"I don't believe you, Silvas. She's been gone for over 3 centuries." Morgan's eye flashed for a bit, but shook his head.
"I thought the same. If she was really back, the whole world would have known by now. I believe that she's back, but not completely."
"Why would you think that?"
"We found, well more specifically, my granddaughter found the rotten corpse of a zombie, the very same kind that Bell Dyer could create, the very same one that killed hundreds of my kin and turned them into those things!"
"Silvas, you were there when you watched her die. It was only 300 years ago but that memory should be fresh in your head."
"Wrong, I didn't watch her die. No one did except you. I only remember that you, the Witch, and the third hero fought in a far away location, and only you came out barely alive. And I also know that she was an immortal, no blade, or weapon, or power alive could have killed her. I always thought that you had somehow managed to kill her, but it seems that I was wrong."
"Like I said, there is no way that she is still alive."
Silvas reached for Morgan's robes and held him tightly, looking at him angrily. He knows Morgan is not an idiot, and right now he is acting like an idiot.
"Read my mind! And see if there is any doubt!"
Morgan shook his head as he gently pushed Silvas away from him.
"Like I said, she is gone. She is dead."
Silvas was starting to get angry. If the Witch really is back, then he needs Morgan's help to defeat her again. But now he is acting like he doesn't care, or like he doesn't want to deal with it anymore.
Ever since learning about the zombie over 2 months ago when Grace brought the corpse to them, he had asked the forest and secretly tasked some skilled and trustworthy elves to find clues about it, but they couldn't find anything and it bothered him that he doesn't know. Silvas has a lot to lose to simply let it slide like it was nothing.
"What aren't you telling me? I know that you aren't an idiot!" Silvas said loudly and angrily.
"I have nothing to say because there is nothing to say. Bell Dyer is dead, gone for good. If you have nothing else to talk about, I'll be taking my leave. See ya." Morgan waved his hand and left Silvas there.
But Morgan stopped, took one good look at the abandoned shed and sighed.
"We should meet up at a different place next time. This tool shed is too depressing to keep looking at."
Morgan disappeared in a flash thanks to his teleporting ability. Silvas was angry but he calmed himself down.
This did not go as he expected. Morgan was his friend, and his most trusted one among his circle of friends. He expected Morgan to help him when possibly the fate of the world is at stake once more.
Although he knows that Morgan has stopped caring less about mostly everything thanks to his age, Silvas thought he would care if the Witch was back.
Silvas was now in his room sitting on the floor while drinking some wine thinking what to do next. What bothered him most was not knowing what to do. Kinda like how some famous and cool authors experience writer's block.
Someone entered through the door.
"Grandpa? Are you okay? I knocked several times but you weren't answering." Grace said.
"Oh, sorry, I was just lost in thought. Something I can do for you?" Silvas asked with a smile, he didn't want to worry her.
"Yeah, could I borrow your magical tool? The one that can identify other magical tools."
"It's under my bed." Silvas pointed at his bed. It was a rather large bed with precise wood carving embedded on it.
Grace reached under his bed and took out a wand, but looked like a giant, metal microphone for some reason, or to some people it might look like a giant lollipop.
"And be careful, Grace. I know where you're going."
"You do?" Asked Grace. Did he know she was going to give this to Will? Obviously she wasn't going to give it to him but only give it to him temporarily.
"Yeah, the black market. Please be careful."
"You know about it?"
"I'd be surprised if I didn't."
"Then why don't you help put a stop to it?" Asked Grace. The black market is where they sell elves as slaves. If her grandfather knew about it, the king of the elves, you'd think that he'd put a stop to it long ago.
"I tried, Grace. The black market, or whatever it was called 50 years ago has been a thing since Morgan brought balance and peace to this world. I destroyed all those secret bases where they sold our people, but it just doesn't seem to end."
"But, we can still at least protect and save our people if we continue to destroy their bases!" Grace said, this is what she believed.
"That's exactly what I thought. I thought that if we continued destroying those secret bases, eventually it would come to an end, but it didn't and it probably never will. Slavery has been a thing for 200 years now, and most likely nothing will change that. I am not saying I don't care, what I am saying is that it is not worth the risk."
"It's not worth saving our people's lives?" Asked Grace in a confused and angry manner.
