Blood in the Deser

by Sophia Schmidt

  Then it was Lith's turn to express his gratitude. A simple thank you and a handshake was fine for Raaz, who was a stranger to them. Not to mention he was quite intimidated. For all he knew they could all be prince and princesses.

  Lith had no choice but to put a big smile on his face and hug them one by one.

  While for the others he managed to perform a "in and out" kind of hug, when it was Quylla's turn, she locked him in place. Lith could feel her hands running over his back, while she sunk her head in his chest, sobbing a little.

  After a few seconds, the situation became really awkward. Everyone was looking away, until Raaz saw the silent plea for help in his eyes and said:

  "Son, what do you want to do? Do you want to come back home, change academy or stay here? We'll respect your decision, whatever it is."

  Only then Quylla finally let him go and hid behind Friya, blushing wildly after having realized what she had done.

  Lith pondered for a while. Despite all its flaws, the White Griffon academy was still the safest place for him. Other academies would probably discriminate him for his origins and past, forcing him to constantly watch his back.

  Also, he still had to solve the mystery of the boxes in his pocket dimension, find a way to avert the dryad's prophecy and to save Solus from her misery. She could refuse his help all she wanted, Lith would never give up on her without a fight.

  "I want to remain here, dad. I think I need them as much as they need me."

  Chapter 133 Contingencies

  "You'll not regret your choice, Lith." Professor Marth patted his back, with a proud look on his face.

  "Once you graduate, you'll discover that A ranked mages, like you and me, are treasured almost as rank S, if not more." He chuckled.

  "What? Why?" Lith didn't know if to consider it a good or bad news.

  "Because as you have seen, geniuses like Manohar aren't just brilliant. They are also wilful, fickle and unpredictable. We may not be as productive, but are much more level headed and easy to handle."

  ***

  After the accident in the training hall, Professor Rudd had lost much of his nastiness. He now replied when someone asked him explanations, and whenever he saw Quylla or Lith, he would sigh deeply shaking his head.

  In the following weeks, Lith put his heart and soul in Forgemastering, relentlessly pestering Professor Wanemyre with questions. He was researching both the runes that kept the boxes locked and a construct that was able to feel like a human.

  The library helped him greatly on his first task. Even if the exact sequence of runes wasn't to be find anywhere, Lith was able to determine their power and purpose. He came to the conclusion that opening at least one of the boxes was feasible, if he had Wanemyre level of mastery and a proper research team.

  Since that was impossible, he decided to take a roundabout route. Instead of attacking the lock from the outside, like a normal Forgemaster, he would destroy its pseudo core like only an Awakened one could.

  The lock and the box had a pseudo core each, both held in place by the respective mana pathways their maker had surrounded them with, thanks to the rune patterns. The main difference between a pseudo core and a real mana core, was that the former had no way to replenish its energies without the mage that had imprinted it.

  Hence, if somehow Lith managed to damage the pathways, the energy stored in the pseudo core was supposed to leak without triggering the explosion, and the lock spell would be undone.

  Before doing this kind of experiments, Lith would always use his Hush spell and several barriers, to prevent a resulting explosion to destroy his room or be noticed from the outside.

  After a month since the beginning of the second semester, Lith had already lost three boxes. All of them had exploded without leaving any trace behind, but he still considered it a success.

  Neither he or his belongings had suffered any damage, and with each box the explosion was getting weaker. It was only a matter of time before Lith could find the right way to puncture the runic pathways without the pseudo core becoming instable.

  "Now I get why the vision wanted me to save Nok and get to meet Kalla. (AN: the small Byk and its mother.) With only the box from Rodimas, I would have never managed to open it.

  I could either give it to the Marchioness or Linjos, leaving me empty handed, or try and fail on my own." He sighed.

  "Well, for being self-taught you are doing great. Marth and Wanemyre always praise you for your talent and achievements. I think Wanemyre already considers you the best student of the fourth year."

  "Yeah." He sighed again.

  "Someone is bound to get angry at me, again. Not to mention that I am falling behind in dimensional magic. Without the all-nighters, even Yurial is slowly catching up with me, and I have yet to learn the Restoration spell, that Quylla already knows. I must work harder!"

  "Maybe it's because Quylla has only one specialization, while Yurial just two, and they are hardworking too. You, instead, are such a slacker." Solus' voice was oozing sarcasm.

  "Top of both your official specializations, learning other specializations on your own and converting them into true magic. All this while working on that lock, researching a body for me and refining your mana core during your spare time.

  Which usually means when you are forced to use a bathroom or during theoretical lessons. You don't sleep from almost a month. Honestly, I'm amazed you achieved so much with only twenty-four hours a day.

  Progress, not perfection. Remember? You need to slow down."

  "Can't do. The second trimester's exam is nearing, and no one knows what's going to be about. Must make every second matter!" ¨C

  ***

  Since the explosion of Coirn Hatorne's Alchemic laboratory, the city of Kandria had quickly plunged into mass hysteria. Just a few days after the event, strange diseases and murders had started to happen all around the city, and with the passing of time, things had only got worse.

