System window

Zachary sighed for a long time in his coach. An entire royal escort had been dispatched to accompany him to the border. But for him, it was completely unnecessary.

As an Archmage, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves if he were to attack them. So if something capable of killing him appeared, they would be wiped out in an instant. Their presence was not required and even slowed him down.

They had to take more breaks, build camps, feed the men. The group was currently in the Great Plains with four other carriages and many horsemen in golden armor.

In the distance, one could see the ramparts of Erivia as well as its castle of insignificant size compared to that of the capital.

Zachary really didn't want to stop there, he would have liked to go directly to the shrine, but according to the elders he had to visit the city first.

Just to strengthen the authority of the King indirectly by the sole presence of the Magus of the court. As a Noble, Zachary understood the method well but that couldn't stop him from complaining.

But he knew that was not the only reason. After all, everyone had their secrets. Just like the one the King and Zachary shared together. What bounded them intimately.

The Archmage was currently lying on the red sofa installed in his coach. On the other side on the opposite couch were two people.

One on the left, an old man in a white robe, probably an elder, currently reading a book. The other on the right, a man obviously in his forties with a stick decorated with a blue stone at the end in light yellow clothes.

This was a color distribution that had been established long ago to divide the Kilguana mages. Their clothes, sophisticated in appearance and adorned with many decorations, were basically totally empty and simple.

In order to acquire decorations, embroidery, or ornaments, a mage must offer the kingdom something. Whether it was knowledge, completing a mission, or obtaining something important, mages were free to choose.

It is then the job of the Magus of the court and the King to decide if a mage deserves a decoration, literally. The color of their clothes, however, is quite different and depends on their rank.

Gray for apprentice mages, sky blue for new mages, green for intermediate mages, white for official mages, yellow for Master Mages, and finally, red for Archmages like Zachary's.

Despite his young age, the young man had been able to perform many feats. The information and communication network was one of them and had earned him numerous embroideries on his tunic.

Of course, these clothes were mostly official outfits that they only put on at important events or meetings. That's exactly why they wore them when approaching Erivia.

- "Monsignor, is something bothering you?" the mage suddenly asked Zachary, attracting the attention of the elder who looked up from his book.

The Archmage turned his gaze to his colleague and smiled.

- "I just want to end this political affair" he replied, returning his gaze to the ceiling again.

- "You should not take these things lightly Monsignor" suddenly resumed the elder. "This kind of visit can overwhelm supporters of an entire city and tilt public opinion."

The Archmage sighed. However, he did not refute the old man's words since he was right. After all, the very presence of the Pope in the capital had nullified the activities of non-believers, sects, or gangs.

The presence of high personalities should never be taken lightly and neither should their visit. As Archmage, Zachary was aware of what it meant in a small town like Erivia.

While he was thinking, the mage opened the curtains of one of the windows towards the city.

- "We should be there in an hour with this speed" he announced before suddenly frowning.

Zachary quickly noticed the mage's expression and stood up before looking out the window in turn before widening his eyes slightly.

- "What is that ?" he asked incredulously.

The elder intrigued came, in turn, to look out the window before being speechless. In the distance was the city of Erivia and its ramparts, but what shocked them the most was the huge black cloud that hung over the city.

While the surrounding sky was clear and blue, the cloud itself was still, as if it was fixed in place above the castle. It was emitting lightning steadily as rain continually fell below.

- "This cloud… it is…" began the mage.

- "Magic" Zachary finished with a big smile. "Meet me at the castle" he announced immediately.

The two people present widened their eyes and turned to the Archmage without having time to say anything.

A flash of light filled the cabin then the next moment disappeared with Zachary. There was only the mage and the elder who looked at each other with incredulous eyes. Without wasting time, they opened a window at the level of the coachman.

- "Send a cavalry to the castle!" Announced the mage.

The coachman understood immediately and made signs to the riders encircling the coach. The soldiers nodded, exchanged glances before about thirty horsemen broke away from the formation to get ahead of them.

Although it was rare for them to escort the Magus, they had been warned by the elders of his behavior. He was very volatile and the soldiers had no chance to limit him, they could only follow him wherever he went.

---

Franck Leatrix was at his father's office window, watching the raindrops streaming down the glass before sighing.

