CHAPTER 813: POWER IS POWER

While Adam frowned as the horned rabbit brushed its unblemished hide with a paw, then blinked its red eyes with the innocence of a domestic animal, a young girl chimed, "So cute!"

A few students smiled. More grimaced in confusion.

"Did you expect a demon or a fierce magical beast that would rather die than bend?" Haldris chuckled with the voice of a master three steps ahead. "It would be an interesting sight, perhaps one you’ll never forget, but," he paused, his sharp gaze brushing through eager and disappointed faces, before he continued in his scholarly voice. "We aim to make them submit, not waste time entertaining youthful curiosity. A horned rabbit is more than enough to do so."

Before he could continue with the method, a ball of fur rushed in front of him.

"Bao!" Quintella called out, running behind.

But the baby panda ignored her.

Moved by something less than will and more from instinct, Bao climbed onto the massive stone table, stopping only when she faced the rabbit. She growled, fangs out, mouth distorted in a mask of hate and resentment.

Without warning, she struck like Adam had taught her this morning.

Her claws cleaved into the unsuspecting rabbit’s jugular. Students gasped, but Haldris watched with an amused smile.

When the furious claws drove through what should have been flesh, they simply passed through. No blood, no sound of tearing flesh or cracked bones. Bao’s eyes widened, and the rabbit froze for a heartbeat. Then, it snapped its mouth open, revealing teeth that froze the students who had found it cute a moment earlier. They were jagged, their edges sharp like enchanted knives. The short horn, which they had believed was a decoration, crackled with electricity. When the rabbit growled with predatory rage, the last image they had of a domestic animal shattered like glass.

Even if weak, this was a real magical beast, one that could have punctured their throats had they tried to hug its soft fur.

As they shuddered, the rabbit struck back. Its horn split the space between it and Bao like a lightning spear. The baby panda scrambled into a roll, barely avoiding having its stomach impaled. But when she pounded at the rabbit’s solar plexus with a vicious uppercut that made Adam nod, the same happened again—her paw passed through harmlessly.

She shrieked in baffled frustration, striking again.

Before she could, Haldris gripped her by the fur at the back of her neck. "Enough."

At his command, Bao froze and let him place her back on Quintella’s shoulder. Yet she still glared at the rabbit as if it owed her food.

"Return with the others." He waved her back, continuing with the lesson. "The table conjures harmless images of the sealed souls. This is your opportunity to make them submit."

Trevor, who had remained silent since the last lesson, raised his hand and asked, "How, teacher?"

"Even though there is no universal method, the first step is always the same." He reached for the rabbit, his movements deliberate, almost gentle.

When he almost touched the creature, the rabbit lurched back. Its eyes narrowed, the lightning at its horn crackling louder in threat.

"It naturally hates me for killing it, and so do the creatures you’ve sealed. You must quell that hate first." His voice grew darker. "Or entice it, or terrorise it so much that hate becomes irrelevant. Find the method that suits you best."

Realisation struck Adam like a gut punch. So that was the real purpose of the duel desks. They were meant to tame captured souls, then repurposed into a game after the exorcists’ exile. Time did the rest, burying their true use for millennia between the deceptive fingers of the Magus. Once again, he had waved ancient knowledge in front of everyone’s eyes while making it pass as a useless distraction.

"Sometimes, the best hiding place is in plain sight..." Adam sighed heavily.

Beside him, Desmond raised his brow. "What’s hidden? Did you find something out?"

"Just talking to myself." Adam shook his head. "It’ll take more than an illusory rabbit for me to find the golem’s weakness."

Their conversation faded with Haldris’ clap.

"Time to get experience. Stand behind the table, place your talismans in the grooves, and try to subdue your beasts. But never forget—they are not friends. Surface agreement is not enough. They will kill you when summoned. The patient ones will fight alongside you, waiting for a moment of weakness to backstab you." Haldris rubbed his thick brow, his ageless face twisting in a grimace that murmured of experience, betrayed friends or students. "I won’t let anything happen to you in class, but never forget."

"Ominous just as we like it, hey?" Desmond chuckled as the first students lined up behind the table. "Worth it if I have an Oozebloom Abomination covering my back, though."

"Worth it for weaklings like you." Adam shrugged, his voice heavy with unspoken thoughts, new possibilities he could explore.

Not about the class itself. Not even about the golem. About a project he had stumbled over for years with Lulu: repurposing Andras’ puppet. Perhaps... there was someone who could help him with grounded ideas, a scientist who blurred technology so much that it appeared like vile magic.

’Later.’ He forced his ideas to the back of his mind, his thoughtful frown easing.

Desmond rolled his eyes. "You speak as if you won’t use this technique. Great try, but welcome to the ranks of those you call weaklings, I guess."

"It clashes with my beliefs." Adam shook his head behind the stone table, and Desmond frowned.

"What belief?"

"That true strength comes not from tools, but from yourself. Master and use it, Desmond. It’s a useful technique, just not one for me."

For three heartbeats, no answer. Then, Desmond slammed his talisman beside the table’s groove. "Power is power, Adam. Beliefs won’t affect the Oozebloom’s root when it’ll impale my enemies. That’s what I would have answered to any fool who brought up such dragon shit. But..."

A steely glint entered his narrowed eyes. "I’ve seen you fight, seen you block the Oozebloom’s poisonous teeth. I missed the killing blow, but it happened. An apprentice killing archmage sylvan beasts. Did you perfect yourself because of that belief, or are you a once-in-a-millennium genius?"

Before Adam could answer, Desmond smirked. "Doesn’t matter, blue bastard. I think I’ll steal that belief of yours." He clenched and unclenched his palm, muttering as if he had been inspired. "My own strength."

"Don’t insult me. I’m no genius, just the best apprentice that has ever existed." Adam rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips curved. "Perhaps you can become the best adept... until I dethrone you. It’ll still give you a year or two of glory, stalk of lavender."

While they chuckled, mana condensed onto the table. Adam’s Bronthil formed, bronze stripes on silver fur glistening with a metallic sheen under the afternoon sun.

The wolf-like beast perked its ears, and when it saw Adam, a savage light flashed in its eyes. It lunged, howling at its murderer when all it had wanted was to feast on the Oozebloom’s carcass.

Adam simply crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at the beast.

"Be careful!" Desmond screamed, reaching to push Adam out of the way.

But Adam shrugged as fangs passed through his neck. "Of what? Forgot they’re just images?"

He glared at the Bronthil, his eyes narrowed into slits more bestial than the beast itself. When he spoke, his voice was a guttural growl that seemed to come from the viscera of an alpha howling commands. "Step back and listen. That’s your only hope of escaping your prison."

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I didn’t feel like writing today, but I still did. I might take a day off soon, though. I feel dead tired.