe not later than today" said Onyx sitting in her favorite armchair.

"How do you know that? Do you know who the killer is?" Derek asked.

"I really don't know who she is, but I'm sure of what I'm saying" she replied "when this girl dies, another clue will emerge, the killer is leaving a clue every time he kills.

Derek wanted to ask about it, but he knew Onyx would never reveal it, she wanted to see what would happen and not let anything spoil her fun, he also thought about going after Geva, but if Onyx was right the best thing to do was stay away her, her death would be more of an annoyance than a concern anyway.

******************************

"That was disappointing, we didn't see the Derek's master and we didn't even see what the forbidden dungeon looks like" complained one of the guys.

"Hun... if I make a ring and give it to him it might work" said Nira having ideas "the problem is the darkness, but we can work around that.

"Hey, that's not the point here!" complained Ashiok" what do you think Geva? Did he believe you?

"I can't tell, he looks suspicious" she replied through the magic screen "maybe he thinks I'll blame him in the end.

"He really doesn't like you does he? What did you get up to with him anyway?" asked Nira sarcastically.

At that moment the boys saw a light approaching, they quickly ordered Geva to stay where she is and wait, soon a student appeared guided by a sphere of light, he was a 4th year student of light magic.

"Hey, what are you doing here!?" he asked "it's been a long time since curfew, and what are you doing in that corner?

He looked at Nira, she was all nervous about being caught with them, the boy gave a little smile of someone who understood what was going on.

"Wow, I didn't know you were such a sweet tooth Nira" he said rubbing his chin "6 at a time? Why didn't you ever call me?"

"What!? That's not it!!" she screamed "I'm only helping them with one thing!

"Whatever it is, you go to the principal now" he ordered "you too Nira, our duty is to keep students in line, not help them break rules!

He put himself like a military man and ordered everyone to head to the tower, getting caught was not in the plans as that would draw too much attention, Ashiok whispered to Nira and she spoke low too, she told Geva carefully to go back to the girls' dorm alone.

"What the fuck! Look at the trap you put me in!" she said stepping out carefully" you're definitely going to eat out of my hand after this!

Geva slipped through the trees and bushes, she wanted to avoid being seen as much as possible along the way, she then saw the side entrance she used to go out with Nira, they left it unlocked and the light on it off.

"Okay, now just go in and get to my room" she said taking the first step.

Before the second step Geva felt something heavy on her back, in the next instant a pull made her fly backwards into the middle of the trees, she hit a tree and fell stunned to the ground.

"What was this!?" she asked, dizzy from the blow.

Suddenly everything around her became darker and gloomy, she could no longer see anything but the nearby trees, a pair of bright eyes appeared in the middle of the darkness making her tremble with fear, Geva wanted to scream for help, but she felt completely paralyzed and not even her voice came out.

"“What's happening to me? Why can't I get up!?"" she asked herself terrified" "come on, scream! Someone will hear you!"

She couldn't scream and the creature in the shadows advanced, with a quick movement Geva was knocked to the ground and felt a strong hand squeezing her neck, soon another hand grabbed her clothes and with a pull tore it, Geva still couldn't scream but moaned of fear.

"Don't worry, I'll let you scream at the end" said a scary voice.

The creature continued to forcibly tear off her clothes, its claws deeply scarred her body and in the end she was violated, only then could she scream, but it was too late.

*****************************************

"1st year student Geva Riges was found dead this morning" said Androuet sitting in his chair.

The shock hit the group she was part of, Ashiok lost the strength in his legs and fell to his knees on the floor, his equally shocked friends were unresponsive, and across the room Derek seemed to have a different kind of surprise.

"Did she know, how did she know?" wondered Derek "she said she doesn't know who the killer is, but she knew Geva would die...

"Bastard!!! It was you who killed her!!" shouted Ashiok advancing on Derek.

The advance was so fast that it surprised everyone, but before the first punch Izora acted, she created a transparent wall between the two containing the attack.

"Let me finish off that bastard!! He was the one who killed Geva!!" shouted Ashiok.

"It wasn't him, I can guarantee that," said Izora.