Grace has intended to free the enslaved elves various times. But the black market is tricky. It's heavily guarded, but also very secretive. She doesn't know how to reach it, but she knows that it happens once every 3 months at random locations. Before she has tried to locate it, but failed every time
It's an exclusive club so there's no reason to hide it anymore. When the ban on enslaving elves was lifted it became a club rather than a secret base of illegal operations. Right now it is like a tradition, where it remains hidden. The only way to be invited is to know someone from the inside, and get an invite, and you also have to pay an expensive membership card to enter. It's so only the rich and powerful can enter.
"No, what I mean is that humans are stubborn and strong. If we want to destroy the 'black market' we'd need to bring more elves in order to achieve that, all equipped with powerful items. If we do, we'll lose more of our people than we intended to save in the end, or if we fail we'll end up as slaves or dead. And if we destroy the black market, a new black market will appear soon probably with a different name."
"Then ask the Great Sage to shut it down. I know you and him are good friends."
"Right now, I don't think he cares anymore." Silvas said a bit sadly.
Until recently, the ban on elf slaves was recently lifted and the Great Sage did nothing about it. True he did create the ban on enslaving elves 200 years ago, but right now it truly seems he doesn't care anymore.
And even with that ban, it didn't really affect them, people still enslaved elves and will most likely continue doing so even if it's against the law or not. Like how people do drugs, murder, or deal in other illegal items.
"Then, thank you. I'll be going now." Grace said and left.
Silvas got up. Looking out the window he saw Grace riding her mount and leaving the village. She reminded him of when he was her age.
"When did I also stop caring as well?" Silvas could somewhat understand why the Great Sage stopped caring. Even if he does help his people this time, there is going to be another one who needs help, then another, then another, it's an endless loop.
"That girl, she is gonna get herself killed. Wait, did I let her take away the magical item?" Silvas looked under his bed, and sure enough Grace took it. He was in a different headspace so he didn't really pay attention when Grace took it.
"Well... It's not like I was going to use it anytime soon." Silvas shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Meanwhile…
Clement was currently being dragged by 5 5-stripped sorcerers all keeping a close eye on him. Esmeralda was also being dragged by them.
Clement was wearing one of their blue robes so that he wouldn't be completely naked. He was clenching his hands together tightly in front of him closely to his chest.
He was observing the sorcerers closely, as well as their surroundings.
A middle-aged sorcerer was writing to someone using a communication stone. He placed the stone in his pocket when he was done.
"Okay, just in case things go haywire I called for some backup. They should be here in an hour or 2 tops."
"Oh great. But Team Leader can you help me? This is really heavy!"
One of the other sorcerers was carrying a heavy bowling ball in his arms. By the looks of his face it seemed he would give in any moment now.
"We can't just leave it, it belongs to Damian. Lord knows how much we have to pay if we lose it or damage it." One of the older sorcerers said.
"Good thing we're rich, kind of." Sorcerers were well off, especially 5-stripped sorcerers. But they can't afford a magical item unless they're willing to sell all their belongings, but even so they were richer than most.
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"If we manage to bring back Clement, the king will reward us handsomely."
"Eh, I don't know. Didn't you hear that Jasmine, the same one who brought the evidence of the corrupted noble to the king, got a really shitty reward?"
"Really? I mean it can't be that bad. Jasmine did bring down that noble who caused the suffering of so many families and innocent children's lives for years."
"The reward was a thank you card from the king…" Someone said dejectedly. He can't imagine doing some amazing deed for the kingdom and getting nothing. It was no better than working so hard to find and collect 900 seeds from a vast world, only to be rewarded with a golden poop.
"Okay, I am gonna drop the ball. I need... break!" The sorcerer dropped the ball and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Here, I'll carry it for now." One of them offered his help.
While they were distracted, Clement took this opportunity to quickly put the ring on his finger which he had been hiding between his hands.
"The hunger, eat those people!"
A pair of large teeth appeared from the ring and aimed to devour the 5 men in front of it.
One of the sorcerers, who was the oldest of the group who was only a middle-aged man, and was also the one in charge of the group, was keeping a close eye on Clement, out of pure instinct immediately dashed towards his men and pushed them away. In the process, both his legs were completely devoured.
There was an energy shield that protected the middle aged man, it was an energy shield that most sorcerers and soldiers carry, but it couldn't stand the force of the Hunger. But it did delay it for a second which is why it only managed to bite his legs off instead of his torso or waist.
"AAAAHHH!!!" The middle aged man cried out in pain.
Before the other 4 sorcerers could get a clear grasp on their situation, Clement made a run for it to the woods. He whistled for his horse and Esmeralda immediately ran towards him. They didn't bind him down because they had nothing to bind him down with, except the bowling ball but it was too heavy to carry.
