Supreme Magus novel Chapter 108

- "I don’t get it, how is this supposed to be related to my soul? Sure, hunting a pup is a shameful act, but I don’t see why I should meddle. It’s none of my business." –

Lith’s sight blurred, feeling his head spinning again while images kept rapidly appearing and disappearing. He watched the White Griffon academy’s walls crack and crumble, until the whole castle fell into ruins.

- "What the heck? Another vision?" He was flabbergasted.

"It must be guiding you toward something related to the power struggle revolving around the academy. Seems your soul is nicer than you, since it cares for Linjos and the kids."

Solus’ tone was gentle and warm, hoping for him to open his heart to others, even if just a little.

"I don’t see how the two things are related, but in for a penny, in for a pound. What’s the power level of the hunters?"

"Three cyan, one green and two yellow mana cores. The latter are unlikely to be mages, too many muscles, too little mana." Solus replied. –

Lith memorized the opponents based on their strength, before coming up with a last-minute plan. Not having much to work with, he had to keep it simple.

Killing in cold blood six people just because of a "mystical prophecy" was out of question. His conscience was still nagging at him for how he treated the dryads, so he needed a softer approach.

Lith instantly switched his hunter suit with the academy’s uniform through the pocked dimension, having decided to play the role of the naïve student upholding justice.

He approached the hunters on foot, while weaving several spells, ready to be unleashed with but a thought, just in case. Once he got close enough, he snapped his fingers, using air magic to amplify the sound into a small boom, drawing their attention. _{freewebnøvel.com}

"Hey, what are you doing so close to the academy? This part of the forest is reserved to the students. Scram, before I call the security."

The sudden noise caused them to freeze for a moment, giving the Byk the opening it needed to escape the encirclement and run away. The six hunters turned towards Lith, looking at him with irritated eyes and ill-concealed killing intent.

***

Raghul, the leader of the mercenary team disguised as hunters, was enjoying his last assignment quite a bit. He had never been paid so handsomely to do a menial job. During the last days, they had been killing magical beasts, it didn’t matter if big of small since the pay was the same.

He had no idea why his contractor sent them specifically to that forest, but according to Rodimas, the smartest of the team, it was about upsetting the academy’s balance.

Based on the intel she had gathered, the Headmaster had some kind of deal with the beasts.

Her guess was that slaying those nearest to the academy and making the students appear as the perpetrators, it would ruin the relationship between Linjos and the Lord of the forest.

If that happened, either he could no longer have the exams take place in the forest, or he had to risk his students’ safety.

Raghul didn’t understand what good could came out of it, and more importantly, he didn’t care. The reason he had accepted that job, despite the suspiciously high reward, was because he hated academies.

The memories of what he had gone through, back in the day when he had been admitted to the Water Griffon, still haunted his dreams sometimes.

When a goddamn kid appeared out of nowhere, allowing their prey to escape, he was greatly annoyed.

- "What a rotten luck. How the heck did this pest found us in this frigging huge forest? If we get exposed, we’ll lose the other half of the pay." –

"Hey, kid! Do you have any idea how much money your little stunt has just costed us? At least ten gold coins! Hope you have enough on you to compensate for our loss, otherwise I’ll have to roughen you up."

Raghul wasn’t surprised that the first to react had been Terion. He was the kind of man that always thought with his wallet.

Lith saw a lean man, with curly brown hair and a face full of freckles, walking double time towards him, yelling something about money.

"Don’t you have any shame? First you gang up against a young Byk and now try to extort from a student? You are unworthy of calling yourself hunters."

Lith pretended to be outraged, while waiting for the next piece of the vision. Saving the cub had no effect, and so far, even interacting with the hunters had no effect.