18 1st Grade Magus

James laid down to relax before engraving his magic-core. If he made a single mistake it could cripple his future growth or even kill him. He reflected on the spell matrix he had spent so much time studying.

'No wonder this spell matrix was the most complicated to learn. Mana must be condensed into increasingly smaller lines. Then they exit the matrix through hundreds of tiny openings.' James awoke from his thoughts and sat in the lotus position. 'Let's get started!'

James closed his eyes and cleared his mind of all thoughts. He controlled his mana just like he usually did when he sent it out of his body. However, this time he did not send it out from the body. The thumbnail size mana hovered directly above his magic-core within his head. It slowly and steadily started to move. Lines began to appear on the magic-core. Some were thick, others small. Some parts were engraved deeply, others lightly scratched the surface. Occasionally, a tiny deep hole would be engraved before the lines continued. These holes were the most dangerous part of this mana engraving.

Time passed slowly. James took nearly twice as long as he usually did for this engraving. Finally, after 30 minutes he finished. The mana returned to his core. The lines of the core made it look like a beautiful piece of art. They glowed an eerie black color. James opened his eyes and smiled, "I've succeeded. Now to start practicing the spell."

[Host has advanced to 1st grade Magus. Congratulations! A hidden feature has been unlocked. Please check the system menu for more information.]

"Eh? A new system feature? What dogshit feature did it give me this time?" James rubbed his eyes and the system display appeared. He opened the menu and there was a new menu option called Hidden Features. He tapped the option and saw a list. There were nine things listed. Eight of those things were grayed out.

[Welcome to the Hidden Features menu. Each time you increase your magus grade you will unlock a new hidden feature.]

James tapped the only available feature. [Disguise Mode]. James read the text on the screen and his eyes widened in surprise. This wasn't useless at all! The new feature allowed James to transform into anyone he had ever met at the cost of one energy unit per hour. It was a perfect disguise and even emulated their elemental aura perfectly. It didn't increase his strength or combat ability, but it could easily be used to pretend to be a 9th grade magus!

'This is great! Who should I turn into later? I still have 100 energy units from my deal with the Thieves Guild. Mm. I'll figure out how to best use this once I get out of this damn hole.'

James began to practice using his Shadow Threads. He made thin black threads shoot out from all over his body. They were very thin and weak due to James low level. At higher grades the threads would become much stronger. He repeatedly shot the threads at different areas. Sometimes they were flexible. Other times they were stiff and solid.

'Hmm. I can't really get a good grasp on it yet. It's too dark down here to tell if I'm aiming well or not. Let's get out first.' James put on his clothes and swam into the lake. He pointed his wrists up towards the walls of the hole. *Thwick, Thwick* Many thin threads shot out of his wrists and stuck to the walls. James started to slowly withdraw the threads to pull himself up.

*Snap, Splash!* "Ugh, the threads weren't strong enough. What if I intertwine them like a rope?" James shot many threads from his wrists again. This time he made them spiral around each other while shooting out. This resulted in a slightly thicker rope shooting out of each arm. James slowly retracted the threads and rose into the air.

'Hmm… What do I do now?' James had succeeded, but he made a dumb mistake. He shot the ropes in completely different directions. He hung in midair with one shadow thread stuck to the wall on his left and the other struck to the wall on his right. 'Screw it. This is going to hurt!' James released his right shadow thread. He swung like a pendulum into the wall on the left side of the cave.

*Thud!* "Ow!" 'Eh? It didn't actually hurt all that much. I forget how much stronger I am sometimes.' James rose his right hand and shot more shadow threads directly above him. Then he pulled himself up while releasing the previous threads. He managed to reabsorb most of his mana after releasing his spells, allowing him to climb quickly. A few minutes later, he reached the top!

"Sunshine! How I've missed you! I'm sorry for always hating you!" James looked around and saw only trees surrounding him. 'Master flew northeast on the way up here, so I'll just head southwest then.' James walked for several hours before reaching his masters castle.

*Grumble* "Ugh, I'm starving. Shitty old man. I'll get revenge some day!" James headed inside the castle. Two maids stood by the front door. He recognized the one his master had previously called little red. "Where's master? I wish to speak with him."

The red-haired maid bowed, "Master is currently outside of the castle. Professor Metal is waiting for him in the throne room. Would you like to greet her while waiting for master?"

'Professor Metal? The magus mutate of metal? Right, she's the headmaster. I almost forgot… This is my chance! Master, you'll regret mistreating me! Mwuhahaha!'

