Chapter Forty-Seven.

(Alex, 16)

I got put with a bunch of people who will not be able to keep up with me for the practical training exercise. While they all meet the minimum magical power level of lower orange for entry to a Royal University, and have decent talent, too…

I really, really hope that I manage to pass the exams at the end of term well enough that I'm in a higher class next term.

To make things even worse than their abilities being below mine and their mana pools practically insignificant when compared to mine, all seven of them dislike me for being in Jason's training group, for being his roommate, and for being his friend.

Because apparently, lesser people like us, especially a former street rat like me, should never deal with nobility or be among them. This is stuff I've dealt with all semester, and it was bad enough encountering it just at university. Now I have to spend a whole freaking weekend with people who have that issue with me.

And who don't realize just how terrible their abilities are in the field when compared to the person they hate and dislike. I could honestly take out this ogre pretty easily, and am impatient for the day when Jason starts taking the advanced training group to fight stronger beasts like ogres and corrupted. He has promised that he'll do that eventually.

Right now, I'm watching the seven of them struggling against an ogre that we were pitted against. The Royal Mage and Royal Knight watching us are probably going to dock me for this, but truthfully?

My teammates will only get in my way if I actually went into combat with it. I already ended up sleeping in a tent by myself last night because of the others getting in my way and messing with things, and the nasty curse I put for anyone who tried to break into my tent did trigger.

Thankfully, I only received a light scolding for that. The curse itself isn't an illegal one, and the Royal Mage and Royal Knight both seemed a little sympathetic to me. They probably know I don't even belong in this class in terms of combat ability. I've been studying my ass off on the academics in the hopes of being bumped up next term.

Spreading out my scanning spell to the distance I can now manage, I detect something else coming and clear my throat. The Royal Mage is no doubt already aware, since I can feel our scanning spells interacting.

"I know," he says. "It's at the edges, watching, but it's not interested in coming after us right now. I don't sense any hostile intent from it."

"Do you mind if I go after it?"

"We need to keep an eye on all of you," he says. "And you're supposed to be working with them."

Sighing, I walk forward, summoning up my power. I've mostly used my powers over water so far, but that's not the only thing Magus Quinn was known for. The main issue with learning my old powers was what they specifically were.

What I specialized in.

Ignoring the fight going on, I simply approach the ogre. Jason has begun helping me learn my old methods from before, and while I'm only marginally competent, I'm capable with this. I do know Jason is mostly teaching me so he can get some more practice in as well, but I do enjoy the lessons on my old techniques and Jason's little touches as we go through some of them.

Reaching the ogre as the others berate me while attempting to fight it, I place a hand against the beast's ugly, gross stomach.

"Enough," I command, flexing my powers as the Magus of Mind.

The ogre, one fist on its way to me, stops, its fist stopping only a few inches from me. Everyone else stops in their fight to stare at me in shock.

"Kneel," I command, and it obeys, the ground shaking lightly as it drops. "Stay."

Pulling my hand back, I grip the hilt of my sword, then swiftly draw it, cutting through the front of its neck. The wound is shallow, but it severs arteries. I create a barrier in front of myself to avoid having blood spurt onto me, then turn around, keeping the barrier behind me. As the ogre falls forward, I walk away, using water magic to clean my sword off while it's still extended.

I sheathe my sword and stop walking, turning to face the other D-Class first years present.

"Thank you for distracting it well enough for me to do that."

"That is an upper-level mind spell!" The Royal Magic says in a panic. "And one whose use is explicitly forbidden-"

"Against people," I state. "So unless you wish to count an ogre as a person, my use of it was perfectly legal. Now, if you don't mind, that giant ogre the two of us were sensing has begun lumbering its way here. I doubt any of us first-years could handle it, so you two might want to deal with it."

I could probably use it if I used something completely overpowered, but Jason would probably scold me for it later.

"Giant ogre?" One of the other first-years asks.

"Yes," I point in the direction it's coming from. "Thirty yards that way, decreasing. There are five other ogres with it, along with ten corrupted."

"Which means we need to flee," the Royal Mage says. "Such a force shouldn't be gathered in an area like this, and I've never heard of an ogre that large before. Everyone, come with me!"

Frowning, I look in the direction of the ogre. It is rather large for one. The ugly brutes are usually between ten and twelve feet, and this one is registering at sixteen in my scanning spell. I've never heard of an ogre that large, and their height usually indicates age.