Twenty-four hours had passed since the Archmage and his group had left for the sanctuary. They were gone as quickly as they had arrived, leaving no time for anyone to talk to them.

Since they left, a lot had happened. Among other things, there were conspiracies that took shape in the shadows. The nobles with their plan to take control of the city or the inhabitants thinking about what will become of them.

Yves Leatrix ceding all of his possessions. No one knew why, but many postulated that he had been possessed by the elf. In the population, many called the Elven Archmage, the "Demon with the pointed ears".

But another part had started to nickname him "Oracle of Solus" and as one could guess, they were largely the devout believers of the Church of the Sun.

It wasn't that surprising. Everyone could see the great northern lights in the sky. Like if Father was bringing light upon the night. What is more, according to the priest of the city Church, his aura was full of divine energy.

The affair had even been traced back to the capital to the Pope. Franck would probably not be surprised if a Cardinal or the Grand Pontifex came to take care of this matter. The Magus of the court was on his way, why not the Church?

They had also been able to admire what the Archmage had left them and what he had called a "rune".

No one knows how it works, but everyone had gradually learned what it was capable of.

Within an hour of the Archmage's departure, the blue window nicknamed "Window of Heaven" by the peasants had attracted the attention of many.

In addition, new fields seemed to have updated with a list of "Soldier" containing, as the name suggests, the list of all soldiers in the garrison with Franck as "General".

There was an empty field "Chef" and just below it, the"Interim Chef" field containing Franck's name. He did not know how these fields were allocated. Did he have to vote to take the role? He had no idea.

All he knew was that when his name appeared as Acting Chief, a new red window appeared. The window appeared to contain an exhaustive list of many requests, some with the name of their author and others with "Anonymous" but all with the option to "Launch a poll".

He had tried to cast a ballot earlier, but didn't know which one until he found one interesting: "I'm thirsty, please give me some water."

He didn't know who submitted the request, when, or why, but it was something he thought was trivial and irrelevant. Something perfect for testing the ballot.

At least that's what he was thinking when he hit "launch a ballot". Immediately, a Y and N vote bar appeared like the last time and very quickly it filled up with Y to 75% before the motion was accepted.

Franck wasn't expecting much. The person only asked for water. Until huge blue streaks filled the sky before a huge cloud appeared in the skies.

The next moment it started to rain as the blue window read "The request has been fulfilled."

"Rain ?! For ONE person?" thought Franck.

One person asked for water and a whole cloud enveloped the city. It was just amazing and terrifying at the same time. The Archmage didn't seem to have finished surprising them.

The other part of the red window was devoted to what appeared to be internal security and defense. On one side was the list of inhabitants crossed out with the inscription "Not yet implemented" and on the other, two buttons:

"Activate dome protection"

"Going into martial law"

It was something he knew how to do. Besides the first option which was self-explanatory, the second was mysterious and strange. What could he do under martial law? What was he capable of? He didn't know and no information was available to tell him what that option did.

It was all new and although he had learned a lot about this famous "rune", Franck did not know what to do. He seemed to have become a prominent political figure all of a sudden, but that didn't prevent the fact that he was new to it. What would his father do in his place?

Moreover, the notion that someone other than the Viscount could have removed a Governor was new.

There was also the problem with the inhabitants. You could tell that most of them were traumatized by what had happened. Losing control of your body, becoming the slave of another. But there wasn't much they could do about it. After all, the culprit was an Archmage.

He sighed for a long time. They had made an enemy far too powerful for them. But today the Magus of the court was due to arrive along with the Viscount's forces. With it, they might have a chance to do justice.

But justice for what? The Archmage had taken the city hostage, punished someone many wanted dead, and left, leaving them a magical artifact capable of summoning clouds.

Maybe the artifact would explode if they did something about it? They didn't know and they were worried about it.

As the young man thought about what to do, an intense light suddenly illuminated his desk behind him, surprising him.

"He is back ?!" he pushed suddenly before turning and stepping back before resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Although he was well trained in the art of combat and warfare, against an Archmage, a simple sword for the average man would be of no use.

As he was about to call the guard, a red-figure then came in detail before the light dissipated completely.

In front of him stood Zachary, dressed in a red dress and adorned with many golden patterns including the royal seal. The Commander quickly recognized the clothes of the person standing in front of him and immediately bowed to the ground.

