As the unlikely trio made their way to the old guardhouse where Zarcur was, Marcus was surprised at the empty streets. Things were a lot more lively in Tevaria. The trio then left the street for an alleyway and stopped once they were sure no one was watching.

“The guardhouse is just up ahead, you can walk the rest of the way,” Neivan stated.

“No, I’d like for you two to introduce me to Zarcur yourselves. Otherwise, I’ll get swarmed at the door.” Marcus answered.

“Let’s take him inside, he won’t hurt us once we’re in the guardhouse, too many enemies,” Cotrana said in a calm manner.

The three then made their way to the guardhouse and were stopped by a council member on watch.

“Who goes ther… Hello Cotrana, Neivan. Is this a prisoner?”

“Yes, he was very difficult to capture,” Cotrana said.

While Cotrana was speaking to the guard, Neivan kept making hand signals toward the guard when Marcus wasn’t looking. Eventually, after a few questions, the guard let the three of them inside. The inside of the guardhouse was plain, with simple wooden walls occasionally occupied by a picture or door. After climbing a set of stairs, Neivan and Cotrana led Marcus toward the end of the guardhouse before stopping when they reached a red door. Neivan then walked up to the door and knocked a few times.

“We captured a mage, he was a really feisty devil, nearly took us all out,” Neivan shouted at the door. Cotrana then took a few steps away from the door.

“You can open the door now!” A voice echoed from within.

Neivan then pressed down on the handle, pushed open the door, and immediately darted away from the door. As the door opened, Marcus saw a middle-aged dwarven man, surrounded by spectral white chains. The instant that the man locked his eyes on Marcus, all of the chains flew toward him. Marcus barely had the time to erect a shield of blue mana in front of him, as the chains crashed into the shield. Why did I hope for a better outcome?

The chains then enveloped his shield and began to crush it. The shield quickly began to buckle under the strength of the chains. Marcus quickly directed more mana into his shield, and the shield stood strong once more.

“So tell me, boy, do you know what spiritual magic is? It is the power of the gods!” The man began to lecture.

Once Marcus had temporarily stabilized his shield, he cast his mana-sensing divination spell again and also recreated his hearing enhancements. If he’s going to monologue, might as well pinpoint his location.

“So then tell me, if spiritual magic is the power of the gods, and a manifestation is the ultimate power of magic, the power to defy all. Then what does that mean about a spiritual magic user? It means that they have the ultimate power!” Zarcur continued, not once trying to see what Marcus was doing inside his mess of chains and a shield.

By this point, Marcus had mostly pinpointed Zarcur’s location and was readying a teleportation spell to get him out of this shield.

“This means that you, mage, stand no chance against the power of I, Zarcur!” Zarcur continued.

Marcus then clasped his hands together and teleported about 3 feet behind Zarcur. Marcus then rushed at Zarcur with his right hand outstretched. However, a few chains immediately emerged from Zarcur. Marcus lept back and dodged to the left, then fired a few bolts of red energy at Zarcur. With a mind of their own, the chains retreated and intercepted Marcus’ chains.

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“This is pointless boy, you won’t beat me with this, you should have just signed the contract. It’s only a matter of time before reinforcements arrive!” Zarcur shouted at Marcus, before sending more chains at him.

Marcus immediately hastened himself and bolted away from the chains with newfound agility. Marcus then outstretched both arms and conjured a cloud of dust in the room. Although he could no longer see, he could sense the mana of the chains and Zarcur. The chains started flying in every direction, hunting for Marcus.

Marcus ran to the corner of the room closest to Zarcur and placed his hands on the floor. The floor began to disintegrate, and Marcus leapt into the air and held himself by adhering his arms to the walls. Then the floor completely disintegrated and Zarcur fell to the bottom floor.

Zarcur hit the ground and immediately stood back up. Marcus then lunged toward Zarcur. Although Zarcur couldn’t clearly see Marcus, he could still tell where he was coming from, and that Marcus needed to be stopped. So he raised all of his chains to attack Marcus.

Before the chains hit, Marcus clasped his hands together and teleported right behind Zarcur. Marcus then put his hand on Zarcur’s back, and before Zarcur could even turn around, Zarcur was a pile of ash on the ground.

“The joys of alteration magic.” Marcus mused aloud. However, his victory was short-lived, as dozens of beams came rushing at him from the bottom and top floors. Marcus could sense the presence of several mages nearby on both the top and bottom floors. Maybe destroying the floor wasn’t my best idea.

Marcus jumped into the air, dodging most of the blasts, but some of them immediately changed course. Marcus quickly conjured a shield of translucent blue energy, but it barely held up against the blasts. And the mages immediately fired off a new volley of beams. Marcus dispelled the shield and then hardened his body. The beams slammed into him from all angles, but he was mostly fine. Save for a few cuts and bruises.

Before the mages could launch a third volley, Marcus conjured a few masses of mana that took on bladelike forms. He clasped his hands together, teleported to the top floor, and had his blades tear into the mages. Three mages immediately fell to the ground, and from his vantage point, Marcus eyed his second destination. He clasped his hands together and teleported out of the old guardhouse.

Marcus had teleported to the roof of an abandoned building a couple dozen feet from the guardhouse. Marcus looked to the guardhouse and admired the destruction he caused. Although it was dark outside, the dust cloud surrounding part of the guardhouse made it clear something chaotic happened.

Marcus dashed away from the scene of his crime. Although there were no authorities left to investigate him after the collapse, people could be vengeful, and some were willing to indulge that vengeance for the right price.

After a few minutes of running on rooftops, Marcus arrived back at the inn. He quickly retired to his room and collapsed on the bed. He used a fair amount of mana and needed to recover as much of it as he could.