by M Sisa
Being given the title of Grand Magician meant that his target was of considerable strength. Lark thought it was a good thing that he consumed the mana stones of the basilisks back in the inn.
“Master of the Tower.” Lark was in a monologue. “It makes everything easy then.”
Without warning, Lark punched the man at the abdomen, immediately making him lose consciousness. The man plopped on the ground, unmoving.
Lark left the alley and looked up. Even from here, the Tower of Magic stool tall, its tip seemed to be touching the clouds.
He heard before while wandering around the city that the Master of the Tower loved high places. It was the reason why he insisted on building his castle so high. At this time of the night, there was a really high chance that Lark would meet him at the top.
But it was not like there was a real need for him to go up just to meet the bastard. That tower would surely be filled with countless traps. If he forced his way to the top, he would be exhausted before even reaching the bastard.
Lark decided to use the easier way to lure him out.
Lark boldly walked towards the entrance of the Tower. As expected, the guards stopped him at the entrance. Lark’s mask gave him a suspicious appearance.
“Stop.” One of the guards blocked his path. The other one stood behind his back. “State your purpose. Only those recognized by the Tower can ente—”
Before the guards could even finish their statements, their faces were struck towards the ground, making loud thud sounds.
“Scream. Make sure he comes out.” The eyes behind the mask were filled with murderous intent.
Lark formed a dagger using wind magic. It shot towards the shoulder of one of the men on the ground. The man screamed the moment the wind dagger pierced his flesh.
“AAAAAHHH!”
His scream made all the passersby halt in their tracks. They stared at the unfolded scenario for a moment, digesting everything in their sight. After several more seconds, a woman screamed, and this was followed by several others.
“A fight!”
“Murderer!”
“Someone’s trying to fight against the Tower’s magicians!”
Panic swept through the crowd. Several people ran away, while some daredevils stood by and watched. Numerous lamps were lit as the sleeping residents woke up from the screams.
Soon, numerous magicians wearing blue robes stormed out of the Tower’s entrance. They became enraged upon seeing their comrades sprawled bleeding on the ground.
They were about to charge head-on and beat the masked intruder to a pulp, but their leader stopped them in their tracks. He spread out his right hand, signaling everyone to hold their ground.
“Who are you?” said the leader of the group. Unfortunately, he was not the one Lark was looking for. “Why did you attack my men?”
Lark did not bother with pleasantries. Lightning shot out of his index finger and struck the leader right at the chest. Caught off-guard, the leader fell down on his knees, his vision turning black. Before he lost consciousness, he mumbled, “Chantless magic?”
The other magicians realized it too. This man shot that lightning spell in the blink of an eye. It was definitely chantless magic. It went to show that their opponent was no ordinary magician. After all, only their elite magicians were capable of that.
Another lightning spell shot out of Lark’s fingertips and struck a magician. Like their leader, he fell down limp on the ground.
Everyone broke out of their stupor. They immediately started chanting magic, while those adept in close range combat charged towards Lark.
“God of fire, strike down my enemy. Become their bane!”
“Will of the wind, cull those before me!”
“Guardian of valleys! Protect your master!”
Fire balls, wind blades, and a guardian golem were summoned in quick successions. By the time they had finished their incantations, Lark had already struck down two close combat magicians. He evaded a slash from the one on his left and retaliated with a kick at the abdomen then at the face. Shards of ice formed around Lark and shot towards the close combat magicians. The scent of blood permeated the air as the citizens who remained to watch shouted in horror.
Lark channeled mana through his sword and slashed at the fireball coming towards his direction. It was split in half and struck the ground behind Lark. Several blades of wind flew towards him from the back. Lark bended his body and nimbly evaded each strike.
A shadow loomed over him. Looking up, Lark saw a large fist made of stone shooting towards his face. Lark amplified his entire body with mana and caught the fist of the golem with his left hand. He clenched his other hand, and with the entire weight of his body punched the golem at the chest, sending rocks flying around upon impact. He quickly followed through with another punch at the face, blowing away half of the golem’s head. The stone monster fell on its knees and stopped moving.
Lark did not give time for his enemies to cast another spell. His body blurred as it shot towards them. His mana-amplified fists struck their bodies. Every time Lark moved, a magician from the Tower fell unconscious to the ground. This horrifying scene continued until only one magician was left.
“Hiieeek!” A shout, which reminded Lark of a pig being slaughtered, escaped the magician’s lips. He fell down on his butt as fluids came out between his thighs. His entire body was quivering as his pupils shook.
The eyes looking at him behind the mask was cold. It was the eyes of someone who had taken numerous lives before.
Lark summoned a dagger made of wind magic. He grabbed it and threw it towards the man’s thigh. Blood spurted out and the man’s agonized shout reverberated.
Keep shouting.
Lark patiently waited for more magicians to come out of the Tower.
Finally.
The magician he was looking for finally came out of the Tower. A man, probably in his late thirties, with red hair and red eyes. A characteristic crescent scar ran across his eye. Behind him were numerous magicians clad also in blue robes. By sight alone, the number of magicians who came out of the Tower’s entrance easily surpassed a hundred.
