Michael woke up that morning. And stretched. Stretched and yawned and took the time before getting out of bed. It was good to be alive. His friends were safe. Melissa was safe. The golem got blasted to a million pieces. And he got to meet the Martial faction’s leader.

Which gave him a mission.

Yes, his plate kept getting fuller. That was the refrain. But… so what? He was living in a magical academy. What else was he going to do? Go to a spa?

So, he got out of bed and got dressed. Time to meet Sinestra again. He put on his robes. Put his wand in his wand holster. And placed his sword in its scabbard. Yes, he now had a sword. Kelunad had been of the opinion that if you are not double-casting, you are wasting a hand. Therefore, a sword.

Michael was also learning how to cast |Fire Slash| with it, since the orc told him that if the enemy was farther away from you than the length of your sword, you didn’t just go after him. Not unless you were higher in Level. No, you just channeled a Spell down your sword and sent a cutting afterimage after your opponent. Apparently, any sword could do this and Kelunad was adamant Michael would learn to cast the Spell via a normal sword.

Spoilsport.

And where did Michael get his brand-new sword? Why, from the Martials, of course. They had basically climbed all over each other in order to be the one to give Michael a sword. Any sword. Their sword. Some even swore a mace was better, before they were shouted into silence by the others. So he got a sword, unenchanted, of a steel alloy, of dwarven make, with a scaled leather scabbard and a golden hilt and pommel.

And why were the Martials this excited to help him?

Well.

***

Michael blinked and saw he was back in the corridor. The last thing he had seen before was the fire and the first thing he saw here was Kelunad’s eyes. He looked around and saw that everyone was still on the floor. In the same places he had left them.

Wait. No time passed? At all?!

Without missing a beat, the orc placed his other hand on Michael’s shoulder, looked him in the eye, and spoke.

“You, Michael, are a credit to your faction. But I dearly wish you were one of mine. For you are the truest Martial I have lived to see and you are the spirit of our faction incarnate. We will talk again. Until then, you have my blessing and my confidence.”

He then had the audacity to wink at him and left. Not in a hurry, He just walked away.

So that’s why you asked about the Gnosis rumor mill.

They stood like that for a time, until the orc was nowhere in sight. Michael turned his head, as he heard Alex’s voice.

“M- Michael. What was that?”

“Kelunad wanted a word with me. Sorry, he said I shouldn’t speak too much about it.”

“Michael. Please don’t do this to me.” Alex whined.

“Sorry.”

“He’s letting you call him Kelunad?” Erea shrieked.

What followed was a short period of time dedicated to threatening and cajoling, but Michael was firm in saying that he couldn’t talk too much about it. His friends understood. Eventually. And only because he told them that Kelunad himself told him not to share what was discussed.

What Michael didn’t like was how Melissa watched them all. Like she was trying to piece together a puzzle.

Also, it was apparent that the walls had ears or at least tracking Spells, because an entire wave of Martial mages swept over them in just a few minutes. They healed them, asked them what had happened, and when Alex and Erea left out the meeting with Kelunad, the other mages just let them know that they were already aware of their faction leader having been there.

Which was why Alex and Erea were administered their own session of threatening and cajoling. They broke though. And Alex relayed what had been discussed, verbatim, checked by a Truth Bell. By that time Michael had departed, going to his room, when he received a communication Spell, informing him of the Spell he would learn and its requirements. A sword.

Which was fortuitous because that was when the wave of Martial mages, Alex and Erea in tow, had found him again. And promptly dragged him back to one of their meeting places. And no, not to ask about what was discussed. They dragged him there to be complete fanboys over Kelunad, to fight among themselves about who would get to offer Michael their sword, and to generally be as ingratiating as possible to the orc’s newest confidante.

Michael had to say this about Kelunad, whatever else, he knew his faction

***

So Michael woke up that Saturday feeling good. He went and visited Sinestra and felt even better. The gorgon was still looking into obtaining her new Class, but was happy to learn Michael had managed to learn |Bolt|. He had even managed to learn |Calm Touch| while he practiced with her. The gorgon then promptly started to teach him |Water Bolt|, saying it should complement his fire-based Spells nicely, and |Numbing Touch|. One step closer to a paralyzing Spell.

First tutoring session of the day done, Michael went on to have lunch. He promised to meet with Micah and Bob there, since his other ‘activities’ had taken quite a bit of his time lately. Yes, he had seen Bob the other day, at the Martial get-together, but hadn’t had the chance to talk to him much.

And since they also had to have one of their little ‘conspiracy’ meetings, they made sure to have lunch in an empty classroom. Micah provided the warding artifacts, since with everything looming around, they couldn’t afford not to be discreet.

“Shouldn’t we have a name?” Micah asked. “Just calling it a ‘conspiracy’ sounds boring.”

“Having a name increases the chances of us being found out.” Bob pointed out.

“Yeah. And apparently, there is this type of Spells, called oracular Spells. From what Regitris said, they can gather information out of thin air. Having a name for our group would just be giving them a bigger target.”

“Them. Who’s them?” Micah asked.

“Well, apparently, only one group has this type of magic. The same group that’s after me.”

