╚╩╩╩╝ Camparn ╚╩╩╩╝

Today is going to be a good day. Nothing could ruin my mood at this point. The past two years have been a high point for me and my little organization, though you couldn’t really call my organization little anymore. Thanks to my new friends, I had been able to abandon that filthy den for my new, far nicer home here in Renae.

“Are you prepared for what is to come?” The ringing voice of my benefactor echoed through my room. I had been listening to it speak for more than two years now, but I still wasn’t used to it.

“Yes, master. I am ready to do whatever it is you ask of me.” I responded immediately, stepping over to my wardrobe, I checked the mirror. In the past, I dressed as a noble and in a matter of days, I would be a noble.

A knock at my door interrupted my process, but I won’t get mad. Nothing will ruin this day for me.

“What is it?” I called back to the door.

“It’s an emergency, sir.” One of my men replied.

“What kind of emergency?” I turned to completely face the door and stepped over to it.

“We’re not sure who it is, but someone’s been ratting us out.” The man explained.

Throwing the door open to see the man, I tensed and forced myself to relax, asking, “What have they been saying?”

Nervously, the man answered, “They told the city council about our relationship with Lord Gelling.”

This was by far the best scenario. Gelling had nothing that could expose our group. That is if they can get anything out of Gelling with how much is going in. “If all they know about is Lord Gelling, then we’re fine. I dread asking, but do they know anything else?”

“That’s all that our spy shared before going to deal with the rat.” The man explained.

“If that’s all they know, and the rat’s already dead, then there’s nothing to worry about.” I explained, calming the man before reaching to close the door.

“There’s another issue.” The man interjected. “The spy has yet to return.”

“You mean to say that they have one of our own?” I asked, the sweat building on my brow.

“I’m not sure. He was a strong man, but you know of Duke Renae’s abilities.” The man chuckled nervously.

“I do indeed. That’s why I was clear that nobody go near the nobility but me.” I nearly shouted.

“I’m sorry sir, he’d just heard rumors about Lord Gelling hiring criminals and went to go check it out.” The man explained. “His contact also said that he wanted to report something big, but he never told him.”

“Enough!” I shouted at the man. “We don’t know what we don’t know! If Duke Renae had caught the man, we would have already been dragged to prison, but we weren’t, so he must be dead. That’s the end of the conversation, now go tell the rest of the men that nobody is allowed near the nobility ever again.”

The man, now pale in the face, turned and ran down the hall and out of sight.

Sighing, I closed the door and took a deep breath as I walked back to the mirror. Don’t let them get to you, Camparn. Nothing is going to ruin this day for you.

“I will never understand why you chose to keep your old group.” The voice stated. I couldn’t tell from its tone, but I knew it was feeling pity for me, but after today, nobody would ever pity me again.

Satisfied with how I looked, I turned towards my door and left.

My estate was on the smaller side, but it fit perfectly for keeping up appearances. To everyone outside of my men, I was a rich man with no name, but soon I wouldn’t need my name anymore. They would all refer to me as lord.

Deep below the estate was a collection of tunnels far larger than the ones that Lord Gelling had constructed for us. Whats more, they were made in a day by Lior. Ever since his sudden transformation, he had changed into a completely subservient doll that did everything I ever asked of him. He used his magic to dig the tunnels and nearly collapsed in the process and thanked me afterward for putting him to good use. The voice praised me as well, saying that I was on the way to completing the task that would grant me my deepest desires.

Climbing into my carriage, I commanded the coachman to start moving.

By the time we reached the capital, the sun had long since fallen below the tree line. Despite two years passing, the lock-down in the capital remained enforced. The main gates were all closed and only opened once a full inspection was made for whoever or whatever was trying to get through. As a prospective noble, however, I was given express permission to use the passage exclusive to the local nobility.

Passing by the poorly lit, gated entrance I couldn’t help but grin at the dozens of people waiting in a line to try and pass through. They were all pitiful commoners who deserved to suffer, just like the rest of them.

The exclusive entrance was smaller, but was completely empty aside from a single soldier position by the gate itself. The carriage stopped for barely a moment before a grinding of the gate opening signaled the coachman to continue onward.

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Because this gate opened directly into the high-class district, the rest of the drive was quite short. The carriage pulled up beside a large, dark stone building decorated with several large, stained glass windows that stood out, even in the dark. Every aspiring criminal in the country knew about this building. The Monastery was always heavily guarded, and not even the nobility were allowed inside without the express permission of the crown. It no doubt held countless ancient relics and artefacts of great power, just one of which would be worth a lifetime of wealth.

The coachman climbed down from the carriage and showed something to the soldiers standing guard at the gate and the guards stepped to the side, opening the path to the Monastery. Climbing out from the carriage, I stepped towards the building, savoring each and every moment. Beside the entrance stood a man in long, dark robes. The man’s head was shaved completely bald.

Nodding as our eyes met, the bald man turned and opened the door to let me in.

The Monastery’s interior was different from what I had expected. I had expected to find the relics and artefacts on display as a show of power for those that entered, but upon entering, I found it to be a largely empty room with pews on either side of the door, facing the opposite side of the building where a massive mural hung lit by several lanterns, depicting an enormous golden bird, wings spread, with its aura spreading out to cover images of people suffering from all kinds of diseases.

