I perceive only five human males, above average physical strength, deep red mana cores. Solus reported. It was the same thing Lith had determined using Life Vision, but four eyes were better than two.
I ask the questions, kid. Are you the Lith that is supposed to start his apprenticeship today?
Lith grimaced.
Whoever sent this hired muscle, knows way too much about me.
I am. Lith retorted fiercely. "And it's none of your business."
I'm here to give you a friendly advice, son. Today you are feeling very ill, and it's best for you to go back home and stay in bed all day.
Lith anger started to grow and he didn't care about hiding it.
I'm feeling perfectly fine, thank you. Now scram!
The five men lowered their hands to the weapons hanging from their belts, the reins held tight ready to the charge.
Last chance, kid. Turn back now. I know you have such a pretty house and such a beautiful mom. Not to mention two gorgeous sisters ripe for the taking. It would be really sad if something bad happened to them.
Lith released such a powerful killing intent aura, that the horses took a step back. The hair on the horsemen's neck suddenly standing up.
I wanted to play this nice and slow, but I just changed my mind.
With a sweep of his right hand, five wind blades struck the horses' legs, making them whine in pain while collapsing on their sides.
Now you cannot retreat anymore.
The man with the moustaches and his right-hand man managed to dismount with a roll, avoiding getting crushed by the falling horse. The other three weren't so skilled.
Kill him! Go! Go! Go!
Kneel! Lith voice was cold, his words fell on the two men like boulders, making them instantly fall on their knees.
Lith's spirit magic was stronger than ever, and he wasn't holding back even one bit.
What the heck? Sarge, I can't get up! Screamed the right-hand man struggling on the ground.
I never allowed you to talk or to look at me. I said kneel! Another wave, even stronger than the previous one, pushed their heads toward the ground.
Despite dropping their weapons to absorb the impact with their hands, they still hit the ground so hard that they started to bleed.
Much better. Now let me dispose of the garbage before resuming our talk. Lith walked over the closest horseman, still under his horse, the leg stuck and broken, making him scream and wince in pain.
With a wave of the hand, turned both their heads 180°, the necks snapping like a dry log tossed into the fire.
Stay away! Stay away from me, monster! Screamed the next in line, crying in desperation.
Am I a monster? Wasn't you the one ready to burn a house full of innocents, to r*pe a barely eight years old child? Without waiting for his reply, Lith clenched his fist, distorting the man's head before making it implode like a walnut.
Please, please! It's not my fault! Have mercy! I was just following orders! Said a blonde, handsome youth trying to free his trapped leg.
Just following orders⦠I could lecture you about the many atrocities that men like you did with such an excuse. But you see, I'm just the same. I'm just following orders too! Mine to be precise! A fire bolt struck both horse and rider, turning them into a pyre, screaming in agony.
Lith returned to the kneeling men. They were still struggling to escape his control, their faces pales as ghosts, gritting their teeth while exerting every ounce of their strength.
I'm sorry. Lith said with a cherubic smile, while letting them raise their heads. "But my Puppet Master spell isn't so simple. It takes more than a touch of strength and a spoonful of wishful thinking to escape from it."
The two men wanted to beg for mercy, but their mouths refused to open. It was like their teeth were fused to each other.
Now, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don't need both of you. And between the pack leader and a lackey, the choice is obvious. The good news is that I allow you to speak. Any last words?
Please, don't! I just married, I needed the prize money from my Lord! My wife is expecting a child! I could not allow to lose my position.
Lith emitted a cruel, joyless laugh.
We'll have to agree to disagree. You say wife, yet all I can hear is widow.
Lith put his left hand on the man's head, turning it into a block of ice.
It fell to the ground, shattering into countless shards of bones, skin and brain matter.
The man with the moustaches started to puke uncontrollably, but his mouth was still tight shut. Some barf managed to escape from his nose, the rest he was forced to gulp it down over and over, to avoid chocking.
Lith raised his hand, making the man with the moustaches float in mid-air upside down, so that he could watch him straight in the eyes.
And now, you have only two choices. You can tell me what I want and die without suffering too much. Or you can keep resisting, suffering through unimaginable pain and agony before telling me what I want to know. You have free will after all.
Chapter 26: Truth
At those words the man steeled his resolve, recovering the courage worthy of a soldier that had looked death in the eyes many times on the battlefield.
When Lith allowed him to speak, he wasn't afraid anymore.
I am knight, my honour lies with my Lord! I will never betray his trust, you filthy mongrel!
Oh my, you're so helpful! Thanks to your friend there, I already knew there is a Lord behind the ambush. But I thought you were just mercenaries. Are you telling me you are actual knights? Maybe his personal guard?
Realizing his mistake, the knight bit his tongue, literally, trying to die before letting anything else slip out his mouth.
Tsk, tsk! Not so fast!
Lith froze him in place again, forcing the teeth away from the tongue before healing it with light magic.
