Chapter Eighty-Four: Visitors…
“Take a deep breath and relax. This is just a trial run. You won’t hurt me even more if you make a mistake here or there. The Orb already has most of my mana pathways mapped out, so you don’t have to worry about that. The command you have gained over your mana with the past few months of practice is more than sufficient for this task. Just focus on the feeling of moving mana as it moves through my channels. Moving mana through someone else’s body can feel a bit odd at first if you aren’t used to it. Try to get used to it as best as you can but also pace yourself. The trial run won’t take that long but the real thing will. Remember your control and precision exercises. They’ll help you keep a sustainable pace so that you don’t run out of mana midway.”
Alena, his teacher, was lying naked on her bed within her cave. Unlike had been the case many times in the past, this time, it wasn’t for any sexual purposes. Instead, this would be the first practice run of how Greg would go about dissolving all of her mana pathways. It would be a lie if Greg said that he wasn’t nervous at all about the procedure they were about to embark on. Still, he wasn’t anywhere near as worried as his teacher might think him to be. The reason for his confidence wasn’t hubris, but the fact that he knew his teacher’s body inside out… literally.
During his ascension, Morpheus had taken Greg over for the first time. Olivia’s true self had come down to investigate and because of her actions, Morpheus had taken a good look at Alena, Greg’s teacher. The deity’s gaze hadn’t just landed on her outward appearance. Level by level, he had gone from the external to her internal organs, to her spirit body, to her very soul. And all this information had been indelibly burned into Greg’s memory. Even as he was about to start sending his mana through his teacher’s mana pathways, Greg wasn’t going in blind. Even without the glass orb that showed the image of his teacher’s mana pathways mapped out, Greg could have done this with almost perfect accuracy.
That being said, Greg didn’t try to correct his teacher’s assumptions. Greg knew that Olivia and by extension, her true self, only knew that the eyes were a contact point between Greg and the ‘elder’. What abilities his eyes had gained as a result of this connection, however, remained a mystery to them. Greg had no desire to change this state of things. The events of two months prior had shown him that the Primordial could not be trusted. If the benefits of harming Greg outweighed those of keeping him alive, Greg would die without even knowing how or why. Morpheus had succeeded in getting her to back off using a ruse. Nevertheless, Greg knew that it was fleeting. Eventually, Olivia’s true self would figure out that something was wrong, and when that day came, as Morpheus had warned him, he better be ready.
This was why he hadn’t revealed to either his teacher or his familiar what his eyes could do. Neither one of the two abilities his eyes currently had was combat-oriented. Both perfect recall and appraisal were more utility abilities. Used in the right way, they could be of strategic value, but in a direct fight, they would be of very little use. But even more than the particular abilities, Greg wanted to keep even the fact that the eyes could have abilities secret. Chances are that the stronger he got, the more abilities Morpheus would be able to unleash. These would be Greg’s secret arsenal against Olivia and her true self if they ever turned on him.
Taking a deep breath, Greg nodded to his teacher with a resolute expression on his face before bringing his hands to hover over her wrist. Gathering his mana in his palms, Greg sent a tentative thread into the mana pathway that he knew ran through there. This wasn’t a random choice on his part. Apart from the fact that it was the most still-intact pathway of those in her arm, it also was the path with the fewest deviations before reaching her mana core. Fragile as this centerpiece of her mana circulation system was, Greg would inevitably have to deal with it, so he planned to get familiar and comfortable with it as early as possible.
From the very first moment he sent his mana into his teacher’s mana pathways, Greg realized that this would be a lot harder than he’d been thinking. If his teacher hadn’t helped him relentlessly train control of his mana, Greg was certain that his mana would have been caught up in the much stronger flow of his teacher’s mana. Injured as she was, she was still the equivalent of a third-tier mage. Not only was her mana more concentrated but the flow of it within her mana pathways, was far stronger than what Greg had been anticipating. After his ascension, they had focused solely on increasing the concentration of his mana to the same level as that of a third-tier mage, thus far, Greg was only halfway between the second and third tier in terms of mana concentration. Which, Greg suspected, was the only reason his mana wasn’t immediately swept away in his teacher’s more powerful flow. Greg had to hold the position for almost half a minute before he was used to the strength of her mana flow. When he finally was confident he could hold together his mana, a grueling three hours of trying to navigate around his teacher’s mana pathways began.
