Evergreen and the Ice — why would his father want him to head to the citadel?

Jeremy pondered on his situation as he rode atop one of the smaller snails. It didn’t have a name yet — and he wanted Shelby to do the naming.

It was fast but it wasn’t as comfortable as Shelby. He had to hold on to straps on the snail’s shell as he stood on a platform wedged over it. At least it glided like Shelby — so no bumps.

His usual mount was busy attending to the farmhands. Shelby said his display yesterday with the new kids motivated the boys to learn new magic, and they were bugging her to teach them.

It was funny how Shelby had apprentices before he did. Not that it mattered, he wasn’t much of a teacher anyway. He just fashioned wands from snake bone and gave the kids a lesson in overcoming fear. Sebas could do the heavy lifting. He was more of a figurehead, just there to motivate the kids with his mere presence and maybe say a few words.

The citadel.

Jeremy wondered what a week in that place would be like. His father told him he would bring him there as one of his agents and not as his son — which he preferred.

Going to a fortress as the Blackstaff’s son would put too much pressure on him — with all their high expectations. He was there to observe, learn, and help out with the defenses.

The spires intrigued him. It was a construct that absorbed magic and used it as a conduit for the Ice.

He remembered seeing spires in a few hells that he’d visited for documentation. Most of them were probably happenstance or ornamental — but he should probably look into it, just in case.

A week was a long time — especially for a merchant. The shop would run out of healing drops, especially with the higher demand. Unfortunately, most adventurers would rather buy them in Bountiful — even with the jacked-up prices. Sure, they were making a profit — but he still wanted to see crowds lining up in his own establishment.

Sebas could make the drops. He had Min to help him with the shop — and she was doing it for free. They had more mouths to feed — but the kids would be useful once they had proper training. He had no qualms on putting children to work — especially ones who would do it as part of their “training”.

Jeremy smiled. He had a veritable troop of minions that he could mold as he wished. He imagined them working in line, churning out healing drops or magical trinkets by the hundreds, while he was out doing leisurely things.

Then again, he never really thought about being idle. He had no hobbies or particular cravings. Very few things in the world interested him — aside from making money.

He remembered his father telling him that if he pretended to like something, the feeling would eventually become real.

Well, there was his shop, Sebas, Shelby, and maybe the other snails and the kids — but he should probably choose something normal to pretend to like.

Sebas suggested making a golem the size of a dragon.

He had to admit it would be a unique undertaking — and the costs would be huge! Still, it was a good way to spend all the money he planned on getting.

Jeremy shrugged.

It wasn’t the money that he wanted — it was getting it. He had no idea what to do with it once he got his villa. Spending it on an ostentatious golem would be as good as any.

The changing scenery alerted him that they had crossed into the forest.

They should reach Lenny in less than an hour — hopefully the chap had enough time to regrow its third head.

He wondered what happened to the severed head that the kobold threw at them. It wasn’t dying — and it vanished from where he left it.

That’s one mark against the adventurers he hired that day. Then again, they were there to escort him not babysit a severed head, even if it was alive.

A single horn sounded as Jeremy neared the kobold village. No horns answered back and there seemed to be no sign of anyone trying to block his path.

Within the village, he saw kobolds lying on the ground as he passed by — though there didn’t seem to be any hints of an attack.

Were kobolds nocturnal like Lenny? They weren’t just two weeks ago — why the sudden shift?

Jeremy shrugged. It was probably the changing season.

Crossing the swamp was so much easier with the little snail. His robes were fairly dry and he didn’t have to turn up his life ward for the unavoidable worms and leeches that would be crawling on his skin if he had walked.

He shuddered. There were worms that would enter your eyes if you swam in the wrong place or brushed against the wrong plant. Those horrors were far scarier than orcs or dragons.

Tiny monsters that could enter the body were definitely the scariest.

***

Warden stared at the boys crowding Shelby and then the new kids with their mistress.

The new kids were training to be mages and all of them got wands. A handful of them thought they could learn their earth magic — but they left without even sensing it.

Instead of pride, Warden felt alarmed.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The new kids could sense mana — the mana that mages used.

His brothers and cousins could only sense the power of the Earth, and the things they could do were limited.

They couldn’t hurl fire or lightning — and the few attack spells they could come up with were practically useless.

Why send a stone hurtling to your opponent with magic — when throwing it would do more damage?

Was their magic purely farmer’s magic?

He approached Rikki and told him his thoughts. The youngest of them somehow had a line to Shelby and he served as their interpreter.

“Shelby said it’s only farmer’s magic because we think like farmers,” Rikki frowned. “She said we should talk to Mister Siege or Mister Sebas if we wanted to learn the proper use of Earth magic.”

“Sebas? Didn’t he say he was bad at Earth magic?”

