Chapter 29: Leylines

After Hishiri Adashino and Waver Velvet left, Louis returned to his usual self. He plopped down on the grass, relieved, and said, "Thanks to you, junior, we managed to avoid a disaster. If something had gone wrong, I'd have been in serious trouble."

Li Xiang, leaning against a tree and deep in thought, responded to Louis's words, "If I hadn't known that Flynn was a wind-aligned mage, I would have assumed it was just a normal case of magic going out of control."

"Stop trying to comfort me," Louis sighed.

Louis then asked, "You've been using both manipulation magic and time magic, and it seems like you know a lot about magecraft. You've only been in the Clock Tower for half a month, so how did you learn all of this?"

"This is basic knowledge," Li Xiang replied, giving him a puzzled look. "Isn't this taught in the Foundation Department?"

"I returned it all to the teacher ages ago," Louis waved his hand weakly.

Li Xiang understood.

Just like after the college entrance exams, all the knowledge accumulated over three years could vanish in just a couple of months.

The two chatted casually for a while. After about ten minutes, Hishiri Adashino returned with a man who appeared to be in his thirties. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, a broad gentleman's coat, and a glimmering crystal cane protruded from his cuff.

"This is Angelo Vassef, a second-rank lecturer from the Department of Spiritual Evocation," Hishiri introduced.

Li Xiang and Louis immediately stood up straight, their expressions serious, and greeted in unison, "Lecturer Angelo."

Angelo nodded, skipping unnecessary pleasantries. "Let's begin."

Li Xiang watched as Angelo pulled out a large compass and began drawing a magic circle on the ground.

He finally understood one of his previous misconceptions—mages aren't necessarily all skilled artists; they just have the right tools.

Unlike the silver powder Li Xiang had used before, Angelo used a red-brown powder made from ground hematite.

After completing the magic circle, Angelo placed several rubies at the key nodes.

Li Xiang's eyes were fixed on the fist-sized rubies. These gemstones, second only to diamonds in value, had a price tag he couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Time magic has significant limitations," Angelo remarked as he placed the feather quill on the ground and stood up. He turned to Hishiri Adashino, "Even if the results are unsatisfactory, the cost of these magical materials will be covered by your Department of Policies."

"Of course," Hishiri replied calmly. Aside from holy relics and cursed objects, few departments in the Clock Tower could match the financial resources of the Department of Policies.

Angelo exhaled slowly.

In an instant, a violent windstorm kicked up.

Li Xiang instinctively stepped back as the layers of wind crashed into him like a thunderstorm, making it hard to breathe.

A deep voice pierced through the storm, ringing clearly in Li Xiang's ears.

Intense magical energy shattered into countless snowflakes, rapidly ascending into the air.

The magic circle trembled slightly.

The rubies turned to dust.

In the center of the snowy whirlwind, a radiant crystal slowly formed.

Sunlight refracted through the crystal, which was as transparent as a clear lake. Suddenly, ripples spread across it, and an image appeared before everyone.

Li Xiang looked up.

It was Flynn.

He was dressed in casual clothes, leaving the cafeteria of the Department of General Fundamentals, holding an insect-catching net.

Insect magecraft?

Li Xiang first thought of this type of magic but then shook his head.

It wasn't necessarily the same insect magecraft as Zouken Matou's. The "Magecraft Foundations and Systems" class in the Department of General Fundamentals covered many insect-based magecrafts, including butterfly, ant, and ladybug magecraft. The professor had also encouraged students to try basic magecraft themselves.

As a student who had not yet defined his magecraft system, it was common for Flynn to catch insects.

The Department of General Fundamentals provided many such opportunities.

For example, Mistil Garden, not far from the main teaching building.

However, the image suddenly went black.

"What happened?" Hishiri Adashino asked.

Angelo raised his hand, and the crystal mirror immediately vanished. He said, "The time magecraft was based on Flynn's perspective. As soon as he entered Mistil Garden, he was controlled, and the magecraft was nullified."

"A warning barrier," Li Xiang remarked. "The culprit is cautious. If they were doing something important, they would set up a warning barrier to alert them of any intruders."

"He was only in the garden for a few seconds, but to use such advanced manipulation magecraft in such a short time, the caster must be at least two ranks higher than Flynn—meaning a Crown-tier mage," Hishiri Adashino said, her expression serious and her tone decisive. "We can't afford to delay. The Department of Policies will organize a search around Mistil Garden immediately."

Li Xiang raised his hand and asked, "I have a question. Why Mistil Garden? There's nothing noteworthy there other than plants and insects."

Hishiri Adashino adjusted her glasses, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. She quickly seemed to realize something, but said nothing. Instead, she pulled out her phone and made a call.

"Send a recovery team to Sla Street, and notify the execution team to gather at Mistil Garden in the Department of General Fundamentals. I have something to announce."

After giving her orders, she turned to Angelo and said, "Please go to the Department of Policies to receive your payment. I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you."

"No problem," Angelo replied briskly and left. He had no desire to get involved in the affairs of the Department of Policies.

"Captain, have you discovered something?" Louis asked.

It was clear that Hishiri Adashino had purposely sent Angelo away to keep him from learning certain information.

"The leylines," she said. "The Clock Tower is built on ley lines, and managing classrooms also means managing these ley lines. The Department of General Fundamentals has the most classrooms, and thus the most ley lines. There's a ley line directly connected to the Clock Tower's main ley line beneath Mistil Garden."

"Is this guy crazy?" Louis was shocked. In this day and age, mages who dared to tamper with ley lines usually ended up six feet under.

"He's being very cautious," Li Xiang noted. "If it weren't for Flynn, we wouldn't have noticed anything. The ley lines of the Department of General Fundamentals are managed by Lord Trambelio. Normally, any disturbance in the ley lines would be detected unless..."

"Li Xiang!" Hishiri Adashino interrupted him. "Don't be too clever. I'll report this to Lord Trambelio."

Li Xiang nodded silently.

Factional strife.

The original work often mentioned the brutal struggle between the three major factions of the Clock Tower.

The Trambelio family, one of the three great noble houses, represents the Democratic Faction, while the other two are the Aristocratic Faction and the Neutral Faction.

The three factions have despised and counterbalanced each other for two thousand years, maintaining a surface peace while engaging in countless plots behind the scenes.

The El-Melloi family is a prime example. After Lord Kayneth Archibald, the head of the Mineralogy Department, died, the family's assets were quickly divided by the Neutral Faction's Meleaster, leaving the family in ruins.

"You two start the search immediately," Hishiri Adashino ordered. "Louis, find Elena Fleming. The three of you will form a search team. If you encounter the culprit, report it immediately."