Despite the struggle of the exercise, Greg learned a few things from the practice run that made the whole exercise more than worth it. The first was that his assumption was wrong. Greg began navigating through his teacher’s mana pathways using her most intact mana pathways thinking that they would be the easiest to navigate. The reverse turned out to be the case. In the places where her mana still moved freely, Greg had to grit his teeth to keep from losing control of his mana. But in the places where her mana pathways were badly damaged and her mana couldn’t as easily move, Greg could more easily navigate. In the places where her pathways were completely dead, Greg had free rein to move however he wished.
The other thing that Greg learned was that it would be almost impossible to dissolve his teacher’s mana pathways in one session. Wrecked as they were, his teacher’s mana pathways weren’t those of a third-tier mage, but a seventh-tier mage. Even to himself, this sounded rather obvious. But for whatever reason, Greg had been assuming that they’d be similar to those of a third-tier mage given that this was the amount of power she was capable of displaying. That assumption, however, was torn to bits when Greg tested the strength of her mana pathways on a section that was already completely dead. Trying to use his mana to push through the dead wall had been like trying to cut through extremely tough leather with a blunt knife. With enough time and bull-headed determination, he’d eventually get through it, but it was certain to take everything he could throw at it. With this in mind, Greg could see the whole process taking about a week to complete. One day for each limb, one for her head, and two for her torso which had the highest concentration of mana pathways. The only problem with this approach was that Greg wasn’t certain how stable the rest of her mana circulation system would be once he started cutting parts off.
“I can think of a number of potions that will weaken the walls of my mana pathways,” The healer spoke when Greg shared his findings and conclusions with her. “If we keep increasing the concentration of your mana and lower the strength of my mana pathways, I believe we can cut that time in half. Also, I suspect you have mana-draining crystals in your Magic Shop. If you have the tier three version, It’ll be enough to leave me with almost no mana. If you don’t have them, there are formations that can still achieve the same result, your familiar can operate it while you’re working. That way you won’t have to fight against my mana when dissolving my mana pathways,” She continued to list out ideas for tackling the challenges Greg had discovered. “There is some risk to doing things this way though. The potion that weakens my mana pathways will also weaken the walls of my mana core. This means that I can’t be allowed to accumulate any mana lest it be unable to handle the strain and collapse. Meaning that once we begin, there is no stopping until the whole process is done,” She laid out.
Greg couldn’t help but purse his lips. With the solutions that the healer had just come up with, the goal was starting to seem a bit more achievable. Greg, however, wasn’t deluded, it still would be a very daunting task to undertake. If he didn’t put in every bit of effort that he could muster, then chances are that he would fail. Failure in this case would have disastrous, if not outright fatal consequences. “We should do this once a week even as we continue to increase the concentration of my mana,” Greg suggested. Grueling as the task had been, Greg had learned a lot from it. He knew that the more practically familiar he was with the task, the higher his chances of success in the endeavor.
“Yeah, it’ll be crucial for you to…” The healer who’d been nodding in agreement suddenly paused mid-statement as if something had caught her attention. She waved her hand and four different tokens appeared in the air before her. Each one of them was flashing a bright white before regaining their usual silvery color in quick succession. Now that they were out of his teacher’s storage rings, Greg could feel the small pulses they produced. Greg wasn’t sure what it was about them, but they seemed to have something attention-grabbing about them. Even if you were entirely focused on something else at the time they started flashing, the pulses would make it so that you couldn’t help but turn to look at their source.
“Is something wrong?” Greg couldn’t help but ask when he noted the frown that appeared on his teacher’s face.
“These are the tokens given to the three families and the former Town-head,” She answered causing a bad feeling to come over Greg as he immediately thought of his family. Just what exactly would cause all three families plus the former Town-head to call the healer to their aid?
His teacher who’d been sitting on the edge of the bed, rose to her feet, a dress materializing around her body. The first time Greg had seen her do this, he’d been surprised thinking that there was a spell one could cast to clothe themselves. His teacher, however, had revealed that they were robes that were enchanted to achieve this effect. According to her, they were common among mages. They’d first begun as a convenient way of saving both time and effort, but as with most things, this was forgotten. Now, among many mages, it was considered plebian to have to physically pull on one’s clothes.
