Hearing those words from the Magus she looked up to caused Sabrina to lower her head in sha.
"Forgive , Headmaster. I have beco complacent in my old age," she said.
Headmaster Blackwood snorted in ridicule, "Old age should not be an excuse, Sabrina. You have simply lost your passion."
Sabrina Benton's head remained lowered. She was too ashad to look directly at the Headmaster.
Seeing her act this way, Headmaster Blackwood's tone softened, "When you were but a little girl, you would always be fascinated by magic and its infinite possibilities. What happened to that little girl?"
Sabrina couldn't help but frown in confusion. She finally raised her head, matching the Headmaster's gaze. "My Lord, you… Are you not talking about what happened in the city recently?"
The Headmaster sternly reprimanded her, "Foolish girl, I do not care what goes on in the city! I'm talking about the stagnation in your arcane path!"
Sabrina was greatly taken aback. She had completely misunderstood the Headmaster. She couldn't help but lower her head again and sincerely apologise, "… Forgive , Headmaster."
"You could learn a thing or two from Nylian. He's already at the peak of the Mana Vortex Rank and is now aiming to advance to the Mana Core." Headmaster Blackwood tried to encourage her.
"Already at the peak of Mana Vortex!" Sabrina Benton was stunned at this discovery.
"Indeed." The Headmaster nodded, clearly pleased with Nylian's progress. "He ca to visit yesterday. He has fulfilled all the technical requirents to advance to the next rank, however, his understanding of magic is still too shallow."
The advancent to the Mana Core Rank was imnsely difficult. The further a Magus advanced, the deeper their understanding of magic needed to be.
Even if the Magus t all the requirents to advance, if their comprehension of the Way was shallow, no matter how much they tried they would never succeed.
That is why Magi in the Greater Universe were encouraged to deepen their philosophy of the Way from a very young age. The earlier they understood the concept, the easier it was for them to advance during the later stages.
However, comprehending the philosophy of the Way in itself was a highly difficult endeavor. No amount of talent or external resources could help a Magus in this venture.
"I understand, my lord." Sabrina Benton solemnly nodded, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit. She had a highly competitive nature and, as such, didn't take lightly the fact that a fellow councilor was going to outdo her.
It was precisely this competitive nature of hers that allowed her to reach the magical prowess that she possessed today. It was precisely this nature of hers that made her worthy of being the Lord Marshall of Ravenfell.
Headmaster Blackwood clearly knew her very well. Thus, he used Nylian's example to reignite that fighting spirit buried deep inside of her.
"Anyways," he changed subject. "What brings you here? It has been quite a while since you last visited . I was beginning to wonder you had forgotten all about this old man."
"Forgive , my lord, but I had been too busy with handling the affairs of the city," Sabrina Benton apologized, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Oh?" Headmaster Blackwood's lips curled up into a mocking smirk, "Is that why vermins have been running rampant, sacrificing won and causing bloody explosions?"
Sabrina couldn't help but involuntarily clench her fists. She remained silent for a long ti, her heart churning with feelings of inadequacy and disgrace. "So you do know…"
Headmaster Blackwood chuckled, finding Sabrina's reactions quite amusing. He leaned back in his chair and took a long drag from his smoking pipe.
"The little birds tell everything," he said.
Sabrina Benton took a deep breath and finally gathered the courage to match gaze with the Headmaster. "I have been complacent, my lord. Please accept my apologies."
"I don't care for your apologies," said the old man as he exhaled a plu of smoke. "Tell what you're doing to fix it."
Sabrina paused for a few monts before solemnly speaking, "I have increased security in and around Ravenfell. My n are proactively interrogating the top brass of Red Fists as well as the Duskfall couple as we speak.
"I have sent my n far and wide, looking for any traces of the Umbra Thieves. As for this Cult of Bones… I have nothing substantive on them for the ti being. But rest assured, My Lord, I'm doing everything possible to get to the bottom of this."
"Should have listened to Greedy Flynn when he warned you," the Headmaster spoke, his tone laced with schadenfreude.
From his manner of speaking, one would think that the old Headmaster didn't care one bit about the city, and instead took pleasure in its misfortune.
However, Sabrina knew that this was how the man's personality was. If he made fun of sothing, it ant that he cared about it.
"Forgive , my lord," She couldn't help but keep apologizing to the man over and over again.
After all, she was the one in the wrong here and the Headmaster would spare no chance to remind her of that.
She then spoke again, "My Lord, apart from the Cult of Bones there seems to be yet another secret organization that has erged. I suspect Adam Constantine, along with a few others, are a part of this."
"Hmm." Headmaster Blackwood nodded as he continued enjoying the fresh tobacco in his pipe.
Sabrina Benton expected more than just a hum of response from the old man. However, she wasn't going to pursue the matter if he wasn't inclined to speak more about it.
"That brings to my final report, my lord," said she. "This boy, Adam Constantine, claims to have single-handedly killed a Rank 3 Magus from the Cult."
"Oh, he did," Headmaster Blackwood casually spoke. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he added, "Sly fellow, that boy."
"You…" Sabrina Benton was shocked. "Did you witness the fight, my lord?!"
She, along with the rest of the councilors, did not believe Adam's claim of having personally killed the Rank 3 cultist. They simply thought that the youth had had help from others in defeating the man, and that he was lying to protect the identity of his allies.
"The boy is not as simple as you might take him to be," Headmaster Blackwood spoke with a smirk, his eyes flashing with a keen light. "Lower your guard even a little, and he shall have your head. Look away for a mont, and he shall disappear in an instant."
Sabrina Benton was shocked to hear such high praises about Adam from the Headmaster!
It took a long while for her to gather herself before she curiously asked, "There's one more thing, my lord. He claims that he has received your acknowledgnt. Might I ask if that is true?"
"Hoh?" Headmaster Blackwood found this very amusing. "What did the boy say?"
"He said the raven-feathered markings around his wrists ant that he has received acknowledgnt from the Headmaster of Saratoga," Sabrina answered truthfully.
"But I've never seen, read, or heard about those strange feather markings before. I'm curious to know if what he said was the truth."
"Aye." Headmaster Blackwood nodded. "That is indded the truth."
"… I see," Sabrina Benton replied, not quite sure how to react to that. However, what the Headmaster said next, caused her to be thunderstruck.
"That is the acknowledgnt he recieved from the first Headmaster, Dendar Saratoga."
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