The God of Magic: Archmage Academy (OP, LitRPG)

“Perhaps we should’ve taken the cleaning quest. It’s absolutely foul in here,” Mori said, covering his nose. Milim trailed behind them. When she’d climbed after them it had taken Sen by surprise. When Oliver had run off promising to get help, that had been a bit more expected. 

The sewage tunnel was large enough for them to walk in comfortably. Comfortable aside from the stench of waste, the rats scurrying about, and the darkness. Luckily, Sen could address each of those problems. He tweaked Encapsulation to keep the smell from reaching them. A simple ‘moving barrier’ spell acted as a bridge so their feet didn’t seep into the waste, and the rats could sense his Mana Aggression and hurried off as he approached. Mori conjured a floating sphere of light that illuminated the tunnel, solving the last of their problems. 

Milim reacted in such shock to each new display of power that Sen almost found it hard to believe she attended the same magic academy that he did. 

“Tutor, can you track Ilm? Or find anyone who might have taken her?” Sen thought.

[I cannot locate Ilm for some reason; something powerful is masking whatever’s going on here. I can, however, track that powerful something. Vaguely. We’re moving in the right direction for now.]

Sen picked up his pace. The markings that Mori had protected him, but Ilm’s were only cosmetic. If something happened to her, if something could breach the wards on her attire or overcome her magic, her life could actually be in danger. There wasn’t any time to waste. He hadn’t created Ilm, but he’d asked Mori for the memories of when he did. Sen felt a connection to her as if he had given her life himself. He would not let her fall in some retched place like this. 

“Who do you think would do this? Kidnapping a student of Bright Sail would risk a lot of attention. The school faculty, not to mention the mayor, would come down hard on someone for this,” Milim said, talking as much to fill the silence as to keep herself distracted.

Sen felt the mana inside Mori’s body twist in a silent rage. “I don’t think they’ll have to worry about the faculty or the mayor. They won’t be alive too,” he said factually. 

Normally Sen might advocate restraint, but in this case, he agreed. This was a slight against him. The culprits of it would pay dearly, and he hadn’t had the opportunity to try out Maxima in combat yet. Look at that, the universe aligns for divine punishment once again. 

They reached a crossroads, a group of three branching tunnels, and Sen looked in each direction.

“Should we split up?” Mori asked. “There’s a path for each of us.”

Milim’s swallow echoed in the tunnel's silence. It wouldn’t be wise to send her off on her own. “Tutor, which paths are most likely?” he asked aloud. 

[Left and straight. I think.] 

“Mori, go left. Milim and I will keep moving forward,” Sen instructed. 

Mori half-bowed before taking off down the left tunnel. Milim let out a grateful sigh of relief. 

He led her straight down the tunnel, picking up his pace as they moved. Hopefully she would be able to keep up. He’d opted to move cautiously at first, but the longer they went without finding Ilm, the more worried he became. Finally, the tunnel came to an end, or, more of a drop than an end. He flickered a finger; the light he’d created to replace Mori’s floated downward, slowly descending. The drop was long. It went straight down as far as the eye could see, even with his enhanced eyes. He didn’t think that was usual for a sewer.

Milim leaned forward to peek down it as well. “What do we do now? Do we turn back?” she asked. 

“Are you still sure this is the way, Tutor?” 

[My senses haven’t changed. Though I’m not sure jumping into that hole would be wise. Oh, you’re doing it anyway.]

“Apologies, but I can’t leave you here.” He turned and scooped Milim up in his arms, then jumped. 

Mana Encapsulation was the only thing that kept her screams from echoing throughout the entire sewer. It did very little to protect his own eardrums. He released Mana Aggression so as not to squeeze her to tight, and activated Mana Protection. As durable as his wards were, he didn’t want to break both legs upon landing. This hybrid stat would help prevent that. 

They landed thirty seconds later with a satisfying crunch. A crater appeared beneath him, and Milim scrambled out of his arms. She got on her hands and knees and gasped for air. 

“Calm Maxim.” He felt a twinge of guilt realizing he could’ve done that before traumatizing her, but he was distracted by his worry for Ilm. Sen turned and looked around. 

They were in a wide, rectangular room. Someone had placed torches at perfect intervals along the wall, illuminating the grand space. There were boxes of varying shapes and sizes, tables with mutilated corpses of magic beasts, and large tubes filled with some strange blue liquid. The equipment and boxes were too new. The corpses too fresh. “Someone’s working down here. This is…some kind of research facility.” He hurried over to a box and whispered a quick spell. “Undo.” 

The box split apart, and several colored spheres rolled around on the ground. Low-tier magic essence spheres. Sen’s eyes lit up. If these boxes were all filled with essences or other magic materials, it would be too his advantage to take as much as possible. But he’d worry about that as soon as Ilm was safe. 

[Then we’re raiding this place like a bunch of bandits.]

“That…is aptly put.” 

There was a door at the opposite end of the underground warehouse, and Sen led the way. Milim pried her eyes off the glowing essence spheres and hurried after him. She had an eye for the finer things as well, it seemed. 

