Chapter 55: The Prince and the Overlord

Dana gave them an excited look. "You think that is possible? I mean, if they could make a whole corps of Golem Mages, it would be huge for both the army and for major construction projects. I heard that was what they wanted to try to teach us all, just to see if we could learn the spell." "More than just that. I think that they want to find an option that can be taught to people who aren't compatible with the Serum. I know there have been some attempts to teach sword skills to students who don't have the compatibility with the serum. They've been a failure so far, the same as trying to teach them magic, but that could just be a lack of mana. Who knows, maybe they will happen upon something good, but that's in the future, and you two are too young to be worrying about your children's future." The team leader laughed. Their laughter was cut short when Sergeant Rita returned with the Headmaster of the Academy, as well as the old mage who worked the transportation magic and two men in expensive looking suits. "It is good to see everyone in such high spirits. We were just in a meeting about the incident when your reports came through the system, so these fine gentlemen came to speak to you all before they left." The Headmaster informed them politely. If the headmaster was sucking up to them, these two had to be someone important, but Karl had no idea who they might be. There were too many important people in the world, from Elites to government officials and even Royalty. "Royal Prince Axel, Overlord Drake, it is a pleasure to meet you in person." The Special Forces team leader announced, while everyone else gave a hasty bow for the Royal. Karl did his best to follow along, but he had no idea if he was doing the formal bow properly. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing that came up in class as a kid. The burlier of the two men, with his long black hair in a tidy braid, smiled back at them. "No need to stand on formality. We're here on business, not in our official roles. I wanted to see the promising newbies, and to hear firsthand how they feel about seeing the real threat to the nation." That must be Overlord Drake, as Hawk felt the man's power and warned Karl that he was dangerous. "Overlord Drake, it's an honour. I must say, seeing Goblins for the first time was more disgusting than anything. They smell terrible, especially when they're dead." Karl replied. Dana nodded her vigorous agreement, and the two men smiled back at them. "That wasn't quite the response I was expecting. Weren't you terrified to have come across real monsters?" The Overlord Rank warrior asked. "I don't think that it even occurred to us. The first group we found was only the six of them, and we were confident enough of taking them out, so by the time things got dangerous, we were already past the initial shock." Karl replied. Dana nodded her head and added. "Goblins are horrifying creatures, but they're so filthy and disgusting that it kind of overpowers any sense of fear, you know?" The Prince, with a slight smile on his delicate features, shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't know. I have seen many things since I graduated, but I have never met a Goblin in real life. I am told that the smell of them is somewhat revolting." [Why does he look like he's in charge? The big guy is way stronger than he is.] Hawk asked Karl, unclear about the human hierarchy. [His family rules this whole area, so he gets respect as a future leader, not for the personal power he has now.] Karl replied mentally. [Oh, like the cub of a big predator. I understand.] That was close enough for Hawk to guess where everyone's proper spot in the rankings was. It was critical in his mind to know what was prey, what was not, and what looked like prey but could bring a very dangerous threat your way if you tried to eat it. "Was there anything that we could do to help the two most promising students of this class grow?" The Prince asked the Headmaster, preparing to leave now that he had made his determination of the character of the people they had been speaking about. "Well, Dana is a standard mage, her first spell was Magic Missile, the same as yours, so anything that you can tell her about your own advancement might help. Or perhaps the Royal Library has a useful spell that might assist her? But Karl is a unique Class. He has a deadly pet Windspeed Hawk that imparts power to him as it grows. That could be more difficult, your Highness." The Headmaster replied. "What spells do you know now?" Prince Axel asked Dana. "Magic Missile and Fog Bank." The Prince thought about it for a moment and then held out a hand behind him, then realized that he hadn't brought his assistant into the room. "If you have some time, I will give you a spell tome. It's a talent hand behind him, then realized that he hadn't brought his assistant into the room. that I learned when I strengthened my inscription skills. In theory, if you are compatible with them, you can read it and immediately learn a new spell to a proficient level." He explained. "I have all the time in the world, Your Highness." Dana chuckled. "Right, first year student. You won't be going far, or at least you won't be gone long if you are. I will have my assistants deliver the spare one I brought to your room later." Drake reached into the inner pocket of his coat and held out a small red book. "It looks like this, but likely thicker than this one. This is the attack skill that we have been trying to teach all our warriors. It's a wide area attack skill, great for clearing groups of monsters. Perhaps Karl would like to try?" Karl looked at the cover of the book, which was just blank red leather. "What is it called?" He asked. "Rend. It's not a difficult one, but it is powerful, thanks to the bleeding effect that it has on targets that survive the initial hit, and we are hoping that all the warriors can learn it by the end of their second year." Drake replied. Karl sighed and shook his head. "Rend is the basic skill of the Windspeed Hawk. It is currently the only skill that I do know."