Guilt and Punishmen

by Sophia Schmidt

  It was by itself a capital crime, so no matter how powerful and influent the Poltus family was, he had been tortured until he had revealed all the names of his accomplices and then executed.

  The event had been a disaster for the family. Its members were now looked down on even by commoners and cut out from all the major social events. The identity of the royal constable in charge of investigations was supposed to be a secret, but Duchess Poltus still had many informant and friends.

  She wanted to give Lady Ernas a taste of her own medicine. Her only daughter rped and branded as a slt was punishment enough in the Duchess' eyes. Without a Ballot, her son could have always claimed it was consensual s*x.

  It would also help the noble faction's cause, forcing Linjos to take a side between the two families and putting himself in a lose-lose situation. Siding with the Poltus meant making an enemy of the Crown, while siding with the Ernas was like admitting his own incompetence, adding the scandal to his long list of faults as Headmaster.

  The lights' flickering intensified, while a black fog seeped out of the shadows making the scene looked more and more like a nightmare by the second. Raynart and his cousins wanted to run away, but for some reason their feet refused to move.

  The previous warmth Lith had demonstrated earlier had disappeared, only the hunger remained. The abyss inside him kept pouring out its hate, infecting the outer world. Lith's killing intent reached a new peak, forcing the three on their knees with just a gentle push from spirit magic.

  "Kneel!"

  Albeit brief, the touch from those invisible hands made the three squeal in terror.

  That was the side of Lith Solus was more scared of. No matter how much love and affection he received, turning back into the same man that had abducted and tortured a young boy was as easy as flipping a switch for him.

  What made things worse was that the more people he cared for, the more ruthless he would become. Each light that entered his life would only make the darkness inside of him deeper.

  "Usually I don't give speeches, but for you I'll make an exception. I need to send a message and you'll be the one delivering it."

  Lith's hand squeezed Raynart's throat so hard that for a moment he thought his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. Then the pressure lessened enough to let him breathe, but not enough to make it easy.

  At the same time, spirit magic and wind magic pinned the other two on the ground, making them incapable of breathing as well.

  The scene in front of Raynart's eyes almost made him faint. Through their contact, he could see something that even Lith and Solus were unaware of. A legion of hands made of shadows was gushing out of Lith's body.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.

  Only a few were suppressing the three students, countless others stood still like snakes, ready to strike at any moment. Spirit magic was invisible, yet for some reason Raynart was able to see its true form.

  Countless eyes of all sizes and colors had materialized wherever light was absent, staring full of curiosity at the unfolding events. The world was watching over its new toy, lured by the unbridled hate that had been offered to it.

  "It's already the second time today that someone tries to take away what's mine. You can't imagine how angry I am right now." Lith used darkness magic to appear more terrifying and water magic to freeze the surrounding environment to scare them out of their wits.

  He smirked noticing that the other two had already lost control of their bladders, drenching themselves in their own p*ss.

  "These nobles, how can someone be so cowardly?"¨C Lith thought.

  Only Raynart knew the truth. Fueled by the world's will, the tendrils of darkness seeped into his cousins' bodies from the nostrils, eyes, ears, and mouths, robbing them of their vitality. The feeling they were experiencing was akin to being buried alive.

  Lith lifted Raynart from the neck until their eyes were at the same height, sending him into panic. Half of Lith's face was now covered by Raynart's shadow, assuming ghastly features.

  Lith's eclipsed eye had become bright yellow with a vertical pupil, the mouth was lipless and full of fangs highlighted by an inner fire that seemed to be burning in his throat.

  "I don't care who sent you. Tell Lukart or whoever it is behind this attack that these kids are mine and mine alone!"

  Lith sent a new wave of spirit magic on the two that were lying on the ground, bringing them closer. He also clenched the hand around Raynart's throat making him incapable of breathing anymore.

  Raynart could hear his voice and feel the lack of oxygen, but he couldn't avert his gaze from the darkness running under his cousins' skin, whose eyes rolled backward while foaming at the mouth.

  "The next time I see one of you around them, even if I just smell you, I'll make your worst nightmare seem like a wet dream after what I'll do to you."

  The other two had already fainted, so Lith could focus only on Raynart, alternating waves of darkness and light magic. His skin would crumble, his life vessels collapse, just to be restored less than a second later.

  On the outside, it was like nothing was happening, but Raynart felt pain like never before. His whole body was constantly being destroyed and regenerated in a never ending cycle, yet it left no mark on him.

  His mind and body collapsed in just a few seconds, unable to bear anymore that torture.

  Lith left him alongside the other two, putting the Ballot in Raynart's hands before going to his room for a good night sleep.

  ***

  The next morning, the canteen was lively again. Everyone was discussing how three students had been found unconscious and hospitalized. For some unknown reason, it was impossible to wake them up.

  Normally no one would have cared, things like that happened all the time. The reason a common event had piqued so much curiosity was that they weren't injured at all. They even had a Ballot, but according to the Professors it had never been used.

