Heirs of Magic

Chapter Ten - Truth Revealed

Androuet did not expect to have to make so many pronouncements in a single month, since this crisis began he had already called the students several times, always bearing bad news or trying to clear up misunderstandings.

But today he was happy, during the night the teachers Izora and Miu Ziam stopped the mysterious killer, and the dawn brought a new safer and more peaceful day for the students.

"And so I declare the end of emergency measures" announced Androuet "the curfew will still persist for another week, but you can now rest assured.

The students applauded the dean, and right behind him the hero teachers, Izora waved to people laughing a little shyly, Miu Ziam raised his hand waving with strength and smiling at the girls, many already in love with him.

"Still I will apologize, I apologize for the terror you have lived these past few days" Androuet said seriously "I apologize for the lives lost, friends who are gone and will not return, I also apologize to Derek for everything he had to endure .

Several looked at Derek, during the crisis everyone was sure he was the culprit, they almost killed and tormented him, some felt ashamed and others were surprised, while Derek looked sad.

"I've already taken an hour of your time, so I ask you to go to your rooms, and that another day of school begins" asked Androuet "a day without fear of a monster among us.

The students once again applauded when Androuet and the teachers left, the feeling of accomplished revenge relieved everyone, so the students split into groups to go to their rooms much happier and calmer.

"Derek, hey Derek!" screamed Merilda calling him "wait a minute.

The boy turned to the side and saw the girl running towards him, as soon as he reached him they started walking together, she saw that Derek didn't seem happy with the conclusion of it all.

"Is it possible that I was so wrong about him?" asked Derek" he didn't look like a psychopath.

"I feel sorry for you, you were friends weren't you?" Merilda said" but unlike you he was weak and succumbed to darkness, he was dominated by that monster.

"Onyx? She didn't even remember that Hugo existed" he replied "she wasn't involved, I say that because she seemed like a child eager to know the end of the story, if she was the mentor she wouldn't be having so much fun.

"I don't know if it's good that you're able to understand a demon's mindset," Merilda said a little awkwardly.

Derek was overthinking this, knowing he wouldn't be able to concentrate in class made a decision, he changed his course and headed for the elevator.

"Wait, what about class?" Merilda asked.

"You'll explain later" he said from inside the elevator "I have something to do.

Merilda crossed her arms finding him abused, but she understood what he was going through now, Derek using the magic elevator reached the top of the academy tower, there a huge door separated him from the dean, but the image of his secretary appeared before the door.

"Do you have business with the dean?" asked the woman.

"Your name is... Falma isn't it? I need to speak with Mr. Androuet" asked Derek.

"Mr Androuet is very busy right now, you will have to schedule a visit" she said "preferably not during class time.

Derek remained in front of the door, the secretary was staring at him seriously until it seemed that she was distracted, then her image disappeared and the door opened, Derek took this as an invitation to enter.

"I can take half an hour of my time to welcome you my boy" said the gentleman sitting in his armchair "I imagine you want explanations don't you?

"Mr. Androuet, can you tell me everything you've discovered?" Derek asked.

"Hugo graduated from our academy as a creation mage, but secretly continued to study dark magic" explained Androuet "he obtained an onyx gem of immense power, enough to place him on the same level as our teachers.

"But I heard he summoned monsters and demons during the fight" said Derek "how was he able to do that?

"We don't know, maybe he learned some special magic among the dark magic" replied Androuet "dark magic is very versatile, it is not impossible that among them there is one capable of invoking demons.

Dimensional magicians weren't the only ones capable of summoning beings, nature magicians could summon animals, combat magicians could summon elementals, creation magicians could summon beings that they themselves created, stopping to think calmly, it wasn't impossible for a high level dark mage summon demons.

Androuet explained that his almost 10 years of inactivity was a result of still studying, that he probably only now acquired such power and wanted to test it, Androuet also mentioned that perhaps the arrival of the Derek has accelerated his actions, having a new student from the darkness Hugo would try to impress him.

"I can't believe this, that he would be able to kill those people" said Derek, squeezing his fist "he liked to learn, he became a librarian so he could read as much as he wanted!

"I was also shocked by all this, but the truth is only one" said the dean "people can be wrong about other people, everyone here thought you were the murderer, you proved the opposite.

Derek lowered his head, he was still unhappy with the outcome of all this, thanking the dean he took the way out, but Androuet called for him.

"By the way, you left today's class without permission" said the gentleman signing a paper "so take advantage of your free time to fertilize the patio flowers.

"You don't forgive one do you?" said Derek taking the punishment order.

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

It was a peaceful day for everyone, classes returned to their normal pace as did the students.

During the morning classes Derek was busy fertilizing the flowers, when he finished it was lunch time, after cleaning up Derek went to the cafeteria and found Urick already having lunch, the boy called for him and Derek joined to eat.

