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An Otherworldly Scholar - 232
🕑 Added 2025-05-31 05:33:33 +0000 UTCIt took Cabbage Class nine hours and thirty minutes to finish the selection exam, and I couldn’t be prouder. A hundred cadets had exited the maze through the ‘winners’ side, but none looked like a winner. Those who managed to complete the maze looked like missing hikers found after a weekend lost in the woods.
Young novice librarians with the green tunics of the Nature Circle welcomed the cadets and examined their wounds before assigning them to different groups. Those who were wounded went into an open tent where Adepts tended to their wounds, while those who were ‘healthy’ were sent away without recognition or fanfare. I expected Astur to be there for his cadets, but he was nowhere to be found.
Fenwick, whose face was swollen by the sting of a Mana Stinger, was quickly attended by a tall beastfolk Healer. The other cadets of the Cabbage Class were considered healthy despite the bruises and the scratches, and were sent away. Much like Wolf had told me, certain wounds were ‘below’ Healer’s mighty skills.
I made a mental note to ask an aide for some Healing Salve.
Exhausted and bruised, my students dropped to the grass, clinging to their copper totems like they were the most precious thing in the world. The little pieces of carved metal no longer shone. Even Malkah dropped before Harwin could lay his jacket down for him. None of them looked like winners. At most, they seemed relieved that everything was done.
“It doesn’t seem we are going to have an award ceremony,” I said, examining the Healers' tent. “Take them back to Cabbage House. It’s getting dark, and this is no place to rest—or celebrate.”
“What about you?” Talindra asked.
“I need to figure out where the Corrupted Monsters came from.”
Talindra, Ilya, and Zaon climbed down from the hedge maze and walked toward the cadets. As much as I wanted to congratulate them, I needed to verify my suspicions. I turned around and returned to the maze, towards the fountain room where Kili’s group had fought against the Corrupted Gloomstalker. The creature’s body was still there. Summoned monsters and cadets ignored it. Then, I went to the fountain room where Malkah and his henchmen had tricked Astur’s cadets. The pieces of the lanky golem were spread across the room like shards from the fountain’s statue. I dropped into the room and touched one of the corrupted crystals, which dissolved in my hand, leaving a dusty black mark.
Corrupted Golemite Protrusion.
I looked around, feeding mana to [Foresight] but found no sign of lingering Corruption.
Interestingly, the hedge’s root system went inside the statues on top of the fountains. If I had to guess, the magicians of the Nature Circle used the roots to contain the monsters until cadets entered the fountain rooms. That also explained why there was a slight tremor every time a statue freed its incarcerated monster. The whole root system was moving underground.
“How did a Corrupted Monster end up here?”
I traversed the maze from above, stopping to examine the bodies of the fountain monsters. Each fountain room contained a living monster. Some cadets killed them cleanly, while others made a mess. One way or another, most monsters showed no sign of Corruption. I only counted three instances of Corruption: a Gloomstalker, a Stone Golem, and a Greater Slime.
None of the summoned monsters prowling the corridors were Corrupted, except for a couple of Saplings and Thorned Saplings. Technically speaking, Saplings weren’t summoned monsters but a spawn of the maze. I climbed down the wall and slashed the Corrupted Sapling in half. The creature screeched and withered before my eyes. After a quick inspection, I noticed almost invisible Corruption tendrils inside the roots.
I wondered what Gloomstalkers, Stone Golems, Saplings, and Greater Slimes had in common other than being real monsters. Gloomstalker and Saplings were plant monsters, Stone Golems were nature spirits, and Slimes were… strange cores surrounded by a slimy substance.
I rubbed my temples. Either the System had stolen a lot of my sense of awe, or the dangers of this world had made me numb to its wonders. I pushed those worries aside and focused on finding clues. For the next two hours, I examined as much of the maze as I could, but in the end, I found nothing.
My inner clock told me twelve hours had passed.
