Chapter Twenty One.

Chapter Twenty One: A botched ritual…

Roughly*an*hour*before*Greg*appeared*before*his*uncle…

Greg's movements weren't hurried as he walked after Nolruk. The gap between him and his cousin had grown to roughly a hundred meters. Greg had allowed this because they were still in the vicinity of the town. Even at the edge, there would be too many people who'd notice it if he ran after his cousin. If anything happened to his cousin, and people noticed him running after him right before it did, it would be really hard to evade suspicion. At least with this much distance between them, someone would have had to have been keenly watching the two of them to pick up on the fact that he was following his cousin. Even after his cousin disappeared into the tree line, Greg didn't speed up. He calmly maintained the same speed as he continued to follow. It wasn't until he was past the tree line that things changed.

Greg had already lost sight of his cousin by the time he got to the trees. This, however, didn't bother him. Channeling Olivia's mana, Greg reached into the storage ring and took out a vial of heightened-sense potion. Without missing a beat, he tossed his head backward as he emptied the contents of the vial into his mouth and down his throat. After four straight days of using this potion multiple times a day, he had gained some measure of resistance to its tendency to overwhelm the senses. As such, he wasn't as adversely affected as he was the first time he took it. Given that it was evening time, there weren't that many people in the forest to begin with. Within five hundred meters of him, apart from his own, Greg could only pick up the sound of seven other steps. And of the seven, only one was moving away from the town.

Sending the empty vial back into his storage ring, Greg drew another vial full of a dark liquid from the ring. This time, it was the paralytic that he usually used on the three-tusk boars that he'd withdrawn. Along with the paralytic, three daggers were also now floating in the air around Greg. One of the daggers slowly descended tip first into the vial full of the dark liquid before coming out, pointing forward, and shooting off at a blinding speed. With his potion-enhanced hearing, Greg heard his cousin's yelp of pain the moment the flying dagger sunk into his calf. With the hissing sound that escaped through gritted teeth, Greg could tell that his cousin had turned his head around and was probably looking down at the dagger embedded deep in his calf. He would probably lean down and try to pull it out, but judging by the sound of a body falling on the dried leaves on the ground, he didn't succeed. The paralytic Greg had used was powerful enough to paralyze three-tusk boars, a much smaller target like a human would barely last ten seconds before succumbing to its effects.

When Greg came across his cousin in an awkward position, he realized that Nolruk must have gone down on one knee to pull out the knife before his body slumped forward as a result of being paralyzed. Not bothering with the knife in his cousin's leg, Greg picked him up and threw him over his shoulder before continuing deeper into the forest. They were still close enough to the town that someone might come across them by chance. After four days of carrying boars that were over two hundred kilos, his cousin's weight barely even registered to him. He may have been using a strength-enhancing potion at the time but still, his body had muscle memory of how heavy the boars were. Compared to that, carrying his cousin was a breeze. Activating the shoes of haste, Greg turned into a blur as he shot forward at a blinding speed. Once again Greg was awed by the usefulness of the subtlety pants as he moved through the forest. Without them, Greg was certain that he wouldn't be able to maintain his maximum speed as he moved through the trees. Even at his top speed, the enchantment on the pants made every move that Greg made come off smooth and fluid. Like a phantom, he moved through the trees. The dainty steps enchantment made it so that he didn't collide with anything while the quiet steps enchantment made sure that he barely made any noise or left any obvious trails as he moved.

Five minutes later Greg was deep enough in the forest that the chances of someone randomly coming across them were small enough to be negligible. Placing Nolruk on the ground with his back against a tree, Greg took out a length of rope from his storage ring. This was an enchanted rope that could lengthen or shorten at the whim of its owner. Tying up one of Nolruk's hands, Greg moved around that tree before tying up his cousin's other hand such that, Nolruk was left reverse hugging the tree he was tied to. All this while, not only had Nolruk remained conscious, but his eyes had also been open throughout. Paralyzed as he was, however, there was nothing he could do to fight it. Buying the antidote to the paralytic from the system for 1000 magic points, Greg forced the liquid down his cousin's throat. It only took a minute of waiting before the paralysis started to wear off. His cousin's formerly expressionless face quickly turned into a grimace of pain as he once again regained the ability to move his facial muscles.

