Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"Theurien? Who's Theurien?" Skullius voiced in absolute ignorance. He pushed away what he assumed was a long winded insult and decided to focus on what was important.

Given the fact that he had just mentioned he had a letter from the Bryne Family, it wasn't outlandish to assume that this name had to do with that right?

Stylla did mention that this Arch-Mage Ryte was friends with her father.

Could her father be Theurien then?

That made sense.

"ARE YOU JUST A MESSENGER?! GIVE ME THE BLOODY PARCHMENT THEN BOY!" the vicious voice that blasted from the carpet came once again, a intricately controlled suction force pulling on the parchment Skullius held!

Could the carpet be used to see as well?

The item rushed from the Luman's grip before being sucked into the wide and deep wrinkle in the carpet.

After this, the carpet squirmed, the 'mouth' on it wiggling as if mirroring the motion of someone high up in the tower as they mumbled to themselves the contents of the written message.

Skullius used this moment of silence to pull himself from the wall and calm himself.

How Stylla had encouraged him to make the most out of this situation produced a constant ring in his mind. He had to ensure he secured the information he needed at all costs. It wasn't like he needed much anyway.

"HUH?! IT'S JUST THEURIEN'S LITTLE BRAT?! HOW BOLD SHE IS!" the booming voice sounded again, causing a light tremor where Skullius stood. "IT'S ALWAYS FAVOURS THEY ASK! LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER! EVEN CHILDREN THINK THEY CAN ASK ANYTHING OF ME!"

Skullius sucked in a deep breath.

Come on.

Come on.

Don't just act dumb, own the moment!

"Please, Arch-Mage Ryte. I know I must be imposing on your busy schedule but what I need is only a few minutes of your time. I only want answers about a few things," Skullius requested in a humble tone, hoping his voice would reach wherever the one who was speaking â€" hopefully Arch-Mage Ryte â€" was.

There was a contemplative hum, its origin the carpet as always.

"A FEW MINUTES OF MY TIME HE SAYS. YOU'RE NOT A MAGE BUT YOU SAW IT FIT TO SEEK COUNSEL FROM AN ARCH-MAGE DIRECTLY? WHAT COULD BE THAT REQUIRES MY EXPERTISE EXACTLY? I CANNOT AID YOU WITH TWIDDLING A SWORD, BOY. GO FIND SOMEONE ELSE."

...!

As soon as Skullius heard this, he felt a familiar energy wash over him from the walls that emitted a faint light over which runes were carved into, a spatial simmering of energy applying over him!

It was powerful!

It was ridiculously powerful!

Even the spatial lightning he constantly felt on the stout mountain didn't compare!

'I'm about to be expelled from the tower!' Skullius pieced together this result.

Of course, after what he had just heard, he was painfully made aware of the fact that he wasn't welcome and Stylla's words hadn't swayed the man at all.

"WHEN YOU FIND THAT LITTLE BRYNE BRAT, TELL HER NOT TO TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN! WE DO NOT EVEN QUALIFY AS ACQUAINTANCES!"

'I'm not letting this chance pass!' the Hybrid Luman thought.

Skullius grit his teeth.

Right before he was transported to who knew where â€" most likely the Academy entrance â€" , he activated [Greater Mana Crafter] and with all the focus he concentration he could conjure, he tried as hard as he could to disrupt the mana and runic inscription he saw facilitating the spatial warping!

Because of [Beyond the Hype], Skullius processed everything twice as quickly, making what would have been an instantaneous thing, something hard for him to perceive, quite a bit discernible with the full effort of his senses!

The mana around was skewed, its thick and rich abundance that ran amok in the walls as well as the air twisting as Skullius contended with the Tower Master for its control!

For a brief millisecond, the spatial displacement that was supposed to affect Skullius was delayed as with his face looking constipated, he wrestled against what was quite literally mega tonnes of diverse and complex weavings of mana and a slew of other energies!

'Holy.... shit!' Skullius exclaimed internally.

The mana here wasn't easy to move even with [Greater Mana Crafter]!

He could feel it!

If it really was Arch-Mage Ryte controlling it, his mere casual grasp on all these energies transcended beyond his own skill at mana manipulation applying with 100% effort!

This struggle however...

This delay in of what was intended, prompted slight intrigue in the other party.

"HMMM? CURIOUS..." the voice from the carpet sounded.

Along with its echo in the corridor the precise apportionment of energies around Skullius waned.

Plop!

Skullius dropped to the floor.

His eyes were bulged in shock and... just a hint of terror!

"WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT..." the voice sounded again with a lighter tone.

Quite abruptly, Skullius felt his body stretched through unknowns for a partition of time that his [Beyond the Hype] couldn't help him articulate and in the next moment, he appeared in an spacious room, his body still kneeling on the ground.

