Only after a full flight of stairs around the tower, William managed to steel himself. The vortex of thoughts about this damned ongoing situation made him feel bad. Really bad. They were late, which led to an enormous number of dead citizens while creating even more enmity between both sides. The losses couldn’t be easily forgotten. Everyone had friends, relatives, and lovers, who lost their lives in this revolt. It was already hard, nearly impossible to lessen the wish to take revenge on the opposite party, but now, after even more casualties, the task became much harder.
The blood was already spilled in huge amounts, and his naïve idea of setting a peace deal was crumbling under a harsh reality. Robert was right – he had his grand mission, but now he started to wonder if it was achievable. Or even if it was, was there any better way to do it? To make it happen faster just to save more lives. The lives that could be gone at any moment. His fallen friends – Monk and Wolf. His old master, who had raised him. His whole squad, which he never treated seriously after being appointed as their sergeant, seeing them as just one of the first steps on his road to a higher position. And now Robert, who willingly stayed behind just to give him a better chance to achieve what he wanted.
Yes, his goal wasn’t for his own sake, but he indeed knew that he was special. Nobody ever told him that he was a Chosen, but the fact of his fast-paced growth, his abnormal energy reserves, or the ease, with which he wielded mana were speaking by themselves. The same abilities were seen only once in history when the knight’s first and last King had set the world’s order. Now it was breaking under weights of political ambitions, unhealthy discrimination, stagnation, and many other factors. Therefore, he had to glue it back… or destroy it to dust to rebuild a new, better version. But he had to DO it. Not to wait for actions from others, when they had already put enough on to pedestal to make it happen, but to do it by himself. By his own hands. To overcome all difficulties, to grow from his childish perspective, to set a flow, and not to follow it. To become the HERO for the world.
He didn’t know the way to it, but William was sure that the first starting point would be a personal strength. He needed more to make high nobility listen to him on equal terms. He needed more to save people he valued. Only tremendous strength could cut through all boundaries, create new ones, and save this falling apart world in the end. William was already feeling how time was flowing away, but it only steeled his resolve.
“… was dying after all. For a warrior, it is always better to do it on his own terms, with a weapon in hand and fighting against a horde of enemies. His sacrifice must not be in vain, so please…,” Angela was still trying to cheer him up when William interrupted her.
“I am good. Better be ready with your ritual,” he told while lunging forward to help Sir Antony. The latter was already cutting through a few wounded infected. One of them even missed the arm, instead having a horrible mark from a fireball on his shoulder.
“Everything is almost ready! I prepared that ritual with my older brother beforehand. I will need just a couple of minutes to set the magic circle!” Angela shouted in response, following two unstoppable knights.
However, soon they had to pause when they reached a door to a huge ceremonial hall, where the most important meetings, discussions, and presentations of research were held. That was the final destination for an unknown group, who managed to enter the tower before them.
That place turned to be their grave as too many infected followed. Moreover, the commotion from the fight attracted all of them in this hall, almost creating a dense crowd of enemies that were on the brink of starting to fight, but the appearance of new targets switched their attention.
“Sir Antony, we will protect the door, while Angela will prepare her lightning spell!” commanded William, stepping forward. His longsword was already pointing towards dozens of mage’s servants and apprentices.
Unrecognizable wild yells mixed with primal roars sounded across the hall when the fights broke loose. Both swords, imbued with mana, gave enough reach to keep the distance. However, the infected completely disregarded their lives or safety, literally jumping onto the blades. William’s swing cut through several bodies before being stopped by the glowing claws. Still, the impact from the hit was strong enough to throw away “zombie”. That didn’t help as a few more were already attacking.
Rotating his body, William avoided another clawed thrust, while countering it with an elbow hit. The metal lost its energy right before touching the nape of the robed maniac and regained it a moment later. The force in the hit was so huge that the infected dropped down with insane speed, crushing tiles on the floor. Not pausing his movement, William parried a clumsy attempt from the next opponent, before piercing his skull with a lightning-fast thrust. Pushing the impaled body under the enemy’s swing, he made his own, which this time cut through both opponents, severing head and arm in the process. Mana in his armor interrupted its flow, giving him the ability to crush the neck of the infected beneath, before regaining it again exactly in the moment to defend himself from the attempt to make a hole in his chest.