Purple robes?
There were six people wearing purple robes among the magicians, and Lark’s target was among them.
Alecto, the Master of the Tower of Magic, looked at the unconscious magicians sprawled on the ground. There were scorch marks here and there. A broken stone golem was kneeling at a corner.
“Such a mess.” One of the magicians wearing purple robe clicked his tongue.
Alecto frowned. He glared at Lark. “Who are you?”
Those red eyes were looking at Lark as though he was some insect who did not know his place. The condescending air was so strong that there was no need for any more words.
Lark did not reply. He gauged the strengths of the magicians gathered here. As expected, those wearing purple robes were the strongest. Especially this bastard called Alecto.
“This bastard dares to—” One of the magicians was infuriated when Lark simply ignored Alecto’s question.
Alecto raised his hand. “Enough.”
Alecto frowned. Peculiarly, he could not feel any mana from this magician. It was as though he was a commoner, someone who never used magic before in his life.
This meant only one thing: this man’s degree of control over mana was so outstanding that even he, the Master of the Tower, was unable to feel it.
This man was dangerous. This was the conclusion Alecto came to.
“Why did you attack our magicians?” Alecto temporarily suppressed his desire to tear the masked intruder into shreds.
Moments passed. A small grin formed on the intruder’s lips. He said, “I’m here to return a favor.”
Alecto and the other magicians were puzzled.
Lark pointed at Alecto. “You’re the ruler of this city, right? How about this? Why don’t the two of us have a one-on-one fight?”
“I have the advantage in number,” A
lecto smirked. “As strong as I am, I don’t see merit in doing a one-on-one fight.”
Lark chuckled. Although Alecto looked stupid, it seemed that he was not one to fall in such provocation.
“You don’t understand.” Mana started oozing out of Lark’s body. The magicians behind Alecto shuddered upon witnessing this. The amount was colossal, definitely comparable to the Elders of the Magic Tower. “I proposed this to prevent the collapse of this city. It’ll be hard to govern Wizzert if all your magicians become crippled, wouldn’t it?”
A fifty-meter large magic circle manifested itself underneath Lark’s feet. The ground started to rumble as the magic circle continuously sucked mana from Lark’s body. The radius of the magic circle was so absurdly large that the daredevils who chose to watch started fleeing to a safer distance.
“Leo. Marcris.”
Two purple-robed men stepped forward upon the mention of their names.
Alecto glared at Lark. “Show him his place.”
Blue mana started to cover the bodies of the two men. They unsheathed their swords and shot towards Lark, their bodies reappearing right before their target in the blink of an eye. Without hesitation, they aimed at Lark’s neck, their killing intent oozing out violently.
But before their blades could even reach Lark, their bodies were suddenly pull down towards the ground. They tried standing up, but as though they had been glued to the earth, they could not get up.
“It’s too late,” said Lark. All of the magicians gathered here were inside his magic circle.
The moment this magic circle was activated, Lark became the ruler of this small domain.
The Grand Scale Magic – Domain of Earth and the Forest.
Despite its dull name, it was a highly coveted spell capable of turning the tides of war. Back in the Magic Empire, Lark used this spell to single-handedly defend a fortress from thousands of trolls. Everyone who entered this magic circle would have their weight amplified hundredfold, eventually crushing them with their own weight alone.
Under Lark’s will, all of the magicians fell down on their knees, their bodies filled with sweat as they tried their best not to fall down the ground. Everyone’s bodies felt so heavy, as though they weighed a ton. Some of the weaker magicians started vomiting blood from the pressure produced by the pull of the earth.
Even Alecto was not spared from this phenomenon. After some time, he also fell down his knees, his body quivering as he tried resisting the gravity magic.
“Damn coward,” Alecto gritted his teeth. He could not even cast his chantless magic, since doing so would give Lark the opening to thoroughly crush him with the spell.
“Coward?” chuckled Lark. He found the statement amusing. “I’m actually benevolent enough. I even gave you the option of fighting me alone.”
Alecto snarled. “This damn cheap trick isn’t enough to stop me!”
Alecto channeled a large amount of mana into his body, strengthening it. And as though the gravity magic was a lie, Alecto started standing up. He smirked as he glared at Lark.
“Kneel.”
And the gravity magic intensified. Even with his body strengthening magic, Alecto fell down on his knees. He could feel the insides of his body being crushed by the sheer pressure of gravity magic.
What was happening? How was it possible for a single individual to perform Grand Scale Magic? This was the first time Alecto witnessed gravity magic being used like this. He previously thought it was a useless spell used only by support magicians when carrying the cargo.
“Like I’ve said before, I’m here to return a favor.” Lark pointed a finger at Alecto’s left arm, and using wind magic, started to twist it into unimaginable directions. Alecto gritted his teeth as excruciating pain filled his entire body. He did his best not to shout and scream.
That’s for George’s arm.
Lark’s eyes were predatory.
