《The Wizard's Obsession》


 The Beginning

    "The evil wizard lived in the grandest castle. He ate the finest food and wore the most extravagant clothes. His room was adorned with the finest of jewels and treasures. His might surpassed everyone else''s and no one had more wealth than him.


    One day when he was out sightseeing, he caught a sight of the rose princess. She had beauty that triumphed all others'' and the evil wizard fell for her at that very moment. ''She must belong to me'' he decided and so he took her away and locked her in his castle."


    Vincent read the story to his mother from the worn out book. He would always read stories to his mother and she would listen to him with a smile on her face. She would praise him and then talk about how proud she was of him and how much she loved him. But she didn''t have the usual smile on her face. She looked very sick and even someone with little to no medical knowledge or expertise could see that her condition was only getting worse.


    Vincent, like always waited for his mother to say how the knight who would later come to rescue the rose princess and slay the evil wizard was like her brave little son. Smart and courageous. But the words he was expecting never left her lips. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Tears streamed down her face as she stifled her cries and spoke, "Being the evil wizard must be nice. He can eat delicious food, wear luxurious clothes and doesn''t have to worry about anything. His children won''t have hard time as well. I am sorry Vincent. Mama can''t give you anything. Mama doesn''t have anything to give you at all. I can''t even stay by your side anymore. Promise mama that you will live happily."


    Vincent felt a stabbing pain in his chest. His mother was always smiling and cheerful. She was his entire world and he felt helpless as he watched her suffer. They didn''t have any money for medicine. He hated how poor they were. He hated how weak he was. He clenched his fists and promised her, "I will live just like the evil wizard did. I will be even stronger than him and amass much more wealth. Mama doesn''t have to worry. Mama gave me everything that I have ever had. Please don''t cry."


    Her expression softened and her eyes were filled with love as she looked at him. She nodded, "Mama believes in you. You will grow up to be very strong and wealthy. Mama isn''t worrying anymore. Mama is so happy that you came into mama''s life. You are my treasure. The most valuable treasure in the whole world. I love you."


    She hugged him as he cried in her arms. He slowly fell into a deep slumber embraced by her warmth. She too closed her eyes that had grown heavy and held him tighter for she knew she wouldn''t wake up the next day. The lamp went out and darkness covered the room. Two sets of breaths could be heard until one grew weaker and eventually went quiet.

 Resolve (1)

    A carriage was making its way towards Plumeria village escorted by two mounted men. They wore gambeson and had a bastard sword sheathed on the scabbard hanging off of their belt.


    A young man mounted on the horse complained to his older companion, "It''s too hot. I feel like my padded armor''s getting heavier by absorbing all the sweat I am letting out."


    "Just bear with it. We aren''t too far from our destination. We will be spending the night there. You will be grateful for your gear when we set out early tomorrow and its freezing cold."


    The young man hushed his voice and asked. "Is it true that we are escorting the baron''s bastard son? I am surprised he has one given how scary the lady is. If I had a wife even half as scary as her, I would feel terrified even checking out other women. Forget about doing the deed and having a child."


    "Tsk tsk.... what do you know. The lady sent the woman away when she was found to be pregnant with the baron''s child. I had just joined the castle guards then. The lady made a huge scene and the baron had to beg her to even let the still pregnant woman leave alive."


    "But the other nobles have tons of bastard children. Don''t the kids still get cared for by the them? I heard that it was pretty normal for them to marry more than one partner."


    "That is certainly the case for most nobles. But our lord is just a small baron while the lady is the daughter of Count Crestel. She has got him in a vice grip. I am surprised that the baron actually mustered enough courage to do such things behind the lady''s back."


    The man driving the carriage scrunched his brows and spoke. "To think that you two would dare talk about our lord in such a manner. Focus on the task entrusted to you."


    The older man glared at the younger one before turning to the carriage driver and spoke in an ingratiating manner, "Hehe Mr. Collins, we were just making small talk and it slipped out. Hope you don''t talk about it to Steward Collins. In return I will treat you to some excellent alcohol and a woman when we get to the town tomorrow."


    The carriage driver seemed pleased with the arrangement. "Why would I tell my father about such little matters. Mr. Rusell and I are close friends after all. We should definitely head to interesting places in the town together."If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The three men started chatting to pass time as the scenery was nothing but the same dull greenery and some empty patches of land. They soon reached Plumeria village where they were welcomed by the official supervising the village. He lead the group to a house with a beautiful small garden beside it.


    The official knocked on the door and waited patiently. The door was opened by a young boy no older than 10. He had black hair and brown eyes that looked a little too deep to be that of a child. Pale skin and pretty features adorned his face. He looked at the people the official brought over and invited them inside.


    "You must be Vincent. Steward Collins said that miss Maya was a very beautiful woman. Looking at you, I can indeed say that the steward wasn''t lying. I am Ron Collins. I''ve been instructed to escort you to the town of Istria by the baron."


    Vincent didn''t really care about these men initially but he developed a favorable impression of Ron as he praised his mother for being beautiful and he couldn''t have agreed with him more. He nodded to Ron and asked, "When do we set out?"


    "We will set out early morning tomorrow. It will be very cold when we leave. I hope you will dress accordingly. Are you well prepared Vincent?"


    "I will be ready before sunrise. You don''t have to worry about my preparations. I believe official Stud has arranged for your lodging and foods. It will be sundown soon. You guys should head over now."


    The official lead Ron and two guards away. Vincent sighed as he got up and headed to his room. He looked at everything as he reminisced about the times with his mother. A sudden loneliness came over him. He shrugged it off and began packing for his journey one by one until he came across a deck of playing cards. He caressed it lovingly as he put it away very carefully.


    The next morning, Ron came over to pick up Vincent only to find him standing in front of a white stone in the back of the house. The boy had a bunch of Plumeria flowers in his hand which he slowly placed in front of the stone. Ron surmised that stone must be the mark for the grave of Vincent''s mother. He waited for kid to be done before helping him move his things to the carriage.


    "Vincent you sure have a lot of books. It''s surprising for a boy your age to enjoy reading so much. Seems like you will grow up to be very smart."


    "Books make good friends. Mother said that reading will help me grow up to become a reliable man."


    "Haha your mother sure did say some wise things. Such a pity that she left the world so early. I would have liked to meet her for myself. I have heard a lot about her. All good things of course."


    Vincent started finding Ron to be pleasant to talk to the more he spoke with him. Soon the two guards joined them as they left for the town of Istria. Vincent looked back at the house where he lived with his mother for the past 9 years and felt a bit reluctant to leave. He steeled his heart as he remembered his promise to his mother and watched the Plumeria village grow smaller as it eventually disappeared from his sight.

 Resolve (2)

    Vincent sat beside Ron as he watched the sceneries pass him by. It was a new experience for him who had never left the village his whole life. He had read a lot about the vast world. He would imagine the beautiful world as he the read books'' vivid descriptions. Never had he once expected that the world was even more magnificent than he could have ever visualized.


    Ron looked at Vincent and spoke, "Do you like these sights? I don''t really think there is anything to appreciate about them though. Just dull greeneries and empty fields. There are a lot more pretty sights after we cross Nemoss lake."


    "I like the sights here. Everything is unfamiliar and fresh. So many things I''ve never read about or seen before. The sounds the birds make are different from the ones I am used to. The flowers have different colors. The trees are thicker and taller than the ones back in Plumeria village."


    "I see. That''s good I guess. We will probably stop for a while to have lunch. It will be noon soon. After that we should reach the village by Nemoss lake in 4 hours if we hurry. We will spend the night there. Hopefully, we won''t encounter any bandits on the way. It''s getting a bit dangerous lately on these paths."


    "Bandits? Will they kill us if we come across them? I heard that bandits are ruthless criminals who would do anything to get what they want."


    "Hmmm.... I don''t think they will kill us. Most bandits are but poor folks who couldn''t make a proper living and resorted to banditry. Few of them are actually strong and their strength lies in their numbers. Most of them will just rob the victims and let them go but there are indeed a few ruthless ones who will do things far worse than just kill their victims."


    "Things worse than killing their victims? What could possibly be worse than death?"


    "Let''s see.... I have heard some bandits like to torture their victims before killing them. The women have it tougher since it is not uncommon for the bandits to violate them. The red vulture, a bandit group earned that name as they raised some red vultures who like to feast on their prey whilst they are still alive."


    Vincent paled from hearing the answer. He had never heard of such cruelty. He started to feel scared and wondered if leaving the peaceful village was the right choice. Ron saw Vincent looking scared. He smiled and reassured the kid whom he had taken a bit of liking to.


    "Don''t worry. Mr Rusell over here is an Iron tier swordsman who can use tier two martial skills. While the younger Stan might not be as impressive as Mr Rusell, he recently became iron tier swordsman as well. He cannot use any martial skills yet. Still just his physical capabilities will be more than enough to deal with small bandits. The big ones will just let us go after looking at the crest carved on the carriage. Even the fearless bandits won''t mess with a noble household unless they are crazy."


    Vincent checked the two mounted guards who didn''t look all that impressive. The younger was sweating like crazy while the older one got off his horse and headed towards some bush to piss. Warriors and mages were ranked according to their capabilities. An iron tier swordsman was someone who had trained his body beyond what a normal human could do. They could also start learning martial skills which allowed them to use the energy in their body to pull off ridiculous stunts. The glorious image he had in his mind when he read about warriors was instantly shattered. Still he felt relieved after hearing that the two guards were iron tier swordsmen.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Vincent would ask questions about things he saw on the road to Ron who would patiently answer to the best of his abilities. They traveled just like this until it was time to eat. The food was sandwiches given to them by the official before they left. The bread was bland and the ingredients sandwiched inside had lost their freshness. The meal was anything but tasty but no one complained as they were all hungry.


    Just as Vincent was getting on the carriage, he heard a whistling noise followed by a rattling sound. His legs went limp as he fell on his butt. He looked up and saw an arrow embedded in the carriage just a bit right of where he was standing. His breathing became erratic as he looked behind him only to see more arrows flying towards Ron and the two guards.


    The enemies seemed to be made up of people without much skill as none of the arrows found their mark. Vincent put strength into his legs as he tried to get inside the carriage where no arrows could harm him. He had only got up halfway when he heard another arrow whistling towards him and hit near the previous arrow''s spot. The horses started panicking and neighing. They would have run away had they not been tied to the nearby trees.


    Vincent finally managed to get inside the carriage as he watched Ron running towards the carriage as fast as he could. Rusell the older guard unsheathed his sword and ran towards the ambushers who had put away their bows and were approaching the group with weapons such as swords, axes, daggers and spears. He calmly dodged a thrust from a spear wielder before slashing at the shaft which got cut into two without much resistance. He then cut the man holding nothing but a short stick from his shoulder to his waist diagonally. The spear wielder fell down as his guts spilled out from the clean cut he received.


    The other ambushers were terrified of the scene as they abandoned all notions of fighting and ran away. Rusell just watched them flee while Stan gave chase for a while and returned after being reprimanded by Rusell. Vincent got off the carriage after hearing Rusell say that the bandits had fled. When he saw the corpse of the spear wielder with guts sticking out, his nose picked up the thick smell of blood and innards. He finally reacted as a strong urge to throw up took over him. Avoiding the gruesome sight by turning away, he tried to hold down the fluids climbing up his throat. He closed his eyes in an attempt to think about something else only to see the image of the man with his innards flowing out of his body.


    He bent over and vomited. Everything he had just ate was forcefully ejected out of his body. When there was no more food remaining, acidic gastric juice made its way out next. His stomach hurt and his vision was blurry from the tears that wet his eyes.


    Ron who had been trying his best not to throw up could not control himself and followed suit after looking at Vincent. He drank some water and offered some to Vincent. They then calmed the horses and proceeded towards the Nemoss lake.


    Vincent looked towards Ron who had regained his calm and asked, "Is it really fine to leave his body there?"


    "Let it be. He got what he deserved. A fitting end for a bandit. God punished him for his misdeeds. His companions will meet the same end. Bunch of cowards who ran away after a single comrade died."


    Vincent didn''t say anything. He stopped believing in god when none of his prayers were answered to when his mother was sick and he could only watch on helplessly as her condition worsened.


    ''God didn''t punish him. He was too weak when compared to Rusell. If he happened to be stronger, we would probably be the ones to have died. Those bandits were unskilled. Not a single one of their arrows hit and they ran away after just a single one died. Seems like it is true that most bandits are just poor folks who couldn''t make a living if they didn''t resort to banditry.''


    ''I need to get stronger. Strong enough to crush anything that comes in my way. I need to keep my promise to mama. I can''t afford to die. I WILL become strong.''


    Vincent set a goal for himself as he caressed the deck of playing cards he always kept with him.

 Master Rigrit (1)

    Vincent and company reached Istria the next evening. Vincent gazed at the 4 meters tall wall and the crowd lined up neatly by the huge city gates. There were several guards wearing padded armor and armed with short swords. They inspected the people outside and questioned them before allowing them entry. Ron ignored the people lining up outside and headed for the gate directly. Some of the people queuing up directed unfriendly gazes his way but turned away after noticing the crest carved in the carriage. Rusell followed behind quietly while Stan glared at the people who seemed disgruntled about the special treatment they received.


    A guard approached them and spoke to Ron, "So it''s the people from Devonton family. What business do you have in Istria?"


    Ron put on an amicable smile and replied, "We came to escort the son of the baron''s friend to Master Rigrit. Master Rigrit will be taking the child as his student."


    The guard immediately turned more respectful at the mention of Master Rigrit. He handled the things very carefully during the inspection as if afraid to damage anything. This behavior surprised Vincent as he could still see the other guards handling the stuff belonging to other people very roughly. The guard also flashed a smile at Vincent and spoke.


    "Young master sure has a lot of books. Just what I would expect from an apprentice wizard. If you ever need my services while you stay at Istria, you can ask for me in the southern barracks. My name is Diesel."


    Vincent felt a little uncomfortable at the attempt of the guard to establish a relation with him. He just nodded and smiled a little stiffly. The guard quickly finished the inspection and asked the other three if they had any ranged weapons. Ron took out a crossbow from a hidden compartment and handed it to Diesel. Diesel wrote something in a book and handed the crossbow back while adding, "Please don''t take out or use the crossbow inside the town. If you break the rule, the weapon will be confiscated and you will be charged 2 silver as fine."


    Ron nodded before driving the carriage through the gate. They headed towards the inner part of the city. Vincent looked at everything through the window. The huge crowds, street vendors shouting to promote their goods, people wearing colorful clothes. Everything was very fascinating. As they moved closer to the heart of the town, the streets became much quieter and cleaner. The houses were bigger and much more pleasing to the eyes.


    The carriage stopped after reaching a store selling cloths. Vincent had seen many such shops along the way but this one had a different air about it. A guard was standing outside the door with a solemn look on his face and the articles on display adorned some dolls visible through the clear glass. Vincent had only ever read about such glasses and never seen any. It was hard to find even glasses with bubbles on them. The clear ones were clearly much more expensive as they looked and felt a lot more luxurious.


    Ron motioned for Vincent to get off and led him in. The guard stationed outside greeted them and opened the door. Rusell and Stan alighted from their horses and began admiring the clothes the dolls wore.


    A well dressed man came up to them and asked Ron what he required. He had neatly combed hair and wore clothes without a single crease. His clean shaven look gave off an impression of honesty and diligence.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    "I would like some clothes for this boy here. 2 sets of formal wear and 5 sets of casual clothing please."


    "Certainly. Young master, please follow me. Let''s take your measurements."


    The man lead them to a small room and proceeded to take Vincent''s measurement. He didn''t make any small talk and maintained a professional attitude. The way he carried himself was different from anyone Vincent had met before and the solemn atmosphere unnerved him a little. Ron patted on his shoulders to calm him down and Vincent felt thankful for what Ron did.


    A pretty woman dressed like a maid brought over lemonade for the two customers and retreated. The man spoke in a professional manner, "The clothes will be completed in a week. We can deliver it to any place inside the city. The formal wear costs 4 silver coin per piece while the casual costs a silver coin per piece. The total comes to 1 gold 3 silver."


    "While we are at it, please show me a piece that is already made. It doesn''t matter if it is a loose fit. Just make sure that it doesn''t look too weird on him." Ron spoke as he handed 2 gold coins to the man. The man nodded and brought some clothes for children. Ron looked through each one and picked 2 of them after much consideration. One was a plain green while the other was black with two golden flowers embroidered in it.


    "The grand total comes up to 1 gold 7 silvers. Your return is 3 silvers. Please do come by again when you require our services."


    "Thank you. We will be sure to drop by again. Please deliver the clothes when they are ready to Master Rigrit''s house." Ron replied with an amicable smile as he received 3 silver coins as return. Vincent also bowed to the man before following Ron to the carriage. Ron got back on the coachman''s seat and spoke to Vincent as he urged the horse to move.


    "We will head to Master Rigrit''s house next. Change into the black clothes we just brought. The one with the pretty flowers."


    "Is it necessary? We even spent so much money on clothes. A family of four could easily live off 1 gold and 7 silvers for 2 months."


    "Haaah Vincent, you don''t understand. Master Rigrit is a wizard of 4th circle and a friend of Baron Devonton. You will have to dress up properly to not embarrass the baron. After all, you do have his blood flowing in your veins."


    "How will it embarrass the baron if I don''t dress properly? It''s not like the baron ever did anything for me. I have never seen or met him. He never cared about me. He didn''t even care about us when mother was sick and hurting. We didn''t even have any money to buy the cheapest medicine. If only we had half of the money we just spent on these pointless clothes, mama might still be alive. If it will embarrass the baron, then all the more reason why I shouldn''t wear that cloth."


    Vincent shouted as tears streamed down his face. He had been holding it all in this whole time. His mother never woke up after hugging him to sleep. The next day he read note left by his mother saying only that the baron would take care of him and everything had been arranged. He felt really disgruntled at all of this. Then came Ron and two guards a week later bringing him here.


    Rusell and Stan who were riding right beside the carriage heard the child''s outburst. They purposely slowed down to let Ron take care of the messy situation.


    Ron hadn''t been expecting this either. Vincent acted a lot more mature than kids his age. He wasn''t spoiled and didn''t seek much attention. He didn''t give him any trouble the whole way either. Ron''s heart softened a bit as he recalled his own mother''s death. He brought the carriage to a halt and joined Vincent inside the carriage.


    "It''s alright. You don''t have to do it for the baron. Your teacher is a 4th circle wizard, which means he is a silver tier wizard. You will have to make a good impression on him. You have such a pretty face. I am sure your mother would happy seeing you in these clothes." Saying so Ron pulled Vincent into a warm embrace.


    Vincent struggled at first but then he felt all the turbid emotions going away. He relaxed and replayed Ron''s words in his mind. He nodded his head and affirmed in a meek tone.


    Ron laughed and got back on the coachman''s seat. Rusell and Stan rejoined their position right beside the carriage and the company made their way to Master Rigrit''s mansion.

 Master Rigrit (2)

    Master Rigrit''s abode was a landmark in the city of Istria. It was a two storied mansion built in Victorian style. People who passed by would take multiple glances to admire its beauty and elegance. The only other structure that could be said to surpass it in the city was Count Greyson''s mansion. It was only natural as the count was the feudal lord of the city and the area around it.


    A carriage escorted by two mounted men stopped by the mansion''s gate. The coachman alighted and spoke to a guard stationed by the gate. The guard signaled for Ron to wait and went inside the mansion. After a few minutes, the guard returned following behind a man who looked to be in his mid forties. The man wore a white robe above his clean tunic. He had an ordinary face but gave off an atmosphere of a learned man. Accompanying him were 3 teenagers, a girl who looked about 12 and two boys one slightly older than 10 and the other around 15.


    Vincent got off the carriage as he looked at the group coming to welcome them. He was now wearing a black tunic with golden flowers embroidered in the cuffs and collar. The 2 younger kids were staring at Vincent curiously while the oldest teenager smiled at him in a kind manner.


    The man wearing white robe led Ron and Vincent into the mansion. They finally stopped once they reached the front parlor which was decorated with vases, beautiful paintings and statues. The middle aged man took his seat in the most luxurious chair while the two kids and a youth took their seat around him. The man motioned for Ron and Vincent to be seated opposite to him while signaling for a maid to bring refreshments.


    Ron thanked the man and introduced him to Vincent, "He is master Rigrit. He advanced to become a 4th circle wizard 3 years ago at the age of 42. He is a very outstanding wizard, he will also be taking you as his student. Quick, introduce yourself."


    Vincent bowed and introduced himself. "I am Vincent Ember. Greetings master."


    Master Rigrit nodded and asked, "How old are you Vincent?"


    "I will be 10 after 4 months."


    "Hmm... that''s good. You can learn about wizardry for now. Once you become 10, you can start exercising your mana. This young man is Nelson. He is my eldest student. He will look after your studies when I am absent or too busy. She is Rachel and this little one is Brian. He is the same age as you. He will turn 10 in 2 weeks. You guys should get along well since you will all be studying together."


    A maid brought tea and some light snacks before leaving. Ron took out a letter and handed it to Rigrit.


    "This is the letter the baron wrote for you. 80 gold coins have already been deposited in your account Master Rigrit. The same amount will be deposited each year as long as Vincent is in your care. Now that I have completed my task, I will be taking my leave."


    Ron got up after finishing his tea and snacks. He spoke a few words with Vincent before handing him a pouch and leaving. Rigrit instructed his students to show their junior around the mansion. Nelson led Vincent and his two juniors through the house while explaining everything to the new kid. Vincent was awed by the sights inside the house. The corridors were wide and the walls were painted in vibrant colors. The thing that he loved the most about the mansion was the library. He had never seen so many books together in one place. Nelson told him that there were 60 books regarding wizardry and 700 more about other subjects.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The company arrived in Brian''s room at last. This room now belonged to Vincent and the former occupant. It didn''t have much. Two beds, a study table and 2 chairs took half of it''s space. There was also a closet in a corner. Two large windows made up of glass full of bubbles adorned the room as sunlight passed through it painting the room in beautiful hues of blue.


    All of Vincent''s belongings had already been delivered to the room by the servants. Rachel started to dig around Vincent''s stuffs while letting out ''ooohs'' and ''aaahs'' whenever she found anything interesting. She picked up a deck of playing cards and started playing with it.


    "Let''s play cards. Seems fun. I have never played it before. You know how to play right? Teach me. Teach me. Brian and Nelson, come sit. Let''s play some cards."


    Brian and Nelson slowly sat down. Brian was excited while Nelson sat down with his signature smile plastered to his face. Vincent sighed and joined them as well.


    "So what do you want to play?" Vincent asked. Rachel looked at Nelson and Brian urging them to answer with her eyes.


    "I''ve never played cards in my life. I don''t know what to play either, don''t look at me like that. Maybe Brian knows." Nelson answered in a resigned manner after looking at Rachel''s exaggerated facial expressions and passed the hot potato to Brian.


    Brian fidgeted after having Rachel''s intense glare directed at him. He answered meekly with a red face, "I... I don''t know how to play cards too. Vincent should know since he owns a deck. You decide Vincent. We will follow your lead."


    Vincent took the cards from Rachel. He removed a queen card and shuffled the rest while explaining. "Let''s play Old Maid then. It''s a simple game. I removed a queen just now, so every other card can be matched with another of its kind except a single queen card. I will distribute the cards among everyone. You will take the cards that can be paired with another of its kind and throw it to the middle. Then we will each take turns drawing cards from the person to our left. All the cards will be paired and eventually thrown to the middle. The guy with no cards left in his hands will be safe. The last guy with the queen remaining in his hand is the loser. Most of the time, people make the loser pay for their drinks. Since we can''t do anything like that, let''s just decide a punishment for the loser."


    Rachel raised her hands excitedly and shouted, "Let''s make the loser act like a chicken."


    Nelson and Brian nodded resignedly. Watching this made Vincent realize that Rachel pushed the two guys around a lot. Making them do things according to her wishes seemed like the norm. Vincent didn''t really think he would lose to three newbies and agreed as well.


    The newbies made some silly mistakes during their first couple tries. They had to start the game all over again much to Vincent''s vexation. Everyone got familiar with the game quickly and everything proceeded smoothly. Nelson had a really good luck and he was the first one to get rid of all the cards. Vincent had a good poker face and managed to clear the game after Nelson.


    Brian and Rachel had serious looks on their faces as they pondered on which cards they should pull from the other. Their gazes were so intense, in fact that if a stranger were to see them he might wonder if they were trying to see through the cards itself. They went back and forth trading cards. It was comical seeing them shuffling their cards after every exchange and trying to read each other''s faces. They would laugh out loud if the opponent took the queen away from them and make bitter faces if they pulled it from the opponent.


    In the end, Rachel got lucky and got rid of all her cards. Brian had to act like a chicken, everyone burst out laughing as they couldn''t hold it in after looking at his hilarious appearance. Vincent too laughed the first time after his mother''s death.


    He cried letting out his built up emotions earlier in the day and was now laughing like this. It felt rejuvenating and refreshing.

 Initiation (1)

    Vincent woke up early the next day. He was excited to be finally learning about wizardry. He got off his bed and freshened up. He had read about the life in city and how convenient it was, but he had never experienced it and so the taps that delivered water, the sewage system that disposed human waste, shops selling stuffs he had never seen or heard of before and many other things fascinated him.


    He took out the pouch Ron had given him. He checked its contents and found 12 silver coins. The Esterin kingdom which Istria was a part of was a small country. The countries currency made up of Esterinian bronze, silver and gold coins. The people liked to ignore the ''Esterinian'' part and just call them as bronze, silver and gold coins since it was much more convenient that way. A gold coin was equal to 10 silver coins and each silver coin was equal to 35 bronze coins. You could live comfortably on 5 bronze coins a day in a city.


    12 silver coins was a lot of money for Vincent. He had never held so much money in his life. He felt a little nervous thinking how he had so much money on him. He had heard a lot about pick pocketing was common in cities and you had to take good care of your money. He hid the pouch under the pillow and felt a lot less tense.


    He nudged Brian who woke up groggily and spoke while rubbing his eyes. "Good morning Vincent."


    "Good morning Brian. When do lessons start?"


    "The bell in the Istria square will ring at 6. We will have breakfast together at 7 and the lessons begins at 7:30."


    Vincent nodded and moved to the glass window. He watched as the sunlight poured in through the glass. It was beautiful how the sunlight bent or spread when they passed through the bubbles in the glass. He could also see servants working to maintain the lawn and garden.


    Brian freshened up and joined Vincent. They started chatting and Vincent learned that Brian was the grandson of Hugo Tartas. Hugo was a peak tier 4 knight, in other words a peak silver rank warrior. If he advanced a bit further, then he would become a 5th tier knight becoming a gold rank warrior. There were but a few dozen gold rank warrior or wizards in Esterin. Each one was a valuable military resource and garnered much respect. Rachel was the 3rd daughter of Noah Spencer, the biggest merchant in Greyson territory. Nelson on the other hand was the only son of Master Rigrit''s old servant who sacrificed himself to save his lord during a battle many years ago. Master Rigrit had then taken care of the servant''s son and raised him almost as if the child was his own flesh and blood.


    "What about your family Vincent?" Brian asked curiously.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "My mother raised me up by herself. She passed away about a week ago. She was in pain for a long time. We didn''t have money to treat her. Hopefully she is happy now and no longer in pain. As for my father... all I know is that he is Baron Devonton. I am his bastard son. I''ve never met him till date. He sent some people to send me here after he got word of mother''s death."


    "I am sorry Vincent. I shouldn''t have asked such a question." Brian apologized sincerely. Vincent just waved him off indicating that he didn''t mind.


    Brian felt bad for Vincent and developed a bad image of Baron Devonton. In his mind, the baron was a cold hearted person who didn''t care about even his family or friends. He asked indignantly, "Don''t you hate him? He is a baron. He should have more than enough money to treat a sick person. Yet, he didn''t lend a helping hand."


    Vincent was surprised at how strongly Brian reacted. He shook his head and answered, "Not really. It was always just mama and me in our family. It''s like he never existed for me. I never expected any help from him. I do sometimes think how things would turn out if he helped but I don''t think I actually hate him. I guess I would say I dislike him if I had to word it."


    Brian still felt it was unfair and spoke passionately about how the baron was a failure of a person. He expressed strong dislike towards such moralless people. Vincent felt touched by Brian''s words. He didn''t expect a person he had just met for less than a day would feel so strongly for him.


    Their conversation quickly moved away from serious matters. They had breakfast with Rachel and Nelson and moved to the study for their lessons. Rigrit began the lessons and talked about various theories regarding mana. Rachel and Nelson seemed to have heard of it many times and they lost all interest before long. Brian had a very serious look on his face. Unlike the clumsy and shy impression he gave, he seemed to be sincerely learning like a scholar.


    The theory was a very rudimentary one and even Vincent could understand it. He found it very fascinating and was soon absorbed in the lessons. Mana was a form of energy with unstable form that people could store in their body. Mana was made inside the body after converting the normal energy in the body via set methods. Wizards could then shape it to their liking with training and hence cast magic which would convert the mana into various types of energy present in the world.


    The warriors on the other hand converted their energy into battle force which was much more stable than mana and served to strengthen the body. Battle force could then be used to use martial skills by molding the battle force into desired shapes and forms. Martial skills were simply different applications of using battle force in complex ways. Hence came the difference between wizards and warriors. Wizards converted their energy into mana and stored them while warriors converted theirs into battle force.


    The human body took about nine and a half years to properly develop the energy channels throughout the body. So ten years was said to be the best time to start training either their battle force or mana. Since the body was conditioned to converting and storing the energy in different forms, a person could only train in either battle force or wizardry. Simultaneously training in both yielded no results.

 Initiation (2)

    Vincent slowly got used to his new life. He learned new things everyday and he grew closer to Brian and Rachel. He didn''t spend much time with Nelson, but he had a very good impression of his senior who was always helpful and diligent. Brian would often ask about Vincent''s life in the Plumeria village and listen attentively to everything Vincent said. The young boy loved listening about the life of a typical villager, so much so that he would go as far as to role play as a villager. It seemed like he had a habit of playing house with his sisters since he was the only boy in his family.


    Time passed quickly as Brian''s birthday arrived in a blink of an eye. His birthday celebration wasn''t lavish like Vincent had expected to be. It was a simple celebration attended by a teacher and his four disciples. Rigrit, Nelson and Rachel each presented a gift to Brian who had sparkling eyes as he opened everyone''s presents. He then looked at Vincent with eyes full of expectations. Vincent became embarrassed as he had not prepared any gifts. The only birthday he had ever celebrated was his own. His mother would cook him a delicious meal and that was supposed to be his present. He had never thought that a birthday celebration called for the attendees to prepare and present a gift.


    "I haven''t prepared anything. I will get you a gift tomorrow." Vincent said nervously as he looked at Brian''s face to see how he would react.


    "Oh okay. I will look forward to it. You have to make sure its special." Brian looked a little dejected. He seemed to have been expecting a present from Vincent as well.


    Vincent felt a bit guilty but it was soon washed away by the merry atmosphere. At the end of the celebration, Master Rigrit turned solemn and stood before Brian. Brian too sensing the serious ambience turned solemn.


    "You turned 10 today Brian. You have been in my tutelage for half a year now. It is finally time for you to walk the path of wizards. You are permitted to cultivate mana from tomorrow onwards. Study earnestly like you have been for the past half year and I am sure you will turn into a fine wizard."


    "Yes master. I will continue working hard."


    "Here, this is the letter sent from your family and this is their present to you." Rigrit handed Brian an envelope and a box wrapped up elegantly.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The celebration thus ended in a serious tone. Everyone went to their own rooms as servants began cleaning up after their mess. Brian held the letter tightly while Vincent looked at him and the letter he was holding enviously. He hadn''t felt the absence of his mother after coming here. He had been too busy learning and was accompanied by Brian and Rachel most of the time. He had also been subconsciously avoiding free time and would tire himself to sleep or bury himself in books until sleepiness took over him.


    Watching Brian tear apart the envelope excitedly and laugh giddily as he read the contents made Vincent miss his mother. A melancholic feeling took over him and he just tossed around on his bed until he finally fell asleep. He dreamed of the days he spent with his mother. One happy moment after another replayed in his sleep. She smiled like usual and listened to Vincent reading stories happily. Her face contorted with pain as she broke down. Tears streamed down her face as she stifled her cries and spoke, "Being the evil wizard must be nice. He can eat delicious food, wear luxurious clothes and doesn''t have to worry about anything. His children won''t have hard time as well. I am sorry Vincent. Mama can''t give you anything. Mama doesn''t have anything to give you at all. I can''t even stay by your side anymore. Promise mama that you will live happily."


    Vincent wanted to say that she didn''t have to worry anymore, that he had a master who was a wizard of the 4th circle. He wanted to assure her that he was doing fine and that he had people who took good care of him. He had so many things he wanted to say to her but he could make no sound. It felt as if a knot that could not be undone had formed in his throat.


    The silence unnerved him. He wanted to say how happy he was to see her again. He wanted to convey his feelings of gratitude and love towards her but he could not make a sound or move his body. He hated the silence. He wished for it to end. His wish was soon fulfilled but not in a way he had expected. Whistling sounds rang out all around him followed by dull rattling noises. Multiple arrows flew through the air and headed straight for Vincent and his mother. He wanted to move his sick mother and take cover but he couldn''t bring himself to put any strength into his legs which felt like jelly. Arrows kept raining down until Vincent and his mother were hit and he woke up with a jolt. He was sweating all over and his heart was racing.


    He couldn''t calm his heart down. He tossed around only to hear whistling sounds in his head. He closed his eyes but could only see arrows piercing through the air towards him. He felt powerless and scared. He lit the lamp and opened a book he was reading. Even turning the pages became difficult as his hands wouldn''t stop shaking. He read the book and shut everything out.

 Initiation (3)

    Vincent got up with dark circles under his eyes. Anybody could tell that he didn''t get much of a sleep. He had been reading a book to keep himself occupied. He tried his best to avoid sleep because he was scared he would have the same nightmare. He desperately tried to keep his eyes open until they had gotten so heavy he couldn''t lift them anymore and he eventually fell asleep on the desk. His neck hurt a little, most probably because of the awkward sleeping position he had adapted last night.


    He freshened up and changed out of his pajamas. He woke Brian who seemed to have rested well unlike him. Brian woke up in a jovial mood, the memories of the previous day still fresh in his mind. He got ready to head out for breakfast and made small talk with Vincent as they headed for the back parlor together.


    Rachel joined them midway and asked Vincent, "Did you not sleep well Vincent? That''s some serious dark circles you have got under your eyes. Want me to help you hide them with my make up skills? I assure you that you will look very beautiful by the time I am done."


    "No thanks. I am alright. The dark circles will go away on its own."


    Rachel nodded dejectedly. She had wanted to trick Vincent into agreeing to her proposal so that she could get a free make up experiment subject. She could get Brian to do it like she often did but she wanted to try out a different subject today. Plus, Vincent had a really delicate features so she wanted to get a try on him. Brian shared similar sentiment but he wanted to pull Vincent into it because he wanted to be an observer and not a victim for once.


    The breakfast was delicious as usual but Vincent had no appetite. He was feeling specially melancholic today. The food which was tender and savory tasted and felt like cardboard to him. He followed Rachel and Brian listlessly as they headed for the study.


    Brian''s excitement was over the top as he would begin practicing the mana conversion technique from today. Vincent walking beside him made for a very contrasting picture. The lesson started as usual but Vincent, Rachel and Nelson got no attention from Master Rigrit as he was too busy guiding Brian. Vincent felt really restless as he had nothing to do. An uneasy feeling overcame him and he hurriedly grabbed a book and focused on it wholeheartedly to escape the anxiousness.


    The company of the book, at least kept him occupied to not let the agitation crawl its way to him. The lesson ended but Vincent didn''t let go of the book and kept himself busy. It was time for lunch when he was made to unwillingly let go of the book. He had lunch together with his fellow disciples and reluctantly joined Brian and Rachel to go play in the garden.


    Brian ran around excitedly and stopped in front of Vincent startling the latter. "Where''s my gift? You promised you would give me one today and I even told you it had to be special."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Vincent guilt intensified under Brian''s expectant gaze. He thought hard and finally took out a deck of cards from the pocket by his chest. "Young man, please pick a card." He spoke in a husky voice.


    Brian laughed as he listened to the uncharacteristic voice of Vincent. He pulled out a four of spade from the fan of cards that Vincent held. Vincent shuffled the deck as he spoke, "Please don''t show me the cards. Now put it anywhere you want inside the deck."


    Brian put on a serious look and placed the card back in the deck after showing it to Rachel. Vincent shuffled the cards and stopped. He flipped the card on the top and asked, "Is this your card, young man?"