"I ask and you answer," Greg stated briefly. The statement wasn't a question or even a demand. The calm manner in which he said the words made it seem like he was commenting on the fact that the sky is blue. The cold look in Greg's eyes, however, left no doubt that Nolruk would be in a world of pain if he didn't comply.

But rather than directly reply to the threat, Nolruk was preoccupied with something else. He was paralyzed by whatever toxin his cousin had dipped the dagger in. He, however, had been conscious all through. Not only was he still reeling from the impossible speed with which his cousin had moved, but he'd also watched him pull out a rope from thin air to tie him up. Nolruk couldn't help but grit his teeth with jealousy and a feeling of being wronged. Why was everyone around him gaining strange new abilities whereas he remained the same weak and mundane individual? It wasn't fair.

A sigh escaped him as he shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind. "Ask whatever you want," He replied calmly. He may have been his father's accomplice, but it wasn't out of loyalty or anything of the kind. Part of it was because he wanted to gain the powers his father had for himself. Another part, however, was because he knew just how cruel the man could be when things didn't go his way. Nolruk was already scared of him when he didn't have powers, now that he had them, there was no way he would have dared defy the man. However, just because he was willing to comply, didn't mean his hatred for the man had ebbed in the slightest. If he could, even in a little way, get back at his father by telling Roka everything. Then he was more than glad to.

Greg had been expecting some resistance from his cousin. He wasn't a sadistic person by nature, but to protect his life and that of his mother and sister, Greg had even been willing to torture the answers out of him. But from the calm expression on Nolruk's face, he could see that his cousin had no intention of resisting. However, just because Nolruk wasn't resisting, didn't mean that Greg trusted him! Not by a long shot. Greg's eyes narrowed as he regarded his cousin. "If you try and lie to me…"

"I have no reason to lie to you," His cousin cut off whatever threat Greg had been about to utter with a bored tone and a roll of his eyes.

'Olivia, is there a way to ensure he's not lying? " Greg mentally asked his familiar. His life and that if his family was riding on this, Greg wasn't willing to gamble on the honesty of his cousin.

DO YOU WISH TO BUY THE CONFESSOR'S TINCTURE FOR 7000 MAGIC POINTS?

YES/NO

A prompt appeared from the system.

'It may be a tier one potion, but even third-tier mages have difficulty resisting its effects,' Olivia spoke up in Greg's mind. "For a whole day after taking this potion, not only will one be compelled to answer any question that they are asked, they'll also be unable to lie," She explained. "The only thing you have to take note of when using this potion is that just because someone thinks something is true doesn't mean that it is," She cautioned. "For example, if someone truly believes that the sky is red, the potion won't make them say blue, it'll compel him to answer in accordance to what they believe to be true, that is red," His familiar explained.

Without wasting time, Greg bought the potion from the magic store. He wasn't looking to learn the truths of life from his cousin. All he needed to know was what his cousin knew. With that, he'd at least be able to form a plan of attack. The potion took ten seconds to materialize inside his storage ring. As soon as it did, Greg didn't waste time in taking it out. Greg didn't miss the shock and jealousy in Nolruk's eyes as a small vial full of a silvery liquid appeared in his hand. He, however, didn't care what his cousin thought or felt about the little trick of pulling an item out of a storage ring. Holding up the vial to Nolruk's eye level, he coldly ordered. "Take this!"

His cousin eyed the vial with clear suspicion. "What's that?" He asked.

"A little something to ensure you speak nothing but the truth," Greg coldly replied.

"Look, I've already told you, I'm not going to lie to you. I have no reason to. I'll tell you everything you…" His cousin tried to counter, clearly not willing to take the strange liquid his cousin was offering.

"You have only two choices here," Greg cut in, his tone glacial. "Either you drink this willingly, or I stab you a second time and you still take it," He stated in a tone that relayed that no third option would be forthcoming. "And just so you know, I won't be stabbing you in the calf the second time around," He coldly warned.

