Chương 40: Inscriber

that the Headmaster was the ultimate authority on deciding which treasures Arcoryx Academy would or wouldn't keep within its vaunted halls. One could be forgiven for thinking that as long as an item was rare and powerful, whether it be a storied weapon of an ancient battlemage or a Relic from a bygone era infused with incredible power, they'd find a home in the academy's vaults. That wasn't always the case, however.

What Arcoryx was most concerned with, according to the eleventh Headmaster, Schurist, was the preservation of history, not the preservation of power. So it wasn't just incredibly magical Relics that could be found in the academy's coffers. If one looked properly, one could discover copies of transcendental texts—both mundane and magical. Reports and articles of momentous events within the academy were held in the same room as the bloodily acquired Sun Staff from Abregon.

They even have a section to store monumental achievements by academy students, such as several iterations of Glyphtech automobiles, the tear in spacetime that foretold Androvia's military dominance, a Tier [18] lava golem… Excerpt from Special Report: Academy Treasures City Magazine Errol K. The whole academy was abuzz. It didn't matter where Ryland went, he didn't stop hearing about it.

He visited the bathroom and heard a conversation across the series of stalls, passed by classes where the Academs were giving a lecture on why a theft like this was a matter of substantial concern, and even found a debate parlour where students were embroiled in a passionate discourse on the philosophy of thieving. Even when Ryland visited the cafeteria, nearly every group of students and even the lone group of Academs he went by were engaged in conversation about it.

Frankly, it was starting to feel a mite ridiculous. But he supposed things like this didn't happen often. Ryland was just about finished deciding whether he'd have a regular boiled chicken egg or one of the special firebird, griffin, or roc eggs, but someone else sidled up next to him.

"I'm surprised you need food." Ryland turned to Alendra.

"I don't."

"Ha! I knew it." She observed his choice of roc egg critically.

"And yet, you can't resist the delicate pleasure of eating."

"Correct. Although, I like to think of it as something to ground myself with." She gave him a rather complicated look he wasn't able to decipher just then. So instead, he focused on picking more breakfast items.

"Well, two can play the exotic egg breakfast," Alendra said, before picking two roc eggs. Ryland raised an eyebrow at her, then moved on to the pancake section.

"You're not concerned about the theft at all, are you?" she asked when she joined him in selecting the right syrup. Ryland finished directing the pancake-making Glyphtech stove, choosing his options carefully—some nuts, no sugar, and a light dusting of phoenix ash—before turning to her.

"Should I be?"

"This is one of the greatest events in the history of Arcoryx Academy! You're pretending like it's no big deal! And—" She took an offhand bite of her pancake, then promptly forgot what she was saying.

"I love pancakes." Ryland laughed softly. The last thing he got was a bit of milk with some Elderbee honey before finally finding a seat. Alendra followed him after she got some juice. Her drink was vividly pink, the occasional spark shooting out of its top surface and glimmering within its depths. She took the seat opposite.

"I believe," Ryland said after swallowing down his first bite of his pancakes. It made him realize how much he had missed them.

"That I could find the culprit before long." Alendra stiffened at that. Then she scowled.

"Of course you're like that."

"Like what?"

"Like it's nothing to you."

"It's not nothing to me." Ryland briefly considered the rather hefty list of things he had experienced.

"But it does fall on the less fascinating end of the spectrum of noteworthy events."

"Figures." She began wolfing down her food like she was starving.

"But don't worry. The day I triumph over you is going to be the most noteworthy event of your life." Ryland swallowed down his drink.

"I look forward to it!" Alendra looked a little bit like she wanted to strangle him but was kept too busy by her food to do so. They chatted pleasantly as they ate. Alendra seemed a little evasive if Ryland ever strayed too close to asking anything personal. And when he tried to explain anything about himself, her eyes would glaze over and she quickly stopped him. Hmm. Maybe he was once again speaking too quickly and trying to condense too much information.