    Brian looked at the queen of heart and shook his head, "No, this is not my card."


    Vincent put on a puzzled expression in an exaggerated fashion as he spoke, "Hmmm that''s strange. I was pretty sure this was you card." He held the card by its two corners diagonally between his thumb and middle finger. He moved his other thumb towards a free corner of the card under the intense gazes of his two audience. He flicked the card with his free thumb and the card instantly turned into a four of spades.


    Brian and Rachel''s eyes went wide with shock. Rachel jumped excitedly as she approached Vincent and took the card from his hands. She turned the card over multiple times and looked at it from various angles. She gave up after a while as she couldn''t figure out the trick. Brian on the other hand was pondering with a clueless face.


    Brian too gave up and asked, "How did you do it? I could clearly see that it was the queen of heart. How did it instantly change into four of spades?"


    Vincent smiled as he looked at his audiences'' stupefied face. He spoke in a dignified manner, "A magician never reveals his tricks. Besides the gift wouldn''t be so special if you found out how I did it."


    Rachel wanted to poke about it deeper but gave up on it as Brian seemed to be happy hearing Vincent''s words. Her mind moved somewhere else as she questioned, "Do you always have the cards with you Vincent? I just realized it now but don''t you always carry it around?"


    "My mother bought them for me when we went to a market during a festival. I was stunned by a magician''s performance and begged mother to buy it for me. I was so happy when I got it and I spent a lot of time on it until I eventually figured out the tricks behind the impossible looking feats of the magician. It''s a special memento of my mother so I always have it with me."


    Vincent looked really happy as he reminisced about it. Rachel felt bad for asking a question which jogged his memory about his mother who was no longer in this world. Rachel and Nelson too learned about Vincent''s family situation after Brian ranted about it to them.


    Brian on the other hand thought differently. He spoke in a stern manner that clearly indicated that he wouldn''t take no for an answer, "It''s a precious item. How can you go around using it however you like. It will wear out quickly if you do so. Let''s go, I will buy you a new deck of cards."


    Brian and Rachel forcefully dragged Vincent as they headed for a shop that dealt with toys and similar stuffs. Brian picked out the most expensive deck of cards and bought it. Vincent protested saying it was too expensive but Brian would have none of it. Brian handed it to Vincent and ignored him.


    Vincent felt helpless regarding the situation. His lips arched upwards unconsciously as he felt warmth coming from Rachel and Brian''s care. He put the new deck in his chest pocket. Little did Brian and Rachel know that Vincent now had not one but two decks of cards which was precious to him. He hurriedly bought another deck that looked the same as the one Brian bought for him and hurriedly followed behind Rachel and Brian.

 Initiation (4)

    The days grew colder as winter was soon approaching. People started stocking food and supplies they might need when the land would be covered by snow. People started wearing thicker clothes. The taverns and bars were overflowing with customers as people went there to warm their body with alcohol. The women working on the tavern wore increasingly revealing clothes despite the increasing cold inviting unwelcome grabs and touches from drunk customers. Not that they cared, for their purses grew heavier with each contact.


    Vincent spent his days with Brian and Rachel. He would be lost in a book whenever he had time to kill. He held a book until intense drowsiness took over him. Master Rigrit developed a very favorable impression of Vincent as he spent most of his time reading. As an avid reader himself, he understood how much one could learn from books.


    4 months had gone by in a blink of an eye. Vincent had developed a much closer relationship with Brian and Rachel. The former was like a brother who was always with him while the latter was like an older sister that poked her nose in his business all the time. Vincent had grown attached to both of them before he realized it.


    Today was the day of Vincent''s 10th birthday. He was brimming with excitement and energy as he too would finally begin learning the mana conversion method. He looked forward to finally taking his first step on the path of wizardry. After today, he would be one more step closer to achieving his goal.


    The teacher and his students held another feast to celebrate Vincent''s birthday. The atmosphere was extremely lively. The table was filled with delicious and exotic dishes. Even Master Rigrit himself only had these in rare occasions. The feast ended followed by each members presenting their gift to Vincent. Nelson got him a book while Master Rigrit handed him a robe that signified one''s identity as a wizard. Brian and Rachel gifted Vincent a golden pocket watch. It had delicate looking hands and the inner gears could be seen through the clear glass. Vincent was moved greatly by the gestures of goodwill and love.


    Master Rigrit handed Vincent a letter at the end and retired to his bedroom. The letter was sealed with red wax. The seal was stamped with an emblem of a bird perched atop a candle holder. Vincent looked at it curiously as he lit the lamp in his studying desk. He slowly opened the letter as Brian came over and looked curiously at the letter.


    "Dear Vincent,


    First of all, I would like to wish you a happy 10th birthday. I hope you are doing well at Master Rigrit''s place. While I would have loved to wish you in person and see how you are doing myself, I do not have the time nor the luxury to do so.


    I have heard nothing but praises from Master Rigrit about you. But I would still like to remind you to not waste your time. Nurturing a wizard costs a fortune and I am spending at least a 100 gold coins on you every year. It might not be an astronomic amount for a noble but I must remind you once more that you and I have no connection even though you are my flesh and blodd. I have no obligation to take care of you. Still, I am doing this to clear my conscience.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    I will support you till your 15th birthday. I hope you will use every single moment available to you till then. The world is a tough place and I wish for you to be ready for it before then.


    This will be our first and last contact. Do not try to contact me or the Devonton family.


    Elric Devonton"


    Reading the letter wiped all traces of earlier happiness from Vincent''s face. He sighed as he put the letter down. He felt confused and lost. The man he didn''t really care for had wrote him a letter. He didn''t feel any anger or happiness from it. All that remained in his head were more questions and uncertainties. He put all the useless thoughts aside and crumbled the letter and threw them away.


    Brian was shaking with visible anger from head to toe. At first, he was only curious about the contents of the letter. But his flames of anger burned hotter as he read the letter. He hated how the man penned his words. He hated how miserly the man was despite being a noble. He specially hated how the man denied his responsibilities and stated how he was doing this only to clear his conscience.


    Brian wanted to comfort Vincent but after looking at him, he didn''t know what he should do. Vincent didn''t look like he was angry or pitiful. He just had a blank look on his face as if lost in thought. He tried voicing his thoughts but gave up halfway each time. He watched as Vincent crumpled the letter and disposed of it before going to bed. Brian looked at Vincent as he continued his inner struggle. He eventually decided to just let it be and went to bed too.


    ************************************************************


    Master Rigrit guided Vincent carefully as he watched his youngest student attempt converting his energy into mana for the first time. He had great expectations from this student even though he would only be under his tutelage for 5 years. This time span was considered short as an average student would take about 9 years to reach tier 2 and become a second circle wizard. Even Nelson who was very diligent was barely reaching the edge of tier 2 and he was already 16. If all went well he would become a second circle wizard at the age of 17.


    Vincent followed the instructions and circulated his energy in a set way converting it to mana. He then circulated the mana throughout the mana circulation system in his body. It felt like blood was being pumped throughout his body with great force similar to the sensation after an exhausting task that required much physical labor.


    This exercise required him to use his mana from all over his body. It was similar to training muscles except much harder. The practitioner would feel an aching sensation all over his body as it stimulated their mana circulation system. It was similar developing muscles to make them tougher and stronger. Once the practitioner was capable to releasing mana outside their body, they would have become a first circle wizard. They could start practicing according to spell models and cast it after learning them.


    It was a cumbersome process as the practitioner would be utterly exhausted after each session of training. They would need to replenish their energy and it required a good and nutritious meal. This was a very expensive and time consuming process. Hence, advancing as either a wizard or warrior was very tough.

 Ominous clouds (1)

    The town of Opal was a midsized town in the Esterin kingdom which used to be a mining town more than a decade ago. The town soon grew up to be a thriving place even when the mine was exhausted. The secret to the exceptional vitality of the town was the Desolate forest it bordered. The forest was a treasure trove for hunters and foragers alike. Precious herbs and wild magical beasts could be found in the forest. The price they fetched varied from a handful of silver coins to dozens of gold coins depending on their quality and rarity.


    Merchants from all across the kingdom came here to purchase precious herbs and remains of the magical beasts. The hunters that hunted in the Desolate forest were not average people as they could do naught but struggle helplessly when pitted against the powerful magical beasts. They were all warriors or wizards who had battle force or mana.


    Maybe it was because of the rowdy occupants or the nature of their job, fights broke out regularly in the town. Brawls in a bar, fights over women, heated arguments, these were nothing but common occurrences. And like in most fights, the parties involved rarely got away without any injuries.


    "F**k! That hurts. Can''t you use the numbing potion?" A rough looking fellow shouted as he watched a young man extracting a big piece of shattered glass from his arms. The gnarly looking wound was a result of a scuffle. The young man pulled out the pieces of glass from his wound in a practiced manner. The process hurt like hell and he let out curses every so often.


    The young man had black hair and brown eyes. He was a young man who had just reached the age that qualified him for the word ''man''. He spoke in a calm manner, "The numbing potion will be extra two silver coins. I know you aren''t gonna use it, but I will ask this just to shut you up. Are you willing to part with two silver coins for it?"


    The injured man looked at the doctor sourly and found his handsome appearance to be turning ugly by the moment. "Forget it. I could drink and eat to my heart''s content for five days with that sum. Just get this over with already."


    The treatment proceeded without any incident and the doctor bandaged the wound. "How much?" The patient asked in a rude manner while taking out his money pouch.


    The doctor paid no heed to the patient''s unfriendly tone and held up a single finger. The rough fellow took out a single silver coin and handed it to the doctor. Just as the fellow left, a boy of around 12 years of age entered the small makeshift treatment room. He began cleaning up the mess from the earlier treatment. The boy seemed to be used to it as the room was clean in no time.


    "Go bring me my lunch. Remember to tell Housen to add more meat. Also, make sure he isn''t filling his own belly with my order."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "Yes master Vincent."


    The boy hurriedly left and headed towards ''Jeweled Inn'' a decent tavern in the town. The tavern was lively even now. The customers were drinking and laughing loudly. The barmaids were pretending to be entertained while listening to the customers bragging about themselves. Only the maids themselves knew how many times they had heard it already.


    Erik entered the busy bar and silently made his way to the kitchen. He stopped before a fat guy wearing an apron. The fat guy looked at the little guest and asked, "Is he asking for lunch already? It''s such a busy hour. Can''t he just eat from somewhere else? Always making me work when its already so tough."


    Erik ignored Housen''s complaints and said, "Master Vincent said to add more meat."


    "Alright alright punk. I heard you. Go wait somewhere else. It will be ready in a while."


    "I am gonna watch you. He told me to make sure you weren''t eating from his order."


    "This punk! Now why would I eat from his order. Do you think I don''t have anything else to do that I would eat from that arrogant prick''s share?"


    "Stop it Housen. You were caught red handed twice already. Besides if you got so many things to say, why don''t you tell them to Master Vincent directly?"


    "Tsk.... I will let it go this time. There better not be a next time. Besides what''s so good about him. Imagine being a doctor who can''t even clean the blood and filth from the treatment just because he doesn''t like ''dirty things''. You should stop addressing him as Master this and master that."


    "You should grow up a little Housen. You are already twenty two and you are stuck being a chef in a tavern. Master Vincent is only 16 and a wizard to boot. He has made a name for himself in less than a year already. You should aim to do something worthwhile as well."


    "What is this brat saying? I need to grow up? Seems like your brain has been eaten by maggots by associating with him too much. Seems like I need to talk to Cathy about how you are behaving."


    "My sister won''t mind it. Besides I am just stating the truth."


    Housen clicked his tongue in annoyance and prepared lunch for the arrogant customer. He wanted to refute Erik''s words but had nothing of substance to say. The young wizard had come here less than a year ago and established himself as a capable doctor already. Even he had to admit that he was somewhat amazing. ''If only it weren''t for his terrible attitude''. Housen thought to himself and handed the prepared meal to Erik.


    Erik was heading out of the tavern when Cathy, his older sister called out to him and handed him a letter. He had been learning to read and write from Vincent and helped out at the clinic in return. He read the words "To Vincent Ember" in the envelope and put it in his pocket. The young boy swiftly made his way towards his workplace with the wrapped up lunch and a letter.


    Vincent received the letter and a rarely seen smile crept up his face. He had his lunch in a separate room where no traces of medicine or similar things could be found. He closed his clinic early that day and made his way for Jeweled Inn. He greeted Housen, Cathy and Wendy before heading to the room he rented on the floor above. He took out a pocket watch from his clothes and put it gently on his study desk. The envelope was soon torn open and the letter was firmly held in the young man''s hands as he began reading its content.

 Ominous clouds (2)

    "Dear Vincent,


    It''s almost the time for your sixteenth birthday. I can''t believe how fast time went by. Before I realized it, you have been gone for almost a year. Are you doing fine? Is it really true that you are working as a doctor? I find it hard to believe that people come to get treatment from you, someone who dissected dead animals to confirm the content of books.


    Leaving the small talks aside, Brian is still not willing to write to you. He is hurt that you didn''t accept his offer to continue your studies under Master. He cannot understand why you would turn down the offer when he was going to pay for you and all you had to do was work for his family for some years. I guess he probably feels betrayed. Brian is still a child inside even though he is older than you. I also cannot fathom why you had to be so stubborn about moving away from Istria.


    The situation doesn''t look too good for Esterin anymore. The Athos Theocracy and the Kingdom of Sefron have formed a military alliance to stand against the expanding Gadron Empire and Astein Dukedom. They hope to be another military superpower and are extending invitations to nearby realms in order to consolidate their power. Our Esterin Kingdom feels threatened by the alliance as we are in bad terms with the Kingdom of Sefron. Some of the major political powers from our nation seem to have received invitations from the Athos Theocracy as well. The relation between the nobles of our kingdom has become very strained. The crown''s authority has also been on the decline for a long time now.


    Marquis Raven whom Brian''s grandfather serves seems to have received an invitation as well. The neighboring nobles are wary of the marquis. Everyone thought that the marquis was a thorough supporter of the crown, but with the addition of the invitation, the whole picture changes. Many people are doubting the marquis''s loyalty and are pressuring him. Brian seems worried about his family since they are being ostracized by other knight households recently. He worries too much for his family and friends. He isn''t making much progress in his wizardry recently as well. He seems very frustrated and depressed. Even master feels like he isn''t in a good state and is worried for him. I am the same as well.


    The only person I know who can cheer him up is you. I hope you are able to let go of your pride and visit him. You, of all people should be the one by his side as he is having a hard time. Though he may not say it, you are still the one he feels most comfortable with.


    Make sure you write more often. You should also move to a more rural place if you really aren''t planning on receiving any help. The conscription and enlistment should begin soon. If you want to avoid it, I suggest you either come here as soon as possible or move away immediately, specially since you have made a name for yourself as a doctor. The demands for doctors and medics skyrocket during wars and forcefully conscripting them is quite common.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Take care of yourself. I hope that you make the wiser choice and come to us right away.


    Rachel Skylark"


    Vincent put down the letter with a heavy expression. He hadn''t parted with Brian in an amicable way. Brian had lost his father when he was twelve and the two boys had grown specially close since then. Brian had come to depend on Vincent for a lot of things and Vincent had become an emotional pillar for the other boy. They had become an inseparable pair through the years.


    Vincent sighed as he sorted his chaotic thoughts. He hesitated for a long time before finally taking out a fresh paper and ink. His usually light and steady pair of hands felt heavy for some reason. Words didn''t come to him as easily as they used to.


    "Dear Brian


    It has been a long time. I find it regrettable that this is the first time I am writing to you. I wanted to write to you much earlier but I could never bring myself to see it through.


    I heard from Rachel that you aren''t making much progress. I will probably advance to a wizard of second circle in the next month. I hope that you won''t fall behind too far. I would find it shameful to call you my brother if you progressed as slowly as Rachel.


    You don''t have to worry about your family situation too much. Your grandfather has been a top tier silver warrior for almost a decade now. He could break through anytime and become a gold ranked warrior. When that happens, the importance and safety of your family will increase by a notch or two. Besides, everyone should be aware that the theocracy sent these invitations to sow discord among us.


    The best you can do now is to focus on you training. A silver rank wizard would be a great asset to your family. It would also put your mother''s heart at ease.


    I have run out of things to say. You should take better care of yourself. You said that you were going to be a hero who spread the name of the Ragebear household. I hope that I will hear the name of Brian Ragebear soon enough.


    Yours truly,


    Vincent Ember"


    Vincent looked at the crudely written letter and put it in an envelope. Even he himself found his immature way of handling the situation laughable. But, this was the best he could do at the moment. He could only hope that his provocative words would fuel Brian and push him to work harder. He then trained like he always did. He tired himself until the insides of his body felt sore from exercising his mana. His stomach growled as it demanded food to replenish the energy used during the exercise. Dinner soon disappeared down his throat and he made his way to the bed.


    His mind drifted off to an all too familiar village with beautiful flowers. A lovely woman accompanied him as he read stories to her. It was a rare dream for him since it didn''t end up turning into a nightmare. The bliss lasted until sunrise and he went about his usual routine after delivering an envelope to a postman.

 Ominous clouds (3)

    Vincent closed his shop earlier and headed to the general market area. He had to move away from any major areas with proper military presence soon. Getting conscripted or enlisted forcefully was something he didn''t wish for. He was still young and didn''t have any disillusioned thoughts of protecting his country by turning into a hero. He valued his life too much to rush headfirst into danger.


    His purpose today was to purchase the things he wouldn''t be able to procure once he moved away. A small village far away from any town would be the ideal choice for his new home. Getting his hands on many things would be hard when living in such an area. If possible, he would like to stock up on as much essentials as he could.


    The shopping took much of his evening and he was returning to his inn when he noticed a dark alley with terrible hygiene. Few beggars were sitting there listlessly. Their dim eyes seemed lifeless and their body spoke of just how terrible of a condition they were in. Protruding ribs could be seen underneath their skin void of almost and all fat insinuating their starvation. The over sized clothes gave off pungent smell and one could not tell what the original color of the fabric was anymore.


    Seeing such depressing sight made Vincent despondent. He hurried back to the inn and left the things he bought in his room. He left just as quickly as he came and headed to a baker''s shop. Though people rarely went to a shop of this kind at such a late hour, the owner still had to attend to his shop till sundown. After all, business was still business even if it was past the prime hour. He had been arguing with his annoying wife when a young man entered the shop. He ignored his wife''s glare and put on an amicable smile on his face.


    "How can I help you, young sir?"


    "Wrap up three loafs of rye bread please. No, make it six."


    "Certainly. Would you also like some jam to go with it? It''s made in the house. This batch is specially fresh and came out really well."


    "Just the bread will do."


    "That will be twelve bronze coins."


    Vincent handed the money to the baker and bought some dried meat and water from a local eatery. He went back to the dark alley. A strong stench assailed him as soon as he approached the occupants. He ignored the nauseating smell and broke the bread into several pieces before handing them out to the beggars.


    The tramps often received a bite or two of food from people passing by. They had grown used to it and were numbed to the point that words of gratitude and praise habitually flowed out of their mouths. They flattered the young man handing them bread, even going as far as applauding him and his ancestors till their limited vocabulary ran out when they received dried meat.


    Vincent was preparing to depart from this god forsaken place when 2 hooded men came by carrying a huge burlap bag. The men showed no care for the young man staring at them as they unloaded a body from the bag and left it in the corner of the alley. The duo departed as swiftly as they came and were soon nowhere to be seen.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Vincent hesitated for quite some time before making up his mind. He took steady steps towards the unmoving body and crouched near it. Long black hair that reached halfway to the waist and a terribly mangled face came into his sight. It was hard to see in the alleyway devoid of light, but he could still make out the terrible condition of the woman with just a glance.


    A long internal struggle took place in his heart as he eventually made up his mind and walked away from the dark and gloomy alley and made his way towards the street filled with light and merry atmosphere. A beggar who was licking his filthy hands to not waste any bread crumb looked at the young man''s back and spoke, "A wise choice, young sir. That thing will probably be a corpse in an hour or two. There''s nothing you can do about it. These men often leave a body or two here and the guards will clear it up the next morning. Nobody cares about these soon to be dead people anyways."


    Hearing the harsh words of the beggar reminded Vincent of his childhood. Images of the time when his mother was sick and in pain flashed through his mind. The wish of his then childish self echoed in his mind, "If only I could save mother......"


    A strange impulse took over him and he rushed back to the woman, lifted her up and walked to his shop. His mind didn''t register the strange gazes of the people as he walked with steady steps while observing the patient in his arms. The lithe arm bent in an unnatural way along with countless lacerations and bruises all over her body came to his attention now that he could see her in the light.


    He kicked open the door of his shop and laid her down in a surgery table. He lit a lamp and prepared his surgery kit. A strong anesthesia was applied and a magical breathing device was attached to her mouth to ensure that she would breathe properly. He cut open the swollen parts of her face above her eyes to make it so that the eyelid could be opened and closed. He drained the blood from purple bruises throughout her body and stitched the lacerations.


    The arm that was bent in an awkward manner needed to be fixed and it wasn''t a simple treatment that was required but a surgery to fix the torn muscles. He forcefully manipulated the dislocated bone into its position and attached a splint to her arm and shoulder.


    He breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the long treatment ended. It was two past midnight and he had been working on a near lifeless body for more than 6 hours. He wiped his sweat and looked at the stitched up patient. She looked dehydrated and he wanted to give her water to drink but didn''t want to risk drowning her.


    Treating an unconscious patient or someone with diseases wasn''t his forte. He was only familiar with surgery and basic treatments. But, if she didn''t get water soon, she would probably die and all his effort would have been for naught. He ran to the Jeweled Inn and knocked on the door hard. Housen opened the door moments later and grumbled sleepily, "Which drunkard is causing trouble so late at night."


    Vincent ignored the sleepy guy and ran to his room. He lit a candle and turned the pages of a book repeatedly until he found what he was looking for. It was a spell to control the flow of liquid. He read the spell formula repeatedly and rushed down the stairs. He unlocked the door Housen had just closed and sprinted all the way to his shop. Housen wanted to shout at his unruly customer but chose to remain silent after remembering his bloodshot eyes and big wallet.


    Vincent crushed a few medicinal pills and mixed them with water. He practiced the liquid controlling spell a few times and got the hang of it as it was just a simplified circle-less spell that didn''t require the user to even be a first circle wizard. He poured the solution into the unconscious girl''s mouth who had no swallow response.


    ''If I mess up now and the liquid goes down her wind pipe, she will drown and die.'' The thought scared him and he turned tense. He focused like never before and led the solution down her esophagus slowly. He let out a sigh of relief once he succeeded and sat down on the chair without any strength in his body. A strong drowsiness came over him and he soon fell asleep.

 Ominous clouds (4)

    Vincent had advanced to a first circle wizard at the age of twelve. It had only been a little over two years since he had began training. His master had praised him lavishly as he was the student who had progressed the quickest. Brian was awed, Rachel was grumpy and Nelson was happy at that time. Master Rigrit told him that he could achieve great things if he continued working with such diligence.


    Everyone close to Vincent told him that it was a great achievement and he knew that it was. It was hard to find a twelve year old first circle wizard. Knowing it however, didn''t help him find answers to questions he had been asking himself. He still didn''t know if he could have saved his mother with the power he possessed then. The great achievement that everyone defined for him didn''t hold much meaning for him.


    The question continued to eat away at his confidence and made him question what he had been working towards ever since he started learning wizardry. He had thought he would find the answer once he became a first circle wizard but the only thing that he had managed to accomplish was the complete opposite. The answer was nowhere in sight and he felt lost. The doubt in his heart only continued to grow and he lost his sense of direction. He lost his appetite and grew weaker by the day. He kept on thinking but couldn''t reach a conclusion. Things got serious to the point that he had to be looked after by a doctor for most of the day.


    Being confined to the bed reminded him of his mother when she was sick. He recovered under the care of the doctor and a thought came in his brain. ''Couldn''t I have saved mother if I was a doctor?'' He talked about his decision with his master. Rigrit didn''t stop his pupil because he knew the boy would have to fend for himself once he turned fifteen and few jobs paid as well as being a doctor.


    Vincent had become a full fledged doctor by the age of fifteen. Rigrit, however felt that it was a pity. The boy would have progressed down the path of wizards much faster had he not focused on becoming a doctor. Vincent began treating one patient after another when he moved to the town of Opal. His skills only grew greater with each passing day but he still didn''t have the answer to the question that always bugged him.


    Now, he had saved a woman who was on the brink of death. He finally felt like he had accomplished something. The still breathing woman who laid unconscious on top of the surgery table was proof of his growth. The feeling of powerlessness that had haunted him for the past seven years disappeared and his heart felt light.


    Vincent washed his face and checked on the woman''s condition. He felt happy seeing that she wasn''t in any mortal danger. If all went well, she would wake up in a day or two. A hammock was soon readied and he placed her on it. He headed towards Jeweled Inn and ate breakfast while listening to Housen''s angry complaints.


    The day passed uneventfully and Vincent got used to feeding the unconscious woman using the liquid controlling spell. The woman finally woke up on the evening of the second day. Many people had learned about the girl whom the impertinent doctor had saved. Many witnesses had seen him carry her into his shop. Even ordinary folks could tell how terrible of a condition she was in and words of the doctor''s incredible feat spread among many folks.


    "What''s your name? What is the last thing you remember?" Vincent asked in a gentle manner looking at the bruised face of the girl. The swollen face had gotten much better and he could finally tell that she was very young, maybe about fifteen or sixteen years old.


    Vincent waited patiently but got no reply from her. She just sat there looking down at the floor. The girl peeked a few glances at his face but faced down immediately when she saw him observing her. Vincent wanted answers from the girl but it seemed like he wouldn''t be getting one right now. He moved closer to her to check if she had any injuries on her head that might have led to loss of proper cognitive functions.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    He had taken just a few steps towards her when she started shaking violently."Are you cold? You are shivering really badly." Vincent placed his palm in her forehead and found that her body temperature was alright. Watching closely he realized that she was shaking even worse after he touched her. He removed his hands and found that she held up better after he moved away from her.


    ''It seems like she is scared of me? I should try to calm her down for now.''


    "It''s okay. You are safe now. I am a doctor. I treated you. You don''t have to be scared, I won''t hurt you."


    Seeing that she had calmed down a little, he tried to approach her once again. The girl started trembling uncontrollably once again and he gave up on closing the distance for now. He ordered a bowl of chicken soup for the recovering girl placed it in front of her.


    "Here, eat this. This will help you recover quickly. I will leave it here, make sure you eat it before it gets cold."


    Few people came to look at the girl after hearing she had woken up but Vincent turned them all away saying she was not in a condition to meet strangers. The people went away while badmouthing the doctor saying he didn''t understand people''s care and kindness.


    Vincent tried to take the girl to the inn and have her rest there as it would be a lot easier to recover there but the girl refused to take a single step out of the shop. Having no other choice, he left the girl on his shop and went to the Jeweled Inn alone. Housen and the barmaids all asked him about the girl but he shook them off saying she had only woken up for a few minutes before fainting again.


    ************************************************************


    "What''s your name?"


    "A.. Alba" The girl replied in a broken voice.


    "You don''t have a last name?" The girl shook her head.


    ''So she is born from a slave. No wonder they treated her so badly. The guards wouldn''t investigate too much if the corpse was found to be that of a slaves''.''


    "Do you remember what happened to you?"


    The girl started trembling again and her eyes turned red. Tears threatened to spill out and Vincent got up while saying, "It''s okay. You don''t have to tell me. You are still mentally exhausted. Just rest."


    Vincent closed the door behind him and smiled. Hearing the girl''s voice made him strangely happy. The girl was a testament to the answer he had found for himself. She was a breathing proof that he could save someone, and perhaps he could have even saved his mother had he then possessed his current knowledge and skills. He felt a great sense of satisfaction.


    Bang bang bang


    A series of rough knocks sounded and Vincent opened the door. Two hooded men entered the shop and made themselves comfortable, they acted like they owned the place. A man pulled down his hood revealing his chiseled face. A knife scar ran down his left cheek and he spoke revealing his jagged yellow teeth.


    "Master Vincent, I am called big hound and he is small hound. We came here to retrieve the girl. She is one of our employees. She went missing and was nowhere to be found."


    "Is that so? Can you prove that she is indeed one of your employees? I will hand her over if you can prove it. I won''t make it too difficult for you, how about just saying her name? If you get that right, she is all yours."


    "Her name is Alba."


    "You got her name right. Since she is you employee, I will have you pay for the treatment. I had to perform a surgery on her, it cost a lot of time and money. In total, you will have to pay a gold and 4 silver coins."


    "That is daylight robbery, master Vincent. What could cost so much money..." The man who called himself big hound stared at the girl peeking out from the door and stood up. He walked towards her and she tried to close the door in a flustered manner. Big hound grabbed the door before she could close it and yanked it open.


    Vincent turned his head to find Alba staring at the man in terror. Her expression told him that something was off regarding the man''s story. Vincent tried to get up in order to stop the man but the man called small hound jumped behind him and hit him in the back of his head with a sword''s pummel. Vincent''s vision grew blurry as he fell down face first.

 Escape (1)

    Alba''s mother was a slave. Her father was the manager of the cotton farm where her mother worked. She led a relatively easier life compared to other slaves as the manager was her father. Though he didn''t do anything for her, she could still get away with many things others in her position couldn''t. She was mischievous as a child and sometimes a little too energetic. The manager''s wife saw her as nothing more than an eyesore.


    Her mother passed away early and she had to work in the plant. Though work was hard, she could keep up with it. The guards would whip the other slaves if they found them lazing around, but they turned a blind eye to her behaviors. She was sixteen when the manager passed away after away being poisoned.


    The first thing the manager''s wife did after finishing her mourning was to sell away the illegitimate child of her late husband. In her view, she was nothing but a disgrace to him. A result of a momentary lapse of self control.


    Alba was scared when she was taken away from the farm where she had spent her entire life. Girls of similar age sat beside her in the carriage. More girls would get on the carriage every time it stopped. Alba thought about running away but the sight of armed escorts dissuaded her from doing so. The number of girls in the carriage started dropping with each town they passed by. When they reached the town of Opal, it was finally her and two other girls turn to disembark.


    The girls were taken to the red light district and locked up in a room. Alba had heard about the red light district and what happened there. She was scared of what fate had in store for her.


    One of the girl was taken away by a man who handed some money to the manager of the brothel. The girl resisted with all her might but the only thing the struggle led to was more pain for the girl. The man slapped her and dragged her by away.


    The girl returned an hour later with swollen eyes and red cheeks. She sobbed while crouching down at the corner of the room. Her hands hugged her abdomen and she appeared to be in great pain. Looking at her terrible state terrified Alba.


    It was the other girl who was chosen the next day. The girl was frightened out of her wits and she bawled while flailing her limbs. A guard tried to calm her down but was hit in the face by her stray arm. The guard turned red with anger. The whip that he only kept in his arms as a deterrent flew through the air and hit the girl. Successive whip cracks resounded and the girl lay twitching on the floor. The girl looked miserable but she wasn''t spared. The customer returned with the girl and left her on the room. Her condition was much worse than the previous girls''.


    Alba decided that she wouldn''t resist. If causing more pain was the only thing that resisting did, then she would rather let them have their way with her. Making up her mind, she was prepared for the time when it would finally be her turn.


    A fat man dressed luxuriously came by with two guards whose gear sparkled as if to boast about their superior quality. The manager of the brothel fawned over the man and spoke, "Sir Robert, I have reserved the most beautiful girl of the batch for you. She is still a virgin. Most importantly, she seems very submissive. I am sure you will enjoy yourself."


    The fat man nodded and handed a gold coins to the manager. The manager''s smile turned radiant and he brought out Alba. She looked at the man named Robert and gazed at the floor. Robert seemed satisfied with the girl and took her to a room upstairs. He had her sit on the bed and took off his clothes. His big belly jiggled with each step he took and soon he was standing in front of her. His eyes were full of lust as he started undressing her.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Alba closed her eyes and decided she would remain in that state until it was all over. She was expecting pain from her crotch but nothing happened even after some time. She opened her eyes to look at what the man was doing when a palm grew larger and larger until it covered her entire vision. Her cheeks burned as she tried to figure out what was happening.


    She was scared of pain. She had decided that she wouldn''t resist if doing so spared her from pain. She couldn''t understand why the man still slapped her when she hadn''t even tried to resist. She was thinking hard when another slap landed on her face. Her right ear started ringing and one blow after another landed on her face.


    "Your face is so pretty. I really like the sound it makes when I hit it as well. Awwww, why are you crying? Don''t cry. It makes me feel like I shouldn''t hit you." Robert spoke as if he was speaking to a child. The blows didn''t stop even after he said those words and tears started flowing down her temples. Seeing the tears fanned the flames of lust in him even more as he began hitting her harder.


    Alba put her arms above her head to cover her face. Robert grabber her wrist and pulled her arms apart. Her wrist hurt from the rough hold. "Bit*h don''t put your arms up. I hate it when you do that. Next time you do that, I will break your arm."


    Despite the threat, her arm went up on its own as the blows to her face got heavier. A look of immense anger came over his face as he grabbed her arm and twisted it hard. A crack resounded followed by her agonized screams. Things got worse from that point as he started assaulting other parts of her body as well. She fainted midway from the abuse.


    ********************************************************


    When Alba opened her eyes, she saw a young man. A smile bloomed on his face as he saw her awake. He gently asked her, "What''s your name? What is the last thing you remember?" She wanted to speak but a thought popped in her mind, ''Is he with the people from the brothel?''


    She kept her mouth shut and just sat there like a stone. He took a few steps towards her and her body started trembling on its own. Images of the horrible time flashed through her mind and her heart felt cold. She tried to shoo the terrible memories away from her mind when a warm palm landed on her forehead.


    "Are you cold? You are shivering really badly." The young man spoke just as gently as he had before. She had just relaxed a little when the memories of the palm that hit her repeatedly played in her mind. Her trembling worsened and the young man backed off.


    "It''s okay. You are safe now. I am a doctor. I treated you. You don''t have to be scared, I won''t hurt you." He continued trying to soothe her. Alba didn''t trust the young man, but she didn''t think that he was with the bad people anymore.


    The next day, she finally told him her name. He asked if she remembered what happened to her. Recalling the incident, tears welled up in her eyes. "It''s okay. You don''t have to tell me. You are still mentally exhausted. Just rest." He spoke patiently and headed out the door to the main room of the shop.


    Alba heard loud knocks followed by a rough voice. The owner of the voice started speaking with the young man who had saved her. She peeked through the door to see what was going on when her body turned stiff. She saw the two guards of the man who hurt her. They were trying to trick the young man and take her away. She was about to close the door when her eyes met one of the guards. He smiled at her and the smile sent chills down her spine. Her free arm which wasn''t immobilized by a splint started shaking and even closing the door seemed impossibly difficult.


    The guard stood up and walked to the door. He held the doorknob and pulled it with great force. The doorknob which she held slipped out of her hand because of the sweat that had accumulated on without her knowing. Her body froze and she couldn''t muster any strength to move it.


    The young man who had saved turned around to look at what was happening when the other guard rushed at him. She wanted to warn him about it but her throat refused to make any sound. She watched powerlessly as the guard hit him with a sword''s pommel and he fell down face first.


    Tears welled up in her eyes as thoughts about what would happen to her popped in her mind. Her legs felt weak and she fell on her butt. She had lost all hope when suddenly, the doctor got up with great momentum. He tackled the guy who had hit him to the ground and took out a dagger from his belt. He stabbed repeatedly at the guard''s abdomen. Blood flowed out of the wounds but the guard refused to give up. He made a fist and hammered at the doctor''s face repeatedly.

 Escape (2)

    Brom grew up in the slums. He had no memories of his family. He was always alone for as long as he remembered.  Life was hard. He got by with the food the people who passed by offered him. If he was lucky he could get three meals a day, but most of the time he had but a single meal a day or none at all.


    Brom lived his life being miserable, but he didn''t hate being miserable. All he knew was that he would starve to death if people didn''t see the miserable state he was in. Brom understood that he could cling on to life only because of the pity people took in him.


    It was a cold winter. He sat in a corner shivering. A girl who lived in the slums just like him moved closer to him to keep away the cold. They sat there huddling close together. It didn''t keep the cold away but it was better than nothing. A middle aged man saw the duo when he was passing by. Seeing the scene melted his heart and he bought a blanket and food for them.  Brom was grateful to someone after a long time, his cold heart that didn''t feel much gratitude or warmth for anyone thawed a little for the girl next to him. Maybe it was because he hadn''t had much contact with anyone in a long time or maybe it was because  he liked the girl. The world seemed bright to him despite the gloomy weather.


    Good things never lasted, a homeless guy looked at the duo with much envy. He hated how the brats received more help from people just because they were kids. The kids got all the attention from the people passing by and got treated kindly while he had to beg for a single bite and got nothing but harsh words of contempt and disgust.


