Past Life Hero, ch 34

Sneaking into the Mystic Spear Academy grounds ended up being much easier than Max had feared. The Mystic Spear grounds were intimidating.  Unlike the front of the Summoner Academy grounds that were just one big pen forest with a road and a gate, the Mystic Spear Academy gate also had a fence that ran through the entire forest.

The fence was fifteen feet high and curved outward with razor points. Furthermore, on the other side of the fence were booby traps and all sorts of nasty surprises, some just barely visible. At first, Max had wondered how paranoid the Mystic Spear Academy staff were, but then realized that these deterrents might be more to force current students to use the gate than out of any fear of trespassers.

Now that Max had a one-star mana body, if he really needed to get over the fence and traps by himself, he probably could have but it was unnecessary to take the risk. Instead, Max climbed a tree and Lavinia got to work for him. She ordered her spirits to create an ectoplasmic rope from the tree he was on to a tree on the other side of the fence–past the booby traps. Max didn't even have to throw anything.

The spirits were still somewhat affected by gravity, it seemed, but not very much, especially when they weren't carrying anything with real mass.  Not only that, they could easily travel over the fence or even appear on the other side. So, the result of the spirits’ effort was a thick, strong white rope from one tree to another in about ten seconds. When the rope was in place, Max easily made his way to the other side.  The rope disappeared behind him the moment he began climbing down the other tree.

Out of curiosity, he asked Lavinia mentally, How many of your spirits did it take to make that rope?

Not even one full cluster of the five, she responded. Max nodded in appreciation, and he could feel Lavinia's pride through their bond. He realized what a strange situation Lavinia was in as both a prior Summoner and a spirit at the same time. Maybe as they continued to work together, Max could figure out a way to use Lavinia's unique nature to his advantage.

Moving stealthily through the woods was very easy, and at least this portion of the Mystic Spear Academy grounds were similar to the Summoner Academy. However, the forest itself ended much quicker, and Max quickly understood why. Holy crap, it's huge, he thought. Through the trees, he could see the Mystic Spear Academy in the distance, and it was at least ten times larger than the Summoner Academy.

Where Max hunkered down in the woods watching, he could see some sort of shipping and receiving area directly ahead. He did a slow scan of the campus, trying to figure out where the dorms were. It turned out he could barely see some to one side across the road between the academy to the central area. He was on the wrong side.

Shit, thought Max. He was going to have to be exposed, at least for a moment as he crossed that road.

Since it was still somewhat early in the day, he decided he needed to move quickly and take advantage of the time he had. Max ghosted through the forest, focusing on being stealthy rather than being quick. It didn't matter how fast he was if he was discovered, and it would be ironic if he got himself caught by trying too hard not to get caught. He made it to the road and hunkered down in some bushes, making sure the coast was clear before darting across to cover on the other side. Once he was there, he crouched down and breathed heavily.

This is quite exciting, isn't it? came Lavinia's voice in his head. I've never seen the Mystic Spear Path Academy before.

Lavinia, I would appreciate it if you would keep quiet except for emergencies. At least until I get to where I'm going, Max said mentally.  Don’t want to be startled into making a mistake.

Okay, I get it. Just excited. Do what you do best, Boss. Sneaky sneaky then break some shit.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max muttered out loud, softly. Then he got moving again.

During Max's life on Earth, he hadn't had a lot of opportunity to go out in the woods, but he'd had plenty of practice back on Albion.  His skills were still sharp. Without even needing to think about it, he moved his sheathed sword and dagger at times to make sure they did not snag on things or bump into any trees or bushes. He traveled through the forest, sometimes using his superhuman strength to leap to new purchases, avoiding areas that would rustle or snap.

Finally, he got near where he'd seen the dorms earlier and just stared for a while through the trees. Like the rest of the Academy, the dorms were bigger and more numerous than Summoner Academy. Most of this school looked much fancier and in better repair. If the Summoner Academy was a bit gloomy and looked a bit like an English preparatory school, the Mystic Spear Path Academy looked more like an Ivy League college mixed with ancient Roman ruins.

Max laid down and got himself settled to observe, concealed, and began to watch from his hidden place. He was lucky that he'd made it to this position during breakfast time, since he was able to observe early activity around the dorms. He was able to learn how students came out of the dorms to go eat or head to class. This gave him a pretty good idea of how the dorms were broken down by class years. Max's vision was far sharper than before, now that he reached his first star mana body.  He could barely make out some of the badges on the students' chests.

He was hoping to see Prince Regal among the throng of students heading out to class for the day, but he was not that lucky. Even so, after the tide of students turned to a trickle, he was able to find a promising target, one of the dorms that seemed to only have male students. Max had no problem with killing a woman if necessary but he really preferred not to. Besides, it would be much easier to stay undiscovered if he went places that men would go.

Max faded back into the forest and moved further to one side until he was as close as he could be to the dorm he'd targeted. Then, he carefully examined the entire thing, looking for ways that he could gain entry. The dorms truly did have some difference from the dorms at the Summoner Academy. For one, instead of a central staircase, it looked like there was one all the way to one side, or maybe on both sides. Max couldn't completely tell from where he was hidden.