That said, he did learn that she had joined the Excursion Club and was already a respected figure there. Apparently, her magical combat skills were top-notch. That made sense. Ryland had seen her fight ferociously, when she hadn't been incapacitated by acrophobia. Their pleasant breakfast was interrupted when some masked Enforcer Mages walked in. Ryland wasn't surprised that the situation had escalated to the point where the most powerful peacekeeping force in Androvia was already involved.

Their billowing dark gold cloaks didn't hide the shiny armour beneath, nor the hilts of their magical weapons belted to their backs and waists. They arrowed straight for a group of students, then escorted them away. The encounter lasted perhaps a minute or so, but the whole cafeteria was silent for a long while afterwards.

"It's nothing serious," Alendra said, continuing to eat her pancakes. She had gone off to acquire a golden apple too, though she was keeping it in reserve for some reason. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Ryland nodded.

"I'm certain they're only being taken to be questioned. Nothing more." Presumably, those students had been somewhat near the location where the theft had occurred. He had serious doubts a random group of academy students would not only manage to steal one of the most heavily-guarded treasures inside the academy but then also be lazing about in the cafeteria. Ryland had seen quite a lot of absurdity in his life, but there were limits.

"Maybe we should tell them to consult you," Alendra said.

"Oh, mighty detective Ryland." He finished up his sweetened milk.

"Maybe after my class."

"I wasn't being serious!" She pointed at him as he got up to head out.

"Just so you know, I'm going to take centre stage at the seminar. You won't upstage me forever."

"Oh, right. The seminar." Ryland spent a few seconds thinking. It seemed he'd need to come up with something to present. Though, this being the first introductory seminar, he should be given some grace, right?

"I'm intrigued to see what your research topic is!" Alendra grinned.

"Just you wait. It'll blow your mind." Her brows arched for a moment.

"Though I won't lie, I think quite a few people are waiting to see what you decide to work on." She scoffed.

"They can't figure out why in the world you'd pick Hertitius Heldon as your mentor." Ryland was tempted to grin right back at Alendra. He also wanted to ask who exactly they were supposed to be, but he had a feeling he already knew.

"But you've figured it out?"

"I think it's mostly a partnership of convenience rather than an actual master-apprentice thing."

"That's quite astute of you." Alendra laughed as she got up.

"I knew it. I haven't even found a mentor, and here you are, finding fake mentors. You have no idea how many of them were champing at the bit to acquire you as an apprentice like you were some kind of crown jewel, do you?"

"I… did not," Ryland admitted. Alaric had neglected to mention it, though it left him curious how Alendra knew about it.

"Yet you seem well aware."

"I like to keep abreast of what people are thinking." She shook her head as she began to leave.

"Anyway, just remember, Ryland. I think most people don't actually want to know what you're going to be researching. Rather, they just want to find out what in all the Realms you're doing at Arcoryx Academy." Ryland decided to figure out his lesson plan for the next few classes well ahead of time. This required him to pay a visit to the Department of Requisitions at Arcoryx Academy.

"These papers are expensive," the administration employee was saying as Ryland took yet another Inscription leaflet.

"Are you sure you acquired permission through your department? They're going to be paying a lot for this. Each of these pages cost more than the meals for a student for an entire day!"

"Well, I took permission from the Headmaster," Ryland said. That had the official gawping a bit, which intensified when he received the extremely official permission slip from Headmaster Alaric, signed and sealed and everything.

"I—well—this is highly irregular!" Ryland continued collecting the papers. He was trying not to take up too much space or move overmuch. The Department of Requisitions wasn't small itself, but the remote offices it provided to each department weren't even as big as most classrooms. With how they were stuffed with the materials faculty and administration needed, there was hardly any room to move. In all honesty, Ryland didn't need that many of the papers.

Twenty students in his class meant twenty sets of Inscription leaflets, pages that were specially modified during construction to accept Inscribed Glyphs far better than normal paper. He had learned his lesson. Having refamiliarized himself with the vast amounts of bureaucratic opposition and red tape one was likely to encounter in institutions and organizations such as Arcoryx Academy, Ryland had prepared himself properly this time. There was no higher authority within the academy than its Headmaster.

