The Sixth School

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All Characters in the story are 18 years of age and above...

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Chapter Eighty-Seven: First Recruit...

Greg's gaze followed the airship as it shrank far away on the horizon. Unsure what to make of the sudden departure, he couldn't help but feel like something hadn't gone the way it should. From the way things had been going since he came into this world, he'd fully expected to have to fight the people on board the airship. If not for the fact that they were after what was rightfully Greg's reward for once again surviving another attempt by Fate, then because they were somehow associated with his teacher's former mage alliance. Despite being weak, there was no way he would have let them come after her without putting up a fight. But then, while he'd been conferring with his teacher in his dining room, his mother had come in and informed them that the airship was leaving!

"Get your family ready; we'll be leaving in a few days." His teacher's voice drew his attention away from the departing airship.

Furrowing his brow in confusion, Greg asked, "Isn't the danger passed? They only came down once and never caught sight of you."

Standing beside him with her gaze still fixed on the airship, the healer answered, "I scared them away, but they'll be back." The confusion on Greg's face deepened at her words. Thus far, they hadn't even made it past the first part of their plan, which was information gathering. How had his teacher somehow scared their guests away? Noting his confusion, his teacher questioned him, "What would you think if you saw someone come across a pot of gold, look at it longingly for a while, but then walk past it?"

"There's something wrong with the gold. Either that, or there's some hidden danger that's preventing them from taking the gold," Greg answered without having to pause to think much.

"Well, cleansing pearls are not everyday items that you can just acquire whenever you wish to. Even access to the abyssal realm doesn't guarantee that you'll get one. Not only do they take half a cycle to form, but abyssal oozes are usually found in places with high concentrations of abyssal mana. This means that there are usually several other powerful monsters around. This is a town full of mundane humans. With just the five third-tier guards they had, our guests could have easily obliterated the whole town and there's little the townspeople could have done to counter them. In the state I am currently in, not even I would have been able to stop all five of them. Against one or two third-tier mages, I can stand. Three if I'm really pushing it. But with five third-tier mages, and possibly more back on the airship, we'd have been on the losing side. And yet, there they go. Leaving behind what is easily a very valuable treasure. Why do you think that is?" His teacher posed.

"Something spooked them," Greg wasn't sure if it had been a rhetorical question or not. Still, he answered as his teacher's logic started to make sense. "But I don't see how that's connected to you," Greg confessed.

"With the being you are linked to giving a warning that the abyssal ooze was powerful enough to kill both you and me, I wasn't going to take any chances. The formations I was fashioning around the creature used knowledge and principles that only a seventh-tier mage or a very knowledgeable sixth-tier mage would use," She explained. "When you reported that they only had third-tier guards with them, I didn't expect any of them to know what it was they were looking at when they saw the formation. From the look of things, however, they either had someone very knowledgeable, or a high-tier mage on board," she guessed.

"Wait, but then why come down the first time?" Greg asked as this logical inconsistency struck him.

The healer was quiet for a while before shrugging in the end. "I don't know," She confessed.

Greg looked at the departing airship for a while before a chuckle escaped him. "If you're right, then we were saved by the fact that our enemies are even more formidable than we initially thought them to be!" He said sounding amused.

The healer didn't answer or laugh along with him, her gaze still fixed on the airship. "Thank you," she at last said. Caught off guard both by her words and the complicated feelings they seemed to convey, Greg turned in her direction. Her gaze finally turned away from the airship as she turned to look at the town beyond the compound. There was, however, an unfocused quality to her gaze, as if she wasn't looking at what was around her. "I can't tell you how many times I've imagined the day I returned to exact revenge on the ones who betrayed me and anyone in my old alliance who might have had a hand in it. In my mind, I would have regained the power I'd lost and gained even more. Enough to make my enemies quake in fear and regret the day it ever crossed their minds to come after me..." She revealed. "But out of nowhere, before I was even close to being ready, my old mage alliance was in the skies above me."

Greg wanted to say something to assuage the fear that he could see in her eyes. He, however, remained quiet, knowing that she wasn't done speaking. A self-mocking smile crossed her lips "You'd think that, with how long I've lived, I'd be more composed. But the truth was, I was panicking. I felt like a caged animal and probably wouldn't have been as calm all through this ordeal if you weren't there to keep me grounded," She admitted.

"You were willing to lose your life to save mine, helping you through this was the least I could do" Greg answered his teacher, a reassuring smile on his lips. In truth, Greg didn't feel like he'd done all that much. The danger had come and he'd been ready to face it alongside her. But even before they could do much, the danger passed. As far as he was concerned, he was very much still in her debt. Greg also didn't think that his teacher could be blamed for her reaction to the situation. Perhaps better than anyone else, Greg knew just how badly damaged her core and mana pathways were and consequently, how much it had weakened her. She was the equivalent of a third-tier mage but even then she could only use her magic for limited amounts of time before she had to rest, lest she overexert her already fragile mana circulation system. That she was afraid of her old mage alliance was only logical.

Still, not wanting to let her dwell on her reaction to her old mage alliance, Roka brought up a question. "Why not leave immediately? If you are certain that they are coming back, we should probably try to create as big a gap between us and them as we can," He stated.

