The moment the two mages returned to the Academy; they were immediately surrounded by the Academy's law enforcers. The alchemy puppets surrounded them and gave them a strict warning, "Mage Jino. Mage Ryan. We have detected an influx of negative energy emanating from the both of you. Explain immediately."
The magic dampening effect that the alchemy puppets had were starting to interfere with the normal operations of the tower, so Mage Ryan hurriedly threw Adam out and explained, "Apprentice Adam was struck by ancient curse magic, and his soul is currently in a state of instability. We need to see the Dean immediately."
Hearing Mage Ryan's explanation, the dampening effect weakened immediately. The alchemy puppet stretched out its mechanical arm to retrieve Adam, but a voice interrupted them.
"Bring him to me," the Dean ordered simply.
The two mages brought Adam along with them to the penultimate floor of the tower, and they could see the Dean's true form towering over them.
"Good day, Dean Victor."
The Dean nodded, then retrieved Adam and studied him.
"This little guy..." the Dean muttered while staring at his unconscious body. "I don't know if I should praise his boldness or mourn his misfortune."
Mage Jino and Mage Ryan explained the situation briefly, not wanting to anger the Dean in any way.
The Dean waved a single finger over Adam's body, and conjured a projection nearby, showing exactly what was happening in Adam's soul.
Mage Jino and Mage Ryan widened their eyes at the scene before them.
"His soul, it's... mutated."
Dean Victor nodded. "Yes. Most ancient magic as we know it is incredibly unstable, so it is prone to the emotions of whoever casted the spell. Look -- this curse magic was originally intended to rip and tear apart at Adam's soul, but is instead fighting for control of his body."
Mage Jino nodded, despite his field of study not focused on the souls of mages.
The Dean could sense his doubts, and explained further, "This is why I commended Adam for being bold -- he found a way to counteract this ancient magic all on his own with no prior guidance."
"Surely there are dire consequences, great Dean," Mage Jino inquired.
"It's just a matter of success or failure," the Dean explained. "But no matter the result, his soul will forever be stained by this magic. He may no longer become a mage if that is the case."
The Dean unprojected the screen, and handed Adam over to the alchemy puppet to send to his laboratory. "Your mission is complete, so settle your rewards amongst yourselves. As for the reward for saving Adam... if he wakes up, go to him. Otherwise, the Academy will honor the contract's terms and reward you."
The two mages bowed, but before they left, the Dean left them with a simple message, "By the way, we lack manpower in the recruiting department. If you're free, pick the task up."
...
The Academy still ran normally without Adam's presence. In Adam's laboratory, James and Frank accepted Adam's absence after their initial shock, and continued their research. They didn't leave the laboratory since one, they were still bound to the contract, two, they had nowhere else to go.
William had secretly signed a contract with the Academy and started to return to his reclusive life once again.
Elliott came by the laboratory daily to see if Adam had returned, but to no avail. He gradually stopped visiting.
In Adam's absence, the three in the lab encountered many problems, since Adam was the one who constructed the set of meditation runes. Relying on their own research worsened their efficiency.
Soon, a new batch of apprentices arrived, and they were all locals. Five hundred, highly qualified apprentices gathered at the assembly area, and all of them were smug and arrogant in their behavior.
Due to their talents, they looked down upon the previous batch of apprentices, and even hogged all of the available missions at the Task Hall.
The number of conflicts rose day by day and some apprentices died due to duels. At first, William's group persevered through the jeering and bullying, but many apprentices came to betray William's group and started to turn against their original companions.
Some apprentices begged William to teach the new apprentices a lesson.
William refused.
He found that his thoughts were getting too similar to Adam. He could finally understand why Adam was so indifferent when he first came to Adam to form a group.
Just as how he couldn't understand Adam's thought process back then, the apprentices didn't understand why William refused, and subsequently, William became an outcast as well.
This made the new apprentices think that William was someone who could be toyed with, but after brutally killing a few apprentices one after another with next to no effort, no one was willing to bother him again. Just like Adam was.
A year soon passed, and it was time for the new batch of apprentices to participate in their trials. Moreover, Adam's laboratory welcomes their first visitor after a long time.
It was Crystal.
William opened the laboratory's door and gasped when he saw Crystal. She looked the same, but an aura of indifference radiated from her, and William knew that this was not the same timid girl as before. It was as if he was looking at a second Adam.
"Long time no see, Crystal."
"Good morning, William. Long time no see."
William motioned for Crystal to enter the laboratory and sighed. "You seem different."
Crystal smiled slightly, and her smile was like sunlight reflecting off an iceberg, "You seem different too. Time changes people, I guess."
"We have to change regardless. Adapt or die is the motto of this place after all."
Crystal nodded, and the two of them sat in silence, not knowing what to say.
Crystal got up and explored the laboratory, glancing at and skimming and scanning the various research papers sprawled on various desks. William sat quietly, staring at her. After a while, Crystal asked, "Adam... is there any news about him lately?"
William raised his head, "You know what happened to him?"
"Well, the Black Mage told me everything. He's still fighting against that mage's magic until today." Crystal sighed.
William frowned when Crystal mentioned the Black Mage. Everyone had already found a path to pursue, but William still stagnated in one spot, living under Adam's protection.
"Enough about Adam. How are you, Crystal?"
"I'm doing good! I have access to endless knowledge and I feel like I'm improving every day," Crystal smiled. However, she did not disclose to William her intention of surpassing Adam in terms of skill.
"However, I feel like the Black Mage hates me! He reprimanded me many times, saying that, "Oh, if it were Adam, he would have done it better and quicker," How annoying!"
William didn't respond, and it was silent again.
"Do you think he will die?" Crystal whispered.
William didn't answer.
"You're right -- of course not! How could he die such a worthless death?" Crystal answered herself.
The doors to the laboratory suddenly opened, and James and Frank walked in. Crystal gently nodded to the both of them and left the laboratory.
"Who is she?" James inquired. "I could feel strong energies radiating from her -- I didn't know we had such strong apprentices in the Academy."
"She's another Adam," William simply replied.
James and Frank looked at each other, not understanding William's answer.
...
A month later, the trial ended, and only 70% of the new batch of apprentices returned safely. Their trial was obviously more difficult than the Adam's batch's trial. The experience caused them to mature a lot, and peace returned to the Moldo Mage Academy.
Soon, a victor emerged in Adam's soul.