Greg, who was already on his feet, turned ready to bolt for the teleportation room. While his teacher could directly teleport to where the tokens were, he had no such ability. If Greg wanted to get there, he’d need to make use of the teleportation room. Using Earth Step, Greg had already made it halfway there when he heard his teacher’s voice. “Wait,” She called out to him. Turning to her, Greg found that the frown on her face had deepened. “I’m coming with you,” She declared, even as she moved towards him. “I am not sure how or why, but something is interfering with my ability to teleport to the tokens,” She informed him, causing the worry in Greg to increase sharply. This meant that whatever was happening over in town had a magical aspect to it. Wasting no time, both of them moved to the teleportation room and jumped over.
Usually, when it wasn’t winter, the infirmary was largely empty save for one or two people who might have come down with something or been injured in some way. In recent months, this had changed as there was always a number of women waiting for Roka the healer to finish his lessons with the healer and come to ‘treat’ them. Today, however, Greg and his teacher found themselves sharing a look as they found the infirmary completely empty. Even Shalia, who was usually working on some task at her workstation was nowhere to be found. Greg didn’t hear any screams or sounds of distress, so he calmed down a bit. Still, the pace of his steps didn’t let up, if anything, they sped up.
The mystery of where everyone had gone was quickly solved as they came to the entrance of the infirmary to find a crowd of women, Shalia among them all looking up at the sky. Greg immediately studied their faces trying to see if there was something wrong that he needed to prepare himself for. But rather than fear, all Greg could see was shock and curiosity. The two of them stepped out of the infirmary and likewise looked up in the same direction that everyone else was. Greg was only vaguely aware that his jaw had dropped in complete shock as he found himself looking at a massive ship sailing through the air toward the town.
The thing was made out of a light brown wood and spotting a number of massive sails. From the way the body of the ship had been designed, one couldn’t help but think of an underwater creature of some kind. The massive sails only completed the picture by appearing like the creature’s fins. Even the smooth way it was moving through the air, seemed to exude the grace of a creature swimming through the air. Greg wasn’t sure whether he wasn’t giving enough credit to this marvel of magical engineering, or if it was something else but there seemed to be something more than simple mechanical adjustments in the way it moved.
Greg was about to say something to his teacher when he felt her hand land on his shoulder and clamp down tightly. Petite as the woman looked outwardly, it was almost impossible to imagine the amount of power she could generate. Greg couldn’t help but wince with discomfort at how tightly she clung to him. Having already turned to her, Greg immediately noticed the grim look of recognition on her face. Her lips moved, but Greg heard the words in his ear as if she had whispered them so no one else could hear. “Quick, get your family, we are leaving!” she instructed, and without offering any further explanation or even waiting to see if Greg would comply, she turned and disappeared back into the infirmary…
***
Sanz Lothar stood calmly on the deck of the airship called Titan looking through the runic lens at the pool of black liquid near the top of the mountain. The runic lens was just a convex lens ringed with a metal band around the edge that was inlaid with various runes. Depending on how much mana one sent onto the metal, they could study the wings of a fly from up to ten kilometers away. Lothar had the appearance of a young man no older than twenty cycles. In truth, he was seventy cycles in age. His short spiky flame-red hair was the first indication one would get of his fire affinity. Pulling the lens away from his right eye, the second indication of his high fire affinity was revealed. Like two burning coals, his irises were a bright amber color. Looking at the stony expression on his face, one would have to be a mind mage to figure out the raging excitement he was barely suppressing. Letting out a long slow exhale, he turned and walked back into the airship.
The crew that was manning the ship was usually found several floors below deck on the navigation floor, just above the luggage and cargo floor. Depending on the size of the ship, anywhere from one up to three floors above the navigation room will be the passenger floors. On this ship, there were only two floors, not that they were needed, there were only five passengers on board. Here as with most other areas of life, people were stratified according to their class. The higher one’s wealth, social standing, political influence, or tier as a mage, the lower the floor they occupied. The reason was simple, security. Given how heavily reinforced the bodies of these airships were, it was almost impossible to breach them. The only chance raiders and pirates had of taking over such airships without expending an inordinate amount of firepower, was to actually board the deck and go down floor by floor. The deeper one was inside the ship, the more hurdles a potential invader would have to face before they got to you.
