Blood in the Deser

by Sophia Schmidt

  It wasn't only a matter of using that knowledge to guide from the shadows the healers and alchemist.

  Helping the Crown into developing a fake magic spell or drug was of secondary importance. The priority was to find a cure for himself, so that even if everything went south and the plagues spreaded to the rest of the Kingdom, he would still be the master of his own destiny.

  The mana blocking parasite was the one that worried him the most. Unlike the others, it didn't deal any direct damage to the host, but without mana, a magician was like a wingless eagle.

  Lith had no idea if it would have the same effect on Awakened ones, but he wasn't willing to take unnecessary risks. The first parasite he would study was the one turning healing magic into wounds.

  It was the only one he was already familiar with, having treated its effects in the past. He could use that advantage to quickly understand how the parasites worked and then apply that knowledge to eradicate them for good.

  Outside his tent, Lith found a soldier waiting for him.

  "Good morning, sir. The Colonel sent me to escort you to his tent for the morning debriefing." Despite both were wearing a mask, Lith could hear the soldier's voice brimming with curiosity.

  His farmer clothes stuck out like a sore thumb, but with his pocket dimension still offline, he hadn't much of a choice.

  It was barely dawn, but the encampment was already bustling with activity.

  When he entered, both Kilian and Varegrave stood up from their chairs, inviting him to join them for breakfast. With all that had happened the day before, Lith had skipped dinner, so he was starving.

  He didn't like Varegrave, but in his book hunger beat pride with a tennis score. The furniture in the tent had been changed, the hardwood desk and chair were no longer in sight, replaced by a smaller square dining table.

  "This is definitely my kind of debriefing." Eggs, sausages, bacon, everything had a delicious smell. Lith filled his plate, waiting for an explanation.

  "Glad to see you have recovered completely. The buzz cut is a smart move, it will help you blend in."

  Kilian's words made little sense to him, until watching at his reflection in a glass, he discovered that not only his har was back, but also all the burn marks had disappeared, leaving no scar or discoloration.

  "Solus, when the heck did it happen?"

  "Last night. It seems that when you sleep, your healing abilities become strong enough to border regeneration. There was nothing I could do to stop it, and you were exhausted." ¨C

  "What are the plans for today?" Lith tried to change the topic. That kind of healing was too sophisticated for a simple student, and even if he wanted to, he was unable to replicate it.

  "The state of national emergency has been declared yesterday. By the end of today the Master Healers from the six big academies should arrive." Varegrave's voice was firm, but from his bloodshot eyes and the dark circles around them, Lith assumed the Colonel had spent a sleepless night.

  "To avoid a recurrence of the sabotage that costed Velagros his life, I have sent a detail to escort the groups here safely. It will take at least until tomorrow to arrange a proper housing for everyone and explain the situation.

  In the meantime, I have to ask you to keep working on the plagues. Despite the information blackout, the news about Kandria are spreading. We have to solve this situation before our weakness is exposed to the neighbouring countries.

  When you are done eating, I would like for you to wear these clothes."

  Varegrave took out of his dimensional amulet a grey military uniform consisting of leather boots, grey linen pants and shirt with a white dot on both shoulders, white gloves and a mask of the same colour.

  "Your current outfit makes you an easy target. I have reasons to believe that there are traitors even among us. That uniform, instead, will simply identify you as a plague doctor.

  Such status will grant you several privileges, among which free movement in all the facilities and authority over the soldiers. Any questions?"

  "Yeah, speaking of privileges, can I get back the ability to use dimensional items and all kinds of spells?"

  "I'm sorry." Varegrave shook his head. "But I can't fulfil neither of your requests. The protocol to grant such privileges inside the Small World is classified. And you are still a civilian."

  Lith gritted his teeth but remained silent. He had noticed how even Kilian kept his communication amulet in his pocket, instead of storing it away.

  That, coupled with the fact several tents were employed as food storage, meant that aside from Varegrave, probably no one could use dimensional items.

  "Any other request?"

  "No."

  Lith spent the rest of the morning studying the anti healing parasite. People with open wounds were the perfect test subjects, since it made it easier to extract both the parasite and the toxins.

  Also, being the parasite with the highest mortality rate, it would give him the opportunity to study what happened after the host's death.

  First, Lith tried to get a hold of a single parasite with spirit magic. It turned out to be extremely difficult, since the creature was enveloped with toxins that disrupted his mana flow.

  Once he succeeded, the parasite went into a spasm, causing a lot of pain in the patient, despite already being heavily sedated. His next step was to try to get rid of the toxins before attempting to remove the parasite, but it went even worse.

  The creature turned out to not be a picky eater, it would consume not only the host's mana, but also the one Lith spent to flush out the toxins. The double feeding had an invigorating effect on the parasite, that quickly released more toxins restoring the balance.

  To add insult to the injury, his attempt triggered their reproductive cycle. Lith didn't know how long would it take for the eggs to hatch, but he assessed that once it happened, it would become impossible even for him to save the patient.

