My Magus Academy is Run by Players?! [Western Cultivation LitRPG]

In a different sector of the pocket dimension, within the confines of the mechanical tower, two pairs of eyes watched intently as a group of intruders explored the meadow. They were a pair of siblings — one male and one female — and anyone who saw them would not consider them as twins despite the fact that they were.

The female of the twin, of slight stature with piercing blue eyes and snow-white hair, adorned in a charming yellow dress, inquired, “Brother, how shall we deal with these trespassers?”

“Ah, my dear sister,” replied the male, with his sharp gaze as he scrutinized the cautious movements of the intruders through a magic projection. Unlike his sister, he possessed brown hair and a taller frame. “They are just like those who came before them — individuals attuned to the magic of this land and mindful of the perils within this pocket dimension. But awareness alone does not deem them worthy.”

This pair of siblings were named Garry and Gabrielle. Bound by their creation to protect the sanctity of their home, they scrutinized every action, every decision made by the intruders. As overseers, they had witnessed many who had stumbled into their realm, each driven by desires for power, wisdom, or the legacy left by their masters.

“Mm-hmm, it is our duty to test these newcomers. Shall we do it like the old ways?” Gabrielle tilted her head.

“Nah, let’s wait until they reach the tower.” Garry stared at the magic projection in front of him that now showed the mouth of the chasm. “Moreover, we’re not dealing with a single group of intruders this time. This is going to be more interesting than anything we’ve seen in the past hundreds of years… In fact, we may have found the ‘one’ among them.”

“Actually, it’s been 372 years, 3 months, and 24 days since the last intruder,” Gabrielle precisely corrected.

“Whatever.” Garry’s expression didn’t change as he spoke: “What’s important is to complete our duties and ensure that no intruder leaves once they are inside.”

It was within their duty to test these visitors and to see if they were worthy, but it was even more important to protect this place from being destroyed. Also, they wouldn’t let any intruder leave this place alive unless they managed to earn the qualification to inherit their masters’ legacy.

Once these intruders reached their location, Garry and Gabrielle would initiate a series of trials designed to test the depths of the visitors’ souls, their combat prowess, wisdom, and moral fiber. If and only if they could withstand these trials and prove themselves worthy, would they be allowed to inherit the legacy left by their masters. That was the last order given to them.

***

As Victor entered the pocket dimension, he felt a little nauseous; however, he recovered almost as soon as it appeared thanks to his powerful constitution. The landscape morphed around him, revealing a vast expanse of trees that differed starkly from the Thornwood Forest he knew. Unlike its counterpart, there was no foreboding feeling that accompanied the eerie atmosphere in this forest. All bright and serene like a fairyland.

“Seems like this is my first time venturing into a pocket dimension… The environment here mirrors the external world quite closely.” Victor observed his new surroundings before settling on the distant mechanical tower.

That must be where the inner area of the pocket dimension is… Furthermore, he sensed subtle mana fluctuations emanating from deeper within the forest, right in that direction. Steelrose Order is an ancient Magus force that likes to use mechanical golems, but I haven’t seen one so far. I wonder if there will be some over there.

“Woof. Woof?” Lumen’s barking broke his thoughts.

Victor didn’t quite understand what she was trying to convey but went ahead and decided on their next move. “Let’s go deeper inside in that direction.” He pointed, while still mounting Lumen, who then proceeded to carry him toward the source of the mana fluctuations.

Along the way, he discovered many magical plants with unique characteristics. Some had leaves that shimmered like metal under the sunlight, while others bore flowers that emitted a soft, glowing light, illuminating their path as the day gave way to dusk.

By the way, the sun-like orb overhead, he noted, was an artificially created source of light that led to an altered cycle of day and night. A day in this pocket dimension could be much longer than twenty-four hours or even much shorter, lasting less than an hour. Through his own deductions, Victor ascertained that a day here spanned merely three hours. This faster day and night cycle must have been intentionally done for reasons yet unknown.

“Fascinating,” Victor mused while holding his chin in awe.

Moments later, Victor and Lumen stumbled upon a crystal-clear stream, its waters gleaming with a captivating clarity. To his surprise, this location also brought him close to his targets. Graviel, Jared, Dorian, and Elara were all there, taking a moment to rest by the stream. There were also about a dozen mercenaries nearby, all looking slightly exhausted; the group must have been in a fight against something not long ago.

Seeing an opportunity, Victor decided it was time to make his move. But first, he had to find who he could impersonate and steal his identity from among them, so he waited patiently from a safe distance where he could see them but not vice versa.

After some waiting, one of the mercenaries separated himself from the group to take a leak. Recognizing this as the perfect opportunity, Victor employed simple spells to cloak his presence. As an Elemental Adept Magus, if he was careful enough, not even Graviel’s magic tool would be able to detect him, provided he executed his spells with precision and had not revealed his presence intentionally.

