Legend of the Arch Magus_The Upheaval

by Michael Sisa

  “Please work.” Lark was desperate. If this method did not work, the old man would die.

  Lark touched the old man’s chest and his hand sunk into it, as though sucked by an unseen portal. The old man’s body twitched and he coughed out blood. His body was rejecting the direct interference of Lark. A typical reaction.

  Lark channeled his mana unsparingly. Even if he lost consciousness once he wringed his mana pool dry to the last drop, he did not mind. The life of this butler was far more important.

  He grabbed hold of the erratically moving mana within the old man, condensed it into a single point, and temporarily sealed it. With the mana sealed and out of the way, Lark would now be able to force the body to heal without interference. This was a really dangerous move, since there was a very high risk of death with just a tiny mistake. Lark would not normally force the body to heal using this method, but they had no antidote. Time was of the essence.

  “Work! Damn it,” he snarled as he pushed the old man’s body to the limits. The organs corroded by the poison started healing by using Lark’s mana as fuel source. Lark was becoming more lightheaded as seconds ticked by. It was a competition. A race. Will he run out of mana first, or will the poison be destroyed first? Once the organs regenerated, it would only be a matter of time before the poison dissipated.

  Lark felt his consciousness fading away. Still, he refused to let go of his hand as his mana was continuously sucked by the old man.

  “Just a little bit more,” he mumbled. Numerous beads of sweat were flowing down his face. “You can’t die.”

  After several more seconds that seemed like eternity, the body of the old man finally stabilized. The forcefully condensed mana within Gaston’s body was released, the organs had regenerated, and the poison had dissipated.

  Lark looked at the old man’s slow, silent breaths. Although he was still pallid, color started coming back to his face somewhat.

  Lark sighed in relief. His vision blurred and he lost consciousness.

  ***

  Lark woke up to the sound of birds chirping. He slowly sat up and looked at the window. The rays of the sun were seeping through. This was his room in the Mansion. He was sure.

  His stomach grumbled. He felt famished, as though he had not eaten anything for several weeks.

  He noticed the servant silently wiping the antique vase next to his desk. As though feeling his gaze, the servant slowly turned around and locked eyes with him. The servant froze. She opened and closed her mouth as she tried to choke some words out.

  “T-The Young Master!” She finally said. “H-He’s awake! Thank God he’s finally awake!”

  She almost broke the vase when she suddenly dashed toward the door. From the bed, Lark could hear her shout.

  “The Young Master’s awake! The Young Master’s awake!”

  In an instant, numerous footsteps echoed. Lark could feel several people coming his way, their steps hurried.

  The door was violently pushed open and Gaston, Anandra, and several servants came inside. They almost squeezed through the door as they hurriedly entered the room. Lark could see their anxious faces, the dark circles around their eyes. The moment they saw Lark, their lips curled into smiles.

  Lark never felt this loved before since he came to this world. Doing his best to protect these people was the right choice, after all.

  “Young Master!” Gaston cried as he briskly walked towards Lark. After staring at the Young Master for a moment, he broke into sobs. “You’re finally awake! You’re finally awake! Thank God!”

  The old man looked thinner, as though he had not eaten anything for the past several days. Even his usually perfectly-combed hair was ruffled, its ends swaying to different directions.

  “You’ve been poisoned.” Lark smiled. “How are you feeling, Gaston?”

  Hearing this, Gaston hiccupped as he willed the tears back. He shook his head thrice. “This servant’s fine! I am perfectly fine, so please do not worry about me any longer, Young Master!”

  Lark sighed. “I am glad.”

  This was his honest feeling. He did not want this old man or any of his men to die from the hands of those beastmen. They were like family to him. Lark silently vowed to crush anyone who would dare harm them.

  Anandra was silently standing next to the door, a short sword dangling on his waist. Unlike the old man, there were no dark circles around his eyes. He looked calm, a stark contrast to Gaston and the servants.