    The homeless man waited for the middle aged man to depart. The moment he left would be the moment he took action. He made sure the middle aged man was gone before going over to the kids. He snatched the food out of their hands and kicked away the hands holding the blankets tightly. The kids resisted with all their might but their starved small body couldn''t contend with the homeless man.


    Brom tried to comfort the girl who was sobbing. He didn''t know why but seeing her cry evoked an unknown feeling in him. His heart felt like it was being poked by a needle. The boy held the girl closer to him and tried to keep her warm. He was starving but the only thought in his mind was to keep the girl warm. The girl stopped crying and eventually fell asleep. The boy too fell asleep embracing a warm body for the first time in a long while.


    ''It''s cold. What is it that I am holding? Why is it so cold?''


    Brom''s mind was still hazy. He had just woken up and his palms felt like they were touching ice. The day was indeed cold but his palms felt even colder. He opened his eyes and what he saw chilled his heart. The girl was pale and still. Her whole body was cold. Colder than the chilly air surrounding them. He tried to wake her up. He nudged at her, shook her repeatedly and called out to her but the girl didn''t reply or wake up.


    It took a long time for Brom to understand what had happened. The girl was dead. It wasn''t the first time he had seen a corpse. He had seen beggars die in a similar way when they didn''t get any food to eat or were too cold. Brom''s heart grew cold. It was now far colder than how it had been before it thawed. He was full of anger and resentment.


    It was still early. The slum was dim and most of its occupants were still sleeping. Brom''s mind was blank. He placed the corpse of the girl down slowly and looked around. He saw the homeless man who had robbed them sleeping underneath the warm blanket a few meters away. His body trembled uncontrollably, but unlike the previous times, the cause was not the cold but his boiling anger. He picked up a stone lying on the ground and held it firmly in his palm. He took steady steps towards the man and crouched in front of him.


    The man was sleeping soundly. He had no idea Brom was right next to him glaring at him with eyes that cried murder. Brom raised the stone up high and brought it down with immense force. The stone felt strong resistance from the man''s skull and stopped but he raised it and brought it down again and again. The sleeping man never woke up and his blood splashed around as if a melon that was being smashed squirted its juices everywhere.


    Brom learnt that day that life was incredibly cheap. It''s worth was less than that of blanket and few bites of food. He looked at his hand that was bloody and wounded because the rough points in the stone pierced his palm every time it made contact with the man''s skull. It didn''t hurt when he was smashing the stone against the man''s face but it hurt a lot now that he let go of the stone.


    Brom didn''t want to die in the slums like the girl or the other man. He started stealing and fighting. A gang saw him as a promising man and invited him to join them. He didn''t have to think twice to make the decision. He joined the gang and his sins grew greater with passing time.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    He had recently found a reliable backer. His name was Robert. Though he was a sick pervert who beat women for his pleasure, it didn''t bother him. What mattered to him was that the man could provide him with whatever he wanted. He followed him around and did all the dirty task for the man and in return he could do what he wanted most of the time without any restraints.


    Apparently, a doctor had saved the woman whom Robert had beat to near death just the other day. That wasn''t good. The girl was supposed to die in the dark alley without making any waves. If she lived and word spread about what Robert had done to her, his reputation would take a big dive and his life would be turned upside down as well.


    He got his partner to investigate the doctor. The results weren''t favorable. The doctor was also a wizard of first circle. Wizards and warriors were tough to deal with. Since the man was a only a first circle wizard, it wouldn''t be too hard if they took him by surprise. It would have been a lot harder if the opponent was a warrior. They couldn''t go overboard though. All they had to do was kidnap the man and threaten him. Maybe break a finger or two to scare him enough to keep his mouth shut. The doctor had built quite a reputation for himself for the past year. They also couldn''t let him find out about Robert. While his connections were powerful, the man himself was a wizard, he ought to have connections of his own and a powerful teacher. If Roberts identity got exposed, then the whole thing would blow out of proportion. They also couldn''t just kill the doctor as killing a citizen and a wizard to boot would make much bigger waves than killing a single slave girl whom no one cared for.


    Everything was going according to plan. He had caught the attention of the wizard and his partner had taken to chance to hit him behind his head to knock him out. He had just grabbed the girl when the man who was supposed to be unconscious got up and tackled his partner to the ground. The bastard even took out a dagger and stabbed his partner repeatedly.


    ***********************************************************


    Vincent stabbed the man over and over again but the man retaliated by striking his face repeatedly with a bare fist. Blow after blow landed on his face but he felt none of it. The only thought in his mind was to finish off the guy he was pinning down as fast as he could. He would have preferred stabbing his heart or throat over his abdomen but the man''s hands were in his way.


    The man''s blows got weaker and weaker until he could no longer keep his hands up and slowly lost his strength. Vincent wanted to finish the man off by stabbing his heart but just as he was about to do so, the other man who called himself big hound rushed at him with a dagger of his own and stabbed at his heart. Vincent moved on the last moment and the dagger dug into his shoulder.


    The man pinned Vincent down and tried to drive his dagger deeper. Vincent used his right hand to prevent the man from pushing his dagger deeper while his left hand made way for the man''s shoulder. Mana gathered in his palm and slowly transformed into  electrical sparks as his palm made contact with the man. A jolt spread through the man''s muscles and his arm spasmed. Vincent took the chance and pushed away the man whose grip had loosened. He pulled the dagger out of his shoulder and threw it aside.


    The man on the floor held his right shoulder with his left arm. His shoulder''s muscles had contracted and wouldn''t loosen. His right arm was as good as useless for the fight right now. The spot where the bastard touched also had a burn on it and it stung like hell. His neck and forearm also felt like thousands of ants were crawling over them. He felt his right arm slowly loosen but he still couldn''t control it properly. He wanted to take a rest until his arm recovered but the bastard wouldn''t let him be.


    Vincent rushed  at the now unarmed man and tried to stab him. His opponent however seemed much more experienced in a knife fight and kept his distance. He wanted to cut off the man''s right flank before committing to a big swing but he couldn''t move his left arm properly. He was also losing strength as blood continued to pour out of his wound, he needed to end this fast or it wouldn''t be good for him.


    The man seemed to realize it too as he kept his distance and tried to buy more time. He looked at the young wizard and spoke in a provoking manner with clear intent, "You won''t have much strength in a while master Vincent. How about giving up and making it easier on yourself?" It seemed to have worked as the young man rushed at him with a big swing.


    The man used his left hand and intercepted the swing. Making such a big move was a fatal mistake when using a weapon with small reach. He grabbed his opponent''s wrist and was about to disarm him when a jolt travelled up his arm through his palm. His palm got burnt because of the shock and his left arm lost their strength as well. Both his arms were rendered useless for a short term and engaging in a fight now would be stupid. He ran for the door as fast as his legs could carry him but before he could put any distance, Vincent drove the dagger through his sides and pushed him down.


    The man wanted to call for help. His original objectives of not making a scene didn''t matter anymore. To him, Robert''s reputation wasn''t as valuable as his life was. He didn''t care if the guards would take him to a cell and lock him up as long as he could live. He had just opened his mouth to cry out when a strong hand choked his throat and a strong electrical shock came from the grip. His throat felt like it was on fire and breathing became difficult.


    Vincent let go of the man''s throat revealing tiny charred craters on his neck. The shock had caused a strong burn on the man''s throat and he was writhing in pain. Vincent hurriedly grabbed the dagger on the man''s side and pulled it out. He held the dagger and place it against his opponent''s throat. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sliced.

 Escape (3)

    The room was dimly lit as there were almost no path for the sunlight to make its way through. Medicine and herbs was what the room usually smelled like. Though the smell of blood was in no way foreign to the room, it reeked of iron too strongly for Vincent''s liking. He watched as the red liquid flowed from the corpses and spread outwards.


    He looked at his trembling hands and recalled the sensation of stabbing flesh and organs. An intense urge to vomit came over him as his breakfast climbed its way up his throat. He tried to hold it down but the brutal painting painted by the blood of the two assailants as well as his own made him feel even more nauseous. He emptied his stomach till his abdomen hurt from the inside.


    The effects of the endorphin raging through his system subsided and an intense pain came from his shoulder. He had used ''Electric touch'', a first circle spell thrice and exhausted himself mentally because of the life or death struggle.His body felt devoid of strength and his mouths opened wide to take in deep breaths. He sat beside the pool of blood and vomit with no energy nor the intent to get up. He felt tired and sleepy. His eyelids grew heavy and the thoughts of taking a quick rest kept on popping in his mind but he drove away those thoughts and put strength on his legs.


    Alba had been standing on her original spot without any movement. The whole incident had been too sudden for her. She had just lost her hope when the young man who she had thought had been knocked out exploded with insane strength. The fight had taken barely half a minute and all she could do was stay rooted at her spot. She was scared that her benefactor would get killed. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat when he was stabbed on his shoulder. She wanted to help him somehow but her body refused to budge a single inch.


    The young doctor had just tried to stand up when his legs failed him and he fell back on his butt. Seeing this made Alba finally steel herself and move. She locked the door and helped Vincent to a chair. She cleaned all the mess and moved the two corpses inside a small storage room. Vincent had thought she would throw up as well but she held steady and cleaned the room with the single arm she could move.


    Soon, the room had no traces of the earlier fight except the bloodied body of the victor resting on a chair. He slowly got up and removed his upper garment. Moving the arm even a little resulted in waves of pain and he grit his teeth to not scream. He was thankful for the noisy street for the very first time since he bought the place. The busy street helped mask the sound from the fight and no one came over during the entire time. Vincent had to admit that he was lucky as a patient or two would usually have come over during that time.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    He washed the wound and applied a medicine that helped disinfect it. The medicine felt like it was burning his wound every time it made contact with the gash. Vincent stitched his wounds carefully but still messed up two times before successfully closing the tear. It was the very first time for him to sew his own wound shut and he had to admit that it hurt far more than being stabbed. The cut was still bleeding because of the poor stitching. He couldn''t help it as his hands shook too much because of the pain.


    "Light a candle and bring a spoon from the other room."


    Alba nodded and brought over a spoon and a lit candle. Vincent held the spoon over the fire and heated it. The girl watched him quietly and made sure not to distract or disturb him. Vincent folded his handkerchief and placed it between his jaws. He slowly bought the hot spoon over to his shoulder and pressed it over the stitch. Alba looked away as she found the scene to be too much.


    Vincent chewed hard on the handkerchief and endured the excruciating pain. Soon the cauterizing was complete and the bleeding had stopped completely. He applied an ointment over his wound and bandaged it. He changed his clothes and made the girl wear one of his robes over her sparsely bloodied cloth.


    He didn''t know if the assailants had any reinforcements coming. It was too dangerous staying here and the only thing he knew was that the enemies were trying to silence the girl. He didn''t know what they planned on doing with him but he did know that it wasn''t going to be anything good. He needed to escape from the town as soon as possible. He took Alba to the Jeweled Inn and had her wait outside. Though the girl was reluctant to leave the shop, she understood the gravity of the situation and obediently followed him.


    Vincent acted as if everything was alright and grabbed everything he needed or was of value in his possession. Soon, he exited the inn with two luggage and passed a few silvers to Housen and the barmaids to keep quiet about him moving out. He pulled Cathy aside and handed her a gold coin, "This is for all that Erik has done for me. All the books that I have left behind are for him. As for the other things, you can sell them and keep the money for yourselves. The boy is diligent and hardworking, I am sure he will become a good man."


    Cathy was flabbergasted. It was the first time she was holding a gold coin. She felt touched at the gesture and held back her tears. "Master Vincent, you have to live well. Take good care of yourself. Don''t just lose yourself in work and studies."


    Vincent nodded and said with a smile, "Don''t worry. I will live well. You guys take care of yourself as well."


    Vincent bid farewell to Cathy and led Alba to a shop selling horse and carriages. Vincent didn''t want to waste too much time and bought a carriage and 2 horses for four gold coins. He bribed the guards at the town gate to forgo the inspection and questioning regarding their identity and reason for leaving. He drove the carriage and departed from the town of Opal. Though he had only lived for about a year in this town, he still felt a bit sorrowful as he looked at the town that was slowly growing smaller in his sight.

 Trenni village (1)

    "How about 2 gold and 5 silvers? The carriage is new and has only been used for  a week. The horses aren''t anything special but they are healthy and can be put to work well." A young man was haggling with a merchant. The discussion had already been going on for a good while. The merchant kept on pointing out the flaws in the goods and decreased the price while the young man highlighted the good points and raised it.


    The merchant seemed to be satisfied with the price and nodded, "That seems reasonable. But you have to know that there are no people who will buy or sell carriages or horses over here. When another merchant comes here, it will be well over a week and he might not even offer as much as I am. Besides, feeding the horses and taking care of them will cost money as well. So how about 2 gold and 4 silvers instead? A silver extra to bear the cost of me transporting the carriage and horse before selling it?"


    Vincent nodded and finalized the deal while the merchant thought that he could have probably shot the price down a little more seeing the young man''s eager consent. Vincent had just arrived at this rural village. He had joined the merchant on the nearest town. The merchant had promised to introduce the village chief to Vincent and guide him here for the price of 2 silvers. Now that he had reached his destination, the carriage and horses were nothing but burdens for him. It was convenient to sell it off to the merchant.


    The merchant did as he had promised and introduced Vincent to the village chief. The chief was a kind old man with a limp leg. A man at arm who had lost his leg during a battle. The feudal lord had stationed him as an official in his home village to reward him for his service. He lived with his pregnant daughter and her husband.


    "This is master Vincent. He is a doctor and wants to move here. Although young, he is very skilled. I got to see him in action some days ago and was surprised. Old Morsen, you can''t haggle too much this time. I even brought a doctor to you village." The merchant seemed well acquainted with the chief as he spoke in a very casual manner, completely unlike how he spoke with Vincent when he was discussing business.


    "You know I can''t do that Hubert. Cecilia is going to give birth soon and I will have to spend a lot of money for the child as well. As an old friend, how could you even think of such a thing? You should be trying to hand me goods for free considering our relationship and my circumstances.  But I am grateful to you for bringing master Vincent here." The village chief, Morsen displayed his eloquence and made some small talk with the merchant before turning to Vincent.


    "Master Vincent, might I ask why you are moving to Trenni village? I am sure you could have easily made a living in any town or city."


    "To be honest, I ran into a bit of trouble with some thugs on my previous town. I am hoping to settle here so I can stay away from those thugs as well as to learn more about medicine. The Trenni forest has got a good reserve of magical beasts and plants, so it''s a very suitable place for me since I can get materials from the forest."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "And who might your companion be?" Morsen asked while staring at Alba who was standing behind Vincent obediently. She had a hood over her face to hide the bruises.


    "She is my servant."


    "I see. But why is she covering her face?"


    "The thugs I got into trouble with hurt her, so her face is bruised right now. I hope you understand." Vincent told them the excuse he had prepared alongside Alba. Morsen didn''t dig any further and nodded. Women were conscious about  their appearance. Showing a face that was bruised would probably be difficult for her.


    Morsen led Vincent to a house and told him he could use it. The house was incredibly dusty and spiders could be found hanging off their webs here and there. He took his leave together with Hubert and left the two new occupants of the house alone.


    Alba had grown a lot less scared of Vincent the past week. Though she had not overcome her phobia, he could at least approach and stay near her. She still reacted strongly if any other man approached her. He didn''t know what to do with her. She didn''t have anywhere to go and she could not make it on her own if left alone. He had indeed developed a soft spot for her because of what she meant for him.


    The room was cleaned up and Vincent stared at the now clean but still empty space. The room was completely devoid of furniture or anything of similar nature. The house didn''t have even a single bed and it seemed like they had to make do with the floor for the night. Vincent took note of everything they lacked and sighed as he sat down on the cold hard floor.


    ''My butt hurts. I need to get furniture as soon as possible. Why are villages so inconvenient to live in? Where do I even buy the things I need? I don''t see any shops around here. Guess I will talk with Hubert.''


    Alba watched as Vincent was uneasily shifting his sitting posture to feel more comfortable. She found his current actions to be somewhat unbefitting of the strong image she had in her mind but she didn''t hate it. In fact, she found them to be adorable and sweet.


    "Let''s have some food Alba. What do we have left?"


    "Bread and some dried meat is all that''s left. We ate everything we had bought."


    "Guess we will have to buy food too. I hate this already. I hope the war starts and ends quickly. I don''t want to stay here for too long."


    Alba hesitated for a while and finally asked, "Master Vincent, you are already so strong. Why won''t you join the war? I am sure earning merit will be easy for someone like you."


    "I might be strong but there will be many warriors and wizards in the army. I don''t want to join a war where even a stray arrow could kill me. Besides the truly elite forces are made up of individuals much stronger than me."


    Alba couldn''t really fathom how much stronger the elite forces had to be if even Vincent said he was weak in comparison. In her mind, he was already a very strong person. He had saved her twice and displayed incredible strength and mysterious means.


    ''I need to advance to second circle magician as soon as possible. If I focus entirely on it, I will probably advance within a month. The war will probably continue for a few more years. I hope I can become a silver ranked wizard before the flames of war reaches the southern part of Esterin Kingdom.''

 Trenni village (2)

    The sun was at its peak and cotton like clouds sparsely covered the blue sky. A sea of grass and flowers stretched before Alba''s eyes until it intersected with the vast sky on the horizon. The sunlight hit her face revealing a delicate face. One could easily tell that she would look very pretty if the bruises were absent from her face.


    Standing by the patch of flowers, Alba enjoyed the warm sun and cool breeze. The cruel episode seemed like a bad dream to her now. If not for the occasional nightmares, she did not recall it much. Though it was all over, the incident had left deep scars in her heart.


    A week had passed since she moved to Trenni village with Vincent but the house was still lacking proper furniture and other essentials. It wasn''t too inconvenient for her as she had lived in a similar manner most her life but Vincent seemed to hate it. He was specially repulsed by dirt and grime. It was hard to get what he wanted here and he had to ask Hubert to bring him the things he needed. The merchant agreed after raising the service and transportation fee quite a bit. Vincent knew he was being taken advantage of, but he didn''t mind. He would readily pay more if it meant he could sleep in a bed and rest in a chair.


    She spent most of her day working around the mostly empty house. If there was nothing to do, she would sit by and watch Vincent. The young boy spent most his time reading or training. According to her observation, he didn''t have any other hobby except reading. Perhaps staring at a wall thoughtlessly was one, if it could be called a hobby at all.


    The day had been pretty much the same as the previous ones until he suddenly called her and told her to go sight see around the village. He wanted her to go immerse herself in nature. Maybe the scenery would help her recover. Her physical injuries were almost done healing, he had already removed the splint from her hand a day ago. He wanted to help her phobia, but he had no idea how to do so. He was no expert when it came to trauma and fear.


    "What about you master Vincent?"


    "I am going to go hunt in the forest. Hopefully, the forest will have some useful herbs as well."


    Alba nodded to show that she understood and watched Vincent leave with a crossbow and a dagger. There wasn''t anything to do and she didn''t want to go against his words. Maybe it was because of how she grew up her whole life as a slave, she had grown used to obeying orders. Though the space outside the house was a little disconcerting, she steadied her heart and took small steps without any destination in her mind.


    The view before her was beautiful. She had spent most her life inside the cotton farm, never having taken a single step out of it until she was eventually sold. The slavers forbade any interactions and she hadn''t seen much except the bushes and trees by the roadside when the merchandise were given a break to take care of their needs. The world had been so dark and ugly ever since. But now, for the first time in her life, she was looking at a scenery that could truly be called breathtaking.


    Tears welled up in her eyes and dropped down her face. Alba was confused. She was only thinking how beautiful the field of flowers was when she started crying. She wasn''t in pain but tears were constantly streaming down her face. She wiped the tears with her hands and sniffled. She was crying her heart out but for some reason, she felt lighter and free. It was like she had finally taken a deep breath after suffocating for a long, long time.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Why are you crying?" A curious voice questioned.


    Alba was startled by the sudden voice and turned towards its direction. A girl around fourteen was looking at her with eyes full of interest. "Nothing. It''s just the dust. They got into my eyes."


    She tried to act as if it wasn''t a big deal but her voice broke and gave away her lies. She was a little embarrassed at her voice that cracked and stared into the young girl''s eyes to hide it. The girl was a head shorter than Alba and still had baby fat in her cheeks. Some freckles and a pair of hazel eyes adorned her face. Though the girl could not be called pretty, she gave off a very amiable vibe.


    "Did someone hit you? You look horrible. Look at all those bruises."


    "No one hit me. I just got these from a fall."


    "Don''t lie, I have seen similar bruises on my mother''s face when my father got drunk and beat her."


    "No one hit me. You don''t have to worry about it."


    "Does the doctor beat you? You don''t have to be scared, I can help you. Don''t worry, he won''t find out if you tell me. Sometimes, just sharing your story helps reduce the pain."


    "No, the doctor didn''t beat me. I don''t need your help either. How did you know that I live with the doctor?"


    "Hmm... well if you say so, I won''t force myself on you. As for how I knew, it''s pretty simple. You guys are the only ones who came to the village recently. I know everyone else that lives here. But your master sure is an oddball. He didn''t come meet with anyone. All the newcomers visit each family and get to know each other."


    "I need to go. Farewell." Alba hurriedly left the field. She felt uncomfortable around the girl and her direct questions.


    ******************************************************


    Vincent was already in the forest for about two hours. The only thing he could show for his effort so far was a handful of gold beech mushrooms. It was a rare fungus that grew on corpses of magical beasts of plants. Though he only found about two meals'' worth, it was energy rich and a great supplement for any warrior or wizardry training.


    Vincent didn''t have any experience hunting. Everything he knew about it was learned from a book and now he was realizing just how difficult it was to actually hunt an animal. Though he wasn''t a skilled marksman, he had played around with crossbows alongside Brian and Rachel. Their childish competition to see who could shoot most accurately had given him a decent level of familiarity with the weapon.


    The problem he was facing now was that most animals noticed his presence and moved away before he could get a clear view of them. It couldn''t be helped as he was still in the outer parts of the forest. The animals here were ordinary and scared of humans. He was still a novice and didn''t want to risk heading further into the forest where magical beasts could be found. Most magical beasts were very aggressive in nature and attacked humans if they came across one.


    He was just about to give up and return home when he heard rustling sounds coming from a distance. He looked over and saw a herd of seven wild goats. The herd consisted of two doe, three bucks and two kids. The kids looked adorable as they followed behind their mother and tried climbing a steep rock. They failed multiple times and the does got down and helped them up. The scene was heartwarming.


    Looking at the herd made Vincent hesitate a little. He wanted to hunt an animal so that he could eat more in the coming days. With enough food, he could increase the intensity of his training and breakthrough soon. He hadn''t considered much before coming here, but looking at the peaceful scene before him made it harder to aim and shoot.


    He had never killed an animal before. The two men he killed in the town of Opal still visited his dreams every night and haunted him. He felt terrible every time he recalled what he did and the current situation really tested him.


    Vincent aimed at the nearest goat and steadied his breath. All he needed to do now was pull the trigger between his breaths and a bolt would fly and find its mark. His arm trembled as he struggled internally and finally put the crossbow down. He sighed and got up to leave.

 Trenni village (3)

    The forest was silent except for the occasional chirps of birds. Vincent got up and turned around to return when the silence was broken by the sound of leaves rustling. He turned his head towards the source of the sound and saw a red furred fox dashing at the herd. The wild goats turned hysteric at the sight of a predator and fled in a hurry. One goat after another rushed away at full speed and the kids followed behind running as fast as their tiny legs could carry them.


    The kids tried their best but fell behind in no time. It was impossible for them to keep up with the does or bucks after all. The fox caught up soon enough and a kid lost its footing because of the intimidating predator behind it. The little goat fell hard and desperately flailed its limbs to try and get up. It was almost back on its feet when the fox pounced at it and bit its neck.


    The little goat thrashed around wildly in order to break free. It displayed strength one would not expect from a cute little goat that looked frail. Despite all its efforts, it slowly lost its strength. The swinging got weaker and weaker until it finally stopped. The fox carried its food that it had killed through suffocation and headed to its burrow.


    Vincent watched all of this transpire without making a move. He had found the little goats adorable just moments ago but now, one of the two was dead and the other was still running away with all its strength. The earlier scene of the struggling goat reminded him of the time when he stabbed his dagger repeatedly at the guy who had tried to knock him out from behind. The guy had flailed his limbs and trashed around just like the little goat.


    A disgusting feeling took over Vincent. It felt as if his hands were dirty because of the blood that had stained them long ago. An urge to wash his hands came over him and he hurriedly left heading for his new home.


    ********************************************************


    Vincent exited the forest with nothing but the gold breeze mushrooms he had found along with his hunting gear. His face was a bit pale and he was feeling nauseous. It felt as if the consequences of what he had done before fleeing the town of Opal was finally registered in his brain.


    The young man looked at his new home and was surprised to find two visitors there. A young man who was built well and looked pleasing to the eye. Accompanying him was a girl of around fourteen years of age. Her hazel eyes and freckles would leave a lasting impression on most people who laid their eyes on her. Vincent surmised that they were probably patients since the only people that had visited him since his move were people who required medical care. But he was in no mood to entertain any patients. All he wanted to do now was lay down and sleep.


    The visitors however seemed to have different intentions. The young man approached Vincent and stopped right before the new owner of the previously deserted house. He observed the young doctor and raised his hand. His fists slowly balled up into a fist and he brought it down upon Vincent''s face. The victim fell on his butt and looked at the assaulter flabbergasted.


    Vincent was caught off guard. He had been feeling terrible and was planning on turning away the visitors. Little had he expected that the visitor would suddenly attack him. ''Why is he hitting me?'' the question popped in his head. He tried recalling if he had somehow offended the man but nothing came to mind. He could say with certainty that this was their very first interaction.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Why did you hit me?" Vincent asked in an indignant manner.


    "Now you ask why? Didn''t you think that the other party would feel the same way when you hit them?" The young man replied in a voice full of anger.


    ''Is he a friend or relative of the guys I killed?'' A stupid thought that would have never come to Vincent if his mind was clear. But that stupid thought seemed to be the only answer to this confusing situation.


    "I don''t know." Vincent blurted out the words that were going through his mind.


    Hearing the words, "I don''t know" provoked the young man''s ire a step further. He hated how there was a scum like the one in front of him in this world. He clearly remembered how his father had beat his mother when he was drunk. Mother''s pretty face had been riddled with bruises and cuts because of the violence and she sat on the floor crying weakly. He had asked his father why the next day.


    The sober father had answered in a similar manner, "I don''t know."


    He had hated men who hit women ever since. Looking at the scum in front of him disgusted him to his very core. He wanted to hit the doctor till his pretty face got covered in bruises just like his poor victims''. He pulled his legs back to kick the bastard and let go. His feet was slowly approaching the bastards face when a girl shielded the vermin.


    The young man was baffled. He couldn''t understand why the girl would protect someone who had abused her. Nevertheless, he put in his all to stop his kick that was already closing in on the girl. The kick wasn''t successfully stopped but it lost much of its power, dealing but a little damage to the girl''s back.


    ********************************************************


    Alba felt a little impact on her back. She was scared of the current situation. The girl she had met earlier and drove away had come to her home bringing a young man. He resembled the girl a lot and the girl introduced him as her brother.


    "Why are you here?" Alba asked the girl who was looking around curiously.


    "Nothing much. We just have a little business with the doctor. Once we are done with him, he won''t dare hit you anymore."


    "I told you already. The doctor didn''t hit me. Please leave."


    "It''s okay. It won''t take long. I will make sure you will be okay. You don''t have to be scared."


    Alba felt helpless at the thick skulled girls'' relentless attitude. She didn''t know how to convince the girl that she was telling the truth. It was bothersome trying to explain to a person who had already arrived at their own conclusion anyway. She decided to tell her about the excuse she had prepared with Vincent previously, the one where she was attacked by the thugs who were troubling him.


    She was about to open her mouth when Vincent exited the forest. He looked pale and queasy. Looking at his unnatural state, she moved her feet in a hurry to check if he was okay. But the man who had come looking for Vincent acted faster than her. He took large strides towards the newcomer and punched him in the face.


    The sudden attack gave Alba a scare. The scene of how the thug had failed to knock Vincent out and how fiercely he retaliated was still etched in her mind. She got scared thinking of how Vincent would counterattack. All she could do was stop her feet and hope the retaliation wouldn''t be too severe. Little did she expect that Vincent would just stare dumbly at the man and mutter weak words.


    Scary thoughts came to Alba''s mind one after another.


    ''What if he got poisoned and can''t move? His complexion was terrible.''


    ''Is he sick?''


    ''Did he get injured while hunting?''


    She broke out of her thoughts and watched Vincent reply to the man''s question. The answer seemed to have angered the young man even more and he raised his legs preparing to kick him. Watching this, Alba pushed all the thoughts to the back of her head and jumped between the young man and Vincent.

 Trenni village (4)

    "What are you doing? Are you insane?" Alba cried while glaring daggers at the young man.


    "I am just trying to help you. Why are you protecting him when he hurt you?" The young man was even more confused looking at Alba''s hysterical cries.


    "Who are you helping? You are just hitting others for no reason. Go away, you are being a nuisance."


    The young man felt indignant. He was trying to help the girl but she was protecting the scum. He understood that the girl was abused and had probably been living in fear for a long time. It wasn''t like this was the first time he was seeing such a case. The victim would be too scared that the abuse would get worse if someone tried to help. He understood it but he still felt disgusted by it.


    Looking at the girl who was still shielding the doctor, a bad aftertaste was left in his mouth. It felt like he had swallowed a fly.  He wanted to vent out his emotions but had nowhere to do so. He looked at the scum one last time, spat at the ground and turned to leave.


    Vincent heard the conversation between Alba and the young man and was puzzled. He asked Alba, "He isn''t a friend of the thugs I killed?"


    "No, he is just a villager. He thought I was being bullied by you. So he came to help." Alba replied with a strange look on her face. Vincent was always sharp and calm. She did feel that he was acting strange after he exited the forest and she could already see that he wasn''t himself. But the question still surprised her a lot.


    Vincent got up and called out to the young man, "Stop! Why did you hit me?"


    The young man turned around and looked at the man who had just got up. His left cheek was a little swollen because of the earlier punch. Watching him stand up and ask as if he really knew nothing pissed him off once again. "Bastard. Are you saying that you can hit the girl just because you want to and I have to answer you if I hit you?"


    "Don''t ask questions. I asked you the reason why you hit me."


    "Cocky bastard. Just because she is your servant, you hit her. Now you got guts asking me why I hit you?"


    "You are making no sense. I am asking you why YOU hit ME."


    "Didn''t you hear me? I hit you because you hit her." The young man replied in an irritated tone.


    "There are so many people who harm others. Will you beat them all? You hit me as well. Are you gonna hit yourself?" Vincent continued asking in a calm manner.


    Hearing the string of questions directed at him, the young man grew violent. He was already doing his best to control himself. Had it not been for the girl who protected the weakling earlier, he would have already pummeled this bastard until he could no longer utter a single word.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "Fine bastard. I will just shut your smart mouth with my fist." The young man took large steps towards Vincent. Now, he really planned on completing the task he had come here for originally. He would beat the scum until he could never muster enough courage to hit another woman again.


    Vincent watched him approach calmly and lifted his crossbow aiming it at the young man. Looking at the crossbow directly pointed at him, the man stopped abruptly. In the face of a lethal weapon, even veteran warriors would have second thoughts, the young man staring at Vincent unyieldingly was already commendable.


    The young girl started panicking looking at the development. She just wanted to help  Alba. Watching the helpless Alba crying earlier had reminded the girl of her mother. She pleaded her brother for help and brought him here. Her brother was strong, in fact, he was selected as a prospective warrior by the feudal lords knight. He would be joining the training camp to develop battle force. Then, he would start training to become a warrior.


    Initially, she just thought that the matter would be solved easily. Unfortunately, the thing had blown out of proportion. First, she was surprised by Alba''s actions and words. Her brother retreating quietly was also an unexpected development. But, what surprised her the most was the doctor''s provocative words. He was frail and weak when compared to her brother. He also looked pale proving that he wasn''t exposed to the sun much and wasn''t athletic. She didn''t understand what gave him the courage to act so unbridled.


    Looking at the doctor pointing a crossbow at her brother, she grew flustered. This wasn''t what she wanted. Her brother was also staring at the doctor refusing to back down at all. She hurriedly went to her brother and pulled his sleeves while saying, "We are sorry. Seems like it was all a misunderstanding. Me and my brother will take our leave."


    She bowed repeatedly and pulled her brother behind her. Vincent aimed the crossbow at her and shouted, "Stop!" The siblings stopped, the girl was pale with fright while the young man regained his lost courage. He moved between Vincent and his sister and spoke, "You bastard. Do you have no shame? Pointing a weapon at a girl?"


    "How is pointing a weapon at a girl shameful? I have seen women who can take you down with both their arms tied behind their back. Stop forcing your disgusting ideals unto me. Now if you don''t want your sister to be turned into a pincushion, why don''t you answer my question? Why did YOU hit ME?"


    The young man glared at the crazy bastard in front of him. He was scared of the crossbow but his pride didn''t allow him to back down. He couldn''t appear weak, not in front of this cowardly scum. He clenched his teeth and let out one word after another, "Because I wanted to."


    Vincent smiled radiantly. It didn''t look pretty because of his swollen cheeks. He moved his arm holding the crossbow slightly and pulled the trigger. A ''twang'' resounded and a bolt flew out drawing blood from the young man''s thigh. The man clutched his injury and fell down. His body told him to scream out but he just stared at the attacker without any fear in his eyes.


    His sister on the other hand couldn''t stay still anymore. She crouched next to her brother and checked his injury. After confirming that it was just a flesh wound, she sighed and glared at Vincent. "Are you crazy? You could have hurt him seriously. Why did you do that?"


    Vincent looked at the girl as if he was amused and answered, "Isn''t it obvious little girl? I did it because I WANTED TO."

 Trenni village (5)

    Vincent hummed happily as he leafed through a book. Alba looked at him with worry written all over her face. He had been acting strange ever since he exited the forest. She let her imagination run wild as she wondered if he ate a mushroom that made the consumer high or hallucinate. She had heard about these mushrooms before, the barbarians from the north ate one such kind before a battle. It was said to give insane strength along with dulled sense of pain. The barbarians also acted weirdly after their battle frenzy ended.


    "Master Vincent. A... are you alright?" Alba asked after mustering her courage.


    "Hmm of course, I haven''t felt this good in a long time."


    "Did something good happen?" She inquired further as she recalled how he had let the siblings go after teasing the young girl and laughing. His actions had been far from normal then. Even now, he was acting weird.


    "I guess you could say I found the answer to a question that had been pricking my mind for a while now. It was a very satisfactory one at that. I suddenly feel much wiser. Hahahaha."


    The laughter at the end only served to heighten her sense of unease and worry. She attempted to probe further in order to get to the bottom of the situation. It would be incredibly taxing for her if Vincent continued to act like this. She tried her best to put on a smile and asked, "What question?"


    Vincent looked at the girl and was a little shocked at the sight. Her smile was incredibly stiff, it looked funny and weird at the same time. It was the first time he was seeing her smile. Even if it was fake and a bit scary because of the bruises on her face, he found the smile refreshing. He tried his best to stop his lips from curving upwards and answered, "Nothing much, I was just wondering why people tried to hurt me."


    The memories of her darkest moments were jogged by Vincent''s answer. She still couldn''t understand why the man beat her when she didn''t resist. She had made up her mind to be obedient in order to avoid the pain, but the treatment she received was far worse than the girls who had resisted earlier. She couldn''t understand where she had gone wrong. She wanted to know the answer to the same question as well. WHY? Without her realization, her body had started trembling and it felt like a knot had formed in her throat. She felt relieved after making sure that Vincent hadn''t noticed her unnatural behavior.


    "What answer did you find?" Alba tried her best to suppress her cracking voice and questioned.


    "Because they wanted to. Isn''t it so simple? And I had been wasting my energy pondering over such a stupid question."


    "But isn''t that wrong? How can the answer be so simple and pointless?" The girl''s voice increased by a pitch. She couldn''t accept the answer. How could the pain she suffered be justified by such a worthless reason. Tears started flowing down her cheeks and she felt a pain from deep inside her bosom.


    Vincent was surprised at the sudden outburst of the girl. The girl who just obediently followed him hadn''t revealed much emotions except for fear. He was getting worried about her. He had no idea how he should address her emotional issues and help with it. She kept her emotions bottled up and locked herself in a cage to feel safer. From the look of things, at least she vented for now. Despite not knowing how to proceed further, he felt a little happy.


