Magnum Opus || TBATE x reader

Chapter 9 - The bloody mark

You meet up with the boy, having changed into the girl who approached him the other day.

I forgot his name...

"There you are!"

You follow him into the stone tomb.

"Welcome, to one of our many humble meetings." A voice speaks up.

"My lord, here is the girl interested that I mentioned." The boy introduces.

"Ahhhh, so this is the famous girl." The boy drawls. "So glad you could join use for our little... crusade."

"Ah, but surely I must know the terms and conditions before joining you guys?" You tilt your head cutely. "I don't have much knowledge about your group after all!"

"I have big plans, plans bigger than this academy." The masked boy answers. "But for the moment, certain... circumstances prevent me from acting. I need capable mages to execute my plan while I wait. You happen to be one of them."

You look around. "Everyone in this group seems to be a human noble."

"Yes, and you'll be the next to join." The boy speaks.

You stare at him. "Why would I?"

"Are you not angry that Arthur Leywin took your position as a professor?" The man speaks.

You freeze.

Ah, so this was how he was going to lure me in...

"Will I be the only mage?"

"We are attempting to recruit Lucas Wykes next." The man stands up, and he holds his hand out to you.

You raise a brow, and you smirk.

"I have one condition." You stare at him. "I refuse to have the red markings on my skin."

The students complain.

The orange-haired man's face is covered, but you can imagine him raising a brow in amusement. "The reason?"

"When I die for you, my back is going to look all ugly!" You pout. "And, if I die, they'll never know that I was helping you guys out."

"I shall fulfill that request, but you must swear allegiance." The man agrees.

Damn bastard, I know damn well that swearing allegiance means that I'll get those ugly ass letters on my back.

You repeat after him, and you use your fake name instead.

"Meeting dismissed. I will notify you all when the next one is." The orange-haired man dismisses everyone.

You make it back to the surface, and you head back to your room.

"Helios, check my back." You strip your top, and the phoenix transforms into a human.

"Do I need to trace?"

"Yes."

He mumbles a spell, and nothing glows on your spine.

"Check the eyes."

Helios turns you around, and you unlock the spell on your eyes. "Any red?"

Helios stares into them and blinks back into consciousness after nearly getting lost. "No red."

You lock the spell back in.

"Mission success," You grin. "Now off to bed."

You slam back into bed, and Helios sighs.

"Barrier."

-⧖-

"Marcois died."

You sit there, blinking in confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"He was murdered even after the feather."

You sit there and sigh.

"What'd they find?"

"Little." Princess Kathyln speaks up. "And what they did find, they're not disclosing."

You think to yourself.

"Even their parents refuse to disclose anything to them at this point." Kai speaks up.

The rest of the conversation is tuned out until they start choosing patrol areas.

"I'll take this." Kai points at a significantly large portion of the campus.

The cavern from the day before flashes in your mind. All of it was under that area of land.

"I'll take that." You point at an area that you had entered into the catacombs last time.

"And I'll also take the area surrounding it." You stare at the map.

Are you trying to get yourself killed?

I'm trying to alienate my two identities on campus as much as I can.

You hum.

The rest of the area is divided, and you jump out the window, changing your uniform and ditching your mask. "No classes?"

"Arthur's class." Helios reminds.

"ShITTTT" You turn on your heel, and you run to the classroom.

"Did everyone have a chance to think about the question I posed yesterday?" Arthur asks the class. "Is the color of a mage's mana a truly accurate way of measuring their level?"

"SORRY I'M LATE-" You slam the door open

"Ah, perfect timing," Arthur smiles. "I'll let you off if you answer yesterday's question."

"The answer is no, because it'd be the same as comparing a muscled person to a non-muscled person." You gasp for air. "Just because someone has a weaker core than you doesn't mean that they can't defeat you in a battle of wits."

"Sufficient answer. I'll let you off this time." Arthur smiles. "It would be like judging a warrior's combat ability by the size of their muscles."

You sit down, and you grumble.

"Why didn't you remind me earlier?" You glare at Helios.

"I thought you'd leave with the rest of the students." He smiles.

-⧖-

"I'm sorry," Arthur speaks up. "But I can't have a relationship with you."

You pause in your steps.

What the hell did I just walk in on????