  He was tasked to protect him during the time he lost consciousness. cha

  “How long have I been sleeping?” said Lark. He could still vividly remember the time his consciousness faded away as his mana pool was sucked dry by his hastily performed magic.

  The was a small pause. Gaston replied, “Three days, Young Master.”

  Lark was a bit relieved upon hearing that. Had this happened before, during the time he first came to this world, he would have probably fallen unconscious for an entire week. Being unconscious for only three days showed the fruits of his relentless training.

  “Three days, huh?” repeated Lark.

  The beastmen would have been long gone by now. There was no way he would be able to catch them even if he tried.

  As though reading his mind, Anandra spoke, “The lizardmen that dared harm the Young Master.” There was spite within his voice. “I killed six of them and captured the remaining five. But those are some crazy bastards. The lizardmen we’ve captured killed themselves in an instant. Luckily, we’ve managed to knock down and shackle two of them before they managed to kill themselves. They’re in the underground chamber right now.”

  After speaking with Anandra, Lark learned that several beastmen remained in the town even after their leader escaped. With Anandra’s skills, he managed to kill several of them and captured the remaining ones. It seemed that the lizardmen were capable of suicide by biting their tongues off. Several captured lizardmen did this, before the soldiers were even given the chance to interrogate them.

  Luckily, Anandra and the rest of the soldiers found a way to shackle the lizardmen before they managed to kill themselves. They knocked the beastmen unconscious then forcefully inserted a metallic ball inside their mouths, making them unable to bite their tongues off and commit suicide.

  Lark could not help but applaud Anandra for this. With this, there was no longer any need to pursue the ones that escaped. Lark decided to just interrogate the captured bastards.

  “Good work.” Lark went down his bed, donned his coat, and took his sword. “Lead me there.”

  Gaston and the servants looked at each other.

  “But Young Master! You need to rest! At the very least, eat! Please!” pleaded Gaston.

  Lark understood the feelings of the old man. “This will be quick.” He looked outside the window. It was already noon. “I will come down the dining hall in an hour. Tell the servants to prepare a hefty meal.”

  Gaston was obviously against this, but he bowed his head regardless. “Understood.”

  Lark told Gaston and the servants to disperse. He planned on brining only Anandra with him.

  As they were going down towards the underground chamber, Lark said, “I’m going to interrogate those lizardmen. You might not like what you’re going to see—”

  “—It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.” Anandra’s eyes were filled with bloodlust. “Young Master, you can cut them to pieces. Burn them alive. Rip off their limbs. I will gladly help you with all that.” Anandra locked eyes with the Young Master. “Those bastards tried to kill us. They do not deserve mercy from our kind.”

  Lark was relieved that Anandra had resolved himself for this.

  Upon reaching the underground chamber, Lark said to the two guards guarding the door, “Good work, you two. Leave this place for now.”

  The two was stunned for a moment upon seeing the Young Master. They looked at each, then eventually made their salutes. “Understood, Young Master!”

  After the guards left, Lark shut the door.
The chamber was dimly lit with torches, and at the center of the room was a small metallic cage with shackled lizardmen. The two glared at the two humans who entered the room.

  “Hello?” said Lark. The memories of how Gaston was almost killed by these bastards once again resurfaced within his mind. “I’ve kept you waiting, didn’t I?”

  The lizardmen made screeching sounds. They violently moved their shackled bodies, creating loud metallic sounds.

  “I promised Gaston that I’ll be at the Dining Hall an hour from now,” said Lark. “So, I’ll make this quick.”

  Lark felt the flow of mana within his body. After several months of training, it should be possible for him to perform a single, Middle Tier Magic. It would consume a large portion of his mana, but it would be the best magic to use against these bastards right now.

  “Move to the back,” he said to Anandra.