“And yet you are going to have regular tutoring sessions with what you called the second among them.” Bob said.

“Going by title, yeah. Second Specter. I’m almost certain Melissa is it. But if I can convince her that I’m nothing special, she’ll have no reason to continue the tutoring sessions. Other than to keep up appearances. But I’m sure she’ll drop them quick, if I can make it so that I look innocent.”

“If.”

“Yeah, if. Any information you two managed to scrounge up on their faction?”

“No. The Martials know of them, yet refuse to speak of them to younger members. They say it is better to leave the ghosts be.”

“Same with the Naturalists. My faction is more open to bartering for Spells and the like with them, but they also advise we keep our distance.”

“I imagined as much. Bob, what is the general feeling about me talking with Kelunad among the Martials?”

“Honestly? They’re beating themselves up about not managing to recruit you. They seem to now think of you as an honorary member. Even Erea and Alex, as well as myself, have benefited from some rise in fame. Just from being around you. If I may ask… what happened with Kelunad?”

Michael told him some of the details, but imparted that he couldn’t speak that much about it. He didn’t know what the orc would consider a breach of the terms. He did feel he wouldn’t appreciate spreading the word, however.

“But I really am looking to help the Martials. As a faction.”

“Good. Then, as always, where I can help, I will.”

“Ravena kind of took interest too.” Micah said. “She actually showed up to one of the meetings. She asked me what I know. It was… scary. When she found out I knew next to nothing, she went on to drill other mages about you. She left the meeting without finding out much, but she looked pissed.”

“I see. Well, hopefully she won’t do anything about it. Not to me that is.” Michael said. “Or if she does, Regitris can find out and stop her.”

“About that. Haven’t the Ascentionalists reacted?”

“Not yet.” Michael confessed. “I thought it was odd too. Buy they’re either playing a game, seeing how I act, or they genuinely don’t care.”

“Would they not?” Bob asked.

“I’m really starting to think they’re more elitist than I previously thought. So… maybe? Guess we’ll see. In the meantime, I was thinking of something. I think we’ll never get to actually find time to teach each-other Spells. Because unless they’re really rare, we wouldn’t want to spend that much time teaching.”

“I confess I have failed to teach you two |Earth Fist|.” Bob said. “Though I have learned |Trip Vine| from Micah’s book.”

“That’s just it!” Michael grinned. “Guys, it might take a lot longer to get the source materials, but what if instead of trying to teach each other Spells, we just get Spell Tomes from our individual factions and share them among each other?”

“Hmm. These Spell books… they would not loan a wide variety to young mages…” Bob said. “Yet, yes. If we were to pool them among us, we would theoretically triple the number of books we would have access to.”

“Which is one of the primary advantages of our ‘conspiracy’.” Micah grinned.

“Yup. Ok, great. That’s decided. I’ll see what book I can borrow from the Ascentionalists.”

“Martials too.” Bob said. “Your increase in reputation might afford you such a benefit.”

“Huh. I’ll keep that in mind. Alright. This has been a somewhat productive meeting. Anyone got anything else to share?”

“Uhm, yeah.” Micah said. “I’m not sure if it’s something important or something we could use, but Ravena’s been more and more prickly lately. I’ve asked the other mages and some say she gets these moods from time to time, but most agree something is up. It’s just that nobody knows what exactly. And before you ask, this started before your meeting with the warlord orc.”

“I see. Thanks for sharing, Micah. Keep looking into it.”

Discussion done and lunch eaten, the three left the unused classroom. Michael had already been informed of where he would be having his tutoring session with Melissa. A room on the first floor. He headed there, thinking of what his current goals were.

First and foremost, he had to make sure Melissa believed that there was nothing weird with him. Kelunad already offered him protection, but… he still wouldn’t like to actually use it. Since that would mean the entire faction would be after him, instead of just an influential member of them.

Second was to help Kelunad. The orc seemed to be a more hands-off tutor than Sinestra, but he was also a lot more influential. Teaching and standing with the Martials were what he would get out of that deal.

Third was to obtain as much information as he could from Sinestra. Yes, the Gorgon could be childish and vindictive, but there was still a Spell cow there for Michael to milk.

Fourth was to find out what this high-level secret was, that kept being discussed among high mages from each faction.

And fifth would be that amulet. Michael had no idea what it was, but he guessed it wouldn’t hurt to find out.

He felt like he was missing something, but he had already reached the unused classroom where Melissa was waiting for him.

“Hi!” She smiled as he entered.

“Hi.” He said. “This is where I’ll be learning?”

“You bet. I’ve already prepared a few teaching materials. Take a seat over there.” She said and went to ward the door closed.

For ‘eavesdroppers’. Right.

Michael then did what he had prepared to do for a few hours a night. He focused and cast his Spell, with as little murmuring as he could. Almost silent.

“|Serpentine Senses|”.

The disorientation was familiar, yet not as bad as before. He decided to use this Spell as soon as he got the chance. After all, why take the risk?

“You alright?” Melissa asked, coming from behind him.

“Yeah. Sorry, just got a bit light headed.” He smiled and took a seat.

And tried very hard not to glance at the two invisible individuals, standing right behind Melissa’s seat.