Before opening the door, Sen knelt and put his ear to it. There was talking on the other side, just a couple of people from what he could tell. The room wasn’t nearly as large as this one, but if he was careful, he should be able to get in without warning the people inside. He turned and put a finger to his lips to quiet Milim.

He focused Mana Encapsulation on the door, surrounding it with his mana. If the door creaked when he opened it now, the sound would remain trapped within his barrier. He focused on the door and cast a spell as well. “Illusory State.”

Now, he opened the door, and it made no sound, and those inside the room would see only a closed door if they looked at it. He crept inside and waited for Milim to follow before closing it. This room was also filled with boxes, and Sen led Milim behind them. He peeked over the top of it and watched the figures within the room.

They were hooded, wearing dark brown outfits that covered their entire bodies, masks and gloves included. It seemed they were arguing. “We weren’t supposed to take more than five. Why’d you bring an extra one?” a man with a deep voice asked.

A man with a shrill voice responded. “She saw me grab the other one and followed me. I didn’t have a choice. Let’s just kill the weakest one and take the rest.”

The deep voice man crossed his arms. “Fine. But you’ll have to explain the waste. I’m not covering for you again.” Sen looked past them; there was another door to the left of the room. The man with the shrill voice laughed and went through it. The deep-voiced man sighed and turned to look at one of the tables. His back was to Sen now, and he was alone. 

Normally he’d take his time in a situation like this, but if the other hooded figure was going to kill someone, he didn’t have time to spare. 

“Suffer in Silence Maxim,” Sen said. As soon as the spell activated, the deep-voiced man turned around. “Blight Maxima.” 

The man was halfway through a spell of his own when he looked at his hands and ripped off his gloves. White skin was turning gray and wrinkling. He fell, the strength drained from his body, and wriggled on the ground in agony. He tried to scream, but the first spell swallowed all noise. 

Milim covered her mouth. “What did you do to him?” she asked. 

“Something quicker than I would’ve liked. Come on, we need to find Samara and Ilm,” he said.

Milim nodded slowly. She knew they needed to hurry. 

They hurried out the side door and found a long, narrow hallway. There were a series of doors between where they stood and the end, where the hall took a sudden right. The time for subtly was over. They ran, opening doors and peeking inside one after another. If the missing students’ lives were in danger, they needed to hurry. Each of the doors on this hallway proved empty, and Sen quickly rounded the corner. The hooded man was at the far end of the hall. Milim hurried after Sen. She missed a step and fell, sliding into the turn of the hallway. 

The shrill-voiced man turned to look at them and gasped. “What—” He turned and ran. He quickly opened a door at the end of this stretch of hallway and jumped inside. It clicked into place after him. 

Sen turned and held a hand out to Milim, pulling her up after him. He took off, pushing Mana Encapsulation as far as he could. To his surprise, he could feel Milim running behind him. Had she someone tapped into its speed-enhancing effects as well? That…wasn’t something he’d seen before. Even from Mori. He’d investigate later.

[You do that. I’m investigating now.]

When Sen reached the door, he jumped and brought his arms up in front of his face, activating Mana Aggression and Constitution at once. He allowed Encapsulation to fade. Activating all three at once used to tax his body a lot, and he hadn’t fully tested his newfound power. Now wasn’t the time when a friend’s life was at risk. 

He exploded through the door and skidded to a stop on the other side. The shrill-voiced man was there, but he wasn’t alone. Ten men stood ready to fight. Some of them held weapons, others magic artifacts, and a few had already readied spells. They launched them just as Milim followed him through the door. 

Sen's eyes shot open, and he turned to wrap his body around hers. A slew of attacks smashed into his back, pressing against the protective force of Mana Protection. Something hard hit his back, and a stone block grew around them before he could process what was going on. There was enough room to move a little, but it was pitch-black inside. 

A small blue light shone, and Sen realized it was coming from Milim’s finger. Both of them were suddenly aware of how close they were. Pressed against the wall in this dark, confined space. 

Milim turned her head. 

Sen tried to take a step back, meeting only hardened stone. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Milim nodded. “I am. Thank you. But the others—”

“Don’t worry about the others. I’m going to leave you in here for a moment, okay? Just hang tight.”

Milim shook her head. “Theres too many of them. I can help you fight!” 

“I’m sure you can, but I can’t protect you while dealing with them, and our friends are waiting on us. I’ll only be a moment.”

If it wasn’t for the power Mana Aggression gave him, and the durability Mana Protection provided him with, he wouldn’t try this. He pressed his head toward her, and then with all his strength slammed it back against the wall behind him. Sen stumbled backwards out of the stone and slid several feet from the pure strength of his movement. When he came to a stop, he was staring up at the men in hoods. 

“Hello, you wouldn’t have seen a girl who looked just like me, have you? Some foul-breathed man ran off with her, and Mother will be terribly upset if I don’t bring her home. You understand, I’m sure.”

They met his politeness with sharp swords, magic artifacts, and spells. 

“Some people are so rude,” Sen said, springing into action. 

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