VOLUME 12: CHAPTER 5

VOLUME 12: CHAPTER 5

‘It has to work.’

Jacob Fraser’s heart pounded as he made his way to the Fourth Tower of Mages located in the imperial capital.

During their journey back to the Empire, Fraser read Lost Paradise, the book given to him by King Lark, a total of three times. Fraser found the story depicting the struggles of the main character in the book mundane, almost boring, but what made him read through the book several times were the breathing techniques in the story.

The mana breathing techniques were described in detail, and true to what King Lark said, they were also applicable in real life. Not only were the mana breathing methods efficient, they were also relatively easy to use when compared to what was taught in the magic academies of the Empire.

Moreover, there was also knowledge regarding herbology, pressure points, and alchemy in the book. And most importantly, details related to the Seven Weeks Disease were also included in it – the symptoms, the source of the curse, and the three known cures for it.

The story in Lost Paradise was fiction, but the trove of knowledge written in it was real.

The book was so invaluable that Fraser couldn’t believe the King of Lukas made it available to the public. And as though he didn’t mind spreading the knowledge, he even handed the book to him, an imperial court magician, for free.

It was dumbfounding.

Lost Paradise wasn’t a book one should be able to buy with money.

“Welcome back, Vice Master.”

The mages of the Fourth Tower greeted Jacob Fraser the moment he entered the tower.

“Master Haldor has been expecting you. He told us to relay this message – visit him in his laboratory once you’ve returned.”

Hearing this, Jacob Fraser frowned.

What sort of inhumane experiments was the Master up to now?

“I will,” said Fraser.

He decided to visit the laboratory of the Tower Master after visiting his research room.

After that short dialogue, Jacob Fraser went straight to the ninth floor. He dispelled the magic protecting the steel door, and unlocked it with a key. He pushed the door open and entered the room. After a soft creaking sound, the door closed behind him automatically.

Fraser activated the luminous gemstones on the wall, then approached the glass tank filled with clear liquid at the center of the room. Submerged inside was a naked boy in his early teens who held great semblance with Jacob.

“Blake,” said Jacob Fraser.

He was Jacob’s younger brother, and one of the remaining survivors of House Fraser. This boy was the sole reason Jacob Fraser agreed to become a royal court magician and a lapdog of the Empire.

Jacob deeply breathed in and out. He opened the book, Lost Paradise, once more, and read the part related to the Seven Weeks Disease. Although he’d memorized the methods by heart by now, he wanted to be sure. He felt uneasy, since the moment he removed his little brother’s body from that tank, there would be no turning back.

“Mushroom’s Revenge,” muttered Jacob Fraser. “What a ridiculous name.”

Jacob approached the lever next to the glass tank and pulled it all the way down. A rumbling sound was heard. The liquid inside the tank sloshed and bubbled, as it slowly subsided.

After all the liquid inside the tank had been drained, Fraser opened the glass and took out the unconscious body of his little brother.

“King Lark,” said Jacob in a trembling voice. “Please, I hope you’re right. If the methods written in this book are true, I will be sure to repay this favor, as long as I’m alive.”

According to Lost Paradise, there were three ways to cure someone with the Seven Weeks Disease.

The first one was to give the patient a liquified form of the rare plant called Tears of Ubroxia. This method was out of the question since the plant was so rare it was hard to find one, even in dungeons. According to the book, Tears of Ubroxia normally grew in mana-dense regions. And Fraser would probably need to go to a dungeon where a Dragon lived, or somewhere similar, if he wished to find the flower.

The second method was to burn the body of the patient, killing the roots of the mushroom in the process. Although barbaric, it was straightforward and should be feasible with the help of a healing potion. Fraser decided to use it as a last resort in the event that the last method didn’t work.

And finally, the third method: manipulate the mana within the patient’s body and forcefully make the mushrooms sprout, then pluck them out.

The first one aside, all of these methods sounded so simple, and Fraser realized that the only reason healers weren’t implementing this cure was they didn’t know the origin of the disease in the first place.

Who would have expected that the curse, which had a hundred percent mortality rate, was due to a mere mushroom?

It was infuriating when he thought of it.

It was preposterous that the Great Empire hadn’t been able to find a cure for the curse despite its long history. There were even hardly any records related to the disease in the imperial library.

