No Leverage

Seeing the Instructor come in, Silas got up and greeted him. Last he remembered, this was the way teachers were greeted. The other student followed his lead and greeted the instructor, too.

Instructor Juno nodded slightly in reciprocation and began his lecture. "Let's begin..."

 Just as Instructor Juno uttered these words, a book appeared in front of Silas titled 'Introduction to Magic by the Keeper of Secrets'.

Before Silas could react, Instructor Juno spoke again.

"This book is the curriculum for the Observer stage. Read it thoroughly. It also contains the requirements for advancement. When you feel you have met them, contact me."

The instructor paused, his gaze sweeping over the two students.

"Your schedule at this stage is simple. You have only one mandatory class: supervised Soul Training. It is held daily. Practicing it alone is dangerous in the early stages. All other classes are optional. The instructors are available to you, but Keystone does not owe you strength. It only provides a venue to attain it. Before you reach the Adept stage, you will have no duties. This is a privilege. Use your time well. That is all."

The other student immediately stood up and left the room.

This left Silas confused. It seems that I am the only one with no information about this place. Perhaps, he has a relative that is in the organization, or there is more information about Keystone on Terra, but it is hidden by the big powers. Silas suspected the latter to be more probable.

With the other student gone, the session seemed to formally begin. Instructor Juno looked directly at Silas.

"The Keeper told me you have no knowledge of magic or this world," he said.

This alarmed Silas. He was now on the highest alert he had ever been on since he came to this world.

Silas didn't really plan on hiding the fact that he was not from this world, but it still didn't feel good when somebody knew your secret.

It was a good thing that Silas had great control over his mind and subsequently his body; otherwise, his emotions would have shown on his face.

But his facade was all for naught.

Before Silas could retort to Instructor Juno's previous statement, he said, "You don't have to be nervous. The Keeper is called the Keeper of Secrets for a reason. Even if you have some secret, you can rest assured it will be safe with her".

This told Silas quite a bit about the organizational structure of Keystone and the Keeper, but he was in no mood to analyze.

What Silas was more concerned about currently was how the Instructor seemed to know exactly what was in his mind. 

His thoughts were fairly obvious, but he still had to be absolutely sure that mages could not read minds. Otherwise, he will have to be very cautious in this place going forward.

Silas planned to ask Instructor Juno how he knew what he was thinking, but his reply came before I could even ask.

"Yes. I can read your mind. All mages at my level can. Even most mages at the disciple stage can read emotions. But you don't have to worry. Do you have the bracelet you found in the box in your room?"

Silas could only helplessly reply, "Yes."

"Good. Wear it. I appreciate your caution, but the academy would not hand you something that is dangerous," said Instructor Juno.

Silas really didn't like having his thoughts read one bit, so he immediately took out the bracelet from his bag, one he found in the same box, and wore it.

After he was done, Instructor Juno said, "The bracelet contains a ward that guards its users against psychic attacks. It is only a mid-tier artifact, but it should be enough to prevent architects and below from manipulating your mind without your knowledge".

Instructor Juno's intrusive actions had deeply offended Silas, but he understood that he was in a position of no leverage. So, he could only forgive and forget for now.

Instructor Juno didn't miss a beat and continued, "You will find that Keystone will help you in any way, if it is related to you growing stronger. No matter what tools you need, you can let me know and I will request them for you."

He continued, "Now comes the question of why Keystone wants you to grow stronger....

What matters at your level is understanding that this world is always in conflict. And when you have something valuable, it's only natural that you'll have to protect it.

So, we always need manpower. But you can rest assured, we are not raising soldiers but scholars. The fighting will only be a very small portion of your duties.

What Keystone really wants from you is your uniqueness. Every being has something that makes them special, much less beings that can pass the spiral chamber on the first try.'

'Oh...' Silas thought. 'It seems that my performance was above average. That's good.'

Before Silas could continue, Instructor Juno said, "It is indeed above average, but it is just that. There were many before you with much better performances."

"You said that with the bracelet, an Architect would not be able to read my thoughts. " Silas said in a cold voice.

"Most Architects won't be able to, but I can. "

'It seems that he is teasing me, or perhaps this is his way of establishing authority.' Silas judged. But, he wasn't one to admit defeat so easily either. 

Silas's body may be immature, but his mind was one, honed through the greatest of adversities. It was not possible to completely block the Instructor's mind-reading, but it was not a problem to create an apparent thought that hid his inner thoughts beneath.

Silas would create a thought, possibly rhythmic, like a song, and use it to conceal his true thoughts underneath. He would also have to fake his emotions at all times. 

But that was the easiest part. He was already a master at hiding his emotions, but hiding his thoughts was going to take some time.