"How could you know anything!? You guys don't know anything!" he said "this guy is killing his will and you are on his side!!

"I know it wasn't Derek because I was watching" she revealed "I marked him with a seal, I know exactly where he was at all times.

"What? When did you put that on me!?" Derek wondered.

"Since the first death, I decided it was good to know your steps" she replied "I have a crystal that records your movements at all times, when I heard about the death I went to check it, Derek was in the dungeon the whole time, and then went straight to the dorm.

"That... can't be true... he's cheating his magic..." Ashiok didn't want to believe that.

"I didn't give you permission to do this Izora, later we'll talk about this conduct" said Androuet "but this rash act proved to us that Derek is innocent, at least this time I will overlook it.

"If it wasn't him then who was it!?" asked one of the other guys" the demon that teaches him magic?

"The demon that lives in the dungeon can't get out of there, he's trapped by extremely powerful magic" revealed Androuet "and if he got out I'd know about it.

"Wait, Derek said he wasn't there..." said Nira who was at the back of the room.

"I lied, he was watching my conversation with Geva" he replied "and how you wanted to set me up.

Geva's body was found in the first hour of the day by other students, soon panic ran through the academy, people believing that the Derek was responsible surrounded the male dormitory, and everyone involved in the incident was questioned, Nira showed the recording she made of everything Geva saw and heard.

"Nira, I am deeply disappointed in you, in the absence of the 5th graders you 4th graders take their duties" Androuet said "it's a chance to gain experience and learn, but you allowed a female student to go out at night, and thanks to this she died.

"I'm sorry Mr Androuet" she said bowing in embarrassment.

"And as for you guys, not only did you violate the curfew rule, you were plotting against a colleague bringing discord to the academy" said Androuet very irritated "you are not obliged to like a student, but this sick persecution already cost the lives of three friends!

They stood with their heads down, Androuet's words cutting deep into the soul, Derek where he was, feeling relieved that he'd gotten himself under control and stayed out of it all.

"Three of you had already received a warning for the fight you had with Derek" Androuet said "and yesterday you received a punishment for going out at night, now you are expelled from the academy.

"What!? Expulsion!?" they protested "you can't kick us out, we were trying to catch the blame for all this!!

"Not only is this not your job, you were after the wrong person!" Androuet said, getting up and raising his voice "your friend was raped and suffocated to death! Get out of here and take that thought into your head!!

Three of the students received expulsion, which meant they could never go back to studying at the academy, Ashiok and the other two were one step away from that too, just stepping out of line one more time.

"What about Derek? Won't he get expelled too?" asked one of those who were expelled.

"What did he do wrong?" asked Androuet.

"Taking Geva to the prohibited area isn't enough?" Ashiok asked.

"He's allowed to go, she wasn't, if she follows him there it's her problem not his" replied Androuet "and I won't punish him for your ridiculous plan!"

"Your rules are absurd!!" complained one of them.

"Enough!!" shouted Androuet angrily.

Androuet ordered them to leave, the young people were taken by the secretary as well as Nira, Ashiok gave Derek one last look before leaving and regretted that his plan cost Geva's life.

"How are you feeling my boy?" asked Androuet.

"I'm confused, I thought her death wouldn't worry me" said Derek "but knowing what happened to her... no one deserves to go through that.

"It's good that you have some consideration left" said Androuet "but keep in mind that if Onyx wanted she could have killed the girl, you're playing with a demon, don't forget that.

"Mr. Androuet, I know I don't have the right, but may I ask what they discovered with Geva's death?" he asked.

"Dark magic, a powerful dark magic that couldn't have come from you" said Izora "that poor girl's body was impregnated with dark energy, and the marks also show that it was a monster that did that to her.

"So there's another demon at the academy, one that's doing this," said Derek.

"That's impossible, Onyx is the only demon inside the academy" said Izora "there is a barrier around the academy, if a demon entered we would know about it.

"And if someone teleported here I would know" said Androuet "there's no way a demon could have gotten in, so we're looking for a powerful black mage.

