Chapter 4: A little messed up
Her sea blue eyes were too overwhelmed to meet mine.
> State of Mind: Terrified
But it was weird to some extent. For a princess to have witnessed such a gruesome scene where her comrades were impaled by apple trees, she didn't appear to be traumatized. Her fear of me was rational, but she didn't seem to care about the 16 red mages dead or dying around her. I opened my mouth to speak—
Wait, why are there spectators? I turned around and shot a glance at my followers. More than a few of them had a similar state of mind as the princess, but unlike her, they weren't paralyzed in place. Reacting to my stare, all of them got on their knees and bowed their heads. "Lord Zenith, we are unworthy of being saved by you."
'I agree,' is what I wanted to say. "Leave us." I kept my eyes on them as they silently stood up and strolled away, avoiding eye contact with me. I wonder whether they would continue to worship me if they knew my original plan was to let the red mages slaughter them. Logically, I would think no, but logic and religion are like oil and water. Anyway, I turned back to face down at the princess.
She was still on the ground, unable to stand up in my presence. I obviously had no intention of harming her, all I wanted was intel regarding the red mages. However, "It seems now is not a pleasant time to have a sensible discussion," I acknowledged our horrific surroundings. "Go home, princess. Meet me tomorrow at noon in the academy's library."
"How—" she found her courage and stuttered. "How did you know?"
Oh that's right, her identity was supposed to be hidden. Still, that question was stupid. What was I supposed to say? That I have an innate ability to analyze humans with mana? Or more realistically, 'I just killed 16 people with apples, and you're shocked that I figured out your identity?'
I simply didn't respond to it at all. I gave her a warning before I left though. "I hope you will keep this incident a secret until we speak tomorrow. It will not be in the best interest for either of us. Am I clear?" All she could manage was a positive nod, before getting on her feet and cautiously walking away.
That went better than expected if I'm being honest. I was in a slightly refreshed mood, realizing I had faced over a dozen enemies and managed to not cause a disaster. I was proud of my development thus far. And then my gloating got interrupted by the nasty groans of the red mages internally bleeding to death. I sighed, unmotivated. Got hold of a few more apples, and then finished them off.
I proceeded to head back to the inn. There were a few things I had in mind for the future. Firstly, I needed to think about how this eastern forest incident was going to affect the kingdom and the forthcoming civil war. I absolutely could not afford to overlook a mishap I made in the process of killing all those important people. Secondly, preparations for the civil war; there's an entire list of things I had in mind for that. And thirdly, I momentarily looked at my hands while walking through the streets lit with lanterns. My analysis skill triggered.
> Level: 7
> Mana Capacity: 54000
> Mana Control: E+
> Skillset: Analysis (Complexity - S) ; Biocontrol (Complexity - S) ; Seal (Complexity - S , Activated) ; Camouflage (Complexity - A+) ; Growth Spurt (Complexity - A) ; Damage Reduction (Complexity - A) ; Pigmentation (Complexity - B)
> Character Trait: Logical, Malevolent
> State of Mind: Satisfied
As anticipated, my level and mana control had increased a decent amount from that fight. That explained why my state of mind was 'satisfied,' and it's definitely unrelated to the fact that I had just murdered 16 people. Aside from level and mana control, I realized something interesting about my skillset. If you have noticed, all of the people I've encountered so far, excluding my companions, have no more than 3 magic skills. In fact, it's rare for a human to be proficient in more than 5 skills. That's because a magic skill is perceived like a field of expertise in this world, similar to how physicists and chemists are different professions.
Human beings have limited capacity in their brain to store information, and accessing those information tends to be very inefficient most of the time. How many times have you been distracted by some stupid memory while trying to remember the answer to your exam questions? That's why most of the mages study one or two main magic skills proficiently throughout their lifetime. Sure, it is possible for them to learn a side skill on the way, but if they don't use it enough, they will eventually forget it and the skill would essentially be erased from their skillset.
