The Old Scholar

As Victoria was still shaking, Leilani asked the question again but this time with a more authoritative tone and a small growl. 

"What did you see?" 

"Uuuhhh" Victoria could only reply, confusing Leilani, until she saw a glimmer and shine in the young student's eyes, 

 With a growl, Leilani grabbed the head of Victoria with burning eyes

"LET MY STUDENT GO! YOU ARE MINE!" She roared as she began pulling her hand away from Victoria's face, with an eerie white essence floating out of the young girl's head

As she laid Victoria's head down gently, Leilani clenched the essence in her hand, which turned out to be a piece of someone's soul. Letting the soul free from her clutches, she watched as the essence floated into the air and swirled around and around, turning into a more human form albeit still eerily white. When the soul had stopped spinning and formed its figure, Leilani let out a sigh as she recognized the figure before her. Floating right in front of her and floating above Victoria's unconscious body was the figure of a young girl with flowing hair and a body dressed in a large cloth that hid her features, her lone eye was staring at Leilani while the other was covered by her hair, she could see the small smile on the girl's lips as she floated closer to her and bowed. 

"Heheheh, Mother, it has been a while" The young girl said with a small chuckle 

"It has been hasn't it, Svetlana" Leilani replied with a small smile of her own, albeit still slightly annoyed and angered 

Svetlana Tuchanetsky, the third disciple of Leilani from over five thousand years ago. A young girl who was always cheery and bright despite her looks making her seem like someone who was very much reserved and introverted, she was gifted with immense magical power due to her mana pool being larger than most, coupled with the fact that Dashran had blessed her, making her one of the strongest between the disciples of Leilani. Orphaned at the age of five due to a monster horde destroying the town she lived in along with her parents, she was saved by Leilani who blasted away the monsters with magic she had never seen before. Leilani took her in and taught her everything she could, shaping Svetlana into a powerful magic wielder who was immensely smart. After traveling with her new mother for some time, Svetlana was tasked with becoming the scholar for the continent of Assarinius, the continent they had been traveling for the last thirty years. 

Although hesitant at first, with some encouraging words from her two older siblings who were already scholars doing the same task, Svetlana agreed and bid her mother goodbye for now, promising to meet from time to time which they did. As Svetlana began to teach the numerous clans and kingdoms of the continent, she was very happy with the progress she had been doing as she saw kingdoms rise from clans uniting or with clans beginning their journey in taming the wilds that surrounded them, with her assuming the title of the "First Scholar of Assinarius". Leilani had taught her that it was in the nature of things that there was to be conflict every now and then and that she was to stay neutral and non-interventionist but to a degree, such as when she threw the neutrality out the window when she found out that one of the kingdoms of elves on the continent had enslaved a human clan and that the people of the elven kingdom were enjoying tormenting the supposed "lesser beings" in the eyes of Ragneus. Svetlana wasted no time in Leilani's terms "Glassing" the entire kingdom with arcane energy beams raining from the sky that turned the kingdom into nothing but ruins and glass which earned it the name of Glassfields. This display of power is what kept other kingdoms and empires from trying to mess with her as they knew they had no chance in stopping someone with the power to wipe them off the face of the continent, just content that she was just there to enlighten and teach as well as protect if she saw it necessary. 

Now this same young girl who had died at the ripe age of three hundred and twenty-two was floating before her with a small smile on her face. 

"What brings you here and what did you do to her?" Leilani asked her disciple with crossed arms

"I just wanted to say hi and give ya a little scare" Svetlana replied with a cheeky grin 

"And don't worry, that young girl Victoria is not going to remember any of it" The ghost continued as she looked back down at the sleeping Victoria 

"What do you mean and you still haven't answered my second question" Leilani pressed her again 

"Well, the LAD she touched was actually a copy of my journal, the one I wrote while traveling and learning with you, I left a piece of my soul in the copy and I used it to hijack her body and mind so don't worry, she will not remember a thing" 

{!}

"How did it end up in this library, if I remember correctly I rounded up every single journal and copy of said journal you kids wrote, so how did one slip by me?" Leilani asked as she conjured up a chair and saw down on it, still looking at the ghost disciple in front of her

"Santomin did it for me, the gods as well as most of us there in heaven think it is time for you to finally reveal yourself Mother" Svetlana answered her as she floated closer 

"So why don't you to this young child?" She followed up 

"No. Besides, Botswell and Feisha know who I am already" Leilani answered sharply 

"Mother, your two arachnia creations do not count, so I ask again, why don't you tell this young child?" 

