“Stay back! Back, I said!”

A big group of Yellowjackets rushed into the Slave Market, which was in total chaos due to the burning building.

The fire spread and rose in the air, emitting a dangerous heat. The flames scorched the ground and awakened half of the city.

Silcard Fedge came as soon as he could and checked on the Slaves and his workers.

Robert, looking a bit pale, kept his composure and spoke,

“Five guards were killed, sir.”

“I see…”

Silcard swept his eyes across the slaves, which were clustered together. Except for a handful that sustained minor injuries, most were unharmed.

“Take them to my house, I’ll deal with the rest. Be quick.”

“At once, sir.”

Robert motioned for Kha’rya, who was the leader of the slaves.

“Excuse me…”

Silcard pushed the people off the way while approaching the Yellowjackets.

…

As Arthur had expected, Christopher couldn’t sit still in the inn after what happened. He sprinted to the Slave Market and looked at the flames.

“Why…”

He unconsciously muttered, his pupils reflecting the rising fire that showed no signs of dying down.

A Captain of the Yellowjackets took the lead and used an artifact that spat water to extinguish the flames, but the process was excruciatingly slow and inefficient.

It wasn’t going to take long for the adjacent buildings to be affected. Moreover, the other slave traders weren’t like Silcard. They weren’t going to risk themselves or their men to save their slaves.

Christopher stood at the back and hesitantly raised his hand while channelling his Mana.

He wasn’t equipped with Water-aspected spells, nevertheless, he wanted to use his Magic to teleport the flames or the building away, which was an idiotic notion.

Christopher didn’t know what his spells could and could not affect, though much of that was due to lack of practice and testing.

However, he wasn’t like Arthur, who could ignore those in danger.

“Come on… come on…”

[Space Fracture]

Slowly but surely, Christopher felt his Mana flowing from his hand and toward the building. It was a concentrated and invisible amount, swirling around before rapidly contracting and fracturing the space itself.

Some of the flames vanished, but the change was barely noticeable.

Chris inwardly cursed and was about to try again only to hear loud shouting.

“Let me in! I’m a Mage!”

Someone broke from the crowd and angrily yelled at the Yellowjackets.

“It’s fine. Don’t stop him.”

The Captain nodded toward the old man dressed in a wizardly robe.

‘It’s him…’

The sick mage who had travelled with Chris and the rest. Chris recognized him almost instantly.

The old man ran toward the fire and held his staff with both hands while chanting an incantation.

Within seconds, a large volume of water burst from the tip of the staff and crashed into the building.

“I don’t care about the damage, just get rid of the flames.” Said Silcard, who joined the mage’s side.

“My apologies.” Responded the old man as he increased the power of the spell.

As the situation was getting resolved, Chris saw a suspicious person slip from the crowd and enter an alley.

He frowned and followed after them.

“Hamid?”

“Dead.”

“Confound it!”

Ahmed kept his voice lowered and stared at Jia, who had managed to not get caught and slip unnoticed. The job was supposed to be extremely easy and to the point, but Espero decided to change his mind at the last second.

Furthermore, Ahmed lost one of his men. Things definitely took a turn for the absolute worst.

“Someone is here.” Whispered the woman next to Ahmed.

Jia turned around and closed her eyes for two seconds. When she sensed Chris, she dashed towards him.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Shit!”

[Space Fracture]

A minuscule spatial tear formed at the corner, which made Jia jump over it and descend on Chris.

[Teleport]

He vanished and reappeared a couple of meters away, looking slightly disoriented.

The female mercenary reacted swifter than him, her figure reaching him in the blink of an eye.

“Don’t kill him.”

One of her chakrams stopped near Christopher’s neck.

“He’s a mage.” Spoke the tanned woman while scrutinising Christopher.

“How about each of us go our own way, hm?”

Christopher cracked a wry smile while raising his arms in surrender. At first, he thought about asking for help but quickly changed his mind.

Jia, the woman who attacked him, was about to kill him were it not for Ahmed’s vocal intervention.

Christopher truly understood the disparity in power. His skills and spells might have great potential, but he was weak in comparison to experienced fighters.

“Bring him with us.”

Ahmed waved his hand and walked away with the mysterious woman.

“Ow ow! I’m not resisting!”

Jia pushed him against a wall and used a thin string to tie his hand behind his back.

“I know all about you mages. If I sense even a bit of Mana, your head will be on the floor.”

“Yeah yeah, I get it. No need for those scary words.”

Christopher chuckled, acting calm as she pushed him forward while looking around.

‘Arthur is going to be really mad, I can feel it.’

----------------------------------------

Somewhere in the Desert of Peace and Commerce

The Devil Doctor’s Laboratory

“What?”