But before he launched himself into action, he patted Lumen’s head and instructed, “Lumen, you stay here. Follow the group at a distance where you can see them but remain unseen. I’ll signal you if I need your assistance; until then, you must keep yourself hidden.”

Lumen responded with an affirmative bark and moved her head in a similar motion to that of a human nod. This magical creature sure had become quite adept at understanding human gestures through observation.

“Good girl.” Victor patted her head for the last time before manipulating the void to position himself near the lone mercenary swiftly.

He maintained a cautious distance of about ten meters while assessing the man’s demeanor. The guy himself was pretty emotionless and possessed a formidable aura, totally different than those ragtag mercenaries left behind outside or even in the valley. Upon closer inspection, Victor surmised that the man was a pretty strong Ki-Warrior — he must be an elite serving directly under a Magus family rather than a true mercenary.

As the wind blew quietly with the sound of liquid trickling, Victor subtly conjured an ethereal blade like the spell {Warpblade} but much smaller and shot it toward him. The projectile was so subtle that the guy had no time to react as the blade found its mark at the back of the victim’s head. He then collapsed silently while still having his pants down and thus soaking his clothes in the process. Truly an unfortunate guy.

With the Mask of Impersonation already on his face, Victor’s appearance underwent a transformation and changed to that of the mercenary he’d just killed. Even his attire and weapons were flawlessly replicated — erasing the need to don the hapless guy’s soiled garments. The mask was truly convenient since it could replicate any equipment and would be undetectable to anyone below the rank of an Elemental Adept Magus.

“Ah, aahh, test. Hello world. Ahem.” Victor noticed his voice had deepened, now bearing no resemblance to his own. One detail about the Mask of Impersonation was that it not only altered the appearance of the user, but it also mimicked the voice and mannerisms of the person they were impersonating.

“Although…” Victor turned his attention back to the hapless guy’s corpse and decided to give him a proper burial so as not to leave any trace. Doing something like this was something that he could do with a wave of a hand.

Once he had familiarized himself enough, Victor made his way back to the group as naturally as possible. Indeed. His mannerisms were no different than the guy he was impersonating. Well, it wasn’t that Victor’s personality changed, but the illusion created by the mask was just that amazing.

As he neared them, Rowan, the most formidable of the mercenaries approached him. “Felix, took you long enough. Don’t dawdle,” he reprimanded.

“Mm.” Responding with a simple nod, Victor’s impersonation of Felix seamlessly rejoined the mercenaries to stand guard. Unmistakably, the illusion created by the mask was so convincing that he perfectly embodied the mercenary he was masquerading as.

Herewith, the infiltration was done.

Next, all that remained for Victor was to seize an opportune moment to enact his vengeance against his former allies.

Soon enough, the group concluded their brief respite and readied themselves to continue the exploration. While mimicking the actions of his fellow mercenaries, Victor covertly observed Graviel and his companions from the sidelines, his fists silently clenching as he squinted his eyes. I must bide my time… the moment to strike has not yet arrived, he reminded himself.

Graviel possessed the key of this pocket dimension, and it was unknown what advantages that were brought by possessing it. It was better to be overly cautious than sorry — he would wait for the perfect moment to fulfill his vendetta.

***

After going through a lot of obstacles along the way, Victor and the others managed to reach the base of the mechanical tower. Midway, they found quite a few precious magical herbs and plants, but of course, Victor wasn’t given a share.

In any case, though the mechanical tower already appeared quite grand from a distance, its stature became overwhelmingly more impressive up close. Like ten times over.

It was truly that tall and large…

Rising to a height of at least one kilometer and stretching about one hundred meters across. One could only imagine what the inside might look like. Heck, Victor could sense Cosmo elemental particles emanating from it; its interior must be larger than the outside. On top of that, there was a wide river that encircled the tower and a magnificent black stone bridge that led to its entrance.

Could this perhaps be a Magus tower? But it is a bit too large and impressive for that… Victor thought in his heart. He’d only ever seen Magus towers back at the academy and the three back in his family’s domain, but none of them came even close to this one in terms of scale or grandness. The largest one was only one hundred meters tall at most.

Apparently, Victor was not alone in being shocked by this sight. Even Graviel, the heir to the Merlin family, was equally stupefied. Victor could tell that there was endless greed hidden within Graviel’s eyes as he beheld the tower.

“Continue forward,” Graviel commanded as he held his compass magic tool with an intrigued look.

As the group crossed the bridge, Victor noted the elaborate decorations lining its sides. Statues of knights, mages, and even magical beasts stood guard, each towering at about three meters in height. This collection was crowned by a pair of gargoyle-like statues stationed at the end of the bridge, with heights reaching five meters. It felt like these things would spring to life at any moment.

—Wait, they are!

The second the group reached the bridge’s end, the gargoyle-like statues suddenly stirred to life. Their eyes emitted a ghostly glow, and the sound of stone grinding against stone filled the air from behind them. It became chillingly clear that these statues were not mere decorations, and they were coming alive to kill them!