An underground settlement was a whole new concept for anyone in the kingdom, probably for the world. The whole concept of constructing a city underground sounded rightout bizarre. However, for Laufeld to grow at the speed it did, it was perhaps necessary because the larger the settlement became, the harder it became to protect it from random attacks from monsters. Protecting its people required walls because walls redirected monsters to choke points where they could defend it with ease. Permanent walls weren’t easy to build; It was an investment both in time and money. Once built, they were there to last. For a new town like Laufeld, drawing the lines for walls was a tall order because its population was increasing on a steady rate. If a residential area was built underground or in the mountain, all those potential issues were moot. And, with the recent discovery of the crystal cave, the space was secured.
“Werewolves!” A lookout on a wooden watchtower bellowed and then blew a horn. As soon as the warning horn was sounded, people made it to the mining barracks in an orderly fashion and got themselves into the mine for safety. About twenty guards stood to block the way into the mine, flanked by two watchtowers with four archers in each. Raem and Lara stood in front of them.
“Hold the line!” He shouted without looking back, his eyes firm on approaching werewolves. “We will hold the line!”
“Yaaaaaaa!” The soldiers shouted in unison.
Meanwhile, Kamil was watching the confrontation from afar on one of the watchtowers of his manor. He was explicitly recommended by Cezary to sit this one out so that they can get used to working without him.
“Is it just me or are their attacks more frequent?” He wondered aloud.
“It has indeed been more frequent,” Cezary, who was several steps behind him, replied. What was once an attack every month or so was becoming a biweekly event. Walled settlements would be fine although frequent attacks would cause a possible decrease in food production since farmers had their lands outside of the walls. There was a likely chance of monster rampages doing damages to existing fields.
I am pretty sure that this has something to do with the age of darkness.
The thing was that there was barely anything known about the whole event.
He added, “There is something I’ve noted.”
“Oh, what would that be?”
“Monsters have never approached the Macomaco farm. In fact, I’ve seen werewolves going around it. I believe they are actively avoiding it. I am very curious to find out why.”
The vision the elementals provided him with, the holy queen Maco was seen creating the tea plant which was used to cleanse the land. Monsters must feel its power instinctively. Even after over a thousand years, her creation was benefiting mankind.
That’s a real holy queen. I give it that much.
Not many deserved the title of king. Most had it because of their parents. Essentially, they won the birth lottery although he wasn’t entirely sure it was purely a lottery, given the fact that the Gods were in charge of the wheel of life.
“You need an heir, Milord.”
That was quite a turn of change in topic.
“What?” He blurted, taken by a surprise.
“As a new house, you need an heir, Milord.”
“You do know how old I am, right? I am only thirteen.”
He recently turned thirteen indeed.
“True. However, your wife is seventeen years old, in her prime age to birth a few children.”
Kamil couldn’t argue the point. Noblewomen gave birth between fifteen to twenty years old. Under normal circumstances, she would have at least given birth to a child by now.
Giving birth early was a crucial part of noble lineage because, the earlier the succession line was defined, the sooner they could plan for the future. For example, if a noblewoman gave birth to three daughters by the time she became twenty, it would establish that a female was going to need to inherit her house. If so, they would need to educate one of them to be a ruler, not a wife. The generally accepted age to share the bed was fifteen by noble’s standards. However, due to Kamil and Flora having four years in age difference, it caused a situation where he was a bit too young to share the bed but his wife was already old enough to give birth. If the situation was reversed, it wouldn’t have mattered. A man would simply wait until she became fifteen. In fact, their age difference was unprecedented in the noble society. A man being much older than a woman was fine. But a woman being four years older than her husband was simply unheard of especially when it was their first marriage.
“Yours do work, right? It should be at your age.”
This was quite an embarrassing topic to discuss.
“Yes, ehm, it does…”
“Then please waste no time.”
Sighing and trying not to think hard about the matter, he observed Raem and guards fight against a few waves of werewolves. There were about twenty of werewolves which, quite frankly, wasn’t a lot. Sir Martin faced far more under far worse conditions and emerged victorious. And, just as expected, they held on well. Unlike before, they had more experiences and were better equipped. Additionally, this was a day attack although night attack would make no difference at this point. They installed proper light around the mine.
