Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

The distant valley behind Saratoga Castle was occupied by several cottages that were provided to the Rank 2 and Rank 3 Magi by the arcane institution.

Each of these cottages came with large patches of land numbering in the tens and even hundreds of acres.

The reason why some, if not most, of the Magi of Saratoga chose to live in these countryside cottages instead of the bustling city of Ravenfell was because they believed they could deepen their understanding of magic by being closer to nature.

Out of the countless cottages that occupied this vast valley, the one belonging to Adam was nestled near the edge of a pond.

Beside the pond, he had also grown a small herb field where he grew all sorts of precious and magical ingredients.

Since his manor in the city was under construction, he alternated between staying at this cottage and his dorm room in the castle.

After visiting the Flynn Patriarch, he came to the cottage directly. His mind was riddled with complicated emotions. So he needed some fresh air.

He lay down on a large boulder by the pond, gazing at the brilliant stars in the beautiful night sky.

Although he had finished setting up some contingency measures in place, he was still having difficulty coming to a decision. His mind would waver every now and then.

The chirping of the cricket and the sight of the fireflies glowing in and out of existence created a tranquil scene for the raven-haired youth.

As he rested his palms underneath his head, gently supporting it, his mind drifted towards the days he spent in Clover Academy.

Those were the good ’ol days, he thought with a light smile.

The friends he made, and the friends he lost.

The enemies he gained, and the enemies he slew.

His gaze was drawn to a bright star in the night sky, and his eyes rippled with emotions.

”John…”

Johnathan was one of the first friends he’d made in Clover Academy—or rather, in his life for that matter. He was a close friend.

However, he was no more. And his death was something Adam blamed himself for to this day.

It all started with Adam’s feud with the boy named Kevin Gracie. In a matter of a few years, the hostility between the two had increased so rapidly that Kevin’s father, and the patriarch of his family, and even a professor of the Clover Academy had become involved in it.

Because of their feud, Jonathan had died. Moreover, Edward, Lisa, and Valerian had also nearly died after being involved in it. If not for the immense risk Adam took by putting his own life on the line, they would have died too.

For years, one single question constantly troubled Adam.

If I had killed Kevin Gracie inside the Soaring River Secret Plane, would things have turned out differently?

He would never know the answer to that, and John would never return from the afterlife.

Because of Adam’s own inability to kill an enemy when he had the chance to, his loved ones had to suffer later. Moreover, he too suffered quite a lot as a result.

Never again!

Adam found the resolve he was searching for, a ruthless light flashing in his dark, abyss-like eyes.

On more than one occasion, Brigham Flynn had displayed hostility towards him, going so far as to even show the intent to kill.

Adam knew because he was highly sensitive to such emotions, thanks to the Sphere of Resonance.

He was willing to give the man a chance, considering that Elysande was a very good friend of his.

Old Flynn, you are far too ungrateful, he thought in anger.

The day Adam heard Alvertos speak about Brigham Flynn’s greatest secret, he suspected that the old man would try to take care of him later. However, he always gave the man the benefit of the doubt.

For a mere mana extraction technique that allows one to reach the Rank 4 - Mana Core Rank, you would try to get rid of me?

Adam couldn’t help but sneer at that.

He was someone who knew the secrets of the magus rank where people didn’t even need to rely on the model, physical, and material components to cast a spell—where people could bend the laws of the universe to their wills!

So what was a mere Rank 4 - Mana Core Rank to him? Or even the Rank 5 - Mana Seed Rank?!

However, he could also understand from Brigham Flynn’s perspective. To him, to any Magus of Tron for that matter, the Mana Core Rank was the ultimate arcane ceiling.

So he could understand why the Flynn Patriarch would take such drastic measures to keep the existence of a mana extraction technique that allowed the Magus to reach Rank 4 a secret.

But so what?

Adam was no longer the same boy he was back in the Southern Federation. The war with the orcs, the feud with the Gracie family, had greatly changed him.

He had already learned from his mistake.

Never again!

Adam slowly rose to his feet, gazing in the direction of Ravenfell with a determined look in his eyes.

There were only a couple of days remaining before the city’s forces attacked the Umbra Thieves.

As far as he knew, three Rank 3 - Mana Vortex Magi from the Council of Seven would be secretly traveling to the Umbra Thieves’ main stronghold.

One of them was no doubt Brigham Flynn. The second was Nylian Feno—courtesy of Adam involving his daughter, Qamara, in the Duskfall Incident.

As for the third Councilor, Adam didn’t know. But he did know that it wasn’t going to be Sabrina Benton or anyone from her family.

Regardless of who it is, I have to operate in caution. There will be too many eyes around and I would need to have an alibi even stronger than the time I had during the Duskfall Incident, the youth thought to himself.

Plus, there’s also the possible trap by the Cult of Bones that I need to be wary of. Although I have a feeling that they would be abandoning the Umbra Thieves, I’m sure they wouldn’t be going away so quietly.

He turned around and walked to his cottage, preparing to send letters to the other Agents of the Brotherhood within the city, discussing the plan of action with them.

Regardless of the outcome in the battle against the Umbra Thieves, the entire power dynamic of Ravenfell was going to change forever!