"No." 

"Hmm? Why not Mother?" The ghostly figure asked 

"Personal Reasons" Leilani replied still with that sharp and stoic gaze 

"C'mon now Mother, I don't believe that shirking from responsibilities is a good reason" Svetlana said with a smirk, her words causing Leilani to raise her eyebrow 

"Excuse me? Svetlana Tuchanetsky, what did you say to me?!" Leilani asked as she stood up from her chair and took one loud step forward, her eyes narrowed and brows furrowed with her overall expression that of anger and fury

"So...Sorry...Mother" Svetlana flinched from the step and quickly realized she had crossed the line, bowing her head

"Don't let the fact that you are dead and a spirit get in the way of the fact you are millennia younger than me and far far less experienced.  If you wish to know, I have not shirked from my duty as the First and Only Scholar of Santomin, in fact, I am still doing my duty but instead of a wandering Scholar, I have been doing it through the position as the Dean of Imperia Academy, a duty I have been carrying out ever since this place was built. So don't tell me I have been shirking responsibilities!" Leilani shouted as she took a few more steps forward, with Svetlana backing away from each step. 

"I am sorry Mother, I....I'm sorry" Svetlana apologized, tears were flowing down her ghostly face and falling to the floor, although they just sank through them instead of causing a mess. 

With a sigh, Leilani warped her left hand into one that resembled a ghostly version of her hand and wiped the tears off of her child's face. Her hardened expression softened as she took a few minutes to ensure that her daughter stopped crying and was all better, even conjuring up a cup of ghostly hot chocolate just for her to drink. After a few moments of silence, Leilani sat back down on her chair and looked up at her daughter, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes and forehead.

"To be honest with you Svetlana, I am still scared of my title...I won't go into the details but that is also one of the reasons I do not openly state who I am...just understand that alright?" She stated as she glanced up at her daughter 

"I see...I am sorry Mother, and I will try to understand what you mean..." Svetlana replied as she finished her drink, as she finished, she noticed that her hand was fading in and out, 

"I believe I will head out now Mother...the soul fragment I left in the LAD is about to run out of power. You needn't worry about Victoria seeing my memories, they will disappear after I am gone...I love you" The ghostly scholar said with a small smile as she faded in and out of view 

"I love you too Svetlana...see you soon" Leilani replied with a nod and a loving expression, before letting out a sigh as Svetlana disappeared.

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"Ughhh.....what the?" Victoria moaned as she opened her eyes and found herself on the library floor, her limbs were heavy and hurting as she tried to stand up, not being able to, she just sat up the best she could while leaning on the library shelf to her right. 

"Finally awake?" Leilani remarked as she stood a few feet away, leaning on the shelves as she used her floating magic limbs to grab more books and quickly read from them

"How long was I out? How did I get knocked out?" Victoria asked with a tired and dry voice 

"For about twenty minutes, you touched one of the LADs despite me saying not to, if it weren't for my quick thinking in redirecting everything into myself, you would have died after the exposure to the heavy and fast amounts of magical energy and data from the LAD, I will be charging your empire for this along with your tuition, now do you understand why I keep this section locked?" Leilani added as she directed one of her limbs to float above Victoria and lightly bonk her head with a book 

"Ow! I will have a lot of explaining to do to Mother and Father during the payment period and yes I do understand now Ma'am....so, what did you say again Ma'am before I shocked myself?" Victoria asked as she slowly got up, using the bookshelf as a ladder to climb up with 

"I said that I had several books for you to gloss over as I believe they could help you in supporting your theory that there was a scholar not recorded and that there was a scholar way before the first eleven came into play. These are pretty thick so be ready and be careful" Leilani stated as she snapped her fingers and five pairs of arms carrying a large and thick book in both hands materialized 

The limbs gently and slowly placed the books in Victoria's open arms, with each book increasing the already heavy load that Victoria was keeping in check due to her increasing her magic usage to boost her strength and other abilities, allowing her to balance the increasingly heavy load of books, with her expression being that of surprise in their size. 