With that being said, will I forget a skill that I developed today in say, 100 years? A good way to answer that would be, 'technically no, but possibly yes.' You see, till this moment, I haven't forgotten about a single event that has happened since my meeting with the Omnipotent, and I am capable of memorizing thousands of words of text with just a glance. You could say that I have an eidetic memory or something along those lines, but even then, the information storing capacity in my brain is limited and is bound to run out.
However, the virus is not limited by any means, especially when it comes to storing information. And as I have already found out, the virus is largely in control of my skills, so I should never become incapable of performing the skills I have and will have in the future. A hundred years from now, I might forget about the 16 people I killed today, but I would still be able to perform my growth spurt skill. Actually, if it's going to be a hundred years, I hope to get my powers under control to the point where I can access the information directly from the virus.
Anyway, I finally reached the inn and into my room, where my companions were anxiously expecting me. "Master Zenith," Devon reacted first, worried. "I heard you were provoked into a battle."
"Those mongrels, they deserve to die a thousand times," Edith also chimed in. Since she was designed to basically be my bodyguard, she was fuming about the fact that I faced a battle without her by my side.
"Calm down, I'm fine," I put up a short reassuring smile. "I have something important to tell you two. Trouble is on the horizon, and we're going to have to get a little busy for some time starting tonight." And so, I explained what I had in mind.
First things first, I need more followers. To be exact, I needed an underground group that I can directly command however I want. I also intended to somehow make them more powerful, both in terms of social standing and magic capabilities, so that they can be useful during the civil war. Before you question it, let me tell you why I don't want my companions to fight in the war. In the kingdom I was originally supposed to reside in, my companions were basically treated like Gods among people. At first glance, it may seem beneficial to be friends with the people regarded as the highest of highs. But politically, the kingdom regards that kind of power as a tool. A tool that makes them fearless to risk conflicts, like provoking a war with another kingdom.
I wanted to avoid situations like that if possible. In fact, a big part of my plan was to ensure that this conflict against the red mages will be the last major conflict within the kingdom for a very long time. "I also don't like the idea of being pushed around by the government too much if it comes to that, so…" I put up an excited smile. "We're going to have to become obscenely rich absurdly fast." I was talking big, like earning more than 6% of the national income.
Honestly, there were too many ways to get rich with our combined abilities. But there was one method that I realized was particularly ideal. I won't explain it now, because it's going to be more fun to see it as it unfolds. I gave all the necessary instructions to Devon, and he immediately started with the preparations.
…
The next morning dawned. There was a big day ahead of us, which started with the innkeeper bringing us breakfast; sunny side up eggs and toasted bread. Delicious as they were, neither of us three could feel hunger, so we only ate for the flavor.
Edith and I left the inn, leaving Devon alone to execute my plan. The two of us headed to the academy since we both had business there. Edith was going to attend tutoring sessions under professor Feiling, while I was going to meet with the princess. Although it was my intention to stay away from the academy upon learning about the red mages, that changed after personally encountering them. The risks of enrolling into the academy was now almost non-existent, rather it was a terrific opportunity to learn everything there is to know about practical magic in one place.
Things went smoothly. We entered the library, where Feiling was summoned by Edith's request. I wandered off further into the library, exploring to find some books to pass the time. I avoided all the skill books, because I already knew they were useless to me. I ended up going into the history section, picked up a bunch of thick books written about Eden's history, sat down by a nearby table, and began reading.
You could guess that I hoped to learn a little about the political reforms of this kingdom throughout its 540 years of existence. And I did, but not enough to continue reading for that purpose. Most of what I read that made me want to read more were a few particular events, which I found absolutely hilarious.
One of my favorites was about an assassination attempt on one of the former emperor, named Croga Ang Graham. The assassin specialized in very directed and quiet magic skills, which were pretty much undetectable. And how did the king counter this? He ran circles around a huge pillar in the palace for 4 hours straight until the assassin gave up and escaped. Because obviously, the assassin couldn't strike the king with a solid pillar between them.
Another one of those stories was about a rich guy named Harmond Klow, who had a 4.5 foot long beard. And his ultimate cause of death was him tripping on his own beard and breaking his neck.
