When A Mage Revolts

"I remember you have said before that you’d do an investigation into the netherworld during the school holidays. How? How do you guys intend to start? Can you bring me along too?"

Half a month away from the end of the holidays, Miles had run to face Benjamin and asked these questions out of the sudden.

Benjamin was stunned by it.

This...

Scratching the back of his head, he slowly remembered that indeed, there was such a thing.

According to his memory, it was an idea he had long before the attack by the Kingdom of Helius. At that time, the academy’s research on the spirits of the dead had stagnated, and they needed fresh material, which was why he had made such a decision. However, after a series of battles, he had long forgotten about this matter. If it were not for the reminder today, he might even take quite a few months before he would remember such a thing.

However, now... Did not seem like a good time.

The start of school ceremony was coming up, not to mention the memorial service they were preparing to hold on that same day. At the same time, it seemed that there were countless of visitors every day that demanded Benjamin’s attention, so it was very difficult for him to take himself out to investigate the netherworld.

And, truth be told, to expect a result from the exploration into the netherworld, it was possible that a lot of manpower and equipment would be needed. But after the battles, Benjamin realized that his mind had become more utilitarian.

He only wanted to grow the academy’s strength as soon as possible, and get rid of the pesky Church forever.

The retreat was only temporary, and with the Church’s past, after recovering for a few years, they might begin to stir up trouble again, and the world would be plunged into unrest once more. Who knew how many mages would lose their lives because of that, then... Benjamin still remembered the people of Icor during the time of unrest, and the picture of how they had to move from their homes during the unrest and war.

The Church was like a thorn in the flesh. Benjamin only wanted to completely pull it out as fast as he could.

The exploration into the netherworld was, without a doubt, a very important matter, but unlike the research on runes and the building of an army, it could not produce a practical use within a short period of time.

And before Benjamin’s eyes was a huge pile of way too many tasks...

"How? This plan... Are you ready to put it aside?" Miles could roughly tell from Benjamin’s face that he was in a difficult situation and was stuck for words for the moment, so he asked.

"That... Recently, there have been too many matters, I am really too busy," Benjamin replied helplessly.

"..."

Miles seemed extremely disappointed.

Benjamin suddenly realized that the magic-immune physique and the netherworld seemed to have some connections, which was why Miles had such a great interest. And since that was the case, the exploration into the netherworld must not necessarily be done by him personally, right?

"The matters to do with the academy right now are definitely aplenty, so I am unable to free myself from them. However, you can go yourself, yes?" After some deliberation, he opened his mouth to speak, "As long as you use the soundproof magical instruments, anyone can pass through the deep abyss, and enter the netherworld. I can even pick out a few mages to go with you."

Miles was slightly stunned, but very soon, he nodded in agreement.

Benjamin let off a sigh of relief.

And so, as fast as he could, he chose a few dark mages and sent them out along with Miles from the Academy of Magic. Researchers needed the materials from the revenant, and the students with psychic powers also needed to capture huge amounts of spirits to turn into "undead minions" like the spirit bird. It was already quite a heavy burden, so to be able to toss it onto another person’s shoulders, Benjamin felt really happy.

He did not bother about the matter after that, and turned to get busy with the preparations for the new school term and the handling of various relations. Of course, the daily meditation homework was not forsaken, and after the consecutive battles, Grant’s power still gave him a huge motivation.

The situation with the "Light Slayers" was very difficult to reproduce, and it was impossible for him to develop the academy on a scale as large as the Church, and to use great numbers of people to gain an advantage over Grant in battles. Because of that, the growth of his own capabilities had become a very important factor in the uprooting of the Church.

"The standard of my magical ability should be limitless, right?"

After finishing a round of meditation, Benjamin looked at the runes floating in the dark, and could not help but ask.

"On principle, it should be that way." A string of smiley faces jumped out and squished in next to Benjamin, with the System’s voice sounding out, "The important thing is to accumulate, as well as to make the right decisions during the quantitative change."

"...So your division would be limitless as well?"

"Of course."

Hearing this, Benjamin could not help but sigh, feeling slightly miserable.

No matter what, meditation would always be a homework he could not give up on. Now that his progress was as slow as a snail, he did not dare to delay anything by even half a minute.

Half a month later.

"Finally... We can finally come in here and learn magic."

The two great doors of the academy, under the attention of numerous pairs of eyes, slowly opened up.

There were crowds of people in Academy, and although they had expanded the area a few times, it was still quite a squeeze. The opening of school this time was much merrier than the last one.

A young face was being squished on the streets outside the academy. The new students stood on tiptoes, doing their best to look inside.

"So many people... I heard that during the war at Icor, a lot of students were killed, and my parents don’t want me to study here. They say it’s dangerous."

"That’s because of the war. Don’t people say that the Academy of Magic is the greatest hero in driving off the Church?"

"Oh yes, I heard that not many of the students during the last term knew magic, but within a year, they could battle and kill enemies, and have gotten rid of many shamans..."

The senior students had already entered the academy earlier on to help with the preparations for the opening of the school term. Meanwhile, the new students and the other curious passersby were crowded at the doors, noisily engaging in their discussions.

There were too much that they had heard about the Academy of Magic. Some were good, some were bad, and this had affected their determination. Except that, when they had really received the qualifications to enroll, not a single person chose to give it up.

"If you really want to believe those rumors about not being able to enter the Academy of Magic, then you must be crazy!" A young man spoke into his companion’s ears.

There was a risk in anything to be done, but in the hearts of the people in every nation, the Academy of Magic was slowly being associated with success. Even if you were a beggar on the streets, as long as you could get onto the enrolment list, you would be able to soar into the skies and become a strong mage. Such a story about the lower hierarchy of society fighting back had a sort of fatal attraction, no matter which era you were in.

However, when the great doors opened up, the people outside could not help but be stunned.

The decorations were extremely plain, there were uniform black clothing, white corsages on the chests... A mournful atmosphere seeped out gently from within the academy. The new students were somewhat confused, and the other who wanted to visit the academy today were also stunned for a few moments before they could respond.

This was a memorial service.

"Come in." Without notice, Benjamin, dress in black, appeared in the sky above the great doors. His voice had been amplified and was steadily released towards the crowds, "No need to panic. Their sacrifices in the process of battling the Church have made them heroes. We only wish for them to be remembered."

The crowds suddenly grew quiet, and they looked before them, discovering suddenly that there was a stone tablet in the middle of the academy that looked quite new. The stone tablet was completely black and gigantic. Rows and rows of names had been carved on it.

As though there was a quiet energy, the enthusiasm of the new students towards the idea of rising beyond the social structure was immediately decreased. The impetuous ideas about making it big had, for some unknown reason, become somewhat pale.

At that moment, they sensed that they had felt something, but what exactly it was, they were not too sure.

However, they were beginning to understand that the Academy of Magic, talked about in such enthusiasm and heat outside, seemed to be very...

Different.