Silver tensed up as the undead looked as if it was about to come through the mirror. She glanced at the headmaster but he was simply taking a sip of his tea, with seemingly no intention of breaking or covering up the mirror.

‘Is this a test?’ Silver briefly thought as she pulled up her wand one second before the undead reached the mirror.

Then…

“BONK!”

A dull sound came from the mirror as the undead had simply smacked its head against it. It seemed to be trying to get through but nothing happened, it couldn’t get through the thin, glass barrier.

A few seconds later the other two undead reached as well, but, they too were unable to do anything to the mirror.

After a couple of seconds, the headmaster spoke again as the tarp once more flew onto the mirror, covering it, “The dead are still bound to the room of horrors. Even though the barrier was weakened all those years ago, in order to utilize the dead you would still need to have access to the room of horrors.” a few moments later he added, “And you would also have to be incredibly powerful and stupid.”

Silver nodded as she understood. It seemed that the first central war was truly a massive occasion. Mirrors, in general, had been banned as a whole, just in case someone with the same aspirations as that headmaster so long ago, was to pop up again.

She had to admit, she was a little surprised. In all honestly, she found the magi population rather stupid. They put their youths and themselves in tremendous danger all the time. Even though a magus should generally at least have a lifespan of two hundred years, there were practically no magi who actually reached this age. They generally died in some stupid conflict or experimentation.

Even though she agreed that experimenting with magic was a necessity, there were better ways to do it than just hope you don’t blow up when creating something. Silver never understood the lack of proper defensive equipment most magi had. They had the technology to have incredible enchantments that could stop most impacts, and they had the metals as well even if they were a bit pricey. 

She was in the middle of this thought when she suddenly recalled where she was standing and in who’s presence. She quickly sat down again nervously before staring at the headmaster, he didn’t seem to be offended by her actions and just leisurely sat there. Silver couldn’t help but wonder if this was what he did all day normally.

‘Shit, Villin!’

Silver opened her mouth as she got an idea of what the headmaster had been hinting at this entire time “Villin, is he in the room of horrors?”

The headmaster smiled as she looked at Silver properly. It had taken her a bit longer then he had hoped to realize what kind of place Villin had been sent to but it was still within the acceptable limits, “Not quite. He is within the curtain of fear, I’d say it’s about time to check up on him, wouldn’t you?”

Hearing the headmaster’s words, Silver’s heart sunk. Even though she didn’t know a lot about it, she now knew this ‘curtain of fear’ should truly be the source of all fear. To be stuck in the source of such a negative emotion, it couldn’t be anything less than terrible. And so, she hurriedly agreed with the headmaster, hoping he would take Villin out to check how he was doing.

She guessed wrong.

At this point in time, Silver noticed a pedestal with a glass, translucent ball atop of it. Silver felt that it hadn’t appeared there just now, it had been there all along, she just hadn’t seen it yet. Probably some sort of enchantment that caused people to avoid acknowledging its presence.

The glass ball was quite large, being fifty centimeters in diameter. The headmaster waved his hand at it and it suddenly became pitch-black.

Then, Silver saw a flickering light, the vision she could see through the ball moved and approached this flickering light. It revealed Villin, he was walking with a torch that barely lit up the area close to him, there was nothing he could use to help navigate, there was only the endless darkness.

“Hmm, I see he is still within the halls of the lost. We should be able to see his true fears soon.”

Hearing this, Silver ripped her eyes away from the crystal ball and stared at the headmaster, “How do you mean ‘see his true fears’? Why do you want to see his fears? He has done nothing that would make you think he is unloyal to The Academy!”

It was only when Silver finished her words that she realized she had yelled out the last sentence...she yelled at the headmaster, one of the strongest individuals in the world that had a reputation for being cruel.

“You are right.” the headmaster responded with a faint, unreadable smile, “He has done nothing treasonous as far as we are aware. And so, we will hope it continues this way. But people change, especially under torture.”

Silver was about to ask what he was looking for but the headmaster was already continuing, “We will see what he fears most. First, we will probably see his cell, or the experimentation room. Then we will look at the rest. If he is a traitor, one of his greatest fears will surely be being found out by myself or a teacher. If he is not, we will be able to see his weaknesses and use these in the future if it would ever be required.”

Hearing the headmaster’s words, Silver felt flabbergasted. Why would the headmaster tell her this? He knew she was a friend of Villin, why would he risk losing her loyalty by saying these things? Even though she knew her strength was incomparable compared to the headmaster, she should still have some value to the man, she had just become a teacher, after all.

The headmaster had Silver at a loss and he knew it. She didn’t know what to say or how to feel, causing him to be in complete control of the situation.

Silver was thinking of how she could possibly respond, when the glass ball lit up. For a few seconds, it was purely white before the new scenery appeared.

They could see Villin, sitting against a wall in his cell. When he opened his eyes, Silver could feel the panic in his eyes, he quickly began yelling and moving around the room, not wanting to believe this is where he truly was, yet not being able to convince himself that he was not.

“Empathy.” the headmaster spoke, studying Silver’s sad expression, “It is, no doubt, a weakness. Even so, I understand why people decide to fuel this weakness. At times, it becomes a weapon, when alongside those you love, when you fight for more than yourself, you can do great things, your feelings can fuel your magic.”

Silver could tell the headmaster’s quote wasn’t literal. Yet, it was still true. When you were with those you cared about, you would become courageous, hardworking, and confident. 

Courage and confidence were both of vital importance in a fight. You would still be able to think clearly and fear wouldn’t be able to hamper your judgment.

It was when thinking of this, a question popped into Silver’s mind. At first, she didn’t want to ask the headmaster in case he took offense, but, in the end, she couldn’t help but ask it due to her curiosity.

“Sir headmaster, did you ever have someone like that you loved? Someone that fueled your magic?”

The headmaster looked at her with a surprised expression, he obviously hadn’t expected her to ask such a ballsy question. Still, he replied simply as he kept an eye on Villin. “Before I became headmaster I had a husband. If it wasn’t for him, I would not have become as strong as I am today. Even though, I have since discarded my empathy, I believe it can be good for those young and full of love.”

Silver swallowed as she noticed a hint of sadness in the old man’s voice. She didn’t like it at all. The headmaster showing weakness like this, it felt wrong.

When she caught herself in this train of thought, she felt confused. Why did she feel it was wrong for the headmaster to feel sadness? Shouldn’t all people do so sometimes?

‘No, not the headmaster. He is, and holds, one of the greatest powers in the world. He would be able to single-handedly drag the central continent into disarray. Once you became someone so important, you couldn’t afford to feel.’

‘What the f*ck?!”

Once the thought finished, SIlver knew something was wrong. She wasn’t acting like herself. No, she wasn’t thinking like herself.

She eyed the headmaster uncertainly, she wanted to ask him but didn’t. Was she truly sure she didn’t feel that way?