《Descent Into Entropy》 Prologue: Death is but a second chance Hello! This is my first prologue for my first fiction, I have edited things since the release, most quality editing and one line of dialogue. Everyone who read it when it was first released won''t be missing anything! Enjoy!~ ****** As I gasped for air the only thing I could manage to say was "W-where is this?! Where am I?!" I attempted pick myself up from a cold and hard floor for what seemed to be an eternity before I managed to weakly get up and stabilize my footing and be sure my legs wouldn¡¯t betray me. I then observed my surroundings but found nothing but darkness, except a tiny dot off in the distance. This dot was red and chaotic in its nature from what i could see. Despite the confusing situation I was in, I found myself forsaking one of the hard instilled lessons drilled into me by life and my teacher, the great Arch Wizard Amesula Enhana. Her voice echoed hollowly in my mind, ''No matter what circumstance you may find yourself in Theodor, always stay keen and never become distracted.'' But distracted I had become. I had found myself staring into the tiny red dot, enthralled by it. Tempted by it. What I was being tempted by? I¡¯ve not the slightest clue, but all I felt at that moment was the deep desire to fight. But it was not just simple fighting that I was craving, nor did it stay a simple craving. The feeling I had grew into a hunger. The hunger for carnage, for bloodshed, to see all my potential foes at my feet, turned into a bloody meaty mess. As I was standing there in the darkness hungering for death and destruction, a voice rang out from the tiny ball of red light. The voice boomed out with the power and authority from what could be described as a mighty war god. It said, ¡°You are weak. Your feeble body would snap like a twig under a boulder in your current state. But your mind is strong¡­ Come to me child and I will reform you to be the mightiest of warriors. None will stop you, all will fall under your strength. Just come to me and it will be done.¡± Hearing the booming voice that betrayed the appearance of the tiny red dot I was snapped out of my hypnotic state. There I was, standing in the dark hearing declarations of great power, all promised to me. I began to ponder this proposition for what seemed like days. While the dot stayed in its original position and never said another word this entire time. After great inner turmoil something occurred to me and I exclaimed, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be dead?!¡± Again, nothing but silence greeted me. Hearing my own words that seemed to echo within my mind I became calm. ¡°In all honesty I should be freaking out. But i feel calm.¡± I noted softly under my breath. After another minute or so of pondering I had made my decision. I looked at the tiny red dot and exclaimed, ¡°I decline your offer. I am not a brute and I¡¯m dead. What use is strength to the dead?¡± A rumbling sound, that sounded like a deep laugh, echoed throughout the darkness. It continued for what seemed like hours before it died down to a chuckle and eventually stopped. Then the large commanding voice echoed through the darkness again and stated ¡°Very well.¡± After its brief dialogue the red dot faded out. I was all alone now. There I stood, all by myself in a dark space. ¡°Is this what death is like? Where are the gods? Where are my parents? Why is it so lonely¡­¡± My voice trailed off into the seemingly unforgiving darkness as I fell to the floor. I lay there on the very cold and black floor and a smile starts to creep on my face. ¡°How can she do this?¡± After that thought I start laughing hysterically. My laughing turns to cackling and my cackling turns into a disturbing giggle. I lay there giggling manically for what seems like an eternity until my insane hysteria is interrupted by another voice. The voice was inaudible, but I knew I heard it. I stopped my distraught reaction to death and pushed myself up, I then began to walk. For the first time since I died, I walked. It was a strange feeling because my legs were still feeble and moving felt like a monumental task, but I pressed on. I walked and walked for what felt like hours and then finally, I collapsed. Unable to move any further. I lay there exhausted, defeated and with no indication that I may ever recover my lost energy. I began panting as I started thinking back on everything that had happened in my life. The good, the bad, and everything I regretted. But mostly the last moments of my life. The blurry image of the one I trusted the most. The deep pain of suffocation and betrayal. This scene played in my head over and over again, and with each replay the emotions doubled. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. After some time I gritted my teeth and began to push myself off the ground with sheer determination and anger. ¡®This is not the afterlife I¡¯m going to have¡¯ I thought to myself. As I was struggling with all my effort to get up I failed to notice something forming over me. It was black, blacker than the blackness of this dark space. It seemed to grow from my anguish and determination until it was about 10 feet in diameter. From the center of it an eye seemed to form, the eye glowed a bright yellow and gazed down at my struggle with what seemed like delight. When I finally, after what felt like days, got up and saw this eye, I looked into it and it I. It gazed down at me while I stood there frozen and then it began to speak. ¡°You are strong. You have passed up ultimate physical strength and gained enlightenment of your own demise. You have clung onto something which even you were unsure of and defied the wheel of life. You have come to me.¡± The voice was soft and chilling but to me it sounded like hope. It was the voice I heard in my hysteria and it was the one I was searching for. I mustered up my wits and choked out a question in its oppressive but soothing aura. ¡°What are you? And why did I seek you out?¡±. After barely pronouncing my question its gaze increased in intensity and stated, ¡°Why did you seek me out? Only you know why. Since you have found me, I shall offer you what you wish.¡± I stuttered out ¡°W-what I wish?¡± It continued to stare at me and declared ¡°What you wish.¡± The eye continued to peer into me as if it can tell what my thoughts were. It then listed everything I wanted which, startled me. ¡°You seek power, not sheer physical power. But real power. Power to reshape the world if you so desire, power to never die, power to gain revenge. But most of all you wish you could go back.¡± I was shocked but I also knew my circumstances warranted such bizarre things to happen, after thinking that I began to calm down. After seeing me calm down it continued. ¡°I can oblige one of these wishes. All you have to do is say yes.¡± Hearing it say that, my heart felt like it was beating again and the feeling of hope grew inside of me. But I also felt something was wrong. How can a being like this offer me something so great without anything in return? As if it heard my thoughts it stated ¡°I do require one thing if I¡¯m to fulfill of your wishes. What it is... I shall tell you at a later date. But for now I will bestow upon you a second chance.¡± A second chance I thought? I don¡¯t even get to pick?! I was about to voice my complaint but it chimed in again as if reading my thoughts, ¡°Do you wish to lose this chance and return to the wheel of life?¡± I was flabbergasted at what it said, on one hand I don¡¯t trust this being, but on the other I will pass up my opportunity at revenge and also a second chance. Standing there clenching my hands with the last of my strength and gritting my teeth, with a whimper I said ¡°Yes¡­ I accept.¡± It then started to laugh an unsettling laugh before it said, ¡°I shall bring you back to life, and in return you will fulfill my conditions after you have returned. I will also bestow upon you a gift. A small reward for your hard work so far. And you shall find out what my gift is when you awake.¡± All of a sudden I felt really lethargic. My body began to give out under my own weight, and with the last of my strength I managed to mumble, ¡°You.. still haven¡¯t... told.. me¡­. what you are¡­¡± It began laughing ominously and said in a foreboding whisper ¡°Entropy.¡± I blacked out. Chapter 1: The Begining Hello my few, but beloved readers! I have edited my first chapter from the blocky wall of texts to this easier to read "royalroad" format. I also fixed some of the dialogue and sentences, but no change to the story. If I made some grammar errors or other types of errors while editing, please say so in the comments! (I read all the comments for every chapter, every day!) Enjoy the chapter~ ****** I awaken in my cot and turn over, what greets my eyes is the same blurry scene that plays out every morning. The sight of the male servants chatting, horsing around and getting dressed before they have to perform their daily duties within the estate. A small smile spreads upon my lips at the display of so much energy, they seem to have it every morning and without fail. When one of the servants, a gardener, spies my smile from the corner he¡¯s in. As he dresses in his loose, but presentable gardening cloths, he chimes ¡°Are you enjoying the show?¡± I turn to him and my smile turns into a smirk while I snap a sarcastic remark, ¡°Free shows are the best shows, but I¡¯m sure you know that better than I do.¡± He then grows a smirk of his own and continues to get ready for a busy day of leaf raking. As everyone prepares for a day of hard labor or a multitude of tedious tasks, I sit up from my warm cot and begin searching down below me. After a few seconds of feeling around my hand reaches its destination and I start to rummage through a pile of dirty clothes. After about a minute of pushing dirty clothes aside I grasp what I¡¯ve been looking for, a small wooden box. I sluggishly open the box and pull out my round pair of glasses, and after placing them upon my face I habitually push them further up the bridge of my nose. I then stood up from my cot and began trudging over towards my chest, filled with clean clothes and my other personal belongings. Once I weaved pass the other servants getting ready, I reached down to open my chest, and began fishing out a set of clean clothes. That was when something occurred to me, I then snapped my back in a straight posture like a soldier being hammered by a drill sergeant, and I began to observe the servants quarters like a hawk. I knew there was something off, especially when my cot wasn¡¯t kicked in a sudden matter while I tried to sleep. After noticing someone was missing I turned towards one of the nearby servants and asked ¡°Hey Emerson, wheres Greg? Shouldn¡¯t he have returned last night?