Chapter 66: ~Like a shirt.~ (1/2)

***Eastern Planes, Arcane Academy***

***Ascathon***

“~Shanana.~”

I got permission from Celestial to use my immoral spell again! It has been a while since I used the spell Takeover.

Fortunately we had some test subje... hrm prisoners from Phenex. My men fished them out of the ocean when they attacked us at Sera's birthday. We kept them alive, just in case. Right now I am inside the body of one of their higher ranking officers.

My current body is a little bit too muscular and hairy for my taste. I look like a body builder. The muscles on my chest look like tits. I will never understand how a man can train himself to this point.

Strangely enough Celestial chose this body. Did she want to tell me something by doing so?

We decided that it was best if nobody knew of our attempt to form a secret alliance. Our enemies could use this knowledge against us. Open cooperation between Norfolk and Phenex is a bit difficult according to Celestial.

Most of Norfolk's nobles are willing to accept us, but there is no way to tell how many would take action against an alliance with Phenex.

So I went on a top secret mission, using the body of a prisoner. Of course I am wearing the casual clothes of a merchant. Running around dressed like a soldier from Phenex wouldn't get me far.

My first action was to use a Gate from Sarn to get to one of the less important towns in Norfolk. From there I jumped to a secret Gate in the Eastern Planes. Of course I could try to hack one of the Gates in the Academy, but that would be too much of a headache in this case.

Celestial informed me that the Jarl's former wife gave her a lot of valuable spying information. The former Jarl built a very secretive and effective spy organisation. They have access to enormous resources and possibilities.

One of them are Gates which were officially destroyed, but repaired later. The Jarl paid an enormous sum to the Academy as an apology for the missing Gates. The Academy normally wants damaged Gates back, even if they are returned just in pieces.

I have no idea how the Jarl explained the complete destruction of several Gates to the Academy. In any case, the result are eleven Gates at strategic locations all over the continent. Norfolk's own little Gate network. I have no doubt that other countries might have done the same.

From the unimportant town in question, I travelled to the secret Gate in Norfolk. From there, I was just one step away from the Academy. I have a strong feeling that the Immortal Empress is sitting on an important place like the Academy like a chicken on an egg.

By staying here, she is able to prevent anyone from taking the Academy over.

I have just one problem. How do I get inside the city? The guy who was guarding the secret Gate couldn't help me with that. Norfolk's spies retreated from the city when Phenex attacked. I guess I will simply try to walk through the Gate?

No, they surely locked the city down. You can't have people walk in and out of the city without control. And I have no caravan or equipment to cross the desert. It will look suspicious if I come out of nowhere.

So that means flying over the walls? Right now I am on a dune, watching the city. It's architecture consists of many towers and layered rings of buildings until they reach the city wall. I know the place very well. After all I studied here for several years.

Maybe I could get in through the sewers? No. There are very big rats down there. I hate those things.

I will simply watch the town until night falls. Maybe I will be able to sneak inside with a big caravan? They come from time to time to the city for trading.

Otherwise I will have to fly over the wall in the cover of the darkness.

I start to draw patterns on the sand while I wait. There is nothing else to do. The hours pass, but no caravan shows up.

In the evening I decide to act. The sun is low on the horizon right behind me and the last rays of light are disappearing. I stand up and use the growing shadows of the dunes to hide myself while walking closer to the city.

The outer walls are impressive chunks of solid rock, about fifty metres high. I decided against flying above it. This is a world of magic and the Academy is a city of magicians. I don't believe that there aren't any precautions against something like levitation magic.

I pull a small fist sized globe out of a pocket on my belt and use it to check for guards. There are soldiers every hundred metres and a few are patrolling around the city.

The last rays of light disappear while I memorize their walking pattern. A big patrol of ten people is passing me every hour and there are small groups of two every ten minutes.

So I wait until the next big patrol and another small group are gone. I chose a lonely section of the wall, far away from the city gate. As soon as the next small patrol is gone, I leave the shadows and run closer to the wall. My dark clothes hide me in the darkness.

Unless the soldiers have some neat vision enchantments on them I should be safe until I arrive at the top of the wall. There are magical lights at the top and the wall-walk is well lighted.

Arriving at the bottom of the wall, I cast a spell to increase the adhesion between myself and any other matter. Then, after reinforcing my legs with magic, I place my left foot on the wall to test my spell. Once I am sure that it worked, I jump and stand horizontal on the wall. One might mistake me for using a gravitational spell while I walk leisurely up the wall. But that's not the case at all.

A flick of my finger destroys the lamp which is illuminating my area. Then I run. It takes me a few seconds to bridge the distance and just as I arrive at the top, the face of a guard appears. He is looking down the wall to check for the noise.

To me it looks like a head appeared from the ground. Just right!

*Bang*

Everything the guard ever saw of me was my boot, as I placed it directly in his face. The kick was perfect! The guard goes limp, hanging there like inspecting something at the bottom of the wall.

I waste no time and jump down the wall on the other side, gently floating to the ground with levitation magic. Less than ten seconds passed since I planted my boot in the guards face and as I touch the ground, the guards on the wall behind me start to get busy.

Alarms are sounded and torches are used to enlighten the dark section of the wall. It doesn't concern me as I walk slowly down the street. I am a citizen of the Academy from now on.

I head directly for the lively parts of the city. My path leads me down one of the busy main streets. There are always people here, even during the night.

My next action is to find the location of the Empress. For that purpose I enter one of the many bars and order a drink. “The strongest stuff you have!”

A fat barkeeper brings me a jug of something that smells like petrol. I could probably build a working engine with this. I drink it in one go and order another one. There are drunks in every city and I already have a plan on how to get rid of this body.

The barkeeper is easily entangled in a little conversation. After all I start consuming his drinks like a good customer.

I spend half an hour in the bar while talking to the barkeeper and drinking as much as I can. Barkeepers know a lot about their city. There are always idiots who mourn over something while trying to drink their problems away.

Of course that never works.