Now, for Austen’s…
Lark walked towards Alecto and yanked his hair up, then slammed his face towards the ground, creating a loud thud sound. Lark pulled his head up again, revealing Alecto’s broken nose and busted lips. Lark liked the sight of this. With tremendous force, he slammed the head of Alecto once again towards the ground, then again, and again, until he looked like bean paste. The smug face from before was already gone.
“He’s out?” Lark smiled wryly. The damn bastard had lost consciousness.
Lark let go of Alecto’s head, making his entire body fall down the ground. The rest of the magicians were in no better state. They were sprawled on the ground, their faces kissing the earth as their bodies refused to move.
I’m running out of mana.
Lark decided to finish this soon. He amplified his spell further until everyone finally lost their abilities to fight. By the time the spell ended, more than half of the magicians had lost consciousness, while the remaining ones could not even move a muscle from the pain.
Lark looked around. There were still spectators around, although they had fled to a safe distance.
Time to go back.
Lark concealed himself and leapt into the air, vanishing from sight.
That night, the news of a masked intruder defeating the entire Tower spread like wildfire.
Chapter Ten
When morning came, almost everyone in Wizzert City came to know what transpired last night. The news of how a single man defeated the magicians of the Tower became the topic of everyone.
Just like any other gossip, the story became exaggeratedly distorted. Some said that the intruder was a giant towering three meters, with an iron club in his hand which he used to beat all the magicians into a pulp. Some said that it was actually an explosion from one of the Tower’s experiments which injured the magicians. But the most popular version of the story was that it was an intruder wearing a black get up, his entire face covered by a mask. Just looking into his eyes was enough to make all the magicians of the Tower fall down their knees and collapse.
“But my brother said it was actually a woman!” a kid gave his own version of the story.
“No way! It was a man! My father was there when it happened!” another kid argued.
Mikael’s lips twitched upon hearing these. He knew the truth of the story. There was no doubt about it. The clothes worn by the intruder, his physical appearance, and the time when he appeared at the Tower. All evidences pointed to one man.
Lark Marcus.
Mikael had not expected Lark to come charging at the magicians of the Tower after their fight. That feat was nothing short of suicide, and Mikael doubts that no other person was sane enough to do it.
But he pulled through.
Mikael did not know the reason why Lark attacked the magicians of the Tower, but the fact that he actually defeated them remained.
He knew that Lark was strong, but not this strong. After all, Alecto and the Elders of the Tower present that time were as strong as the Royal Court Magicians of this Kingdom. Those six purple-robed magicians were the elites of the elites, the strongest of all magicians residing in this city. But still, they were defeated by a single intruder. It was akin to Lark defeating half of the Royal Court Magicians all by himself.
“No wonder he easily noticed me.”
Mikael smiled wryly. After he was discovered by Lark last night, Mikael doubled the distance between him and the target. It was a necessary precaution to give him enough time to escape once spotted by Lark.
Mikael did not want to fight that monster again. Even now, his hand was still a bit numb after deflecting Lark’s attacks last night. Had he not escaped using the light scroll, he would have been surely beaten to a pulp by now. The memories of how Lark had cast several magic at once while fending off his attacks were still playing vividly in Mikael’s mind.
Honestly, it did not make sense that someone so young was so adept at both swordsmanship and magic. Mikael wondered how Duke Drakus failed to recognize that his second son was such a genius – a monster in human flesh. Had he know
n that his son was a prodigy, would he still have thrown his son to that town?
***
After beating the crap out of the magicians of the Tower, Lark immediately went out of the City along with his entourage. As expected, crippling the Tower made the security lax despite the incident last night. They managed to get past the security in the gates and continued their journey towards the Capital.
“Young Master…” Austen’s voice was almost a mumble.
Lark stared at the open window of the carriage. The grasses outside swayed from the wind as their group moved through the plains. “What?”
Austen opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, but did not manage to say the words out. George sighed at his brother. He said to Lark, “You did it, right? The masked intruder at the Tower. It’s you.”
The sudden accusation of George made Lark look towards his direction. “Don’t be stupid. Why would I do something as dangerous as that?”
Hearing Lark’s calm and nonchalant voice made George and Austen doubt themselves. When they heard the news this morning, they could not help but think it was the Young Master’s doing. But now, after hearing the Young Master’s reply, they were no longer sure of who the intruder was.
“How’s your wounds?” Lark changed the topic.
George moved the previously crippled arm. “It still hurts a bit whenever I move it, but it’ll probably be fully healed after a week.”
Lark looked at Austen. The older of the two brothers said, “I’m perfectly fine. My body no longer hurts and all the wounds are gone.”
“Is that so?” Lark was satisfied with their answers. “By the way, if you still haven’t learned how to write the magic formations by the time we’ve returned to Blackstone Town, I’ll cut your pay in half. You’re fully healed, right? Then stop slacking off and start studying.”
The brothers stiffened. They had never heard something so scary in their life. Cut their salaries in half? It was tantamount to losing at least twenty-five silvers a month for each of them!