LCoT Chapter 30

———

A few days later, after that evening, the reaction on the streets was different, especially among the young men and women who often roamed the muddy streets. This could be seen by the lack of their dirty faces in the alleyways, under bridges, or fishing for junk in the dirty streams of Srok.

It was often that when someone strong appeared in Sork, everyone, at least those in the rats guild, knew to give them a wide berth, gave them territory that circled in the area they chose around them, and it was often somewhat safe to assume that the new power did not take kindly to disturbances around them. So the rumours would spread about the corner of the city Clara and her group took claim to-- they would spread among the rats first, then to the poorer folk in Sork, then to a corrupt guard here or there, and if Victor wanted it, even to the Baron himself. It would be a fool’s gambit to try offending someone with the strength Clara’s group displayed and giving the group a sizable area of control in Srok made sure that the gang would not run amok in the rest of the city.

In the dark alleys, the filthy bands sat together discussing. Some did so to find a way to get close with Clara, and other leaders were obviously not open to this idea. They were facing mutiny from their followers, especially among the oldest of them. After seeing the strength of Clara’s group, it went to say, much to say they wanted to join her, defect to her group.

The filthying groups, like Agmak’s, that had been flourishing under Thornan’s power now found themselves looking for protection under the new Veystrix. But for the protection of the Veystix, they would offer tributes. And unlike other times, they found this prospect difficult because none of the veystrix were willing to go up against both Clara and Marcus. Worse, they did not want to face a spell that acted like that. It was a fool’s gambit to protect the former Flithyings of Thornan.

A fool’s gambit indeed.

And when Victor Stan was told that a boy, not some powerful mage had cast the spell that had him quaking in fear by his Veystrix, the man had laughed at his own fear and slowly his bostrass laugh died down from what he was heard next about the spell and what happened to shadow spells in the area. Victor knew he had been right in his suspensions. The fact the single spell took control over all the shadow aether meant it was old magic, strong, disruptive, and dominating. It’s no wonder Thornan got himself killed. Thornan had been one of the more promising candidates he would raise to and present to the high table. The thought gave him no less comfort. However, this new information would be valuable for the assassin’s guild to sell it to the Church.

Victor knew he had to be careful in his approach to the situation that had just developed in Srok, especially because this report would mention that Clara was setting her band up as a noble house. He would have to send the report to the assassins’ order and inform the leaders of this, who would then inform the Church.

An idea came to him, and then this could either be a good thing or a bad thing. If he played his cards right and, stayed out of Clara’s way and and turned a blind eye to the new budding house, they would become a nuisance for the Baron and his pompous nobles, leaving him to do as he pleased as they tried to quash a house made and Led by the serf born and if he played it wrong he would have to send the Vestrix against Clara leading to losses as he tried to gauge the weaknesses of Clara and her band. And if the Church found out he was targeting an old magic caster, that would be bad.

He paused.

This was all well and true, but he also had to account for the missives he sent to the higher walls. If they came looking, he would have no choice but to step back and watch how things played out.

—-----

“Finally you’re awake,” He pointed at Marcus’s chest, “your body was broken. I did all I could to get here as fast as possible.” Ivor said.

“Oh… Thanks Ivor.” He replied, leaning up from the straw he had slept on.

“Ahh... your welcome.” He waved the compliment away and stood up to inspect What Marcus had done to the room in the broken manor: “The spell you used.”

“My shadow magic, what’s the problem with it?” Marcus said, hitching as he started breathing normally a moment later

“The problem is you used a different spell,”

“Had I known you would, I would’ve never let you think to use it .”

“I know it took me by surprise.”

When he had used the spell, he thought it would send Thornan away, pushing him back to let him have time to gather himself like it had done the first time. He had not known of its other capabilities. He never expected the miniature-sized black sun to materialize out of nowhere. It had been in the name of the spell all those times he had read it on his katch paper.

“Levin told me,” he said, moving around, “from now on you are never to use that spell it’s dangerous.”