    "That''s just an answer I found for myself. You don''t have to take it as the only answer. Why not continue searching until you find one that satisfies you?" Vincent smiled and spoke to her gently. He would have preferred giving her a hug like how Brian or Rachel did to him when he felt low, but Alba would start shaking all over if he approached her.


    The girl wiped her tears and ran away. Vincent sighed and got back to his book. The strange behavior of humans were hard to understand and he had no intentions of following the girl. There wasn''t much he could help with anyway. His focus slowly moved away from the books and he started thinking to himself.


    ''Hunting doesn''t feel feasible anymore. I have no experience with it and I will probably just waste my time if I tried again. Thinking further, I would rather not kill the animals myself. Guess I will go find the hunter and talk with him. I have enough money for now anyways. Let''s just focus on breaking through to becoming a second circle wizard for now. It''s almost time for my sixteenth birthday as well. I hope I advance before that time.''Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Deciding on a few things, Vincent got up and dressed to head out. After a quick stroll, he was already in front of the village chiefs'' house. The old man looked at the unexpected visitor and got out of his house. Understanding the nature of the young man, the old man got right to the topic, "Master Vincent, what a pleasant surprise. How can I help you?"


    "Old Morsen. I was thinking of striking a deal with the hunter. While I am at it, I can take a look at Cecilia as well."


    Morsen smiled and called his daughter out. Vincent gave her a quick check up. The old man was looking at him expectantly. His daughter was completely fine, but looking at Morsen''s smiling face, it seemed as if he wouldn''t feel satisfied until Vincent actually prescribed something. Vincent had asked a favor from the old man, might as well satisfy him. He spoke in a professional manner, "The child looks healthy. There is nothing wrong with Cecilia as well. The only thing to do now is making sure she eats well. Add more nutritious food to her diet. Everything else looks good."


    Morsen nodded and lead the young doctor towards the villages'' hunter. He was happy since an actual doctor said that everything was fine with his daughter and his unborn grandchild. It was hard to get a doctor to come here and travelling to the doctor with a pregnant woman was also quite troublesome. His smile was specially radiant since all he had to do in return was lead the young man to the hunter.


    Soon, the duo were already in front of the hunter''s house. Vincent could see a girl of about six playing with flowers. A woman was trying to calm down the toddler who was crying in her arms. Morsen approached the woman and asked her about her husband. He headed to the back of the house after talking with the woman.


    Vincent just stood there, a bit embarrassed. Morsen had been gone for a while and there was still no sign of him returning. The woman stared at him curiously and he felt uncomfortable. He was the exact opposite of a social butterfly and he felt the need to do something to dispel this awkward atmosphere. He crouched down next to the girl playing with the flowers and asked, "Are the flowers pretty?"


    The girl looked at the young man and nodded her head. Vincent felt helpless. He was hoping to keep himself occupied by talking with the girl. Little had he expected her to just nod and go back to admiring the flowers. He coughed to get the little girl''s attention, "Do you want to see something interesting?"


    "Okay."


    Vincent celebrated in his heart after he managed to get  the girl''s attention. He took out a coin and placed it in his palm. He made fist and blew into it. The girl looked at his silly actions and giggled. He slowly opened his fist revealing two coins. Watching the coin turn into two stupefied the girl and her eyes opened wide. Maintaining the momentum was the key to a good performance and he closed his palms once again. The girl watched excitedly as Vincent slowly opened his fist again. The coins had disappeared and the girl examined his hands thoroughly. Finding nothing, the girl was puzzled and she looked at the stranger in front of her expectantly. Vincent smiled at the girl''s cute reactions and put his hands behind her ears. The girl heard jingling sound and she was shocked as she watched the stranger pull two coins from behind her ears. She put her hands behind her ears to check if there was more coins there. Vincent closed his palm again and made the coins disappear after opening them. He moved his hands behind her ears again and pulled a beautiful flower, which he handed it to the girl. The girl received the flower with her little hands, she was flushed with excitement after the performance.


    "Haha what a splendid performance. Master Vincent sure has his way around kids." Morsen clapped as he praised Vincent''s little tricks. Behind him was a muscular man who was a head taller than him. "He is Bruno. A iron ranked warrior. He is also a very capable hunter."


    Bruno nodded and asked, "Master Vincent, what business do you have with me?"


    "I would like to hire you. I will purchase any game you hunt as long as they are in good condition. I will also buy rare herbs off of you."


    "If that''s the case, why don''t you buy the game like all the villagers do? I don''t see the need to hire me for this matter."


    "No, I need all the good cuts of meat. I also need them regularly. I am sure you wouldn''t agree to sell me all the good cuts if I didn''t hire you. Don''t worry, the pay will be more than satisfactory and I will pay for the hunting tax as well. It would be even better if you can hunt magical beasts. I will pay you five silver for a grade one magical beast. How about it?"


    Bruno didn''t need to think much to make a decision. The hunting tax paid to the feudal lord was what cost him the most. As long as Vincent paid for it and bought all the good cuts of meat, he didn''t mind hunting every day. Though he couldn''t be sure that he could get a game each day, it was worth it either way. It would be specially profitable if he could hunt a magical beast. He suppressed his greed and reminded himself of how dangerous magical beasts were.


    "Of course, Master Vincent. The offer you put forth is difficult to reject. I will do it."


    "Good!" Vincent smiled and shook Bruno''s hand.

 Scarlet bear (1)

    Vincent chewed the undercooked piece of meat and swallowed it. One could tell that it didn''t taste great just by looking at his expression. He didn''t have much experience as a cook and Alba was even worse. She had never worked in the kitchen and he had stopped expecting anything from her culinary skills for a while now. He hated the sight of meat now, it wasn''t that the quality was bad. His diet consisted of pretty much nothing but meat and some vegetables for the past two weeks, given the lackluster preparation of meals on top of that, he had to force the food down his throat.


    The only good thing that had happened recently was the arrival of furniture he had bought from the merchant Hubert. He could finally rest without feeling discomfort in his rear end. Though the bed was a lot less comfortable than what he was used to, he could make do with it for now. Finishing the last of the food, he got up and headed to his room to train. He had a feeling that he would break through today.


    Alba looked at Vincent swallowing the food without chewing much and felt a little useless. The first time she tried to cook was after she came to Trenni village with Vincent. She had learnt the basics so far, but it didn''t help that her mentor was Vincent who was pretty much a novice himself. The girl had no one she could ask help from as she almost never left the house. The presence of other people unnerved her greatly and limited her number of acquaintances to one.


    Vincent sat down and started circulating his mana throughout his body. He attempted to push the mana out of his body. Once he succeeded in doing so, he would be a second circle wizard. Second circle spells allowed the mana to travel outside the body and increase the range of the spell. Vincent repeated the process multiple times only to fail each time. Though the attempts ended up in failures, he patiently repeated the process after eliminating one flaw after another in his technique. Time passed slowly and a smile crept up Vincent''s face. He finally succeeded in pushing the mana out of his body.


    Vincent stood up and pointed a finger towards the wall. Electric spark danced in his finger for a moment before flying towards the wall in an incredible speed. Vincent watched the ball of electricity fly with excitement but it died down after the ball lost its power after moving just three meters. This was a second circle spell called ''Shock bolt''. The principle behind it was almost identical to the ''Shock skin'' he had used in his fight in the town of Opal. The only difference was the further compression and shooting of mana. Everything was fine except for the short range. Theoretically, the bolt should have travelled up to thirty meters before losing its power.


    He sighed and stopped his training for now. He had just reached the second circle and casting the spell on his first try was already an incredible feat. He felt exhausted but also restless because of his excitement. A smile was plastered on his lips and it wouldn''t come off no matter how hard he tried.


    ''I finally reached second circle. I will be sixteen in four days. I bet Rachel would throw a tantrum if she found out about it. Too bad I can''t gloat about it in front of her.''If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Vincent reminisced about his time with Brian and Rachel as he played with his pocket watch. He missed them dearly. If he could, he would probably go meet them, but the situation wasn''t favorable and he had put a lot of effort coming to the northern part of the Esterin kingdom to avoid the flames of war.


    ********************************************************


    Three youths were walked out of the forest by the Trenni village. They all wore leather armor made from the hide of magical beasts. Though the hide of normal animals couldn''t be turned into leather that could provide good defense, the same couldn''t be said for leather made from magical beasts. The young men were equipped with bastard swords along with bows and arrows.


    The fat guy being supported by his two companions had a terrible expression on his face, "Aren''t we there yet? I think I am going to die. I can''t go on anymore. Casper carry me, my legs don''t move according to my will."


    The tallest among the bunch turned to face his young lord who smiled helplessly. In the end Casper sighed and gave a piggy back ride to the fat guy. Nathan heaved and made a mental note to reward Casper after they returned to the castle.


    "Young master Zach, we are almost there. Look over there, you can see the houses of the villagers. We can ask for the doctor and the villager will lead us to him. Then we can save you." Nathan tried to calm the fat companion down.


    "I hope so. If the village doesn''t have a doctor in it. I might really ascend to the heavens."


    Nathan asked the first villager he saw and asked him about the doctor. The villager personally led the trio to Vincent''s house where he received a silver coin. A brilliant smile bloomed on the villager''s face as he repeated bowed and rained words of praise upon the trio.


    Nathan approached a young man standing by a Plumeria tree and approached him. "Excuse me sir, is the doctor in?"


    "He is." Vincent observed the man named Nathan. He had a handsome face and medium brown hair. His build was neither large nor small but he boasted a good height, at least half a head taller than Vincent. "What do you need him for?"


    "Can you please call him out? My friends and I were hunting when a scarlet bear attacked us. One of us is injured and requires medical attention."


    "I see, bring him in."


    Casper carried Zach inside and placed him on a chair. Zach clutched his forearm exaggeratedly and began making comical faces. Vincent approached him and began examining his patient. Zach looked at the young man and asked, "Where is the doctor?"


    "I am the doctor."


    Zach''s expression turned even worse after hearing that the young man was the doctor. He cursed the village and its stupid doctor in his mind and showed his injury to Vincent. The injury was nothing but some superficial wounds. The bear seemed to have barely scratched its victim before they got away.


    Vincent was just about to clean the wounds when Zach started to shout loudly. Looking at the crying man, anyone would think that his injury must be deep and serious. The treatment couldn''t be continued because the patient kept complaining about the pain and wouldn''t remain still.


    "I will apply some pain killing powder on your wound. Your wound won''t hurt after that but it will cost you an extra silver." Vincent pushed down his urge to chase this annoying fatso out and spoke in a mechanical fashion.


    "It''s just a single silver, why are you being so stingy? Apply whatever you need to apply. I will pay for it all."

 Scarlet bear (2)

    "It''s done. Your arm will be back to how it was in a week." Vincent was finally done with the troublesome patient. The only thought remaining in his head now was to chase away the trio after getting paid.


    Zach felt a little uncomfortable after looking at the gaze of the doctor. It was a gaze that said, "Time to pay up." Zach had only come to the forest accompanying the son of Baron Gill on his hunting trip and hadn''t brought any money with him.


    "Young master Nathan, how about paying for the treatment? I am not very liquid right now."


    Nathan felt somewhat embarrassed. His original intentions were to make good friends with Zach and hopefully join his clique. The connection would come in real handy given the chaotic situation of the kingdom. But not only had he failed to entertain his guest, he was unlucky enough to bump into a scarlet bear. Scarlet bears were second grade magical beasts with thick hide tough enough to make it impervious to most weapons. It also possessed herculean strength and was extremely aggressive.


    Nathan thought they were done for. Just as he was despairing, Zach who got attacked used a magical gear calling forth several spikes of earth. The bear was startled and fled the scene. The gear was a third grade item capable to allowing the user to use the third circle spell, ''Earth raid''. The used gear needed to be refilled with mana and it was going to be a costly process. Nathan felt responsible for it and wanted to break even with Zach as soon as possible. Only after doing so could he begin moving towards his original objective once again.


    The only problem was that he hadn''t brought any money with him either. He looked at Casper expectantly who shook his head indicating that he didn''t have any either. Nathan found himself in an awkward position. As the son of the feudal lord, he didn''t usually carry any money with him. Any business that required payment from his part were taken care of by the castle and the same could be said for Casper who was the son of a Knight serving Nathan''s father.


    "Cough.... ahem ahem... doctor. We can''t pay you right now. I didn''t bring any money with me either. But you don''t have to worry. I am Nathan Gill, the eldest son of Baron Gill. I will make sure you receive your payment by tomorrow evening." Nathan was incredibly troubled. Craftsmen, warriors, wizards and skilled personnel were incredibly valuable for any fief. He couldn''t be disrespectful towards the doctor as it could lead to other people learning about it. Such a thing could lead to a domino effect of valuable workforce leaving the territory.


    Looking at the uncomfortable Nathan, Zach started feeling embarrassed as well. He was Viscount Rolft''s only son. Never had he thought that such a day would come. He could sense mana from the doctor and knew that the other party was a wizard like him. The only thing he could do now was back Nathan. "Fellow wizard, I will assure you as a wizard myself. You will receive the payment before tomorrow evening. My words are worth their weight in gold, you can rest easy."


    "It''s fine. I believe you." Vincent sighed internally. He hadn''t expected to run into another wizard here. He had deliberately chosen a rural place where a wizard wouldn''t bother coming.  Though it wouldn''t disrupt his daily life anytime soon, the possibility of him getting embroiled in unwanted trouble still existed.


    "How rare, you look so young, yet you are already a second circle wizard. Can I inquire about the esteemed name of your teacher?"This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Zach''s statement piqued the interest of Nathan and Casper as well. Unbeknownst to them, a doctor who was also a wizard had moved in and was staying in a village under their control. Additionally, he was really talented, already a second circle wizard when he looked no older than seventeen. Nathan found it a pleasant surprise and made a mental note to befriend Vincent.


    "It''s nothing special. I was just lucky and broke through without much trouble. My teacher is Master Rigrit, it is unlikely that you have heard of him. After all, he lives in Istria." Vincent answered without any lies. The other party was a wizard and a viscount''s heir. Finding information about Vincent wouldn''t be too hard if he put in effort. Wizard''s circle was small after all.


    "How negligent of me. I forgot to introduce myself properly. I am Zach Rolft. My teacher is Master Azur, a fourth circle wizard. What is your name friend?"


    "I am Vincent Ember. I had long heard of young master Gill. It was a pleasant surprise to get to know young master Rolft as well. Who might your companion be?"


    The group of youngsters made small talk and spent the afternoon getting to know each other. Vincent also learned about the details of their encounter with the scarlet bear. Though pain made Zach incredibly bitchy, he was a smart young man and could be relied upon in times that mattered. Vincent and Zach also talked about wizardry. The former was having such a conversation after almost a year and he found it rather enjoyable.


    Time passed by quickly and the trio left heading towards Baron Gill''s castle. Vincent sat in his chair and started reading while Alba finally came out of hiding. She had shut herself in a small room as soon as the guests had appeared. The day ended without any event.


    ***********************************************


    The next day, Nathan, Zach and Casper came to meet their new acquaintance. Vincent looked at the trio riding on horses and got up to welcome them. Nathan paid for Zach''s treatment and looked a little nervous. It was unlike the young man''s character and Vincent found it a bit odd. Zach too looked trouble as if he had something to say but couldn''t bring himself to say it. The trio exchanged silent messages with their eyes. It was Casper who sighed and spoke in the end. "Master Vincent, actually we are here to ask you for a favor. Would you care to listen?"


    "Feel free to speak, Sir Casper. You don''t have to be so uneasy."


    "Actually, due to several reasons we have to hunt the scarlet bear now. We would like to request for your assistance."


    "But why me? I am sure young master Nathan can arrange for a well equipped group if he asked the lord." Vincent asked a little puzzled. The request didn''t make much sense. Specially since it would be dangerous venturing to hunt a magical beast.


    "That is true. But, we can''t mobilize the lord''s forces. Forgive us for not being able to tell you the reasons for it." Casper answered in a stiff manner. Even he knew that he was making an unreasonable request. But he was helpless. The two young masters pushed all the work on him and he could do naught but grit his teeth and pull through.


    "Who will accompany you on the hunt then? It will be incredibly dangerous with just us."


    "We can hire some people. It is fine as long as they aren''t a part of the lord''s force."


    Vincent gave it some thought. He did want to participate in the hunt and get some experience. He could also conveniently gauge the strength of his spells. If the hunt was successful, he would have established a stable relation with the trio. Zach''s connection would come in specially handy since he was in need of some spell models recently. He only knew two spells of second circle so far, ''Shock bolt'' and ''Fireball''. With Zach''s help, he could acquire more but the trio acted weirdly and the conditions for hiring the hunting team seemed stupid as well.


    "This sounds really fishy. I am willing to join if you tell me the reason. I will have to decline your request otherwise."


    Casper looked at the dispirited Nathan and raised his eyebrows to ask what he should do. The latter shrugged and gave a questioning face to the last remaining man in the group. Zach grit his teeth, he looked as if he was having an internal struggle. He sighed in the end and spoke, "Fine, I will tell you. But you have to promise not to laugh or tell anyone."


    Vincent nodded and waited for the explanation.

 Scarlet bear (3)

    "This is a bit embarrassing to say, but my fianc¨¦e used some harsh words to tease me when she found out that I got injured during the hunt. You see, she has a poisonous tongue and any man would find it hard to keep themselves calm under her verbal attacks. I momentarily lost my senses and lashed out saying I would bring back the corpse of the scarlet bear as a trophy. We argued back and forth and somehow, things ended up being the way they are." Zach narrated his story and ended it with a short cough.


    Vincent found the story somewhat funny. Not only did Zach and his fianc¨¦e not get along, it seemed as if they couldn''t stand each other. It really made one wonder how their marriage was arranged. "I see, that is certainly an amusing story. I am willing to help you if the safety of our hunting party is assured. Scarlet bear is a dangerous beast after all."


    "Haha I knew I could count on you Vincent. The valiance and sense of strength you exude just by standing makes it clear just how reliable you are. I hadn''t expected anything less from you since the moment I first laid my eyes on you. You don''t have to worry about our safety, it is pretty much guaranteed. So, what do you want in return?"


    The words that flowed from Zach''s mouth surprised Vincent. He found it difficult to keep a straight face even if he was only listening. No one knew how Vincent could exude a sense of strength and valiance just by standing, especially after looking at his pale countenance and lean figure. He couldn''t imagine how thick skinned one had to be in order to utter those words. An unspeakable sense of shame had already taken over everyone present except Zach. Vincent tried his best to calm down his twitching cheeks and spoke, "How about a spell model of second circle spell? I won''t claim anything else from the hunt if we are successful."


    Zach nodded without any hesitation. A spell model of second circle would cost around five gold coins. The total price of a scarlet bear''s corpse would come around ten gold coins. Though he would have to pitch in from his pocket, he didn''t mind since the measly gold coins would save his pride and dignity. He could also use this opportunity to get back at the vile woman he was supposed to marry. A second circle wizard would also be one the strongest member of the party and it would increase the chance of succeeding by a lot. This hunt would also present a good chance to befriend Vincent and strengthen his relation with Nathan and Casper.


    "So, where does your confidence about our safety come from?" Vincent asked the question he wanted answers to the most. Not only did Zach sound confident, Nathan and Casper seemed assured of their success as well. This time, it was Nathan who answered instead of Zach.


    "Bruno, the village''s hunter will be joining us. I believe you are already acquainted with him. Two other hunters from the neighboring villages will be joining us as well. All of them are tier one warriors. With their help, we won''t have to worry about most matters. Casper is a tier two warrior and with his strength, it won''t be a problem to keep the bear occupied. Young master Zach has also brought three magic gears of second grade and a single third grade gear. With your addition, it is highly unlikely that we will have an accident."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Vincent nodded to show his understanding. Three skilled hunters with much experience accompanying their group of two wizards and two warriors could put up a decent fight against any second grade magical beast. Furthermore, Zach was willing to use magic gears of second and third grade. The group could only blame their incompetence if they still failed to take down their target even with such extravagant equipment and lineup.


    "We will head out early tomorrow. You should prepare everything you need by then. You should rest well and not use too much energy on that shy little girl hiding over there. You might be young, but you never know when your body might fail to keep up. Alright, we will get going for now." Zach laughed out loud and left the house. Vincent wanted to say that he wasn''t doing anything of such sorts with Alba, but the boisterous laughter of the fat Zach drowned out his voice and left him no chance. Nathan and Casper bid him farewell and hurriedly left as well. The former even managed to pat his shoulder and drop a sentence before leaving, "It''s nothing to be embarrassed about. You are at that age after all. We will meet at the forest entrance at six a.m."


    Watching the trio leave on horseback, Vincent sighed and gave up on resolving the misunderstanding.  Sexual relation between a master and his servant was pretty common after all. Trying to change the preconception people had formed was even harder. Alba slowly came out of her small room and glanced at the departing trio. Looking at Vincent''s unnatural face made her feel that she had inconvenienced him. She felt a little guilty as she couldn''t restrain her curiosity and peeked earlier. Zach had seen her as a result and spoken those words.


    "I am sorry master Vincent. They got the wrong impression because of me. I.. I will make sure to not repeat this mistake again." Alba apologized  as she bowed her head. Her voice was shaking and she seemed a little scared.


    Vincent waved his hands dismissively and said, "It''s alright. They were already aware of your presence since yesterday either ways. I will head out early tomorrow. No need to prepare lunch for me since I will probably return late."


    "I understand." Alba nodded and watched Vincent as he began handling various herbs he had recently bought from the villagers. The plants were skillfully processed and mixed until a viscous green liquid was formed. Vincent smelled the concoction and proceeded to store it in a bottle. His leather armor, crossbow, bolts and first aid medical equipment were then checked and readied.


    Vincent set out the next morning all geared up. Upon reaching the rendezvous point, what greeted his sight was two well built men he didn''t know along with Bruno and Casper warming up. Nathan and Zach looked sleepy with the latter even yawning from time to time.


    "It seems like I am the last one. You guys sure arrived early." Vincent greeted everyone as he checked the time with his pocket watch. It was still 5:50 at the moment.


    Nathan introduced the two new faces to Vincent and vice versa. Everyone familiarized themselves with each other and made the plans for how they should proceed with the hunt. After discussing for half an hour and making sure of each details, the group finally entered the forest.

 Scarlet bear (4)

    "We have caught up. The bear used this tree to rub its back. The scent is still strong. It hasn''t been more than an hour since it left here." A hunter spoke in a low voice. Bruno and the other hunter nodded to acknowledge the speaker''s deduction. Vincent and the others waited calmly for more information. The hunter''s were much more skilled and knowledgeable regarding the forest''s terrain and hunting.


    Vincent was observing the hunters and soaking up every knowledge he could. The things he had read about hunting were finally coming together as if a jigsaw puzzle was being solved. Previously, he had no idea how to utilize the knowledge he had read about. Seeing the hunters in action, he could finally make sense of most of what he had read.


    ''Real hunting is much more difficult than what the books made out to be. Experiencing the real thing sure changes the way you look things. I am acquiring a much wider perspective. I am not as tense as I was when I entered the forest. Hopefully everything goes as planned.''


    Vincent increased his level of alertness a notch further. Though the party hadn''t encountered any danger so far, things would get a lot more unpredictable now. They had finally made their way into the deeper part of the forest. The hunters were all tier one warriors and they had never ventured so deep into the forest. The advantage they had regarding the familiarity with the environment was no longer present. Though their current position was the territory of the scarlet bear, other beasts that possessed threat to the party still existed.


    "I need to pee." Zach spoke while crossing his legs. It seemed as if he had been holding it in for a while now. Vincent was surprised seeing the young man get embarrassed. In his view, the things he had said yesterday were much more shameful.


    Listening to Zach''s words seemed to have triggered a domino effect. Nathan and Casper also needed to relieve themselves. Looking at the trio head towards a bush, Vincent too got the urge to pee. He followed them and pulled down his trouser.


    PSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!


    Several sounds of stream could be heard. Nathan was almost done relieving himself when he noticed Zach had a strange expression on his face. Zach slowly raised his hands and pointed his finger with a ring towards Nathan. The ring started lighting up, indicating that the magic gear was ready to fire. Nathan got a huge scare, he didn''t know what he did to offend the other party. He hurriedly pulled his trouser up and took a step back.


    Nathan watched as a ball of fire slowly emerged from the ring and flew towards where he had been standing. Cold sweat dripped down his face. Had he been a tad bit slower he would be a giant piece of roasted meat. He was about to raise his voice and give the fat guy a piece of his mind when sharp hissing sounds came from where the ball of fire had landed.


    A three meter long snake was hissing as it trashed around madly. Fireball was a second circle spell. The fire used mana as its fuel and burned hotter than normal flames. Soon, the smell of burnt meat filled the air and the snake gradually came to a stop. The party gathered around the charred snake and observed it. It had skin that greatly resembled barks of the surrounding trees. The color helped it blend into the surrounding and provided excellent camouflage. Nathan and Casper who had been right by it didn''t even notice it. The former was a tier one warrior while the latter was a tier two warrior. Their senses were incredibly sharp but they had no inkling about the snake that was slowly positioning itself to attack them.


    Nathan was pale with fright as he thought about what would have happened to him if Zach hadn''t noticed it. "Thank you, young master Zach. I owe you one for this."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Zach waved his hands dismissively and spoke, "Don''t mind it too much young master Nathan. You are here because of me anyways. I wouldn''t be able to face Baron Gill if anything had happened to you."


    "Still , it doesn''t change the fact that you saved my life. You even used a second grade magic gear. This might affect the hunt. I will be sure to return this favor."


    Vincent crouched down beside the corpse and turned it over using a stick. "This is a Bark Boa. I didn''t expect to find one here. They live in place with much more humidity and dense forest. You would have been fine with Casper by your side young master Nathan. After all, it''s a non-venomous snake that constricts its prey."


    Bruno moved beside Vincent and spoke, "It is indeed a Bark Boa. Though its size is on the smaller side, it shouldn''t have attacked young master Nathan given our numbers. They don''t attack humans as far as I know. It''s strange no matter how I look at it."


    "So they can be found here. I hadn''t read about that. It is certainly strange that it tried to attack young master Nathan. The cause is probably the perfume he is wearing. The essential oil must have been extracted from a flower it didn''t like." Vincent made a mental note regarding the presence of Bark Boa here and suggested a possible reason.


    "I see. The smell had probably irritated it and made it violent."


    One of the hunter looked around and said in a hushed voice, "The Scarlet bear will probably catch this smell and move away. Though there are chances that it might come here to check it out instead. It would be advantageous for us if it''s the latter. But, if it moved away it would be troublesome to hunt it since it would mean that it is alerted about our presence and doesn''t want to encounter us."


    Vincent channeled his mana and waved his hand. The surrounding air that had carried the smell came back and gathered near the corpse. After ensuring that none of the smell had escaped he channeled his mana once again to cast another spell, the air around the corpse became still and were no longer affected by the wind.


    "I didn''t except you to be so proficient in using these spells. Even though they are just first circle spells ''Lesser air control'' and ''Stationary air'', the mastery you displayed really shocked me. To be able to bring back the air carrying the smell so efficiently and use another spell to ensure the smell wouldn''t spread. I am impressed by your performance Vincent. With this, the bear won''t come in contact with this smell." Zach praised Vincent.


    The eyes of the three hunters lit up. Initially, they were just wondering what the young man was doing when the air came back with the burning smell. It seemed pointless as the wind would carry it away anyways. But, after listening to Zach''s explanation, they were thoroughly shocked. The use of magic had been ingenious and the idea that the problem could be solved this way had never crossed their mind.


    Bruno furrowed his brows after thinking for a while. "But the smell has already clung to our bodies. What do we do about this? The bear will notice us if we get anywhere close to it. The difficulty will increase by a lot if we can''t get the first strike in."


    "Don''t worry. I had foreseen this and have brought a smell remover. With this, all our smell will be removed. The bear won''t smell us even if we are right next to it." Zach said in a smug manner as he brought out a vial of transparent liquid. Just the fact that the container was made of clear glass spoke of its value. The price of the liquid inside should naturally be higher.


    Nathan didn''t miss the chance and began commending, "Young master Zach is indeed resourceful and farsighted. To have prepared for all eventualities. Truly outstanding."


    "Hoho... it''s nothing much. This much is only to be expected of me." Zach''s nose seemed to grow bigger as he tried to laugh off the compliment. The hunters also joined in on the chance to bootlick the rich young master and the group slowly proceeded towards the bear after skinning the snake and using the smell remover. Though Zach shamelessly boasted about it, Vincent had to admit that the young man was indeed resourceful and had come prepared for the hunt.


    After an hour, the group finally spotted the bear. It was sleeping by a huge tree. The beast was around three meters tall and four meters long. Looking at its size, it probably weighed around 1400 kilograms. Thick scarlet fur covered its entire body. Just staring at the enormous creature, one would find their courage leaving their body. The party observed the bear and swiftly positioned themselves according to what they had planned earlier.


    It was finally time to take action.

 Scarlet bear (5)

    The forest was dead silent except for the heavy breathing of the sleeping bear. Its giant body heaved up and down with every breath it took, almost looking like a giant mountain of meat. The party positioned themselves around the bear and looked at it nervously. The atmosphere was tense and they found it difficult to breath freely.


    The hunters drew their bows and nodded to Zach. Taking a deep breath, Zach held a pendant on his hand. The pendant was a magic gear of third grade with the spell ''Earth raid'' inscribed on it. He had used it previously to make the bear flee. The gear slowly activated and several earthen spikes rose from the ground. The spikes were roughly half a meter thick at its base and pointed at its tip. The sharp tips poked at the bear startling it awake. Only two of the spikes managed to penetrate the bear''s thick hide while the rest broke off.


    The bear gave a cry because of the pain. The loud roar signaled the start of the fight as the hunters released their bows. Sharp whistling sounds echoed and several arrows whizzed by heading straight for the bear with immense force. As the hunters were tier one warriors, their arms had immense strength and the bows they were using had draw weight of almost 200 pounds. As befitting of a grade two magical beast known for its defense, the arrows which would have easily taken down a huge Elk didn''t do much against the bear except make it angrier. But it didn''t matter because the arrows had served their purpose. They were laced with a concoction of Vincent. He had prepared it just the previous day and it would weaken the bear slowly.


    Vincent gathered mana around his right arms and fired off a ''Shock bolt''. A bolt of current covered the fifteen meter distance between Vincent and the bear in a blink of an eye. The bolt made zapping noises as it came in contact with the bear causing electric burn to the beast. The huge animal gave another deep growl and pounced towards the pesky human who had fired off the electric bolt. Seeing this, Vincent rapidly retreated hiding behind a thick tree.


    The spikes that had managed to pierce the bear broke off drawing blood as the beast charged. The enraged beast ignored the pain and injury as it made its way towards Vincent. The distance between Vincent and the bear was only about five meters when the beast felt a piercing pain come from its hind leg. It turned its head and saw that it had stepped onto a bear trap. The jagged jaws had firmly clamped onto its thick leg and it couldn''t move further because of the thick chain attached to the bear trap.


    Vincent had a pale face. Though everything was going according to the plan, it was hard to keep calm when a gigantic predator was charging at you. Thankfully everything had worked out and the bear''s reach had been successfully contained.


    The bear ignored the pain from its ankles and tried to free itself. The tree which the chain was bound to shook with each movement of the bear. Given the herculean strength of the beast, it wouldn''t be surprising if it uprooted the whole tree. The soil underneath the tree wasslowly coming loose indicating that the party didn''t have much time to take care of the berserk creature.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Nathan and Casper took advantage of the fact that the bear was occupied with the chains to approach it from its rear. Casper gripped the handle of the battle axe tightly and planted his feet firmly on the ground. Using all his strength, he swung the axe at the beasts'' hind leg. As a tier two warrior, Casper possessed insane strength and the blow dealt significant damage. The hind legs'' bone was fractured and it could now be considered useless.


    Nathan''s strike followed close behind. He sliced using his sword but it did little against the thick hide. Nathan cursed his stupid decision of using a sword against such a foe. Despite the underwhelming effect, he didn''t give up and skillfully drove the sword through the deep wound made by the ''Earth raid'' spell. The bear gave another deep roar and swiped at the human with the sword with its paw. Casper hurriedly raised his axe and used both his hands to grip the opposing ends of the handle. He pushed Nathan away and welcomed the blow. Despite his good defensive stance and the concoction taking its effect to weaken the beast, he still felt an enormous force travel up his arms. The axe also flew away from his hands as the webbing between his thumb and other fingers got torn.


    Casper repeatedly stepped back to offset the enormous force but still fell. The bear wanted to attack the two fallen humans but one of its hind leg was injured while the other was clamped by the jaws of a bear trap. It could do naught but roar at the humans to try and scare them. Vincent and the rest weren''t stupid and kept their distance. Everything had gone according to their plan and all that was left now was to slowly deal with the beast.


    Zach activated another one of his magic gear and fired an ''Ice shard'' at the bear. A chunk of ice formed out of thin air and flew towards the immobile creature swiftly piercing its head through its eye socket. Silence once again returned to the forest as the beast stopped struggling and lay there dead. The party surrounded the enormous carcass and examined it. After ensuring that it was really dead, they sat down exhausted one after another. Though the fight hadn''t been physically demanding, the mental exhaustion had far surpassed their expectations. Not only had the bear struggled to the bitter end, its strength far exceeded their previous estimation.


    Casper''s left hand had been dislocated as a result. Besides that, there hadn''t been any other casualties. Zach kicked the small hill of meat and laughed out loud. Casper followed suit and soon the entire party were laughing like idiots. Once the laughter subsided, Zach spoke hurriedly, "Let''s use the smell remover right away. It wouldn''t be good if other beasts came here smelling the blood."


    The hunters nodded and swiftly took care of the smell. Zach took out a scroll and unfurled it. It was a one use magic scroll. The spell inscribed on the scroll was ''Lighten''. It was a second circle spell which reduced the weight of any target by a ton. The hunters swiftly prepared a make shift bed with Nathan''s help. Zach tore the scroll and a soft light shone on the carcass reducing its weight to less than a quarter of what it previously was. The party placed the dead bear on the bed and swiftly made way for the village.

 Banquet (1)

    The whole village was gathered near the forest entrance. People were discussing animatedly while surrounding the huge carcass of the Scarlet bear. Even the lifeless body radiated a sense of strength and bestial savagery. Alba stood outside the crowd trying to get a good look at the beast. She was too afraid to approach the mob and couldn''t get a glance at the subject of discussion. It had taken her much courage to come here. She had been feeling anxious since the morning. Hunting a tier two magic beast was incredibly dangerous as far as she knew and couldn''t help  but worry about Vincent''s safety.


    Vincent bid farewell to the hunting party and slowly walked towards his house. The crowd readily made way for him. Many villagers were looking at him with respect and deference. Most of them were shocked after finding out that the unsociable doctor was actually a wizard. The pale and weak looking young man didn''t look anything like what they had imagined a wizard to be, in their minds, a wizard dressed lavishly and lived a rich life.


    The sight of Alba tiptoeing to look beyond the crowd surprised Vincent. He felt a little happy looking at the girl who had finally stepped out of her own volition. Approaching the curious girl, he asked in a soft voice, "Do you want to see the bear?"


    Alba shook her head and glanced at Vincent. Her anxiousness melted away after finding no injuries on him. Vincent looked at the crowd and nodded to Alba. "Let''s go home then. It''s too noisy here."


    The crowd slowly dispersed and a small group of soldiers came to retrieve the corpse. Zach had already prepared for the transportation of the carcass. He was looking forward to shutting the mouth of his poison tongued fianc¨¦e. She wouldn''t be able to retort this time. He had thoroughly kept his words after all. Casper and Nathan were happy as well, this hunt would give them bragging rights as well as increase their prestige.


    The hunters were also excited as they had received a gold coin each. It was a large sum of money for them and they didn''t hold back in praising the young men who had hired them. All the party members were satisfied with the hunt as each of them benefited from it somehow. Zach and Nathan began discussing which road they should take to show off their achievement to the most people while Casper began tending to his injury. The villagers had overwhelmed them when they exited the forest and he forgot the fact that Vincent was a doctor. Only now did it cross his mind and he spoke, "I forgot to get my arm treated..... "


    Zach and Nathan also realized that they had overlooked such a simple matter. Zach thought about it and said in hushed voice, "It''s alright. A lot of guests have gathered at the Gill mansion for the baron''s birthday celebration. You can take this chance to show off in front of the young ladies. I am sure they will be entranced by your tale of bravery. Take this chance and you might successfully woo a pretty lady."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Nathan nodded to show his approval and the trio started talking about how they should narrate the story regarding the hunt. Soon, they had come up with an exciting and blood boiling tale highlighting their wits and courage along with the bear''s ferociousness. Satisfied, the young men started laughing and talking amongst themselves.