“I see that you have arrived.” A voice came from nearby.

I turned to see a familiar face moving toward me.

“Lord Carson, I have to thank you again for this opportunity.” I spoke, feigning gratitude with a smile.

“What else would have been appropriate for the man who saved my family?” The man replied.

“Oh please, I did nothing. My men were the ones who saved your daughter.” I dismissed, trying to raise his impression of me.

“Yes, but they no doubt did so at your order.” Lord Carson patted me on the back and led me forward. “I have my daughter back, and I didn’t have to pay the ransom.”

This whole debacle was the voice’s idea. It knew so much about everything and was able to guide me to where I could find a whole new gang who were willing to work for me. They were far more skilled than my previous group, not to mention smarter. At my order, they kidnapped Lord Carson’s only child and demanded a ransom of everything he owned. The man was desperately searching for his daughter and, a week later, I sent out the order for them to fake a battle and return the man’s daughter. He was exceptionally grateful and, just as the voice had predicted, sent my name to his contacts to refer for nobility. From there, I did various acts of charity by having my men catch each other in various crimes. They never spent long in prison, but my public image had been developed and the people loved it. Finally, a few days ago, I received a summons from the king to have an audience with him in the Monastery.

Lord Carson led me around to a set of stairs hidden behind a false wall on the right side of the building. The stairs descended a surprisingly long distance, much deeper than the tunnels that Lior had dug below Renae. Finally, we arrived at a dimly lit room very similar to the one in the main building, though far smaller. There were several unfamiliar faces seated on the few pews in the room. Lord Carson sat down on the nearest empty spot on a pew and watched me with expectant eyes.

“Arn of Renae.” A voice called out to me from where the mural would have been. I turned to see that it was the king. “You are the first in a long time to be selected as nobility. Step forward.”

Seeing the king like this made my heart skip a beat, he was dressed in robes identical to the one the bald man was wearing. I had to try very hard to suppress the desire to attack the man where he stood.

Doing as he ordered, I stepped into a circle engraved onto the stone floor. It was a Magic Ring that had been embedded into the ground. The writing on it was tiny, so I couldn’t make out what it was supposed to do, but it was obviously very complicated.

“You stand in the very first Mana Gathering Array given to humanity.” The king explained. “The knowledge of this ring was given to use many years ago by the Sacred Light, Kafka. It is what allows us as humans to grow and become strong. This knowledge was given to the man who the Sacred Light crowned as king of the human people. To stand in this ring and benefit from its blessing is to swear loyalty to the crown. Do you accept this blessing?”

“To think that other humans had already learned of curses and charms.” The voice suddenly whispered into my ear. “Accept the offer. I will negate the curse.”

“I accept.” I answered, nervous from the voice’s words.

Nodding his head, the king raised his hand as two other men stepped out from behind him, doing the same. The king’s aura burst to life and started to flow outward and into the Magic Ring around me. Bursting into a brilliant light, the Magic Ring came to life and rose from the ground as the spell engraved onto it began working.

In a persons life, they would slowly absorb mana through the air or through whatever they ingest, but the level of mana was so insignificant that it was unnoticeable. Being at the purple rank, I had only gone through this ritual once, but I vividly remembered the feeling of how densely the mana had gathered around me. That ritual and this ritual were different, though. While the last ritual had felt like the mana was pouring over me like water, this one felt like I had been completely submerged in it.

Suddenly, two more Magic Rings rose from the ground and hovered to my left and right and I felt the mana force itself into my body. Under normal circumstances, to raise ones mana ranking, they would have to find a place that had one of these arrays and take a test to ensure that you could raise your rank. This was to ensure that the process was completed safely, since the body would collapse if it wasn’t ready and strong enough for the process of raising to the next rank. I had done no preparation for this, but that was because Lord Carson had instructed me not to.

The process was longer, no doubt because of the two extra rings that I assumed were keeping my body from falling apart, but once it was finished, I felt invigorated. Summoning my aura, I watched the blue mist cover my entire body. I had just skipped a level, how was that possible?

Setting this aside, I looked up at the three robed men standing in front of me. The grin on the king’s face made me want to punch him even more, but the confused look on the face of one of the robed men was somehow amusing.

“Such sloppy work. The curse didn’t work in the first place.” The voice explained. “I never thought to mix a curse and a spell. The two must counteract each other.”

Nodding, I had no idea what the voice was talking about, but it was time to finish up here.

“Congratulations, Lord Arn, now to place the mark of nobility upon you and grant you a surname.” The king announced.

“Oh, there’s no need.” I stopped him and turned around, lifting my shirt. “I already have the mark of nobility.”

“I see, then what will be your surname?” The king asked, narrowing his eyes.

The voice, for some reason, had instructed me to use a surname of its choosing.

“I will, from this point forward, be known as Arn Timor.” I announced.

“Then, Baron Timor, I look forward to good things from you.” The king spoke, turning to leave.

Oh, I’ll do good things. I’m going to tear this country down, piece by piece, starting by dragging you down from your throne, cousin.