New Heights, page 14
With a series of pained, sputtering coughs, Samantha stirred awake. As soon as she had become conscious enough to feel the pain in her legs, her eyes widened and she gasped from the agony. She had her arms wrapped around herself, trembling.
“You all made it,” she croaked. She was pale and I could see sweat starting to roll down her forehead. Her lips were white and cracked, and there were deep bags beneath her once-bright eyes.
“Stop talking,” I ordered. “You need to save your energy. We’ll get you help soon.”
Ignoring me, she carefully reached into her robe, pulling out my mask—and something else. “Look what I f-found.”
“That’s—” Elijah leaned forward to get a better view of Samantha’s hand.
“The elderwood’s beast core,” I finished, taking it from Samantha gently. “Nice work. I’ll hold onto this until I get the chance to sell it. We’ll split the profits between us.”
“Are you kidding me?” Elijah shook his head. “I don’t want it.”
“Me neither. You deserve it, Arthur,” Jasmine agreed.
“What? You don’t want—?”
“I’m just happy to be alive. I think it’s fair that the one who killed it gets the reward,” Samantha whispered, her consciousness faltering.
I studied the stone—dull green, webbed with intricate lines of grey. “Thanks, everyone.”
Samantha’s lips curled up into a faint smile before she passed out again.
I put my mask on and turned my gaze to my guardian. “Jasmine, can you and Elijah go to the Guild Hall and get help back down here? I’ll stay here with Samantha.”
They both nodded, then headed out and back up to the surface. It would take them at least four hours to send the message and arrive back, and I planned to use that time to absorb the elderwood guardian’s beast core. With the aid of the powerful core—and with Sylvia’s will assimilated into my body—I was confident I could make a full recovery by the time they came back.
Forcing my nearly unresponsive body into a cross-legged position, I took out the parchment I had been given by the Twin Horns and recorded a message, telling my parents I was alive and that I’d be coming home soon. It was likely that I had been so deeply unconscious that my mana circulation had stopped, which would have triggered the ring my mother wore. As I finished my message, the parchment turned to ash in my hands, crumbling to nothing in moments.
There was nothing else I could to ease my parents’ minds, so I took the time to begin my meditation with the beast core. I took a deep breath, holding the elderwood guardian’s beast core in my hands and all the while thinking of what I should do with Lucas.
It wasn’t enough for me to just settle for petty revenge. I needed to do something more. He was from a very powerful family of notorious mages and his blood gave him a certain amount of protection from the elves. Of course, given my connections with their royal family, I didn’t think it would matter much, but the Wykes family could make things more complicated than I wanted them to be.
I didn’t have much time to dwell on my options, though; I was stirred out of my meditation by the sound of approaching footsteps.
Judging by the uniforms, I assumed the people filing in were the medics Jasmine and Elijah had sent. Within the group of medics was Kaspian, the lanky Guild Hall branch head. He was snapping orders at the medics and the few guards he had brought along—to protect the medics, I assumed.
Hiding the mana core, which I couldn’t finish absorbing, I watched as the medics worked on Samantha. They used a mixture of herbs to anesthetize her and carefully lifted her body onto a stretcher. The field of medicine wasn’t that advanced in this world so I wasn’t sure they would be able to fully heal Samantha’s legs, but there was nothing more I could do.
Kaspian walked towards me as I stood up. “Good evening, Mr. Note. I didn’t expect for us to be meeting like this. Miss Flamesworth has explained the situation. I understand how you must feel.”
“Oh, do you now? Then would you kindly inform me of Lucas’s current location so I may properly respond to his actions against our party?” I replied through gritted teeth. Despite Kaspian’s mild tone, I knew he had come here personally to stop me from going after Lucas.
He shook his head, confirming my assumption. “I must advise you, Mr. Note, to refrain from taking actions against Mr. Wykes right now.”
“And why not ‘right now’? My identity is a secret and I have the capacity to easily erase that bug’s existence. Do you think you are powerful enough to protect him from me?” My gaze was unrelenting as I took a step toward the thin man.
“I’m aware I don’t possess the power to fight against you when you’re at your full strength, but I assure you that I can pose a threat to you in your current state,” he calmly replied, straightening his glasses. “But even if I could, I wouldn’t need to. Mr. Note, I am warning you because—believe it or not—I carry an obligation to care for you since you are affiliated with Miss Flamesworth, even if she is the estranged daughter of the house. The Wykes House are the type of people who will carry out revenge in the most extreme and brutal manner possible. Assuming that you do kill their precious son, Lucas, I know that right now you do not possess the power to destroy the entire Wykes House. Even if they don’t know your identity, that won’t stop them from killing anyone who has had anything to do with you. This includes Miss Flamesworth and the people she is affiliated with, the Twin Horns. Going further than that, I believe the Wykes family will further their revenge against you by going against all the people close to the Twin Horns party—which includes Reynolds Leywin and his family.”
I could feel the blood dripping from my fists as my nails dug deeper into my palms.
He had me.