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A floor above that of the passenger floors was the servants’ floor. Every category of servant from the ship’s maids and cooks to the passengers' personal maids, if they had them, would be found on this floor. On the final floor above that of the servants' and just below the deck, is the security floor. On this floor, two groups stayed side by side, the ship security and the guards for any passengers that could afford it. The ship’s security would fight to protect the passengers of the ship if they had the space to do so, but it was common knowledge that their first priority was to protect the ship itself first. The only people you could count on to protect you in case something went wrong was a guard that you had personally hired.
Lothar was a second-tier mage himself but the family had assigned three third-tier mages as his personal guards so he wasn’t worried about security. Two followed him around out in the open while the third always remained hidden as an element of surprise. Looking at this, one would believe that he was a prized scion of his family. Only he knew that he was as much their prisoner as he was their master. They would answer to him and do whatever he asked of them. He, however, wasn’t deceived. He knew that in reality, they only answered to his so-called father. And given how much that man hated him, Lothar doubted that his well-being was their primary concern.
“Wait outside,” he calmly stated even as he walked into his office on the upper of the two passenger floors in the airship. Four of the five passengers on the airship occupied this floor. The fifth passenger on the airship occupied the lower passenger floor by herself. Given that she was a fifth-tier mage, no one on board was anywhere near crazy enough to contest the fact that she had a whole floor to herself. Seating behind the large desk that dominated one side of the room, Lothar reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a small crystal that was attuned to him. This was a secure messaging crystal that he’d obtained from the temple of Ozan, the farseeing eye. It had taken a lot of time and money for Lothar to forge a connection with one of its high priestesses. Getting this little prophecy out of her had cost him twice that much.
Lothar had always been gifted from birth. But the gods, fate, or whatever else people believe is out there is a cruel bastard. What it gives with one hand, it takes with another. His high affinity with the fire element made it so that his ascension both to the first tier and subsequently to the second tier had been far faster than any of his peers. But that’s when the problem revealed itself. In a cruel twist of fate, He discovered that he had a mana-averse body. With the little amount of mana that first-tier mages had, the problem had been all but undetectable. When he rose to the second tier, however, the issues began. Migraines whenever he meditated longer than a few minutes. The amount of mana he could gather into his core dropped to a fraction of what it once was. Worst of all, any time he tried to cast an even moderately powerful spell, he would pass out. Given his precarious position within his family, Lothar knew that his life would be forfeit if it was discovered. And so Lothar had done all he could to keep this a secret from everyone as he sought a solution of some kind. A decade of fruitless and increasingly desperate efforts to find a cure had led him here
“In the far reaches of the Eldaria region lies the solution to what ails you. However, take care not to provoke the visitor from another world, lest you die!”
The sound of the priestess played out in Lothar’s mind from the message crystal. Because of this short prophecy, Lothar had spent the past two months on this ship flying all over the remote regions of the Eldaria region looking for signs that it was true. The high priestesses of the temple of Ozan were known for their accurate prophecies. Still, after everything he'd been through, Lothar couldn’t help the seed of doubt that had been eating away at him. With the first part having come true, however, Lothar couldn’t help but focus on the last part.
What did the priestess mean by a visitor from another world?
No one knew for sure how it was they of their revelations as it was a closely guarded secret of the temple. Lothar, however, had heard rumors that they went into a trance and got possessed by an external entity that spoke through them. In other words, to try and ask them what their prophecies meant was an exercise in futility. The popular refrain among their priestesses was that ‘the eyes only see, they do not speak of what they see'. Anyone who got a prophecy from them knew that they’d only get the prophecy, not the interpretation of it.
This was why Lothar hadn’t bothered asking the priestess to be more specific as to which area to look in. Instead, he had set off to search for it himself. Now that the first part had been proven to be true, Lothar couldn’t help but place much more weight on the latter part of the prophecy. If he wasn’t careful, there was a real chance he could die in this backwater place. Both his possible salvation and damnation lay here. The question he needed to answer was who? To preserve his life, Lothar would have to figure out who this visitor from another world was and then do all he could to either avoid or stay in their good graces.
“The captain is here to see you,” a round orb on the large table glowed before transmitting the voice of one of the guards he'd left outside.
Putting the crystal away once more, Lothar answered. “Let him in.”
Barely a second later, the door to the room opened, and in walked an older gentleman with a greying head of hair marked by a rather large bald spot. Wrapped around the man’s neck like some bizarre scarf was a long slender snake with amethyst scales. Every once in a while, the snake would raise its head to hiss softly in the man’s ear. And though he never gave any indication of it, Lothar suspected that the man knew exactly what the snake was saying. This man, Brenar, had been the captain of the titan for the past hundred and fifty or so years. A third-tier beast-tamer mage with no hope of progression, he’d stopped pursuing ascension long ago and instead chosen to pursue his passion for sailing through the skies.