The fight barely lasted over two dozen seconds, but the pure aggressive nature of these “zombies” intensified everything to an insane degree. Acting like in a trance, William moved his sword without a hitch, even ignoring possible obstacles like a doorframe or even a floor. His imbued mana blade cut through everything, except the same energy-feeding claws, but his battle experience gave enough advantage not to feel threatened. Even the power outburst from the infected only gave them the ability to be on par with him. Therefore, when Angela finally cast her spell, the magic lighting only had five targets to aim for.
“Why I was even bothering with it?” not hiding her irritation, Angela commented, looking at several burned bodies. With a tired sigh, she dropped her staff, keeping the second one with unknown properties.
“Because we are not alone,” William answered, pointing at the damaged armor of the second knight. A few deep marks on the metal from claws showed that not everything went so easy.
“I am sorry for it, Sir William. I have exhausted almost all my spirit reserves and decided to sustain the sword, not armor. But fear not, my wounds are light, and I can keep up,” Sir Antony explained, being noticeably ashamed of his performance in comparison with the younger knight.
“No need to worry, dear Sir. I think we got all enemies here,” William shook his head, before continuing, “but we need to hurry as more might come from outside.”
The ending sounded clearly with sadness, reminding me of Robert’s deed. Still, he didn’t want to waste such a precious gift and hastily started to climb the stairs. From Angela’s explanation, everything was on the top of the tower, waiting for them to be used.
“Are you sure that it will work?” asked William, walking ahead of everyone. The sheer amount of ascent they had to overcome made the magician’s breath heavy and irregular. Sir Antony wasn’t better as it seemed his wounds were not so light in the end. However, he didn’t have time to help them as he was focusing on the surroundings.
“My older brother, Richard, was a real genius. He managed to create lots of things for our mage’s kind, but his vision was limited only to the usage of natural sources of energy. I, on the other hand, used his research with a deeper understanding and without such artificial self-limitations. Yes, I used what was based on his enormous work, but surprisingly he wasn’t jealous or wasn’t against. No, he fully supported me, helping with the creation of the rune circle. We managed to run just a single test to confirm its correct performance, but never tried it on full power. But I am sure it will work. If Richard was alive, he would definitely confirm this…”
“What has happened?”
William asked, stepping into the round room, which was located almost on the top of the tower. As the latter was narrowing from the bottom to the top, its size wasn’t that big. More stairs were going up, but Angela pointed him to go there. The room looked like a small working laboratory with few bookshelves, filled with books and scrolls; a huge table with flasks and pieces of metal; several stools without backrests; many complex diagrams, pictured on the wall; and many other different things, that showed it was defiantly used by someone, who could live in a mess while being fully focused on a creation process.
The single distinction that captured William’s eye was a wide stained-glass window with the scene of a rising sun over the field of flowers. There was a single tree with a green crown, which created enough shadow for the sleeping man to cover himself. Everything looked filled with calmness, peace, and appeasement. He couldn’t distinguish the face of the man, but all its figure seemed to be radiated idleness.
“He died. Actually, we had to meet him in that forsaken village, but it turns out that he was dead at that moment. No way could he lose his research journals and it is the best proof, unfortunately. Those filthy soldiers managed to kill magic genius of such scale that likely will never be born again. However, I don’t blame them as it was that stupid bitch Laura who influenced him to participate personally in the attack. At least I know that she is feeding worms right now.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“What are...,” William tried to turn around, simultaneously pushing his energy into armor, but the magician had already cast her spell from the staff.
Both he and Sir Antony immediately felt down as being paralyzed. But in fact, William was sure his body could move if he could give such an order. However, that seemed to be impossible as he was overwhelmed with feelings. Each sense was intensified a hundredfold, making it hard even to breathe. The touch, the temperature, the sight, the hearing – everything was so much more than he could handle. If it was only one sense, William might adapt, but not all at once. Moreover, all these torrents of information somehow managed to be well perceptible as he continued to listen to Angela’s speech unwillingly, which turned to be another tormented sound.
