Chapter 110: Master and Parting

"Of course it will kill the man in those circumstances. However you got your hands on this Blood, be thankful that you treated it well and that it somehow thinks of you as its parent. If it decided that you were a nuisance, you would have been consumed by the Blood's will ages ago. It's many times stronger than you, after all," Nasst exclaimed.

Evin looked at the maw with some astonishment. He knew that the Blood's will was strong, but not this much. Noticing the boy's confused gaze, Nasst continued his explanation. 

"Since its intelligence is at the level of a relatively smart World Sprite, it felt your anger or annoyance towards the dead instructor and decided to make you happy somehow. And the best way it could think of was to kill him. If the source of your annoyance disappears, surely you will be happier"

"I've been told that using a specialty will start affecting my magic. Is this one of those cases? Or is it something else…" Evin pondered. If it was that strong from the beginning, he would have definitely noticed it. A tinge of fear appeared in Evin's heart, but there was no regret. Even if using the Blood's will forced him on a path of delayed death, it was still better than instant death.

"It's most likely because of the Time Bomb that you were affected by. Likely, the blood's will was also affected and had grown to such sizes, without you realizing it," Zorrik said.

"Oh, the boy's related to that incident, huh? Means he's got Kena's backing… No wonder you were so insistent on giving him special treatment," Nasst nodded with a frown.

World energy explosions weren't a rare thing, but ones of that scale were considered rare, especially ones of Time energy. And since it happened near the City of Smog, anyone with the relevant information could take guess at what had happened.

Losha, who was silent up to this point, subtly frowned at mention of Kena's name.

Zorrik then started talking about how to best conclude this whole matter. 

"From this, we can conclude that it was truly an accident. Moreover, instructor Zakhlo was also in the wrong for trying to affect the mission during its process. But that doesn't mean that he deserved death for it, so you will have to formally apologize to his family later. There will also be a Death Gratuity compensation, so be prepared for that," the man said.

Evin nodded without complaint. It was the least he could do.

"By the way, boy, aren't you one of the Empress' Children? Why do you need to participate in the normal classes?" Nasst suddenly asked, confused.

Hearing the familiar term, the faces of the children in the room were filled with an understanding expression. Evin also noticed Arza making a confused face alongside them.

"I wasn't a mage before," Evin answered shortly.

"So what? It still isn't an excuse for you to waste your time on basic things. Actually, boy, if you're interested, I will be willing to take you under my wing; teach you all about magic personally. It's hard to see you waste your talent like that alongside children. Besides, you're most likely a terrible influence on the little critters," Nasst said suddenly.

The elder man's words cause the lady named Deminte to stare at the Nasst with bottomless detestation.

"It seems the puppeteer eyes his new doll… Boy, you'd do well to best choose who you associate with," she said in a threatening tone.

"Don't be a hypocrite, witch," Nasst was quick to jab back at the woman.

Zorrik, sitting in the middle, sighed noiselessly.

"Make your own choice, Evin. You can choose to study with the other children in a safe and protected environment, or you could chase after the strong and take the faster path. I can't tell you which of the two choices is the correct one… but remember that help does not come free"

Zorrik had told Evin a lot of relevant information. 

'If I choose either of them, I will be able to become stronger faster, but there will be strings attached to my strength… On the other hand, I could choose to keep myself safe and gradually become strong alongside the other children'

But the problem with the safer path was that it took much longer, and most likely an insufficient one. Evin had just casually killed an instructor of the Tribe, and aside from some shock, he was a bit disappointed at the strength of the instructors. But thinking about it, Evin wasn't here to become stronger, but to become more knowledgeable.

'But now that I think about it, even if I study alongside the children, there will still be some strings attached in the end,' Evin realized. Instead of being tied to a faction in a country, Evin would be tied to the country itself. Free to use by every faction depending on the situation.

"I'd like to study under Lord Nasst," Evin said after some thought.

The female elder glared at Evin briefly, but didn't seem willing to pursue this matter.

Evin only had two choices in this matter, to choose Nasst, or to choose Deminte. The cold old lady seemed friendly enough, but Evin's choice was clear due to one thing. Their horns. Nasst had one for the Heavy World and the World of Space, while the elder lady only had one for the World of Water. 

Disregarding Evin's dislike towards the World of Water, Evin actively used the Heavy World and was about to study under the Cosmics for the World of Space. The choice wasn't hard to make.

"Good choice," Nasst said and laughed loudly to rub it in Deminte's face, before addressing Zorrik: "Is there a place for me to stay here?" 

"The deceased mage's mansion in the staff area should become free for use, but…" Zorrik said with some reluctance.

"Don't worry, I'll take over the deceased instructor's class. There shouldn't be any problems then, right?" Nasst offered.

"Thank you, Lord Nasst. We'll have it ready for you soon enough. The instructor's classes focused on Multipart spells," Zorrik replied and Nasst just nodded offhandedly.

"Well, boy, gather your stuff and meet me in my new mansion. Don't worry about saying your farewells, you'll mostly stay in the Tribe Grounds, anyway," Nasst said with a grin.

The hearing ended soon afterwards, and Evin was deemed innocent. The people around dispersed and Evin walked back to his original room with Arza and Rith in tow.

'I suppose I should talk with Arza, huh?' Evin thought. The talk was long overdue and the boy would hear about the Children of the Empress at some point in his life, anyway.

…

Entering their room, Evin started talking to Arza about the Children of the Empress. Though, he didn't tell him that he came from another World. He just said that he was a normal person who had the luck to be reincarnated as a mage.

Arza was a bit confused at first, but accepted Evin's words much easier than most others. 

"I see. More importantly, since you're going to be studying under that elder, who's going to be with me?" Arza asked at the end, a bit shy.

To someone unknowing, it might sound like Arza was acting spoiled, but Evin knew that he was just reluctant to part ways.

"I'll still be around most of the time, and also, there's still Ssatsko in the school. Moreover, you would do well to make some other acquaintances. It wouldn't do you well to spend all your time with old people like us. Go to classes, do missions and see what you can do alone," Evin said.

"You just keep getting stronger and stronger… How am I supposed to ever beat you?" Arza grumbled.

"Well, now you know that it was never a fair fight. I had a lifetime of experience to draw up on, but you're just a normal four-year-old. And if someone asks, I think you're actually doing extremely well. Where did you see a four-year-old who can exchange blows with a peak tier-3 mana beast equally, huh? Don't sell yourself short. You're most likely the strongest kid in this whole place," Evin said, looking up to the giant child.

Evin pulled the boy's head closer and whispered: 

"And hey, if I'm allowed to teach you what I learned, I'll be sure to tell you all about it, okay?"

The red-haired boy seemed a bit reluctant, but said nothing and started packing himself, since the two had bought a better room in the morning. 

Evin picked up the few things that he put inside his room and left with Rith in his shadows.

[Are you sure it was okay to leave him like that?] the Cosmic asked.

[Well… It's definitely out of expectations, but it had to happen sooner or later,] Evin said.

He couldn't spend all his time with the boy, and the boy shouldn't be allowed to grow dependent on him.

[I suppose you're right,] Rith sighed from inside Evin's shadow.

Karan was still sleeping soundly. Evin didn't know why, but the skinshifter would always be sleeping since the Time Bomb incident.

Evin shook his head and headed towards Ssatsko's new living quarters. It was located in the area that was designated for non-mage staff, so Evin it was a relatively long walk.