Reborn With a Magic System Chapter 251 – Investigation

“Mage Wells, will you co with please,” an attendant Damion did not recognize said as he approached his dormitory.

“And where is it that you need to go?” Damion questioned. He was not about follow soone he did not know, even if he was back at the school.

“To the Headmaster’s office.”

“What does the Headmaster want with ?” Damion asked. He was sure it was to review his dungeon run and receive his grade for the Wilderness Survival exam. Usually, a summons would be sent by ssage to his tablet. Not by an attendant just showing up, which made Damion sowhat wary.

“I have not been inford. This way please.”

Damion chose not to give the attendant a hard ti. He knew the way to the faculty offices. If the attendant tried to lead him sowhere else, he would just go to the Headmaster’s office directly.

As they made their way through the central spire of the school, Damion realized his worries were unfounded. The attendant led Damion, and Phil since the Snow Hawk was resting on his shoulder, to the Headmaster’s office without delay.

“Mage Wells, co in, co in,” Headmaster Sorin greeted. “I was quite surprised to learn you were able to clear the Holy Forest dungeon.”

“I distracted the White Griffin while I sent Phil to destroy the dungeon core,” Damion told the Headmaster. That had at least been his plan. In the end it did not work out that way, but the way Damion worded his response resulted in the Headmaster’s lie detection artifact not being triggered.

“And how did you fair against the rest of the dungeon’s creatures?”

“Just fine. Since the guardian was the only thing B Rank, it was the only threat to . Phil and I were able to slowly work to clear the entire dungeon. Not a fast clear like I hear so teams go for, but we were thodical.”

“Well done. I will let Professor Moretti know you deserve full marks. Do you have your tracking artifact?”

“Oh, yes here you go,” Damion said, pretending to take the artifact out of his pocket as he removed it from the Magic System Inventory.

“Did you still want to trade your spoils for points?”

“Not necessary, I went by an artificer shop after leaving the dungeon.”

“Not a problem. Not a problem,” the Headmaster repeated himself absentmindedly.

The way Headmaster Sorin was speaking, it made Damion feel the man was trying to work up the nerve to ask sothing. There was no reason he could think of for the Headmaster to suddenly be so nice to him. Unless of course, the old man wanted sothing.

“Is there anything else, sir?” Damion asked cautiously.

“Actually, yes. I want to make this clear, you are under no suspicion. Your location was confird by the exam and your communication tablet activity has proven you made no suspicious calls, but certain parties wish to inquire anyways.”

Now Damion was feeling a bit worried. If the Headmaster was tasked with investigating Damion’s movents and communications it could only an so cri was committed. Of course, he knew he had not broken any laws, or at least none he was aware of, but that did not an soone else was not trying to fra him.

“May I know why I was looked into at all?” Damion asked. “I have hardly left the school grounds since coming to Silver Spire. I doubt anyone would try to fra when my whereabouts could so easily be accounted for.”

“I suppose you have a right to know,” Headmaster Sorin said. “A forr acquaintance of yours was murdered, by an Ice affinity spell.”

“What! Who?” Damion shouted.

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He could not believe soone he knew had been killed. He had very few friends and since the school did not appear to have been put into lockdown to find the killer, he could only assu it was not soone from school. Was it Ethan? Arica? Perhaps Mage Blythe? Soone taking revenge on him in leu of going after Damion again maybe?

“Theodore Bianco.”

“Theodore Bianco?” Damion repeated, confused.

Headmaster Sorin did say forr associate, but Mage Bianco had not co to mind at all. Damion had not interacted with the young man in years. It was not until years after Mage Bianco tried to kill him that Damion even ca to know he had tried. And given he had not heard of the Holy mage trying anything in years left him to believe their paths were unlikely to ever cross.

“Yes. Theodore Bianco was killed by a tier 4 Ice spell known as Frost Fire,” Headmaster Sorin said as he eyed Damion, looking for a reaction.

“The only tier 4 spell I know is Ice Clone, I learned it from the Blanche family a few months ago, after that episode in the labyrinth.”