“As I said, Mr. Note, I wish to be on your side. What I said about the Wykes family is based on previous events. I can assure you that they would stop at nothing to wipe out anyone who had anything to do with you, even if they weren’t directly related. Until the day you hold enough power and authority to protect the people you care for, I must advise you against any course of action that would pit you against the Wykes House. And now I’ll take my leave. We must get Samantha to a facility so she can be properly cared for.” Giving me a curt bow, he walked away, leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
I could only laugh at the pitiful state I was in. He was right. Until I could wipe out the entire Wykes House, acting against them would be dangerous for my family and friends. No matter how much of an asshole Lucas was, it wasn’t worth risking my loved ones.
With clenched fists, I swore to myself that Lucas would regret this day.
Elijah and Jasmine moved forward with solemn expressions, having obviously overheard my conversation with the Guild Hall leader. They each placed a consoling hand on my shoulders and followed me out of the Dire Tombs, with Sylv trailing close behind.
We arrived at the Guild Hall on the outskirts of the Beast Glades about two hours later. Samantha was resting in the recovery facility, and Jasmine, Elijah, and I were sprawled on couches in a private room. Kaspian had temporarily moved from his office in Xyrus to this branch and was seated behind the desk in the room with us.
Suddenly the door flew open.
“You made it out alive!” It was Lucas, hiding behind a group of barrel-chested guards posing as adventurers.
From his seat a few feet away, Kaspian leaned his head on his hand, seeming vexed at the boy’s impertinence, and locked gazes with me to remind me of our discussion.
Elijah and Jasmine sprang up from their seats, weapons ready, but I remained at rest. It took an amount of self-control I’d never known I had to stop myself from lunging forward and skewering the brat to the door he had come in through.
I couldn’t decide whether he was that confident or just plain stupid for not only betraying us but having the audacity to show up here now. I guess he wasn’t completely dumb, though, since he’d at least had the sense to bring some backup.
Lucas took a step forward, slapping the guard in front of him to move him out of the way. “I wonder how you managed to escape from that terror of a beast. Did you have to sacrifice someone to save yourselves? Sammy is a cripple now, but she’s alive so I guess it wasn’t her. I don’t see Brald, though. Don’t tell me you sacrificed hi—”
Before he finished his sentence, my fingers had released the short sword I had hidden behind me.
The next instant, Lucas let out a shrill scream as he clutched his right ear, blood leaking through the spaces between his fingers.
The backup sword I had picked out at the Helstea Auction House had impaled itself deep into the wall behind Lucas, barely missing the head of the guard standing behind him.
At the sounds of the hollow thud and scream, the guards whipped around to make sure their boss was okay before turning back to me with weapons held ready.
I stood up from my seat and walked steadily towards the pale Lucas, the entire room deathly silent.
“What do you think I’m paying you for? Get him!” Lucas hissed, pointing at me with a trembling finger, his other hand still gripping his bleeding ear.
The guard closest to me lifted his axe, preparing to split me in two, but I already had the scabbard of the short sword I had just flung at Lucas in my hand. A sharp snap rang out as the end of my scabbard met with the guard’s hands. With a pained howl, he let go of his axe to nurse his broken fingers.
Before the rest of the guards could react, I lunged toward the frightened Lucas. I could hear Kaspian gasp behind me in fear that I would cross the line, but my hand merely went to my sword, impaled into the wall right behind the boy.
The blond noble’s face was just inches away from mine, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
“My apologies. My sword slipped, and I wanted it back,” I whispered, my voice coming out deeper and more threatening thanks to my mask.
I pried the blade out of the wall and sheathed it in the cover I had just used to break the guard’s fingers. Then I turned and went back to the couch, nonchalantly motioning at Kaspian.
On cue, the guild leader hastily said, “Now, now, Mr. Lucas, your ear is bleeding heavily. Let me escort you to the medical room to get that fixed up.”
As he gently herded the noble brat and his guards out of the room, he turned back to shoot me an exasperated look.
“You did well,” Jasmine said, breaking the silence. “But I’m afraid you’ve made an enemy of one of the strongest houses in the kingdom of Sapin.”
“That’s fine. What happened today isn’t enough to make him take action. Despite that conceited attitude, Lucas is cautious. He knows that right now, if he doesn’t go against me, I won’t do anything more.”
Leaning forward, I gripped tightly at the black sword I had refused to unsheathe and vowed silently that this wouldn’t be the end.
35
Precautions
KASPIAN BLADEHEART
After escorting the runt of the Wykes House to the clinic, I returned to my desk, tempted to burn the towering stack of paperwork that had accumulated over the past few days. I took a deep breath and had just slid a parchment from the top of the pile when the faint creak of the door tugged at my attention.
It was the adventurer, Note. He closed the door behind him, his baritone voice coming out in a barely-audible whisper.
“Mr. Bladeheart, you haven’t forgotten what you said about wanting to truly help me, correct?”
A sharp chill ran down my spine; his seemingly harmless words stabbed into me like a looming threat. Ignoring my alarm, I held my stoic façade, straightening my glasses before responding. “Of course. Your personal connection to Miss Flamesworth, as well as your own potential, is regarded favorably by the Guild.”
The masked adventurer nodded his head. I could not guess his identity—or even his age. I knew he was somehow connected to the Leywin household but a thorough background search had been fruitless.
