Tec Mage Chapter Fifty One: Not With A Bang Or A Whimper But A ....

Lord Bolt was sitting in his mansion, drumming his fingers along the chairs arm rest. His face was as calm as still water but his mind was erupting like a volcano.

He knew that there was someone plotting against him, too many things had gone wrong in such a small amount of time. He wasn't sure who was plotting against him but he knew there was someone.

His connections and businesses in the underworld had been greatly diminished. The police force had been incredibly efficient. In their jails were many of Lord Bolts minions. At this point in time he couldn't afford to get them out. The connection to him and them needed to be kept hidden. His gold and useful land was at a all time low and every attempt to find a way to gain power or extra gold had left him in even greater lose.

At this point in time he was thinking hard. Piecing together what he knew, Lord Bolt was trying to make a connection to all his loses.

In front of him was a big oak desk and on that desk rested many different ledgers. These ledges were all of the loses that happened in the last couple of weeks. Lord Bolt was examining each lose and making list on who was involved and who would make gains from his loses.

Lord Bolt had many enemies but he wouldn't allow them to live for long if they pose a threat to him. So while his list did have many names on it, only a couple of those names were feasible.

Lord Bolt's chubby hand reached out and grabbed a fist full of expensive sweets from a box lying on his desk. The hand full of sweets wondered to his face and then stopped. The anger in his mind, belly and soul made it so that he didn't want to eat anymore sweets. Suddenly the sweets in lord Bolt hands was casted away as the rage in his heart took form.

No one on his list was connected to all of his losses. He was at a lose, and was about to start flinging his things about when a knock rang out.

"WHO IS IT" Lord Bolt was filled with anger and he was about to take it out on who ever was at his door knocking.

In came a small hunched man. He was shaking from fear. Working for Lord Bolt only had one advantage and that was that their was a small chance that he would see his family. The pay was bad and everyday there was a chance he would get a beating from the guards but it was better to be on the side of the devil rather then be in his sights.

"OWL, WHAT DO YOU WANT" Lord Bolt threw the whole box of sweets at the man known as Owl.

Owl wasn't the mans name but the massive glasses on the bridge of his nose caused the look of massive eyes just like an owl. Owl was not going to correct Lord Bolt as he knew at the best of times it would earn a beating.

After being hit by the box, Owl paced a new ledger on Lord Bolts desk. 

"The information about the blacksmith who made the mithril crown, sir" Owl stood to the side and edged his way to the door.

Lord Bolt foul mood had reached a new time high but with a victim to take it out on he grinned evilly. The information about the blacksmith had turned up just in time. She would be his outlet.

Rubbing his fat hands together, Lord Bolt reached out and open the ledger. Reading the first line, Lord Bolt was a little disappointed. This blacksmith was a orphan and had no family. Lord Bolt found immense pleasure in pressuring people to do his biding by going after their family. Lord Bolt did take some satisfaction when he learnt that the family of the blacksmith had been burnt to death by the red hand assassins.

Reading on Lord Bolt found that the blacksmith was joint owner of the famous new shop called "The Four Jacks". Licking his lips, lord Bolt could find any number of ways to hurt the business.

He could set up a shop right next to the four jacks and under cut them in price or buy out one of the other owners and mess with their businesses that way.

Lord Bolt read on. It turned out that this blacksmith had connections. She was the sole maker and repairer of the police force equipment.

At this info, Lord Bolt brow frowned. He would need to be careful when interacting with the blacksmith, he didn't need the police force on his ass.

Lord Bolt was now reading more. There was a long list of property's that this blacksmith seemed to co-owned. It was very impressive, a girl of sixteen seemed to own a massive amount of property.

A nagging feeling was at the back of lord Bolts mind. His mind was trying to tell him something but Lord Bolt was unsure what it was.

His eyes fell on two properties that was listed under this blacksmiths control.

The first was the golem exchange, Lord Bolt was doubting if it was worth messing with this blacksmith. She had connections with the police force and co-own the golem exchange. She had a growing political power in the police force and with the golems she had muscle to back her up if she needed it.

The second property Lord Bolt noticed was the land that had been recently bought. This land only stood out because it was once owned by Lord Bolt. A chunk of his slums was sold so he could buy other land, but only now did he know who bought it.

That nagging feeling in the back of his mind was now a dull thud. What ever his brain was trying to tell him was now kicking and trying to be noticed.