  Healers from all the Marquisate and beyond had been called for help, but despite both the Crown and the Mage Association were sparing no expenses to get at the root of the problem, they were getting nowhere.

  An information blackout had been enacted, to avoid the panic to spread outside the city borders. Those who knew about the phenomenon, talked about a mysterious plague haunting the province of Kandria, and were worried about it spreading.

  The body count had already reached the hundreds, and with each passing day more and more cases arose, forcing the Crown to declare the status of quarantine two weeks after the start of the outbreak.

  Whoever tried to get in or out the city would be executed on the spot, the whole region had been enveloped by an array that prevented flying spells and Warp Steps to work.

  Sylpha, Queen of the Griffon Kingdom and supreme head of the Mage Association, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She hadn't slept properly since the old nobles' rebellion had started, and now with the unsolved mystery of the plague, she felt she was losing her mind.

  The Queen hadn't missed how the current predicament had occurred right after Arj?n went missing in action, the problem was determining how the two events were related. Knowing Arj?n's prowess, she suspected it was all the work of an Awakened one.

  It was impossible for a member of the Corpse to be killed by conventional means during a simple recognition mission. Also, the fact that the best minds of the Kingdom were still clueless, was proof enough it wasn't something fake magic could achieve.

  Her problem was that aside from the members of the Corpse, the Crown had no Awakened ones, and Lady Tyris refused to train more than seven at a time. The remaining six members were already engaged in life or death situations, otherwise she would have never recalled Arj?n so soon.

  The rescue teams were still looking for him under the lab's debris, but so far nothing had come out. Out of desperation, she took out her communication amulet, trying to reach for Krishna Manohar, the god of healing.

  He was the best healer of the Kingdom
, and her last hope. Aside from a magical plague, it could have been the effect of an ancient artifact. Such powerful weapon, if it even existed, once found had to remain a secret, and that was the reason why she had kept him as a last resort.

  That man was a loose cannon, discretion and reliability weren't his strong suits. The amulet gave no response, even after multiple attempts.

  Having no time for his antics, Sylpha called Linjos, instead, demanding for Manohar's whereabouts and the reason of his unavailability.

  "I would never dare to disobey a direct order of yours, you Majesty, but alas, your first request is beyond me. Even I do not know where he is. As for the second, I think you wouldn't believe me without hearing it from the horse's mouth."

  The Headmaster took a piece of paper and placed it on the amulet's gem, allowing the Queen to read its content.

  {Dear Linjos¡} The name was followed by a doodle depicting a horse bearing a striking resemblance to the Headmaster, even wearing his clothes.

  {¡I'm on the verge of an incredible magical breakthrough. In can't risk my research to be ruined by the constant pestering of mediocre minds, so I'll be gone for a while.

  K.M.}

  "How dares he to disappear again? It's already the third time this year!" Sylpha punched her desk hard enough to break it in half.

  "Send me your second best diagnostician. If he/she doesn't solve my problem, I'll have your head beside Manohar's in my trophy room!"

  Chapter 134 Tough Times

  Although Invigoration allowed Lith to avoid sleeping, it wasn't without side effects. Back when he was still at home, he had several opportunities to relax, like when hunting for food, teaching Tista fake magic, or simply spending quality time with his family.

  Now Lith was relentlessly working like a machine, piling up stress without any break outside his three daily meals. Over time, the accumulated mental fatigue made him more cranky, nervous and aggressive.

  It was something the Professors would not notice. Lith treasured them, and did his best to hold his temper and treat them with the respect they deserved. The same applied to his 'friends'.

  After his last heart to heart with Solus, he tried to spend more time them, to give her what she needed, more emotions and human interaction. It would soothe her depression and wear down his nerves, but he didn't care.

  "Solus always does so much for me. Not only she is basically my moral compass, helping me on all the academical subjects. She also restricts my most violent urges, making me almost human.

  Heck, if it was possible, I would gladly trade place with her. She would make a much better person than me." ¨C

  Solus was moved by how strong were his feelings for her, and how many sacrifices he was willing to endure for her sake. At the same time, thought, she was very worried.

  The prolonged lack of sleep had only made more apparent that his mind and body were experiencing a major change. Since overcoming the bottleneck, Lith's body kept getting stronger every time the mana core was refined.

  As for his mind, the recent events had put a lot of stress on his already twisted psyche. Ironically, while near death experiences were the norm since Lith had started to practice high level magic, it was finding people that actually cared for him outside of his family that triggered an inner conflict.

  Changing life-long values wasn't easy, it was like admitting to have always been wrong about almost everything.

  On the other hand, the same could be said about her. The quality and quantity of her nourishment had dramatically improved, and her mana core was on the verge of turning green.

  But what bothered Solus the most, were her new feelings. Thanks to Lith's new enhanced senses she could hear all the mean comments people would make behind his back, all the petty grudges that every praise he received would arise.

  The more she knew humans, the more disgusted she became. After he had almost died protecting everyone from the spatial cracks, the kindest comment she had heard was:

  "Even after losing an arm, we can't get him out of our hair for a whole day? That guy is worse than a cockroach!"

