Raze Cromwell.
A name once feared, once whispered with caution, now barely spoken at all.
Time had buried the truth beneath layers of rumour and rewritten history. The name
Dark Magus
still held weight, but few remembered who that person truly was, or where he had come from.
Only in hidden corners of the world, in long-winded documentaries and suppressed archives, did the name Raze Cromwell still appear.
At the Central Mage Academy, though, it was different. Among the professors, those who had been around long enough,
everyone
knew.
It was a stain on their record. A name they couldnāt quite erase, no matter how hard they tried.
By telling Tink the truth, Raze knew he would be answering a lot of questions. Questions the professor had clearly been asking himself already.
Why was this "student" so knowledgeable about magical formations?
How could someone his age dismantle an elite-level ward like the one protecting the principalās door?
Why did none of it add up?
"I told you, you wouldnāt believe me," Raze said, his tone steady. "But the truth explains everything. No student my age could possibly know the things I do. And thatās because..." He paused. "Iām not a student."
His voice didnāt waver.
"Right now, Iām living life in a body that doesnāt belong to me. An artifact, one I found long ago, allowed my soul to survive. I am the same Raze Cromwell you knew for six months. And I am the same Raze Cromwell the world remembers as the Dark Magus."
He didnāt give Tink time to react.
Lifting his hand, he let the Dark Magic swirl around it. The black energy twisted, wrapping his arm like smoke until, slowly, it dissolved into the air and vanished.
The professorās breath caught in his throat.
Even if he wasnāt convinced this man was truly the Dark Magus, one thing was clear, he had access to Dark Magic.
And that was enough to set Tink on edge.
Anyone using Dark Magic was either deeply tied to the Dark Guild... or was the Dark Magus himself. Either option made this situation
incredibly
dangerous.
He took a cautious step back.
If this was an imposter, it didnāt matter, because the strength of someone who could use Dark Magic so casually was enough to end his life on the spot.
And if it
was
the Dark Magus, then any attempt to fight him would be suicide.
"Raze Cromwell from back then..." Tink murmured. "Thatās who you say you are. But then
why
are you here? Why are you at Wilton? If what you say is true, then whatās your
goal
in all of this?" His voice shook with panic.
Raze didnāt move.
"If I wanted to, I could have eliminated you the moment you saw me," he said, calmly but firmly. "I could have erased your body with my magic, and not even the professors would have found a trace of you.
"It wouldāve taken days before anyone noticed you were gone, and with the event going on, they probably wouldnāt have cared until it was over."
He took a breath.
"Thereās a reason I didnāt do that, Professor Tink. Itās because Iām not the person people
think
I am."
Tinkās eyes narrowed slightly, his thoughts racing.
Everything Raze had said so far rang with conviction. It was hard to believe this was someone stalling for time. And if he
was
part of the Dark Guild, then why bother explaining any of this?
The only thing that continued to gnaw at his thoughts... was the knowledge.
The
depth
of knowledge.
This man knew things no student should.
"You asked why Iām here," Raze continued. "Remember the question I asked you before? About the special magical artifact that might exist in this academy?"
Tink nodded slowly.
"Iām looking for that magic circle," Raze said. "If I can find it, and use it on Ibarin, then the entire world will see the truth.
"Theyāll see that Raze Cromwell was
not
to blame for what happened all those years ago.
"And Iāll expose
everything
the Grand Magus has done behind the scenes."
Tink stared, struggling to reconcile the man in front of him with the legend he thought he knew.
Would someone obsessed with power really be chasing after an artifact that could clear their name?
Would a power-hungry tyrant risk everything for
vindication
?
No...
From the conversations heād had with Raze, both in the past and just now, he could tell this was someone who valued knowledge. A researcher. A scholar.
In fact, he seemed... far more like
himself
.
Tinkās belief in the stories of the Dark Magus began to waver. If he put aside everything heād been told, everything the academy claimed, and focused
only
on the man he had spoken with before, the man who once studied under him...
Then it became harder and harder to see him as a villain.
"Iām not asking for your help," Raze said, his voice softer now. "I would never put you in that situation."
He turned, his back now to the professor.
"But you should know... not a single student has been harmed during this entire event. No one has suffered. Because thatās not my intention."
His footsteps were slow as he began to walk past.
"All I ask is that you ignore what you saw today. And when the truth comes out, when you see it for yourself, you can make your judgment then."
Tink stood there, frozen in place, mouth slightly parted but no words forming.
He didnāt say anything. Not until Raze had walked past him completely.
"...Youāre a good professor," Raze said over his shoulder. "Just wait until the last day. I promise you, you wonāt regret your decision."
*****
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