The sun was about to fall behind the hills, far in the west. Then, a minute later, the ground trembled, and the hedge maze withered and turned into fine dust. Then, the stone walls retracted underground, and the watchtower descended like a weird wooden elevator. The only trace of the maze was the upturned ground where the roots had come to the surface, the bodies of the non-summoned monsters, and the pieces of equipment the cadets had left inside.
Dozens of cadets didn’t finish the exam. I heard curses and cries, but in the end, the librarians from the Nature Circle herded them into the medical tent. The whole scene had been underwhelming, albeit a little heartbreaking. Part of me knew about the immense wasted potential of the rejected cadets.
“This is unfair! How am I supposed to prepare my cadets to fight a Corrupted Greater Slime?” Ghila shouted.
The other instructors echoed her complaints.
On the receiving end, the Grand Archivist of the Nature Circle—the old woman who had accompanied Byrne into the party last night—and her Adepts tried to deflect the responsibility.
“I wanted living monsters in the exam as much as you, Ghila, but I don’t have a say. If you want to yell at someone, go find Astur!”
Ghila was livid, and her mana sent ripples through my body.
“You bet I’m going to do that, Evelisse! That Slime ruined my numbers!”
Of course, it was about numbers and metrics and not the well-being of the cadets. I didn’t know why I expected anything else. Still, I approached the group and cleared my throat.
“The damage is already done. The best we can do is search for clues and figure out who brought those Corrupted Monsters here,” I said.
All the instructors turned towards me.
“Are you implying we at the Nature Circle are suspects, young man?” Grand Archivist Evelisse grunted, mana surging through her arms. She looked like the kind of old math teacher who would obliterate your weekend with a stack of a thousand exercises.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” I replied, channeling my own mana. Dealing with high-level warriors and magicians was far more difficult than I expected. Everyone at the Academy had a bad case of a very short fuse, and I was getting infected.
“I won’t recommend that, Evelisse,” Holst said with a strangely affable voice. “Prince Adrien really fancies him, and he killed the Weasel.”
Suddenly, a wide smile appeared on the old woman’s face.
“Then, he is a friend of mine. What is your name, young man?”
“Robert Clarke, my pleasure,” I said with a polite bow.
“A Sage,” Holst finished with my presentation. “Previously a Scholar”
Evelisse sighed.
“Well, nobody can be perfect.”
I wondered when Holst had become my hypeman. Still, before I could answer that question, Evelisse gathered the gnome gardening squads that had entered the meadow and instructed them to collect everything that wasn’t part of the natural landscape. At the same time, the Nature Circle librarians summoned a whole army of small plant critters and tiny stone-and-root golems. Most instructors seemed to decide the task was below their qualifications because they just moved aside and waited.
“Let’s make sure nobody does anything funny,” Holst whispered.
Ghila and I nodded. Even Rhovan and his knights joined, although for different reasons. They didn’t care for the cadets as much as the perceived sanctity of the selection exams.
I poured mana into [Foresight] to oversee the operation. The world's colors washed away as everything turned into blurry mana signatures. I didn’t detect any funny movements. Gnomes and critters gathered the garbage left behind in an orderly manner, without anything ‘getting lost’ underground. I expected one of the Adepts from the Nature Circle to try to hide evidence, but everyone cooperated to the best of their abilities.
My suspect list grew thin.
Geomancers set gathering areas—stone slabs—where critters and gnomes collected the leftovers. Most were the expected items. Abandoned knives, waterskins, shattered potion vials, and jerky leftovers. There were even sealed health potions that had probably been lost along the way by cadets dragged by the vines early in the exam.
“Doesn’t Astur seem too calm considering Corrupted monsters were running amok in the maze?” I asked.
I couldn’t be the only one thinking about the safety of the cadets—or at least I wanted to believe so.
“If you want to accuse the Grandmaster, that’s your grave to dig,” Evelisse replied. “If it makes you feel at ease. Astur has always been like this. He doesn’t care for anyone but those useful to him, and cadets are still three years of strenuous training away from becoming useful.”
That explanation aligned perfectly with the mental image I had of Astur.
