24 - A Side Quest!

For five hours, Wolfe and I fought without breaks or pauses.

I was having fun merely due to the fact that he's the only person so far who's been able to keep up with me for a long period of time.

Unfortunately, I could see his hands beginning to become unsteady as he held up his sword in defense.

I thought of a small Necromancer spell that may end this fight for the day.

{ Cloud of the Dead }

Thick black smoke ejected from my right hand, quickly covering the entire Arena.

If there were any dead bodies here, they would surely rise from their grave to do my bidding.

This spell is only supposed to be used for the dead, but if anyone with a pulse is exposed to the cloud long enough, their whole body would be paralyzed for an unknown amount of time. The only exception to this spell's side effect is the user.

{ Blink }

I appeared behind Wolfe and he was looking around him, trying to see through the smoke. He probably can't sense me since he doesn' t have any mana to use or any magic spells to cast.

I straightened my hand an hit him on the nape, instantly knocking him out. His sword dropped to his side and his body fell on the sand face-first.

I cancelled the spell and the Arena cleared out, hearing cheers and claps coming from our spectators.

Two healers ran towards us and they knelt beside Wolfe as I walked away. Kari and Rain were waiting for me just inside one of the doorways with approving looks on their faces. Asmodai is probably with Lydia and Mildos somewhere in the audience.

"Have you heard of the big news yet?" Kari asked as he handed me a dry towel. Wolfe is already up and about, walking towards us.

"What is it?" I wondered as I wiped some sweat off my forehead.

"King Darvan of Wildewick wants to see you." Rain answered and I paused.

"What? When?" I frowned in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Before they could answer, Lydia and Mildos came running towards us with Asmodai sitting on the Centaur's back.

"King Darvan is here." Lydia announced, panting.

We half-ran across the hallways and the buildings until we got to the teachers'quarters, which is the last building on this compound outside of the Coliseum.

I wonder what the King wants from me? I hope it's not about the crater that I caused outside of Laraudia.

"I think he's in the office of the Grandmaster." Kari said when we arrived at the building and led us to the last room on the third floor.

All of us took deep breaths before I knocked lightly on the door.

"Enter." A deep voice called out.

I opened the door and two men were waiting for us inside; a Centaur bigger than Mildos wearing black armor and an old Elf wearing white robes who looks like the older version of Kari.

They all knelt and I followed, paying our respects to both King Darvan and the Grandmaster of the Coliseum.

"Rise, children." The Grandmaster said and we obeyed.

King Darvan approached me and he leaned down to take a good look of my face. I forced myself not to frown or cringe when he sharpened his gaze on me.

"So, Mildos, this is the man who put a crater on our lovely lands? He looks harmless, though. Too bad I wasn't there to witness it." He spoke, his booming voice somehow straining my ears.

I swallowed a lump on my throat when he mentioned that incident again. But I felt my brow twitch in slight irritation when he called me harmless.

"It was an accident, Your Majesty. It was the reason why he was sent here by the High Council." Mildos answered in an unusual respectful tone.

The King hummed, his brows raised as he nodded at Mildos' answer.

"I also heard that Sir Wolfe Barrister swore to become his loyal accomplice." The Grandmaster spoke with a small proud smile on his face.

"Wolfe the True Berserker? Raveryn's strongest knight?" King Darvan looked at Wolfe and the half-Giant bowed his head slightly in respect.

"Why are you looking for me, Your Majesty?" I finally asked.

King Darvan walked towards the large wooden desk in the middle of the room and picked up a scroll. He then tossed it towards me and I caught it with my right hand.

"I have a task for you and your comrades." King Darvan's face darkened.

I opened the scroll and saw that it was a letter from Queen Lavayn. Thankfully, it wasn't written in Elvish so we could all read it without difficulty.

According to the letter, Queen Lavayn is suspecting that there is a Necromancer hidden in Erellone because of the increasing number of grave robbing that is currently occuring inside of their country.

She couldn't send the letter to me in person or by using an Elf messenger due to the intensity of the situation, so she asked a favor from King Darvan instead.

To my knowledge, Elves don't rot when they die. Their bodies stay in perfect condition unless an outside force tampers with it such as cremation. No one would suspect an Elf if they're truly dead or just a controlled corpse.

But Necromancers are just simply summoners of the dead. These corpses are just mindless zombies ready to do their master's bidding when summoned.

On the other hand, Marionettes like me can give corpses their consciousness and their lives back if we want to. We can also cut off their ties to us and let them go back to their old lives until they die again.

"A Necromancer?" I asked after reading the letter, passing it on to Mildos and Lydia.

"Yes, someone who practice forbidden magic." King Darvan said and I raised a curious eyebrow.

"Necromancy is forbidden?" I asked and all of them looked at me weirdly.

"Of course. It's been like that for hundreds of years. Any Wizard who has such power immediately needs to be locked away, especially if they become Marionettes." King Darvan growled the last word, making me grit my teeth.

"Marionettes are the most dangerous Wizards. They can control both the dead and the living, surpassing the boundaries between life and death. Whether they use their abilities for good, the power that they hold would always corrupt their minds." The Grandmaster spoke in a low voice, making me nod in understanding.

I don't want to press the subject any further to avoid any suspicions due to my lack of knowledge in this current world. I could always ask Wolfe, Lydia or Mildos later.

"When and where should we start?" I asked to change the subject as Mildos passed the scroll to Wolfe.

"I'll have Chimeras sent out for you and your party tomorrow. It's the only way to reach the floating city of Avallone, the capital of Erellone, where Queen Lavayn would like to meet you personally." King Darvan declared.

I've never personally seen a Chimera before. I heard that they're huge creatures with the head and body of a lion, the wings of a dragon, four talons of an eagle and a tail of a goat.

But something feels off about this whole situation and I intend to find out.

{ Enthralling Words }

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask why you chose me for this task." I looked at him in the eye, feeling the familiar chill down my nape.

"I was supposed to give this task to Wolfe since he has a keen eye for powerful Wizards, but the Grandmaster recommended you. Now I know the reason why." He said, nodding towards the old Elf.

I've never met this Grandmaster before in my entire duration of stay here, but I guess he's been hearing about me in these past few days. After all, I've been the center of attention ever since I beat Kari and Rain on my first day.

"I can see the confusion in your face, child. I may not leave this room that much, but Kari and Rain are my two eyes and ears." The Grandmaster spoke and I looked at the two behind me, raising at eyebrow at their wide grins.

Well, I guess it's time to go adventuring again.

"What time do we leave, Your Majesty?" I asked with a determined face.

"At dawn." He shortly answered and I nodded sharply.