“Why? His dead, Thornan is dead,” he said in a lower, sad tone.

Ivor turned and looked at Marcus. The signs were there, the tapping leg. The boy had never killed before, something he noted down to watch. It was in the way he spoke. His voice was low yet with a tone of regret and sorrowful finality. It had changed him. The kill had changed Marcus, and it was plain to see for a veteran like him.

“Yes, in Sork no one would mind you spilled blood, in fact I think the reason your still breathing is because Victor Stan is afraid of whoever cast the spell.”

“Then I am fine. there is no problem,” Marcus said, his voice coming with a controlled edge to it.

“Your safe for now but if he finds out weak with a mere three a mere three spells to your name He might come for you,”

‘Great Marcus’ thought he needed to get stronger. The problem was he needed power, and all the power was held in grimoires, of which he had none.

“I will get more spells and be prepared. look,” Marcus gestured to the wall filled with charcoal runes.

“The bigger problem is. The noble houses have spent generations ensuring only they can wield the highest forms of magic. You’re about to undo centuries of their control.”

“So I have to worry about the nobles, too. “Again, his voice was low and controlled this time. Ivor observed that at least the boy was not weak.

“Especially them.”

“So I have to get stronger, I need more spells.”

“Yes,I was wondering how you got your hands on an unstable spell but now I see you have been experimenting,” he said, his hands gliding over Runes.

“It’s like you told me the more spells the stronger I am.”

“That’s good but spells take a long time to learn.Even the scholars must fisrt learn to counting numbers and riddle of the mind.”

This Marcus understood to be the logic behind the spells.

“Yeah that’s really easy I figured out, The Circles distribute the energy throughout formation and I also found that the patterns in the circles represent the layers you talked about.”

Ivor looked at him askance, “and you understand all this from just looking at them?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s easy once you know what you are looking for.”

When Marcus figured out about the spell layers and the different runes of each affinity, he discovered he had been doing it wrong. That meant learning magic, for people in this world had to learn all the mathematics of circles and logical and mathematical ratios. This was something he would keep to himself and use as an advantage.

“That’s good focus on learning these—these spells do not use the shadow spell, it’s old magic. Dangerous Magic. “

“Why do you think it’s dangerous?”

“Levin was there he told me that the spell you cast stole aether from all the others.”

“And what you called it. Old magic, what is that?” he asked, looking up at the old half goliath.

“Old magic spells are spells strong enough to feed off the ley lines.”

“And if the seers saw it that means the great houses probably know.” Marcus said and watched Ivor nod.

“And the great houses will be coming,” he said after his nod.

“Will they be looking for me?”

“Yes,they will and that’s why you will be working on enchanting,” he pointed at Marcus and brought out an enchanting kit.

A few moments passed as Marcus inspected the enchanting tools. A knock came at the door, and Linus stuck his head in, looking around until his eyes landed on Marcus.

“Marcus. Clara was wondering if you were awake. She has been waiting for you…Come

“Your leg it’s fixed.”

“Yes, Old Man Ivor helped me fix my leg with the enchanted ring. I think he’s better than Clara at using it.”

‘So Ivor had a higher affinity for light than Clara.’ The thought then realized there was a better way of inspecting the old man.

Ivor

Affinity Strength/ Weight

Light 4

Dark 0

Elemental 4

Arcane 0

Psychic 0

Shadow 0

Bloodline 4

By looking at the different colours he could approximate Ivor’s magical strength and could see that he had no innate magic.

——

Standing in the courtyard of the small manor, Clara talked to two new faces. She stood with her back straight and a grimoire tied to her waist as she addressed them.

What caught his interest? However, it was the hanging body of what was once Thornan.

The Goliath had always looked large when he saw him, but his body had shrunk. He was much smaller than before, and his body was hung up by his neck even after he was dead. Someone had thang him up, and the teenagers threw stones at his dead body. It was quite gruesome,

and Marcus,

Marcus never thought he would ever see such a thing, the quality of it. The unforgiven nature of the act, pity, he thought, and all he could feel was a twisting winkle in his gut. How cruel did one have to be for the people of Srok, those his age, to hang him up after his death and desecrate his body? It was a thought that he painted in his mind, and he could not see it anymore. He remembered the piercing through the other boy’s heart, and something in him shuddered.