Before I knew it, a couple of hours had passed while eagerly looking for absurd historical stories. I wonder if the incident with red mages and apple trees would go down in a similar way in history. Speaking of that incident, I had no idea whether their bodies were found or not. But they were definitely searching for the missing people since most of, if not all of them were well-recognized citizens of Eden.
Anyway, it was exactly noon and I saw the familiar young girl in her first-year academy uniform — white suit with blue shirt on the inside, a gray miniskirt, and a black pair of shoes — wandering the library. She was looking around awkwardly to find me, but I wasn't disguised at the moment. So, I silently waited until she passed me. "Hello princess," I said soft and audibly. She reacted to my voice and turned around to look at me. The moment the corner of my eyes met hers, I briefly activated my pigmentation skill and turned my pupils red.
Her anxious expression changed to that of fear. "Have a seat," I tried to speak softly to assure I meant her no harm; it didn't make any difference. She sat before me on the other side of the table. I had a lot of time in my hands, so I didn't immediately broach the main subject. "I expected to see you with escorts, considering you're the princess and the only royal descendant of this generation."
There was a brief silence. It seemed like she was trying to be very careful with her words. "Wh—who are you?" she managed to get her words out.
"My name is Zenith, and I plan to preserve the peace in this kingdom by preventing a civil war between the nation and the red mages. That's all the truth you need to know about me for now. What's your name?" I was comfortable revealing that much information, because based on how she wasn't affected by the deaths of the red mages, I safely assumed that she wasn't sincerely affiliated with them.
And as I had thought, she became slightly relaxed, as if she found my intentions aligned with her own. "I am Ann Loeya Graham, heir to the throne of Eden."
"Hm… I believe you honored our agreement to not speak of what happened in the eastern forest. With that being said, were you approached by the others?"
She returned me a nod. "I told them I didn't go along. Among the Paragons of Omni, which is what we call ourselves, I have privileges that others don't. One of them, choosing whether to participate in a mission. And mission reports come after its completion, so nobody was aware that I was with them yesterday." She also mentioned that the kingdom guards investigating the missing people were misdirected by some random information about the Governor having an affair. But of course, the red mages, who were aware of the last whereabouts of their comrades, had already found the crime scene. They were conducting their own secret investigation without alerting anyone.
"I feel like there is a potential alliance here, princess Ann Loeya Graham," I leaned forward and maintained sharp eye contact. "You don't approve of the red mages, who are clearly a threat to the future of this kingdom. Yet you are affiliated with them. I think the explanation for that will determine our relationship going forward."
She was already prepared to tell me everything. And after hearing her out, it was clear why. She was fighting a losing battle to protect the kingdom, and desperately needed my help. "When my father inherited the throne and abolished all extreme religious practices, he had to fight waves of powerful mages for the prosperity of Eden. Even against the strongest of them, my father reigned victorious, a battle that shattered mountains. And since then Eden has been at peace."
As she continued, she was really stretching out the story to boast about how great of a man her father was. It was repetitive and boring, so I'll summarize it for you. What is already known is the fact that the red mages are currently in hiding, and accumulating strength to eventually take over the kingdom. When the king's beloved princess was born, the red mages saw it as an alternate approach. They were not confident about winning against the king, so they assumed they could kidnap the princess and sway him emotionally.
"Four times they tried to capture me. But fortunately we were a step ahead and foiled their plans thanks to professor Martin." She further revealed a surprising detail when I asked about Martin's involvement. "Professor Martin is also Eden's chief strategist, personally appointed by my father." Upon knowing that, my perspective about the king changed. I thought he was a prideful person for whom, being the strongest mattered above all else. "My father once said to me, 'the day when people realize that magic is more useful for the people rather than as a tool of war against them, will be the day our civilization grows to invite envy from the rest of the world.' Unfortunately, there are only a handful of people who share his perspective."
Anyway, after the fourth attempted kidnapping of the princess, she got tired of doing nothing. So, she took initiative and came up with an idea — infiltrate the red mages; I refuse to refer to them as 'Paragons of Omni', because it makes me cringe. She successfully managed to do so after joining the academy, that too without the knowledge of her father. And of course, the red mages couldn't turn her down. After four failed attempts to capture her, she seemed to be willingly coming forward to rebel against the kingdom. For three and a half years, she tirelessly worked to gather all the information she could to weaken the red mages from the inside.
