Blood in the Deser

by Sophia Schmidt

  A healer will be able to detect common parasites either sensing their life force or because they suck the nutrients out of the host.

  In this case, their small size, coupled with their ability to mess with mana, make them hard to find, unless the healer, like me, is capable of perceiving even small alterations in the human body.

  Also, I have noticed no tissue degeneration near the parasites. The only explanation I can find, albeit is only a guess, is that they feed on mana."

  For several seconds, no one spoke. Everyone in the room was struggling to accept those revelations. Kilian was worried for the people, while Varegrave, although sharing his feelings, was also concerned about his neck.

  "Can you find a cure?" The King's face was composed, but his hands were squeezing the armrests of his throne hard enough to break his nails.

  "No." Lith admitted with a sigh, throwing those present into despair.

  "I'm just a student, after all. I never worked on something so big. When it comes down to research, I wouldn't know where to start."

  Actually, Lith believed that given enough time, he could cure anything with true magic and Invigoration. But this case was different from all the others he had faced before.

  There wasn't a single patient, but hundreds if not thousands of them. Not only he would never been able to cure them all in time by himself, but also the parasites were clearly a biological weapon.

  If he declared he could cure it, any sane ruler would have demanded him to share his method, offering any sum for compensation.

  Lith wasn't willing to teach true magic, and was not skilled enough to convert an elaborate spell in fake magic for anyone to learn with so little time at hand.

  The King and the Queen looked at each other, before issuing their order.

  "Well done, Mage Lith." The royal family clapped their hands, almost making him feel guilty for his deception.

  Almost.

  "You have brilliantly fulfilled your part of the agreement. Rest assured the Crown will do the same."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty."

  "It pains me, but your Kingdom requires a further sacrifice from you, for the greater good. You will remain in Kandria, and use the best of your abilities in developing a cure for this monstrosity."

  "What?!" Lith was so shocked that his expression almost revealed the shock and outrage seething within him.

  Almost.

  "You are the one that discovered the truth about this accident, I'm sure that even with your limited experience, you will be able to offer your guidance and help.

  Do not worry about the academy. At this point, we can only declare the state of national emergency and call all hands on deck. We need the help of all the light magic specialists to solve this situation as fast as possible.

  From today onward, all the six great academies will suspend their activities until a cure it's found."

  Chapter 144 Key Moments

  Lith didn't like at all the turn the events had taken. In hindsight, it was an easily predictable outcome. Driven by his desire to stand out among the masses, he had provided them too much information, giving them hope.

  His plan to give them just enough to solve the problem on their own, letting him go back to his daily life, had actually backfired.

  "Damn, I underestimated them because of my Earth standards. Back in my world, any prime minister would have turned this scenario into a black op, removing the threat in front of him with extreme prejudice.

  Instead, they are willing to put everything at risk to save these people. They could have just turned the infects into guinea pigs, using their bodies, dead or alive, for research purposes." ¨C

  "Since no one outside this room knows that we made a breakthrough¡" The King continued. "I hereby decree all the new information pertaining the crisis and their source a state secret.

  We will divulge them bit by bit once all our assets are in place, using a cover story to avoid Mage Lith becoming a target. Officially, he'll be here only as a consultant. He will convey any further findings only to Captain Kilian, which in turn will share them with the other healers."

  The three men nodded, yet Lith kept racking his brain to find a way out.

  "If I refuse, best case scenario I will get expelled from the academy and my family will lose the corps' protection. Heck, I'd be lucky to avoid being charged of treason.

  I would be alone versus the Crown, the nobles that I offended in the past and whoever sent those mercenaries to kill me. If their contactor didn't hesitate despite I already was under the Queen's umbrella, there's no telling what he'll do next.

  Once again, I can only grin and bear it. The only silver lining is that if I get properly rewarded, I'll not have money problems for the rest of my life." ¨C

  "Before we proceed any further, I'd like to know why Mage Lith thinks these parasites are a product of Alchemy." Queen Sylpha's curiosity had been piqued by that particular statement, since she shared the same opinion.

  "Because I can't think about any other mean to infuse magic in a poison or parasite." He lied through his teeth. One of the details he had not shared, was that the worm-like parasites he had identified didn't alter the mana flow directly, but by secreting an unknown substance.

  Not only that made them living alchemic labs, but was also deviously brilliant. Even with Invigoration, Lith had struggled to overcome the mana distortion effect and identify the real source of the trouble.

  Any other mage would have fallen for that trick, devising a spell to cleanse the toxin, only for the "healed" patient to fall ill again in a matter of days.

  The reason why even Lith would need time to cure the plague, was that first he needed to find a way to remove the toxins without killing the patient, and then remove the parasites safely.

  He suspected that killing them while inside the host, or removing them forcibly would prove to be lethal for the infected.

  "Also, I read from the Captain Velagros' file that the plague spread right after the explosion of Coirn Hatorne's alchemic lab. I think is highly unlikely for it to be a coincidence."

  The Queen nodded, disappointed from the answer. She had hoped for more brilliance and less logic, more Manohar and less Marth. Geniuses were hard to come by, and even harder to keep.