    *********************************************


    The next day.


    A series of knocks rang out on Vincent''s room. Opening the door, Vincent saw a young soldier who saluted and handed him an envelope. Nodding to acknowledge that he had received the letter, he thanked the soldier.


    "I shall take my leave then, master Vincent." The soldier left just as quickly he had come.


    It didn''t seem like the envelope contained a spell model. Curious as to what its contents was, he removed the seal and took out its contents. A short letter and an invitation card. Vincent picked up the letter and began reading it.


    "Master Vincent,


    I am writing this letter to invite you to my father''s birthday celebration. Though it may be a bit sudden, I hope that you will attend the event. Young master Zach, Casper and I are expecting your presence.


    Young master Zach also says that it would be better for you to choose a spell model yourself and that you should make your way here. He has also stated that he will provide you with more spell models and materials for study of wizardry if you agree to one of his proposals.


    If you decide to attend the celebration, please come to Ayden''s book shop by noon tomorrow. The shopkeeper will lead you to us if you show him the invitation card.


    Nathan Gill"


    Vincent put the letter down a little upset. He had come to Trenni village to escape conscription and troublesome matters. Unfortunately, he ran into Zach not long after moving, thus exposing his identity as a wizard. From the looks of things, he was going to have to attend the celebration even if he didn''t want to. The conditions stated by Zach was a little too attractive to reject. Getting to choose a spell model himself would help him manage his repertoire much better.


    Though the letter had mentioned about a proposal, he didn''t want to agree to it no matter what it was. Spell models and materials for study were certainly alluring but it would come with equally troublesome shackles. Besides, hearing them out wouldn''t hurt and he could possibly learn things that weren''t known to most people.


    He had lost contact with Rachel when he escaped from the town of Opal. She had been his source of information since the day he moved out from Rigrit''s mansion and now he was practically blind regarding the kingdom''s situation. No one here provided service that would deliver a letter all the way to Istria reliably and he hadn''t tried to reach out to her given how impractical it seemed.


    Vincent decided to attend the banquet and hear out the other party. The problem was, he had no idea where Ayden''s book shop was. Sighing at Nathan''s oversight, he headed for old Morssen''s house. Fortunately, the old man knew where the shop was and agreed to lead him there.

 Banquet (2)

    Vincent stepped into the shop. Rows upon rows of books were neatly arranged behind the counter and the whole room gave off a sweet, musky smell that lingered on Vincent''s nose. The pleasant aroma made him take a deep breath appreciate the scent of old books.


    Noticing the visitor, Ayden put down the book he had been reading and took off his reading glasses. The shop owner gave off the impression of a learned man. Vincent looked at the middle aged lean man and approached him. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out an invitation and handed it to the man.


    Reading the contents of the invitation, Ayden put on a bright smile and spoke, "I have been expecting you, master Vincent. Please wait for a while."


    Vincent looked around the shop, flipping through some books quickly while the owner locked the front door of the shop. Grabbing his coat, the man signaled the young visitor to follow him. Vincent put down the book he had been flipping trough and traced Ayden''s steps. The duo passed by various shops and houses before finally stopping in front of a two storey house. Ayden knocked on the door and bid farewell to Vincent.


    Vincent watched the shop owner leave and waited by the door patiently. Soon, a young girl opened the door and led him to the upper floor. Zach and Nathan were playing chess while drinking. Looking at the new comer, both of them stood up and greeted Vincent. Vincent sat down on an empty chair and asked, "I don''t see Casper, where is he?"


    Zach took one more sip and proceeded with his move in the game. "Casper is currently taking care of his dress for the night. His arm is giving him a problem, so the tailor should be re fitting his cloth for him."


    Nathan added to Zach''s words, "Still, I must say, you look splendid master Vincent. It didn''t seem so the previous times, but you look very handsome. I guess it''s true that clothes make the man. The way you have dressed up really suits you."


    "Thank you. It is nothing much. I am sure you two will look charming after you change for the evening."


    Zach laughed and moved the conversation to a more serious direction, "Of course, that much is only natural. Now then Vincent, here I have three spell models of second circle. Given your display of wind and lightning magic, I sent some people to fetch these in a hurry. They are ''Static barrier'', ''Wind wall'' and ''Air cannon''. As promised, you may take your pick."


    Vincent was thankful for the models. Not only had Zach kept his words, but also let him choose from three excellent spells. ''Static barrier'' and ''Wind wall'' were defensive spells whose value were much higher than normal spell models. ''Air cannon'' too was a unique spell that imitated a third circle spell and had higher attacking power compared to most second circle spells.


    What Vincent lacked right now was a defensive spell and he preferred using lightning spells since he had the highest mastery over lightning. The choice was obvious and he picked ''Static barrier'' without any hesitation. Zach noted Vincent''s every action and made a mental note regarding what he could use as bait later on.


    "I will choose ''Static barrier'' then, young master Zach. I must thank you once again for allowing me to choose between three excellent spells." Vincent kept the spell model in his pocket as he spoke.


    Zach nodded and continued, "Let''s move onto my proposal then. I will be honest with you, the lords all over the Esterin kingdom are restless. Ever since the rumor about Athos Theocracy extending invitations to some major lords has spread, the relation between the lords are getting worse. The only reason war hasn''t broken out throughout the kingdom is because it''s currently early September. The planting of the winter wheat is still ongoing, the army won''t have enough resources to wage the war until the wheat is harvested next year. This is just the calm before the storm, the peace won''t last for more than eight more months."Stolen novel; please report.


    Nathan backed Zach and added, "The celebration tonight is just a facade for all the feudal lords in the north western region to gather. My father is just a baron, but almost all the lords in this region will be attending the banquet tonight with their families. This is something that doesn''t happen even for a marquis or dukes'' celebration. This just proves how dire the situation is. Zachs'' and my father want to use this opportunity to suggest building two citadels besides the city of Zelnick. After fortifying the city, we would be safe from the lords of other regions."


    Vincent held his chin and thought for a while. "It sounds great but I don''t think it is practical. This project will cost a lot and will probably take more than two years to complete. Given that we barely have half a year of peace and the lords haven''t come to any agreement among themselves yet, I don''t think the goal will be accomplished."


    Zach praised Vincent''s quick wits in his heart and replied, "That is true. But, the lords want to believe that there won''t be a war anywhere near here and it is hard to convince them otherwise. Our fathers believe that they will have enough time to build the citadels and fortify the city before war affects this region. They are also ignoring the fact that we do not know who among us have received the invitation from Athos Theocracy and intend to change sides. Even ignoring that, we are far from being united and such a cooperation isn''t feasible at all."


    Zach seemed to grow increasingly restless the more he spoke. His frustration could clearly be felt and Vincent had to agree that what the young man said made a lot of sense. Vincent pondered and asked. "So, what is your proposal? I don''t see anything that I could help with so far."


    "I am going to create a mercenary band. Nathan and Casper are already on board . We are also going to use the opportunity tonight to present the Scarlet bear''s corpse to Baron Gill. Hopefully, we will be able to convince more youths to join us using the momentum it provides us. I really appreciate your talent, strength and wits. I would like to invite you to join us. Not only will I provide you with materials but also spell models and anything else you would need if you join me. With you on board, it would make it easier for us to take out first step. After all, almost everyone in this territory has heard about our deed and all four of our presence would strengthen our value in anyone''s eyes."


    "I understand what you intend to do. Casper and young master Nathan joining is also understandable, since the former is a hot blooded knight while the latter isn''t the heir. But you, young master Zach are the heir to your viscounty. I cannot fathom why you would give up your position and start a mercenary band."


    Zach sighed and narrated, "Actually, my father plans to use this chance to strike a military alliance with viscount Duddet. My step brother is the viscount''s grandson. Viscount Duddet has made it clear that the alliance will be possible after my step brother is made the heir. My father has already agreed since it would help convince the other lords if viscount Duddet backs him tonight. My mother is just a merchant''s daughter, though she may be rich, her political backing comes from me being the heir. But, with my position being taken from me, she doesn''t feel safe here anymore. The viscount would do anything to make sure that I get out of the picture after all. This is another reason as to why I want to create a mercenary band."


    Vincent hadn''t expected Zach to reveal so much to him. Zach had even revealed the inner situation of his family and his position to him. Vincent let out a sigh and decided to be just as honest. "Young master Zach, let me be honest as well. I came all the way to the north to escape the war. I have no intentions of being conscripted or joining the military. Similarly, joining your band would defeat the purpose of me moving here. I am afraid I will have to decline."


    Nathan who had been silently listening to the conversation finally stepped in. "I think you have overlooked something important, master Vincent. Not only is it inevitable that the war will reach here. No matter where you go, you won''t be able to escape conscription. I am sure that the best choice you have will be us. Not only  will our band have the freedom to choose our battles, our business will be safer and much more lucrative."


    Vincent realized that he had indeed overlooked the fact. He had moved here believing that the north western region would remain peaceful. But it seemed like the situation had deteriorated beyond what he had expected. Now, he would have to give serious thoughts to Zach''s proposal. He put his thumbs on his temple and tried to recollect his thoughts once again."Give me some time. I will think this through once again."


    Zach and Nathan smiled after looking at each other. Zach patted Vincent''s shoulder and spoke, "You have until the evening to make the decision. Tonight will play a big role on how we can start our plans."

 Banquet (3)

    Vincent mulled over the matter seriously. Not only would this decision change his life, but it would also affect the two young men sitting beside him. Getting conscripted was the worst option and he didn''t even want to think about it. Not only would he be used as a cannon fodder, the pay would also be nonexistent. Now, the only options for him were to either join the private army of a lord or join Zach on his venture. Joining a private army would ensure good pay and treatment because of his status as a wizard and a doctor. Both of these were valuable resources after all. The downside to doing so was the heavy responsibility he would have to bear along with lots of restraints. Given the high chances of an all out war between the lords, he wouldn''t be able to prioritize his safety. Although his life would most likely be guaranteed as a prisoner of war, he didn''t want to risk it. Nothing was certain in war after all.


    The last option would be joining Zach''s mercenary band. This was indeed the option that provided most freedom and prospects. It was also highly profitable. The worst point for this was that there wasn''t a reliable person to ransom him if he were to be taken as a prisoner of war. But, it wasn''t that much a big issue as mercenaries could freely choose their battlefield. Their loyalty only extended as far as the wealth dangling in front of their eyes. Should their life be at risk or the battle turn for the worse, they could always run away. Even if he were to be taken as a prisoner of war, the worst he would have to face would be to earn his freedom after fighting for the lord whose army captured him.


    If Vincent were to be honest, he would have to say that joining Zach seemed the best option. But, he still had his reservations. The band hadn''t been created yet, so he didn''t know how strong the band would be. Strong mercenary bands were high in demand and treated well, but should the band be weak, they would just be used as cannon fodder. Zach had also lost his position as the heir and it made it difficult to gauge just how much they could push their recruitment. After all, humans were precious resources of the lord and Vincent didn''t know how viscount Rolft or baron Gill would react.


    Vincent decided that just thinking about it wouldn''t help and asked, "What about the recruitment? Will your fathers allow such a thing? If they will, to what extent?"


    Zach smiled and replied in a calm manner, "You don''t have to worry about that, my father feels guilty for removing me from the position of heir. So, he has already promised me that I can recruit forty young able bodied men from my viscounty. Baron Gills view on this matter isn''t clear yet, but Casper will be able to pull ten youths in the least from his father''s fief. In the worst case scenario, I will just pay for the remaining men we will need. Though it will reduce the fund for the equipment, it can''t be helped."


    Nathan felt a little guilty when it was mentioned that it wasn''t sure how many men he would be able to get. He knew for himself that it didn''t look that great. Though he was the eldest son of the baron, his step brother was more talented than him and had better political backing. Zach''s mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and she would manage a huge fund for Zach''s share. Casper was raised to be a knight since small and his martial arts was excellent on top of already being a tier two warrior at the age of eighteen. He would also be able to pull ten able bodied men without a doubt along with his own equipment and his mounts''. Vincent on the other hand was a wizard and a doctor. Both of these gave him a high value. Furthermore, his tactical value was higher than even Casper who had a full set of equipment.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Nathan felt like he needed to ensure that his position wouldn''t be undermined. He grit his teeth and made a decision. "Don''t worry. I will be able to pitch in enough money even if I don''t bring in any men. In the worst case scenario, I will just sell my full plate armor. It will easily bring in about 200 gold coins. With that, we could easily buy twenty men from any lord and equip them well."


    Vincent  was surprised that Nathan was willing to go so far. Full plate armor represented the peak of metallurgy and crafting. Not only did they make anyone who wore them nigh impossible to kill, but also showcased their importance and wealth. One of the reason Casper was important for the band was the fact that he would have full equipment for himself and his mount. That alone meant that he would be a moving nightmare for any foes he encountered on the battlefield and his safety was almost guaranteed because of his full plate armor.


    Seeing this made Vincent realize that Zach and the rest weren''t planning on gathering a ragtag bunch of men but a legit mercenary band that could make a name for themselves. Vincent found it an honor that he was being invited as a founder for such a group. He was attracted by the offer now and he made his mind to join the mercenary band. As a founder, he would have a say in all of the major decisions and actions of the band. He wanted to agree right away but his integrity stopped him from doing so. Zach, Casper and Nathan were all pitching in a lot of money and resources and Vincent couldn''t keep a clear conscience if he joined them without investing anything.


    "Very well. I will join you guys. Young master Zach, let''s forget about the spell models and materials for now. I would feel bad if I took anything more. I only have 40 gold coins right now but I believe I will have 100 gold by the end of harvest of winter wheat. Consider it my investment." Vincent spoke in a calm manner. Now that he had made his decision, he was going to see it through. He had earned a lot the past year as he was working in a very busy town, but he had also spent a lot in his wizardry training and other matters. He had been living quite well after all. Though the business wouldn''t be as thriving here, he believed he could save 60 gold coins in the next six months if he lived frugally.


    Zach and Nathan were elated. Not only was Vincent''s'' participation important to ensure that they could attract more people and investors tonight, his value was also higher if one looked at the matter of war objectively. Zach would have been happy if Vincent had just agreed to join them. The fact that Vincent was willing to invest made him even more valuable as a friend and a comrade. After all, trust was an important factor for the realization of their plan and who could be trusted more than someone who had shown sincerity and was reliable? Zach laughed and spoke in a voice filled with joy, "Haha Vincent, you can drop the formality now. Just call me Zach. We are all brother from now on. Come let''s drink to mark this moment."


    Vincent took the glass handed to him by Zach and chugged its content. He didn''t like drinking but he didn''t mind doing so to not break the atmosphere they had. The trio talked and laughed while waiting for Casper who soon joined them. Once all of them were gathered, they began planning for the night. The banquet would be their first battlefield to realize their plan.

 Banquet (4)

    Baron Gills'' mansion was lively like never been before. Servants were busily running around taking care of things everywhere. The main hall had been decorated like a pretty jewel, one wouldn''t recognize it as the same hall if they didn''t know what was going on. The baron had spent a lot of money on the celebration. It was an event that would play a huge part in what was to come in the chaotic future. All the surrounding nobles had taken the time to attend it and he would allow no mistakes.


    The servants hurriedly did last minute arrangements as the time of guest''s arrival was approaching. The bustling mansion soon descended into a peaceful atmosphere and the servants began preparing for the upcoming banquet. One extravagant carriage after another stopped by the mansion''s gate and well dressed men alighted in the company of elegantly dressed pretty women. The servants respectfully led the guests inside and the mansion came to life as the guests mingled with each other.


    Vincent and company were inside Zach''s carriage heading for the celebration. Nathan looked at his coat and frowned. "Young master Zach, isn''t this too gaudy? No matter how I look at it, I don''t see how this will leave a good impression."


    Casper nodded to show that he felt the same way. Zach had brought out flashy dress for all four of them and Casper felt like he had wasted his morning at the tailor''s place for no reason. Vincent found it alright since he could cover his flashy coat with a black formal robe. Same could be said for Zach. But, Casper and Nathan weren''t provided with any robe and had to walk around showcasing their glittery coat garnished with silver.


    "It''s not gaudy at all, young master Nathan. Rather, you two look fabulous. The coat shines just like your brilliant personalities.  Besides, this much is required to catch people''s attention tonight. Here put on these ring brooches." Zach shrugged off Nathan''s complaints and nudged Vincent with his elbow signaling him to provide help. Then he brought out four identical brooches and handed them to everyone. This would help show their closeness and identify them as a clique.


    Vincent found himself between a rock and a tough place. While he didn''t want to lie about it, he couldn''t bring himself to praise Nathan and Casper like Zach did. In the end, he decided to say some vague things. "Indeed, you guys don''t look shabby at all. Specially, Casper looks very valiant given his tall build."


    Zach knew that one should strike the iron while it was hot. He didn''t miss the opportunity and added, "That''s right. I am sure the ladies will be all over Casper tonight, entranced by his tales of bravery. The part where he pushed away young master Nathan and blocked the bear''s swipe gets my blood boiling every time I recall about it. Besides, silver represents strength and military accomplishments. How can we not follow the custom and dress up in Silver. After all, our objective tonight is to show off."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Casper seemed convinced after hearing the flattery directed at him but Nathan still found it hard to digest. "Then why are you two wearing robes? The coat underneath is garnished with silver after all. I am afraid people won''t be able to witness your valor and feats of strength if you hide it under your robes."


    Vincent started feeling a little uneasy. He didn''t want to show up wearing the flashy coat no matter what. People of Esterin kingdom wore clothes garnished with silver in a victory celebration. Their party had only hunted a Scarlet bear. Though it was impressive, he didn''t feel comfortable bragging about it like this. But, he also understood its importance tonight.


    While Vincent was still thinking about how to put an end to Nathan''s attempts, Zach, who had mastered the art of flattery came to his rescue. "I would have loved to do that, but sadly, we have to highlight our magical strength as well. If you think your clothes are embarrassing, take a look at Vincent''s robe. Do you see these two circles? Imagine how bashful he must be feeling to show off the fact the he is a second circle wizard. Enough... we are almost there."


    No matter how one looked at it, no one would find it shameful. After all, Vincent was incredibly young and already a second circle wizard. In fact, people would be impressed after looking at the two circles embroidered in the robe. Nathan wanted to point it out but Zach gave him no chance. He also realized that Zach had refrained from putting any circles in his robe. Probably because he found it shameful to be boasting about being a wizard while being beside Vincent who was both younger and stronger than him. In the end, Nathan just cursed at Zach''s slyness in his heart and calmed himself down.


    Their carriage arrived to the destination and the four of them alighted. Vincent was shocked by the extravagance of the place. The entire mansion was lit up with pretty lights and the soft sound of music could be heard coming from the inside. The company moved together and entered the venue. The sight inside was even more dazzling. Musicians were performing a beautiful peace under a huge chandelier made of crystals that gave off multicolored lights. Servants were scuttling around serving light snacks and drinks to the guests.


    Nathan breathed a sigh of relief after noticing many youths who were dressed in a much more showy fashion. At least, now he felt like he had a good reason behind his get up. It wasn''t uncommon for people of Esterin kingdom to dress up in order to show off their military and martial accomplishments. ''Looks like I was being too conscious.''


    Zach on the other hand, was also grateful to all those people who liked to show off. At least, now he wouldn''t need to worry about Nathan bugging him about the gaudy coat.

 Banquet (5)

    Baron Gill walked up to an elevated position. The buzzing hall fell silent as all eyes focused on the man. He was accompanied by his wife, a beautiful woman who would have made a great pair for him if not for the staggering age difference. No trace of nervousness could be seen on his face even when being the center of attention among all the peers that had gathered. The baron exuded a comforting sense of confidence as he gave a speech thanking all the attendants. Though he addressed the crowd for quite some time, the contents were anything but important.


    After the flowery speech laced with unnecessary remarks ended, one guest after another presented their gifts. Beautiful jewels, exotic craftworks, celebrated weapons and various extravagant goods made their appearance one after another amidst the dramatic introduction by the person presenting the gifts. It almost seemed as if the guests were trying to outdo each other. It was shocking to see so many exorbitantly valued goods presented as gifts, it also added a sense of excitement to the already lively atmosphere. The happenings today would no doubt, be talked about for quite a while and no one wanted to miss this opportunity to put on airs.


    Vincent was rendered speechless by the time everyone was done. It was finally their turn. Thankfully, Nathan would be the one addressing his father for all of them combined or else, Vincent might really have messed up. Nathan took a deep breath and spoke a few words to the servant who had been standing by him for a while. The latter nodded and hurriedly went away. Nathan slowly approached the center of the hall and clapped his hands.


    Eight strong men carried a flat cot about four meters long and three meters wide into the hall. A cloth covered the content but the huge mound roused much curiosity. Nathan spoke in a solemn but loud voice, "Felicitations, beloved father. May I present the body of a Scarlet bear. I hunted it with my friends just yesterday."


    With that said, he removed the cloth revealing the carcass. A sword was driven in on the spot where Nathan had pierced it and a battle axe was lodged in its hind leg. The burn marks from Vincent''s spells were also made to seem more impressive. Vincent had no idea how Zach had done it, but the body was made to look like it had been  through a much harsher battle.


    The crowd gasped at the sight of the hulking bear. Zach seemed satisfied at his handiwork as he watched the animated expressions on the faces of people present. The intended result had been achieved and they had managed to snatch the attention of most of the guests.


    Though the existence of warriors and wizards made hunting magical beasts possible, hunting a predatory beast was a risky task to undertake. Not only was it extremely dangerous, it didn''t yield as much as the effort and resource one had to put in as well. It was after all, the norm to use the hide and any other parts from a magical beast that was passive and tame. That way, it was much safer but just as profitable. In the end, the skin, flesh and bones were just as valuable because of the dense energy on them. It didn''t matter whether it came from a rabbit or a lion.


    Rarely did anyone ever hunt predatory magical beasts and in the infrequent instances that they did, it was mostly because of the creature venturing too close to human settlements. Even when prepared, the hunters would often suffer tragic consequences when attempting to subdue the beasts. More often than not, the game would also flee successfully, rendering all the effort and expenses useless. Such being the case, the carcass was a rare sight for everyone present.


    The bear was already menacing and with Zach''s personal touches, the product could only be described as a creature from stories told to children. The crowd couldn''t take their eyes off it and began talking about it. Baron Gill too, was quite surprised at the sight. He had been far too busy lately as he had to arrange for the celebration and hadn''t learned of the hunt yet. One could tell that the fight had been hard fought just by looking at the cuts and burns in the bear''s body. Adding Casper''s broken arm on top of that served to make it seem even more so. While he was a little worried about the unnecessary risk his son had taken, he had to admit that it was quite a spectacle and that it added to the atmosphere of the banquet. He maintained his signature smile and spoke, "I see that one of my sons has joined the ranks of the brave Esterin warriors. That adds to another cause for celebration. Everyone must be hungry, let us feast first."


    Servants set the tables in a orderly, practiced manner and brought in items in waves. Various delicacies were brought in one after another. Pleasant aroma filled the entire hall, whetting the appetite of all those present. Vincent felt his mouth watering as he looked at the tasty treats. It had been a while since he had had a decent meal and the sight of properly prepared food had him raring to go.


    Nathan and Casper were soon surrounded by a bunch of youngsters hungry for the details. Nathan happily started narrating the story they had all prepared beforehand receiving much admiration from the listeners. Casper stood by his side and added a word or two to make the story more exciting. Vincent felt a bit awkward mixing in with the group and moved away silently. Zach joined him and put his arms around Vincent''s shoulder. The latter was surprised finding the social butterfly with him in a corner instead of mingling with the guests.


    Almost as if reading Vincent''s thoughts from his face, he spoke in a grim manner. "I like to stay away from the bustle sometimes too. You don''t have to look at me like that. Come let''s go grab something to eat. I am starving."


    Vincent didn''t believe the young man. He was sure that even if Zach enjoyed some quiet, he would definitely not miss such a chance to socialize. But that didn''t matter at the moment, the thing that required his attention right now was his grumbling stomach. Nodding to his companion, he accompanied the other to satisfy their cravings.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    The duo grabbed whatever they felt like eating. Their plates were filled to the brim with all sorts of delicacies. Baron Gill had spared no expense for the banquet. One could eat their fill with food that they would usually only have at special occasions. Vincent and Zach found a quiet place on the lively hall and began stuffing their face. It was an odd sight in the vibrant place full of people talking and laughing while barely paying attention to the food.


    A pretty girl dressed in a refined manner approached the two. She looked at the pair greedily eating while disregarding everything else and frowned. "I see that you are still in the mood to eat Zach. And the way you eat indeed suits you. Did nothing bad happen to you recently? You don''t seem worried at all. You have no idea about your situation do you? No, you probably do but choose to turn a blind eye to it because it is scary. Just like how an ostrich buries its head on the sand and thinks that its safe as long as it can''t see the predator. I must say, it''s indeed befitting of someone like you."


    Vincent had been starving and the appetizing aroma had fueled the fire of his hunger a step further. Joining Zach who was similarly being bothered by his belly made him forget about the place. Now that the girl pointed it out, he felt a bit embarrassed. Cautiously, so as to not disturb Zach and the girl he shifted his position further away. Furthermore, it looked like the girl had a bone to pick with Zach. He was also curious about their relationship. Judging by the girl''s tone, she seemed quite close to him. In the end, he moved to a place where he wouldn''t intrude but would still be able to eavesdrop on them.


    Zach didn''t seem to care and looked at the girl. There could only be one girl in the entire world who would talk to him like this. The girl with the poisonous tongue, his fianc¨¦e Elaine. She had golden hair and blue eyes. Her dainty face was adorned with a sharp nose and thin lips. Everybody praised her beauty but Zach would never do it. In his eyes, she was nothing but a troublemaker.


    "Oh my.... if it isn''t lady Elaine Burns. The one named after her beauty, said to be as dazzling as the sunlight. Isn''t it ironic? Whenever I meet you, it''s as if my world gets eclipsed by dark clouds." Zach replied sarcastically while ignoring all the scathing remarks she had thrown his way.


    She had just learned that he had been removed from his position as the heir to Rolft viscounty. Though they exchanged hurtful words every time they crossed paths, they had known each other since they were still young and she cared about him. Even as she spoke harshly, she was worried. Listening to his retort that seemed no different from his usual self, she grew restless. Her emotions that she had been bottling since learning of the news exploded. "How can you still be so carefree? Aren''t you aware that your life will be turned upside down soon? Have you made plans about what you are going to do?"


    "What do you mean by carefree? Can''t you see that I am eating instead of joining the other guests. If I were carefree, I would be talking with all the people over there. I am incredibly worried right now."


    Elaine had never expected that the stubborn guy would actually admit his weakness. She had been waiting for his usual answer full of air and confidence. The stark contrast in his character worried him even more. It seemed like the situation was worse than what she had learned. The sharp tone from her voice vanished and a gentle one replaced it. "So, what are you going to do?"


    "Make a mercenary band. Travel south and distinguish myself. Once the war starts, neither my half brother nor his grandfather will be able to pay attention on me. I will be safe then." Zach answered monotonously, almost as if the matter didn''t concern him at all.


    "What about our marriage then?" Elaine asked with a shaky voice.


    "Huh? Did you have too much to drink? You were engaged to the heir of Rolft viscounty. Since I am no longer the heir, it will probably be your family that annuls the engagement and sets you up with my half brother soon. But it''s probably better for you. Didn''t you say it was embarrassing being engaged to a useless wizard who got injured on his first hunt? Now you don''t have to worry about it."


    Tears filled her eyes as she listened to him. It had been nothing more than the usual sharp words she had exchanged with him. It was just some casual teasing. She hadn''t expected him to get angry over it and say that he would kill the Scarlet bear and bring its body back. The Zach she knew would have just retorted or ignored her words, little had she expected that he would react so strongly. The tears spilled out of her eyes and streamed down her face. The cakey make up came off with the tears and the ticklish feel from the stream made her realize that she was crying.


    Zach was going to have another bite of his food but watching the girl cry shocked him. He didn''t think the girl would actually cry as he was only trying to act like he usually did. A great sense of unease came over him as he gazed at her. He was dumbstruck, he didn''t have even an inkling of how the situation came to be. Just as he was going to ask if she was okay, Elaine ran away while wiping her tears.


    Vincent was trying his hardest to act as if he didn''t hear anything. He felt like he had done something bad and he felt stupid for letting his curiosity get the best of him. He sneaked a peek at Zach only to find him staring at the running girl''s back with a stupefied face. Zach turned his head around slowly and his eyes met with Vincent''s.


    Realizing that he forgot to act natural and that Zach probably found out he had eavesdropped, Vincent awkwardly smiled.  Zach on the other hand, was even more embarrassed after finding out that Vincent had witnessed the exchange between him and Elaine. The situation was mortifying for both the parties and Zach slowly approached the other. "Vincent... what do you think? The poison tongued woman actually cried and ran away after finding out that our engagement will be annulled. Do you think I''ve turned into a prince charming after slaying the Scarlet bear? I knew that women like men who have experienced adventure and danger, but who knew it was to this extent."


    Zach felt like sewing his mouth shut after completing his sentence. He was just trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere, but now, he had no idea how it had come to this. Not only did he fail to dispel the awkwardness, he managed to make a fool of himself as well.


    ''F*ck! Must be because that vixen cried. I was too flustered and embarrassed myself further. I need to calm down.''


    Vincent was preparing to forget about the event and never bring it up. That way, both him and Zach would be able to avoid the unpleasant situation. Little had he expected that Zach would sabotage their only chance and say something so ridiculous. He felt his mouth twitch uncontrollably. Trying his best to maintain his poker face, he smiled and replied, "Probably?"

 Robin Hood (1)

    Nathan walked up to Vincent and Zach whilst being accompanied by a few youngsters. The group was very lively and Nathan wanted to take this opportunity to introduce them to Zach and Vincent. He had high hopes that some of the youths would join the mercenary band. The gift they had presented had shocked the crowd and he was planning to strike the iron while it was hot.


    Vincent saw the approaching group and heaved a sigh of relief. He was clueless as to how he should have dispelled the awkward atmosphere, thankfully Nathan came to his rescue. "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you, master Vincent. Not only if he a genius wizard but also a very capable doctor." Nathan spoke in a joking manner drawing laughter from his company.


    Vincent bowed and shared some polite words with the people Nathan brought over. All of them were young and promising warriors. A few were even in the cusp of becoming a tier two warrior. Nathan put in a few words to make the conversation flow smoother. Maybe because Vincent wasn''t too good at conversing with strangers or his own lack of communication skills, Nathan didn''t find the interaction to be as smooth as he had hoped it would be.


    As he began thinking hard about what he could do, his sight fell on Zach, the social butterfly. Noticing his strange expression, Nathan couldn''t help but ask, "Young master Zach, you don''t look so well. What happened? Is the food not to your taste?"


    Zach, who had been thinking about his earlier interaction with Elaine broke out of his reverie because of Nathan''s question. Realizing that people were looking at him weirdly, he hurriedly put on his signature smile and laughed. "Haha it''s nothing. I was just admiring the grand hall. I must say, it looks very dazzling today. Please pass on my words to the baron, young master Nathan."


    While Nathan had to admit that the hall looked better than ever before, he had never expected Zach to make such a bad excuse. The heir to the Rolft viscounty was well known for his glib tongue and excellent conversation skills. Nathan could clearly surmise that Zach was flustered but had no idea why. His eyes met Vincent''s and he raised his brows to question what had happened.


    Vincent lightly shrugged to convey that he had no idea. He did, but he couldn''t bring himself to talk about it. After all, the situation seemed delicate and he didn''t want to ruin the mood.


    Zach quickly pulled himself together. Soon, it was as if he was never acting abnormally at all. The group mingled much better with the presence of the social butterfly. Even Vincent, who felt rather awkward at first, fit in like a clockwork. Nathan sighed to himself while envying Zach. As a noble, connections was  a must and being able to blend in so well would work wonders for anyone regardless of the situation.


    ***************************************


    Viscount Rolft and Baron Gill were joined by the other lords. In contrast to the joyous atmosphere in the hall, the air around the lords was grim. Serious expressions were plastered across each of their faces. Viscount Rolft was helpless as he lamented to himself.


    This isn''t going well. No one trusts each other. At this rate, our plans will never be put into motion, achieving them will be nothing but a pipe dream. How did it come to this? Just the rumors regarding the invitations from the Athos Theocracy shouldn''t have sowed such discord among us. Specially since we are too far from them and our lands won''t be affected by the war too much.


    If we play our hands well, we will have enough time to complete one citadel and fortify the city. If the citadel can act as a deterrent, we can complete the other citadel as well. As long as we can achieve this, we will be able to secure our survival. We can''t do this without pooling all of our resources together. But, why is everyone so disagreeable today? Did I miss something? Nothing comes to mind.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Only Gill and I seem to be clueless. What is happening? Did an unexpected development take place? I should have received the news as well if all the other lords know about it.  This won''t do. I have to find out right now. No faster way than to just ask the lords. Lets dispel this gloominess for now.


    "Today is a great cause for celebration. Let''s forget about the talk we had earlier. How about we cleanse our palate and begin anew? I have with me here a bottle of Mardedge Sherry, aged for 25 years. I couldn''t bear to drink it until today. But, now that all of us lords have gathered, there couldn''t be a more fitting occasion." Viscount Rolft spoke with a brilliant smile on his face. He carried a bottle of scotch and poured the contents into crystalline glasses. A sweet and smooth pleasant aroma wafted out of the bottle and spread outwards.


    Viscount Duddet stepped out and helped Viscount Rolft. He had promised to assist Roflt in persuading the lords and he had to keep his end of the deal. It didn''t really matter to him whether Rolft succeeded or not since his grandson was already made the heir of the Rolft Viscounty. But, the construction of citadels and fortified city would indeed put his heart at ease regarding the war.


    "It is a joyous occasion indeed. To think that you would willingly to part with such a prized whiskey. I would hide it in my cellar if I were you." Viscount Duddet joked as he bought his face to the glass and took a deep breath. The smell of chocolate and spices mellowed by the oak wood hit him and he closed his eyes to relish the moment.


    Various other lords joined in and they were soon laughing merrily. It was uncanny how the ambience surrounding the lords had changed in a matter of moments. Viscount Rolft tried digging around but couldn''t get any hints as to why the lords were so disapproving towards his proposal. The mood had finally settled down and he couldn''t be too aggressive or straightforward with his probing, or else his prized whiskey would have gone down the drain.


    Forcing down his unease, Viscount Rolft played along with the rest. A few moments passed and he was waiting for the right time to arrive when he realized that his mouth was filled with saliva. Gulping it down, he tried to calm his nerves but found out that he was unusually tense.


    This isn''t right. I have been through tougher situations and I could handle them relatively calmly. Why am I so tense? This is weird. Did I always produce so much saliva when I was nervous?


    To his surprise, his mouth was filled to the brim with saliva once again. Looking at Viscount Duddet whose lips had been dyed blue while he wasn''t paying attention, he finally realized that something was wrong. A scary thought popped into his head and he gulped subconsciously only to find that even swallowing turned laborious.


    All of the lords stared at Viscount Duddet who was showing abnormal signs. The viscount just stood there motionless, oblivious to the panicked expressions on his peer''s faces. Amidst the shouts and nudges, he fell over in a stiff manner.


    Baron Bisca looked at the pale faced, blue lipped Viscount Duddet who lay motionless on the ground and the glass of whiskey next to him. An indescribable rage came over him. Not only had Rolft used the opportunity to gather all the lords. But, he had poisoned all of them simultaneously. As the thoughts raced inside his head, fear made its way into his heart and he shouted in a shaky voice with a finger pointed at Viscount Rolft. "What have you done? Have you gone INSANE! You will not get away with this."


    Viscount Rolft wanted to speak. He wanted to shout out loud that he didn''t poison anyone and that he was innocent. But alas, his throat failed him and he couldn''t make out even a tiny squeak. In his desperation, he turned to Baron Gill and Viscount Burns to plead for help only to find that they were looking at him with questioning gazes full of bewilderment.


    The whole hall went silent after listening to Baron Bisca''s hysteric shout. The musicians stopped playing their instruments and the servants stopped moving. The guests followed the source of the scream only to see Viscount Rolft  falling down and joining Viscount Duddet on the floor. The entire crowd grew trepid and it didn''t take much longer for the hall to turn chaotic.

 Robin Hood (2)

    The hall grew silent for a split second. Confusion was written all over the guests'' faces. Watching as one lord after another fell down, fear and anxiety gripped everyone''s heart. Soon, the confusion died down and everyone rushed to their lord.


    Baroness Bisca crouched down by her husband''s side and tended to him. Looking at his blue lips and face devoid of color stung her heart. "Get a physician and an apothecary. Quick! What are you all waiting for?" Her shout brought the hall back to life and the servants ran off to fetch the physician and the apothecary.