Due to the incident, classes were canceled, Androuet once again gathered all the students of the academy in the courtyard, the commotion was general and inevitable, a student was brutally killed inside the academy, no one felt safe anymore and the revolt only increased.

The dean, together with the professors, explained what they had discovered so far and how the evidence had cleared Derek, many did not accept such an explanation and demanded the student's expulsion, the professors asked everyone to calm down because measures would be taken.

"As has already been said, classes are suspended today, but tomorrow we will return to activities" explained the dean "the rules will be stricter, no one will leave the dorms when the sun goes down, no one will enter this academy without being checked, the teachers will make rounds after the culprit, and one more thing.

The 4th year students were passing the crystal balls to the students, teachers and staff also received one, the objective was to find out if someone was hiding their magical nature, the test was redone and once again the same results.

"There is no black magician infiltrated, neither among the students nor among the teachers and staff" said Androuet "we will monitor everyone who is suspected and ensure that no lives are lost again.

The students were dismissed, the commotion over Geva's brutal death was still strong, but people no longer knew what to do, they could only trust the masters of the academy of magic, masters who were as lost as the students, but wanting regain control, so Androuet met with the top professors in his office.

"I want to hear suggestions and plans" said the dean "you are the wisest and most powerful in the academy, it is not possible that this murderer is playing with us like that!

"Lord Androuet, I'm going to put my seal on the remaining boys" said Izora "I'm going to make one that will alert us if someone with black magic approaches them.

"Do it, if this assassin is targeting them then we need to protect them" replied Androuet "and unseal the Derek, you don't need to guard him anymore.

"Yes sir, and I'm sorry for acting without consulting you" said Izora "I couldn't believe he was innocent.

"That alone is not enough, all the students are scared" said the teacher of combat magic "there is still a danger that the assassin will go after other targets, we need to protect everyone.

"How do you suggest we do that? We would need to take unaffordable measures" said the professor of natural magic "if we change our routine and methods too much, the classes will be harmed, it will be the worst generation of magicians that we would be forming.

"Miu Ziam is right to want to protect everyone, and Bemec is right about us keeping the academy running normally" Androuet said "let's find a method that satisfies both of us.

"Has anyone here thought of consulting Onyx?" asked the teacher of mind magic "she is a demon, maybe she can tell us how to deal with this situation.

"We don't need her! Onyx will only bring us disgrace if we start listening to her!" protested Izora.

"Is that you as a light mage speaking? Or as the rookie teacher who fell into her clutches?" asked the other sarcastic.

"How dare you!..." she snarled furiously.

"That was unnecessary Urdum" said the dimensional magic master "I agree that we should at least consult her, but we should always have reservations about what she says.

"So let's make her join us" said Androuet casting a spell.

He created a circle with the arcane writing and this circle turned into a window, it was connected with another window that opened in Onyx's dungeon, and the succubus was sitting in her armchair as if she already expected it.

"Hello everyone, hi Izora and Bemec! Come visit me sometime, so we can remember old times" she said waving.

"You slut..." said Izora clenching her fist.

"Wow, it's more beautiful than I imagined" said Miu Ziam all blushing.

"That's kind, come visit me too" Onyx asked "I promise to treat you very well.

"When all this fuss is over" he replied smiling like a fool.

"Onyx my dear, we're going around in circles here" said Androuet "could you shed some light... I mean enlighten us a little bit?"

"That would be awfully lame but I can give you a hint" she said "whoever is doing this isn't following any plan, they're just having fun."

"What? This doesn't make any sense!" said Urdum" so far all the deaths have reached people who were involved with Derek, this clearly demonstrates the intention to blame or avenge him!

"See what I said? You suggested consulting her and now you're the most frustrated" mocked Izora.

Onyx smiled and undid the window herself, Androuet sighed heavily, he knew her bad personality would like to see this mess, that's when a thought hit him.

"What if the killer's goal is to destroy the academy?" asked Androuet "these deaths will soon become public, our reputation will be destroyed, that is if the internal chaos does not affect us first.

"Indeed, if this continues the emperor will be furious" said Urdum "your heir is here and we seem unable to protect her.