The wrinkled and scary-looking member of the Circle of Damnation looked livid as hollow eyes glared at the Hashashin in front of him.

“That is the Sultan’s will.”

“I’m not going to do that. Who does he take me for? His servant?”

The Hashashin, who didn’t bother hiding his face, was an expressionless tall and abnormally thin man, like a skeleton.

His eyes were positioned far from each other and seemed to lack any emotion, he lacked any eyelashes and eyebrows, and his hair was short and colored as white as snow.

“The Lord agreed to let you stay here and offered you protection and resources. You will obey.”

“Obey?”

The Devil Doctor’s expression distorted as he pointed his left index at the Hashashin.

The black-clothed man was hit by an invisible thing and was sent flying backwards. His body crashed into a wall, the crisp of breaking bones echoing in the gloomy laboratory.

Even then, he quickly stood up as if nothing happened.

“Go and tell him to give up that idea.”

“I was ordered to come here and make sure you agree and start preparing with haste.” Calmly responded to Hashashin, his disproportionately big eyes not blinking even once.

“And I said I’m not going to do it. Even I will be killed if I create this…”

The Devil Doctor waved a sheet of paper, which contained a formula of a very deadly airborne poison.

“This weapon of war! The Angel Corps will come for my hide!”

The old man paused for a second and took deep breaths.

“You either leave my laboratory right now or I kill you.”

“I will not leave.”

Without any hesitation, the Devil Doctor invoked his Magic again, but the Hashashin moved to dodge this time.

Still, he was eventually hit and flung like a ragdoll. Even when he coated his body with defensive Magic, his bones were shattered and he was almost killed.

In the end, he was forced to retreat out of the cave, his body covered in blood and his right leg completely crushed.

The Devil Doctor shredded the formula and walked toward a medical bag on which rested a corpse covered by a cloth.

With a sad and regretful look, the elderly pulled the cloth and looked at the lifeless body.

Its long and arching ears indicated that it was a dead elf, but it wasn’t just any elf.

This was a Silver Elf, part of a race long extinct. Procuring this relatively intact body was excessively difficult and cost the Devil Doctor a hefty sum of Gold.

Excluding the parts that had been dissected, there were spots on the pale-skinned Silver Elf that had small masses of dead yet disgusting pink flesh.

The objective of the Devil Doctor was to study the properties of the Silver Elves and their connection to the malevolent piece of flesh that originated from something sinister.

----------------------------------------

Lucy let out a soft groan and opened her eyes. The unpleasant laughter of men rang in her ears, soon making her realize her situation.

“You’re awake!”

She was tied to a wooden pole in what looked like an abandoned shack. The salty smell in the air and the sound of waves made her guess that she was near the sea.

When she turned her head to the right, she saw Mort. Similarly to her, the talking zombie was also tied to the pole.

“We’re in a pickle.” He added while grinning at her and motioning toward the 4 burly men a couple of meters away.

“How much can we get for her?”

“Probably 100?”

“You idiot! She’s pretty and has silver air… she can fetch us 200 or 300 easy!”

The four men were poorly dressed, but their scarred faces made them look quite scary.

They didn’t seem to care that Lucky woke up, instead arguing about what to do with her.

“Where… are..we?”

“They mentioned the Pirate Sanctuary. There must be treasures! Hehehehe!”

Although her hands were tied, Lucy was still able to use Magic. Flames burst from her fingers, turning the ropes into ash and freeing herself.

She didn’t wait for the four men to react or attack. A blast of frost erupted from her other hand, turning all of them into ice statues.

“Much better! Thank you!”

Lucy glanced at the energetic zombie before walking outside. She had no belongings and except the white and short dress she had been wearing, everything else was lost due to what happened in the sea.

She was curious about the fate of the pirates who had welcomed her and treated her well.

Unfortunately, she had lost consciousness not long after the ship had sunk.

“Why are you following me?”

She walked on the beautiful and empty shore while deliberating her options. However, Mort was right behind her, all smiles and as carefree as ever.

“We go together, Lucy! More fun!”

“No. Go away.”

“But I want to go with you!”

When she turned around and raised her hand, seemingly about to attack, Mort halted his feet and tilted his head in confusion.

“I’m strong. Look!”

He performed an impressively high jump before thudding against the ground and puffing his chest.

“...”

“How about it? I’m also fast!”

The Zombie then proceeded to run circles around Lucy. He was so fast that all you could see was a blurry after-image.

“Enough. Leave me alone. I don’t want traveling companions.”

“But…”

“I’ll really kill you if you follow me!”

When she raised her voice and even let out a bit of flames, Mort stepped back and kept staring at her until she vanished from view.

“I will continue my adventure! Wait for me, O’treasure coffers!”

With a shout of determination, the zombie dashed into the tropical forest.