Chapter 108: Insurance

Man, I'm such a saint," Mikoto complimented himself on a job well done as he stared at the restored forest. Yes, he decided to be a good Samaritan and fix up the forest, something he neglected to do when he ravaged the forest last time. Well, he was obligated to at the very least, as he did blow up an entire forest.

Mikoto stretched his arms, though he heard no satisfying pop. Well, he did not exactly overexert himself; that Beatrice woman was hardly a threat. Still, she would probably come back for revenge, and he would just kill her then.

("Still, that Aegraxes guy irks me.") Instincts, that was how he could gauge an opponent's worth. A trait of being a spawn of a Goddess of war. Amaury, Dante, and Selwyn, he could gauge how strong they were with just a glance. They were strong enough to threaten his life if he slipped up once, it was the same for Aegraxes. He had not seen the demon fight, but his instincts screamed at him when looking at the man. In a way, it was more severe, like he could have actually died.

It was why Mikoto resorted to a Familial Art that would expose him; he wanted to make sure he killed Aegraxes then and there. But it just served to alert the demon that the world held another spawn of Octavia. Mikoto exhaled sharply.

"Maaaan~ What a pain!" He grumbled, once more the Chaosmaw's were in cahoots with the Vel'ryr empire. The empire would be bugging him non-stop now, and other nations would become privy to his existence as well. Mikoto cursed at his carelessness; a spawn of Octavia was too valuable. Being able to mimic any Familial Art with a glance was no small thing. Nations both small and big would want to get their hands on him. It might impede his progress at getting back home. "Whatever, I'll kill anyone who gets in my way." Yes, he would not let some greedy scumbags interfere.

As those thoughts passed through his head, his ears caught the sound of wings flapping. Turning his eyes upward, he spotted the cause. An owl, feathers as white as snow and big blue orbs, though his keen eyes took note of the rolled-up piece of paper tied to its leg with a piece of thread. It seemed to be coming right at him, so Mikoto raised his right arm, and the owl gracefully landed on it, perfectly balanced. The owl merely stared at him with its beady eyes as he unwrapped the thread and took the piece of paper. He nudged his arm, and the owl once more took off, so unraveling the rolled-up paper, he studied its contents.

Dear Mikoto,

I hope this letter finds you well. I have gathered the needed documents on Arcane Ascendance as promised. You can come and retrieve them whenever, though I can offer some needed insight should you want it.

From Lyra Careworn.

"That was quick," he noted as he shoved the piece of paper into his pocket. This was good news at least. Though it would take a while to reach Verdantis, teleporting to another nation was still beyond him at the moment. He supposed he could just fly over the sea, though his top speed in flying was only faster than a fighter jet. Though he could increase it to reach Verdantis instantly, any absurd amount of speed would spell doom for the planet. "Einstein's theory of special relativity shows that as an object with mass gets closer to the speed of light, the mass starts to increase as it nears the speed of light, Pravica said. If an object could reach the speed of light, it would become infinitely massive and would require infinite energy to maintain that speed. So while he could most definitely reach those absurd speeds, it would cause havoc.

("Hm, maybe I should just use Harbinger to make it so that won't be an issue. Man, life gets easier with a bullshit magic sword in my arsenal, just wish it didn't take this much mana. Unfortunately, that's not something I can change, oh well.") Mikoto prepared to take off to Verdantis but was stopped by a voice.

"That was a mighty impressive light show," he turned to spot Headmaster Aleister strolling his way.

"Headmaster," Mikoto greeted. "Come to take a stroll in this forest that was totally never destroyed." The man merely chuckled.

"You never cease to amaze me, Mikoto," Aleister stated, looking at the various trees, grass, and fauna. It was as if the forest had never been destroyed in the first place. Unparalleled destruction and unparalleled restoration. They clashed horribly and did not at all fit together, but then again, these things were needed as vague as it may seem. Destruction came before creation, things seemingly mastered by this boy.

"So whatcha want to talk about, teach?" Obviously Mikoto knew what the headmaster wanted to talk about. Asking was just out of formality.

