Italics=Telepathic communication/ people’s thoughts.

 

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Jaylin had gotten quite far away, and the binding spell deactivated. All the students and teachers were released. Most of them slumped to the ground in shock. The head teacher, who rapidly regained his bearings, signaled some nearby teachers to go and track the bodies of the thieves who possessed teacher E and the young girl. They quickly apprehended the two, a middle aged woman and an adolescent boy, who where hiding in a tunnel under the school.

The Head teacher called both the ambulance and the High Magicians Tower. The first to help heal all the injured and the second, to inform them of the situation.

There was quite a ruckus on the other side of the phone when the employees of the High Magicians Tower were informed of the event. The Ancient Sword is a very important artifact. A sword found in a forgotten tomb, that even even the Tower’s president, Merstyus, was unable to gauge the strength of, would naturally be incredibly valuable.

The director of 1st high school, Ivan, happened to be leaving the meeting when one of the Subjugation Division employees, who were sent to monitor the situation, saw him and alerted him of the incident.

Needless to say, he was incomparably startled. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was related to the topic previously discussed in the meeting. Feeling a new wave of shivers go down his spine, Ivan quickly shook the thought out of his head, and made his way to the school.

The headmaster was out on official business, so the person who greeted and explained the situation was the head teacher. The head teacher led him through the double doors, describing the event in the process.

Ivan rubbed his chin, equal parts suspicious and curious, “And the youth who took off with the sword in end? He clearly used a spell to escape, have you tried to track the mana trail?”

The head teacher bowed his head politely, “Yes sir. Me and any others who could sense mana trails checked but...”

The head teacher stopped his response, Sensing Ivan searching for the mana trail himself. He had expected this, everyone knew of how stubborn the director was, but that still didn’t stop him from letting out a sigh.

Ivan chose to ignore the head teachers lamenting as he scanned the room for any sign of Jaylins mana trail.

Although humans are unsure why, mana that has been used in a spell was different from untouched mana. It would go back to normal after some time so it had to be tracked quickly.

Judging by when the sword was stolen, the mana trace would definitely still be there, however...

“Nothing...”
Ivan said, a hint of incredulity visible in his tone.

He narrowed his eyes in gloom. A magician who could somehow cast magic without leaving a mana trail would be very dangerous.
Thinking back to the meeting, Ivan sighed whilst rubbing his temples anxiously.  He turned back to the head teacher who was quietly waiting with his hands behind his back.

The head teacher continued his sentence, “We were unable to find any trails of him, sir.”

“I can see that.”

The head teacher stiffened, inwardly cursing the headmaster out on his escapades. Now I have to deal with this guy...

Ivan continued to the double doors, “And the two who tried to steal it first?”

The head teacher regained his composure and caught back up with Ivan, “Ah, about them, they seemed to have a seal blocking us from searching their thoughts. However, we can tell by the type and potency of the magic they used, they are members of the Dark Magic Association. They are currently undergoing the interrogation of the Subjugation Division’s employees.”

“Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. At least those two had been found. But the dark magic association...the situation was far more precarious then he’d first thought.

Deep in thought, Ivan hadn’t noticed the doctors guiding a hovering stretcher through the doorway.

The doctor in front saw him standing in their way and looked up with impatience. Noticing who it was, there was a hint of surprise in his eyes before he called out, “Excuse me director”

Ivan looked up and saw he was blocking their path.

He quickly sidestepped to let them through. “My apologies.”

As they were passing by, he caught a glance of the teacher on the stretcher, who carried the massive wound caused by the blood spear.

He stared at the remnants of mana adorning the wound, shocked. He hadn’t thought the Dark Magic Association would send such capable members. It was clear that the heist wasn’t just some random half-assed attempt. These people actually planned to do more than just cause trouble, and if it hadn’t been for that young man, they would have stolen the sword.

Someone who could beat two influential members of the DMA and could somehow erase his mana trail? Who is this kid?
Ivan thought back to the young apprentice who had been sitting next to Merstyus during the meeting.  His suspicion at its peek, he considered returning to the High Magicians Tower immediately to ask sir Merstyus of his identity.

“I suppose all we can do is hope he won’t be able to use it before we get it back...”
He muttered despondently.

His voice was very low, and with the bustling of the surroundings, it wouldn’t have been weird for no one to hear him.
However, the head teacher who had been waiting for the sentence, heard it loud and clear.

“That’s the problem sir... the youth who stole it...was already able to use it.”