“Isn’t it too bold of you to speak about Lord Astur that way?”
Grand Archivist Evelisse raised an eyebrow.
“You must have killed the Weasel with whatever rock you crawled out from, because it must have been massive. I am Evelisse of Cadria, the queen’s sister and the leader of the Nature Circle. I can talk smack about whoever I want, kid.”
The lessons of how to deal with nobility flashed behind my eyelids.
“My apologies, my lady,” I said with a bow.
“Don’t be too harsh with him, Evelisse. He suffered a teleportation accident and popped into Farcrest a few years ago,” Holst said.
“Like Samuel?” Evelisse tapped on her chin. “Two Scholars transported into the same place… don’t tell me you stumbled into the same portal as Grand Archivist Byrne.”
“What are the chances, right?”
Evelisse grinned.
“I see it now! You are the man who piqued Byrne’s attention during last night's party. You two are countrymen! Ha! You almost set the Imperial Library on fire. Every single Preceptor and Adept was wondering who you were.”
“I’m just a teacher.”
“Sure you are.”
The piles of garbage grew steadily, although my presence slowed down the process as most of the gnomes stopped to chat with me. Although I had only stopped to have that lousy gnome beer with them twice since my arrival, that didn’t stop them from treating me like their distant cousin. Evelisse and Holst gave me curious glances but didn’t comment on it. The other denizens of the Academy ignored Gnomes as if they were part of the furnishing or garden ornaments.
“Robert, check this out,” Holst said.
Evelisse and I approached just to find a potion vial. Instead of the transparent blue of the Minor Health potions the aides had been distributed at the start of the exam, the vial was filled with a purple potion.
Energy-Boost Potion. [Identify] Alchemy Potion. Effect: High. Toxicity: Dangerous. A rare high-grade potion that can replenish mana and stamina over a long period.
It was the same potion I had taken from the Red Hawk Trading Company before the flames engulfed the building.
“Is it one of those?” Evelisse asked.
“It is,” Holst replied, turning towards me with a ‘class is in session’ look on his face. “Cheap, unsanctioned potions, sold in the gray market to dimwits under the pretense that they will solve all their performance problems. These Energy-Boost Potions started appearing two years ago and are very popular among cadets and novices who doubt their capabilities.”
I wasn’t expecting the Imperial Academy and the Library to have problems with ‘study drugs’.
“Are these dangerous?” I asked.
“Extremely. It says right there. You’ll get Corruption a hundred times faster than chugging ‘high’ toxicity potions,” Evelisse replied with a worried expression. “As you may be aware, it’s illegal to mass-produce potions with toxicity levels above ‘high’. You can legally brew them for personal consumption or end-user commissioned work, of course, so it’s hard to crack down on such a business. Even at the Nature Circle, we produce many of those during research… do you have any insight into the matter?”
I shook my head. As much as I was on good terms with Holst, I wasn’t confessing to multiple counts of murder and arson in front of Prince Adrien’s aunt. Besides, Red’s merchandise had burned during the fire.
“I’m more worried about the Corrupted monsters,” I said, diverting the conversation to safer pastures. “A Gloomstalker, Thorned Sapling, Greater Slime, and a Stone Golem. Do you see any connection?”
“I do.”
That voice sent a chill down my spine.
“Grand Archivist Byrne,” Evelisse greeted him. “What are you doing here?”
Byrne let out an affable laugh.
“I heard there was trouble down here and came as fast as my old knees allowed me,” he said, giving me a scolding look. ”If you were able to find and read the treatises on wildlife I left back at the orphanage you’d know the answer too, Robert. Plant monsters, spirits, and slimes are susceptible to environmental changes. If the roots of the maze came into contact with the Energy-Boost Potion, it wouldn’t be strange for it to have affected the monsters. The effect of the potion might have developed Corruption at an accelerated rate.”
Evelisse grabbed the potion and put it in one of the pockets of her robe, then she rubbed her eyes with the tiredness only someone with decades and decades over their shoulders could.