Credit where credit is due, she was courageous enough to take initiative for the sake of her father and the kingdom. But I did not want to openly show my admiration, because she was being a bit boastful about it all. "If it was anyone else, they would have done nothing and regret when the kingdom falls. But I'm different, I was brave enough to change my fate and the fate of my nation." It was only a minor pet peeve though, so I tolerated it.
At this point, you may wonder if she had caused any significant damage to the red mages. Unfortunately, no. You see, even though her plan to tear them apart from the inside was good on paper, it lacked in practice. Because, she was still just an individual. The only person she could trust in this operation was her father and Martin, but she couldn't tell either of them about the fact that she had joined the red mages; they would freak out.
"About an year ago, I learned about some of the members being involved in human trafficking," she narrated. "They kidnapped children and exported them to other nations as slaves." It's worth pointing out that slavery was abolished in Eden along with the extreme religious practices. "That same night I learnt about this, I disguised myself and tracked them down to stop them." A 15-year-old girl trying to fight a mob of adults. Unless she was the protagonist of an empowering novel, she realistically had no chance of winning. So yeah, she barely escaped with her life after saving none of the children.
But nevertheless, the present situation was looking good. It seemed to me that an alliance with the princess would benefit the both of us equally, and by extension the kingdom of Eden. With a sly smile, I said, "Princess Ann Loeya Graham, for over 3 years, you have lacked the strength to fight your enemies despite them being in your arms reach. I offer you that strength you need, and more. I look forward to a great partnership for the sake of Eden." I extended my right hand for a handshake.
It would have been a grin-worthy moment if she had shook my hands, with uplifting music playing in the background. But she had to ruin it by giving me the most unnecessary warning. "Although Zenith, I must warn you. There are 5 mages among the Paragons of Omni, known as the Children of God, whose strength is far beyond our imagination. Those people you battled in the forest don't even compare, I'm afraid even you won't stand a chance against them. The only one who is capable of fighting them is my father. He has defeated them once, he can defeat them again. But amidst the battle, if they take hold of me, they will have the upper hand."
I placed my hanging hand down. "So, you want me to take the responsibility of protecting you by whatever means, so that your father can fully focus on the battle?" I was slightly annoyed, but I didn't show it. Establishing a partnership was more important than explaining to her how even if the Children of God were at the theoretical human limits in terms of strength, Edith would wipe the floor with all of them.
"Yes," now she extended her hand to seal our alliance.
> State of Mind: Hopeful
"Very well," we shook hands. About 20 minutes had passed, and the princess stood up to leave. "By the way..." I stopped her in her steps. "I heard there is something special happening in the marketplace this evening. I urge you to spread the word about this and make sure you come to see." Admittedly, I phrased it in a way that I had something to do with it, but she didn't ask any questions.
After she left, I returned all the history books scattered across the table in front of me back to its respective place on the shelves. Then I went to find Edith, who was still enduring Feiling's lectures. As my beloved companion, I hated to put her through something she clearly hated. But, it was necessary to know about the topics that would be included for the entrance exams. Regardless, she sat through more than enough for today. "Edith," I called her out softly. "We should head back now."
"Yes master," she was clearly glad, but was trying not to show it. "Professor Feiling, I shall take my leave then."
"Of course, Edith. See you soon," the old man smiled at her. He did not even bother acknowledging me though. If I had enough control over my powers, there would be a long list of terrible things I would want to do to this guy. But I don't, so I left the academy quietly.
Stepping outside, we were immediately met with a random girl who handed us each a flyer. I looked at it and smirked. "Looks like they are working hard." There was still two hours left before the exhibition we had planned started, and the flyers advertising it was being handed out through my followers. I was excited to see how crowded the marketplace was going to be.