"Woah, these....these are massive" She remarked as she looked at her professor who was flipping through the LADs in the nearby shelf without much effort or repercussions. 

"They are, it is a series of books written by the "First Scholar of Assinarius" the scholar from your home continent no less" 

{!}

Victoria let out a gasp as her eyes turned back down to the books, unable to spin them around, she was doing her best to try and get a better look at their names but unfortunately did not see anything other than the very intricately detailed spines and old pages that were visible. 

"This is a series titled "History of the World" which contains as much information as the First Scholar of Assinarius could cram into five massive volumes" 

"Thank you Ma'am! this could really help me in my research and the presentation at the expo! I didn't even know these books existed!" Victoria remarked with excitement 

"Mhmm, but here is the caveat, you may only read it here in the library, at night, alone, except for a suit of armor that is to stick around with you and monitor your progress" Leilani added as she guided Victoria out of the restricted section and into the reading area. 

Tapping on one of the larger tables, Victoria placed down the massive books and began to inspect them, with the massive tomes still being rather dusty. A fact that was easily mended as Leilani snapped her fingers and the dust within the books seeped out and formed a massive dust ball before being obliterated into nothing, cleaning the books in the process. 

"I didn't even know these books existed! How did it end up here in this academy?" Victoria asked as she inspected them more closely 

"A donation back in the day came in from the late Emperor Karl Albrecht II, said he needed these books in a safe place, and what was safe to him was another continent in a school that is internationally renowned for being protected" Leilani answered her as she lifted the first book with her hand and set it down on the table with ease. 

"Amazing...so may I start tonight?" Victoria asked as she sat down and opened the first book 

"Sure, but be sure to be finished by let's see...at midnight so that you can still get a goodnight sleep, this armor will be staying with you to monitor  and keep you safe as well as help store the books until then" Leilani replied as she snapped her fingers and summoned up a large suit of plate armor that stood near where Victoria was sitting.

"See you later then" She finished as she vanished into the air, leaving the young college girl to her own devices

"Hmm, let's see what secrets you hold eh?" Victoria muttered with excitement as she began to read the first page

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Back in Heaven, Svetlana rematerialized in the midst of a large feast being held by the Great Plainers, and at the table she was sitting in, Kalani and Malikei were her tablemates, along with Chantook and some other faces. 

"So? How is our beloved daughter doing?" Kalani asked as she stared at the young Scholar 

"Well, Mother is doing fine as you predicted....but she told me she is also still scared of her title....as you predicted grandmother" Svetlana answered her as she took a bite out of some meat 

"Ahh, I see. I thought the reassuring words and some kisses would be enough but it seems our darling daughter still clings onto those painful memories..sigh..." Kalani stated with a frown

"It seems that despite our reassurances, she still truly has not forgiven herself for what had happened...Hmm, what do we do now?" Malikaei added as he too was saddened by the news 

"Well, if it is any consolation, she is helping a student of hers with a theory that could potentially expose her in the future" Svetlana added, causing the group to have inquisitive and confused expressions 

"It seems that she is probably going to use her to try and come to terms with her title, or perhaps I am reading too much into this" Chantook voiced as she looked at Svetlana 

"Possibly, we can never really know what goes on in Leilani's mind...guess we will just have to watch and find out" Kalani added, with the rest of the group nodding 

All of them interested in seeing what the First and Only Scholar of Santomin will do next. 