Building an underground settlement is fine. But what will we do about the food?
They wouldn’t be able to farm wheat underground, not to mention the lack of space for it. Space came at a premium price underground since it wasn't easy to dig, and digging wasn’t the end of it. They’d need to reinforce walls and ceiling. Then he recalled how Cezary mentioned that monsters were avoiding Macomaco tea plants. He folded his arms at this point.
Should I tell him the vision or not? Would this help at all?
The reason he was reluctant to tell him was that he did not want any more unnecessary attention on him if able. Perhaps, that was a bit too late to think about it since he casually used both fire and wind magic in front of him and others. But it wouldn’t be something he’d be able to hide without hindering his own abilities. The vision he saw, he didn’t see how it would help anything or anyone at this point.
“Why don’t we use the tea plants as a barrier instead of walls?”
Cezary contemplated his suggestion. “I have a feeling that they will simply jump over them if cornered hard enough.”
He did have a point, he felt. Monsters would avoid it if possible. If can’t, they might confront it.
Is there any way to make the tea plants … as powerful as they once were?
He instinctively knew the answer to his own question. He would need to repeat what the holy queen did.
I have access to fire and wind only, though… How do I gain access to water and earth?”
How he gained access to the fire element was a mystery to begin with.
“Victory -!”
Raem’s cry snapped him out back to reality.
“Victory -!”
Civilians slowly came out of the mine to greet the guards and congratulated them on the job well done. Nobody was killed in this incident which was to be expected. The attack was on a smaller scale. It was more frequent, but the size had become smaller which was actually working for their benefit. It gave them the live training they desperately required to get into becoming veterans, which was a key aspect that the Kingdom put an emphasis on due to their smaller population numbers.
Kamil turned around and returned back to the manor, and Cezary followed closely.
“Any updates from Tantan?”
As per … Flora’s instruction, Kamil sent a letter to Aaron Weber to ask the source of the stone tablets and asked for access if he, in fact, had more. Aaron denied access to the stone tablets flatly, leaving not much to go on. He was, however, willing to copy the contents of the stone tablets and hand them over. There was just one issue. The language on the tablets were mostly in ancient language, thus unreadable. But he had a dictionary to go by, a dictionary. There was no other copy. The worse news was that it'd take him at least a year to make a copy if he was devoted to copying it only, meaning it was likely going to take far longer. In short, Kamil put a hold on the whole operation until Aaron’s dictionary was copied.
“Lord Weber did say he’d start copying his dictionary, but he is a lord, not a full time scholar. I am sure it’s too premature to ask him for updates.”
It wasn’t as if Kamil had any spare scholars, either. He had only two in Cezary and Nestor, both of whom were extraordinarily busy. In fact, the latter was mind-breakingly busy since he was overseeing both old and new Laufeld. He was in charge of feeding the refugees and counting who came and left. That alone was probably enough for anyone.
“Sir Waszak, didn’t you say that you’d work on something that helps in copying books?”
“I did, aye.”
And…? That’s it?
He stopped walking and looked back at him at which point Cezary, too, stopped.
“I demand an update, Sir Waszak.”
“I believe I am at an impasse, Milord.”
That was his way of saying that he was giving up because he gave a similar excuse when he asked him to find a way to refrigerate food. And normally he’d just let it go. However, this time, it was a bit different because it was related to Flora. He did not want to disappoint her. As her husband, it was his job to make her happy in any way possible. This feeling was reinforced when he assumed that the lone wind elemental that had been following him was Fionara. He did not want to leave regrets.
“Sir Waszak, I need you to make this work. You must,” He pressed. However, Cezary wouldn’t give a clear answer and remained silent with his eyes downcast. Eventually, he was forced to give an answer because Kamil was glaring at him for over a minute. The uneasy silence between them was suffocating.
“I am not a magician, Milord,” was his short reply. True, he was more of a mechanical engineer. He was brilliant at times. In fact, no one could dispute his ingenuity since he invented the airship.
