The Spider Queen

Chapter 182: Astrid Falls Asleep

(Zrudread University- Hidden Location)

(Archmage Hollystorm’s Mage Tower)

A Mendolesa girl was sitting quietly near a window with the gentle light from the red sun outside shinning on her face.

She was in a study room surrounded by ancient tomes and literary texts in languages written from a variety of races and cultures.

“So, the overflow of mana when using first tier magic can be severely reduced using Hawken’s theorem,” Astrid muttered to herself as she read through the heavy book in front of her.

“But how does that account for the circuit break when casting the flame ball and frost spike spell simultaneously?” 

“Maybe the opposite elemental nature of the mana particles could lead to an adverse reaction?”

Astrid frowned as she pondered over the answer to these questions that were sure to be on the midterm.

She was not having a good time.

Who knew that her mentor would suddenly decide that she needed to take the midterm exams with the rest of the year!

And then he also wanted the young Mendolesa mage to write additional exams based on what she learnt over the last few weeks.

Spatial magic was one of the most complex branches of magic and required a solid foundation in computation and mathematics.

Being able to cast spells that affected fixed areas in time and space was a skill that many were unable to learn.

Astrid initially struggled quite heavily but it helped that her mentor was arguably one of the best in the field.

Astrid sighed lightly and peeked at the tall stack of books on magic theorems and formulas she still had to read through.

Generally, her magic lessons would consist of applying the techniques she learnt in practice duels but long hours studying the various theories were still unavoidable.

“Are you getting bored?” came the cold voice of Archmage Hollystorm who was currently watering some plants in the corner of the room.

“No sir!” Astrid quickly replied and returned to scanning through the book.

Archmage Hollystorm hummed softly and continued to sprinkle water on the leaves of a scary looking plant.

The plant had dark green tendrils that waved around quite frequently but what was most horrifying about its appearance was its gawping maw with razer sharp teeth.

It was a rare species of flora only found in the inner regions of the desert planet of Doliarea and was the archmage’s most prized possession. 

The leaves of this plant could be used to create mana replenishing potions that had little to no side effects.

Every mage’s biggest weakness was running out of mana so replenishing potions were forever in high demand.

Well, Archmage Hollystorm did not raise the plant to make any profit, he simply enjoyed the aesthetics of the creature.

Yes, his tastes were quite strange.

“That’s all for today girl,” Archmage Hollystorm cooed tenderly and stroked a few leaves on his plant.

This was the life.

Quiet. Peaceful. Tranquil.

“Zzzzzzzzzz!” a noise suddenly shattered this calm.

Astrid snored loudly as the long nights of studying finally caught up to her and she passed out with a dopey grin on her face.

Whatever she was dreaming of must have been pleasant as she kept giggling and whispering in a low voice.

Archmage Hollystorm placed down the watering can and headed over to his tired student who looked like she needed a firm yet gentle hand in education.

He raised his hand to deliver a hard slap to the back of Astrid’s head but lowered it slowly as he saw the bags beneath her eyes.

Maybe he had been pushing his student too hard over the last couple of days.

Astrid was the archmage’s first and probably only direct disciple and he did not have much experience in teaching.

Truthfully the Mendolesa girl was far and above the progress of her peers and it was not solely due to her grade S mana talent.

She was simply an incredibly hard worker.

Astrid had always completed all assignments on time, read ahead before class and actively asked questions when she didn’t understand something.

Archmage Hollystorm’s heart softened as he gazed at his sleeping pupil and pulled out a soft blanket from his storage space.

He carefully placed it around Astrid’s shoulders and then left the room.

Travelling long distances was not a problem for any mage half decent with spatial magic so with a quick snap of his fingers, Archmage Hollystorm teleported himself to his private work room.

It was quite messy with stacks of letters, reports and strange mechanical devices laying on the floor in a haphazard manner.

“Frangere illusio!” Hollystorm chanted and the messy version of the room disappeared instantly.

It was just a simple trick to cast an illusion but anyone without the knowledge of the mana flow he used to construct the spell would be unable to break it.

The elderly Servie flew over to his desk and begun to read some reports about the current affairs of the Federation.

Fighting a war with the Insectoid Empire and the rising hostilities with the Unova Syndicate meant that the Imperial Army was stretched way too thinly. 

Mages were an important asset and powerful Archmages could singlehandedly turn the tide of battle.

Naturally, this meant that they were treated as hidden aces.

The Servie race on a whole were not too favourable at the notion of endless wars and expansion of the Federation but the humans and Mendolesa were eager to gain more resources.

Quafes remained neutral but would always send representative troops to the various military campaigns.

Archmage Hollystorm frowned as a particular report caught his attention, several high-level Insectoid commanders had apparently disappeared from the border.

The intelligence officers guessed that some event had occurred within the Insectoid Empire that required their troops to withdraw temporarily.

Of course, the Imperial Army took this opportunity to attack and scorch several planets in the border zone.

There was also talk about pushing in further and penetrating deep into enemy lines, but some were hesitant.

It could very well be a trap.

As of the current moment, only two of the four high level Insectoid races had stepped onto the battlefield.

The other two remained a mystery with their appearances and racial traits being unknown.

The only reason that the Federation had any idea that there were four races was due to information obtained by chance from torturing an alien smuggler who shipped illegal goods across the Empire.

And even he had not come into contact with those two hidden races.