"What of the safety of my family?"
Their nomadic lifestyle serves as an ideal smokescreen. Relocating to Viera prior to the Academy Qualifying Exam was a calculated temporary measure. With my admission secured and their burden lifted, they have resumed their untraceable trajectory—a location absent from all Academy documentation.
News of Cedric's death cannot intercept them. Nor can the perpetrators, provided I eliminate them first.
"What of the perpetrators of the murder?"
Retribution is a certainty, yet a glaring variable remains unaccounted for: I possess zero identifying data on the assailants. Has my cognitive processing been magically compromised?
Improbable. If they possessed mental dominion, my elimination during that window of vulnerability would have been the optimal maneuver. But perhaps I was never vulnerable. The head instructors have returned; Alaric Ordain currently locks down Sector 1. To bypass the Headmaster and five King-rank Mages requires an operational capacity equivalent to a King-Emperor.
Yet, if the Headmaster posed a genuine threat to them, why strike on that specific night? He is notoriously averse to such social gatherings. Has he been incapacitated? My visual confirmation of him has been nonexistent for months.
Regardless of the underlying conspiracy, my immediate environment is secure.
The obsidian lance offers minimal diagnostic value. The perpetrators could effortlessly alter their armament, or worse, it was planted as a deliberate misdirection.
The actionable data is limited but conclusive: they possess terrifying logistical reach. Smuggling upwards of thirty combatants through the Academy's multi-layered barriers, executing the most vital asset of our generation amidst hundreds of dedicated guards, and extracting themselves without a trace requires unimaginable power.
To rival the wielder of that obsidian lance, my own capabilities must ascend exponentially. That was the underlying subtext of Vigo's inquiry. A blind, emotional assault guarantees my execution. I must engineer a flawless tactical advantage.
But first, the structural integrity of this new identity must be absolute.
Ah, yes. The final inquiry.
"What of my future?"
My future is exactly what I calculate it to be.