“I will have to take the matter with my own hands then,” He concluded. Of course, he had absolutely no idea what to do mechanically. If it was magical, however, he had some clues. And he felt what he had in his mind was possibly due to the recent discovery of reusable crystals from the recently-discovered cave. The crystals from the cave were mostly reusable and weren’t being sold on the market at all. Cezary decided to keep them for their own usage.
“I will expect a great result from you, Milord.” Cezary didn’t seem to have a problem. In his mind, he already let it go, so it didn’t matter who took over. In fact, he was glad that someone took it off him, which would enable him to work on something else.
Back in his room, he called Sally over to patch a reusable crystal from Ravas. He requested a fist-sized one, and she promptly brought one over. Placing the crystal on his desk, he placed a random document on its left and placed a blank paper on its right.
Then he sat down and folded his arms with a pout.
“Okay, now … Right, a pen.”
He picked up a pen and placed it on the blank paper.
“Wind elementals, would it be possible for you to control the pen and copy the content of the document to the blank?”
The pen did move on its own and even levitated but it didn’t quite seem to know how to write. It did start copying the letters eventually but at a snail’s pace.
That’s taking a bit too long, isn't it.
Copying a whole book at this pace would take months. In fact, it was copying slower than a person’s normal writing speed. The only advantage of this method was that it wasn’t going to consume a person’s time. In conclusion, this wasn’t going to work.
Can I somehow use fire elementals? Somehow?
Fire wouldn’t be able to pick up a pen. The wind magic, levitation, was why he chose to experiment with wind elemental in the first place. He failed to see how fire could come into the play in what he was trying to do. But then it wasn’t as if there was anything to lose by attempting.
“Elementals of fire, could you copy the content of the document onto the blank paper?”
He was actually kind of curious to see what would happen.
“Hmm?”
Instead of using the pen which they couldn’t, the fire elemental was burning letters directly onto the paper. What was more important was that it was burning letters into the paper at an amazing speed. A whole page was copied within a minute. The sight of red hot letters cooling into black was impressive as well.
“Elementals of fire, I shall now call this ‘copy’.”
Having said so, he held the crystal in his hand and closed his eyes, recalling what he had just witnessed what the fire elementals did. The clear crystal hummed weakly as it started to change its hue into orange-red. What he was doing was programming the crystal to perform a task without having an affinity to fire, basically allowing anyone to be able to use the “copy” spell as long as they had this crystal nearby. He wasn’t sure how long the crystal would last before having to be either recharged or reprogrammed. He would need to test with a book, and there were only two books in the entire town. He headed to the library.
The library was at the central market which was now bursting with people. There were numerous market stalls selling goods. Julian’s stall wasn’t the only one now. Speaking of which, his stall was now selling more than just bread, and Esther had another helper. There were also a few guards scattered about, ensuring order for probably the most busiest part of the town.
As he scanned the market, he spotted something new. It was wedged between two larger stalls, but there was a spice vendor who didn’t even set up a proper stall and had simply laid down a large piece of cloth to display his spices. Spices were basically colorful fine powders in his knowledge. Its color ranged from orange to white, and that’s what he was displaying, literal powders of colors. The vendor didn’t seem to speak the same language because it didn’t look like he was able to communicate with the locals and kept pointing at his ears whenever someone tried to talk to him. Instead, he had price signs on the spices themselves. There were interests from the locals, but they were clearly reluctant because it was either a bit too pricey or they had no idea what to do with it.
We might need a recipe book… or a cooking book.
Turning his attention to the library, he found the doors were wide open. Therefore he casually walked in to find Marat in front of a small crowd, around ten people. She was apparently teaching them how to read and write at the moment. The crowd had both children and adults mixed in, who looked equally clueless. The library itself looked desolate as ever with just a lone bookshelf in the middle with just two thin books on display. Granted, it was better than before where there was no book at all.
“Milord!” Marat, having noticed Kamil’s presence, was about to call off her class.
“At ease, you don’t need to stop. I am here to borrow a book, the hare that tamed the bull.”
“Of course, it’s your property to begin with.”
