First Magic University’s hospital had all the necessary equipment and staff to treat a variety of emergencies. The university had a battle magic school, after all, and injuries sustained from battle spells weren’t out of the ordinary if not an everyday occurrence.
At some point, Alex realized he’d been left alone with Miss Perriot, whose powers were still active. Stones were still flying around.
“Hi there, colleague,” he said with a wave. The urge to smoke came over him, but that would have meant pulling the bottle of water away from his forehead. That wasn’t about to happen.
Using his left hand was a no-go, as well. Wizards should always have at least one hand free and at the ready. That lesson had been knocked into him (literally) at Follen School.
“Do you have any idea how screwed you are, Professor?” Perriot squinted.
“I’m not a fan of getting screwed.” His joke was on the bawdy side, but Alex’s limp sense of humor made sense given what he’d just been through. “Can you tell me what’s wrong with Leo Stone? And how you know about him while I’m completely in the dark?”
“That’s none of your business,” Perriot snapped.
“Really?” Alex pretended to be surprised. “Forgive me for being blunt, but the last time I checked, I was their supervisor. Not you.”
“I’m surprised you remember that, Professor. For the past four weeks, I’ve been doing all the work as the B-52 group supervisor. Not you.”
“Thank you for being so kind as to help a new colleague out.” Alex gave her a thumbs-up.
Perriot’s jaw muscles flexed, betraying her level of fitness. And she was by no means a kid, so…
Alex knew he had to kick those thoughts away.
He liked her too much.
“Stand up, Professor.”
“You don’t hit guys when they’re down? I wouldn’t mind being under a girl like you.”
“Getting me mad is going to take more than your toilet humor, Professor. Stand up. We need to go.”
“If that’s your way of challenging me to a duel, we can get started the way we are.” Alex’s tone made his hint a transparent one.
Why?
It was just his shitty mood. And the need to maintain his reputation as a black wizard. Being a jerk and a brute came with the territory.
“The rector, Professor,” Perriot said through gritted teeth. “He’ll want to hear from you. And I don’t have time for your childish games.”
“Childish? Oh, the games I have in mind are anything but childish.”
Perriot held out a palm. For a moment, Doom thought she really was going to attack, though…
“Why do you keep pushing me, Professor?” Perriot said with a sigh. As she brought her hand down, the pebbles landed at her feet and her hair fell back to her shoulders.
Damn. His plan had failed.
Alex stood and, barely containing his hangover vomit, wobbled toward the range exit. Passing by Perriot, he stopped and whispered in her ear.
“I’ve loved riddles ever since I was a kid. And now, I’m racking my brain over this one: how could a D-ranked esper stop a rock weighing not a few tons in midair?”
Leaving Miss Perriot taken aback in the middle of the demolished practice grounds, Alex drank some more water from his bottle.
First, the Syndicate. Then the Guards. Now the espers. What next? Are the ancient gods going to wake up and wage a war for the mortal world?
Chapter 43
By the time Alex, with a sulking Miss Perriot at his side, reached the rector’s office, he had both polished off his bottle of melted ice and nearly burned the drink machine on the landing to the ground.
It had charged his account several credits while refusing to dispense the drink he’d purchased.
“You racist scum!” Alex screamed, which didn’t help with his headache. He kicked the machine with the tip of his shoe and endured another flash of pain.
“You need to see a psychotherapist, Professor.” The history teacher stepped over to the machine and pressed a button. A steel robot hand appeared out of the opening Alex expected his bottle to fall from, buzzed, and handed him his cold soda.
“Technology,” Alex snorted. Taking his drink from the robot, he turned to thank Miss Perriot as the gentleman who sometimes woke up in him, but the esper was no longer there. “All the better.”
He looked up at the heavy oak door.
Stretching from floor to ceiling, it was more reminiscent of a castle gate from some medieval movie than the entrance to a modern education manager’s office.
Alex ignored the name plate, stepped in, and found himself in an administrative office similar to Lebenstein’s. The only difference was that it was far more spacious and had three secretaries.
Two of them were men. Both were wearing very expensive suits. Their noses were buried in papers, they were clicking away at mice, tapping on keyboards, and ardently discussing something on the phone all at once. Since they were so busy, Alex was approached by the third secretary, a red-haired girl walking on such high heels that he wondered if she’d initially applied for a stilt-walker’s job at the circus.
She definitely looked amazing. Given the salaries there, most of the staff could afford magic cosmetic surgery.
Her best asset was her booty.
Devil. As soon as Alex imagined that juicy behind naked and curving up against his thighs, he had to quickly open his soda and take a couple swallows to cool himself off.
He wasn’t a sex addict. Years of abstinence, however, had taken their toll.
“Do you have an appointment?” the red-haired succubus asked in a strict tone that was all business.
“Probably not,” Alex replied.
“In that case—”
“But my name’s Dumsky. Professor Dumsky. I’m pretty sure the rector’s expecting me.”
The secretary checked her tablet, nodded, and went over to push open a much plainer frosted glass door.
“Go ahead in, Professor. The rector’s waiting for you.”