¡± Emerson, seeing how I was troubled by Gregory¡¯s absence, smirked while quipping, ¡°He was bragging about how he found a new girl that would share a bed with him yesterday, so I¡¯m assuming he had ¡®spent the night¡¯ with her. You jealous?¡± I frowned, and replied with distaste, ¡°Pierce is gonna have his ass if he misses another roll call.¡± Emerson then flatly stated ¡°Why should you care?¡± But I ignored him and began dressing myself while thinking ¡®Damn it Greg, a few more incidents like this and you¡¯ll be punished by Lord Raingrip again. I¡¯m not going to vouch for you this time¡­¡¯ After putting on my overcoat I walked over to the bathroom to relieve myself as well as check to see if I look presentable. The one good thing about living under the Raingrips is Lady Tilda, she is always obsessed with the present-ability and well being of the servants, and there is a rumor floating around that the family she comes from used to treat their servants like slaves and would constantly ¡°correct¡± them with hot coals, whips and everything else to cause maximum pain. But one day her parents were found slashed up in their beds with the words ¡°corrected¡± written in blood on the walls. I¡¯ve no idea if those rumors are true or not though, but it matters little to me and the other servants because we get good meals, no beatings and good pay. She also had large mirrors installed within the servant¡¯s quarters to make sure we look our best, but in my opinion that was a mistake because the guardsmen just use it to check out their muscles most of the time. But we are thankful to Lady Tilda for these luxuries anyway. Once I was finished relieving myself in one of the chamber pots I walk over towards the indoor water pump and drain. I then began to wash my hands and face with soap, one of said luxuries thanks to Lady Tilda. After washing up in the very cold water, I slowly paced over to the large mirror with my face and hands still wet. After pushing aside two guardsmen, flexing at themselves in the mirror before their shift started, I began looking at my appearance. What greeted my eyes was my fatigued looking face, dark circles under my storm gray eyes and my disheveled azure hair. Gazing down at my attire I noticed the brown leather belt around my beige pants wasn¡¯t buckled and the white long sleeved shirt under my vest, that was the same color as my hair, was wrinkled. I grunted in annoyance and began to rectify my messy appearance by slicking back my hair with the excess water that was on my hands, my hair was my source of pride because it showed my strong affinity for the water element, so I always make sure it looks good first and foremost. I then buckled my belt up and attempted to smooth out the wrinkles on my shirt with my hands, which brought some success. After fixing my hair as well as my clothes, I gazed upon my face intensely while slowly walking closer to the mirror. My face wasn¡¯t the best looking but it wasn¡¯t ugly, I had a mature look with a hint of boyishness to it. After I had wasted plenty of minutes standing in front of the mirror, ten minutes to be exact, a familiar voice interrupted my very important search. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Still waiting for that facial hair to come in eh, Theodor?¡± I whipped my head away from the mirror too look at the chuckling figure. ¡°Shutup Greg. I¡¯m just¡­ trying to¡­¡± My voice trailed off as my gaze fell upon Greg, he looked his normal self with his short brown hair, small goatee, tall frame and his stocky build, except for his busted up face. Both of his eyes were blackened and one was swollen so bad that it was shut, his face also had multiple scratches along with bruises. When I made eye contact with him, he started to grin widely revealing a missing tooth. I sighed and asked ¡°What the hell happened to you?¡± He kept the grin on his face and he replied with, ¡°Long story.¡± I drew another long sigh when he held out his hand, presenting what I assumed was his missing tooth. I put a hand to my face and answered the question I¡¯m sure he was going to ask, ¡°Damn it Greg, I can¡¯t be wasting my mana before I go to Mrs.Enhana¡¯s estate.¡± When Greg heard me say that, he kept his grinning visage but said with a tempting tone, ¡°I¡¯ll cover the tab tonight..?¡± I stood there looking at him with a stoic face and gave him a flat reply. ¡°Only if you take my shift AND pay the tab.¡± It didn¡¯t take long for Greg to make up his mind. He then winced, as if he had been punched again, and squeaked out an ¡°Okay..¡± I began laughing wryly, as we walked over to the indoor water pump, with me leading the way. As we made it to the pump he asked in a pleading tone. ¡°Please conjure the water? I don¡¯t want these bruises to be too obvious. I have a date after my shift.¡± I raised an eyebrow and quipped ¡°Like hell I¡¯m going to waste my mana anymore than this, Mrs.Enhana is teaching us a new spell today and I need all the mana I have.¡± A sinister grin appeared on my face and I continued, ¡°Plus you have my shift to take care of, so I¡¯ve no clue why you think you¡¯re going on a date.¡± Greg began whimpering and teared up, but I knew it was an act so ignored it. After our little exchange of words I began pumping the water while chanting under my breath, soon the water started glowing and began floating around me. It hovered there, suspended by my mana while I motioned for Greg to get closer. As he approached I began my chanting again, but this time the water started gathering around my hands, I then placed my hands over his face while the water began to restore his wounds. After about five minutes his face looked presentable, and all that remained of his wounds was a few scuffs and a bit of bruising that would go away after a day or two. So I stopped my chanting but left the glowing water on my hands, and with my left hand I motioned for him to give me his lost tooth, he then placed it in my palm. I then, without warning, I shoved the tooth back into his gums where it was previously, causing the wound to reopen making his blood begin to flow within his mouth. He didn¡¯t struggle because this isn¡¯t the first time I had to do this, but it didn¡¯t stop him from groaning loudly in agony. Before he could possibly blackout I placed my watery right hand next to my left over his mouth, and began chanting. It appeared his pain ceased after my chanting began and a look of relief grew on his face. This went on for five minutes before I considered his tooth to be fine. ¡°There you go, you brute, all healed and ready to roll.¡± I declared. ¡°Thank you so much Theodor!¡± Greg ran to the mirror across the room and began looking at his face and teeth, after a few seconds he turned to me and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I would do if I didn¡¯t have such a skilled water mage for a friend.¡± Ending his sentence with two thumbs up. ¡°You say this every time you get healed by me, and that¡¯s only after you get busted up.¡± I said with a sigh and a frown. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what would happen to you if I wasn¡¯t around.¡± I dispersed the glowing blue water from my hands into the drain and began walking towards the exit. Giving a dismissive wave of the hand I said ¡°I have to go to Mrs.Enhana¡¯s estate, showing up late to her lessons means extra work.¡± With that I walked out of the bathroom while Greg was admiring himself in the mirror, like most guardsmen do. After walking through the now empty servants quarters, I approached my cot and pulled my brown boots out from under it, after placing my feet in them and making sure they were tight I then began buttoning up my dark blue overcoat since it was mid fall and chilly outside. I then checked my coin purse under my vest by patting the position it was in, after that I walked over to the chest where my belonging were and pulled out my tome, I then checked the lock keeping it closed before reaching into my overcoat, with it in hand, and hung it upon my belt. With that done I walked to the door that leads to outside. It was in the servant''s chamber so the groundskeepers and other dirty servants could enter and leave as needed. However it was really there so they wouldn¡¯t track dirt through the main house every time they retired for the day, but I used it out of convenience every morning. As I placed my hand on the knob I whispered to myself ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what spell Mrs.Enhana teaches us today.¡± With a twist of the knob I opened the door and began my journey. Chapter 2: Mustering the Courage Hello my few, but beloved readers. I have a new chapter for you today! I took the advice from the comment''s in the previous chapter and shortened my paragraphs while giving the dialogue their own line. I hope you enjoy my story! Please leave a comment if you find anything wrong or have any suggestions. Enjoy!~ ****** When I pulled the door open, a cool fall breeze caressed my face and fogged up my glasses, but instead of cleaning them with a cloth, I waited a few seconds for them to adjust to the temperature. When they cleared, I was greeted by the sight of trees losing their leaves. All the bright reds and yellows, along with the dull shades of brown of the trees, it was a beautiful sight to me and each time I see it only solidifies my love for the fall season. I then took my first step of the day, and when my foot fell upon the cobbled path I heard a crunching sound under my foot. Peering down I noticed even more leaves had fallen since the day before. While pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose I took note that the groundskeepers will have to work hard today, just like the day before, to rake them all up. Thanking the fact I wasn¡¯t stuck with such a tedious and futile task, I sucked in a breath of the chilly morning air through my nose, holding it for a few seconds before finally exhaling through my mouth. With that small breathing exercise completed I began walking my way through the estate, heading for the front gate. I only managed to walk about half way from the servant¡¯s quarters to the front gate before sounds of wood hitting wood caught my attention. The sound came from the direction of the training yard where the estate¡¯s guards train. ¡®How curious.¡¯ I thought to to myself, ¡®Most of the guards should be eating breakfast, or eating dinner after retiring from their night shifts. I don¡¯t know of any guard who would pass up a meal or sleep just to spar.