Age, and strength.

Thinking back, I remember something Jason mentioned previously. The religion of the northern kingdoms was a false one, and the 'gods' the church's leaders responded to were ogres Midlaris referred to as 'ogre lords'. That implies both power and intelligence normal ogres are lacking.

Sighing, I know that I can't let this go. This is definitely one of those ogre lords, and if they're able to convince mages out of using magic and into a new religion, they're likely quite powerful. I don't know what Jason is doing right now, but I do know he promised not to keep a constant eye on me, which means he isn't nearby.

I'll only summon him if necessary.

"Alex!" The Royal Knight calls. "Get moving! We need to join up with others before we attempt to handle that!"

I might only be upper orange, and only recently, but I have an immense mana pool. I am a Magus, a master of magic and blade. If one isn't enough but ten is, then that's my way.

Drawing my sword, I begin walking in the direction of the incoming ogres.

"Alex!" The Royal Knight yells as the brutes come into view.

"You are quite ugly," I say calmly, sizing it up.

The ogre lord chuckles, then holds up a hand, a fireball appearing above it. Oh, damn. Ogre lords actually use magic, in addition to being intelligent.

"Do you really think you can handle me now as you are, former Magus?" He asks, and I narrow my gaze on him. "Oh? Surprised something other than they grey-powered beasts of Midlaris can tell a reincarnated Magus when they see one?"

Dragons can tell we're Magi? Jason never mentioned this!

I sense the others stop moving and stare at the ogre lord. This is not good. No one is meant to know about the Magi outside of those permitted, and I doubt these guys are permitted. The fellow first-years, anyway. The Royal Guards might.

"I'm just surprised you think you can go toe-to-toe with a Magus," I say. "Or is that why you brought forces with you? Because you think it's the only way to kill me?"

"Ha!" He laughs. "Little child, you've no longer the power you once held-"

"I am Magus Quinn!" I declare. "Magus of Mind and King of Knowledge! I trained the Queen of Winter herself! I commanded enemy armies into their deaths! A mere ogre lord is nothing to me!"

"Big boasts for a weak mage!" The ogre laughs. "All that power you held when you warred with the heavens and the underworld is gone. Reincarnation strips that from you, granting you only the memories of your past! None of experience, none of the knowledge, and none of the magic! I could crush you now, little ant."

"Magical power isn't everything," I smile as I enhance my speed, grateful Jason gave me boots enchanted for added durability. "I am the right hand of the High Magus, the King of Magic himself. I am his blade, when his own is not enough."

I lunge forward, no doubt becoming a blur to those around me. This isn't an ordinary speed enhancement I used, but one Jason reminded me of from our time as Magi. It layers multiple version of the same enhancement upon myself, greatly bolstering my speed many times over.

A spell I myself created, three thousand years ago.

Rather than attacking the ogre lord, I dodge his fire bolts as I cut into the corrupted bears and boars, the edge of my sword enchanted with a spell similar to my speed enhancement, only for sharpness and durability instead.

While my magical power does limit me somewhat on this, making me only a blur rather than an impossible-to-track killer, I'm quick enough that the slower strength of an ogre is enough for them to keep up with me. Only the ogre lord has something resembling actual speed, but it still isn't enough.

That turns this into a slaughter, only the ogre lord himself able to resist my attacks. In addition to a greater resilience to damage than normal ogres, he's using an enhancement spell of his own. Giving up on killing him like that, I move back to standing eight feet in front of him. With my sword held out to the side, angled towards the ground, I smile at the brute.

"Are you sure you can fight me?" I ask.

"You can't even harm me!" He laughs. "Your blade is pitiful, former Magus. You truly have lost your edge in the thousands of years since your first life."

"Oh?" I chuckle as I sheathe my sword. "Well, since you released classified information, I suppose the High Magus won't get too angry with me for this."

I open up my spatial storage as the ogre lord's expression turns to shock. He didn't realize the High Magus was around, did he?

Oh, right. We aren't public, Jason rarely ever leaves the city using the normal means, and we are hours by horseback away from the city. Even if the brute had spies watching things, he may not have even realized there were more than one or two of us. In fact, it's possible that I'm the only one he knew.

"Tell me," I ask the ogre lord. "Do you wish to be slain with Ocean's Bite or Leviathan's Wrath?"

