Lith now could see the world energy flowing from the trees, the leaves, even from the stones.
The whole forest around him was breathing, generating a mana wind that had been invisible
to him before.
"It has become much more similar to my mana sense." Solus said.
"Yes. In a way is still worse, in another is better. Look at that." ¨C
Lith pointed at a clearing in the forest. It was near to the point where he had fought with the
mercenaries, but from the sky and with its ordinary look, normally he would have failed to
recognize the place.
But now he could see everything. The red wind originated from the animals, the green from
the plants, the grey from the stones, and the black from the dead.
Lith only had to extend his hands and will to feel the rotting energies waiting for the call.
"Rise! Rise my legion!"
He could sense the many corpses stirring underground, clawing to escape.
And then he let them go. He had no time to lose, there were many things he had to do before
nightfall.
Chapter 118 Half Truth
Lith immediately regretted his latest experiment.
"Dammit, my body is still weak. Even though my core is still cyan, the effects of the change
are similar to the evolution process. Invigoration has no effect. I need real rest to recuperate."
"Your mind is not faring better either. You are still wearing your hunter suit, if you don't
change it, not only it would rise lots of questions, but I doubt they will let you in the
academy." Solus pointed out. ¨C
The leather sleeves were reduced to shreds, the chest presented a giant hole, like someone
had tried to rip his heart out, the metal protectors had whole chunks missing and between
the bloodstains and the impurities it seemed that Lith had stolen the clothes from a
battlefield.
Inwardly cursing his own stupidity, Lith returned below the tree line, swapping the clothes in
mid air via the dimensional pocket.
After walking through the castle gates, he was halted by the front desk clerk, demanding to
have back the distress device. It was the same middle-aged man that had lectured Lith that
morning.
Seeing him with his hands and face dirtied by having slept on the ground, his short breath and
worried expression, the clerk assumed that going solo didn't do well for the arrogant fourth-
year student.
His chestnut eyes shone with gloat, while a condescending smile cracked his otherwise thick
beard.
"Seems you had to experience for yourself how harsh the world out there. Not everyone can
be a hero, now you know it."
Lith looked at him like a madman, he had already forgotten about him, so those words made
no sense to him.
"There, there." The clerk continued, mistaking his confusion for embarrassment. "At least you
came out alive without needing to ask for help. Also, you remembered my advice and
returned before sundown. Realizing your mistakes and learning from your seniors is
fundamental at your age."
Normally Lith would have recognized him already, pondering if attempting to poison the
clerk's mana core from a distance with spirit magic.
But worried as he were, he just pretended to be listening, nodding from time to time. Lith was
so tired that even thinking was a struggle. Ever since he had seen the end of the vision, he
was trying to put the pieces together.
All he wanted was to take a short bath to get rid of all the dirt, sweat and blood dirtying his
body and then sleep for a whole week, but the scene of his parents murdered and his sisters
screaming for help haunted his mind.
"According to the vision the steps of the events are: 1) the mercenaries killing Nok. And that
is out of the picture. Then 2) after that they were supposed to do a delivery, somehow
connected to the fall of the academy.
Guess that part was metaphorical, to bring down the castle it would take an earthquake
measuring at least an eight on the Richter scale. Which would lead to 3) a civil war and to 4)
the destruction of Lutia.
It's unclear if it would happen by coincidence or because I pissed off someone in particular,
but it doesn't matter. If my soul is a d*ck as much as I am, the reason it showed me all this is
because more than anything I want to save them. Right, Solus?"
"Yeah, it makes sense, especially the d*ckery part. Guess that savings fluffy cubs and
thousands of innocents is really not your style¡" She had a dejected tone. After all that
hoping for him to find true love or friendship, once again was just an egoistical reason. To her
Lith and his soul were indeed a match made by the heavens.
"F*ck the innocents! I'm nobody's hero. A world that despite having billions of people can
only be saved by someone brave and dumb enough to sacrifice himself for strangers, it's a
world not deserving to be saved." ¨C
In the privacy of his room, Lith took out the communication amulet, thinking what exactly to
tell Marchioness Distar.
He couldn't sleep before making sure that the events he had spectated had yet to happen,
but if he did call her, then he would need to spill the beans without having the opportunity to
make up a believable backstory.
The truth was too dangerous for him, and calling her the day after would destroy his
credibility. Who in his right mind would take seriously someone that needed a power nap
before reporting a threat to the Kingdom?
But without sleep, he had a hard time concentrating, let alone being convincing while
spouting bullsh*t. It was another catch-22 paradox
Too tired to find a solution, he simply made the call.
