Divine Mage

by L Travern

Some might argue that Firestar had done his best to help Matthew for his own interests. The man had spoken about geniuses who destroyed their families in revenge, after all, and he might have done his best not to piss Matthew off just in case he didn't turn out to be a demon.

  However, outside the times when Firestar apologized to Matthew and when he had shown worry for Sara, there was a single reason that made Matthew believe Firestar was in fact on Matthew's side.

  Matthew was alive.

  Firestar could have killed Matthew after the competition and made the whole Crusade's investigation and the Empire's anger disappear while profiting from everything Matthew had done for the family. Hell, he might even be rewarded for it! Instead, Firestar had paid for Matthew's help with a lot of money and warned him to be careful.

  Although Matthew didn't completely trust Firestar and never would, he still was a bit thankful to the old man.

  Anyway, all that was good and all, but it was time to move on before the Crusade got to him.

  About three hours after entering the Eminence's mind, he left it, took a simple knife from his ring and cut her throat without hesitation.

  He felt nothing as he took her life. She had tried to kidnap him, and it was only proper that she got killed instead. She wasn't a troubled soul like Sara, she was an enemy through and through.

  Done with his investigation and enemy disposal, it was time for pillaging.

  * * *

  Sara had watched everything without believing it. She realized now that the reason demons were so dangerous was because they defied common sense.

  Matthew was a Champion, but he had enough control to create three huge meteors on the sky and control them at the same time! The meteors themselves were impressive Seventh level spells taken to their utmost limits!

  But there was more. It wasn't rare for mages to take a roundabout route around the Spell Level Equivalence Law. Even though one was limited to casting spells at one's own level, for those with a high enough mana control, it was possible to cast more than one spell at the same time, thus increasing the output power without increasing the spell level directly.

  And yet, the demon's control was so great that it could cast six Seventh level spells at the same, the three meteors, the cooling spell, the shield around them, and the spell that shot an enemy at a meteor.

  That was simply inconceivable!

  As if it wasn't enough, he could even attack people at a distance of almost a thousand legs! And he could do it all without fainting from lack of mana or even looking like he was tired!

  If she had any questions about him being a demon before, now, she was absolutely sure.

  After doing all that, the demon walked to the sole survivor of the devastation he had caused and just stood there, looking at her like a beast looking at its prey.

  What was he doing? Deciding if he should eat her body? Was he already consuming her soul? Or maybe he was waiting for her to wake up, so he could torture her?

  He had been at it for hours already. She even considered if she should try to kill him while he was distracted, but she doubted the warrior would allow it. She had seen how he had looked at her as if daring her to do something to the demon just so he could get rid of her.

  He might just be a One Star Warrior now, yes, but she was as powerless as a klutz with her mana pool blocked. Despite her training on physical combat as part of being an undercover agent, he had probably been better trained in it than her, being a warrior and all that. Even if she tried to kill him before going for the demon, he was always positioned in a way that would make stealthy killing him impossible, and a single scream of his would likely wake the demon up from his musings.

  Finally, the demon simply killed the poor Eminence, instead of ripping her ribcage open and taking her heart or something just as nefarious. Sara felt relieved, and even more so when the demon did something as simple as looting the dead. It made him look human, even though she knew the truth.

  What he did next though, made all the hair in her body stand.

  He came back.

  * * *

  Matthew's Spying Drizzle was still active and he focused on feeling mana-infused items in the area. Soon enough, he found all the treasures around, removing them from what had remained of the three corpses.

  In total, he found thirty-three undamaged spatial rings and some more that had been destroyed by the meteors. After searching the Eminence's mind, he knew that most of the rings had been stolen from the corpses of people they had killed in the previous days while waiting for Matthew. There existed banks in this world, but mages seldom trusted others with their possessions and the safest place to put their most valuable treasures was in their own spatial items.

  The first thing a mage usually saved money to buy was a spatial bag if he was poor, or a spatial ring if he was a person of means. Bags, although considerably cheaper, could be easily stolen or even misplaced, but rings were much safer.

  People had tried using different objects as spatial treasures throughout the course of history, from hiding items inside the skin to using accessories other than rings, but each option came with some issues.

  At one time, hiding things in the body became popular, but it also became common for people to be kidnapped and cut open in search for their spatial items. As for accessories, earrings, chains around the neck, or bracelets, they could be easily pulled — and when they couldn't, a thief cutting one's neck or hand wasn't unheard of.

  Rings, on the other hand, were safe against falling on their own or forgotten somewhere, couldn't be simply pulled by a running thief on the streets and didn't get in the way as some necklaces might, and could still be easily removed if needed without harm to the user. Even if a cruel thief cut the finger off, it was still better than being beheaded or losing a limb.

  Of course, many people still hid their spatial items in different ways, but rings were way more common.

