Day 397. I pissed off the headmaster again. They finally changed the magic on their hats and changed it up a bit. It worked for 3 days after which I figured out how to steal them again. I can imagine that she would be pissed but not this pissed. I decided to hide in the sewers. Because I didn''t want to hole up in Azu’s house.


    The sewers were the worst ones I''ve seen. There was grime everywhere, the smell was terrible. The sewer seems ancient and its extremely dangerous as everything is slippery. I have seen more sewers than the average person and these suck. The aboveground is neat and tidy but down here it''s a mess. A good city has good sewers. Strangely enough, I have yet to find sewers better than Boshi town. Maybe Gittrian has but I haven''t been there yet. I wonder how the headmaster would react if I tell her that she should fix the sewers. Probably not favorably.


    Something moved. I took out a dagger.


    A sewer rat? No just a blob. Wait is this a slime? What is it doing here? I inspected it and it revealed something problematic.


    Oh no, a Misha must have flushed a random potion through the toilet and it created some weird lifeform. It spotted me and it ran away so I followed it.


    I saw more slimes and they all ran away. What I noticed was that there was no water anywhere. How could I have missed that? What is happening here in the sewers? I followed them and found myself in a large room that was supposed to be filled with water but I saw a huge multi-coloured blob of slime pulsing.


    Did this blob use all the water to form? And what is it doing? I saw streams of weirdly colored water flow into it from various canals. Don''t these Misha know that they should separate their waste and transport it to a special facility and not flush it down? I had read this in Azu’s earlier lab journals. She got scolded a lot for doing the same so she learned how to properly separate different types of magic waste. I’m surprised that nobody has died yet. I detected toxic fumes but they were not that bad. My basic poison immunity could handle it. I never stopped ingesting poison to gain immunity but unfortunately, I can’t do it as fast as a certain Toxic Donkey.


    Nilah didn''t feel like absorbing this mess of swirling mana. How did they even manage to get the unusable mana percentage to 43%. This is insane! Nilah wrapped me in her tails. I should be fine but continued exposure isn''t healthy. This seems quite close to a new kind of poison element. I decided to do the Misha a service and solve this problem for them, after I get rid of this blob, I will tell the headmaster that the Misha should separate their poisonous potions. I haven''t noticed a decrease in available water because I can create water but maybe the city is in a crisis. I tried to [Flush] the blob but it just sucked up the water and became larger. It seems that is a bad idea. How about setting it on fire?


    <hr>


    I got launched out of a manhole. All the manholes flew up in the sky. The moment I set the blob ablaze it exploded and I was covered in weird goo. I had covered myself in frost magic before the explosion but I still didn''t like it. Nilah was upset with me because she was covered in goo.  I’m sorry Nilah, let''s take a long shower.


    We walked home and the Misha avoided us because we smelled weird. We arrived home and I turned on the shower but nothing came out. Right, I forgot. I normally just freshen myself up with water Dragonvein I make because I’m too lazy to walk to the shower. I used [Water Dragon Dance] but created only 2 water dragons. One to clean myself and another to clean Nilah. I had to scrub Nilah because the goo was harder to get out of her fur than off my skin. I had to work with the shittiest soap in existence, I need to file a complaint! It took long but we were clean.


    Hey Nilah, how do you think we should solve this? I don’t know anything about potions.  Nilah played with water suggesting that I should wash It. Nilah seemed to be getting smarter and smarter.


    Hey Nilah, what are you?  She gave me a cute stare. The urge to pet and cuddle her awakened and I picked her up. I cuddled Nilah and we went back down. Nilah covered herself with a lot of frost this time. I did so too.


    So, you said to wash it. So, what if I use a stronger [Flush] and spread it over the whole sewer system then it wouldn''t matter if it grows and maybe the toxic components will wash away or be diluted enough to stop forming the blob.


    I was about to start when I heard a voice. “Agnis, I know you’re here somewhere!”


    Shit, I guess all the manholes getting launched was quite visible. Not a lot of Misha were looking for me probably because the sewers was not a place they wanted to be. I successfully evaded detection and tried to find out if there were more blobs in the sewer.


    I found 4 more and then encountered the headmaster''s daughter. “Can you please just surrender and come with us; I hate this place.”  You are not here to solve this problem?


    “What problem?  Do you have water?


    “What has that to do with the sewers, we get water from a separate system, not the sewers.”  And where does that water come from?


    “Collected rainwater and purified sewer water… oh…”


    I evaded a [Flare].  Ahh so you''re finally here.


