Chương 41: Fatehound

High Academ Heldon had set up a meeting between Ryland and the Headmaster for the next day. It was nice that he was getting at least a day of warning rather than being forced to meet Alaric within the next hour or something. Caring for one's time was one of the most fundamental but often overlooked forms of respect. It was also nice that, on the day of the meeting, Ryland still had enough time to get in another episode of Echoes of Stardust. The current arc almost brought tears to his eyes.

Really, coming up with the storylines and arcs this compelling and satisfying had to count as some form of magic too. With his heart tremendously satisfied, Ryland headed out to find the Headmaster. Alaric might have physically been in his office, but his mind certainly didn't appear to be relegated to his chambers. Ryland wondered if it was even on Arcoryx Academy, going by the harried yet far-away look on his face.

"Greetings, Headmaster," Ryland said with a slight nod of respectful sympathy.

"Would you like me to come some other time?" It wasn't a waste of time. He could just [Translocate] away. Kindness was more important, especially when one seemed as stressed as the Headmaster currently was. Alaric's gaze snapped back to reality.

"Ryland! Heldon said you'd be invaluable for assisting us with the matter. So, no. Some other time would probably make things worse. Let's go." Rather brusque, but Ryland nodded and allowed himself to be led away. Today was the weekend so people were free from classes and duties. Well, most people were. The Headmaster couldn't relax under current circumstances. As they travelled, Alaric explained the situation to Ryland. Since his knowledge was mostly limited to rumours and hearsay, he listened attentively.

"I hesitate to speak of it even now," Alaric said quietly. His silver beard and hair were all awry, clearly in need of a good brush.

"Because I suspect there has been a certain level of manipulation. And if it runs as deep as I think it might, then my words might give the perpetrators even more ammunition." That was concerning. Now Ryland felt even more intrigued. It made sense, however. Bypassing the academy's safeguards to steal one of its greatest treasures was an incredible feat. Ryland himself wasn't certain he'd have been able to get away with it as smoothly as the current thief seemed to have.

Because the spells he'd have relied on would leave magical markers that others could trace. Of course, he'd have just rifted away to a Realm where he couldn't be pursued. But that almost felt like cheating. He seriously doubted the perpetrator had teleported off to another Realm. Alaric went on to mention that he was the one who had discovered the theft. It had been a routine check.

A day or so ago, when he had been performing his weekly survey of all the academy's defences and security, Alaric had found the vault storing the treasure completely empty. He had immediately rushed to said vault and found that it was true. The treasure was gone.

"It's especially concerning because it's not something we can afford to lose," Alaric said in a hushed tone. They were taking one of the floating platforms to move to a keep-like structure near the centre of the academy grounds.

"The Vestige, yes?" Ryland asked.

"From the Calamity of the Cosmos?" Alaric looked as though Ryland had stabbed him in the groin.

"Ah, I shouldn't be surprised you're aware of it…" There was a good reason why the Headmaster was this troubled.

"It is indeed a terrible loss."

"Yes. The implications that are spreading even now are difficult to contemplate, much less face." Linsby had been right. He had mentioned the Manabreak mine, which made terrible sense in context. The Vestige of a Calamity that could cut through the fabric of reality much like how Ryland could was tremendously valuable. Especially if it was used to enforce control over the Manabreak incident far beneath Arcoryx City.

It was the single most important item that had turned what would have been an apocalypse into a revolutionary incident that would drive the rapid progress of civilization for the city. For all of Androvia and Vyrd, in fact. For it was this Manabreak mine that Arcoryx City had used to cultivate Living Mana into useful forms rather than destructive ones. It was the reason the academy was able to create a dome of Living Mana and manipulate it to serve their needs.

It was why they had enhanced Glyphlights powered by Living Mana that could adapt to a wide variety of conditions without the need for a frankly ridiculous number of Subglyphs in the Inscribed spell circle. Developments like that had followed in various sectors. Ryland hadn't seen them all, but living in Arcoryx City for a couple of weeks had shown him just how much things had advanced over the time he had been absent. It wasn't needed continuously, of course.

The Vestige's main function had been to establish initial control, and if that waned when the Inscriptions weakened, then the Vestige could be used again. Still, the loss was worrying. Especially if the Manabreak evolved in a direction that turned all the controls the mages of Arcoryx had put in completely useless. Naturally, Alaric was highly concerned. And not just him either. He hadn't named anyone yet, but Ryland had no trouble imagining the sheer outcry he was having to manage.

