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

With the exception of Snake and Susanna, who weren’t currently on campus, most of the other students who were eligible had already collected their high-grade artifacts from the collection. Joseia and Milim had gone earlier that morning, but Sen had opted to wait. He was still weighing his options. Though he didn’t necessarily know what he wanted, he could think through potentially beneficial items that would address his most pressing concerns. He had a rough idea now, but he’d make his final decision when he did his walkthrough. 

Most of the other students were seeking items that would likely be highly sought after, so they rushed to make their picks early. So it was an unexpected surprise when he passed Girch, who had just finished picking out his item. Whatever it was, it fit inside a single hand. Though, to be fair, Girch had massive hands, and he could probably be holding anything from a magic puppy to a grimoire. If the giant man noticed him, he didn’t acknowledge it. He just stared at whatever was in his palm and kept walking. 

The professor in charge of the High Grade Artifact’s collection wasn’t one Sen recognized. Apparently, it didn’t matter too much. The man recognized him as one of the top ten ranked students, then waved him through without much else to say. 

[Guess he figured you already know the drill at this point. Should I run an analysis?] 

Sen shook his head. He’d take his time here. High-grade artifacts were rare, and though he’d be able to upgrade his lower-grade artifacts eventually, an opportunity to take your pick from a treasure trove of high-grade artifacts was an extremely unique opportunity. The high-grade artifact collection was surprisingly roughly the same size as the low-grade artifact collection. There weren’t as many displays to choose from, but each one had significantly more care placed into its presentation and description. The displays were based on the artifacts they held. Many of the offensive elemental artifacts, for instance, had displays themed around their elements. There was a display case with dense foliage around it, indicating it gave control over plants. Not far from it, a water artifact sat at the bottom of a square pool that was four feet wide and five or six feet deep. You’d have to jump all the way inside to collect it. Luckily, the description sat in front of it. 

[Seriously? It lets you breathe underwater?]

Sen shook his head and finished the description, “And a variety of other elements.” This artifact was actually pretty strong; even though most people wouldn’t realize it. Sen realized the descriptions this time weren’t as vague as in the low-grade artifact room. Instead, they were almost like puzzles. Sen had interacted with plenty of magic artifacts in his lifetime, so he had a better understanding of their nature than most. The description said that it would let you breathe underwater and a variety of other elements. But breathing alone wouldn’t help if you were surrounded by lava. If Sen could bet a coin on its actual effect, he’d bet that it had some form of resistance that would keep its user alive in numerous situations. Someone with this artifact could likely swim in a volcano or natural acid magic and come out unscathed. But most people would interpret this description literally, thinking it only offered the ability to breathe underwater and similar non-lethal liquids. 

Sen smiled. He’d suspected there would be a catch to the room, and now he’d confirmed it. In that sense, the other students picking their artifacts before him was to his advantage. Sure, the rankings were designed to reward high-performing students, but the Academy also prided itself on its collection. There wasn’t any telling which promising student would graduate and then immediately go off and get themselves killed, or become someone who lived in such a way that the academy preferred to distance itself from them. With that being the case, he’d already suspected that in a lot of cases they’d actually steer students away from the better artifacts. The ones with grand descriptions were things the academy was willing to part with. Powerful artifacts, sure, but not irreplaceable ones. But more rare artifacts like this one submerged in a pool? It was a valuable artifact hidden in plain sight. Placed carefully near the entrance in a cold pool of water, making most people think it was a gimmick at best. 

Even the low-grade artifact room had been set up in such a way, with the better artifacts being on the outside of the room. The students who had picked an artifact from that room would assume things were the same here. The concept was like a psychological dragon, allowing adventurers into its den only to misdirect them to less valuable prizes. Luckily, Sen wasn’t your average adventurer, and he’d taken care to warn Milim and Joseia before they’d come to collect their prizes. He was eager to see what they’d chosen; the display cases would already have been removed. 

He looked around at the rest of the artifacts near the entrance for anything of interest. There was a sword that could cut through magic, useful for strength-based fighters. An earring that changed the smell of people around you based on their highest stats, and a ring that made you unrecognizable. He had several intuitions about what those items could do in actuality, but their basic descriptions made them sound weak, despite the fact that the academy was clearly hoping to retain them. 

After a while, Sen finished browsing the display cases and looked around the room once more. A large chandelier made of black marble hung from the ceiling, and towards the far end of the room was a small sitting area with rows of green benches. The sitting alcove had three windows, one on either side and another in its center. Sen went to take a seat.

[Well, what are we going with? Need some time to think it over?]