“Good,” he answered. “I plan to take an extensive break from being an adventurer, Kaspian, so I would like to implore you for a favor.”
His tone was hardly pleading, but I motioned for him to continue. “Please, go on,” I said, my curiosity aroused.
* * *
ARTHUR LEYWIN
After the debacle with Lucas and his unwholesome actions down in the dungeon, there were a few things that needed to be settled.
First, Lucas was to be tried for his ‘un-adventurer-like conduct’ by a panel of judges comprising high-ranked guild workers. Thanks to Kaspian’s intervention, the trial was to take place without delay.
Seated in the gallery of a small amphitheater-like room, Lucas and I faced the panel as the elderly, robed men behind the raised desk looked through their notes.
After a seemingly endless moment of unnerving silence, one of the men, who was taller than the four beside him, stood up and cleared his throat. “On behalf of the Adventurers Guild and the panel present here, I hereby declare the conjurer Lucas Wykes formally stripped of his A-class ranking, for sabotage and endangerment of his party members during a dungeon excursion. Furthermore, he is prohibited from reenlisting as an adventurer until otherwise stated by the Guild. Mr. Wykes, please hand in your card.”
The thick-bearded judge next the one who had just spoken banged his gavel, creating a loud echo across the room as Lucas begrudgingly handed over his enchanted card.
Normally such a sentencing would be filled with anxious family and friends, but Lucas and I were the only ones present, aside from the judges and a bailiff. I had thought that this was to contain any news that could slander the Wykes House’s name, but after hearing Lucas’s verdict just now, I had to conclude otherwise. Normally, what Lucas had done down at the Dire Tombs would be enough for him to be sentenced to imprisonment in addition to having his title stripped. However, the vague statement the elder had made at the end—about him being prohibited from becoming an adventurer ‘until otherwise stated’—left for a lot of loose ends.
I could only bite my tongue and wait for this crooked sentencing to come to an end. Despite the rather lax sentence Lucas had been given, the half-elf noble had an expression stitched on his face as if he’d just swallowed a live frog.
The only silver lining I could see in this was that perhaps Lucas’s family would beat some sense into the twerp for shaming the family name.
Lucas had been pretty riled up after my brazen act of retaliation back at Kaspian’s office. I was sure he had nothing but boiling rage pent up in that little body of his ever since, but after learning from Kaspian that I had defeated—not escaped from—the elderwood guardian, his rage-fueled vendetta had been filled with doubt.
“Will the augmenter, Note, please stand for sentencing.” I rose and focused my attention on the tall judge. “Given the clear enmity toward Lucas Wykes and possibly the entire Wykes family, as displayed by your act of aggression against Lucas, on behalf of the panel and the entirety of the Adventurers Guild”—the judge glanced left and right at his peers—“I hereby declare you banned from Xyrus City for the duration of Lucas Wykes’ attendance at Xyrus Academy.”
The sound of the gavel once again boomed throughout the room. To my right, I could feel Lucas’s gaze boring into me as he waited for my reaction.
Putting on my best angry voice, I leaned forward on the podium. “Sir! I object to this punishment! Why am I to be penalized for Lucas’s betrayal at the dungeon?” I slammed my fists down on the table in front of me. All the while, in my peripheral vision, I was watching Lucas’s anxious face turn smug at my discontent.
I knew revoking his license didn’t mean much to him, and with me out of the way, he didn’t have to worry about anything.
“This is not a discussion! We are aware of the circumstances, which is why we chose not to revoke your license. You will be allowed to continue being an adventurer as long as we do not catch you near Mr. Wykes or his family.” The judge’s stern face glowered fiercer and his sharp gaze seemed to pierce my mask.
“Wait! What about his identity? He could easily take his mask off and slip into the city to potentially harm me or my family.” Lucas raised his finger at me, now confident enough to try to push me down even further.
“Mr. Note’s identity will be recorded once this sentencing is over, Mr. Wykes. You will not be informed of his or his family’s identity, for obvious reasons, but select Guild Hall mages will keep tabs on Mr. Note’s whereabouts, masked or not. This is not up for debate. This sentencing is over,” another judge declared. The gavel fell again before either of us had the chance to object further. The judges stirred in their seats while the bailiff opened the chamber doors to let Lucas’s entourage of guards in, followed by the court’s own security.
Clicking his tongue, Lucas whipped his head around, sending me a threatening gaze before walking toward his guards. Before leaving the room, he looked over his shoulder and gave me a look of haughty derision. “If you know what’s good for you, you’d best be at least five towns over from me at all times.”
“Idle threats as you run away make you seem petty, boy,” I shot back. The problem child of the Wykes House turned scarlet as I turned my back on him. The courthouse guards approached me, ready to escort me away.
The judge who had spoken for the panel turned to his fellow judges, giving them a reassuring smile. “No need to trouble yourselves, gentlemen. I know you have all been dying to get back. I’ll escort Mr. Note here out through the back with the guards.” Behind the raised desks where the panel of judges had been seated was a narrow door, which opened at his touch.
The rest of the panel must have had a lot of trust in the man, because the four of them were all too happy to leave without further question.
