Linjos was a man in his late twenties, about 1,77 meters (5’9″) tall. His ample mage robe made his build a mystery, he might have been a mountain of muscles or as thin as a stick. He had a perfectly shaven long face, a cleft chin, and an aquiline nose.
His hair was chestnut brown, with shades of silver. His brown eyes were brimming with intelligence and worry. Lith could almost hear his panicking thoughts.
‘Judging from the difference in treatment Lark and Distar received, he must be aware of how powerful she is at the moment. I am really curious to see how this will play out.’
The Headmaster’s bushy eyebrows were wriggling like furry worms, while he was deciding how he should face the unexpected development.
‘He too has a light blue mana core.’ Solus observed. ‘He is weaker than Ainz, but stronger than anyone else we met, except for that b*tch Linnea. Blue must be the minimum requirement for the position.’
“Well, this is really embarrassing to say, dear Marchioness, but I don’t know if I can help you.” Linjos considered Linnea’s political stand bulls*it. He was fiercely opposed to her motions and policy suggestions during the last Headmasters Council.
But he had lost, even if by a small margin. The rules were clear, he could only follow the regulations approved by the majority of the Council.
“Well, I believe it will be easier than you think.” The Marchioness sat down on an armchair, inviting Linjos to do the same. Watching the Headmaster getting ordered around in his own office, filled Lith with joy.
‘I wish it was me with so much power that I could make them all bend the knee! No more hiding, no more lies. Just unbridled power!’
“What do you mean?” Linjos asked after sitting behind his desk.
“You see, I am partially at fault for this whole situation. If I had just told the truth from the beginning, nothing would have happened. Unfortunately, I had my own reasons, so I hope you do understand how confidential what I am about to share with you is.”
The Headmaster’s interest was piqued, and while Lith had no idea what she was talking about, he was a liar skilled enough to know when to shut up and let her work.
“Of course, everything you say will never leave this room. You have my word.”
“You see, I met Lith a few years ago, and I was so amazed by his skill and talent that I took him as my apprentice.” She closed in to the desk, almost whispering.
Both men were taken aback by that revelation.
“So Nerea actually taught him only the basics, it was actually I who imparted the ways of magic to him. The problem was, and still is, that my family is under the scrutiny of too many eyes. I have too many enemies.
“So, to prevent one of them from snuffing him out before he could achieve his true potential, we decided to keep everything a secret and let the world think that Count Lark and Nerea were the ones actually taking care of him.”
“That would explain a lot!” Linjos exclaimed in shock. “His achievements are too outstanding for someone without a proper background. It also explains why the Court has taken the matter so seriously, despite the fact that it came from a lower noble’s appeal.”
‘Well, f*ck you too, mate.’ Lith thought. ‘Diss Lark one more time, and you and I will have a problem.’
“Exactly.” The Marchioness nodded, passing him several papers that she pulled out from one of the rings she wore.
“I still can’t afford the truth to see the light, you know what happened to my daughter. So, I would really like to avoid officially forcing you to accept him with the authority entrusted to me by the King. It would raise a fuss on multiple levels.
“I hope that you can understand my position and that those documents will give you leverage enough to defend your standing, if the Council tries to reprimand you.”
Linjos read the papers, and at some point, almost jumped up from his chair.
“He is the one that cured your daughter and extracted the magical poison our labs are currently studying?” He simply could not believe his eyes.
The best healers among the Griffon academies staff had tried and failed, whereas a kid was supposed to have correctly diagnosed the nature of the illness and managed to cure it.
“I’m sorry for being rude once again, but all the testimonies come from your family members. The Council will surely object that this is just a ruse to force their hand. This story is simply unbelievable.”
“Go to the next page, please.” She didn’t even care to hide her smirk.
The second page was also a statement. Ainz was one of the witnesses, and he had reported everything he had seen during that day. In his statement, Ainz gave a professional assessment on Lith’s skills, pointed out and described the numerous personal spells he had witnessed him using.
Linjos went completely pale.
Ainz testimony was a sworn one, just like the others, but coming from a mage it had a completely different significance from that of a noble.
Doubting his word was the same as calling him a liar and an incompetent, the consequences of which would be terrible.
Despite being so young, his talent and power were beyond question. On top of that, the Black Griffon would become a sworn enemy of anyone who tried to taint their genius’ reputation.
Such a heavy insult could even bring Ainz to personally challenge whoever dared to question his judgment, and there was no Headmaster that wanted to face him in direct confrontation, be it a magic duel or a contest of wits.
The two documents were more than enough to defy the will of the Council without repercussions, but Linjos wasn’t the kind of man who acted on impulse.
‘The fact that I can, doesn’t mean that I must do it.’ He pondered.
‘Whatever I do, I will face a different backlash, either from the Marchioness or the Council. From a political standpoint, there is not much difference, and that makes my decision much easier.
‘If this kid is really so talented, it would be a crime against magic to blindly follow the orders of those old fogeys. I remember well how they were opposed to me becoming Headmaster, claiming I was too young and too ‘radical’ for the position.
‘It’s time to teach them a lesson. Their wrinkly as*es have been rooted to their chairs for so long that they have forgotten about the passion that teaching magic requires.
‘I accepted the position the Queen offered to me because I was disgusted when I saw how academies were being reduced to paper-pushers. They neglect their duty to nurture true talents and bootlick those who are already powerful in exchange for petty political gains.’