  As for these three attackers, they had emptied all other kinds of spatial items from their dead enemies and taken only the rings with them. First, because rings were easier to carry, second, because rings were more valuable, and third, because none of the items they took on the mission would end up as theirs, being confiscated by their bosses instead. Therefore, they had no incentive to carry a big bag of spoils around, as spatial items normally couldn't be placed inside each other.

  He checked all the rings and found a lot of money, about two dozen Mortal and Magical Items, and two Artifacts. Him being a Champion, Magical Items or lower had no effect on him anymore. At least there were the two Artifacts; a pair of black leather boots, and a pair of black leather gloves.

  Check Item, he thought.

  Check Item

  Name: Boots of Speed

  Grade: Lower Artifact

  Check Item

  Name: Gloves of Dexterity

  Grade: Lower Artifact

  Treasures grades were divided into Mortal Items, Magical Items, Artifacts, and Relics. Finding Lower Artifacts for free wasn't too bad. Treasures of that grade were scarce even in his own royal family.

  The treasure's names were somewhat descriptive, but he wanted to know more about what they did, so he used a spell.

  Myriad Arts — Spellcasting, Artificing, Formation Mastery — Dual Element: Space, Soul — Seventh Item Analysis!

  Delicate strands of Space mana left his body to involve each item, allowing him to see and feel their minute physical details. Meanwhile, Soul mana entered them to analyze them from the inside, including any hidden formations they might have. He felt and studied them for a few instants and found out exactly what they did.

  Both items increased their wearer's speed depending on the grade of the wearer's own speed attribute. If the wearer's speed grade was equal to or lower than 3, the speed grade was increased by two. If it was graded between 4 and 6, the speed grade was increased by one.

  Beyond that, the Boots of Speed allowed the wearer to jump higher, while the Gloves of Dexterity increased the wearer's c
ontrol over their hands to the most precise movements. As a mage who could fly and an experienced man with perfect control over his body, both effects were lost on him, but the extra speed was nice.

  Matthew put the treasures on, starting with the boots.

  Attribute improved!

  Attribute: Speed (Body)

  Grade: 1 > 3

  A surge of warmth came from the gloves, filling his body and changing it. To check on his new speed, he moved his arm as fast as he could.

  Immediately, there was a loud crack followed by a piercing pain.

  His hand had moved in a blur, too fast for his bones to resist due to his grade 1 body resistance. His muscle and skin were pierced by the broken bone, which was now visible.

  He had expected that and smiled as he used a simple healing spell to put his arm back in place. A moment later, the injury disappeared as if it had never happened in the first place.

  It wasn't strange for such a treasure to exist despite its danger. It was much easier to craft a treasure that only improved a single attribute, and if self-injury was an issue, the wearer could simply use another treasure to improve their body resistance, too.

  Even knowing the certainty of injury if he used the extra speed, he still put the gloves on, too, because there might come a situation when it was better to break bones while moving quickly out of danger, instead of staying still and dying.

  Attribute improved!

  Attribute: Speed (Body)

  Grade: 3 > 4

  He felt his speed increasing again, making him capable of moving as fast as a Four Stars Warrior. From that moment onwards, he had to make sure not to move faster than his body could withstand. An average person would kill themselves if they were in Matthew's place, but he had gone through similar things before, finding himself much more powerful one instant than the other, and was experienced in how to control his body to the last muscle with perfect precision.

  To finish with his business in the crater for now, he organized the content in the rings, choosing three rings for himself which held all valuables. Then, he passed a string through all the remaining rings and wore it as a necklace under his robes, not caring for the danger of a thief pulling it and running away. His wealth was all in the rings on his hands anyway.

  Finally, he walked back to the carriage.

  This little stop had been enlightening and profitable, but it was time to continue with his plans and his journey.

  Chapter 15 - Covering the Tracks

  Chapter 15 - Covering the Tracks

  The final part of his plan was disappearing at the right moment, and the right moment was now.

  Even before reading the Eminence's mind he had already expected that he couldn't permanently vanish from grasps of the powers that be, their power likely too great for that. Now that he actually knew how powerful they were, he was proven right. But he could delay them enough from getting to him to at least do some much-needed shopping in the first city he needed to get to.

  First, he freed the horses, as they could be used to track him. Next, he threw the carriage in the fiery crater, together with all his clothes and every single thing Mark and Sara possessed.

  Before removing everyone's clothes, he placed dark shields around them to keep their privacy, but it didn't prevent Sara from yelling in anger. The best reaction was from Mark, a veteran warrior who had seen thousands of naked men in the Army and hundreds of naked women in the brothels in his lifetime: he blushed and covered his sensitive areas.

  Matthew pitied them a bit for being forcibly unclothed like that, but their clothes might have been bugged, and he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. No time for explanations.

  He also threw the ring Firestar had given him in the crater, with everything inside. He wouldn't resort to destroying so much wealth if he hadn't looted a pile of cash, but since he could do it, it was best to be extra cautious. He couldn't be sure about which items inside were being used to track him, not with the old man being a Quasi-Overlord and having access to much better spells than him.

