Chapter 12: Wild Goose Chase
'There could be another transmigrator in this world!'
Pandora's box opened wide the moment Ash had that thought. If this was true, then there were now so many variables he had to work with, and just thinking about all of them made his brain hurt.
'Hold on, I can't be too certain about this… not without sufficient proof.'
All he had was that the original storyline had been changed and the modus operandi of the White Death had been altered from what he remembered. Of course, this could mean that another transmigrator was messing with the novel, but it could also mean a few other things.
For example, a butterfly effect of his slight alteration to the timeline.
'I got the Golden Pheonix, Nyx, and I also took considerably longer than I normally would in The Garden. I remained in the Academy, and I won the Joint Combat Training against Elma…'
These were all changes to the original narrative.
'I don't see how it could have caused such a drastic change to the White Death, but it is still a worthwhile explanation.' He sighed. 'Besides, isn't this how the Butterfly Effect works?'
Now trapped between two equally plausible explanations, Ash had to consider which one to choose.
He couldn't possibly pursue both—especially not with Elma—which meant he had to focus his attention on one, and if it didn't hold any water, he would jump to the other equally strong possibility.
'I should go to bed now. Work begins tomorrow!'
**********
"So… who can tell me the highest form of power that can exist between a Mage and their Familiar?"
The voice of the Instructor echoed within the Beta Classroom, with some students paying rapt attention, while others not particularly giving any mind to the words of their teacher—instead choosing to get lost in conversation or their own imaginary worlds.
Ash noticed all of these things and shrugged them aside.
The Akashic Magus Academy had many distinct features that made it different from the schools he knew back on Earth, but it was… at its core… an Academy.
That meant it would have many kinds of students who enrolled into its four walls.
'Some will be studious, some will be delinquents, and some will be… completely average.' He smiled. 'I strive to be the average kind.'
"Why don't you help us out, Master Ashfelt?"
The Instructor's words cut through his thoughts like a knife, forcing him to sigh and shudder as he looked around the class and rose to his feet so he could answer the very straightforward question that was posed to the class.
"It's… [Fusion], right?" He responded, itching his head. "The mixing of the essences of both the Mage and the Familiar to create a more powerful form and utilize even greater abilities than norma—"
"Wrong." The Instructor said with a slightly exasperated sigh. "Anyone else want to try?"
Ash fell back to his seat, his expression slightly downcast—just the way he wanted it to appear for the audience who kept staring in his direction.
'The key to not standing out is to be wrong sometimes.' That was his policy.
"U-um… can I try?" A hand shot up, finally removing the eyes that were seemingly fixed on Ash as they cast their attention somewhere else.
The student who spoke up was rather lanky in appearance, with a slim—almost emaciated build—and heavy bags under his eyes.
His name was Dustan… the original White Death in the novel.
"Sure, Dustan! Speak."
"O-okay!" He smiled as he went on to say exactly what the Instructor wanted to hear. "The highest form of Spirit Arts is known as [Ultima], also referred to as a Core Spirit Art. Not every Spirit has this, and even among High or Greater Grade Spirits, there's about a 10 Percent and 30 Percent chance respectively that they possess an [Ultima]."
"Good, Dustan." The Instructor beamed. "And what about Supreme Grade Spirits."
"The probability is a 100 Percent! All Supreme Grade Spirits possess an [Ultima], however this power can only be harnessed by an experienced Mage, so it's very difficult for most Mages to reach this level… even if their Familiars possess an [Ultima]."
"Precisely! Which is why the highest form of power for most Mages is [Fusion]. I suppose that's where you got your misconceptions from, Master Ashfelt." The Instructor said, glancing back in Ash's direction.
To quickly dispel the attention, he nodded in defeat.
This allowed the Instructor to proceed with the lecture, while leaving him alone to think about how he was going to go about solving the case of the White Death.
'Hm?' Ash noticed Dustan glancing in his direction, offering an apologetic smile. This caused him to shrug and smile back; showing how his humiliation was no big deal to him.
'What a nice kid…'
Dustan was the brightest student in Beta Class after Elma left, and he had also participated in the Promotional Exams, but failed due to 'extenuating circumstances.'
In actuality, he was cheated out of his well-deserved placement into Alpha Class.
'Most people think the Academy's system is fair, allowing the best Betas to challenge the weakest Alphas, which enables them to climb up the ranks and change the status quo, but it isn't that simple.'
While the technical aspect of the System was fair, it wasn't the case in practice.
'Once the Promotional Exams begin to near, some Alpha Students intentionally lower their performance so they get chosen to face the Beta Students. This gives them the thrill of stomping on the weaker students while ensuring they never reach Alpha Class.'
As a result of this practice, hardly anyone in Beta Class had ever reached Alpha Class in the history of the Academy.
'Elma was just lucky that she faced Ashfelt Zephyr, who was too incompetent to win against her, or pretty much any of the brighter Beta Students.' If only Dustan had been the one to face Ashfelt, he would have been the one to ascend to Alpha Class.
'It's because of this very rationale that he became the White Death in the original storyline.'
Dustan was so mad at the Academy's unfair system, especially the fact that he wasn't acknowledged for his intelligence and power, that he allowed himself to be manipulated by his Familiar and ended up killing the Alpha Class Students.
As a very intelligent student, he was able to come up with the perfect way to commit murder and get away with it.
'If not for the fact that I still don't fully trust him, and I don't know as much about him as I know about Elma, I would have approached him, and not her, to help me with this White Death murder mystery.' Ash admitted to himself.
That was just how brilliant Dustan was.
'I've gotten close to him to the point where we can be considered friends. Maybe it's time I started exploiting that a little more.'
If there was indeed an otherworlder or a different White Death, then they would still be in the Beta Class due to the kind of Spirit that the White Death was.
'Unless…' Ash's smile intensified. '... They are in neither.'
Everything was slowly making sense to him at this point, and he could see just why the case had been driving him crazy all this time.
No more! The wild goose chase was over.
'I've got you!'
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