Chapter 92 Interest

Facing the man who could see through all, Eleven was debating whether to kill him right here or wait it out. If Conrad did have this information, there was something he wanted, or he wouldn't be alive. That or this was simply a sadistic play to bring him enjoyment. Perhaps even both.

"What do you want?", Eleven didn't see the need to keep up his act of being all serious. Instead, he made sure that he was battle-ready at all times. He didn't know what kind of trick Conrad could pull. The world of mages was one of schemes, tricks, and underhanded methods to get the upper hand. Some found their home in this wicked world, while others felt misplaced and wanted change.

Even though Eleven looked like he could attack at any point, Conrad stayed still with his hands behind his back. 'Did he already prepare a countermeasure for my attacks? No, he couldn't know what kind of spells I would use. Or could he? Wait, calm down Eleven, he wasn't entirely correct, he doesn't know everything.'

"I wanted a conversation, that is all."

"What do you want to talk about?", Eleven was careful, anything he said could be dissected to gain even the slightest bit of information. It would be stupid to give away any more info with suggestion topics himself.

"Oh, it's quite simple really, when I looked at what you gave Gilbert there were quite a few interesting things."

'Did he already figure out my goal? Is that what he meant by that I was determined but didn't know how to achieve it? Did he comprehend my notes and deduced the result so quickly?'

Eleven was stuck, he didn't know what to do, Conrad was a genius so he could probably help him out. But asking for help was the same as showing weakness and it wouldn't be for free. 'Why does he want to see my notes in the first place, if he's a genius he probably could figure it out himself. Maybe he simply didn't want to spend the time since there is a faster way. That or he's genuinely interested in helping me, but that wouldn't make sense.'

"You want to help me?", Eleven decided to keep it safe, asking such a question would give away a lot depending on the answer. Conrad merely smiled widely, tipping Eleven off.

"I see, then meet me here tomorrow, I'll show you then.", with this Eleven had given himself some time to check if Conrad was actually trustworthy and could plan a trap if needed. Conrad thanked him before walking away, 'So he really was going after my research, but he isn't hostile. If he wanted me dead, he could simply keep following me and gang up on me. Yet he simply wants to talk about my notes.'

Eleven decided it would be better if he kept tabs on Conrad for now. Since was walking ahead of him he could easily trail him. Sadly Conrad had quite a headstart so Eleven had to catch up, but the moment he turned the corner, there was no one in sight. 'He disappeared? Running would make too much noise and I would've heard it.'

Following the hallway that Conrad took he started to get lost, the building was a bit confusing, but Eleven knew exactly where to go if he wanted to leave. This changed the moment he started to follow Conrad, it felt like the hallways were turning and warping with every corner he passed. 'Is this a maze?'

When he first came to the school he received a map to know where every class was, but the hallways didn't match up with his map anymore. It felt wrong, normally he could easily reach the exit, yet now he was stuck. If only he kept following the map, he would effortlessly reach the entrance of the school.

Wandering around a bit later, he was lost, completely lost.

"Hmm, you're still here?", the familiar voice was back. Conrad was behind him with a bag filled with gods-know-what.

"Huh, wait, where.."

"Oh, are you lost?", he smiled again. That smile made Eleven feel on edge, he wanted to take his stance again. Not that he actually wanted to fight, but it did make him feel a bit more at ease. He couldn't grasp what this man wanted, he was an enigma. Everything he said felt genuine but also fake, there was no core personality, only random emotions. During his conversation, Conrad changed his expression multiple times while keeping the conversation going, he had full control of his emotions.

Conrad approached him before taking the lead with a simple gesture. Conrad moved through the maze effortlessly, eventually reaching the entrance of the school. Eleven thought that Conrad was walking around without a clue of how to move forward, but the exit in front of him destroyed that conception.

'And I'm meant to be following him...', Eleven wanted to stalk Conrad to learn more about him but got himself in a situation where he needed the man's help. 'This time it'll be different.', he hadn't given up though.

Conrad said his farewell and parted.

Eleven waited for a moment, he was sure that this time, he wouldn't have any issues following him. The school was strange, but that was out of his control, he knew the city. There were no places he didn't know of, Conrad wouldn't be capable of escaping his sights again.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Eleven kept stalking Conrad. At a certain point the temperature dropped and snow started to pile on the ground. Eleven was good at stealth, but he still had to leave footprints behind. Looking up ahead, he saw that there was a snowstorm, so his footprints would be removed from that point. Until he reached the storm he used trees to move forward, even though they did make some sound.

The storm was unpleasant, but Eleven felt something strange. He felt that there was magic inside the storm. He wasn't a genius, but he was heavily trained in magical theories, so he could tell that the snowstorm wasn't a completely natural phenomenon.

The storm was weak in the beginning, but it didn't take long before all Eleven could see was white. He was just trying to keep up with Conrad, but he was being pushed back. The winds were too powerful, the tempest dragged him down. He needed to start using magic to keep up his speed, yet he didn't make a lot of progress.

Eventually, he reached a place where he could see light in the distance. 'Is this where he's at, why bother going to these lengths of staying here?'

Intently looking ahead, there was a figure sitting down in the storm, almost in a meditative state. There was a tiny flame between his hands, 'How is this possible?'

In this snowstorm, he was carrying a small flickering flame that was on the edge of being extinguished. Magic could create unimaginable things into reality, but they still had to adapt to the surrounding atmosphere. Even if you were to try to create a flam underwater, the only thing conjured would be a few bubbles, nothing else.

In the same state, you couldn't create a flame in this storm. The wind, the cold, or the snow would've been enough to warrant the spell not working, yet he was there playing around with a flame that should've fizzled out long ago. 'He's not just a genius, he's a wonder!'

Suddenly the pressure increased a hundredfold, the storm felt like a blanket in comparison. 'Something inside that cabin wants me dead! I need to get out of here, now!'