“Returning to your question – yes, I am quite sure in the ritual. You see… wait, how this helmet is taking off. Oh, here…”
In the next moment, William heard painful groans from Sir Antony, which disappeared quickly. He didn’t need to be a genius to understand what had happened, especially when he saw Angela walking past him with a bloodied knife. The thought of Robert’s precaution about the magician rang in his mind, but there was no point in regret. It already had happened, so he needed to focus on finding a solution to save himself. Nobody was going to help him this time. He had to rely on himself. Almost as he wished earlier.
“What was I telling? Yes, the ritual… It was my brother, who managed to get God’s blessing and modified one inconspicuous flower to increase everyone’s energy capacity. Of course, it helped not only the mages but also the knights. However, for such occasions, our newly acquired spells gave us abilities on par with them. Moreover, the war, created by our conspiracy, managed to decrease the quantity of our main enemies.”
Angela continued to do something, but William’s point of view had hidden her actions from sight. Most likely, she was setting that ritual circle, making William only to increase his attempt to break through the spell.
“Later, we found an unpleasant aftereffect on ordinary citizens. You see, those lowly creatures couldn’t spend mana but were accumulating it in their bodies constantly. The result of it you had seen with your own eyes – the destruction of the soul, uncontrollable madness, and aggressiveness. Potentially it could be countered with knowledge of how to use mana, but who would do such things as to teach them? Arrogant knights, who don’t want to give away even the tiniest part of their power? Or we, the mages, who after being in those prisons for centuries hadn’t got any help from those ordinary folks? Nope, they deserve the death. And they will get it!”
William heard new sounds of metal clinging as if Angela was setting some chains on the floor. Her early pleasant voice now was an instrument of torture. Adding the meaning, which was carried over with her words, William’s anger only grew stronger. Not only on her but also on his own weakness. His blindness. His reliance on others. No, he had to do something! He had to break free!
“Alas, this infection is already everywhere, I am not excluded. I predicted that almost in the beginning, which led me to create the ritual with the help of my brother’s research. Its whole purpose is to transfer energy from one living source to another, strengthening its soul to the point where his capacity can become enormous. The problem is that one can handle such a ritual only once. Therefore, I chose you to be my benefactor, to give me more energy to resist the illness and more power for later to destroy everyone who will try to oppose me. Your performance during the duel on the ball made you a perfect candidate.”
William felt he was dragged by Angela, who grabbed his hand and pulled him right across the floor without any care. It sent another painful wave of over-sensation inside his mind. The feeling of rage had only intensified, which finally led him to move his finger. However, it was too early to act. Soon, very soon. Patience was the key to finding the right moment.
“So, finishing our interesting discussion. Yes, I am sure that ritual will work. I am betting my future life on it after all. I even managed to simplify activation by simply closing the circuit with chains, just in case you try to resist and wound me. I am not as tough as you, knights. But luckily, you were too charmed to think and react. Good boy!”
Angela widely smiled, dropping down William’s hand. Bending over to fix the connection in the rune circle, she was shocked to hear weak bashing sounds against the metal. Slowly raising her head, she was surprised to see a familiar figure of that cursed militia, Robert. The latter looked like a walking corpse. Without a right arm under an elbow, with open cuts all over the tattered armor, he was smiling with bloodied teeth. Barely standing and creating a pool of red liquid underneath him, he had to lean on the wall to keep himself straight. His right eye was glowing with constant purple light, showing his infected state, while the other was tightly shut because of was too swollen to open.
“Well, that was quite a villainous speech over the defeated hero. Like a super classic one, a full hit in the bullseye of cliché tropes. I wanted to clap for your performance properly, but as you can see, I have a little problem here. No second palm – no clapping… Moreover, those fucking stairs almost finished me off. Why would you choose your evil laboratory on the top, while not having a lift? It is much easier to use the basement…”
“You can’t do anything to me in such a condition. You will bleed out in just a few minutes,” Angela shook her head, relaxing after careful examination of this idiot who barely kept on his feet.