You are way dumber than you look. Lith never stopped smiling, talking to him with the calm a collected manner a mother would use with a small child.
I'll spell it out for you. Not even death can save you from me. I can take you apart, piece by piece, and then put you back together, like the flesh puppet you are.
Lith's eyes lost any trace of humanity, his voice exuded only hatred and rage.
But if it's pain that you want, I can give you plenty.
Lith clenched his fist, and suddenly the knight felt his nether regions squeezed and crushed, like into a vise. The knight's eyes filled with tears, his mouth was only able to emit gargling sounds.
Lith would release the grip from time to time, giving him some rest, before twisting and turning his hand and so the knight's gonads.
Are you ready to talk? The knight was still in so much pain he could barely understand his words.
No? Not a problem, I just wanted to test my new and improved Plague Arrow.
After a bolt of darkness hit the knight in the chest, Lith released him from the Puppet Master grip, letting him sprawl on the ground.
One.
Before the knight could start looking for his weapon, he found himself shivering in cold, while his teeth were rattling uncontrollably.
Two.
He ended curling up, hugging himself trying to find some precious warmth.
Three.
Suddenly the cold was gone, the knight started sweating bullets. He felt terribly hot, like when he had been forced to stay on guard for hours under the scorching summer sun.
Four, five.
He felt suffocating, so he tore away his shirt, gasping for air. The knight's throat was so parched that he started gulping down handfuls of snow, thanking the gods for its fresh relief.
Six, seven.
Then it was like his blood had started flowing in reverse, all his body was coursing with pain. The whole world had become the knight's enemy. The ground hurt his skin, the snow his throat, the light his eyes. There was no safe position he could find, he could only switch from one torture to another.
/> Eight, nine.
The knight's veins were full of poison, his own saliva tasted like acid. The knight started to puke uncontrollably, until nothing but bile remained inside his intestines.
And ten! Ready to talk now? Lith dispelled the Plague Arrow using light magic.
Please, no more. No more! If you waste any more hours you'll play right into their hands! The knight was barely alive, but at least had a sliver of hope. By enduring all that torture he now had a bargain chip.
Hours? Lith laughed.
I killed your soldiers in what, three minutes? Barely another minute has passed since you told me about your knighthood. Even rounding that up, it make five minutes at worst. What hours are you talking about?
The knight was shocked, that couldn't be right. He looked at the sun, searching for a proof to expose that cruel lie.
But the sun was still raising over the horizon.
Gods have mercy, how can all that pain and misery last a minute? It seemed hours long.
You really are stupid. Lith paralyzed him again. "It's a minute from the moment you tried to bit your tongue off. The Plague Arrow lasted barely ten seconds. Didn't you hear me counting out loud?"
It seems that the Plague Arrow distorted his sense of time. Solus was studying the specimen's body reaction to the new spell. "His lack of mana must have allowed the dark energy to reach his brain, altering his perceptions."
Lith was on cloud nine, it was all too perfect.
I'll ask you only a second time. Are you ready to talk?
The knight's mind broke down, forgetting all about his vows and his honour. All he wanted was the pain to stop. Even death seemed alluring in comparison.
So, he told Lith everything. About how after being humiliated during the spring festival, Ricker Trahan had reconsidered Nana's worth.
He had understood how lacking his preparation was, and had become determined on becoming her only apprentice.
After taking the matter to his father, Baronet Trahan had explained to his stupid son the enormity of his mistake. Nana held a huge grudge against nobles, and since they had started off in the worst possible way, begging or bribing her would be useless.
The only option available was to remove the competitor out of the picture, hoping that Nana would be willing to replace one pupil with another more reliable.
The reason why they ambushed Lith was the same that prevented Baronet Trahan from coercing Nana to do his bidding. He could not afford to make her angry, otherwise the whole Trahan household would be wiped out.
Despite Nana's fallen status in the mage association had stripped her of most of her privileges and authority, she was still a member nonetheless.
In the County of Lustria she held an authority equal if not superior to that of Count Lark himself, and that meant that she was free to execute lesser nobles like them on a whim.
Nana would not even need to justify herself for such an action, just explain her reasons to the association by writing a letter. A mere formality.
That was why Baronet Trahan had sent his personal guard on an undercover mission. He had stressed countless times the importance of not creating a fuss.
Nana should never come to suspect anything.
Their orders were to make Lith drop off from his apprenticeship by intimidating and threatening him. If none of the above worked, their job was to make him disappear without leaving any trace.
"During the spring festival, Nana told me that powerful magicians are like nobles, but I never expected that she actually was such terrifying existence. Seems like my choice of becoming a mage has much more ramifications that I imagined.
Status of a noble, even a frigging mage association! All this stuff is giving me a headache. Now, what to do with this dirtbag?"
It was a rhetorical question, but Solus replied anyway.
Disposing of the bodies would backfire on us. If we want to make this Baronet pay, we need the bodies and some proof that links him to the ambush.
Lith mind nodded. "My same thought exactly."