The Marchioness answered almost immediately, seated behind a luxurious desk riddled with
books and sheets of papers. She had her hair down with no particular hairstyle, wearing
something between a pajama and sweatpants.
She looked almost as tired as him, her annoyance was visible as much as audible.
"You again. What has happened this time?"
"I'm really sorry to bother you at this hour, your Ladyship, but I need to know if everything is
alright with my family. I bring grave news."
The last phrase, coupled with the desperation in his voice changed her attitude in a blink.
"I already received today's report, but let me double check right now."
The communication remained open, but her image disappeared for a few seconds.
"This thing can put on hold?" ¨C
"All present and accounted for, the sky has yet to fall." She said with a slight smile.
"Now, what were you saying about grave news?" She leaned with her elbows on the desk, her
eyes steeling.
"Before starting my story, your Ladyship, do you believe in supernatural? Things like souls,
destiny and so on?" Lith was desperately trying to find a way to not look like a raving maniac.
"Child, you are starting to sound like my husband when he proposed. If you have just
disturbed me because of a girl, that's inappropriate at best. No matter what you believe right
now, whoever you have met is not the right one."
Inwardly cursing his poor choice of words, Lith rushed to explain.
"The best lie is a half-truth. Here goes everything." ¨C
He told her how he managed to save a dryad by sheer luck, and that she rewarded him with a
vision about
his heart's desire. That following her directions he had found a group of hunters
fighting to the death with a powerful Byk necromancer defending its cub.
In this version of the story he was just a spectator, and Kalla did all the hard work.
Lastly, that on the verge of death, one of the hunters still alive, after Lith had tried to save
her, had a change of heart, regretting her life choices and gave him a wooden box and a
coded letter, revealing to him that she was meant to give it to someone inside of the
academy, but had died before telling him who.
"A dryad needing your help?" She had a good laugh at his expenses.
"Didn't she give you something more practical than a silly vision? I don't know, her heart or
some earthly treasure?"
"I refused her heart." Lith explained making the Marchioness almost choke on her next laugh.
"I'm too young for a relationship and she was way too flashy for an academy. But I still got
loot, I mean rewards."
He took out the ransom the blond dryad had paid to save her sister's live.
"I can't see them well like this. Put them over the amulet's gem, please." She didn't know
what to think. So far, the story was too odd to be made up.
When Lith did as instructed, the various natural treasures floated in the air. The light from the
stone enveloped them like a 3D scanner, giving the Marchioness a life-size image that
replaced Lith's.
"Is there something this thing can't do?" Lith was flabbergasted by the second unknown
function of the day. "Why can't it make a decent coffee? I miss coffee so much I could kill for a
cup." -
"By the gods and their children, I believe you! Now put those treasures away and show them
to no one. They are very precious. Many would say too much for someone like you to have
them." Lith saw the greed in her eyes, but it was a calculated risk.
To further his story, he described in detail the plant Abomination, nerfing it enough to make
plausible for Lith's normal skillset to defeat it.
"If you still have any doubts, there is a whole patch of the forest that's gone completely bald.
It will take months for it to recover a shred of green."
The Marchioness looked at him with renewed admiration.
"I had heard great things about your little team, but honestly I didn't expect so much from
them. It's amazing for fourth-year students, no matter how talented, to suppress a monster"
"All thanks to teamwork." Even half-asleep, Lith realized that a gun he was completely
unaware of, had just shot his own foot.
Chapter 119 Half Truth 2
"Why didn't you tell her that you defeated it alone?" Solus was surprised by the sudden
turns of events.
"Because she didn't ask me how I managed to, or if I did have help. She jumped the gun and
assumed it was a team effort. That means I didn't nerf the plant Abomination enough, or
simply that a kid killing a monster is unheard of." ¨C
Anxious to change topic, Lith took out from the dimensional pocket the wooden box Rodimas
had surrendered to him and one coded letter at random.
Marchioness Distar threw a glance at the letter, and being uncapable to understand its
meaning, just copied it with water magic. A flick of her wrist and ink flew from the well to a
blank piece of paper, recreating the original in a few seconds.
When the life-size replica of the box appeared, her expression became severe.
"I don't recognize the lock, but I know these runes. This isn't just a wooden box, it's a high-end
dimensional item, capable of storing complex structures rather than single objects. It could
even contain a whole furnished house.
It's definitely something that a magical beasts hunter could never afford, let alone give it
away to a stranger. Depending on what's inside, it could be worth thousands of gold, if not
tens of thousands. But why are you showing it to me instead of Linjos? And why are afraid of
it?"
