Chapter 215: Reversal

Chapter 215: Reversal

Joey?

Stanimal, I wink at him.

Hes currently tending to a royal palace garden thats so thick I would rather call it a forest. There are a few fruit trees, but the Mana is as heavy as it gets. Not even Amorium, a city famous for its rare herbs and various green products, has this energy density. Im not wearing my Elf disguise. I have chosen to come here with my face and bodyno disgusting, pointy ears.

I go by my old name, Joey, the old man in front of me says.

I nod ruefully. That stings for some reason.

You pardoned the Queen, I heard.

How did you come here? You arenove(l)bi(n.)com

Wanted, I am wanted. But Im gathering political support, I click my tongue. I just wanted to say hi. You know I came with Vanedeni help.

Stanimal looks at me without smiling. His eyes are lifeless, and his hands are still delicately touching the stem of a weird plant.

Political support, he repeats.

Yeah, the thingamajig, you know? Get greedy [Archmages] hooked on the kind of magic I know. Give them some. Theyll back me up in this national manhunt that you and your cronies are carrying out.

Stanimal just stares at me, not saying a word. Well, I guess its not Stanimal anymore. Its King Tiberius.

So, reinstating your distant granddaughter-in-law, accepting this hunt for an innocent person like me. I see that you have been busy with your politicking.

Not a word? Nothing? I ask.

Its my duty. Its always been, Joey. You should go.

Hell, I laugh, your duty? You were spending your days in Amorium as a homeless person to escape your duty. And now, what do you do? And where the hell is Grigio, by the way?

Suddenly, Im aware of the absence of the huge animal by his side.

Hes not with me anymore. My class, to express his full potential

Suddenly, Im yanked out of the gardens and transported in front of the [Supreme Archmagus]. Apparently, inhibiting the teleport trigger is one of the things that basic anti-teleportation wards do. And thats why sometimes its better to trigger the spell inside an artifact remotely.

Paranoid, if you ask me. Really a paranoid mage.

But whatever.

Did you find the answers you were looking for? Or the satisfaction, at least? He cant do anything to stop you from becoming a member of the Nine Towers Academy. And we monitored the [Archmages]. All are in favor. Even [Archmage] Titus. You killed off his disciple, but I bet he would be willing to kill his entire family to get his hands on the magic of old, Joey Luciani.

Whatever. To hell with Titus. About StanKing TiberiusI dont know. Is he even a royal now? Like, is he the king? You know what? Dont tell me. Let him do his thing. Ill do mine. But no, no satisfaction. No real answers. Im not sure I can interpret what a man that old thinks.

Care to hear the advice of another old man? Lord Juler smiles fatherly.

Sure, I shrug.

Immortality, or even very long life, is as much a curse as a blessing. Personality and character deteriorate over time. The myth of Dragons being aloof and lazy because of their immortality is true. When you outlive everyone else, you see the world differently. We are a set of Goblin cogs in their weird contraptions, and we move based on the movement of the other cogs. When the other cogs stop moving, we have to be refitted to other cogs so that we can keep working. And if we never break down like the others, we just lose our purpose, our identity. That is, obviously, an oversimplification. But the purpose can become your identity, just like its happened again for your friend, Joey Luciani. And King Tiberius is a haunted man. He probably wishes for no other than rest, but he also knows better; he knows that a huge change is coming. Valariths coming out because of me, and you put every continent on high alert. They have no idea where we are hiding, and some dont even want to know. The Vanedenis have many enemies, Joey Luciani. But we were never the scared ones. They are. They are bunkering down, building armies, trying to defeat impossibly strong Dungeons to recover relics that might aid them in the wars that are coming to this world.

You know, he continues, how I cant tell you what we are studying exactly? Thats because you would take part in it. Even though something is already telling me that you will be a part of it.

Great; always ready for the apocalypse. I hope someone writes my biography at some point, though. It would be cool to read about all my great feats.

Joey Luciani, Lord Juler stares at me, you are still a child. Do not think too much about the consequences of your actions. Act, child, and experience the world. Whatever you do, it doesnt matter if its wrong or right. At the moment, theres nothing more important than what you will do and who you will be. Wisdom only exists in the realm of thoughts and actions, but actions often have to come before thoughts. Once you have enough mistakes on your [Mage] robe, you will know who you are, and youll be one of the greatest [Archmages] this world has ever seen. Im sure of that.

I dont really know what to say. The kind of faith that Lord Juler has in me is probably one of the few things that really brought me onto this path, one of the few things that has convinced me to keep the boat steady.

Lucinda is wrong.

And shes not wrong about me going crazy, but about not needing that. As Lord Juler says, mistakes have to be made. And mistakes will be made as I become a [Professor] at the academy. Hell, I dont even know if Im good enough to give lessons to a bunch of college [Mages] horny for weird magic and potions.

But I know I can follow this path with a lighter heart now.

Stan fucked up.

Laura fucked up.

Even if I were to get an [Impostor] class, itd be because Im the only person to speak the truth among a bunch of hypocrites. I think a boomer-ish quote about lions being bullied by sheep would be very fitting here. Imagine I said something like that.