Second, the dorms here were larger and taller. Max didn't dare try just casually walking in as-is because the stairwells might have attendants just like at Summoner Academy. Of course, those attendants were usually only on duty after hours, and it could be the same here, but Max didn't want to risk it. Instead, he looked for other ways he might be able to sneak into the building. And finally, sure enough, he was barely able to find a  way.

It was further away than he would have liked, though. Also more exposed than ideal.  It was on the side of the building that faced another one of the dorms. Max mentally pointed at the open window to Lavinia and mentally said, Can you scout out that room to make sure nobody's inside?

"No problem," came the Spirit's voice in his ear.

Then Max slowly left his hiding spot and went deeper into the forest to find a young tree. He cut it down with his dagger and fashioned a crude spear out of it, making sure to shave all the bark off so it would appear less shoddy at a distance. That done, he went back to his hiding spot and waited for Lavinia to get back to him, which she did seconds later.

One thing he’d noticed right away about Mystic Spear students is how on campus, they all carried a real spear, or a sapling cut just like Max’s.

"It's clear inside," Lavinia said. "I can have the spirits form a rope from the window for you to climb up, but it's going to be super visible while you do so. That's a third story window."

Yeah, I know, said Max. This is how we're going to do it… And he mentally sent Lavinia the plan.

Then, judging that most of the students had left the dorms, and this was likely the best moment he was going to get, Max walked out of the forest, keeping his speed and mannerisms casual. He used his spear as a walking staff like he'd seen many of the other students do while he'd been watching. A student came out of a different dorm facing the one he had targeted. A pretty girl. She was some distance away, but she saw him and smiled and gave a small wave.

Friendly Mystic Spear students. Is that even possible?

Max returned the smile and nodded, glancing up from his tablet that he'd been pretending to read as he used it to cover the student badge on his chest. Once the girl was gone, the coast was clear between the two dorms and Max signaled Lavinia. In less than a second, an ectoplasm rope extended from the open window above. Max slapped his tablet back on his wrist and climbed up with the full speed and strength of his one-star mana body.

He was up in a flash, the rope disappearing behind him, but he still crouched down and held his breath for a full minute, waiting to hear any signs of commotion or curiosity from outside. Nothing. Only then did he relax enough to look around the room he found himself in. The room was bigger than his own at Summoner Academy, but also strangely more plain. If Max had to explain it, he would say that it looked more like a barracks room and less like a dorm. The bed had been made up, and whoever lived here was either a disciplined sort of person or got inspected regularly.

When he was sure they were alone, Lavinia appeared to his sight again.  She sent him a quick, non-verbal message that only he could see her.

With a certain amount of glee in his heart, Max began ransacking the room. The search went quickly because he also had Lavinia and her spirits to help him. Based on what they found in the room, it seemed the man who stayed in here was a second year student at the Spear Academy. He was also apparently a peeping tom.

In a hidden drawer, Lavinia's summons had found a couple magic devices that Max highly suspected were contraband or at least something that the occupant of this room did not want to be caught with. One was a hearing device. Max tried it and it fit into one of his ears, allowing him to hear in a direction he chose with much higher clarity. The other one was a spyglass that functioned like a regular monocular but also had a button that when pressed could see through walls.

Max looked through the device at the other dorm and with a simple sweep saw a handful of students still inside, including one woman snapping on a bra as she got dressed. Max looked at the spyglass again and rolled his eyes. Lavinia appeared to Max's vision and sneered at the device.

If the guy who stayed in here got caught with this thing, he'd have no chance of ever dating his entire stay in the quartet, she said. Then she made another face and said, No, that's probably not true. Some girls are stupid and they'll tolerate a dude being gross as long as he has connections or looks or something.

Max raised an eyebrow at the ghost and softly said, "Not that I disagree with you, but you probably weren't exactly known as Miss Social before, expert on other people’s the lives or general habits.  Like, you weren’t, uh, the life of the party when you were alive, were you?"

I didn't go to parties, said Lavinia. Waste of time.

"Yeah, somehow I'm not surprised by that," said Max with a grin. The ghost pretended she was throwing something at him and disappeared from his vision.

Then in his head, she said, This man was a creep, but it's a good thing he was–and lazy too. Otherwise he probably wouldn't have left that window open.

Yeah, probably, Max thought back. Experimentally, he closed the window and tried using the spyglass through it.  The window  definitely interfered with the see-through function. With an amused snort, he looked at the last few items on the bed that he and the spirits had found.

The only thing that he thought was worth taking with him was a small handbook on Mystic Spear Arts, a simple primer. It wasn't much use to Max, but he remembered the bookstore in the central area and wondered if he might be able to sell it. It looked like this book had been checked out from the library by the occupant of the room, or maybe stolen. Max shrugged, put the small book in his back pocket, and then got ready to leave the room and explore the rest of the dorm.