When A Mage Revolts

"It's been a long time since we've last met." Elizabeth nodded, revealing a smile. "You seem to be very busy lately. Not only did you intercept the fleet sent out to sea by the Church, even the cultists on the island have vanished without a trace."

Benjamin shrugged.

"This… I've never said I was the one responsible for all these."

"Who could have done it but you?" Elizabeth seemed somewhat rueful, "These are the latest news from the Kingdom of Helius. The Pope is furious because of it, and many people have been dragged into it. Two hundred priests have been demoted."

Hearing this, Benjamin was rather surprised.

Could the impact be so great? This was only a failed crusade against the worshippers across the sea. Clearly, the Church could have kept everything under wraps and settled things in private, but they had gone and made a fuss out of this. Were they not afraid that their reputation would be tarnished?

However… If they were insistant on getting into trouble, then suit themselves.

Somehow, Benjamin felt as though the days of the Church were coming to an end.

"So… Do the Wood family have any new plans?" Thinking about it, he opened his mouth to ask.

"There are some plans, but before that, I have some old friends to introduce." Elizabeth lowered her head and spoke softly, "They came to the academy for a visit, but you were not here, it seemed. So, after they were turned away, they left Academy and are now settled in a village in the north."

Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows, "Who are these? Can't they be invited to the academy?"

"No, they come from the Mages Inheritance Union. Every one of them is an extremely strong mage elder, so their tempers are not the best. When they came the last time to visit but were not able to meet with you, they had left in a bit of a temper." Saying thus, Elizabeth subconsciously paused for a moment, and her tone suddenly became slightly mysterious, "Also… There's one amongst them whom I feel you has best meet with."

Benjamin did not give much thought to that last sentence, but was plunged into confusion. A heap of questions arose in his heart.

...The Mages Inheritance Union? What was that?

He asked the System in his heart, but the System expressed that it had not heard of such an organization, that these must be some freaks lurking out from the corners who were not worth mentioning."

So, he could only direct this question towards Elizabeth.

"Actually, I'm not too familiar with the Mages Inheritance Union either." Elizabeth said, "I heard… That it is an organization made up of geniuses. Since its inception thousands of years ago, it had been kept hidden to protect and pass down the knowledge of magic. They have always been low profile, so only a handful of people know about their existence."

Saying thus, she took out a letter and passed it over into Benjamin's hands, saying, "This is their letter of introduction. The Guild Master of the Mages Guild in Icor wrote it, so I feel that it should be credible."

Benjamin took the letter and skimmed through it. It was definitely written in the Guild Master's hand and special ink, which made forgery difficult. The contents of the letter was more or less the same as what Elizabeth had just spoken about.

Only… He was still thinking about the issue of the Mages Inheritance Union.

"Thousands of years?" He could not help but open his mouth and exclaim, "Wouldn't that be as long as the history of magic itself?"

Elizabeth had on a helpless expression, saying, "This question… I think you should reserve it for them."

Hearing that, Benjamin nodded.

If there were really such an organization, then he definitely must meet with them. If possible, it would be best to invite them to join the academy so that their knowledge of magic, thousands of years old, could become the treasure of the academy.

Thus, Benjamin immediately set off, following Elizabeth to a village in the north. It was not a long journey, and he had not needed to prepare anything, so within tens of minutes in flight, they arrived.

"This is the room. The elders should be inside."

Finally, Elizabeth brought him to a secret room in a tavern, and said while pointing at the door.

Benjamin nodded. During his journey, he had used the water elemental sensing technique to ensure the safety of their surroundings. However, the people he was about to meet were powerful mages; his rash prying might be detected and cause them to resent him. Therefore, he did not extend his sensing into the room.

All he did was knock the door lightly.

"Who is it?"

An old and harsh voice sounded from inside the room. For some reason, Benjamin had a strange feeling of familiarity. Something felt odd.

"The Director of the Academy of Magic, here to visit." He did not think too much, and answered in a slightly more humble tone.

"En… Come in, then."

With a patter, the door was unlocked from within, and Benjamin gently pushed the door to the secret room open before walking into the room with Elizabeth.

The room did not look big, and the light was slightly dim as there was only an oil lamp upon the table giving light. Benjamin had frowned when he came in, but immediately, he cast his sights upon the three figures in the room.

All of them had on pitch black cloaks; wrapped within the shadows of their hoods, their faces were unclear. Benjamin, however, immediately and acutely sensed that two of them had extremely thick and powerful spiritual energy. Huge amounts of elements circled them like satellites. Even though all they did was to sit soundlessly, there was still an imposing aura around them.

As for the last figure… Benjamin felt a bit puzzled, because he could not sense the least bit of spiritual energy from their body, and neither was there any special movement of elements around them. It was as though this was a commoner who did not know magic.

It was this figure, the one most like a commoner, who spoke first out of the three:

"Youngsters nowadays have such huge egos just because they have a tiny bit of talent. We old folks came up especially for a visit, and still you show us a bad attitude, sigh…"

A slow voice, so sarcastic that it even sounded somewhat innocent. She spoke while lowering the hood of the cloak, revealing an old and dignified face.

"..."

Benjamin was stunned.

For some reason, the atmosphere in the room seemed to have frozen. The three members of the ___, seeing this, seemed to be confused. They exchanged doubtful glances. Only Elizabeth, standing by the door, had on a matter-of-fact expression and did not seem the least bit surprised.

The frozen silence continued on for about half a minute.

"Cough… Honorable Director, are you alright?" Another cloaked figure could not stand to continue watching, and gave a cough, finally jolting Benjamin back to his senses.

However, what they did not know was that Benjamin was not blank during this half a minute, but rather, was discussing some matters frantically with the System in his heart.

"Is it a coincidence? I… I am not seeing things, am I?"

"How do you want me to put this. I've analyzed her features according to the database, and it's, indeed, exactly the same. Taking into account their personalities and conducts, the similarity is even more striking. Only, anything is possible. Who knows, there might be two people in this universe who look exactly alike, so how can I give you an answer that's a hundred percent correct?"

"I don't need a hundred percent. Just give me a percentage."

"Then… I am ninety nine point nine nine percent sure that it's her."

Benjamin could not help but draw a deep breath.

It was right then that the cough brought him back from his daze. He lifted his head and looked at this old woman from the Mages Inheritance Union, a mix of incredulousness and disbelief in his heart coupled with a mysterious nervousness.

Unexpected… So unexpected…

Even right then, he was unable to believe his eyes.

However, this person was alive and breathing before him. He could only gulp and scratch the back of his head. The attitude he had put on just now, to recruit these great people, had been completely thrown aside; he opened his mouth cautiously.

"...Grandmother?"