"We will not allow another death to happen, we will catch this murderer and punish him" said Androuet "and we will not let him reach his goal either, classes will follow normally.

The teachers agreed and began to draw up defense plans, even that night magic machines controlled by Androuet patrolled the entire land, watched all entrances and exits, the 4th year students who studied combat magic would act as guards, and so that night nothing bad happened.

*******************************************

"And because of that Derek will come back to our class" said the professor with the student at his side "I hope you get along well from now on, or at least don't fight.

Derek thanked the teacher and went to sit in a vacant seat, after his innocence was proven the other students could not complain about his presence, but many were still dissatisfied, because one way or another they considered these incidents as his fault.

"If he hadn't come none of this would have happened" grumbled a frustrated girl.

Two chairs were empty now, one of them belonged to Geva who was killed, and the other belonged to one of the expelled students, because of that Derek sat at a table where there was only one other person sitting with him.

"It's been said before, but I'll say it again, we can't let these brutal deaths ruin our year" the teacher said "let's keep our routine as much as possible, restrict them as little as possible, and ensure everyone's safety.

The class continued in a very bad atmosphere, partly due to Geva's brutal death, and partly due to the presence of Derek, predicting that today's class was only theoretical.

"The spells are classified in 9 levels, the ones of level 1 are those that you will learn this year, until the 5th year you will learn spells of level 5" explained the professor "now I will explain the limits of a mage.

"Professor, if they're only going to teach up to the 5th level, how are we going to learn the most powerful ones?" asked one of the students.

"The simplest answer is that you'll have to fend for yourself and learn on your own" he replied "a real mage does research, trains and develops his own spells, if they only work with what they've been taught they'll never progress.

The teacher explained about the levels of the spells and the different schools, a person who was from the combat school could learn all the spells in this school, but if he chose another school he would only be able to reach a maximum of 5th level spells.

"How many different schools can a mage learn?" asked another student.

"Apart from your own? You can learn one more with certain ease, you spend on average twice as much time and effort to learn a different magic" replied the professor "and if you live long enough and dedicate a lot of time to it you can learn another one, anyone who dominates three schools of magic is called an archmage, the minimum necessary to occupy the position of dean of the academy.

With the signal announcing the end of the class, everyone was released, normally the two free hours were used for lunch and relaxing, but many were not in the mood for that, some went straight to the dorms to rest, others ate without any enthusiasm, mainly due to the fact that strange metallic creatures were prowling the cafeteria and other areas.

"What are those things?" asked Derek with interest.

"These are things called golems, artificial beings powered by magic" explained Urick "you learn to make them in the school of creation magic.

"Her?... you can do anything with magic anyway" said Derek "I haven't seen any creation magic classes yet, maybe I'll take a look there.

"You spy on other classes, right? Why did you never show up in mine?" asked Urick.

"I'm pretty sure I don't match the magic of inspiration" said Derek laughing "besides that Geva was there, at least until two days ago.

He remembered the girl, Derek deeply hated her for what she did to him, but still she didn't deserve the end she had, he stopped to ask himself if he really didn't care about the deaths of any of his enemies.

"Onyx knew that Geva was going to die, I would like to know how" said Derek.

"Who's Onyx?" asked Urick.

"It's my teacher, she... I shouldn't talk about it" said Derek "ah nevermind, it's too late.

"So it's a woman? I suspected it" said Urick "you whispered strange things when you came back from there.

"That's beside the point now, what matters is that she knew Geva was going to die" said Derek blushing.

"If she's a demon, she must know something that only demons know" said the other "so outside a demon, who else would know about this race?

"Hun... I think I already know who I'm going after" said Derek getting up from the table.

Derek followed the corridors looking for the room that interested him, following the signs he found the room where dimensional magic classes were taught, upon entering he saw the teacher having lunch at her table, there were several huge mirrors spread across the walls, but they did not reflect the interior of the room, reflected unknown landscapes.

"What do you want in my room?" asked the woman.

"Sorry to interrupt your lunch, I wanted to ask you a few questions before your classes started" explained Derek going to her "but what are these mirrors?