"Because it doesn't matter how big the gap is if the one pursuing you is moving faster than you. Eventually, they'll catch up," The healer replied enigmatically. "The higher up the tiers you climb Roka, the fewer mages you'll find. There are probably more than ten billion first-tier mages in the realm right now. On the other end of the ascension ladder, however, there are less than ten ninth-tier mages. The number of eighth-tier mages probably doesn't reach a thousand and seventh-tier mages, ten thousand. Spread out over the whole realm which has more than a hundred billion people, it means that you only get a single seventh-tier mage out of every ten million people," She laid out.

"High-tier mages are so rare that you only need to have three seventh-tier mages in your alliance for it to be considered a low-level seventh-tier mage alliance. If you have seven, then you are a mid-level seventh-tier force and at fifteen, you are at the apex of seventh-tier forces. If your alliance has even one eighth-tier mage as a member, then it's immediately promoted to an eighth-tier mage alliance. In other words, while individual mages would be after the cleansing pearls, to a mage alliance like Draknar, a high-tier mage would be the true prize."

"I don't know if their liaison with the Draknar mage alliance was on that airship or not. But either way, as soon as the information that there's probably a high-tier mage on this mountain reaches them. They'll contact their mage alliance with that information. An unallied high-tier mage is almost impossible to find. If they can find one, that liaison will earn great merit with the alliance. This place is far enough away that it'll take a few weeks, perhaps even a month or two for them to arrive. You can be certain, however, that a delegation from the Draknar mage alliance will be coming.." His teacher explained

"As a form of respect and sign of goodwill, the Draknar mage alliance will send a seventh-tier mage as the head of the delegation. This is both a sign of the alliance's strength and an indication that they are taking the prospective member seriously. The reason we can't leave immediately is because it'll be all too easy for such a mage to track us down. Regardless of which particular school of magic they belong to, seventh-tier mages usually have a wide repertoire of means that they've garnered through the cycles. I'll need to wipe away every last trace of our existence from this town if we don't want them tracking us down to wherever it is we move to. Only then can we leave with peace of mind. Otherwise, we'll just be delaying the inevitable. That's why we can't leave immediately. I need to be thorough about this, and in my currently weakened state, that will take a few days," She finally answered his initial question.

Greg wasn't sure how to feel about this. In his mind, he'd always known that he would leave this town. There was no way he was going to ascend through the tiers while cooped up in a little town in the mountains with barely any mages to speak of. Therefore, Greg couldn't exactly say that he was being made to do something he wouldn't have otherwise done on his own. At the same time, however, the idea of completely wiping away any trace that they'd ever been here made him feel like something important was being taken from him. Like rootless duckweed, he'd be adrift without any actual roots or place that he could point to and call home.

With a sigh, Greg forced the feelings down, recognizing the irrationality of feeling the way he did. He was Greg and not Roka after all. He might have the young man's memories, but in reality, they were just that... memories. Objectively speaking, he'd only been in this world and this little town for a little over a year and no more. He was already adrift. Far from home in a completely different world. To try and cling to this town would be Greg confusing himself with Roka. And that was to say nothing of just how dangerous it would be. He might have grown fond of the town over the last year. Greg, however, wasn't even remotely interested in dying just because he'd grown sentimental. Greg was about to turn to his teacher to let her know that he understood and would be preparing. Before he could do so, though, Greg caught sight of something that caused him to freeze.

Immediately, Greg sent mana to his eyes and scanned everywhere around them looking for signs of the invisible guard. He, however, was nowhere to be found. The young man from the airship had chosen to stay back by himself. Turning to his teacher, Greg noted that she seemed to also have caught sight of the young man who was walking toward his home with the former Town-head beside him. Greg couldn't help but be glad to see that his teacher was yet to revert to her true appearance meaning that even if the young man somehow got back to his people, he wouldn't be able to tell who she was. Though from the cold killing intent Greg could see in his teacher's eyes, he doubted that she was even remotely interested in leaving such a loose end.

With everyone else, this town was their home. Even after his teacher had wiped away every trace that they'd ever been there, the townspeople could be left to go about their life without anything being out of place. But as someone who came in on an airship, the young man approaching them was a piece that didn't belong in the puzzle. Even if they somehow managed to wipe his memories, leaving him in this town would be a dead giveaway to those already familiar with the young man that a powerful mage had done something to him. He was like a discordant note in a perfect melody. Without him, this was just a town in the mountains with no evidence of a powerful mage ever being here. With him here, any hope of obfuscating their trail was contingent on what they decided to do with him.

Greg could not help but glance in the direction of the departing airship, wondering what possible reason they could have for leaving this man behind. After all, if they were scared enough to run away, then they must have known that there was no way this young man would be able to do anything to a potentially high-tier mage. The fact that he was so openly approaching them at the very least put Greg a bit at ease. If he was up to something nefarious, more than likely he would be more clandestine in his actions. But with the former Town-head walking beside him, they moved past the gate and came to stop a few paces away.