The Marchioness waited patiently. Being thoughtful was a plus on her book, only idiots and lapdogs would mindlessly charge toward danger.
“I will be glad to take your disciple in my academy, but only if he reaches the minimum requirements. Under my guidance, there is no favoritism in the White Griffon.”
Both the Marchioness and Lith had no objections. Lith had been instructed about the admittance test by Nana well before his visit to the Lightning Griffon. Also, before going to the White Griffon, he had asked for confirmation from the Marchioness.
Nana’s admittance had happened decades ago, something could have changed over time, but from Distar’s experience, the structure of the exam was still the same.
Headmaster Linjos used his communication amulet to assemble the Heads of all the magical departments in the test room. Lith was curious to explore the academy, but the Headmaster opened another dimensional door, bringing them directly to their destination.
It was a big square room, with each side thirty meters (33 yards) long, that seemed carved out of a single huge piece of stone. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all smooth with no gaps except for a door.
The only pieces of furniture were several chairs lined up against a wall, were the Marchioness, the Headmaster, and the faculty heads sat as soon as they came out of several dimensional doors.
Lith felt a new respect for fake mages. Compressing space with such ease, allowing instant movements was something beyond his wildest dreams.
When all the seven Heads arrived, the Headmaster said:
“Show us your basics.”
He was asking Lith to show his proficiency with chore magic, the foundation of all magics.
‘If only you knew what you are missing…’ Lith Inwardly smiled.
Lith took a deep breath, stimulating his mana core to its maximum output. He stood straight, extending his right hand upwards, right above his head, generating a sphere of dazzling white light the size of a chestnut.
His sharp hearing could already listen to some whispered comments.
“Perfect silent light magic. Trivial but effective.” Said one of the Heads.
“Let’s hope he can do something better, I have so much paperwork in my office…” Commented another.
Lith openly smiled, moving his arm clockwise, and when it reached two o’clock a bright red fireball appeared.
“Two kinds of perfect silent magic! Not bad, for a commoner.”
“Double casting, finally something interesting.”
Lith’s arm kept moving in a fluid movement, not giving them the time to chat. At four o’clock a small thundercloud appeared. The audience started to get interested.
“Triple casting at twelve years?”
“What the f*ck? Triple perfect silent…”
The arm reached six o’clock, and a blot of pure darkness started to consume its surrounding light, pulsing with hunger. Both the Headmaster and the Marchioness had already understood what it was, but while the Marchioness had seen Lith in action, Linjos was shocked.
“It couldn’t be Silverwing’s…”
At eight o’clock rock, dust and dirt condensed into a small round stone, while at eleven o’clock a small bubble of water constantly shifted between gas, liquid, and frozen states.
“By the gods! Hexacasting with perfect silent magic!”
“That’s almost Magus Silverwing’s Mana Hexagram.”
“The last student that managed to do that…”
The Headmaster hit the department Head with the elbow, forcing him to shut up. Lith’s interest was piqued. Why interrupt him? Was the identity of the student a secret?
‘There is no almost.’ He thought.
His arm didn’t stop, at the second round of his hand, the single dots of energy became connected by tendrils of power, forming a perfect hexagram inscribed in a circle.
Through the shared connections, energy started to circulate, until the single elements disappeared, leaving only a golden hexagram floating in the air. (AN: If you have problems imagining the result, just look again at the book’s cover :P)
That was the reason why Nana had been admitted back in the day, and she had passed it down to Lith.
Lochra Silverwing’s Mana Hexagram was a rare feat, that barely one magician out of a hundred was capable to perform. It was an exercise that demonstrated not only mastery over all the elements, but also a deep understanding of the flow of mana.
It emphasized the mental strength and focus of its caster. It was an unwritten rule that whoever was capable of casting the Mana Hexagram was automatically admitted, even if they were a slave.
After that Lith started to cast fake magic spells as fast as he could. Now he had to prove his mastery and control over the first three tiers of magic to skip the beginner’s years.
He was supposed to cast at least twenty tier one spells, but he performed thirty. He could have done more, but he had decided to avoid overachieving.
Lith had already studied and memorized all the White Griffon records, if geniuses scored 110/100, 90/100 was a perfectly fine result for him.
He didn’t want to get too much spotlight, just enough to get his talent recognized and maybe turn some professors into his backers. That way he would be able to spend the next two years in a calm and peaceful environment.
He was there to learn, not to fight. Lith stopped at tier three spells, going further would be too dangerous. Not only would he have exposed too much talent, but he would also risk skipping the fourth year.
Specialization courses started on the fourth year, and Lith wanted to remain in the academy long enough to assimilate everything it had to offer about forgemastering, and maybe even healing. Not to mention that he still needed powerful backers.
When he finished, there was no applause or congratulations, but the convened mages huddled up, starting to discuss wildly. Their ‘whispers’ were loud enough that even with his old hearing Lith would still be able to listen to them.
“Outstanding performance.” The Marchioness had left the group as soon as the discussion started, she had no place in it.
“Thanks.” Lith pretended to be tired and short of breath.
“Do you think I’m in?”
“Most definitely, unless heaven and earth turn upside down.”
Thank you very much for your support, guys.
It’s hard to express how your comments helps me find the motivation to keep writing.
Some bad news, tho. Between my job, looking for a better job and writing my novel I fear I’m overloading myself. I could take a pause of a couple of days, sooner or later.
Thanks for your understanding.