“I’ll have one of the Beastmasters bring a Greater Slime. As soon as I have the results, I will contact you. For the time being, I will inform Prince Adrien about the incident. He should be able to pressure Astur to keep things in order down here.”
“Wasn’t Prince Adrien on a diplomatic trip? Did he arrive already?” I asked.
“I meant I will inform him when he arrives. Naturally,” Evelisse quickly corrected herself.
[Foresight] kicked my brain, telling me she wasn’t completely honest.
Holst and Byrne also seemed to detect the lie, but none attempted to dig deeper into the matter—she was royalty, after all. I made a mental note to buy Elincia a small gift for all those times I unintentionally read her. Living with a Scholar must be exhausting.
Byrne clapped his hands.
“Well, I lied when I told you I’m here for the Corrupted Monsters. I was wondering if you, Robert, have time to check a few papers in my office.”
Evelisse rolled her eyes and seized the moment to take her leave.
“I’m not going to tell you how to manage the Arcane Circle, but taking a newcomer directly into your study is a great way of giving every Adept in your Circle an aneurysm, Samuel,” she said as she walked towards the instructors and showed them the purple vial.
Holst didn’t mention anything, but I could see in his face that he agreed.
“Would you come with me?” Byrne asked, olympically ignoring Evelisse’s warning,
My mind rushed. Entering Byrne’s territory might be dangerous, but at the same time, I would be able to see the enchantments he was brewing. If the System wasn’t going to help me, I might as well take my chances. Besides, Byrne was a Scholar Lv.41, and I had prepared countermeasures against him.
“Give me half an hour to check on my students, and I’ll be there,” I said with a slight bow. “Imperial Library, no?”
Byrne gave me one of his beatific grandpa smiles.
“Tallest building in town, you couldn’t get lost even if you tried,” he said, putting a wrinkled hand on my shoulder. “Thank you, Robert Clarke. I mean it. We will do great things.”
Holst bowed slightly, and Byrne walked back to the carriage waiting for him by the road near the inner wall. In the meantime, the gnomes had tied ropes around the legs of the Gloomstalker and dragged it into an old cart. The selection exam was done, but my work for the day was just beginning.
I channeled my mana and helped the gnomes carry the Gloomstalker to the cart.
The other monsters weren’t as heavy, and the Stone Golem had collapsed into manageable pieces.
“First the Marquis, then the Prince, and now the Grand Archivist. I don’t know why it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Holst said, his monotone voice not giving a hint of his true emotions. If anything, he seemed slightly tired.
“My greatest catch will always be Elincia.”
Holst’s lip twitched in displeasure.
“Please, spare me. Just don’t forget about your promise. I will have Ilya arrange a training session between our classes.”
Without saying more, he walked up the hill into the western gate. For a moment, I thought about stopping him and telling him about Byrne and Earth, but I quickly dispelled that idea. As much as I wanted to keep the kids away from my problems, Ilya and Zaon were probably better support than he was. I headed in the opposite direction, toward the servants' quarters.
“Rhovan!” I shouted as I was halfway up the road. “You owe me money!”
Luckily for me, glances couldn’t kill even in this world of magic.
I grinned.
A good teacher always bets on their students.
Comments
Trevayne
Thanks for the chapter.
I Dare Korval
I hope Holst students get a chance to try "jedi" training. It played a big part against the Gloomstalker's initial attack.
I Dare Korval
Well now that it's out that they are "countrymen" it might not be as surprising once more find out. Just 2 guys catching up about events back home and advice about things here in the kingdom.
Ben Bass
TYFTC! Let's see what Byrne is up to, he is very much an enigma!
Rod
Can't wait to see the fallout of Robert's class passing rate of 100% for this exam, and his "friendship" with Byrne. It'll spread like a wildfire in the academy.
Matthew Rodencal
"a good teacher always bets on his students" what a great end to a chapter I didn't want to end haha
Makyura
Yay I'm hoping the kids have a good celebration. I'm intrigued by the upcoming coop lessons and whatever Byrne is up to. So many good story threads to unravel
