“... the killer’s methodical approach showed immense preparation before each of the murders. It’s calculated, clean and meticulously planned. And given the fact that all of these murder victims were magic wielders on the mid to lower tiers, it would make perfect sense that this could be the work of someone who was born into the magical world, but for some reason was shunned by all.” standing in front of a podium, Aimee finished the last bit of their study group’s project presentation.

“Hmm, okay. ” Professor Dawson, who was the main lecturer of the course they’re taking said: “What’s your theory on the killer’s ability to bypass a lot of the magical lock and other home defense systems employed by a lot of the victims? If the killer was indeed someone who’s familiar with the magical world and familiar with the practices, they would still need to be able to perform some kind of meticulous enchantment sabotage, and it is impossible to pull that off without the use of magic.”

“Yes, we did think of that, and there’s actually a perfectly plausible explanation - ” Jason continued: “Bear in mind that these serial murders were committed more than eighty years ago, and in the civilian world, it was way before the invention of sensors. And in the magical world, it was before the invention of passive sensing arrays like motion sensing arrays and heat sensing arrays. Most of the commonly used magical home defense systems were actually made to resonate with the radiation of magic - meaning, it will trigger if the attacker possessed magical power and it had energy radiation. For magic wielders, unless they are really really good at concealing their magical power, it is almost impossible to hide your magical energy radiation.”

“So under normal circumstances - these systems were able to detect and defend against normal assailants, but if these assailants actually did not possess magical power, then they would almost not work at all.” Professor Dawson nodded: “Very good.”

“Aaand, without magical power, a lot of these magical defense systems would just be simple mechanical locks and traps, and not even good ones.” Thomas added to the answer: “In fact, I think that some of the examiners actually considered this possibility, because there were scratch marks near the windows and doors, which would make sense if these systems were bypassed using mechanical means.”

“But what about the possibility of shapeshifters or vampires?” another student asked: “Since - if we’re talking about non magic users, isn’t it still possible that it’s them?”

“Yeah, turns out, vampires and shapeshifters are technically still magic users.” Aimee said: “They just don’t wield the kinds of magic that were common at the time. As it turned out, the powers they have that was kinda within their bodies also radiate energy signatures. We’ve not looked into whether they would trigger the defense systems. But it still could still be a possibility - they could just be anyone that was not welcome by, but familiar with the magical world. We lean towards the possibility of someone who could not wield magic and not shapeshifters or vampires, because this looked like more of an indiscriminate murder targetting magic users. It showed a kind of deep rooted grudge and hatred against the magical world. And reading up on the kind of treatment this kind of unfortunate people received, it is to be… expected.”

This statement obviously made some of the students in the room a bit uncomfortable, but then another student raised his hand: “What do you think the murder weapons are? Even if the killer was able to sneak into their victim’s place, they would still need to use some kind of tools to kill their victims - they’re not magic wielders, so they’re at a disadvantage if a fight broke out. ”

“Yes. That’s a good point. And we actually don’t have a very good answer for that.” Aimee admitted: “The records in the library did not include too much detail on the possible murder weapons. For one, we know that there are some enchanted weapons that did not radiate too much magical energy, thus much easier to conceal and bring into the victims’ residence. And there’s some evidence that the murderer used civilian weapons like guns and crossbows.”

“That’s not possible. No civilian weapon can penetrate magical shields made by mid tier magic wielders, that’s preposterous!” just this moment, a student with neatly combed hair , in a straight and organized robe and wearing a ring with a shiny blue gem on it yelled out.

“Yeah, well. Almost all of the victims were taken by surprise. The few of them that actually managed to survive the ambush and fought back - they were soon overpowered. We’re still not sure how, but our theories include debilitating poison and multiple assailants.” Thomas sighed.

“That’s not a theory. That’s a guess! A baseless hunch at best!” the student with combed hair said loudly: “Just educate yourself on the average powers of energy shields - even the weakest mid tier wizard can easily conjure a shield that can protect them from the blast of a civilian grenade.”

“Yeah, but it’s still something that requires concentrated effort, and these victims were all non combatants - so they might lack fighting experience. And when people are attacked, even those with combat experience tend to have slower response time and have trouble concentrating, not to mention civilians - I mean non-combatants.” Thomas frowned and said.

“Mr. Jensen, please refrain yourself from making these kinds of remarks - they’re not arguments.” Professor Dawson said: “If you have an objection to their theories, please feel free to submit your rebuttal, as per course guidelines.”

“Even when the theory in question is as poorly organized and sourced as this one we just heard?” another student, with a slightly tilted wizard hat and holding a short wooden wand and sitting on the right side of this Mr. Jensen asked.

“And you too, Mr. Hendricks. Critical rebuttals are welcome as long as you submit a sourced and research based thesis. You should not just denigrate any theories presented by your classmates without providing one just because you do not agree with the reasoning.”

“Okay, okay, we’ll follow the course guideline. ” Mr. Jensen raised both his hands and pretended concession.

“Any other questions?” Caroline decided to ignore those two students, whom she only knew by last name just now.