He approached the lone bookshelf and took the book. The peasant knight was right next to it which had fallen sideways. There were only two books after all.
Come to think of it, I’ve never read it.
He did take a peak of “the hare that tamed the bull” from Flora, so he had some idea of what the story was about: It was basically Raem and Lara’s story. The peasant knight, however, he was completely clueless about. He figured he’d take a peak as well.
Martin was a third son of a merchant in Altzell, the former capital. He had no interest in becoming a merchant. Therefore, naturally he went on to carve his own career once coming of age. From an early age, he was praised for his big-boned body and possessed above average strength. Again, naturally he joined the guild and trained up alongside other adventurers. Since he had cordial relationships with his father and brothers, he was able to stay in Altzell without any conflicts. He would sometimes visit his family, and they welcomed him warmly.
He wasn’t exactly a handsome guy, but his well-toned body meant some women were attracted to his masculinity. He never rejected any women’s approaches and would sleep with them with little hesitations. Unfortunately, he ended up sleeping with someone he shouldn’t have in the process. She was a daughter of a rival merchant. His father, in spite of his daughter stating that she gave him her consent, accused him of raping her. His father was willing to fight the case because he knew his son well; Martin wasn’t someone who’d advance toward a woman by force. Despite his big size, he was always gentle with women.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Martin, not wanting a feud between two families, eventually chose to leave Altzell behind. It wasn’t even a big of a deal for him. Since he was an adventurer, he’d simply relocate his homebase to elsewhere. It wasn’t a big deal. After informing his decision to his father, he left his hometown with his family’s blessing. They were a good family. They never treated him wrong and didn’t force him out. Many of his guild fellows were pushed out by their own flesh and blood. He was one of the rare cases of an amicable departure. He was twenty one at that time.
For the next several years, he went on from places to places, refusing to settle down in one place. He went on to explore virtually all of the kingdom, bar Tantan.
“What?” He whispered.
How did she get all this information from? By just asking around?
He was quite amused by how much information she had apparently gathered. She did say she asked around. But it was hard to imagine that she was able to gather this much information from Laufeld alone.
Maybe she made up some of this? I ought to ask her when I get a chance.
He was genuinely curious. Putting the book back, he left the library with the hare that tamed the bull, leaving just one book in the library. The next step was acquiring a blank book which was easy since there were some in Nestor’s study. It was the room right across the barrack in the manor. Once the preparation was complete, he was back in his room with the same set up but with books instead of documents. He also wasn’t going to cast magic and was going to use the crystal.
“Copy,” He said, and the crystal activated as it flashed out once. There was a red glow coming out of pages from the blank book which promptly burst into a flame.
“Whoa!” He stood up and backed off while the blank book was burning nicely into crisp. The fire elemental was copying too many letters at once that the heat was too much for the paper to sustain. Opening the book up wouldn’t help, either. It looked like as long as there was a flammable material on top, it could catch fire. For single document copies, this crystal could still work.
“Vogel probably has a use for this,” He said to himself.
While ultimately the initial experiment was a failure, there were some gains. First of all, he now knew that copying can work magically. Secondly, he had absolutely no idea that the elemental fire could inscribe letters by precision burning until this experiment. Now, in order to copy a book magically and swiftly, it looked like he would need to place not a replacement book but papers that had some gaps in between in order to prevent heat build up. This should have been an easy thing to do if it wasn’t for the fact that there were over a hundred pages. At the same time, it didn’t seem like an impossible task.
“A tray on top of each other … Wood is probably not the wise choice here. Iron will be expensive, so … copper?”
He made a basic rudimentary sketch of what he desired to make along with further details on its size and spec, then was about to send it over to the local blacksmith.
Cezary did say we have a workshop to build airships…
Thus, he called him over and showed him the sketch after demonstrating how the copy spell worked with a single document.
“Interesting. Very interesting.” His eyes sparkled. “So, you just say copy the crystal and it works?”
“For how long, I don’t know.”
“I am sure that we will find out soon enough. Have you tried quartz?”
“No, I assume it will be a one-time use if I use quartz. Kind of useless if so. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, but we could sell the quartz version. Merchants might pay handsomely.”
