Extra Of The Magus Academy

"Whew!"

Ash nearly collapsed as soon as he entered his room and shut his door.

'That was too close!' Beads of sweat formed on his face. 'I can't believe I actually pulled that off.'

This was the same Ash who had caught the White Death, killed the former Head of Student Affairs, murdered over a hundred people, and even betrayed an ally of his while blackmailing another… and yet he was trembling nervously.

The reason for his nearly crippling nervousness was rather simple.

He lacked sufficient preparations.

Due to the lack of time on his hands, and his growing desperation for the Spirit Stones, Ash had to bend the rules a little and resort to a half-baked plan.

'I utilized makeup to hide my pale skin and a wig to hide my hair, while mimicking Seth's mannerisms… all in order to pretend like I was him.'

Fortunately, this was enough to fool Kellion, which was his intention.

'The time I chose, and the intentional delay on my part was to ensure I didn't miss my window of opportunity.' He sighed. 'If I chose a later time, there was a chance Kellion could be tardy, so I made him come earlier and made myself tardy instead.'

His true intention was to make sure they met up at around 8:25, and since the chase lasted for about five minutes, they would be able to get to the dormitory by exactly 8:30. This was why he intentionally slowed down at times, not using his full speed to completely overtake the boy behind him.

'By 8:30, the Janitor begins his shift, which would have thrown Kellion off and warded him away from the dormitory the moment he saw him.'

As such, Kellion would not even have gotten too close to the dormitory, and most importantly, he would not have removed his wig and uncovered his identity as Ashfelt.

'Damnit… that wasn't the plan.' He groaned, covering his face in disappointment. 'Now, I've been exposed.'

He didn't like that one bit.

After all, this meant he now had a target on his back from Kellion—something he didn't want to happen, ever. It was why he didn't take any drastic methods directly in his negotiations and simply opted to be a harmless little fly that could bargain.

'But now the jig is up… I have to live with it.'

A part of Ash wondered if he should have just used his full speed from the start and blitzed Kellion, however, Ash knew why he opted not to use that method.

'For one, Kellion could have gotten very desperate and used enhanced his body so he could catch up to me. Also, I needed him to believe he had a chance so he would leave the alarm scene and not implicate the both of us.'

However, there was one final reason—perhaps the most important reason of all.

'I wanted him to have a very close shave with Seth, which would possibly awaken him and give him the enlightenment he has been chasing…' He sighed. 'That would have made up for the missed opportunity that came about due to his premature fight with Seth.'

Ash didn't have the time to see what happened with Kellion, but it didn't seem like he succeeded on that front either.

'The only thing I succeeded in is getting these.' He unstrapped the sack from his body and dropped it on the ground.

The stones inside made a soft chinking sound as they rubbed off on each other in the sack.

'At the very least, even though Kellion is undoubtedly very angry at me, he won't tell anyone about what happened since he will get into serious trouble for smuggling Spirit Stones despite his Academy's rules.' Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire

It was also possible that the Academy prohibited him from having a rematch with Seth, which would give him another reason to be quiet about things. Ash wasn't sure about this, though, so he didn't put much weight in it.

Still, the first line of reasoning was more than enough to silence Kellion.

'In any case… I got what I wanted.'

Ash smiled as he poured out the contents of the sack and looked at his haul: 20 Spirit Stones.

The Spirit Stones looked like round, smooth rocks, almost like an egg but flat. They gave off a bright white glow, which was the pure energy of Magia that had coalesced to form a solid shape.

'And then, of course… the Asura Spirit Academy insignia.'

The symbol of the Academy rested on both smooth surfaces of the stone, revealing where they came from. Hence, anyone who desired to sell or purchase these Stones would know where they were from and could get in trouble for having possession of them.

'The Asura Spirit Academy does sell Spirit Stones, but it's directly to the Empire or the Four Great Noble Households. Plus, the ones they sell don't have their insignia, so they wouldn't look like this.'

Hence, Ash could get in serious trouble just for having these Stones.

'But, Kellion isn't going to rat me out… plus, I don't plan to sell them, so there's no way for it to get out.'

In the very unlikely scenario that his secret was exposed—perhaps by Raven Nightshade, or some other unknown variable—he could always play dumb and blame it all on Kellion and his insistence on the rematch.

Of course, he would still get into trouble, but it wasn't like there were rules regarding the specific scenario he concocted. At most, he would get to face a disciplinary committee and go under some investigations. He would also be forced to reimburse the Academy for the Spirit Stones, but his Zephyr Household would definitely take care of that.

Even if they didn't care for Ashfelt, they would be forced to pay if they wanted to maintain their reputable image.

'I won't be expelled and I'll still participate in the Exchange either way, so the risks aren't too severe…' He smiled, his eyes gleaming brightly as he eyed the stones.

His original goal was 5 Stones, but it was amazing how fate operated.

'With these, I can advance my Familiar from a Lesser Grade Wind Spirit to a Medium Grade.'

That would guarantee his stay in the Akashic Magus Academy and also ensure that he performed considerably better in the Academy Exchange. Considering how his benchmark was to reach 'Low Grade', this was a huge step up.

'Let's not waste any more time…'

Ash arranged the stones around himself, forming a circle with the 20 Spirit Stones while he stayed at the center. He inhaled and exhaled softly, feeling the resonance between his Soul and the Spirit Stones around him.

'Spirits like to dwell in the Soul because of the purity of Magia that exists within it. Spirit Stones have similarly pure Magia, and by feeding this energy directly to the Spirit that is my Familiar, it can undergo rapid development and even break through its initial rank.'

The lower the Grade of a Spirit, the easier it was for it to advance.

Hence, 5 Spirit Stones would be sufficient to advance his Lesser Grade Wind Spirit to a Low Grade one. However, Ash wasn't even certain that 20 Spirit Stones would be able to raise it to Medium Grade.

He could only hope that would be the case.

'After that, it could take over 50… no, perhaps even a hundred Spirit Stones to reach a High Grade, and that's not even guaranteed.'

Certain Spirits had their growth limits, and trying to force a growth on them would simply lead to a total waste. The Lesser Wind Spirit that Ash chose most likely couldn't grow beyond a Medium Grade.

In fact, it would be a surprise if it could.

'I don't think I'm special enough to get that kind of luck, so I'll just settle for Medium Grade and be satisfied with that… at least, for now.'

Closing his eyes, Ash let the energy from the Spirit Stones begin to flow, injecting the pure Magia into his Soul, and then into the body of his very nervous, but submissive Familiar. It felt strange at first, similar to how a sudden cold shower felt on the skin.

However, he quickly acclimated to it and kept injecting more energy.

It was a painstakingly slow process.

'Too much, and I'll waste the limited energy in the Stones, so I have to take it slow and steady.'

Based on his estimation, this whole thing could take up to twelve hours.

In essence, the whole night.

'A small price to pay for what comes next, I suppose…' He sighed. 'This is going to be so draining.'

And so, shutting off all distracting thoughts and simply focusing on the flow of Magia, the state of his Soul, and the growth of his Familiar, Ash stayed up all night to advance the Grade of his Familiar.

After a total of 20 hours, 23 minutes, and 57 seconds… he finally opened his eyes and leaked out misty breath.

"Haa… success! Middle Grade at last."