Noah wasn’t sure if he wanted to burst into laughter or slap his forehead. He’d been so proud of his on-the-fly plan. He had a lead and, at least as far as he was aware, Godrick had absolutely no idea that Noah knew about his lack of a heartbeat.

All he’d have had to do would be get closer to Godrick during the party and then find a way to trace him back to the other clones. Ulya’s mention of something called sympathetic magic sounded like it would have been promising as well.

None of that was going to work out if Silvertide kicked down the door frothing at the lips. Granted, that would have been the exact strategy Noah would have used himself in nine out of ten other situations, but now that he was the one trying to do a little maneuvering, he felt self-righteous enough to ignore that particular fact.

The entire room stared at Silvertide in a mixture of confusion, shock, and fear. Conversation had dropped to complete silence – at least, from everyone aside from Vermil, who was quietly sliding food into his mouth and swallowing without chewing.

“You killed Peter?” Godrick asked, his expression turning dark as his hands clenched at his sides.

“Me? No. He was dead before he ever showed up. The only thing I saw of Peter today was his corpse,” Silvertide said. His eyes swept over the room, pausing for an instant as they passed over Vermil. They flicked over to Noah, then to Jalen.

“Was it an undead?” another professor that Noah didn’t know the name of asked. “Or a Skinwalker?”

“It shouldn’t have been a Skinwalker. That problem vanished quite some time ago,” Godrick said, his brow furrowing. He drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “This is ill news. He was a good man.”

It only took a brief glance at Ulya’s face to tell Noah that she didn’t particularly agree. She didn’t seem too distraught about Peter’s death – but the stress had clearly taken a massive toll on her. Noah was pretty sure she was a strong breeze away from collapsing.

Godrick doesn’t seem to be taking the news of this too poorly. Wizen is obviously a good liar, though. Maybe he’s planning to play the impartial card or the like to avoid getting suspicion on himself?

“I’m sure he was, but we’ve got a bigger problem than the dead,” Silvertide said, tapping his cane on the ground at his feet. “Namely, the living. I’ve always been liable to assume that trouble comes in more than one incident. I don’t suppose anyone is aware of what may have happened? Unless this was an intentional test of some sort?”

Glances were passed around the room, but nobody spoke. It was pretty evident that Peter hadn’t been meant to show up dead. And, even if he had, Noah suspected the advanced track professors weren’t about to say anything otherwise.

“Did you recall what kind of Runes were being used to puppet Peter?” Godrick asked with a frown. “That could help us narrow down who we’re dealing with.”

Several people turned toward Ulya. She held them, not giving any ground.

“Plant Runes of some sort. High Ranked ones, likely around five or six.”

The people that had turned to Ulya all looked away. Her abilities were evidently pretty well known, and she didn’t have anything in the form of plant magic.

“I don’t believe we have any Plant Magic users in the advanced track,” Godrick said with a concerned frown. “Perhaps that’s a good thing. I would prefer to be against an external opponent rather than an internal one.”

No shit. That’s because you’re the bloody opponent.

“Unless they’re working with one of us,” Gero observed idly from where he sat at the table. “We have no way to know. Who would send someone after Silvertide, though? Nobody here should be that stupid.”

Of that, everyone seemed to agree. Nods went around the room, but it didn’t do anything to ease the tension surrounding them.

“What happened to Peter’s body?” another professor asked. “Is there anything left that we can study? Was the puppet convincing?”

“Very convincing,” Silvertide said with a nod. “And there is, unfortunately, nothing left of his body. You’ll have to take my word for it.”

“If it was convincing, how did you survive?” Gero asked. “Even as strong as you are, a Rank 6 mage getting the drop on you should be enough to do some serious damage.”Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Silvertide nodded thoughtfully. “Yes, I suppose it should have been.”

There were several seconds of silence. Gero cleared his throat. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“Oh, did I not? I believed the answer was implicit. He did not injure me because I was simply better than my assailant.”

Noah nearly choked on laughter, but Jalen was far less subtle. His cackle rang out through the room, drawing everyone’s eyes straight to them. Godrick tilted his head to the side.

“I don’t believe we were introduced. Remind me who you are?”

“Just a traveler,” Jalen replied with a wave of his hand. “I’m with the brat’s group and I don’t have any Plant Runes, so no need to try to strip me with your eyes.”

“I think we can judge that ourselves,” Godrick said as he started to rise from his chair. His tone wasn’t aggressive, but there was a line of steel in his words.

