The Clock Tower is built on many foundations. Spiritual, physical, and educational. And those foundations have been layered over hundreds of years.
Each generation adds something. A new theory. A refined ritual. A perfected lineage. All of it gets stacked on top of what came before, compressed into a system that values age as much as it does results.
Mystery deepens with time, and in this place, time is treated like currency.
The older your family, the more weight your words carry. The deeper your lineage, the more authority your magecraft holds. It creates a hierarchy that isn't written anywhere, but everyone follows it anyway.
Nobles sit at the top, clinging to traditions that date back centuries. Below them are the newer families, the ones still trying to prove their worth. And beneath that are the strays, the outliers, the ones who don't fit neatly into the system whatsoever.
Power isn't just measured in circuits or knowledge here. It's measured in history. And when history becomes power, conflict becomes inevitable.
But that also means one can duel someone for their wealth, status, and/or just to humiliate the other person.
I watched as a girl with perfectly styled blonde twin drills grabbed a man twice her size and threw him like he weighed nothing. He wasn't small either. Chucklefuck had: broad shoulders, thick arms and was built like a bodybuilder. But all that shit didn't matter.
She spun slightly on her heel as she released him, the motion clean and practiced. He slammed into the wall hard enough to crack it, then dropped to the ground like a raindrop.
Kadoc looked starstruck, like he just saw a pig trying to fly. Honestly, I had no idea how this started. I should probably pay more attention to the gossip around here. But I think I get the general gist of things.
A few days ago, someone arrived at the Clock tower. Her name, if I recall, was Luviagelita Edelfelt.
The Edelfelts family are considered nobility among the Clock Tower. Not the top tier like the Barthomeloi or anything, but respectable enough that people step carefully around them. They've got history stretching back to the Renaissance, which in magus terms means they've had centuries to accumulate power, influence and respect.
They've also got a reputation. During the Renaissance, they earned the nickname "the elegant hyenas" for the way they'd swoop into conflicts that had nothing to do with them and pick through the ruins for anything valuable. They we're shameless as fuck about it too.
So here's what I assume happened. The guy that's getting tossed was wanting something out of Luvia. Whether it was wealth, money or power, I didn't know. He could've had past beef with the family or trying to collect a debt from them, it was inconsequential.
And Edelfelt wasn't having it whatsoever. So she got someone to oversee the match to make sure no one died and beat the ever loving shit out of him. Some martial art's techniques that I never even heard of were getting put to use, along with some reinforcement.
If I'm being honest, when it comes to reinforcement, I could probably outdo her. Not because I'm more skilled, but because I'm sorta cheating with my dark matter. I could circulate it through every cell in my body and use it as a catalyst, reinforcing every cell, muscle fiber, nerve pathway down to a level magi couldn't even perceive. Strength, reaction speed, durability… all of it could be pushed far beyond what a human body is supposed to handle.
Actually, the more I thought about it, the more ridiculous my own ability sounded.
I was pretty much a living workshop if I was being honest. Every part of my body could produce something that didn't exist in this world. Matter with its own rules. Energy with no precedent. Systems that didn't have to make sense to anyone but me.
If I wanted to kill someone, I didn't have to rely on strength or technique. I could turn their lungs into sand, crush their heart without touching them or rewrite the air around them, so they suffocated without ever knowing why. Or on more desperate occasions, I could just turn them into more dark matter.
And the thing with Dark Matter is that I can turn said matter into anything else. My structural grasping spell is at least four times better than the average magus. I can use the Dark Matter in my body to boost the effect my brain runs at. Speed up perception, accelerate analysis, process information faster than any normal human ever could.
Magecraft is fundamentally limited by imagination. If you can imagine it, then if you work hard enough, I believe you can get it done. And with my Dark matter, I can get very far in this second life of mine.
But for all that, I can't reveal it to anyone. If I reveal it to the Clock Tower, the lords will be gunning for my head, ready to keep me inside some formaldehyde so they can "hang onto the mystery."