    An angry Headmaster appeared. Her face was a bit red. “What is this?! What have you done this time!”  Hey don''t blame me for all your problems! I’m here to help solve this problem.


    “And how did this problem start? Something you did?”  Does it seem like I’m flushing toxic potions through the sewer systems?


    Another stream of colorful liquid fed the blob and I pointed at it.


    “Ugh, those idiots, we teach them to separate their potions.”


    Headmaster''s daughter pinched her nose and almost slipped. “Ugh, I hate this place! So, what about that explosion? And can we leave?”  Uhh, that was me, it seems to be flammable so you might want to tell your mother to stop sending [Flares] at me.  The headmaster cancelled her [Flare] cast.


    “So, what do we do about this? And what is that funny ice coat you''re wearing?”  It''s to protect me from the goo and uhh do you have a potion to unblobbify this thing?


    “Unblob… what does that even mean? No such potion exists!”  So how would you solve this problem then?


    “Well, we need to put a full-scale investigation, figure out what components are causing this, hold a survey to discover what potions the Misha are sending down here then appeal for a…” Headmaster said as she seemed to have entered ''lecture mode.''  zzzzz


    “Hey!”  What if this thing grows more in the meantime and wants to expand its territory aboveground?


    The headmaster became pale. “We can''t allow for that to happen!”  And that is why I’m going to [Flush] this thing. I won''t make the same mistake I did the previous time I [Flushed] the sewers.


    The headmaster attempted something when she paused to react. “Wait, what previous time? What happened?”  Don''t worry I won''t leave bodies behind this time.


    “What?!” I started using [Drowning Pulse] and kept using [Flush] to spread the blob out through the whole sewers. “Hey, what is this this isn''t magic?”


    Not now, this blob is persistent.  There were signs that I was properly flushing it but it continued growing.


    So, there is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?


    “Good news please.”  The blob is diluting and isn''t toxic anymore.


    The Headmaster jumped back and breathed in her sleeve. “This thing was toxic?!”  Not anymore!


    “What is the bad news?”  Well, ehh this thing might expand a lot, I hope that you like to get dirty.


    The Headmaster started to form barriers around her and her daughter. “Are you sure you aren''t the god of pranks and misfortune?”  Would I hang around in the sewers if I was?


    “Probably not…” The blobs expanded and turned green and ballooned in size.


    <hr>


    We got launched out of the manhole. The headmaster was covered in green slime as her barriers seemed to have been inadequate. Nilah and I were fine because of our frost coats but the city… Green slime kept shooting out of the manholes and covered the city in 4-meter-deep green slime. Azu’s house was safe because it was located on a hill.


    I felt someone lock on to me and I sensed several magic skills activating. “You did this!”


    Hey, be calm! Let''s attack the root of the problem! I could have never done this if the Misha hadn''t brought a blob to life with their potions!  The headmaster didn''t seem to listen and shot a [Flare], [Wind Blade] and [Gale] at me. The green slime glowed from the heat and created an enormous explosion. I escaped the chaos and decided to stay home for a week.


    More of my research papers got accepted and the Misha community was divided on whether I was a buff or debuff to their city. They didn''t use those words but that’s my interpretation. They started to call me the Silver Menace though. I am not that bad...


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    I had reapplied my cosmetic illusion but it didn''t seem to have thrown them off. Nilah was interested in the towers spread through the city that gathered mana. Either curiosity or just wanted to steal its mana so we went to check one out.


    It was quite simple. The whole pillar moved all the mana inside of it to a crystal at the base. Because of this, it would create a low concentration mana inside the pillar which got balanced out by the ambient mana around it rushing into the tower to compensate for the difference in mana concentration and then the process repeated. Nilah froze the crystal to see what would happen.


    We observed the tower. It kept trying to push mana into the crystal which got frozen by normal ice. The tower started to heat up and melt.  Uhh, Nilah, I think we shouldn''t do this anymore.  Nilah snatched the mana-rich crystal and got its mana. The Misha nearby chased us away.


    Hey Nilah if you want mana so badly you can take mine.  She refused my mana.


    So difficult.  I tried to figure out why she needed this much mana. I couldn''t tell how much mana she was holding on to but I''m certain she could blow up a whole country by now with the amount she has. I did create her after I woke up after being afraid of a god. Is she preparing in case I encounter one? I petted and cuddled Nilah. Either way, she has no intention of harming me. She was big enough that I could ride on her. She started out so small and cute. Now she is a vixen ready to steal every drop of mana. I don''t even need to bother dodging and evading attacks now. She just blocks it with her body and tails and stores the mana. The Misha are very annoyed with us. I also admit that my prankster nature is being drawn out by their reactions. I decided to visit the library again tomorrow.