Clement has seen many sorcerers in action when he was still with the kingdom. He knew that 5-striped sorcerers are strong, and also experienced fighters. If he were to attack them again using Hunger, it'd get destroyed and he'll get killed by them. His plan was to wait patiently for them to group up and take them all out at once, too bad for him one of them was still on his guard.
When his hand was bound by the heavy bowling ball, it was also the hand where it had the ring on his finger. When they searched him, he still had the bowling ball on his hand therefore they didn't see it but he also couldn't hide it. And the second when they took the bowling ball away from his hand, he immediately hid it in his hand by grasping it tightly, and waited for the opportunity to escape.
"G-get him!" The middle aged sorcerer, the same one who just lost his legs screamed and pointed at Clement. His shout brought the other sorcerers to reality and 3 of the 5 sorcerers immediately flew to capture Clement. One of them stayed behind to tend to the wounded sorcerer.
"This is bad, I didn't bring anything!" The young sorcerer searched his pockets for healing potions, but found that he didn't bring any when he thought he did.
"I-I-I brought some." The middle man said. He reached out to his chest pocket slowly. The young sorcerer reached out to his pocket instead and fed him a healing potion.
The middle-aged man's leg wounds closed completely, but they didn't regenerate. Like how Jim lost his arm to Will, he had been searching for a regeneration potion because it's the only way to bring back his arm, a healing pill would never be able to do that. Even so, a regeneration potion was rare and expensive compared to other potions.
"Thank you. Take these! Now go get Clement!" The middle-aged man sighed that he was okay now, but Clement was still running. He handed the young sorcerer some healing potions in case the others needed them.
"I can't, sir! I can't leave you."
"It's an order! Now go!"
"Yes… yes, sir." The young sorcerer didn't feel right about leaving the middle-aged man alone, wounded, in the woods. But they were his orders.
Clement knew they wouldn't give up. And he wasn't planning on running away, they had his other gun, and he wasn't going to leave without it.
Getting on top of Esmeralda, they ran off through the woods but not too fast because the trees were getting in the way.
The sorcerers were angry and pissed at Clement for hurting their leader. If he hadn't pushed them out of the way, they would have all ended up like him or worse.
Right now they all wanted nothing more than to kill him. If they were to kill him it would still be fine, despite what the princess ordered he did just attack them, so it was only logical that they would want to defend themselves.
Clement saw the sorcerers catching up to him. But the trees also lowered their speed.
"The hunger, eat only the bottom half of the trees in front of me!" Clement said.
The same white teeth appeared from his ring and it ate part of the trees like it was nothing. Most of the trees fell on the side Clement wanted.
2 of the sorcerers knew what Clement was doing, so they quickly flew upwards, but one of them barely dodged it but the energy shield that protected him shattered in pieces but he made it out safely.
But the one who was the most pissed of the group, saw a tree crash down on him. He had been so lost in his anger and focused only on killing Clement, that he failed to notice the heavy tree falling down on him, and he was crushed by the heavy tree and died. Even his energy shield couldn't protect him because energy shields cannot withstand a huge amount of weight and pressure like a tree falling down on them.
"PAUL!" Two of the sorcerers saw their friend being crushed by a tree. This fueled their anger even more and they gave chase to Clement once more, only this time they made sure to follow him above the trees. Now that the trees weren't slowing them down, they caught up to him.
"Keep your distance. That magical item of his is dangerous!"
"Then we just shoot him from here!" One of the sorcerers carried an enchanted automatic rifle and opened fire towards Clement. The other sorcerer carried a sword with him as that is his main weapon, but he was prepared so he carried with him an ordinary handgun.
Clement saw the rain of bullets raining down on him. One of the bullets hit his shoulder. Ignoring the pain thanks to the adrenaline rushing through him, he called out to his ring.
"The hunger, protect us from the bullets!"
Sharp white teeth once again were summoned and it stayed above Clement while also protecting Esmeralda. The bullets, especially from the enchanted automatic rifle, made holes on the teeth.
It couldn't take it anymore and the hunger broke apart in pieces like shards of glass, and so did the ring on Clement's finger.
"Dammit!" Clement said in anger. This was his only weapon left. Still one of those bullets could have pierced his head or even his horse. It might have saved his life.
The barrage of bullets finally stopped. Not because they ran out, but because they were reloading.
"How many bullets do you have left?"
"Enough."
They aimed at Clement, then they noticed he was gone. They lost sight of him!
When Clement saw that their focus was elsewhere, he took advantage of the thick forest and blended with it. He stopped Esmeralda from running and he successfully made them lose track of him. It was a gamble and it paid off.