He had killed this boy, and no matter how it looked at it, he had just been a boy, a mean, looking one, but still just a boy, and for the life of you, he could no longer stand by and watch what was happening to Thornan’s body.

He felt like he had some part to do with this act, so he looked over to one of the teenagers standing around, grabbed him by the collar of his tunic and growled.

“We are not fucking barbarians. Put him down and let him be. he’s already dead.” His voice was low and controlled, and he never once looked at the body.

Just as the loud thud of a body hit the ground, a girl ran towards holding something in her hands. Marcus turned to find a girl of almost sixteen, holding a dagger in her hand and planting it into the unmoving body, gutting the dead body, blood covered in blood and the scent of rotten faeces, as she kept driving her dagger down his gut.

There were only a few things that could drive someone to such hatred, and Marcus did not want to think of any of them.

“Get her off the body and throw it in the Ashfield.” He simply said and he hoped they would do as he asked.

…

Clara had watched all this happen, and she said nothing. She looked at him and then turned back to the two young women. She was speaking to. Even when he approached them, he had to wait for Clara to notice him.

“Who are they?” Marcus asked, stepping to the side. He followed behind Linus, who was walking with a limp.

“them.. they are the new members of the house they want to join us.”

After what happened that evening, he should not have been surprised by the new members. After all, in Srok, survival came first, and attaching themselves to someone stronger often meant their lives would be easier. This meant that they would be protected from the other bands and Veystrix.

Curious, he used his arcane sight on the pair.

The first one was a tall girl with long hair that had white streaks running through it. She had green eyes similar to Clara’s.

Unknown

Affinity Strength/ Weight

Light 0

Dark 2

Elemental 3

Arcane 3

Psychic 2

Shadow 1

Bloodline 0

The tall girl had good affinities, and if he treated it like a game, all her affinities were low. She had enough to cast spells of the second tier.

The shorter of the new girls had a total affinity presence of nine, which meant she was capable of learning at least tier-one spells.

Tier one spells required a person to have at least a total affinity of five, Tier two required ten, Tier three fifteen, Tier four twenty, and Tier five was those people who would be known as grand magicians the strongest archdukes.

Unknown

Affinity Strength/ Weight

Light 3

Dark 1

Elemental 4

Arcane 0

Psychic 0

Shadow 0

Bloodline 1

If people were going to be joining them, Marcus thought it would be wise to tell Clara to choose those with potential harshly but realistically, if Ivor’s warning about the nobles were anything to go by.

Marcus came over here, Clara called, breaking him from his observations. “his is Ismay,” she pointed at the tall girl. ““his is Yu,” she gestured at the shorter girl. “Girls, this is Marcus.”

“The Gloaming Prince,” one of the girls said.

Marcus watched the two pairs of eyes widen and look away in what appeared to be a sense of fear as they realized they were standing next to someone who was capable of killing a Goliath like Thornan.

Before he could ask about the title, he was interrupted, “Marcus, I have something for you. After your fight with Thornan you have earned his grimoire,” Clara said, grabbing the grimoire tied to her waist and handing it over to Marcus.

“This grimoire it’s Thornan’s,” he said holding the book in his hand, ‘is this one of the cultural practices Gabe had talked about where the winner takes the spoils.’

“Think of this as the first of many. Pick your fights well, and you will leave longer”, Ivor said, and Linus, ever the playful sort, nudged him on the shoulder.

“Thanks for this Marcus,” said shaking and indicating the book.

“So, are you going to open it and look inside?” Linus asked like an eager friend, leaning over his shoulder.

“Hmm —” Marc started.

“Not here- “Ivor said, looking around at the onlookers who pretended not to be listening, “now that you have a grimoire your training will be improved, go see what spells the grimoire holds.”