01.39 - Grey`s Magic Power Is Omnipotent

My hands had almost touched the sphere, when I stopped for a moment.

Murmurs started in the crowd.

I didn’t move.

The crowd got louder.

Did I have some lingering post traumatic reaction?

One of the assistants looked at me, then whispered something to the master of ceremonies.

“Is something wrong?” the master of ceremonies asked.

I did not answer.

Instead, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and pressed both hands against the sphere.

The instant the tips of my fingers made contact with the sphere, the room was bathed in a flash of white light whose intensity seemed to get higher by the millisecond. It easily reached through my closed eyes.

It seemed to momentarily blind the onlookers, even those who tried to look away or cover their eyes.

Then it faded and a white milky hue appeared all over the sphere.

Small rifts formed on its surface.

They grew bigger.

The sphere cracked, then shattered completely.

The assistants and even the master of ceremonies stared at me, with what looked like an undefinable mix of surprise, awe, admiration, and fear in nearly equal amounts.

The crowd seemed to have a similar reaction.

Some panicked. Some screamed.

Others began to whisper, then got progressively louder until the entire hall was filled with noise.

“Please, everyone,” the master of ceremonies addressed the people. “There seems to be some issue with the artifact,” he said. “Fortunately, we are almost done for the day. We will conclude the evaluation as is. Those few who did not have their turn yet will be contacted after we have taken care of the issues at hand.”

The commotion resumed and the day ended in confusion.

We repeated the evaluation in private two days later.

On two portable versions normally used for calibration.

Both shattered instantly in a violent explosion.

“This is puzzling,” the master of ceremonies said. “I’ve never seen a reaction like that, it’s like he has no limit to his potential at all.”

“So, what now?” asked Aurora. “I always knew my dear son was special, but this…”

Your dear son, huh? I remember this conversation going differently.

A few days later, word of my results had reached my ‘father’, who promptly doubled down on his endorsement letter for Officers school. He even sent an enchanted sword as a belated birthday gift. And sent another letter promising me a chance at a Custom Training Standard Knight for my first school year.

The results were the topic of the town for a few weeks, until more pressing events took over.

There was the war with Seth’s faction looming on the horizon, and other related issues soon took center stage.

As for my fate, it was decided that I would join officer school on a full stipend and special privileges come next semester.

All according to plan.

This time for real.

—

In the meantime, our original plans to contact Akane, Koharu, and Loreley made some progress thanks to Kentaro, then escalated beyond my wildest dreams.

One of the central elements turned out to be the kids, and their former pets.

You see, Classes, Skills, and Stats were tied to your soul. That was part of the reason the blonde goddess was so surprised that the three times world champion in magic (a card game) had such an abysmal Status.

Anyway, long story short, our former pets, or rather the kids' trusted adventuring partners, started out with the equivalent status of a Gold rank adventurer, maybe even Platinum. It was hard to tell, I had never met one, so this was just based on my extrapolation of the adventurer equivalent to the monsters they slew almost daily.

They just had to get fully used to their new bodies first, but they did so in a few short days.

With enough fame to my name to be recognized instantly in town, I couldn’t move around freely, at least as myself.

So I changed into a modified human form, with characteristics similar to a third rate light novel anime adaptation protagonist. Short black hair included.

I met a transformed Kentaro and Reiko. Didn’t expect Reiko to pull a male disguise. Then again, having a woman accompany us could raise suspicions in the pleasure district.

Akane, Koharu, and Loreley could have also used transform to cut ties with their current employers, but they still had some younger family members depending on them in this timeline, so this was no option.

Not just for the lack of money. The denizens of the district did not act kindly to those who were looking for a way out. Crabs in a bucket.

Be that as it may, this was our first combined scouting mission.

To decide on our further steps and figure out the best way to use the platoon of shape shifting elite adventurers at our disposal.

Our targets were not the owners of the establishment that employed Akane, Koharu, and Loreley. We aimed higher up.

Our goals were the names, schedules, and locations of the people pulling the strings in all of Lichtheim's underworld.

Our destination was a fortified house near the far side of the district. It was the base of operation for the Reds, a band of thugs, lead by Crimson, self declared ruler of the outskirts.

He was a mere lackey and bulldog for the people who really pulled the strings.

Taking him out for and using his appearance to gain intel was the first step in the current phase of the plan.

We entered their base, after using the Camouflage Skill and taking out the goons at the entrance and within the main hall, and made our way to the second floor.

A man was screaming at someone behind a locked door.

A blunt impact was audible, followed by a whimper.

“This is what you get for biting the hand that fed you,” the screaming man's voice said. “Thought you were so smart, didn’t you? We’ll make an example out of you, and of those brats.”

“No… please…” the whimpering voice whispered. “You can kill me, but please leave the other kids alone.”