    Nathan and Zach headed for their father''s location amidst the unfriendly gazes everyone was directing at them. Vincent followed closely, feeling uneasy. He had never expected things to escalate so quickly. Judging by the desperate howls of the guests, the lords had been poisoned. With Baron Bisca''s shout at the end, the suspicion naturally fell on Viscount Rolft. Though he was the second to fall down, it made him even more suspicious . After all, he could have done it intentionally so as to avoid being the prime suspect. Furthermore, who could tell that he didn''t have an antidote hiding somewhere to get away scot-free.


    The air was oppressive and being stared at by everyone was unnerving. Nathan and Zach stayed by their father''s side. Everyone else were accompanying their lords and trying their best to help, but it didn''t do much as they were just people with slightly better medical knowledge. They were far from being equipped with proper knowledge or tools.


    "Vincent. Come, quick. Have a look at my father." Nathan spoke in a hurried tone as it struck him that the other was a doctor. The fear in his voice could be felt clearly.


    Vincent silently made his way towards Nathan and crouched down. He measured the baron''s pulse and breathing and scrunched his brows. After a few more rudimentary examinations, Vincent spoke in a low voice. "Poison and such treatments are outside of my field of expertise, so my judgment might be incorrect. It looks like the poison isn''t lethal. His breathing and pulse has slowed down significantly, but none of his organs seem to have failed. We should have enough time to save them at this rate. Of course, a specialist will have to take a deeper look to ascertain the poison and its cure."


    Nathan calmed down a bit after listening to Vincent''s words. Though Vincent didn''t specialize in poison or its treatment, a qualified physician or doctor should be able to confirm whether the patient was in mortal danger or not.


    Part of the crowd settled down a little after hearing Vincent''s judgment but the majority were still tense. After all, trusting the words of a youth they had never heard of or seen before would be unnatural. Some of the lords had only held the glass but hadn''t taken a single sip. The lucky ones were left in trepidation looking at the bodies on the floor. They secretly sighed in relief and praised themselves for being able to resist the alcohol''s temptation.


    Vincent concluded that the dosage of the poison was very small. Thankfully, most of the lords had taken but a single sip. After observing for some time and finding that the condition didn''t deteriorate any further, he could finally be sure of his earlier judgment. Vincent proceeded to have a quick look through all of the lords. Some of the family members were very appreciative of his efforts while the others were downright cold towards him. He did feel wronged a little but paid it no mind as he could simply skip them. Strictly speaking, it only decreased his workload.


    Soon, several guards made their appearance along with the physician and the apothecary. The physician was an old man with wrinkly face and skinny figure. He was a well known physician who had served the Gill household for decades.


    The guests tried to get the old physician to check up on their own lords first. The lean old man was like a lonely leaf amidst a storm. Manners and the likes didn''t matter in such times and the guests weren''t hesitant to use forceful means. The guards wanted to step in and help out as their loyalty obviously lay with the host of the banquet, but couldn''t actually do it as it would achieve nothing and just bring endless troubles their way. After all none of the people present were someone they could afford to offend.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    The physician however, wasn''t intimidated and made steady progress towards Baron Gill. Despite his meek appearance, the man had fair share of dealings with people in power and could fend for himself. "The baron isn''t in mortal danger. The poison has set in but the situation doesn''t seem that bad as the dosage is very tiny. This means that the poison is very potent but is not meant to kill. But the tricky thing is that I have no clue as to what kind of poison this is. Concocting an antidote might be very difficult." The physician conjectured after some rudimentary examinations and continued, "Judging by the looks of it, the situation of the other lords are similar as well. We should move all the patients to a proper room equipped with tools to deal with any kind of emergencies."


    The apothecary had no objection and collected the whiskey to sample the poison. While the situation wasn''t life threatening at the moment, he couldn''t ensure that the patient''s condition wouldn''t get worse over time. It was a risk he wasn''t willing to take and he would have to get to work as soon as possible.


    ******************


    Casper and Vincent were silently sitting in a dimly lit room. The event that had unfolded earlier had surpassed their wildest imagination. The banquet was supposed to be a platform for them to plant a seed to form their mercenary band. They had thoroughly prepared for multiple eventualities. In the end, things didn''t even remotely play out as they had planned.


    Vincent and Casper were doing fine as no one that got poisoned were directly related to them. Casper''s father served Baron Gill, but in his eyes, the baron was just a scary man who used to scold him and Nathan when they messed up. Though he felt a little down, it didn''t have much of an impact on him. Nathan and Zach, on the other hand were far from being well. Not only were their father''s unconscious and poisoned, most of the guests were also ostracizing them. In the guests perspectives, they might very well be the spawns of the mastermind behind the poisoning.


    The door slowly opened and Zach entered looking dispirited and fatigued. Casper asked in a gentle tone, "Are you okay? You took longer than I thought you would."


    Zach waved his hands dismissively, "I am alright. I am not worried much for my father. The best physicians and apothecaries from the north western region will be here by tomorrow afternoon. I am sure the antidote will be made soon enough. Besides, the poison was clearly not meant to kill the lords, the mastermind will probably contact us soon and demand something in exchange for the antidotes. Elaine fainted after looking at her unconscious grandfather, so I just visited her for a while. After all, she is still my fianc¨¦e even if only in name. It would be unnatural for me to not visit her."


    Casper and Vincent''s eyes met and they felt a lot better. Seeing that Zach was still making excuses, it assured them that he would be alright. The trio sat there without talking and the room descended into silence once again. The day had been exhausting and they were finally getting some rest, so the calm was readily welcomed.


    BAM!


    The door flew open and Nathan rushed in, out of breath. A red envelope was clutched tightly in his hand. "The mastermind has made his move. The bastard calls himself Robin Hood."


    Zach got up and took the wrinkled piece of paper. A bow and arrow was drawn with black ink and a row of text was written below it.


    "The lords levy unreasonably high taxes on the poor subjects and oppress them."


    "I have begun my fight against the corrupt nobles."


    "A dose of antidote costs 1000 gold coins"


    "The just thief-Robin Hood"


    Zach read the text aloud with a somber look. Vincent took a second look through the paper and asked, "How did he deliver it?"


    Nathan replied clearly vexed, "The bastard spread the pamphlets throughout the town. Now our arrangements to keep the matter a secret to avoid spreading chaos is all but useless. Thankfully most of the subjects can''t read or write and this will give us enough time to impose a curfew."


    Zach pinched his chin and questioned, "Ha! Robin Hood? What a poor taste in name. Are all the other pamphlets made in similar manner?"


    Nathan replied dryly, "Yes, the bastard probably isn''t alone. The contents were printed using wooden blocks. He had probably been planning this for a while now."

 Robin Hood (3)

    "Why spread it all over the town? It''s just unnecessary effort and cost a lot. They could have simply sent one over here and the result would have been the same. After all, what they want is the gold coins." Casper found the actions taken by the mastermind and his minions to be strange. It strayed from the motive they had written.


    Zach pressed on his temples with his fingers and replied, "The crux of the matter isn''t about how they get the gold but what they are planning on doing with it. They spread the news of the lords being poisoned throughout the town. The intention is clearly to prevent us from containing the situation. This will make the situation chaotic and spread unrest. From the looks of it, this Robin Hood is trying to play out a rebellion."


    Zach''s words made the rest of the people in the room think. The matter didn''t seem so simple anymore and it brought even more questions. Casper couldn''t restrain his curiosity and continued, "But, it doesn''t seem feasible. After all, riling up the people with such shallow reasoning is too much to ask."


    "Not entirely true, we have to keep in mind that the guy calls himself Robin Hood. He is reducing himself to a symbol, and it is a symbol well known and loved by the people. Who hasn''t heard about the tales of the green wearing archer who robbed the rich and helped the poor? In the eyes of normal folks, he might as well be someone from their  ranks who is standing up against the oppressors and injustice. After all, it only takes a single spark to start a forest fire." Zach''s reasoning made sense but it also made Casper even more confused.


    "The pamphlet  doesn''t make sense. It has been almost a decade since the lords all over Esterin reduced the tax they levied. The people''s uprising 8 years ago wasn''t for nothing after all. And how will he accomplish such a big task?"


    It was Vincent who answered this time, "It doesn''t matter if the tax is heavy or not. In the eyes of normal people, the tax will always be too much and this won''t change no matter how low the tax rate is. The dissatisfaction has been building up for a long time already and it is easy for this so called Robin Hood to take advantage of this. Furthermore, it is clear that an organization is supporting him. The printed pamphlets, ability to spread the papers throughout the town and getting their hands on the potent but hard to detect poison are all things impossible to accomplish without a huge amount of manpower and skills. It won''t be hard for them to make their next move since they are in the dark and we know nothing about them."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Zach nodded to show that he thought the same and spoke, "We should go sleep. It has been a rather exhausting day. After what happened today, we will need to adjust our plans and approach as well. Lets rest while we can. We will soon have our hands full once again."


    The group headed for their arranged rooms to rest for the night. Everyone was feeling a plethora of emotions. The day''s experience had been out of their expectations and they needed time to digest everything and tune themselves to the changes.


    ********************


    Gill Barony


    In the outskirts of the town, a lovely villa with a beautiful garden. The villa was lit up beautifully giving off a cheery vibe, but the mood of the occupants were anything but cheery. Viscountess Burns was sitting beside a bed where her husband lay. She was already in her fifties and the vicissitudes of time had left their marks on her beautiful face. Her face looked gloomy and sorrowful as she watched her husband. A physician was stationed next door in case of anything untoward happening.


    A man in his early thirties entered the room and joined the viscountess. "Is Elaine alright?" She asked in a croaky voice. She had calmed down relatively but her voice still failed her. The man looked at his mother and spoke in a silvery voice, "She is alright mother. You shouldn''t worry about her much. It will only worsen your health. The physician checked up on her and said that she is perfectly fine. She might have fainted because of the shock."


    The lady nodded and took out a red paper. "The mastermind has made his move. He is masking his true intentions with the pretense of delivering justice to the people. But that''s not important right now. He is asking for a thousand gold coins for a dose of the antidote. Prepare two thousand gold coins and buy two dosage of antidotes as soon as possible. How you find out about the place to complete the deal, I will let you figure it out. It probably won''t be hard for this Robin Hood to find us."


    "See, mother. Didn''t I tell you that Rolft was innocent. I knew he couldn''t do something like this. You are being too paranoid to suspect even him. You have known him since he was a kid after all."


    "Just because this Robin Hood claims that he is the mastermind doesn''t mean that Rolft is innocent. How can you be sure that he isn''t in cahoots with the mastermind. I know that he is your dear friend, but you have to understand that humans can do things no one ever expected of them. This is especially true given the undercurrents of the kingdom. Didn''t you see how he removed Zach from the position of the heir. He considers you a friend as well. In the end, he still chose benefits over your friendship. We will have to do the same and annul the engagement as well. This will hurt Elaine but we have no choice. Don''t let your emotions cloud your judgment."


    "Yes, yes mother. I understand. I will go arrange for the money. You should rest as well. Don''t grief too much. Everything will be alright." The man stood up and left. The room descended into silence once again as the door creaked and shut in the end.

 Robin Hood (4)

    The moon was hanging bright in the sky but the forest was eerily dark. The dried leaves made cracking noises whenever Brenden Burns took each step. The wind howled from time to time drowning out the cicada''s singing.


    He had finally found a middleman arranged by the ''Robin Hood'' this noon. After arranging enough gold, he had come to buy the antidote. Brenden was smart and an excellent son to inherit the viscounty, but he had no ambition. Though he didn''t feel a strong sense of familial bond with his father, he didn''t want his old man to pass away. Specially so, since he didn''t want to inherit the title anytime soon. The old man who was always busy had been poisoned and he was suddenly put in a difficult position.


    Brenden just wanted to pass his days away as the heir. That way, the only thing he had to do was handle some minor tasks and he could enjoy his leisurely life as always. Though war was looming over the distance, he couldn''t do much about it and frankly, he didn''t think it would affect him too much. After all, the lords went to war quite frequently and he had already experienced it when he was young. If anything, the peace that lasted for almost a decade was out of the norm rather than the war.


    Now, all he needed to do was secure the antidote and heal his father. That way, he could continue with his life and his mother wouldn''t be worried about her husband anymore. He stopped when he saw a symbol carved into a tree. The knife marks made out a rough figure of a bow and an arrow nocked in it.


    "Come out! I have the gold." Brendet shouted while facing the darkness.


    "Your guards are too close for my liking. I believe you were told to keep them at least 300 yards away." A rough voice replied. The voice resounded from every corner and Brenden couldn''t make out the direction.


    A magic to make the sound come from every direction. What an annoying situation. Does he have a wizard helping him? Is he one? Or could it be a magic gear? If it is a magic gear, it would be incredibly difficult to make one with such a function. It would also mean that this Robin Hood most likely has a big organization behind him.


    "They are just here to guard me. Don''t worry, they won''t make any moves. I have the gold you want and you have the antidote. Let''s get this over with." Brendet replied in a calm manner. He would never agree to have his guards any further than this. Who knows what the other party might do if he let his guard down. The guy had already shown his despicable ways with the poisoning and no one would trust him. Gazing at a spot that was dark even for the forest in the night. "Besides, you seem to have uninvited guests. I believe it is in your best interests to complete our deal as soon as possible."


    "Just a little rat. You don''t have to worry about it. Place the gold in the sack behind the tree."


    "How about you hand over the antidote first?"


    "THE GOLD FIRST! Or else you can go back the way you came." The rough voice was raised a notch or two higher. The impatience in his voice could clearly be felt and Brenden decided against testing the guy any further.


    Reaching behind the tree, he found a cloth sack there as mentioned by ''Robin Hood''. Opening it up, he placed four gold bars inside it. A gold bar weighed about a kilo and was roughly as valuable as 500 gold coins. Placing the sack back on the ground, he spoke, "The antidote. Hand it over."


    Twang!


    Followed by the distinct sound of an arrow being loosed, a sharp whistling sound of a projectile flying through the air reached his ears.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    F*ck! This guy is crazy. If he kills the first guy trying to buy the antidote, no one will trust him. Is he crazy? I can''t even differentiate the direction of the attack because of the stupid magic.


    Ducking low, he covered his head as sweat trickled down his temple. Looking up, an arrow embedded into the tree came into his sight. A small pouch was tied to the end of the arrow. "Couldn''t you have handed it over in a more normal manner?"


    Listening to the panic stricken voice of the man who had come to buy the antidote,  Reuben silently clicked his tongue. This wasn''t the situation he wanted as well. His boss had told him that there would be third parties present in the scene. He was also assured that no one would interfere and that the third party would only be there to observe. Even though he had great trust in his boss, he couldn''t help but feel uneasy. They were robbing an entire region''s every feudal lord and such a crazy undertaking came with huge risks.


    Right now, he felt like a rat being observed by cats. Brenden was only a tier two warrior and had only noticed the closest presence. Reuben on the other hand, was a tier four warrior and had much keener senses. He could feel at least half a dozen parties surrounding him and there might still be other parties that he missed. His head could fly off any moment and the tension did nothing but make him act unnatural.


    "Take it and leave. The transaction is complete."


    "How can I be sure that this antidote is genuine?"


    "Tsk. It is genuine. Just feed it to your lord. If he does not get cured, then I wouldn''t be able to sell off the rest of the antidotes." The annoyance was much more apparent in his voice this time. After dropping his line, he pretended to be calm and collected as he took off at his top speed.


    Are they following me? I don''t sense anyone. Was boss right? Are they really gonna let me go just like this? Phew... looks like I am safe.


    After confirming that he was indeed all alone. He took out a magic gear in the shape of a brooch and activated it. Soon, all traces of him vanished from the spot. Even the best tracker wouldn''t be able to track him down. The magic in the gear helped him conceal all of his presence. Not even footprints or his smell was left behind after the activation of the gear.


    ***************************


    "Did you get the antidote?"


    "Yes, I did. You can relax now mother. Father will be fine after he ingests the antidote." Brenden replied in a soft, gentle voice. The bags under his mother''s eyes had grown more pronounced and it looked like she still hadn''t gotten any sleep.


    "Summon the apothecary. He will test the poison and the antidote. After confirming that it is indeed genuine, we will administer the antidote."


    "Of course. I will get to it immediately. Meanwhile, you should take a good rest. Your complexion looks terrible." Brenden ended the conversation and headed for the apothecary''s room. The man had been stationed right next door in case of anything untoward happening.


    "Master Grit, I have brought the antidote. Please confirm if it is real."


    "Certainly, young lord Brenden. Could you please arrange for a rabbit? I need a test subject. I wouldn''t mind a rat, but I think you would have an easier time finding a rabbit." The apothecary replied in a groggy voice. It was almost midnight and he had already retired to bed only to be woken up so late.


    Brenden frowned at the mention of rats. The critters lived in disgusting places and smelled horrible. He didn''t want to look at the sickening creatures. "I will arrange for a rabbit to be brought here immediately."


    Soon, a rabbit was brought over by a servant. The fluffy creature was chewing on a small carrot oblivious to what was gonna happen to it. Grit took a small carrot and dabbed a little bit of the poison he had extracted from the scotch on it. The poison was tasteless and odorless, so it freed him from the troublesome process of removing the smell of the solution.


    Brenden watched with bated breaths as the rabbit ate the carrot. Not long after, the rabbit started writhing and moving erratically inside its cage. Grit on the other hand, observed the creature with great focus. After ensuring that he had administered the right dosage, he fed very little of the antidote to it. Soon, the critter regained its mobility and started moving around in fear and confusion.


    "The antidote seems to be genuine. At least, to some extent. I will observe the rabbit for a few more hours. By tomorrow morning, I will have a more concrete answer. You should retire to bed for now, young master Brenden." Grit spoke in a casual manner.


    "Of course. I shall be expecting good news when I wake up tomorrow. You have worked hard, master Grit." Brenden likewise, replied in a similar tone and went to sleep.

 Robin Hood (5)

    "Viscountess Burns, I have confirmed that the antidote is indeed real. I have also tested the contents of both the antidotes. They are the same solution and I believe it is fine for the lord to take it. The rabbit displayed no odd signs except for some weakness. But, that is probably just temporary." Grit reported in a serious voice. He had stayed up the whole night observing the rabbit''s condition. After ensuring that everything was fine, he had moved onto studying the antidote.


    "You have worked hard, master Grit. Please administer the antidote. After ensuring that the lord''s condition has gotten better, you may get some rest." The viscountess spoke in a tone that commanded authority and power.


    I hope Theo wakes up soon. The mess is getting bigger and bigger. I just received news last night that the poisoning has been made public in almost all of the affected lord''s lands. The peasants seem to be getting riled up by an unknown organization as well. The situation is looking bad. I would have liked to order the knights to make an example out of few troublemakers to stabilize the situation, but the knights won''t make such a move without the lord''s personal orders. This is worrisome....... my head hurts. I hope you wake up soon. I feel like I can''t handle it anymore.


    The apothecary administered the antidote in a practiced manner and waited patiently by the side. The viscountess and her son, Brenden also stood still with anticipation and nervousness. Soon, the complexion of the unconscious lord turned a little better. Color gradually came to his deathly pale face and his breathing sounded a lot more relaxed. And with it, came the collective sighs of reliefs from the people in the room.


    *************************


    "I heard Viscount Burns woke up. Is it true?" Casper asked as he took small sips from his cup.


    Listening to the curious tone of his companion, Zach gave a wry smile. He too had only received the news and didn''t know much. Sitting down on an empty chair, he replied, "It''s true. Uncle Brenden went to buy the antidote from the villains last night it seems."


    Vincent quietly listened to them speaking. The only connection he had over here were the occupants of the room and the only news he ever received was from them. Nathan took a bite out of a pastry and added in. "The guy who completed the transaction was apparently a silver ranked warrior. The observers sent by my family confirmed that he was alone. The troublesome part is that he had two very difficult to deal with magic gears. One in particular, allowed him to erase all traces of his presence. Viscount Duddet''s guard who is a very capable tracker, failed to find even a tiny clue."


    "That is a very troublesome magic gear. Seems like the guy indeed has some backings." Casper wasn''t much of a thinker, but he could make out the small details.


    "Indeed, or else he is a very rich guy. Magic gears of such complexity are rarely made in Esterin. The few magic gear crafters that work here, their crafts are easy to trace. I don''t think the villain would be dumb enough to use one that''s made here. In addition to his crafty ways and resourcefulness, his archery is indeed excellent. He is said to have shot an arrow from 300 yards away and it hit near uncle Brenden accurately. Now that is already a skilled feat, but what''s even more impressive is that the arrow had a pouch tied to its end which contained the antidotes. Such an addition greatly alters the arrow''s flight path, but he still hit the target." Zach proved that he was indeed the guy with the most resources in the group even after being removed from the position of heir.


    "That''s really impressive archery. It would be a nightmare being on the sights of such a sharpshooter." Casper had been training in archery since he was twelve and was fairly skilled in it. But even he had to admit that such a feat was impossible for the current him. "This feels disgusting. It feels like this Robin Hood stole our thunder. Forget about attracting investors and talented youths. As things stand, we won''t be able to get anything out of this situation. What rotten luck."


    Vincent had to agree. The situation had gotten so grim that the risk they had taken to hunt the scarlet bear not paid off at all. "So, what do we do? Looking at the state of things right now, it will be hard for you guys to arrange for even half of what we had planned. Will we be able to see the creation of the mercenary band through?"


    Nathan fell deep in thought. Things already didn''t look well for him previously, but now it would be even tougher for him. The peasants had been getting riled up lately and it would be difficult to recruit them for cheap. Adding the unstable situation on top of that, his father might not permit him to recruit anyone at all. "Yes, we will be able to see it through. We have to. This is but a small obstacle. We will definitely overcome it."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Nathan sounded agitated as he spoke. Vincent could not understand why Nathan wanted the mercenary band to be formed so badly. He could feel the determination in the youth''s voice. But in the end, the situation didn''t seem favorable no matter how he looked at it. "How will we do that? We are being ostracized by almost everyone. Most of them think we are in cahoots with this Robin Hood. With how things are, we probably won''t even be able to recruit any people, getting talented youths to join us like we had planned..... now that is even more of a pipe dream."


    "Isn''t that exactly why we need to persevere? If we can do this, then we will be able to take on whatever comes our way."


    "Do you have anything in your mind? If you don''t, then we might as well go our separate ways. After all, we would only be wasting our time."


    Zach grew upset as he listened. Everything that Vincent said true and he could not refute it no matter how much of a glib tongue he had. The room was getting colder and the situation didn''t look good.


    This isn''t good. At this rate, even the four of us might really split up. Vincent is being too cold and Nathan is clearly not in his best state of mind. Casper is straightforward but not stupid, he might think that this venture will end in failure if this continues. Think..... I have to fix this right now.


    Zach felt his head hurting as he continued racking his brain. One solution after another flashed across his mind but he threw them all aside as none of them seemed to be feasible. Suddenly, a bright idea popped into his head and he smiled. "Gentlemen. You guys seem to have not noticed the opportunity before us."


    Nathan was delighted to hear this. It didn''t matter what it was that Zach would suggest. As long as it, helped them out of their situation, he would take it. "What is it Zach?"


    Putting his index finger up and acting dramatically, Zach answered in an exaggerated fashion. "When a door closes, another is unlocked. Since it is this Robin hood that closed the door we had prepared for, he has also opened another one for us. If everyone is doubting us because they think that we are in cahoots with him, all we need to do is go against him."


    "So, you are saying that we should catch Robin Hood? We have no information on him. How will we do that?" Casper finally asked after remaining silent for so long.


    "He will come to sell the antidote. The lord''s family members are hurriedly buying the antidote after Viscount Burns woke up. All we have to do is follow the seller after he completes the transaction." Zach sounded confident.


    Vincent on the other hand, wasn''t convinced. "Ignoring that the seller has the strength of a tier four warrior, he has already displayed his excellent archery skills. I have no doubt that he will see us coming miles before we spot him. And we have to consider the fact that Robin Hood has leverage over all the lords who are still poisoned."


    "No, no... he still has leverage. That is true. But for how long? His leverage will be useless once the antidotes are all sold. We just have to take action after the final transaction." Despite the continuous pessimistic attitude of Vincent, Zach was still all smiles. Once the idea had clicked in is brain, he had it all mapped out. He understood that Vincent was very pragmatic and he was only acting worked up to test the group. As long as he could show that his plan was doable, Vincent would be on board with him.


    "How do we catch him? Even Viscount Duddet''s guard, the experienced hunter fell short. None of us have any means to track him, taking him down will be another matter altogether."


    "Let''s think about why he was able to escape without leaving any traces. The answer is fairly simple, it was because he came prepared. On top of that, we had no idea what cards he had up his sleeves. But now, we know that he has a magic gear that helps him conceal his tracks. As long as we pin him down, taking him out won''t be too hard. After all, it doesn''t matter how tough a silver ranked warrior is, he can''t be tougher than a scarlet bear and we are up against a single person."


    "But we cannot be certain that he will be alone on the day we take action. In fact, I am more inclined to assume that he will have help. Since we can deduce that his leverage ends the moment the final transaction is complete, the culprit should be even more aware of this fact."


    "That is true. I have no doubt that he will have help. But my dear Vincent, you have failed to take into consideration one important fact. The lords are aware of the fact that the leverage ends when the final transaction takes place. Which means that they will take action at that moment as well. The lords don''t like being robbed and will retaliate for sure. I refuse to believe that this Robin Hood has more men than all of the lords combined. We just need to be careful. Think of this as fishing in troubled waters."


    Vincent was impressed. Zach had managed to think through all of this. He went through everything in his mind once again and couldn''t find any loopholes or flaws. All that remained now, was to prepare a foolproof plan. "Alright, I am impressed. This does indeed look like a golden opportunity. Count me in."


    Nathan secretly let out a sigh of relief and put on a bright smile, "Now that is the Vincent I know. Let''s make sure we pull this off flawlessly. Who knows, we might gain a lot more than we had expected from the banquet originally."


    "Such a fun undertaking. How can I not take part in it. Count me in." Casper joined in with an excited voice as well. Zach looked at the trio and raised his glass filled with fruit juice, "To us!"


    "To us!"


    "To us!"


    "To us!"


    The rest of them raised their glasses and cheered for themselves.

 Final Transaction (1)

    Reuben looked around nervously. His heart was beating like a drum and he found it difficult to suppress his excitement and nervousness. It was a chilly night but the damp clothes stuck to his back because of his sweat. Today would be the last day of the transactions. Slowly picking up the sack containing gold bars worth six thousand gold coins, he looked at the two men standing almost a hundred yards away from him.


    "Stay there for a bit more. The antidote will be in your hands shortly."


    A burly man dressed in black replied in a voice that seemed devoid of emotions, "No, hand over the antidote first. Then you can leave. You have my word that no one will attack you."


    Reuben sneered as he looked at the well built man who had just replied. He didn''t believe for a single second that the other party would keep their words. His safety would be compromised the moment the antidotes left his hands.


    Try all you want. I am not falling for your stupid lies. Just wait a while till I receive the signal. I will get rid of this hot potato get out of here.


    Time, like it always did kept on moving at its own pace. Reuben grew increasingly nervous as the arranged time drew closer. The man in black was giving him a death stare but he couldn''t care less.


    "You already have the gold. Hand over the antidote now. Or are you planning on reneging your promise?" The agitation and impatience was glaringly apparent in the voice now.


    "Just stand still over there. I will keep my words. You will have the antidote soon. I like my head where it is. I wouldn''t be stupid enough to not hand over the antidote after receiving the pay."


    "What are we waiting for? Just hand over the antidote. Then we can both be on our ways."


    "JUST WAIT!" Reuben put power behind his answer this time. It would be troublesome if the other party moved now. Not only did the duo standing in front of him have strength that matched his on their own but they were also well armed. Reuben''s equipment was focused on stealth and mobility, taking on the duo would be akin to seeking death. Not to mention the various parties hiding in the dark.


    "A mere thief dares act with such arrogance? If you don''t hand over the antidote now, I will take it from your corpse."


    "If you step any closer, you won''t be getting your hands on any antidote"


    Unsheathing his sword, the man in black took a charging stance. The smell of gunpowder filled the air. It looked like the man in black really planned on taking action.


    Sh*t! How could they send this crazy dog to complete the deal. Is he a lunatic who doesn''t care if the lords die? It will be bad if he really comes at me. I can''t hand over the antidote yet. If I do so, I am dead. If I don''t hand it over now, it looks like this crazy bastard will charge at me.


    "Enough! Calm down Black." The companion standing beside the man in black finally spoke. Though he spoke in a calm manner, his voice commanded great power and authority." We shall wait for a little longer. I hope you don''t keep us waiting for long. Or else, I can''t guarantee that you will be safe even if my companion doesn''t move."


    The three men went back to staring at each other without exchanging any more words. Reuben looked at the man who just spoken and relaxed. At least the lords seemed to have sent someone who could think straight.


    The sound of a horn permeated throughout the forest. Black looked around everywhere to try and pinpoint the direction of the sound. But no matter how hard he concentrated, he couldn''t decide on a direction as it seemed like the sound was coming from all directions.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "Annoying little trick." Black looked at his companion who made the comment. Raising his hands, the companion snapped his fingers and the magic was dispelled. Everyone could now make out that the source was behind the so called ''Robin Hood''.


    "To think that you would dispel the magic instantly. Seems like you came prepared. Well then gentlemen, that is my cue to leave. I hope you will have a wonderful night. Farewell." Reuben threw a pouch containing the antidotes towards the duo and bowed in a crude manner.


    "Bastard!" Black roared as he dived towards the pouch. The antidotes were kept in glass vials and they were very fragile. His companion was a wizard and couldn''t make any immediate move to hold down the other guy. The pouch had been thrown quite a distance away from him in order to keep him busy and he couldn''t help but curse.


    "Stop him Ray." Black yelled at his companion as he caught the pouch and hurriedly checked its contents. Thankfully the antidotes looked genuine, at least at a quick glance.


    "I know." The companion named Ray began conjuring a ball of flames. Just as he was about to attack Reuben, the ground began shaking and he lost his footing. Grabbing a tree nearby to stabilize himself, he looked at where Reuben was standing. The bastard who had been stalling for time for so long revealed a teasing smile at him and threw down a cylindrical object. Upon impact, the object began spewing out smoke in great amounts. Soon, the wind blew the smoke away but Reuben was nowhere in sight.


    "F*ck that son of a bitch escaped. How could you let him do that Ray?" Black spoke in a tone full of dissatisfaction.


    "Don''t talk as if you could have done anything if you were in my stead Paul. I am already pissed at you for trying to take things too far earlier. What if the bastard had destroyed the antidote?"


    "Tch.. I know the likes of them better than you do. No way in hell would he dare to cut off his own lifeline. I was only trying to scare him to see what he had up his sleeves. But thanks to you, he waited it out until the horn sounded. It was probably a signal from his helpers."


    "It wasn''t a risk I was willing to take. Would you take responsibility if anything happened to the antidote. I would have to suffer the wrath of six noble families including the one I serve. Keep your crazy acts to yourself."


    "Forget about it. What was the mini earthquake earlier?"


    A trace of lingering fear surfaced in Ray''s eyes as he replied, "A tier five spell. Probably Earth Shake."


    "What?" Black asked in voice full of shock, "Are you telling me that a gold ranked wizard is among the thief''s helpers?"


    "Yes. Thank god we are in a forest. If it was anywhere else, we would probably be in a really bad shape right now. Or worse, dead."


    Black looked around trying to find any clues as to where the spell had come from. The wizard seemed to be wielding earth magic. The spell earlier had shook the ground in a nearly ten meters radius. They were standing in a forest where the soil was held tightly by the densely growing trees and plants. Had they been in any other place, the ground would probably be full of cracks and fissures. Who knows if the two of them would be alright at all.


    "Well, our work is done. The others will take care of whatever happens next." Black spoke in a bland tone and headed for the estate where his lord was staying. Ray looked at Black and headed towards his own lord as well.


    ***********


    "Did you feel it Vincent?" Zach asked in a fearful manner.


    Vincent looked towards the west where the outburst of mana had come from. "I did. Felt like a tier four spell, possibly higher."


    Nathan and Casper looked at the two wizards and asked what had happened. Vincent answered honestly causing frowns to appear on the duo''s face. Nathan followed up with another question, "What do we do? It''s alright if it was a 4th tier spell, but if it''s a tier 5 spell, it would mean that the wizard is not under the employment of any of the lords. The situation could get a lot worse, do we still follow our plan?"


    "It''s not confirmed that it''s a gold ranked wizard. Even if it is, the wizard might be someone whose strength the lords had hidden. So, there''s a good chance that the wizard might very well be on our side. Besides we are only going to look around. We won''t make a move if the situation looks bad. Let''s go." Zach suppressed his fear and spoke in a somber voice.


    While the rest were feeling iffy, Casper was excited. It was hard to come by a gold ranked wizard or warrior in these parts of the country. Seeing one in action, that was even rarer. "Let''s go. We can just observe for now. I don''t think we will be in any real danger. The lord''s forces vastly outnumber the enemies after all."


    Vincent thought it was too naive to assume that the enemy forces might be smaller than the lords. After all, the enemies had made no moves as of yet. Still, he didn''t want to give up on this opportunity as well. After all, if they succeeded tonight, everything would change for them. "Sure, we can always turn back."


    After everyone agreed, the group headed towards the direction Reuben had fled to.

 Final Transaction (2)

    Reuben fled while looking back at his helpers who had intercepted the dozens of men who had been hiding in the shadows. While the smoke had blocked the sight of Black and Ray, the others hiding in the forest still had a clear view of his movement and wasted no time in pursuing him. His helpers were slightly outnumbered by the pursuers but they still held the upper hand. The pursuers had been prepared for an ambush and had managed to avoid any losses but they were still unable to accomplish anything. They all worked for different lords and hence lacked the cohesion that the helpers had.


    All I need to do now is get someplace isolated and activate the brooch. Getting away will be a piece of cake then. Hehe... I hope boss will keep his promise. Seems like my days of being wealthy is finally coming near.


    Reuben''s thoughts began drifting away to his fantasies. It was unusual for a veteran like him to lose focus in the middle of a mission, but he couldn''t help it. He had been on the edge for the past three days. Though he knew that his safety was guaranteed until the final antidotes left his hands, he still felt nervous and fearful. After all, losing your life because of an unlucky event wasn''t uncommon in his line of work.


    Stopping by a quiet place, he was preparing to activate the brooch when he heard the rustling of leaves. "Who is there? Show yourself."


    "I finally caught up. Damn, you are quite fast. Hey mister, I am sure you don''t want trouble, how about you hand us the sack you are carrying? We will let you go if you give it to us. Simple right?" Four men came out of the bushes nearby. The group was equipped strangely. They wore plate over their linen armor to protect the torso from harm. The rest of the body was left defenseless except for the head which was being protected by helmet.


    The gear was painted in all sorts of colors and it looked very unbecoming. Reuben couldn''t believe his eyes. His boss had planned for most cases and his helpers had managed to hold back almost all of the lord''s men. But, here he was being confronted by four men in gear that would get them mocked no matter where they went. Though they looked like anything but a ragtag bunch who anyone would underestimate, he didn''t let his guard down. The situation was delicate and he couldn''t afford to make any mistakes now. All his helpers were busy and couldn''t help him out of the current situation.


    These people aren''t strong. Which lord sent such a shabby group? Tch... their gear is annoying though. What kind of idiots would wear plate armor in a forest. But, this doesn''t look too good. The plate is protecting their torso and I can''t get any lethal shots this way. My bow is as good as useless here.


    Placing his bow on the ground, Reuben unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance.


    *************


    Vincent calmed his nerves and controlled his breathing. This would be his first confrontation against an armed silver ranked warrior. There was no room for mistakes for both party and he had to be in his top form. Suppressing his nervousness and fear, he observed his opponent. The man was tall and well built, his tanned skin gave him a wild look. He was only wearing leather armor over his linen but the leather was made from the hide of a magic beast. So, unlike normal leather, it was insanely tough and could protect its wearer from most slashing attacks.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The opponent''s strength vastly surpassed theirs. Comparing  a tier four warrior with a tier two warrior was akin to comparing an adult to a teen. Thankfully, their gear countered him perfectly and their greater number could be used to easily bridge the gap in strength.


    They had prepared for multiple eventualities. The plate armor was for closing in on the opponent while avoiding fatal attacks. No arrow could penetrate a plate armor and the opponent''s primary weapon would be rendered almost useless. Strangely enough, the man hadn''t noticed them approaching at all. With their ability to conceal themselves, they had assumed that the opponent would see them coming and shoot at them.