“That is … a valid option, I suppose.”
They were no longer tight with money, but their coffers were still mostly empty. Whatever came in, most of it went out pretty much instantly.
“I will have this tray built ASAP, Milord.” He left right away.
It wasn’t long after Cezary left. Kamil was just slacking on his bed when Nora informed him that Nestor was waiting for him in his study. The reason he was not coming directly to him was because he was with a guest who he wished to introduce. He just couldn’t allow a random stranger to venture deeper into the lord’s manor. When he came down to see him in his study, he was with a woman.
“Milord,” He bowed to him as soon as he entered. The young woman followed the suit at once although she looked rather surprised to see Nestor bowing to a boy initially.
His study was one of the two rooms right by the entrance. The room was basically an archive, meant to store documents and whatnot. Bookshelves were present on all walls bar the one that had the door. It was lit by fire crystal lamps. There was a desk in the middle. As for the woman, she was a semi-young woman who had long black hair that was styled into a ponytail, giving her a refined and mature appearance. While she looked young, she didn’t have the youthful look of a teen or someone in early 20s. Additionally, she looked battle hardened, and her attire displayed this; she wore a half-plate with plenty of scars on it.
Nestor declared, “Milord, this is Wiara, a refugee I’ve met and found to be an asset to you.”
“My name is Wiara, Lord Fenchel. It is an honor to meet you.”
She did not state her last name, meaning she was either a commoner or chose to hide her true identity.
“Likewise, Lady Wiara. Do you wish to serve me?”
“I…” She showed hesitation. “Was originally going to join the local guild. I am not a noble after all.”
Nestor must have had a reason for bringing her here.
“Sir Vogel?”
“Milord, she is a fire mage, affinity six.”
His inner circle had known for a considerable amount of time that they lacked mages. Kamil was the only one, and that wasn’t enough. Even so, it wasn’t easy to hire mages since every noble house in the kingdom wanted them. They wouldn’t let them go. The fact that she was a refugee meant that she hailed from a place where mages weren’t as valued, namely one of former Siwen settlements.
“Lady Wiara, what is your origin?”
“I am from Gonne. I was a personal bodyguard for a rich merchant whose business has recently collapsed completely due to the economic recession. I was let go. I wanted a fresh start and saw the airship. I felt adventurous and this is how I ended up here.”
It didn’t sound like she was lying. With so many leaving in droves in Gonne, there were bound to be collapsing businesses. Her being a former bodyguard for a rich merchant also explained her proper etiquette. She was probably educated by the merchant since some merchants dealt with nobles frequently, like Julian.
“No family?”
“I was an orphan, Milord.”
“Were you the only mage under the merchant?”
“No, he had two. He kept one and let me go.”
Her every answer was properly articulated, and her backstory seemed truthful. Still, he needed Cezary’s approval. He was the advisor after all. When he arrived at the archive, he asked her pretty much the same questions except one odd question.
“What is your opinion on Siwen nobles?”
Wiara looked slightly lost when asked such a question but nevertheless replied without an issue.
“Incompetent fools.”
“You are hired, good woman.”
And thus they finally acquired a mage who wasn’t Kamil. It was long overdue. She was assigned under Raem, which Lara didn’t take kindly until she found out her age; She was 31 years old. She looked more like in mid 20s in appearance.
Later that day, Kamil summoned Nestor. He knew he was a very busy man, but it was time to reward him for a job well done. It was his diligence that found Wiara because he was recording every refugee who entered and left the town.
“I’ve answered your summon,” said Nestor with a bow and a palm on his chest.
“Sir Vogel, I’ve called you here today to reward you,” Kamil said behind his desk. There were his rewards already on his desk. One was a small leather coin pouch. The other was the “copy” crystal. “I have two rewards for you. The coin pouch contains 10 silver coins. And this crystal is a copy crystal.”
“A copy crystal?” He repeated after him, looking completely clueless.
“Allow me to demonstrate.” He placed a paper that had some text on it and then placed a blank paper on the opposite side. Then he leaded toward the orange-red crystal and said, “Copy.”
