280 Decaying Skull
If the war breaking out all over the place was not bad enough, the traitors who attacked Arthur had done a sneak attack at the school, destroying some parts of it, and killing some students!
That was something terrible, and could be avoided if Seth had paid more attention to those traitors. He was watching their every move, but when the rumors of the war broke out, he shifted his attention for some time toward it, and that was the opportunity these traitors were looking for.
"What will we do now?" Arthur said.
Seth and all the Official Mages from the school were together in a meeting room, talking about the situation.
"What will you know? You are an outsider, so you could work with them too!" One of them said, getting up from his chair, punching the table.
Not only him, but some others shared the same feeling, but were not brave enough to say it aloud. Well, they had a reason to not trust him. He was indeed an outsider, and in times like that one, it was perfectly normal to have suspects about him.
As for Seth, he heard from Arthur everything that happened, and knew he had protected Laura and the others during the whole time. Laura even said he went up against lots of officials mages just to protect them, proving not only he was someone trustworthy but also powerful!
"Enough! Arthur played a huge role in bringing these three students alive and well. Also, we cannot lose any Official Mage in this upcoming war. All of you here today are our strength, our forces. We have to stay together, and fight against not only the dark mages, but the other schools who might try to take advantage of us! It is not the time to play around like kids." Seth said.
The tone, and the power behind his words, were enough to make all the mages stop talking and agree with him. He was right. It was a dangerous situation that did not allow them to fight against each other. They had to work together for a brighter future.
Seth breathed for a few seconds before returning to the important topics.
"Our priority now should be reconstruct the magical barrier around the school to make sure we have a layer of protection in case someone tried to attack us. That will also give our students a sense of security, which is important in this time of need,"
"Now, as for the war, I am talking with the other school leaders, and they are preparing attacks on all the schools of the dark mages."
"What? Are we fighting till death now?"
"Yes. We have information that the dark mages will not stop until we are all but corpses, so we must strike back while we have the strength to do so!"
"The leaders agreed that each school would face one dark mage school, and in case of a victory, we would move and help the others!" Seth said.
Arthur heard all of it with care. After the reunion was over, only he and Seth were in the room.
"Arthur, you proved your value, and in this delicate situation, I need your help. You will be in charge of all the mages. You are now the vice president of this school!"
That was exactly what Arthur was waiting for. But how could Seth give such an important position to an outsider like him? Arthur had thought about that before, and concluded: Laura!
He was almost certain that Laura was Seth's daughter, or part of his family, like a sister, for example. So, after Arthur saved her countless times, Seth saw him as someone trustworthy, thus giving him such an important position.
"I will proclaim your position tomorrow. First, you have an important mission. Tell me, how good are your stealth skills?"
~~~~
Seth announced Arthur's position on the very next day, causing some commotion and unhappiness of the Official Mages, but none of them said a word.
As for Arthur? Well, he was not even inside the school anymore! Seth gave him an important mission to accomplish while they were busy rebuilding the magical barrier and cleaning up the wrecks, and that was to spy on the school they would have to invade in a few days!
The school was the Decaying Skull. It was the closest one to where the One Hundred Thunder Academy was. That was perhaps the reason the other rank 2 mages asked Seth to deal with it.
"How should I proceed with this?" Arthur thought, while looking at a strange cemetery from afar.
The school had been built underground, and to access it, one had to find a specific graveyard in the middle of a forest, and then enter using one tomb.
Arthur could not go there and enter, as the dark mages would notice his presence and attack him. What he had in mind was to kidnap a student who went out alone, and use his disguise spell to copy their identity, thus entering inside the school with little trouble.
He was not sure if it would work, but if things got complicated, then he would just use his anchor spell and flee from that place.
Behind a bush, Arthur waited, and waited, and waited. Most of the mages who went out were in groups, but after an entire day of waiting, someone left the school alone during the night.
It was a golden opportunity. He followed that person who was wandering in the forest for no apparent reason.
"Who is there?" The man said.
Then, with a clean move, Arthur cut the throat of that man with a dagger. The only reason Arthur waited for the man to speak was to hear his voice to imitate it as well!
Everything happened fast, and with little noise. No one was around, and no one heard a thing. After that, he changed his appearance to look exactly like that person, and changed clothes as well.
Not only that, but he hid his aura until the level of an eighth circle mage, which was the level of the person he had just killed.
"Now all I have to do is enter!" Arthur thought.
He returned to the graveyard and walked to the same tomb everyone used. Arthur opened it up, seeing a staircase which lead down to a tunnel.
The school was basically had lots of tunnels with bigger rooms. It did not have fancy buildings or a space. Some students gazed at him while he walked in those tunnels, but not a single one of them cared until a man appeared.
"Jester! Where were you?"
"I went outside to breathe some fresh air and pee."
"That is so you. Anyway, come here. The leader of our squad wants to share some information with us."
Arthur did not know what was happening, but he followed that person. They walked through some tunnels until reaching a bigger room with a table in the middle. It was basically a meeting area, and on that table were some of the Official Mages from the school.
"Is most of them here?" One of them said.
"I believe, yes."
"Everyone, hear me out. We have some information regarding the safety of our school! Some rumors spread about the top schools attacking us, and if that is the case, then surely they will send a spy here to learn more about us!"