After giving the secretary one last look-over as she went back to her desk (damn, that booty in a pencil skirt and suspender stockings), Alex followed her instructions.
“You look almost the same, Alex. Just a bit taller. And maybe leaner.”
Alex’s gut instinct reacted before his brain could process anything. By the time he turned to face the voice, he was already surrounded by two scores of glowing black magic seals.
They had completely drained his magic source. But even they weren’t enough to make his interlocutor, a Master at level 62, even the slightest bit uncomfortable.
***
“Hey, wonder kid. Psst. Hey! Wake up!”
Alex was roused by Robin shaking his shoulder. Opening his eyes and finding himself slumped over on the piano bench, he stood up and stretched.
“Did I miss dinner?” the boy asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
“This isn’t about dinner, sonny boy.”
“I’m not your sonny boy.”
“Whatever,” Robin said with a wave.
That was when Dumsky finally noticed that his big friend was apparently anxious about something.
There were very few things in the world besides Anastasia and movies that could make Robin emotional.
“What’s up?” Dumsky asked, immediately tense.
“The professor has a visitor.” Robin literally jerked Alex to his feet and dragged him off down the corridor. Mumbling and floundering, he tried to explain everything to the boy as they went. “I had just gotten everyone into bed when Anastasia asked for some juice. She’s not feeling well. So, I went to the kitchen, and—”
“Just tell me, Robin.”
“Yeah, sorry. So…when I was in the kitchen, I saw Raewsky’s shadows getting wine from the cellar.”
Shadows were Professor Raewsky’s fleshless and shapeless servants, the creatures he summoned from the deepest dark. Alex once tried to summon one of them, but all he’d managed was a tiny
black puff of smoke. And even that was a major accomplishment for his magic level.
“You know how the professor only drinks on special occasions even though he’s Russian.”
“So, what’s the occasion, Robin? At two in the morning?”
“I asked myself the same question, and—”
The two of them had almost reached the living room. At that late hour, it was usually dark and silent, but right then the sounds of two male voices reached them from inside. Light fell from the slit between the two wings of the door.
“Be quiet,” Robin whispered.
Treading as softly as cats, they approached the door to peep through the slit like a two-headed Native American totem. The upper head belonging to Robin, the bottom one to Alex.
They couldn’t make out what either speaker was saying, but the sight was captivating.
One of the men was Professor Raewsky. He was sharp-nosed, narrow-cheeked, balding, and shifty-eyed, lean to the point of being scrawny, covered in scars and burns, and wearing an old, worn-out suit and gloves that he never took off.
Despite his grotesque appearance, he looked like an aristocrat with a long line of noble ancestors. Actually, he came from a small Russian village somewhere near the city of Murmansk, which had been destroyed in the last Magic War.
That was when Raewsky moved there.
Seated in the armchair facing his was a very tall, broad-shouldered man with fists the size of hammers, a strong chin, a red face, thick golden hair, and insanely clear blue eyes.
He breathed life and vigor while looking simple and relatable.
“Can you feel that?” Robin asked.
Neither of them was wearing magic lenses, so they weren’t able to scan the visitor.
“Yeah,” Alex replied.
His fingertips weren’t tingling. They felt like…
***
…like they’d been dipped in boiling water.
Sitting at the carved oak desk, in the great oval office with rows of shelves and a designated lounge area with its Italian sofa and giant plasma TV screen, was Julio Lupen. The light wizard from the Mediterranean.
He looked just like he had during those few visits to Follen School. Strong and mighty as a bogatyr, a Russian hero of enormous strength from Anastasia’s tales.
He never wore a business suit. Just a track suit, and always Nike.
A golden chain hung from his neck, which was as thick and mighty as a bull’s. Shiny alligator shoes adorned his feet. The description sounds ridiculous, but somehow the outfit looked good on Lupen.
[Name: Julio Lupen. Race: Human. Mana level: 6298.]
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Chapter 44
All the demons of hell. He was just two mana points short of the next level.
The 63rd Master level.
Alex was a kitten to his tiger.
No, more like a kitten to his intercontinental ballistic missile.
“You actually look like a professor.”
The seals around Alex flashed with magic power.
“Sorry,” the rector of First Magic University said, waving a hand. A wave of pure, uncut Light passed through Doom tenderly, all his seals vanishing into thin air and a puny hundred mana points finding its way back to his magic source. “Forgive me for being rude, but I see you’re rather surprised, and this place is stuffed with sensors. I don’t want to ruin some police officer’s day with a false alarm.”
The Master-level Light wizard watched Alex with radiant blue eyes that promising all-overcoming sympathy and all-embracing care.
Alex had never trusted them.
“No,” Alex shot back, dropping into a visitor’s armchair.
Oh Abyss. The chair was just as comfortable as the one in the major’s limo.
“No what?” Lupen was somewhat taken aback. The whole wall behind him was taken up by a map of the capital city, all its districts and streets marked.
“I was surprised, but I’m not anymore. May I?” Without waiting for permission, Alex reached for a bowl of candy and helped himself to a few.
The rector’s brows flew up.
“I thought you hated candy.”
“You need to update your file, Mr. Lupen.”