Ivan’s widened eyes shot back to the head teacher, signaling him to elaborate.

“I-in fact the sword, sir... it seemed to be his.”

Ivan stared at the head teacher blankly. The only brain cell in his head that wasn’t frozen in horror, seemed to think
This is going to be a long week.
Before it too joined its comrades in simultaneous fear.

 

                                                                          

---

Jaylin strolled down the streets of Inzoscape, his sword sheathed at his side.

A cute little magician strolling down the streets. It was a tad bit strange that you wouldn’t remember his face after looking away from him, but he didn’t attract anything other than a few curious glances.

None of the passerby’s would have imagined the interrogation going on inside his head.

Aha. So, care to explain why you decided to sit in a box for a few decades? I remind you that one of the rules of our contract is loyalty.

Mhmm...yes...about that ‘contract’. As we’re both aware, the penalty would be my fucking life force.

A wisp of disapproval could be seen within Jaylin’s eyes.

And with the evidence of my existence, I would like to claim that I have not done anything to violate your ‘contract’.

I would never doubt you Exilis. But you, my dear, dear friend, seem to have the miraculous ability of sneaking your way out of premade agreements.
So. Out of pure curiosity. What in the gods have you been doing these past few decades?
Ah. Need I mention the corrupted mana surrounding you? You look quite squished hiding in there.

The sword was silent for a moment.
He sighed, his secret caught. Ahem. Mind helping before we continue, master?

Jaylin did not respond, but Exilis felt the corrupted mana that forced him to hide in his husk for so long, clear away.

He took a deep breath, finally having room to breathe in the sword.
I’m sure you can guess what happened by now. If I used any magic to escape, it was likely the corruption would spread to the rest of my mana and I’d lose my life. Even if I survived, I wouldn’t have enough mana to escape.

Jaylin looked toward the corrupted mana that scattered in the wind, disgust flickering in his empty eyes.

Exilis felt shivers go down his spine(blade?). Jaylin felt strongly towards very few things in this world. Corrupted mana was one of them.

Humans call it dark magic. There seems to be a whole cult made up of people who are able to use it. The cult is rejected by the rest of society, however, they somehow manage to slip spies into all walks of life and do their work from the inside. The headmaster that caught me was one of them. At first he feared being uncovered so he got another magician to seal me with regular magic. After I escaped he switched plans.

With mana in the hands of mortals, corruption is running more and more rampant.

Jaylin continued walking with his hands clasped behind his back, the previous disgust nowhere to be seen.

Corrupted mana was quite the curious thing. When the heavens were still standing, corrupted mana didn’t exist. Or at least, not enough of it to be found.  After mana in the human realm grew more abundant and humans gained the ability to cast magic, the seed that is corrupted magic began to sprout. Mana is affected by the purity of the soul. Immortals are the perfect image of purity. There was little to no infighting in the heavens because of this.

Immortals, have everything that mortals don’t.

They have ambitions, but not greed.

They are cautious, but not cowardly.

They can be cold, but they aren’t cruel.

In their hands, mana has no risk of corruption.

         Humans, beings who have the potential to lack that purity, can corrupt mana. Corrupted mana, once in the air, can corrupt any mana that surrounds it. And the cycle continues.

Humans have no idea that they are the cause of the corruption’s spread and choose to turn a blind eye to the people who use it, outwardly displaying disapproval.

Jaylin, contrary to most other immortals, didn’t care for humans and their flaws. He just instinctively disliked corrupted mana. As someone who considers himself in control of his emotions, he quickly rid the disgust from his system.

Not wishing for the idea to be brought up again, he indicated for Exilis to continue on with his rant.

Exilis sensed Jaylin’s wish for him to continue onward and felt extremely peeved.
Staying awake so long? The man clearly did it because he was bored, yet he didn’t feel the slightest pity towards the unjustly implicated party.

Haha. How could I, your majestic sword, be caught on such a small grievance?

...?
Jaylin felt confusion when faced with Exilis, who suddenly started talking about grudges. 

Exilis froze for a moment while he thought up his scheme, but soon continued on like nothing happened.

Well anyway. Would you like to go get some coffee?

Jaylin inwardly marveled at the swords ability to jump to an entirely different tangent. There was no way in hell that this offer wa son good intentions, but if he wanted Exilis’ information without having to bargain for it, there wasn’t much he could do but comply.

Alas, I do not have the fortune of knowing what coffee is.

Haha~ no need to worry, I’ll take you there.