"Everyone is happy, it doesn't seem like we've been scared to death of the killer for a whole week" said the boy "and no one looks at you the wrong way anymore.

"I'm still suspicious, all because I'm a dark magician" replied Derek rolling the pasta on the fork "after all it was a black magician who did all this, wasn't it?

Urick looked to the side and made a sign to Derek, he looked in the same direction and sighed heavily when he saw Ashiok, he was coming towards him along with the other two who set him up, Derek was already tired of this and determined that if they started a quarrel would respond in kind.

"I was looking for you, I need to tell you something" said Ashiok.

"Really? And what would that be?" asked Derek with a bored tone.

"I will assume I was wrong and apologize for accusing you of murder" said Ashiok with his arms crossed "I will also apologize for trying to frame you when you were innocent.

The astonished face Derek made was priceless, even Urick was surprised, the other two also apologized for being part of the plan to expel him from the academy.

"Didn't you forget to apologize for the beating you gave him?" asked Urick.

"No, because I don't consider it my mistake" said Ashiok leaving.

"Well at least he's an idiot with salvation" said Urick "how does Derek feel now?

"I'm still digesting that," he replied, "along with that meatloaf.

The lunch visits didn't end, shortly after Merilda appeared looking for him, she opened her backpack and took a notebook from inside handing it to Derek.

"What is that?" he asked.

"My notebook for this month, I asked a 3rd year student to duplicate it" she replied "the magic of creation is very useful at these times.

Derek leafed through the notebook seeing all her notes since the month began, everything well organized and in a very beautiful handwriting, which was what one would expect from such a diligent student.

"Why do you use gold paint?" he asked curiously.

"It's for a light spell so I can read my notes in the dark" she said "I like to review before bed.

"I appreciate you always trying to help me" he said getting up "and sorry for the inconvenience.

With his words Merilda got all red, Urick started to laugh about the situation, for him the whole day was full of surprises.

Derek thanked the two and left to rest, while he reviewed Merilda's notes he decided he was going to spy on the creation magic class, but as he looked at the content of today's class something caught his attention.

"“Mana signature”? Is it possible to recognize someone's mana in particular?" he asked, reading carefully.

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

"hahaha! You guys are excited today!!" said Miu Ziam retaliating the attacks" more than the boys!

The master of combat magic was surrounded, around him 100 students wielded wooden swords, their bodies had a thin aura of energy denouncing the use of magic.

Of the 100 students about 70 were girls, they were strangely engaged in fighting, Miu Ziam believed that the demonstration he gave yesterday encouraged everyone, they saw a true combat mage fighting someone who scared them.

The students attacked en masse with the aim of knocking him out, Miu Ziam dodged the most obvious blows and retaliated with his wooden sword, a violent blow that could seriously injure an ordinary person but had a moderate effect on bodies protected by magic, when many people they were about to hit him Miu Ziam concentrated the Mana on the weapon, turning his body he created a force that sent everyone away.

"Only the girls witnessed yesterday's fight, so what did you learn from that fight?" he asked" you sure saw how me and Izora fought.

The girls began to think about it, in that fight Izora was in charge of using the most powerful spells, Miu Ziam served as a sword and shield for her to have time to conjure what she needed, so the secret was to coordinate and divide tasks.

"From now on I'm going to fight seriously, you have 3 minutes to prepare" announced Miu Ziam writing the magic around her "I want ALL students fighting as a single unit.

Miu Ziam finished writing the spell and his body glowed, in the blink of an eye his body was covered by the battle armor he wore yesterday, his greatsword also appeared at his side to be wielded.

He had already explained in previous classes, his armor had engraved all the physical reinforcement magic on it, his sword had a powerful magic that multiplied his attack power, just by wearing the armor and wielding his sword he was already a fearsome opponent.

The 500 combat course students gathered around them, it was decided that those with the most combat skill would stay in front, those with the most talent for conjuring would stay behind, that was the standard combat formation, during the three minutes they were given cast protection and reinforcement spells.

"It seems that you understood the situation, so I'll give you one last warning" said Miu Ziam seriously "I won't contain my attack, if you can't stop me I'll kill whoever is in front of me.

He started the 30-second countdown, some students, faced with fear, simply froze, others seemed determined not to die, as Miu Ziam was in the center of the circle, you couldn't tell which side he was going to attack, so everyone got ready.

With 10 seconds left, the students erected energy shields around the perimeter of the circle, Miu Ziam mentally praised their preparation.

When the count reached zero Miu Ziam ran to his left, immediately the students on that side who were in front reinforced their shields, the students from the other directions undid theirs and concentrated on attacking, everyone who was in the back rows started to using attack spells, in an instant it was raining energy arrows, flying blades and everything else they had learned in the last few months.

