Chapter 15 (1/2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In a murky space of half-light and shadows, Gawain, Amber, Betty and a nameless rogue mage sat in a circle in a crude wooden hut. In front of them was a lunch of simple bread, fried sausage and vegetable stew freshly prepared by Betty.
The scene was as colorless as an old black-and-white photo.
Gawain had no intention of eating the food that was before him. Even though it was apparently possible to make food in the shadow realm, he could not be sure of what would happen if he, a living, breathing human (probably), ate something from this world.
Beside him, Amber and Betty did not pick up their utensils either.
The rogue mage sat at the opposite end of the table did not urge them to eat, but only ate the food in front of him wordlessly, an air of quiet around him.
A strange kind of tacit understanding permeated the wooden hut.
Gawain was the first to break the silence. “How long have you been here?”
“Very long.” The rogue mage put down his fork and knife, and said politely, “I’ve lived here since my second year of leaving the Association of Mystics.”
“You were a member of the Association of Mystics?” Gawain asked, surprised. “I thought you were a rogue mage.”
“I was originally a member of the Association of Mystics of the second rank,” said the rogue mage quietly. “According to the standards of the Association of Mystics, I’m a terrible spellcaster—my strengths are in calculation and logic, but lack any spell casting abilities. In other words, my casting capabilities are only rudimentary, and this makes me unwelcome as a wizard to the Association of Mystics.”
“So they kicked you out?” Amber was bewildered. She knew how valuable a true mage was, even if he did not have good casting abilities. His deficiencies were only seen as such by the Master Mages—in the eyes of laymen, even a mage who could only conjure up a tiny fireball were celebrated. Though these low-level casters were not treasured by the Association of Mystics, it did not warrant kicking him out.
“I left out of my own will.” The rogue mage shook his head, turning to Betty. “For my daughter. To heal her, I had to leave.”
Betty stared blankly at the rogue mage, and then nodded stupidly.
Gawain did not press the matter further. Staring into the rogue mage’s eyes, he laid his right hand on the hilt of the long sword by his waist and said slowly, “You should know what we came here to do—we don’t have much time to waste.”
There was finally a slight change in the rogue mage’s stiff and dull expression. He trembled slightly as he bowed his head. “… My guest, I don’t quite understand you.”
Betty looked at Gawain a little anxiously. “My lord?”
Gawain frowned. After a moment, he moved his hand away from the hilt of his pioneer’s sword and exhaled. “We’ll give you a moment, then.”
The rogue mage bowed his head and continued to eat his meal in silence. The only superfluous movement he made as he ate was to raise his head to look at Betty intermittently.
The food would eventually be finished, and Gawain could not wait indefinitely.
The rogue mage ate the last mouthful of his sausage before cleaning up the vegetable stew in the soup bowl with his bread. When he had finished, he lifted his head and looked in Betty’s direction—though his gaze was not on her, but looking at something far away. His body swayed as he tried to stand, but he was unsuccessful in all his attempts.
In the end, Betty was the one who helped him up.
“Papa, I’m going off now.” The little girl held the rogue mage by his elbow, only letting go when she was sure he was stable. She shuffled over to Gawain’s side. “Miss Rebecca and Madam Herti are still waiting for me—and also, my lord has returned.”
The rogue mage’s lips quivered. At last he nodded gently, his expression now serene. He instructed carefully, “Don’t eat food from strangers.” “Go to bed on time.” “Remember to listen to your teacher.” “Don’t fight with other kids.”
The light of reason faded from the poor man’s eyes gradually, and Gawain knew whatever he was saying was now only gibberish.
Though, he barely had any clarity left to begin with.
The rogue mage’s body faded away slowly, but there was something that resembled a flame that started to burn in the fainter shadows. Gawain had been waiting for this moment. He unsheathed his Sword of Pioneers swiftly, and on it a faint light danced.
Amber pulled Betty into her embrace quickly, shielding the little girl’s eyes in time.
Gawain pierced his sword through the flame burning in the rogue mage’s chest. The fire started to vibrate wildly, the rogue mage’s transformation into an evil spirit was halted. The shadowy figure rapidly solidified into an opaque entity, before the flames consumed him, reducing him into a monstrous, scorched corpse.
It took half a minute before the body burnt to ash.
A cracking sound was heard from everywhere. After losing its master, the small wooden hut disintegrated quickly. Dense cracks hatched across the walls and roof instantly, and the pale light of the outside wall spilled through the cracks into the house.
Dragging Amber and Betty along, Gawain fled the house hastily. The moment they were outside, the entire hut crashed down.
The collapsed wooden hut caught fire as they watched. The flames only lasted for a short while, as if a paper house had been there instead of a wooden one.
As the wooden hut crumbled into ash and drifted away in the wind, Amber grabbed Gawain’s elbow suddenly. Pointing at the foundation of the wooden hut, she cried out, “Aye, aye! Look at that!”
Gawain stared intently. Beneath the ashes of the wooden hut, a shimmering light lit up. Its brilliance filtered through the snow of ashes, steadily materializing into a complex and giant construction—an impressively large magic circle.
“This is probably the rogue mage’s greatest achievement in his entire lifetime.” Gawain nodded his head slightly. “There was probably something awry with his spell that caused his fate.”
As he spoke, Betty’s shadow began to transform into floating pinpricks of light, which circled around twice before flying towards Gawain and Amber.