Chapter 550: 552. Gassil’s Story – Archmage Invitation

MEMORY FRAGMENT

Archmage Laboratory Archive, 17 years ago

It was every apprentice mage’s dream to be admitted to the archmage’s archive. It combined the best elements of a vault and a research facility. It was said that throughout the centuries a lot of vast discoveries had originated there. It was no secret that the goal of each new archmage was to make a discovery of epic proportions, thus ensuring his legacy for generations to come. Rumors were that the metalin echoes—the greatest discovery of modern times, and the only one that came close to matching those of previous eras—was made there.

As he made his way to the large structure, the only thing that Gassil felt was a sense of anxiety. Unlike Katka and Alien he didn’t like attention, preferring to enjoy the view from the background. Maybe that was why he didn’t have an important standing in the organization, despite objectively being the most intelligent of the group. If it ever came to IQ comparison he would win outright, however, in this world IQ was replaced by traits and the only thing that affected those was awakening level.

A patrol of imperial guards passed by in their shiny armor. Each of them had been specially selected by the emperor and approved by the Academy’s council. It was said that many of them had the level to be nobles, but had relinquished the right in exchange for an army career. Gassil didn’t particularly like them, though he didn’t have any issues, either.

“A moment of your time, mage,” a young officer said. Gassil hadn’t seen her before. She appeared young, probably recently arrived, although one could never take things for granted when it came to mages or nobles. The woman might well be the age of Gassil’s grandmother and would still look as if she were in her twenties.

“Yes—” Gassil glanced at her insignia “—lieutenant?”

“The archives doesn’t accept visitors at this time,” the woman said. “I’ll have to ask you to—”

“I’m expected.” He did his best not to sigh. It was always the same thing with the soldiers. Everyone knew that they were over glorified babysitters, which was the reason they used every opportunity to display their authority in petty ways. “Mage Gassil Light. I’m one of the assistants approved by the council.”

“My captain tells me that there aren’t to be any new assistants this week,” the lieutenant replied.

“Your captain isn’t the archmage.”

This was annoying. Gassil had the power to kill her in a dozen ways, and here he was having to explain himself. It reminded him of his university job, where incompetent bureaucrats wielded more power than those who actually did the work.

“Can you please send someone to ask him,” Gassil added, trying to keep his composure.

“I have already sent a guard to check. Please wait until he does.”

Thank goodness for echo rings, Gassil thought. In this world, they were almost as good as cell phones. Probably spied a bit less, too.

Out of habit he used, he moved his fingers to do a quick check of the echoes in the area. The lieutenant had items containing over a hundred, which was understandable, considering her rank. Most of them were other imperial soldiers, although there were a few mages as well. There didn’t seem to be any family echoes. From what Gassil had heard, those were removed the moment someone joined the imperial army to avoid conflicts of interest. Personally, he stood as far away from the stuff as possible, all otherworlders did. That’s why their meetings had to take place the old fashion way.

“My apologies, mage. The archmage is indeed expecting you.”

“Told you.” Gassil took a step forward only to have the lieutenant place her hand on his shoulder.

“I am to escort you to the archmage’s study.,” she said in a firm voice. “Please, follow me.”

Gassil nodded. He knew that he was already at a rocky start. It was natural for the archmage to suspect something, as he had warned Alien he would. The goat hadn’t become the head of the Academy by being naïve or sloppy. Unlike most of the high-ranking mages, he didn’t even bother pretending he was.

The building itself was more mundane than anything the Academy controlled. Like all research and archive facilities, there were no spells linked to it, so as not to affect the focus of experiments. The imperial officer led Gassil along a narrow marble corridor, her metal boots echoing with each step. Paintings of former mage prodigies decorated the walls, some of them former archmages. There was a time when Gassil dreamt of seeing his portrait there as well. Now, he had higher aspirations.

“Is this your first time in the archives?” the lieutenant asked, probably aiming to make pleasant conversation.

“No. I’ve worked here a few times, as well as in other archive buildings.”

“That is commendable. You must be highly valued.”

Given that I’m probably the only biochemist this world has seen, yes, I’m very valued, Gassil though. His knowledge helped him when it came to spell research, although didn’t give him a combat advantage most of the others had. That was the main issue in this world—even after everything combat effectiveness remained key. That’s why Alien was the one conveying the orders. It was also the reason Katka might get to outrank Gassil in a few years.

“I guess I am,” the mage replied curtly.

Officially, the archmage’s stud was located on the opposite side of the entrance. Those who’d had the privilege of working in the facility before knew that in fact there were several studies. The one towards which Gassil was being taken now was only the administrative one, where external visitors were met. That meant that he still wasn’t part of the team.

