Enemies On All Sides

The Sewer

The sewer was pitch black darker then a night without the moon's glow. The sound of rushing water filled Desmond's ears along with the consistent thumping of his steps on the wet concrete floor. Desmond walked unimpeded in the darkness because to him the world couldn't be clearer. Before Desmond only had the lingering magic particles in the air to guide him. Now Desmond can also see the souls of everything around him. Every insect and rodent even the people rummaging around inside their homes above him couldn't escape his sight.

When Desmond focused he could combine his two sense and perceive the flow of magic inside of the rats that scurried past his feet. Every creature in the world was magical regardless of how ordinary it seemed. Even the weakest creatures are on Theotera are on steroids compared to the creatures on earth. That's because the magic on Theotera is incredibly thick compared to earth and most other places in the universe.

As Desmond walked he pondered the reason why magic was much more abundant on Theotera then earth and other places in the universe? Why did, so many gods choose to live on Theotera? Desmond thought for a while, but he couldn't give a definitive answer at the time. He only ended up pondering about such questions because of his lingering problems with immortality.

"For there to actually be a realm were you can eternaly leave your mark on the universe which everyone in it including the universe its self would have to follow is insane. Doesn't that mean gravity was created by someone along with the law of the conservation of energy or had those existed since the beginning?".

The more Desmond thought about it the more he found himself in love with Theotera. In Desmond's mind Theotera was like a feisty woman that consistently spat on him, beat him, humiliated him in public. But no matter what she did there was always something that drew him back to her allowing him to endure the same roller coaster of pain and humiliation all over again.

It had been less then an hour since Desmond left from Hunter's Bazaar he had been travelling without stop to reach the same spot he usually trained. Desmond knew that the bounty on his head would eventually attract others to his home, so he made no plans on staying there for the night .

As Desmond got closer to that place the area got more destroyed. Some of the walls had crumbled down, scorch marks littered the place from Desmond's numerous failed attempts at casting fire related spells, there was even some parts were the stone was melted from Desmond's training with acid splash.

Desmond had experimented with many different kinds of spells, but never used them because the situations he was in did not call for it or because they were unsuitable for the specific circumstance that he was in. For example Desmond could have destroyed the roof of the building he was fighting Eliot Row on or used acid splash to melt him.

But if he did that he would have gotten arrested and would have been unable to explain why he destroyed a house or melted a man in the middle of the street. As for why Desmond received a one sided beating from Eliot that was because Desmond wasn't expecting Eliot to be a complete beast when they fought. Eliot fought more like an animal then a human. Desmond was unexperience defending against such wild movements.

Desmond's fighting strength was restrained a second time when he was forced underground. Desmond was incapable of manoeuvring underground effectively. Desmond was also limited on the spells he could use because he had no magic crystals on hand to replenish his magic which was mostly used in digging tunnels.

Desmond knew he would be able to kill people with little to no consequence if he was with a clan because people in a clan can kill a mortal for almost anything. Desmond was apart of the military which did have similar perks, but they were only for full members and people in the military needed a slightly better excuse to kill a mortal. Joining a clan was impossible at the moment, so Desmond didn't regret his actions because those were the best options for him to take at the time.

As Desmond made his way past the rubble Desmond soon stopped at a wall near by. The wall looked ordinary indistinguishable from any of the others Desmond made sure of that. Except for when Desmond used his eyes to perceive the magic the wall was radiating. It was like a beacon that screamed secret base. Desmond had no way to disguise the magic the wall radiated, so he left it as is.

Desmond obtained the method to create the fake wall from his pile of books that he stole from Vincent. Occasionally a few of his memorise along with his crews would resurface inside of him helping in the creation of the fake wall. In front of the wall Desmond quickly spoke a few lines in ancient Zedrick the language mages use when using magic. Which greatly differs from modern Zedrick the language Desmond usually speaks because the language contains no understanding of natural laws behind it which amplify a spells might and help stabilize it.

Once Desmond spoke the phrase the fake wall in front of him disintegrated turning into a pile of gravel on the floor allowing Desmond to step inside. Inside Desmond spoke a different phrase prompting the wall to close behind him.

The secret room was built by Desmond to store most of his things and it was also used as a place for Desmond to rest comfortably after his training. The room was a perfect square it went 30 feet in every direction making it not cramped in the slightest and at the moment it was just as dark as the rest of the sewer.

