“Wait, what did you just say?” Villin questioned as he looked at Amelia with a stunned expression.

“Well, one of our members raided ‘Today’s Oddities’ last night. They approached me beforehand. I kept a good eye on them and gave them one of the custom masks you made since they didn’t want to appear with the same fox mask as the previous attacker.”

Hearing it once more, Villin pinched his nose.

“So, according to all that you said previously. One of our members executed the exact same plan that Max used, contacting ‘Today’s Oddities’ saying they have important information, in this case, the previous attacker’s identity. Then they were once more led inside, they ambushed their contact in the hallway, grabbed their key, entered the treasury through the still unpatched hole in the wall, and then they used a spatial bag to take all of their materials?”

After listening to him, Amelia nodded, “Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.”

“And what member of ours executed this insane plan then?”

Hearing how Villin called it, Amelia paused for a few moments before responding, “Well, ehh, it was Rein that was responsible this time around.”

Hearing the perpetrator’s name, Villin got stunned silent. In response, Amelia continued speaking, “The materials ‘Today’s Oddities had was very substantial. There are a lot of valuable and rare materials in there. Just a bit earlier, Rein dropped it all off in the secret storage room to count, he should currently still be sleeping.

Villin purposefully calmed his breathing before responding, “Thank you Amelia I’ll talk to him once he’s awake.”

When Amelia left, Villin’s mind was still in turmoil, to think that Rein would attack the same target as Max using the exact same strategy and it worked. It was a somewhat crazy feat, but then again who would expect to be raided twice in a week by different people.

It didn’t take long for the entire grades to know that ‘Today’s Oddities’ got raided twice. It was on the front page of ‘A Magus’ Aid’, even if ‘Today’s Oddities’ kept quiet, they couldn’t do much to stop the news from spreading.

Overall, the reaction wasn’t too great though. It was a great embarrassment to ‘Today’s Oddities’ and they lost a massive amount of resources but most other people didn’t care too much. Every now and then a guild would get raided and if you thought about it, over the years ‘Today’s Oddities’ had angered a bunch of people with their articles, it wasn’t that big of a surprise they got raided when you thought about it.

This would soon change though. The two weeks after the second raid on ‘Today’s Oddities’, four more attacks happened, all on various guilds. Two of the guilds got raided successfully while the other two guilds defended themselves, sadly the attackers managed to flee though.

One thing all the attackers had in common was that they were wearing fox masks, yet they weren’t the same people, this was very obvious since the genders were different for different attackers.

Since Max also began selling the papers holding information of various branches of different guilds, it became clear that things would only get more and more chaotic.

Still, even now, nobody knew Athena’s Forge was responsible. This was more than surprising for Villin as he knew the information was extremely valuable and you could gain a lot by selling it.

Still, he didn’t complain as he was glad to see the members could be somewhat trusted.

The initial stage of attacks got four people to pass the attacking requirement, this included Max, Rein, and two others. They mostly managed to succeed thanks to the element of surprise and their initiative. Now that guilds knew something was up, it would become harder to succeed in a raid.

Villin was satisfied seeing what all he had gained already. He got nearly all fo the treasures of ‘Today’s Oddities’ which was very valuable. The two other people that succeeded also sold most of their findings to the guild for a very friendly price. Right now, Athena’s Forge had enough materials to create very strong armor for everyone in the guild. They could also make hundreds upon hundreds of wands, that was, if they didn’t seriously lack wand-makers.

Just as Villin figured they had enough materials, for the time being, Pompei came looking for him.

The burly professor had come bearing presents, “Hey there Villin, how have you been doing?” he said once Villin exited the tower.

“I’ve been doing good Pompei, please, follow me to my study.”

Already impressed by the massive enchanted tower, Pompei didn’t hesitate to follow Villin. Once he stepped inside he noticed the text on the wall citing the requirements to become a core member. His eyes widened but he didn’t say anything as he continued following Villin up.

The higher he went, the more impressed Pompei became. He saw people enchanting valuable materials, and creating precious pills. There was a floor full of people sitting in a lotus position with paper all around them. Occasionally someone would open their eyes and write some scribbles on the paper before diving back into their webs.

Even though Pompei only managed to glance at one of the papers one of the random students was working on, it was enough to make him go silent, it was clear the studies in the web here have gotten truly far, the bit he managed to see was equivalent to what they taught in the sixth grade.

The top floors were more like spacious apartments than anything else, once they reached the top floor, Villin led Pompei to the room he used as a study. He cleaned up the papers he had on the desk, he was trying to create a new ward but it was a difficult and long process.

Once it was cleaned up, Villin and Pompei sat opposite each other. After a bit, it was Pompei who broke the silence.

“I gotta say that I’m impressed. The path you’re taking is a very unique one. Once Athena’s Forge leaves The Academy I have no doubt it will become a beacon of progress, if it doesn’t get destroyed in the beginning that is.”

Villin looked at Pompei with a raised eyebrow, the professor acted differently to how he remembered him, “Professor, may I ask why you have come?”

Pompei nodded, not even commenting on the fact that Villin addressed him as ‘professor’ something he usually hated.

“Yes boy, The Academy sent me here bearing rewards, or rather, things that you’ve earned. As according to The Academy’s rules. The person or group that finds a base of their enemies, will gain a big portion of the loot obtained. You managed to alert us of the location of a valuable Decorus research institution. We managed to defeat them without taking any major losses, because of this, most of the loot obtained is rightfully yours.

After saying this, Pompei reached into his robe and grabbed a piece of paper which he haded to Villin.

“This is everything you’ll be gaining, if you have any complaints or would like to trade or sell something, you can ask me.”

Before reading the list, Villin already had something he wanted to get, “I want to know how I can reach the white and black tower. I am a member of the former and may be able to become a member of the latter.”

Hearing his request Pompei nodded, “The entrance to the white tower is in the upper left corner of D10. It is hidden beneath a massive rock, you should be able to crawl underneath. As for the black tower, nobody knows how to get there. If you’re ready to join, they’ll find you. You will most likely have to wait until after graduation though.”

Pompei gave the information without asking for anything in return, this was information he already knew and The Academy would lose nothing if Villin knew.

Hearing the response, Villin nodded before looking at the list of items, seeing the first item he became more serious.

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White bone marrow from a young magus 37 barrels

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This first item nearly brought back some negative memories but Villin knew how valuable it was. Bone marrow from a young magus was one of the most magic-conductive resources on the planet. It was ideal to make a magic array with.

Thirty-seven barrels was a massive amount, and there was another fifty consisting of red bone marrow. It most certainly wasn’t just his own bone marrow but also those from Elinoire and previous, long-dead prisoners. The bone marrow should still be good as the barrels were no doubt enchanted.

Looking further and further down the list, there was a massive amount of stuff, from materials that came from magical beast to lab equipment.

After reading through it once, Villin nodded at Pompei saying it all seemed all right. Soon after, Pompei dropped off the first bit of what he had already brought, in an empty room Villin led him to. The first items consisted of one large barrel of blood marrow, some enchanted blood bags, a crystal holder with around ten thousand crystals in it, and a centrifuge.

When Villin saw the centrifuge and looked at the list looking for a few other specific items, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, he would finally be able to do something he had been wanting to do for a long time.

He didn’t comment on it though as he simply thanked Pompei, for several hours Pompei walked to and fro, getting all the items Villin had gained. His spatial bag could only hold so much so he had to make many trips.

To Pompei, it was all worth it though as every time he went up the stairs of Athena’s Forge he could have a glance at the research they were doing on the web.