That's how this place works. Discovery is celebrated until it threatens the established order. Then it gets sealed away, dissected, or buried so deep no one will ever find it again.
My Dark Matter isn't just new. It's outside their entire framework. Matter that doesn't exist. Rules that don't follow their precious mysteries. A foundation built on nothing but my own will.
They'd tear me apart to understand it. Or worse, they'd keep me alive and study me for generations.
Hell people in Academy City did the exact same thing. So I smile, I nod and I hand in assignments that are exactly good enough to pass but not good enough to draw real attention. I let people think I'm just another student from a decent family, trying to make his way through the Clock Tower. There's still things to learn here, it would be a waste of resources having to go on the run.
The guy on the floor groaned, trying to push himself up. Luvia didn't even look at him. She adjusted her sleeve, said something to the overseer, and walked off like she'd just finished a light warm-up.
Kadoc let out a breath I didn't know he was holding. "That was more one-sided than I imagined," he said, his face absolutely pale. "That's what you have to compete with to raise yourself to the top," I replied. "Don't get cold feet now."
I'm not—" He stopped and then swallowed. "I'm not getting cold feet."
"Good."
With that we left the area where the battle had taken place. The crowd was already dispersing, students murmuring among themselves about what they'd just seen. Kadoc stayed close to my side as we walked, his hands still shoved deep in his pockets.
These past few weeks have been mundane, in all honesty.
Classes were fairly boring if I were being honest. Lord El-Melloi's classes were the only ones that held my attention. The other professors ranged from tolerable to outright boring. Some days I would sit in the library to research theory. The library was massive and it had shelves upon shelves of texts on everything. From elementary thaumaturgy to concepts I'd never even heard of. Most of it was useless to me, centuries of accumulated theory that led nowhere. But there were gems buried in the dust.
Kadoc had started joining me in the library most days. He'd sit across from me, reading his own books and making his own notes. He's getting better with communication in all honesty. He's still nervous around other people, but he's trying his best and I'll give him respect for that.
Then I stopped walking all of a sudden. Kadoc was still walking aimlessly lost in his own thoughts. The reason I stopped walking is because I felt a particular presence approaching us.
Well the reason, I stopped walking particularly is because-
BAM
I watch as Kadoc runs into the trouble maker of class El-Melloi, Flat Escardos. And to no one's surprise he was carrying something. We should really ban Flat from carrying boxes. This is like the third time I've seen this happen.
Kadoc stumbled back, clutching his notebook in his arms.
"Oh! Sorry!" Flat said immediately, already crouching down to gather the scattered mess. "I wasn't looking where I was going. Actually, no, I was looking, I just didn't see you. That's different, right? It's probably different."
I stood back, watching.
Despite how absolutely idiotic the person known as Flat Escardos is, I'm still extremely wary of him. His whole chaotic persona could be an act, or it could be genuine. Either way, it didn't matter. The result was the same.
Flat can recreate your spells better than you can with nothing but a single look at them.
I'd seen it happen twice. Once in class when another student was demonstrating a fairly complex transmutation formula in front of the class. I was attending a lecture for modern magecraft, even though I wasn't in said class yet. I just wanted to get a feel of what it was about and such. But we're getting off topic.
Flat glanced at it, muttered something under his breath, and produced a version that was cleaner, more efficient, and completely embarrassing for the original caster. The other time was in the courtyard, where he'd watched two older students spar and then casually replicated both their techniques in a matter of seconds.
Lord El-Melloi had looked like he wanted to strangle him most times I saw them together. Despite his talent, Flat acts like a complete idiot most of the time. He's pretty much magi's worst nightmare. A great talent that's also a complete fool.
So when Flat is near me, I don't even let a lick of Dark Matter outside my body. Hell, I even found a way to make it imperceptible to magi using science, solely because of him. It's exhausting, being this careful. But it's better than the alternative.