“Captain,” Lothar rose to greet the man. Given that he was the man’s employer, Lothar wasn’t really required to rise to his feet. Lothar, however, had long since learned that it was easier to work with people if you flattered them a bit.
“Young Master, the teleportation disruption protocols have been deployed,” He reported garnering a nod of approval from Lothar. Most airships had space distortion formations on them to prevent raiders from being able to teleport directly onto them. However, only a few of them could create a field around them that would prevent teleportation for a certain range around the airship. In most cities, this feature was usually left unused as it would disrupt a lot of the city’s operations. Out here on the ass end of nowhere, however, no one would be affected by it. The reason Lothar wanted teleportation into and out of the area restricted was because he didn’t want news of what he’d found here to get back to his father before he’d had the chance to make full use of it. His guards wouldn’t ditch their duties to protect him, Lothar, however, didn’t harbor any delusions that his father hadn’t placed spies around him. If he learned that he’d found what he was after, Lothar wouldn’t put it past the man to try and sabotage him somehow.
“We’ve been on the move for two months out of the three months you paid for. Our supplies will last for the remaining month but we’ll have to leave a day or two before the month is over if we don’t want to end up traveling on an empty stomach,” The captain continued to report their current status.
“There is a whole forest under us, Captain. Send your men down to hunt and supplement what provisions we currently have,” He directed. While he was amicable when he needed to be, he also didn’t shy away from using his authority whenever the situation called for it.
The captain’s lips pressed together into a thin line, not too enthusiastic about the proposal “The Titan prides itself in offering a certain quality of service. If we are forced to hunt the creatures around here, we can no longer guarantee that quality,” He stated.
“Keep Mage Shia’s food at the usual quality. Everyone else will make do,” Lothar answered the man. Known for her irascibility, Lothar didn’t want to give the fifth-tier mage any reason to be displeased with him. If she killed him, far from being displeased with her, his father would probably reward the woman. Lothar listened to the rest of the Captain’s report in silence and when nothing of significance was mentioned, he dismissed the man. “Captain,” Lothar called out just as the man was reaching for the door ready to walk out. “Control your men. They are not to antagonize or make enemies of the local population. Do you understand?”
The older man’s eyebrows rose in surprise not only at the unusual instruction but also the firmness with which it was given. Given that it was his life on the line, however, Lothar wouldn’t compromise on this point. Whoever this visitor from another world was, there would be little chance of Lothar provoking him if he provoked no one to begin with. Seeing how serious he was, the captain nodded in acquiescence before pulling the door open and walking out.
Before the door could swing fully closed behind the captain, a dainty hand reached out and pushed it back open. Lothar had to carefully school his features not to let his displeasure show as his sister, or more accurately, his stepsister, walked into the room. Like him, his sister barely looked a day over twenty cycles, only in her case, this was actually the case. Unlike him, Deina's hair was long and completely black, the same color that their father’s had been before it started turning white. Her eyes were a bright hazel, and cold as always. Lothar couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen any warmth in his stepsister’s gaze. There wasn’t any open hostility or animosity in her eyes either. Deina was far too cunning to so openly wear her emotions on her sleeve. Instead, Lothar knew that like a viper, she was waiting. Waiting for a moment of weakness or vulnerability. If he was ever foolish enough to present her with one, he’d die without knowing how.
Behind Deina were two others, A young woman the same age as Deina was the first to step into the office after her. Her curly, straw blonde hair framed her lightly freckled face which almost always spotted a warm smile. This was Irena, a good friend of his sister and his fiancé. Lothar hated the fact that Deina and Irena were so close, but there was little he could do about it. It took a good amount of self-control on his part to keep from ogling her generous curves and the hypnotic sway of her hips as she moved to take one of the two seats before him.
