The half-wit council members traded glances, lingering a bit longer on the Leviathan. He who was just arrogantly stating demands now looked disheveled.

  A smile tugged at Talin’s lips. I missed this.

  It had been a long time since he’d let loose. He’d been holding himself back from hammering in his power to everyone else—mainly for the sake of his family. But now…

  “So, nightstalker,” he said, drifting his stool closer. “What is this I hear about Marisabel taking my son?”

  The Leviathan’s eyes constricted, his mouth opening, but wordless.

  “What seems to be the matter?” Talin stood and placed his hand on the Leviathan’s shoulder. “I hoped to ask you, a native of the seas and grandson of the current king, what your demands would be?”

  The man was speechless still. His sweat now pouring from every pore. The dwarf tried to speak up, but Talin waved his hand and took the air out of his lungs.

  His former student sighed.

  “You must know why they took him, yes? Otherwise, you’d be guilty of negligence. And, you know what happens to negligent people. You of all people should know.”

  “I…”

  “Because if you don’t, or if you’ve forgotten. It would be my honor to remind you,” he turned his head and winked at Bob. “Decimus Bobdrin, I remember that you kept all council records, correct? Be a dear and help me honor this Leviathan’s… what was he to you again?”

  “My… she was my mother, honored Primus,” the struggling man said.

  “So you do know!” Talin grinned, then said in faux realization. “Perhaps that’s why! You have a grudge against me, don’t you? Or your king does.”

  He chuckled.

  “Oh, who am I kidding? All of your kin do. Ha!”

  Talin laughed and laughed in the Leviathan’s face—not caring at all how enraged the man got.

  “But…” he shifted tones, leaned closer, and brought his mana down more than before. “It seems you’ve been too busy here making unreasonable demands. Did you really think I wouldn’t have given my son a lifesaving artifact? I’d bet the mages over there are pulling their hair out in stress. A few have probably been executed for incompetence.”

  “You mean…” the Leviathan went pale.

  “I do. To your kind, and well, to most in this world, he is unkillable,” Talin nodded. “And now, since you’ve made demands here, I have the treaty-approved right to insert myself into this… whole thing.”

  ***

  Bob shook his head as he reached inside his spatial pocket. It was a clusterfuck. No two ways about it.

  He wondered what the Leviathans, Marisabel, or the whole underwater kingdoms were thinking. Had they all forgotten what type of person his teacher was? The actions of the Leviathans especially, baffled him.

  Sighing, he focused on the expressions of the others.

  The former human fire Archmage and the dragonkin—Shroud of War—looked as if they wanted to bury themselves deep in the ground. Their earlier outbursts finally making sense in his head. They must’ve known about Marisabel’s plans and were trying to sow discord among the council.

  The implications of this…

  Bob creased his brows and spoke up.

  “Teacher, what does the Specter say? Specifically about—” he pointed to the other two. “Them. I’m not exactly sure when you arrived, but these two might be involved in whatever plan the merfolk are enacting.”

  “Is that right?” his teacher’s smile reached his ears.

  “You bastard!” the fire Archmage shot to his feet.

  “What else did we expect from the Primus’ dog?” Shroud of War spat.

  Bob just scoffed and waited for his teacher.

  And he wasn’t disappointed.

  With one snap of his fingers, his teacher’s gloves glowed for a moment, then a sharp wind cutter spell lopped off the two’s arms. Everyone in the room recoiled from the sudden spurt of blood. All except the dreamwalker.

  “Now, does anyone among you three want to confess their sins?” his teacher said.

  For a few moments, the room was filled with nothing but screams and curses. The two disgraceful humans did their best to weave some healing spells together, but found their mana flows impeded. Bob reached out with his senses and felt a curse… not by his teacher’s doing.

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  His head snapped in the Dreamwalker’s direction and watched her morph into a familiar shape—one he’d only seen in books. Seemed like he didn’t have to take out the records. Not that his teacher actually wanted them.

  The Leviathan shot to his feet. “You devil-spawn! How dare you—”

  His teacher forced him back down with nothing but a finger on his head. Times like these made Bob want to have some of that ‘popcorn’ that was all the rage these days. That was the power he wished to attain.

  “He dares, because you’ve sinned quite greatly.” His teacher said.

  Something seemed to snap inside the Leviathan’s head as his expression took a turn.

  “You think yourself a god, Primus?” he spat. “Do you not even fear the great Watchers of the Abyss? Speaking of sins like you’re divinity! Yes, you are powerful, but you are not a God!”

  Bob expected his teacher to go on one of his famous tirades about the ‘underwhelming’ gods, but to his surprise, the man only nodded.

  “Correct,” Talin said, the finger on the defiant idiot’s head glowing. “But to you, I might as well be.”

  Then, in the blink of an eye, the idiot became limp. The mindflaying finger. To think… no. If there was ever a time to use that spell, it would be now.

  “Masterful spell work as always, honored Primus,” the Dreamwalker’s fleeting voice echoed in the room.

  “As is your curse, friend. Do you mind helping me with this one?”

  “Of course.”

  Bob was confused… to say the least. As far as he was aware, his teacher and the Dreamwalker were not friends. They shouldn’t even be acquainted.