¡¯ After weighing the options I opted to ignore this sound, while concluding it was just Lord Raingrip training his son, Maxwell Raingrip. While I continued my walk to the front gate I laughed softly and murmured, ¡°Lord Raingrip has been like this ever since his father died in battle three years ago. I can¡¯t imagine the feeling of having my family¡¯s noble status lowered, just because I wasn¡¯t as powerful as the previous head.¡± I shrugged slightly at my own comment and mumbled on, ¡°Then again I wouldn¡¯t know the feeling of being a noble, or having a father¡­¡± The last part of my comment trailed off and soon I found myself at the gate. When the gatekeeper spotted me he greeted, ¡°Hail Theodor. Are you going to the Arch Wizard¡¯s today?¡± While turning towards the graying gatekeeper I pushed my glasses further up the bridge of my nose and assumed a straight posture, ¡°Good morning, Mr.Prescott.¡± ¡°No need to address me with such formalities Theodor.¡± The graying gatekeeper chuckled. While keeping my straight posture I peered at the smiling older gentleman, ¡°I must apologize, but old habits die hard.¡± With that said, I eased up my posture and smiled along with the graying gatekeeper. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m making my way over to Mrs.Enhana¡¯s estate, she is going to teach us a new offensive spell today.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Mr.Prescott chuckled, ¡°Then I better not keep you waiting.¡± He then got up from his gate house and walked over to where the gates open and close. Before reaching for the ring of keys on his belt he glanced over and said ¡°Say hello to Elicia for me.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I replied with a matter-of-fact tone. He then removed the key ring and skillfully grabbed the right one before unlocking the front gate. The graying gatekeeper then pushed one of the wrought iron doors out enough for me to slip through and said, ¡°Better not keep your teacher waiting.¡± He then began twirling the key ring with his right hand. After a slight bow, I strode through the opening and continued my journey to Mrs.Enhana¡¯s estate. I walked past many mansions and small castle like structures, belonging to other nobles of various standings, before I reached the upper wall gates. There wasn¡¯t much traffic at this time of the day, because most of the nobles were either sleeping or enjoying a decadent breakfast, and since there wasn¡¯t any pompous nobles around to scald them for appearing ¡°Improper as guards for the nobility residency quarter.¡± The guards would act a bit more lethargic. After approaching the already open gate, one of two guards standing watch asked for a clearance pass. I then reached into one of my overcoat pockets and pulled out a small slip of paper with the Raingrip seal on it, and handed it to the guard. He casually took the slip of paper and glanced down at it with disinterest before handing it back to me while saying, ¡°Clear.¡± I took the slip of paper and placed it in the same pocket and began walking past the gate. The sight that appeared before me as I walked through the gate was of many businesses having carts unloaded and crates carried in and out of their shops. I pushed my glasses up and noticed many smells filling this section of this city, some smelling sweet, some savory and also the nose curling smell of horse waste. One wouldn¡¯t go anywhere within such busy parts of the city without smelling horse excrement, there was far too much carts and carriages passing through. I braced myself and stepped forward. While dodging busy shopkeepers and workers, as well as horse shit, I turned towards one of the many streets that branched off the main road and walked down it. After a short and uncrowded walk, I ended up in front small shop. The shop had a wooden sign above the door that had a picture of a loaf of bread. I stood there for a good thirty seconds as I tried to muster up the courage to open the door. ¡°Alright Theodor, you can do this. All you have to do is buy a slice of bread, and ask her to the festival. Nothing to it!¡± I whispered to myself. After my small pep talk I made sure my azure hair was slicked back before I removed my round glasses, making sure there was no smudges before placing them back on. After confirming that nothing was out of place I crept up to the door and grabbed the doorknob with a shaking hand. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. As I opened the door the aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries overwhelmed me. My mouth began to water within seconds of the scent surrounding me, but when my eyes fell upon her, my mouth instantly dried up. The excitement I showed this morning wasn¡¯t because of Mrs.Enhana teaching us a new spell, although I¡¯m somewhat excited about that.That¡¯s just what I told everyone to mask my enthusiasm, in reality it was because of this moment. Next week is the fall harvest festival, although the crops this city grows are mostly alchemy herbs and plants, which are harvested at various times during the year, we still celebrate the fall harvest because it gives people an excuse to skip work and get drunk as well as allow vendors to sell their wares. It¡¯s also a time that many men and women use as a date night. Especially the younger men and women. This is because the week before is known as the ¡°competition week¡±. A week where the young men compete with each other in order to win the affections of the young lady they are competing for. It''s an unspoken and unofficial holiday of itself, so not all people do this. But a lot of the hot headed young men like to show off and the girls enjoy the attention they receive. As my storm gray eyes locked onto her deep sea blue eyes, I froze. She gave a small, but very bright smile that could melt any amount of layers of ice off the hearts of any potential customer. When her smile hit me, it felt like the warm sun on a hot summer day, causing my heart to beat at a fast pace and my palms to sweat. I then tried with all my might to take a step forward while attempting to give her a smile in return. After returning an awkward smile and walking in a clunky fashion towards the counter, I stuttered, ¡°C-can I ha-have a sl-slice o-of brea-bre-bread?¡± When she heard my stuttering she placed a pearl white hand, with no blemishes, over her mouth and giggled in a very cute manner. I tried to look away in embarrassment but my eyes were caught on her firey red hair, showing her excellent affinity to the fire element, that was bound loosely over her back. ¡°One slice of bread? Coming right up!¡± She exclaimed after she finished her giggling. I was broken from my trance when she spoke. I coughed softly to try and ease the tension. She then took out a loaf of plain white bread and began slicing it, I unbuttoned the top of my overcoat and reached into my vest to retrieve a copper piece from my coin purse. After grabbing the payment for my breakfast I noticed she was still slicing the loaf of bread, most likely for other future customers. It was then that I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth, mentally hyping myself up to ask her to the festival, and right before she finished I managed to say it. ¡°Will you¡­¡± She stopped and turned to me with a questioning look on her flawless face. ¡°Go to the Harvest Festival.... with me?¡± I said with the most angst I¡¯ve ever had. She placed a finger on her chin and looked up with a thinking face ¡°Hmmm¡­. Okay.¡± She replied nonchalantly. I stood there flabbergasted. Elicia Prescott, the girl I¡¯ve had a crush on for the past few years, agreed to go with me to the Harvest Festival. I was elated and overjoyed, and I thought my heart could stop at any moment. After standing there with a blank expression on my face for a good three minutes, Elicia finally asked, ¡°Are you okay Theodor?¡± Broken from my trance by her voice, I slapped the copper piece down on the counter, causing Elicia to jump a little, and I ran to the door. But before I opened the door I shouted ¡°I¡¯ll see you the day before the the festival!¡± With that out of the way, I threw open the door and ran out like a madman. As I ran through the small street to get to the main road, I failed to notice the shadow that¡¯s been trailing me from the shadows since I left the nobility residency district. When I finally made it down the main road and to the outer gates, after about fifteen minutes of dodging and weaving past people, carts and whatever you may see on a busy market row. I was greeted with a line of people going in and out. I thought to myself, ¡®Damn it! I might be late to Mrs.Enhana¡¯s estate if this line doesn¡¯t move soon.¡¯ That¡¯s when my stomach started growling, ¡®Damn it all! And I forgot my bread.¡¯ After what felt like an eternity, but in reality five minutes, I asked one of the people, a fat merchant holding a pack mule¡¯s reins, in line ¡°What¡¯s the hold up?¡± He turned to me and grumbled, ¡°The damned city lord issued an order for the guards the vet the people going in and out of the city, because something about an influx of spies.¡± The merchant then looked away in annoyance. I just shrugged and decided to do something I might regret later. But it was worth it so I wouldn¡¯t be late. So I stepped out of line and walked passed the disgruntled citizens and merchants, most of them gave me the evil eye for cutting them off. I just ignored them and continued to the gate. When I reached the the front of the line I saw three tables with a few guards checking the paperwork of various people trying to leave. Because I was short on time, I shuffled next to another merchant, who had a whole cart filled with goods he was most likely going to export, that was being vetted. Disregarding his already annoyed glare, that turned red with rage, I placed my hand within my coat pocket and pulled out the slip of paper with the Raingrip seal on it before handing it to the overwhelmed guard. The guard looked at it for a moment before pulling a chart out to check for authenticity. After a few minutes of him doing this he placed the slip down and took out another slip of paper and stamped it before handing me both of the slips. I pushed my glasses up with my left hand while taking the slips of paper with my other hand. After glancing at the new slip of paper I began to walk through the gate. Chapter 3: The First Taste Hello my few, but beloved readers! I have another chapter for you today! If you see any mistakes or grammar errors please leave a comment. Enjoy~ ****** ¡°Today is looking better and better.¡± I said to myself with a gleeful grin on my face. ¡°Elicia agrees to go with me to the Harvest Festival, and now I find this gold piece!