  "Dammit, either their creator is a true mage too or is even more paranoid than I am. I can only hope it's the latter case, otherwise the whole Kingdom is screwed. These things are a masterpiece, while I'm still stuck at the basics of tier four." ¨C

  During the afternoon, he decided to change approach. He needed more information to come up with a decent plan, so he went to the morgue. Thanks to the new and improved Life Vision, he was able to see the aura of death surrounding a corpse.

  That way, even if Invigoration was useless on inanimated objects, he could still find the parasites, whether they outlived their host or not.

  In any case, he could learn a lot, maybe even collect samples for the alchemists to study. Unnoticed to him, three figures stealthily followed him while he walked through the camp, asking for directions.

  The morgue was located in a tent bigger than the field hospital itself. There were no curtains inside, it was like one huge room.

  It was perfectly lit by yellow magic stones hanging from the ceiling, while several blue crystals were etched into the tent's fabric, constantly emitting a cold air.

  The temperature inside was so low that Lith could see his breath steam. The whole space was filled with metal shelves, where countless corpses had been lined up after being wrapped with special blankets that helped to prevent the decomposition.

  The recently deceased, instead, were in an open space a few meters from the entrance, still laying on the stretchers they had been brought in with.

  Lith was surprised to find the body of the man he had visited just the day before. His leg was still split open, his face had the paleness of death, but at least he seemed at peace, finally free from the pain.

  Lith still remembered were most of the parasites were located, so he tried to conjure an air dome to protect himself from blood spatters, and an air knife to cut through the flesh.

  "Blast! I forgot I don't have air magic anymore. I need a damn surgeon. Without magic, I'll end up butchering the body, and bye-bye small, delicate parasites." ¨C

  Before he could get out, the curtain of
the tent opened. A masked soldier pointed a sword at him.

  "Don't try calling for help, the tent is sound proof." His voice was made even more menacing by the plague mask.

  "Either you follow me obediently, or your brother will die!"

  Chapter 147 The House of the Dead

  Those words struck a chord inside Lith's very core, triggering something that he had considered dead for a long time. First, the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smirk. Then, he couldn't stop himself from a chuckle that soon evolved into a hysterical laughter.

  The traitorous soldier was startled for a second. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

  According to their intel, Lith had a very strong bond with his relatives, using most of his earnings over the years to improve their quality of life and status, instead of trying to buy his way into nobility.

  It was public knowledge that there was no love left between him and his disowned brother, Orpal, but the other one, Trion, had been part of the family, until he willingly joined the military. He had been well dressed and fed all his life.

  According to the locals, despite having different interests and goals, the two brothers went along. Too bad it was just a ruse, that the two brothers had agreed upon for their parents' sake.

  Were Lith felt only spite for Orpal, Trion didn't fare much better, receiving his complete indifference. Their relationship had never mended, since both of them had never tried to solve their differences.

  Lith simply didn't care about it. In his twisted vision of the world he had long drawn a circle, separating the people who mattered from the useless trash, where Trion belonged.

  Trion, instead, at first had been too ashamed to approach Lith, after all he and Orpal had done and said to him over the years. Having always followed his older brother's footsteps, he had never developed a sense of kinship toward Lith.

  They had been strangers to each other for so long, that every apology he could think of sounded fake and forced even to Trion himself. So, he had waited for the right moment to fix that mess, but the moment never came.

  Lith had too many jobs, first as hunter and Tista's nurse, then healer and bounty hunter. He would never spend much time at home, and when he did, he focused on those that mattered for him.

  It didn't take even a year for Trion's feelings to fester again, while his mood turned sour. As any child, he had always dreamed of one day discovering to have an incredible talent, to be special.

  Yet with each passing day, everything changed only for the worse. While he was stuck in his routine of dreams and chores, Lith grew more and more powerful, his talent inspired awe in their parents first, then Nana, and finally Count Lark.

  Soon, envy outgrew guilt and there was nothing to mend anymore.

  The soldier wasn't aware of all that, so Lith's behaviour appeared to him as that of a madman. His laughter was full of scorn, like he was in front of the biggest idiot he had ever met.

  "Do you really have my brother? Then I have a favour to ask. When you kill him, tell him that I didn't give a sh*t about him. I like to pay my debts in kind."

  Lith said, while taking a small step back. There were so many ways he could have killed him, either by using physical attacks or spirit magic, but neither of them was safe enough for his tastes.

  Moving at high speed didn't go well with the crow shaped mask he wore, and being in a morgue full to the brim of victims of the plague, he didn't want to risk for the sword to even scratch his skin.

  As for spirit magic, the guy was too close for comfort. Lith either had to break his neck, losing the opportunity to interrogate him, or attempt to restrain him, hoping his victim didn't have hidden weapons or wasn't able to use them before the binding was complete.

  "This is no joke. If we do not get out of here within a minute, my associates will consider the mission failed and order your brother execution." The soldier didn't let Lith get away, even if a sudden fear was twisting his guts.

  Despite the cold of the morgue, he found himself sweating bullets, blurring his vision from under the mask, with all his body hair standing up.