  "As for you, Colonel Varegrave¡" The Queen's voice was filled with ill restrained wrath. If glares could cut, the Colonel would have already been turned in pieces not bigger than a postmark.

  "I hope you haven't forgotten your bet with the King, because certainly I have not. Your earlier blunder is inexcusable. The only reason why you'll keep your rank and position, is because we cannot afford the time to change the ownership of the Small World.

  When the current emergency will be solved, prepare to face the consequences of your foolishness. This conversation is far from over!"

  The conversation ended so abruptly, that Kilian checked the gemstone to make sure the magical item wasn't broken.

  The truth, though, was quite different.

  "I told you not to mention the bet!" King Meron still couldn't believe his fiery wife had forced him to hung up the call.

  "We had yet to listen to Lith's requests and find a way to sweeten the deal! In case you forgot, we need more than his services, we need his loyalty! We have to correct the situation as soon as possible, otherwise he will resent us and leave the Kingdom."

  "In my book, putting that Varegrave moron in his place sweetens the deal a lot!" Sylpha retorted. "This time, we will do things my way, I want him dead."

  "He is a loyal servant of the Crown!" Her bloodlust would never cease to amaze Meron. "You can't kill him off just for one mistake. It would set a terrible example."

  "It would be a great example. He disobeyed a direct order and endangered everything because he wasn't able to keep his emotion in check. What if Kilian wasn't there to stop him? What if next time he loses it, we lose another great mage for good?"

  "Fine." The King stood up from the throne, like he always did af
ter losing an argument.

  "Do you think this Lith is an Awakened one?" He asked after a while.

  "Unlikely, but possible. We had high hopes for Hatorne and Manohar too, but they turned out to be normal mages. Being a genius and being an Awakened one are two different things. We'll have to send Lady Tyris to check on him. It's the only way to be certain."

  ***

  Hundreds of kilometres away, Archmage Lukart trashed his desk in a fit of rage.

  "What do you mean, the Talons have been wiped out?"

  "Exactly what I said, sir." The voice from the communication amulet belonged to one of the few surviving members of the mercenary unit, that hadn't taken part in the latest assignment.

  "Their dog tags have activated, and that can only mean that there were no survivors."

  "It's impossible!" Lukart still refused to accept the news.

  "They were eleven versus only six members of the corps, and with the element of surprise! How is it possible?"

  "We'll investigate." The voice coldly replied. "But we will not follow up on the matter. The mission was an utter failure, we now lack the manpower for a second attempt. Your information was clearly lacking of fake, otherwise a complete wipe out would have never happened."

  "At least give me back my money! I could have bought a whole castle with that sum."

  The voice hung up the call without even answering.

  Suddenly, Lukart felt lightheaded and dizzy. Everything was spiralling out of his control. The fall of the White Griffon academy was just a small step in his master plan.

  Contrary to what his associates believed, his endgame had never been privileges, but the Crown itself. Lukart wanted from the beginning the civil war to happen, it was the only way to trigger a war with the neighbouring countries.

  At that point, the only thing he had to do was to unleash the plagues that Hatorne had spent years to develop and for what she had been handsomely paid.

  The water parasite would have crippled the Blood Desert tribes, forcing them to surrender or die. The mana parasite, instead, would have neutralized the Gorgon Empire magical army, without which they had no defences.

  First, he would have repelled the invaders, looking like a hero in the eyes of the people, becoming King by acclamation. Then, he would use them a weapon to bring all the three Great Countries under his heel.

  But now, because of that witch's paranoia, the lab was blown to bits, spreading the eggs in the wind. He could only hope that no one would discover their existence, that the Crown would just kill the infected without finding a cure.

  Manohar was the only mage whose genius was on Hatorne level, with him out of the picture, Lukart's plan was supposed to be safe.

  "What can a little runt do, after all?"

  Chapter 145 Regrets

  After the King had been forced to hung up the call to the quarantine zone, many things had yet to happen before that long day came to an end.

  Using fatigue as an excuse, Lith was escorted to his new apartments. It was a small one-man tent, around two meters (6.6 feet) high with a diameter of barely 3 meters (10'). It was completely bare, outside for a bed and a nightstand.

  It was the smallest accommodation he had ever had; the only redeeming feature was that at least he had some privacy. Unless they shoved in a sleeping bag, there was no way another person could fit.

  The first thing he did, was to check his powers. As expected, all kinds of elemental magic besides light and darkness seemed to be jammed for both fake and true magic. But while fake magic simply gave no results, with true magic he could feel an obstruction.

  It was like touching an object through plastic wrap, he could still feel the world energy all around him, but was unable to reach it with conventional means.

  Lith had no idea how the Small World worked, but was quite confident that in case of need, he still would be able to use magic if he pushed forward strong enough to overcome the invisible barrier.

  "The problem is the degree of awareness the artifact grants to Varegrave. There is a strong possibility that successful true magic, if not even my attempts, could be detected. It's best to keep it as a last resort." ¨C

  Much to his satisfaction, both spirit magic and fusion magic worked without a hitch. Either the Forgemaster that crafted the Small World was a fake mage, or he had left loopholes on purpose, to not fall victim of his own creation.