“Oh, yeah, I know. My status screen shows that I am completely fucked. Zero for both Core and Vitality stats. However, my Adaptation ability is in full swing as…,” Robert didn’t manage to finish, as Angela sprinted to her staff before raising it in the air. A second cast was met with silence before she released her spell on the injured soldier, “Oh, that is an interesting effect. Very strong. Oh, wow, even my own voice tries to knock me out…”
“How are you standing? Nobody can fight against it… Whatever, I will kill you in an old way. In such a condition, you can’t confront me,” dropping her staff, Angela took the knife from her belt. However, that motion only led to a wider grin from Robert, confusing her even more.
“You don’t need to confront me. You need to confront him,” pointing with just his eyes behind her back, Rob chuckled. The magician tried to turn around only to be grabbed by her neck by William. In the next moment, she was raised high into the air, while being squeezed by his palm. Not having the ability to breathe, Angela attempted to hit the young knight with the knife, but the blade bounced off from the armor. She wanted to beg for mercy. However, before she managed to think it over to find proper reasoning for her doings, she felt herself flying through the air. Breaking the stained-glass window with her back, she wanted to scream in horror. However, her throat couldn’t produce any sound even after she was meters away from the ground. Then everything disappeared.
“Nice throw,” Robert nodded, before pushing himself forward, “Now go there and let’s conduct this damned ritual.”
“What? No! You need a lay down and save your strength!” William tried to oppose, but his shaking state wasn’t any better. His attack on Angela took all his mental strength and left nothing in reserve. Overwhelming weakness took over his body, making it hard even to look straight.
“Are you blind? I am a one-armed walking dead. But! I have literally an endless stream of energy inside while I am alive. Therefore, we will make you a fucking overpowered hero right here and now. Moreover, you don’t have any choice,” smiled Robert, placing William in the rune circle. His friend wanted to resist, but it felt like an attempt from a child in terms of strength.
“Stop it,” William whispered using the remains of his energy, “Please, don’t do it. I don’t want to be in such debt.”
“First, it’s not a debt but a gift. Second, I am not asking for permission. Third, better use it wisely and not like a moron. Fourth, maybe it will also help me to survive. Yes, the idea is crazy, but I may as well try it while I can. You see, Anchor ability not only links but also places part of my soul in the space between dimensions. Taking into account my unbreakable bond between my soul and body, it… Oh, you have lost consciousness already. Damn, you didn’t even last for several sentences, while you listened full speech from Angela. Is it the effect of beauty? Or because she was the villain? Okay, Robert, let’s test it. Hope you will make it…”
William was hearing something on the outskirts of his mind, but it couldn’t break through the barrier of darkness, which was embracing him. Everything had changed when he felt the small flow of light appearing in his vision. It was slow and tiny, but it was constant. The effect wasn’t noticeable at first, but soon the pitch-black surroundings were painted in grey, and later, after an unknown time, the brightest light dominated everything, burning even shadows down to nothingness.
That heat started to spread out everywhere, engulfing the impurities of his soul, while it bigger. This growth created another wave of pain. William screamed, but he had no way from this torture as only to endure. Soon, the thought of his wish to be a hero appeared in his mind, giving him the inner energy to overcome it. He didn’t want to waste such an opportunity. He didn’t have the moral right to do it after everything. Therefore, he fought until the end.
When William woke up, it was already evening. The familiar two moons were shining through the broken window, lighting the ritual room. The rune circle had melted down, leaving only traces of it and erasing the last ability to repeat its effect. Both creators of it were already dead. The motionless body of Sir Antony stayed in the same place. William finally managed to see the face of the fallen knight, filled with regret. He was sure that the reason for it was the thought about failing his mission and thus his honor, which made William smile with sadness because that was definitely not true.
Standing up and picking up his sword, he felt his body strong and powerful as never before. William was sure that he would need it very soon as he had a lot to do. The ongoing war between knights and mages. The fate of Marquise Blueriver. His heritage from Duke. The magic illness and its possible cure, which he heard from Angela. And, of course, an odd behavior of Sophie that had to be investigated personally. It could be easily another conspiracy or indeed real course of events. There was a long road ahead of him as he was sure that his way of Hero was only starting. Glancing one more time at the ashes among tattered armor that were everything left from Robert, he steeled himself and whispered.
“I swear I will not waste this valuable opportunity, my friend!”
Looking around one more time, he resolutely started to descend from this fateful tower. There were things to be done, blood to be spilled and the world to be saved.