‘It’s not that they couldn’t,’ thought Fraser. ‘They didn’t bother to.’

Jacob Fraser came to this conclusion.

Although the Seven Weeks Disease was fatal, there had been only a handful of people reported to have acquired it in the Empire. It wasn’t contagious, and the incidence was one in three hundred thousand. From the standpoint of the Empire, it would be a waste of manpower and resources to find a cure for such a rare disease. They would be better off allocating the funds to the development of profitable medicine.

Well, if a prominent noble caught the disease, the Empire would probably spare some manpower to find a cure for the curse. But nobles didn’t normally go eating unknown mushrooms in the middle of a forest, thus the disease was always contracted only by commoners.

Jacob’s little brother was probably the only exemption to this.

“Blake, everything will be alright after this.”

Those words were more of a reassurance to himself than a promise to his little brother.

Jacob Fraser placed the body of his little brother on a table. He put his index finger on Blake’s forehead and started infusing mana into it, following the pathway written in the book of King Lark. Slowly and carefully, the mana slithered through the boy’s body. It was gradual, but the black and brown patches on the boy’s skin started fading away.

When ordinary-looking mushrooms started growing out of the boy’s body, and when he plucked them out one by one, but no wounds were created on the skin, Jacob Fraser trembled.

It was working.

The flow of mana, the disappearance of the skin patches, and the mushrooms sprouting – the phenomenon was exactly as described in the book.

By the time Jacob Fraser was done plucking all of the mushrooms, his little brother, Blake, looked like an entirely different person.

The boy was still skinny, but he no longer reeked of death and looked as though he would die at any moment.

It felt surreal that the problem Fraser had been worrying about for years had been resolved easily like this.

For the first time in his life, Fraser felt gratitude for the Emperor’s decision to send him as Princess Luna’s escort. Had he not met King Lark, he would probably still be lost by now.

Suspended Animation wasn’t perfect. And intuitively, Fraser knew that his little brother had only a year at most left to live. Jacob Fraser felt lucky that he’d been sent as one of the envoys and met the King of Lukas, the only person known to have cured the Seven Weeks Disease.

It felt like a stroke of fate, now that he’d thought of it.

Even the Ring of the Vice Master he’d given the leader of the information guild felt like a cheap price to pay, now that his brother was finally healed. Even if he’d been ripped off in that deal, so what? In the end, he obtained crucial information and obtained Lost Paradise from King Lark.

Jacob Fraser wrapped his little brother in a cloth and gently carried him in his arms. Strangely enough, the boy felt warm.

“As promised,” muttered Jacob. “I’ll repay this debt back several fold, Your Majesty, King Lark.”

***

It would probably take a few days before the boy regained consciousness, considering the fact that he’d been in quiescence for several years.

After feeding the boy with a healing potion, Jacob Fraser placed him on the bed in his room, then went to the laboratory of the Master of the Fourth Tower of Mages.

When Fraser arrived at the laboratory, Haldor, the Tower Master, was in the middle of disseminating orders to his assistants. Haldor greeted Fraser the moment he entered.

“Look who we have here? You’re back, Vice Master,” said Haldor. He stared at Fraser. “Now, that’s rare. It’s my first time seeing a grin on your face.”

Hearing this, Fraser touched the corner of his lips. He realized he was smiling.

Fraser clenched his teeth. Quickly, his smile slid down his face.

“You’re no fun,” said Haldor. “If you’re happy, smile. What’s there to mull about?”

Haldor’s snake-like eyes formed crescents. He told his assistants to disperse and do their assigned tasks.

“Did something good happen in the kingdom of the damn Lukasians?”

Fraser didn’t immediately answer.

There were three people Fraser was wary of the most in the Empire. The first was Emperor Sylvius, the second was the Chief Royal Advisor, and the third was this old man.

The Master of the Fourth Tower was a sly fox who wouldn’t hesitate to murder innocent people – whether women or children – to further his goals. He was a madman in pursuit of knowledge, and Fraser was aware of all the atrocities he’d been committing in his laboratory.

How could Fraser not be aware of them? Out of his desperation to find a cure for Blake, he even assisted Master Haldor in his experiments before, after all.

“There’s no such thing,” said Fraser with a straight face.

He felt indebted to King Lark, and divulging information to the Tower Master felt like a betrayal.

“Hmmm….”