¡± I exclaimed softly to myself while holding the gold piece up to my eye. ¡®I imagine some merchant is cursing under his breath while thinking of this lost gold piece. I would too for this amount of money. But I found it resting on the ground fair and square, and by law it would be mine since it was abandoned.¡¯ I rationalized to myself while walking past the fields of colorful plants. After about twenty minutes of me admiring the no small sum of money I found, I walked into the part of the road that led through the orchards. These orchards weren¡¯t normal orchards, like most of the crops grown around this city, these ones grew inedible fruits and nuts used in the alchemy factory. We barely grow any of our own food because this city is a very important one to the country. The soil conditions in our general area are perfect for various different plants used in alchemy, because of that, we have a large factory dedicated to mass producing potions of various different uses, and with the war we¡¯re in against the neighboring dark elf country, this city gained even more importance. The type of potions the factory makes are health potions and small enhancement potions, and it¡¯s very crucial having our whole army stocked with life saving potions as well as body enhancement potions. We are the only nation with a valley perfect for cultivating plants used in alchemy, and because of this we have to fend off invaders all the time. It¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t similar growing conditions elsewhere, it¡¯s just those areas are always infested with dangerous beast. The city itself is built on a lone mountain in the middle of the potion-plant fertile valley, and the way the city layout was designed makes defending from any siege an easy task. The main street is straight and constantly going up on an incline until you reach the noble district on top of the mountain. Each tier also has a full wall with reinforced gates, with a total of 3 tiers, and if any invading army breaches one gate, they would have to do it again 2 more times. Not to mention the constant uphill battle they would have to face. Laying siege on the other sides of the city is also impossible too. This is because of the way the mountain was carved out, all sides of the mountain are practically 90 degree angles going up hundreds of feet, except the main gate, with a man made moat surrounding the entirety of the mountain. Because of the city''s excellent defenses, it makes a big target for saboteurs, in this case dark elven, and their ideal target would usually be the potion factory, since all you would have to do is get in, put some kind of mixture in the vats and leave. To combat any sabotage attempts the factory has many skilled guards on patrol at all times along with more magic wards and alarms than the king¡¯s palace, so getting in is nearly impossible. Dark elves are also not native to any parts of our country and they don¡¯t immigrate like other elves do, so spotting one is easy. The only real way they could get into the city would be through illusion magic, hired thugs, rogues or any sort of renegade willing to do dirty work for some coin. As I continued to walk through the shaded orchards, almost to Mrs.Enhana¡¯s estate, I heard a scream. The scream caught me off guard and I immediately stopped in my tracks. A serious look replaced my elated one and I placed the gold bit into my coin purse while trying to hear for more sounds. Another, more feminine, scream sounded out. But this time I was ready. It came from within the orchard treeline. Most likely some thugs or bandits robbing a couple who were wondering about the orchard. After confirming the the direction of the screams, I weighed my options. ¡®Should I run and get Mrs.Enhana to deal with this? Her estate is only a few minutes away¡­ No, those two people would most likely be dead or missing by then. I have to do something.¡¯ With a quick decision I began running towards the source of the screams. After two minutes of sprinting, I arrived at the scene, and what I saw was two rough looking guys with large frames and equally large weapons cornering a young woman. She didn¡¯t have a look of terror on her face, but an angry one. At first I thought it strange that a girl as young looking as that wasn¡¯t terrified or sobbing, I then spotted the corpse of a young man next to her. It was bizarre to me that she didn¡¯t have a single tear in her eye, even when faced with two large thuggish men and with what I assume is the corpse of a lover or friend next to her. But I pushed that thought to the back of my mind, what mattered more was someone was in danger, and I have a perfect chance to sneak attack those large men. So I stealthily made my way behind a tree about ten feet from them, and it was then that I was able to hear what they were saying. ¡°Surrender and we won¡¯t hurt ya much.¡± The large man threatened while bouncing the mace in his hand. ¡°Fuck you! Like I would let a brute like you touch me!¡± She spat out with venom at him. I took note of her strong personality, and I then began tuning out the threats and insults they were throwing at each other to search for a source of water. Looking around, I frantically searched with my eyes to find any amount of water, I was hoping for a bucket or a barrel, or even a puddle. But after a few seconds of scanning, I found nothing. ¡°Shit shit, it¡¯s going to take longer to conjure water.¡± I habitually pushed my glasses up, ¡°At least it will make my spell more powerful.¡± After I stopped talking under my breath, I began to chant quietly while tuning out even more. Meanwhile, the bickering that was happening behind my tree increased in intensity. ¡°You killed our comrade, you fucking bitch.¡± The man with the mace. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The woman with brown hair spat on the corpse and snarled, ¡°Come any closer and you¡¯ll join him.¡± ¡°Grrr¡­¡± The man with the sword growled, and the both of the them began advancing slowly on the cornered woman. After I completed the chant, and confirming that I had enough water for the offensive spell I had in mind, a faint sound could be heard a little ways away from me. ¡°Hehe¡­ Go on little mage, save that poor woman¡­¡± I snapped my head to the left, trying to catch whatever made that noise, but I saw nothing nor heard anything more. Dismissing it, I peeked over from my tree. What I saw was the two large men closing in on the woman. ¡°Shit, I don¡¯t have much time.¡± I cursed softly. With such little time I closed my eyes, to focus harder, and began chanting the offensive spell. After a good ten seconds, small ice spears started forming from the conjured water that was floating around me, and after another ten seconds they started glowing faintly. In total there was thirteen small ice spears, all floating around me before I stopped chanting and opened my eyes. At this point both of the thugs had stopped advancing and were exchanging words with the woman, weapons still at the ready. But I couldn¡¯t hear a word they were saying, I could only hear the sound of my heart beating as well as my own thoughts. ¡®This is it. This is the day I really become a man. The day I take another person¡¯s life¡­ Two people in fact.¡¯ I stood there looking at the scene as if it was in slow motion. Not a word could be heard. Even if someone was yelling right in my ear, I still wouldn¡¯t hear it. I was completely absorbed with my own thoughts, I then began to shake. ¡®Why can¡¯t I stop shaking? What¡¯s wrong with me? An innocent girl is about to be brutalized and another innocent man is already dead. Why can¡¯t I focus?¡¯ That was the only thing going through my mind, the only sound in my little world. Those exact thoughts going through my head over and over again. At that point I was quivering with fear and anxiety while they were almost upon her. ¡®This woman is going to lose her life and most likely be violated, but all I can do is stand here watching, not able to even lift a finger? I-I got¡­ t-to¡­¡¯ On the verge of tears I closed my eyes and yelled out the last part of the incantation. ¡°EK VRY YS¡± As I said the last syllable of my incantation, my eyes snapped open and my arms raised towards the two large men, and when they straightened, all thirteen of my ice spears launched faster than any normal arrow towards their exposed back. I don¡¯t know why this happened, my body just acted on its own. The man on the left, sword in hand, turned his head and looked behind himself when he heard the yell. The sight he saw startled him greatly, a young man that looked to be about 16 or 17 in age, with a dark blue overcoat, slicked back azure hair, round glasses and what seemed to be a shit load of glowing ice spears. But before he could even turn around or say anything 5 of those ice spears came flying towards him in different order. The first one to reach him hit his leg, and before he could scream or fall down, three impaled him in the back, piercing all the way to his chest, and finally the last thing he ever saw was the last ice spear speeding towards his head. Soon after the man on the left was killed, his comrade whipped his whole body around just in time to see eight glowing ice spears speeding towards him. Six whole ice spears impaled him on his stomach while the last two hit his left shoulder. ¡°Gahhh! Fuck!¡± The large man cursed after being hit by the ice spears. As the thug fell to the ground he dropped his mace and landed on his back. Laying there on the ground, dazed and confused he began to cough violently, and in between blood filled gurgles he managed to wheeze out, ¡°W-why?¡± Before he expiring. I stood there with a blank expression on my face and tears welling in my eyes. The scene that just happened began playing in my mind, over and over again, with no sound except the disturbing gurgling the last man made. My hands raised to the front of my eyes, I fell to my knees. I kept staring at my hands while the fresh memory of those two men dying replayed with that sickening gurgle being the only sound, over and over again. As I stay there on my knees staring into my hands, the woman that was assaulted by those two big men began speaking. ¡°Heh, you took care of those two big guys pretty fast. Hey! Can you even hear me?¡± The woman began walking towards me, but I didn¡¯t notice. That¡¯s when she said, ¡°Thanks for taking care of those pest. If you hadn¡¯t arrived then I might have actually been injured.¡± She walked up right in front of me, bent over and gave me a small kiss on my head while giggling. ¡°Young boys always look so cute when they get their first kill.¡± With that, she disappeared within the treeline. ¡®Why do I care so much? Why am I like this? They were just two thugs¡­ They deserved it, so why am I like this?