Greg noted the look of confusion that crossed the former Town-head when he caught sight of his teacher, not recognizing her new appearance. The look, however, didn't last long as his features smoothed out soon thereafter. Whether or not he had worked out who it was most likely to be, Greg didn't know. Instead, the scarred older man turned to him and smiled. "Roka, my boy, how are you?" He greeted. Given that Roka was the one that gave the former Town-head a way out in the form of a potion, and even found a way to safely transfer power away from him while lionizing his legacy, the man had become much friendlier as a consequence. "Apologies for showing up unannounced, but this young man came back down from the airship and asked to be introduced to the one who was pushing our new Town-head's wheelchair," He stated.

Despite his words being genial, the former Town-head didn't waste time with unnecessary words. Instead, he got straight to the heart of the issue and explained how it is he came to be here with the young man beside him. Greg also appreciated the fact that the man was smart enough not to draw any attention to the unknown woman beside him. Whether or not he had worked out that this was the healer in disguise, he seemed to understand the necessity of not divulging to one's potential foes information that might be later used against them. Either that or he was just too scared of even the possibility of garnering the healer's wrath. Whichever the case, it kept the young man from realizing that the one their airship had run away from was actually a paper tiger. Who knew if, even now, this young man had a way of communicating with the airship? If he somehow got them to turn around and come back, it would spell disaster.

The young man stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lothar, Sanz Lothar," He stated. Greg knew from his lessons on the human tongue that Sanz was this young man's surname. Much like the Japanese in his former life, in the human tongue, the Surname came first before one's particular name. "Before we proceed, allow me to once again apologize for the poor showing that my sister exhibited. I am willing to make any reparations that you may deem necessary," He spoke calmly.

"I am not the Town-head, why did you come to me?" Roka asked. The apology was good and all, but it didn't make any sense that Lothar would make it to him. Looking back at his performance throughout the meeting, he couldn't see how it was that the young man had figured out that he was the key person there.

"When my sister tried to transfer leadership from the one you were pushing to the burly man, the burly one didn't look to the one in the wheelchair. No, his first instinct was to look at the one standing behind the wheelchair. In his eyes, there was a measure of fear as to what your reaction to the transfer of power would be," Lothar replied straightforwardly. Greg could tell that he was consciously trying to be honest and open with him. Given that the airship he had come in on was now little more than a speck on the horizon, he must have realized that he was in danger. He was doing his best to avoid earning his displeasure knowing that his life was hanging in the balance. "My sister failed to notice it, but I suspect that what she transferred was an empty title. The true power in this town lies with someone else," He said.

"An observant one this one," The former Town-head commented offhandedly, sounding impressed.

Greg's lips pressed together, unable to help a feeling of displeasure that the flaw in his disguise didn't have anything to do with himself. "What do you want?" Greg questioned, choosing to get right to the heart of the issue.

"I have but one request. Like you, I walk the path of magic," he stated. Greg didn't bother asking how Lothar knew that he too was a mage. Given that the airship had already made its escape, he probably knew that there was a high-tier mage in this town. The only way that Roka would be considered the true power in this town was if he was somehow linked with that mage. A teacher-student relationship was simply the most likely. "Unfortunately for me, I am afflicted with a mana-averse body. While I was in the first tier, it wasn't even detectable. It was only after I ascended to the second tier that it fully expressed itself and became a hindrance to me. I looked high and low for some sort of solution, but have found none. The cleansing pearls from your abyssal ooze are my last hope. I only wish to buy a few from your teacher," He went on to say.

Greg had to control himself to keep from letting out a groan. Even though the cleansing pearls were his, he was fully prepared to let them go. After all, based on what his teacher said, it'd take another three months before even the first cluster of pearls would be produced. They didn't have that much time. In a month or two, people from the mage alliance would reach this town, and if they were still here when that happened, it'd be game over. All that Lothar had to do was come back then and he could have had as many cleansing pearls as he wished without even having to buy them. Instead, he had chosen to stay behind and make himself a complication to their escape plan. Greg was cognizant of the fact that Lothar hadn't actually set out to ruin their escape plan. Nevertheless, from the look his teacher had sent the young man, it didn't matter. He was now a problem that needed to be dealt with...

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Calm as he pretended to be on the surface, Lothar could feel his heart hammering inside his chest. Back when he flew off the airship, he'd believed that he had no other choice. He had looked far and wide for other solutions and yet none had worked. This was probably his last chance and he had to grab onto it no matter what. Now that he stood before the disfigured boy, Roka, and the terrifying woman beside him, Lothar couldn't help but wonder if he had been too rash. Perhaps he should have given up on this and tried to find some other way to deal with his ailment. After all, even as a second-tier mage, he still had hundreds of cycles to live. Who's to say that another opportunity wouldn't have presented itself?

Lothar had given the burly man's reaction as the reason why he was certain that Roka was the true power in this town. But while that was part of it, it wasn't the entire story. As he was coming down from the airship, Romin, his invisible guard, had descended with him. Romin wasn't planning on staying. Both second and third-tier mages were just different-sized ants in the eyes of a sixth or seventh-tier mage. His reason for descending with him was because he had some information to share before he returned to the ship.