  "I can't believe it happened just a few meters from my room and I didn't notice anything. Maybe I could have helped them." Phloria was shocked by the news.

  Yurial scoffed, telling to the rest of the group why no one cared about the fate of the Poltus family.

  "Either it was the consequence of an internal strife, to get rid of the rotten apples before the whole household collapse, or it was an act of vengeance from the relatives of their victims. Those guys deserve no pity Phloria."

  Lith couldn't care less about their background. Even if they came from a family of saints, he would have done the same thing.

  "No one touches my things, no matter the reason." He thought.

  Solus sighed, wishing he stopped referring to them as objects instead of people.

  "I wonder why the two you didn't roughen up are still unconscious. It has never happened before." It was the only part of the rumor that didn't make sense to her.

  "I don't know and honestly, I don't care. Three guys following a single girl at night, knowing she has no Ballot. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."¨C

  Lith regretted deeply not having the opportunity to kill them for good, but he knew about the academy's security system that prevented deadly injuries.

  It was the reason why he had used that torture technique. It would leave the victim exhausted and mentally scarred, but the body would remain in perfect health.

  After breakfast, the group split up for the morning activities. Lith's group rounds of visits were uneventful, allowing them to make up for most of the time lost the day before.

  They met back with Phloria for the first practical lesson of Magic Crystals.

  After welcoming the students, Professor Nalear clapped her hands, making a crystalline mass as big as a melon appear on their desks along with what looked like a rune-inscribed wrench the size of a pen.

  "Normally, when people hear the words 'underground mine' and 'extraction of minerals' they think about rough men with a pickaxe, bu
t for magic crystals it's the worst image possible.

  "Normal tools have no effect on mana crystals, no matter how strong you are or how hard is the metal. Best case scenario, you can crack one and hope that the resulting explosion will not trigger a chain reaction making the whole mine collapse.

  There is a reason why only a mage can become a Crystalsmith."

  Nalear picked up the wrench-like tool from her own desk. The students saw the runes lighting up one after the other until a small energy blade formed in the U shaped extremity.

  Lith involuntarily quivered. The phenomenon reminded him of the blade that had killed him during his second life. He had never forgotten the pain of dying drowned in his own blood, gasping for air like a washed up fish.

  "There's nothing to be scared of. That thing is just the magical equivalent of a box cutter." Lith said to himself. ¨C

  "Extracting mana crystals doesn't require brute force, but finesse and technique. First, all of you must learn how to power up a mana blade. Pick up your own and hold it in the way that's more comfortable for you.

  "Some hold it like a carving knife, others like a scalpel. Too many like it's a spoon. That's the only wrong way to do it."

  The class laughed, following Nalear's instructions.

  "It's very simple to use. Inject it with your mana, like if you were trying to imprint it."

  Many blades appeared, but none remained for more than a split second.

  "For those that didn't make it, just put some more effort. Those who made it, keep it coming. Mana blades can't be imprinted and need a constant flow of mana to function properly."

  Lith noticed that he was the only one in the group with the mana blade turned off, so he corrected the situation. By using Invigoration, he noticed there was no pseudo core, just mana pathways that redirected the mana into a physical form.

  "Well done everyone! Now put it down. Our lesson has just begun, don't waste your energies. You will need them in a while."

  Lith powered on and off the blade a few times, appreciating the buzzing sound it produced while being activated or swung around.

  "I wish I could say 'Yurial, I am your father', but the reference would be lost in translation."¨C Lith sighed.

  Chapter 204 Unexpected Gues

  "Before starting our lesson, I'll ask you a question. Please be honest about it, it will save us a lot of time. How many of you were too tired to practice the spell on page 22 that I assigned two days ago?"

  Nalear's inquiry was followed by prolonged silence.

  "There's nothing to be ashamed of, it happens every year. The first day is all about theory, so students get confident. The second day is all about practice and drains their energies. Take five minutes to study it, despite it being a tier four spell is very simple."

  Aside from Lith, Quylla and a few others, most of the students took out their books and read like madmen.

  Lith used that time to practice it on the crystal mass. The spell was called Scope and turned out to be extremely similar to a diagnostic spell, but instead of showing the status of a patient, it allowed one to distinguish the single crystals that composed the mass.

  Just like a mana blade, it hadn't a set duration. Once cast, Scope would last as long as the mage kept spending mana, requiring the constant use of earth and light magic.

  "Invigoration doesn't work on inanimate matter, yet it does on magic items and artifacts. I wonder how I should classify mana crystals." - Lith thought while activating Invigoration.

  His breathing technique revealed not only the crystals' outline, but also allowed him to see on their surface a series of lines and cracks, of which Lith was unable to understand the significance.

  "All you have to do for today is to separate the cluster that I provided you into single mana crystals and then cut them into a usable form. Do not underestimate your task. Using the mana blade and Scope at the same time takes a lot of energy, while adjusting the blade's density according to the situation requires focus."

  Nalear closed in to the first row of desks.

  "Use too little mana and you'll get sparks but no cuts. Too much and¡" Her blade cut straight into a crystal, that emitted a bright light before crumbling.

  "If this was a real mana crystal, instead of scraps of the lowest tier minerals, it would have caused the whole cluster to explode. The force of the resulting detonation would be proportional to the amount of mana stored.

  "That's why Crystalsmiths require huge fees. The more powerful the crystal, the higher the risks. Since they are risking their lives on your behalf, don't be stingy with them. Never believe to those that offer their services for a reasonable sum.

  They are either trying to rob you of your crystals or are so incompetent that they will lose more than half during the refining process. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."

  The first part of the exercise was easy. The crystals composing the cluster were big and didn't overlap much. Thanks to Scope the students could discern where a crystal ended and the other began.

  The mana blade was capable of separating the conjoined sides without destabilizing the structure. Everyone managed to finish their task quickly.

  "Excellent. Now comes the hard part, cutting a crystal into a usable form. In their natural state, most mana crystals are bigger than my fist. If you remember my first lesson, all those I showed you were the size of a walnut.

  That's because bigger crystals not only are more brittle, but also the mana they contain is scattered along its whole structure. The cutting process allows compressing the mana crystal, making its power focused and more easily accessible to a good craftsman. Let me give you a demonstration."

  Nalear used Scope on a single gemstone and then activated her mana blade again. Her mana was ethereal, passing through the surface of the crystal without leaving a scratch. Yet each time the blade touched the gemstone, it would shrink more and more.

  The final product, despite she had worked on scraps, was a bright red gem the size of a pearl.

  "Don't get fooled by appearances. A mana crystal it's not a rock imbued with mana, it's pure mana that somehow took physical form. Removing even a small chip means making it weaker. The cutting process requires to use the mana blade to stimulate its structure, making it slowly collapse on itself.

  To do it, you need to use Scope to see the keystone points and to make the mana composing the blade as thin as possible."

  Lith did as instructed, discovering that the spell showed the same lines highlighted by Invigoration, but they were fainter and there was no trace of the cracks. The hardest part of the exercise was to keep the mana flow as weak as possible.

  Aside from healers, fake mages weren't used to such fine control, so many students ended up breaking one crystal or more. Lith's work was progressing smoothly, like for the rest of his group, so he exploited a moment when Nalear was helping a boy on the other side of the class to make an experiment.

  He used Invigoration on the crystal and instead of applying the blade on the lines, he struck with it one of the cracks. The crystal didn't change its size, but he could sense his mana getting slowly sapped, being absorbed by the gemstone.

  "I can charge these things!" He thought. "I can turn scraps into perfectly fine crystals. Solus, we have struck a gold mine!"

  "Yeah, right. Not to burst your bubble, but even scraps are rare. We never found one before. Not to mention that we would need a plausible excuse for the crystal's origin, otherwise it would blow your cover. This isn't a gold mine, more a way to spare some bucks on your staff."¨C

  Solus's cold pragmatism made Lith mind whimper.

  The lesson ended in complete success. All the student had managed to cut at least three crystals, even though many of them had required several breaks to catch their breath.

  "This is odd." Lith thought. "Despite their cores aren't at the level of Yurial's and the rest of the group, how can they be so exhausted for something like this?"¨C

  He looked around, noticing that most of h
is colleagues from the Healer's specialization had no such problem.

  "Maybe it's just that their control is really poor." Solus replied. "I don't know if you have noticed, but those who destroyed a few crystals are also the same that have yet to succeed to open a Warp Gate. They must have very low mana sensitivity."¨C

  There was only so much that even logic could do against Lith's paranoia, but in the end he didn't care for them. His priority was eating lunch and getting ready for the first practical Necromancy lesson.

  ***

  White Griffon, Headmaster's office

  Linjos had just received the latest Crown's proclamation reserved for their inner circle, remaining shocked by what he had just read. Linjos used his communication amulet to contact the Queen, expecting a long queue, but she replied immediately.

  "Let me guess, you too are calling about the new slave collars, right?" Queen Sylpha had the annoyed tone of someone who already had that conversation countless times.

  "Yes, Your Majesty. You know there is at least a mole in my academy, if not more. Those cursed devices allow the traitors to turn anyone into unwilling allies. My situation has just gone from dire to desperate!"

  "Your situation?" The Queen frowned, barely keeping her anger in check.

  "The civil war has been almost foiled, but almost isn't enough. I and the King don't know who to trust anymore. We have to perform daily controls on everyone that approaches us, our children, or has access to sensitive information.

  It's not just 'your situation', it's everyone's. I had to inform all my loyal subjects, even knowing that the news would spread panic and distrust. I prefer paranoid officials to dead ones.

  A slave collar can make a mother kill her newborn child, turn your loving husband into a violent beast with a single word. I need you all to be on your toes, but most of all, to read the damn proclamation until the end.