¡¯ I failed to notice anything unfolding around me. The only thing I was seeing was that very vivid and fresh memory and the only thing I was hearing was those questions. A bit further away the shadow that was trailing me began retreating towards the city. I don¡¯t know how long I was there for, it must have been a long time because the sun was already setting before I regained my senses. That¡¯s when I felt a hand upon my shoulder. ****** Hmm, after re-reading that after the release, it feels clunky to me. But I wont edit it until I wake up, I''m really tired and I wrote this chapter with little sleep. I apologize and I''ll make sure to never write chapters tired again, or at least edit them while tired lol. Sorry for the sub-par quality. Please forgive me! *I just edited the chapter a bit to make it flow better.* *Thanks for reading!* Chapter 4: Shock Hello my few, but beloved readers! I have a new chapter for you today, I apologize for not finishing it or releasing it yesterday, some irl things popped up that need my attention. If you find any grammar error or any issues please leave a comment! I always read every comment, even though there isn''t much >.> I see you mf58, I always appreciate it when I have confirmation that someone reads my fiction, well unless ghosts are people. Enjoy!~ ****** ============================= Arch Wizard Amesula Enhana''s PoV ============================= After a long day of teaching I walked into my study, with a cup of tea in hand. ¡°I¡¯ll have to review my notes on each of the student''s performance. Then I have to write up improvement methods for them to study.¡± I noted under my breath, ¡°But first I need to unwind.¡± I plopped down on my leather reading chair with a sigh, and after placing my tea down on the small table next to me I closed my eyes and began rubbing my temples, ¡°Oh my, today was a tough one. Teaching those rowdy young mages a new spell without enough mana potions is tedious.¡± A slight grin then grew on my face, ¡°But worth it.¡± Grabbing the cup of tea that I just brewed, I pondered while sipping. ¡®Theodor didn¡¯t show up today. That¡¯s surprising because he is usually the first one to arrive when I give a lesson on new spells.¡¯ I shrugged to myself while continuing my thoughts, ¡®I guess Lord Raingrip had something very important for him to take care of.¡¯ While taking a sip of tea I focused my eyes over at the painting on the wall, right above the fireplace. The picture was of me, my husband and the twins. A smile crept upon my face as I recalled the day we had the painting taken. Zeke and I tried hard to get Imeena and Vossler to stay still since they were still young and full of energy. But it was well worth the trouble. The harsh reality meant I would outlive my husband and possibly my children since he was a human and I was half elf. So having such an accurate painting of us together will help me to not forget their faces. It was then that I began to worry. ¡®Maybe something happened to him on the way here. There was that incident, about a week ago, when they found that guard dead in the fields.¡¯ But I shook off those sort of thoughts, chalking them up to be unfounded worrying. Theodor was at the age where playing hooky is normal, even if he never missed my lessons without a good reason. There was still a first for everything afterall. An hour had passed as I was reviewing and writing, when I heard a sudden loud knock coming from the door. It startled me because I was completely focused on my work. After I calmed down, I let out a long sigh when I gazed down at the sheet of paper, half done, that now had a long line of ink going through it. Humans wouldn¡¯t be able to hear a knock so far away from the door, but I have sensitive ears, making it very easy to detect the knocking noises from anywhere in my house. Most humans that knock either don¡¯t know this, or don¡¯t care, causing them to bang on the door knocker to catch my attention. I got up and left my study, and when I reached the stairs, after a small walk, leading down to the first floor, another knock sounded from the door, but this time it was louder than before. Whoever was knocking was trying to catch my attention. ¡°Be right there! Please stop banging on my door¡­¡± I yelled while rubbing my long ears. After descending the stairs I made my way to the door while thinking, ¡®Who is here at this time of the night?¡¯ When I opened the door a courier dressed in the city¡¯s colors, green and gray, greeted me. ¡°Hail, Arch Wizard Amesula Enhana, I have word from Second-Lord Warnerius¡± ¡®Second-Lord Warnerius?!¡¯ I thought to myself, while waiting for the courier to finish. ¡°He has requested your presence to the courthouse, within his office, before noon. Your appearance is mandatory, failure to comply once is a fifty silver coin fine and another scheduled date of appearance. Failure to comply twice means the fine doubles to one gold bit and possible jail time.¡± The courier then handed me a letter with the city¡¯s seal of justice upon it. I took the letter and thanked him before shutting the door. I stared at the seal, which had a rose and a leaf on the top left corner, and scales on the bottom right. A troubled expression appeared on my face, ¡®Lord Warnerius has requested my presence? This can¡¯t be good¡­¡¯ I made my way into the study before sitting down on my reading chair. I then reached for my letter opened before I cut the top off the letter and pulled out a folded note. The note read- ¡®Arch Wizard Amesula Enhana, you have been summoned to the office of Second-Lord Warnerius, and must show up or else face penalties. Arch Wizard Amesula Enhana, you have been suspected of criminal acts against the City of Mistvally and the Human Kingdom of Tikarum. But because of your membership with the Grand Academy, you will not be apprehended or have a bounty placed upon your head as a show of good faith. Failure to appear within the place you have been summoned to means fines, possible jail time and a bounty to be placed upon your head. This letter will allow you to gain entrance into the courthouse without a wait time.¡¯ After reading the entire letter I became annoyed. This wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve been accused of ¡°criminal acts¡±. I had been summoned to Lord Warnerius¡¯s office on a few other occasions, all bogus or bizarre claims. Which was very unbecoming of a Second-Lord. The Second-Lord Warnerius and I have a long, and very complicated history together. It all started when he was young. My husband was in his elder years and needed a lot of medicines just to get through the day. Medications and the occasional physical enhancement potion isn¡¯t hard to come by when you live in Mistvally. But it does all add up over time, and soon he had burned through his retirement and my savings. I didn¡¯t mind spending my savings on my beloved, especially when I still had two centuries ahead of me, because all that mattered to me was his comfort and how much time we spent together before he passes. I ended up getting a job as the personal Arch high-mage to the Warnerius house because we had ran out of money. He needed his medication and we both needed food, so I had to find something to sustain us, and working for a noble house was better than running a business or working at some mundane job. The pay was really good and I was able to have a lot of free time. The work entailed various menial tasks a high-mage was expected to do, but because of my Arch status I also had to tutor little Darrius Warnerius the third. Finding another Arch or Grand would cost more because they would most likely have to pay for travel expenses, as well as other fees the Grand Academy might charge for personal tutoring. So I was the perfect candidate to teach him. He was a promising young water advanced-acolyte. While I was an Arch status water high-mage, the field of magic we both were proficient at was water. It was a perfect fit, and since I was already enlisted in a contract with the Warnerius family, it made it cheaper and easier to have me teach young Darrius. After a few years he showed remarkable progress and even became a low-mage in power. Another year later he had became a Novice at the age of twelve. Mastering the basics of any school of magic at such a young age isn¡¯t unheard of, but it was still very impressive and would put him near the top among his peers. With him being so skilled, and even earning an official rank, his parents and I had felt like he needed more space and competition to grow further. So they sent him to the Grand Academy in the capital to learn further and in better conditions. He wasn¡¯t against this, in fact he was ecstatic, and I was too because a boy of his potential could possibly shake the world one day, if given the chance. We had a master disciple relationship going on and we were each a bit sad that he was going away for a while, and when the day came that he was suppose to leave for the capital he cried in front of the crowd of nobles that was seeing him off. It was a heartwarming moment for us all, and he departed without any kind of dramatic scene or problem. I put the letter down and smiled at the oldest memories with him, but when the newer ones came up my smiled soured into a frown. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. After reading the letter and brooding about the past I decided it was time to get some rest. My original plan involved me finishing the guidance papers all throughout tomorrow, but the summons I received changed my agenda to where I have to deal with this. The next morning I was dressed up and already on my way towards the city. When I was walking through the orchards, I had noticed multiple horse hoofprints. I thought it strange because they seemed to be somewhat fresh, and I couldn¡¯t conclude it to be work horses, because there was too much of them, nor did I think they belonged to travelers because they trailed off into the orchards and then back again. Normally I would chalk it up to be nothing, however the sets of tracks led down the road. As I continued down the road; I couldn¡¯t help but look at the tracks every so often, but when the road I was on merged with the main one leading up to the city, I was then unable to find the tracks because of the constant traffic going up and down the main road. Only after going through the headache of the newly set up checkpoints at each gate throughout the city, did I find myself at the courthouse. Along with the new checkpoints, I also noted the uneasy tense feeling every guard gave off. ¡®Something must have happened yesterday that I was unaware of.