Chapter 133: Chief Professor
"My lord, you look handsome as always," Villy said for what had to be the tenth time that morning.
Lucius, sitting comfortably in the backseat of the sleek black car, tilted his phone slightly to admire his reflection.
The camera lens of his selfie mode reflected back the face of a man who could make gods envious...
Still, there was weariness on his face and he seemed a little angry.
’Did he skip some sleep?’ Villy wondered, stealing a glance at him as she drove.
That would explain the slightly heavier look in his eyes.
He still looked dangerously handsome, of course as always.
Lucius let out a low sigh and dropped his phone onto the seat beside him, stretching his long arms.
As they drove through the city, he gazed out the tinted windows.
The car turned a corner, and through the glass he could see the old GRIMMAW headquarters coming into view... he was prepared to come down until they passed it by entirely...
"Wait," Lucius said, leaning forward slightly. "Aren’t we supposed to stop here?"
"My lord," Villy began with an amused tone, "did you forget that you requested the government to give GRIMMAW a new headquarters?"
Lucius blinked, tilted his head, then smirked as if he had known that all along.
"Oh yeah..." He nodded, pretending he had remembered. "Right, right. I did say something like that, didn’t I?"
He leaned back into the leather seat with a proud grin. "I really am a good man."
Villy chuckled softly. "That you are, my lord."
Lucius turned his head lazily toward her. "And what does this new headquarters have, exactly?"
Villy smiled as if she had been waiting for that question.
She cleared her throat dramatically, eyes glowing as she began her report.
"The new GRIMMAW headquarters," she started. "It has been upgraded with state-of-the-art facilities. It’s triple the size of the old one, with reinforced walls capable of withstanding S-rank magic blasts. There’s an underground research division, six training fields, private quarters for each executive, and an advanced communication hub directly linked to the Country’s surveillance grid."
Lucius nodded slowly, clearly impressed.
"So, extra space. Nice."
Villy smiled and added, "My lady even prepared a special lab for you... a place where you can work quietly without interruption."
She hesitated for a moment before adding softly, "I hope you don’t mind me being there too, my lord."
Lucius turned his head toward her and grinned.
"Why would I mind it?" He swooshed his black hair back dramatically. "You’re a great help."
Of course, what he didn’t say aloud was that he planned to shove all the actual work onto her.
Her Analyze Magic was too damn good to waste, and she could practically process an entire week’s worth of work in the time it took him to yawn.
’Yes,’ Lucius thought proudly. ’A true leader delegates effectively.’
The car turned again and slowed as they entered a large, open area surrounded by tall glass towers.
The new GRIMMAW headquarters stood proudly before them... a massive, obsidian-black complex shaped like a fortress fused with a corporate tower.
Lucius whistled softly as the car came to a stop.
’Yes, it was me who got this for you guys,’ he thought smugly while stepping out. ’You’re welcome.’
But just as he took a step forward toward the building, Villy suddenly caught his hand.
"My lord, where are you going?" she asked.
Lucius blinked. "Uh, inside?"
She shook her head quickly, tapping her foot on the ground.
"No, no... we’re not using the main entrance."
Before he could even question her, the ground beneath their feet trembled.
A circular platform of stone etched lit up under them, and within seconds, it dropped... sending both of them plunging down into darkness.
"Eh?!" Lucius yelled as they fell, his hair fluttering upward. "What the hell is this place supposed to be?!"
"Your private lab, my lord!" Villy called out beside him, her hands gripping his arm.
Despite the chaos, she still looked perfectly calm... like this was completely normal behavior.
They were falling fast, air rushing past them, but right before they hit the ground, Lucius activated space magic with a thought.
Instantly, the air around him warped, and both of them stopped mere inches above the metallic floor.
Villy landed softly while Lucius hovered lazily above the ground, his shirt flapping slightly.
"Why," he asked in exasperation, "is the entrance so high up?!"
"I think the creator was trying to kill whoever came in," Villy said dryly, brushing off her skirt before shrugging.
Lucius muttered under his breath, "Sadistic bastard..."
As they walked forward, the massive underground chamber began to light up automatically... white lights flickering to life one by one along the ceiling.
Soon, the entire laboratory came into view.
The room was enormous, lined with advanced machinery, alchemical equipment, and glass tubes filled with glowing mana liquid.