A helpless look crossed Nolruk's expression as he gave the vial full of the silvery liquid another look. Much as he was loathe to do so, he knew that he didn't have a choice in this matter. Whether he liked it or not, he was at Roka's mercy. With a grim expression, he nodded once in assent. Wasting no time, Greg brought the vial to Nolruk's lips and tipped the contents into his mouth. Greg didn't have to confirm whether his cousin had swallowed the potion or not. Seconds after taking the potion, Nolruk's irises, which were usually a warm caramel brown, turned to the same silvery sheen that the potion had while it was in the vial. According to Olivia, this change was what one looked for if one wanted to know whether someone was under the influence of the confessor's tincture or not. Greg couldn't help but notice that not much else changed about his cousin. He wasn't lulled into any kind of daze or stupor in which he would be unaware of what he was doing or saying. He was fully conscious and aware of everything around him, if what Olivia said was true, he just lacked the ability to lie.

"Tell me, why does your father want to kill me?" Greg posed.

This had been the most pressing question on Greg's mind ever since he began to suspect foul play from his uncle. Try as he would, he could never come up with any memories that would justify his uncle's desire to kill either him or his father. As best as he could tell, his uncle had just decided to become homicidal on a whim, like a bolt out of the blue. Greg, however, knew that such drastic changes never happened without a reason. If he could get to the bottom of it, then perhaps he'd be able to figure out how to tackle the problem before him.

"For a ritual," Nolruk answered calmly. "He wants to kill you because the powerful entity he came into contact with through the staff revealed to him a number of rituals that could grant him great power" His cousin explained. "One of those rituals requires the blood of one's direct kin in the first stage, in its second stage, it requires the blood of the first sacrifice's direct kin," He added.

"Wait, what staff are you talking about?" Greg was forced to ask as he found himself feeling like he'd started reading a book from the middle instead of the beginning. The fact that he could sense some unease coming from Olivia made the question even more pressing. Greg doubted the familiar was even aware of the fact that her unease was leaking through their bond. A fact that, somehow, made it all the worse.

Greg listened carefully as Nolruk relayed how his father had come home from a hunt one day with an ornate staff that was finely carved and held a large jewel at the top. His father's intention at the time had been to sell it, thinking that it had to be a very valuable item. Seeing as he'd come back home in the evening, however, he couldn't immediately sell it and so he had to keep it for the night. The next morning, Nolruk's father woke up claiming that he'd come into contact with a deity of some kind and that he'd gained great powers. At first, Nolruk thought his father had lost his mind. But as subsequent days would come to prove, the man was completely sane and he had indeed gained new supernatural abilities that he didn't previously have.

Greg could feel his familiar's unease grow the more he listened to what his cousin was saying. Just as he was about to ask Olivia about it, the familiar spoke up first. 'Ask him if his father's physical or mental condition has been deteriorating ever since he got the staff?' Olivia prompted, not in any way hiding her worry.

"Has your father been getting worse ever since he got the staff?" Greg posed. "Physically, I mean?" he added on. Greg chose to start with this aspect as he clearly remembered how physically unhealthy his uncle had looked when he saw him just five days prior at the event organized by his mother. Compared to the uncle in his memories, the one he saw then looked like a sickly and emaciated version of the former. Despite this comparison, however, Greg still asked as he wanted to get a first-hand account of what was going on.

There was a measure of surprise in Nolruk's eyes as he looked up at Greg with his now silvery eyes. "How did you know?" His cousin asked.

"Answer the question!" Greg firmly countered, not willing to reveal anything about Olivia.

His cousin winced at the hard tone of Greg's voice, still, he nodded. "Ever since he got the staff and started gaining new abilities, it's like he started withering," Nolruk relayed. "He has grown thinner, his hair is falling out, his eyes are sunken and the lines on his face seem more prominent," He laid out. "The man used to seem so big and strong," His cousin went on. Something about the tone of his voice left Greg with the impression that this was more of an unconscious statement rather than a direct answer to his question. "Make no mistake though," Nolruk continued, turning to look up at his cousin. "My father is now a lot more powerful than he ever was before," He declared.

'Fuck!'