"Your enhanced attacks didn't even hurt me!" The ogre laughs. "What matters if you have named swords? And your High Magus is as weak and useless as you are, former Magus. Your power to fight against angels, demons, and the gods exists no more!"

I snort.

"If you really think the High Magus is weak," I say. "Then you will really be shocked when you die and find out that he's just as powerful as he had always been."

Okay, that's a lie, but maybe he'll buy my bluff?

"Ha!" The ogre lord laughs as I pull Ocean's Bite from my spatial storage. No use killing him with my Magus Sword, that would be overkill. For the area. "As if any of the reincarnated Magi could be powerful right now! I bet he's only yellow, or maybe green!"

His gaze narrows as I draw Ocean's Bite from its sheath, the brute realizing that there's a reason it's a named sword.

"Ever wanted to fight a Magus with a godsteel blade?" I ask as I enchant the blade with the same enchantment I used on my regular sword.

Then I move, performing a dance around the ogre lord, a trail of water drawing from the tip of my blade as I move. The ogre lord attempts to disrupt the flow as he realizes it's something dangerous, but the spell is too complete, too complex to allow that.

The leviathan forms, thirty feet in length, and as I begin to strike at the ogre lord, twelve blades of ice forming to accompany my strikes and block its spells and attacks, the leviathan joins me. A few times, I use the blades of ice to jump higher into the air, to strike at its chest, neck, and face.

Even though the spells aren't strong enough to break through its enhanced, ogre lord-skin, I'm still able to use them to annoy it as I repeatedly cut into its body with a sword that is able to cut into it, even if only shallowly at the moment.

I really need to get back up to power.

After nearly a full minute of attacks – what feels like nearly an hour to me – I jump back and ignore the glare of the ogre lord. Moving to grab the sheath, I clean off Ocean's Bite with my magic and slide it in, then send it back into my spatial storage.

"Time for overkill," I pull Leviathan's Wrath from my spatial storage. "Don't blame me if your soul takes a long while to recover in the afterlife… if you have a soul."

Drawing Leviathan's Wrath, I feel the immense power contained within it. The same force which carved the gap now known as the Edelruvai River. A sword with the power to cut through souls by the virtue of the material it was forged with.

The ogre lord's eyes widen as it sees the isivinite sword, and I inhale slowly, doing my best to not allow the sword's power to overwhelm me as I release my enhancements. My Magus Sword has no need for me to use such a thing. If something can survive a full attack from it, they likely won't survive the next… or the next. I don't have the power to fully suppress the sword's power right now, but I minimize it as much as I can.

"Witness the power," I raise Leviathan's Wrath above my head. "Which slayed angels and demons alike in the War of Midlaris."

I slash downwards while containing as much of the sword's power as I can, and a sizable chunk of my mana flows into the blade, which draws from me on its own. The ogre lord dodges, despite me being four yards away, and I laugh. It could tell I didn't need to be too close to it.

A torrent of water follows the path of the slash, rushing forward as it gouges into the ground, the sheer strength and speed of the water eroding and carrying the land away with it, destroying trees in its wake. The high-pressure strike cuts through the ogre lord's left arm and leg as it dodges, and the brute drops to the ground, bleeding from the two injuries.

Even without looking, I can tell everyone behind me is staring at the temporary river that has formed in under a second, stretching nearly a hundred yards in distance and spreading from only a few inches at the start here to almost four yards in width by the time it reaches the end.

"Witness the power," I raise Leviathan's Wrath above my head once more. "Which removed the legs of the god Emultri, a god of purity who felt that only young children should live and anyone whose years reached the double digits was good for nothing more than dying for the war."

I slash down again, and the ogre lord attempts to dodge. With its stump of a leg and damaged arm, however, it wasn't able to move fast enough, and the second pressurized blast of water removes half of its body as it widens the temporary river.

Or maybe it will become a permanent one?

Flicking my sword to the side to shake off the water that lingered on it, I then sheathe it as the brute falls to the ground, deceased.

"Only an angel, demon, or god could possibly stand against a Magus," I tell the corpse. "Even in our weakened, reincarnated states. They, and the beasts of Midlaris which naturally have grey magical power. A mere ogre lord could never stand against us when we get serious."

I look at the river I forged. Either it will fade away on its own, expand on its own, turn into a lake, or someone will do something about it. The only other option would have been to slash to the side or diagonally, but that would have done more damage to the forest, while also holding a higher risk of hitting another team.