 

                                                                         

---

 

While they were entering the coffee shop that happened to be nearby, Jaylin asked, And what kind of this ‘coffee’ will you have me drink?

Exilis was no idiot. He could tell Jaylin was just playing along. That, however, did not mean he couldn’t get back at him during this period of time. 
Exilis smiled for no one to see. Robusta Coffee. I’ve heard it’s very sweet.

The chime of the shopkeepers bell rang pleasantly as Jaylin took his seat at a table.

Jaylin asked a waitress for the coffee and she gave him a weird look.

Jaylin stared back.

The sight of such a simple little youth with beautifully pure, yet entirely empty eyes must’ve startled her, as she scampered back to the counter to prepare his order.

Soon enough, a cheap paper cup filled with dark black liquid sat in front of him.

Jaylin expressionlessly peeled the cap off of the cup and drank the whole thing in one go.

“Ah!? Careful sir it might be h-“
The waitress paused her warning seeing Jaylin continue to chug the bitterest coffee they served.

Staring blankly for a while, she left dazedly after a small ‘enjoy your drink’.

Exilis: ... ... ...

Jaylin put the now empty cup down and exhaled softly. Has your rage sated yet?

... ... ...I’m fine

Good choice.

 

                                                                          

---

Now back on the street, Jaylin continued their conversation.
Well, I’d suppose the next step would be to find something to do.
You’ve been here for a while Exilis, any ideas?

Yeah, stuck in a box for a while.
The only thing I’ve been hearing these years is evil schemes and exaggerated retellings of events.

Ah I almost forgot. Where did all of my stuff go?

Mn, those are long gone by now. Either being disassembled in a lab or sitting in a museum.
Exilis responded dismissively.

Exilis, I’ve noticed you often forget that I’ve been asleep for nearly 10,000 years.
I am not familiar with the terms “museum” nor “lab”.

Look it up.

Jaylin sighed, and his tone became ever so slightly colder.
“How do I get them back?”

Exilis did not continue his “bullying”. Whenever Jaylin wakes up, surrounded by the changes of a new era, he carries the patience of someone who has just found a source to relieve his boredom. A good mood, per se. He is quite tolerant of any problems that arise, and it’s the best time for Exilis to “relieve stress”, as it’s unlikely he’ll face repercussions. Eventually, the good mood comes to an end, and Jaylin returns to his normal temperament.

Stealing them back is best.

Boring. Let’s try something new.

Exilis pondered for a moment, then came to the next most logical conclusion.

Money.

It would take an ungodly amount of time to make enough money to buy priceless relics, but Jaylin didn’t need to know that. Exilis relayed the idea back to Jaylin, who gave his approval with a small nod.

Jaylin suddenly remarked, Ah, stealing could be counted as provocation correct? Therefore, it should be perfectly reasonable for me to-

Master, you can't slaughter a bunch of scientist for studying an immortal pinecone, that's against the rules.

Jaylin looked at the sword briefly, before sighing softly, “What’s the least monotonous way of making money in this era?”

Exilis was silent for a moment before responding, If we’re staying on the legal side of the spectrum then I would say...becoming a temporary guild member.

Not giving Jaylin the chance to ask, Exilis continued, Guilds are essentially just businesses of varying sizes that take commissions. You go over to the guild office, fill out a few surveys and become a temporary worker. You receive 40% of the commission price, and can keep any extra reward not included in the commission. If the company sees you as valuable, you have the chance of getting promoted and becoming a full time worker. They have more official duties in the office and influence in general. They only get to keep 30% of any commissions they complete, but they receive a salary that most commonly stretches far past the average income earned by temporary workers commissions.

There more steps that follow, but I doubt we will ever find ourselves in such a situation.

Based on your preference, I would recommend staying a temporary worker and keep in mind the possibility of having to switch companies if they try to force you into the position of full time worker. Then agai-

Okay I think I’ve got the gist of it, thanks.

Exilis sighed sadly, knowing he’d never get to experience the feeling of being the more knowledgeable party for a long time.

Recommended guild?

Exilis heard the question, and could tell that it was filled with “pity towards one of the pathetic ants” as he called it. Half-assed sympathy, in other words. Jaylin’s way of ‘apologizing’ for hardly letting him speak. It was kind, in Jaylin’s own condescending way. This, however, did not mean Exilis wasn’t going to take advantage of this opportunity.

Izelix.

Why?

Reminds me of my name.

...

There was silence on both sides before Jaylin responded, Very well then.