The third and final member of this group ran into the room with the same endless energy that he seemed to have in all things that he did. “Brother!” Unlike the two women, the little eight-year-old boy ran around the desk and threw his hands around Lothar. A smile crossed Lothar’s lips as he looked down at the little boy. His heart was both glad and bitter at the sight of him. Glad because out of everyone in his family, this boy was the only one who genuinely loved him. Lothar’s own mother had never shown outright hatred toward him, if anything, she’d always gone out of her way to do right by him. Still, Lothar could see it. The quiet resentment that shone through the woman’s eyes in her more unguarded moments. His mother didn’t hate him, but Lothar was acutely aware, she didn’t love him either. Instead, it was solely this boy, not his kin by blood, who loved him. Despite the indifference or even outright hatred, of the rest of his family, this little boy had always loved him with the kind of pure love only young children could show. The bitterness, however, came from that same love. From the knowledge, that eventually, it would turn to the same hatred in the same way that Deina’s love had.
“Konan,” Lothar spoke the boy’s name even as he ruffled the boy’s hair. “Are you enjoying the trip so far?” He asked.
“Sister won’t let me come train with you,” the boy said pouting.
Lothar couldn’t help but glance at Deina. The girl didn’t flinch or try to explain herself, instead, she just held his gaze in that same unfeeling way she always did. Lothar turned to look down at the boy who was looking up at him hopefully. “Well, have you finished your language lessons with her?” he asked, carefully keeping his voice neutral.
The boy groaned, his face expressing his clear boredom with the lessons. “But they are so boring!” He lamented.
“Only Orcs pride themselves in their ignorance of anything other than how to swing a sword! And you, Sanz Konan, are no Orc, are you now?” Lothar teased the boy.
Shaking his head, the boy glumly answered, “I guess not.”
“Then work hard and finish your lessons with Deina. I’ll be waiting to train with you,” He said with a smile. “Now, why don’t you let me speak with Deina and Irena for a bit,” He asked.
“Will you train with me after” The boy questioned, clear longing in his voice.
“Tomorrow, okay?” he deflected.
“Do you promise?” Konan persisted.
Suppressing the urge to sigh, Lothar nodded in acquiescence. It stung his heart to see the smile that bloomed on Konan's face at the promise. “Now run along,” He said to the boy.
Reluctantly, the boy let go and made his way back out of the room. The smile on Lothar’s face lasted right up until Konan was past the door. With a carefully neutral expression, he turned to the two women before him. “Are you finally going to tell us why you brought us all the way out here?” Deina was the first to break the silence. As was usual whenever she spoke to him, her voice was devoid of any emotion.
“No,” Lothar answered in an equally flat tone. “And might I remind you that you are the one who chose to join me on this voyage. I didn’t bring you anywhere,” Lothar added. Both of them knew that it was probably their father who insisted that she come on this voyage, most likely as his spy. Otherwise, Deina would sooner drown herself than voluntarily spend time with him.
“You had us summoned, Lothar,” This time it was the cheery voice of his fiancé that rang out. No fool herself, Irena knew of the glacial relationship between himself and his sister. She, however, had long since made it clear that she wouldn’t be taking any sides in this. Deina had been her friend for as long as she could remember, and Lothar was her fiancé, she wouldn’t be turned against either one. “Surely it wasn’t to reiterate that you wouldn’t be telling us anything.
“You are right. I didn’t have you summoned to reiterate the secret nature of my mission. I had you both come so I could pass a word of caution to the two of you,” He replied, causing the two of them to grow more serious. “We are not safe. Be careful of the way you interact with those on this mountain. I don’t know who or what it is, but there is a hidden danger on this mountain that to cross will mean death!” Lothar didn’t beat about the bush and spoke directly to his reason for having them summoned. The prophecy was meant for him alone, so in a way, his words were a lie. This, however, wouldn’t be the first time a whole group had been eliminated because of the foolish actions of a few among them. Lothar had no desire to die, least of all through no fault of his own.
In spite of themselves, the two women couldn’t help but frown as they took in his words. Given that the fifth-tier mage on the floor beneath them was his sister’s master, the two women knew that Lothar wouldn’t dare threaten Deina. He also had no reason to threaten his own fiancé so whatever danger he was warning them of wasn’t coming from him. And if he felt the need to warn them despite having a fifth-tier mage on board, it couldn’t be an insignificant danger. “If you are foolish and get yourself in trouble, know that this voyage will not be compromised for your sake. I will leave you behind if I have to. Should you die, I will bring news of your passing home. You will probably be avenged, just not by me!” He spoke candidly.
She might have hated him, but even his sister could tell when he was being completely serious. “Now,” Lothar said rising to his feet. “How about we go introduce ourselves to the locals,” He offered with a neutral smile…