James smiled, "That's okay. I think I'll head back to my dorm first and meet with master later." James left the castle. He walked a few dozen meters away. Then he opened his system and selected [Disguise Mode]. Every person he had ever met was listed there. Even people from Earth. James quickly scrolled through the list and selected Skeleton.

*Crunch, Creak* James body made disturbing sounds as it grew in height. His flesh shrunk in on himself until he looked like skin and bones. His hair completely disappeared. A dark black magus robe appeared on his thin body. A barely visible black aura swirled around his body.

'Hehe, let's get started. I wonder what all I can do to make my master lose face!' James headed back into the castle. The two maids near the doors quickly bowed, "Welcome back master!" The red-haired maid looked up and spoke, "Master. You're back early? I apologize for not having all the maids here to greet you!"

James waved his hand towards her, "There was a change of plans. Mm. Little red, come see me in my bedchambers tonight. Professor Metal should be here right? I'll go meet her." James walked towards the throne room.

Upon entering the room, he saw a beautiful woman. She wore a silver robe that glimmered like metal. Her eyes were black, and she had tan skin. She had curly brown hair that hung to her waist. Professor Metal turned to James and smiled, "You're finally here old man. You kept me waiting."

James nodded and walked past her. He sat on the throne and leaned his head against his hand. "What can I do for you today little girl."

Professor Metal frowned, "As haughty as ever I see. I thought you finally stopped calling me that fifty years ago. I'm here today for two reasons." She reached into her robe and pulled out an egg the size of a fist. "This is the egg you requested the academy find. It only took us a decade. We were quite lucky." She walked towards the throne and handed it to James. "With this, the contract is complete."

Professor Metal looked around her. They were currently alone. She lifted a hand into the air and liquid metal shot out. It quickly formed a large dome around them and solidified. "I can't risk being overheard. This is of vital importance."

James felt nervous when he saw the metal surround them. Then he slowly relaxed when he found out it was just something that needed to be kept secret. 'Hehe. I wonder what kind of high-level information I'm going to find out. You can't blame me master. The faults of the disciple lie with the master after all.'

Professor Metal had a grim look on her face. "As you know, the war with the BlueWoods Kingdom has been escalating in recent years. However, the war has always remained at the border areas to the northwest of the Drake Kingdom. I've kept a close eye on the war and we should be entering the final stages soon."

'Eh? The war has gotten that bad? I never heard much about it in the city. Then again, we're pretty far from the border…'

"I've spoken with the king recently. He has decided to call the academies into the war. All magi and knights throughout the kingdom are going to be drafted. It could be a few months, or a few years. You need to prepare. Their kingdom is no weaker than ours. It's likely some 9th grade magi and knights will fall in this war."

James eyes widened in shock. He momentarily lost control of his emotions and yelled, "We're going to war?! All magi and knights? Even the students?!"

Professor Metal nodded, "There is no avoiding it. All students must participate. We are bound by the ancient alliance between the kingdom and the academies. There hasn't been a war like this one in centuries."

James sat there in silence. 'What should I do? I'm too weak. Should I run away? That's cowardly! Ah, but I am a coward… But all my friends are here! Everyone I know in this world is in the Drake Kingdom. Can I abandon them? I don't want to!'

Professor Metal noticed his silence and spoke, "This information will remain classified among the 9th grade magi. I still need to go inform the others. If there's anything you need to prepare for the war, then just let me know now."

James closed his eyes to think, 'What do I need for the war? I don't know! I'm just a 1st grade magus damnit! Screw it! I'll worry about the war later. I still need to take revenge against master. Hmm…' James opened his eyes and spoke, "This is rather embarrassing, but I need to borrow 10,000 gold. I'll pay you back in a few days."

Professor Metal waved her hand and a pouch appeared. She tossed it towards James. "No need to pay me back. You know gold is worthless among high-level magi. Anything else?"

'Eh? It was that easy? That can't count as revenge against master then. What can I do to cause problems for him? Do something embarrassing? No, master has no shame. He wouldn't care… I've got it! I'm a genius!'

James sighed, "To think the war has gotten so bad. Who knows if we'll both survive. I'm already old and my life is nearing its end. I must confess something I've held in my heart for a long time now." James stood up from the throne and walked towards Professor Metal. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes. "I've been in love with you for a long time now! I can't bear the thought of you dying and leaving me behind! Please marry me!"