"Hmm, I came to ask you to be my insurance," the man admitted. Mikoto blinked. He had not expected those words.

"Insurance? What for?"

"See those demons did not come to the Academy merely to cause havoc or anything meaningless like that," Aleister began. "Tell me, you know of divine artifacts, yes?"

"Sure, objects belonging to the Gods, some are strewn about here," Mikoto answered, he did have one himself after all. Aleister nodded, satisfied by the answer.

"See Luminare Academy had kept one hidden, Divine Blade Nihil. It belonged to the God of Destruction, though he discarded it long ago," Mikoto could already see where he was going with this.

"It was stolen," Mikoto surmised. ("That sword that Aegraxes had was no doubt it. But with its power suppressed I couldn't even tell.")

"You have the right of it," Aleister huffed in annoyance. "Long story short, the good ol' king is going to be pissed."

"Is that why I'm insurance?" Mikoto questioned.

"That's right, the geezer will get less angry if there's someone on our side who can keep up with Selwyn Von Auerswald," Mikoto deadpanned at the man.

"Using students as insurance? How are you, headmaster?"

"No clue."

--------------------

"Mikoto," Adrian tested the name on his tongue as he glanced out of the window of the medical bay. He was not injured, but the teacher bid it important that he, along with the others, get checked up.

"You said his name five times now already," Ruby dryly stated from behind him. "Have you fallen in love or something?" Adrian merely chuckled.

"Nothing like that," he waved her words off. "I just find your friend interesting."

"Well, that is to be expected," William mumbled from his seat on the medical bay bed. "Mikoto is quite infatuating."

"You're crushing on him too?" Ruby questioned dryly.

"Haha, nothing like that," William defended, "I don't think there isn't anyone in the academy who isn't interested in Mikoto."

"I still don't understand how he managed to destroy an entire forest," Ruby drawled.

Juliana jumped, her hand flying to her chest. "T-the entire forest?" she squeaked, it was the first time she was hearing of this.

William chuckled. "I can't even say I'm surprised. Mikoto is a... peculiar one."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Peculiar? That's putting it mildly."

Ruby hummed. "He's got a knack for being quite the absurd individual. I remember the time he beat my ass."

Juliana's knitted her brows. "Beat your ass?"

William nodded, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Right the training we had under Professor Fergus, Mikoto had even bested my sister. It was impressive."

Ruby nodded her head. "Impressive for him, maybe. Not so much for the poor soul that was your sister.

Adrian affected a look of interest. "Beating the Gregory heir. Mighty impressive."

Juliana looked from one to the other, her confusion growing. "But... how is he so strong, I-I can't begin to think of a way to beat a Chaosmaw let alone two."

Ruby shrugged. "Magic, He is quite talented."

William nodded. "That would be putting it mildly."

Adrian cleared his throat. "Speaking of magic, I wonder what if this is the extent of his powers."

"Maybe he can blow up the whole realm?" Ruby mused.

Juliana spluttered. "The w-whole realm!?"

"Well, it is not impossible, you really just need an absurd amount of mana," Adrian mulled over.

William chuckled. "I wouldn't put it past Mikoto to be capable of such a feat."

Juliana looked increasingly bewildered. "You're all teasing me, aren't you?"

Ruby grinned. "Maybe a little."

William patted Juliana's hair gently, avoiding her horns. "Don't worry, Juliana. Mikoto's harmless. Just a bit... odd."

"Seems apt," Adrian murmured.

Ruby yawned. "Well, this is all very interesting, but I'm bored. Anyone want to play cards?"

William grinned. "I'm in."

Juliana hesitated. "I don't know how to play cards."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

Juliana blushed. "No, really."

Adrian offered to teach her. "It's easy," he assured her, though his tone held a hint of condescension.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Great, another thing to do while I wait for William to lose."

William feigned offense. "Hey!"

As the afternoon wore on, the medical bay filled with the sound of shuffling cards and the occasional muffled curse from Ruby. Juliana, under Adrian's patient tutelage, began to grasp the rules of the game.