"Illuminate"

Desmond cast the spell illuminate to light up the room, but a problem immediately arose once he did. He had accidentally used to much magic causing the spell formation to crumble and explode in a bright flash of light briefly blinding him. The unexpected spell failure caused Desmond to get a splitting headache.

"Damb it, having a strong soul is nice, but if I don't get use to it quickly i'll be forced to alter all of my spells".

Spell circles are like circuits in computers they distribute both information and power. The spells Desmond uses only have a generic structure, so none of his spells are personalized. Spell alteration was a field Desmond wasn't confident in since Desmond had no teacher and because mistakes can leave a person crippled or dead which implied to Desmond as well despite how different he is from others.

Desmond didn't try casting spells again for the moment instead he used a battery powered lamp to light up the room. He then grabbed a shovel and pickaxe laying in a corner then went to the center of the room and started to dig. The ground was rock hard, but it gave way to Desmond's strikes. Desmond's muscles bulged and glistened under the soft glow the lamp brought. His strong callous hands held each tool tightly as he dug his way 6 feet underground.

Once there Desmond took the seven treasure mystic item from the suitcase and placed it below. When the item was safely placed Desmond turned the lid releasing the smoke prompting him to get out as fast as he could. As Desmond started to climb out of the hole his eyes turned cloudy making him lose his grip and fall backwards back inside the hole. There Desmond layed still stairing at the ceiling as the hole slowly filled with smoke.

As Desmond layed on the floor multiple scenes flashed past Desmond's eyes.

...

"How long do we have to keep playing these games with that thing? It belongs in a bottle inside my lab".

"My relic only shows the opportunity my actions bring and the opportunity those around me represent ... we gained unimaginable wealth".

"Everything is subject to change by forces outside of our control".

"If his pillar ever goes dim ... kill him and devide up his soul".

"... Unlike you I didn't leave my entire race to die"

...

As Desmond watched a cruel truth play out before him he couldn't help, but shed a tear at the end. He had witnessed what what Seraphine and Zane really thought of him while he wasn't even on Ragnar's radar. Ragnar cared more about his TV show then he did about Desmond's life.

As Desmond replayed what they said about him in his mind Desmond could only come to one conclusion.

"Their all asshole's every single one. This is mages and cultivators have such a bad reputation. They didn't even have the decency to call me by my name I was just an 'it' to them a disposable tool or a fucking pile of ingredients. What is wrong with this world I've never once tried to find danger, but danger has always found me. It's almost as if someone is actually trying to kill me. Secret Visage, The Purifiers, the bounty hunters, and now those rich heartless monsters at Hunter's Bazaar".

Desmond's brain worked over time to find a way out of the incredible shit show he keeps finding himself in. He used every ounce of power his brain could muster till he finally found the answer.

"Negotiating with them is impossible I have no leg to stand on. Secret Visage will never forgive me because I used their name their group don't listen to reason to begin. Every nation in the world has difficulty dealing with them, so there's definitely nothing I can do in that regard.

The purifier's are mostly made up of ordinary humans, but they have a deep hatred for mages and cultivators. Since I am trying to become a mage negotiations will go sour before it even started. Not to mention I killed a lot of their members, so unless I can give them something they want more than me there's no solution.

As for everyone at Hunters Bazaar the problems they represents are numerous. They can kill me the second I stop being useful which could be at any time. I can't see the pillar of light, so I have no Idea when that time will be".

The more Desmond thought about it the more he felt as though he was slowly being suffocate.

"I have no other choice, to survive I have to kill them, but as I am now I can't do anything. But that doesn't mean I can't do anything at all. Zane said Seraphine left her race to die and Zane's just an all around asshole. People like them have enemies, but to scheme against them will be impossible. Zane left a bunch of bugs inside me and he could have also done who knows what to me. So, before I can act against Seraphine and Ragnar I have to kill Zane with my own hands".

During his thought process Desmond didn't say a word and he knew that he never could. Desmond was weary about what methods Zane left behind to deal with himself. He simply got up from the ditch and began to refill it with the mystic item inside.

As Desmond filled the ditch a horrible taste filled his mouth as he said out loud, "strength why does it always come down to strength. For once can it just be something else".

Strength was never Desmond's goal, but now he was forced to pursue it. He hated it with ever fiber of his being, yet now he was left with no other choice. To continue on his path if magic Desmond had to become strong.