¡¯ I thought to myself, ¡®This makes me more uneasy about my summonings to Lord Warnerius.'' I reached into the brown leather satchel that was around my shoulder, and pulled out the letter I had received the night before and walked up to the guarded doors. After showing them the letter they let me pass through without any trouble and I entered into the building. When I entered the scene looked chaotic, different looking state officials and even more assistants were running about with parchment, scrolls and books overflowing from their hands and satchels they carried. Paying no mind to the busy scene, I navigated through the halls to arrive at my destination; Second-Lord Warnerius¡¯s office. After taking a few turns and climbing up a small amount of steps, I arrived at two large double doors. Before I opened the doors, I inhaled a large breath through my nose, held it for a few seconds, and exhaled through my mouth. I then passively brushed a few strands of my long, light blue hair, behind my left elvish ear. With that small breathing exercise out of the way, I strode forward and pushed the two large double doors open. ¡°Ah, Arch Wizard Amesula Enhana, please come in.¡± A man with devilish charm and blackish blueish hair wearing an elegant dark blue suit that matches his hair perfectly, declared with a powerful and commanding voice that betrayed his elegant appearance. He then motioned to a comfortable looking chair that was located in front of the desk he was sitting at. I greeted his gesture with a small elegant bow and walked cautiously towards the seat before sitting down. He eyed my high strung attitude with a slight grin and commented, ¡°I see you have noticed the state the city is in. A perfect reaction to what transpired last night.¡± Hearing his comment, I narrowed my eyes while gazing at him. ¡°What do you mean? What happened last night?¡± Was all I could say at the moment. His grinning face turned serious a split second after I asked my question, he then answered ¡°Playing dumb I see?¡± A frown was my only response to that, he then continued. ¡°Yesterday morning the city¡¯s counterspy team lost three members after pursuing a suspected saboteur into the orchards near your estate.¡± His gaze met mine and intensified, ¡°The prime suspect got away and we lost three good men. Fortunately we apprehended another suspect at the scene.¡± His expression turned even more serious while frowning, ¡°But unfortunately he escaped the same night from his prison cell.¡± ¡°What does this have to do with me? Just because this event unfolded near my estate doesn¡¯t mean I had anything to do with it.¡± I spat out. His frown curled into a small smile, ¡°Have you ever noticed a shadow follow you Arch wizard?¡± A frown appeared on my face, almost like it had jumped from his to mine, ¡°What are you getting at?¡± ¡°The king has commanded the city lord and I with an important charge, Arch wizard.¡± Lord Warnerius then stood up from his chair. ¡°Everyone knows of the city of Mistvally and our important role. You especially know as an Alchemy Grand, what would happen to this city, to this country, if something happened to the alchemy factory.¡± He stated as he placed his hands behind his back in a casual manner. ¡°What is your point Darrius?¡± I asked him in a serious tone while addressing him with his given name. Ignoring the disrespectful disregard of his title, he continued. ¡°We have shadows trailing many people Arch wizard. Some trail at random, some trail specific people. We do this to comb for potential spies and saboteurs. It¡¯s a very effective method.¡± He said in a lecturing tone. After he said that a feeling of dread washed over me and my thoughts began racing, ¡®What is he implying? I did nothing wrong, and I know my pupils, they have the sense not to betray the kingdom, what motivation would they have to do such things? That only leaves me to believe he is trying to lay some kind of crime on me again¡­¡¯ Lord Warnerius stopped for a moment and looked at the distress I was in, with pleasure, before continuing. ¡°It just so happens to be that one of our shadows trailed a youth named Theodor Willard. I¡¯m sure you are familiar with this young man.¡± ¡®Theodor?!¡¯ I thought. ¡°A shadow began trailing him after he left the Raingrip¡¯s estate, out of random of course, and in no time at all since he left, the shadow witnessed him assassinate two of our fine men in cold blood while they were trying to perform their duty.¡± It felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped on me. I was shocked, there was no way Theodor could do such things. He wouldn¡¯t harm so much as a fly, his nature was too kind for that. I knew Theodor since I found him in that field, and I watched him grow to a fine young man, there was no way Theodor could be involved with espionage. Lord Warnerius reached under his desk and threw a coin purse onto the table, ¡°This was found on him when we arrested him. A full gold bit was within the purse, and we have reason to believe it''s part of the payment he receives for such deeds.¡± I quickly grabbed the purse and opened it, what was inside was some copper coins and bits, a few silver bits and one gold bit. My hands began shaking and I threw the purse back onto his desk, sending coins and bits flying everywhere and I yelled, ¡°This cannot be! There must be an explanation for this!¡± Lord Warnerius didn¡¯t seem to be affected one bit at what I exclaimed and the throw of the coin purse, instead a grin curled on his face. What Lord Warnerius said next made the feeling of dread become one of terror, ¡°Theodor is wanted for treason, therefore his associates, even the Raingrips to an extent, will be highly suspected as well. We have already apprehended thirty-two suspects. Three of the suspects will have separate trials.¡± His smiling face then deflated to one of seriousness, but his elated demeanor betrayed his face, ¡°Twenty-nine of the suspects will be tried as a collaboration, if convicted, they shall share the same fate as Theodor Willard.¡± My face paled and I started shaking slightly. It was obvious what he was implying, and after a minute of letting it sink it, I shot up from my chair, ¡°TREASON?! Darrius, this cannot be!¡± ¡°But it is, Arch wizard, and I¡¯m deadly serious.¡± My hands were clenched and my teeth were grinding hard. Blood began to trickle from my fist, only to be devoured by the crimson red carpet, this was one of the most stressful situations I¡¯ve ever been in. ¡°However, the suspects we are holding can be released without charges. But it would require you to do something.¡± He stated. ¡°What would that be?¡± Was the only response I could squeeze out. ¡°You were not arrested as a show of good faith towards the Grand Academy, like stated in the letter. But unless you can assist us with our investigation, you will be suspected as well, and tried along with the suspected collaborators.¡± He paused while picking up the stray gold bit, ¡°We have good reason to believe the prime suspect will come to the ringleader for further orders.¡± He flicked the gold bit in the air and let it fall into his palm before closing his hand with a fast motion. My knees felt like gelatin and I fell down to the floor, ¡®I can¡¯t believe this is happening....¡¯ ¡°Wh-what would you have me do¡­?¡± Was all that I could choke out. A beaming grin grew upon Lord Warnerius¡¯s face. ****** Thanks for reading! Chapter 5: My Ticket Hello my few, but beloved readers! I have a new chapter for you today! I hope you like it, and if you find any problem, grammar or other, please leave a comment so I may fix it! Enjoy!~ ****** ¡®Am I going to die? Why am I being treated like this; this is all a misunderstanding. Will they believe me? They have to!¡¯ That was the thought that ran through my head as I¡¯m currently chained to the wall in an upright position. My skin is in terrible shape and all my muscles are throbbing in terrible agony. Breathing heavily, I gazed defeatedly at my hooded torturer. His short but stocky frame, bare chest and rippling well trained muscles indicated some dwarvish ancestry; but he was far too tall to be a full blooded dwarf though. His back was turned to me while he was facing a table. On that table was the various different tools he uses, and the one thing that makes me feel unimaginable dread deep in my bones was on that table. An internal fire potion. My eyes widened in horror and I stuttered out a weak whimper, ¡°Pl-please, you ha-have to believe m-me!¡± He ignored my plea while lifting the front part of his black hood, I wasn¡¯t able to see his face from my pitiful position, but what I did manage to see was his right arm. He was reaching for a bottle, and to my relief, a blue bottle. While holding the blue bottle with his right hand, he used his other free hand to uncork the bottle. He then proceeded to drink from it, and after about ten seconds of keeping it up to his face, he put the now clear bottle on the table. While flipping the front part of the hood back down, he began reaching for another bottle. I winced at the incoming pain the internal fire potion would bring, but yet again to my surprise, it was another potion. It was blackish green and looked sickly even from within the bottle. My stomach dropped with what he did next. His previous actions made sense now, why he drank the blue potion and stopped my suffering for just a moment, it was all preparation. While holding the sickly looking potion he began to murmur a chant. I was hoping this wouldn¡¯t happen, but it was. He was preparing a potion that required mana to activate, and only the highest of grade potion requires mana infusion. I knew he wasn¡¯t preparing anything beneficial, so that narrowed down the options to something truly sinister. ¡°Ple-please! I¡¯m telling the truth! Please!