"My name is Samuel Barstool, a twelfth-layer mage and the former headmaster of the academy."
I nodded. I had already realized the old man's identity when the headmistress called him master.
"Claus Quintin, swordsman." I introduced myself briefly. The old man nodded in silence.
"Claus, huh? A good name."
He then walked towards a bookshelf nearby and grabbed a book. "Let me see, before you, the youngest person in breaking beyond the twelfth layer was forty, however, you are less than twenty. Such a monstrous talent."
He then stared at me and heaved a tired sigh. "… I'm currently almost one hundred, and I had tried to break through the twelfth layer for more of the half of my life, however, I did not succeed. Now, it's impossible for me to breakthrough anymore. Talent truly is a scary thing."
I smiled wryly. I could not tell him that my 'talent' was the result of carrying with me the knowledge of hundreds of lives.
"Eva, does he know why did you bring him here?" The old man asked the headmistress.
The headmistress, Evelyn Humillitie, shook her head. "I had not told him. I wanted to ask for your permission first, master."
The old man nodded in understating. "I see. Certainly, he has the qualifications. However, he is a member of the imperial family, so I don't know if telling him is the right decision. Moreover, you already have a student, right? I'm sure she is talented enough to inherit our mission."
"… Yes, however, you know things have been worsening lately. Also, I want to tell him. Maybe it will help him in the future."
The old man looked at Evelyn for a moment before finally sighing. "You still feel guilty for being unable to help Silna back then, right?"
The headmistress did not answer.
"I understand." The old man exhaled deeply and sat on his chair. "You can tell him. Now, go away, I need to rest for a while."
"Thank you, master." The headmistress bowed apologetically to the old man. She then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room.
I was already used to her pulling my hand, and to be honest, it felt pretty soft.
However, currently, I was more curious about what was happening.
The headmistress noticed my doubts and sighed. "Wait for a while, I'll show you directly." She then guided me to another room inside the underground structure.
Different from the library, this place was covered by multiple layers of seals. The seals seemed to be suppressing something, not allowing it to spread. I furrowed my brows. The space inside this room felt very unstable.
The headmistress created multiple magic circles and used them as keys to open the seals. She then guided me inside the room.
Once inside, I was unable to hide my surprise.
A space-time vortex was standing in the middle of the room. The space-time vortex was suppressed by the seals, however, I could feel it connected to a frightening place.
"What is it?" I asked with a grave expression.
"The greatest secret of this academy, and the true reason that the academy was created. It's a portal leading to another world."
As I thought.
I did not expect to find something like this here. I could understand now why the old man seemed so reluctant to let me see this place.
Portals to another world. Space-time oddities that connected two worlds together. Very dangerous things that can cause the destruction of one or several worlds.
But at the same time, they were doors leading to fortune, riches, and great power.
At that moment, the space-time vortex started to tremble.
*Rumble!* *Bam! Bam!*
It sounded as though something was trying to break through the portal.
Headmistress Evelyn put on a grave expression. "It looks like today is a good day to exterminate the pests."
She then created a complicated magic circle and enveloped the two of us in it. "Follow me." She said and walked towards the portal.
The seals suppressing the portal did not react when we passed through them. Thanks to the magic circle the headmistress created, we easily walked until the portal and stood before it.
The headmistress took a deep breath. "Be careful inside and stay near me. It's very dangerous inside."
I nodded, it was not my first time seeing a portal to another world, so I more or less knew the dangers inside.
The headmistress then took a step forward and entered the portal. I waited for a second and followed after her.
The next instant, my surroundings changed.
The well-protected room disappeared, and in its place, I was surrounded by space-time turbulences. Walls made of chaotic magic power pulsed with an ominous light.
The headmistress was in front of me. Her body had been surrounded in berserk mana, and her blood-red eyes were emanating a sharp glow.
Facing her, hundreds and thousands of fearsome beasts, in all the sizes and shapes, were growling and charging towards her with bloodthirsty gazes.
"Roaaarrrrrr!!!" A giant alligator-like beast roared and pounced towards the headmistress, however, she raised her hand and created a fiery red magic circle.
"[Hell Rising]!" She shouted.
Instantly, black-red flames surged from her hands. In an instant, hundreds of beasts around her were burned to ashes. The fire burned them so quickly that the beasts were unable to even scream.
Even the alligator-like beast, that was a monster above the tenth-layer in strength, was unable to endure more than two seconds.
I cast an admiring gaze towards the headmistress. The spell she cast just now was a mix of fire magic and cursed magic. I even detected a sliver of soul magic inside her spell.
For someone that had been alive for less than one hundred years to cast such spell, even I could not help but admire her talent.
In the blink of an eye, a few kilometers around the headmistress had been cleared of monsters. But when the spell disappeared, more and more monsters charged towards her.
The number of monsters seemed infinite, and although most of them were low-level beasts, some of them were strong enough to pose a bit of threat to us.
"What are you waiting for?!" The headmistress exclaimed. "Hurry up and help me. The sooner we finish with them, the better."
I nodded and unsheathed my sword. Then, I charged towards the unending wave of monsters.
It looks like I'll be skipping classes today.