"Huh...?" Skullius voiced with his sweaty face depicting a flabbergasted expression.

It would have been exciting if he was simply within a room where Arch-Mage Ryte was sitting down languidly on a chair, looking down at him with condescending eyes but...

That wasn't it.

There just had to be something else.

This spacious room was in fact... a large classroom?

Ten rows of spaced, lengthy benches and desks could be seen, their surfaces inhabited by 25 robed figures.

Apprentices.

Some of them looked at Skullius with surprise and others giggled at his dumbfounded face, expressing their unshakeable sense of superiority with their eyes.

'Where....? Am I still in the Tower? How come this room is so big? Is it like the spatial storage ring?' Skullius asked himself as his senses took in everything around him.

Aside from the benches and desks, various equipment was stashed all around this room neatly, most of it being beakers, tubes and herbs of different kinds.

"Ahem..." a voice sounded from the side, gathering Skullius' attention. He had already felt the vast presence but was distracted by this sudden turn of events.

Did he succeeded?

It seemed so.

A man who looked to be in his fifties stood by a large black board attached to the wall where everything he had written with chalk was moving mysteriously.

The man had downturned brown eyes and thick lips under his well groomed moustache, his button nose surrounded by a slightly wrinkled skin warping his image as an established adult. Very short strands of hair were perked on his head, their colour a pristine white but not from age. It was the hue of mana saturating every portion of the hair sublimely, a testament to his rank in Magecraft.

He held a parchment in his hand while looking at Skullius with a raised brow.

"Are you going to remain in that defeated pose all day? Stand up, boy!" the man shouted with a fierce tone that jolted Skullius up clumsily, much to audience's delight â€" deprecating laughter.

Skullius ignored the attention with only slight hints of annoyance.

"Arch-Mage Ryte?" he asked carefully. At this point it was obvious but... just to be sure Skullius asked.

"I think we are way beyond that point, boy. I have no time to waste with you. As you can see my students in Transmutation are awaiting my precious instruction," the Arch-Mage Ryte said while slapping the rolled up parchment on his other hand, a strangely intimidating action.

"I'll admit, I did not think someone like you could have such a decent mastery of mana. A bit more practise and your control would fit the prerequisite of becoming a First Year Apprentice."

...?

Skullius had a lot to say to this.

First Year Apprentice?

His [Greater Mana Crafter] which could immobilise his opponents when he grasped the mana in the air tight, absorb mana from hundreds of cores simultaneously among many other feats Skullius was proud of... was not even enough for one to be called an Apprentice?!

'I knew being a Mage was hard but...' Skullius thought with dread.

Arch-Mage Ryte detected his breaking self esteem and chuckled.

It was easy to see what bothered Skullius but he did not dwell on it as much as it would have been hilarious.

Skullius shook his head.

"Right... I... Thank you for giving me a chance. I just wanted to ask a few questions," Skullius repeated this request.

"Of course you do. I'm a little curious myself actually after that little show of yours. You seem to have a bit of an understanding of high level concepts. You managed to disrupt my runes by distorting the mana powering them but to do that, you needed to perceive the trans positioning about to take place. Which you seem to be capable of. I could call that genius for someone at your level. What Class do you have?" Arch-Mage Ryte asked.

Skullius thought for a bit.

The reason why Stylla had decided to help him get counsel from a Mage was because Skullius had been playing Mage since Inhone City. Now, in the presence of a real Mage, he couldn't afford to lie foolishly, else it could end badly.

"I'm a Swordsman trying to Class Branch into simple forms of Magecraft," Skullius replied.

"Oh. How generic," Arch-Mage Ryte remarked with a bit of disappointment.

This was the best reply Skullius could think of. If he tried to present himself as an Energy Former, it could end badly if he was discovered to not have anything related to the class he said he had.

That's why he chose Swordsman. Technically, he was one.

"Still, I will humour your questions... with the use of my students."

Skullius' face darkened.

The Apprentices in the room sniggered at Skullius. Some of them looked younger than him â€" his Luman form's appearance â€" and couldn't wait to dump him all sorts of information that did one thing; prove that they were better while impressing their teacher.

One of the students, a young woman with long leather black hair raised her hand with a smug expression etched on her face. Arch-Mage Ryte gestured to her and she posed a question towards the Hybrid Luman.

"Sir. If you wish to Class Branch into Magecraft, I assume you know the very basics of it, correct? Its origins? Its facets? Its categories? Surely someone wishing to learn should respect the subject enough to learn that much right?" the young woman asked with her ego causing her head to rise.

Skullius clicked his tongue secretly.

This woman's voice...

She was the one who had spoke through the carpet first earlier.

'Tsk. Going by that she really must love to showoff.'