Chapter 25: A Royal Opportunity

The council inauguration ended so Alix and Cas parted ways for the day. Casting Omnia Nexus three times had completely exhausted her so when she arrived home she barely managed to put up a fight against her mother during her own training session. The day came to an end and now the girl was walking to school with Mo in her arms. Still exhausted from the previous day's events.

Mo looked at Alix curiously. "Why'd ya show that boy Cas yer little rat ritual yesterday?" Alix yawned. "I did tell him that I would show him the spell. What better day than when I was going to cast it multiple times. I do not think that I will have many more 'rat rituals' as you called it." Mo looked at the girl with suspicion.

"That's true, but now he also knows about Spell-Script. I thought ya wanted to keep that secret for a bit longer." Alix stopped walking suddenly and held Mo in front of her face. "Mo, do you know why it is that I work so hard to improve my spellcasting ability?" Mo frowned.

"Does it have anything to do with that article that was going around the school last week?" Alix never talked about her father. Not even with Mo, so to hear that he had been executed for treason was shocking to say the least. Alix's eyes narrowed.

"Vengeance. The idea of getting back at that conniving woman back for all of the strife that she caused my family. That raging desire has been fueling the flames of my passion for a decade now!" Alix spoke through gritted teeth. The very idea of Ponali Yenders infuriated her. And the worst part was that the woman likely had no idea how much the girl scorned her.

"She's been taking the credit for the development of the teleportation circle for years! I refuse to let her continue to gently float into the horizon without her wrongdoings being exposed. All the while the daughter of the man that she had executed overshadows her with even grander achievements." Mo's eyes widened as he understood where the girl was going with her plans.

"Sorcery spells that anyone can use and a new stronger method of casting sorcery spells. A magic that can be effortlessly used regardless of a person's advancements in the subject. And the ability to make use of null mana to imprint sorcery directly on the air which would eliminate sorcerer's need to create spells in advance!" Alix stood smiling boisterously.

"Now, Spell-Script, that was just a happy accident but the Universal Sorcery..." Alix leaned closer to Mo.

"...that's been something that I've been striving to create for what seems to be an eternity now! And Cas is my first test subject." Mo eyes shined in recognition.

"If some untalented, tragic boy like him is able to master a new way to use sorcery then it would prove that anyone could! I'll be the first one to admit that I didn't think that ya were thinkin' this far ahead, Lexi." Alix moved her face away from Mo's.

"You would never have been able to come up with this plan. You are a fish, after all." Alix continued on her way to school when she was suddenly stopped by something. A fat gray rat waddled up to the girl on two legs.

"Oi, Lass!" A deep gritty voice with a heavy accent. The rat always sounded a bit condescending and his personality didn't help clear that up in the slightest. That was the rat in front of Alix. A member of the Rat Council of Nogreni.

Ben, The Hammer Vermin. He came up with that moniker all by himself. Alix just felt no reason to deny it. The others had also come up with their own but that didn't matter for now. Ben stood before Alix while glaring up at her.

"What is it Ben? I thought you would be busy raiding some restaurant by now?" Alix joked. Ben scoffed at the girl's humor. "I already did, lass. I'm here to deliver some information that I thought that you may be interested in." Alix nodded and lifted Ben from the ground a placed him on her shoulder. Mo shivered in disgust. "I still can't believe that you let these vermin sit on you like this. I doubt they ever bathe. Especially, Ben." 

Ben snapped back at the fish. "Oh and ya think your so special, eh! I'll 'ave you know that I actually clean myself in the lake everyday, thank ya very much." Mo rolled his eyes. "Oh wow, look at that. The vermin thinks he's clean just because he splashes around in a bit of water. Yer still run around the streets all day."

"Ain't my fault dat deez human's don't clean up their roads like they clean themselves. In fact, dat's one of the first things de coucil's up to, thank ya very much! Now if ya'll excuse me! I gots some things to tell the, Giant here." Mo scowled at the rat but spoke no further due to Alix's glaring eyes.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me, Ben?" Ben cleared his throat. "Ahem. We vermin been seein' all sorts of things around de streets fer years now. And recently we've learned of a certain girl dats been missin'." Ben's words intrigued Alix.

"You mean Stella Epedia." Ben shrugged. "I don't know 'er name. I just know dat a fews days ago I's was eatin' ma third dinner like normal when I sawed a few people in robes carryin' a girl to de outskirts of town. Seemed like they was tryin' be all secretive." Alix peered at the rat. "Did you see exactly where they went?"

"I could show ya if ya want. Though I can't recommend goin' alone so de rest of de council 'ill be there too." Alix shrugged. "Alright. But we should go later. I need to get to school right now."

Ben stared at Alix bit shocked. "I just told ya dat a girl was kidnapped and hidden away in de outskirts of town and ya still want to go to school first?" Alix's indifferent eyes met Ben's. "And?" Ben let out a small chuckle.

"You and me might be more alike then I originally thought." Alix let been off of her shoulder, placing him on a nearby windowsill. "I refuse to take that as a compliment. Just go let the rest of the council know that I will be coming by this afternoon." Ben nodded. "Alright then. I'll let em know it!" With that Ben dashed to the cellar.

Mo shook his head in his bowl. "Yer really ice cold. Ya know that, Lexi?" Alix smirked to the fish. "Ice cold doesn't even begin to describe the how dark I'm willing to go." Mo raised a brow suspiciously. "Oh yeah?"

"Obviously." Alix arrived at school after making her plans with the rats of Nogreni. The school day passed by like normal. The rumors of what may have happened to Stella still fresh on the students' tongues. While sitting through her classes Alix asked herself why she was even considering saving the girl but quickly answered her own question.

'This is the perfect time to test out what Spell-Script can really do!' Alix was smiling inwardly. Her eyes wandered to the strings that were coming out of her chest. She still didn't quite understand what they were but there were more now. Three new pink strings extended out of the girl's chest when she casted Omnia Nexus on the three rats yesterday.

She was a bit confused as to why these strings weren't silver like Mo's and Felix's were but she chalked it up to her lack of understanding of the magical strings. She wanted to do more research on the strings but there was quite the obvious issue of her not even knowing where to begin. There were no ancient text or books that she had read throughout her entire life that mentioned something like this.

She may need to shelf the issue for a while. Just until she found somewhere that she could do more extensive research. Luckily, that chance was closer than she originally thought. She entered Inengway's office he immediately hit her with some unexpected news.

"I've sent a recommendation for you to enter the Marconix Spellcaster's University in the capital." Alix was truly shocked for once. "Why would you go and do something like that?" Winston smiled thoughtfully at the girl.

"I did it because you love magic and it seems to love you back. I don't want for you to end up wasting that passion at a school that, frankly, doesn't care about you." Alix was at a loss for words.

"You will not be going alone of course! Eric and I will be coming as well." A thought came to Alix but she immediately dismissed it but Inengway knew what she wanted to ask. "Cas will not be able to attend the academy due to his current standing as a noble's slave. He also has yet to exhibit any sort of talent in the way of spellcasting so he will have to stay here." Alix nodded.

"It is understandable. That was why I dismissed my question. As the person that has been overseeing the Mind Slave's training, I can confidently say that he has still not progressed past the pup status. He has only created a single sorcery spell from my knowledge and has been struggling to get any further than that. He should stay here for the sake of his own development."

Winston smiled. "Your maturity always manages to impress me Alix. We will leave in two months so you still have time to prepare. The next semester at the school will be starting when we get there so you do not need to worry about being behind in anything." Alix nodded. At that moment Eric and Cas entered the room. Alix gave Inengway one final look before turning to the two boys.

"Let's start today's lesson, wolf pups."