Chapter 131 - Admissios of the Magic Academy

  Nathan Evenhart:

  Standing before me was the greatest monster I’d ever faced. Not a colossal beast or an armed foe, but a force of nature in human form. The kind of person whose mere gaze could make me tremble. Someone whose fury you would never want to provoke... my mother.

  "Nathan Evenhart!" my mother excimed, pag bad forth in the room, her eyes locked on me, revealing the gravity of the situation.

  "What did I say? What did we agree on?" she spoke seriously.

  I definitely went too far this time, especially since I had used the Aspect of Time to slow dowy and speak to that soldier.

  Now I was locked in this room, listening to the lecture. I expio her that my iion was just to hahings quickly without drawing too much attention. But mixing three elements using the power of the Special Eyes to create a storm cloud, while also maniputing the Celestial Eyes, was where I lost trol. I could store my mana in the cloud and make it fire lightning bolts whenever I wanted. Aunt Margie even loved it when I created artificial clouds tate the fields without the farmers knowing they were being helped by a mage.

  Using the Aspect of Time alongside elemental fusion had made my mana votile.

  "It was an act. I promise, ime I'll stick to just the lightning element. I wao test st a thunderbolt in a cloud and trolling it remotely... but I ended up overdoing it," I tried to justify.

  My family didn’t know about the existence of the Celestial Eyes, so I couldn’t mention that my ma out of trol because I had used both the Special Eyes and the Celestial Eyes together.

  My mother stared at me, letting out a long sigh, clearly trying to keep her posure.

  “It’s fine, Katherine,” Adrihna intervened, approag calmly. "The earth mages have already repaired the damage, the barriers have been rebuilt, and the guard has woken up. He said there was no issue with what happehough, for some reason, the guard seemed a bit... off. He asked me to gratute Nathan for passing the test and the without further questioning."

  Thank you for saving me, professor.

  My mother crossed her arms and looked at Adrihna, visibly relieved but still upset. "ime, Nathan, trol yourself. You know how votile your powers be."

  “These things happen every year," Adrihna responded. "Though he did cross some lines and drew more attention than necessary, luckily no one realized he bihree elements. Most people in the arena had already been dismissed, so they didn’t see much."

  Aunt Margie, who had been watg from beside Chloe, took the opportunity to break the slightly tense mood.

  "And what about that other issue?" she asked.

  My mother frowned, fused.

  “What issue?” she asked, lookiween them.

  Adrihna averted her gaze, clearly unfortable.

  “Let’s just say he’ll have to represent the human kingdom in a ceremony... in front of everyone,” she said, a little hesitantly.

  My mother raised an eyebrow, clearly irritated. "What do you mean, ‘represent the human kingdom’?"

  “There was no way to hide what he did,” Adrihna tinued. "As the examiner, I o select a taleudent to represent, and what he did... well, it stood out. Everyone saw it and was impressed by his spell. He ended up taking the spot that was initially meant for the princess."

  My mother let out a heavy sigh, incredulous. "That is definitely drawing attention, Nathan Evenhart!" She looked at me with a mixture of exasperation and .

  Yes, I’m in trouble.

  "What will he have to do at the ceremony?" my aunt asked, trying to calm the situation.

  "He and two other students, one from each kingdom, will have to read a speech prepared by the Academy. In addition, the taleudents will have the opportunity to meet the king and queen of the human kingdom... and of the elven kingdom."

  What? I thought. I have to see that drunk king again?

  A wave of irritation rose as I remembered the st time I saw him.

  I looked at my mother and Aunt Margie, who exged gnces upon hearing Adrihna’s words. My teacher noticed the silend put on a subtle smile.

  "At some point, you all were going to meet," she said, casting a meaningful look at my mother.

  "Why are they going to be there, Adrihna? I thought they usually sent representatives for these kinds of events," my aunt asked, clearly ed.

  Adrihled into a chair, refleg for a moment before responding. "This year is special, sihe human king’s daughter and the elven king’s daughter will also be in their first year. It was Queen Agnes’ idea to promote an official meeting, symbolizing the friendship that the two princesses would form. Both kingdoms liked the idea, so the royal families will meet at the event," she expined, lighting her pipe calmly.

  My mhed and sat down as well, visibly tense. "I’m not ready for this..."

  "Don’t worry, Katherine. I’ll be there to serve as a bridge between you all," Adrihna tried to reassure her.

  I, oher hand, wasn’t following any of this. "Is this because we’re desdants of a High Elf?" I asked, and the three women all gave me looks at the same time.

  "Exactly," Adrihna answered. "But there’s a small problem reted to your talent."

  "roblem?" my aunt asked, her attentioened.

  Adrihna took another puff from her pipe before replying. "I haven’t told ahat he’s the only mage in the world who possesses all the elements of nature, including those of the High Elves. What do you think will happehey find out? I’m unsure how to hahis situation..."

  My mother frowned, her face filled with . "Will they want to accelerate the process?"

  Adrihna nodded slightly. "Maybe..."

  rocess?

  The only thing I knew was that, as desdants of High Elves, my teacher had been helping us obtain elven citizenship. In theory, I would have citizenship in two different kingdoms since my elven aor art of the nobility. From what I uood, this could be me iure, especially regarding my issue with the Special Eyes. Not even the human royal family would have enough authority to try and cim them, as I would be legally reized as a citizen of another kingdom. This, in a way, would protect me from any future attempts at manipution or trol.