  “You should just ask and not think too much,” his teacher’s voice came. Bob focused back and saw his teacher looking at him.

  “I um… how are you two acquainted again?” Bob asked.

  His teacher smiled—and now that he thought about it, how long had it been since his teacher had smiled this much? He hadn’t noticed it fade all throughout this… demonstration.

  “Well, let’s just say it’s for the greater good,” the Primus said.

  “What do you—”

  “And that greater good is progress.”

  ***

  Talin watched as the Dreamwalker, now in the form of his late wife, slowly dissipated into smoke that then entered through the Leviathan’s nose. A few entertaining minutes of the man’s body twitching like he was being electrocuted later, the smoke came out and reformed into an identical copy of the unconscious man.

  He clicked his tongue and gave Bobdrin—who’d just shivered with an obvious look on his face—a look. “It truly never fails to amaze me what your people can do.”

  “Thank you, honored Primus. It is my pleasure,” she said mechanically. “I have the information that you wanted.”

  “How much will it cost me?”

  “Only the agreed upon deal, honored Primus,” she paused, looking as if she was sorting her thoughts. “Firstly, it seems that it’s as you predicted—many have banded together in an effort to get rid of you.”

  Talin gave the other council members a pointed look, even sending a sharp wind blade at the limbless imbeciles on the ground for good measure. “How many? And which ones?”

  “Yes. The three you’ve taken care of here and their own factions, around 70% of the noble houses in the human lands. A few powerful dryads and, oddly enough… five elders of the Elves seem to be advocating for your downfall as well.”

  “Odd indeed,” he hummed in thought. “What of the hand that moves them? There must be one.”

  The Dreamwalker nodded and closed her eyes. Her expression became increasingly perplexed. At one point, he thought he saw her actually sweat—something their kind wasn’t able to do.

  Then, after a few minutes, her form inexplicably dissolved.

  “There seems to be an obfuscation spell of incredible potency on their organizers.”

  “Strong enough to block even your sight, sister?” the giantess gasped.

  The Dreamwalker nodded gravely.

  Talin descended into thought. Dreamwalkers had almost complete omnipotence while in dreams—especially in dreams of beings with no prepared protection. Said protection could range from the most basic consent, or more complicated spell constructs that very few in the world could actually cast.

  If he remembered correctly, only three would be able to completely block the dreamsight of a Dreamwalker worthy to have a seat on the council. He was one, of course. And the other two were the Dreamwalker progenitor himself, and the lich locked under Aristosa’s dirt.

  Both were… indisposed for very different reasons.

  And the mere fact that it was only on their organizers… it suggested some things that Talin was not yet ready to believe without indisputable evidence.

  Talin shook his head as he stood up. “Right. The fun is over. Bobdrin, can you go to Marisabel and retrieve my son? They wouldn’t try anything with you, given your status.”

  “Can’t we say the same thing with you?” the Decimus asked. “With all this happening, I think a show of power from you would do more, if you get what I mean.”

  “I do, and I agree,” Talin nodded. “But not now. I have my plans, and I need to visit a few people.”

  “Politicking now, are we? Who would’ve known that ‘Talin the Mad Bastard’ would ever participate in the politics of it all.”

  “Believe me, I loathe it more than I show, but promising times do call for promising measures.”

  “Promising times, ey? Mind sharing?”

  Talin looked on with an amused expression. Even the other council members looked interested in what he had to say. He thought about it for a moment and decided he might as well. Despite what they are now, they all used to be promising talents once upon a time. His former student still was, of course, last he heard.

  If there was a chance he could inspire them to pursue magic once more, he’d do it. Even if it resulted in the Dreamwalkers asking for a bit more payment from him—as long as it was something magic related, he didn’t care.

  He eyed each council member, then snapped his fingers. Gasps came from each of them as they surely saw the golden words in front of their eyes.

  “This is only a taste of what’s coming,” he said. “As for what it’s supposed to be, well, all you need to remember are the words etched into every significant area of my academy.”

  Each member had a moment of realization as they snapped their heads toward Bobdrin, their eyes looking for confirmation.

  “Knowledge for all who… dare,” Bobdrin said solemnly.

  “Indeed,” Talin nodded, his face softening. “Though soon we’ll need to remove the last two words.”

  “Knowledge for all…?” the dwarf asked shyly.

  Talin had almost forgotten about the stocky man, but it was surprising that he hadn’t been more adamant in his defense of the Leviathan.

  Their alliance must not be as close as I thought.

  “For all,” Talin said with finality in his voice. “That runic array was only completed today so it will take a while to work, but when it does, do feel the mana around you. You’re all smart, you should know what the possibilities are for this.”

  He turned toward the Dreamwalker. “Before I forget, is your progenitor still in the same place?”

  She seemed to surprised to be addressed once more and had to collect herself immediately. “Ye—yes, honored Primus.”

  “Good,” then he looked toward the dwarf. “I’ve decided I’ll be paying a visit to your conclave soon. Notify them, and I’ll forgive your alliance with the dead idiot over there.”

  “But… he’s still breathing?”

  “He is, but his mind’s broken. Worse than dead, if you ask me.”

  “Ah.”

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