The truth was that Alex still hated them. He just desperately needed a way to calm down while saving face, and the chocolate candy with the famous Oreo taste was perfect.
“You can call me Julio.” The wizard, whose power was beyond Alex’s imagination, settled back in his armchair. “We know each other well. I was the only friend of your adoptive fa—”
Lilac fire flashed around Alex’s fingers.
Damn, I’m behaving like a kid. Can’t keep a grip on myself.
But that’s just the alcohol. And the stupid date. Nothing more.
“Forgive me,” Julio said again. That time it sounded less formal and more like genuine regret. “We all fight our inner demons. It’s such a shame Pavel lost to his.”
“…and tried to summon another,” Doom said with a wry smirk, “killing all my friends. He almost killed me, too, only I escaped. Do you remember when that was, Mr. Lupen? I can tell you—yesterday was the tenth anniversary of that day. It’s been ten years and one day since you visited and had your falling out with the Professor.”
A silence fell over the expansive office.
The Rector’s brows flew upward, almost reaching the ceiling.
“So, you…all these years…” he whispered breathily before holding out his palm. “Let the Magic be my witness: I never wanted Follen School to be destroyed. I never wanted my best friend to die. I never wanted innocent people to get hurt. And I didn’t want you, Alex, to spend your childhood in the streets and your adolescence in prison.”
A bright white ball of light flashed on Julio’s palm.
The Magic heard him.
The Magic accepted his words.
Not every wizard could summon Pure Magic, and those who could only did it for matters of life and death.
The words Julio Lupen uttered were as strong as adamantius and as true as those given to Moses on stone tablets.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been accepted by the Magic.
Alex cursed in disappointment.
“I knew that,” he drawled, tossing another piece of candy into his mouth.
“You surprise me again. Why are you upset that I didn’t have a hand in the tragedy?”
Alex shrugged.
“It was easier to label you an accomplice and hate you for that.”
Julio nodded understandingly
“Hating is always easy. Forgiving is hard. But hating kills you, while forgiving cures.”
Alex clenched his fist with such force that a red trickle ran down his palm. I need to cut my fingernails.
“Are you asking me to forgive Raewsky?” Alex whispered, making no attempt to hide the threat in his voice.
“May god forgive him,” Julio said and crossed himself.
Doom felt uncomfortable. Physically uncomfortable. It was as if a bonfire had been lit in the room, its heat searing the wizard’s face.
Lupen wasn’t just making the sacred gesture for its own sake. He truly believed.
It wasn’t uncommon for light wizards to address the one in the heavens, but very few of them actually believed. The rector of First Magic University was apparently one of those few.
If Alex ever came into physical contact with him, he’d find himself instantly down, wriggling in mortal agony.
That was the power of faith.
It was the power that had enabled the Inquisitors, who were just non-magic humans, to hunt and destroy black wizards all over Old Earth in the Dark Ages.
“Oh, sorry,” Julio said, checking himself. “I forgot how faith feels to you.”
“It’s fine,” Alex said through gritted teeth. “I can deal with it.”
“Ah,” Lupen sighed and shook his golden mane. “No, Alex. I’m not asking you to forgive Professor Raewsky. I’m just asking you to forgive
yourself.”
“You think I have something to forgive myself for, Mr. Lupen?”
“For the fact that you’re alive.” His clear blue eyes bathed Alex in compassion, though the latter would have preferred shit to his pity. “For the fact that you survived instead of someone else.”
Alex spun the black ring around his finger. Damn lights.
“Whatever the priests may tell us, Mr. Lupen, life is not always a gift. I’m very aware that it’s often a curse.”
Julio smiled sadly.
Alex snorted.
“You look like you’re going to treat me to some lemon drops.”
“Only if you’re planning on talking to a snake.”
“I tried that. Didn’t work. I messed the spell up and ended up speaking Farsi for a good ten days instead of talking to a snake. And I even had it backwards, always mixing up the syllables.”
“Yes, Pavel told me about that. He was really proud of you. More than anyone or anything else in his life.”
The office lapsed into silence again, this time for a much longer while.
“Not the briskest of conversations, yeah?” Julio flashed his usual smile, warm and sad.
“Something like that.”
He’d always been surprised at how one of the world’s most powerful dark wizards could make friends with one of its most powerful light wizards. It’s like two sides of the same coin. They’re close, yes, tightly pressed against each another.
But they’re not supposed to meet. No way.
But still, Lupen and Raewsky had been friends. The best and closest of friends. They’d fought side by side in the Magic War, human and non-human as allies against the crazed hordes of magic beasts infesting Old Earth.
“I looked for you, Alexander. After the night the school burned down, I poured resources into finding you. But it didn’t work. When I finally found out where you were, it was too late. Even I don’t have the power to release a wizard serving three life sentences.”
“…which brings us to a logical question.”
Their eyes met. Blue and green. Light and dark.
Julio waved a hand, casting a golden aura that enveloped the office and screened out the rest of the world. Even Alex’s lenses stopped working, let alone any cop sensors or other bugs that were in the room.
Dark Wizard's Case Page 24