After a deep breath to calm his nerves, Lith told her all about the vision and how it ended,
along with his hypothesis about it.
"The last time we spoke, you told me you are on the Queen's side. If what the dryad has
shown me is true, then I need all the help possible to prevent these events from happening.
With all due respect, the Headmaster is a good man, but has proven to be too much of a na?ve
fool to be trusted with such a delicate matter. He expected people not needing Ballots, yet
now they are all in use.
He didn't predict that his radical changes would backfire so fast and hard, or if he did, his
contingency plan must have failed big time. Also, he doesn't know me, you do. For him I could
as well be a homesick boy pulling a prank.
I don't have the time to make him listening to me and believe a ridiculous story about dryads,
souls and visions. I need someone capable of seeing the bigger picture and reacting
accordingly. Whatever this is, its ramification go beyond the academy."
The Marchioness drummed her fingers on the desk, pondering about Lith's words. His
judgement on Linjos' character was harsh, but she fully agreed with it.
And while the Headmaster would take in account only the possible consequences for the
academy and his precious students, she was capable of understanding also the political
repercussions the events Lith described could have.
Her fief was already torn apart by internal and external enemies, trying to replace her with
someone more pliable to one side or another of the conflict. If a storm was really brewing
under her nose, could she afford to ignore such a timely warning?
The answer was no. After all the sacrifices she had made trying to protect her daughter and
husband, after the failed assassination attempts, this was the first lead the Marchioness had
that could allow her to act instead of react.
Also, it would give her an opportunity to prove her worth and loyalty to the Crown in a
moment of need, potentially reaping endless benefits. All things that made such information
more valuable for her yet were meaningless to Linjos.
The dedicated Headmaster had no interest in politics, his mind seemed to be incapable to
consider anything outside the boundaries of the academy. That what made him an excellent
teacher also made him a terrible pawn.
"I wonder if he took all these factors in account before contacting me. It would be amazing
for a youth of humble origins to be so cunning. He could be a great asset in the future." ¨C She
concluded.
"From what I have seen in the past, the Marchioness is not a power hungry noble. She truly
cares about her family. Also, she is the most powerful and influential person I know.
If the civil war really happens, a backwater village like Lutia would simply be collateral
damage. It's her city, Derios, the capitol of the Marquisate, that would be first burned to the
ground during the fights.
She has much more to lose compared to me."¨C
In none of his existences Lith had ever cared for schemes. His reasoning was simple but
straightforward.
"Fine." At those words, Lith sighed in relief, finally his body was able to relax, the built-up
tension quickly disappeared.
"No matter how crazy your story sounds, I believe you. There's only one problem. It's
impossible to open Warp Steps inside the academy without
the permission of a member of
the staff.
Hence, to get my hands on that box, I'll need to talk to Linjos first. He'll probably summon you
kids to listen to your side of the story. If I were you, I'd expect him to be pretty pissed off from
your lack of trust."
Lith stared at the hologram with adamant eyes and a grave expression, without saying a word.
"That's the attitude, face him like that and you'll have nothing to fear."
More staring and silence ensued.
"Lith?" She asked starting to be worried. "Is everything all right?"
His eyes remained sharp, yet a faint snoring became audible.
"Have you really fallen asleep with your eyes wide open? Wake up!" The sound of her fist
slamming on the desk did the trick.
"Sorry, I was absent minded for a second." He said buying time for Solus to bring him up to
speed.
"I'll wait for the Headmaster's call together with my companions. As per your request, they
are still oblivious of our partnership. Do you want to keep things that way or can I inform
them?"
"At this point, it doesn't matter anymore. I don't know what excuse you used to remain alone
and make this call, but if you don't start telling the truth, you'll lose their trust."
After closing the communication, Lith rushed towards Quylla's room, where his schoolmates
were supposed to spend all day practicing triple casting and dimensional magic.
"What a rotten luck. To think that I'm forced to ask for help to a bunch of kids."
"Didn't you complain that you have grown stale as a person just a few hours ago? Maybe this
is a good occasion to start opening up. Be positive for once."
"Yes, I did. But I was talking about stupid things like sharing feelings, hobbies and all that jazz.
Not potentially entrusting some of my secrets to others!" ¨C
In his mind, Lith could see many obstacles riddling the path he had been forced to take. Linjos
could summon to his office not only Lith, but also the others. And unlike the Marchioness,
being able to see them calm and rested, he could see past Lith's lies.
To avoid blowing the cover he had created over the years, Lith needed his so called 'friends'
to perfectly play their part. There where so many things that could go wrong, and he had so
A True Genius Worries Page 22
