n

n

nThe chocolate-skinned gray-haired girl picked the first sheet and started reading everything...

n…and then the next one, and the next one...

nThat unassuming girl with a liking for skimpy clothing was called Aspakeony.

nAspakeony as in the Aspakeony Academy.

nThe name was not a coincidence in the slightest, as she was in fact the true headmaster of the Aspakeony Academy.

nShe possessed a unique variant attribute – necromancy.

nIt allowed her to control dead bodies as well as take their remaining mana and life force for herself which allowed her to stay forever young.

nShe was the strongest and longest-living variant magician in the Kingdom of Bellcephora, and she actually helped create the kingdom itself.

nHer presence in the Academy was the fiercest guarded secret in the whole Bellcephora and only the current royal magician and the current king would be allowed to know of her existence...

n

"...

"

nWhile going through the documents, Aspakeony started to think about Kros.

nShe could feel that the elderly light magician was dying - be it fate or a curse, Kros has actually contracted the same illness that killed his best-friend Burdoff...

nWhom Aspakeony was currently using as an additional cushioning...

n|I guess it's time to change the figurehead...|

nAspakeony furrowed her brows looking back at Burdoff's pale face – she was using him as the headmaster for almost twenty years and he was dead through the entirety of that time.

nWith Aspakeony's power, it was possible to preserve the body and even make it look progressively older by slowly sucking out the remaining mana and life energy remaining in the body.

nTruly, her spells were very convenient for laying low.

nThe time was passing slowly and Aspakeony started bobbing her head in the rhythm of the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of the office.

nShe plowed through almost the entire pile - only the four documents remained.

n|In his current state, little Kros won't make it past the next week, I'll just arrange something in that window... It would be a shame to just let go of him that easily.|

nAspakeony was actually very fond of Kros, through the previous figurehead-headmasters, Burdoff, she knew him since he was an adolescent boy.

nShe liked his character.

n|Though, it's always sad when the good ones are passing on...|

nAspakeony also liked Kros's way of doing the reports.

nHe would always start with the most boring stuff at the beginning and build up to the grand finale.

nThat's why the stack of papers wasn't in the order of the strength of magic but how interesting the student was - with the four remaining documents she hoped to find something interesting.

n

"The first prince, huh?

"

nAspakeony started reading through the documents aloud just because she felt it would make it seem more exciting.

n

"Close through extreme-long-range extremely strong - nice. Before attacking the last target he checked his surrounding so he probably has a massive area of effect spell - very nice.

"

nShe nodded to herself in satisfaction.

n

"The strong king is the best king! Defense - strong, utility - strong. Huh... Kros suspects that the prince actually has at least a very strong defensive spell and is possibly already able to use the teleportation spell? That's brilliant! We didn't have a genius like that as a king since five hundred years ago!

"

nThe gray-haired girl smiled satisfied and picked up another document.

n

"The first prince's fiance, huh? Ah! The youngest one! Aww, I forgot that she's am Espine – Oh, Doregon and Misena - the academy was much livelier with them around!

"

nShe giggled, looking up from the desk with a dreamy expression.

n

"Let's see? Ah, the transcendent wind attribute! Of course, as expected...! Let's see... all ranges extreme!? Whoa! Nice! Ah, the extra-long-range is extreme because it's an area of effect spell? That's even better! Huh!? Extreme defense!? Wind attribute!? Ah! Multiple wind shields and...!? What!?

"

nAspakeony stood up from the excitement.

n

"Flight!? Free flight!? Seriously!? She's totally like Rassahy! Oh, how I would love to fly with that cheeky boy again!

"

nThe strongest variant magician of Bellcephora pressed the sheet of paper to her chest and sighed in a dreamy voice and reminiscent the memory of a thousand years ago.

n

"What could be next? What could be better than free flight?

"

nHer sleepiness was nowhere to be seen now, and since Kros would make the documents be progressively more interesting the last two should be mindblowing!

n

"Tsk...! Healing...!

"

nShe clicked her tongue - all excitement gone.

nThe description of the healing capabilities of the female student's spells made Aspakeony remember another memory.

nSadly this one wasn't a pleasant one.

nIt reminded her of great wars that shook the continent millennia ago...

nThe battles that would make the rivers run with blood instead of water when no one could sleep without fear...

nAspakeony and her undead army were one of the forces in those wars - and since it was a war, some of her undead soldiers would perish and she needed new ones.

nSince she didn't want to pull the attention of literally everyone and instantly become the number one threat for the other powers, she couldn't just massacre some cities and be done with it - she wanted the quality ingredients that would last a while.

nShe needed volunteers.

nBut during that time magic wasn't separated into only six attributes – there were seven.

nThe seventh one was the healing attribute.

nYes.

nHealing wasn't a variant attribute - it was so widespread that it was considered as its own thing.

nBut the thing was that because of those pesky healers keeping everyone in a tip-top shape there would be barely any volunteers for her army.

nThat got Aspakeony a little angry...

n...so one day she made them all go extinct...

n

"I was so stupid back then... So short-sighted...

"

nThe millennia-old necromancer face-palmed just thinking about how she acted during the war...

nBut she was so young back then...

n...blinded by the quick gains...

nWhat could she do about it now?

n

"Sigh...

"

nAspakeony shook her head with disgust.

nShe put the paper away.

nMaybe the last one will lift her mood?

n

"Oh, dear...

"

nNo, of course, it would not.

n

"Darkness attribute...

"

nThis brought up a lot fresher and maybe even worse memories than making a whole attribute of magic go extinct.

n

"Extremely weak mana, ugh, for now, that is... Long-range none, well, obviously. Huh...? Middle-range extreme!? What!? Huh!?

"

nShe shouted and slammed her hands against the desk - if not for the magic sealing the room Aspakeony would already have a few dozens of shocked people at her door.

n

"Kros, what the hell do you mean he can use a shadow gate already!? That's awful! Why does it looks like you're impressed!? We should be praying that this child doesn't know about the spell to enlarge his mana pool! Ah...!

"

nOnly then did she notice the note left in the corner of the page.

nLight doesn't create Drakness, it creates Shadow.

n

"...Eh...? What does that suppose to mean? What else is light supposed to do?

"

nShe furrowed her brows, turning the page around to check if there wasn't any secret meaning in the odd scribbled message, but ended up with nothing.

n

"The recent generations just don't remember the terrors of those times...!

"

nAspakeony gave up on the note and sighed, hiding her face in her hands.

nIt was true that she was the longest living - and strongest - VARIANT magician in the kingdom.

nBut that didn't mean that she was the STRONGEST LIVING MAGICIAN in the kingdom.

nDepending on how someone wanted to look at it, Aspakeony was in the top two, or she didn't even cut it to the top twenty of the overall strongest magicians.

n

"Ugh... Kros, boy, don't sound so amazed, please...

"

nThe darkness magicians were scary - they had only one attack but it was terrifyingly strong, not to mention that with enough mana and time it could be molded into whatever form the caster had imagined.

nBesides that, the darkness magicians didn't have ANY defensive spells but if they properly used their utility spells they could never be touched.

n

"...ugh...!

"

nAspakeony shuddered at the thought of the time when she lost her army and had to actually escape the kingdom to save her life!

n

"I will have to have a talk with this child, I need to warn him about the threat of the Ghosts...

"

nThe gray-haired girl muttered to herself, not aware that the note left by Kros on Zoemi's report would clear up her misunderstanding if only she had more context.

n