Without a proper weapon, running away while being chased by them was stupid. He couldn't protect himself from the rain of bullets again. He could only hide and somehow escape.
Clement got off Esmeralda and slowly led her by her leash. They needed to move slowly and quietly.
"Where did they go? Where did Clement freaking go!" They searched for him above, but they couldn't see him. They could see him before because he was running and also made a lot of noise, but now it was harder to track him down because of the leaves. Even before it was difficult to see him properly, which is why most of their bullets missed.
"Go down. We can find him if we go down." A young sorcerer with short brown hair said.
"Are you crazy? He has a deadly magical item on him. If we get close to him we'll lose our heads or something!" As much as this man wanted to take his revenge for his leader, it wasn't wise to face Clement head on. This sorcerer had short blonde, spiky hair.
They don't know that they managed to destroy Clement's magical item, which is why they think he still had it.
"Then we split up!"
"No! That sounds like an even worse idea than the one before!"
"We'll cover more ground!"
"No, that way Clement will take us out one by one! Together he won't be able to face us!"
"Fine. Lead the way!"
"No. I am not going down there!"
"If we don't go, and Clement escapes, Damian will have our heads! I know he says that often as a joke but I am afraid he really will do it! And if he doesn't, the king will do it for him!"
"Well… dammit fine! I'll lead the way." The blonde sorcerer descended with his machine gun while gripping it tightly. The other sorcerer followed closely behind him, he took out his enchanted sword.
The sorcerer with the brown hair still had his energy shield active, the shield activated when it touched the leaves and sticks when he descended. The energy shield covers the entire body of the one who wears it, like a protective body suit.
"Oh shit!"
"Dude!!!"
That energy shield made way too much noise.
Clement heard the noise. He stopped Esmeralda and placed her behind a tree. He knew that those sorcerers descended again. He slowly walked around the forest, hiding, making sure not to step on any dry leaves or sticks that could give away his position.
Escaping from them with Esmeralda is impossible, she would just step on twigs and leaves and make a lot of noise and give away their positions. He is just gonna have to take them out. Something could go wrong if he went with this plan, but he's in a tight spot right now. Killing them was the only option right now.
The two sorcerers played it smart and levitated a bit from the ground in order not to step on anything. They signal each other using their eyes, or hands, that way they won't make as much noise.
It was eerily quiet. They couldn't even hear birds chirping, or the insects crying or whatever it is they do.
The sorcerers carefully searched the area, keeping their guard up at all times.
Clement, from behind a tree, spotted the two sorcerers easily. Their bright colored robes attracted his attention easily especially in an area only covered by thick trees and leaves.
Clement did not know what to do. Sorcerers were protected by energy shields, which he had no problem with if he had his magical gun. Even if he had an ordinary gun it wouldn't do much against energy shields.
Seeing how they were getting closer to Esmeralda, he had to think of something.
He grabbed a nearby stick and threw it behind them, right where he wasn't at obviously.
*Snap*
"AH!" The blonde hair sorcerer opened fire when he heard a noise. But stopped when he saw it was nothing.
"It's not Clement!"
"I am not taking that chance. I should have brought my mount!" They didn't bring their mounts because they were on their way to save some villagers who survived a dragon attack. Since it was a short notice and they needed to hurry, most of their mounts had to be left behind because their mounts weren't flying mounts or were simply too slow.
Clement noticed how they were spooked. These sorcerers, like most, were always in groups. It's most likely their first time being alone, having almost no one to rely on in a dangerous time like this.
As the sorcerers got closer, a blue energy barrier appeared around one the blonde one, completely blocking off the other guy from getting any closer to him.
"Ow!" The brown haired sorcerer got burned on the side that touched the energy barrier, part of his clothes were burned.
"Jeez, you scared me!"
"I thought that was Clement you idiot! That energy shield of yours isn't helping us at all!"
"Then you should have kept yours safe. Now be quiet!"
Clement saw this. His eyes widened. He knew exactly what to do next. This time he got closer without alerting them, the two young sorcerers were still on their guard looking out for any movements.
This time he found a pebble, some sticks, and whatever else he could find without making much noise, until he found a pile of pebbles and other stuff lying around, and a rock the size of his fist. The pair of sorcerers were staying in that one spot, umoving. They had no idea what to do.
"I don't like this. We're basically sitting ducks. For all we know Clement could be watching us right now!" The blonde one said scared for his own life.
"He is. I can feel his gaze but I don't know where he is!"
