Becoming a Sorcerer required a mage to undergo personality synchronisation with their contracted creature and to produce a solution that would seal such synchronisation completely.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

After two days of trying to track down the maid who had served him the dark chocolate, Leomaris came up short. Not even Alicia, who had put the party together, knew anything of that cadet.

This, however, led Leomaris to a conclusion. Personality synchronisation. Whoever was behind this had abilities and tricks on par with a Sorcerer’s.

He may or may not have surpassed them in physical strength and mental discipline, but none of that took away from the elusiveness of their skills, nor the effectiveness of them.

A Magician with such a remarkable understanding of their abilities was, in every meaningful sense, no different from a Sorcerer.

To face them, he needed to become a Sorcerer. And the only way forward was through his entity, Mystery.

From his first and last encounter with it, its nature remained unclear: cunning, passive, and never denying anything. It revealed nothing, never lied, and yet never truly spoke the truth either.

That was precisely what he was after. So, despite knowing he had been cursed once more, he decided to leave the mark where it was rather than let Raine get rid of it.

’I am certain this person has the ability of curses, and more importantly, they intend to attack me during the Great Citadel raid... That’s why I must act clueless.’

He didn’t know who they were, and they could very well be someone he’d considered safe. He had no way of knowing what they were planning either. So he’d decided to leave the curse on his body and see what came of it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Allowing Emerald into his faction had narrowed the distance between them considerably. He had since worked out how his ability might or might not function against her, and identified the personality traits that would tell him when she planned to act. But Emerald’s partner was what truly concerned him.

’The last time I let Raine remove it, they came back with something new. Since this curse draws anything hostile toward me, at least I know what to expect. I’ll leave it in place and lead them on...’

—

Through the one path cutting into the snowy mountains, a lone horse carriage advanced, surrounded by nearly two hundred cadets, fully armored and armed, pressing through the snow toward the mountaintop.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Inside sat the five Calamities of the first-year cadets. The bitter cold outside was the least of their concerns, their attention was fixed on the map spread across the table at the heart of the cabin.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"I think we should at least have some idea of what we’re dealing with," Leomaris said, his index finger tracing a circle around the mountain they were approaching on the map.

"It’s a Lesser Citadel, aye, but walking in blindly might cost us dearly."

Warner nodded. "This entire simulation runs on our stamina. We can’t afford to waste time... the longer we wait, the weaker we get."

With a quick adjustment of his barrack cap, Alfred folded his arms over his chest.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"I don’t have to worry about stamina. As a proud Mathews, I have unlimited stamina," he said with unmistakable pride.

Lucius exhaled in disbelief. "I believe it would be best if we stick with what Leomaris said earlier. We should focus on learning the attack pattern rather than gaining points."

Those words seemed to stir something deep within Alfred, and his face contorted with the weight of it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"I opposed it back then, and I’ll oppose it again. Why should I sacrifice my precious points?"

Leomaris’s face remained flat, as it had throughout the whole of the test.

"We will be rewarded, without a doubt, only not in the way you’re imagining, where one person gains more points than another."

Alfred groaned. "That’s exactly my point. I’m the Ace, the top first-year cadet, and you want me to have the same points as a lowly fifth-class cadet?"

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "No. But I agree."

"Different motives, and yet you believe he’s right?" Leomaris asked, regarding her with a skeptical look.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Charlotte responded with a nod, and Warner was quick to jump in after.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"I think I share Charlotte’s sentiment. The lower-class cadets won’t support this. They’re doing everything they can to earn enough points and advance in rank. Asking them to share the same points with everyone wouldn’t sit well with them."

Lucius’s eyes found the cadet, watching them tremble in the cold despite the heavy armor many around them wore, and he understood their claim at once.

"I think you’re right, Warner. After going through such a terrifying cold, it would be unfair to make such demands."

Alfred’s head snapped toward the window as he leaned in for a better look.

He sneered. "Look at these cowards. They can’t even handle a simple cold."

Leomaris sighed, disbelief written all over his face. He had never encountered anyone this arrogant.

His eyes fell back to the map. The simulation was meant to prepare them for the raid on the Great Citadel, and even though this was a Lesser Citadel, he intended to have them apply whatever strategy they used here when that time came.

The plan was simple.

He couldn’t take on Emerald’s partner yet, so what he needed was a strategy that would reduce the likelihood of unexpected attackers, help him identify when and by whom he was being targeted, and more than anything, leave him alone with Emerald long enough to kill her.

To do that, he needed ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​to control the movement of every first-year cadet.

’That way, I can feed my enemies a clear strategy to work with. As long as the curse remains on me, they’ll keep believing I don’t understand its meaning.’

While his mind was elsewhere, Alfred made a suggestion.

"The lower-class cadets are clearly desperate for points. How about we send a few fifth-class students ahead to survey the area for us?"

Lucius stroked his chin, nodding gently in agreement.

"We’ll stop around this area. Since they’re eager, they’ll see it as an opportunity to impress the examiners."

Leomaris was very nearly in agreement until Charlotte spoke, and his mind changed entirely.

A shake of her head was all the disagreement she showed. "My sky. My land."

As shallow as the words were, they were enough to put Leomaris in exactly the right frame of mind.

"I get it." His eyes sparkled.

"The simulation is occupying the entire Citadel territory, both sky and land. Sending cadets there would risk exposing our position. We don’t even know what we’re up against."

He weighed his thoughts for a moment.

"Since we’ll be using this strategy in the Great Citadel raid, I suggest we split into groups."

Warner nodded. "I agree."

"That sounds good. We can split into thieves, tanks, knights, casters, and flight," Lucius added.

"Yes," Charlotte said.

Alfred looked wounded. His pride was at stake, and being shot down in front of the Ace wasn’t something he was particularly pleased about. But Leomaris moved on all the same.

"The thieves would gather information, the tanks would protect the casters as they attack from long range, flight would cover the skies, and the knights would lead the assault."

Lucius sat with it for a moment, then a smile crossed his face.

"This should work perfectly for the Great Citadel raid as well."

He looked almost disappointed as he spoke.

"But that means I can’t fight alongside you, Leomaris. With your reflexes, you’re the only one who can lead the thieves."

Leomaris smiled, if a little awkwardly. He had no intention of working with him whether they used this plan or not, and for what it was worth, he’d rather be a knight than a thief any day.

"I’ll take the skies," Alfred said, his pride returning.

"Warner leads the tanks, Charlotte the casters, and Lucius will be a knight."

"But how exactly are we moving? All at once, or do we wait for intel from the thieves?" Warner asked.

"Exactly. I’ll enter the Citadel, gather information, and assess the lord’s rank. However, this is our first mission together, failure should be expected. So instead of waiting idle, you’ll be positioned and ready to attack the moment it fails."

Leomaris carried himself with the calm of someone who knew what he was doing. The truth of it, though, was that reading Chapters of Lucius doing exactly this in the novel had taught him that much.

"That’s interesting," Lucius said.

"If you manage to gather the information, then our mission becomes an ambush. That means you thieves will have to operate as assassins afterward."

Leomaris nodded in agreement, hoping the mission would succeed. If it did, he’d have enough time to plan for the Great Citadel raid and the advantage of already knowing what to expect.