"Nice try, but not enough!" he said still advancing.

With his sword he countered all the attacks that came from the front, allowing himself to be hit by the attacks from behind, he focused all his attention on the barriers ahead, the students in the back stopped attacking and created walls to protect those in front.

"I will show you a 5th level spell" said Miu Ziam casting the spell "[power that inhabits my soul, transform into a force to obliterate my enemies {destruction wave}]

When he finished casting the spell, a huge mass of Mana was concentrated on the sword, raising it above his head and attacking quickly he released all that strength, a wave of energy came out tearing the ground towards the students, it collided against the shields and walls of energy and destroyed one by one, when reaching the students they were swept away completely.

But in the same fraction of a second that Miu Ziam attacked someone acted, a figure quickly approached him from the right jumping and attacking, Aella attacked with all her strength using all her Mana in reinforcement spells, with increased strength and speed she managed to surprise Miu Ziam attacking her head, she hit so hard that the wooden sword practically exploded.

"Oh, you!..." Miu Ziam, upon receiving the blow, bent forward.

The blow drew blood from the back of his neck, even so he stabilized and retaliated by grabbing Aella by the neck, knocking her to the ground he stepped on her belly making her cough, but then he started laughing.

"hahahahahah well done, you attacked me at my most vulnerable moment!" praised him" and look at that! Nobody died!

He said that seeing the students who were devastated by his magic, almost all were covered in blood and with broken bones, but most were still conscious, the others from the opposite direction thanked the gods that they were not the victims.

"You worked well, you used wisely all the knowledge you had so far" he praised "you knew how to manage defense and attack very well, thanks to that you are still in one piece, the majority of course.

"I appreciate the compliment, but I'd rather get it after you get your fucking foot off me!!" screamed Aella attacking Miu Ziam between the legs.

She used what was left of her sword to attack him in the lower parts, Miu Ziam, upon receiving the blow, widened his eyes and fell backwards to the ground, he rolled on the ground moaning in pain while a rescue team arrived to help the injured students.

"Frankly, that bastard needs to learn to take it easy!" complained the head of the team "look at that! It looks more like a massacre, it's a miracle no one died!

The medical team was made up of 20 professionals who were already on hand, in addition to them the 4th year students helped as nurses, all those who studied recovery magic were there to help them.

It took an hour to stabilize everyone, the most injured students were taken to the infirmary, the mildest were treated right there, the ones in the worst condition would take a couple of days to recover.

"Mr. Androuet is going to be furious when he sees this, you know?" said the chief of doctors" you don't seem to know the difference between rookies and veterans you retard!

"You're a magician of light specialized in restoration, you're going to put their bones back in place" said Miu Ziam getting up "besides I'll reward them for their effort, all students will receive my approval.

"An approval? Like we get when we pass a test?" asked queen" but the date has not yet arrived...

"In addition to the official tests, a teacher can give his approval if the students exceed his expectations" he explained "this helps them recover if they have failed a test, or serves as a bonus if they are doing very well.

Miu Ziam explained that in tomorrow's class he would give out the pins that prove approval, but today they could already celebrate, as they exceeded their expectations by a good margin.

As the students left Aella asked to talk to Miu Ziam, he agreed saying that she deserved it, so they went to a tree where there was a bottle of water, sitting under the tree and drinking the water he asked what she wanted .

"About the fight you had yesterday, if you were alone would you win?" asked Aella.

"Given everything we've seen I'd say yes, unless Hugo had some other trump cards" he replied "it still wouldn't have been as easy as it was.

"What if Mistress Izora was alone? Would she win?" Aella asked again.

"hun... it's complicated to analyze skills that I don't have myself, but I would say yes" he replied "Izora had the elemental advantage, and she has defeated several dark mages over the years, she has experience in that.

Aella analyzed everything she saw and heard, she wanted to know if one day she could fight like Miu Ziam, if she could protect her cousin from whatever threatened her.

"Fight between mages is complicated, but there are three factors that determine victory" explained Miu Ziam "the difference between their levels, the resources that each one has and the strategy that each one has formulated, if at least two of these three factors are on your side side victory is virtually certain.

He used yesterday's fight as an example, he alone against a mage has the advantage due to his fighting style, his high level was also on his side as well as his top equipment, with all that he could say that only a disaster would would lead to defeat.

In Izora's case, he couldn't say what kind of resources she had, but the elemental advantage was on her side, as well as experience, Miu Ziam said that Izora had a 70% chance of winning that fight alone.

"When I saw you two fighting I imagined myself in your place protecting Merilda" said Aella "that's why today I risked my life to attack him, I needed to make sure I was on the right path.

"For a 1st year student you hit pretty hard" he said rubbing the bump on her head "and that low blow was devastating, never do that again.