¡± As I pleaded with the last of my strength, he finished his chanting and the bottle started glowing a dark green. I began shaking when he slowly walked over to me. It looked like the time for questioning was done, he no longer asked any questions or attempted coax any more information out of me. He was dead silent. When he finally reached me, he grabbed my face in a vice like grip and attempted to push the bottle in my mouth. But I kept my lips sealed and my jaw clenched as tight as I could. He didn¡¯t seem bothered by my resistance and instead of wrestling with me to open my mouth, he pulled back his free hand and struck me with the strongest punch I¡¯ve ever felt in my life, right in the gut. A moment after the punch landed, my mouth flew open along with a bit of saliva, and with professional timing and accuracy, he grabbed my face and shoved half the bottle in my mouth while jerking it violently back. I had no choice but to swallow the foul concoction, unless I wanted to suffocate. The nasty green liquid slithered down my throat in such a manner that I gagged on reflex. But my hellish torturer was ready for such an occurrence, he removed the bottle and clamped my jaw shut along with my nose with his large, and incredibly strong hands. I fought hard to keep it from going back down, but after a one minute struggle my face was turning purple and my lungs felt like they were going to burst. I needed air badly or face suffocation, so without much of a choice, I swallowed the foul ooze. The liquid began to slither back down my throat, and when it reached my stomach, it started to feel like a million bugs crawling around. The crawling feeling then turned into a pain akin to a million little needles piercing the walls of my stomach, but it wasn¡¯t done there. My torturer moved his hands from my face to my shoulders, to keep me from struggling against the evolving pain. Millions of needles turned into billions of flaming hot daggers, spreading throughout my body. The pain was so intense that an almost permanent scowl of utter agony glued to my face, while loosing any power to scream. After a minute of this terrible pain, it evolved once again, and I instantly became alarmed. The billions of flaming daggers started forming into one giant mass of suffering, and after its terrible fusion, the searing pain began to attack all the accumulated progress that I had made with my mana-body infusion, destroying all my progress. However it did not stop there. The mass of agony started attacking the most precious thing to me other than my dream, my mana pool. ¡°ST-TSOP P-P-PLE, GAHHHH!!¡± Was the last plea I could ever get out. Losing every last shred of talent, hard work, and patience at this point would destroy my capability to accomplish my dreams. If I could look into the torturer¡¯s eyes in this moment, even after I had begged and begged, the only thing I would see is indifference. This man must have done this hundreds of times, what difference is one more? Nothing at all. ¡®I cannot lose now! I must fight this poison, would I really deserve anything if I laid down and took this crippling without even the smallest of growls?¡¯ After thinking of that, I began focusing hard. I looked into my body to survey the damage and to fight the poison advancing on my mana pool. My teeth were on the verge of cracking, while my tendons risked tearing as I tried with all my effort to focus on fighting the poison, and all that mattered right now was me riding this poison out of my body. Even at the cost of my teeth or mobility. After all this effort I finally managed to see within my body, what I saw was the greenish ooze enclosing and devouring any and all mana within myself. The only bit of mana left was my shrinking mana pool. My previously horrified face turned to one of sheer determination as I focused the last of my mana pool to fight. The poison enclosed all around my sparse blue pond, but every time the greenish ooze attempted to gain ground, the deep blue glowing water lashed back with unequaled fury, driving the ooze back. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. This scene played out many times for what felt like decades, and in the end, the water stood its ground while the poison surrounding it was held at bay by my now small blue puddle. After such a long internal fight, I pried my left eye lid open to see what my torturer would do next. He was standing there waiting for the poison to finish its job, and when my left eye met his hidden face he started walking towards me. He must have assumed the poison worked because he didn¡¯t say anything about my surviving mana pool. ¡®This brute must not be able to use magic of any kind, that¡¯s good for me since even a beginning acolyte could sense my remaining pool.¡¯ When the torturer reached my pathetic frame, he cocked his head sideways and grunted, ¡°Questioning Is done fer tonight, traitor, I aint got all night and you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow, hehe.¡± Something snapped, I couldn¡¯t take it any longer. His crude sounding voice and sadistic laugh angered me to my core. I¡¯ve begged and pleaded more today, than I ever have in my entire life. That thought fanned the flames of my anger into a raging inferno, greater than any internal fire potion ever could. My face then began twisted into a snarling expression. ¡°I-I¡¯m do-done.¡± I growled in between bated breaths. After observing my deep scowl and hearing my growl, the torturer yelled with a not so surprised tone, ¡°Oi, so yer true nature shows after all!¡± Every word that this vile wretch pronounced only added fuel to my seemingly endless fury. My helpless state didn¡¯t allow me the luxury of fighting back, but I could do something. Maybe something I would regret, but I didn¡¯t care. This day was a dream that turned into a nightmare. Killing men and undergoing excruciating torment left my body, and possibly my mind, in shambles. At this point the only thing I cared about was inflicting pure agony upon this brutish subhuman. ¡®If only there was a way for me to express my sheer disdain for this nearly manaless mound of meat.¡¯ My mouth was numb and my throat still tingled. ¡®That¡¯s it! Not all of the poison went down, there is still residue in my throat and mouth. I wonder what would happen if it entered a non magic user¡¯s eye¡­¡¯ After that thought I began hacking violently. ¡°Hehe, hackin¡¯ again are we?¡± Was the bulky torturer¡¯s mocking reply as he walked right into my face. Ignoring his taunts, I began to hack for a few more seconds before accumulating more saliva containing that vile poison, and after he was close enough I raised my head with the rest of my strength, looking him dead in the eye with the most angered look I have ever given anyone, and I began to smile. ¡°Whats so fun- GAH ME EYE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!!¡± My smile grew wider as I saw him clutching his right eye while kneeling on the ground. Giving this vile excuse for a sentient being just a shred of my anguish filled me with unparalleled joy. That joy, however, was very short lived. The large torturer pushed himself up and faced me with a hand over his eye before threatening, ¡°You have the nerve ta spit in me eye?! Just ya wait, if It wernt¡¯ me job ta get answers outta ya, I woulda killed on the spot fer that. But that¡¯s the executioner¡¯s job.¡± After the threat he then cocked one of his large arms back and delivered a swift blow to my chest. ¡°Gah!...¡± Right as the brutal punch landed on my chest, I felt heard a cracking sound and I coughed before passing out. ------------------------------- When I awoke, I found myself in a cell. I then began to push my aching body up while around, and when I looked to my left I saw another cell, it was empty. I then turned my head, while holding my sore neck, to the right. What greeted me was the dim silver light of the moon seeping into my cell through a small window with bars. ¡°Finally, some time to think.¡± I said to myself while letting out a sigh. I laid back down upon the cold stone floor, I didn¡¯t mind the chilling feel of the stones, in fact, it relieved my terribly achy body. I placed an arm under my head and another across my chest, but as soon as my arm made contact with my rib cage, I winced with pain, so I moved it to the side of my body. ¡®I can feel the poison gaining small bits of ground against my mana pool, I need to find a way out of here, dispel this poison before it cripples me, and find help. Going to the Raingrips wouldn¡¯t be wise, since nobles care more about status, and I imagine since I¡¯m accused of treason they would be suspected too, therefore, they would trade me in within a heartbeat to prove their innocence.'' My gaze turned from the window, to the wooden ceiling. ¡®I couldn¡¯t blame them. Giving the circumstance, I would call them crazy if they didn¡¯t turn me in. That leaves only one possible option, Mrs.Enhana. She would never turn me in and I know if I explain myself she would defend me. She also has great credentials being a Water-Arch and even an Alchemy-Grand.¡¯ I closed my eyes and smiled slightly. ¡®She¡¯s the closest to a mother I¡¯ve ever had. I know for a fact she would never betray me.¡¯ My thoughts were interrupted by a tapping noise, my eyes snapped open and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. ¡°Who''s there?!¡± I would have at least sat up, but my condition wouldn¡¯t allow it. All I could do is turn my head in a painful manner, and what greeted my eyes was a young woman with brown hair and a grin upon her face. ¡°You! I-¡± My voice was cut off by hers, ¡°Shut up you moron, do you want the guards to find me?¡± My storm gray eyes fell upon her deep purple eyes and I attempted to shake my head, but to no avail. She noted my attempt and continued. ¡°You¡¯re pretty lucky that my objective overlaps with your location. That means I can pay you back for your¡­¡± She giggled, ¡°Assistance.¡± ¡®This bitch!¡¯ Was all I could think, but my grievances had to be put aside. My ticket out of here had arrived, and I¡¯ll be damned if I let it fly away in the wind. ****** Thanks for reading! Chapter 6: Peculiar Shadow Hello my few, but beloved reader! I have a new chapter for you today! I hope you enjoy it, and as usual, if you find any grammar errors or problems with this chapter, please point it out. Enjoy~ ****** I gave her a bewildering stare that hid my true feelings, and then I grumbled out, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it¡­¡± After my reply she clapped softly with a small smile, ¡°Okay, but first, before we leave, use this.¡± She then rolled a medium sized vial of what looked to be strong health potion between the bars, it stopped rolling when it hit my side. She then began giggling, ¡°I doubt you would go far without that, and don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t even pay for it, so consider it a little gift.¡± I frowned and looked at my bare chest, there was no question that I was in rough shape, I then cocked my head to the red potion resting next to my body. With a sigh I grabbed the potion and uncorked it. After uncorking the bottle I lifted it up to my nose with some effort and began to sniff it. It smelled sweet with a bit of a tanginess to it. ¡°Don¡¯t trust me?¡± The mysterious girl said with a smirk. I pried my eyes off the bottle and onto her while shooting a baleful glare. Her smirk grew wider while saying, ¡°What happened to that boy who was so willing to help a lady in need?