Sage had locked eyes with the Discipline Keeper, but he was still in the doorway to the secret passage. He was in position to bolt if the Discipline Keeper gave him the wrong answer and it was now that this became obvious to the Discipline Keeper. The man was holding his club and the illuminated formations upon its surface. Sage could feel the lack of a response from within the passage and as soon as he felt any of the formations closing in on him from the outside he’d take the last step to enter the passageway. He had no idea where he was going to go after he entered the passage, but at least he knew the area was out of the control of the normal Discipline Keepers. There was still the chance that other staff knew of the passageways and had control over formations within them, but it was better to take his chances than to accept certain defeat.

While the two of them had started to enter a sort of standoff, with the tension slowly rising, a third party suddenly entered the mix. A trio of people wearing the Academy’s staff uniform, with the distinctive identity badge and decorations upon it that marked them as Discipline Keepers. They nearly flew down the hallways with bounding steps that allowed their feet to only touch the ground once every hundred feet. Even so, this seemed like a very restrained pace for them as their leaping steps couldn’t get much height because they were in a hallway with a ceiling that was only a dozen feet high. The man in the front landed beside the Discipline Keeper that Sage was facing off against, while the other two landed on either side of the hallway to box the rest of the group in. They stood near the two barriers that had already been erected, walking through the solid energy like it wasn’t even there.

Those hoping to be saved probably saw this arrangement as protective, guarding them from either side. Sage, on the other hand, saw this as an encirclement. Anyone in the group would now have to go through a Discipline Keeper and a barrier if they wanted to escape. Sage had never got the name of the cleaver wielding Discipline Keeper that had fought beside him, but this new arrival that stopped nearby seemed to be the cleaver-wielder’s superior. The two of them shared a sort of salute before Sage saw a cube shaped barrier appear around them. He was watching closely, but to his amazement, the faces of the two Discipline Keepers were suddenly blurry. Everything else about them was only slightly obscured by the energy wall, but their faces were the only exception.

Sage couldn’t read lips, but there were a few on the Inner World that had trained specifically for this task in the years since Sage realized it was a skill he could make use of. Unfortunately, the Academy’s privacy shield had already covered this eventuality. Or at least that’s what Sage assumed it was, since he felt they were talking inside. He thought about making a run for it, but it would be better to see what these new arrivals had to say. It would really be much easier to not become the fugitive of the Clear Sky Academy. There was no telling how much authority they had within the Tianxia Capital as a whole. From what he knew, the Academy basically ran this level of the Capital and he really didn’t wish to be chased for hundreds of miles.

After some time, the privacy barrier dissolved and Sage met the gaze of the new Discipline Keeper. The man had a far sharper gaze than the cleaver-wielder. The Discipline Keeper that had originally interrogated Sage was more concerned with the public opinion of the Academy and his judgements were skewed to uphold this reputation. This new Discipline Keeper seemed much more profound in his thoughts. He looked similar to the other man, both of them middle aged with sharp brows, but this one’s eyes seemed to peer deeper. Since they’d just discussed everything that had happened, Sage waited to hear what this new man had to say.

“You are Lang Sheng? The Academy is quite lucky to have a new member with such useful skills and heroic character.”

Sage sensed no sarcasm in this last description, even though he was quite sure that the cleaver-wielder had told the whole story without holding back. He did make sure to guard the students and teachers during the battle, but it wasn’t that difficult for him to do. The majority of the fighting was done to save his own skin after all.

“I’m glad I could help. It would be a shame if the Academy I just joined couldn’t solve the murder of a prospective student.”

The man gave him a solemn nod, “Very true. Someone important is in very big trouble for allowing such a dangerous thing to go unnoticed. It is a great service to the Clear Sky Academy to have this heinous plot uncovered.”

Sage had purposely not mentioned that a high-level staff member of the Academy was the murderer, nor did he speak of who had kept these passages a secret. Yet, this Discipline Keeper had spoken of this situation quite openly and even claimed that important members of the Academy would be receiving the blame. Did I luck into a member of an opposing internal faction? Thinking this way he tried to come up with a subtle show of allegiance.

“Really? I am amazed by your great abilities and commitment to justice! Please consider me to be your staunch ally. I am eager to stand on the side of righteousness. What would you have me do to show my worth?”

The cleaver-wielder to the side blinked a few times, not seeming to quite understand what was going on from Sage’s weird statements. When they’d met, Sage had insulted him to his face and was non-cooperative. Then he’d only helped to keep from being blamed. Now he was suddenly an ally of justice? Contrary to the confused cleaver-wielder, the new Discipline Keeper was able to pick up what Sage was alluding to and he nodded.

“Perfect. Come along then, I’ll introduce you to some important people, and we can see where you can best assist us.”

Sage looked over towards the students and teachers, then back to the Discipline Keeper who nodded. Then he whistled for the two others that had arrived with him, “Make sure this passageway isn’t closed by anyone and don’t let anyone but our own to go near these others.”

The man brought out a club like the other Discipline Keeper, except this one had silvery metal bands around it. He shook it in the air and the barrier walls guarding this section of the hallways changed to a deep dark blue color. Along with this a large character appeared on the barrier that read ‘Twilight’.

While this could still be a plot to make it easier to capture him, Sage would rather believe that he’d stumbled into a factional war within the Academy. In this case, the secret passage could get those who’d hidden it into trouble and a rival faction would do all they could to make sure the passage was made public so the punishment would stick. In the process, the students and teachers involved would become witnesses and integral to their plan. If this was all true, then it would mean Sage would make an enemy out of a Faction in the Academy. In that case, he could get protection from the opposing faction by joining them.

Let’s just hope this is that opposing faction, and not just a way to lure me into a better trap.