"Ordinary mirrors that I turned into dimensional windows, they show other dimensions" explained the woman "that flower garden, for example, is in another world, as well as that lava field.

Derek was impressed, he counted about 10 mirrors and each one showed a different landscape, the landscapes moved as if the observer was moving, before his admiration the woman cleared her throat to call his attention.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry" said Derek sheepishly "I would like to know if one demon can sense the presence of another.

"It's perfectly possible, they can feel each other" she replied "and the stronger the demon the easier it is for them to locate each other.

"I see, so if someone summoned a demon here at the academy, Onyx would know about it, wouldn't she?" he continued.

"Certainly, but no demons were summoned at the academy" she explained "our barrier detects both a summoning spell and a demon entering naturally.

"Isn't there a way to bypass this barrier?" Derek asked.

"Only if whoever tries to enter is stronger than the person who made the barrier" she replied "then she could use magic to confuse the system, but our barrier was made by lord Androuet.

"And there probably aren't many magicians stronger than he is?" said Derek" but isn't there a loophole they didn't think of?

"The barrier detects who enters walking, flying or digging, there is no blind spot" she explained "if you don't enter physically the only way is to teleport, something that Mr. Androuet would notice, can you think of another way?

Derek had to agree with her, if the barrier was perfect like that there was no way for a demon to get into the academy, but that didn't clear up his problem, if Onyx knew Geva was going to die it was because she knew the killer was after her, but how could she know? that?

"You're asking this because you know the details, aren't you?" she said referring to the details about Geva's death.

"Onyx knew she was going to die, at the time I was wondering how she could know" he confessed "but after Geva died I figured she knew there was a demon in the academy.

"We're breaking our heads over this, but we won't let it happen again" said the teacher "so you don't have to do anything, in fact it's better that you don't do anything.

"I don't like this, that this monster is having fun and blaming me" he said seriously "if you catch him I want to take a good look at him.

The teacher nodded and went back to eating, Derek thanked him for the help and left, going back to the cafeteria, lunch time was near the end and he was still hungry, going back to where Urick was he sat down and started eating some crackers.

"Did you get what you wanted?" asked the other.

"Professor Thalia explained everything to me, listening to her anyone comes to the conclusion that a demon did not enter the academy" said Derek "but I don't conform!

"Maybe we're thinking the wrong way, what if the culprit wants us to think he's a demon?" suggested Urick" he can use black magic and any beast can't he?

Derek thought about it, once Onyx covered Napilla with dark magic and she looked like a demon, maybe someone had done something similar and was using a monster that way, but that still raised more questions.

"If something happens we'll know" said Derek "not that I want anything to happen of course.

Urick waved and Derek looked back, he saw the girls passing by to put the dirty dishes back, seeing him Merilda waved, and Derek waved back, he couldn't say why he did that.

*******************************************

"Do you think something will happen today?" asked one of the students.

"I hope so, it will suck if nothing happens" replied Professor Miu Ziam "the longer it takes, the more the academy will be harmed.

Miu Ziam was the master of combat magic, wearing full armor and carrying his sword he was ready to fight, from inside the academy tower he watched the open areas, along with him were 10 students of the school of combat magic.

"How do you manage to stay asleep?" asked one of his students yawning.

"After I graduated here I joined the army, I spent 5 years fighting exclusively as a soldier without using magic" he replied proudly "after that my body and my Mana got stronger, I can endure three days without sleep and use magic for hours!

His students didn't know how much of that was true and what was exaggeration, but they knew of their master's strength, this man could take down warriors with just brute force, and when he fought using magic he could bring down entire platoons, he has already defeated monsters and hell, so when he reached the rank of general he decided to become a teacher.

"As a general you could have a title of nobility and whatever else you wanted, why did you decide to become a teacher?" asked one of the students.

"A general doesn't go to the front all the time, I didn't like the idea of ​​leading and letting my subordinates die" he replied "so I thought it was better to form new combat mages instead of giving orders.