"Don't ever step on me again" she said getting up.

"Deal" he replied "now if you'll excuse me I need to rest, today I have a date.

"A date? With who?" she asked the other arching her eyebrow.

He chuckled and left whistling, Aella was really curious to know who he was going out with today.

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

"How are things out there?" Onyx asked.

"You must know, somehow you always know what's going on," Derek replied.

"You're right, I know," she replied, munching on a grape.

Derek looked at Onyx, she was wearing a silk robe, lying on the couch and letting Napilla massage her back while she ate grapes, there was a very suspicious atmosphere in the air.

"I want to ask you again, how did you know Geva was going to die?" Derek asked.

"Again with that boring subject? She's already dead, it doesn't matter anymore" Onyx replied.

"I have some suspicions, and I will only be able to move forward if you answer" he said "so I beg you, answer me.

"Okay, so if you want me to answer, rub this cream on me," she said, picking up the jar on the table.

Derek gulped when Napilla got off Onyx, Onyx sat with her back to him and opened her robe a little, lowering the top she showed her bare back to him and lay down again, with a naughty smile she called him.

Derek took the pot she gave, using his fingers he took a little of the cream, still shaking he put his fingers on Onyx's back and spread the cream, she shivered with the cold of the cream and then moaned when she felt the palm of her hand on her back.

"Where are your wings?" he asked when he noticed their absence.

"I can make them go away if you want" Onyx replied "come on, harder.

Derek was almost sweating with this situation, using both hands they began to rub her back, he felt all the softness of her velvety skin, the heat she exuded and her curves, besides that he was sitting on her ass, the Sometimes she fidgeted a little and it made him stiff.

"“Don't fall for that you idiot! Concentrate!”" he ordered to himself" "don't think about that wonderful body, just think about something else, think about what you've been thinking about all this time!"

"About what you asked, I knew she was going to die because she was marked" replied Onyx relaxing "there was dark magic in her, the same magic I felt from that asshole I sucked earlier.

"Wait, if you sensed dark magic in Tafai why didn't you say something sooner?" asked Derek suspiciously.

"And do I have to tell you? I actually thought it was your magic on him, you hit him before didn't you?" she said" I later realized it wasn't her magic in it but someone else's.

"And the same person who tagged him also tagged Geva, didn't he?" asked Derek" you knew how to recognize the dark mana in both of them, that's why you knew she was going to die.

"Exactly, I just wasn't sure when" she said "but whoever did it was in a hurry.

"So this proves Hugo was innocent," asserted Derek confidently.

"What do you mean? How does that prove his innocence?" Onyx asked with interest.

"That night you said you didn't know who the murderer was, you omit information but you don't usually lie" he replied "if Hugo was the murderer of the other cases you would recognize his Mana, but you didn't recognize him, did you?

Onyx looked over her shoulder, her look was as if she was frustrated at being found out, seeing the look in her eyes Derek was sure he was right, he thought of that when he read that each person's Mana was unique and could be identified by their right means.

"That doesn't prove he was innocent, it just proves that he didn't kill the others" she said to cut off his joy "but in last night's case he was caught in the act, and he fought the teachers.

That was what tormented Derek now, Onyx confirmed that it was unlikely that Hugo had killed the others, but yesterday's fight was unquestionable, Derek considered that Hugo had an accomplice, or a master who forced him to participate in the killings.

Derek finished creaming Onyx and went to study her books, instead of concentrating where he had left off he looked for an answer in them, Onyx out of spite didn't give him any lessons leaving him on his own, and when the time was up he left frustrated, but when he reached the door he found someone he didn't expect, he saw the teacher of combat magic.

"Hi Derek, I thought you were gone" he said "Is Onyx there? What a question, she can't go anywhere!

"But what are you doing here?" asked Derek making a strange face.

"Your teacher invited me yesterday" he replied "I brought a bottle of liquor too.

"Oh dear, I love it!" said Onyx appearing at the door" let's go in, I was waiting for you.

She took him by the arm and guided him to the sofa where he was before, Miu Ziam complained about the dark and that's why she used the magic to see in the dark, she also sent Napilla to get two glasses for both of them to drink the liquor, Derek already imagined what was going to happen roll in that dungeon.

"I'll leave you alone" said Derek "I just hope I don't find a dead body here tomorrow.

"Ah darling Derek, take Napilla for a walk ok?" asked Onyx" today I want some privacy.

"Huh? I can't participate?" asked Napilla with teary eyes.

"Not today my puppy, not today" Onyx replied "be good and go with Derek.

Derek was going to protest but he didn't have time, Onyx made a black chain materialize by connecting his left wrist with the collar that Napilla wore, he tried to get rid of the chain but was unsuccessful, he left with Napilla for the wooded area at the back of the house. academy.