    Though they had not been shot at, it didn''t mean that the armor wasn''t going to be useful. They would be nigh unkillable against an opponent armed with but a short sword and a bow. Previously, Vincent had thought that the opponent had noticed them but was just pretending to be unaware of their presence. Now that he could see the man''s actions after they had appeared, he was baffled as to how they had not been noticed at all.


    Casper stepped up and spoke in an imposing manner while resting a mace in his shoulder, "You sure you want to fight us mister Robin Hood? I only see a short sword with you."


    Casper had hit where it hurt and Reuben cursed under his breath. His gear didn''t provide any defense against blunt weapons and disarming his opponent while being outnumbered four to one was too much to ask.


    "What makes you think you measly bunch have what it takes to take this from me?" Reuben spoke in a voice full of confidence. Though it didn''t look too good for him, he had to act strong. Sometimes, you just had to fake it till you made it.


    "Heh.... we will see about that." Casper refused to be outdone and replied with a sneer. He sounded overbearing and exuded a sense of power and confidence. He might have been timid if the situation were any different, but against a lightly armored opponent with no weapon that could pose a serious threat to him? He didn''t even have to think twice. It wasn''t everyday that you could bully a silver ranked warrior and he was planning on making the most out of it.


    Zach was surprised by the sudden change in Casper''s character. Vincent shared similar sentiments while Nathan guessed what was going through their mind and sighed in his heart. He knew this habit of Casper all too well.


    Casper''s heart was beating crazy like a drum. He hadn''t felt so excited in a long time. Everyday was dull and boring and such an excellent chance almost never came. He had to make the most out of it. Just thinking about it made his blood boil. His body tensed and relaxed instantly as he charged at the opponent with great momentum.


    The opponent didn''t have any heavy armor and was vulnerable to his mace''s attacks. He had a short sword but parrying with it would do nothing but hurt his arm. Completely forgoing his defense, Casper made a big swing. The power behind the attack was great and Reuben could step back to avoid it. He dodged one attack after another, some easily while the others with a very narrow margin. His superior speed allowed him to remain unscathed but couldn''t find a single opening to retaliate.


    Casper was extremely skillful in wielding the mace. He used the momentum from the previous attacks to transition to the next and continued his merciless barrage. It took Reuben everything he had to keep his distance. While Casper was keeping the opponent occupied, Nathan moved behind the man and began harassing him.  Zach and Vincent positioned themselves in an elevated spot and kept a lookout. Zach would also harass the opponent from a distance while Vincent would only take action if any enemy approached or Casper was in trouble. He wouldn''t be able to contribute to the fight much anyways. The man was covered from neck to toe in linen and leather and his major lightning spells wouldn''t deal any damage through them.

 Final Transaction (3)

    Reuben began feeling anxious. Dealing with the opponent wielding the mace was already tough but another bastard tried to stab him from behind repeatedly. The angles were always tricky and he couldn''t afford to make a single mistake.


    This is annoying. The guy harassing me is weaker but he is causing me too much trouble. I should get rid of him first.


    Making up his mind, he rolled to create some distance with the mace wielder and charged at the sword using bastard who kept on poking at him.


    Casper hadn''t expected the man to actually ignore him and go for Nathan. He had a lot of skills and good sense for combat. He lacked the real experience and had failed to keep up. Though he was surprised, he wasn''t worried about Nathan. Having known the other since he was just a child, he understood Nathan''s character perfectly. Others would try to keep the enemy busy so that he could deal a heavy blow from behind, but not Nathan.


    *****************


    Reuben was feeling smug. Just until a moment ago, he was suffering without being able to retaliate. But now that he had created some distance from the mace wielder, he was confident that he could take down the sword using pest in moments.  Reinvigorating himself, he charged at the nuisance with greater energy. Little had he expected that the guy had no courage and ran away without exchanging a single blow.


    "Zach, help me. Fast! The thief is trying to attack me. Hurry." The panic stricken voice echoed in the dim forest. Reuben was shocked. He had never come across such a situation in his entire life. Not only did the opponent not try to keep him busy in order to create an opportunity for the mace wielder, but he ran away without even looking at him.


    "Do you have no shame? How can a warrior show his back to his enemy in a fight. Where is your dignity?" Reuben attempted to provoke the opponent into facing him once again. He had managed to create some distance once, he was certain that it would be nearly impossible to do so again. The opponent had already learnt of his intention and they wouldn''t give him any more chances.


    "Who do you think you are showing your back to?" Casper caught up immediately and made a big swing.


    Reuben was prepared for the attack and moved away in time. His provocation didn''t even net him a curse and he was back to square one. The mace wielder continued his wild flurry of attacks while the coward who had run away returned and began harassing him one again without any shame.


    It was very frustrating but it looked like he couldn''t break through by targeting the sword user. He had to defeat the mace wielder. It was the only option, but it didn''t look achievable by normal methods. Not only did the breastplate nullify the effectiveness of his sword completely, he had to worry about the two people standing in the sideline and watching him carefully.


    Gritting his teeth, he made a difficult choice. Instead of keeping his distance, he actively approached the mace wielder. He was willing to trade an arm to get out of this predicament.


    Casper looked at the opponent who had finally stopped running away. His lips cracked open and a smile formed in his face behind the helmet. He had seen this coming and was prepared.  Ignoring the thrust coming at his left arm, he swung the mace at his opponent. The mace connected to the arm that the man had raised defensively. The armor he was wearing did little against the attack and a huge force travelled to his bones.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Casper was certain that he heard the bone crack under the impact. A sharp pain followed shortly. A short sword had pierced his biceps. It hurt like hell but it also made his blood boil hotter.  The pain only made him wilder. His left arm was pretty much useless for the rest of the fight but he didn''t care about it. Comparing just the injuries, his opponent had it worse. The arm which had been used to block the blow had swollen to almost half a size larger. The blood vessels had burst as well and blue and purple spots had already appeared below the leather armor.


    Nathan took this chance and thrust his long sword at the man''s back. He had put all his weight and power behind the thrust, but even so, the blade only went in about three inches deep.  The leather was far tougher than he had believed it to be, it managed to stop the blade from digging any deeper even though it was only meant to be good against slashing attacks. Nathan tried following up but immediately let go of his sword and jumped back, barely dodging the slash directed at him.


    Reuben still had a lot of fight in him. His arms hurt like hell and he could feel his back being warmed by his own blood. The swollen arm was stiff and even the slightest movement brought about excruciating pain. He hadn''t expected the mace wielder to be so bold. Judging by how the fight was going on, he had concluded that the mace wielder didn''t have much real combat experience. He had been betting on the fact that an opening would be revealed. But contrary to his judgment, the other party was more than willing to trade injuries with him. He was already disadvantaged in both gear and numbers from the beginning. Now that he had sustained more injuries, he stood no chance at making an escape.


    If I go down. I will take at least one of these bastards with me. Damn it! Just as I was about to make it big.


    Reuben prepared to take his last stand. The pain and blood loss was making him feel a little dizzy and his feet got a little wobbly. Ignoring the weakness, he was just about to charge at the mace wielder when a cold sensation came from his back. Looking back, he saw an ice shard about half a meter long piercing the stab wound he got earlier. Ice Shard was a tier two spell and had considerable power. It''s downside was that it was slow. He could have easily dodged this spell normally, but in his weakened state, he didn''t even see the attack coming.


    Spitting blood, Reuben slowly turned towards the direction where the spell had come from with what little strength he could muster. The image of a young man holding a magic gear had just entered his sight when a big mace covered the world. He fell on his stomach as everything turned black.


    Zach approached the now lifeless body and exclaimed, "Casper, you bashed his head in. That''s nasty."


    Vincent approached the group too and looked at the body. The ice shard had broken when the opponent fell down and the gaping wound on the back allowed one to see the guts within. The part where the last mace strike had connected had been caved in. The eye and nearby parts were just one mangled piece of flesh and white liquid. It was a gruesome sight and it made everyone except Casper nauseous.


    Nathan hurriedly turned away and grabbed the sack containing the gold bars. "Hehe.... we really hit the jackpot. Too bad we can''t keep it. How much do you think we will be rewarded?"


    "That will depend on the lord''s mood as well as how things unfold today." Zach replied without the excitement that was overflowing in Nathan''s voice.  "Something feels off. I  couldn''t think much about it earlier. But this feels too easy. How did the guy not notice us at all?"


    Casper lightly wrapped his injury and questioned, "Couldn''t he have been too tense and overlooked us?"


    "A silver ranked warrior who specialized in archery? I don''t see that happening given our skills in stealth and camouflage. Anyways, we should get out of here as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about this."


    The group decided to leave the scene immediately. Just as they were about to take off, the ground started shaking and four meter tall earthen wall erected itself from the ground trapping them all.


    "Where do you think you are going with my gold?" A voice echoed from all around them. Though it the voice wasn''t loud, it seemed to drown out all other noises. "I am sure you guys don''t want trouble, how about handing the sack over to me? I will let you guys go if you give it to me. Simple right?"

 Final Transaction (4)

    "I am sure you guys don''t want trouble, how about handing the sack over to me? I will let you guys go if you give it to me. Simple right?"


    Vincent''s heart started pounding faster. The voice sounded kind and gentle, but the intent behind it were anything but friendly. The ground beneath his feet was still shaking ever so slightly. This was different from any situation he had ever been in. Facing a gold ranked wizard was completely different. A single spell was all it would take for all four of them to be wiped out. They wouldn''t even be able to put up any fight.


    "Wasn''t he your guy? Why would you let us go when we killed him?" Zach questioned in a calm voice. People might be fooled by his brave front but only he knew that he was anything but calm.


    "I just felt like I should reward you for your hard work. I was gonna get rid of him eventually. Might as well let you guys do it and save myself the trouble."


    Listening to the composed answer devoid of any care or concern for his subordinate, Casper lost his cool. "Bastard. How could you use your own man like some disposable tool. You are nothing but a beast."


    "Is that how you are supposed to talk to someone who has your life in his hands?" The voice got closer and Vincent could finally make out what direction it was coming from. Looking at the source, he saw the walls make way for a silhouette. The figure was approaching with steady steps as the earthen wall parted wherever he approached. Soon, a hooded figure was standing just dozens of feet away from Vincent and the others. The wall closed up as if it had never made way in the first place.


    "I am a man. I will not cower in front of a scum like you. Do your worst. At least, no one will question my courage after I die." Casper spoke in an unyielding tone. The determination behind his words set ablaze Nathan''s passion as well. Chasing away the uncertainties and fear inside his heart, he puffed out his chest and prepared to draw his sword. If death came for him, he would go like an honorable warrior.


    Vincent quietly listened to Casper and observed the change in Nathan. It was certainly an admirable attitude but Vincent couldn''t bring himself to think like them. He still had a promise to keep. A promise he had made to his mother on her deathbed. He had been lulled by the comfort of his teacher''s protection. How long had it been since he had last thought about his promise? He couldn''t tell. He only knew that it had been a long time. But the situation at hand refreshed his most painful memory and he felt even more unwilling to accept the outcome.


    The ground had stopped shaking but his feet were wobbling and he felt weak in his knees. His equipment that had made him feel uncomfortably hot until just a while ago failed to keep out the cold that had penetrated to his very core without him realizing it. An intense fear overwhelmed him rooting him to the spot. His instincts screamed at him to throw caution to the wind and run away while his brain desperately tried to think of a way out. In the end, his weak body that he had never trained as well as his brain which he prided himself over both failed him. His paralyzed body refused to move and his brain concluded that there was no way out.


    "Hoh. You must be a very insignificant man then. After all, your courage will amount to nothing. I will make sure that there will be no trace of your last stand remaining anywhere." The hooded figure spoke nonchalantly and raised his arm. As if earth itself had willed it, the ground around Vincent and the others rose up slowly closed in on them. The moving lumps of soil and stones rose like a wave and blocked the sparse moonlight that fell on them.


    Vincent''s sight was entirely covered by the blanket of mud and with it, so was his heart by self loathing. All the helplessness and weakness turned into hatred directed towards himself. After realizing that he was completely powerless, he closed his eyes in resignation and waited for his end.


    A second passed by. Nothing happened.


    Another second went by. Still nothing.


    Vincent slowly opened his eyes. What entered his sight wasn''t a dome of earth that was trying to bury him but a figure of a giant man who had crushed the rising land. The man was easily over two meters tall and carried a giant battle axe in his hand. The handle was almost taller than him and the axe head looked very blunt, almost as if it was supposed to crush its target instead of chopping it. Overall, it looked unwieldy and unsuitable to be used in combat. Any normal man would have a tough time just carrying it but the man was casually holding onto it with his right hand as he stared at the hooded figure standing across him.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "Your words are just as cowardly as your actions. Spitting on the determination of these young men, you are the one who is not worthy to be called a man. You disgust my warrior spirit." The words came like a beast''s roar. Loud and gravelly. Having said so, the man lifted the massive axe and rested it on his wide shoulder.


    "Hearing that from a warrior who used four kids as bait to lure me out puts a smile on my face. I must say.... I''ve taken a liking to you." The hooded figure spoke in a happy manner. Even in the forest filled with darkness, anyone could tell that the speaker was enjoying the conversation. "That ring in your finger. Is that the artifact that hid your presence? It even allowed you to cover these kids'' tracks as they approached. How about you sell it to me? I will pay you the six thousand gold that kid is holding."


    The giant man raised his hand into the air and looked at the ring adorning his finger. It was a simple ring with an unpolished blue gem. Even without any sophisticated metalworking or designs, it gave an ancient and elegant vibe. "I might have gladly sold it if you asked me a day ago. But after looking at its performance today, I think I will keep it. I really hit the jackpot this time. I really want to see the look in that cripple''s face after I tell him what this ring is capable of. I might consider selling it to you if you offer me twenty thousand gold though. How about it?"


    The hooded figure ignored the man and looked towards Nathan, "Hey kid. Hand over the sack and I will let you leave." As the words left his mouth, the ground around Nathan started turning into earthen spikes and pointed themselves at him slowly.


    Nathan was put in a difficult position. Though he had resolved himself to die with dignity just a few moments ago. The arrival of the axe wielding man ignited his hope. The thought that maybe he could get out of this alive had creeped into his mind silently and replaced his newfound courage. The thought slowly took over his head and now the fear of death was stronger than it had been before. Looking at the spikes that were pointing at him menacingly, he subconsciously raised the sack as if to hand it over to the hooded figure.


    A giant axe covered his line of sight and embedded itself into the ground in front of him. The spikes had all been crushed and the axe left a deep crater when the giant man pulled it out. Placing the axe back on his shoulder he turned around and looked at Vincent and co. His lips parted ways to reveal his white teeth and a creepy smile. "Don''t worry. As a just warrior, I cannot forgive such unjust acts. My heart gets filled with admiration as I look at four strong young men such as yourselves. How commendable is it that you would volunteer to stop crooks such as that man. The value of your lives obviously cannot be measured. How about I protect you guys? 1500 gold for each of you. Reasonable, aren''t I?"


    Gazing up at the creepy smile directed at him, Nathan subconsciously moved as if to hand the sack over to the giant man.


    ************************


    The earth mage looked at the sack that was changing hands for the second time and got ticked off. The lackey who was supposed to hand him the gold got attacked and taken down by four weirdly equipped kids. He couldn''t interfere to save Reuben because another hidden party was observing and helping the kids. He waited patiently hoping that Reuben would overwhelm the kids and force the other party to make their move but much to is dismay, his lackey got taken down and he was forced to be the one make his move and reveal himself.


    Now that the other party had finally shown himself, he realized that the giant man was here to take advantage of the situation and take the money for himself. The man had the strength of a gold ranker as well and he didn''t want to get into an unnecessary conflict. He had already made another 16000 gold out of the poisoning incident and he could forgo the gold in the giant''s hand but he couldn''t stand the big lump of flesh taking advantage of his hard work and meticulous plan.


    The ground shook with greater intensity than earlier and spikes made from rocks and mud started assaulting the five people standing just dozens of feet away from him.


    The sudden attack caught the kids off guard and they were panic stricken. Taking advantage of the chaos, the giant man snatched the sack and shouted dramatically, "Flee kids. I will hold back this evil bastard. Take this opportunity to get as far away from here as you can. Hurry.... he is too strong for me but worry not... for justice always prevails."


    Having said his piece, the giant swung his massive axe with incredible speed. The spikes which seemed like they carried enough momentum to shatter anything in their path broke into tiny little pieces. The shards flew about everywhere. Some embedded themselves into the nearby trees while the rest whistled away into the darkness.


    Vincent and the rest who were frozen because of the sudden attack were shocked out of their stiffness by the clash. Recollecting their senses, the group made for the nearest village in their top speed.

 Final Transaction (5)

    Vincent and the rest stopped under the light by a desolate house. Though the hut was supposed to be used as a shelter for guards during night watch, the occupants were nowhere to be seen. Taking in deep breaths, Vincent looked at his arm. The plate was only covered the chest and abdomen leaving the arms completely vulnerable. Grabbing the shard embedded in his bicep, he grit his teeth and pulled. Resisting the urge to scream, he inspected the shard. It was made from normal soil but the magic of the hooded figure had hardened it to insane levels.


    Recalling the earlier events, Vincent threw the shard to the ground hoping to vent. He had been made to realize just how weak and insignificant he was. The fear and his inability to act only made the experience worse. The event replayed in his mind again and he was hit by self loathing all over again. As he recalled how he had forgotten his promise, he began feeling nauseous. Despite his best efforts, gastric fluids and his lunch travelled up his throat and out his mouth.


    When he had emptied his stomach, tears filled his eyes and dripped down his cheeks slowly. His now empty stomach ached and his arm started hurting as if to signal that the wound needed to be taken care of.


    Vincent just sat there blankly weighed down by heavy feelings. Zach, Nathan and Casper seemed to be out of their elements in similar ways. For a long time, no one said anything. A plethora of emotions zoomed by the groups'' minds amidst the silence and starry skies.


    "Hahahahahaha" The tranquility was broken by Zach''s maniacal laughter. Everyone else looked at him and Nathan inquired, "What''s so funny?"


    "The giant man''s last words were a copy of what the Old general says in the screenplay by John Miller, ''The Tragic Tale of Romeus''. He didn''t even change a single word. He must be feeling smug right now." Zach answered with a somewhat empty laugh.


    "Who knows, it might be his dream to play out the hero who sacrifices himself. I just hope both of those bastards end up killing each other." Nathan cursed the two gold rankers as he took off his plate armor.  He scrutinized the plate under the light of the torch by the hut''s side. Dents of various sizes were all over the armor. Luckily, all the shards had only hit the armor and he was unhurt. It was the same for Casper and Zach.


    Casper observed the armor and said, "This is ridiculous. The shards had just a tiny fraction of the spell and yet it made bigger dents than what an arrow shot using war bow would. It''s no wonder that gold rankers are respected and feared. We are lucky to be still alive." Unlike the rest of the group, he wasn''t as shaken for he had lots of actual experience in real combat.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "What do we do now? We didn''t get the gold nor any spoils of war. We came out empty handed once again. Seems like the stage is not set for us after all. One unfortunate event after another, maybe the gods don''t wish for us to shine after all." Nathan sounded exhausted. It couldn''t be helped. Their plans had been disrupted one after the other. It was a huge blow to their morale and confidence.


    Zach tried to find words to cheer up everyone but couldn''t bring himself to utter any of the empty words he had thought up. He was the one who wished for their venture to succeed the most. He had managed to keep the group from falling apart before but now he was at a loss as to what he should do after looking at everyone. Vincent looked specially tired and weak.


    "Maybe we should give up after all. Looking at how the bastards robbed most of the lords, we would be lucky if we managed to get even a fraction of what we were promised. We are too weak. There''s no feed for small fishes in such a big pond."


    Nathan had seen this coming and said nothing. He was already hard pressed to contribute anything to the formation of the mercenary band. Saying anything now would be inconsiderate and selfish. Casper too felt a little sad but not as much as the others. While the band would be means to achieve something for others, he was only looking for adventure and excitement. It was a little unfortunate but nothing too major for him.


    "I am not giving up. I am gonna find those bastards and make them cough up the gold. It was supposed to be ours." Vincent got up and shouted in a determined voice. His sudden proclamation caught everyone by surprise. He was the worst off until just moments ago but now he was shouting crazy things.


    Zach suppressed his surprise and laughed. "But the axe wielding man saved us even if his intentions were ignoble. Are you sure?"


    "That hulk used us as bait and then robbed us. We were dancing on top of his palms all along. I am gonna make him pay up more than the hooded guy."


    Listening to the plain answer, Nathan recollected himself. He had lost his hope on the mercenary band and was feeling empty. But now, Vincent had reignited his hope. He didn''t want to give up if he could but the declaration was still too ludicrous. "But they are gold ranker you know? How will we beat them?"


    "We just have to get stronger than them. I have decided, I am going to beat the crap out of both of them. I will make them regret ever crossing me." The reply was simple. Too simple, in fact. Even though they all knew it, no one pointed out how unlikely it was that they would accomplish the goal. The ridiculous notion was what they needed at the moment and they would gladly ride the wave of this foolish proclamation.


    "Very well. I want to give those bastards a taste of their own medicine as well. Let''s head back for now. Though we may not be able to form a mercenary band as big as we had expected, we can still start small and grow eventually. Incredible adventures and riches await us. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if I didn''t get to ever taste it." Zach ended the conversation on a light note and lead everyone back to his temporary place.


    The group went to sleep with new resolution and aching body. Though they had been dealt a huge blow, it served little purpose to dampen their fighting spirit.

 The Witchs Grimoire (1)

    Alba watched as Vincent alighted the carriage and slowly approached the small house. She stopped her chore and went to welcome him. His right arm was wrapped in bandage and was immobile. Though it had only been a week since she last saw him, he looked completely different for reasons she couldn''t wrap her head around.


    Vincent used to give a shy but warm impression before. Now, the air around him had a completely different vibe. He looked more mature but also more distant.


    "Was everything alright when I was gone?"


    "Yes, nothing major happened. Are you alright? Your arm seems hurt."


    "It''s nothing much. Just a little scratch."


    Vincent replied nonchalantly and headed in. The room was filled with thick aroma of meat and smoke. Caught unprepared, Vincent coughed to expel the smoke he had just breathed in. After getting used to the smoke, he began feeling apprehensive. "Do you know how to smoke meat? You couldn''t even cook properly when I left."


    "Isabell taught me how to do it. I can do it properly, you don''t have to worry. The hunter delivered some catch every day or two. I couldn''t let it go to waste so I asked her to teach me." Alba answered timidly. She had made a lot of progress but there were also some failures in the beginning. Wild games were expensive and she didn''t know how she would come clean about it.


    "I see. It''s good that you have a friend now. I will leave in about a month. The house and everything will be yours thereafter. I can stay relieved knowing that you have someone you can rely on."


    "You are leaving?" Vincent''s words came as a shock to her. She didn''t have anyone she trusted besides him. Though she knew that he was going out of his way to help her and that it wouldn''t last for long, she wasn''t expecting it to end this soon.


    "Yes, I need to gather some money before the winter wheat''s harvest. I will head to Istria. Once I get back, I will join a mercenary band." Zach and the rest would probably be unable to contribute what they had said before. If Vincent too contributed just as much as he had mentioned before, then the group would be hard pressed to gather a reliable bunch. Hence, he planned on heading to Istria and borrowing money from Rachel. If for nothing else, she was at least reliable when it came to money. She wasn''t the daughter of a man who had established his own business empire for nothing.


    Alba was at a loss of words. She had grown to depend on Vincent for a lot of things and she didn''t know how to quell the turbid emotions rising inside her.


    "Alba. I am here. Let''s go to the hill." A melodious voice came from outside the house. Looking outside, Vincent saw a woman slightly older than him. Noticing him, she bowed and greeted, "You must be master Vincent. I am Isabell, Alba''s friend. It''s good to finally meet you."


    "The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for taking care of Alba during my absence. Please do find me if you need any help." Vincent replied cordially to her and signaled Alba to join her friend. Alba nodded and went away with Isabell with her gaze leveled to the floor.


    Vincent sat down and began collecting his thoughts. He had to make a proper schedule and head to Istria. He had to also prepare thoroughly to convince Rachel to lend him money. She could easily lend him a substantial sum but he required quite a huge amount that even she would find hard to part with.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    While he was thinking up reasons he could use to convince her, Bruno came by with a new catch. He put down the wild boar and nodded to Vincent. Vincent nodded back and went out to talk to the hunter. He didn''t need any new catches anymore. They had a decent stockpile of smoked meat now, though he wasn''t certain about its taste. "I think I won''t be buying any more meat for some time. We seem to have a lot left in the house while I was gone."


    "I understand. Master Vincent, you should advice the young lass to not associate with Isabell. There are rumors that she is a witch." Bruno replied while dismantling the carcass skillfully.


    "A witch? That girl? She looked normal to me though." Vincent asked back in a puzzled manner. He knew that witches were an unorthodox pathway to wizardry. Their numbers used to be greater than that of wizards, but after the great magic war two centuries ago, they rarely made appearances. Some countries openly persecuted them and witch hunts were not uncommon in many places. Unfortunately, the victims were innocent women in most of the hunts.


    He had felt no mana from Isabell and didn''t think that she was a witch for even a moment.


    Bruno nodded and answered, "That''s right. Her husband died not even a week after their marriage. The girl was also close to the crazy woman who lived in the edge of the forest before she died. Some of the villagers had seen the old woman perform witchcraft. I don''t mean to imply that I would know more about witches than a wizard, but I would certainly keep my distance if I were you."


    Vincent nodded to show his understanding as he received his share of meat. Though he didn''t think that Isabell was a witch, the fact that some of the villagers had witnessed the old woman perform witchcraft piqued his interest. Witches and shamans were said to be from an unorthodox study of wizardry and the knowledge regarding them were strictly regulated. The reasons behind it were also kept a secret and Vincent wanted to see if he could figure something out.


    *****************************


    Elaine bid farewell to her acquaintances whom she had accompanied for a salon. She got on her carriage and the smile on her face disappeared instantly. Her brows furrowed as she recalled the earlier events. The news of her engagement being annulled had been spread among her circle and the sons of various noblemen began trying their best to make good impression on her. The whole gathering had been incredibly exhausting as she had been approached without end.


    She looked at her maid who followed her into the carriage and asked impatiently, "What did you find out?"


    "Young master Zach reported that there was a second gold ranker in the scene. A giant warrior who wielded axe. He said that the warrior took the gold from them before they fled." The maid replied what she learnt after bribing the guard at the castle.


    "Is he unharmed?" The worry was apparent in her tone.


    "Yes, he seemed fine. Only the young wizard in their group seemed to have sustained an injury."


    "What else? Did the lords believe him?"


    "He presented four chest plates with multiple deformities that seemed to back his claims regarding the gold ranked wizard''s spells. I don''t know the specifics but he also brought along some soil hoping that the silver ranked wizards serving the lords might be able to gleam any information. Unfortunately, all traces of mana or anything similar seems to have dissipated already."


    "Good work Hilma. I am satisfied. How much did the guard take?" Elaine relaxed a little after listening to the maid''s report. She had been worried about Zach for a while now. Though she couldn''t put her finger around her feelings exactly, she ignored her complicated emotions and tried to help him any way she could. But recently, she had learnt just how little she could actually do. It frustrated her and she didn''t know what she was going to do anymore.


    The maid fished out three gold coins from her pocket and said, "He took two gold coins. Here are the remaining three gold coins."


    "You can keep it. Just make sure you don''t tell anyone about what I asked you to do. If you succeed, I will rewards you generously."


    "Of course my lady. I shall not tell a single soul about it." The maid''s expression brightened as she put away the gold coins. "As for the task, I will try my best to accomplish it. You can rest assured."


    Hilma couldn''t understand why Elaine had entrusted her with a series of unusual tasks. It made her think about it for a while but after failing to make heads or tail out of it, she gave up. She would do her best to accomplish the task so that she could get her hands on more gold. That was all that mattered to her.

 The Witchs Grimoire (2)

    "You don''t look so well. Did something happen?" Isabell brought her face closer to Alba''s and asked.


    Pulling away, Alba shook her head to indicate that she was fine. Isabell didn''t believe the girl but didn''t dig any deeper. She had already confirmed that Vincent was indeed a wizard earlier. Her uniqueness also ensured that he didn''t feel any mana from her. Now all she needed to do was find out how strong he was and decide whether she could make use of him.


    "He seemed hurt. Is he alright?" Isabell began probing indirectly. Alba was overly cautious when it came to almost everything and she had to make sure to not alert her.


    "He''s okay. He said it was just a scratch."


    "Is that so? It looked serious to me though. His arm was all covered in bandages and he couldn''t even move it. Maybe he got in a fight?" Isabell''s tone was particularly suggestive towards the end.


    Alba didn''t reply. She knew that it wasn''t anything as light as a scratch but she didn''t want to pry too much and possibly upset him.


    Isabell noticed Alba become despondent and continued, "He is strong so he should be fine. I saw the Scarlet Bear he had hunted. I couldn''t believe that he and his friends took down such a scary beast."


    Nodding her head, Alba reassured herself that he was probably fine. She hadn''t seen anyone as strong as him and she believed that he could take care of himself. She had witnessed him stitch his own wounds and cauterize it. In her mind, he was someone who could do almost anything.


    Isabell was expecting to gleam some information regarding Vincent''s strength from Alba. She waited patiently for any reply at all. After realizing that she needed to push further, she asked, "Is it true that he is a wizard?"


    "Yes."


    "How strong is he?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Haven''t you known him for a long time already?" Isabell was a little frustrated at how little the girl knew. She had tried multiple times but still failed to get any reliable information from her.


    Alba shook her head and answered, "I only met him about two months ago and we will probably part ways after another."


    "Hmmmm. I thought you guys were close given how well he treats you. Are you feeling down because you guys will go your separate ways after another month?" A knowing smile bloomed on Isabell''s face and her interest was piqued after observing the girl''s reaction. She got the urge to tease Alba who was always reserved.


    "That''s not it. I am just feeling a little lost. I don''t harbor any romantic feelings for him." Isabell was expecting a cute reaction but the unexpected serious reply put her at a loss for how to proceed.


    Coughing to chase away the awkwardness, Isabell continued hinting at and probing about Vincent but got no reliable answer.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ''Looks like Alba really doesn''t know anything. She isn''t even aware about the most basic of strength categorizations. Should I approach him? I would be undertaking a huge risk since I don''t know if he is hostile to witches. But if I don''t take this opportunity, I won''t ever advance. Just thinking about this is giving me a headache.''


    "It''s almost sundown. We better get going. You will have to fix dinner as well. Make sure to cook delicious food for him to pay him back for his gratitude. It''s rare to meet people who treat you so well." Giving up on finding anything useful from the girl, Isabell bid her farewell and headed to her house.


    Nodding to show that she understood, Alba resolved herself to do her best during this month so that she could pay back as much as she could to Vincent. She had learnt how to cook from Isabell for this very reason after all.


    ******************************


    Vincent welcomed Alba and asked, "Did you have fun?"


    "Yes."


    "That''s good." Vincent had gotten used to how little she spoke but it would still lead to awkward exchanges because of how taciturn she was. "How did you guys get to know each other?"


    "I met her when I went to the well to fetch water. She is the only person who goes there after all the villagers are gone. She spoke to me after realizing that I went there when no one was around as well."


    "What is she like?"


    "She is kind and caring. She is also pitiable though. The villagers seem to be ostracizing her. She is always alone and watching her makes me a bit sad."


    "You are friends with her now. You two can look after each other."


    "Mmm" Alba hummed and nodded as she entered the kitchen.


    Watching her prepare dinner wholeheartedly, he couldn''t bring himself to ask about the rumors regarding her being a witch. He was happy to see that she had found a kindred spirit. Isabell was also the only person Alba knew and interacted with besides him. Hence, he didn''t want to do anything to ruin her relationship with Isabell.


    Vincent spent the time training his wizardry while Alba was busy with cooking. When it was time for dinner, Vincent joined her at the dining table.


    The food looked a lot better than what they used to have. Not only did it look better but also smelled appetizing. Breaking the bread, he dipped it in the pottage and ate it. Unlike the previous times, the stew was well cooked. The flavor of the meat had also permeated throughout the entire dish and it was well seasoned as well. The smoked meat also had a very smoky and flavorful taste while being firm yet soft.


    "It tastes great. You learned a lot from Isabell." Vincent praised her and continued eating his food.


    Alba nodded and gazed at the floor to hide her smug face. She felt like she needed to thank Isabell properly. Looking at Vincent who was enjoying the food, she began to eat wholeheartedly as well.


    ***********************


    "What do you mean by I can''t see him?" Zach shouted animatedly at the old butler who was always by his father''s side. His face was red due to anger and he could barely think straight.


    "Just like I said, the lord is still recovering from the poison. Though he took the antidote, his body is still not in a condition to meet you." The old butler replied calmly. Despite his graying hair and lean body that showed obvious signs of weakness from old age, he still had a calm and professional air about him and it calmed Zach significantly.


    Letting out a big breath to regain his composure, he asked once again. "Then what about his promise to let me recruit forty able bodied men?"


    "Since the negotiations regarding the joint alliance to build the citadels and fortified city failed, the territory cannot spare any able bodied men because the lord has decided to build a citadel at the edge of our viscounty." The butler answered cleanly without any attempt to soothe Zach. "The lord told me to apologize to you on his behalf."


    "Bullshit." Zach shouted at the top of his lungs and stormed off. He couldn''t take it anymore. He felt his ears heating up and his heart pumping at an insane rate. Ignoring the sun that was going to set soon, he headed for Gill barony to meet up with Nathan.

 The Witchs Grimoire (3)

    The full moon was hanging brightly in the night sky. Sparse clouds drifted around aimlessly and partially covered the perfectly round moon every now and then. The threads of light bouncing off the edges of the clouds gave the night sky an ephemeral beauty.


    Vincent was sound asleep when a cold sensation came from his lips. Jolting awake, he opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a smiling woman. She removed her finger from his lips and raised her hands to indicate that she meant no harm.


    "Isabell? How did you get in here?" Vincent crawled away from her and prepared to act at a moment''s notice should she try anything. He clearly remembered closing the windows before falling asleep. Turning his head to get a look at the window, he was surprised to find it wide open.


    Noticing his expression, she spoke calmly, "The window was closed. I opened it before coming in."


    "How?"


    "I am a witch."


    "I asked how. A wizard doesn''t have such skill in his arsenal. A witch should be no different."


    "Maybe I will tell you if you help me with something." Isabell ignored the glare he was directing at her and smiled sweetly.


    Vincent pondered if he should use force to make her answer but decided against it after recalling how she had woke him up when he was completely defenseless.


    Letting out a big breath, Vincent decided to hear her out. "What do you need my help with?"


    A brilliant smile blossomed on her face after hearing his answer. She said excitedly, "Help me loot the hut of a witch. I want a special stone in her basement and we can split the rest half and half."


    "Looting is bad. Besides, aren''t you a witch yourself? How would you feel if someone robbed you?"


    Listening to Vincent admonishing her as if he was talking to a child, she suppressed her laughter. "She was my mentor and she is dead now. She has no use for it. Might as well take it and put it to good use."


    "Why do you need my help? If she was your mentor, the things there should be yours for the taking. Why are you going so far as to offering me half the loot?" Vincent got straight to the point and questioned her about the things he found suspicious.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "There''s a gargoyle guarding the place. It will attack anyone that approaches indiscriminately. I want you to deal with it."


    Vincent thought about the offer carefully. A gargoyle was a tier two creature and it wasn''t tough to deal with as long as one knew how to. He knew the proper way to hunt a gargoyle but he wasn''t sure if he could actually pull it off. Besides, he didn''t know if he could trust the woman. He barely knew her and it would prove troublesome if she harbored any ill intent towards him.


    "How do I know you are telling the truth? There''s rumors about you killing your husband. I heard he died not even a week after your marriage." In the end, Vincent decided to probe deeper even if he had to be rude. A witch who could put a gargoyle to guard her place was at least of a silver tier. So the deal of half the loot was too alluring for him to simply pass.


    A gloomy expression made its way to Isabell''s face for the first time in front of Vincent. "He was just unlucky and fell off a cliff. I had nothing to gain by killing him. It''s not like I want to live a lonely life ostracized by the entire villagers. I swear on the moon that I am speaking the truth. I also don''t bear any ill will towards you."


    The moon was the object of worship for witches and they took any oath made on the moon''s name very seriously. It was similar to how a knight put much importance on their lord''s honor and a wizard on his words.


    Feeling a little bad after listening to the girl, he changed the topic and asked, "Why don''t you just move away?"


    "It''s expensive. I can barely make enough to feed myself. I plan on moving away once I loot the hut. Please help me." Her voice broke towards the end and it only served to make Vincent feel worse.