Whatever was written on the paper was pretty much instantly inscribed on the blank paper, which made Nestor’s eyes go wide.
“This should make your job easier, no?”
“Please excuse my manners, but what was that?”
“A copy crystal. Basically, a magical item that lets you copy papers. It’s good for copying only single documents. It’s actually a prototype item and it won’t last forever. You will be the one testing its limit, Sir Vogel.”
“That will make my job much easier, yes…” He trailed off, probably trying to calculate how much time he could save. His evening was spent making copies of the day’s work and archiving them. It was often gruesome work not because the task was particularly hard but because he was already tired by the time he had to make the copies. There were times he had to drink a few shots of liquor in order to stay up just a bit longer. With this magical item, those times could become a thing of the past.
“I thank you ever so much for your rewards, Milord.”
Several days passed peacefully since then. The prototype tray had arrived from Cezary, and they tested copying the book which was successful. The tray would allow stacking a hundred pages while maintaining a tiny gap between the pages. The prototype tray was meant for exactly a hundred pages. Cezary noted that, while it wasn’t hard to make, it was very time consuming to make because it involved a lot of repetitive tasks. A tray meant for two hundred pages and more would take a considerable amount to make, he noted. After inquiring from Lord Weber how thick his dictionary was, the answer came: It was four hundred twelve pages. Cezary noted that a tray capable of holding over four hundred pages would certainly take a long time to engineer. Still it was going to be faster than letting Aaron copy it manually.
All seemed to be going well until a man claiming to be a diplomat from Estana arrived one day via an airship that was from Tantan, which made his claim somewhat hard to believe because he arrived alone and where he came from. If he really was a diplomat, he should have had bodyguards with him and shouldn’t have arrived from Tantan to begin with. Additionally, he didn’t dress like one, either. He was wearing a dirty brown robe with a face that needed shaving. In short, he looked more like a beggar than a diplomat.
“Gregor?” Kamil repeated after the name Nestor was told to relay.
“Yes, he claims to be a diplomat from Estana. I am highly skeptical that he is in fact one. If he really is one, he must be here for something shady. What should I do, Milord? I can refuse him. He didn’t even show me any official letters proclaiming his official identity. Thus, we can refuse him without any rebuke.”
It was a name he hadn’t heard for many years, but he would never be able to forget the name.
“No, do not turn him away. I shall see him.”
“Milord, but -”
He interjected, “I will see him, period. Bring him here. Call Raem and Wiara to my room.”
He could feel his heart being faster in both anticipation as well as impending rage. He didn’t know the truth, but what he did know was that he had a part in the king’s deeds. He could have well been an accomplice even if he denied it.
Nobles are educated to lie on the spot, Flora told him once a while ago.
Fine, if they are not going to reveal the truth on their own, then I shall act according to my version of truth. Very well, Gregor. Come here, you motherfucker. Come to your own damned grave and meet your maker.
Watching Nestor leave the room, he controlled his breath. His heart was beating fast, and he was feeling cold sweats on his palms. He never really made any real progress in exacting his revenge. He knew that it couldn’t have been helped. His targets were his own king and someone who seemed to have vanished without a trace. There wasn’t really much he could have done. But all of that was about to change soon. This man, Gregor, was willing to show himself right in front of him. He waited patiently at his desk with his fingers crossed with his chin on top of them with his eyes half closed. Raem and Wiara soon arrived and stood by the door.
“Raem,” Kamil called him out.
“Yes, Milord?”
“Whatever happens, do not stop me.”
He looked confused. “Milord?”
“The guest we are receiving right now, there is a high likely chance that I might outright murder him. Do not stop me.”
Raem and Wiara exchanged amused glances. He kneeled down regardless and replied, “I would not be here without you. I and Karla would have likely starved to death at one point without your intervention. Whatever you do, you can trust that at least I will go down with you.”
Wiara was staying quiet, trying to read the room. She was a new member and wouldn’t know the history between them.
A knocking was heard, and Nestor’s voice sounded beyond the door.
“Milord, he is here.”