Master Haldor rubbed his chin. His bald head looked greasy, as he hadn’t taken a bath for a week. Fraser judged that the Master must have been cooped up in this laboratory for quite some time now.

“Is that so? And here I was, expecting some interesting news. Won’t you tell me? Oh, Vice Master, you’ve become cold.”

Fraser frowned. “Tower Master, I still need to meet with His Majesty, the Emperor, after this. Please get straight to the point.”

Haldor chuckled. “Surely you jest.” He waved his right hand, finding Fraser’s words ridiculous. “I doubt the Emperor will grant you audience so soon anyway. Even the First and Second Princes do not have such a privilege. That aside, here – follow me.”

Fraser wordlessly followed after Master Haldor. The laboratory was large, as it occupied three floors in the tower. Every now and then, the Master would holler at his assistants they passed by along the way, telling them to move faster.

Looking at the assistants frantically moving about, Fraser was reminded of worker ants. They seemed more like slaves than mages, but Fraser didn’t pity them in the slightest.

All of the assistants in this laboratory had killed innocent people before. Without exemption, they were fanatics who shared the same goal as Haldor.

“We’re here.”

Haldor stopped in front of a two-meter large creature shackled by several thick steel chains. Its body was muscular, and its grey skin was devoid of any hair. Two large fangs, a pair of short horns, sunken eyes, long fingers, and bulging blue veins spread throughout its body. Its black eyes murderously glared at the Master of the Fourth Tower.

It was a tormentor. The demonic species that lived in the Red Tower of the Demon Realm.

“A demon,” said Fraser.

Haldor broadly grinned. “That’s correct.”

Although it was Jacob Fraser’s first time seeing one, just by being aware of the current events and the Master’s personality, it wasn’t hard to deduce the creature’s identity. This was within Fraser’s expectations. He knew that a man like Haldor wouldn’t pass up on this opportunity to study the bodies of demons.

“I pulled some strings to smuggle this precious thing to this laboratory,” said Haldor. “Beautiful, isn’t it? That body. Those eyes that seemed to want to murder me.”

Haldor touched the chest of the tormentor, tracing his fingers up and down its torso.

The tormentor growled.

“Oh my! How energetic! We’ll be seeing each other every day, so don’t worry.”

As though the tormentor knew of its impending fate, it desperately tried unshackling itself, but to no avail. Those steel chains were artifacts created by the mages of the Fourth Tower to capture large monsters. Even a demon would have a hard time getting out of its binding.

“It’s not the only one. Follow me, Vice Master.”

Haldor led Fraser into a room on the uppermost floor of the laboratory. In there, numerous demons were seen submerged in glass tanks.

Parasitic demons, sky demons, flesh eaters, lesser demons, and even a demonic ogre.

Amazingly, although greatly weakened, they were all alive.

The ability to smuggle all of these demons into the capital showed how much power the Tower Master held in the Empire.

“Isn’t it exciting? I’ve run several experiments on them, and I get surprised by the results every single time,” laughed Haldor. “Particularly, the mana cores in their body stand out.”

It was not their regenerative ability, their physical strength, but their mana core that stood out the most.

It was an interesting find, Fraser thought.

Haldor handed Fraser the documents containing the detailed results of the experiments. After skimming through it, Fraser learned that the cores of the demons were several times more compact than the mana centers of humans.

“Why are you showing these to me?” said Fraser.

Although he’d participated similar experiments before, Fraser found it odd that the Tower Master was willingly showing the results of his research to him.

“Good question,” said Haldor. He took out a gemstone from the inner pocket of his robe. After applying mana into it, the gemstone glowed and emitted rays of light, forming translucent images.

The images hovering in the air were the same ones Haldor showed to Emperor Sylvius back in the throne room of the imperial palace.

“Does it look familiar? Of course, it should,” said Haldor. “It’s a city you’ve been to before, Vice Master. The so-called Second Wall of the Empire – Meredith City.”

Jacob’s eyes widened.

He’d heard that the demons had taken over the City of Meredith several weeks ago, but he’d never expected it to be in such a state. Looking at the numerous demons roaming about, the number of corpses, and the barren-looking ground, the city was no different from a dead land.

House Fraser owned several estates across the Empire before its downfall, and one of them was located in Meredith City.