Greg could feel his unease spike sharply when he heard Olivia curse in his head. The familiar seemed to be pacing around in whatever mind space she usually disappeared into whenever she entered his glabella. 'What is it?' he immediately asked through their mental connection.

'Well, there's some good news and some really bad news,' Came the reply from his familiar. Even just by her tone and emphasis, Greg could tell that she thought that the bad news far outweighed the good news. Before he had the chance to ask what the bad news was, Olivia continued. 'The good news is that you don't have to do anything,' His familiar declared much to Greg's confusion. 'In a week or two, your uncle should die on his own,' She stated.

Greg's shock and confusion were clear to be seen on his face as he took in the familiar's words. 'What do you mean he'll die on his own? How?' Greg questioned.

'The answer to that question is the really bad news,' She replied. 'The reason this is such a bad situation is because we are dealing with a tier zero mage,' She relayed, leaving Greg even more confused.

'Tier zero?' Greg repeated in a questioning manner.

'This is one of the reasons I warned you against meddling with the unknown,' Olivia commented in an unnerved tone.

It took a bit of thinking before Greg's eyes went wide with shock and fear as he remembered that Olivia had given this warning in reference to entities at the level of deities. 'Wait, you mean that the entity my uncle is connected to through this staff is a god?' Greg posed, feeling like his legs had suddenly turned to jelly. He was just starting on his magic journey. He wasn't even a first-tier mage yet, how was he supposed to deal with an entity at the level of a god?

'Whether any such being is a god, is a matter of opinion,' Olivia corrected. 'Each of the many religions out there has a deity that they believe in that they consider to be a god,' She relayed 'Ask any group about another's deity and chances are that they wouldn't see that deity as a god,' She explained. "Still, that doesn't make the situation we are in any less terrible," She stated.

'Deities are whimsical beings,' Olivia spoke up in a grave tone. 'You humans tend to project your own views of what you think such powerful entities should be like onto them. Kind people think that they are kind, the cruel will think that they are cruel, and the wise will think that they are wise. Those that are warriors tend to think of the deities as powerful warriors and those that are pacifists will think of deities as peace-loving entities,' She relayed. 'The reality is that most of the beings at this level aren't restricted by any of the definitions we place upon them. They are not kind, cruel, wise, warriors, pacifists, defenders of good, agents of evil, or any other nonsensical qualities that you might wish to label them with,' She relayed. 'The only quality that is true across the board for all beings at this level is that they are powerful!' She relayed. 'Powerful enough that whatever they desire they do and if you don't like it, you can go die in a ditch for all they care! The only being powerful enough to get in the way of a deity is usually another deity. And the only time a deity will interfere with another is if they start to encroach on their domain, other than that they tend to not care what other deities are doing,' She explained.

'To such entities, there are only two motivations to do anything,' Olivia continued. 'Power and amusement,' she laid out. 'Being the long-lived beings that they are, not much in the mortal world interests them. They could take what, to them, is a short nap and when they wake up, a hundred generations have gone by and anyone who even remotely knew of them is just bones in the earth. Ninety percent of the deities out there aren't even known to humans as they just simply don't care enough to interact with them. When deities interact with mortals, it's usually because it benefits their power somehow, or they are simply bored and are looking to gain some kind of amusement from the lower beings. In both cases, whether what they do helps or harms humans in the process, is a question that never crosses their minds,' She relayed. 'The same way you never pause to consider whether ants get crushed underfoot when you are walking is the same way that they view mortals,' She explained.

'This is why tier zero mages have the potential to be so dangerous,' Olivia finally brought the discussion back around to where she started. 'Normally, deity-level beings ignore humans, but every once in a while, a human will draw the attention of one,' she stated. 'If you don't get immediately killed, congratulations, you've beat ninety percent of the idiots that try to come into contact with powers they don't understand. Of that remaining ten percent, most will just become believers in a new deity, some may even become a priest or sorcerer as a result. A select few, however, will succeed in channeling the powers of said deity. It is this last group, that is referred to as tier zero mages,' She relayed.