It wouldn't be surprising if there were letters from both the High King and the Prime Minister of Androvia on Alaric's desk. To state that the central structure was heavily guarded was a tremendous understatement. Ryland once again needed to lower a good number of his own Inscriptions and magical defences before he could go through the concentric barriers they had erected around the building. Multiple mages, both Enforcers and academy ones, scanned them with Glyphtech devices. Ryland received several looks.

Most of them were either suspicious or curious about his presence. But no one dared to question the Headmaster's authority to bring who he thought was appropriate. Within the larger hall, there were further protective measures they needed to navigate. Ryland was very intrigued to find them moving through the style of obstacles he had faced in the second stage of the Entrance Trials. Such as when they entered a passageway where the door appeared to get farther away the more they moved.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The hallway had no walls, appearing instead as though they were travelling along a long floor set into the cosmos itself. Yet another defensive measure. Ryland had spotted the floor getting thinner as soon as they had stepped through the doorway, threatening to disappear entirely and plunge them into the cosmos.

Alaric rectified the situation by presenting a Glyph of Identity that shone very brightly, reminding Ryland a little of his time at the bank. At the end of the hallway, which had returned to a very normal length after Alaric had presented himself, they reached a final barrier. Here, the Inscribed Glyphs verified that it was indeed the Headmaster with extreme scrutiny. Ryland actually had difficulty coming up with methods that would allow him to bypass the Inscribed security spell circle they were using there.

The sheer congestion of Subglyphs made deciphering the spell circle rather difficult, which was obviously the point. Plus, the Subglyphs kept changing. Twisting and reshaping into new ones. Clearly, it was powerful. Yet, if Ryland was allowed some time, he was certain he'd have found holes. After all, someone had gotten past to steal what lay within. The massive vault door opened, allowing them entry into a chamber lined with constellations and stars. At the centre of the room was a large, empty black dais.

"Sir." One of the Enforcer Mages hurriedly stepped towards the Headmaster, glancing at Ryland with undisguised contempt.

"What is the meaning of this? We weren't informed about any unauthorized personnel entering the scene of the crime." Alaric was clearly in no mood to stand for aggravation just then.

"What do you mean unauthorized? He's with me." The masked Enforcer recoiled for just a moment at the Headmaster's no-nonsense approach but then reasserted his own authority.

"With all due respect, Headmaster, you do recall that I don't answer to you, yes? The Minister of Security will be extremely displeased to hear that you're allowing unknown entities into such a restricted area for—actually, I don't even know for what reason." He ended that with a short little glare at Ryland for daring to be present. Alaric took a deep breath to calm the vein throbbing on his temple.

"Naturally, the Minister of Security has the right to feel that way. Just as he holds the right to feel highly displeased that his hand-picked team of Enforcers have still not found any credible leads." Masked though he was, Ryland caught his neck turning red.

"There will be consequences! The Minister will hear of this."

"Of course he will. I'll be telling him myself." With that, Alaric swiftly turned away, done with giving time to a completely irrelevant figure. Ryland gracefully followed to the black dais.

"They've been suspicious of you from the start," Alaric said a little apologetically and in a low voice.

"So it's especially aggravating that I brought you of all people." Ryland wasn't really surprised. He just needed to think back to how Sint had been wary around him. Was still wary around him. He had also noted the proof of his growing reputation. Basically, it was no surprise the Enforcers considered his presence highly questionable.

While the Enforcers in general were clearly not a group inclined to assist the Headmaster, not when Ryland was present, Alaric had no compunctions in calling one of them over and bossing the fellow.

"Please explain to us what you've tried so far," he said.

"Several things, Headmaster." The Enforcer's posture was stiff as a board." [Rewind], [Linked Tracking], [Imprint Echo], and we've even attempted to use familiars."

"Ah, that's an interesting suite of spells," Ryland said. If the Enforcer thought anything about Ryland's comment, he didn't voice it.

"No luck with any of them?" Alaric asked.

"Not even after any modifications?" The Enforcer shook his head.

"Do you mind casting them again?" Ryland asked.

"I already have ideas I wish to execute, but that may change depending on what you do get." The Enforcer hesitated, but Alaric nodded at the man to proceed, so there was no choice. [Rewind] was a spell Ryland was familiar with himself. It created a bounded field, within which light went back in time to show what had occurred in the field. Ryland refamiliarized himself with the Vestige—an enormous fang, black but cracked with white lines bleeding red. Even through a mere image, it exuded power. Hmm.

