1st floor, dungeon tower.
Three figures lingered in the small forest clearing.
Myrin was still restrained, sitting next to Princess Morcant, with a foul look on his face.
Princess Morcant also sat, with a look of disbelief, still trying to figure out how Blake dispersed her spirit magic.
Staring at the two kids, a small smirk appeared on his face as he took out a pair of magic restraints and put them on the Princess.
"Now then, time for us to leave the dungeon tower." Blake announced as he helped them up.
After a short trek through the trees, the trio entered the vast grasslands that stood between them and the return portal.
"Oh?" Blake's ears perked up a little as he heard a faint shuffling sound echo through the dancing grass. "Looks like we are getting some company."
Unperturbed by the presence of monsters, Blake pushed the two students along, just keeping an eye out in case the monsters decided to attack them.
And attack they did.
A small herd of slimes jumped through the tall grass and confronted them on the open road.
"Enraged slimes?" Blake muttered as he observed the agitated movement the slimes were exhibiting. "No wonder they were able to ignore the monster deterrent."
He stepped in front of the kids, who were still magically restrained, and summoned his weapon. A one handed saber.
"Well then, time to see if I still got it." Blake chuckled to himself before charging into the slime herd. "WOOHOO!!!"
Princess Morcant and Myrin watched on in disbelief as Blake ran through the slimes like they were paper, with saber light flashing every so often.
Just a few minutes later, surrounded by slime cores, Blake flicked his blade to remove gunk buildup.
"This old man still has it." Blake cheered to himself before using his magic to collect all the slime cores.
"..." He picked one up as he noticed a slight difference to regular slime cores, before tossing them all into his bag. Making a mental note for yet another investigation, he called out to the two kids and they successfully left the dungeon tower without any more incidents.
Escorting them through the forest, Blake handed Myrin off to Arnold, who was waiting at the gate after being notified by him, and escorted the princess back to her dwelling.
Handing her off to her attendants and removing the magic restraints, he reminded her that combat class was resuming and he expected her to show up.
Seeing her still motionless, Blake added one more caveat.
"As long as you attend my classes, and graduate from the academy, there's a slight chance that you will understand how I dispersed your spirit magic."
The princess finally reacted and slowly nodded to him before following her attendants back into her house.
"Well that's done, honestly thought I would be spending more time in the dungeon tower." Blake muttered as he stretched. "Time to head home and see what the kids are up to."
—
"Hmm, wonder what I should bring home tonight." Blake wondered as he walked through a small marketplace.
There seemed to be a small event going on as all the vendors had stands displaying all of their goods.
"Oh! Don't think the kids have tried soup dumplings yet." Blake realized as he stopped at a stand with a bunch of steamers.
Having the shopkeeper pack up a bunch, Blake entered a secluded alleyway and opened up a small portal back to his house.
"Tsk, so I'm being tagged huh." Blake's eyes shot towards the front of the alley before altering the destination of his portal last minute.
Stepping through the portal, he threw the soup dumplings into his storage space, and started laying down some traps for his followers.
"Hmm, that should do it for now." Blake nodded as he took in his handiwork. "Wonder how they'll catch up."
Looking at the lingering magic from his portal, Blake found a place to sit and waited.
"Hmm, looks like its folks from the cultivation side of things." Feeling the faint energy slowly approaching, Blake got up onto his feet and readied himself.
[Magic arts too?] Blake thought as he felt yet another source of magic. [Looks like those two haven't gotten over their grudge.]
The two groups land on the roof at the same time, giving each other wary looks before turning their attention to Blake.
"Done sizing each other up?" Blake asked. "While I would love for us to have an amicable talk, I have people waiting on me, so you will have to make do with this gift I've left behind."
Blake tapped the floor with the tip of his foot, then took several steps back into the magic formation that glowed to life.
"You mages are an organized bunch, different from typical mages who are too proud to lower themselves to work with another. Hired by the Voidspheres huh?" He identified the group of mages backer immediately as the formation began to hum, draining the ambient mana in the surroundings.
"And you must be the elders or seniors of that arrogant brat from the Celestial Ascendent Pavilion."
Giving the two groups no chance of speaking, the formation at his feet surged outwards, encircling everyone on the roof. It soon reached saturation and the sound of static filled the air.