  After Anandra moved out of the way, Lark started his spell. A chantless magic. Everyone who saw it widened their eyes in astonishment. It was beautiful, as though the Gods have descended to this small room. An azure magic circle manifested itself underneath the metallic cage, with numerous runes spinning around. Small particles of light, which reminded one of glowing insects during the night, moved around the room, casting an ethereal glow. The violent screeches of the lizardmen stopped as they stared at the spell in awe.

  “I dislike meaningless slaughter.” Lark’s eyes were filled with hatred. “But your kind dared lay your hands on my people.”

  The magic circle broke into numerous particles of light, the sound of glass shattering echoed. The particles of light slowly turned into blue flames, engulfing the metallic cage and the lizardmen. The shackled beastmen screeched as the flames touched their scales.

  As the only onlooker, Anandra was the first to notice the peculiarity of this spell. Although a gargantuan sphere of fire was currently burning at the center of the room, it was not hot at all. He also noticed that the cage and the shackles were not melting, as though the flames were nothing but an illusion.

  But looking at the lizardmen, it was clearly apparent that they were under excruciating pain as the flames covered their entire bodies.

  “Flames of Methuzelda,” said Lark. “Flames that burn the life force of the target. It’s several times more painful than being burned alive by ordinary fire.” There was no hint of pity within his voice. The lizardmen continued screeching through their gags.

  Lark walked towards the blue sphere of fire and entered inside. He willed the Flames of Methuzelda to stop consuming the life force of the beastmen for a moment.

  “Listen. I will spare only one of you.” Lark raised a finger. “A competition. The first one to submit to me will be given painless death.”

  Lark pointed at the gags of the lizardmen and the flames quickly melted them away. The lizardmen quickly took this chance to bite their tongues off, but to their astonishment, their bodies refused to do so. They immediately understood that this was probably the doing of that magic caster.

  “W-Who are you?!” spat one of them.

  “That doesn’t matter. There’s no need for you to know,” said Lark. “I’m only going to say this once. Tell me everything about your kind. The beastmen. The reason why you attacked this town. The reason why to tried killing my people. Do so and I shall grant you painless death.”

  The other lizardman sneered. “Arrogant human! Our loyalty will not shatter even if you burn us with this fire! All lizardmen will choose death over betrayal!”

  Lark sighed. He flicked his fingers and the flames started licking the bodies of the lizardmen once again. They squirmed in agony as they gnashed their teeth. Moans and wails escaped their lips.

  Despite the excruciating pain, the two refused to speak.

  This went on for several more minutes, almost half an hour. Eventually, one of the lizardmen pleaded, “I’ll speak! I’ll tell you everything! Please! Just kill me!”

  Lark was surprised that these two lasted this long inside the Fire of Methuzelda. The flames of this spell consumed the life force of its prey, making the pain several times more excruciating than usual. Lark was sure that had he used normal fire, these two would have never spat a single word till they died.

  Lark willed the blue flames to stop licking the body of the lizardman, all the while the other one kept squirming in pain on the ground.

  “Speak,” said Lark.

  The lizardman had almost lost the ability to speak. A little bit more and he would have been thoroughly broken by that spell.

  “T-The United Grakas Alliance!” said the lizardman. He looked at his comrade and nervously swallowed. “The United Grakas Alliance plans on capturing this town!”

  United Grakas Alliance? Lark was sure he heard of that name before, probably from a book in the library of Lion City. Still, he could not fully remember what it was.

  “A country of beastmen,” said Anandra. “One of the three neighboring countries of this Kingdom. In terms of military strength, it’s on par with the Empire.”

  Why was such a country trying to attack this small town? Lark could not understand the reason why.

  Lark continued interrogating the lizardmen. Whenever he felt that he was lying, he would will the Flames of Methuzelda to lick him. Eventually, he came to have full grasp of the story.

  Unable to get past the army of Alexander in a valley west of here, the beastmen decided to circumvent it and target this small town instead. They planned to convert his domain into a stronghold and use it as the rallying point for their invasion.

