Supreme Magus novel Chapter 211

Vinor almost choked from the surprise, many students stared at M’Rook like they were seeing a magical beast for the first time in their lives.

"Yeah, he can." Ironhelm corrected Vinor. "Minus two hundred points for lying to a teacher." The rest of Vinor’s rings turned grey.

"How can you believe to stupid beast instead of a student? Are you even human? What side are you on?" Vinor whined, jumping away after hearing a snarl right beside his head.

"Who are you calling stupid?" M’Rook was so close that Vinor could smell his pungent breath. His lips were curled up, revealing fangs the size of a small dagger.

"Minus five hundred points for offending our protectors." Vinor’s uniform turned from white to grey, losing all of its magical properties.

"Listen up, you idiots." Professor Ironhelm’s voice roared.

"For the next three days, we are guests in this forest. Magical beasts are our landlords, protectors, and first line of defense. Whoever dares to attack another student or disrespects them will have all of their points null and void.

"It’s time for you to learn that if a magical beast lives long enough, it develops mystical wisdom. They can talk, reason, and read, just like us humans. Before opening your stuck up mouths, remember where you are if you want to live.

"If they refuse to protect us because of your behavior, I’ll gladly sacrifice an idiot or two to save everyone else. Is it clear?"

The students from the fourth and fifth year looked around, finally seeing that the town had no blind spots. Magical beasts could be seen soaring the skies, patrolling the streets, and even felt while tunneling underground.

Unlike inside the academy, every single move they made was watched, every word heard. Now they also knew that magical beast could talk, making them a living security system with heightened senses.

Lith walked away after giving M’Rook a polite bow, starting to look out for Phloria and the rest of the group.

- "If they live long enough. That’s a good joke." Lith inwardly laughed at the charade magical beasts had put up for humans.

"Yeah, even Nok could talk and he was just a Byk cub." Solus smiled remembering their little friend. -

Meanwhile, Professor Ironhelm’s curiosity had been piqued.

"Why didn’t you intervene? If I hadn’t stopped that icicle..."

"Nothing would have happened." M’Rook cut him short. "The oaf was a threat only to himself. I would kill him if I were you. He’s a bad apple. He will bring only harm to your pack."

The Ry’s words made another question arise.

"Why are you calling the big one ’oaf’ and the other one ’young wolf’?"

"The big one is one of you, the small one is one of us." M’Rook snorted like someone had asked him if the water was wet.

"One of us?" Ironhelm was getting more confused by the second.

"The oaf is a human. Sees food, wants food. Sees female, wants female. Sees things, wants things. No matter if he needs them, he takes them with violence. That is human nature.

We don’t eat unless hungry, we have a mate for life, we don’t need useless trinkets. He is one of us."

Professor Ironhelm felt slightly offended by M’Rook’s words. They sounded a lot like racism. His problem was that he couldn’t argue with them. Without law and order, the world of men would take days at most to plunge into chaos, while magical beasts lived according to unwritten rules that every one of them adhered to.

***

Lith was amazed by the total number of people the White Griffon hosted. The first three years were composed of at least one thousand students, making him doubt that the mining town could accommodate them all.

- "Damn, I’m here for less than five minutes and I am already lost. I hate crowded places. They give me a headache." Lith thought.

"We need to find a Professor and fast!"

"Or you could call them and ask them where they are." Solus suggested, making Lith sneer.

"My sweet, innocent Solus. If after carrying out this monumental work Linjos has left the communications open, he would be too much of an idiot to be the Headmaster."–

As Lith predicted, the communication amulet was as dead as a doornail.

"Lith, nice to meet you again. I wish our circumstances were better." Lith turned around, meeting the eyes of Colonel Varegrave.

"Colonel, this is an unexpected surprise. Is the army involved too?" Lith replied, giving him a small bow.

"Yes, of course. We cannot take any chances. I assume you already know everything." Lith nodded, asking him for help in finding his teammates.

"Not a problem." The Colonel touched his communication earpiece, requesting information. While waiting for the reply, he and Lith talked about the situation at hand.

"Can the Small World be used here?"

"Sadly, no." Varegrave sighed. "It works with principles similar to the academy’s arrays, it’s just more powerful. Those creatures would barely be slowed down, while we would be powerless.

Follow me, the show is about to begin."

Varegrave lead Lith to the town’s outskirts where students and Professors were still waiting. Suddenly, the earth started to tremble and a rock plateau four meters (14 feet) high emerged from the ground.

Linjos had chosen a spot that allowed all those present to have a clear view and listen to his magically amplified voice.

"My dear students, this will be our home for the following days. The rules here are the same as the academy, but without lessons. At least for the fourth and fifth year students." At those words, most of the crowd erupted into groans, which Linjos ignored.

"You need to keep your hands and minds busy to avoid the stress from our current situation to eating you up from the inside. For this reason, fourth and fifth year students have two choices: help the Professors teaching their juniors the basics of magic, or mine magic crystals.

Both the endeavors will be awarded with magic crystals or points according to your contributions. I have assigned you your housing based on your social status and age, but don’t misunderstand.

I did it only to prevent the seniors from harassing the younger students. All houses are identical and have the same comforts." More groans filled the air, many students spit on the ground, disgusted by Linjos’s words.

They had hoped to get some fun at the expenses of the commoners.