    Coughing to chase away the awkwardness, he asked, "When do we act?"


    "Tonight."


    "Why tonight? Isn''t it better if we survey the surrounding and take action after preparing thoroughly?"


    "The stone is very strange. It will weaken the gargoyle in a full moon night. Killing it will be much easier if we act tonight. The weakening effect will be at its strongest at exactly midnight." Isabell answered as if she was reading a story. It didn''t sound convincing at all but he chose to believe her as she had swore on the moon.


    He picked up his pocket watch on the table. He was reminded of Rachel and Brian whenever he looked at it. His mood improved instantly as he thought about them. Popping the watch open he looked at the time. It was almost 11.


    Vincent swiftly changed into his hunting gear and retrieved his crossbow along with some bolts. Lighting a lamp, he jumped out the window and spoke to the girl, "Let''s go."


    She smiled and tried to jump over the window like him only to stumble and fall. Vincent looked back after listening to the crashing sound only to find the girl on the ground rubbing her knees. The mysterious image he had in mind for witches crumbled instantly and he started feeling nervous about the reliability of the girl''s information.

 The Witchs Grimoire (4)

    Vincent looked at the lonely hut in the middle of nowhere. The screeching noises made by nocturnal animals echoed in the dark giving off an eerie atmosphere. Isabell moved closer to Vincent as he was holding a lamp.


    "What kind of witch is scared of the dark?" Vincent didn''t know how to act after looking at the young witch. She was timid to the point of jumping at every sound she heard.


    "I... I am not scared. This is just a breeze." Putting on a brave front, Isabell put some more distance between them once again.


    "Where is the gargoyle?"


    "Behind that haystack."


    Even though it was night, the full moon illuminated the hut and its surrounding clearly as the nearby trees had been quelled. Vincent squinted his eyes to get a better look at the haystack. After much effort, he finally made out what seemed to be a petrified wing.


    "Hold this." Handing the lamp to the girl, he readied his crossbow and circled around to get a clear sight of the gargoyle.


    Having walked around the haystack, he could finally see the foe clearly. It was a nearly 2 meter tall statue with an ugly face and a pair of wings. The legs supporting the structure were thin enough to be compared to that of a lithe woman''s. Its arms were similarly slender but their length stood out. Attached on the end of its long arms were huge palms equipped with deadly claws.


    Vincent unloaded his crossbow and exchanged the piercing bolt with a blunt one. The gargoyle was a creature that took advantage of its light weight and slim body to move at an extraordinary speed. It used its wings to maintain balance and make swift agile turns. The standard recommended method to hunt a gargoyle was to start by injuring its wings.


    He continuously checked his watch for the time. As a gargoyle stayed petrified unless it needed to act, Vincent took his time going through the plan in his head. He had swapped the piercing bolt for a blunt one because the gargoyle had really thin wings. When in its stone form, the wing would break like old pottery if hit by a blunt bolt. A piercing bolt would just make a small hole in comparison.


    As the clock hit 12,  he calmed his breath, took aim and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew at the gargoyle in an impressive speed and hit the mark. The wing crumbed like the bark of an old tree and a gaping hole was left where the bolt had passed by. The creature undid the petrifaction in a hurry and growled at the attacker. Vincent calmly discarded the crossbow and unsheathed his knife. Holding the cutting weapon by his left hand, he pointed his right index finger towards the gargoyle which was almost done transforming. Sparks buzzed in his fingers for a moment and a bolt of lightning flew at the gargoyle''s chest.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The poor creature had just completed its transformation but was assaulted twice in a row already. It''s right wing had a gaping hole while its chest had a burn mark. It had no hair in its body and hence lightning was more than double its usual effectiveness when used against it. This was also part of the reason why Vincent had agreed to come here on such a short notice.


    The creature ignored the pain and charged at the human standing dozens of meters away from it. It was a distance it could cover in a single breath and it launched off the haystack in an explosive manner. Sadly, it''s wing was torn and it failed to maintain its trajectory. Contrary to its evil and scary appearance, it stumbled and fell down like a clumsy human. Watching this reminded Vincent of the girl who had crashed down his windowsill.


    Chasing away the stupid thought, he fired another electric bolt at the pitch black beast. Turning a blind eye to the creature writing in pain on the floor, he used the same spell four more times. The beast had burn marks all over its body and many of its muscles were not responding to its commands.


    Vincent would have liked firing more spells at it to ensure the completion of the job but he was out of mana and was breathing heavily. He picked up the crossbow and loaded a piercing bolt. Moving closer to the gargoyle, he aimed his weapon at its ugly head. He steadied his breath while watching the beast bare its fangs at him. Steeling his heart and his hands, he pulled the trigger.


    The bolt pierced its eye socket and pinned its head to the ground. After ensuring that the job was done, Vincent finally relaxed. Just to be sure, he loaded another bolt and watched Isabell approach him. He was prepared to put her down if she showed any signs of acting against him.


    "Wow. Did you kill it? That was quick." Bringing the lamp closer to the corpses head, she took a good look. She didn''t avert her gaze after seeing the fluids flowing out of its eye sockets. Contrary to Vincent''s expectations, she moved closer to get a better look at it.


    Recollecting himself, Vincent picked up his knife and crouched beside the corpse. He cut open the creature''s chest and tried to reach for its heart. Unfortunately, the rib cage was getting in his way and he couldn''t get it.


    ''Looks like I will have to get messy.''


    Beneath the curious gaze of the young witch, he cut open its stomach and extracted one organ after another. Suppressing the sense of disgust arising from within him, he grabbed a bunch of slimy entrails and pulled hard. The long tubes kept on stretching and it felt like there would be no end to them. He used the knife and cut it to bits leaving some inside the belly. After some minutes of labor, he finally managed to extract the heart.


    "Is that good stuff?" Isabell asked after looking at the satisfied smile on Vincent''s face. She had observed him throughout the entire process and concluded that the heart was something valuable.


    "Yes. This is great stuff." Vincent nodded and answered with a bright smile.


    "Let''s cut it in half. Half of it is mine after all."


    "What? Our agreement was to divide the loot. This is my spoil of war. You are not getting any of this."


    "Tch. Stingy. You wouldn''t be getting your hands on this if it weren''t for me." She put on an exaggerated expression of disgust. "Let''s go. I can''t wait to loot the house. I am going to be rich. Hu hu hu."


    Ignoring her snarky comment, he wrapped the heart which had turned into stone in his handkerchief. He got up and followed the girl who was hopping with excitement. He developed a much more favorable impression of her after the event. Her information had been true. The gargoyle was much weaker than what would be expected of a tier two creature.

 The Witchs Grimoire (5)

    The hut had been untouched for a long time. Dust fell down like rain every time Isabell struck the door. Despite her repeated attempts, the door had barely budged from its initial position even if it was just stuck because of the accumulated dust.


    Vincent did feel bad looking at the comical sight of the girl trying to open the door but let her do it as he didn''t know what was inside the hut. Even though he didn''t know much about witches, he had heard and read stories where witches would put hexes on others and slowly make them suffer. He wasn''t ignorant enough to trust those stories blindly but he wouldn''t mind letting the girl take the vanguard into this unknown territory.


    Her shoulders hurt from all the battering and the door finally gave way a little bit. Reigniting her fighting spirit, she braced herself and rammed against the door one last time. Putting on a victorious smile after watching the door open wide, she walked in cheerily. Vincent followed her carrying the lamp.


    The hut was pretty much normal with nothing standing out. A small bed accompanied by a round table and a bench, that was pretty much all the furniture in the entire room. The floor creaked with every step he took and he felt a little uneasy listening to the sound. The girl, on the other hand acted as if she couldn''t hear the weak board beneath her feet and crouched near a corner.


    With her back faced against Vincent, she activated a hidden mechanism and lifted the floorboard beside her. Vincent could see a ladder attached to the opening and peered down after bringing the lamp closer to the ''hole''. Yes, it was indeed a hole for it was too crude of a construction to actually call a basement.


    Isabell climbed down and Vincent waited for a while to see if there was any danger. "Aren''t you coming down? At least give me the lamp if you aren''t coming. I can''t see much down here." The girl complained after noticing that he was still not descending.


    Ignoring her, he waited for a while more. Confirming that it was safe, he slowly descended. The hole was barely big enough for three people to stand together. Even with just the two of them, it felt quite cramped. He hung the lamp from a nail hammered to a wall and took a good look in front of him.


    The place was filled with all kinds of junks and materials he couldn''t recognize. While he was studying the materials to see if they were of any value, Isabell grabbed a fist sized stone and put it in her pocket.


    "Let me see what that was. How will we be able to split the loot evenly if you just grab something and put it in your pocket." They had agreed that the girl would take the stone but he still wanted to try his luck and see if he could get the girl to hand it over and study it for a while. It was the object that was weakening the gargoyle according to the girl after all. Such things were usually artifacts or materials used to make artifacts. Their value was naturally high.


    "Says the stingy guy who didn''t give me half the heart. Keep dreaming." The girl made another snarky comment and ignored him.


    The duo began going through the pile of junks to fish out the treasures. Both of them had the look of a seasoned collector on their faces and not a single word was exchanged until they had gone through everything twice. Soon, they were left with two books, a ring, a spell scroll and a potion.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    One of the book was a journal by a witch who used to live two centuries ago and the other was a grimoire of the owner of the hut. Vincent gave a cursory look to everything and said, "I will take the potion and spell scroll, you can keep the ring. We can share the books and the final ownership can be decided later on. How about it?"


    "No. I want the potion and spell scroll. You can keep the ring. I don''t have any problem with sharing the books." Isabell protested and proposed a counter argument.


    "Woman, are you stupid? Judging by the fact that you couldn''t deal with gargoyle despite knowing it would be weakened at midnight, you are either an apprentice witch or one of the first circle at most. I am looking out for you and offering you the only magic gear. It''s a second grade gear to boot. Why would you possibly want a spell scroll and a potion which are one use items instead of a gear which will allow you to use a second grade spell every now and then?"


    "I don''t know. All I know is that you are trying to keep the good stuff for yourself. You did the same before as well. I am not falling for your tricks."


    Vincent was speechless. It was true that he was looking out for her. The magic gear didn''t help him much but was of huge help to the girl. The spell scroll and potion on the other hand, were of a kind he had never seen before. He wanted to get them so that he could study them but the girl was adamantly refusing his offer. He had kept the heart of the gargoyle because it was his spoil of war and the girl had no claim over it. But it seemed like the girl had convinced herself otherwise and painted herself as a victim of a scam in her mind.


    The two argued back and forth reaching no conclusion. Vincent grew tired. He had exhausted himself in the fight earlier and he felt like he couldn''t deal with the girl for now. "Let''s split the loot tomorrow. I am tired. Let''s head back."


    "Where do we keep the loot?"


    "In my house of course."


    "You think I am stupid? You will probably run away when I fall asleep."


    "I can say the same about you if you suggest that we keep the loot at your place." Vincent didn''t know how to reply to the girl. She was bright when it came to all the wrong things.


    "Let''s leave it here then."


    "What if you come back here and run away with these?"


    "What do you suggest then?"


    "Keep it at my house. You can sleep with Alba if you don''t trust me. We can lock these inside a chest and you can hug it to sleep. I will keep the keys." Vincent grew tired of her antics and suggested the most stupid solution he could think of.


    "Okay. That''s a great idea." Much to his surprise, the girl was fine with the solution. They had finally come to an agreement and it wasn''t like the idea was impractical. He decided to go with the flow and save time. The two packed everything into a sack the girl had picked up and headed back.


    When the duo got back to Vincent''s window, they found Alba waiting there. Vincent jumped over the window sill and asked, "You are awake?"


    "I realized that you weren''t here when I woke up and found the window open. I was worried if someone barged in and decided to wait."


    Isabell had learned her lesson and put one leg over the window sill followed by the other. Alba hadn''t seen Isabell and was surprised to see her climbing over. "Why is she here?"


    Isabell patted her cloth near her knees and smiled, "Oh you silly girl, why would a young man and a woman come out of the forest so late? Of course, it''s a late night tryst."


    Alba was rendered just as speechless as Vincent. Looking at the strange look Alba was giving him, he ignored her and took out a chest from under his bed. He shoved the entire sack inside and locked it. Keeping the key inside his pocket, he handed the chest to Isabell who happily held it like it was her precious child.


    "Let her sleep with you tonight." Vincent instructed Alba and proceeded to lock every door and window in Alba''s room with locks. He didn''t know what abilities the young witch had but she shouldn''t be able to unlock a lock from the other side of the door. Such abilities would make one a legendary thief. Ensuring that all the locks were working properly, he washed the blood off his hands and went to sleep.

 The Witchs Grimoire (6)

    Vincent unlocked the door only to find Isabell sitting cross legged in a chair. "What''s this? I didn''t know getting rich overnight could turn a girl such as yourself into a demure lady."


    Isabell directed a glare his way and ran out the door. Looking at her taking short steps with her thighs joined together, a realization dawned upon him. He didn''t know how to react and just scratched his head. Alba on the other hand, couldn''t stifle her laughter.


    The girl had finally laughed and Vincent looked at her with interest. The girl hurriedly covered her mouth with her palms and went to freshen up.


    The early hour passed by quickly. Vincent and Isabell were seated across each other with serious looks on their faces. He looked at her straight in the eyes and asked, "How do we settle this?"


    "Let''s flip a coin." The girl proposed something unbelievable to settle such a serious manner. Vincent couldn''t make sense of what went through her mind. He didn''t know what made her answer in such a manner but he did know that he wasn''t willing to decide this matter with a coin flip.


    "How about we play a game of cards instead? I believe both of us can be convinced of the result better this way."


    "Sure. Sounds fun."


    "What can you play?"


    "I''ve never played cards before. You decide and teach me how to play it."


    Vincent wanted to pull his hair out. Dealing with a person like her proved to be something he was incapable of. Forcing down his urge to complain, he taught her how to play poker. Unlike her usual attitude, she took the matter of learning poker seriously. Her speed and sharpness at learning also surprised Vincent. He could have sworn that a ghost had possessed her. How else would she suddenly become so smart?


    Getting serious, Vincent shuffled the cards and distributed it. Isabell checked her cards one by one and laughed uproariously. The smug look on her face told Vincent that she had a good hand. Sadly for her, he had no intention of playing fair. He was cheating for her own good after all. Vincent couldn''t believe how kind he was, to be willing to throw away his upright moral character for the sake of a stupid girl.


    The girl showcased her hand in a flashy manner. The confidence emanating from her was unbelievable, she did have a full house after all. Vincent put on a tense expression and checked his hand. Morphing into a sad expression he showcased his hands as well and observed her expression closely.


    The girl couldn''t believe her eyes. The astronomically rare event where a straight flush made its appearance took place. Vincent took great pleasure in watching Isabell''s smug face crumble into one of utter confusion. If only she were an experienced player, she would have called him out on cheating. Too bad, Vincent was someone who managed to cheat Brian and Rachel for years and not get caught a single time. The newbie couldn''t even begin to grasp where the reason behind her loss lay.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "The universe wants you to take the ring. Be a good girl and accept your defeat." Vincent imitated the way his master spoke and decreed to her the will of the universe. The young witch could do naught but accept the ring as her share of the loot.


    The trio had breakfast together and Isabell couldn''t help but send snarky comments his way to make apparent her dissatisfaction. "You get to eat such good food every day and you still took the better loot from a poor girl like me? Have you no shame?"


    As for Vincent, he pretended to not have heard her and continued eating.


    ***************


    Isabell had forgotten all about the event in the morning and was showing off the ring to Alba somewhere in the woods. The latter had truly seen but a tiny portion of the world and was fascinated by the witch''s antics.


    Vincent was reading the witch''s grimoire. After reading for half the day, he concluded something. It was utter trash for a wizard like him. Witches entered into contract with spirits and supplied them with mana to use their powers. A wizard couldn''t communicate with any spirit let alone enter into contract with one. This knowledge was the only useful thing he gleamed from the grimoire in addition to learning that the stone Alba took had a spirit in it.


    Putting the grimoire aside, he checked the spell scroll. It was a very old scroll and was written in ancient Dragonian, the language originated from and used by dragons. The language had been lost in the passage of time and only a portion of it were still understood by few people. Fortunately, Vincent had basic knowledge about the language. As for beings who still had complete grasp of the knowledge, it would be a select few except for dragons.


    The spell inscribed in the scroll was a tier three spell called ''Cry of the Banshee''. It imitated a banshee''s scream and sent a shocking sound wave in the user''s preferred direction. It was the first time Vincent was seeing a sound based attack spell and his interest was piqued. He began studying the scroll intensely. The only problem was that his limited mastery of Dragonian stopped him in his tracks in no time.


    Making a mental note about borrowing books about the ancient language from Zach, he moved his attention to the potion. It was blood red in color and had nothing of note other than it''s thickness. He added determining the potion''s effects to the top of his to do list and grabbed the journal.


    "11th October, 1119


    The day has finally come. I have been called to join the war. I want to do nothing more than to run away from this place and hide somewhere until this madness ends. Sadly, I cannot do so for my own sisters will be sent to hunt me if I were to run. It''s a far better end to die in the war against the wizards.


    I just hope that I will be fortunate enough to survive. If only I had a few more years, I would have advanced to become a gold ranked witch and my safety would have been given a higher priority. But there are no ifs in life and I must do my best instead of thinking about such things.


    May the moon look after us."


    Reading just the first entry gave a huge shock to Vincent. It looked like the diary belonged to a witch of 4th circle. From the looks of it, the date was roughly about 200 years ago. This coincided with the great magic war waged between shamans, wizards and witches. What he held in his hands was a piece of history buried away from the masses. He hadn''t learnt anything about this and now a door into the past had opened up before him. How could he not be excited?


    Vincent chased away all unnecessary thoughts and dove back into the journal. In his mind, the value of this inconspicuous book far exceeded the other loots.

 The Witchs Grimoire (7)

    "20th October 1119


    I have finally arrived at the Stylix river yesterday. I couldn''t believe my eyes when I first saw the banks on both sides. As far as the eyes can see, there''s nothing but tents set up everywhere. Later on, I learnt that our forces consists of 70000 strong Moon Priests. The wizard''s have somewhere between 40000 and 50000 of their Truth Seekers. I am not sure about the number of wizards they have or the witches and warlocks that have come to join our cause.


    The shamans have already suffered defeat and are out of the picture or else I can''t even imagine what a three way standoff between such behemoths of armies would be.


    I feel relieved after learning that we have the number advantage. Lady Elena''s presence fills our souls with confidence. No one thinks that she would lose against the wizard demi god, Nibel. Still, he is not to be underestimated for he had fought our lady to a standstill two decades ago.


    I pray that the moon watches over her. If she were to lose, the advantage of 20000 armed men would amount to nothing."


    ''Are wizards and witches above 6th circle referred to as demi gods? Is the Nibel she mentioned, Lightbriner Nibel? The current lord of the Tower of Truth? If this is true, then lord Nibel should have won the fight. This would also explain why the witches are so few in number and defamed as evildoers.


    The truth seekers are the men that are raised from a young age to fight for the Tower of Truth, the moon priests should be a similar force belonging to the witches'' faction.''


    Vincent had a learnt a lot of surprising things from this entry. Not only was the size of the two armies absolutely gigantic, the levels of the powerhouses'' strength surpassed his knowledge as well. The fact that Nibel had been a demi god two centuries ago also shocked him. The man must have been hundreds of years old back then and now he was still alive. One of the main reasons why people couldn''t advance continually was because they had limited time. Vincent couldn''t even begin to imagine how powerful the man was now.


    "27th October 1119


    The two armies clashed for the first time yesterday. The ground shook at the charge of hundreds of thousands of men. A normal man might think that everyone had gone mad as he looked at the men charge at each other when a giant river was between them.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I always thought that nature triumphed all if one wasn''t a demi god or higher but I was proven wrong yesterday. Even the biggest river in all of the continent was forced to halt when hundreds of wizards and witches cast spells at the same time. Parts of the river froze and the rest was covered with soil instantly. The rest can be left for one to imagine, it was a slaughter fest. more than 7000 of our moon priests died while the wizards lost 9000 of their truth seekers.


    The elites of both the forces haven''t even joined the war and the death count is already so high. I don''t know what will transpire once the elites join in.


    May the dead find peace in the moon''s embrace."


    Vincent was speechless at this point. He started doubting if the witch who wrote this was sane at all. She wrote that the Stylix river was forced to stop. It was a giant river dozens of meters wide and at least a hundred feet deep. Unsure of the credibility of the records, he began reading again.


    "5th November 1119


    I witnessed a ceremony I had only ever heard about. Thirty gold ranked witches and warlocks oversaw the ceremony sacrificing 3333 cattle and tons of other precious herbs and resources. The blood and flesh congealed together to form a  60 meter tall giant with huge horns and a long tail. It opened its eyes after hours of tedious ceremonies. It was as if I was standing near a volcano when it came to life. Scorching heat radiated from its flaming body in all directions and the tents within 200 meter radius of the giant caught fire instantly. I would have gotten serious burns too had I not  protected myself in a timely manner. This was the power of Balrog, a demon that matched a demi god in strength.


    We were certain that we would be able to put an end to the war with the addition of such a fearsome entity to our lineup but we were wrong once again.


    The wizards had a similar trick up their sleeve. A giant golem made up of the sturdiest of metals and rock. It was in no way smaller than the Balrog and probably heavier. The battle between the two sent deafening sound waves and tremors through the ground with every exchange. In the end, no winner was determined and more men from both our forces died. The estimated loss is in tens of thousands and I have grown a bit numb to this.


    The higher ups however are worried that that we will run out of sacrifices faster than the wizards run out of mana crystals. The Balrog will perish the moment we run out of sacrifices to supply it with life energy and the golem will be useless the moment it runs out of mana crystal. Lady Elena and Nibel both seem to be waiting it out.


    May the moon bless me with courage and luck."


    Vincent had also grown numb to surprises. The biggest golem he had read about was 15 meters tall and it outclassed a gold ranked warrior in size, speed, weight and durability. He had thought it inconceivable when he read about it but this entry shattered his world view completely.


    ''They summoned a balrog. The witch also mentioned that it was as strong as a demi god. The only downside to this ceremony was the insane cost of maintenance. But what is this life energy? Is it something used only by the witches? Looks like I still have a lot to learn.''


    Closing the journal, Vincent went out to take a walk and calm his mind. He felt like he would go crazy if he kept on reading it without a break.

 The Witchs Grimoire (8)

    Vincent looked at the scenery as the thoughts about the great magic war ran across his mind. The journal had given him a glimpse of the true strength possessed by the strongest armies and beings. His roiling emotions calmed down slowly and he enjoyed the moment of leisure without any worries or thoughts distracting him.


    Vincent saw Alba following Isabell excitedly and asking questions. The young witch was making grand gestures as she spoke about who knew what. The thought that the witch might be a bad influence for the naive Alba began bugging his mind and a little worry made its way into his heart.


    "What are you talking about?" Vincent asked as the duo came near him.


    "I was just telling Alba about all my epic adventures as a witch." Isabell answered with a smug look on her face.


    Vincent''s face warped into a doubtful expression. He didn''t think that the girl had gone on any adventures at all, an epic adventure would be far from the truth. "Hmm really? What kind of adventures?"


    Alba cut in and began speaking with great enthusiasm. "She fought with a dragon over a treasure chest and survived. Then there was that one time when she rescued a caravan from the clutches of an evil warlord and also that incident where she headed to a port city to subdue pirates who were wreaking havoc."


    The girl hadn''t even heard of much stories and the made up tales of the young witch fascinated her to no end. It boggled Vincent''s mind when he thought how such obviously fake stories managed to fool her.


    "Did she how you any proof that her tales of adventures were true?" Unwilling to pop the bubble that was uplifting the young girl''s spirit, he decided to subtly hint to her that the witch as bluffing.


    "Yes, she showed me the ring which allows her to breath fire. She took it from the dragon when they were fighting. I wonder if I will ever get to see a dragon." Alba answered full of excitement and longing.


    Looking at her innocent expression, Vincent decided to let the witch keep up her fake facade and not tell her that the she got the ring from the hut they had looted just yesterday. He directed a contemptuous look at the witch who looked the other way and pretended to not see him. Exchanging some short words with Alba, he headed back to his room. After listening to the tales of the young witch''s epic adventures, he felt like he could read the journal about the great magic war without being surprised too much.


    "9th November 1119


    Both our forces have been trimmed down to less than half after yesterday''s fight. Hundreds of elite wizards as well as witches and warlocks perished in the battle. I got caught up in a 6th circle spell of a wizard but managed to survive. I don''t know if I am lucky to be alive or unlucky to be forced to participate in this cruel war for longer. I even thought for a while yesterday that dying would have been better. Few witches that I know are still alive and I don''t know how many more I will get to see fall.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Lady Elena seems to be preparing to head out to battle in the next clash. I pray that she will succeed in defeating Nibel and bringing an end to this horrible war.


    May the moon bless the lady."


    Vincent was left with  heavy heart once more. Tens of thousands of people had died in every clash but the war showed no signs of stopping. He got curious as to what could have led to such a bloody conflict among the wizards, witches and shamans. Sadly, there was no mention of any reason for the war in the journal.


    "11th November 1119


    The lady  and Nibel fought for the first time today. They fought far away from our battlefield but I could see brilliant flashes of light and black fire clash every now and then. The aftereffects of their exchange was in no way inferior to that of the clash of Balrog and giant golem. Their battleground had literally turned into molten lava because of the heat. I cannot fathom how potent their spells were to be able to evaporate part of the lake and melt the nearby lands.


    Unfortunately, both the demi gods injured each other and no victor was decided. Only a quarter of both the forces remain standing. The war council also decided that the next clash would be the very last. We have almost run out of sacrifices to replenish the life energy for Balrog and we still don''t know how much mana crystals the wizards still have.


    The council got worried and asked the lady if we should prepare to retreat. Her confident answer put everyone at ease. It seemed like she had the upper hand in their bout today.


    May the moon lead us to victory."


    It looked like the war was going to reach it''s end soon and Vincent jumped to the next entry immediately.


    "14th November 1119


    We lost the war. And it looked so favorable for us too. I don''t know what to write anymore.


    Nibel allowed the lady to destroy his legendary armor in exchange for an attack on the Balrog. The flaming giant was melted by the demi god''s light spell. It would have just healed in normal case but we had run out of sacrifices and it had no life energy to maintain its existence on this plane. The Balrog died but the lady took advantage of the fact that Nibel no longer had the protection of his legendary armor to burn his left arm and leg.


    Everything was fine until then. The Balrog had died but our lady was still in a fighting condition. She could deal with the giant golem without much trouble. Nibel retreated under the protection of the golem and victory would have been ours as long as our forces triumphed theirs.


    We were filled with confidence as we had the numerical advantage. The number of gold rankers were almost equal in both the forces and our moon priests numbered 17000 while their truth seekers numbered less than 8000. It should have been an overwhelming victory for us but 3000 of our forces got melted by a ray of light. Their flesh turned into liquid and stuck to the armor they were wearing which too melted not long after. Following the source of the light, I saw Nibel floating above the truth seekers heads as his limbs grew back slowly. A week or two should have been the minimum time required for even a demi god to regrow his limbs. It shouldn''t have been possible but I saw the man regenerate his limbs which had been burnt to ashes by the lady in less than a minute.


    His mere presence made our moral plummet. I don''t know who it was, but he dropped his weapon and fled. Looking at the lone figure running for his life started a chain reaction and our entire forces scattered without any cohesion. Lady Elena who was suppressing the golem made her escape after witnessing our unorganized retreat.


    The wizards and their truth seekers followed us in pursuit while chanting ''Lightbringer''. Listening to that moniker makes me gnash my teeth in anger but I don''t have any power to oppose him.


    I survived somehow but most of our forces and kin didn''t make it through. Few of us are still alive and we have decided to live in hiding. We don''t know when they will come for us if our identity is exposed."

 The Witchs Grimoire (9)

    "February 6th 1120


    A messenger came to me to deliver a letter. It is a message from what remains of the council to all surviving witches. A widespread witch hunt was taking place everywhere. If a wizard sensed mana from anyone who isn''t one of their own, they had been instructed by the tower of truth to eliminate the other party. All witches and shamans have now become just a way for the world to claim bounty.


    To prevent us witches and warlocks from being found out easily, the council has prepared a preventive measure. A way to contract a spirit called Eisulah. Doing this reduces our combat capabilities greatly but it allows us to hide our mana completely when we are not casting spells. Changing spirits we are in contract with is a tedious and costly process but we have no choice if we want to live."


    The witch then continued writing about her life after the war. The contents were depressing and filled with the survivor''s guilt. She isolated herself and had no idea what happened thereafter. Vincent gave it  a quick read and closed it shut. He now knew why he didn''t feel any mana from Isabell. She had contracted the spirit called Eisulah. He had learnt a lot from the entries and his curiosity only grew greater. He wanted to know what caused the war as well as what happened to the witch demi god, Lady Elena.


    He also had to learn a lot more and hopefully get a grasp over many concepts mentioned in the journal. Reading it also made him want to see the things written by the witch. The flaming giant which stood over 60 meters tall, the giant golem which could fight the Balrog to a standstill, 7th circle spells that could alter the landscape itself and many others.


    ''I need to stop dreaming. Let''s focus on what''s right in front of me. I really need to amass more wealth and resources. The witches lost the war despite having greater force and stronger powerhouses because the wizards had deeper pockets. What a stupid reason. I need to make sure not to overlook this in the future.''


    Vincent spent the rest of the morning studying the scroll. He figured out a few more things after taking different approaches to the spell inscription but hit a dead end eventually because he knew too little of the language. He was preparing to experiment with the potion when Zach arrived with Nathan and Casper.


    "I  wasn''t expecting you guys so there''s nothing for you to eat or drink except for what a poor man like me eats." Vincent started the conversation with a light joke.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Zach didn''t return a witty reply and just sat down on a chair. He spoke with a serious expression, "Vincent, we won''t be able to recruit anyone from our territories. We need to decide on what we are going to do."


    Vincent looked at the downcast expression on Zach and Nathan''s face and replied, "To be honest, I saw this coming when the lords got poisoned. Don''t mind it too much, we still have time. Let''s discuss our options."


    Nathan looked a little relieved. "The only thing that comes to mind is to buy slaves."


    Zach nodded and continued, "My grandfather contacted a slave trader upon my request. The trader operates south of my father''s territory. I was thinking of visiting him tomorrow."


    "Sure. When do we leave?" Vincent didn''t have any pressing matters to attend to. Taking some time out of his day was an easy choice.


    "Tomorrow morning. A carriage will be here to pick you up at 9." Nathan answered the question with a slight smile.


    Vincent remembered something and turned towards Zach. "Young master Zach. I managed to kill a gargoyle some time ago and have its heart. Do you know how to make the petrifaction potion from it? I did read about it a long time ago and I can''t recall the process clearly."


    "Oh, that''s impressive. I am sure we have a book about it in our library. I will send someone to fetch it later. We can concoct it together when we are both free."


    "That would be good." The group then made some small talk and the guests departed as swiftly as they came.


    ************


    Vincent and the group alighted the carriage. An old man welcomed them with a shrewd smile, "Young master Zach. It has been a long time since I last saw you. You have grown up to be such a fine man. Even your friends have the air of excellence around them. It fills me with joy to see finally spread your wings to take flight. I cannot express just how much pleasure it gives me to be of service to you."


    "It has indeed been a long time. I trust you have been doing well, merchant Lawrence." Zach replied humbly and introduced his company to the old man.


    The merchant was a successful slave trader who owned multiple plantations. He was one of the few people who could sell off dozens of healthy male slaves in such a time.


    "To be honest, you couldn''t have chosen a worse time to buy slaves. All the lords are looking to buy some to help with the constructions of forts and defensive structures. The price hasn''t been as high as this for decades." Merchant Lawrence hinted that the price would be higher than what the group had been expecting.


    "It''s fine. We have come prepared. I wouldn''t come to you with unreasonable expectations after all." Zach responded to assure the old man. The company steadily made their way into the plantation where dozens of men and women were working on the cotton field. Overseers carrying whips on their hands walked around supervising the work.

 Rich Rachel (1)

    Merchant Lawrence  entertained his four young guests in a drawing room. As expected of a successful merchant, he was very hospitable. Servants brought refreshments immediately and the old man was in no hurry to move onto the negotiations. He talked with Zach about a variety of things setting a good mood.


    "How many men are you looking to buy?" The old man asked as he looked at Zach straight in the eyes.


    Zach maintained the eye contact and answered plainly, "As many as we can. It will also depend on how much you ask and can provide."


    "I have more slaves than you could buy. You don''t have to worry about that. Besides, I am sure you will offer me a higher price than the lords. The lords only need laborers after all. You guys on the other hand are looking for the slaves to form a mercenary band. I am not sure how well that will go." The merchant expressed his concerns regarding the plan. No slave would be happy if they were forced to pick up arms and put their lives in danger. There were few exceptions, but the chances of mutiny and desertion would be a real problem.


    "That''s our problem to handle. You only have to concern yourself over the slaves you sell us." Nathan replied coldly. He was a little too conscious regarding the matter of the mercenary band and didn''t appreciate the skeptical view of the merchant.


    "Of course, young master Nathan. That wasn''t my intention at all. Please do forgive me if I overextended myself." The old man apologized and continued. "Let''s discuss the price. A healthy male slave for 4 gold and a female for 2 gold. 5 gold if she is pretty."


    Zach put on a sour expression. The price was higher than he had expected. He could understand that the increased demand for laborers drove the price up. "Is that the best offer you can make us?"


    The merchant wiped off his signature smile and put on a serious expression. "Of course, I am only offering you this price because of the help I received from your grandfather in the past. I wouldn''t offer this price even to the lords on whose good side I want to get on."


    Zach was put on a difficult position. He was reminded of how much more expensive this had become after being unable to recruit men from the territory. In addition to the increased cost, the reliability of slaves in a battle was also very low. They were mostly used as workforce who followed the army from behind and took care of all the menial tasks and constructions of defensive structures.


    They also needed to purchase weapons and armor after this and the cost would only be higher. Materials and craftsmanship were both more expensive than human lives in such a time after all.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Realizing the conundrum Zach was in, Lawrence excused himself and allowed the four youths some time to discuss on their own.


    Zach looked at everyone briefly and spoke, "I have 300 gold for now. Nathan and Casper have a total of 100. If I recall correctly, Vincent you have 40 gold with you. We need to decide on how many slaves to purchase. There''s also the matter of weapons and armor...."


    Vincent cut off Zach, "I should be able to procure 200 to 300 gold in a month. I plan on heading to Istria and coming back. There''s someone there who I can ask help from."


    Everyone were surprised by the fact that Vincent had someone who could lend him so much money on a short notice. Zach brought his emotions under control. "If you don''t mind me asking. Could you tell me who you are planning on borrowing from?"


    "Spencer merchant guild. I know the young lady of the guild as well as guild master Spencer. He had told me to come find him if I ever found myself in need to money. Now that I do, I thought that I would go and make use of this opportunity." Vincent answered calmly to the question. He did have connection with Rachel and her father after all, it would be a waste not to make use of it.


    "I see. That''s good. We can buy better arms and armaments with the extra money. When will you set out?"


    "After we make the petrifaction potion. I was thinking of selling it to the guild. It''s an exceptionally rare potion after all. It will fetch a good price."


    "Let''s make it tomorrow then. I already have the side ingredients and the recipe ready."


    "So, what do we do about the slaves? How many are we buying?" Nathan drove the conversation back to the original topic.


    "The price is higher than we thought. More like, we are poorer than we thought. We have to inquire about the armor and arms as well. Making a decision without getting the full picture would be stupid. I think we should hold out on completing any transactions for now. The prices of weapons are also probably higher since everyone is tense because of the approaching war." Zach suggested holding out until they learnt about the arms and their prices. It was a reasonable suggestion and no one opposed to the idea.


    They spent the next hour looking at the slaves Lawrence had to offer. Zach conveyed his wishes to inquire about arms before making any purchases. The old merchant was very welcoming of the decision and even gave some advice to Zach.


    Sitting on the carriage as they were heading back, Vincent began once again. "You should purchase the slaves after getting an understanding of the arms'' price. I will return with at least 200 gold, so let''s keep 600 gold as our budget and proceed further."


    ***********


    Vincent was on his way to Istria. It had been more than a year since he was last there and his emotions were complicated. He calmed down and went through his plans once again in his mind.


    He would sell the petrifying potions and the witch''s diary. Rachel would surely be interested in it, especially since it was forbidden to possess things like these. Just this fact alone would make her want to get her hands on it. He hadn''t figured out how he would explain that the diary was missing to Isabell but he decided to let future Vincent figure it out.