  Lith sighed, whatever was the answer, it was still a small comfort, compared to the realization he was losing control over his life, becoming a puppet in games he had no interest into.

  "You know, Solus, this may as well be the worst day of my third life. First, I was taken away from the academy, then I almost got killed, and now I have been declared a state secret. All in one day. Just imagine what could happen tomorrow."

  "It's not like they kidnapped you. They offered you a job and you took it." Solus didn't believe her own words, she was just trying to lighten the mood. She knew that as long they lived in any country, there would always be offers that couldn't be refused.

  "After that, things have got unpleasant, but at least you should be rewarded for your services. You may even get a nice home and a noble title."

  "Are you kidding me?" He snorted. "That would be the worst. If I get to choose, I'll pick money, hands down. A title would mean having underlings, responsibilities, becoming an active part of the system from which I'm trying to escape from day one.

  Not to mention being forced to attend social life, marry and take part in politics." ¨C

  He slammed his hand on the nightstand, making is sink a couple of centimetres in the soft ground.

  "Dammit, I never wanted to be a hero, nor to conquer this sh*tty world. My aim has always been to find a fix to my reincarnation problem, and then live a happy and quite life.

  Now, instead, I'm on the verge of being recognized by the Crown itself, and if that happen, my family will always be used as a leverage against me. I can already feel the shackles around my body getting tighter and tighter.

  But what options do I have? Kill my own family just to not have any more ties? And then what? Live all my life as the monster I would become, alone, spending all my life running and fighting like a mad dog?

  What is the point in having all this f*cking power for if I can't even protect the only four people I do care about?" ¨C

  Away from home, away from his friends, Lith had never felt so helpless and alone. Once again, Solus crashed against her condition.

  She knew that it was in those rare moments when Lith was showing himself vulnerable, that holding his hand or simply holding him tight would help him get rid of the walls he had built to protect himself.

  But she was just a piece of rock with a voice, and there was nothing that mere words could do. Lith had spent his first life going from a hardship to another, with people telling him to stay strong, that all will be well.

  Now, as then, he didn't need consolation. Lith needed someone capable of standing by his side and help him facing the incoming tide. Because of the Small World, she was incapable of changing shape or even using her dimensional pocket.

  Solus felt useless, wishing for a second to be just a mindless tool, to not be forced seeing the suffering of those she loved and yet being unable to offer any comfort.

  ***

  In the Colonel's tent, Varegrave and Kilian were planning the future ahead of them while drinking Dragon Water, one of the strongest and most expensive liquors available in the Griffon Kingdom, with an alcohol content nearing 50%.

  Kilian was listening to several reports from his team, while Varegrave was revising his last will.

  "The kid's story checks out. The scouts have found where Velagros' last battle should have taken place. There are indeed signs of the use of purple flames. Whoever the attackers were, they weren't willing to take risks."

  "Any survivors?" Varegrave asked as a formality, without raising his eyes or stopping the quill.

  "None. Seriously, I can't believe you are a
ble to write your testament with such a straight face."

  Varegrave drank his glass in one gulp, before refilling it.

  "I'm a soldier, old friend. I know very well I made a mistake allowing personal matters to intrude in my duty, and I'm ready to bear the consequences."

  Varegrave raised his glass in a small toast, before emptying it again.

  "That, and five glasses of Water Dragon can turn any mouse into a lion, otherwise I would be already sh*tting my pants." He admitted.

  "Is it that bad?" Kilian was used to spend more time on the field than in the royal palace. He was unaware that the recent events had made the Queen quite unforgiving.

  "Very." Varegrave sighed. "Nowadays a strong mage is worth hundreds of soldiers.

  Let's be honest, our mages do not have the blind loyalty the Blood Desert tribes devote to their mysterious leader, nor we invest so much as the Gorgon Empire in nurturing our talented ones.

  We already are on the losing end of the cold war with our neighbours for amassing knowledge and power. If my destiny rested only in the King's hands, I could hope for a demotion or a very hard but not impossible task to prove my worth.

  But, alas, as my first mistake in over twenty years of distinguished career, I had the stupidity to cross the Queen on her own turf, almost killing her new golden goose. Gods, I'd give anything to turn back time and slap my stupid self in the face."

  Varegrave folded his will, putting it into an envelope before passing it to Kilian.

  "Please when this story will be over, give it to my wife. Tell Shya it's all my fault, and not to raise our kids hating the Kingdom."

  Kilian grabbed his hand, refusing to pick the envelope.

  "You are an outstanding soldier and friend. I'm sure we'll find a way to make them realize that executing you is a mistake and get you out of this pinch. As long there's life, there's also hope.

  And by the way, if you croak, I call dibs on your sword."

  Chapter 146 Prisoner

  The following day, thanks to a full night of sleep, Lith had regained his cool, and started to plan his next moves. First, he needed to find a cure for all the four different kinds of parasites.