"When you guys manage to return to wherever you came from, give the people in charge my regards." Blake announced as he tipped his imaginary hat towards the surprised people, who had finally reacted and were about to unleash their attacks onto him.
Before they were able to take another step, the formation blinked once, then engulfed them in a bright surge of light.
—
"That should teach them to stop messing with me." Blake commented as he dusted himself off.
Unperturbed at the sudden displacement caused by the modified transport formation, he got up from the ground and took in his surroundings.
"Looks like it sent us into the wilderness. While the randomness is a bit troublesome, this formation needs a little more fine tuning to lower the mana absorption." He analyzed as he figured out his bearings.
"Hmm, kind feels like uncharted territory." He thought to himself aloud as he recalled the wilderness map he had created from his active duty days. "Not too far from charted lands though. The Moon position and the few stars that shine through the daytime are in recognizable positions."
Marking down the new areas, Blake started assembling another formation, this time, much smaller in scale as he had a destination in mind, and only himself to transport.
"This seems like a good place to bring the students when it's time for them to begin their wilderness expeditions."
He left a small mark to remind him of the location, and stepped into the formation to return home and deliver dinner to brats at home.
—
The time has come for the first batch of students to return from their trips.
After many reminders from Arnold, Blake has made his preparations for the 12th grade students who have signed up for combat class.
When questioned why the amount of students he taught dropped sharply, Arnold explained that the students were no longer required to take physical/combat classes after grade 9.
After that, there would be no more physical education classes, and combat class becomes an elective.
He ignored the look from Arnold as he questioned why he was asking since he pointed it out at the coffee shop.
[No wonder why all the previous combat instructors resigned, just this list is enough to give me a headache.] Blake thought as his eyebrows furrowed, reading through the files of the returning 12th graders.
[Child of the Grand Pope: Domiel.
Adopted by the Grand Pope on one of his many excursions. Has extreme potential with Holy Magic, with signs of a mythical magic. Celestial Magic.
Extremely devout to the Grand Pope, and by extension, the Grand Church.
Grand Church: Also known as The Sanctioned Dominion: Practices 'the path of serenity'. Publicly practiced by the masses to ease suffering and conflict, and to prepare for death.
Privately. The Academy has discovered traces of severe elitism amongst the upper ranks. Looking down on the masses for having an 'impure soul'. Traces of atrocities have been discovered, but no concrete evidence has been collected.
Domiel is expected to succeed a certain chapter. Publicly: The Choir of Serenity. However, the academy suspects a more fanatical chapter, name unknown.
Disagreements with several professors have led to mental breakdowns and resignations.
Caution Advised.]
[Damn, I hate dealing with religion.] Blake tsked as he read through more of his background.
He tossed the file aside and picked up another one, before his repressed memories of dealing with cults ruined his day.
[Already met with the Heir of the Raven's Tip, Myrin. He's being dealt with by Arnold and his master from what I last heard.]
Picking up another file, a name that he vaguely remembered caught his eye.
[Superstar Idol Solvi Kyuri's daughter, Colette Kyuri.
Primary reason for signing up for elective combat class: Self Defense.
Extremely Vain. Several instructors showed no progress in attempting to teach or advise Colette, adding onto the stress and strain of dealing with other problem students.]
[A god damn narcissist.] Blake commented as he read through the notes made by his predecessors. [I did get a note from the headmaster that I was able to take things into my own hands a couple days ago, guess I could use that chance and give her a wake up call of my own.]
Closing her file, Blake then picked up the last one, the thinnest file.
Only a single sheet of paper was in it.
[The Youngest Archmage. Elowen Mirthane. Moniker 'Child of the 13th'.
Absolute Caution is Advised.]
"..." Blake flipped the paper several times to make sure he wasn't missing anything.
"That is one hell of a description…"
Making a trip to the coffee shop and grabbing a drink, Blake returned to his Academy dwelling, thinking back to the inspection conducted by the Academy.
[They didn't even bother showing up, just observing from the shadows.] Blake mulled as he recalled the sudden appearances of onlookers. [The next day, there was a letter on my desk, telling me to keep up the good work.]
Tossing the inspection to the back of his mind, Blake turned his attention to something much more pressing.
The new semester was about to begin, and he had promised his kids that he would enroll them.
"I would rather fight a cult right now..."