Kamil took a deep breath and answered calmly.
“Let him in.”
The door opened, and a man in a brown robe entered. His short hair was disheveled and gray. His beard was extremely uneven. He looked to be in his twilight years with his face full of wrinkles. He walked until he was about five meters away from Kamil and declared aloud.
“Lord Fenchel, my name is Gregor. I apologize for the unannounced visit, but I carry a very important message from the king of Estana.”
Of course, none of his words reached Kamil’s ears because he was undergoing an internal turmoil.
As soon as he saw Gregor, an unparalleled surge of anger just shot up inside him. But, at the moment, using steadfast will, he forcefully suppressed his sheer rage inside him.
Elementals…, don’t respond to my emotional rage and do NOT appear… I beg of you, not now. This man…, I will kill him.
As if complying with his request, no elementals appeared. He felt as if he was standing on a field of raging inferno. His whole body felt burning hot, and he felt like he’d vomit the whole content of his stomach at once but he held on, suppressing his inner desire to rip this man’s body in half at once.
“My apologies, Gregor. I didn’t get what you said.”
Gregor tilted his head but repeated what he had just announced.
“Lord Fenchel, I apologize for the unannounced visit, but I carry a very important message from the king of Estana.”
“A very important message from the king of Estana, you say…? What would that be?”
“The king is willing to grant you a much better fief in exchange for your service. You are simply too good for this mockery of a settlement.”
Gregor beamed a confident grin as if he was satisfied with what he had just said. But both Kamil and Raem glared at him. Laufield was their town. They built from the ground up, literally. Mocking the town was equal to mocking them personally.
Narrowing eyes, Kamil replied with a cold tone, “I apologize if I misunderstood what you are asking of me. Are you … asking me to turn my back on my nation?”
“If you wish to put it that way, yes, I am asking you to turn your back on the kingdom of Egra.”
“Gregor, were you not the king’s former advisor?”
Kamil’s statement surprised him. He was a child. He should have not known his former position; That was about 15 years ago at this point, which was before his time.
“How do you know me?”
Ignoring his question, he replied with another question.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right here right now.”
On the cue, Raem and Wiara went full alert. Gregor glanced back at them as discreetly as possible.
“Have we met?” He asked but didn’t expect an answer.
“Yes, we have.”
“We have? Where? Are you from Estana?”
“No, Gregor. We met at the village of Bronn.” Kamil stood up slowly from his desk, his eyes glimmering in faint green, and there was a sudden breeze in the room which shouldn’t have been possible.
“Bronn?!” He uttered while taking a step back. “H, how the hell?!” Suddenly, walls of earth rose from the stone floor and covered him, boxing him. Then the soil box progressively rescinded into the ground. Gregor was gone.
“He is running away!” Kamil barked. But neither Raem nor he knew what to do because they didn’t know what kind of spell he had just cast. It was an earth spell called dig which allowed its caster to dig into the ground like a mole, allowing a protected escape.
“What do we do?!” Raem asked while scanning the ground fanatically. Meanwhile, Wiara ran out.
“Follow Wiara!”
As soon as the trio dashed out of the manor, Kamil cast levitation to get a bird’s eye view while Raem and Wiara were fanatically searching the ground for any sign of Gregor.
“Sirs?” The guards at the manor entrance were puzzled.
“Nevermind us!” Raem exclaimed at them.
From the sky, Kamil was also unable to find any trace of Gregor. Of course, he wasn’t going to give up.
Elementals, give me a vision to track earth elementals. Show me where earth elementals are concentrated!
Immediately, he could see a bright yellow dot moving in a zig-zag pattern on the ground. It was swiftly making its way out of the town. While he was indeed getting away, he was also getting away from the locals. His lips curved into an ominous grin.
Summoning his magical bow, he began to cast the hurricane arrow while tracking a zig-zagging yellow ball on the ground. He was in the sky, making it much easier to track him. In fact, his zig-zagging was actually hindering him to get away faster.
“I have the right!” He barked vigorously.
“I HAVE THE GODDAMN RIGHT!” He repeated with a shout.
I have my right to avenge!
