Chương 70: Faithful Apology

"Impossible…" the dragonkin Academ murmured. He was shivering in the chilly air atop Sundermount now that all the chaotic magic was gone. That was perhaps a reasonable take on things, considering everything that had transpired. Ryland wouldn't have quite put it the same way, but then, not everyone would feel the same as him. Honestly, he was just glad Sint wasn't present. She'd have had a field day at seeing the Oracle's reaction.

"What exactly is impossible?" Ryland asked. The blue-scaled dragonkin turned to him with slit-pupiled eyes.

"What?"

"You didn't specify, High Academ. Do you find your presence here impossible? Or is it the fact that Oracle appeared to have orchestrated this entire incident that seems difficult to believe? Or perhaps it was the arrival of the Incarnation that has you so shocked?" The High Academ opened his mouth, then closed it without answering. Then he did it again.

"I'm afraid I couldn't quite catch that, High Academ," Ryland said." You, Ryland," Tyra said, barging into the conversation.

"Orthoryssix finds you impossible." High Academ Orthoryssix nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Ah," Ryland said. They had a little space to chat because the Church and the Wardens were busy with each other, with the latter making sure the former no longer entertained any hostile and aggressive intentions. This gave the Academs free rein to finally do what they did best—conduct some intense, spirited research.

"What are the properties of this rift you created, sub-Academ Ryland?" asked the mage who had reprimanded High Academ Soto, nearly shoving him aside to get to Ryland. Her eyes were shining with avid interest.

"What exact mechanism did you use to achieve this effect?" Ryland took a deep breath.

"Well—""Forget that," Marvainn said.

"What was the healing magic you used on the Oracle? Since when are you capable of that kind of healing magic?" Sedian had her hands at her hips.

"He just fended off an Incarnation. What is wrong with you lots' priorities?"

"Please, not now," Tyra said. They all arched their eyebrows at her, Ryland included, and she sighed.

"Yes, it pains me to admit it, but this really isn't the time to interrogate sub-Academ Ryland about his magic." The Academs groaned in disappointment. Ryland tried not to join in.

"It's okay," one of the other Academs called.

"You and Orthoryssix can take care of this, Tyra. We have full faith in you two. We're going to investigate the magic itself." The dragonkin Academ, Orthoryssix, scowled heavily at the Academ who had blithely proclaimed the dereliction of his duties in favour of hedonistically enjoying his current circumstance.

"Headmaster, this is highly inappropriate." For his part, Alaric looked torn between minding his Academs and trying to mediate the tension between the clergy and the Warden Mages.

"Don't listen to Orthoryssix, Headmaster," another Academ said in the group touring the edge of Sundermount's top.

"We're actually conducting valuable magical research. Judging the distance to here from the academy, I believe we can crack the code behind sub-Academ Ryland's admittedly impressive rift magic before long. Just give us a bit of time." Honestly, Ryland was very curious what exactly their research was going to reveal. It also tickled him that they were happy to ignore all the other madness in favour of exploring new magic they had been exposed to. He shook his head bemusedly. Academs.

"Please watch out for the lip about fifteen handspans to your left," Ryland said loudly.

"It looks like solid ground, but it's actually a mere spar of ice that will collapse if you press too much weight upon it at once." The Academ at the edge of the mountaintop waved his arm appreciatively at Ryland.

"Thank you, sub-Academ."

"How do you even know something so specific?" Tyra asked. Then she shook her head.

"No. Don't answer that. It was a stupid question." Ryland wasn't quite sure what had broken the tension between him and the other Academs. Moments ago, when he had faced off against the Oracle, they had appeared quite wary of him. Even now, the way Vertha had called him a Calamity was resounding in his ears.

"What isn't a stupid question," Sedian said.

"Is asking about what we just saw."" Did you actually see anything?" Marvainn asked." Something arrived, something incredibly powerful, but everything was just… frozen."

"An Incarnation," Ryland said mildly.

"That is what visited us." A silence descended on them. He was a mite surprised they hadn't already arrived at that conclusion, but perhaps it was more a matter of disbelief. Especially when the mention of the Incarnation had both the Wardens and the clergy looking over at them—looking at him —with a wild mix of looks. As much as he would have liked to understand what exactly they were conversing about, he still figured things were being taken care of without his involvement, so he didn't need to bother.

"The point," Orthoryssix said.

"Is that we literally have a mage in our midst who was able to teleport all of us, including the Headmaster, the High Warden, and the Oracle, to Sundermount."