As the Headmaster Sorin eyed Damion, his thumb rubbed on his lie detection ring. The action made him think the man was checking to make sure the ring was working correctly.

“The concern was not that you had done the deed yourself, since we knew for sure where you were,” Headmaster Sorin clarified. “The concern was that you had hired soone to do it.”

“Why would either be a possibility? Mage Bianco did sothing stupid, years ago. He never gave any trouble since, and I didn’t even learn he had been the one to try and have killed until just before I ca to Silver Spire. His aunt, despite trying to recruit to Erythraean Academy was… rather hostile. But I’ve not had any further issues with their family.”

“It seems you are unaware. Well, the episode in the labyrinth, as you called it, may have been his doing as well. However, since I can tell you did not know of his involvent, you had no motive.”

“To , it seems perhaps the Blanche family is to bla,” Damion suggested.

“And what would lead you to that conclusion?”

“You said Mage Bianco was killed by an Ice affinity spell. And a tier 4 one at that. There aren’t that many people with an Ice affinity and fewer still that would have access to that spell.”

“True,” Headmaster Sorin agreed. “But there are enough suspects outside of the Blanche family that it seems premature to assign them bla.”

“Like ?” Damion asked sarcastically. “The Blanche family is divided. From what I understand, Devon Blanche’s death allowed a different faction to take over the family. Devon’s branch, unable to bla , since I acted in self-defense, would logically go after the person who put their precious heir up to it.”

“I can follow your reasoning,” Headmaster Sorin said.

The use of an Ice affinity spell, and a high tier one at that, strongly pointed to the Blanche family. They had the ans, motive and likely opportunity. The Blanche family, like the Bianco family, was part of the Rubrum White Zone. Even if Damion could have secretly sent a ssage and arranged an assassination, he did not know the spell, which ant so other Ice affinity person had to have done the deed. If that was the case, it was virtually impossible for Mage Wells to have coordinated the plot, he simply did not have any contacts that could pull it off.

“Thank you for your ti, Mage Wells. You may return to your dormitory. I am sure you are in need of a good rest. Since you still have a couple of days before your normal classes resu, I suggest you use the ti to brush up on any assignnts you may have due.”

“One question, Headmaster,” Damion said before leaving.

“Go ahead.”

“Being an Ice mage, I’m curious about this Frost Fire spell you ntioned. I’m not familiar with it. Is it a spell in the school’s Repository?”

“It is. However, the spell is restricted.”

“What does that an?”

“Restricted spells are those that are too dangerous for most people to wield. Frost Fire, has the potential to kill its caster.”

“How is that even possible?” Damion questioned. Everyone knew that their own mana could not hurt them. Sure, he could take his Ice Sword and stab himself in the gut with it, but aside from an intentional act like that, a spell could not hurt its caster unless there was so sort of backlash.

“There are three ways a spell may harm its caster,” Headmaster Sorin explained. “The first is of course backlash. Not properly casting the spell can result in harming oneself in a multitude of ways, of which I am sure you are aware. The other is intent. If you want to hurt yourself with your magic you can will your magic to harm you. The third, is accidental.”

“Accidental?” Damion asked in disbelief.

“With most spells this does not happen, but with volatile spells it can. You see Frost Fire creates a fla of ice that both freezes and consus. Its contradictory nature makes it an extrely hard spell to control, and it is possible for a mage to harm themselves if their control over the flas they summoned is lacking.”

“Since it is a type of fla, can Fire mages learn the spell as well?”

“No. Despite its na, Frost Fire is a true Ice spell, there is no Fire elent present in it. The na is more to describe the appearance and behavior of the spell. It looks like fire, but it freezes things. Once a target is frozen, the target is consud, which allows for the ice to expand. Freezing a larger area and consuming everything inside to expand further.”

“Such a powerful spell. I suppose it will be a long while before I am ready for sothing like that. I guess I will be going then,” Damion said as he and Phil left the Headmaster’s office.