  After the versation, my mother and Aunt Margie asked me to leave the room as they o have an ‘adult talk.’ Chloe apanied me, and as we walked, she spoke with a tone of both and slight reprimand:

  "You really overdid it this time..."

  I let out a sigh, still thinking about the lecture I had just received. "Yeah, I know... it was an act. I just wao test a eique."

  In truth, I wao test using the elemental bination again while activating the Celestial Eyes’ Aspect of Time.

  Chloe g me, trying to hide a smile. "Nathan, using three elements at once isn't something you should just do on a whim. Especially not in a crowded arena."

  "Alright, 'mom'," I said, and she turned red.

  "I'm just worried..." she muttered, turning to the side, trying to hide her flushed face.

  I ughed at her.

  "I thought I had it under trol," I tried to justify, but she just rolled her eyes.

  "You always think that," she said, shaking her head. "But at least now you’ll get the ce to see the king and queen of two kingdoms. That’s no small thing."

  I shrugged. "Seeing that drunk human king again isn’t something I’m looking forward to."

  She ughed at my remark, and we headed together toward the cafeteria to grab something to eat.

  Nikous Wolves:

  It was nighttime, and I sat gathered with t Laurence, Baron Franklin, and other he room was dimly lit by dlelight, and a map of the Evenhart territory y oable, marked with various notes.

  Half of that territory is just forest...

  Over the years, we’ve been gradually sabotaging the pce. I even turned a blio the local gangs operating in my nds. It was an effective strategy; if they were caught and imprisohere’d be no trace linking them bae.

  A key pyer in this was Baron Gideon, someone I used to stir up the criminals. He bought sves without g about their in, f debt svery dots. He couldn’t pull this off in his own duchy, but taking citizens from another was easy, as there was no formal dotation.

  Gideon also had es with brothels that would buy young girls without questioning where they came from.

  By using these methods, I fueled crime without being directly involved—just guiding the right people to do business with each other.

  I also kept the drug trade alive, thanks to my nd b another duchy. We smuggled as we pleased since I trolled that part of the border. My pn was slowly poisoning this pce, selling to local gangs who handled distribution.

  However, it seemed the more I expahe more ered I felt.

  The Evenharts have been more active i years, and it’s being a problem. They've intensified their surveilnd crackdown on the gangs, making business harder.

  The ruling family took a severe blow during the border war, and that was when I saw my ce to take trol of the underworld in this duchy. It started small: I approached bankrupt barons, them moo store drugs and traband on their nds. The goods were protected while I acted as the middleman, selling to the local gangs. This way, I established multiple ste points across the duchy, and the nobles made money by turning a blind eye. Gradually, I gaiheir trust.

  Things are getting plicated… my business is suffering.

  For some time, I’ve beeing on the edge. My ey was entirely depe on the underworld due to my high expenses, but in the past few years, everything has been falling apart.

  It seems ever sihat damned heir appeared, my life has only gotten worse!

  I smmed my fist oable in frustration, and the nobles looked at me, startled.

  "Five me... I just got lost in thought," I said, ughing to cover it up.

  They returo analyzing the report.

  "So, the day has finally arrived," t Laurence said.

  "Yes. Our assassin is already i Apsalon," I firmed.

  One of them sighed, clearly anxious.

  "What if they suspect us? After everything we’ve done..." he asked, uainty creeping into his voice.

  “Suspect us? Impossible," I replied with a cold smile. "Have you fotten? It's been 10 years. For a decade, we've preteo be loyal allies, publicly supp Duchess Margaery. I even donated a generous sum to her eic projects, alresenting myself as a dedicated champion of her cause. They might not like us, but suspect us? No. When the boy dies in an ‘act,’ there will be no reason for doubt. A professional assassin will ensure everything goes as pnned. In the end, the duchy will fall into our fa's hands, as it should."

  The others finally seemed to rex.

  "We've spent years support in various ways," I tinued. "I even sacrificed parts of my own business by handing over the locations of gangs, always 'for their be.' We've pyed our part well. Don’t worry, the boy’s death will be carefully staged as an act. Nothing will g."

  For years, we had meticulously pnned different ways to seize trol of the duchy. We had twies in motion.

  To cim the duchy, we o break Chloe’s e. For that, she would either o get pregnant by someone else, which would annul her betrothal... or her fiancé would o die.

  "There’s n baow," Baron Franklin said grimly.

  “We've pooled all our fortuo hire someone capable of killing a high noble,” t Laurence added nervously.

  They were uandably anxious about itting such a heinous crime. In the kingdom, the punishment for killing a high noble was death—not just for the perpetrator, but for their entire family. No one dared touch a high noble, as they were the inal families, the first kings of our ti. But we had hired one of the best mage-assassins.

  The price we offered was so high that even I briefly sidered being a merary assassin...

  "He’s someone from outside the Three Kingdoms, and that’s why he was the only one ted," I expined.

  "I hope that when this is all over, we recoup our money by exploiting the forbidden areas of the territory," t Laurence said hopefully.

  I walked over to the table, where there was a dot with a picture of our target. Being part of the politiobility, we had access to this kind of information.

  "Don’t worry. Soon, Nathan Evenhart will be dead," I said, stabbing a ko his photograph.