An imposing door of white marble marked the entrance of the study. The lieutenant went up to it, knocked, then after not hearing anything, opened the door and stood aside. She wasn’t allowed to enter mage quarters, only walk outside and along the external corridors.

Finally, Gassil stepped by and walked inside.

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Similar to the research cloister, the room was far bigger on the inside than in reality. The current archmage had a thing about ancient cities, so he reconstructed what was believed to be a copyette metropolis.

“Ah, Gassil,” he said, sitting at a mahogany desk with a perfect view of the “city.” Even among mages, his taste was known to be rather extravagant. “It’s been a while. Glad to see you’re still eager to do research.”

“Always glad to be appreciated, teacher.” Gassil walked to the nearest chair and took a seat.

It had been a while since he had seen the archmage. The most notable change was the size of his former teacher’s belly. While most high mages tended to lose weight due to intense research, the archmage had all but ballooned.

“I hear you want to join my latest research project,” the old man said, his massive beard covering the lower part of his face and half his chest like a fox’s tail. “Why the sudden change?”

“It’s been suggested that I’m the best person to provide oversight.” Gassil decided to go with the truth. When it came to powerful mages it saved time. Of course, only a fool would share the entire truth. “Since you were my teacher at one point, it was believed that—”

“—that I’d be more accepting of the fact,” the archmage finished for him. “Yes, I know as much. However, why you? I have other students. Many of which I still teach even now. it’s not like you were my protégé at any point.”

“It was considered that an otherworlder might be more perceptive.” This was the first lie. It was subtle, and contained large elements of the truth, but that wasn’t the real reason.

The answer made the archmage turn so as to fully face Gassil. No doubt he was using one spell of another to try and figure out more. Of course, that would be useless. Everyone from the otherworlder group had taken precautions so not anyone, be it the emperor himself, could peek into their realms.

“Is the emperor concerned?” the old man probed.

“I’m sure he is. Rumors are that you’re building a device that could take anything out of an awakening realm, as well we put something in.”

“Is that what this is about?” The archmage snorted. “The emperor thinks I’m plotting a coup and will imprison him and everyone else in a thimble? Mind you, it won’t be a bad idea if everyone in the imperial capital gets banished in one. Maybe then the Academy might finally get some actual work done.”

“Maybe it’s talk like that that’s gotten people concerned, teacher.” Gassil felt relieved. In his arrogance, the archmage had given him a way out and Gassil took it. “If it’s not me, it’ll be someone else. Or maybe there’s already someone else and I’m just sent here, so you don’t suspect it.”

“Hah! There are already three spies on the project. All of them are idiots who can’t tell the difference between the tail and the head of a cloud fox! I’m not worried about them.”

“Does that mean you’re worried about me?”

“You? Dear boy, you’re competent. I give you that, but you’ll never amount to something great. Sure, in a few decades they’ll push you up the Academy ranks. Maybe in the twilight of your life you’ll even be given an advisory seat on the council. You’re no threat to me. I’m trying to figure out the motives of those that are.”

“Heavy is the crown.”

“Heavier is the chair. The only reason why I even bothered to claim it was because it’s the only way to do actually important work. It’ll be no different for the one who comes after me, but one thing I guarantee is that the person won’t be you.”

“I never thought that it would.”

The archmage cracked a smile. The two understood each other perfectly. Gassil suspected that he still wasn’t in the clear, but at least he wasn’t seen as a significant threat. That was probably the whole point in sending him: just dangerous enough to attract attention, but not enough to raise further suspicion. It would be just like the archmage to welcome him to the project precisely for that, as if only to show to the people behind the scenes how confident he was in his abilities. One of the problems of holding the position was that there were too many people gunning for him. The emperor and the Order were the obvious threats, but there were a lot less significant ones, such as half the Academy council and all the high-mages wanting to replace him.

“Am I in?” Gassil asked.

“Oh, you’re in. Go ahead and give your reports to whoever you report. I don’t care. The important thing is that I be left to my work.”

“I’ll be sure to pass that along.”

“Please do. And tell them that I will not tolerate any sabotage. If they go for that, they better be sure it’s a war they will win.”

The warning sent a chill down Gassil’s spine. It had been ages since the archmage had used any combat magic whatsoever, but it was said that he was quite capable in the field. At the very least, he was powerful enough to capture dragons and then release them. An all out war against him would split the Academy and might well disrupt the balance of power within the empire itself.

“I’ll make sure of it. Anything else?”

“No, that’s all.” The archmage turned around to admire the view of the ancient city. “If there’s anything you need, better go get it now. What little tile you have for leisure activities, once you join, will be spent here. In short, get ready for a few grueling years of work.”

“Of course, archmage. I look forward to it.”

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