"What!? Ancient ritual magic!?" Michael exclaimed in shock.

The term was foreign, but he felt an aversion to it, like it was something that went against the natural order. He gulped audibly, finally deciding to ask for more details—perhaps this would explain the entity that he'd come across in Velmara.

Surprisingly, Magnus didn't refuse.

"We don't know all the details, but from what our investigation came back with points to it being a sacrificial ritual. Those within a twenty mile radius of the altar would have their souls extracted—but it needs a lot of mana to operate…"

"The mana springs…" Michael said in a low tone, realizing the implication.

The most likely scenario was that the ritual was siphoning mana from the mana spring for months beforehand, causing it to slowly wither and dry up.

This is probably why I couldn't approach the mana spring back then… the pieces started to fall into place.

Michael was wearing a serious expression as he contemplated the issue. It made sense why they'd chosen Velmara and Claywall—two cities that were on the outskirts of the nation with far less security than the center.

"And you said they did this in order to summon a demon from the abyssal realm?" he asked seriously, "did they succeed?" his emerald eyes settled on Magnus, trying to peer past the mask.

"I… don't know." The prince admitted. "We were unable to find the souls they collected, and the members we caught are quite troublesome to interrogate…"

Michael raised an eyebrow, yet he felt a knot in his stomach. "Could there be more of these Black Night members?"

Magnus shook his head, "I'm confident we caught them all."

His words were sincere and filled with confidence. Either he was right, or he truly believed his words—but whether it was true or not was another thing altogether.

"Thank you for giving me this information," Michael said with sincerity, "though I'm not sure why you humored me—if I'm honest, I expected you to just give me evasive answers," he admitted dryly.

It was true, Magnus didn't owe him any answers. In fact, he'd done enough by telling the student council the results of the investigation, even including details that wouldn't be in the official reports from the royal family.

Magnus's gaze hardened as he looked upon Michael with an unknown emotion. "You are more valuable than you think, Michael," he said, "it's not just because of your position as Melody's fiance…"

The words lingered for a while, followed by silence.

"A unique soul, a potential violet mage," he began, standing up from his chair with grace, "never underestimate your worth—nor how much of a threat you might be perceived as…"

The last part of his sentence caused Michael to stiffen, its implied meaning obvious. Magnus might see him as a potential asset and ally, which was why he was willing to indulge his curiosity, but not everyone thought the same.

Two people came to mind, Troy and Braydon. He had already offended them both, not to mention they were part of noble families who wished to use Melody and her ties to the royal family for political and personal gain.

With these two things interposing, Magnus was warning him that he needed to be careful—without offering any notable support.

Michael understood that the prince was in a precarious position. If the guy outright supported him, it could cause friction on a large scale, perhaps causing civil conflict within the nation.

Such a thing could destroy his chances in not only the battle for succession—but even ruin his prospects within the royal family afterwards.

Even by giving Michael this information, Magnus was taking a risk of appearing to favor him. The student council members were mostly scions of influential families—apart from Rose and Ren who were commoners by birth.

But even they had received offers to join noble families thanks to their outstanding talent.

"I understand," Michael replied after a while, standing up from his chair. Then he did something that he hadn't done before—at least not towards Magnus. He straightened up and bowed deeply, showing the respect that the man deserved, both in rank and character.

He had misjudged the prince, only seeing him as a lazy and languid royal who enjoyed teasing others. But these past few weeks had shown that was merely one of the masks he adopted—he was far more capable than Michael had given him credit.

As he rose his head, he saw Magnus turn his hand over, canceling his spell. The air dome that encompassed them dissipated, sending a cool breeze through the room that ruffled his hair.

"I must go and finish my report with the headmaster," Magnus said finally, "keep working hard—and maybe try not to offend any other young nobles," he added with a small grin.

Michael suppressed the small chuckle that rose to his throat. "I'll try my best."

The prince nodded, giving a rare smile before heading out of the room and leaving Michael alone. He stood in silence for a while, his eyes lingering on the closed door—the prince's words repeating in his mind.

"More valuable than I know huh?" he said, feeling a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. He wasn't surprised that Magnus knew about his unique soul—the guy would have likely heard it directly from Professor Stark, or the headmaster himself.

Such was the perks of his sensitive position as the head of the student council and second prince of the kingdom.

He had to admit, being complimented like so from someone like Magnus felt quite liberating. As someone who was used to being called names and looked down upon for the first ten years of his life—such a change was welcome.

I can't let it get to my head though, Michael thought, clenching his fist.

After all, potential meant nothing if he couldn't live up to it.

"I should probably get back before Melody get's worried about me…" he muttered, making his way out the door.

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