Now he was curious what had happened to the rest of the fangs he had torn apart. The images remained steady for a while. And then they saw the large, jagged, man-sized tooth simply disappearing into thin air. Ryland was still impressed. [Rewind] needed a Glyph of Time as the Centreglyph, which meant the caster had a Soul Glyph of Time. That was one of the most difficult Soul Glyphs to acquire. And it was at Tier [13] too. Not bad.

It was starting to make sense why these people worked directly under a Minister of Androvia.

"The Vestige was either [Banished] from a distance," the Enforcer said.

"Or the perpetrator simply cloaked it while stealing it away."

"And you don't know which it was," Ryland said.

"Because [Imprint Echo] failed to pick up a spell signature." The Enforcer cast the spell Ryland mentioned. A circle glowed, its Centreglyph at Tier [11]. But it showed nothing. There was a slight warping and rushing of air just above the dais, but that was it. Ryland confirmed the effect by casting the same spell himself. His Centreglyph was at Tier [20], outshining the Enforcer's spell very easily and making the masked man stare.

Yet even a spell that was several degrees stronger failed to produce anything conclusive or even give a hint as to how best to proceed.

"And [Linked Tracking]?" Ryland asked. The Enforcer tore his eyes away from the spot where Ryland's spell had been hanging in the air.

"Um, yes." His voice was a lot quieter now, almost as respectful and subservient as he was being to the Headmaster.

"It failed and couldn't find any specific disturbances or leavings or anything of the sort that could be tracked properly."

"So we're still stumped," Alaric said. He sighed in despondence. Ryland realized that was another reason most of the Enforcers were staying away from the Headmaster and from him. They didn't want to face their shame at the fact that the perpetrator had outwitted them.

"And the familiars?" Ryland asked.

"Were they able to pick up anything?"

"Not a trace. We're leaving them behind just to ensure safety and that this wasn't a trick of sorts. But they weren't able to detect a thing."" How is this possible?" The Headmaster looked as though he was moments away from tugging off his beard.

"We've never had a breach of this magnitude before. Who could outdo all the defensive layers we possess and leave no trace of their presence at all?" The Enforcer looked at Ryland. Well, so much for that momentary awe.

"Who indeed."

"I will not have you casting aspersions on people I have approved of," Alaric said in a dangerous tone.

"Cease it this instant, or I will be forced to remove you from this investigation."

"With all due respect, sir, everyone is under reasonable suspicion. Including yourself." Alaric turned minorly apoplectic. It was one thing to suspect others. But suspecting the Headmaster himself of stealing from his own academy was a bit much, even to Ryland. He calmly cleared his throat.

"Has there been any discoveries as to how our perpetrator entered the chamber?" The Enforcer caught Alaric's expression and spoke fast to hopefully change the subject.

"We've tried a similar suite of spells at the doorways. No luck. It was like the thief just… appeared inside or something…" he said very dubiously. Ryland ignored it and looked around with interest.

"I do believe finding the entry and exit methods would be of great significance in this case. Although, at a glance, I can't even begin to wonder how all this was achieved." That apparently seemed to incense the Enforcer leader, who had slinked back into their presence.

"How would you of all people know anything anyway?" he said. He spoke so hard, his mask was moving on his face, his hands twitching like he wanted to remove it just so he could speak more clearly.

"The Headmaster hasn't even bothered to introduce you. Your very presence is trampling on the professional effort we've been putting here for a whole day now." Ryland supposed the man had a point. Alaric clearly didn't care for these Enforcers, nowhere near enough to respect their professionalism and authority, but Ryland didn't have to be the same way. Even if they were being belligerent. Alaric was about to answer the man with some choice words, going by the enraged look on his face, but Ryland spoke first.

"Allow me to correct your assumptions, then," he said. His mana began flowing like the surge of a broken dam. He glanced at Alaric.

"May I?" For the briefest moment, the Headmaster hesitated. Then he glanced at the Enforcer and nodded." [Destined Hunt]." A crack split the air in the middle of the chamber. Everyone inside tensed, staring as a rift formed a few handspans away from the dais. Some reacted by drawing weapons, others prepared to cast spells, but Ryland paid them no mind. From within the depths of the dark rift, a hound emerged.

"That's—" The leader of the Enforcers lost his voice for a moment.

"That's a Fatehound!" Another Enforcer stared at Ryland like he was the actual monster here. How rude.

"He just opened a rift. Here?" Ryland stepped forward and patted the star-strewn fur of the enormous good boy.

"Now," he said, smiling at the gobsmacked Enforcers.

"We can hopefully find a clue about our little thief."