Chương 394: Secrets

Unknown to Headmaster Sorin, Damion did not travel far with his Portal. Just to a nearby cluster of trees. From there, he turned and watched Headmaster Sorin, to see if the mage was going to meet with someone. Unfortunately, he simply took out an artifact and flew in the direction of Argentum and his magic academy. Disappointed that he would not be able to identify any additional conspirators, Damion opened another Portal and headed back to Atlantis.

Mage Teft, he was sure, would be very interested in hearing what Headmaster Sorin was up to. The real question was, should they let Headmaster Sorin move forward with his plan, or should they put a stop to it now?

"This is an interesting turn of events," Mage Teft said after listening to Damion's recounting of the encounter.

"It shows how much he needs your assistance, since you are still alive after revealing his identity."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Blink might be able to get you out of a few close calls, but what will you do if he activates his Wind Domain spell?"

"I don't know, and thankfully, I haven't had to find out. The question is, what do we do with this information?"

"Turning him in for altering James Picard's records could easily backfire. What if the Justiciar want to interview both Mage Wells and Mage Picard together?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Damion admitted.

"What if we just arrest whoever goes through the Portal?"

"On what charge? We can limit the people we allow to come to our city but simply arresting someone because they found a way to arrive here… no, that is not a solution. Where were the coordinates he wanted you to meet him next?"

"Here," Damion said, bringing up the map on his tablet.

"It is pretty much the middle of nowhere."

"It is, but it is also very close to that Red Zone," Mage Teft said, looking at the map. Thanks to Damion having mapped all the Yellow Zone borders, the map was very detailed. This particular region was heavily mountainous, with a narrow valley passing through the area connecting the Yellow Zone to the Red Zone beyond the mountains. Given the rough terrain and small area Demonic and Ferocious Beasts had to pass through, there was not even a Crimson Order outpost in the area to guard against beast waves.

"You made this map several months ago, at the time, there were a fair number of beasts in the Red Zone, but they hardly ever wander through the valley to the Yellow Zone."

"What are you thinking?" Damion asked his mentor.

"I'm thinking, we should go and take another look at this valley. Can you open a Portal to there?"

"Sure." Doing as Mage Teft instructed, Damion opened a Portal in the mountains above the valley. It would give them a good vantage point and let his auto-mapper easily refresh the map.

"Now I understand why they want you to open a Portal in this place," Mage Teft said.

"Look at all the beasts in the valley now. That is at least ten thousand."

"Don't tell me they are going to drive the beasts through my Portal and unleash them in Atlantis?" This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I think that is exactly their plan. I expect they will provide you with a number of mana restoring potions so that you can keep the Portal open for a long time, after all, they have no idea about your actual capabilities. If even half of these beasts made it through to Atlantis, it would be a devastating blow."

"Well, I can't blow them off, that would just make them go and find a different Spatial mage to move their plan forward. Should I open the other end of the Portal inside Argentum instead?"

"Don't even joke about that!" Mage Teft snapped.

"We'll go through with the plan, but instead of dumping all these beasts on a populace, we'll dump them somewhere that they can't harm people."

"I guess that works."

"Take us back, then we'll look over your maps and see if we can find a suitable area." After Damion opened a Portal back to Atlantis, Mage Teft led Damion to the city council chambers and summoned Mage Fletcher, Mage Chaparro and Mage Strand. Mage Levine was currently taking her turn inside the labyrinth and thus was not present.

"This is outrageous" Mage Strand bellowed.

"Planning to slaughter us through the use of a beast wave. I knew Tristan could be cruel, but I never imagined him to be this depraved. Perhaps we should take what we know to the S Rank Assembly or to Mage Thresbane, surely this is enough to remove him from his position."

"Removing him from his position will only elevate his threat to us," Mage Chaparro said.

"Tristan is clearly enraged over the death of his grandson. Right now, his efforts against us are curtailed by the fact that he cannot act openly or risk the wrath of the entire S Rank Assembly. Should he be ousted from his position, he will no longer have such restraints."

"I see your point," Mage Strand said.

"How trustworthy is your source?" Mage Fletcher asked.

"Impeccable," Mage Teft answered.

"It's just… I've never heard of this James Picard. Reports about him are very limited. And I don't see how he could have learned Portal without another Spatial mage as a teacher. Are we sure he isn't Mage Klein in disguise?" Mage Teft looked to Damion, it was his secret to hold, but perhaps it was time for them to start trusting their allies.

If their school was a success, then in the future, there would be other mages able to learn spells of multiple affinities, perhaps not as well as him, but it would be possible.

"Considering I am Mage Picard, I think we can trust him," Damion answered.

"Though I do hope you all keep my alias a secret."

"How? Why?" Mage Chaparro asked.

"After leaving Silver Spire there were, let's just say 'certain groups,' that were not happy with me. I created Mage Picard as a way to disguise my movements and be able to enter Adventurer Association dungeons."

"I see," Mage Fletcher said.

"But how did you pass yourself off as a Spatial mage? A spatial storage artifact can only get you so far, and it seems clear that Headmaster Sorin is convinced you can open a Portal."

"For that, I think I owe you, your son and Arica an apology."

"It is true then, what we guessed about you. You can learn spells of any affinity. You are living proof that Helga's method works."

"Pretty much, though we haven't exactly solved the problem of memorizing spells."

"How do you do it?" Mage Chaparro asked.

"I just remember them. Let's not focus on my peculiarities just yet, we need to solve the problem of Headmaster Sorin and his beast wave plan."

"Right," Mage Strand agreed.

"I can open huge pit, and we can just dump them all in."

"A good notion, but that might backfire," Mage Fletcher said.

"All those beasts in a single pit, they are sure to start slaughtering each other and there is a chance the last one standing will rise in strength from feasting on the flesh of so many others. There is no way to know how strong it could become. We may just create an even bigger threat."

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Mage Strand.

"Instead of dumping them into a pit, we dump them in a place that they can't escape from," Mage Fletcher said, turning to Damion.

"Are you familiar with the offensive capabilities of Portal?"

"I used it to cut a Demonic Beast that was chasing me in half once. Is that what you mean?"

"That is one method, but there is another. A use that we seldom employ."

"You mean making a two-way Portal and connecting the other end to a very dangerous place."

"Precisely. I don't tell you this lightly, but there is an active volcano I can take you to. Once you are aware of the location, you can open your own Portals to it at will. Sometimes, we dump beasts there, sometimes we open our Portals inside the lava flow, dumping it on our enemies."

"I suppose that could work, opening the Portal into that volcano so all the beasts fall into it instead of causing terror in the streets of our city."