"Please tell me I won't have to clean up your mess" said Derek imagining the scene.

"I already did today" Napilla replied.

"Oh yeah, and do you get out of the dungeon a lot?" Derek asked.

"No, the bearded man said I shouldn't go out alone" she replied sadly "I can only go out when there's no one around.

Derek imagined that those days were the days off at the end of each month, thinking like that he imagined how lonely she was, so he decided to stay by her side today, not that he had much choice.

As he walked through the wooded area Napilla behaved more like a puppy, the chain was only 2m and so she was dragging him around, sometimes she walked on all fours like a dog, other times she seemed to hunt moving things, Derek couldn't help it. of imagining that I was walking a real dog.

"Master, are you in trouble?" she asked after the two sat down.

"I wouldn't say I am, I just don't know what to do" he replied "I can't think of a solution on my own.

"Then Napilla helps you, Napilla will do anything for master!" she said excitedly "I can fight for the master, kill whoever I want!

"I really don't need it" he said dully "and I definitely have to teach you good stuff.

He ran his hand over her head, it felt good to talk to someone who didn't hold back, Derek wondered if he could have conversations like that with other people, open up to them, that's when he thought about it, if he couldn't resolve this issue alone he could count on other people.

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

"Sorry for the delay" said Aella arriving.

"No no, we just got here too" said Merilda "thanks for coming Isott.

"It's my chance to make the Derek owe me," she said.

The two who arrived just now sat at the table, with them were Derek and Urick, as well as Merilda, Ashera and Ashiok, the latter was called reluctantly, but when they said they could clarify the death of his friends he agreed to help.

"After the teachers Isott is the smartest person I know" said Aella "that's why I went to get her.

"Now that we're here, can you tell me what the idea is?" asked Ashiok" why do you say that Hugo is not to blame for the other deaths?

"Because my master Onyx confirmed this, she confirmed that the dark mana she found in Tafai and Geva was not from her former student" replied Derek "someone else tagged those two, so at the very least he had an accomplice.

"And why haven't you told the dean yet?" asked Aella" by the way, can we trust the words of a demon?

"My mistress omits details and can mislead by speaking half-truths, but she doesn't deliberately lie" replied Derek "it's not like we can trust her, but that part is true.

"Once I went to the library, Mr. Hugo helped me find books on gardening," Ashera said, "He didn't seem like a bad person.

"When he told me this last night I was surprised" said Urick "but since he asked for my help I'll try hard to believe his story.

"Very well, then let's consider that Hugo didn't kill the others" Merilda said "he was still responsible for the attack that night, I saw it myself as well as everyone in the girls' dormitory, and the teachers can verify it.

"To unravel a mystery you have to gather all the pieces of the puzzle" said Isott "put them on the table and fit them together one by one, so what do we know so far?

Derek told in detail everything that happened on the night of Tafai's death, he remembered every detail of that night and what he heard from the teachers and the dean, he also spoke of Cristian's death that until today tormented him, he would never forget the feeling of piercing his chest with a sword, lastly he spoke of the night Geva sought him out and all the details after she left the dungeon.

Then it was Ashiok's turn to talk in detail about everything that happened that day, he told how, together with his colleagues, they bribed some people from the 4th year to help them, how he had the plan to incriminate Derek and Geva's participation, he too told how they were caught by one of the 4th year boys and Geva had to go back to the dorm alone, and that's when she was caught by the killer.

"That was a pretty stupid plan" commented Aella "you guys practically begged for something bad to happen.

"Leave me alone, Geva's death will torment me for the rest of my life" complained Ashiok.

"Ok, we already have the details of the events, now I need to meet our suspect" said Isott "can you tell me about Hugo and his abilities?

"He entered the academy 15 years ago as a dark mage, but within the first year Onyx dumped him" informed Derek "she enslaved and abused him, when she got bored she threw him away, he never managed to recover from it.

"I heard he trained here as a creation mage" said Merilda "but in that fight he was using dimensional magic.

"Mister Androuet said that other classes of magic can summon creatures" said Derek "so as a dark mage he could summon demons.

"Maybe that explains why your master couldn't recognize him, Hugo was using demons to kill" said Ashiok "Tafai was beaten to death, only a monster could disfigure him like that, poor Geva had claw marks through the whole body.

"That's not right, the two were marked still alive, to mark someone you need physical contact" said Urick "do you think the two would be touched by a demon without knowing it? Or is it more likely that a person marked them?"

"If it was with dark magic it has to be a black magician" said Ashera "when did these two find lord Hugo at all?"

"I have a better question: why did Hugo decide to personally attack the same night the gym tightened security?" asked Isott" he made so many mistakes it was impossible not to get caught.

"Desperate maybe? Knowing that sooner or later he would get caught, did he want to kill as many targets as he could?" Merilda asked.

