Legend of the Arch Magus: Valor

by M Sisa

  Austen must have been thinking the same thing too, since George could see the expression of his older brother.

  “We understand,” Austen bowed his head. “We’ll do our best to learn, Sir.”

  Lark smiled, “Good. That’s the spirit.”

  Lark locked eyes with Anandra. The man with a golden hair lightly nodded his head. He was wordlessly saying that he finally also noticed the presence of the one following their group.

  Is he a spy? An assassin?

  Lark wondered. He remembered the time when one of Duke Kelvin’s men tried killing him in Lion City. For now, the best course of action was to wait and observe. He planned on getting as much information as possible from this guy once given the chance.

  There’s no need to rush things.

  After a day, their group finally arrived at Wizzert City, The City of Magic.

  Unlike the other cities, the gate of Wizzert was flooded with people trying to enter the city. A long queue consisting of merchants, immigrants, and other people have assembled by the gate by the time Lark’s group arrived.

  After waiting in line for a few hours, they were finally granted entry into the city.

  The first thing that greeted them was a barrier blocking the city gate. It was translucent, giving the appearance of a sturdy glass.

  “Is that also magic?” George curiously spat out.

  Lark did not reply. Instead, he pondered of how advanced this city was compared to the other cities of the Kingdom they passed through so far. Even Lion City – one of the Major Cities of the Kingdom – was incomparable to this one.

  A magic explosion will easily tear a hole through this barrier, but it’s strong enough to temporarily repel invaders in case the gate is destroyed.

  This was the assessment Lark made after briefly touching the barrier. After the soldier guarding the entrance notified the ones inside the city about Lark’s pass, the barrier temporarily dissipated and Lark and his group passed through. This process was probably the reason why it took so long to enter the City despite the lax requirements.

  After they found an inn, Lark handed out a few silvers to his disciples Austen, George, and Anandra. “I’ll be looking around the city for a while. Be sure to be back here at the inn by dusk.”

  “These are?” Austen and George stared at the coins in their hands. Anandra, on the other hand, simply pocketed the coins and listened to Lark.

  “Pocket money,” said Lark. “It’ll be a waste to stay cooped up inside this so-called City of Magic. Go and look around. Just be sure to be back for dinner at night.”

  Austen and George looked at each other. Their eyes glimmered. They had never experienced such luxurious lifestyle before. Although a few silvers were nothing to nobles like Lark, it was a large amount for former paupers like them.

  “We’ll be back for sure!”

  Like kids given candies, the two enthusiastically responded, their heads bobbing several times.

  Lark chuckled.

  “Can I come with you?” The man with golden hair stood ramrod straight. For a moment, his image overlapped with the chief butler’s.

  Lark looked at Anandra. Unlike the two kids, this one can keep up with his speed. “You don’t want to look around?”

  “I’m pretty sure that I’ll find more interesting things if I’m with you, My Lord.”

  Lark noticed that he was becoming clingy as time went by. He was not sure if this was a good thing.

  After some thoughts, Lark said, “Rejected. I’ll be looking around on my own.”

  Anandra remained stoic. There was no change in his expression even after that. “I understand. Have a safe trip, Young Master.”

  He’s starting to resemble Gaston as time goes by.

  Lark wryly smiled.

  ***

  After Lark went out to look around the city, Austen and George mumbled to each other on what they would do with the pocket money given to them. They were supposed to spend it on food and clothes, but they felt bad after thinking about their siblings in Blackstone Town. These silver coins were enough to buy some bags of wheat and chicken meat for the whole family. Splurging would surely leave a bad aftertaste in their mouths.

  “Anandra,” Austen turned to the oldest disciple. “The Young Master left. What do you plan to do?”

  Anandra tapped his stomach, creating a soft thud sound. Austen and George realized that he was wearing the weights created by Lark.

  “Training,” said Anandra. “Unlike you guys, I’m not talented in magic. That’s why I need to put in extra effort.”

  The brothers almost retorted that what he said was utter bullshit. After all, they had seen Anandra train with the humanoids before. This man with golden hair was undoubtedly the strongest person next to the Young Master.

  Although right now he was incapable of casting magic, he had already come to grasp the basics of body strengthening by using the mana in his body. At this stage, he was already capable of crushing boulders with a single blow of his fist.

  If he was lacking, then how much more would they be?

  “I’ll look around the city.” Anandra was unaware of the thoughts of his fellow disciples. “Remember what the Young Master said. Be sure to be back by dinner.”

  After Anandra disappeared amidst the crowd, Austen and George looked at each other.

  “Now I feel guilty slacking off,” smirked Austen.

  “What are you talking about? The Young Master himself told us to look around the city and enjoy ourselves.” George tossed a coin into the air and caught it. “Let’s go!”

  The two looked around the city, gawking at unfamiliar things every now and then.

  “Hey, look!” whispered George.

  Austen looked at the direction George was pointing at. It was a street filled with stalls selling magic items. The two excitedly entered and looked at the items for sale.

  “Fifteen gold coins?” Austen shook his head. “Only nobles can afford those. What’s the point of selling these things in the middle of the street?”