  As for the rings and items he had just acquired, while they weren't exactly safe, they were never meant to get to his hands and he had seen in the memories of the Eminence that she had already checked on everything, even the items in her subordinates' possession, finding it all clear. While she was a weak fighter, she was still an Eminence with access to better spells than him.

  Just to be sure though, he focused his consciousness into to ring and scrutinized everything inside with his best spells. He found nothing wrong.

  Of course, Overlords or Saints might still have placed tracking spells on some items that could fool him or the Eminence he had killed, but people that strong could get to him regardless of tracking spells anyway, so there was no reason to become poor because of it.

  Finally, he summoned ten new meteors and threw them at the possessions, completely destroying everything he had thrown in the crater and making the latter much larger and deeper.

  He took new clothes from a few rings for him, Sara, and Mark, made the three of them float, created a bubble of invisibility around them, and used two last spells in the area.

  The first spell was to guarantee there was nothing to see there in the present.

  Myriad Arts — Spellcasting — Single Element: Fire — Seventh Absolute Scorching!

  Scorching flames covered the entire crater, melting rock and metal and turning everything else, including the body parts and treasures into ashes.

  The heat was so powerful that he had to push much more mana into his cooling spell, else he burnt to death!

  The second spell was to guarantee there was nothing to see there in the past, either!

  Myriad Arts — Spellcasting — Single Element: Time — Seventh Moment Obliteration!

  Time shattered like glass in a one-kilometer range for a split second. It didn't permanently cease to exist — he was not powerful enough to do that even if he wanted to —, and no damage was done to anything in the area. But that single moment was obliterated from the Rivers of Time.

  Any level 8, Eminence with access to Time mana could easily see what had happened in an area up to a couple hours by looking back in time, with level 9, Ascenders being able to go as far as hundreds of days. Due to the shattering though, seeing anything past that point became impossible.

  Of course, someone strong enough might be able to fix things but that would require at least an Overlord talented in Time Laws. Creation and healing were much harder than destruction in all facets of life, and magic wasn't any different. Furthermore, fixing time was much harder than healing or fixing just about anything else.

  With that, as far as anyone but Sara and Mark knew, his tracks ended in that place. It was time to make them disappear, too. They were the last two 'things' Firestar had touched, the last liability Matthew was 'carrying' with him.

  Not by coincidence, the way of doing that was the same way of treating Sara's soul.

  Myriad Arts — Spellcasting, Formation Mastery — Single Element: Soul — Seventh Soul Splitting and Binding!

  A pain that couldn't be described coursed through him as two bits of his soul were removed and placed in two of the spatial rings around his neck. Souls couldn't live outside an adequate container and the spatial rings were terrible vessels. Due to that those bits would dissipate in less than a year, but they would do for now.

  He put the rings on his followers' fingers and used another spell to permanently glue the rings in place.

  Because he wasn't sure of his enemies means, this was the best solution he could come up with. By doing that, his own max grade soul resistance would disrupt any spells that were attached to their names, bodies, or souls. It wouldn't be enough for them to pass up as dead, but it should be able to make them untraceable.

  Due to that world natural laws, his soul resistance couldn't be used to prevent someone from using his real name to control him, but it was the perfect counter when dealing with someone else.


  He used the Soul Eye spell and confirmed that Sara's soul was turning back to normal. It had been healed of its afflictions and just like a slime, it was slowly reverting to a humanoid's shape.

  A moment later, his usage of the Soul Eye spell to check on things proved useless; Sara fainted from the shock she received from having her soul suddenly healed. Her soul would take about a day to recover fully and until then she would remain unconscious.

  He nodded satisfied. All he could do had been done. It had been very costly, with less than ten percent of his mana remaining. The soul splitting, especially, had increased the time he would require to become an Eminence by a month or so, but it was better than having people by his side that could be traced or possibly even controlled at any time.

  "We're leaving," he said.

  Covered by an invisibility bubble, they flew away at Matthew's will.

  * * *

  In a room made of stone, a man was bowing in front of a lit fireplace.

  "Your Greatness," the man said. "We lost track of the boy."

  There was no answer, but a moment later, the man lost control of his body and it entered the fireplace by itself. His true name had been used far away from there, he simply couldn't resist the order that had been given.

  Nor did he want to, for he had been ordered before to feel utmost pleasure in obeying every order given to him by his master, and the very chemicals in his body obeyed.

  As he was burned to death, his eyes rolled in ecstasy from sheer delight.

  * * *

  After leaving the area, Matthew flew invisibly for a few hours, only stopping when he reached a forest. It was high night by then, the three moons shining brightly on the sky.

  "We'll camp here," he announced as he and Mark landed, while the unconscious Sara was kept floating to his side. His mana pool had been nearly exhausted after covering his tracks and flying invisibly had taken care of the little left.