"Emery, this is Magus Xion, he is one of the instructors here."
"Apology, I'm afraid the origin stone room is currently not available for use. No one is allowed to enter as Grand Magus Zenonia is using the facility at the moment."
"Please, magus, this may be my last chance to pass the academy's requirements! Please let me in, I'm begging you!"
"No amount of pleading will work, but I feel some odd connection with you. There's something about you that makes me want to help you. So, find me next year and I will surely compensate for what you have missed today."
"I... understand. Thank you, magus."
It was a flash of memory about his first encounter with his master magus.
The sight of the lifeless body of his master lying in front of his eyes, while his body and mind being severely influenced by his killer â€" the patriarch of his own clan, proved to be too much of a stimulation for Emery as he found his mind breaking apart.
Now that he was currently inching closer to the verge of life and death with his spirit being devoured by the female grand magus, Emery was like a star without hope, falling deeper to the depth of the abyss.
[Spirit force decrease exponentially]
As the array of notifications barraged his already feeble mind, informing him of the dire situation he was in, once again the memories of his master surged like a tidal wave.
His first training on the darkness element, the time the two of them spent drinking on the small cozy cottage, the selfless deeds the man had done for his sake, the precious knowledge and guidance the man had imparted, and now, his sacrifice so he would be able to escape.
Those memories then sent him back to the last time he trained with his master. The boisterous laughter the latter let out when the two of them fought and found out he was able to match on par against his own Master.
"Hahahah, I'm happy, Emery. I'm very, very happy. I am glad to announce that there is nothing else I can teach you. You will continue to grow and soar to become a great figure, Emery; I'm sure of it."
The vivid memory of his master looking at him with such a proud gaze. It crushed his heart when his mind once again thought of the death of such an amazing person. It was as if someone had taken his breath away from him.
"Master, I... have failed you. I was no one, merely an ordinary useless acolyte, yet you chose to take care of me But here I am once again... unable to do anything."
[Spirit force decrease exponentially]
At a time like this, with how desperately Emery wished he could overcome the precarious situation. An emotional outburst would once again help him break through his limits, tapping further into the strength of his bloodline.
But he couldn't. At this time, his bloodline was actually one of the obstacles he had to face.
He was at the end of the rope.
Then suddenly, Emery heard a voice. Something that greatly confused him as it was not of his master nor the female grand magus.
"I am sorry for your master... I never really knew him, but now I can clearly see how amazing of an instructor he was."
Emery immediately opened his eyes at those words. Greeting him was an all-white expanse that stretched everywhere to the horizon. However, what caught his attention was a blurry figure slowly approaching towards him.
"Who... who are you...? Wait... I... I know you."
Slowly but surely, the shape of the blurry figure became clearer, revealing the distinctive features that Emery was familiar with. It was an old man with a long beard. Someone he recognized as the most powerful figure in Magus Academy.
"You... Headmaster Altus! Why... How...?"
Anticipating Emery's reaction, the figure spoke to him in a casual manner. In spite of that, every word that left the man's mouth carried weight on his mind.
"It seems the spell you cast earlier has awakened me from deep slumber... or at least part of me." Looking at Emery, the figure of Headmaster Altus said, "So here I am, now connected to you."
Such an explanation of course surprised and exasperated him greatly. In fact, Emery didn't know whether or not he should be happy that his Rebirth spell had worked. This situation was as if fate was playing a cruel joke on him.
Calming his thoughts, Emery took a deep breath and looked at the old man.
"Headmaster, if you are here... Please help me."
Emery could tell exactly the expression headmaster Altus gave, but the emotions came in his words.
The old man shook his head while saying, "Unfortunately, there is nothing much I can do in this form. I am just a soul shard, and one without a physical body at that. Besides, we are trapped in Zenonia's domain."
Despair flashed in Emery's eyes, but he did not give up yet.
"Headmaster, there must be something you can do..."
"Hm..." Altus pondered. "Yes, there must be a reason why fate brought me here."
The man was silent for a moment as he walked in a circle around Emery before saying, "To begin getting out of this mess, the first thing you need to do is regain control of your body. And for that to happen, there is only one way I can think of."
Staring into Emery's eyes, he said, "You must make your breakthrough to the magus realm right away"
"Wait, what? Me, a magus?" Once again, Emery wasn't sure if all of this was a joke.
He had been told many times by people that he would never be able to become a magus and, among those people, the man he was currently talking to was one of them. But now, the other party was telling him to become one, in such a precarious situation at that.
Nodding his head, Altus quickly said, "You have fulfilled the necessary conditions to become one and I may have a way to deal with your unique situation. However, there is a very small chance of success and, even if you do manage to somehow do it, I'm not sure you'll be able to survive the aftermath."
It was most likely a death sentence for Emery, but it didn't take long for him to make his decision.
"Headmaster, in my situation, what other choice do I have?"
Firm determination shone in his eyes as he clenched his fists, "Even if your way can only give me a smidgen chance of getting justice for my master, I do not care what I become afterward."
Hearing those words, the old man nodded his head saying, "Good, now follow my instructions."
-----
While Zenonia was forcibly bringing Emery into her domain, at the same time, two grand magus figures were still fighting each other fiercely. The surrounding area had already been completely ravaged by the aftermath of their clash.
In his Golden Wolf form, the wolf patriarch displayed his aggressive dominance. Powerful claw strikes relentlessly struck his opponent, but the dark elf grand magus was able to handle the attacks and reciprocate the gesture by firing offensive spells of his own.
Howllll!!!
[Howling Worldwolf]
This a powerful buff spell of Lucius that would significantly increase his battle power, while also coating his sharp claws in layers of blazing energy. The air trembled as he shot towards the dark elf with his scorching golden claws.
With the additional enhancement, the dark elf grand magus was no longer able to stop all of the attacks from reaching him. As a result, he was pummeled by the wolf patriarch, thrown hundreds of meters through the air with numerous burns on his body.
With that, Lucius turned to where Emery had been. He naturally became furious when he saw that he had disappeared.
"Zenonia! Where did you take him! Come out, you bitch! Fight me!"
Unfortunately, the reply he got was only from the dark elf grand magus, who had managed to recover from his wounds. Getting to his feet again, the man roared and once again the two clashed.
*****
300 miles away, a luminous ship piloted by Jinkan Nephilim was swarmed by the fleet of elven triangular spaceships. Since escaping the compound, it had maneuvered throughout the ruins, trying to lose his pursuers.
"Why are we still here!? Are we even going in the right direction?! We should go up to the sky and escape this fucking planet!" Arcana said, completely terrified by the hail of shots bombarding their ship.
"Shut up! Don't you see their elven flagship?! We'll be blown to pieces as soon as we fly into the air!" Silva shouted loudly, irritated with the child-looking acolyte, whose demeanor only spread panic even more.
Since she was part of the team carrying out this mission, Silva was somewhat aware of the situation and thus had been guiding Jinkan to their best way to escape.
"Their main force is going west, so we are going south where the wolf patriarch was!"
Jai, who had been controlling his metal puppets outside to fight off the elven ships said, "Whatever it is you decide to do, do it quickly. I've lost six of my precious soldiers already!"
"Hang on there! I'm trying to send the message again!" Silva responded to the Metal Puppeteer. Then, she looked at Klea, "Where the hell is your boyfriend?!"