  The cheapest magic item for sale was worth a staggering amount of fifteen gold coins. The most expensive ones even reached up to a hundred gold coins. Glowing lamps, scroll of fire, defense magic-imbued leather armor, ice dagger, etc. All sorts of magic items imaginable filled this particular street.

  The brothers saw someone casually buy the ice dagger for sixty gold coins. Their jaws almost dropped to the ground after seeing that transaction.

  “I guess… As expected of the City of Magic? Even those living here aren’t normal.”

  Austen nodded at his younger brother’s statement.

  After looking around some more, they left and arrived at the Central Plaza. There was a large fountain there, with numerous stalls selling food lined up next to each other.

  Austen and George’s stomach grumbled. They had been walking around for a few hours now, after all.

  As expected of a major city, even the price of skewered meat was high. They bought a stick for each of them, grabbed some drinks, then sat on the benches next to the fountain.

  They noticed that the person sitting next to them – someone wearing a hood – had been staring at a particular stone tablet for quite some time now.

  “Bro, she’s been staring at that thing for—” said George.

  “—Shh! Quiet!” Austen swallowed the last bit of his skewered meat. “It’s none of our bus—”

  Austen halted. His eyes widened for a moment. Now that he had taken a careful look, the symbols engraved on the stone tablet was really familiar.

  He took out the parchment out of his sling bag, unfolded it, then compared the magic formation drawn by the Young Master with the symbol engraved on the stone tablet.

  “George,” he whispered. “Look. Isn’t it the same?”

  George looked at the parchment, at the stone tablet, then back. “Almost.” He pointed at some parts of the magic formation. “These symbols aren’t on that stone tablet. And this crescent here is missin
g.”

  The two magic formations were oddly similar, but there were subtle differences. George quickly noticed this.

  While the two were discussing these things, the hooded figure next to them looked at the parchment Austen was holding.

  “E-Excuse me?” A female voice spoke.

  The brothers looked at the source. It was from the hooded figure.

  “C-Can I look at that?”

  The way she stuttered bothered the two of them. They could feel desperation within those words.

  Austen quickly folded the parchment and placed it inside his bag. He remembered that the Young Master strictly told them not to share this magic formation with anyone, no matter what.

  He grabbed George’s hand, and after a quick glance, said to the hooded figure, “Sorry.”

  “George, let’s go.”

  George understood his brother’s intentions. He quickly stood up. When the two of them were a good distance away from the bench, they heard a shout.

  “Wait!”

  Amidst the crowd, they saw the hooded figure briskly walking towards them.

  “We’re not supposed to share this magic formation with anyone,” said Austen.

  George nodded, “Let’s run.”

  The brothers tried to get away from the hooded figure, but surprisingly, no matter how hard they tried, they could not shake off their pursuer.

  “Over here,” Austen huffed. They turned to an alleyway. He placed his index finger to his mouth. “That creepy person shouldn’t find us here.”

  But he was wrong.

  The hooded figure suddenly appeared right in front of them, like some sort of a ghost.

  “Finally caught you.”

  Her voice was soothing to the ears, but her sudden appearance made Austen and George shriek.

  She took off her hood, revealing a woman with blood red hair and crimson eyes. Austen and George fell into stupor for a moment. They had never seen anyone so beautiful in their entire life.

  “Please,” she said. “Can I look at that?”

  Austen and George looked at each other.

  What should they do? The Young Master strictly told them not to show the magic formation with anyone, no matter what.

  “It’ll be really quick,” she said. “Also, I’ll pay you. How about it?”

  She took out a pouch and opened it, revealing several gold and silver coins inside. “This is all I have. If this isn’t enough, I’ll be sure to give you more afterwards.”

  Austen’s pupil shook. He remembered the time when he still worked for two silvers a month in Lion City. The amount inside the pouch easily exceeded ten gold coins. He was sure of it.

  Silence befell them. Even George started hesitating.

  Moments passed. Austen shouted, “I-I’m sorry! This is something entrusted to us… and we can’t allow anybody to have their hands on it, no matter what!”

  He sounded desperate. George also bowed his head.

  The woman sighed upon seeing this. They were just kids, and judging by their reactions, they were not the ones who drew that magic formation.

  She hesitated for a while.

  Should she forcefully take the item away? From these naïve-looking kids?

  Her face turned sour after she came to a conclusion.

  “I will not hurt you,” she threw the pouch filled with gold coins towards George. The kid grabbed it in reflex. “I’ll just take a peek. Sorry.”

  The air turned chilly. Ice formed beneath the woman’s feet, quickly spreading towards the brothers. They tried to run, but they soon found their feet encased by ice.

  “What are you doing?!”

  “Let us go!”

  The brothers were horrified. They tried to yank their feet away, but the ice did not budge even a single bit. Ice shot from the ground and grabbed their hands, shackling it.

  The woman opened Austen’s sling bag and took out the parchment containing the magic circle.

  “Damn it! That’s not yours! We told you that you’re not allowed to look at it!” Austen roared.

  George’s arms formed veins as he struggled to set himself free.

  “This is…” She forgot to breathe for a moment. She intently stared at the drawn magic circle. Her heart started thumping loudly.