The only thing I worried about was the guards finding the dead bodies in the forest. Because, if that news spreads, it will spread fast and everybody's attention will be on that. The exhibition would be ruined. But thanks to the woman whom the governor had an affair with, the city guards were still on the wrong track.
To pass the time, Edith and I decided to roam around the city instead of going back to the inn. We had a good time, tasting street foods, shopping for clothes and accessories, sightseeing landmarks and whatnot. It was like a date, only with a 6"4 woman who constantly addresses me as her 'master'. It sounds weird now that I think about it, so let's not call it a date. Nonetheless, I bought her new finer-looking clothes, which she was extremely happy with — buttonless dark red long coat on the outside, a collarless shirt of the same color on the inside, exposing her neck and collar bones, a tight black pair of pants, and black leather boots. We also purchased 3 matching necklaces with the idea of having Devon try and enchant his transmission magic on it, so that the three of us can always stay in contact.
Finally, we reached the marketplace to see an unbelievable crowd. I could safely say that half the city's population was gathered there. It was likely that princess Ann, Martin, and other familiar faces were among the crowd, but I didn't bother identifying them. Speaking of identifying people, there was one thing that was annoying me. With that many people in sight, my analysis skill was overworking and sending all the information to my brain constantly. Usually when I walk through the streets, I mostly focus on my environment rather than the people, but this time, everywhere I look, I could only see people. It was still only a minor issue, and I got used to it pretty quickly.
We pushed through the crowd, and reached the front. Lo and behold, a magnificent stage was in front of us with its red curtains down, and Devon standing outside it. I realized why there was such a big crowd so early. I could simply imagine Devon constructing this intriguing stage in the middle of the crowded marketplace, as more and more onlookers stayed to witness what was going to happen. He probably also used a variety of his skills to construct the stage, inviting even more attention. I can't express it enough, but I was extremely happy with Devon's work. It definitely deserved rewarding.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he used a type of sound amplification skill to reach all of his audience. "Thank you all for coming. I'm sure everyone is curious as to what is behind these curtains," he pointed back at them. "There are many answers for that. 'Something unbelievable,' 'something revolutionary,' and 'something that was only possible because of my faith in the one true God.' I present to you," he walked up to the rope connected to the curtains, and pulled it down, lifting the covers. There were 4 elegant and clean-looking robes, each in different colors. "Enchanted robes!"
As expected, there was initially stares and talks of disapproval from the audience. Because, there were 20 other shops nearby selling enchanted robes, and they couldn't see why putting it on a big stage made it special. Devon smirked and addressed the disapproval, "I know what you're thinking. There are 20 other shops here selling enchanted robes, so why does having it on a stage make it special?" He had his audience gripped by his presentation at this point. "Well before I reveal that, allow me to tell you the two main flaws with the enchanted items you're currently or have been using. One, it can only be used a few times before it loses its enchantment. Two, the enchantments are always too simple and serve a narrow purpose."
What he said was true, and anyone who knew anything about enchantments were aware of these factors. You see, enchanting is a process where you charge an item with your own mana, and giving it special instructions to automatically perform a magic skill under specific cases. Basically, imagine a lump of mana being reserved in your clothes. You can't use that mana yourself, rather it will auto-perform a specific magic skill, heat resistance for example, when the mana comes in contact with fire or excessive heat. You can already see the problem with this: that lump of mana reserved in the enchanted item is extremely limited. It can be used at most 5 times — depending on the efficiency of the instructions — before the item loses its enchantment. This was why enchanted items were generally cheap in the market.
The second problem that Devon mentioned was how only simple magic skills, like heat resistance, could be used for enchanting. This was not exactly an inherent restriction in the field of enchantment, rather methods to overcome this were yet to be invented. Consider the heat resistance example I previously mentioned. You can see why heat resistance would be classified as a simple skill to enchant, because the instructions are very straightforward; detect heat and neutralize the extreme temperature that comes in contact with the mana. Now try imagining the same for a skill like pigmentation, which would require the external mana to internally access your bodily functions. The integration is much more complicated, and there was previously no known way of doing it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in 3 out of these 4 robes" — he gestured to the red, blue, and yellow robes — "I have solved that first flaw. Why should you rely on the enchanter's measly mana to protect you, when you can rely on your own? That's right, these 3 robes will use your mana for performing its enchantments. And that means, these are the world's first enchanted items... that will last forever." The crowd gasped and burst into applause as they took in how huge this breakthrough was.
