Leveling up the World

Chapter 741: Settling Dust

Didnt think theyd send you in person, mage, Dallion said with a hint of sarcasm. After being locked up for what seemed like years, he was glad for any human contact, even her.

They didnt. The womans fingers danced in the air, completing a spell. Apparently, the limitations preventing Dallion from casting magic in the room didnt apply to her.

A chair appeared out of thin air and gently floated to the floor.

Wash your face, shave up, then put that on. She sat down. And get yourself presentable. Two improvements, at least.

Dallion had no idea what was going on, but decided not to push his luck. Using Rubys assistance, he shaved any and all hairs sprouting on his face, then scrubbed his face with a chunk of water.

Any chance you can tell me whats going on? he asked, passing the water through his hair. How deep are we?

Oh, were in shit alright, Katka replied in a casual manner. The worst kind: not deep enough to mobilize the entire empire, but too much for it to settle on its own. If you had been a bit faster and saved that idiot, things would have been a lot less chaotic.

I take it that the news of his death has spread? Dallion tossed the chunk of water into a nearby bowl of marble.

The bastards had planned it pretty well. In some places, people heard about the news hours before it happened. It was impossible to deny or suppress. As far as everyone is concerned, the tower split with half rebelling against the emperor and the other half supporting him.

Nice and tidy.

Tidy my ass! Such PR would never have passed on Earth. Then again, I suppose I have to be thankful for that.

Done with the washing, Dallion spent a few hours improving every single one of his clothes. With his current skills, it was rather easy. In a quarter of the cases, the item guardians outright surrendered, accepting their improvement. The rest felt an obligation to challenge him to keep his and their skills sharp. It was rather touching, even if Dallion could defeat them without half trying.

Whats the real story? he asked when ready.

The Academy split into a lot more pieces. Less than a tenth joined the battle mages against us. About as many joined the Alliance of Stone and Steel. Of what was left, half decided they wanted to become independent.

Just half? Dallion expected the acrchmages death to create a lot more turmoil. With the number of giant echoes unleashed, it was inevitable thered be clashes even before the dust began to settle. Then again, maybe thats what happened? All those who couldnt achieve what they wanted could have taken advantage of the chaos and simply left to work in one notable, noble family or another.

Thats the one benefit of having an incompetent boss. Katka let out a scary laugh. Things dont get worse. Of course, those who chose to remain have automatically pledged allegiance to the emperor. No more doing research in the comfort of the Academy. If requested, we must be ready to go to the front lines and actually fight the enemy.

Were in the army now? Dallion gathered the rest of his gear.

You can say that, only well be fighting more than people.

Whats that supposed to mean? Dallion didnt like the sound of that in the least.

And spoil the surprise? The mage laughed. No way.

Dallion looked at the green robe. Most observers wouldnt notice anything special about it. Even as far as awakened were concerned, it appeared like a cheap robe made out of cotton. Anyone with the magic trait, though, could see the vast number of magic threads woven in with the physical material. The robe was an amplifier, shield, and magic battery all in one. It wasnt by any means as impressive as Katkas own blue robe, though significant in its own right.

I take it I volunteered? Dallion put it on. It felt highly electrified, almost as if he were wearing a piece of static electricity.

No, you graduated. No seal, no more novice nonsense. Welcome to the fun part of being a mage, apprentice.

There werent supposed to be any cloud citadels left

These are new ones. One of Aliens projects. The emperor lent his crimson guard. We just provided the cloud forts and a few thousand mercenaries. Well, technically, a few interest groups loaned them to us, but till the war is over, they are as good as ours.

Crimson furies Dallion whispered. He had seen one during the night auction in Lanitol. When he had inquired at the time, there were suggestions that the Academy was involved in granting unique properties to ordinary furies. Now he saw that the mages had been involved with a lot more. Are they funder furies?

A few. The emperor keeps most of them close to his palace.

More thunder sounded as the carriage proceeded. According to Katka, the cloud forts were doing some sort of tactical trainingsomething she was utterly uninterested in. If one were to take her at her word, she could easily defeat half a dozen forts without breaking a sweat. The image brought back memories of the time she had tried to kill Dallion, Jiroh, and Euryale at the last major cloud citadel. Thinking about it, she had mentioned needing the creatures keeping the citadel in the air. Now Dallion could see why.

There was no trace that the archmage complex had even been damaged. The style was atrocious as before, but every hole, crack, and imperfection had been repaired and covered with a new set of protective spells. The new archmage had even planted a lot of decorative plants, glowing like clusters of purple neon balls all over the place.

A fury with crimson hair and light bronze armor greeted them at the main entrance, courteously opening the doors on both sides of the carriage using air currents.

Welcome, mistress Katka, he said, with a slight bow. The archmage is expecting you.

Mistress? Dallion looked at the mage. Clearly, he wasnt the only one to get a promotion.

Ignore them, the woman said, taking the fury for granted. Theyll get used to the proper etiquette in time.

Heartbreaking, Dallion whispered, all the time walking a few steps behind her.

More furies were placed within the building. Though not of the crimson variety, they seemed more than capable of dealing with any attacker. Of course, the same had been said for the security system of the Academy. No one was supposed to be able to harm anyone in the learning hall, yet no one had taken into account the possibility of silver glass weapons.

Anything I should know before the meeting? Dallion whispered.

Nothing you dont know already. Katka gave him a confused glance. Theres nothing to be worried about. The archmage is a huge fan. Im sure youll have a lot in common.

Harp, is she lying? Dallion asked.

Probably, the harpsisword guardian replied. Shes using a spell to change the emanation of her emotions. She wouldnt do that unless she was lying.

Just great. Right now, Dallion wished he had another chunk of Moonstone. Escape was absolutely impossible. Even if he could somehow outwit the furies, he wouldnt stand a chance against Katka. While it was true that the Moon vow prevented her from killing him, there were many ways she could prevent him from moving without causing physical harm.

A double door made entirely of sky silver opened in front of them. Dallion hadnt had time to check out this section of the complex during his previous visit, but he could see that it was just as luxurious.

Gold and purple light emanated from inside, making it seem as if they were entering the Purple Moons domain.

Hey, relax, Katka said with a carnivorous smile. If we wanted to kill you, we wouldnt have gone through all the trouble to hold an official ceremony. Besides, you still owe me one.

Let me guess, youre calling in that favor.

You got it. If I had ten, Id call them all. Also, its something youll want as well. Trust me.

Dallion knew from experience that whenever someone said trust me, they were lying. The only question was lying about what.