Lith pondered for a while over Lady Ernas’s words, trying to understand the reason behind Linjos’s decision.

“Then what’s the point of having the students move out of the academy? Isn’t the castle one of the safest places in the Kingdom?” He asked.

“It is, but not against the god of death.” Lady Ernas explained.

“All the ancient noble families, just like house Ernas, have several arrays defending them. We have contributed to building and nurturing the Kingdom, so you can think of our houses as smaller versions of the academies.

“The defense mechanisms are similar, but weaker. Balkor didn’t just hunt us, he used every single attack to collect data and improve his thralls. Every year, they became stronger and more resilient, able even to bypass the basic arrays like they don’t even exist.

“For your information, both the Royal Palace and the Mage Association headquarters have defenses on par with the academies, some say they are even better. Yet Balkor’s creatures managed to break in every single year.

“We knew they were coming, we were prepared, and armed to the teeth. None of that mattered. The number of casualties only increased over time. Probably Linjos is thinking of relying on the protection of the Lord of the forest.