  "And why should I care?" Lith kept moving backwards, closer to the metal shelves. The mockery in his tone growing with every step.

  "Kill him, marry him, whatever. Besides, your plan has several flaws. First, it's easier stealing a dragon egg than taking me alive. Second, I don't believe your communication amulet works.

  Third, and most important, staging an attack inside a morgue, when most kinds of magic are sealed is suicidal."

  Lith had yet to finish talking, when a multitude of hands suddenly grabbed the soldier by the left shoulder, arm and leg. His first instinct was to jump away, but each hand had the strength of a vise, so he slashed at their wrists, to force them to release him.

  Like most soldiers, he had an enchanted weapon, capable of easily cutting unprotected flesh and bone, yet each strike felt like hitting a rock, making his sword vibrate on each impact.

  Then, he finally remembered where he was. When he noticed dozens of red glowing eyes, staring at him from the shelves, his mind went blank out of panic.

  "Did you really believe I would waste my time talking?" Lith chuckled, reanimating more corpses by the second, infusing them with his mana and will.

  Lith had learned during his first day at the camp that the only elements he was free to use were light and darkness.

  Light, for allowing the healers to keep searching for a cure, and darkness to sterilize people and clothes when going from the residential block to the hospital. He had simply exploited his opponent's idiotic speech to stall for the time necessary to rise his bodyguards.

  The zombies piled up on the wretched soldier, pinning him to the ground.

  "Let's see if you were telling the truth about your associates."

  Lith activated Life Vision, noticing two human figures sneaking around the morgue's entrance. With a simple thought, he sent a group of undead to welcome the newcomers.

  The restrained soldier went into panic, screaming and writhing to get free. The zombies' naked bodies were disgusting to see, but even more to the touch. Despite their strength, the flesh was cold and flaccid.

  Many of them had open wounds, either caused by the parasites or by the autopsy, letting their bodily fluids drench him in a matter of seconds.

  "Stop screaming. As you pointed out earlier, the tent is sound proof." Lith had one of the undead rip the mask off the soldier's face and shove a hand in his mouth. The man barfed for a few seconds, before falling unconscious from the terror.

  When the other two entered inside the morgue, the zombies flooded them. They fought bravely, but were outnumbered and outsmarted. Lith had the undead tanking the strikes and only aiming for the soldiers' masks.

  Realizing they were against intelligent plague zombies, the two went into frenzy, losing any will to fight and trying to escape, but the tent curtain, like a closed door in a horror movie, refused to budge.

  "How the f*ck can a piece of cloth be locked down?" A feminine voice screamed.

  "How indeed." Lith chuckled, using wave after wave of spirit magic to keep the door shut and savouring their terror.

  Soon, all the three traitors were either unconscious or wetting themselves. They knew that without the masks, even if they miraculously managed to escape, it would not change their fate.

  Their minds were frozen, uncapable to decide if to beg for their lives or a swift death.

  Lith's eyes glowed with a cold red light under the mask.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, we have to talk."

  Chapter 148 The House of the Dead 2

  Back at the White Griffon, Professor Marth was facing an unexpected complication. After the state of national emergency had been issued, all the academy's staff that had even a shred of knowledge in medicine had been tasked to pack their things and reach Kandria as soon as possible.

  The Professors had been permitted to bring along anyone they deemed could help, even students. It was part of
the cover story the King had devised to make Lith's presence in Kandria seem unimportant.

  He would just be one of the many youths accompanying their mentors, hoping their talent would be recognized by the Crown or at least to gain practical experience. Having only one student from the White Griffon among all the experts would rise too many questions.

  The departments most affected were two, the light magic and the alchemy department. Despite they were used to cooperate for the most difficult cases, this time the approach on the matter couldn't be more different.

  For alchemists, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Working without a budget limit with only state of the art instruments, with the opportunity to have them even custom made, was an offer too good to turn it down.

  Hence, the alchemy Professors had no qualms about bringing students along. They would have minimal interactions with the infected, studying the disease only through tissue samples and in the safety of their labs.

  For, healers, instead, it was a nightmare. Daily contact with the victims, high risks of exposure to the plague, not to mention that according to the reports the mortality rate was akin to a warzone.

  It was difficult explaining to the ones that volunteered how dangerous the situation was, without either being rude, or giving enough details to trigger panic attacks.

  After turning down many well-meaning amateurs, Marth was at an impasse.

  "Please, Professor. Why can't I accompany you?" Quylla from Cerea seemed unwilling to accept a no for an answer.

  "Because it's too dangerous!" He snapped after running out of excuses.

  "Let's be honest, okay? You are a twelve years old at her first year of academy. What kind of contribution could you possibly offer? You still have a whole life in front of you, I can't endanger your future on a whim.

  You are one of the most prized talents your class has to offer, but you are still young and emotional. Believe me, I'm not going on a vacation or a field trip, it's a serious matter."

  "Then why Lith has been sent there?" The fierceness in her voice made it more of a statement rather than a question, taking Marth by surprise.