- "I welcome His Highness the Magus of the court" he announced quickly, placing his hand on his heart and one knee on the ground.

Even though Franck was a nobleman, he was only the son of a Baron and had never been able to meet anyone beyond the rank of Viscount. So, meeting someone close to royalty was a huge honor.

- "I did not expect to meet you like this" he began.

- "Who created this cloud?" Zachary cut in immediately.

The Archmage hadn't waited a single second, from the moment he arrived he had analyzed the many emanations of energy. The spell that had been cast here was very powerful, far too powerful for his liking.

It was a class eight or higher spell.

On top of that, the spell seemed self-sufficient and fed off the surrounding energy and mana emitted by the population to maintain its strength, giving it extreme longevity. Zachary had estimated that the cloud could stay here indefinitely like this.

Franck raised his eyes for a moment.

- "The Elven Archmage? Sort of…" he announced.

- "What do you mean "sort of?" How's it the work of the Archmage? I thought he was in neutral territories" Zachary asked, intrigued.

A few seconds passed before his eyes widened.

- "Elvish ?! So he's an elf?" he suddenly pushed, coming dangerously close to Franck's face.

The Commander nodded frantically feeling uncomfortable at the proximity of the Magus. How should he react in such a situation ?!

Zachary on his side smiled, stepping back then began to think.

From what he had observed, if this cloud was a creation of the Archmage then if they were to fight, the chances of collateral damage would be enormous.

- "Why did he come to Erivia?" he thought.

Why an insignificant little town? It didn't have much to offer. There was no mage or things of interest to an elf.

- "We have unfortunately captured what we think are agents in his service. A mage, an apprentice still probably" continued Franck.

"An apprentice?" Zachary wondered. It was not surprising that a Master would send his apprentice on missions of all kinds. So he could quickly see why the Archmage had sent his apprentice.

- "Why did you capture him?"

The Commander straightened up.

- "They tried to help a traitor to escape. We captured them without knowing who they were" he replied.

Zachary was silent for a long time and in deep thought. Things would probably get complicated when he went to see that famous Archmage.

He didn't have enough information.

- "Give me everything you know about him," he said at last.

The hour which followed was extremely enriching for Zachary, finally, he had not made the detour by the city for nothing.

"Isaac. It's not a name you hear every day. But not too foreign either. A Kilguana citizen? Unlikely if he succeeded in becoming Archmage" he wondered.

He had received all that Raphael had managed to gather as information as well as that of the scouts. Right now, he could make some guesses.

The first was at the level of the "maids" encountered as well as the fort built. From the observations described, the fort would have required an enormous labor force for its construction.

However, there was no encampment, fire, or anything that looked like people living in the nooks and crannies. From this, Zachary could guess that Isaac was probably on his own or in committee.

With that, it was possible that this Archmage was probably someone who traveled alone or lightly. A foreigner on a trip or on a mission?

But who would want to leave an Archmage unescorted? Much like Zachary, no monarch would leave such an important asset without at least a minimum of protection. Despite their power, they had to sleep and eat. There were many times when a mage had his vigilance lowered.

It was, therefore, possible that Isaac was not under the orders of another kingdom. Maybe he was a new Archmage?

If that was the case, Zachary had to recruit him at all costs. Land, privilege, or women? He did not have to count their expenses to ally himself. If Kilguana had the opportunity to acquire a second Archmage, their enemies would think about it five times before attacking them.

And even if he couldn't recruit him, he had to befriend him. He had to make sure he didn't hold a grudge over the Erivia incident.

Another thing that also intrigued him was the famous "window of the heavens" that Franck showed him.

- "The inhabitants can enter their request and I can submit them to a ballot. This is the defense window and ... Monsignor? Are you okay?"

Zachary was still, his mouth open and his eyes wide, watching with surprise, shock, and fear the window that seemed to float in front of Franck.

The Commander started to panic as he turned to the window. Was this a trap set by Isaac? How could a simple blue rectangle trigger such a shocked expression on an Archmage?

Just as he was about to close the window, Zachary's voice picked up again, slightly shaky but with no fear, surprise, or shock.

He had a tone of excitement and impatience. The kind of tone someone would take on seeing a friend they hadn't seen in years.

- "It's a system window!"