Jinmu solemnly stared at the system panel in front of his eyes.
The bleeding on his forehead has long stopped. Now, he was formulating a plan on how to deal with the two tasks at the same time.
'The volcanic grassy plains is a dangerous area to be in. Despite the lack of demon beasts there, we might die from the unpredictive natural calamities.'
'The Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary do offer a lot of demon beasts, but the elves are already aware of our existence. Continued exposure in that area would attract attention from unwanted factions.'
Jinmu understood the current situation of the Heavenly Magic Academy.
In his eyes, the academy master was waiting for his students to develop into a strong force which could be utilized in the future.
If the academy master wanted to announce the academy's return that early, then he would have gone along with the elves and made talks instead of returning to the academy in haste.
However, the fact that the academy master gave the elves a tip about the Otherworld's plans bothered him.
Was he trying to form a secretive relationship with the Alderian Terrestrial Sanctuary?
Jinmu listed out the possible reasons for the academy master to do this.
One was that the Sanctuary's connections to the other empires were shallow. They weren't that interested in forming strong allegiances, nor would they try to wage wars onto others.
With the exception of the Grurad Mystic Manor.
Jinmu re-evaluated his thoughts. Maybe exposing themselves again was a good idea?
Moreover, Heavenly Magic Academy could provide what the elves wanted the most.
A sacred place of magical cultivation.
The elves' talent to magic was extremely high. They thirst for knowledge and power about magical cultivation.
An agreement between the Sanctuary and the academy will have an influx of highly talented students on the latter while strengthening the overall force of the former.
It was a win-win situation that neither party would foolishly reject.
'Since this is the case, it is best to remain within the Sanctuary's territory.', Jinmu concluded.
The Morning Star Empire wasn't an option. The assassins who massacred his village might recognize them there.
He also thought the probability that the Otherworld were planning things on other places as well. It would be strange if they only targeted the Norva Assili.
Now that all was set, Jinmu only needed to verify his assumptions. His senior brother Kai should have other plans on how to handle the problems in Norva Assili but it wouldn't hurt to speak out his thoughts to his senior brother.
He went out of the medical area and proceeded to the classrooms.
'They should be finished by now.'
Alas, he was on point. Though he did not expect that the three classmates of his wore depressive expressions on their faces.
"What happened? Why are you sullen after the academy master's lesson?", Jinmu was nervous.
He sat on the floor and held his head, regretting the actions he did earlier.
Jinmu opened his system panel and saw a new special task.
[ Special Task: Spell Variation ]
[ Academy master tasks you to learn 15 different magic spells and present these spells to him by next week. ]
[ Requirement: At least 5 spells must be of the defensive category. ]
[ Failure: Grounded – unable to leave the academy's premises for 1 week. ]
Jinmu mused at the failure condition of the said task. It was quite a severe punishment since one would also fail the weekly special task.
'Academy master is truly pushing us to train and become stronger faster. I kind of forgot that obligation as I was entranced by the vast knowledge presented in the library. But now…'
He eyed the three depressed students in front of him.
"Emi, Lucan, Olivia. What are you getting depressed all about? Is the task too hard for you?", Jinmu said.
"For someone a genius like you, sure it is not hard.", Lucan replied, "You're the smart guy."
He was worried about learning new spells since it would take a lot of tries before mastering one, where there laid Lucan's greatest weakness due to his legendary magic root.
"Brother Jinmu, I-I don't know much of the other spells. I'm scared I might be grounded this time…", Emi shyly added.
She was the most inexperienced of them all. Although her mastery in nameless spell casting was second to Jinmu, her skills were subpar when it comes to the more complicated spells.
"What pathetic reasons.", Jinmu snorted, "Why do you think the academy master chose you after all this time? It's because he sees the potential in you to become stronger and prove that his decision back on those days wasn't a mistake on his part."
Despite how hostile they were to one another a few hours ago, Jinmu was ready to assist them without a hint of remorse in his words.
Lucan and Emi looked at him in surprise.
Jinmu then noticed Olivia who remained silent.
"Olivia, why are you still sulking over there?", he asked.
Olivia felt annoyed that Jinmu asked him. How could he not understand that she was extremely worried of her father's fate?
She snorted and left without a word.
Emi wanted to follow her but her demeanor was too cold. Jinmu glanced at Olivia's departing figure. Nobody knew what this guy was thinking.
"Emi, come with me. I'll teach you a thing or two about the other magic spells.", Jinmu gestured.
"Wh-what about me?", Lucan was confused. Shouldn't this guy be teaching him too?
"You already know a lot of magic spells, Lucan. All you need to do is practice them all.", Jinmu argued, "And stop complaining. You're already old enough to be responsible for yourself. Weren't all noble children born like that?", grabbing Emi's hand and headed to the library.
Lucan's pride was hurt, but Jinmu was correct. Regardless of his complains, he would only waste his time instead of putting effort into practicing instead.
He went into the training yard where he saw Olivia sitting on the corner.
"What's gotten into you? Are you thinking of your father?", he asked.
Olivia stared daggers at him, "Leave me alone."
"Okay, if that is what you want.", Lucan didn't insist and practiced on the distance.
Seeing how the ignorant young man left her, Olivia's mood worsened.
She needed someone to console her, to cheer her up but what all Lucan did was train there like an idiot and pant as his mana easily depletes.
This made her hate him even more.
'What a weak man, so easily tired after casting a few magic spells!', she cursed. However, she didn't realize that her thoughts shifted from one thing to another.
Lucan continued with his parade. Her annoyance peaked and angrily left.
He grinned after the cold girl was gone, 'Got you.'
The ex-crown prince planned to set Olivia up. He intentionally tired himself after a few rounds of practicing.
Knowing that Olivia hated men who were weak, Lucan decided to put on a show. And his plan worked, at least half of it.
What remained was for Olivia to return on another time and do her own practicing. The northerner girl will certainly show off her skills, displaying how lowly he was compared to her.
After all, her competitive spirit was comparable to Solordo. Unfortunately, that muscle-brained guy wasn't here and Lucan thought he had to temporarily take his place.
Of course, Lucan already accepted his loss. There was no way for him to win against the northerner girl.
All he just wanted to happen was for Olivia to temporarily forget the unpleasant information showed by their special task concerning the fate of her father.
Lucan returned to his practice, swearing to the Morning Star how cruel the academy master was.
Meanwhile, the cruel academy master was panting in his room. His sight blurred and he couldn't stand properly.
'What the hell is happening to me? I'm not on drugs or any other stuff like that recently.', Eluard cursed.
It started when he was delivering his lesson earlier. He had no choice but to end it early because he was no longer in the good condition to continue.
'Ah, I feel drowsy. I want to sleep.'
When he fell on his bed, his consciousness was brought to the void of space he was in before.
Just as he thought he had gone crazy, a golden humanoid figure arrived in front of him and bowed.
"Hello, successor."
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