Occult Awakening: From Commoner to Archmage

Luca got back to the city rather quickly. The whole city was still in visible shock from the loud shriek of the Sky Tyrant.

Everyone and everything was on high alert, despite the fact that the situation had ceased and settled down.

As a precaution, he took faster and more hidden routes to get to his house and drop all of the items he still had on him.

There were guards and priests everywhere, trying to assure people that there was nothing wrong.

If a single one of these guards or priests sensed the amount of energy on him, there wouldn't even be an interrogation like what happened with Haider and Bishop John the last time.

He quickly reached his house and felt safe within the four-sided walls and small, spacey rooms of what he called home.

Luca heaved a large sigh of relief, and after collecting himself, went down to the cellar to drop everything he had gotten except the Sky Tyrant feathers.

This included the Starmetal Dust, the Shadow Raven Cloak, and the gemstone he got from Thalia.

The feathers still stayed in the satchel though. It was barely big enough to keep the white tips from peeking out of the bag.

Unfortunately, he would have to deliver this to Erina so she could place it in the forest for "Burning Man," which was just Luca himself.

It was a bit annoying, and he would much rather just keep it himself and dive into his spells and experiments immediately, but it looked like that wouldn't be possible.

"In any case, this isn't really disrupting things. I can afford to wait a little."

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized he really couldn't afford to wait.

The gap in power between him and his opponents was already wide enough from the start. Each opponent he faced had either raw power or experience over him, who had only just become a mage a week ago.

Something told Luca that he was stronger than the average Initiate, but this simply didn't matter much to him. Sure, he was stronger than the average Initiate, but only a weakling would try to take solace in that.

He would 'ignorantly' nudge Erina when he got to the manor.

"The Duke's there? Will she still want me there?"

It wasn't a question he had the answer to, but he would just have to find out. Barring humiliation, which would hamper his slow progress at making friends with the nobles, there was nothing else that would affect Luca.

With those thoughts in mind, he went up the stairs out of the cellar. The light crystals turned off behind him, submerging the entire area in a sea of darkness.

He threw his clothes to the ground and went to make himself a bath. It was barely past noon and he'd already sweat through his clothes.

As he was done, he went to grab another set and put them on, feeling quite satisfied with himself. Just as he was about to leave, two loud bangs came from the front door.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Guests?" he frowned.

Luca didn't expect any, and no one who knew where he lived cared enough to come visit him. Still, he didn't falter.

He grabbed the satchel filled with the large feathers and tucked it away inside the chimney, covered by logs. By the time he brought it out, it would be quite dusty, but he didn't mind that part.

"On my way!" he yelled out.

The door shifted open with a small creak, revealing two bronze-armoured men in front. They held spears and stood imposingly, as if ready for battle.

Luca was startled, but not because they were Knights but because he actually recognized them.

"Hey, it's you guys!"

These two were none other than the knights standing guard at the Venton villa when he first visited the place.

The guard known as Jack grinned.

"Luca, great to see you again. You never met us 'bout them drinks, boy."

Luca waved his hands to the side. "Ah, I've been busy nowadays. Miss Erina is a handful, had to help her with a few things."

"Still, we work for her and we still manage to go out for drinks!"

He spent a few minutes talking and laughing with them till he could finally steer the conversation back to the original point.

"Why did you come here? And how did you know where I live?"

"Oh, this? The young miss told us to come over here, check on you, then 'escort' you back to the manor," Terry said.

While Jack completed the rest of the explanation.

"And we knew where you stayed 'cause the young miss got worried after that loud-ass bird they keep started screamin'.

She thought you was in trouble or something, so she got some records from a few government officials till she finally discovered where you were."

They said it so calmly, but Luca found that there was a lot to pick apart. The first was the fact that Erina got worried, and the second was how easily she discovered where he lived.

If she wanted to before, she could have sent the instruction letters directly to his home instead of using a messenger bird to deliver them.

It seemed as if Erina was all but sure that he was dead, but still sent a few guards to see if he somehow managed to survive.

He managed to keep a straight, undisturbed face though. He even laughed.

"That's awfully sweet of her, dontcha think?"

Jack looked at his companion, then at Luca with a suspicious look.

"Too sweet if I do say so myself, Terry. Do you think Luca's shagging the young miss?"

"Hey, you might be onto something here."

"You guys need to cut it out. The Duke would have my head on a stick if he heard that."

Luca broke out into a small grin as he went back into the house to grab the satchel. He carved the glyph that concealed his aura on the bag as well, hoping it would do something.

"Alright then, let's be going now."