--Six years earlier

One evening, Koal sat alone at his table, staring at his chessboard. He was playing against himself once again. He loved the game, but unfortunately, very few people knew how to play it.

So his only opponent was himself, as silly as it sounded. But it was actually helpful, and he felt that he was making progress.

It had been two years since the unknown magician had informed him about Gerald's plan and the truth behind this camp. Since that evening, Koal hadn't encountered him again, but he had met Gerald, as usual, every month.

At first, it was a challenge to act as usual, but Gerald quickly caught on and successfully created a facade. Gerald, of course, hadn't noticed anything. How could he? He would never expect a lowly mortal to guess his grand plans.

Koal smiled to himself. Vanity was the weakness of the foolish, and Koal knew how to exploit it to his advantage.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, startling Koal.

Could it be him?

Quickly, Koal went to his front door, and indeed, there stood he stood. The little magician once again. The same man who had enlightened him before. But after that, he had disappeared for almost two years.

Koal had already lost hope that he will ever appear again, but now that he stood before him, he was filled with excitement. He had so many questions.

He quickly bowed and said, "Lord Magician, please come in!"

The magician nodded and slipped past him, looking around curiously.

"Oh, things have changed in this house since the last time I was here," he remarked.

Koal laughed. "Of course. That was two years ago. I used the credits I earned through my position as a community leader to furnish it a bit more."

T

he magician murmured approvingly and then settled into the armchair next to the fireplace. He fell silent for a moment, and then his gaze fell upon Koal.

"I hope you haven't wasted your time in luxury,"

Koal immediately became serious and sat opposite him, pouring himself a glass of wine.

"Of course not. Quite the opposite. I have started using my connections and promoting certain individuals. They all have doubts about this camp in their hearts but are not yet ready. It will take some time to convince them that all of this is just a facade of empty promises."

"But of course. I know very well the influence magicians have on ordinary people like you. After all, the memory of centuries of oppression cannot be erased from their minds overnight. You need something big. Something that shakes their minds and shows them that we magicians are just as mortal as they are! They need to see us bleed, only then can they recognize our weakness!"

Koal frowned, "You surely don't mean that you personally want to..."

Immediately, the man shook his head, "Of course not! I cannot show myself in public. You need another candidate, someone who fits the role better. Someone you can extract in one way or another."

"Who are you referring to?" Koal asked.

"Think," said the magician, "What you want is a change that goes through the minds of mortals. Normal magicians won't even notice it, as they don't care about you mortals anyway. But there is an exception. A specific magician who mingles among mortals and interacts with them. A magician who very possibly could notice a change in their behavior. A..."

"Gerald," Koal blurted out.

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He thought about it and quickly understood that the man was right. Gerald was a threat. He could ruin everything.

He was the only magician who truly interacted with mortals. That was now the third reason why he had to be removed, but Koal still had doubts.

"But won't the other magicians notice his disappearance? Even if I manage to capture Gerald and show the mortals his mortality, it will take a while for it to change the collective understanding of people."

"Don't worry about that," the man replied, "Although Gerald has enormous influence in this camp, more than a magician of his level should have, he is not an actual member, just a sort of guest. He disappears repeatedly to find new candidates."

Koal pondered for a long moment, then agreed. He had no knowledge of the camp's political ways and could only rely on the man's words.

"But how do we capture him? He is a magician with abilities beyond my comprehension. Even if I manage to capture Gerald, how can I ensure that he doesn't simply use his magic and escape?"

"You still think too highly of magicians like Gerald. Gerald is at the lowest tier of power one can have. He is a lightning magician. As the name kindly suggests, Gerald has the ability to shoot lightning from his hands. But there is a very simple way to counter that," the magician took out a small stone from his pocket.

Koal watched with interest as he touched a small symbol on the stone, and it immediately started to glow. The magician briefly closed his eyes. Koal's eyes widened as a pair of iron gloves materialized out of thin air.

"Use these," the magician said. "Gerald will never use his magic if he wears them, and even if he does, he will only harm himself."

Koal was silent for a while again but then took the gloves. The magician stood up, "Very well. I must bid you farewell now."

Koal looked at him, frowning. "Already? But I still have some more questions."

The magician sighed, "You can ask me one more question on the way out if you wish."

Koal thought about what he should ask him as they made their way outside.

"Who are you?" Koal finally asked when he had made up his mind. "Why are you helping me?"

The magician shook his head. "I said only one question."

Koal hesitated for a moment, "Then...who are you?"

The man walked through the front door and stopped on the threshold. He turned around one last time, bowing with a sweeping gesture, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Siril von Liedgrad."

With that, the man spun around and disappeared into the darkness of the night. Koal grimaced, "I didn't care about your name..." he muttered and went back inside the house.

--Back to the present.

The camp was in turmoil. A change swept through it and the mindset of the mortals. It all started just as a rumor, spreading quietly and clandestinely among the masses.

A magician had been captured and tortured. And it was done by a usual mortal like themselves!

But what was even more shocking than that was the news that this camp was supposedly a lie. That there was allegedly no way to increase magical affinity.

At first, these rumors were only spread by a few individuals who were already known as doubters. So no one paid much attention to them.

"Have you heard about it?" one mortal murmured quietly to another, afraid that the magicians might hear him. "Apparently, all the work we do is in vain. They say that the magicians have been lying to us all along."

The other mortal looked at him confusedly, "You're not actually believing those rumors, are you? They come from Uriel, and you know he's insane anyway. Why would the magicians lie to us?"

"You're probably right," the other mortal agreed, but doubt still lingered within him. Many mortals felt the same way. They dismissed the rumors outwardly, but they remained in their minds. Many mortals began to ponder their situation in this camp.

-But what if it's really true?? What if it's all a lie? -

These thoughts circulated in the minds of many mortals.

Then more and more people emerged, telling stories of a magician who had been captured and tortured by a regular mortal. This time, however, they weren't well-known doubters like Uriel, but random people in different positions. Some were respected community leaders, while others were simple mortals like them.

Now the rumors spread even faster, like a fire on a dry meadow. More and more people started to doubt. More and more people came to Koal's house and saw Gerald. More and more people spoke of the horrifying truth that this camp was all a lie. That every chosen mortal would be killed like a pig. The magicians, the great lords, were merely using them.

In Koal's living room, he sat across from Uriel in his beloved armchair. A crackling fire burned in the fireplace.

Uriel seemed concerned, "More and more people are withdrawing their support as magicians."

Koal smiled, "That means our message is getting through to them. It's only doubts now, but soon it will become a certainty. Soon, we will have succeeded, Uriel."

"But won't the magicians notice if it continues like this?" he asked worriedly.

Koal laughed, "Of course! While they're not often among mortals and certainly don't talk to them, even they will take notice! But do you really think I didn't anticipate that? I've been working on this plan for eight years. Of course, I expected it."

"And what do you plan to do about it?" Uriel asked.

"I will send followers of my organization to the different halls. They will take on assignments and let themselves set up for the ascension. I have made sure that there are at least 20 people in each district. Of course, this is still incomparable to the number of applicants before, but we can't do more. After some time, the magicians will inevitably notice a change."

"And what do we do then?" Uriel asked.

Koal smiled faintly, "We just won't give them that much time."