Lord Bolt rubbed his brow but still carried on reading. Lord Bolt was now reading the list of accomplices. The list was vast but none of them were weak. There was no opening for Lord Bolt to take advantage.

The police force, golem exchange, the paladin gnolls, each one of these groups were too powerful to mess with.

Suddenly something clicked in Lord Bolts mind. Quickly he grabbed a ledger from his table and made notes.

Lord Bolts eyes widen and then half closed to form a sneer using his eyes.

"So that was how it was" Lord Bolt had made the connections.

This blacksmith known as Mary was the only person connected to all his loses in the last week or so.

The incarceration of the red hand assassins was a police matter but Mary was connected to the police force and she had a reason to hate the red hand assassins. It was also true that when the assassins were taken away, there was many golems to hold the assassins down. Golems only came from the golem exchange and Mary owned the golem exchange.

The land Lord Bolt had sold was bought up by Mary. Mary had connections with the paladin gnolls. Mary had also rented her buildings out to Lord Bolts tenants.

It all fell into place. Mary had the connections, power and money for all the bad things that had happen to Lord Bolt. Mary even had a massive motive, her family had been killed by the red hand assassins and by extension, Lord Bolt.

Owl had left the room long ago, which was fortunate because the damage Lord Bolt caused in that room would of extended to Owl.

The only thing apart from Lord Bolt to witness the destruction was a pair of small eyes belonging to a mana mouse. Quickly it ran away to inform what he had seen.

Mary was informed and so was every one connecting to her. Lord Bolt had figured out it was Mary that was behind his misfortune.

Days went by with out so much as Lord Bolt retaliating, even his location was a mystery. No matter how much no mana mouses looked for lord Bolt they couldn't find him. All the major lords were spied on, dirty bars and old hang outs of the scum of the city was constantly monitored. 

Another day passed with out any luck, that was until some new information from a old friend turned up. Both Mary and Dracken was shifting though their information when a gnoll that was working at the four jacks shop spoke to them.

"There seems to be a person asking for the two of you. he says his name is Kevein"

Mary and Dracken stood still. Kevein was the third apprentice to Atlas but because he wanted to study magic he left the group and took a apprentice to a battle mage in the magic guild.

Both Mary and Dracken hadn't spoken to Kevein since he left. Each person was too busy and they had drifted apart. They quickly moved to the shops entrance where they found Kevien standing there.

Kevein still looked the same as before except his equipment was different. He was wearing a long red robe with white trimming. In his left hand was a long staff and on his left side of his waist was a long sword. There was a single gauntlet on his right hand. Kevein's class was battle mage, the ironic thing was Kevien's equipment look some what like Atlas's.

Kevein's attitude before leaving Atlas's group was of a spoilt angry child but now he was more relaxed and had a aura of a scholar.

The three just looked at each other. No one seemed to know what to say to each other. Mary was about to say some thing when Kevein cut in front of her.

"Please listen, this isn't about us but rather about Shara" 

Shara was the lady who looked after the orphanage and children. She had looked after Dracken and Mary since they were young. She was close enough to be called sister. Mary and Dracken hadn't been to see her in six months and instantly felt guilty. With their business, training and the war they didn't have enough time to check on her.

Kevein on the other hand didn't have his own business and as he had left Atlas group he felt lonely and visited Shara regularly.

Kevien went on to explain that Shara had gone missing. Never before had Shara disappeared with out a trace, she was too busy with looking after the orphan children to just vanish.

Mary and Dracken felt a little guilty. Shara had basically raised them and looked after them like an older sister. They had focus on their own life and neglected Shara.

immediately the mana moues were sent out. Atlas had created even more mana mouses and now had four enchanted bags worth of mana mouses. Each bag had a small wave full of mana mouses. That wasn't all, a dark cloud descended on the city as thousands and thousands of mana sparrows joined in the search. Mana sparrows didn't need a bag to contain them. They were free to roam the sky. Most of the mana sparrows spent their time in the newly constructed temple of the small god of the land, Demeter the god of the wilds and nature.

With this many eyes looking for Shara it wouldn't take long to find her or that was what Mary and Dracken thought.

An hour passed and then another and finally after the third a mana mouse popped up and lead the trio to a small wooden hut.

All three of them was confused. Unlike Atlas they couldn't watch the memories of the mana mouse and had to follow them instead.