'Hmm. Should I have kneeled for the proposal? Nah, I don't have a ring and master isn't the type to kneel to others anyways. Heheh. Let's see how you deal with this master. I bet things won't be so cushy for you in Sea Salt Academy anymore! The headmaster is going to be disgusted by you! Mwuhahaha!'

Professor Metals eyes widened in shock. Her body trembled. She grabbed James and hugged him tightly. "I always loved you, but you kept ignoring me! You always treated me like a little girl just because I'm 200 years younger than you!" Tears poured down her face. "Yes! I'll marry you! Our wedding will be an event that the entire academy celebrates!" She let go of James and gave him a deep kiss. James eyes widened in shock. The kiss lasted for several seconds before she let go. Her face blushed, "I'll go start the preparations. I'll be back soon to discuss the details with you!" She turned around and ran away.

James stood there stupidly. He had never expected his plan to backfire so heavily. He sat on the throne and stared into space. He muttered, "Mother. Your son just got his first kiss from a hot 200-year-old granny. Now she's going to marry my master…" He sat there for several minutes, completely absorbed in his thoughts.

A man walked into the room. "Eh? Is that you Yale?"

James awoke from his thoughts and saw a man that looked identical to him. It was his master. He nodded, "Yes, master."

Skeleton smiled, "Good! It looks like you finally advanced to a 1st grade magus. Which spell matrix did you choose? Why do you look like me? Some kind of change in your system? Haha, I don't blame you! Who wouldn't want to look like me!"

James rubbed his eyes and disabled disguise mode. He returned to looking like Yale Dusk. He stood up and walked in front of his master. *Thud* His knees slammed onto the floor and he kowtowed towards his master. "I'm sorry master! Because of me you're getting married!" Skeleton's face made a confused look, "What are you talking about boy?" James told him the whole story of what had happened recently. He told Skeleton about the war and how his master was going to marry Professor Metal. The only thing he excluded was the egg and gold coins he had hidden within his magus robes.

Skeleton's eyes widened in shock. He pointed at James, "You! You unfilial disciple! What have you done! I couldn't give two dog shits about the war, but are you trying to ruin my life?! I have never married. I sleep with different women every day! What did I ever do to you for you to ruin my life?!"

James body trembled. He momentarily forgot about his wrongs and yelled, "What did you do?! You locked me up in a fucking hole for almost a month! No food or water. I could have died! When you finally fed me, it was blood and rotten meat covered in maggots! Did you really think I wouldn't want revenge?!"

Skeleton's face turned red from anger, "You little shit! It's called training for a reason! Everything I did was for your own good!"

James yelled, "How could eating rotten meat and drinking blood be good for me, old bastard!"

"You know nothing!" Skeleton screamed, "The lack of food and water was survival training! Same goes for the blood and maggots. Are you retarded? It was obvious you should eat the maggots and not the rotten meat itself! It's a delicacy. You should be thanking me!"

"Why would I ever need to drink blood and eat maggots for survival training! That doesn't even make sense!" James complained.

Skeleton sighed, "We're entering a war soon. Do you think food and clean water will be everywhere? I was looking out for you little brat. I train all my disciples to survive in harsh conditions. It has saved many of their lives. Do you think I would normally carry around a wooden chest full of rotten meat and flasks of blood? I planned it all out from the beginning."

James eyes widened in surprise. His masters word made sense. He was still angry, but he calmed down a little. "Then why lock me up in a dark hole to train? I couldn't even read the books or see the spell matrix! What kind of stupid training is that?"

Skeleton smiled proudly, "That is my secret training technique I only pass to my personal disciples! Can you see the magic-core inside your head when you engrave a spell matrix? Of course not! I developed this method to ensure none of my disciples fail their magic-core engravings! Most magi study spell matrixes with their eyes. This is why it's common for magi to fail their engravings! Not one of my disciples has ever failed an engraving at any level!"

James went silent. Everything his master said made sense. It didn't fully dissipate his resentment, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry anymore. Skeleton noticed his silence and spoke, "We'll begin your knight training tomorrow. Meet me here tomorrow morning." He pulled James up from the ground and patted him on the head, "Everything I do is for your own good. Try to trust me a bit more in the future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go deal with Professor Metal." Skeleton took an interdimensional pouch out from his magus robes and tossed it towards James. "Here's your stuff I took at the hole. You can return the pouch tomorrow."

Skeleton left the throne room. James watched him leave with a complicated look in his eyes. He felt a mixture of guilt, resentment, respect, and many other emotions. 'I guess I'll head to my dorm for the night.'