"That doesn't make sense, Geva was the only girl who harmed me, if he followed a pattern he should have gone after the remaining boys" said Derek "but he attacked the female dorm...

Everyone started to think about it, it was one thing stranger than the other and even Ashiok already thought that something didn't smell right, since Hugo was killed everyone just forgot the case aside and there was no more talk about it, that's why only Derek and this group of friends was racking their brains, Isott wrote down every piece of information she received on paper and placed them on the table, like pieces of a puzzle she organized until everything started to make sense.

"We're looking for the wrong kind of mage" she said "not a dark mage.

"Are you crazy? Everyone confirmed that it can only be a dark magician" said Aella "nobody but them can use the dark mana.

"Demons can, what if he's getting power from a demon?" she said" with Dark Mana even I can use dark magic.

"But everyone confirms that no demons have entered the academy in the last few months, and not at all," Merilda said.

"You don't need to enter, just receive Mana from him outside" explained Isott "there are several ways to send Mana, such as through crystals for example, that person can have Mana of darkness stored.

When Isott mentioned this it felt like the world had lit up, and everyone there felt like an idiot for not having thought of it earlier, not only them but the teachers were too focused on a black magician and forgot that other people could benefit from black magic.

"True, a demon doesn't need to enter the academy to help his master" said Derek "just like Onyx doesn't need to leave the dungeon to do some tricks, that's how a demon is doing to circumvent security.

"So if we're not looking for a dark magician who should we be looking for?" Merilda asked.

"If it's just one person it won't be that difficult, we have to look for someone who fulfills two requirements" explained Isott "someone who dominates dimensional magic and also mental magic.

"Mind magic? Why?" Ashiok asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Only a mind mage could manipulate Tafai and Cristian into attacking the Derek" she replied "Frankly, how did no one think of that? Those two were being manipulated, and certainly Hugo as well.

With that the illogical actions of all those involved were explained, if they were dominated they would do anything that was ordered, with that it was possible to understand that the real culprit used Hugo as a scapegoat, a means to make everyone believe that the problem was over .

"Wait a minute, mind control magic is top notch!" said Ashera "no student of the academy would have the power to use magic like that.

"Not to mention that summoning demons is 6th level magic" said Derek "one level above the maximum taught here.

"But Hugo had a high level onyx gem" said Aella "with it his magic power was amplified.

"It's true, if the real culprit has one like it, he can do much more" said Merilda "we need to let the dean know about it, otherwise...

"If we let him know what is he going to do? Start looking one by one?" asked Derek" in the meantime the culprit can run or act, do you want him to use someone else to kill?

"Derek is right, the academy is very orthodox in its way of acting" said Isott "the moment they show signs of looking for someone to blame, a massacre can begin.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Ashera.

"Look for him ourselves, students go more unnoticed than teachers" said Derek "I have the afternoon free, I can look for clues, when we are sure who it is we will tell Mr. Androuet.

"Wait a minute, do you know how many students are here?" asked Ashiok" adding up every year there are more than 5 thousand students, are you going to investigate all of them!?

"You only need to investigate the 4th year students" suggested Isott over tea" these attacks started when the 5th year students went on a mission, with that the 4th year students gained more roles, the perfect chance to act with freedom.

"And why not students from previous years?" asked Urick.

"Anyone with the power to do that would be out there selling their services or creating chaos on their own" she explained "if you're here then you're a senior student, someone who developed their skills while studying here, only the 4th and 5th graders manage to master two schools and use them.

Everyone was stunned by her deductions, the girls already knew how good she was, but the guys thought it was scary, if she was to blame she would be a real monster.

"Very well, then I would like to ask one more favor of you Isott" said Derek "if possible get me a list of all the students in the mind magic class, I will investigate the students of dimensional magic.

"Are you going to go through the lists and find out who attends the two schools?" she said" very well thought out.

"And what are we going to do?" Merilda asked.

"If it is possible to investigate the 4th year students, to know if any of them are strange or suspicious" he asked "with that we can reduce the list and observe them.

Everyone agreed with their roles, as lunch time was ending the students needed to go to their classes, only Derek was free to act until nightfall, they got up and gathered their things.

"I have to ask you this, are you wanting to be a hero?" Ashiok asked.

"I don't want to be a hero, I'm not doing this out of altruism" replied Derek "I just want to end this once and for all, and I also don't like being used by a murderer, since the beginning he's been after me, even made me kill a person with my bare hands.

"Better that way, I also want to do justice" said Ashiok "this bastard killed my friends, I won't let it go!

Each one went to their room, after they left someone came out of the shadows, someone observed that meeting without anyone else noticing.

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

"I wish I could have helped more" said Ashera sitting on his bed.

"Don't be like that, I didn't do anything either" said Merilda removing her socks "in the end only Isott helped.