    <hr>


    I went into library mode and read about some subjects about magic and their magic circles. These magic skills were impossible to cast in the traditional method, they needed to be drawn. There were 3 city blocks of books on these. The poor librarian tried to chase me away as usual but I stole her hat and catalyst. I gave her hat and catalyst back at the end of my reading spree. My tails started piecing together skills that could only be cast by drawn magic circles. I did some more research in Azu’s lab and discovered a new magic rune. It could be used to repeat the last attack that occurred. It was a bit similar to what I already had but it was more potent. I could drop a [God of Thunder] on it and it will echo a stronger one. This applies to every element but I tend to use these with lightning skills. I got out of the lab 3 days later and wandered through the corridors. I studied too much! I need a break! The Misha saw me as a part of life now and they treated me like their own.


    “Hey is everyone from your race like this?”  Dunno, I haven''t seen any of my race in over 10 years.


    “Isn''t that lonely?”  Dunno, other races keep telling me that I’m a typical case of members of my race so they would probably be a pain in the ass, my mother was nice though, and another 9t friend though… she was scary.  I continued eating lunch in the canteen with Shelly.


    Shelly seemed to have a well balanced diet. there was one problem. it had too many potatoes but rather her than me. “You keep disappearing, where do you keep disappearing off to?”  Depends on the situation. Hey Nilah go easy on the ladies!


    Nilah was as popular as ever.


    I can’t very well sit still with the headmaster constantly after me. Have you updated the magic on your hat?


    “Yeah, I can''t believe you improved the magic twice on it to break it again, I don''t want to know what the headmaster is going through… Also, this magic you made to temporarily substitute our catalyst… it’s extremely useful. It is as if you''re exploiting our weaknesses to find out how to help us.”  You''re reading too much into it I just enjoy a challenge.


    A loud voice echoed through the halls. “Where is Agnis? He’s the only one that can use spatiotemporal magic in this city!”


    “I guess you need to run, the headmaster is pissed again.”  Oh no, I’m fine this time.


    “What did you do…”  I spatially scrambled the doors and hallways. If you go through that door you will end up in your next lecture hall.  I pointed at a door that normally leads outside.


    “But why...”  She can''t find me if she can’t get to me. Here is a map so you don''t get lost, give some to your friends.  I spread the maps of the academy to everyone in the canteen. I relaxed and ate my lunch as I heard the headmaster''s voice get closer and farther.


    Want to go for a walk Nilah? We haven''t stepped a foot outside this city since we came here.  Nilah seemed excited, grabbed me with her tail, and carried me outside the city. We jumped off the pillar the city was built on but fall damage isn''t something we worry about. We entered a forest and found a lot of suspicious mushrooms. I stored them in my dimensional pocket when we got attacked by a horde of boars.


    I climbed into a tree and Nilah kept throwing [ice spikes] at them.  Ooh, I thought of a cool prank let''s see how many targets I can teleport.  I teleported as many boars next to the pillar as I could.


    Hmm, 170 is the upper limit eh.  I froze the boars but left an unfrozen patch on their backs and wrote numbers 1 to 188. I skipped some numbers. There are only 170 boars but the Misha won''t know that. I bypassed the system that redirects you to the entrance and I teleported the boars into the city and watched the chaos from afar. It feels good to embrace my nature once in a while. It took them half a day to catch all the boars but they were looking for 3 days in total for the 18 missing boars after which they gave up.


    It was time to behave and I threw myself into developing a substance that could hold the properties of frost magic. It was a difficult substance. I had to keep it under [Pressure] to synthesize it. The biggest hurdle was over. It created a new problem. I couldn''t use metal to craft this sword. I need heat to create a sword out of metal. There were enough strong materials that weren''t metal so this was not as big of a problem. I made various other ingredients that didn''t require forging. Some stabilizing agents and oils to improve mana conductivity.


    <hr>


    Weeks flew by as I was focusing on getting enough prerequisite ingredients so that I could afford mistakes. Nilah was focusing frost magic on what would become the core of the relic magic weapon. She was putting a lot into it. This might become a super strong katana if I finish this. I slept for 5 days. This time I will make sure I''m not sleeping on my birthday.


    I decided to do some shopping after my sleep since I had 4 more days till the big day. The 3rd year of training to get stronger was almost over but we would meet up in September so there were 10 months left. I didn''t have anything planned for that but that is a good thing. My current goal has had some hiccups so it will take longer. The Misha were acting weird as if they were happy to see me. Did something happen? Did they get brainwashed?