  Solus was starting to think it was her being wrong all along.

  ***

  Lith was summoned by the Headmaster less than an hour later Queen Sylpha had expressed her newfound interest for turning Linjos' head into a toilet brush holder, instead of mounting it on a wall.

  After consulting with Professor Marth, the second-best healer of the White Griffon academy, Linjos was left with no choice.

  "If it's a life or death situation¡"

  "Cut the 'if'! There are lives on the line, mine included!" Linjos interrupted Marth.

  "¡then I'd definitely send Lith from Lustria. Is the only one whose diagnostic skills are at Manohar's level."

  "A student instead of a Professor? How low have we stooped? What will become of the prestige of this academy?" Linjos moaned.

  "Stooped?" Marth knitted his eyebrows in disapproval.

  "The new replacing the old is the way of life. Also, accepting someone that all the other academies rejected out of prejudice, is not stooping. Especially if he succeeds."

  "But what if he fails?" Linjos was about to cry. "We'll become the laughingstock of the Kingdom. Everyone will think we are so incompetent we have to rely on a child!"

  "Well, we can always send a couple of Professors and hope for the best. At least you would fail with dignity."

  Linjos groaned, his neck suddenly hurting. Failure wasn't an option.

  "What about that other student? Quylla from Cerea? At this point, sending one or two makes no difference."

  "It actually does." Marth objected. "Her talent for light magic is outstanding, I believe that if properly nurtured, she can become the next Manohar¡"

  "Stop saying that name!" Linjos' neck felt a new pang, feeling the executioner's axe nearing.

  "I mean in a good way."

  "There is nothing good about that man!" Seeing the Headmaster being unreasonable, Marth dropped the matter.

  "As I was saying, she is a magnificent mage, yet she is too young to witness such horrors. Not to mention that her diagnostic skills are about my level. I'd rather go myself instead of putting her future at risk.

  As for our new star, he is¡ quite special."

  Marth tapped on Lith's complete personal file. A folder almost as thick as a book, where the experts from the Mage Association had classified him as what on Earth would be called "high-functioning sociopath".

  At that point, Linjos had stopped resisting and accepted his fate.

  When Lith entered, he was wearing his old set of frown and glare.

  "I didn't do anything wrong, and was about to have a magical breakthrough!" When he had received the call, Lith was about to clear the second last exercise before attempting a real Warp Steps.

  After the sabotage, the fourth-year lessons had been suspended for a few days, until the internal investigation was concluded. He had used that time to further practice under Quylla's guidance, and was close to placing eight opening a Gate.

  While most students had been scarred by the event and needed psychological counselling, he had continued his studies like nothing had happened, managing to catch up with those more talented than him.

  Lith's choice of words only intensified Linjos' feeling of impending doom.

  The Headmaster gave him a file, containing all the relevant information about the events in Kandria, explaining to him that his presence was required to shed light on the matter.

  "I'm just a student." Lith replied giving back the folder.

  "What does this have to do with me?"

  "What Headmaster Linjos forget to tell you, boy, is that this isn't a request. This is an order from the Queen herself."

  The voice belonged to a man about thirty years old, 1.82 meters (6') high that walked out of a Warp Steps that opened right in the middle of the room. He had light brown crew cut hair and moustaches of the same colour.

  He was wearing a deep blue uniform, be
aring on the heart the Royal crest, a triangular shield representing a prancing griffon with a crown on its head and holding two sceptres in his front claws. One representing the magical power, the other the military one.

  "Lith, allow me to introduce to you Captain Velagros, from the Queen's corps. Captain, this is Lith from Lustria" Linjos stood up, offering his hand to his esteemed guest.

  "Were you spying on us, or did you just wait in order to make a dramatic entrance?" Lith wasn't impressed, more like annoyed. His bad mood made him blurt out what normally he would have just thought.

  "Kid, this is no laughing matter. People is dying this very moment. If you can do something about it, it's your duty to."

  "People dies every day." Lith shrugged. "Usually it happens to the poor, the orphans, the homeless. Yet no one gives a damn about it. But if it happens to a few rich guys in a fancy city, then suddenly it becomes a huge problem.

  Also, I have no duty, since I took no oath. So, let me rephrase: what's in it for me?" He said rubbing his right thumb and index fingers together.

  Normally Captain Velagros would have been tempted of teaching the arrogant kid a lesson, but he too had read the file. It was clearly stated that because of his upbringing, Lith had no real ties to the Kingdom.

  That was the reason his family was so tightly protected. The orders were to not antagonize him, unless it was absolutely necessary.

  Chapter 135 Traitor

  Captain Velagros could only grin and bear Lith's attitude, and not only because of his orders. The more he looked at the youth, the more wrong everything felt. The cold and dead eyes, the detached attitude, were all things he had seen plenty of times, but never in kids.

  They were traits found either in battle hardened veterans or in madmen with an agenda. Last but not least, back when he had stepped forward with an intimidating manner, his body had started screaming for danger.

  A member of the corps didn't manage to reach his age without developing a keen instinct, and in that moment his own was telling him to back off and avoid sudden movements.