Rikki turned to Shelby and seemed to understand the clicks and whistles coming from the huge snail.

“She said Mister Sebas knows lots of things.”

Warden smirked, but he decided to talk to the shopkeeper.

“What about the other problem? We can’t draw too much from the Earth without cutting ourselves off.”

“She can understand you, you know,” Rikki sighed. “She just can’t answer back because you guys can’t understand her.”

“I’m sorry, Shelby,” Warden apologized. “Is there a way to harness the Earth’s power without taxing it?”

The huge snail seemed to droop, as if disappointed.

“She said we have...” Rikki struggled with a word, “silos given by Mister Scourge.”

Warden’s hand unconsciously went to the piece of stone tied around his neck. The Scourge said it was filled with mana — but none of them could sense it.

“Here, catch,” Rikki threw him a piece of stone. “That one’s from Shelby. She says it’s empty and that she’ll trade it with yours.”

Warden stared at the stone not knowing what to do. He closed his eyes and tried connecting with the Earth, hoping to draw it into the stone.

It worked.

He could fill wisps of power flowing through him and into the stone. It truly was a silo — and silos needed to be filled.

“Everyone stop!” Warden commanded. “Nobody draws from the Earth today — we have a way of storing it.”

Farmers knew the value of storing grain — especially for long winters. They would have to scale back their use of magic — just so they could access it in times of trouble.

“You look grim, Warren,” Rikki frowned.

He ruffled the boy’s hair.

“It’s fine, Rikki. Just preparing for winter.”

***

The Scourge was leaving — sent to battle the Ice for the damage that he had done to the city.

It was a strange proclamation, but a welcome one.

Sacher smiled. The butler, Sebastian, would be left unprotected in the Corner Shop™. There was bound to be collateral damage — especially with so many kids working for the Scourge — but he didn’t care much for peasants and their boring lives.

The only problem was the snail.

It was a monstrous beast. His spies had heard it took down a whole troop of Randson’s men — including cavalry! He would have to find a way to eliminate or circumvent the snail.

Sacher checked the latest reports — finding out that there were three additional snails, though not as big as the first one. He read through one report that told of another snail — a huge white one the same size as the Scourge’s original black snail. The agent wasn’t sure if the snail changed color — or if it was a totally different snail.

He frowned. There were too many unknown factors that involved the snails. The absurdity of it all made him want to punch someone. To think their biggest problem was a bunch of snails!

Then again, he could always send agents to pose as customers — disposable ones, of course. They could get into the shop and just manhandle the butler. He could probably pay thugs to do that for a few gold coins.

He shook his head — too unprofessional.

There was no need to rush things. The assignment to eliminate the butler had no definite timetable. Their client was patient — even giving them a year to finish the job. There was no condition asking to make it look like an accident or tie it to a particular person

It was a strange request — but he was not one to shy away from gold.

The butler would be gone within a week. It was time to cross off an assignment.

***

Liliane rode her horse towards Bountiful. It would take her three days to reach the city — two if she pushed it.

The Prince’s task seemed trivial. Couldn’t the court mages figure out the make of simple potions and pills? Now she had to travel to a backwater city and negotiate with a wizard who calls himself the Scourge.

Of course, she knew who this wizard was. Her network of spies was spread throughout the kingdom — even beyond it. The Blackstaff’s visit to Bountiful was the key. The reports she had told of the Scourge and his shorn horns — horns not quite similar to the Blackstaff’s, but similar enough to make a connection.

The Scourge was the Blackstaff’s bastard!

August, that idiot, probably had no idea he was locking horns with his father’s executioner.

Of course, there were always ways to get what the Prince wanted without using violence. Bribery was out of the question — but a straight-up partnership might work.

Buying the formula shouldn’t be a problem since they were only planning to sell in the capital. The Scourge could have Bountiful for all that it was worth — the capital was a different beast.

Running a business in the capital required connections and bribes — lots of bribes. A business like the Scourge’s would get eaten up within a year — even with his father’s backing.

Yes, money could probably solve the issue.

She would have to go through the butler. Here recent communications told her of the Duke’s proclamation and the Scourge’s “exile” to Evergreen.

Knowing the Blackstaff, it was probably a ploy to give his son experience and recognition on the battlefield.

The butler would be on his own, and she had her ways to get to him. She almost wanted him to reject her offer of gold so that they could go on to different things.

She avoided mind magic, preferring the purity of torture. A mere butler shouldn’t have the mental fortitude to last a week under her knives — and she could draw out his pain for a month if she wanted.

Liliane licked her lips. She would relish her time with the Butler.

***

Jeremy’s Current Life Ward * Persistent Aura * Necrotic

Effect: All creatures within steps take 1 Necrotic damage per minute.