Miu Ziam rested his hands on the railing he looked at the open areas of the academy, the golems controlled by Androuet patrolled the region, one of them in the form of a bird was perched on his shoulder, its function was to warn him if something happened.

"What's the worst thing you've ever killed?" asked one of the students.

"A green dragon, one of those who manipulate the earth and spit hydrochloric acid" he replied "the bastard ambushed us when we were patrolling the border, killed my entire platoon and almost finished me off.

"Amazing! When will we be able to do this?" asked one of them excitedly.

"Don't even want to face one, the animals are smart, strong and resistant" is like facing a force of nature armored with scales and armed with magic, fangs and claws.

Miu Ziam stopped talking when the bird on his shoulder fluttered, it flew off in one direction, Miu Ziam immediately understood that this meant the killer was seen.

"Come after me, but your function is to close the siege" said Miu Ziam casting a spell "I'll finish off that bastard personally!

Miu Ziam jumped from the tower and his magic was activated, he quickly took to the skies and flew after the bird, his students watched him from the ledge, the teacher surrounded by a bright aura in the form of wings.

"Who here has mastered flying magic?" asked one of them, seeing the professor already far away.

"We'd better get going" said another already casting the spell "the spell {fast steps} makes us as fast as horses.

They all cast the same spell and ran away, they knew they wouldn't arrive in time to help much, but they hoped to cooperate with the siege, if the opponent was that dangerous their biggest fear was that he would run away.

*********************************

"Back!" screamed a desperate woman.

Nira felt a wall behind her, in front of her a person covered by a ragged black cloak, among them the body of her 4th year companion who tried to protect her, both were ambushed while patrolling and had no time to defend themselves.

"Someone help her!!" shouted a student who was looking out of one of the windows.

The hooded killer raised a sword to attack her, it was at that moment that lightning was shot at him, it was Miu Ziam who was flying at full speed, seeing the professor the killer quickly ran away.

"So you know the {quick paces} too, don't you?" said the professor chasing him" but it cannot match the speed of {falcon wings}

The professor landed in front of the unknown enemy, a man wearing a cloak that covered him from head to toe, his face covered by a rolled cloth, in his left hand he held a curved blade, he was a perfect assassin.

"I'll give you the chance to surrender" said Miu Ziam "not that it means getting out of here unharmed of course.

The man raised his free hand and drew a single arcane symbol, quickly the symbol exploded and turned into a cloud of black smoke, the mysterious man was enveloped by it while Miu Ziam retreated a few steps.

"Instant casting, that means you're as good as a 5th year student" said Miu Ziam excitedly "but I don't...

From within the black cloud several black wolves emerged, the wild pack advanced and attacked Miu Ziam, he quickly retaliated with his magic sword cutting the wolves, their bodies were dissolving into black goo and soon disappeared.

"Summoning magic? It's good enough to bring a pack of night" said Miu Ziam defending himself "that already puts you on the same level as a beginner teacher!

When the amount of wolves increased Miu Ziam worried, he knew he could handle it but he feared that his opponent would escape, that's when his students arrived, without even needing to command they used attack magic and began to annihilate the wolves, it was a job easy for students like them.

"Good job guys, I'll guarantee you an extra point" said Miu Ziam advancing "now it's my turn!

He charged his magic into the sword and cut the distance, cutting the cloud in half he revealed his opponent, he was inside a barrier and had already made another invocation, he had summoned three demons to fight for him.

"What the fuck!? Summoning demons is a 6th level spell!!" said Miu Ziam scared" how can he do that!?

The logic of magic was being challenged in this fight, a dark magician must have dark magic as main, but being like this as a dimensional magician he could only go up to the 5th level of magic, he would never have enough power to summon real demons.

"Don't just stand there you fool! Think about it later!" ordered someone.

Izora arrived flying to the battlefield, she spotted the demons and quickly conjured a single arcane symbol, with it a ray of pure light was shot annihilating one of the demons instantly, she then landed beside Miu Ziam who positioned herself on guard.

"He's going to summon more demons!" said Miu Ziam seeing the man writing the spell normally.

