For a moment, Orion feared his good luck had finally run out and that the tension would finally explode into violence.

  The two robed men who blocked their path to the Senate clearly seemed to have aggressive intentions, but for some reason, they stopped a few steps back, keeping their hands to themselves.

  “Have you finally lost your mind after spending so much time alone in your tower, with only your cursed apprentice for company?” One of them called out, eyeing Antares warily. “You promised the Venerable Archmage you would stay out of this, and now you come to the Senate with the man who has been organizing the campaign against him?”

  Set didn’t seem particularly ruffled by the venom spat his way. If anything, he appeared amused, which told Orion exactly how confident he was that things would turn out in their favor.

  Honestly, I still don't know what exactly prompted Antares to accept my request. He hasn't said anything about what he plans to do with the Speakership. There's still a chance he might change his mind.

  Orion didn’t expect that to happen. Not if Mallon had merely passively agreed to his rise, but a gap called reality stretched between his wishes and what was actually going to happen. He wasn't sure if they were strong enough to bridge that divide.

  “I promised nothing,” Antares replied, barely showing any interest in their presence. His gaze, however, was fixed on a tall figure emerging from the Senate’s doors, quietly conversing with another person.

  The man had a commanding presence, he had to admit. Unlike Mallon's seasoned wisdom or Set's playful grandfatherly vibe, the one he was pretty sure was the Venerable Archmage who started it all seemed more like an old warrior whose strength hadn't diminished with age.

  His body was powerful, with broad shoulders and well-defined muscles visible even beneath his robes. A short-cropped, white beard made him look more like a general than a mage, and the staff at his side completed the look.

  Despite the real danger posed by the powerful mages blocking his way, who, from the looks of it, had to be at least tier four and therefore strong enough to destroy him, Orion couldn’t look away once he had set his sights on Ulysses.

  I don’t know what I expected, but this definitely wasn’t it. He would fit right in with the Radiant Vigil. How is it that someone who is clearly dedicated to developing his physical abilities has become an Archmage feared even by the Sanctum?

  His curiosity got the better of him, and he pushed aside the back-and-forth between the two mages and his group, instead focusing his senses on Ulysses, activating [Verification Principle] in an attempt to learn what it was that fascinated him so.

  The moment the magic went off, he knew he’d been too obvious, because the man’s head snapped toward him, and for a long moment, Orion found himself locked in a staring contest.

  Power. More power than he’d ever known was possible, buzzed under that man’s skin. Orion understood that at higher levels, magic shifted from manipulating the Mana Field to simply declaring one’s Intent and watching it manifest, but he hadn’t fully realized how far that could go.

  He couldn’t even clearly say he was afraid because his mind struggled to understand what it was perceiving. Strangely, Ulysses had no spell shielding him from magical observation, no artifact protecting him from scrying attempts, and Orion could see everything.

  How confident must one man be to walk through the Collegium, which they had announced their intention to take over, without any attempt to shield himself? Orion didn’t see himself as a good judge of character, and a single, brief encounter wasn’t enough to understand every aspect of a man’s life, but something told him that absolute belief in his power was what allowed such behavior.

  The deeper he looked, the more he realized how fragile his own spells were. This man, even without actively casting anything, was controlling the Mana Field around himself with such precision that not a single mote of mana could escape his control.

  Even using the CC and after days of effort, Orion couldn’t hope to replicate what he was doing subconsciously. It was both humbling and infuriating, yet strangely inspiring—because now he knew it was possible and wanted nothing more than to reach the peak of mana manipulation.

  Then, Ulysses had enough of being scrutinized so openly, and Orion felt the full brunt of his attention.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Having endured Morliana’s hatred, Orion was quite skilled at resisting pure intent, especially after recent exposure to his mother’s still uncontrolled aura, but those two were nothing compared to what he was going through then.

  It felt like he was under a microscope, crammed into a petri dish, unable to do anything but watch as a giant’s eye peered down at him and found him lacking.

  Orion felt his mind rebel against such scrutiny as the mana under his control stirred, and he subconsciously tried to do something, anything, to escape the vice grip. But that only made it tighten, until he was afraid that even if he managed to break free, he’d never truly feel free of it.

  That was, until it was violently torn away, leaving him trembling.

  “What. Do you think. You are. Doing?!” Antares hissed, eyes blazing a menacing purple. Orion could barely keep his own open, as his head throbbed intensely, but through sheer force of will, he stayed awake, knowing he couldn’t let go now or he’d miss everything.

  The two mages who had blocked their way were gone. He hadn’t seen what happened to them, but he strongly suspected they fled as soon as Antares stopped playing nice. If what he was feeling, despite not being on the receiving end of his anger, was any indication, he could understand why.

  Ulysses felt like an invisible giant, a force so powerful and ancient that words couldn't describe it. Like something from a different era that he didn't have the right framework to understand.