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Inside a massive office that was lined with books of pristine white, with the tapestry of the cosmos serving as the floor and the wallpaper, Fortuna sat down on her chair, looking at reports coming in from both universes under her watch Universe B-17 and Universe B-18. In front of her past the reports was a pair of hologram emitters that displayed each prime world of each universe respectively, She glanced up at the display for Leilani's world after reading the report coming from Ragenus who had reported that there were fluctuations that they had not foreseen, and were currently readjusting for. She smiled as she knew that the world was safe for the moment despite her absence. 

In fact, Fortuna is pretty happy with how her gamble of using Leilani has paid off, the world of  Allagardinia was now thriving and producing enough Spiritual Energy for the gods she had assigned to keep the things afloat. And as she finished reading her report, she remembered her end of the deal that she had put off for so long due to mounting issues that she had finally solved, the end of the deal that required her to make a wife tailored made to Leilani's specifications. She smiled as she pulled out a old piece of paper she kept in her drawer and reflected upon the points that Leilani had placed 

• Must be as voluptuous and busty as you
• Must be as affluent in magic
• Must be amazing at martial arts
• Must be amazing at using various weapons 
• Must have a kindhearted and caring personality 
• Will be the bigger spoon in bed

"Hmm...no other characteristics...oh? Oh here they are" Fortuna remarked as she turned the little page around and saw 

• Tall as me, about 6'2
• Red Eyes, Curly white hair 
• Luscious lips 
• A kindhearted personality, will allow me to dominate in bed
• Caring and Loving 
• Is named Martha Sinclair 
• Is a general of a mighty nation 
• Angelic Voice 

"Hmm..fascinating, I still do not fully understand her choices but I must uphold my end of the agreement...I have kept it at bay for far too long" Fortuna remarked as she rose from her seat and teleported into a massive chamber filled with numerous vats of liquid. 

Although being a Prime God should have given her the ability to create life instantly with her hands, much of her power was still returning to her slowly like a trickle, this system was put in place due to the Manager's orders and so she had been using this the entire time, although not as grand or inspiring as her usual powers, the vats before her still did the job regardless. Inputting the things that were written down, Fortuna watched as the desired being took shape, a small smile on her face as she saw her creation come to life. She patted the vat before continuing to monitor the entire situation while reading up on some new reports that had just arrived. 

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Rematerializing inside her bedroom, Leilani let out a long sigh as she collapsed onto her knees. The day had been tiring and she was already at her breaking point. What was a small incline to see what her student would do turned into a reflection with her daughter on why Leilani still hid from the world? She knew for a fact that despite the reassurances of her family and people along with their forgiveness for something they saw as entirely not her fault, she still hated herself and resented the title she was given as it always reminded her of her supposedly biggest failure. 

She slowly rose from the floor and began to take off her clothes, taking a quick shower and then dressing into a one-piece nightgown. She activated her airconditioning unit constructed with some forged metal and magic crystals and crawled into bed, her eyes still wide open as she stared at the ceiling. Her mind ran amok as she tried to make sense of the day, trying to justify to herself why she decided to help Victoria, why the feeling and spark of once again of personally teaching a young mind had returned to her after so long, she tried to rationalize and rationalize but it failed to make any sense to her. Maybe deep down she wanted to be exposed and to finally be forced to accept who she has been this entire time, or perhaps was looking for someone to validate her actions after all this time, or maybe none of that and she was just seeking to mold another young mind into greatness. 

Whatever the reasons she could think of, neither of them satisfied her. Deciding with a sigh that things would somehow get better sooner or later, she closed her eyes and slumbered, with the deep desire to have somebody close to share her frustrations to, not knowing that desire would soon be granted to every degree. 

A/N: And here we are, CHAPTER 10 BABYEE. Anyways, it seems Leilani's loss of her entire people has still afflicted her to this day, and it seems Fortuna is finally making good on her end of the deal. Let me know ur thoughts and your comments in the comment section below. Thank you for enjoying this series so far it means a lot to me and as always Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!