Sen sat in the middle seat and shifted on the green cushion, trying to get comfortable. It was easier said than done; the faculty clearly didn’t want students hanging around here all day. Most people might take a seat and quickly get up. But Sen needed to act normal so that the teacher didn’t realize what he was up to. 

He heard Ano nearby. “Yup. This is it,” he confirmed. 

[Wait, what was that? Is Ano in here with us?]

Sen smiled. Adamantine Mind had kept Tutor from hearing the plan. Mostly because Sen wanted a reaction in real time when he did...this. 

“Reveal Illusion Maxima.” The alcove suddenly changed. In place of the center window was a door shaped similarly. The seat he was sitting on wasn’t an actual cushion, but a single step so that one could reach the door. He stood, turning quickly and tried the knob. The illusion was the main security. Besides, the ranking reward allowed students access to the entire room. They couldn’t lock them out completely. They just…made sure no one would ever find this secret vault. 

As soon as he opened it, the front door to the high-grade collection room spilled open, and the unknown professor looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “Wait, you don’t have access to—I mean, you shouldn’t…”

Sen smiled. As he thought, the professor couldn’t actually stop him. But he was desperate to make Sen feel like it was against the rules. 

It wasn’t. But bringing Ano inside with him certainly was. The two of them slipped into the room together, one of them invisible, and Sen closed the door behind them. The secret room of the high-grade artifact collection was a glorified walk-in closet. Its artifacts weren’t as neatly sorted, and they didn’t have displays. But they did have descriptions, thorough ones. After all, if the staff were going to trick the students by intentionally misleading them toward worse artifacts, they needed to know which artifacts were good enough to keep. 

Ano beamed. “Man…we’ve hit the jackpot. They’ve got everything in here.” He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “So, how are we doing this? Grab what we can and bust our way out of here? I’m sure Laurette would let you join Green Book just because it pissed the dean off.”

Sen laughed. “The reward is an item out of any display,” Sen said. “I only see one display in here, don’t you?” he asked. 

Ano’s eyes widened. “You mean…are you saying we can get away with taking as much as we want?” he asked.

“Technically, but let’s not be too greedy. I’m thinking…a few items each,” he grinned. The academy relied on these artifacts to protect the school, and even though the Cult of Harpis was gone now, their bold assault could always make other factions think they had a chance at success. Besides, most of these items were donated by alumni and other benefactors. He’d teach the dean a lesson for being so greedy, but he wouldn’t do so at the expense of the entire academy. 

Tutor feigned a sigh. [If only you weren’t so nice, master. Can I pick something out?]

Sen smirked. 

When they left the room, their hands were full. 

The professor was hyperventilating into a bag. When he looked up and saw the small horde of artifacts in their arms, he nearly fainted. “Wait…please don’t take all that. I’ll lose my job. Seriously, I don’t have tenure.”

Sen and Ano exchanged a look. “Hm, I don’t know. We went through all the trouble of picking this stuff out,” Ano mused aloud.

The professor eyed him. “Who even are you?” he asked. 

Ano choked.

Sen didn’t hesitate. “I needed an assistant to help carry my stuff. But I get your point, and I don’t want to get you into trouble. So I’ll tell you what. We’ll leave most of this behind and just take what we really need. As long as another professor takes over soon, nobody will be able to trace this back to you.” 

The professor stared blankly at him. Then he looked at his bag. “Okay! Okay. Deal. Just…don’t take too much. I told them we needed more than just an illusion spell for the vault. But Orttha swore nobody would even notice.”

Sen chuckled. Orttha had been the one to first show him that spell. He wondered now if it was intentional. Ano and Sen sat down several artifacts they’d taken. This was, of course, all according to plan. Take a bunch, fake negotiate, leave with everything you wanted in the first place. Ano had scored two new items, and Sen three. All in all, it was a profitable trip for him. They’d even snagged a few of the rare items that had been donated in the aftermath of the invasion of Brightsail Academy. Of course the dean had decided not to put these out. 

With a much more manageable haul in their hands, they looked to the professor, who simply nodded and left. Sen slipped their items into his temporal world for safekeeping, and so nobody would ask questions, and then they slipped out of the room. As the door closed on its own, he could already hear the professor scrambling to put everything they’d left behind back in the vault. 

Ano beamed. “Man, I’ve gotta hang out with you more often. This is great. Wanna go examine the haul now?” he asked.

Sen laughed. “That’s the plan.” It was time to go examine his new magic artifacts in greater detail. One thing was for sure: he was a bigger fan of the rank reward system now more than ever. 

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