Flat finished gathering his things and stood up, grinning at Kadoc. "Sorry about that! I'll be more careful next time."
Kadoc nodded weakly, still clutching his notebook.
Flat's eyes flicked to me and gave me a jovial smile.
"Hey! It's you again," he said, like we were old friends. "Kakine, right? You've got a really interesting vibe, you know that?"
I kept my expression neutral.
"You should get to class. Or deliver," I said, glancing down at the box in his hands. From what I could see, it was filled with irregular mineral chunks. They weren't natural in the slightest. The surfaces were too smooth in some places and too fractured in others, like they'd been artificially processed. "Whatever you're carrying in the box."
Flat looked down at the box like he'd forgotten he was holding it. "Oh! These? Sorry, it's top secret, I can't tell you what they are. But I'm supposed to drop them off at the department of Mineralogy."
Flat straightened up, before continuing, "Anyway! I should go before I drop these again."
He was already moving, the box wobbling dangerously in his hands. "See you later!" he called over his shoulder, already halfway down the hall.
I sighed before turning to Kadoc. "I'll be in my dorm. If you need me, just call my phone."
Kadoc blinked. "You're not going to the library?"
"Not today." I replied.
He looked like he wanted to ask why, but he didn't. Instead, he just nodded in understanding.
"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll... I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Tomorrow."
He hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to say something else. Then he turned and walked toward the library, his footsteps slow and deliberate.
I watched him go for a second, then headed in the opposite direction. I feel like I need to get away from the conversation. Some author was probably creating interactions to increase his word count.
Despite how I don't have any issues with Kadoc, sometimes I just like my alone time. Ya know what I mean?
The sensation hit me the moment I turned the corner, a faint ripple in the air, a disturbance in the layers I'd carefully woven around my door. The field was still intact, technically. But something had passed through it. Someone had opened my door while I was gone.
I stopped in the hallway, my pulse steady and my mind already running through possibilities. The field wasn't complex, just a simple detection ward and a minor deterrent to keep curious students from wandering in. It wasn't meant to stop a serious intrusion. It was meant to tell me when someone had been inside.
I have something inside my workshop to deter any chuckle fuck from getting my resources. I approached the door slowly, my Dark Matter stirring beneath my skin, ready to move. I placed my palm against the wood and pushed it open.
My room looked exactly the same as when I left it. Bed untouched. Desk organized. Books stacked the way I left them. Even the chair was still slightly angled toward the window.
The only thing that was an oddity was the letter on my desk. I picked it up and read the content. The only thing that was inside of it was a phone number and "call when available."
I set the letter back on the desk and leaned against it slightly, thinking.
The perfume clinging to the paper was recognizable. I'd smelled it from somewhere before, but I just can't put my finger on it.
I turned the paper over again, looking for anything else. There was nothing else I could go off, what I was given. So I stared deeply at the numbers on the paper. The handwriting was familiar too when I thought about it.
The only way to figure out who it was, is when I called the person myself. So I pulled out my phone and dialed said number.
It rang a few times, then a voice I hadn't heard in months answered.
"Took you long enough."
I nearly dropped the phone when I heard the voice.
"...Touko?"
"Who else would it be?" I could hear the smirk in her voice.
I sat up straighter. "Why the hell did you break into my room?"
"I left a note, it's not really breaking in when you think about it. It's more of a delivery."
I pressed my palm against my forehead. "I already have your number, you could've just called me if you wanted to. Actually, why are you in London anyway? I thought you were done with the Clock Tower?"
"I have something coming up in a few weeks." She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "How are classes going for you?"
"They're going just fine." I replied without a hitch.
Touko sighed before continuing. "No need to be on edge so much, let's meet at a cafe. I have something I want to speak to you about."
With that she hung up on me.
Honestly, this was more trouble than it was worth. She could've just called me, or sent a messenger to call me instead. This was becoming more troublesome than it was worth.