"Give me cover, I'll conjure up those abominations" said Izora starting to write the spell "be a good shield until then.

"Hunf! Like I'm just going to be defensive!" he said advancing to the attack.

Miu Ziam wasn't being impulsive or careless, he knew that his students would cover for Izora if a demon got past him, with that confidence he focused all his power into the attack while Izora prepared her high level magic.

Upon reaching the first demon Miu Ziam attacked from below upwards, the blade shone with the magic engraved on it doubling its attack power, thanks to that it opened a tear in the chest of the demon that was destroyed.

The second demon attacked from the side, with his claw he tried to cut Miu Ziam, but fortunately his armor reinforced with magic withstood the attack suffering only a scratch, he retaliated using his shoulder to knock the demon to the ground and stick his sword in his chest.

But the problems weren't over, the killer managed to complete his summoning magic, and three new demons appeared, Miu Ziam started to worry when Izora's magic finally got ready, a wave of light swept everything within a 100m radius, the summoned demons screamed in agony and crumbled to dust.

"I have finished off the creatures of darkness, and no more will come" she warned "my {sacred spell} will keep any new demons from appearing for an hour.

"Thanks Izora! That's all I wanted to hear" said Miu Ziam running to his opponent "the most annoying thing about dealing with summoners is having to deal with these pests!

As he advanced he conjured his own magic, three balls of fire appeared over him and flew to the target, they broke the barrier that protected the enemy, he turned his back trying to flee but was soon reached.

"That's for all the young people you killed!!" said Miu Ziam running her sword through him.

The sword went through the back and came out through the chest, the mysterious man screamed in pain before vomiting blood and dying, from the girls' dormitory windows all the girls screamed and applauded the hero, he had finally done justice.

"This is very sad" said Izora approaching Miu Ziam.

"Huh? What's sad about it all?" he asked, putting the dead enemy's body on the ground.

"Those girls, they've just seen a man brutally killed," she said, "and yet they're clapping and screaming as if they've seen a performance.

"I know you're a pacifist, but no one in this world mourns the death of a murderer" he said "even one that terrified you for so long.

Izora would have to accept that truth, and Miu Ziam, anxious for the outcome of it, removed the cloth that covered his enemy's face, he truly prayed not to see Derek's face under the cloth, but the face he saw left him surprised. .

"Hey hey hey, this is Hugo isn't it?" he asked seeing her face contorted and covered in blood.

"We suspected him, but we didn't think he was capable of all this" said Izora shocked "he's been working here almost as long as I have, he's never harmed anyone...

"That's not it, this guy started as a dark mage but dropped out in the first year, and then he went to study creation magic" said Miu Ziam confused "he graduated as a creation mage, but he was using dimensional magic in our fight!!

"Does that mean he's mastered three schools of magic? Is he an archmage?" asked Izora even more shocked" how can that be? Common sense says that it takes at least 50 years to be a master in three schools.

"That means he managed to deceive common sense" said Androuet, appearing through a portal "and by the way, excellent work you guys did.

He walked over to where the body was, looking at Hugo he couldn't help but feel sorry for him, that boy had been through hell in Onyx's hands and now he was completely lost, sighing he shook his head and bent down to look for something under the cloak, he pulled out a black yolk as big as a hen's egg.

"That explains the high level of magic he could use" said Izora "an onyx gem of that size could double the power of an ordinary student.

"Someone saved up enough to buy this beauty" said Miu Ziam "but that doesn't explain how he could use dimensional magic.

"We'll have all the time we need to investigate this later" said Androuet "the important thing is that we finally caught the culprit, we can breathe a sigh of relief going forward.

Androuet declared the end of the academy killer, again the girls cheered cheering their heroes, from a window Merilda saw the scene before her, a pool of blood and a corpse on top of her, for some reason that didn't make her happy at all.

In the dungeon of the academy Derek could almost feel the vibes of euphoria outside, wondering what was going on he thought about going outside to investigate, that's when he saw Onyx smiling, she turned from laughter to a sinister cackle, Napilla quickly hid underneath from a table, and Derek felt like hiding with her.