Jacob had been there several times before, and he knew how prosperous the city was under the leadership of the First Tower of Mages.

But looking at the images, it was apparent that it had been ravaged to the ground by the demons.

“Look over here.” Haldor manipulated the images, focusing them on the fleshy obelisk. “That thing used to be the First Tower of Mages. See those fleshy tentacles? I have a simple task for you – obtain me a sample.”

Jacob clenched his jaws.

Although Master Haldor said it was a simple task, this mission was tantamount to suicide.

Now that his little brother had been healed with the help of the method passed down to him by King Lark, Jacob Fraser no longer had any reason to accept these unreasonable demands.

Master Haldor seemed to have expected Jacob to refuse, and he seemed to be enjoying this. He added, “If you do so, I’ll give you a lead to the person who killed your parents.”

Fraser froze.

Killing intent oozed out his body.

Lightning crackled underneath his feet, and wind started spinning around him, sweeping the documents away. A sword of ice started forming in his right hand as he fiercely glared at Master Haldor.

There were two reasons why House Fraser fell. First was the massive debt the family incurred ten years ago, which hadn’t been paid in full even now. In order to pay for this, the creditors took away the Fraser Family’s assets – their estates, mines, and farmlands.

And the second reason was the death of Jacob’s parents, including his maternal grandfather.

The ability to triple cast was inherent in the family, and due to this, the Frasers were known to be powerful magicians. This was the reason why Jacob refused to believe that his parents and his grandfather all died when their estate caught fire.

It was ridiculous.

A magician died from a house fire?

Jacob firmly believed that foul play was involved, but he temporarily set aside his revenge in order to focus on curing his little brother.

“What did you say?” muttered Jacob coldly.

He never expected to find a lead here, of all places.

“I said I will give you information regarding the ones who killed your parents,” said Haldor. He didn’t seem flustered even when Jacob pointed the ice sword at his throat. “But you know the rules of our tower, Vice Master. Nothing is free. Give me what I want, and I’ll give you the information you need to exact your revenge. Equivalent exchange. Sounds fair, no?”

Haldor touched the tip of the ice sword with his index finger. The finger bled, and the blood that dripped down it quickly froze.

Haldor decided to coax Fraser further.

“Obtain for me a sample of that fleshy obelisk,” said Haldor. “Who knows? Maybe by studying it, we’ll finally be able to find a cure for the Seven Weeks Disease. Think of your little brother, Jacob. You’re running out of time, aren’t you?”

Jacob retracted his ice sword.

Thankfully, it seemed that Master Haldor was still unaware that he’d successfully cured his little brother.

Jacob wryly smiled.

He thought of how ridiculous this situation was.

It was absurd that the King of Lukas gave him the cure to the Seven Weeks Disease readily, without asking anything in return, while the Tower Master was coercing him into a mission that had a high chance of killing him.

The stark difference between the two was like night and day.

Before coming here, Jacob was still pondering whether or not he should pledge allegiance to King Lark. But the current situation solidified his resolve.

There was no longer any sense in serving the Empire and staying in the Fourth Tower.

“Thank you, Master Haldor,” said Jacob.

He thanked the Tower Master for helping him make up his mind, for firming his resolve.

The Tower Master misinterpreted Jacob’s words of gratitude. “It’s only natural for me to help you, Vice Master. Now, I want you to go and get me a sample of that flesh. You can do that much, no? As a present, I’ll tell you this: the person responsible for the death of your parents is someone you know.”

Haldor chuckled.

For a moment, Jacob had this urge to force the information out of the Tower Master. But doing so in this place would be foolish. Not only was the Tower Master stronger than him, he also had control over all of the defensive artifacts in this laboratory. Moreover, he wouldn’t be able to fight properly while protecting his little brother. Knowing Haldor’s personality, he would surely use the boy against him.

Fighting against Haldor meant fighting against the entire Fourth Tower.

The best course of action was evident.

“I will obtain it for you, but—”

In the end, Jacob reined in his anger.

“—Keep your word,” said Jacob.

“Of course,” said Haldor. “When did I ever lie to you? I’ll give you the information you need, Vice Master. Just be sure to obtain for me that sample. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even help you with your revenge, if I’m satisfied with the results of your mission.”

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Author’s notes: Name of the younger brother was changed to accommodate the request of the audiobook company. Next audiobook will be released on May 30.