They entered the wooden hut only to be meet with nothing. It was a simply wooden hut with nothing inside. Just then the little mana mouse pushed into a small crack in the wooden floor and disappeared. Kevien used the gust spell to clean the floor of dust and dirt. Dracken brushed his fingers along the floor. When he found what he was looking for he dug his fingers in a gap in the wood floor and lifted a trap door to reveal a hidden passage.

This made the trio tense up. This wasn't a normal thing to find in a wooden hut and was definitely out of the norm for Shara.

All three of them looked at each other and with out a word equipped their armour and tools.

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Mary had the three layer amour. Leather, chain mail and plate mail. Each piece was enchanted to boost the greatest effects possible. In her hand were a two handed spiked great war hammer. You could be a damage dealer or a tank but being both was not effective but Mary was fine because while the three sets of armour would cause any normal NPC or player to be unable to wield a heavy weapon efficiently, Mary was fine because her equipment had enchantments to ease the weight.

Dracken was wearing a pitch black leather armour set made from the black giant lizards skin. This was made by the crafting gnolls and sported the best agility and defence possible for leather armour. There was also the twin blades in his hands and a belt with different types of potions hanging from his shoulder.

Kevien was still wearing the same things but was now casting buff spells on the group. When he had finished, he pulled the silver sword from his waist.

When the three had finished they enter the tunnel. The tunnel wasn't large but was pitch black. Dracken lead the way as he could see in the dark. Any light spells or torches would cause the trio to be instantly found out and because they didn't know what was going on they thought it was best to keep their presence hidden.

As they travelled though the tunnels the started to hear faint voices. The room up ahead held people in it. Dracken rushed ahead.

Dracken foot steps was as fast as a humming birds wings but no noise came from them. Shadows poured from the tunnels and wrapped them selfs around Dracken until he had completely disappeared.

Dracken silently moved into the room and positioned him self in the darkest part of the room.

In the room had several people, most were dirty but big brutes but there was two that stood out. One was Shara who was tied down on a chair. The other was lord Bolt.

Lord Bolt could only find Shara to kidnap and force Mary into submission. Mary's family was dead and all of her connections had massive strength. Lord Bolt had kidnapped Shara on a whim but he knew peoples hearts well. If Shara held no important to Mary then he would have his fun with her and then dispose of her. 

In the room the shadows faintly rippled but no one took any notice.

Shara's face was slightly bruised and a trickle of blood was dripping from her lip. Strangely on Shara's face there was anger and hate that wasn't mask with a hint of fear. A normal person in this state would fear for their lives but Shara face was twisted in a sneer.

This greatly displeased Lord Bolt as he now faced a women that wouldn't bend to his will, and if pushed to hard would gleefully break just to spite him. 

When Lord Bolt meet with such people he would just kill them. Torture did nothing and killing their family only caused the person to swear a death curse. Lord Bolt wouldn't chance any gods hearing the death curse. The gods were funny that way. You could cause the greatest evils and the gods may only take a slight interest in you but a death curse from a person who would see the world burn before they would bend to another's will had a higher chance of being answered by the gods.

It didn't matter to Lord Bolt. He would use Shara's name and cause Mary to submit and if that didn't work then maybe the orphans that Shara looked after would be a good start.

Just when Lord Bolt was about to talk to Shara, Mary came busting in.

With her spiked armour and great war hammer she looked like a vengeful Valkyrie. Her flaming red hair could be seen spilling from under her helmet 

everyone in the room turned to witness Mary entering. The goons nearest to the entrance was lifted off their feet when Mary swung without warning. The war hammer that hit crushed their chests. They died before they hit the floor.

A couple of quick thinking goons ran towards Mary with their weapons drawn. Each one was ready to kill without question. But before they could close the gap a torrent of flame burst behind Mary and covered the goons in a blazing flamethrower.

Kevein was matching Mary's movements and making sure his magic didn't hit her. With a staff in one hand causing a deep red flame coming from it's tip and a sword in the other that with each swing caused a small wind blade, none of the goons could come close to Mary's back.

After seeing this Lord Bolt face lost all colour. He couldn't match this power. He would use underhand techniques like torture of loved ones and loansharking with high rates that couldn't be paid off. In a straight up fight against powerful people he wasn't nearly as efficient.

Lord Bolt wobbled out of his chair like his life depended on it. The men he was using wouldn't last long against real warriors. Lord Bolt pulled a knife from his belt and rushed to where Shara was sitting. He was going to use her as a shield but the problem was she was no longer sitting where he had left her. The only thing there was two dead goons that had big back stab wounds.