"Rift," Ryland corrected mildly.

"Not teleport, High Academ." Orthoryssix glared softly.

"Fine. Rift. Aren't any of you concerned that we were just witness to magic that far surpasses nearly anything we've ever seen? He fended off a literal Incarnation."

"You cannot mention his power without his actions and achievements with said power," Tyra countered.

"Had it not been for Ryland's presence, the Incarnation would have ended us all!"

"Had it not been for him, the Incarnation wouldn't have come down in the first place!" Orthoryssix scratched his scales aggressively.

"Do you understand, Tyra? We were visited by a literal Incarnation. When was the last time in recorded history that has happened? Do you understand how incredible it is that Ryland's presence called down a being sighted once a century at best?" This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I can vouch a great deal for sub-Academ Ryland," Tyra said.

"He was indispensable in recent incidents such as apprehending Academ Folis before anything truly untoward occurred." She left out the bit where he had wiped out the Living Mana Incursion, though Ryland supposed that one probably wasn't obvious to most people. Or rather, it hadn't been. But now, having seen something closer to the true extent of his magic in person, he couldn't help but wonder how many of those were connecting the dots about what had happened to the Living Mana.

The Academ's bickering had to take a back seat as the rest of the gathering finally approached. Both the Wardens and the clergy continued to look wary. But Ryland ignored them. His eyes were only on the Oracle. It appeared she was finally ready to conclude this debacle. [Immortal Rejuvenation] made her look as good as she had before this whole debacle had started, so while Ryland wasn't expecting effusive gratitude, he did hope that their views of him were swinging in his favour in the end.

"Marionys Ryland," the Oracle said. Since she wasn't channelling divine magic any longer, her words were a lot more normal now. Nevertheless, the authority in her every syllable made the entire gathering hang on her statement.

"You remain an unaffected enigma."

"Really? Even now?"

"Even now. And even now, I do not retract my judgment. For I read Fate yet again after my revival, and the truth it portrays hasn't changed."

"I do not argue against that truth either, for what it's worth." The clergy stiffened. The Wardens looked nervous. Even the Academs appeared unsure about what to make of it all. Ryland was, essentially, admitting to being a Calamity.

"Fortunately," Oracle Vertha said.

"You have proven yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt. Proven that you not just possess the power you seem to have, but that your intentions with said power aren't malignant." Nobody argued against that assertion. For all that the Academs might have attempted to conduct their own little investigation, it paled against the inquisition that the Oracle had launched on Ryland. It definitely paled against the fact that he had faced off against an Incarnation of all things.

"I believe you have ideas of restitution for wrong accusations and the like," the Oracle said.

"For which…" She bowed her head. The rest of the clergy gasped, several trying to protest, though they silenced themselves at an indication from her. The Wardens and the Academs just gawked on.

"I, on behalf of the New and the Old Church, apologize."

"Your Eminence," the High Warden said.

"This is—""This is done. It seems there is greater nuance in judgment that I must keep in mind, even in cases as… extreme as this."

"Are we to simply take the Church's word for it, then?" Orthoryssix asked.

"Forgive my brazen words, Your Eminence, but are we to simply accept your judgment? Do we, as Academs, have no say in the matter?"

"I am certainly not barring you from anything, High Academ," the Oracle said. He nodded at her, then turned to face Ryland.

"Who are you, Ryland? Truly?" Ryland inhaled deeply, but he didn't speak yet.

"Please don't launch into another long-winded explanation," Tyra muttered. Ryland released his breath in a laugh. Honestly, he had been prepared for this, which meant he wasn't going to need to rely on a hasty answer trying to summarize far too much in far too few sentences. Although, it would have been fun to see even Academs go cross-eyed.

"Here," Ryland said, sparing Tyra the horror.

"I'm not quite certain I can manage this, since the bank is supposed to be protected against this sort of magic. But then, this is my magic—forgive the arrogance, please. Anyway, this should spare the need for further clarification. [Translocate]." A smaller rift popped up to his left, space cracking as he thrust his hand within it. He withdrew his arm a moment later. Bringing out a shining longsword with a jewel-crusted hilt of gold. Every single eye that was on him had gone wide with shocked disbelief.

This included both High Academ Tyra and Headmaster Alaric, as well as the High Warden. Even the Oracle was shaking her head. They were all staring agog at the brilliant sword in his hand, its blade gleaming bright enough that Ryland could see his reflection almost as good as any mirror.