While we should be spaced out further than this, one never knows when someone may have drawn nearer.

I just hope I didn't accidentally kill someone. The pressurized torrent, even as restrained as it was, would have been enough to eliminate all signs of their existence, turning them into, well, nothing.

And that was restrained, too. The full power of Leviathan's Wrath's default strike can travel over a mile. The Magus Swords were created with the intent of being able to fight against angels, demons, and gods, after all – that kind of power was necessary.

If Jason were here, I'm sure the damage would have been in a lot smaller of a range. He may have even left no damage to the surroundings. When my magical power is that great once more, I will be able to do that.

As I turn to face the training group I am here with and our assessors, four blue gates appear. Everyone stares at them as a team of Royal Guards exit through them, eight out of each. This is definitely because of me. I know this because the Royal Guards exited in such a way that they were facing the team.

Which means someone was watching this and directed them. Especially since the two here didn't use a comm plate.

One of the Royal Guards looks at me, then at the damage I caused, then shakes his head before looking at the rest of the training team.

"Before any of you ask questions," he says as the gates disappear. "What you heard and saw here is restricted information. Sharing it or revealing it to anyone will result in imprisonment for treason and violation of royal decree."

"I'm still trying to figure out what just happened!" One of my classmates exclaims, then points at me. "How did you do that? What the hell were those swords? Why did the ogre and you claim that you fought angels and gods?"

I look at the Royal Guard who seems to be in charge, and he nods, so I look at them. This unit no doubt knows the truth and has special permissions, including explaining things to those who find out to avoid them doing too much digging for information. If he's giving me permission to speak, it's possible King Zachary himself already gave the permission.

"I am the reincarnation of an ancient warrior," I explain. "A Magus, specifically. There were twelve of us, and we were master warriors and mages. Three thousand years ago, the heavens and the underworld were at war on Midlaris, using humanity as fodder. They nearly wiped us out. We Magi fought against them, then destroyed the passages to the heavens and the underworld. No god, angel, or demon has been on Midlaris in the three thousand years since then."

"That's-that's heresy!"

"That's information the rulers of every major nation has known for thousands of years," the Royal Guard in charge tells him.

"It's also true," I say, then remember something I'd just recently been told. "There are two gods who still roam Midlaris. One of them guards the Tomb of the King of Summer, while the other wanders around… keeping the religion of the Twelve Kings and Queens of Power alive. He is Enaveka, a god of knowledge. And the Twelve Kings and Queens of Power are the Magi. As stated, I am Magus Quinn, the Magus of Mind and King of Knowledge. And if you truly think I am ridiculous…"

I turn and enhance my sight to see through the woods, ensuring there is nothing in my path. Then, I unsheathe Leviathan's Wrath, slashing without restraining any of its power. An even more sizable chunk of my mana is drawn out of me.

The resulting force of water cleaves into the ground, spanning more than one mile in length, the power behind the spell gouging more than twenty feet down into the land. Even though the entire force of water only manifests during the slash, the sheer quantity and force of it causes a sonic boom with its speed.

I cleaved a new river into the land in only a second. With the innate purification properties of the sword, we no longer have to worry about purifying the corpses, either, as they were all caught in that last attack.

Flicking off the water still on the sword, I sheathe it as I turn around and face the fellow students.

"I created a fucking river," I tell them. "And the very fact that the churches will see we Magi as heretics is the very reason it is being kept a secret that we have been reincarnated. That, and the fact that we fought against the gods – and our leader killed several. Now, if you don't mind."

I open up my spatial storage and send Leviathan's Wrath into it as the Royal Guard begins talking to the trainees. With my Magus Sword returned to its spot, I pull out my comm plate and activate it to talk with Jason.

"I've been sitting at home the entire time," he says with a neutral tone that says he knows exactly what I'm calling for.

"Uh-huh," I say. "And how did the Royal Guard happen to know what happened here?"

"That's a secret," he answers. "By the way, you're standing in some scat."

"What?" I look down, then hop back as I realize I was standing in scat. Rolling my eyes, I use water magic to clean it off my boot. "Right. And how did you know that, Jason?"

"That's a secret," he answers. "And this is one my mamas and papas forbid me from sharing, too. Nice river, though. Not as impressive as when you carved out the gap that became the Edelruvai River. That one didn't actually have much water in it when you finished, though."