They talked about what they discussed during lunch, it was hard to believe at first but everyone agreed that Derek and Isott were right, the real culprit was a student at the academy, and he framed Hugo to throw everyone off.

"She was amazing wasn't she? She noticed things that no one else noticed" said the other impressed.

"I think if the teachers tried hard they would have noticed, but they were too nervous" replied Merilda "students were dying and the blame would be on them, under these conditions people don't think correctly.

They hadn't come to that conclusion right away either, the use of black magic was misleading everyone, everyone was looking for a black magician and so they didn't think of a different line, a person capable of summoning demons and manipulating minds.

"When Derek saved my life I was sure he couldn't be bad" Merilda said "that's why I believed in him until the end, a person who accepts to bleed for me would never kill other people that way.

Even so Merilda felt guilty for not being able to help him more, there were moments where she felt chills when she saw him, especially after he fell into that trap, maybe the magical incompatibility between them was the cause of that, but Merilda didn't want to judge him only by black magic.

"If Derek gets his degree, what kind of job will he get?" wondered Ashera.

"I wonder this too, dark mages only find work as mercenaries" Merilda said "it means that even with good intentions he can end up doing wrong things.

But Merilda had a goal, when she became empress she would gather all the people she trusted, give them positions where their skills would be useful, and with them rebuild the kingdom after the great invasion, even a dark mage could be used for the well, that's why she couldn't give up the Derek.

"By the way Ash, if you manage to get your degree where do you plan to work?" Merilda asked.

"Me? I've heard that nature mages use their power to restore nature, or help with food production" she said "they also get jobs even as gardeners for nobles."

"I see, the nature mage who serves in my court created a village within a forest" Merilda said "a village where houses blend in with nature, it's great for helping homeless people.

"About that, I know we had agreed not to talk about your family, but there is something I would like to ask you" said Ashera a little fearful "where does your family rule?

Merilda remembered that she had told everyone that she was the heiress of a royal family, the royal families rule the 8 regions around the capital and in them these families had absolute power, Merilda then said where her mother's family (who was heir to a family royal) ruled and Ashera sighed in relief.

"Some problem?" Merilda asked.

"The land where I was raised, the lord of that region is very cruel with non-humans" she said sadly "for us taxes are twice as high, and the guards beat us for no reason, if we resist we are arrested.

"This is terrible! Even if society doesn't approve of non-humans, laws must still be fair!" said Merilda furious with the situation "you can count on me, when I return to the palace I will see to it that this situation is investigated!

Merilda said that hitting her own chest, Ashera smiled excited to meet a noble as haughty and kind as her roommate, this in turn began to take off her uniform and leave it well folded on the bed, leaving only her panties and bra.

"Isn't it funny how things work here? Just put the uniform folded inside a bag, and the next day it reappears washed and perfumed" said Merilda putting it inside a plastic bag.

"It's great that we don't need to wash them, but I'm a little worried" Ashera said "is it washed with magic or does someone do that normally?"

"Okay, we take care of the underwear ourselves" Merilda said "so there's no danger, I guess...

Merilda announced that she would take a shower first, Ashera would then take care of dinner, as she closed the bathroom door Merilda looked in the mirror and began to think about several things, the problem with the real killer, and also the story that Ashera told her now.

"I see that there are many injustices throughout the kingdom" she said looking at her own reflection "and evil has even reached here, I need to prepare myself for the future.

It was thinking about that that she tried so hard, an idea she had was to create a body that would take care of the well-being of non-humans, people to supervise the lords and know if the laws were being well fulfilled, she smiled when imagining Ashera leading that body and bringing justice to those who were not fully human.

"I'll get it," said Ashera upon hearing someone knock on the door.

Merilda listened as Ashera opened the door, then there was an awkward silence, so she wrapped herself in a towel and left the bathroom to see what happened.

"Ash? Who is it?" she asked coming out of the bathroom.

Merilda saw Ashera standing next to the open door, she was motionless and with her head half down, Merilda found this very strange as she looked like a zombie, that's when she looked at the door.

Standing outside the room was a person, he was dressed in a black cloak covering his entire body and a cloth wrapped around his face, he looked exactly like Hugo that night he was killed.

Her blood ran cold as the mysterious person stepped into the room, immediately Merilda raised her hand to cast a spell, as she wrote the arcane letters Ashera moved in front of the intruder.

"Get out of there Ash!" Merilda screamed with the magic ready on her finger.

Ashera didn't move, she looked at Merilda and she saw her eyes glowing red, immediately she deduced that her friend was mentally controlled, and the invader raised his right hand in her direction.

Merilda didn't know whether to scream for help or react, if she called for help other 1st year students could be attacked, until a teacher arrived many could die, her instinct made her decide that she needed to fight back even if she hit Ashera, but her indecision cost her a Precious time, the intruder pointed his palm at her, and something bizarre happened, the palm opened and a red eye appeared.

