CHAPTER 27: THAT’S WEAK

"Young Master Mobix, your presence is required in the great hall, right now."

I closed the letter slowly, my mind already stirring with thoughts.

Receiving an invitation letter from the Leader could be due to any of three speculated reasons.

First, it could be to give a report as to my whereabouts with Muna and Linda. If that was the case, I wouldn’t exactly blame Milton since that’s supposed of a Leader.

I mean, it’s natural for someone placed in charge of a group of people to care about their moves to places they attend for safety reasons.

On a second note could be to impose punishment for having brought demons into the Duchedom.

’What punishment would I be given this time?’ I thought, walking along the candlelit passage way that led to the great hall.

Usually, I would have been flanked by Linda during moments like this. But I thought it was best to leave her behind to watch over the demon trio.

Who knows how things might not turn out? Although she was not in support, Linda wasn’t the type to flaunt my orders and do things against my wishes.

That being said, I paused in my steps and assured myself that everyone in my chamber would be fine.

Taking a deep inhale, I exhaled calmly and continued moving.

Inviting urgently this night was surely to take care of my second reason, nothing more to that.

Nevertheless, there was a third reason which has the slightest probability of being possible.

’Does he want to discourage me from taking the Academy Entrance Test?’ I thought, shaking my head to let it go.

Milton wouldn’t do that since he must have heard how severe my training with Muna was. Who didn’t know how fierce Muna can be with anything that has to do with strength?

At these thoughts, I finally arrived in front of the door that sealed the great hall.

"Okay, breathe in, then out. Brace yourself, Mobix and face him like a man. After all, he’s just filling your rightful position."

I comforted myself to gain relaxed composure before I pushed open the two tall, massive, metal doors.

It was forged from dark steel laced with veins of icy blue light that shimmered faintly in the dim of this night. Etched on the center of the door was a carved, circular metal knob bearing the sapphire symbol of Seafrost.

Under normal circumstances, it could have been to press, then whirl the circular knob for the doors to open. But seeing how it opened without its own will, Milton must have left it open, awaiting my arrival.

As the doors creaked open, a gust of chill wind whispered through, revealing the grandeur within.

Pillars shaped like frozen tides rose at both sides toward a vaulted ceiling where runes glimmered like stars. The floor was made of marble, but has been enchanted to gleam like a frozen sea, smooth and glassy.

Now standing in the middle of the red carpet aisle of the hall, I raised my head to my sides and saw the setting.

Sculpted seats were linearly arranged above, protected by rails that naturalized the space into a corridor. It was the setting anyone who has been to the assembly of the Council of Mages should be aware of.

Seafrost was the headquarters for the mages of Montana, where the Council of Mages gathered when deemed important to make conclusive decisions.

Seeing how empty the seats were, I exhaled softly.

The first time my leg set in this hall was as a tender, when my Mana Core was blocked by my father.

The second time was to serve my punishment for trying to practice a forbidden spell I learnt from the spell book I borrowed from my father’s library, as at the time.

To crown it all, I was a steady visitor to the meetings of the Council of Mages. If not for one reason, it could be for another.

"Very well, boy. Come forward now," Milton Von Quadraxis echoed, his words causing my heart to leap a bit.

He was seated on the towering throne of silver and frostglass, placed at the center of four average thrones of the same make. The thrones alone emanated a calm but commanding aura that should be befitting to their occupants.

"Here, accept my honor and sit by my side," the acting leader said, patting the throne beside his, tentatively.

...

An hour had passed after my arrival in the great hall. Milton had briefed the reason for summoning me since the night was biting deeper into the dark.

Although I had speculated the reason, I didn’t expect it to be number one in his chart of scale of reference.

No punishment or anything concerning the demons I took in with me was mentioned.

No report was requested from me.

Instead, I was advised never to participate in the upcoming Academy Test.

It was a week due to the test, so he had invited me to discourage me from obtaining an entrance form for myself.

Milton thought I was still the weak Mobix, and so warns that strong young mages, especially those of nobility, would be in attendance. He also didn’t fail to clarify to me by mentioning the supposed presence of the powerful heiress of the other three Duchedoms.

"Partaking in the test is synonymous with beckoning until death to visit you," he had stated as a way of wrapping up his warning.

Even when I tried to convince him that I would be fine, by showing him a little of what I was capable of.

With a single motion of my right hand, the air had thickened with pressure. The quietness of the hall was shattered as ripples of water began to stir within the containers in the hall.

The jars containing the water vibrated, and after a while, streams burst forth from different angles where the jars were positioned, spiraling toward me.

The swirling torrents had gathered before my outstretched palm, churning violently until their flow became a single, massive sphere of water that pulsed with energy.

On purpose, I had motioned my hands to move the sphere of water in front of Milton, and then, I clenched my fingers.

Instantly, the temperature plunged. Crystalline frost spread across the sphere’s surface. In a moment, the water solidified into a colossal orb of gleaming ice, dancing rotarily in front.

I thought this show would be enough to convince Milton to see how safe I can be during the tests, but he snorted and muttered.

"That’s weak."

I released my hand so that the ice shattered into shards in front, and angrily dug my fingernails into my hand.

"In that case, I encourage this weak power to bring you down someday," I declared with a calm voice that betrayed my emotions.

Then, furiously, I left the hall.