'The reason they are given this designation is that they are no longer in the normal progression of the mages that rely on mana and their understanding of magical principles to grow more and more powerful. Tier zero is less of a stage of being a mage and more of a death sentence for those that get it. The reason for this is simple. Human beings, no matter how powerful, are not built to handle the kind of power deities have. Sure, one who was initially a mage will last longer as a tier zero mage than one who wasn't, and one who was a higher tier mage will last longer than one who was at a lower tier. The end result for all of them, however, is that their bodies, and sometimes even their minds, eventually break down as a result of being forced to handle a kind of power and knowledge that they were never meant to handle,' She explained. 'Think of it like a candle. The flame a candle produces isn't that hot or bright. But it is precisely because of this that a candle can last long. If the candle suddenly started to produce the heat equivalent to a furnace, it would melt in a matter of seconds,' She declared.

'Your uncle is a mundane human. His body hasn't even learned to handle normal mana let alone the kind of divine magic deities employ. Every time he uses that magic to cast a spell, he is burning his vitality away in exchange for that power. Even if he was to stop right now, he'd live no longer than a month. His body has already been touched by something it should never have come in contact with. It's breakdown is now imminent and can no longer be reversed. It's no longer an issue of if, but when,' Olivia relayed. 'If you wait him out, you can win without even having to lift a finger,' She informed him.

Greg could read between the lines of what Olivia was saying and couldn't help the anger in his voice as he asked his familiar. 'I hope you are not asking me to abandon my family to that lunatic just to save myself!' He growled mentally.

'I'm only making you aware of all the options open to you,' Olivia replied, clearly not bothered by his anger. 'I may have just told you of all the dangers of becoming a tier zero mage, master, but make no mistake, a tier zero mage is one of the most powerful foes you'll ever have the misfortune of facing,' She cautioned. 'Especially if driven right to the edge where they stop holding back and decide to draw on every bit of divine power they can. Not even I can confidently say that I'll come out on top in that fight,' The familiar admitted without the slightest bit of shame. 'This is why it's always advised that when facing a tier zero you take them out in as few moves as possible. If you can't do that and you give them the chance to go berserk, chances are, you won't win that fight," She informed him. 'If you can't take out your uncle in ten moves or less, then it's not a fight that you can win, master. If you get killed trying to be brave, your family won't be any less at the mercy of your uncle than if you were to allow him to self-destruct. The only difference is whether you'll be alive or not at the end when it's all said and done,' The familiar advised.

Greg could feel his jaws clenching. He couldn't really fault Olivia for saying what she had. Greg could see where she was coming from and why she would advise him to run away from this fight. Heck, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't afraid himself. This was a deity that they were talking about, after all! A very big part of him wanted to agree with her and just avoid having to face his uncle altogether. 'I'm sorry Olivia, but I can't abandon my family,' Greg voice what the other smaller but much more stubborn part of him kept shouting to him. 'Even if it takes everything I have to do so, I will keep my family safe!' He declared in a tone that relayed that he was saying this just as much to himself as he was to her.

A resigned sigh was transmitted across their connection by the familiar, followed by a radiant smile. 'I am yours to do with as you please master,' Came the words of support from his familiar.

Greg could tell that she meant every word. A frown, however, crossed Greg's expression at the familiar's words. 'I don't plan on giving you up in exchange for my family, Olivia,' Greg spoke up.

An amused smile crossed their connection as the familiar asked. 'You don't have any magic Greg, whereas I am a tier two mage,' She relayed. 'This isn't about giving anyone up, it's just a simple look at who has the better odds of coming out on top,' She declared.

'We have about one point three six million magic points,' Greg declared after checking in his system. These were the magic points that he'd earned when he had the healer try and heal his scars. The total had initially been one point four three million magic points. It had, however, gone down by roughly seventy thousand points as a result of all the items and potions that Greg had bought in preparation for facing his uncle. Greg had told Olivia to not allow him to touch the one million magic points he'd need to buy the awakening potion. So, for all intents and purposes, he'd only had three hundred and sixty thousand magic points to spend. Things, however, were different now. 'Let's spend every last point if we have to,' He declared. 'I'm sure we can come up with some way to kill my uncle,' he urged.