"What is this?" she thought, preparing to fire the magic.

The eye in the hand emitted a reddish light in her direction, Merilda who was staring at it felt her body getting heavy, little by little her mind seemed to stop working and become empty, her last thought was that she was falling into a deep sleep.

Ashera sat on the sofa next to the door, Merilda remained standing where she was with her empty eyes glowing red, little by little she began to walk towards the invader until she left the room with him.

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

"So this is how you look when you're satisfied?" Derek asked.

Derek looked at Onyx lying on the couch, her robe all crumpled and almost open, her hair messed up and her makeup smeared, she was drinking a glass of liquor that the teacher brought yesterday while Napilla cleaned up the mess left by the two.

"It's rare to find a man who makes me tired" she said with a happy sigh "we made it all night.

"Spare me the details, I really don't care about your orgies" requested Derek.

"Poor virgin boy, you don't know what an orgy is" she said sitting down "once I made all the people in a castle participate in an orgy, they had sex until they couldn't take it anymore, some died you know? With a smile on their face but died.

Derek shrugged and sat down in his chair, he even put the books aside and took two sheets he brought, he started marking names on them that appeared on both lists, that made Onyx curious.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"We have a lead on who the real murderer is" he replied "everything indicates that he is a 4th year student, who is studying both mental and dimensional magic, I am writing down the suspects.

"Still with that? Are you a detective now?" she asked wryly "I bet you guys are going to walk on eggshells with this.

Derek didn't care what she said, after finishing comparing the list he formed a small one with 20 suspects, there were 20 people who attended both classes and were in the 4th year, these people were the most likely to be responsible for this disgrace .

"As I thought, I don't know any of them" said Derek "so it's not personal, do you know any of them?

"Let me see... no, none of them are familiar to me" she replied looking at the list "but I wouldn't think of anyone who didn't make a good impression on me."

Derek sighed in defeat, that meant that tomorrow he and his friends would have to investigate all of them, discreetly not to alert the suspect, once they were sure who it was they would deliver the unfortunate to the dean.

"Wait a minute, I already met this person recently" said Derek alerting himself to a name "if I'm not mistaken...

"Master, something is coming" warned Napilla getting serious.

The three were looking at the door when a glowing globe came floating in, Onyx informed him that that was the {send message} spell and that inside that globe there should be a letter for him, Napilla went to the globe and when he touched it it burst like a bubble of soap, inside was a paper she brought to Derek.

"“I know what you and your friends are doing, the game can't end now"" he said reading the paper" "I got your white friend, if you don't want me to kill her, come alone to the town square, no tell nobody about it”

The paper also contained instructions for him to arrive before midnight, that he should use the service tunnel behind the academy to leave, it also emphasized that Merilda's life would be spared if he submitted to her will, upon finishing reading it. the Derek message crumpled it up angrily and walked away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Onyx asked.

"I'm going to save Merilda, I got her involved in this and now she's in trouble" replied Derek heading towards the door.

"No you won't, I didn't give you permission," she said.

"I don't need your permission for anything!" he replied ignoring her.

Onyx hissed and Napilla acted knocking Derek to the ground, she pinned him by standing over him as Derek begged her to let him go.

"What's your problem!? You don't care about me!" shouted Derek.

"It's not a matter of me caring, you're too good a toy to throw away" she said stomping on his head "you don't stand a chance against that person.

"There's no way to know if you don't try!" he replied, making an effort to raise his head.

"I already know the result, this person has already attended up to the 5th year before failing once, you're just a kid at the beginning of the 1st year" she said "how do you intend to face someone who made all the teachers here idiots?

Derek slammed his fist on the floor in his frustration, if he couldn't even handle Napilla he couldn't handle a demon, evaluating his chances he realized he had no way to face this person, it would just be a waste of time and effort.

"Very well, I understand now that I cannot win as I am," said Derek in a calmer tone.

"Glad you got it, then forget about the light brat" said Onyx releasing him "all you need to do is inform Mr. Androuet, and this problem will be solved tomorrow.

"I said I understood the situation, but I didn't say I was going to give up" he replied already on his feet "I'm going to rescue Merilda with my own hands, and defeat that murderous bastard.

"Really? And how do you intend to do that if you already understand that you don't have a chance?" she asked wryly.

"If I don't have chances like I do, I need to create chances" he replied "Give me the means to win, and in return take what you want from me.

Onyx was surprised by what he said, he was willing to give his all for her in exchange for the means to win, at first she didn't believe that someone could sacrifice so much for others, but then she remembered that he already chose bleeding for Merilda before, seeing the determination in her gaze Onyx smirked, she would make him regret that choice.