  Antares was nothing like that. His presence was clear, and even more overwhelming because of it. Like a dagger pressed against his pulse, like the fear of knowing you were being stalked by a much stronger predator with no way to escape.

  He was inevitable.

  Orion’s head throbbed, and he finally had to let go of [Verification Principle] before the flood of data overwhelmed him, but he didn’t need it now.

  Antares’ anger was a cold, chilling force. Orion didn’t doubt he could sense what Ulysses was doing to him, and it seemed everyone else now knew something had happened while they were watching. The next thing he knew, Asteria was holding him in her arms, pulling him away from what appeared to be the center of a terrible confrontation.

  Two tier four mages fighting all out were known to be capable of destroying a city. If Antares and Ulysses fought, considering they were both tier five, they would likely obliterate Valderun with no one able to stop them.

  “Curious children are a blessing, as you might have known had you taken the time to acknowledge him, but any good parent knows to keep them from wandering when the adults are present. It seems even here, I must teach the younger generation, for neither the father nor the mother appears capable,” Ulysses replied, his voice like the grating of stone, low and rumbling, promising much more than the words implied.

  His eyes remained fixed on Orion, and he couldn’t suppress the surge of fear that swept through him. He doubted even a fully powered [Gamma Ray] would make this man flinch, not if the extent of the power he’d seen was any clue.

  Ah, but he made a mistake. Orion would be the last to claim there was any parental bond with his biological father. Besides the fact that they were estranged, he still had the memories of a grown adult in his mind, and while teenage hormones couldn't be ignored, they were still a long way from creating an affectionate relationship.

  That didn’t mean a stranger, much less someone who had just handled him so roughly, could make claims about them, let alone insult his mother.

  He doubted Antares still loved Asteria, if he ever did, but it couldn’t be denied that he felt something, or he wouldn’t have left her blood as an access key to his wards.

  More than that, it was obvious that this was a power move by Ulysses, meant to mock them and let every other Archmage—along with Orion and anyone with a hint of power who could scry from inside the Collegium’s wards and was therefore watching the confrontation—know that Antares wasn’t fit for the role of Speakership.

  After all, who would give him that much power when he couldn’t even keep his house in order?

  Antares seemed fully aware of the angle the Venerable Archmage was using, but that didn’t make him any less furious.

  The air was so still that Orion almost thought it should be impossible to breathe, even though that idea was absurd. Unlike the dramatic fire and fury many expected, Antares remained fully in control of his rage, which only made him more intimidating.

  “Is this what you’ve reduced yourself to?” he called out, his voice echoing much farther than it should have, and Orion had no trouble believing everyone in the Collegium could hear him. “An old man, whose ambitions should have been dead and buried with the world that birthed you, and yet you are still desperate for a scrap of attention. You’ve always lived in Mallon’s shadow, so I should have expected you to come slithering out of the hole you’ve been hiding in.”

  His words seemed to affect Ulysses greatly, because his face darkened, and Orion knew for certain that diplomacy was pointless.

  “Let us settle this the old way, then,” the old man rumbled, and Antares’ impassive face split into a feral grin, showing he’d been waiting for just that.

  Orion didn’t know how a man not much older than Asteria could be so powerful as to rival a legend like Ulysses, but it was clear to everyone that he didn’t feel intimidated in the slightest.

  “Archmages! Have some decorum!” Another presence suddenly appeared between them, and for a moment, Orion thought it was Mallon, but it quickly became clear that, although equally ancient, this man had neither the power nor the aplomb of the Speaker.

  Instead, he was a wispy elder, bent by age but not broken, and with his presence, both contenders halted the hostilities.

  “First Senator Ytzet, a grave insult has been given,” Ulysses growled, clearly struggling with the urge to drop politeness but for some reason forced to stay calm because of the elder’s presence.

  “He’s the leader of the Senate. The most respected figure after Mallon,” Naerys whispered from beside him, and Orion realized he was still cradled in his mother’s arms. He tugged at her, trying to get some space, but Asteria didn’t budge, and he gave up, knowing it was a lost cause.

  “Why didn’t he intervene before?” He whispered back, and his answer was a pointed finger.

  Following it, Orion saw that two mages were animatedly discussing with someone he recognized as Elder Yue and her Archmage friend. Apparently, they hadn’t just gone to handle some opponents but had been secretly working behind the scenes to bring another powerful ally onto their side.

  “Yes, yes, you shouted at each other enough, I understand,” Yztet grumbled, seemingly unaffected by the pressure the two exerted. “You will get the chance to settle things once we have voted. I have not once overseen a single late vote in my entire career, and it will not start now!”

  Antares returned to his neutral expression, but his voice was still audible as he murmured, "I wouldn’t have needed more than a minute anyway.”