“Elementals! Feel my rage!”
He let go of his suppressed rage. Like smashing a dam, his rage poured out, circulating his entire body; He felt like he was on a hot plate.
The pair of wind elementals, Ludwig and the other, appeared on his left and right immediately, followed by tens …, hundreds…, thousands of translucent green butterflies. There were occasional fire elementals mixed in as well.
“What. The. Hell….,” Wiara uttered in pure shock and awe while looking up. “Are those … elementals?”
She had seen fellow mages under emotions peak or duress summon a few elementals, but what she was seeing was on an entirely different level. It wasn’t even comparable. The whole sky she could see was filled with elementals.
Raem looked up as well. Devoid of any visible emotions, he whispered, “Get him, Milord. I really don’t know what is going on, but you’ve been tracking him, haven’t you.”
The not-so-subtle warning Kamil gave out before Gregor showed up, he must have known who he was. Whatever was going on, he decided not to try to understand. It was far beyond him to understand.
Where Kamil was flying was dominated by countless glowing green butterflies. As he drew the bow, a translucent green arrow slotted itself into the bow. Then equally translucent green strings began to swirl around the arrow, mimicking the shape of a hurricane. The strings began to shine ever brighter, essentially forming a giant green ball that eclipsed Kamil himself as it enlarged. In spite of all those lights, he could clearly see his target that was still zig-zagging away from him. Gregor was already a considerable distance away.
Does not matter. This arrow will track. This is no ordinary arrow.
“HURRICANE -” He bellowed with everything he got. “ARROW!”
GO ELEMENTALS! GO, GO, GOOOOOOOOOO - !
Elementals vanished at once in the air.
Wiara’s eyes widened up as much as possible. She could not believe what she was seeing. The scene before her eyes felt like it was a piece of dream.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8799/haCRtZ.png]
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6633/Oaod5l.png]
Kamil could no longer be seen after being enveloped by the pulsing green light, and the magic arrow shot out like a flame but on an enormous scale. It looked more like a gigantic spear made of greenish flame that was thrown which basically flew at an unfathomable speed.
“T… that is not magic!” She shouted in protest. “That is NOT magic! That is … something else!”
Raem, too, looked up at it with his eyes wide open.
“Just how angry must he be able to conjure that much power?” He wondered aloud.
As soon as the hurricane arrow made an impact on the ground, the ground quaked violently for a good ten seconds with a loud bang. Accuracy wouldn’t matter at this point. Anything within its vicinity would be vaporized. Meanwhile, in the sky, the pulsing progressively died down, revealing Kamil panting heavily. He vacantly looked at the scene of impact where there was a large crater with dust clouds forming right above it. Gregor couldn’t have survived. Perhaps more importantly, he wasn’t flown back. Even more importantly, he didn’t pass out. Looking behind, he found several wind elementals on his back. They apparently stopped him from being flung away.
“Is he … dead?”
‘Dead.’ Ludwig’s voice sounded in his head.
“Dead, huh…”
He felt empty inside. In spite of wanting to kill him for a long time, there was no joy when the deed was done. He lazily looked back at the town. The folks were gathered at the central market and must have been watching the event unfold before them. He also saw Flora on the observatory with Avina.
“I feel tired. I feel sleepy. Wind elementals, take me to her.”
His vision was becoming shrouded in darkness; He knew he’d pass out soon but he held on until wind elementals transported him to the observatory which was basically a large balcony of the manor. As soon as he was close enough, Flora asked.
“Was what needed to be done done?”
Upon hearing that, his face distorted and tears began welling up in his eyes. He recalled Fionara and those in Bronn who were murdered for just being there at the wrong time. It had taken many years and it required sheer luck, but his target walked to himself.
“It is done,” He replied curtly. He landed on the balcony shortly after but immediately collapsed on the spot. Flora caught him just barely before he hit the floor in her arms. He shut his eyes and immediately fell asleep. She had no idea why he did such a thing but also knew that he must have had reasons for doing so. What he had just done, it wasn’t something one would do out of anger or something. It must have been something deeper, she thought. She wasn’t going to coax him into telling her why.