Since Ryland knew Alaric personally, it was expected he'd use that connection to get things done. Another official had trundled over, frowning hard at Ryland.

"What in the world does sleepy Heldon and his graduate student even need all this Inscription paper for?"

"For a magical assessment of the students taking part in the class," Ryland said.

"Assessment?" The second official's frown grew into a scowl.

"What, are you going to assess them on creating Glyphs from scratch or something?"

"Indeed!" The man stared at him.

"That's insane!" He looked around at the other officials.

"Who would have approved such a thing in the curriculum?" Ryland gently bundled up the majority of the leaflets together.

"Did you know that insanity and ingenuity are often different sides of the same coin?"

"Someone call for assistance! We're being robbed!" Ryland shook his head, minorly affronted.

"If you were being robbed, the department wouldn't be reimbursing you, now would they?"

"Argh!" To quell the overly feisty protectiveness these people had for their seemingly precious resources, Ryland decided to give them a small demonstration. He didn't even understand their recalcitrance. Resources were meant to be used, not hoarded indefinitely. It wasn't like these officials received a commission based on how many pencils they safeguarded against barbarically voracious Academs. Well, he hoped they didn't. Pushing the thoughts out of his head, Ryland just cast his spells.

His Soul Glyph of Genesis took the position of his spell circle's Centreglyph, Inscribing onto the paper with ease, as did his spell's Subglyphs." [Phantasmal Surge]." [Achievement Recognized: Inscriber You have Inscribed a Tier [18] spell while being merely Gold-ranked. Rank up from Gold [28] to Gold [37]. Reward: 30 Conversion Prints for use on any non-living matter. Achievement absorbed by Manasoul Archetype [???].] Ryland was tempted to scratch his chin at the reward. Interesting.

Now the Grand Frame was helping him turn matter itself into Glyphs.

Meanwhile, the officials continued staring with disbelief etched on every line of their faces as Ryland's spell took effect.

"What in the…?"

"How did you—?"

"This shouldn't be possible!" Ryland smiled. It seemed the spell was working exactly as intended.

"The idea behind the spell is that each interactor will attain a vastly different experience based on their own life. The spell essentially creates a series of what-if scenarios where you can play around with the events of your past, with the choices you've made, and come up with different outcomes."

"And you just…" The first official looked at Ryland as though he was looking at the moon exploding.

"Happen to know a spell of this calibre, just like that?" Ryland was at least glad to see that they seemed to have forgotten their dubiousness on why he'd need Inscription paper.

"I didn't, actually. I came up with it very recently." He smiled genially.

"I got the idea from my dreaming mentor, you see."

"You idiot!" Another official smacked his younger companion on the back of his head.

"That's him. The new, uh, the new sub-Academ from the Entrance Trails."

"Th- that's him?"" Yes, you fool." Ah. More evidence that Ryland was a known quantity, just like what that official at the Department of Herbology and Potions had proven. Clearly, word of him had spread, despite Alaric's best efforts. The officers didn't ask for further explanations and Ryland didn't provide any. He had given them enough evidence. Several of them continued to be mesmerized by the spell's effects.

"Do you…wish to keep one?" Ryland asked with a little grin. With enormous effort, the second official tore his eyes away from the Inscription paper.

"This is for your class, yes, sub-Academ?" There hadn't been the note of respect earlier, but better late than never.

"We can't waste an Inscription paper on our personal follies." He glared at the rest of his officers.

"Come on, you lot. We have actual work to do instead of dreaming while awake." His force of will dragged the others away rather easily, though they did look back somewhat wistfully at the Inscription paper with [Phantasmal Surge]. Ah, well. Their loss. When Ryland returned to his office, he found a letter waiting for him. Sadly, it wasn't the missive from Sint he was hoping for. The last he had heard, her mentor was rather busy with the start of the new semester. Strangely, the letter was from Heldon.

Ryland decided against wondering how exactly the ever-sleeping High Academ actually went about writing and delivering letters. Instead, he perused its contents. He frowned just a bit. It seemed he really would need to solve the case of who had stolen the Vestige of a Calamity from Arcoryx Academy.