Last question. Where are the leather jackets with the Trahan family crest?
W-we left them at home. We could not allow anyone to notice us, it would mean implicating the Baronet.
The knight was terrified. Lith's eyes were turning black, glowing with dark energy.
Wait! The whistles! We brought along the silver hunting whistles the Baronet gifted us when we swore our allegiance to him! They bear his family crest too!
Thanks, a deal is a deal. Lith double tapped the knight's head with ice arrows, killing him painlessly.
He then collected all the whistles from the dead bodies, taking care of erasing the traces of his spirit magic.
Those twisted necks and imploded head could rise too much questions. Let's cover our traces. I simply need to cut off the former and freeze the latter.
After that, Lith used air fusion to rush toward the village. Being forced to wake up Nana was now the last of his worries, he wanted revenge.
Air fusion allowed him to reach a speed of 60 km/h (37mph), so he arrived in less than two minutes, but once at the village's outskirts he had to cancel the spell.
I can't allow anyone to see the fastest kid alive. Damn, I want those books so bad! I need to know if spirit and fusion magic are of public knowledge or still unknown. I can't risk exposing my aces in the hole unless is a matter of life and death.
Lith kept running until he could spot Nana's house on the distance, and when he saw a luxurious stagecoach right in front of her door, he pushed the pedal to the metal.
Lady Nerea, I beg of you, be reasonable. Consider the bigger picture!
Lith could not hear from that distance, and even if he could, he was too focused closing in to pay attention. Solus had no such problems. In the last year she had not acquired new abilities, but her senses had become much keener.
A farm boy has so many things to take care of. Magic is a strict mistress that demands time and resources, all things that my dear son can provide aplenty.
I'm sorry, dear Baronet. Nana's voice was polite but devoid of any warmth. Her hands were clutching so hard on her cane to turn white.
"A magician word is her bond. I'll wait for Lith all day, if necessary. And in my opinion raw talent and a sincere disposition are much more important foundations for a magician.
Things that your son is clearly lacking. Or do we want to pretend that his rude words and acts during the spring festival never happened? I may be old, but my memory has yet to fail me."
Ricker Trahan was pale as a ghost. So far, his father's plan didn't seem to work. They had spent the last half hour in a one-sided negotiation.
If everything failed, he knew that his father would skin him alive in case he didn't manage to enrol in the Lightning Griffon academy.
Baronet Trahan had invested countless resources to give his son all the books and teachers he could afford.
The idea of all that money and efforts, wasted because of Ricker's arrogant ignorance while dealing with the best magician in the County, was enough for the Baronet to disown Ricker.
"Ah ah ah! Now let's not be so hasty, Lady Nerea. It's normal making mistakes when we are young. The important is to learn from them and never repeat them.
I know that Ricker has quite a temper, and I apologize for his behaviour. I can assure you he is terribly sorry for what he did"
Ricker had never felt so humiliated. They kept talking about him like he was not there.
"Also please, consider that punctuality and reliability are very important when walking the path of magic. Yet I do not see this Lith anywhere near, while my son is right here.
Don't you think that maybe a farm boy cannot understand the privilege you are granting him? Life in the wilds is very hard on the youths, I honestly fear his parents had not the opportunity or the time to impart him a proper education.
I can understand your position, you gave him your word and knew him for so long. But I can't stand the idea of such an opp
ortunity wasted on someone that cannot give you the respect you deserve.
Also, I can guarantee you that if you take Ricker as your disciple, I will reward you handsomely. Not to mention that in case he got admitted to the Lightning Griffon Academy, we will never forget your help and generosity.
I am ready to commit as of now that if my son reaches the greatness he deserves, he will do anything in his power to clear your name. What do you say?"
Nana snorted.
I would like to say many things, but it doesn't seem to be necessary. The reason why you don't see him is because you are looking in the wrong direction. Lith is the panting little imp right behind you.
Chapter 27: Annihilation
At those words, father and son turned around just in time to see Lith rush past them, stopping only when he was already in front of Nana.
Now that he was close enough, Nana could notice that Lith's body was covered in cuts and bruises. Some were quite deep, but had been already roughly treated with light magic. They were still bleeding, but Lith's life was in no danger.
What in the gods name has happened to you? As far as I know the roads to the village are safe. Nana did not miss the panic flashing in the expression of the two nobles in front of her.
Lith was still bent downward, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
Was it really necessary inflicting yourself all those wounds before coming here? Solus asked, still worried about Lith.
No pain, no gain. Lith responded telepathically. "Coming unscathed out of a sink or swim fight, alone against five knights, would have been too suspicious. These wounds serve two purposes.
First to make Nana angry enough to do what must be done. Second and most important, to avoid any further investigation. If there's anything this mess proved, is that too much attention is bad. The higher I get, the more dangers I will have to face.
Right now, I have no backer. All that stands between my family and the Baronet is Nana. I can't protect them at all the times. It was a stroke of luck that they had to target me.
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