"I wasn't modifying the attack Leviathan's Wrath does," I tell him. "That's why this river is actually a river. That takes far more magical power than I currently have."

"If you're wondering if others were hurt," he says. "No. The Royal Guard also showed up and ensured no one noticed the fight. All other trainees were out of distance."

"Alright," I sigh in relief, still wondering how Jason is able to see everything.

He must have an enchanted item watching us, which would explain why he's been told to keep it a secret. But then it would have to be sending the image back to him, too. He told me that comm plates and radios were the extent of what they had been able to figure out for media, though. Another mystery? Or did he lie again?

"Jason," I say. "I may have accidentally destroyed the corpse with that demonstration, but it was-"

"An ogre lord," Jason confirms. "Their existence is also a secret."

"You knew?" I ask.

"I knew of them," he answers. "I've seen one from a distance, other than that one. We weren't aware there were any around here. I'll explain more later, but the basics is that the ogre lords were among the first ogres. Each one of them is three thousand years old. And they're a result of our actions back then."

"They are?" I freeze.

"Yes," he answers. "I don't have the full explanation yet, but that is everything as near as I can tell. Don't worry, we've had Royal Knights and Royal Mages scanning the area ever since I noticed that one and alerted Uncle Zach to its presence. They haven't found any."

"How long before we noticed it did you?" I glance at the trainees, who the Royal Guard is speaking with about what happened and ensuring they know the truth and that it's illegal to share it, and all that.

"Awhile," Jason answers. "I was going to step in before it moved to you, but, uh, I got talked into watching to see what happened."

Someone restrained him.

"So they were willing to let us die?" I ask. "If that thing had been too strong for-"

"No," he answers. "We were keeping an eye on the situation. Papa Samuel and Papa Michael were going to step in if you were in danger at all. Nice job with Leviathan's Wrath, by the way."

"Thanks," I sigh. "So the Sages are there with you?"

"Mama Elena is," he answers. "Papa Samuel and Papa Michael are actually near you, along with several other Royal Guards who were there for crowd control."

I search through my scanning spell, but nothing is coming up.

"If you're trying to figure out their locations," Jason says. "They sort of made me teach them how I hide from scanning spells. And how to prevents scanning spells from interacting with others."

"Let me guess," I roll my eyes. "You can still detect other scanning spells using that method, can't you?"

"Of course!" I can hear the smile in his voice. "Mama Elena, stop that. Because it's rude? Alex, I have to go, Mama Elena is trying to paint my face while I'm under the effect of Papa Samuel's spell, and I'm going to breathe fire. It might get noisy."

The comm plate goes inert, and I stare at it. How did he turn it on if Sage Samuel disabled him?

As I watch my classmates get run through stuff, the pair of Sages approach me, Sage Samuel placing a hand on my shoulder.

"And that is why we're glad the art of forging isivinite has been lost," he tells me, causing me to snort. "I knew you had your Magus Sword and Sacred Sword, I didn't realize they held such power."

"Nolan never revealed how he forged them," I shrug. "As far as we knew, he made them – or acquired them – before leaving the Dragon Clans. At least, as far as my memories go. The swords themselves are far more powerful than any other isivinite weapon ever forged in our time. "

Though now we know that Nolan didn't just leave the clans, but was branded a traitor by them. All of us had some semblance of a home to return to after the war. I'm sure we thought Nolan did, too, since he never talked about his past or lacking a home.

What would it be like, to have a family that split up to return to their homes, but not having a home, myself? How lonely was Nolan back then? What did he do, after we went our separate ways? I know he forged our tombs, but what else did he do?

"Thinking about back then?" Sage Samuel asks.

"Yeah," I nod. "And what it would be like if we didn't have just our memories, but more. Our experiences that shaped us into the powerful Magi who fought against the enemies of humanity."

And for Jason and me, the lives we had as Lucas and Kris. The experiences we had then. Just how different would we be right now if we had those?

I shudder as a couple of unpleasant memories rise to the surface. Just having them is bad enough, and I definitely do not want to have those experiences in my head.

Deciding to change the subject, I look at the Sages with a hopeful expression, knowing they're going to think it's amusing.

"So what's the deal with ogre lords that I'm not allowed to know?"

"You're not allowed to know!" They laugh in unison.