¡± A frown grew on my face after she said that, ¡°My lack of caution caused this mess, I also don¡¯t know who you are. But I do know you are wanted by the city, and possibly the kingdom, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have been tortured this badly for information.¡± I grumbled back at her. She shrugged and seemingly conceded to my point. I then turned my gaze back at the health potion, and after a deep sigh I placed the bottle up to my lips and tilted my head back. The red liquid began pouring into my mouth, it tasted like a type of berry that grew mostly in the fields mixed with some kind of sour rind, it didn¡¯t taste horrible, but it also didn¡¯t taste too good either. After holding it for a few seconds to get the taste, I swallowed it. The red mixture rolled down my throat like a small stream in the forest, leaving a fresh feeling on every spot it made contact with, and when it finally reached my stomach the feeling began spreading throughout my body, mending muscle and bone alike I then looked at the half empty bottle in my hand before putting it back to my lips greedily. I then closed my eyes to savor the feeling, the liquid flowed through my mouth and down my throat, soothing my internal wounds with each passing second, and the feeling of having my wounds healed at such a rapid pace was one of pure ecstasy. ¡°You enjoy your recovery and I¡¯ll be right back.¡± The mysterious girl said with a playful tone. I opened one of my eyes and looked at her walking away soundlessly. ¡®I doubt she¡¯s leaving me, she went through too much trouble to break in here and give me this high quality health potion. The question now is why is she going through this amount of trouble? I¡¯m logically just a pawn in this mess, and I can¡¯t see what use a gimped magic user could do. I¡¯m going to have to choose my steps carefully from now on, it was my carelessness in the first place that caused this whole situation.¡¯ After ten minutes of dwelling on my thoughts, and waiting for the mysterious girl, I heard a dull thud and a jingle, obvious sounds of the girl knocking out, or possibly killing, a guard and taking his keys. That¡¯s when I decided to stand up to do a bit of stretching. My body was still somewhat sore, but it was in way better condition than before. My broken rib was fully healed, my torn and burnt muscles were completely regenerated, and my skin was, for the most part, intact. I still had large burn scars along with some still healing cuts and gashes, but nothing time and some high grade potions couldn¡¯t fix. Another six minutes of stretching and examining went by before the girl returned with a keyring in her hand. ¡°I see you were too busy admiring yourself to miss me.¡± She said with fake disappointment while puffing her cheeks. I turned my attention from my body before looking at her with a serious look and replied flatly, ¡°How do you suppose we get out of here?¡± Seemingly not bothered with dismissive question, she started twirling the key ring and began whistling a low catchy tune. Looking at this display made me frown, but before I could say anything she rebutted, ¡°It¡¯s not that hard, since you are being held in a nearly empty jail.¡± She rolled her eyes and smiled playfully, ¡°Those nobles aren¡¯t so bright by imprisoning such ¡®highly dangerous¡¯ individuals within a smaller facility. My guess is they assumed having a jail within the crafting district would make it harder for people like me to find, and also the screams of their inmates would be drowned out by the smithies.¡± A small frown appeared on my face and I began to wonder, ¡®I guess that makes sense, but why would they put a jail here? Isn¡¯t the alchemy factory on the far end of this district?¡¯ After that quick thought, I decided to probe, ¡°So I¡¯m assuming your objective had something to do with the alchemy factory? I also guess that you knew I would be held here because of what I did to those agents?¡± I asked with a questioning tone. ¡®But why?¡¯ That was the only thing that popped into my mind, but I decided to not ask that for now. After hearing my question, her smiled grew wider and she gave a small curtsy and replied with a playful tone, "Not quite~, but close enough.¡± ¡®I suppose I¡¯ll hold my tongue until we are out of this hellhole, this isn¡¯t the place to have a conversation anyway¡­'' With that thought, I asked my final question, ¡°Can we leave now? I don¡¯t know the shift changes of the guards, but I can assume we don¡¯t have much time before you get found out, and when that happens, this place will get swarmed with elite guards and magic users.¡± ¡°Sure thing~!¡± I cringed at her carefree and upbeat disposition while observing her as she unlocked my cell door. When the door creaked open all the way, she made a flamboyant beckoning gesture. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡®I¡¯ve not exchanged much words with this woman and she has already given me a slight headache¡­¡¯ I thought while reaching for my non existent glasses to push up. ¡°Whatcha reachin¡¯ for?¡± She asked while leaning in closer. I walked past the strange girl before answering, ¡°Nothing, but before we leave, could I go retrieve some personal belongings?¡± I stopped a few feet from her and started looking around. There was at least eight other cells going down the corridor, and at one end of the hallway was a door, on the other was a larger cell. She turned to me with a finger on her chin and her eyes looking up as if in thought before replying, ¡°What kind of stuff are you missing?¡± She asked with a giggle. I turned back towards her and gestured my hand up and down my frame, ¡°Don¡¯t you think going outside in nothing but beige pants would draw too much attention?¡± I questioned rhetorically. She then began to giggle even more, ¡°No problem~ I happen to be a Novice-High mage in shadow magic, I can just place a shadow cloak spell over you!¡± I sighed, ¡°I guess that¡¯s why you made it this far into the city?¡± ¡°Yep!~¡± The mention of her Novice status got me thinking of my own studies, ¡®I was at least a year away from gaining my Novice title before this mess. If I can get Mrs.Enhana to assist me then I should be able to get it in three years time. But I won¡¯t be able to use magic, let alone master all the basics, if I dont rid myself of this poison. And that¡¯s the biggest issue after finding Mrs.Enhana, so I can clear this mess up¡­ I wonder if I can turn in this girl for some kind of appeal¡­ No, my mana pool has been crippled to the level of an acolyte, and she has the mana pool of a high-mage, not to mention her Novice status. My only choice is to break out of here with her and find a safe way out of the city to find Mrs.Enhana.¡¯ My thoughts were swirling within my head before the girl flicked my forehead. ¡°Ouch!¡± I began rubbing the spot where she flicked me, ¡°What was that for?¡± Ignoring my annoyed expression, she began walking towards the door while saying, ¡°Unless you want to walk the cold streets naked, then we better hurry, we don¡¯t have all night!~¡± I grumbled under my breath and began following her out. After a minute of walking over collapsed guards, and going up a small flight of stairs, we ended up in a room filled with various things. Most of the items in here had at least a few blotches of dried up blood on them, this led me to believe that this was the room where they put ¡®confiscated¡¯ possessions. ¡°How did you know where this was?¡± I asked as I started searching for my things. She mentioned with a distracted tone, ¡°I already searched the whole place.¡± After hearing the tone of her answer, I peered over my shoulder to see her attention being grabbed by the various trinkets lying about. I rolled my eyes at her actions, chalking it up to be because of her strange personality, and after a few minutes of looking, I found where they put my stuff. It was all thrown in a wooden crate without a top, sitting on the floor near a shelf towards the back of the room. I knelt down in front of it while sticking my hand in the crate, ¡°It looks like my tome and coin purse are missing¡­¡± I mumbled while rummaging through the wooden container. Since my wounds were for the most part healed, I began to notice the chilliness of the fall night, I then decided to check for my glasses after I put on some warm clothes. Thankfully, the lazy guards placed everything, including my clothes, in one container. ¡®Heh, I bet if they knew I would be breaking out, they would have regretted putting my possessions in one place¡­ or they would have put me in another jail.¡¯ Putting my dead end thoughts aside, I took out my boots, overcoat, and white shirt, and after a few minutes I was dressed up. I then knelt back down again and pushed aside my azure vest that was still in the crate, and found my glasses. ¡°Ah, to see again.¡± I noted with glee as I place the round spectacles upon my face. ¡®With my vision problem out of the way, I now need to find a way to replenish my mana. This poison isn¡¯t allowing me to regain it the normal way, a potion should do the trick though.¡¯ I looked down at my chest while patting the area that my coin purse use to be, ¡®There is no way I could pay for one. My only option-¡¯ My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice behind me. ¡°You ready to get outta here?¡± I jumped in startle before turning around, ¡°Yeah, but one last thing, could we possibly look for a mana potion?¡± She shifted her stance and let out a small sigh, ¡°Really?¡± She then puffed her cheeks in a pouty manner. ¡°Okay, one last stop. We don¡¯t have much time though¡­¡± I pushed my glasses up habitually with a satisfied look upon my face, ¡°Thank you.¡± I then gazed at her face more closely, she had soft and cute features that projected her ¡®innocent¡¯ nature, but I know she¡¯s far from innocent just from our brief history. ¡°Hmm, all this time we have been talking and I still haven¡¯t asked for your name. Allow me to start, I¡¯m Theodor Willard.¡± I gave a small bow after I stated my name. When I got up from my bow, I looked at the girl with some anticipation. She covered her mouth and tried to stifle a laugh, that made me frown slightly but I waited for her small fit to end. She went on for at least thirty more seconds before finally answering, ¡°I already known your name Theodor, how else would I have found you in this prison?¡± ¡°Fair point.¡± I stated flatly. She then placed her left index finger on her chin and her right hand on her hip, ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m a Novice shadow magic user, so just call me¡­. Shadow!~¡± My face froze a bit, but it recovered just as fast. ¡°Nice to meet you shadow.¡± I said in between grinding teeth. Shadow¡¯s response, as usual, was a giggle. ****** Thank you for reading!