“It wasn’t him,” Silvertide said, raising a hand before Godrick could make any moves. “I can assure you of that.”

Godrick paused, then lowered himself back down and inclined his head. “Very well. Do you happen to have a suggestion for what we should do, then? I can’t imagine you’d just barge in here without a plan.”

“Of course not,” Silvertide said with a chuckle. “Puppets are still puppets, and I don’t believe the controller is in the room with us. It should be a fairly straightforward – though perhaps not easy – task to root them out.”

Root them out – was that a pun?

“Please say more,” Godrick said with a distressed frown. “This was meant to be a day of celebration, and yet I’ve found that not one but two of our members have been killed already.”

“Wait, two?” the man beside Godrick spun to look at him in surprise. “Who was the second?"

"I was going to properly address it at a later time, but Will was also killed. Gero reported his death earlier today,” Godrick said, working his jaw in anger. “We’re all aware of the risks that come with pushing ourselves to be more than others, but it has been some time since two of our members were killed in such quick succession.”

“Some time? I’d say,” another professor said as she crossed her arms. “Granted, Will wasn’t a combatant. I assume he was killed in the same manner?”

“He was,” Gero confirmed. “But, as tragic as the loss was, it doesn’t get us any closer to solving the issue at hand. If Silvertide has a method to locate the attacker, we should use it. I’ve been completely at my wits end.”

“I’m not so sure I’m willing to skip past the fact that nobody mentioned anything until now,” the professor beside Godrick said, glaring at Gero. “Why didn’t you say anything? Maybe you’re the one that killed him.”

“Because it would have devolved into a slew of accusations just like that one, Verrud,” Gero said, his tone dry. “I’m aware how difficult subtlety can be for you, but not everything needs to be handled with the grace of a stampeding monster horde.”

The entire room erupted in conversation as people started to take sides. It only managed to go on for a few seconds before a loud bang echoed out, silencing everyone. Godrick lifted his clenched fist from the table, his expression flat.

“Which is why we should shut up and hear what Silvertide has to say. He may be a new member of the advanced track, but I think everyone here is more than aware of just how capable he is. We will not devolve into argument like a group of unruly children.”

Nobody said another word, but Noah’s confusion grew. Godrick had done exactly what a proper leader would have, but that didn’t line up. He was the puppet. His goal should have been to take away from Silvertide’s legitimacy by trying to poke holes in his claims or otherwise distracting the other professors.

Noah could have seen an argument for the whole thing being a huge ruse to lower their guard – but that would have been unbelievably stupid. Silvertide had basically revealed he knew how to identify the puppets, so he’d probably be able to find out that Godrick was fake.

And, since Godrick had just said to listen to Silvertide, he’d have no way to refuse or try to back out if Silvertide accused him of anything.

Is Wizen dumber than we thought? Or am I just missing the angle he’s playing at?

“Thank you, Godrick,” Silvertide said. “Fortunately for all of us, I am relatively adept in dealing with plant mages. This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with one that used puppets, and I am capable of identifying their puppets without too much difficulty.”

“The first thing we should do is clear the room, then,” Verrud said, his beady eyes lighting up. “Brilliant. Check us. Nobody make any sudden moves.”

“Exactly my plan,” Silvertide said. “Remain where you are. Tyler, stay at the stairwell. If anyone tries to run past you – well, let them. They won’t make it far.”

Everyone remained locked in place while Silvertide started walking through the room, pausing as he passed by each individual person.

I have to be missing something. Not knowing what it is that Wizen wants is completely throwing me for a loop here. I can’t tell what his goals are with the advanced track or with Godrick – and I don’t know what the hell Silvertide is doing either.

Silvertide is far from stupid. He wouldn’t play his cards like this unless he had a really good reason to. Why blow our cover? I just don’t get it.

Silvertide’s expression held no answers in it. He made his way across the room, continuing on until he stood before Godrick. Noah reached for his Runes. One way or another, things were about to go south.

“Well?” Verrud asked. “What did you find?”

“There’s a puppet in this room,” Silvertide said, raising a finger. “But it isn’t a plant puppet. It’s a metal one, and it appears to be unrelated to any plant magic.”

“That would be mine,” Ulya said, her voice strained. “Are you sure there aren’t any other puppets?”

“No,” Silvertide said, stepping away from Godrick and shaking his head. “There are not.”

Wait, what?