Lord Bolt turned to witness the slaughter only to find that his captive was now standing behind the mage and a assassin had joined the fight.

A trio of specialist fighting against his untrained goons, it was easy to see what the out come was going to be

Quick as a flash, or as fast as a fat little man can move, Lord Bolt exit the room though a secret exit. He would escape now and retaliate later. He now knew who was attacking him and he would plan to take them down. For now he would hide him self next to the players that ruled this city.

As he passed though the secret tunnel and escaping the battle behind him, he stepped in something soft

"squeak"

Lord Bolt had stepped on something alive. In disgust Lord Bolt scrapped his shoe on a stone to get ride of what ever he stepped on. A faint blue mist was coming off Lord Bolt shoe.

"What the hell is this" thought Lord Bolt.

As Lord Bolt wobbled his way though the exit he could hear many little pattering feet. The sound was disturbing, especially as the sound was increasing.

Sweat was pouring of his brow and he was short of breath. Pulling out his handkerchief Lord Bolt fumbled and dropped the silk handkerchief. Before he could bend over and pick it up a swift faint blue shadow snatched the cloth and ran away.

This startled Lord Bolt but he couldn't afford to slow down and so he carried on as fast as he could.

The darkness of the escape route was quite taxing. A normal man would be able to travel though the secret passage with ease but Lord Bolt had a easy life with rich food and fatty sweets, thus his bulky body kept rubbing up on the sides.

The sweat was leaking off his face now but most of it was cold sweat. The soft pattering of tiny feet seemed to be all around him. He was being followed but because of the darkness he was unable to see. The unforeseen was a terrible thing on a mind. Lord Bolt mind was filling the gaps. Many small and terrible monsters passed though his mind.

Lord Bolt was so scared that he stumbled and fell forwards. With his hands outstretched to break his fall, his hands meet with something soft.

"squeak" 

In Lord Bolt hands something moved and then evaporated in to nothing.

Stumbling to his feet Lord Bolt rubbed his hands on his clothes trying to rub off what ever it was that was on them. 

With sharp breaths Lord Bolt rushed ahead. So quick was his movement that Lord Bolt slammed into the wall that was the end of the exit. Blood tricked down his face as his nose bleed.

As fast as he could Lord Bolt reached up and pushed away the trap door that was the exit.

At this point in time Lord Bolt did something he would regret for the rest of his life. He looked back.

The walls, floors and ceilings were packed with translucent blue mice. Each one had it's mouth open and the teeth of each little mouse was gnashing towards Lord Bolt. Each mouse eyes was twisted in fierce anger from the two little mice that Lord Bolt had accidentally killed.

They were Atlas mana mouses. Each mouse had the mentality of a tiger. Alone they weren't much but together they could take on the world and with two of their own being killed they were furious.

Lord Bolt dashed though the trap door with out taking his eyes off the mana mouses. With a thump Lord Bolt pushed the door close and hopped on it. He swore to him self.

Never did he feel like he was at deaths door more than he did today. He had just escaped death. With a deep breath, Lord Bolt laughed and cried at the same time.

Joy and fear washed over him and slowly he climbed to his feet. Shaking from fear, Lord Bolt felt like he had survived. He was now in a little wooden hut and all he had to do was walk out where there was many people who would protect a Lord.

Just then Lord Bolt froze on the spot. He had just heard a tiny squeak. Slowly he turn on the spot and peered at the front door.

He was no longer laughing and his face was cold but lax. Tears rolled down his face as he seemed to except what was about to happen.

The half of the room that had the front door was packed with tiny little translucent blue mice. Again each one was gnashing towards Lord Bolt.

Lord Bolt took a couple steps back but this made it even worst as the trap door flung up and a wave of blue ghost like mice poured in.

The screams coming from the wooden hut caused many people to avoid it at all cost. The high pitched women screams made every one feel that a great horror had happened. 

Some days latter priests came to exorcist the place but couldn't find anything wrong. The only person who knew what had happen to Lord Bolt was Atlas as a red diamond had formed on his forehead.

Lord Bolt was dead. He didn't die with a bang or a whimper but had been torn apart with a squeak.  

End Of Chapter Fifty One

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Hi all.

This chapter is dedicated to zimbimbaroo for sending me a message to see if i was alright.

I am fine

I started a new job and there has been so many new translation of great stories that I've had no time to read them and write (as well as work).

So send your love to zimbimbaroo for reminding me that i have some responsibility to this story

I hope you enjoy

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How do i change the title of this chapter