A Villain's Survival Guide

"In today’s Magic Theory class, we will talk about the ingredients needed to create solutions, what they are, and where they come from."

Instructor Abigail’s gaze swept the class, moving slowly from one face to the next. Some were new faces, back after injuries from the citadel raid, and she was glad to have them about.

"Before anything, we’d begin by discussing what the solutions actually are."

From the podium, she picked out a cadet with a small smile. "Care to tell us what they are, Lucius?"

Lucius motioned positively.

"Solutions serve as the medium that seals the synchronisation between a human and their contracted creatures. This seal renders the synchronisation permanent and irreversible. Although changes may occur, they do not happen overnight, and both the human and the creature must be willing to undergo such change."

A soft smile tugged on Instructor Abigail’s lips.

"Marsha."

When she called to her spirit, a smoke bloomed and cleared, and from it emerged a white, wolf-like spirit, blue flames alive along its tail, a fine line mapping its spine, and a single horn at its brow.

Marsha circled her like a puppy beside itself with excitement, and for a moment, the whole thing looked less like a lecture and more like a family bonding session.

After a moment, her eyes found the class once again.

"A synchronisation must occur before each rank. I currently only have a personality synchronisation with Marsha, as I am still a Sorcerer. Due to this synchronisation, I understand her as though she were my second self."

With a few pats on the head, Marsha disappeared.

"Each rank confers its own power and advantages, and only through synchronisation with one’s contracted creature can these abilities be effectively wielded. As mere humans, without such synchronisation, the abilities of our creatures may kill us. To wield their full power, we must become one."

Her eyes combed the room once more before settling heavily on Leomaris. He hadn’t shown his face in class for quite some time, not since he’d nearly died during the citadel raid.

Abigail frowned. Something about Leomaris was off today. Not his usual knowing expression or his laziness during class. Something far darker than that. Sinister. Unholy, even.

She held her gaze on Leomaris for a second or two before pulling herself away and carrying on with the lesson.

"There are three methods by which the ingredients required for solutions may be created. The first is through the Magic Towers, where scholars contracted with the Knowledge Entity possess extensive knowledge of their production. The second occurs when something is exposed to the Red Continent, Red Seas, and Red Mountains for an extended period. The third is within the floating islands."

She hadn’t planned on calling on Leomaris at all, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off him once she’d caught wind of the unholy presence lurking around him. To seem less suspicious, she put a question to him, using it as a cover to learn more about the presence.

"Cadet Leomaris, would you mind briefing the class on anything concerning the ingredients?"

Leomaris positioned positively.

"These ingredients are not particularly benign, though in certain cases they may be. They are classified into levels, with level five being the safest and level zero being deadly. Seal ingredients fall between levels five and four, and these are used for synchronisation, with the majority being produced within the Magic Towers."

Leomaris shrugged subtly.

"Levels below four are considered dangerous and are classified as toxic, dangerous, extremely dangerous, and catastrophic, respectively. These are stored within the military and the churches."

Instructor Abigail let out a sigh. She could still feel the unholy presence, but it did nothing to make Leomaris’s intellect any less fascinating than she’d always known it to be.

She pushed her uneasiness aside, putting it down to Leomaris’s near-death experience.

"Good job, Cadet Leomaris."

Her attention shifted toward the rest of the class.

"Those of you who will serve with the army as Mage Warriors will encounter the dangerous variants more frequently. However, do not be misled, unlike Seal Ingredients, which possess descriptive and often appealing names, the dangerous ones are designated by codes. Do not forget this, as you may require them."

Instructor Abigail went on a little longer before finally bringing her lecture to a close.

"This concludes our class. Please ensure you do not forget... your mid-semester examination is less than two weeks away. It will cover theory, practical application, and hand-to-hand combat."

—

When class ended, Leomaris shook hands with a few people. Lucius, in particular, came to make sure he was getting on alright and was well chuffed at the thought of seeing his best in the mid-semester exams.

Alfred came over to him too, which was strange given his arrogance. He hadn’t let his pride down, but Leomaris knew well enough that he was glad to see him all the same.

One of them tried to kill him. A first-year cadet.

Whoever wanted him dead wasn’t something he could blame on Emerald and her partner alone, after all, he knew next to nothing.

He was cautious.

Back at his chambers in his sister’s mansion, he pulled his shirt off and fixed his attention on the horrific centipede tattoo he’d acquired from consuming the forbidden knowledge.

"Did she feel my unholy presence? Could she really be that strong?"

Leomaris let out a sigh.

He noticed the uneasy glances Instructor Abigail kept throwing him during her class. Consuming the Abyssal Cube, the Red Ghost’s solution to becoming a Transcendent, had cost him his human presence, and everything about him had turned sinister. Though his strength had grown exponentially as a result.

But that was less of his concern.

"My ability, Conceal, prevents anyone weaker than me or equal in strength from sensing my unholy presence. Those stronger than me can only feel it faintly. But this... this makes it worse."

He squared himself up before the mirror, his hand drifting gently over the centipede tattoo.

"This is a curse. It brands me as an enemy of the Firstlight Goddess. I do not know what the Goddess will do about this, but clearly, learning her forbidden knowledge without meeting the requirements has angered her."

By all rights, a mere Magician like Leomaris had no business possessing forbidden knowledge. And unlike Philosophers, who could hold such knowledge and keep authority over it, Leomaris had gone and mastered it outright.

"I have all the hymns needed to summon the first false entity, born from the myth concerning the Goddess Heliara, the Watching Flame. I understand them thoroughly and how to recite them, without requiring any authority."

Once he had the remaining three entities, the curse would be complete, and with it the centipede tattoo on his body.

And once that happened, he was certain every servant of the Firstlight Goddess would hate him, or worse, the Goddess would set her sights on him entirely.

He smirked.

The damage was done. He was already mulling over how to make the most of it.

"Simple. Only Philosophers or higher ranks possess authority over myths that create false entities through sufficient belief. Since I can summon one, I can simply assume the identity of a Philosopher."

He already was. He’d just become the Jester of the End, after all.

Tomorrow, the false Philosopher would be born.