Supreme Magus novel Chapter 180

As soon as Friya was Warped back to her room, Linjos’ expression became worried.

"Well, how do you think that went?" Queen Sylpha asked.

"Not bad, but not good either. I never expected any of them to actually kill one of these scums." Linjos sent a powerful darkness magic impulse into Mage Syalle’s head, giving her a painless death.

After days of torture and interrogation, even she deserved it.

"They all come from a sheltered environment, or in the newest Ernas ladies’ case at least peaceful. I wanted my students to realize that sooner or later they will have to make hard choices, so that when the moment comes, they will be prepared.

Not turn them into cold blooded killers. I predicted them reacting like Lady Quylla or Lady Phloria. The other two went completely overboard."

"It’s evident you never had children, Linjos." Queen Sylpha sighed.

"Teenagers are unpredictable, it’s their nature. Take the young Lord Deirus. He clearly didn’t want to do it, but he is so eager to meet the expectations that are placed on him from his father and the Kingdom that he let pride get the best of him.

He even mimicked the Kingdom’s ritual execution method. I will tell Archmage Deirus to cut him some slack or sooner or later the boy will crumble under the pressure.

As for Lady Friya, you have underestimated all she has just gone through. The betrayal of her mother, the death of her family and the ’adoption’ from the Ernas family.

That girl needs help. All of them do, but she does more than anyone else."

"I’ll inform the families to provide them all the support they can. And remove the last part of the exam from now on. I’m really sorry your Majesty, I’ve let you and my students down with my incompetence." Linjos lowered his head in shame.

"Don’t be so hard on yourself, Linjos. You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs, and something good can come out of mistakes too. Take Lady Phloria, for example.

She has turned out to be one of those rare cases where duty and heart are able to meet halfway. It took a considerable amount of courage to not submit like the young Deirus did or run away like Lady Quylla.

I have great expectations for her, put her in the special list and keep me posted about her progress."

Linjos bowed deeply, doing as instructed.

"What about Lith?" He asked.

"That part has been a complete success, Linjos. I commend your efforts. Thanks to you, my worst fears have been dispelled. He has shown self control by not slaughtering the prisoners, care by protecting his teammates from their own kindness and wisdom by completely restricting the captured enemies."

"Doesn’t this mean that he could also have understood what we wanted and acted accordingly? In such case he would be a skilled manipulator capable of hiding in plain sight. Wasn’t that what you feared?"

Sylpha nodded.

"Indeed, but whatever the case, we now know that he is capable of controlling his impulses. It’s just that normally he doesn’t seem to care. In the future he may not be the asset we want, but the one we need and that’s the only thing that matters."

***

Back in his room, Yurial was still on all fours, puking his guts out. He had tried to control his nerves long enough to reach the toilet, but had failed after just a few steps. The acid taste of bile in his mouth was getting mixed with the salty one from tears and snot that he couldn’t stop from running down his cheeks and nose.

- "Oh gods, I have killed a man." The thought kept echoing obsessively in his mind.

"Why did I do it? It was just a test, saying no was an option. What’s wrong with me? I’m really such a monster to place a grade above a human’s life?"–

When there was nothing more he could throw up, Yurial curled up on the floor, uncaring of the filth and the stench surrounding him, crying until exhaustion relieved him from his suffering.

***

Phloria was still having a tough time controlling her nerves. Orion Ernas, her father, could recognise only half her words between all the sobs and tears, but still managed to understand what she had gone through.

"Cry as much as you want, little Flower. You need to get this thing out of yourself or it will eat you alive."

"Dad you were right. You were so right and I didn’t really understand your words until today." She said between the hiccups.

"Please, don’t get mad at me. I know I screwed up, but I just couldn’t do it. I’m afraid of what mom will say or how this will affect my career, but I’m more afraid of what would have happened if I had taken that sword."

"Shush little Flower, now you are just being silly. Mom would never criticise you for something like this. Worst case scenario, she’ll nag at you for wearing pants in front of the Queen again." Phloria couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

As ridiculous as it sounded, it was exactly something that her mother would have said, no matter the circumstances.

"As for Linjos, may the gods forgive him if he dares doing anything after putting a bunch of kids in a warzone, because certainly I will not! I will call him immediately, and if he hasn’t more than proper explanation, I will give him a piece of my mind and my sword!

Or my name is not Orion Ernas anymore!" A worried barking interrupted Orion’s threats.

"Lucky!" Phloria called through the communication amulet, triggering a happy bark in response. All those years ago, she had refused letting go of the puppy, afraid something bad would happen to it.

She had named it "Lucky" and they had become inseparable friends.

"He is happy to see you too." Orion voice wasn’t very enthusiastic.

The puppy was the new world equivalent of a Tibetan mastiff, 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of love and enthusiasm that gave little to no consideration to staff members or furniture when it was waggling its way towards its master’s voice.

Lucky jumped on Orion, almost knocking him off his chair, trying to lap Phloria’s hologram. Its valiant efforts were foiled by the treacherous magic that made the hologram intangible, but still managed to ruin an hour of Orion’s work by drooling and clawing his paperwork.