  The magic formation drawn in the parchment greatly resembled the one drawn on the stone tablet, but there were subtle differences. She imagined using this magic circle and she was stunned by what she found out.

  It was without any flaws.

  The perfect basic magic formation.

  With just this alone, magic would prosper even further.

  Her pupils shaking, she stared at the parchment, then at the brothers shackled by the ice.

  “Who, who drew this?” Her hands trembled as she held the parchment. She finally held the answer to the puzzle unsolved for centuries.

  George and Austen did not answer. Instead, they tried to pull their hands and feet out of the ice. After finally coming to the conclusion that it would be futile, George and Austen looked at each other.

  “Do it,” whispered Austen.

  George, who was directly in front of the woman, understood his brother’s intentions. With his entire might, he threw his head forward and bit the parchment, successfully snatching it away from the woman’s hands.

  Caught off-guard, the woman was too late to react. By the time she realized what happened, George was already chewing the parchment in his mouth.

  Her eyes widened to the point of popping out.

  That paper held the answer to the centuries-old puzzle!

  “S-Spit it out!”

  Her composure lost, she grabbed George by the neck as she tried to make him spit the parchment out. But contrary to her expectations, George chewed it more before eventually swallowing it whole.

  The woman lost strength in her legs upon seeing this. She fell down butt-first on the ground. Although her mind was telling her that it would still be possible to retrieve the magic formation as long as she meets the person who drew it, a part of her wailed at this loss.

  Tears started forming at the corner of her eyes. Her mana became erratic and the ice shackling the brothers broke into numerous pieces.

  The brothers were finally freed of the spell. They shook their arms and legs to remove the pieces of ice still clinging to it.

  Austen bit his lips upon seeing the crestfallen woman sitting on the ground. He did not feel pity for her, only hatred. She forcefully made them give her the magic formation, after all.

  “You forgot this.” George tossed the pouch filled with gold coins to her. It made loud clanking sounds upon touching the ground.

  Honestly, they were tempted by those coins, but the mere thought of betraying the Young Master’s trust solidified their resolve.

  “And stop crying,” added Austen. “It’s not like you lost anything. That paper. It’s ours to begin with, damn thief.”

  The two were about to scurry away and leave behind the crying woman when a deep voice, which almost sounded like a growl, resounded in the alley.

  “You dare call my cute little sister a damn thief?”

  A hooded figure appeared, blocking the path of George and Austen.

  The hooded figure looked at the woman crying while sitting on the ground. His entire body trembled.

  “You damn little shits—”

  His voice trailed off. He glared at the brothers.

  “—I’ll kill you.”

  Without warning, an invisible force struck Austen and sent him flying then rolling on the ground.

  Chapter Eight

  Chryselle was momentarily stunned when one of the brothers was suddenly sent flying. His body rolled on the ground several times before halting to a stop, leaving behind trails of blood.

  A soft groan escaped Austen’s lips. He coughed several times before vomiting blood.

  “No!” George’s cry echoed in the alley. He tried to run towards Austen when a fist suddenly struck his abdomen, making
him kneel on the ground in pain.

  “You’ll be next. Wait your turn.”

  The hooded figure slowly walked towards Austen. Chryselle broke out of her stupor. She quickly got up and ran to stop the man from hurting anyone any further.

  “Brother! What are you doing?! Stop!”

  Chryselle yanked at his clothes, pulling down the hood in the process. A red-haired man with stubbles and a crescent scar running through his left eye stared at her. He was Alecto, the Master of the City of Magic.

  “The same for you,” said Alecto, his voice comparably softer when speaking to his sister. “Stay put. Do not move.”

  Chryselle tried to cast her magic to stop her brother, but to her horror, she found herself unable to channel her mana. She looked at her feet and saw a small magic circle glowing underneath. During that short exchange, Alecto had already sealed her magic with the highest-grade talisman, an item that would normally cost several gold coins in the market. Even speaking had become impossible now without Alecto’s permission.

  Despite the pain, George stood up and ran towards Austen. Alecto smirked as he looked at this amusing sight.

  “Hey, are you alright?” George was horrified when he saw Austen’s broken arm.

  “Don’t ask the obvious,” groaned Austen. “We need to get out of here. That guy… he’s seriously trying to kill us.”

  A short chuckle escaped Alecto’s lips. “Kill you? I may look like this, but I’m a compassionate man, kids. I will let you live. Don’t worry.”

  He snapped his fingers and George’s left hand twisted in unimaginable ways, making horrible crackling sounds.

  “Ah, Ahhhhh!”

  George screamed at the top of his lungs as tears flowed down his eyes. He fell on his knees as his entire body trembled from excruciating pain.

  “G-George!”

  Alecto’s eyes were cold. Austen tried to stand up to help his brother, but an invisible force struck him at the face, sending a tooth flying out. Blood dripped down his nose as he finally lost consciousness, his entire body sprawled on the ground.

  “Ah, damn it. I should have hit him on the stomach instead.” Alecto smacked his lips in disappointment. He did not expect Austen to lose consciousness this easily. He held back a lot, after all.