There was a bit of silence from Olivia's side before she spoke again. 'Okay then, ask the boy to tell you every single spell and ritual that he's seen his father cast,' She instructed. 'Just like normal mages, not all tier zeros are equally powerful. The fact that he was a mundane human before becoming a tier-zero mage is already a plus for us. Without great knowledge of magic and its principles, he won't be able to make full use of the power that he has gained. If we can get a better measure of just how powerful our foe is, we may be able to come up with an effective strategy to deal with him,' Olivia relayed.

Greg proceeded to do as instructed and questioned his cousin. "What rituals and spells have you seen your father carry out?" He asked.

"I haven't seen my father perform many rituals," Nolruk replied. "He mostly keeps me around either as an errand boy or as someone to help him up whenever the magic takes too much of a toll on him. I've only seen him perform two rituals so far," His cousin continued. "The first was when he was sacrificing your father. He was the one carrying our water that day and had laced it with a drug that would make one weak, disoriented, and sleepy. You were completely knocked out by the drug, but your father, being much stronger than you, was weakened and disoriented, but not knocked out by the drug. My father had to use his magic to restrain him and force him onto the ground," he explained. "Once that was done, he began drawing strange symbols on the ground and chanting in a strange language as he moved around your father. And… and then…" there was a pause in Nolruk's words almost as if he wasn't sure how to explain what happened next. "There was a tear in the air," He said. "It's almost like someone had punched a hole in reality," His cousin relayed.

'Damn!' Greg heard Olivia curse in his mind. There was no panic in her voice, just consternation. 'Opening a doorway between two planes without knowing where the other side leads to, is a very dangerous and stupid thing to do,' She stated. 'If the wrong thing had come through that doorway, there is almost no limit to the amount of damage that could be done,' She informed him. 'This very mountain we are on could have easily been leveled if not worse,' she relayed.

"My father had planned to finish the two sacrifices in one go," His cousin had continued talking. "Unfortunately for him, he had overestimated his abilities. By the time he finished with your father, he was too strained and in no shape to carry out another ritual. My father, however, is nothing if not stubborn. Besides, he was afraid that if you woke up, you would reveal everything that had happened. So he insisted on going through with the sacrifice," Nolruk explained. "Everything went wrong right from the start. When the tear in the air opened once again, it was immediately clear that it didn't lead to the same place that the first doorway did. The feeling that the first tear gave off was baneful, malevolent, and terror-inducing. It's almost like it led to a place where all the worst things that a person could imagine, existed. The second tear, however, was far… far worse," His cousin reported, a visible shudder going through him. "On the other side of that tear, was something so powerful that if it had deigned to look through the tear, the very act alone would have probably destroyed the world and everything in it," Nolruk recounted with fear. Greg wanted to believe that his cousin was just exaggerating in his telling of the events. He, however, remembered that his cousin had taken the confessor's tincture. A potion that only allowed him to state what he truly believed. Perhaps it was his unfamiliarity with magic that made him give the overestimation, Greg decided.

His cousin looked up at him, a small smile on his lips "I was right!" he said, much to Greg's confusion. "I kept trying to tell my father, but he wouldn't believe me," Nolruk stated. "Not that he ever does. But I was right!" He declared once more.

"What are you talking about?" Greg asked, unable to follow the sudden twist in the conversation.

"When he saw that the ritual had gone wrong, my father immediately began trying to undo the ritual. Luckily for us, erasing the symbols he'd drawn on the ground seemed to be enough to destabilize the tear and cause it to start to close. Also, whatever it was that was on the other side of the doorway wasn't interested in us enough to try and keep it open," he relayed. "I was busy helping my father erase the symbols at the time, however, as the tear was closing, I'm almost certain I saw something cross over and enter your body Roka!" Nolruk declared. "That's how you gained magical abilities just like my father, isn't it?" he asked, sounding convinced that he'd arrived at the correct conclusion.

Greg barely heard the rest of Nolruk's flawed conclusion. His eyes had gone round as saucers when he heard his cousin's revelation. A single question kept ringing in his head. W… was the ritual Roka's uncle had botched the reason that he had crossed over into this world?…