  Lark was grim after learning the number of beastmen coming to invade the Eastern Region of the Kingdom. With the current number of soldiers in Blackstone Town, it would be impossible to defend against enemies numbering in the thousands. Moreover, each of those beastmen were warriors trained for the battlefield.

  His men were not ready for this yet. Lark was sure of it.

  War was coming.

  He sighed. This would be a long night. He needed to think of a strategy to win this war.

  Chapter Eight

  “Young Master, here are the things you’ve ordered.” Gaston entered Lark’s room and handed him a leather sack. Inside were rations, crystals, ormatane dusts, ink, and parchments. “Are you sure about this? At the very least, please bring Anandra along.”

  After the lizardmen infiltrated the town, Lark immediately drafted plans to protect his domain. What he needed right now was a bird’s eye view of the surrounding regions, particularly the area where the Legion of beastmen would have to pass through. Only after he gathered enough data of the topography could he properly lay out his plans.

  Flying would give him a wide view as he made a detailed map, but it would fail to give him the most minute details inside the forest. Therefore, Lark planned on exploring those areas himself and record the details carefully. It was an arduous task necessary for Blackstone Town’s survival.

  “No,” said Lark. “I will go alone.”

  War was coming. It would be unwise to take Anandra with him and halt the training of the soldiers. Furthermore, although that guy was fast, he might not be able to keep up with the speed of Lark. He would just become a hindrance.

  Gaston frowned. He obviously disliked the idea of the Young Master going to the wilderness alone.

  “The ration’s enough for only two days,” said Gaston. “If you want, I can ask the servants below to cook some more.”

  “This is enough.” Lark strapped the sword on his waist and grabbed the leather sack. “I’ll be gone for only a day or two. Three days at most. These should be plenty enough.”

  He could just hunt in the forest once his rations ran out.

  Gaston was not fully convinced. “And for the production of cement?”

  “Ah, that’s right.” Lark almost forgot this one. “I’ve asked Silverclaw to create several more kilns last time. The farmers are almost finished with planting the seeds in the northern farmlands. We’ll need to finish the irrigation proj
ect soon before summer comes.”

  Although war was looming in, Lark have no intention of halting the conversion of the supposedly non-arable lands in the northern and western regions. He wanted his city to be self-sufficient soon. He did not want his people to experience hunger again during the winter season.

  “Give these to him.” Lark fumbled through his cloak and took out a folded parchment. “The designs for some weapons. Tell him to prioritize the ones marked with a cross. I need at least several dozens of them before the week ends.”

  Gaston curiously looked at the parchment. Yesterday, the Young Master made a speech in the Central Plaza. He vividly recounted the story of the lizardmen they captured. The story of impending war brought forth by the beastmen.

  Although the locals were clearly afraid, the majority of them voiced out their will to protect this place. Most of them were born here, and the mere thought of those lizardmen pillaging and conquering this town pushed them to the peak of anger.

  The Young Master told them that it should be possible to block the advance of the beastmen, given enough time. An outrageous claim. Even Gaston refused to believe it.

  Gaston sighed. “Young Master, we still have time. We could go back to the Gryphon City and seek refuge in the Dutchy. I’ll convince the Duke somehow.”

  This was the third time Gaston proposed this. Lark shook his head. “Enough. I’m not abandoning this place.” He took out another parchment and handed it to Gaston. “The merchants from Lion City’s departing today, right? Give this to them.”

  “This is?” Gaston looked at the parchment.

  “A letter for Big Mona,” said Lark. “Make sure he reads it.”

  This letter could dictate the outcome of this war. Whether they would receive help or not would depend on how he convinces that fat merchant.

  ***

  Riding a horse, Lark moved towards the eastern part of Blackstone Town. He passed through the Eastern Border, and instead of going directly to the Mines, he turned left and kept going onward. To his right, the sea of trees in the Endless Forest blurred as he sped up.