I gave this idea to Devon the previous night. For an enchantment to work, there needs to be mana and instructions. If mana is going to be inevitably exhausted, why bother storing the instructions there? Why not store the instructions elsewhere so that when it comes in contact with mana, the instructions can be carried out? This sounded very practical to pull off, and all we needed to figure out was where to store that instructions reliably. There were a few feasible options, but we went with the 'magnetic media' approach.
It's like how a floppy disk works. It uses magnetic polarities to store bits of data — north-facing means 1 and south-facing means 0 — and makes use of a magnetic head to read/write data. Devon incorporated this mechanism into the robe, along with other tools to integrate mana with the magnetically stored instructions. Let me give you a simple overview of how this works.
When the owner releases their mana into the robe, a mechanism is triggered called the 'input mechanic'. It uses a small portion of exposed mana, converts it into energy, and triggers a small motor, which in turn moves a tiny magnetic head through the magnetically stored data that is located by the waistline of the robe. Each bit of data that is read, is simultaneously translated and written into the exposed mana through another mechanism called the 'output mechanic'. All of this happens in the span of a few seconds, so it's fairly efficient.
There were certainly areas that needed improvement, like the detectably bulky mechanisms within the robe which could be smaller. But this was only for demonstration, and it's already an amazing feat that Devon managed to complete it within 14 hours. All thanks to his competence.
Anyway, now it was time for the main event. "So as you can see, these 3 robes are enchanted with heat, frost, and lightning resistance respectively," Devon continued. "At the end of this show, you are all welcome to test it out for yourself. But before that… I want to introduce you to this fourth robe," he pointed at the black robe on the far right. "This addresses the second flaw that I mentioned. In other words, the enchantment implemented into this robe is not simple. It's not ordinary. It's barely even believable. This is the result of my 20 years of hard work. Failure after failure, I have finally succeeded because of my newfound faith. I present to you, 'Another Life' — an enchantment that can revive the dead."
There was no applause this time. There was only silence and whispers, because like he said, the concept he just presented was unbelievable. "There are three things to note, however. One, it can only resurrect a person once. Two, it does not work on an already dying person. And three, which is the most important, you must wholeheartedly believe in our one true God for it to work." There was a short pause, where he allowed the audience to take everything in. "With that being said, I shall now demonstrate my resurrection right here on this stage." He began to unbutton his shirt, as the crowd gave away mixed reactions. Some were worried, some were curious, but nobody could look away at this point.
After undressing himself, Devon wore the black robe and took a deep breath. "Now, I request any one of you to come forward, and murder me on this very stage." A good portion of the people thought he was insane. Because if you think about it, he said the enchantment only worked once per person. Which means, it was the first time testing it on himself. People were hesitant to come forward, because they did not trust his word. They were not prepared to live in guilt of killing a person.
But after minutes of waiting, one man came forward to do it. He was clearly a professional mage. But also...
> Level: 43
> Mana Capacity: 3500
> Mana Control: A+
> Skillset: Slash (Complexity - A)
> Character Trait: Bloodthirsty, Apathetic
> State of Mind: Sexually excited
… a little messed up. "I hope you're ready, enchanter," he proceeded to activate his only magic skill.
"Go for it," Devon said, heard by everyone.
At this point, I should probably clarify one thing. You may think that an enchantment that resurrects a person from death sounds too good to be true. You're right, and that's because it is. That robe Devon was wearing was a completely ordinary robe with no enchantments on it whatsoever.
With a swift movement, the mage swiped his hand in the direction across Devon's neck. His magic skill concentrated mana to sharpen the air, which he could then direct in the form of a slash. Blood spurted from Devon's neck, as his separated head propelled up and fell down on the stage.
Thud!
Only a shocked moment of silence followed before the inevitable gasps and screams.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone