NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76: Meeting the Mentor
Grace grimaced as she felt the thin rope around her wrists tighten. As night began to fall over them, the light dimming and covering their bodies in shadow, she had made the mistake of trying to channel her Mana. Just a small spell was all she needed to get working, something to vibrate the rope at just the right frequency to free her hands, yet it failed instantly. The second she pulled on her Core, a painful rejection was forced through her body, and the ropes just pushed into her skin even harder. She could feel as blood began to fall, but she did not curse at the pain out loud, lest those walking around would take notice of her.
Some of the people beside her had already made too much noise earlier, their lives ended because of it. Students who thought themselves mighty, students who couldn't keep their crying in check, and some who just couldn’t stop their Cores from trying to passively send out energy to the body. They were all killed at some point or another, leaving only those who knew to shut up.
Why is this happening?
Minutes after leaving the laboratory, in the hopes of getting food from the cafeteria, she and everybody else had been forced to the ground and had their hands and feet tied with thin ropes. They had seemed so weak at first, yet they held against her struggling and dampened her magical abilities soon after. Everybody had been made useless by them, before being pulled out into the open streets and made to sit around.
Her magical senses still worked, however, which allowed her to watch as a massive barrier had begun to encompass the entirety of the Academy. Not just the central buildings but the entire district, all covered by a mild purple glowing. Grace hadn’t needed more than a moment to recognize it as the magic of her mentor, but she didn’t understand why he would be involved with this.
The assailants, the ones who had killed others, might have worn the robes of Royal Mages but there was no chance they were, right?
“This doesn’t make sense,” Grace muttered to herself, hands on her face while she did her best to stop the tears. “This isn’t happening.”
“I’m afraid it is, and it’s probably going to get worse for you if you don’t lower your voice,” came a whisper from her side. Looking over, she saw the beaten-up face of a man who wore the outfit of a commoner yet still possessed a magical affinity. Not one of the usual Affinities either, with that silvery shine he sent out into the world. “Just keep calm and it’s going to be alright.”
“Could you shut it?” came another voice, this time a woman next to the man.
Grace could see her wearing a cheap outfit as well, and she thought her to be an actual commoner until her magical senses warned her about… something. While there seemed to be no color or Aura around the woman, Grace began to realize that there was an absence of color and not just the mild darkness everywhere else.
“Just trying to stop somebody from dying because of tears, Sasha,” the man countered, which caused an eye roll before the woman turned away. “Ignore her. She’s grumbly. Name’s Jack Larson, at your service.”
“... Grace Runner,” she replied after a moment’s hesitation. They awkwardly shook hands, the ropes binding their own together making it a rather difficult exercise in dexterity. “You seem very unconcerned about where you are. Aren’t you scared?”
“When you’re certain of what’s going to happen, and your inability to change that outcome, you gain a weird sense of serenity. I’d personally expected to be crying my eyes out right now, but… that’s luckily not happening,” Jack said. His eyes stilled for a moment, staring into empty air before a low chuckle began to leave him. “Did you say your name was Grace? Elijah’s friend?”
“Yes? You know him?”
“That I do. Caused him a lot of trouble these past days,” the man confirmed. An almost nostalgic smile reached his lips. “After this is all over, would you mind… thanking him for me? I wouldn’t want him thinking it hasn’t been fun, even if these days have been mildly stressful at times.”
“I— sure?” Grace said, not seeing why she couldn’t, but what was going on. “Do you know what’s happening here?”
“Just a small insurrection and a ritualistic sacrifice to bring in some monster or another,” Jack explained off-handedly. “Don’t worry about it. Just sit back, keep quiet, and stay out of harm’s way. There’s no reason they’d want to kill all the people here, so you should be safe.”
“And what about you?”
“Ah, well… that’s slightly more complicated.”
They heard the steps of somebody approaching, making them both quiet down again. Many had walked past their little group in the past hours, barely sparing them a glance, but this time around the steps slowed until they came to a complete stop.
Grace didn’t look up at whoever was there, afraid she would find her life cut short, but curiosity won over when ten seconds passed without darkness.
She regretted it when her eyes caught the face looking down at her.
Rubeus Hayes, her mentor of the past many months, standing beside one of the people who’d already killed several other students for the crime of making noise.
“Why?” she asked. Her mentor didn’t answer, just looking down at her. “Why? Answer me!”
“Keep quiet now, Grace,” Rubeus instructed, motioning for the other Royal Mage to step forward. A woman, whose words caused her eyes to nearly flutter shut before she could get a grip on herself. Jack and Sasha, who’d been sitting beside her, didn’t get as light and push. She heard them both slump to the ground before other Mages came forward to carry them away. “If you behave well, I’ll have an assistant’s position for you once all of this is over.”
I trusted you, you old bastard.
She spat at his face. It landed perfectly, making him recoil.
Grace was just barely able to form a smug grin before a tendril left the man’s hand, hitting her square in the face. There was instant darkness when it hit. She woke up later on the ground, Rubeus gone from the street and with a headache that was unending in its strength.
More important, however, was the fact that the rope around her hands had loosened. Not enough to fall off outright, but enough that if she pulled hard enough…
Shit, this hurts.
Something in her left hand shifted, making her want to cry out, but she held it in as the hand was finally freed from the bindings. The other nearly didn’t, when the rope tried to tighten around the last limb, but she pulled it off just in time.
Now there was only the rope around her feet to worry about.
… Grace could make this work. With her hands now free, she was able to look through her pockets until she found a small knife. It was meant to be used for plants, as all things were when they were gifts from Elijah, but she supposed that they could probably work with enchanted rope as well.
And if her head would stop hurting, it would be so much easier.