Holographic screens floated above several tables, and rows of labeled drawers stretched into the distance.
It was a researcher’s paradise or, for Lucius, a potential nightmare of work.
"My lady made sure to stock it with everything she thought you’d need in preparation for today," Villy said, clearly proud.
Lucius folded his arms and looked around, impressed despite himself. "This is nice."
He raised his hand, and the air shimmered around him.
Space magic twisted, and in an instant, his casual clothes vanished replaced by a pristine white scientist’s coat, safety goggles hanging around his neck.
Villy blinked in surprise as her maid uniform shimmered away as well, replaced by a matching outfit... her own coat neatly fitted for her smaller frame.
"M-my lord?" she asked, startled.
Lucius turned to her with a straight face. "Call me Chief Professor."
Villy stared blankly for a moment. "Chief... Professor?"
He nodded solemnly. "Yes. Today, we’re not just dreamers, Villy. We’re innovators... pioneers on the edge of magic and science."
Villy blinked again. "We’re... what?"
Lucius ignored her, striding confidently toward the main table in the center of the lab.
He placed his hands on the edge of the table dramatically before spreading the blueprints of the Spatial Compression ring.
"For today," he declared, voice echoing across the chamber, "we’re going to create something the world has never seen before."
Villy followed after him, her smaller boots tapping lightly against the metal floor.
She stopped beside him and looked at the intricate blueprint he spread on the table.
The dwarven woman adjusted her new goggles and tilted her head.
"So this is what you’ve been planning, my lord?"
Lucius glanced down at her.
"Chief Professor," he corrected smugly.
She sighed but smiled. "Yes, Chief Professor."
"Good." Lucius nodded approvingly, pointing to the glowing projection of the ring. "This is our masterpiece. The Spatial Compression Ring. A device capable of condensing and stabilizing dimensional energy into a form small enough to fit around your finger. With it, we could store entire rooms worth of items within a single ring."
Villy’s eyes sparkled with awe. "Truly magnificent..."
Lucius crossed his arms, grinning proudly. "I know, right? I’m amazing."
He turned back to the blueprint and tapped his fingers against the table.
"Alright, let’s get started."
He looked down at Villy and gestured grandly.
"Analyze it," he ordered. "You’re the one doing the work, Apprentice."
The dwarven woman blinked up at him, before adjusting her goggles once more.
"Yes, Chief Professor,"
Villy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them again, her pupils glowed with a brilliant green light... the signature hue of her Analyze Magic.
"This is very complex, my lord," she murmured as lines of green energy traced over the blueprint before her. "No wonder you looked tired."
Lucius smirked, folding his arms.
"Genius work comes with a cost."
But Villy’s expression suddenly changed.
Her eyes widened as she zoomed in on a particular component listed on the blueprint.
"Dimensium?" she asked, voice tinged with disbelief. "Just a piece?"
Lucius didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he reached into his inventory and materialized a shimmering silver shard that was no larger than his thumb.
He placed it gently on the table.
"A piece," he confirmed.
Villy’s gaze stayed on it for a moment before she nodded solemnly.
"Understood."
She closed her eyes again, letting the flow of her mana map every detail of the blueprint into her mind.
Then, with renewed focus, she adjusted her goggles and turned toward the shelves lining the lab.
"I’ve memorized the structure, Chief Professor," she said, her tone confident. "Shall I begin?"
Lucius gave her a grin. "Yes, you may... my humble apprentice."
The air around them began to hum with energy.
One by one, the shelves along the lab’s walls started to glow as individual components responded to her call... bars of silver alloy, crystals of Celestine Quartz, chunks of Stabilizing Stone, and the glowing piece of Dimensium itself.
Each item lifted from its resting place, floating toward the center of the room where they spun in formation, gathering momentum.
"I’ll begin combining..." Villy murmured.
Her hands glowed green as she guided the materials together, weaving the threads of mana that would bind them.
But as the energies intertwined, she failed to realize something.
She lacked the space affinity required to control the unstable Dimensium’s output.
"My lord!"
Lucius reacted instantly.
He spread his hand wide, forming a dome of space magic around the materials.
A thunderous boom erupted but his barrier absorbed the force entirely.
Lucius exhaled, shaking his head with a frown.
’Looks like it won’t be so easy after all.’