"Is that…?" Marvainn didn't even finish his sentence.

"It can't be…" Soto rounded on him with a venomous glare.

"Oh, so who's disbelieving now?"

"That's real." Alaric was finally approaching, having either grown weary of watching proceedings from farther behind or, as was more likely, deciding to finally take control of the matter with the opening Ryland had granted him.

"That is indeed the Sacred Blade of House Faldor."

"The Prime Minister's treasure…" Tyra murmured.

"I'm not certain he knows it's here of all places," Alaric muttered.

"And House Faldor likes to maintain the buzz around their lost treasures to keep others interested. But you will note that they have never asked anyone to find them. Almost all were given out to deserving heroes of the Realmbreaker Wars." The Academs all absorbed the context in silence, their eyes constantly switching between the storied weapon and its apparent wielder—Ryland.

"But this is…" Orthoryssix's voice faltered. He couldn't deny reality. Because the sword was a real Relic. There was an undeniable aura to it, a presence that was almost living, the weight of hallowed history giving it a certain power that couldn't be discounted even by the weakest of mages with next to no magical senses.

"Marionys Ryland is one of the ancients from the era of the Realmbreaker Wars," Alaric said. He said it so plainly, he might have been saying Ryland was chocolate flavoured bread.

"For many reasons, I wanted to keep it under wraps, not least of which was the political implications. As such, I trust that you all will be as discreet about the matter as you can." He said it for the benefit of the Church and the Wardens as well. The words of a Primordial-ranked mage held a great deal of weight.

"But why," Sedian asked.

"What business does someone like you have here at Arcoryx?" Her voice grew sceptical.

"Is it because of the rumours…?" Alaric gave her a sharp look.

"As a High Academ of Arcoryx Academy, giving credence to unfounded whispers and mutters is the last thing you ought to be doing, Sedian. At the Academy, we prioritize rigorous facts over all else. We adhere to nothing but the truth." Ryland raised his eyebrows very pointedly at that. In a similar fashion, Alaric pointedly ignored it.

"I apologize, Headmaster," Sedian said with a slight flush.

"It's just that, there have been slight disturbances. Ripples in the academy's security, the way the Living Mana Incursion was dealt with…" Her eyes trailed to Ryland.

"Incidents that can be perfectly explained by the presence of an ancient such as him."

"Let me remind you that the purpose of this meeting was to determine if Ryland's idea for a field trip was a suitable addition for his Intuitive Magic class," Alaric said.

"Yes, yes," Orthoryssix said.

"And accordingly, we were establishing if Marionys Ryland is truly trustworthy or not. Of course," he said quickly.

"A hero of Androvia can always be trusted. Now, we were merely curious as to Ryland's purpose here at the academy." Alaric's flat look promised that he wasn't buying Orthoryssix for even a second, but Ryland didn't mind explaining.

"I'm here at Arcoryx for the same reason you are, High Academ," he said.

"To perform research."

"On the Calamities," Tyra said with a knowing look. Ryland smiled as the others stiffened, Academs, Wardens, and clergy. They seemed unable to reconcile their fascination with his direction of research with their wariness about the whole thing.

"On the Calamities indeed," the Oracle said. She had a different look in her eyes. One of reconciliation.

"Perhaps that's the connection I read in the lines of Fate."

"Now that it's all settled," Alaric said.

"Can we please return? My beard is frozen stiff. I'll need to visit a salon at this rate." The idea of severe, old Alaric getting his beard styled in a fancy salon was ridiculous enough to break the tension and make half of them chuckle.

"Yes, it's about time we headed off," said one of the mages who had been doing goodness knows what at the edge of the mountaintop.

"We're done here."

"That's right," said another man. He was the golemite Academ who had overseen much of the Entrance Trials.

"Our research has achieved its objective and found conclusive evidence."

"Of what?" Alaric asked, eyeing the lot of the High Academs like a father about to learn just how exactly his children had wasted his monthly salary.

"Of the fact that we're utterly incapable of reproducing the magic that Marionys Ryland used to bring us all here," the golemite High Academ said. He grinned with bricklike teeth at Ryland.

"You sure are something, sub-Academ. They're going to have a field day with you at the duels, aren't they?" Ryland blinked. With everything that had gone on, he had completely forgotten about the reminder he had received at the end of the seminar. The graduate students of Arcoryx were to start off the semester's duels, which were a time-honoured tradition at Arcoryx Academy. The Academ was right. The duels were going to be… interesting.