    A Misha with silver hair approached me. I took a good look as silver hair seems quite alluring. Another argument why I need to hide my hair and tails. "Silver Menace sir, the headmaster is looking for you."  Whatever she thinks I did, I didn''t do it, not this time!


    "Can you pay her a visit please?"  Ugh fine.  I headed over to the academy and entered the office of the headmaster.


    Whoa, you look like you need some sleep. Whatever you’re accusing me of it wasn''t me this time!


    "We know, we''ve been trying to get a hold of you but as usual you''re hard to catch."  So, what do you need me for then?


    “Not  long after your disappearance, we started to notice that our mana was getting sapped whenever we used magic. At first, we thought it was a prank of yours with your blue fox but it happened everywhere in the city and nobody had spotted you. The suspicion stuck until some areas had this effect more than others. It wasn''t a significant amount of mana sapping but noticeable at least. We concluded that this might be something else and 3 weeks ago we discovered that something might be wrong with the dimensional fabric. We couldn''t confirm this but this problem appeared shortly after you disappeared so we were wondering if you were sick or dying for this to occur." The Headmaster needs some sleep. this academy must be stressing her out! although I might be partly responsible for her stress.


    Oh, you were worried, how sweet, I will check this problem out for you.  This problem sounds both new and familiar. The headmaster and I went outside and she pointed out where its effects were the strongest. I got the correct filter and yup I found the problem. I circulated nature energy because there was another case of rotten dimensional fabric and there were dimensional maggots everywhere. I didn''t miss this sight. Mana was leaking into this dimensional hole to I don''t know where. The hole was small but it looked disgusting and mana was escaping through them. Several of these could be found in the city.


    Right, this might inconvenience you guys.  I created illusion layers and shattered them to get my [Illusionary Dagger] and stabbed my tails. The sky started to shift between day and night until the full moon appeared. The Misha were freaking out because time and space started to glitch. I did the same thing I did when I got into this mode in Boshi Town. I fixed up all the holes before all my tails disappeared. Nilah caught me after I fell down.  It should be fine now.


    <hr>


    A day had passed and I woke up in an unfamiliar bed and to Misha arguing. The headmaster was arguing with a very short Misha.


    “I come back and I find out that you let a man and even worse a human inside the city!?” Shrimpy pointed at me.


    “Correction! He let himself in and he might be a menace but he has helped the Misha community too!”


    “Irrelevant! Kick him out with force!” Shrimpy stomped like an angry toddler.


    “Well then dear sister go ahead! Be my guest!” Wait this midget is the headmaster''s sister? This midget looks like a preteen but she talks like she’s older. People like that exist too, eh? I interrupted several casts to forcefully teleport me out. This pissed her off and she started flinging lightning at me which Nilah absorbed.


    “See, if it was that easy, he’d be long gone.” The Headmaster showed off a rare smile. This situation seemed amusing to her.


    “Ugh, I have no time for this! I’m busy! I want him gone when I come back!” The midget sister stormed off.  She looks like a younger sister but let me guess, she’s your older sister?


    “Ugh, yes, I’m sorry for that, the mana situation improved after you did that strange thing. I seem to lack knowledge about nine tailed spirit foxes because I didn''t know they could change day and night like that.”  Hey, I have a question, do you know about a race that closely resembles a 9t but isn''t a 9t?


    “I would assume that you mean the other tailed races.”  Uhh, not exactly. Anyways. My next research is almost finished, I think you guys might like this one. This one was extremely difficult. It had been in the works since I first started stealing your hats.  I twirled Shrimpy''s hat around my finger.


    “Why did you do that…” Someone in a corridor away was losing her mind.


    She might have a point but I don''t think she should talk to her sister like that. Anyways the new research might be done in a week, that of course depends on how often you guys keep up this futile pursuit it''s hard to focus with angry Misha on my ass.  I threw Shrimpy''s hat at the headmaster and headed home. It seemed Shrimpy had returned with 4 other Misha that were as strong or stronger than the headmaster. I might have to exercise some caution. I had pulled a lot of pranks on this city. Even before they started to call me the Silver Menace.


    There was this time I trained mountain gulls to steal their food when they would buy them at stands. I also put the whole city in a small-time loop when testing a spatiotemporal skill that I had made. It reset the day 3 times in a row but everyone kept their memories. I had to scrap this skill but the Misha weren''t happy. I think I will do one last prank on my birthday and then let them live in peace. I might still stay here longer but I will be a behaving citizen after that. Not that I’m a citizen here, I’m an illegal immigrant.