"Crap. We should hide then! Take off our robes, they're too brightly colored!" He just thought of this.
Clement threw a single pebble at the blonde sorcerer. The pebble was small so they didn't see it.
A bright blue barrier appeared for only a second, but it spooked both of them.
"Again?"
"That wasn't me."
Clement threw even more sticks and pebbles at them.
"It's him! Shoot him!"
But, Clement threw his rock at the one who didn't have an energy shield and hit him right between the eyes.
The brown haired sorcerer fell down but he wasn't unconscious, but he was bleeding and his vision was hazy. He even dropped his handgun and sword.
"CLEMENT!!!" The other sorcerer opened fire in the forest. Clement was well hidden, and he didn't want to get close to him in fear of being killed by his magical item, which they don't know that he doesn't have anymore.
Clement laid down behind a thick tree for cover. It didn't help much as a protective layer because it was an enchanted weapon, it could easily pierce through a thick tree like it was nothing.
Once the sorcerer ran out of bullets, he got scared for his life.
"Run!" He grabbed his friend by his hand, who was screaming in pain as soon as he touched him.
"IT BURNS!"
He noticed his energy shield was burning his friend's hand. He deactivated it and just flew away with his friend. They were too scared to keep going.
If they both had their energy shields it would have been fine. Once two or even more separate energy shields make contact, they connect together like play-doh or legos (couldn't think of something better) instead of burning or hurting each other. They also apply this to mounts in order not to injure them.
Clement, who was prepared to attack, heaved a sigh of relief. He had planned on taking the brown haired one as a hostage, and threatening him with his own gun, and forcing the blonde one to give up his weapon and possibly kill them, but that could have gone wrong in so many ways. But good thing they were too scared for their lives and ran off.
It wasn't his original plan but he was happy with the results. He wasn't ready to face them without a proper weapon.
Not wasting another moment, Clement grabbed the weapons, and ran off to his Esmeralda and rode off back to where the other injured sorcerer was.
The two sorcerers who just ran away, saw the other sorcerer just catching up to them.
"What happened? Did you kill Clement?" He asked both sorcerers. He was a bit slow because he couldn't find them and thought he was lost.
"No, and don't go there! He's too dangerous! Quick, do you have any healing potions on you?"
"Yeah, I have some." He gently fed the man a healing potion. In his heart he thanked his leader for giving him his healing potions, otherwise they would have had to waste time by flying back towards him. His injuries were gone but still needed some time to recover fully. The rock hit his head hard, he was still dizzy and hurt like a painful headache.
"Are you okay?" The blonde sorcerer asked.
"Sorta. Gah, this headache!"
"Yeah he's fine. Where is Clement?" The young sorcerer asked.
"Down there! He's probably still in hiding."
"I'll go take a look."
"Are you crazy?! We barely managed to make it out alive! Not only does he have that magical item, he also has a handgun and an enchanted sword!" The blonde sorcerer held back the young sorcerer from meeting his doom.
"Fine. I remember Team Leader telling us that help was coming. As long as we keep our distance and keep an eye on him, we should be good."
"Oh, the longer we wait the more likely it is we'll take Clement down!"
"Exactly. Now help me find him."
"Good idea. He's probably still hiding."
They slowly scoured the forest, even the brown haired one was looking for Clement despite the obvious head injury. But they couldn't find him. They thought he was still hiding.
Clement was already gone from the area. He rode off Esmeralda the second they ran away. They just didn't notice yet.
After 10 minutes of searching, they were getting worried that he was really gone.
"I better go let Team Leader… wait, we're missing someone, where's Paul?" The young sorcerer asked.
"Died. He died." The blonde one was angry and saddened when he mentioned this.
"Bastard… dammit! God dammit! I better let the team leader know. If he can send a message, help will arrive faster... I hope."
"Go. We'll keep looking for Clement."
The young sorcerer flew back to his team leader as fast as he could.
"Team leader!" When he saw the middle-aged man lying on the ground, resting, he landed beside him. But he was shocked and beyond horrified to see the middle-aged man, with a bullet hole on his head, dead.
"No, it can't be! I should've have left him alone!"
Clement wanted to retrieve his gun back, so he immediately came back here for it. He shot the middle-aged man right on his head from far away where he couldn't sense him. Clement has very excellent aim.
The middle-aged man did have an energy barrier protecting him, but that was before it was destroyed by the Hunger. Left defenseless and immobile, it was an easy target for Clement. Clement took his weapon back, plus whatever the middle-aged man had, and ran far away before other sorcerers could arrive.